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)因发明了历史上最知名的AK-47突击步枪而被誉为前苏联的英雄，他的名字也成了AK-47突击步枪的代名词。
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突击步枪制造商Kalashnikov Concern的发言人Yelena Filatova说，此前一直长期患病的卡拉什尼科夫周一在俄罗斯伊热夫斯克(Izhevsk)去世，享年94岁。她没有透露更多信息。
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.
卡拉什尼科夫曾说，设计上述自动步枪是为了在二战后保卫祖国。但AK-47突击步枪及其随后型号的步枪和仿制枪成为了全球军队和游击队的主要武器。该突击步枪质量轻、耐用、制造成本低且易于维护，轻易就能发射出一连串致命的子弹，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年问世后，AK-47突击步枪的设计被广泛普及，估计迄今已经生产了1亿支。AK是Avtomat Kalashnikova的缩写，即卡拉什尼科夫的自动步枪。
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.'
卡拉什尼科夫说，AK-47成为了游击军所选择的武器，这令他感到很遗憾。他在2003年对英国《卫报》(Guardian)说，这就像是妖怪从瓶子里逃了出来，完全开始以自己的方式行动，向我不希望看到的方向行动。但他补充说：我夜里还是能熟睡。尽管有人被AK-47打死，但那不是因为设计者，而是因为政治。
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简介中包括了带有神话色彩的部分，这主要是由于共产主义宣传机构急于塑造平民英雄的形象。根据已刊出的报道，他出生在几乎算是文盲的哥萨克家庭。他们家在偏远的阿尔泰(Altai)地区务农。
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.
但在上世纪30年代斯大林(Stalin)的农业集体化时代，他的父亲被视为阶级敌人，他们家失去了自己的土地。在全家被驱逐到西伯利亚地区托木斯克后不久，他的父亲便去世了。
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，但在机械方面颇有才能。他说他曾梦想成为一名诗人。但二战开始了，他加入了一支坦克旅。在战争初期受伤后，他被安排到一个武器实验室。
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.
前苏联的工程师开发出了一种较小的新型枪支弹药，苏军在战后宣布展开一场竞赛，设计能使用上述弹药的枪支。卡拉什尼科夫和一个团队合作，设计出的枪支最终获胜。之后，他与该项目的绘图员结婚。
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.
在俄罗斯，卡拉什尼科夫成为了英雄，并成为了多本传记的主角。他曾两次被授予社会主义劳动英雄(Hero of Socialist Labor)称号，这也是前苏联的最高荣誉之一。2009年，他被授予俄罗斯联邦英雄(Hero of the Russian Federation)称号。他还曾是前苏联橡皮图章立法机构最高苏维埃(Supreme Soviet)的成员。
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多岁，在俄罗斯伊热夫斯克的武器工厂担任首席设计师和顾问。那里也是第一支AK-47突击步枪诞生的地方。
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.
该突击步枪目前仍旧没有表现出过气的迹象。2013年秋季，俄罗斯总统普京(Vladimir Putin)宣布他订购了一支升级型号的AK-47突击步枪。
'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年纪念AK-47突击步枪问世60周年的活动上，卡拉什尼科夫说，都是纳粹德国人让我成为了枪支设计师。