Template:AWA World Heavyweight Championship
{{Infobox person |box_width = 27em |image = |image_size = 225px |caption = |birth_name = Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov |birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|11|10|df=yes}} |death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|12|23|1919|11|10|df=yes}} |death_place= [[Izhevsk]], [[Udmurtia]], Russia |birth_place = [[Kurya, Kuryinsky District, Altai Krai|Kurya]], [[Altai Krai]], [[Russian SFSR]] |death_cause = Gastric hemorrhage |native_name = Михаил Тимофеевич Калашников |native_name_lang = ru |nationality = Russian |religion = [[Russian Orthodox]] |known_for = Designer of the [[AK-47]] and [[AK-74]] |occupation = {{Unbulleted list | Small arms designer | Russian lieutenant general }} |parents = {{Unbulleted list | Aleksandra Frolovna Kalashnikova (née Kaverina) | Timofey Aleksandrovich Kalashnikov }} |spouse = Ekaterina Viktorovna Kalashnikova (née Moiseyeva; 1921–77; her death) |children = {{Unbulleted list | [[Victor Kalashnikov|Victor]] (son; b. 1942) | Nelli (daughter; b. 1942) | Elena (daughter; b. 1948) | Natalya (daughter; 1953–83) }} |awards = {{Unbulleted list | [[USSR State Prize]] (1949)<ref name=bse/> | [[Hero of Socialist Labour]] (1958)<ref name=bse/> | [[Stalin Prize]] (1949)<ref name=kpss/><ref name=r3/> | [[Lenin Prize]] (2)<ref name=bse/> | [[Hero of the Russian Federation]] | [[Order of St. Andrew]] | [[Order For Merit to the Fatherland]] II cl. }} }} [[Lieutenant-general]] '''Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников}}; 10 November 1919 – 23 December 2013) was a Russian general, inventor, military engineer, writer and [[small arms]] designer. He is most famous for developing the [[AK-47]] [[assault rifle]] and its improvements, [[AKM]] and [[AK-74]], as well as the [[PK machine gun]].<ref name=bse/> Kalashnikov was, according to himself, a self-taught tinkerer who combined innate mechanical skills with the study of weaponry to design arms that achieved battlefield ubiquity.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news | url =http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/world/europe/mikhail-kalashnikov-creator-of-soviet-era-ak-47-weapon-is-dead-at-age-94.html?pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB&_r=0| title = Mikhail Kalashnikov, Creator of AK-47, Dies at 94|work =[[The New York Times]]|author= Chivers, C. J. |date=23 December 2013| accessdate = 25 December 2013}}</ref> Even though Kalashnikov felt sorrow at the weapons' uncontrolled distribution, he took pride in his inventions and in their reputation for reliability, emphasizing that his rifle is "a weapon of defense" and "not a weapon for offense".<ref name="NYT"/>