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
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.
country children book
My aim was to create armaments to protect the borders of my motherland. It is not my fault that the Kalashnikov became very well-known in the world; that it was used in many troubled places. I think the policies of these countries are to blame, not the designers. Man is born to protect his family, his children, his wife. But I want you to know that apart from armaments, I have written three books in which I try to educate our youth to show respect for their families, for old people, for history.
sleep agreement ak-47
I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.
gun ak-47 fool
When I see Bin Laden with his AK-47, I got nervous. But what can I do, terrorists aren't fools: they too chose the most reliable guns.
ak-47 people facts
The fact that people die because of an AK-47 is not because of the designer, but because of politics.