Yakov Pavlov

Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov (Я́ков Федо́тович Па́влов; 4 October 1917 – 29 September 1981) was a Soviet Red Army soldier who became a Hero of the Soviet Union on June 27, 1945 for his role in defending "Pavlov's House" during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Biography
Born in 1917 to a peasant family in the small village of Krestovaya in northwestern Russia (present-day Novgorod Oblast), Pavlov joined the Red Army in 1938. During the German-Soviet War, he fought on the Southwestern, Stalingrad, 3rd Ukrainian and 2nd Belorussian fronts. Pavlov was a commander of a machine gun unit, an artilleryman, and a commander of a reconnaissance unit with the rank of Senior Sergeant.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, on the night of September 27, 1942, Pavlov's platoon recaptured a four-story residential building, seized by the German Army and defended it against continual attack by the Germans until relieved by advancing Soviet forces two months later. The building and its defense went down in history as "Pavlov's House" (Дом Павлова). For his actions in Stalingrad, he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Star and numerous other medals.

Post-war, he joined the Communist Party. He was elected three times as Deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Pavlov died on 29 September 1981, and was buried in Novgorod.