Kalashnikov was born on 10 November 1919 in Kuriya, Altai Krai, Russian SFSR. He served in World War II and created many weapons and bombs including the AK-47 and a submachine gun. He was married to Ekaterina Kalashnikova. They had three children, one of them was gun designer Victor Kalashnikov. He lived in Izhevsk, Udmurtia. 