The collection of the Victory Museum includes a portrait of General of the Army Ivan Tyulenev. The painting was created by the Russian artist Sergey Nikolaevich Troshin.

In October 1913, Ivan Tyulenev was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army. Tyulenev was a man of rare courage, and by the time Russia withdrew from World War I, he had been awarded the full set of Saint George Orders.

After the February Revolution of 1917, Tyulenev was elected member of the regimental committee of soldiers’ deputies. The Russian Civil War was a big breakthrough in the career of the future general. Tyulenev volunteered to join the Red Army in 1918 and was appointed platoon commander. By the end of the war, he commanded a cavalry division.

In the period before World War II, Tyulenev graduated from the Military Academy. He occupied senior command positions and continued his education. After the introduction of the General rank in the Red Army, he became one of the first Generals of the Army, alongside future Marshals Georgy Zhukov and Kirill Meretskov. He was also in charge of the Moscow Military District.

When the Great Patriotic War began, Tyulenev was appointed commander of the Southern Front. However, he had little success in this position. In the directive of August 12, 1941, Joseph Stalin criticized the front commander rather severely saying,

On August 30, 1941, Ivan Tyulenev suffered a serious injury, and after recovering, he took charge of preparing the reserves. It was only in February 1942 that he was appointed Deputy Commander of the South-Eastern Direction. He took charge of building the line of defense in the Caucasus region.

On May 15, 1942, Ivan Tyulenev was appointed Commander of the Transcaucasian Front. The battles with the German forces in the Caucasus area were the most important ones for Tyulenev as a military commander. He saved the oil fields of Baku from the invaders. The highlight of Tyulenev’s career was the destruction of the German forces near Mozdok and Malgobek.

For some time after the end of World War II, Ivan Tyulenev remained the commander of a military district, and later he held senior positions at the Ministry of Defense. In 1978, he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.