Kroshchenko Ivan Ilyich was born in July 1930 in the Ukrainian city of Akhtyrka, Sumy region, in a large family. The father worked at the factory, the mother was a housewife. Ivan was 11 years old when the war began. Already on August 23, 1941, that part of Ukraine where the Kroshchenko family lived was occupied by the Germans. After the liberation in August 1943, life in the city improved. The school continued classes interrupted during the occupation; it was possible to walk around the city and go to the forest without a fear. After graduating from the mechanization technical school in Akhtyrka in 1949, the new specialist with a mechanic diploma left for distribution to Moldova, but returned home a year later. He worked at the Kharkov plant. Labour roads brought him to the Tambov region in 1953,the Pichaevsky district. He worked as a senior mechanic for labour-intensive processes at MTS, later as a chief engineer. After graduating from the Michurinsk Fruit and Vegetable Institute, he worked at engineering position in the state farm "Rudkovsky" for some time. In the early 1970s, I. Kroshchenko was transferred to the collective farm "Collectivist" in the Nikiforovsky district, where he worked for almost ten years. The last time before his retirement, Ivan Ilyich worked as deputy manager for trade in the Nikiforovskaya agricultural machinery association. For conscientious work Ivan Ilyich was awarded medals: "For Labour Distinction", "For Valiant Labour", numerous certificates of honour.