About the Author

Lyudmila Mykhailvna Pavlichenko was born in 1916 in a small Ukrainian town. In 1941, she joined the 25th Chapayev Rifle Division and went on to become one of the highest scoring snipers of the war. She was withdrawn from active duty after being wounded and, in 1942, she was part of a delegation sent to the West. Back in Russia, she never returned to combat but trained snipers. After the war, Pavlichenko finished her education at Kiev University and became a historian. She died on 10 October 1974 at the age of 58 and was buried in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.