Aleksa Dundić

Aleksa Dundić (real name Toma, but also known under his pseudonyms Ivan, Alejo, Aleksa, and, in literature, as Oleko or Red Dundich; April 13, 1896 - July 8, 1920) was a Croatian communist, a prominent participant in Russia's October Revolution. A popular character in Russian literature (celebrated for his riding skills and courage), Dundić was the only person from Croatia to be honoured with the Order of the Red Banner.

Biography

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia and other sources ^[1][2] call Dundić Croatian. Some other sources, e.g. the Soviet Historical Encyclopedia call him Serbian.^[3]

Soviet Sources (Great Soviet Encyclopedia)

Dundić, Toma (also called himself Ivan, in literature - Oleko), born April 13, 1896 (August 12, 1897 by other data) in the village of Grabovac, near Šestanovac in Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (now Croatia) died on the 8th of July, 1920 by Rovno, Ukraine. Dundić was a hero of Russian Civil War.

He was born into a peasant family, of Croatian descent. At the age of 12 he went to South America, where he worked for 4 years as a shepherd in Argentine and Brasil. In 1914 he was recruited as a private in the Austro-Hungarian Army. During the First World War of 1914-1918 in May, 1916 Dundic was taken prisoner by Russian troops near Lutsk. He volunteered to join the First Division of Yugoslav Volunteer Corps in Russia. From the middle of 1917, he was a member of the Red Guard (presumably in Odessa). In March, 1918, he headed a guerrilla squad in the region of Bahmut (now Artemovsk^{[disambiguation needed ]}) that later joined the Morozov-Donetsk division, which retreated together with the army of K.E. Voroshilov towards Tsaritsyn in June 1918. He participated in the defence of Tsaritsyn as a member of an international battalion, then with cavalry brigades of Kryuchkovsky and Bulatkin. From 1919, he served in the Special Don Caucasus Division of Semyon Budyonny (later in the cavalry corps and the First Mounted Army). He was deputy regiment commander, special aide to Semyon Budyonny, commander of mounted division at the headquarters of the First Mounted Army. Dundic took part in numerous battles and he was wounded several times.

The legendary courage of "Red Dundic" brought him ardent love and popularity among Budenny's troops. From June 1919 he was the deputy commander of the 36th regiment of the 6th cavalry division. He was killed in battle and awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Other Soviet Sources

Aleksa Dundic was born of Serb descent. He achieved education in the Kingdom of Serbia in Niš. After finishing high school he went to mechanical workshop. In 1913 he joined the Serbian Army in the Balkan wars and fought during the First World War. In 1916 he was captured by Austro-Hungarian armed forces, but he managed to flee to the Russian Empire and finish graduation in Odessa. He fought on the Romanian front, where he was wounded. In October 1917, when the revolution broke out, he joined the Red Guards.

Aleksa Dundić in popular culture

In 1958, a joint Yugoslav-Soviet film Aleksa Dundić was directed by Leonid Lukov.

References

• "Dundich, Toma", in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, Moscow 1972, Volume 8, page 539, column 1605
• (Russian) Entry at academic.ru
• (Russian) Entry at education.kulichki.net

1. ^ http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enc3p/NT0001E686
2. ^ http://education.kulichki.net/dic/5j.html
3. ^ http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/sie/5890/%D0%94%D0%A3%D0%9D%D0%94%D0%98%D0%A7

External links

• Aleksa Dundić at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Dundic, Toma
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	July 8, 1920
Place of death