Fyodor Tolbukhin

Marshal of the Soviet Union Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin
Fyodor Tolbukhin in 1945
Native name	Фёдор Иванович Толбухин
Nickname(s)	Fedya
Born	(1894-06-16)16 June 1894 Androniki, Yaroslavl Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	17 October 1949(1949-10-17) (aged 55) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Buried	Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Allegiance	Russian Empire (1914–1917)  Soviet Russia (1917–1922)  Soviet Union (1922–1949)
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Army Red Army Soviet Army
Years of service	1914–1949
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944-1949)
Commands held	4th Ukrainian Front 3rd Ukrainian Front Transcaucasian Military District
Battles/wars	World War I Russian Civil War World War II
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Victory
Alma mater	M. V. Frunze Military Academy

Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (Russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Толбу́хин; 16 June 1894 – 17 October 1949) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is regarded as one of the finest Soviet generals of World War II.

Born into a peasant family in Yaroslavl, Tolbukhin volunteered for the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War and served with distinction. He joined the Red Army in 1918 and fought in the Russian Civil War. After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy, he held a succession of commands, rising to the post of chief of staff of the Transcaucasian Military District by 1938. Tolbukhin rose further through the ranks following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and was involved in the Battle of Stalingrad. As commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front, he assisted Rodion Malinovsky in the Lower Dnieper and Dnieper–Carpathian offensives. He then contributed to the Soviet drive into the Balkans and forced Romania's defection to the Allies, for which he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union. Afterwards, Tolbukhin took part in the occupation of Bulgaria and liberated much of Yugoslavia after the Belgrade offensive. He commanded the Vienna offensive in May 1945 and helped set up the new Austrian government under Karl Renner.

After the war, Tolbukhin received command of the Southern Group of Forces in the Balkans before returning to the Transcaucasus. He held the post until his death in October 1949 from diabetes.