Paul Nazaroff
Encyclopedia
Paul Nazaroff (died 1942) was a Russia
n geologist
and writer who was caught up in the Russian Revolution, and became the leader of a plot to overthrow Bolshevik
rule in Central Asia.
He was born in Orenburg
about 1890, the son of the local mayor and mine owner. He qualified as a geologist at the University of Moscow. In August 1918 he was living openly at Tashkent
under the local Soviet, while aiding both White and British Forces in Central Asia with information and assistance to help forestall the spread of Bolshevik power in the region. Arrested by the CHEKA
in October 1918, he was one of the main organisers of a coup which temporarily overthrew the Tashkent Soviet on 6 January 1919, and incidentally freed him from prison. This was defeated when the railway workers changed sides when they learned that the new government was royalist and reactionary. Nazaroff himself managed to evade the pursuing Bolsheviks and escaped through the mountains to Kashgar
in China in early 1920, as he tells in his book Hunted Through Central Asia (translated into English in 1932 and reissued is 2002).
There in Kashgar he continued to be an important source of information for both the Chinese and British authorities, but in August 1924, he decided to leave in wake of the Chinese Government's recognition of Soviet Russia. He then made another difficult journey over the Himalayas to Kashmir and India. He later moved to London in search of work as a geologist, before accepting an assignment in Equatorial Africa, far as he hoped from Soviet agents. It was there he met Malcolm Burr who encouraged him to write (and translated) an account of his adventures. Later he settled in South Africa where he died in 1942 at Johannesburg. He was married but his wife does not seem to have escaped or survived the civil war. Peter Hopkirk's Setting the East Ablaze also gives details of Nazaroff's adventures.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
and writer who was caught up in the Russian Revolution, and became the leader of a plot to overthrow Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
rule in Central Asia.
He was born in Orenburg
Orenburg
Orenburg is a city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies southeast of Moscow, very close to the border with Kazakhstan. Population: 546,987 ; 549,361 ; Highest point: 154.4 m...
about 1890, the son of the local mayor and mine owner. He qualified as a geologist at the University of Moscow. In August 1918 he was living openly at Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
under the local Soviet, while aiding both White and British Forces in Central Asia with information and assistance to help forestall the spread of Bolshevik power in the region. Arrested by the CHEKA
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
in October 1918, he was one of the main organisers of a coup which temporarily overthrew the Tashkent Soviet on 6 January 1919, and incidentally freed him from prison. This was defeated when the railway workers changed sides when they learned that the new government was royalist and reactionary. Nazaroff himself managed to evade the pursuing Bolsheviks and escaped through the mountains to Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
in China in early 1920, as he tells in his book Hunted Through Central Asia (translated into English in 1932 and reissued is 2002).
There in Kashgar he continued to be an important source of information for both the Chinese and British authorities, but in August 1924, he decided to leave in wake of the Chinese Government's recognition of Soviet Russia. He then made another difficult journey over the Himalayas to Kashmir and India. He later moved to London in search of work as a geologist, before accepting an assignment in Equatorial Africa, far as he hoped from Soviet agents. It was there he met Malcolm Burr who encouraged him to write (and translated) an account of his adventures. Later he settled in South Africa where he died in 1942 at Johannesburg. He was married but his wife does not seem to have escaped or survived the civil war. Peter Hopkirk's Setting the East Ablaze also gives details of Nazaroff's adventures.
Published works
- Hunted through Central Asia, Paul Nazaroff, 1932.
- Moved On!, Paul Nazaroff, 1935.
- Kapchigai defile: the journal of Paul Nazaroff, Paul Nazaroff, 1980.
- What are the Zimbabwe Ruins? The solution of their secret.", Extract from: Blackwood's magazine, June 1931, p. 765-792.