Jim
Heintz/The Associated Press
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Mikhail
Kalashnikov shows a model of his world-famous AK-47 assault rifle at home in
the Ural Mountain city of Izhevsk, Russia in this Oct. 29, 1997 photo. (AP /
Vladimir Vyatkin)
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MOSCOW -- Mikhail Kalashnikov started out wanting to make farm equipment, but
the harvest he reaped was one of blood as the designer of the AK-47 assault
rifle, the world's most popular firearm.
It
was the carnage of World War, when Nazi Germany overran much of the Soviet
Union, which altered his course and made his name as well-known for bloodshed
as Smith, Wesson and Colt. The distinctive shape of the gun, often called
"a Kalashnikov," appeared on revolutionary flags and adorns
memorabilia.
Kalashnikov
died Monday at age 94 in a hospital in Izhevsk, the capital of the Udmurtia
republic where he lived, said Viktor Chulkov, a spokesman for the republic's president.
He did not give a cause of death. Kalashnikov had been hospitalized for the
past month with unspecified health problems.
Kaslashnikov
often said he felt personally untroubled by his contribution to bloodshed.
"I
sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an
agreement and resorting to violence," he told The Associated Press in
2007.
The
AK-47 -- "Avtomat Kalashnikov" and the year it went into production
-- is the world's most popular firearm, favoured by guerrillas, terrorists and
the soldiers of many armies. An estimated 100 million guns are spread
worldwide.
Though
it isn't especially accurate, its ruggedness and simplicity are exemplary: it
performs in sandy or wet conditions which jam more sophisticated weapons such
as the U.S. M-16.
"During
the Vietnam war, American soldiers would throw away their M-16s to grab AK-47s
and bullets for it from dead Vietnamese soldiers," Kalashnikov said in
July 2007 at a ceremony marking the rifle's 60th anniversary.
The
weapon's suitability for jungle and desert fighting made it nearly ideal for
the Third World insurgents backed by the Soviet Union, and Moscow not only
distributed the AK-47 widely but also licensed its production in some 30 other
countries.
The
gun's status among revolutionaries and national-liberation struggles is
enshrined on the flag of Mozambique.
Kalashnikov,
born into a peasant family in Siberia, began his working life as a railroad
clerk. After he joined the Red Army in 1938, he began to show mechanical flair
by inventing several modifications for Soviet tanks.
The
moment that firmly set his course was in the 1941 battle of Bryansk against
Nazi forces, when a shell hit his tank. Recovering from wounds in the hospital,
Kalashnikov brooded about the superior automatic rifles he'd seen the Nazis
deploy; his rough ideas and revisions bore fruit five years later.
"Blame
the Nazi Germans for making me become a gun designer," said Kalashnikov.
"I always wanted to construct agricultural machinery."
In
2007, President Vladimir Putin praised him, saying "The Kalashnikov rifle
is a symbol of the creative genius of our people."
Over
his career, he was decorated with numerous honours, including the Hero of
Socialist Labor and Order of Lenin and Stalin Prize. But because his invention
was never patented, he didn't get rich off royalties.
"At
that time in our country patenting inventions wasn't an issue. We worked for
Socialist society, for the good of the people, which I never regret," he
once said.
Kalashnikov
continued working into his late 80s as chief designer of the Izmash company
that first built the AK-47. He also travelled the world helping Russia
negotiate new arms deals, and he wrote books on his life, about arms and about
youth education.
"After
the collapse of the great and mighty Soviet Union so much crap has been imposed
on us, especially on the younger generation," he said. "I wrote six
books to help them find their way in life."
He
said he was proud of his bronze bust installed in his native village of Kurya
in the Siberian region of Altai. He said newlyweds bring flowers to the bust.
"They whisper 'Uncle Misha, wish us happiness and healthy kids,"' he
said. "What other gun designer can boast of that?"
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