PILOT

Ivan Kozhedub

1920 - 1991

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Marshal of Aviation Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (Russian: Иван Hикитович Кожедуб; Ukrainian: Іван Микитович Кожедуб, romanized: Ivan Mykytovych Kozhedub; 8 June 1920 – 8 August 1991) was a career aviator with the Soviet Air Forces who first came to prominence as a World War II fighter ace. Universally credited with over 60 solo victories, he is considered to be the highest scoring Soviet and Allied fighter pilot of World War II. Kozhedub is one of the few pilots confirmed to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, and the first Soviet pilot to have done so. He was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on three occasions (4 February 1944, 19 August 1944, and 18 August 1945). After World War II, he remained in the military and went on to command the 324th Fighter Aviation Division during Soviet operations in the Korean War. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Ivan Kozhedub is the 12th most popular pilot (down from 11th in 2019), the 176th most popular biography from Ukraine (down from 152nd in 2019) and the most popular Ukrainian Pilot.

Ivan Kozhedub is most famous for his victories in World War II. He is credited with shooting down 352 aircraft, which is the most of any Allied fighter pilot.

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Among PILOTS

Among pilots, Ivan Kozhedub ranks 12 out of 71. Before him are Sabiha Gökçen, Hanna Reitsch, Adolf Galland, Ernst Udet, Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, and Francis Gary Powers. After him are Hermann Graf, Chuck Yeager, Marina Raskova, Valery Chkalov, Mathias Rust, and Joseph Kittinger.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1920, Ivan Kozhedub ranks 81. Before him are Alicia Alonso, Richard Farnsworth, Kim Yong-ju, Setsuko Hara, Jack Warden, and Arthur Hailey. After him are Franklin J. Schaffner, Albert Barillé, Jaan Kross, P. D. James, Gene Tierney, and Dorothea Binz. Among people deceased in 1991, Ivan Kozhedub ranks 48. Before him are Salvador Luria, Leo Fender, Alfonso García Robles, Richard Stone, George Stigler, and Tony Richardson. After him are Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Daigoro Kondo, Jean Arthur, Gene Tierney, James Irwin, and Lee Remick.

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In Ukraine

Among people born in Ukraine, Ivan Kozhedub ranks 176 out of 1,365. Before him are Georgy Pyatakov (1890), Moshé Feldenkrais (1904), Maria Prymachenko (1908), Pavel Popovich (1930), Jacob Frank (1726), and Yuri Kondratyuk (1897). After him are Anatoly Fomenko (1945), Richard von Mises (1883), Otto Preminger (1905), David Bronstein (1924), Efim Bogoljubov (1889), and Heinrich Neuhaus (1888).

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Among PILOTS In Ukraine

Among pilots born in Ukraine, Ivan Kozhedub ranks 1. After him are Igor Volk (1937), Janina Lewandowska (1908), Polina Osipenko (1907), and Natalya Meklin (1922).

Ukrainian born Pilots

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