{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}{{short description|Soviet World War II flying ace}} {{Infobox military person | name = Aleksey Maresyev | image = Alexey Maresyev 1940s.jpg | image_size = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|5|20}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|5|18|1916|5|20}} | birth_place = [[Kamyshin]], [[Saratov Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] | death_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russia]] | birth_name = Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev | allegiance = {{USSR}} | branch = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Soviet Air Force.svg}} [[Soviet Air Forces|Soviet Air Force]] | service_years = 1937–1946 | rank = Colonel | unit = 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment | commands = | battles = [[World War II]] | awards = [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] | relations = | other_work = }} '''Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev''' ({{langx|ru|Алексей Петрович Маресьев}}; 20 May 1916 – 18 May 2001) was a Soviet and Russian military pilot who became a [[List of World War II aces from the Soviet Union|Soviet fighter ace]] during [[World War II|World War II]] despite becoming a double amputee.
==Biography== Before joining the army in 1937 Maresyev worked as a [[turning|turner]] and then participated in the construction of [[Komsomolsk-on-Amur]].
In 1941, he graduated from the [[Bataysk]] Military School of Aviation. He began his flights as a fighter pilot in August 1941. He had shot down four German aircraft by March 1942.
On 5 April 1942 his [[Yakovlev Yak-1]] was shot down near [[Staraya Russa]], after which he was almost captured. Despite being badly injured, he managed to return to the Soviet-controlled territory, braving blizzards and german patrol units. During his 18-day-long journey his injuries deteriorated so badly that both of his legs had to be amputated above the knee. Before the surgery he was lying on a stretcher with a sheet over his face and considered to be a hopeless case due to the extent of his injuries in addition to suffering from [[gangrene]] and [[blood poisoning]]. One doctor offered to operate on him and thereby saved him, but told him he would not lose his legs. Upon waking up from anesthesia, he was angered to find that his legs had been amputated above the knee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aif.by/social/_sel_i_poletel_20_maya_legendarnomu_letchiku_alekseyu_maresevu_ispolnilos_by_95_|title="Сел и полетел!" 20 мая легендарному лётчику Алексею Маресьеву исполнилось бы 95|last=|first=|date=18 May 2011|website=Аргументы и Факты|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref> Desperate to return to his fighter pilot service, he subjected himself to nearly a year of exercise to master the control of his [[Prosthesis|prosthetic]] devices, and succeeded at that, returning to flying in June 1943.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=353|title=Маресьев Алексей Петрович|publisher=|access-date=27 March 2017}}</ref>
During a [[dog fight]] in August 1943, he shot down three German [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] fighters. In total, he completed over 80 combat sorties and shot down an estimated 7 German aircraft.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Все асы Сталина. 1936—1953|last=Bykov|first=Mikhail|publisher=Yauza|year=2014|isbn=978-5-9955-0712-3|location=Moscow|pages=751|trans-title=Aces of Stalin. 1936–1953|oclc=879321002}}</ref> He was awarded the title [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] on 24 August 1943. In 1944, he joined the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] and in 1946 he retired from the military.
=== Postwar === In 1952, Maresyev graduated from the [[Higher Party School]]. In 1956, he obtained a Ph.D. in history and started working in the Soviet War Veterans Committee. Eventually, he became a member of the [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR|Supreme Soviet]].
He suffered a heart attack on 18 May 2001 and died 16 hours later, just an hour before the celebration of his 85th birthday.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kp.ru/best/volgograd/maresev/|title=Настоящий Человек. Алексей Маресьев|last=|first=|date=|website=Komsomolskaya Pravda|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref>
==Remembrance== [[File:Alexei Maresiev 2016 stamp of Transnistria.jpg|thumb|Maresyev on a 2016 stamp of [[Transnistria]]]] [[File:RU040-16.jpg|thumb|Maresyev on a 2016 Russian stamp]] {{External media |float = right |width = 200 |image1 = [http://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?id=10848572 Maresev before the war] |image2 = [http://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?id=12372804 with prosthetic legs visible] |image3 = [http://goskatalog.ru/portal/#/collections?id=12372808 during physical therapy] |image4 = [https://russiainphoto.ru/photos/81768/ with his wife Galina and son Viktor in 1946] |image5 = [https://russiainphoto.ru/photos/60324/ with Ivan Kozhedub] }} In 1951, a variety of lilac was named in honor of Maresyev.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Сирень Алексей Маресьев - Сирени - Растения - Интернет-магазин "Сад-Огород" - AgrotehCom.ru |url=https://www.agrotehcom.ru/retailment/syringa.html/nid/17477 |access-date=2026-04-23 |website=www.agrotehcom.ru}}</ref>
His story served as a basis for the novel by [[Boris Polevoy]] ''The Story of a Real Man'' and a subsequent film (1948) directed by [[Aleksandr Stolper]], in which his name was changed to Meresyev. The novel also inspired [[Sergei Prokofiev]]'s last opera ''[[The Story of a Real Man]]''. In 2005 a documentary called ''Alexey Maresyev. The Fate of a Real Man'' was produced by [[Russia-1|Channel Russia]].
In ''[[Omon Ra]]'' (1992) by [[Victor Pelevin]], a Soviet military academy routinely amputates the legs of its first-year cadets to turn them into "Real Men" like Maresyev.
''[[The Pilot. A Battle for Survival]]'' is a 2021 Russian [[List of World War II films|WWII film]] written and directed by [[Renat Davletyarov]], based on the real story of Maresyev.
The asteroid [[2173 Maresjev]] is named in his honor.
To mark the 105th anniversary of the hero’s birth, the memorial complex “Legendary Maresyev” was unveiled in the town of [[Bologoye, Tver Oblast|Bologoye]], Tver Region. It includes a replica of a [[Yakovlev Yak-1|Yak-1]] aircraft mounted on a granite pedestal and a bronze figure of the pilot.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-05-20 |title=Мемориал "Легендарный Маресьев" открыли под Тверью к 105-летию со дня рождения летчика |url=https://tass.ru/obschestvo/11430999 |work=ТАСС}}</ref>
== Awards and decorations == * [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] * [[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]], 3rd class * Two [[Order of Lenin|Orders of Lenin]] * [[Order of the Red Banner]] * [[Order of the October Revolution]] * [[Order of the Patriotic War]] 1st class * Two [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour|Orders of the Red Banner of Labour]] * [[Order of Friendship of Peoples]] * [[Order of the Red Star]] * [[Order of the Badge of Honour]] * [[Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"]] * [[Medal "Veteran of Labour"]]
==See also== * [[Gheorghe Bănciulescu]] – a Romanian aviator, the first pilot in the world to fly with his feet amputated * [[Douglas Bader]] – a World War II [[Royal Air Force]] fighter pilot with amputated legs * [[Zakhar Sorokin]] – Soviet pilot who flew with both feet amputated * [[Ma Ning]] – a Chinese pilot and Commander of the PLAAF, inspired by the story to fly despite one leg shorter than the other
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Alexei Maresiev}} * [https://archive.org/details/AStoryAboutARealMan ''Story of a Real Man''] at [[Internet Archive]] (full text, English) * [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/19/obituaries/19MARE.html?ex=1134018000&en=0d4d57746bc9cefd&ei=5070 Obituary in the New York Times]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maresyev, Alexey}} [[Category:1916 births]] [[Category:2001 deaths]] [[Category:People from Kamyshin]] [[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Recipients of the Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"]] [[Category:Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Star]] [[Category:Mordvin people]] [[Category:Shot-down aviators]] [[Category:Russian amputees]] [[Category:Russian aviators]] [[Category:Russian people of World War II]] [[Category:Soviet amputees]] [[Category:Soviet World War II flying aces]] [[Category:Soviet World War II pilots]] [[Category:Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery]] [[Category:Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union]]