9 June 2015
They did not return from the battlefield. Mikhail Makogonov
Grandmaster Evgeniy Solozhenkin looks into the fates of Soviet masters died in battle during the Great Patriotic War.
Mikhail Makogonov (1900 — 1943?)
Third right in the second row is M. Makogonov, VI Soviet championship, 1929
Mikhail Andreevich Makogonov was the elder brother of IM Vladimir Makogonov, who played in USSR championships many times and participated in the famous radio match between USSR and USA in 1945, eminent theorist and chess coach.
Not much has been written about Mikhail Makogonov. His student, prominent journalist Valery Asrian, published a book "Vladimir Makagonov" ("FiS", so-called “Black series” of biography books of famous chess players), where he devoted several pages to his brother Mikhail.
The second issue of the 64-magazine in the same 1990 included Asrian's article about Mikhail Makogonov, where he practically repeated what was written in the book.
Unfortunately Valery Asrian gives no details about Mikhail Makogonov's death, which is especially disappointing when we take into account personal concept of the article.
Boris Weinstein in his book did not mention the year of Makagonov's death at all, in spite of the fact that he dedicated him the whole chapter.
A little bit more accurate is Chapai Sultanov, Honored Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of Azerbaijan, in his book "About chess and not only" (Baku, 2009):
"There was no other cultural sector, which took care of the specialists in the same way", proudly stated Boris Weinstein, who was able to resume the work of the All-Union chess section in April 1942. Top chess players were held over and evacuated far into the country. (It saved Vladimir Makogonov, while his brother Mikhail, deprived of the master's rank during the "inspection" in 1935, died in the Kursk Battle)."
M.A. Makogonov was called up for Red Army in December 1941. Officially the year of Makagonov's death is considered to be 1943. Is it true or not? Let's try to find out.
Mikhail Makogonov's biography includes the wrong birth place – Baku. In fact, Mikhail was born in the non-existing now sloboda Vozdvizhenskaya, located on the territory of present-day Chechnya, where, according to Asrian, Makogonovs' father Andrei Petrovich was given a small parcel of land at the end of his service in the Imperial Army. In 1905 the family moved to Baku suburb. This place of birth is shown in the document of Department of officers losses individual metering in the Main Personnel Directorate of the USSR Armed Forces:
Last name: Makagovov
Name: Mikhail
Patronymic name: Andreevich
Date of birth/Age:__.__.1900
Birth place: Groznenskaya obl., Vozdvizhenskaya sloboda
Date and place of calling up for military service: 10.12.1941 Leninsky RVC, Azerbaijan SSR, Baku, Leninsky distr.
Military rank: senior lieutenant
Reason of departure: went missing
Departure date: __.11.1942
Name of information source: Central Archives of Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
Fund number of information source: 33
Register number of information source: 744826
File number of information source: 118
In 1947 the wife Arutcheva Varvara Avetovna (1906–1991) made a request. Remember that Makogonov was reported missing from November 1942. Spelling error in the last name probably was made by the author of the document, who might have liked the letter "A" too much: besides the wrong last name "MakAgonov" there was a mistake "slAboda" in the text. The last name of Makogonov brothers in the prewar chess periodicals was always written with "O".
From another document we learn that the last duty area of the regiment engineer, senior lieutenant M.A. Makogonov was the 195th rifle division (II f):
Novomoskovsk Red Banner rifle division's (II f) tour of duty is described in the book, published in 1979. It can be found on the net. http://www.history.h15.ru/papers/195sd.htm
The thing is that the 195th rifle division (II f), according to the authors of the book, did not participate in the Battle of Kursk. In July 1943 it was fighting southward, near Izium, and in August it was liberating Donetsk region during Donbass Strategic Offensive. That's why the information of C. Sultanov about M. Makagonov's death in 1943 during the Battle of Kursk is questionable. The fact that Makogonov was reported missing from 1942, doesn't support this version too.
In summer and autumn, up to the instruction of General Headquarters about decommission from 4 October 1942, the 195th rifle division (II f) was subordinated to the 3rd reserve army and conducted bloody battles for the liberation of Voronezh. Losses reports seemed not to be kept in the proper way.
Taking into account the official departure document, the version that Mikhail Makogonov died on summer or autumn of 1942 near Voronezh seems more plausible.
Of course, it is just a guess.
Sources:
Chapai Sultanov "About chess and not only" (Baku, 2009)
The United Data bank "Memorial"
