Aleksa Dundić

Toma Dundic was one of the greatest heroes of Russia's October Revolution.

He is popular as a character in Russian literature, known for his riding skills and courage. Dundic was the only person from former Yugoslavia to be honoured with the highest October Revoultion Awards.

He was born on 13.4.1896, in Grabovac, Dalmatia, Croatia (then a part of Austria-Hungary). He died on 8.7.1920, around Rovno, Ukraine.

Life

He was born in a Croatian Catholic family and the surname 'Dundic' still exists in the region of his birth. He acquired his riding skills as a boy in South America (Argentina, Brasil), where he got his nickname "Alejo" (after spanish "Alejandro"), which later bacame "Oleko" in Russia and "Aleksa" in ex-Yugoslavia.

During the First World War (1914-18), he was drafted into the Austrian-Hungarian Army. He joined the Russian Red Army in 1916, where he played a significant role in battles, in cavalry divisions under the leadership of the legendary commander Budonni, who claimed that Dundic had "a strengh of a lion and a soul of a child".

He died in battle in 1920.

Russian Sources

His origin was a subject to polemic among Yugoslavs, until the matter was settled by the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

Citation from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Russian language):

Dundic, Toma (also called himself Ivan, in literature - Oleko), born April 13, 1896 (August 12, 1897 by other data) in the village of Grabovats, Dalmatia, died on the 8th of July, 1920 by Rovno. Hero of Russian Civil War. Born in a peasant family, Croatian by nationality. At the age of 12 he went to South America, where he worked for 4 years as a shepheard 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 under Lutzk. He volunteered to join the First Division of Serbian 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 guerilla squad in the region of Bahmut (now Artemovsk) that later joined the Morozov-Donetsk division, which retreated together with the army of K.E. Voroshilov towards Tsaritsin in June 1918. He participated in the defence of Tsaritsin 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 S.M. Budenny (later in the cavalry corps and the First Mounted Army). He was deputy regiment commander, special aid to Budenni, 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.

References

1) The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3. edition, Moscow 1972, Volume 8, page 539, column 1605.

2) [1].

3) [2].