Nikolay Fedorovitch Makarov (1914-1988) was born in Sasovo, Ryazan region in a railway machinist’s family. Having completed a 6-year school in 1929, he moved to Ryazan where he was trained as a metalworker. In 1931-1935 he worked as a mechanic in the Sasovo steam-engine repair depot. In 1936 he was admitted to Tula Mechanical College, which he graduated in 1941. During WWII, he worked as a shift foreman, senior foreman and lead designer at a defense industry company that specialized in the production of the famous (PPSh) submachine-guns under the guidance of the chief designer Shpagin. In 1945 he joined the company’s design bureau where he worked until his retirement in 1974.

PM became N.F.Makarov’s major success. He later said: ‘My success in having created this pistol was primarily due to the colossal effort I put into my job. Enough to say that then I worked seven days a week, starting at 8 AM and going to bed at small hours in the morning. As a result, I was able to go through twice or even three times the number of test-pieces as compared to my competitors, which undoubtedly was instrumental in achieving the pistol’s great reliability and dependability’.

His incredible commitment, diligence and perfectionism couldn’t but produce tangible results. Subsequently Nikolay Makarov participated in designing aircraft machine-guns and rocket launch systems.

The work of Nikolay Makarov was highly appreciated by the Russian government. He became a Hero of the Soviet Union, laureate of two USSR State Awards and the S.I.Mosin Award. He was decorated with two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner and a number of medals.