Govorov’s biography reads much like those of his many peers who, like him, devoted all their life to military service. The would-be marshal was born on February 22, 1897 deep in the Russian outback. His father, like many other paupers regularly left home in search of better paying jobs so that his four sons would have enough money to continue their education. Leonid entered a Polytechnic institute in St.Petersburg but was quickly drafted to the army and sent to an artillery academy. His destiny was sealed now… 

Govorov successfully fought in the Civil War and, growing up early, made the impression of a no-nonsense introvert. General Shtemenko provided a very apt description of his wartime friend: “Tight-lipped, dry and even sulky, Govorov was rarely liked at first sight. However, everyone who served under his command knew perfectly well that, deep inside, he was a kind and friendly man.”

In May 1941 Leonid Govorov, then an artillery Major-General, was put in charge of an artillery academy.  Less that three weeks later the German troops crossed the Soviet border and Govorov was appointed the chief of the artillery of the Western front and was later put at the head of the 5th Army.  It just so happened that his soldiers engaged the advancing enemy on the legendary Borodino field, which almost 130 years before that was the site of the historic Battle of Borodino where the Russian soldiers fought so valiantly against the advancing armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. Fully aware of the parallel, the Soviet troops, from ordinary troopers to their Army commander, dug in their heels and fought selflessly blocking the enemy’s access to Moscow.  The Nazis attacked again and again but each time were beaten back and forced to retreat suffering heavy losses.  The Soviet forces also lost many of their own. The very future of the Western front was now hanging in the balance but, fighting against all odds, General Leonid Govorov remained firmly in control never once letting the enemy break through his defenses…

In December of 1941 the Nazi Germans launched another desperate attempt to seize the Soviet capital. They knew full well that if this fresh new attempt also fell through, they would have no more strength left to launch another offensive. Hating to spend the harsh Russian winter fighting outside the Soviet capital, the Germans were bending over backwards to win out, seizing a Russian village one day only to be kicked out on the other by counterattacking Red Army soldiers. The fierce fighting continued day and night but, thanks to the unbreakable tenacity of the Soviet soldiers and their commanders, including General Govorov, the last make-or-break German advance was equally beaten back.  On December 5th the Red Army launched a major counteroffensive effectively thwarting the enemy’s attempts to break into the Russian capital – a great victory General Leonid Govorov did so much to bring about…

In the spring of 1941 Leonid Govorov took up the command of the Leningrad Front making his name forever remembered in the heroic 900-day defense of the city on the Neva. Leningrad and the Leningraders were the talk of the whole country and everyone was making his best to help the besieged city. General Govorov certainly knew more about what was going on but even he was stunned by what he saw there... The commander of the Leningrad Front was painstakingly studying the enemy positions and eventually knew all he ever wanted to know about the German troop, tank and artillery deployments along the entire length of the front. Govorov immediately grasped the situation and was always in control of his forces. He listened very attentively to what people were telling him but detested too much talk, his orders invariably clear-cut an encouraging independent thinking. He ordered his troops to engage the enemy at various sections of the front. This helped pin down and exhaust the enemy and, on the other hand, uplifted the morale of the Red Army soldiers thus preparing the ground for a future offensive. Here Govorov made ample use of the expertise he had picked up during the Battle of Moscow in the winter of 1941. 

In January 1943 the 900-day-long siege of Leningrad was finally broken and the following year saw the complete routing of the German troops outside the city. And all that time General Govorov was in full command of the Leningrad Front. 

After the war, Marshal Leonid Govorov commanded the Soviet air defenses in his new capacity of a Deputy Minister of Defense. The legendary Soviet Marshal died in 1955 just two years before his 60th birthday…

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Illustrations: B.Bychevsky, “Commander of the Front”, Politizdat, Moscow, 1973