Vasily Alekseyevich Degtyaryov (also spelt Degtyarev) was a Russian firearms engineer and designer.
History
Degtyaryov headed the first firearms design bureau in Soviet Russia, and during that time, designed quite a few firearms. For his contributions, he received many awards, including the Hero for Socialist Labor award (the second such person to receive said award, the first being Joseph Stalin) and the Stalin State Prize (including one posthumous prize).
Works
Degtyaryov is known for his work on the DP, DShK (jointly with Georgy Shpagin) and RPD light machine guns.