Ivan Platonovich Grave (Russian: Иван Платонович Граве) (25 November [O.S.
13 November] 1874 in Kazan – March 3, 1960 in Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet scientist in the field of artillery, Doctor of Technical Sciences (1939), professor (1927), member of the Academy of Artillery Sciences (1947-1953), Major General of the Engineer Corps (1942).
In 1916, Grave invented a missile powered by smokeless powder and launched from mobile launchers, and first experiments of primitive liquid-fueled rockets, and therefore he is also known as father of Katyusha.
[2] Ivan Grave was one of the founders of the Soviet school of internal ballistics.
[3] In 1938 Ivan Grave was arrested under the false accusation of participating in the "Military-Fascist Plot," but was released in February 1939 after denunciation of "Yezhovshchina" (the reign of the then NKVD chief Yezhov) and during campaign against slander by Joseph Stalin's order as a particularly valuable specialist.