Archil Gelovani

Prince Archil Viktorovich Gelovani (, ; – 19 August 1978) was a Soviet officer and later Marshal of the engineer troops, responsible for logistics, fortification and military infrastructure during and after World War II. He was tasked on several occasions with fortifying strategically important areas and also reconstruction, including all Black Sea ports during and after World War II. He served primarily on military engineering and defense strategy posts, including being the Deputy Minister of Defence and would play a major role in the structural development of the Soviet armed forces and strategic missile forces during the Cold War era. An avenue in Georgia's capital Tbilisi and a street in the city of Sevastopol have been named after Marshal Gelovani. Early life Gelovani was born on November 27, 1915, in the village Spatagori of the Tsageri Municipality in Georgia. The boy was not yet six years old when his father, known in the Caucasus as Viktor Gelovani the engineer, died of typhoid fever. The orphan had to learn to live and grow up the hard way. But instead of breaking the young man, it only contributed in steeling his character. In 1936 after graduating from the Tbilisi Industrial Institute, he started his career as engineer. After only three years his life took a radical change. Gelovani joined the Soviet Army as the army was in need of competent experts, since it became clearer that a war would be the case soon or later. The young engineer quickly found his place in the armed forces and rose through its ranks. Military career