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Acclaimed a hero in the Soviet Union for creating the most popular assault rifle in history, Mikhail Kalashnikov was the namesake of the AK-47.
卡拉什尼科夫(Mikhail Kalashnikov)因發明了歷史上最知名的AK-47突擊步槍而被譽為前蘇聯的英雄，他的名字也成了AK-47突擊步槍的代名詞。
Mr. Kalashnikov died in Izhevsk on Monday at age 94, after a long illness, said Yelena Filatova, a spokeswoman for the gun's manufacturer, Kalashnikov Concern. She didn't give further details.
AK-47突擊步槍制造商Kalashnikov Concern的發言人Yelena Filatova說，此前一直長期患病的卡拉什尼科夫周一在俄羅斯伊熱夫斯克(Izhevsk)去世，享年94歲。她沒有透露更多信息。
Mr. Kalashnikov said the automatic rifle was designed 'to protect the motherland' after World War II. But the AK-47 and its descendants and knockoffs became mainstays for armies and guerrilla soldiers around the globe. Light, durable, cheap to manufacture and simple to maintain, the rifle creates a deadly spray of bullets without much of a kick.
卡拉什尼科夫曾說，設計上述自動步槍是為了在二戰后保衛祖國。但AK-47突擊步槍及其隨后型號的步槍和仿制槍成為了全球軍隊和游擊隊的主要武器。該突擊步槍質量輕、耐用、制造成本低且易于維護，輕易就能發射出一連串致命的子彈，而且后座力不大。
The design of the Avtomat Kalashnikova--or Kalashnikov's automatic--spread widely after its rollout in 1949. It is estimated that 100 million have been produced.
1949年問世后，AK-47突擊步槍的設計被廣泛普及，估計迄今已經生產了1億支。AK是Avtomat Kalashnikova的縮寫，即卡拉什尼科夫的自動步槍。
Mr. Kalashnikov said he regretted that it became the weapon of choice for guerrilla armies. 'It was like a genie out of the bottle, and it began to walk all on its own and in directions I did not want,' he told Britain's Guardian newspaper in 2003. But he added, 'I sleep soundly. The fact that people die because of an AK-47 is not because of the designer, but because of politics.'
卡拉什尼科夫說，AK-47成為了游擊軍所選擇的武器，這令他感到很遺憾。他在2003年對英國《衛報》(Guardian)說，這就像是妖怪從瓶子里逃了出來，完全開始以自己的方式行動，向我不希望看到的方向行動。但他補充說：我夜里還是能熟睡。盡管有人被AK-47打死，但那不是因為設計者，而是因為政治。
Mr. Kalashnikov's biography took on near-mythic proportions, propelled by a Communist media apparatus hungry for peasant heroes. He was the child of near-illiterate Cossacks, born in the remote region of Altai, where the family farmed, according to published reports.
卡拉什尼科夫的生平簡介中包括了帶有神話色彩的部分，這主要是由于共產主義宣傳機構急于塑造平民英雄的形象。根據已刊出的報道，他出生在幾乎算是文盲的哥薩克家庭。他們家在偏遠的阿爾泰(Altai)地區務農。
But during Stalin's agricultural collectivization in 1930, his father was deemed a class enemy and the family lost its land. The father died soon after the family was deported to the Siberian region of Tomsk.
但在上世紀30年代斯大林(Stalin)的農業集體化時代，他的父親被視為階級敵人，他們家失去了自己的土地。在全家被驅逐到西伯利亞地區托木斯克后不久，他的父親便去世了。
Short of stature and mechanically adept, Mr. Kalashnikov said he dreamed of becoming a poet. But as World War II got under way, he joined a tank brigade. Injured early in the war, he was assigned to a firearms lab.
卡拉什尼科夫身材不高大，但在機械方面頗有才能。他說他曾夢想成為一名詩人。但二戰開始了，他加入了一支坦克旅。在戰爭初期受傷后，他被安排到一個武器實驗室。
Soviet engineers had developed a new, smaller gun cartridge, and after the war the Soviet Army declared a contest to design a gun to fire it. Working with a team, Mr. Kalashnikov created the winning design. He later married the project's draftswoman.
前蘇聯的工程師開發出了一種較小的新型槍支彈藥，蘇軍在戰后宣布展開一場競賽，設計能使用上述彈藥的槍支。卡拉什尼科夫和一個團隊合作，設計出的槍支最終獲勝。之后，他與該項目的繪圖員結婚。
Mr. Kalashnikov became a national hero and subject of multiple biographies in Russian. He was twice named a Hero of Socialist Labor, one the U.S.S.R.'s highest honors, and in 2009 a Hero of the Russian Federation. He also served as a member of the Supreme Soviet, the U.S.S.R.'s rubber-stamp legislative body.
在俄羅斯，卡拉什尼科夫成為了英雄，并成為了多本傳記的主角。他曾兩次被授予社會主義勞動英雄(Hero of Socialist Labor)稱號，這也是前蘇聯的最高榮譽之一。2009年，他被授予俄羅斯聯邦英雄(Hero of the Russian Federation)稱號。他還曾是前蘇聯橡皮圖章立法機構最高蘇維埃(Supreme Soviet)的成員。
He continued to work into his 80s as the chief designer and a consultant at the arms factory in Izhevsk, Russia, where the AK-47 was first manufactured.
他一直工作到80多歲，在俄羅斯伊熱夫斯克的武器工廠擔任首席設計師和顧問。那里也是第一支AK-47突擊步槍誕生的地方。
The rifle's use shows no signs of flagging. In the fall of 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had ordered an upgraded version of the AK-47.
該突擊步槍目前仍舊沒有表現出過氣的跡象。2013年秋季，俄羅斯總統普京(Vladimir Putin)宣布他訂購了一支升級型號的AK-47突擊步槍。
'Blame the Nazi Germans for making me become a gun designer,' Mr. Kalashnikov said in 2007 at an event marking the 60th anniversary of the gun.
在2007年紀念AK-47突擊步槍問世60周年的活動上，卡拉什尼科夫說，都是納粹德國人讓我成為了槍支設計師。
