Mikhail Kalashnikov
Mikhail Kalashnikov
Lieutenant-General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikovwas 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, the AKM and AK-74, as well as the PK machine gun...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionInventor
Date of Birth10 November 1919
CountryRussian Federation
country gun ak-47
The AK-47 is not a device of aggression ... I devised this machine-gun for the security of my country.
kissing men noses
Life can make you do many things, even kiss a man with a runny nose.
design finals dozen
I tried a dozen different modifications that were rejected. But they all served as a path to the final design.
simple want arms
Terrorists also want to use simple and reliable arms.
boys trying wells
I was trying to perform as best as possible. I was a boy at the time, but worked well with the sickle.
country liberty proud
My work is my life, and my life is my work. I invented this assault rifle to defend my country. Today, I am proud that it has become for many synonymous with liberty.
hands design rifles
I am still ready to shake hands with anyone who designs a better assault rifle than mine.
design born ability
I was probably born with some designing abilities.
home different sake
I have continued to work at different things, and rebuilt my home all by myself. I did it for the sake of satisfaction at doing something. I did it because I happened to be where I was.
ak-47 proud invention
I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists.
mother baby children
You see, with [designing]weapons, it is like a woman who bears children. For months she carries her baby and thinks about it. A designer does much the same thing with a prototype. I felt like a mother - always proud. It is a special feeling, as if you were awarded with a special award. I shot with it a lot. I still do now. That is why I am hard of hearing.
running ak-47 wanted
I wanted to invent an engine that could run for ever. I could have developed a new train, had I stayed in the railway. It would have looked like the AK-47 though.
country sleep night
It is the Germans who are responsible for the fact that I became a fabricator of arms. If not for them, I would have constructed agricultural machines. (...) If someone asks me how I can sleep at night knowing that my arms have killed millions of people, I respond that I have no problem sleeping, my conscience is clean. I constructed arms to defend my country.
ak-47 fire elements
It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon.