Background
Antonina Zubkova was born on October 12, 1920, in the village of Semion, Ryazhsky district, Ryazan province, in a peasant family. Little is known about her early life.
ul. Leninskiye Gory, 1, Moscow, Russia, 119991
In 1938, Antonina Zubkovkova entered the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University without exams.
1947
ul. Leninskiye Gory, 1, Moscow, Russia, 119991
MSU students: Antonina Leontyevna Zubkova, Evdokia Borisovna Pasko, Ekaterina Vasilievna Ryabova, Irina Vyacheslavovna Rakobolskaya, Nina Alekseevna Lobkovskaya.
ul. Leninskiye Gory, 1, Moscow, Russia, 119991
In 1938, Antonina Zubkovkova entered the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University without exams.
Antonina Zubkova was born on October 12, 1920, in the village of Semion, Ryazhsky district, Ryazan province, in a peasant family. Little is known about her early life.
After graduating from high school with a gold medal in 1938, Antonina Zubkova entered the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University without exams. Because of the outbreak of the war, Antonina interrupted her studies and joined the army. In 1948, she graduated from the Mechanics and Mathematics Department of Moscow State University and entered graduate school.
She also graduated from navigational courses at the Engels military aviation school.
After passing the examination session, Antonina Zubkova wrote a statement about her voluntary desire to participate in hostilities in the Komsomol Central Committee and the military registration and enlistment office, but she was refused a voluntary admission. In the summer of 1941, she took part in the work of the labor front near Moscow. Upon returning to Moscow after that, she worked in a brigade involved in extinguishing incendiary bombs. She also took part in the construction of defensive fortifications near Moscow.
In December 1942, after graduating from an aviation school, she fell into the 587th Borisov Bomber Aviation Regiment (later it was renamed the 125th Guards Dive-Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 4th Guards Bomber Aviation Division of the 5th Guards Bomber Aviation Corps), under the command of Marina Raskova. However, her commander Marina Raskova soon died.
Fought on the fronts of World War II from April 1943, the navigator of the regiment squadron. She participated in this regiment in the defense of Stalingrad, in battles to break the Blue Line in the Kuban (during this period of the war she was awarded the first Order of the Red Star), then in the Crimea. Subsequently, the regiment flew to the Western Front and launched an offensive in Belarus, the Baltic states and East Prussia.
Throughout the war, Antonina Zubkova flew together with Nadezhda Fedutenko. By May 1945, it made 56 sorties on a diving bomber Pe-2, blew up 3 warehouses with enemy ammunition, dropped 50,000 kg of bombs. She kept a front-line diary in which she recorded all sorties. During the war, she actively participated in political studies in the regiment.
In September 1945, Antonina left the reserve and returned to study at the university. After graduating from Moscow State University, she worked as a teacher at the N.E. Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy.
Antonina Zubkova flew 56 missions with Nadezhda Fedutenko, an experienced prewar pilot, and was frequently appointed divisional deputy leader for the duration of bombing missions. On September 2, 1943, Zubkova led fifty-four aircraft onto their target after her divisional leader was shot down, and on April 16, 1944, in the Baltic area, Zubkova again led her divisional column. During the subsequent debriefing at corps headquarters, senior officers and generals were most impressed with Zubkova’s aerial photographs. She was one of five from her wing to be awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union on August 18, 1945.
Since 1944, Antonina was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Quotations:
"Solving the integrals, reading Euler and Cauchy in comparison with what suddenly fell upon the country seemed somehow unnecessary and pointless."
"Forgive me, my dear Earth. I will throw bombs on you, but it is necessary for both of us ... Let cruel aliens disappear from your roads."
Friends recalled that Antonina Zubkova was a very gifted person and she was expected to have the future of a famous scientist.
Physical Characteristics: Antonina was a dark girl with smoothly combed dark blond hair and brooding blue eyes, with a strong-willed, stubborn chin. She was notable for her small stature and was even afraid that she would not be accepted as volunteers for recruitment because of her height.
Quotes from others about the person
"She did a lot for the motherland as a warrior. She could have done a lot in science." - V.V. Golubev, professor of Moscow State University
"Do not look that she is so small. It’s quite hot for the Nazis. She's bombing great." - Nadezhda Fedutenko
Antonina Zubkova was not married and didn't have children.
