Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, died in 2013 at the age of 94.
Though he often shrugged off criticisms that he'd given the world a
tool that has helped murder millions (he once compared himself to a "woman who bears children,” declaring himself “always proud”
of his creation), months before his
The letter was made public in 2014, after being published in the Russian newspaper Izvestia and later picked up by Western outlets.
The missive offers an unvarnished look at a man who, taking stock of
his life, came to regret what he once considered his greatest
achievement and contribution. "The longer I live," Kalashnikov
continued, "the more this question drills itself into my brain and the
more I wonder why the Lord allowed man the devilish desires of envy,
greed and aggression.”
