12 Facts About Yakov Melkumov

Yakov Melkumov fought in the First World War and the Russian Civil War.

Yakov Melkumov particularly distinguished himself during the Russian Civil War fighting against the Basmachi movement on the Turkestan Front.

Yakov Melkumov is known for commanding the unit that killed the former Ottoman general who had commanded the Basmachi rebels, Enver Pasha, who was one of the main architects of the Armenian genocide.

In 1890, his family moved to Ashgabat, where Yakov Melkumov learned the Turkmen language and learned to ride a horse.

Yakov Melkumov fought against General Anton Denikin's army on the Southern Front of the civil war near Voronezh.

In October 1919 Yakov Melkumov became commander of a cavalry brigade in the 8th Army.

Yakov Melkumov was ambushed in Chagan by a squadron of Red Army cavalry and killed by machine-gun fire outside the village mosque, although there are other versions of Enver's death.

Some sources write that Yakov Melkumov personally killed Enver Pasha with his sabre, although Yakov Melkumov does not claim this in his memoirs.

In November 1937, during the Great Purge, Yakov Melkumov was arrested on charges of participation in a purported anti-Soviet nationalist organization, and in April 1940 was sentenced to be shot.

Yakov Melkumov was released from imprisonment in 1954 and rehabilitated the next year.

Yakov Melkumov lived the rest of his life in Moscow.

Yakov Melkumov died on July 3,1962, in Moscow and was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.