Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich biography personal life. Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich - biography. Other biography options

The biography of Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak has always been of great interest to posterity. It’s not for nothing that Kolchak is still considered one of the most extraordinary and controversial figures in Russian history.

The future admiral was born in the late autumn of 1874 in the northern capital. For three years he studied at the gymnasium, after which he entered one of the maritime schools. There he began to learn the basics of maritime affairs.

It was within the walls of this institution that his exceptional talent and extraordinary abilities in naval science were revealed. As a student, he began to go on educational trips, thanks to which he studied hydrology and oceanography.

When he had already become a professional specialist, Kolchak took part in the polar expedition of the famous traveler E. Toll. Researchers tried to establish the coordinates of the island, which is called Sannikov Land. Based on the results of this work, the young scientist was included in the Russian Geographical Society.

When the Russo-Japanese War began, Alexander Vasilyevich was transferred to the military department, where he began to command the destroyer "Angry" in the Port Arthur area.

After the peace treaty, Kolchak continued his career as a scientist. His scientific works related to oceanology and the history of research won respect and honor among polar explorers. And members of the Geographical Society decided to award him the “Golden Constantine Medal,” which in those days was considered the highest sign of respect.

In August 1914, the outbreak struck, and Kolchak began developing the navy. First of all, he began to develop a plan for a mine blockade of German bases. As a result, he headed the Mine Division of the Baltic Fleet.

In 1916, Kolchak became not only a vice admiral, but also the commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

The February revolution found him in Batumi. He swore allegiance to the Provisional Government and went to revolutionary Petrograd. Subsequently, as a military expert, he was invited to the United States and Japan.

All the admiral’s plans were disrupted by the October Revolution. He returned to his homeland only in the fall of 1918. In Omsk, he became the naval and military minister of the “Directory”, and after some time received the post of Supreme Ruler of Russia. Kolchak's troops were able to take the Urals, but soon began to suffer defeats from the Red Army.

During the Civil War, troops actively helped him, but then they betrayed him and in February 1920, the commander-in-chief and Supreme Ruler was shot by the Bolsheviks. It is believed that one of the reasons for the betrayal was Kolchak’s irreconcilable position on the issue of the Russian Empire - he in every possible way prevented its export abroad, considering it an exclusively Russian property.

The personal life of Admiral Kolchak is widely covered in the press and literature. In 1904 he married Sofya Omirova. She bore him three children, two of whom died in childhood. Son Rostislav was born in 1910. After the revolution, Sophia Kolchak and her son emigrated to Paris. Rostislav became a graduate of the Higher School of Diplomatic and Commercial Sciences and worked in one of the banks. When World War II began, he was mobilized, and soon he was captured by the German occupiers. After the war he returned from the camp. He died in 1965. His mother, Kolchak’s wife, died nine years before her son’s death.

Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak

A.V. Kolchak in the uniform of the chief of security of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
Photo from a watercolor by artist A. Sokolov..
"White Omsk". 2008

Descendant of Kolchak Pasha

Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak 1874-1920. Until 1917, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was known as a brilliant officer of the Russian fleet and a hydrologist and Arctic researcher.

The revolution turned his life upside down, forcing him to take the path of brutal political and military struggle, and his best qualities as an officer - patriotism, honesty, dedication - turned against him, bringing him death in a clash with the new Russia, alien to him.

In 1895 - 1896 the young officer took part in a naval expedition to the Far East, sailed in the Pacific Ocean, and became involved in oceanographic and hydrological research. Upon returning to Kronstadt, he published the results of his scientific experiments. In St. Petersburg, he expressed a desire to join Admiral S. Makarov on the icebreaker Ermak, and when this failed, he achieved his inclusion in the Russian polar expedition of E. Toll. During the period of participation in the expedition (1900 - 1902), Alexander Vasilyevich conducted hydrological and other studies, the results of which he published in Izvestia of the Academy of Sciences. He showed himself courageously in the most difficult conditions of icy crossings. In 1903, he spent 42 days on a lifeboat through the coastal Arctic ice in search of Toll's missing sleigh expedition, bringing back documents and geological collections along with the news of his death.

For his participation in polar research, Kolchak was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree.

The Russian Geographical Society awarded him a large gold medal (before him, only N. Nordenskiöld and F. Nansen received it). To this day, an island in the Litke archipelago and a cape on Bennett Island bear the name of Sophia, the bride of Alexander Vasilyevich, later his wife.

In 1906 - 1909 Kolchak worked at the Naval General Staff as head of the tactical department, participated in the development of the shipbuilding program, and taught at the Maritime Academy. In 1909, he published his largest study, “Ice of the Kara and Siberian Seas.” In 1909 - 1910. As captain of the icebreaker "Taimyr" he made a multi-month journey to the Far East. Since the fall of 1910, Alexander Vasilyevich headed the Baltic department of the Naval General Staff. In April 1912, he accepted the offer of the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral N. Essen, to become the commander of the destroyer "Ussuriets", in 1913 he was promoted to captain of the 1st rank and appointed head of the operational unit of the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet.

Proving himself to be a brilliant organizer and analyst, he provided great assistance to Essen in developing a plan of action for the Baltic Fleet in case of war. With the outbreak of the First World War, Kolchak took part in laying minefields in the Gulf of Finland, commanded a mine division, and then commanded naval forces in the Gulf of Riga.

For the skillful organization of military operations against German ships, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree.

Seeing the continued collapse of the Russian armed forces, Alexander Vasilyevich called for an end to “home-grown reforms based on the self-confidence of ignorance.” Faced with the arbitrary actions of the Central Executive Committee of the Council, Kolchak in early May sent a telegram to the Provisional Government asking for his resignation. The arrival of the newly appointed military and naval minister Kerensky to the fleet on May 17 only temporarily defused the situation. Bolshevization of the Black Sea Fleet continued.

On June 6, a meeting of Council deputies decided to take away weapons from officers who were allegedly preparing a “counter-revolutionary plot” and remove the fleet commander from office. When representatives of the ship’s committee came to Kolchak demanding that he surrender his weapons, he chose to throw his St. George’s blade overboard, saying: “If they don’t want us to have weapons, then let him go to sea.” (At the end of June, the officers lifted Kolchak’s dagger from the bottom of the sea and handed it to him with the inscription “To the Knight of Honor Admiral Kolchak from the Union of Officers of the Army and Navy.”) Having handed over command to Rear Admiral Lunin, Alexander Vasilyevich went to Petrograd to report to Kerensky and to In response to the reproaches against him, he accused the Provisional Government of the collapse of the army and navy.

In early August, at the invitation of the American mission in Russia, Kolchak was sent to the United States to assist the allies in preparing military operations. The invitation turned out to be more honorary than business, and at the end of October the Russian admiral decided to return to Russia, choosing the safest route at that time - from San Francisco to the Far East. Having learned on the day of departure about the overthrow of the Provisional Government in Petrograd, he did not attach much importance to it, but upon arrival in Japan he realized a new situation. The news of the Soviet government's intention to take the country out of the war and sign peace with Germany shocked him; Kolchak could no longer return to Russia. In December 1917, he turned to the British Ambassador in Tokyo with a request to accept him into British military service, declaring that “the task of defeating Germany is the only way to the good of my homeland.” Kolchak expressed a desire to go to help the British in Mesopotamia, but, having reached Singapore, he turned back, the British government invited him to stay in the Far East and from there begin the fight against the Bolsheviks.

From April to September 1918, Kolchak in Harbin was engaged in the creation of armed detachments to fight the “German-Bolsheviks.” Soon the situation in Siberia allowed him to travel to Omsk: the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik government of the Ufa Directory, which stood in opposition to Lenin’s Council of People’s Commissars, turned to the vice admiral with a request for cooperation. “Collaboration” with the “All-Russian Government of the Ufa Directory,” in which Kolchak received the post of Minister of War and Navy, ended with the fact that on November 18, with the support of the British, he removed the Directory from power and formed a new council of ministers, which declared him the Supreme Ruler of Russia and the Commander-in-Chief of its armed forces. forces with promotion to admiral. Having assumed emergency powers, Kolchak declared: “My main goal is to create a combat-ready army, defeat the Bolsheviks and establish law and order, so that the people can freely choose for themselves the form of government they wish, and implement the great ideas of freedom now proclaimed throughout to the world."

Kolchak relied on the support of the Siberian Cossacks and the middle peasantry, dissatisfied with surplus appropriation, on the troops of the Czechoslovak corps scattered in Siberia, as well as on comprehensive material assistance from the Entente countries.

By the spring of 1919, he had created significant armed forces, numbering up to 400 thousand people, up to 130 thousand at the front. The White armies of Siberia and the Urals began to actively advance westward, to the Volga, and by the end of April they approached Samara and Kazan. On June 10, Kolchak appointed General Yudenich as commander of the North-Western Army advancing on Petrograd; on June 12, the head of the White movement in the South, General Denikin, announced his subordination to the Supreme Ruler of Russia. Throwing all his forces at the call of Lenin and Trotsky to the Eastern Front. In May - June, the Red Army first stopped Kolchak's armies and then drove them back to the foothills of the Urals.

Book materials used: Kovalevsky N.F.

History of Russian Goverment. Biographies of famous military figures of the 18th - early 20th centuries. M. 1997

Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich is a prominent military leader and statesman of Russia, polar explorer. During the Civil War, he entered the historical chronicles as the leader of the White movement. The assessment of Kolchak’s personality is one of the most controversial and tragic pages in Russian history of the 20th century.

Obzorfoto

Alexander Kolchak was born on November 16, 1874 in the village of Aleksandrovskoye in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, into a family of hereditary nobles. The Kolchakov family gained fame in the military field, serving the Russian Empire for many centuries. His father was a hero of the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean campaign.

Education

Until the age of 11, he was educated at home. In 1885-88. Alexander studied at the 6th gymnasium in St. Petersburg, where he graduated from three classes. Then he entered the Naval Cadet Corps, where he showed excellent success in all subjects. As the best student in scientific knowledge and behavior, he was enrolled in the class of midshipmen and appointed sergeant major. He graduated from the Cadet Corps in 1894 with the rank of midshipman.

Carier start

From 1895 to 1899, Kolchak served in the Baltic and Pacific fleets and circumnavigated the world three times. He was engaged in independent research of the Pacific Ocean, most of all interested in its northern territories. In 1900, the capable young lieutenant was transferred to the Academy of Sciences. At this time, the first scientific works began to appear, in particular, an article was published about his observations of sea currents. But the goal of the young officer is not only theoretical, but also practical research - he dreams of going on one of the polar expeditions.

Blogger

Interested in his publications, the famous Arctic explorer Baron E.V. Toll invites Kolchak to take part in the search for the legendary “Sannikov Land”. Having gone in search of the missing Toll, he takes a whaleboat from the schooner "Zarya", and then makes a risky journey on dog sleds and finds the remains of the lost expedition. During this dangerous campaign, Kolchak caught a severe cold and miraculously survived severe pneumonia.

In March 1904, immediately after the start of the war, having not fully recovered from his illness, Kolchak achieved a referral to besieged Port Arthur. The destroyer "Angry", under his command, took part in the installation of barrage mines dangerously close to the Japanese raid. Thanks to these hostilities, several enemy ships were blown up.

Letanosti

In the last months of the siege, he commanded coastal artillery, which inflicted significant damage on the enemy. During the fighting he was wounded, and after the capture of the fortress he was captured. In recognition of his fighting spirit, the command of the Japanese army left Kolchak with weapons and released him from captivity. For his heroism he was awarded:

• St. George's weapon;
• Orders of St. Anne and St. Stanislav.

The struggle to rebuild the fleet

After treatment in the hospital, Kolchak receives six months' leave. Sincerely experiencing the virtually complete loss of his native fleet in the war with Japan, he is actively involved in the work of reviving it.

Gossip

In June 1906, Kolchak headed a commission at the Naval General Staff to determine the reasons that led to the defeat at Tsushima. As a military expert, he often spoke at State Duma hearings with justification for allocating the necessary funding.

His project, dedicated to the realities of the Russian fleet, became the theoretical basis for all Russian military shipbuilding in the pre-war period. As part of its implementation, Kolchak in 1906-1908. personally supervises the construction of four battleships and two icebreakers.

For his invaluable contribution to the study of the Russian North, Lieutenant Kolchak was elected a member of the Russian Geographical Society. The nickname “Kolchak the Polar” stuck to him.

At the same time, Kolchak continues his efforts to systematize materials from past expeditions. The work he published in 1909 on the ice cover of the Kara and Siberian seas is recognized as a new stage in the development of polar oceanography in the study of ice cover.

World War I

The Kaiser's command was preparing for the blitzkrieg of St. Petersburg. Heinrich of Prussia, the commander of the German fleet, expected to sail through the Gulf of Finland to the capital in the first days of the war and expose it to hurricane fire from powerful guns.

Having destroyed important objects, he intended to land troops, capture St. Petersburg and put an end to Russia's military claims. The implementation of Napoleonic projects was prevented by the strategic experience and brilliant actions of Russian naval officers.

Gossip

Given the significant superiority in the number of German ships, mine warfare tactics were recognized as the initial strategy to combat the enemy. The Kolchak division already during the first days of war laid 6 thousand mines in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. Skillfully placed mines became a reliable shield for the defense of the capital and thwarted the plans of the German fleet to capture Russia.

Subsequently, Kolchak persistently defended plans to switch to more aggressive actions. Already at the end of 1914, a daring operation was undertaken to mine the Danzig Bay directly off the enemy’s coast. As a result of this operation, 35 enemy warships were blown up. The successful actions of the naval commander determined his subsequent promotion.

Sanmati

In September 1915, he was appointed commander of the Mine Division. At the beginning of October, he undertook a bold maneuver to land troops on the shore of the Gulf of Riga to help the armies of the Northern Front. The operation was carried out so successfully that the enemy did not even realize that the Russians were present.

In June 1916, A.V. Kolchak was promoted by the Sovereign to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of the Black Sea Fleet. In the photo, the talented naval commander is captured in full dress uniform with all the military regalia.

Revolutionary time

After the February Revolution, Kolchak was faithful to the emperor to the end. Hearing the offer of the revolutionary sailors to surrender their weapons, he threw his award saber overboard, arguing for his action with the words: “Even the Japanese did not take away my weapons, I will not give them to you either!”

Arriving in Petrograd, Kolchak blamed the ministers of the Provisional Government for the collapse of his own army and country. After which the dangerous admiral was actually sent into political exile at the head of the allied military mission to America.

In December 1917, he asked the British government to enlist in military service. However, certain circles are already betting on Kolchak as an authoritative leader capable of rallying the liberation struggle against Bolshevism.

The Volunteer Army operated in the South of Russia, and there were many disparate governments in Siberia and the East. Having united in September 1918, they created the Directory, the inconsistency of which inspired distrust in the wider officer and business circles. They needed a “strong hand” and, having carried out a white coup, invited Kolchak to accept the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia.

Goals of the Kolchak government

Kolchak's policy was to restore the foundations of the Russian Empire. His decrees banned all extremist parties. The Siberian government wanted to achieve reconciliation of all population groups and parties, without the participation of left and right radicals. An economic reform was prepared, involving the creation of an industrial base in Siberia.

The greatest victories of Kolchak’s army were achieved in the spring of 1919, when it occupied the territory of the Urals. However, after the successes, a series of failures began, caused by a number of miscalculations:

• Kolchak’s incompetence in the problems of government;
• refusal to resolve the agrarian question;
• partisan and Socialist Revolutionary resistance;
• political disagreements with allies.

In November 1919, Kolchak was forced to leave Omsk; in January 1920 he gave his powers to Denikin. As a result of the betrayal of the allied Czech Corps, it was handed over to the Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee, which seized power in Irkutsk.

Death of Admiral Kolchak

The fate of the legendary personality ended tragically. Some historians cite the cause of death as a personal secret order, fearing his release by Kappel’s troops rushing to the rescue. A.V. Kolchak was shot on February 7, 1920 in Irkutsk.

In the 21st century, the negative assessment of Kolchak’s personality has been revised. His name is immortalized on memorial plaques, monuments, and feature films.

Personal life

Kolchak's wife, Sofya Omirova, is a hereditary noblewoman. Due to the protracted expedition, she waited for her fiancé for several years. Their wedding took place in March 1904 in the Irkutsk church.

Three children were born in the marriage:

• The first daughter, born in 1905, died in infancy.
• Son Rostislav, born March 9, 1910.
• Daughter Margarita, born in 1912, died at the age of two.

In 1919, Sofya Omirova, with the help of British allies, emigrated with her son to Constanta, and subsequently to Paris. She died in 1956 and was buried in the cemetery of Russian Parisians.

Son Rostislav, an employee of the Algerian Bank, participated in battles with the Germans on the side of the French army. Died in 1965. Kolchak's grandson - Alexander, born in 1933, lives in Paris.

The last years of his life, Kolchak's actual wife became his last love. She met the admiral in 1915 in Helsingfors, where she arrived with her husband, a naval officer. After the divorce in 1918, she followed the admiral. She was arrested along with Kolchak, and after his execution she spent almost 30 years in various exiles and prisons. She was rehabilitated and died in 1975 in Moscow.

1. Alexander Kolchak was baptized in Trinity Church, which is known today as Kulich and Easter.
2. During one of his polar campaigns, Kolchak named the island in honor of his bride, who was waiting for him in the capital. Cape Sophia retains the name given to him to this day.
3. A.V. Kolchak became the fourth polar navigator in history to receive the highest award of the geographical society - the Konstantinov Medal. Before him, the great F. Nansen, N. Nordenskiöld, N. Jurgens received this honor.
4. The maps that Kolchak compiled were used by Soviet sailors until the end of the 1950s.
5. Before his death, Kolchak did not accept the offer to blindfold him. He gave his cigarette case to the Cheka officer in charge of the execution.

Thanks to several documentaries and a fictional series, this man has acquired the title of martyr, and the story of his love for Anna Timireva seems ready to join the ranks of classic medieval stories like Louise and Abelard or Dante and Beatrice. But if you take a closer look at the biography of this man, you understand: Soviet historiography was right in many ways - especially with regard to Kolchak’s cooperation with the Entente. He was a wonderful navigator, a deep researcher, but turned out to be a bad and short-sighted politician.

Biography and activities of Alexander Kolchak (1874-1920)

Kolchak’s birthplace is the village of Aleksandrovskoye, St. Petersburg district. He graduated from the sixth St. Petersburg classical gymnasium. He continued his studies at the Naval Cadet Corps. In September 1894 he was promoted to midshipman. In 1895 - 1899 his first overseas voyage took place. In 1898, Alexander was promoted to lieutenant. He sails on the battleship Petropavlovsk and takes part in the Russian polar expedition led by E.V. Toll (1900-1902). Serves in Port Arthur. He falls into Japanese captivity, from which he returns only six months later.

In 1906, he was seconded to the Academy of Sciences, where he was engaged in processing the materials that were collected during the Russian polar expedition. Then Kolchak is assigned to the Naval General Staff. He heads the department of Russian statistics and receives new ranks - captain-lieutenant and captain of the 2nd rank. Commands the construction of the Vaygach icebreaker transport. He sails on it from St. Petersburg through the southern seas to the Arctic and back to Vladivostok. Writes and publishes the book “Ice of the Kara and Siberian Seas.”

Since the end of 1911, Kolchak has been in St. Petersburg, returning to serve at the Naval General Staff. Since 1912, his place of service became the Baltic Fleet, he assumed the position of commander of the destroyer Ussuriets. At the beginning of 1915, his fateful acquaintance with A.V. Timireva took place. In 1916, Alexander Vasilyevich was promoted to rear admiral, then to vice admiral. From now on, the entire Black Sea Fleet is under his command.

He did not accept the February revolution and the collapse of the army and left for the USA. In 1918 he returned to Russia through the Far East and arrived in Omsk. There, as a result of the removal from power of the so-called. Directory, he is elected Supreme Ruler of Russia. General Denikin, by order to the army, declares his powers exhausted and transfers them to Kolchak. In the early spring of 1919, a massive offensive by white troops began, Ufa, Perm and Chistopol were taken. However, the offensive falters.

The widespread partisan movement that unfolded in Siberia and the Urals seriously complicates the position of the Kolchakites. The local population boycotts white power. The widespread white terror is not conducive to popularity either. Allies refuse financial assistance. The final blow is the betrayal of the White Czechs. In January 1920, Kolchak's armored train was blocked at the Nizhneudinsk station. The admiral was arrested and transferred to the so-called. The political center, and then the Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee, which, after a series of interrogations, decides to shoot the admiral. At the beginning of February 1920, the sentence was carried out. Kolchak’s grave does not exist - his remains were swallowed up by the Irtysh River. General Kappel's army was unable to come to the rescue - also due to the death of Kappel himself from gangrene of the legs.

• Anna Vasilyevna Timireva, Kolchak’s last love, outlived him by more than 50 years, having gone through a long prison sentence, exile and loss of rights. Only shortly before her death she declassified the secret of her entire life.
• Kolchak’s wife and son were sent to the USA in advance, where they were forced to live until the end of their days.

Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was born on November 4 (16), 1874, in St. Petersburg. At first he was educated at home, then he was sent to a gymnasium. By religion, Alexander was Orthodox, which he repeatedly emphasized.

On the exam, when he was transferred to the third grade, he received a “3” in mathematics, “2” in Russian and “2” in French, for which he almost ended up being a repeat student. But soon he corrected the “twos” to “threes” and was transferred.

In 1888, young Kolchak became a student at the Naval School. There the situation changed beyond recognition. The former poor student literally “fell in love” with his future profession and began to treat his studies very responsibly.

Participation in a polar expedition

In 1900, Kolchak joined the polar expedition led by E. Toll. The purpose of the expedition was to explore the region of the Arctic Ocean and try to find the semi-mythical Sannikov Land.

According to the expedition leader, Kolchak was an energetic, active and devoted person to science. He called him the best officer of the expedition.

For his participation in the study, Lieutenant A.V. Kolchak was awarded Vladimir of the fourth degree.

Participation in the war

At the end of January 1904, Kolchak submitted a request for transfer to the Naval Department. When it was satisfied, he filed a petition in Port Arthur.

In November 1904, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne for his service. In December 1905 - St. George's weapon. Returning from Japanese captivity, he received the Order of Stanislav, second degree. In 1906, Kolchak was solemnly awarded a silver medal in memory of the war.

In 1914, as a participant in the defense of Port Arthur, he was awarded a badge.

Further activities

In 1912, Kolchak received the rank of flank captain. During the First World War, he worked actively on a plan for a mine blockade of German bases.

In 1916 he received the rank of vice admiral. The Black Sea Fleet was subordinate to him.

A convinced monarchist, after the February Revolution he nevertheless swore allegiance to the Provisional Government.

In 1918 he joined the “Directory,” a secret anti-Bolshevik organization. By this time, Kolchak was already Minister of War. When the leaders of the movement were arrested, he received the post of Commander-in-Chief.

At first, fate favored General Kolchak. His troops took the Urals, but soon the Red Army began to press him. In the end, he was defeated.

He was soon betrayed by the allies and handed over to the Bolsheviks. On February 7, 1920, A. Kolchak was shot.

Personal life

Kolchak was married to S.F. Omirova. A hereditary noblewoman, a graduate of the Smolny Institute, Sophia was a strong personality. Their relationship with Alexander Vasilyevich was not easy.

Sofya Feodorovna gave Kolchak three children. Two girls died in early childhood, and son Rostislav went through World War II and died in Paris in 1965.

The admiral's personal life was not rich. His “late lover,” A. Timireva, was convicted several times after his execution.

Other biography options

• One of the islands in the Taimyr Bay, as well as a cape in the same region, is named after Kolchak.
• Alexander Vasilyevich himself gave the name to another cape. He called it Cape Sophia. This name has survived to this day.