Brief biography of Alexander Kolchak. Admiral Kolchak, Alexander Vasilievich. Biography Alexander Kolchak personal life

The Bolsheviks were advancing, and by the end of 1919, Admiral Kolchak’s front was literally falling apart. The remnants of the army retreated by rail from Omsk to Irkutsk, on the train of the Supreme Ruler, in the carriage of Russia's gold reserves, which were captured in the battle with the Bolsheviks. The Czechoslovak Corps was also sent to the east, and the Allies planned to use it in the war against the Reds. The Czechs were a formidable force, but they had no desire to fight for a foreign country and interests. All the rebellious Czechs dreamed of was simply to quickly get away from Russia as far as possible, while taking the loot with them. To remove the “trophies” they took all the rolling stock, and the remnants of Kolchak’s army did not have time to evacuate and were finished off by the Reds. By the end of December 1919, a riot and uprising broke out in Irkutsk, carefully planned by the Irkutsk Political Center, which consisted entirely of Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. This stopped the advance to the east, and the carriage with Kolchak’s troops got stuck near Nizhneudinsk. The Czechs decided to hand over Kolchak and the gold reserves to the rebels in exchange for freedom and unhindered passage. The French general Zhezhen, who had previously promised Kolchak immunity, also did not keep his word and betrayed him.

Admiral and poet

Before Kolchak left for Irkutsk from Nizhneudinsk, one curious event occurred. The young officer Mitropolsky, whom we now know as the Russian poet and singer of the Russian Abroad, Arseny Nesmelov, somehow broke through the cordon onto the platform. Looking through the windows of the train, he managed to see the Admiral and saluted him for the last time. In his report, Kolchak nodded his head to the devoted officer - as if two different Russias were saying goodbye on that platform. Later the poet wrote a poem about this meeting, which contains the words “A ruddy Czech sentry stood by the blue carriage. And it was like a funeral ring, a gloomy ring of security.”.

Counter ultimatum

The admiral was handed over to the Political Center of Irkutsk on January 15, 1920 and imprisoned in the provincial prison. Six days later, a coup occurred again in Irkutsk, and power changed in favor of the Bolsheviks. At this time, under the leadership of Capel, the remnants of Kolchak’s army advanced towards Irkutsk to the rescue of their admiral. The Kappelites were a very strong and combat-ready unit of the Whites. While crossing the Caen, General Capel fell through the ice along with his horse, froze his limbs and died a few days later. He was replaced by General Voitsekhovsky, who gave the order to take Irkutsk by storm. General Zverev, who commanded the Red troops, offered Woitsekhovsky to surrender, to which he received a counter offer - to release Admiral Kolchak and his charges, pay compensation in the amount of 200 million rubles and provide fodder - in exchange for this, Woitsekhovsky promised not to attack Irkutsk. The bravery and devotion of the Kappelites only brought the tragic ending closer. The Bolsheviks were so afraid of Kolchak's release that they decided to execute him as soon as possible.

The destroyer “Sibirsky Strelok” was the flagship of the commander of the destroyer brigade, Kolchak, in 1915.

Ilyich's Directive

Everything looked as if the initiative to deal with Kolchak came from the grassroots, although it is quite obvious that it could not have happened without interference from Moscow. On February 6, 1920, the Military Revolutionary Committee of Irkutsk decided to shoot Pepelyaev (former chairman of the Ministry of Council) and Admiral Kolchak. However, Lenin’s telegram to the main headquarters of Sibrevkom was later made public: “Don’t spread any news about Kolchak. After the occupation of Irkutsk, send an official explanation in a telegram that the local authorities of Irkutsk, under pressure from General Kappel, did this and that, and also mention the threat from the White Guard conspiracies. Everything must be done extremely reliably.” Most likely, this telegram from Lenin, with a direct hint, was a death sentence for Admiral Kolchak.

Suicide attempt

Before the execution, Kolchak made an attempt to avoid death at the hands of the Reds. Chudnovsky (the chief security officer of Irkutsk) recalled that before the execution, one of the sentries took away a handkerchief from Kolchak, in which a bottle of poison was wrapped. Apparently, the Admiral wanted to commit suicide before being executed. In emigration, everything was told differently: Kolchak knew that execution awaited him, and upon arrival in Irkutsk, he took off his ring, in which a granule of poison was hidden, and threw it on the floor, thereby showing that he was ready to drink the cup of suffering to the bottom .

Execution

On the night of January 7, Chudnovsky entered the Admiral’s cell, accompanied by a convoy, and read out the execution order. “That means no trial...” Kolchak stated when he was handcuffed and asked for a final meeting with his beloved Anna Timireva, who voluntarily went to prison to pick him up, but he was categorically refused. At 5 o'clock in the morning he, together with V.N. The Pepelyaevs were taken to the Znamensky Monastery, on the banks of the Angara. The firing squad fired a burst of volleys, after which the bodies of the executed were thrown into the hole. On January 8 at 12 noon, Voitsekhovsky learned of Kolchak’s death and gave the order to storm Irkutsk. When the Czechs demanded not to touch the Glazkovsky Suburb, or otherwise they would go over to the side of the Bolsheviks, he was forced to go to Ataman Semenov in Transbaikalia. There are rumors that the bodies of the dead were caught by peasants or Cossacks and buried at the Znamensky Monastery, but according to the official version, the bodies were never found.

Mysterious doctor

In 1954, Shiryamov (former chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Irkutsk) said that Dr. Fyodor Gusarov, who then worked at the Znamensky Hospital, was at the execution of Admiral Kolchak. He was present to officially record the death of those executed. This seems very absurd, given that the bodies were planned in advance to be dumped into a prepared ice hole. Writer Valery Privalikhin put forward a version that a doctor was invited to disfigure the faces of the dead with acid in order to avoid identification. They acted in a similar way when executing the royal family, although they didn’t think of it right away, but in this case the security officers acted for sure. The doctor's name did not appear in any of the reports or memoirs of the security officers who were present at the execution.

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.

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.

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.

Russo-Japanese War

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 command of the execution.

It is not customary to write or talk about Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, but this man left an indelible mark on our history. He is known as an outstanding scientist, the hero of Port Arthur, a brilliant naval commander and at the same time as a cruel dictator and Supreme Ruler. In his life there were victories and defeats, as well as one love - Anna Timireva.

Biographical facts

On November 4, 1874, in the small village of Aleksandrovskoye, near St. Petersburg, a boy was born into the family of military engineer V.I. Kolchak. Alexander received his primary education at home, and then studied at a men's gymnasium, where he did not achieve much success. Since childhood, the boy dreamed of the sea, so he entered the Naval School without any problems (1888-1894). And here his talent as a sailor was revealed. The young man completed his studies brilliantly with the Admiral P. Ricord Prize.

Marine research activities

In 1896, Alexander Kolchak began to seriously engage in science. First, he received the position of assistant observer on the cruiser Rurik, stationed in the Far East, then spent several years on the clipper Cruiser. In 1898, Alexander Kolchak became a lieutenant. The young sailor used the years spent at sea for self-education and scientific activity. Kolchak became interested in oceanography and hydrology, even publishing an article about his scientific observations during cruises.

In 1899, a new expedition around the Arctic Ocean. Together with Eduard von Tol, a geologist and Arctic explorer, the young explorer spent some time on Lake Taimyr. Here he continued his scientific research. Thanks to the efforts of the young assistant, a map of the shores of Taimyr was compiled. In 1901, Toll, as a sign of respect for Kolchak, named one of the islands in the Kara Sea after him. The uninhabited island was renamed by the Bolsheviks in 1937, but in 2005 the name of Alexander Kolchak was returned to it.

In 1902, Eduard von Toll decides to continue the expedition to the north, and Kolchak is sent back to St. Petersburg to deliver the scientific information already collected. Unfortunately, the group got lost in the ice. A year later, Kolchak organized a new expedition to find the scientists. Seventeen people on twelve sleighs drawn by 160 dogs, after a three-month trip, reached Bennett Island, where they found diaries and belongings of their comrades. In 1903, Alexander Kolchak, exhausted by a long adventure, headed to St. Petersburg, where he hoped to marry Sofia Omirova.

New challenges

However, the Russo-Japanese War disrupted his plans. Kolchak’s bride soon went to Siberia herself, and the wedding took place, but the young husband was forced to immediately go to Port Arthur. During the war, Kolchak served as commander of a destroyer, and then was put in charge of a littoral artillery battery. For his heroism, the admiral received the Sword of St. George. After the humiliating defeat of the Russian fleet, Kolchak was captured by the Japanese for four months.

Upon returning home, Alexander Kolchak became captain of the second rank. He devoted himself to the revival of the Russian fleet and takes part in the work of the Naval Headquarters, formed in 1906. Together with other officers, he actively promotes the shipbuilding program to the State Duma and receives some funding. Kolchak participates in the construction of two icebreakers, Taimyr and Vaygach, and then uses one of these ships for a mapping expedition from Vladivostok to the Bering Strait and Cape Dezhnev. In 1909, he published a new scientific study on glaciology (the study of ice). A few years later, Kolchak becomes captain of the first rank.

World War I test

With the outbreak of World War I, Kolchak was offered to become the head of the Bureau of Operations of the Baltic Fleet. He demonstrates his tactical skills and builds an effective coastal defense system. Soon Kolchak receives a new rank - rear admiral and becomes the youngest Russian naval officer. In the summer of 1916, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet.

Drawn into politics

With the advent of the February Revolution of 1917, Kolchak assured the provisional government of his loyalty to him and expressed his readiness to remain in office. The admiral did everything possible to save the Black Sea Fleet from chaotic disintegration and managed to preserve it for some time. But the disorganization spreading throughout all services began to gradually undermine it. In June 1917, under threat of mutiny, Kolchak resigned and left office (either voluntarily or by force, depending on which version of the historical record is preferred). By that time, Kolchak was already considered a potential candidate for the post of new leader of the country.

Life abroad

In the summer of 1917, Admiral Kolchak went to America. There he is offered to stay forever and head the mining department at one of the best military schools, but the admiral rejected this opportunity. On his way home, Kolchak learned of the revolution that overthrew the short-lived Russian Provisional Government and handed power to the Soviets. The admiral asked the British government to allow him to serve in its army. In December 1917, he received approval and went to the Mesopotamian front, where Russian and British troops were fighting the Turks, but was redirected to Manchuria. He tried to gather troops to fight the Bolsheviks, but this idea was unsuccessful. In the fall of 1918, Kolchak returned to Omsk.

Homecoming

In September 1918, the Provisional Government was formed and Kolchak was invited to become Minister of the Navy. As a result of a coup d'etat, during which Cossack detachments arrested the commanders-in-chief of the Provisional All-Russian Government, Kolchak was elected Supreme Ruler of the state. His appointment was recognized in several regions of the country. The new ruler found himself responsible for the gold reserves of the former Russian Empire. He managed to gather large forces and launch a war against the Bolshevik Red Army. After several successful battles, Kolchak’s troops had to leave the occupied territories and retreat. The fall of the regime of Alexander Kolchak is explained, according to various sources, by various factors: lack of experience in leading ground forces, misunderstanding of the political situation and dependence on unreliable allies.

In January 1920, Kolchak transferred the post to General Denikin. A few days later, Alexander Kolchak was arrested by Czechoslovak soldiers and handed over to the Bolsheviks. Admiral Kolchak was sentenced to death, and on February 7, 1920 he was executed without trial. According to the most common version, the body was thrown into a hole in the river.

Personal life of the famous admiral

Kolchak's personal life has always been actively discussed. The admiral had three children with his wife Sophia, but two girls died in infancy. Until 1919, Sofia waited for her husband in Sevastopol, and then moved to Paris with her only son Rostislav. She died in 1956.

In 1915, 41-year-old Kolchak met with the young 22-year-old poetess Anna Timireva. They both had families, but did develop long-term relationships. A few years later, Timireva divorced and was considered the admiral’s common-law wife. Having heard about Kolchak's arrest, she voluntarily settled in prison to be closer to her beloved. Between 1920 and 1949, Timireva was arrested and exiled six more times, until she was rehabilitated in 1960. Anna died in 1975.

• For his scientific and military activities, Alexander Kolchak earned 20 medals and orders.
• When he was removed from command of the Black Sea Fleet, Kolchak broke his award saber in front of the sailors and threw it into the sea, saying: “The sea awarded me - to the sea and I return it!”
• The admiral's burial place is unknown, although there are many versions.

Agree, we know little about the personality of such a great man. Perhaps Kolchak was from a different camp and held different views, but he was devoted to Russia and the sea.

WIDOW OF KOLCHAK - Sofya Fedorovna Kolchak. According to the descriptions of contemporaries, she was tall, beautiful, and smart. Her involuntary rival Anna Vasilievna Timireva, who shared the last two years of his life with the admiral, wrote about her like this: “She was a tall and slender woman, probably 38 years old. She was very different from other wives of naval officers, she was intellectual... She was a very good and smart woman and treated me well. She, of course, knew that there was nothing between me and Alexander Vasilyevich, but she also knew something else: what existed was very serious, she knew more than I did... Once, in Helsingfors, S.F. and I we went for a ride around the bay, the day seemed warm, but still I was frozen, and S.F. She took off the magnificent black and brown fox, put it on my shoulders and said: “This is a portrait of Alexander Vasilyevich.” I say: “I didn’t know he was so warm and soft.” She looked at me with disdain: “There is much you still don’t know, lovely young creature.” And to this day, when she has long been dead, it still seems to me that if we had a chance to meet, we would not be enemies. I’m glad that she didn’t have to go through everything that I had to go through.” But Sofya Fedorovna also had a chance to take a sip...
She was born in Ukraine - in the ancient town of Kamenets-Podolsk, in the region where the great-grandfather of her future husband, the Turkish general Kolchak Pasha, was captured. The brother of her maternal ancestor, Field Marshal Minich, took him prisoner. On her mother’s side, Daria Fedorovna Kamenskaya, there was another warlike ancestor - General-in-Chief M.V. Berg, who defeated the troops of Frederick the Great in the Seven Years' War. According to his father, Fyodor Vasilyevich Omirov, the head of the Podolsk Treasury Chamber, the ancestors were much more peaceful - from the clergy.
Sofya Omirova brilliantly graduated from the Smolny Institute. She loved to read and studied philosophy. She knew seven languages. Moreover, she spoke English, French and German perfectly...
Where and how did they meet? I think at one of the balls in the Marine Corps or at the Smolnensky Institute. The courtship lasted several years, and before Lieutenant Kolchak departed for Baron Toll’s northern expedition, they were already engaged.
Miraculously, one of the letters addressed to her by her fiancé from the campaign was preserved: “Two months have passed since I left you, my infinitely dear, and the whole picture of our meeting is so vivid in front of me, so painful and painful, as if it were yesterday. How many sleepless nights I spent in my cabin, walking from corner to corner, so many thoughts, bitter, joyless... without you, my life has neither the meaning, nor the goal, nor the joy. I brought all my best to your feet, as to my deity, I gave all my strength to you...”
The wedding took place in Irkutsk in 1904. The bride rushed to her beloved in Yakutia from the island of Capri - on ships, trains, deer, dogs - to meet him half-dead after a polar expedition. She brought with her provisions for all participants in that desperate campaign. They got married in the City-Irkutsk Archangel Michael Church hastily - the war with Japan broke out and the husband, a lieutenant, had already secured an appointment to Port Arthur. And already on the second day after the wedding in the Irkutsk Archangel Michael Church, Sophia saw off her betrothed - to the Far East, to Port Arthur, to the war...
This is how it was in their lives... Always...
From the very first hours of the German war that began in August 1914, Captain 2nd Rank Kolchak was at sea. And Sophia, who lived in front-line Libau with two children, hastily packed her suitcases under the cannonade of German batteries. Everyone said that Libau would be surrendered, and the families of Russian officers besieged the carriages of the train going to St. Petersburg. Having abandoned everything she had acquired for ten years, Kolchak’s wife, with children in her arms and pitiful travel belongings, still made it out of the front-line city.
She honestly bore the cross of an officer's wife: moving from place to place, other people's apartments, children's illnesses, escaping from shelling, straw widowhood and eternal fear for her husband - whether he would return from the campaign... And she did not receive any sovereign awards for this and honors. The husband received orders and military crosses. And she put crosses on the graves of her daughters. First, two-week-old Tanechka died, then, after escaping from besieged Libau, two-year-old Margarita died. Only the middle one survived - Slavik, Rostislav.
Her son and husband were at the center of her world. She only thought and worried about them. Sophia wrote to Kolchak:
“My dear Sasha! I tried to write to you from Slavushka’s dictation, but, as you can see, it all turns out the same: Mynyama papa, um tsybybe sofa (candy). Everything here is the same as before. Slavushka has two molars erupting... While sorting out my things, I examined your civilian dress: it is in order, except for the tuxedo, which was damaged by moths. How many beautiful things were given for next to nothing to the Tatar at your request.”
She wrote to him in Libau from her friends’ dacha near Yuryev, where she spent the summer with the children.
“June 2, 1912. Dear Sasha! Slavushka starts talking a lot, counting and sings songs to herself when she wants to sleep... How are you doing? Where are you now? How were the maneuvers and is your destroyer intact? I'm glad you're happy with your business. I'm afraid if there weren't a war, they talked a lot about it here. I read a novel about General Garibaldi in Italian. I embroider and count the days. Write to yourself. Did your management change after receiving half a billion for the fleet?
Your loving Sonya."
She spent a little over a year as an admiral, the wife of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, and the first lady of Sevastopol. Then - an almost vertical fall into the hell of underground life, emigrant lack of money, withering away in a foreign land... She did not reign in Sevastopol - she organized a sanatorium for the lower ranks, headed a ladies' circle for helping sick and wounded soldiers. And the husband, if he did not go on military campaigns, then stayed at the headquarters until midnight. The Black Sea Fleet under his command dominated the theater of military operations.
“...Despite the hardships of everyday life,” she wrote to him, “I think that in the end we will settle down and at least have a happy old age, but in the meantime, life is struggle and work, especially for you...” Alas, it was not destined for them was to have a happy old age...
The last time she hugged her husband was on the platform of the Sevastopol station. In May 1917, Kolchak left for Petrograd on a business trip, which, against his will, turned into a trip around the world, ending in death in Siberia. Before his death, Kolchak said: “Tell my wife in Paris that I bless my son.” From Irkutsk, these words actually reached Paris... But then, in Sevastopol, they did not say goodbye for long...
Sophia was waiting for him in Sevastopol, even when it became unsafe to stay there; she was hiding among the families of sailors she knew. And even though her husband, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, has not yet done anything to earn him the label of “enemy of the working people,” there would be many people in the city who would willingly tell the security officers that the wife of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet is hiding there. Even though the ex... She understood all this perfectly, and therefore in the summer of 17th she sent her son, ten-year-old Rostik, to Kamenets-Podolsky, to live with childhood friends... And she remained in Sevastopol - to wait for her husband and tempt fate.
In December, the first wave of executions swept through the city. On the night of December 15-16, 23 officers were killed, including three admirals. Sofya Fedorovna listened with horror to every shot, to every loud exclamation on the street, rejoicing that her husband was now far away, and her son was in a quiet and safe place. She herself would have left there long ago, but faithful people reported that Alexander Vasilyevich was again in Russia, that he was traveling along the Siberian Railway and that he would soon be in Sevastopol. The first thought was to immediately go to meet him, to warn him that he was not allowed into the city - they would seize him and shoot him, they wouldn’t look at him that he was the son of a Sevastopol hero, that he himself was a hero of two wars, a Knight of St. George...
Now, like 13 years ago, she was again ready to rush towards him, through security cordons and partisan ambushes... She was waiting for him from this monstrously protracted business trip. She was waiting for him from polar expeditions. She was waiting for him to return from the war, she was waiting for him from Japanese captivity. But this Sevastopol expectation was the most hopeless. She almost knew that he would not return, and yet she waited, risking being recognized, arrested, and “wasted.”
She stopped waiting for him only when news came from Omsk: She was with Kolchak on the train. Anna. The wife of his classmate in the Naval Corps - captain 1st rank Sergei Timirev. Young, beautiful, passionate, beloved... And how cold and cruel Kolchak could be to the woman he once loved, to his wife! Everything that connected them was forgotten - only a distant, icy tone remained. Here are fragments of a letter sent by Kolchak in October 1919 to Sofya Fedorovna, where he demands that his wife not touch on her relationship with Anna Timireva. Honestly, it’s just terrifying, God forbid any woman gets this:
“Before my departure from Omsk to Tobolsk, I received your letter from 4-U1, and on the way to Tara I met with V.V. Romanov, who gave me your letter dated 8-U1. I am returning after a detour of the Northern Front from Tobolsk to Omsk by steamship along the Irtysh. I spent almost 21/2 months, from the beginning of August, traveling around the front. From the end of August, the armies began to retreat and, after persistent and difficult month-long battles, drove the Reds back to the Tobol River. The war took on a very difficult and fierce character, complicated by the autumn season, poor roads and increasing epidemics of typhus and relapsing fever...
It’s strange for me to read in your letters that you ask me about representation and some kind of position of yours as the wife of the Supreme Ruler. I ask you to understand how I myself understand my position and my tasks. They are defined by the old knightly motto... “Ich diene” (“I serve”). I serve the Motherland of my Great Russia as I served it all the time, commanding a ship, division or fleet.
I am not on any side a representative of hereditary or elected authorities. I look at my title as a position of a purely official nature. Essentially, I am the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who has assumed the functions of the Supreme Civil Power, since for a successful struggle the latter cannot be separated from the functions of the former.
My first and main goal is to erase Bolshevism and everything connected with it from the face of Russia, to exterminate and destroy it. In fact, everything else I do is subject to this position. I do not set myself to solve the question of everything that should follow the completion of the first task; Of course, I think about this and outline well-known operational directions, but with regard to the program, I imitate Suvorov before the Italian campaign and, paraphrasing his answer to the Hofkriegsrat, I say: “I will start with the destruction of Bolshevism, and then as the Lord God pleases!”
That's all. Thus, I ask you to always be guided by these provisions in relation to me...
You write to me all the time about how I am not attentive and caring enough to you. I think I did everything I had to do. All I can now wish for you and Slavushka is that you would be safe and could live peacefully outside Russia during the current period of bloody struggle until Its revival. You cannot help me in this matter in any way, other than my confidence in your safety and your quiet life abroad. Your future life, both figuratively and literally, depends on the outcome of the struggle that I am waging. I know that you care about Slavushka, and from this side I am calm and confident that you will do everything that is necessary to raise him until the time when I will be able to take care of him myself and try to make him a servant of our Motherland and a good soldier. I ask you to base his education on the history of great people, since their examples are the only means of developing in a child those inclinations and qualities that are necessary for service, and especially in the way I understand it. I talked to you a lot about this and I believe that you know my judgments and opinions on this subject.
Regarding money, I wrote that I cannot send more than 5,000 francs. per month, because when the exchange rate of our ruble falls, 8000 francs. will amount to a huge amount of about 100,000 rubles, and I cannot spend that kind of money, especially in foreign currency.
From my letter you will see that not only is there no role to be played in terms of representation and receptions, but, in my opinion, it is unacceptable and can put you in a very unpleasant position. Please be extremely careful in all cases, conversations and meetings with foreign and Russian representatives...
Please do not forget my position and do not allow yourself to write letters that I cannot read to the end, because I destroy any letter after the first phrase that violates decency. If you allow me to hear gossip about me, then I do not allow you to tell me about it. This warning will hopefully be the last.
Bye see you. Yours, Alexander."
I would have died immediately from horror and grief, but Kolchak was lucky with strong women.
Letter from A.V. Kolchak to his son:
"October 20, 1919
My dear sweet Slavushok.
I haven’t had letters from you for a long time, write to me, at least postcards of a few words.
I miss you very much, my dear Slavushok...
It is hard and difficult for me to bear such a huge work for the Motherland, but I will endure it to the end, until the victory over the Bolsheviks.
I wanted you too, when you grow up, to follow the path of serving the Motherland that I have followed all my life. Read military history and the deeds of great people and learn from them how to act - this is the only way to become a useful servant to the Motherland. There is nothing higher than the Motherland and serving Her.
The Lord God will bless you and protect you, my infinitely dear and sweet Slavushok. I kiss you deeply. Your dad".

In April, the Bolsheviks hastily left Crimea and the Kaiser’s troops entered Sevastopol. And again I had to hide. The Germans would hardly have left alone the wife of the Russian admiral, who inflicted such significant blows on them in the Baltic and Black Seas. Fortunately, no one reported her. This most terrible year in her life ended for the admiral’s wife only with the arrival of the British. Sofya Feodorovna was provided with money and, at the first opportunity, transported on “Her Majesty’s ship” to Constanta. From there she moved to Bucharest, where she released her son Rostislav from independent Ukraine, and soon left with him for Paris. Sevastopol-Constanza-Bucharest-Marseille-Lonjumeau... Another life began - without a husband, without a homeland, without money... Everything valuable from the survivors: silverware, her husband’s yacht prizes and even small glasses presented by the wardrooms of the ships, to whom he served - went to the pawnshop. She donated there her husband’s gold medal, received from the Geographical Society for polar expeditions, and silver teaspoons, which she managed to take out from Sevastopol
Fortunately, she was not a white-handed lady; a large family, the Smolny Institute, and nomadic military life taught her to do a lot with her own hands. And she altered, refaced old things, knitted, gardened. But there was a catastrophic lack of money. One day, a miracle saved him from starvation: the son of Admiral Makarov, who fought under the banner of Kolchak in Siberia, sent a needy widow from America 50 dollars - all that he could scrape together from his income. In her semi-beggarly life this became a grandiose event. Here is a letter from Sofia Fedorovna to F. Nansen, who in 1900 in Norway A.V. Kolchak was preparing for his first polar expedition. In exile, Sofya Fedorovna went to many humiliations in order to educate her son and survive herself. She wrote similar letters to other people, and she was forced to master the polite, pleading intonation perfectly.
“Dear sir, still hoping without hope, I have taken the liberty of turning to you... Until now, we have been helped by a few modest, often wishing to remain anonymous, friends, but by more numerous enemies, merciless and cruel, whose machinations have ruined our lives my brave husband and brought me through apoplexy to the charity house. But I have my boy, whose life and future are now at stake. Our dear English friend, who has helped us for the past three years, can no longer provide support; and said that after April 10 of this year she would not be able to do anything for him. Young Kolchak studies at the Sorbonne... with the hope of getting back on his feet and taking his sick mother home. He has been studying for two years already, there are still two or three years left before he receives his diploma and goes out into the big life. Exams will begin in May and will be completed by August. But how can we survive until this moment? We would only like to borrow some money for a while to transfer him 1000 francs a month - an amount sufficient for a young man to make ends meet. I ask you for 5,000 francs, on which he can live and study until he passes his exams...
Remember that we are completely alone in this world, not a single country helps us, not a single city - only God, whom you saw in the northern seas, where my late husband also visited and where there is a small island called Bennett Island, where the ashes rest Your friend Baron Toll, where the northern cape of these harsh lands is named Cape Sophia in honor of my wounded and tossing soul - then it is easier to look into the eyes of reality and understand the moral suffering of the unfortunate mother, whose boy on April 10 will be thrown out of life without a penny in his pocket to the very bottom Paris. I hope you understand our situation and you will find these 5000 francs as quickly as possible, and may God bless you if so. Sofia Kolchak, widow of the Admiral."
In 1931, Rostislav entered the service of the Algerian Bank and married the daughter of Admiral Razvozov. Sofya Feodorovna died in 1956... Her almost inconspicuous trace remained on the map of Russia. In the distant East Siberian Sea, Bennett Island is frozen into ice. Its southeastern cape is named after Sophia, the bride of the desperate lieutenant.

How did the fate of A.N. Timirev after his wife left?
From May 3, 1918, he was a member of the White movement in Vladivostok. When in the fall A.V. Kolchak took the post of Supreme Ruler of Russia, Timirev from November 23, 1918 to August 15, 1919 served in the city as assistant to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for the naval unit, and until the spring of 1919 - commander of naval forces in the Far East.
In Chinese emigration, Admiral Timirev sailed as a captain in the Shanghai merchant fleet, and in the early 1930s he was an active member of the “Guards Crew Association” - the “Court Company”, which met in his apartment when he presided over this select community for the first two years. Timirev wrote an interesting memoir in 1922: “Memoirs of a naval officer. The Baltic Fleet during the war and revolution (1914-1918)". They were published in New York in 1961. In them, in a place of honor are stories about his midshipman classmate A.V. Kolchak. S.N. died Timirev May 31 (June 13), 1932 in Shanghai.
He did not find out that his only son was shot by the Bolsheviks.

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. Kolchak is then 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.