Founded in 1943, South Ural State University since its first days educated brilliant specialists whose projects found use on the front of the Great Patriotic War. And the university’s first professors were people who went through that war. Among them was Gennady Aleksandrovich Komissarov.
He Freed a European Cities and Fought in Japan
Gennady Komissarov was born September 2, 1925 in the city of Kasli in the Chelyabinsk Region. In 1941, Gennady Aleksandrovich finished the 7th grade, after which he enrolled at the Chelyabinsk Energy Engineering Technical School. In 1943, at the age of 18, he was called to the army. From 1944, he participated in battles as an enlisted radio operator, and later – as the head of the radio station in the artillery regiment on the third Belarus front and the first Far East front.
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Photo: Gennady Aleksandrovich Komissarov
Gennady Aleksandrovich also participated in operation Bagration, one of the largest military offensive campaigns of the Soviet armed forces. In 1944, a division of the 5th army freed the cities of Vitebsk, Vileyka, Smorgon, Vilnius and Kanaus from Nazi soldiers, succeeding in breaking through fortifications on the border of Germany. Gennady Aleksandrovich remembers the following about the last year of the war:
“Difficult battles began on January 12, 1945 and continued until April 17th. The German armed forces tried to stop our offensive, since we were on German territory. The battles went on day and night, we had no time for rest. All of those months, we didn’t spend a single hour in a warm building. Trenches, dugouts, and cellars became our refuge. We slept in snatches, sitting, or perched somewhere. In April, our army destroyed the enemy formation at southwest Koenigsberg, and then we were transferred to storm the city. A short respite appeared, then there was storming of the fortress of Koenigsberg, battles on the Samland peninsula… The soldiers and officers survived many difficulties in these tough battles, the divisions had huge losses.”
In April of 1945, the 5th army was transferred to the first Far East front. The division in which Gennady Aleksandrovich fought participated in border defense in Manchuria from the first day of battle, then in the capture of Mulin, Mudanjiang, and more. For their successful military actions, the 97th firing division was awarded the 2nd degree Vitebsk Order of the Red Banner.
Gennady Aleksandrovich was awarded an Order of the Red Star, a 3rd degree Order of Glory, and a 2nd degree Order of the Patriotic War, and medals “For Valor”, “For Service in Battle”, “For Victory against the Germans in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1954”, “For Victory over Japan”, “For the Capture of Koenigsberg”, and the Zhukov Medal. In 2006, he was awarded an anniversary medal, “60th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Republic of Belarus from Nazi Occupants”.
Photo: Veterans of the Great Patriotic War (Gennady Komissarov – on the right)
A Career of a Researcher after Military Service
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Gennady Aleksandrovich served in the military troops of the Primorskiy District until 1950. In 1951 he enrolled in Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute in the Department of Electrical Stations, Networks, and Systems (ESNS), at which he became an assistant in 1956. In May 1961, Gennady Aleksandrovich became the head of the research sector of the institute, and in September 1962 – a senior lecturer for the ESNS department. Having defended his Candidate dissertation in 1968, he began working as an Associate Professor a year later, and from 1969 to 1986 he acted as Dean of the Electrical Engineering Faculty. From 1978 to 1991, he was the Head of the Department of Electric Power Supply for Industrial Enterprises and Cities. In 2001 he was chosen as the Chairman of the university’s Board of Veterans and headed it until 2013.
For his work, Gennady Aleksandrovich was awarded the medal “For Valorous Labor. In Honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of V.I. Lenin,” “Veteran of Labor”, the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR badge, and “For Excellent Success in Work” medal.
Photo: Gennady Aleksandrovich Komissarov
The Komissarovs Dynasty at SUSU
Gennady Aleksandrovich’s wife, Elizaveta Dmitrievna Komissarova is also a graduate of Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute. She worked in the Electrical Engineering Faculty upon graduation as an assistant and held practical lessons and lectures. Later she received the academic title of a Candidate of Science (Engineering). Elizaveta Dmitrievna’s students hold her as an excellent lecturer and a highly qualified specialist in her chosen field of science.
Gennady Aleksandrovich’s son Aleksey Gennadyevich Komissarov also graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and his daughter, Larisa Gennadyevna Matveeva is an Associate Professor of the SUSU Department of Psychology.
South Ural State University also became the alma mater of Gennady Kommissarov’s grandchildren: Kseniya Komissarova is a graduate of the Faculty of Journalism, and Dmitriy Matveev graduated from the Faculty of Linguistics and the Faculty of Mathematics with honors. At this time, the dynasty of the Komissarovs has spent a combined total of over 200 years at the university.