White Emigre
Encyclopedia
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
who emigrated from Russia
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...
in the wake of the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
and Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, and who was in opposition to the contemporary Russian political climate.
"White émigré" is a political term mostly used in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the US, and the UK. A less politically oriented term used in the same countries by the immigrants themselves and by the native population is First wave émigré (Эмигрант первой волны). In the USSR in 1920s–1980s the term White émigré (Белоэмигрант) generally had negative connotations. Since the end of the 1980s the term "first wave émigré" has become more common in Russia.
Many white émigrés were participants in the White movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
or supported it, although the term is often broadly applied to anyone who may have left the country due to the change in regimes (some of them, like Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
s and Socialist-Revolutionaries
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
, were opposed to the 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....
s but had not supported the White movement; some were just apolitical), as well as to the descendants of those who left and still retain a Russian Orthodox Christian
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
identity while living abroad. The term "white émigrés" (белоэмигранты, белая эмиграция) was much more often used in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where it had a strong negative connotation, than by the émigrés themselves, who preferred to call themselves simply "Russian émigrés" (русская эмиграцiя) or "Russian military émigrés"(русская военная эмиграцiя) if they participated in the White movement.
Most white émigrés left Russia from 1917 to 1920 (estimates vary between 900,000 and 2 million), although some managed to leave during the twenties and thirties or were exiled by the Soviet Government (such as, for example, philosopher Ivan Ilyin
Ivan Ilyin
Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin was a Russian religious and political philosopher, White emigre publicist and an ideologue of the Russian All-Military Union.-Young years:...
). They spanned all classes and included military soldiers and officers, Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
s, intellectuals of various professions, dispossessed businessmen and landowners, as well as officials of the Russian Imperial Government and various anti-Bolshevik governments of the Russian Civil War period. They were not only ethnic Russians but belonged to other ethnic groups as well.
Distribution
Most émigrés initially fled from Southern RussiaRussia
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...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and then moved to eastern European Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
countries, such as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. A large number also fled to Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
developed thriving émigré communities.
Many military and civil officers living, stationed, or fighting the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
across Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and the Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
moved together with their families to Harbin
Harbin Russians
The term Harbin Russians or Russian Harbinites refers to several generations of Russians who lived in the city of Harbin, a major junction city on the Chinese Eastern Railway , from approximately 1898 to the mid-1960s....
, Shanghai
Shanghai Russians
The Shanghai Russians were a sizable Russian diaspora that flourished in Shanghai, China between the World Wars. By 1937 it is estimated that there were as many as 25,000 anti-Bolshevik Russians living in the city, the largest European group by far...
and other cities of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Central Asia, and Western China, as well as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
after US and Japan armies withdrawal from Siberia, where they met a tragic fate on the hands of the local Japanese Secret Service under Kenji Doihara
Kenji Doihara
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria for which he earned fame taking the nickname 'Lawrence of Manchuria', a reference to the Lawrence of Arabia....
as part of his machinations in China.
During and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
many Russian émigrés moved to the United Kingdom, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
where many of their communities still exist today.
Ideological inclinations
White émigrés were generally speaking anticommunist and did not consider the Soviet Union and its legacy to be Russian at its core, a position which was reflective of their Russian Nationalist sympathies; they did not tend to recognise the demands of Ukrainian, Georgia and other minority groups for self-determination but hankered for the resurrection of the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. They consider the period of 1917 to 1991 to have been a period of occupation by the Soviet regime which was internationalist
Proletarian internationalism
Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is a Marxist social class concept based on the view that capitalism is now a global system, and therefore the working class must act as a global class if it is to defeat it...
and anti-Christian
Religion in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion and its replacement with atheism. To that end, the communist regime confiscated religious property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in schools...
. They used the tsarist tricolour (white-blue-red) as their national flag, for example, and some organizations used the flag of the Imperial Russian Navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
.
A significant percentage of white émigrés may be described as monarchists, although many adopted a position of being "unpredetermined" ("nepredreshentsi"), believing that Russia's political structure should be determined by popular plebiscite.
Many white émigrés believed that their mission was to preserve the pre-revolutionary Russian culture and way of life while living abroad, in order to return this influence to Russian culture after the fall of the USSR. Many symbols of the White emigres were reintroduced as symbols of the post-Soviet Russia, such as the Byzantine eagle and the Russian tricolour.
A religious mission to the outside world was another concept promoted by people such as Bishop John of Shanghai and San Francisco
John of Shanghai and San Francisco
Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco also John the Wonderworker was a noted Eastern Orthodox ascetic and hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia who was active in the mid-20th century...
(canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad) who said at the 1938 All-Diaspora Council:
- "To the Russians abroad it has been granted to shine in the whole world with the light of Orthodoxy, so that other peoples, seeing their good deeds, might glorify our Father Who is in Heaven, and thus obtain salvation for themselves."
Many white émigrés also believed it was their duty to remain active in combat against the Soviet Union, with the hopes of "liberating" Russia. This ideology was largely inspired by General Pyotr Wrangel, who said upon the White army's defeat "The battle for Russia has not ceased, it has merely taken on new forms".
White army veteran Captain Vasili Orekhov, publisher of the "Sentry" journal, encapsulated this idea of responsibility with the following words:
- "There will be an hour - believe it - there will be, when the liberated Russia will ask each of us: "What have you done to accelerate my rebirth." Let us earn the right not to blush, but be proud of our existence abroad. As being temporarily deprived of our Motherland let us save in our ranks not only faith in her, but an unbending desire towards feats, sacrifice, and the establishment of a united friendly family of those who did not let down their hands in the fight for her liberation"
Organizations and activities
The émigrés formed various organizations for the purpose of combatting the Soviet regime such as the Russian All-Military UnionRussian All-Military Union
The Russian All-Military Union was founded by White Army General Pyotr Wrangel in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on September 1, 1924...
, the Brotherhood of Russian Truth
Brotherhood of Russian Truth
The Brotherhood of Russian Truth was a Russian patriotic organization established by Pyotr Krasnov and other former members of the White movement, including Prince Anatoly Lieven, to overthrowBolshevism in Soviet Russia. The term "Russian Truth" is the word used to describe the Russian code of...
, and the NTS
National Alliance of Russian Solidarists
The National Alliance of Russian Solidarists ), known by its Russian abbreviation "NTS" is a Russian far-right anticommunist organization founded in 1930 by a group of young Russian anticommunist White emigres in Belgrade, Serbia .The organization was formed in response to the older generation of...
. This made the white émigrés a target for infiltration by the Soviet secret police (e.g. operation TREST
Trust Operation
Operation Trust was a counterintelligence operation of the State Political Directorate of the Soviet Union. The operation, which ran from 1921-1926, set up a fake anti-Bolshevik underground organization, "Monarchist Union of Central Russia", MUCR , in order to help the OGPU identify real...
and the Inner Line
Inner Line
The Inner Line was a secret intelligence and counter-intelligence organization of the Russian All-Military Union , leading Russian White emigre organization....
). Seventy-five White army veterans served as volunteers supporting Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
during the Spanish civil war
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Some white émigrés adopted pro-Soviet sympathies, for which they were labelled "Soviet patriots". These people formed organizations such as the Mladorossi
Mladorossi
The Union of Mladorossi was a political group of Russian émigré monarchists who advocated a hybrid of Russian monarchy and the Soviet system, best evidenced by their motto "Tsar and the Soviets"....
, the Evraziitsi, and the Smenovekhovtsi
Smenovekhovtsi
The Smenovekhovtsy is the name for a political movement in the Russian émigré community that began shortly after the publication of the magazine "Smena Vekh" in Prague, in the year 1921...
.
White émigrés fought under the Soviet Red army during the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang
Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang
The Soviet invasion of Xinjiang was a military campaign in the Chinese northwestern region of Xinjiang in 1934. White Russian forces assisted the Soviet Red Army.- Background :...
and the Xinjiang War (1937)
Xinjiang War (1937)
In 1937, an Islamic rebellion broke out in southern Xinjiang. The rebels were 1,500 Uighurs and Tungans led by Kichik Akhund, against the pro-Soviet provincial forces of Sheng Shicai.- Start of rebellion :...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, many white émigrés took part in the Russian Liberation Movement
Russian Liberation Movement
Russian Liberation Movement is a term used to describe Russians during World War II who tried to create an anti-communist armed force which would topple the regime of Joseph Stalin...
. On the other hand, a significant number participated in anti-Nazi movements such as the French resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
. During the war, the white émigrés came into contact with former Soviet citizens from German-occupied territories who used the German retreat as an opportunity to flee from the Soviet Union or were in Germany and Austria as POWs and forced labourers and preferred to stay in the West, often referred to as the second wave of emigres (often also called DPs - displaced persons, see Displaced persons camp
Displaced persons camp
A displaced persons camp or DP camp is a temporary facility for displaced persons coerced into forced migration. The term is mainly used for camps established after World War II in West Germany and in Austria, as well as in the United Kingdom, primarily for refugees from Eastern Europe and for the...
). This smaller second wave fairly quickly began to assimilate
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
into the white emigre community.
After the war, active anti-Soviet combat was almost exclusively continued by NTS: other organizations either dissolved, or began concentrating exclusively on self-preservation and/or educating the youth. Various youth organizations, such as the Russian scouts in exile
Scouts-in-Exile
Scouts-in-Exteris, also referred to as Scouts-in-Exile, are Scouting and Guiding groups formed outside of their native country as a result of war and changes in governments...
became functional in raising children with a background in pre-Soviet Russian culture and heritage.
The white émigrés, acting to preserve their church from Soviet influence, formed the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1924. The church continues its existence to this day, acting as both the spiritual and cultural center of the Russian Orthodox community abroad. On May 17, 2007, the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate
Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate
The Act of Canonical Communion of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia with the Russian orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate reunited the two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church: the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate...
reestablished canonical ties between the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Russian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
, after more than eighty years of separation.
Notable "First Wave" Émigrés
Political and military figures:- Grand Duke Cyril VladimirovichGrand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of RussiaGrand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia was a member of the Russian Imperial Family. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the deaths of Tsar Nicholas II and his brother Michael, Cyril assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia and later the title Emperor and Autocrat of all the...
- Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich
- Viktor ChernovViktor ChernovViktor Mikhailovich Chernov was a Russian revolutionary and one of the founders of the Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party. He was the primary party theoretician or the 'brain' of the party, and was more analyst than political leader.-Early years:...
- Anton Denikin
- Alexander GuchkovAlexander GuchkovAlexander Ivanovich Guchkov was a Russian politician, Chairman of the Duma and Minister of War in the Russian Provisional Government.-Early years:...
- George IgnatieffGeorge IgnatieffGeorge Pavlovich Ignatieff, CC was a noted Russian-Canadian diplomat. His career spanned nearly five decades in World War II and the postwar period.-Early life and education:...
- Pavel MilyukovPavel MilyukovPavel Nikolayevich Milyukov , a Russian politician, was the founder, leader, and the most prominent member of the Constitutional Democratic party...
- Baron Pyotr WrangelPyotr Nikolayevich WrangelBaron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel or Vrangel was an officer in the Imperial Russian army and later commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army in Southern Russia in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.-Life:Wrangel was born in Mukuliai, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire...
- Peter Struve
Religious figures:
- Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of SourozhMetropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of SourozhAntony of Sourozh was best known as a writer and broadcaster on prayer and the Christian life. He was a monk and Metropolitan bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church...
- Georges FlorovskyGeorges FlorovskyGeorges Vasilievich Florovsky was an Eastern Orthodox priest, theologian, historian and ecumenist. He was born in the Russian Empire, but spent his working life in Paris and New York...
- Mother MariaMother MariaMaria Skobtsova , known as Mother Maria , Saint Mary of Paris, born Elizaveta Yurievna Pilenko , Kuzmina-Karavayeva by her first marriage, Skobtsova by her second marriage, was a Russian noblewoman, poet, nun, and member of the French Resistance during World War II...
- Alexander SchmemannAlexander SchmemannAlexander Schmemann was a prominent 20th century Orthodox Christian priest, teacher, and writer.-Early life:...
- John of Shanghai and San FranciscoJohn of Shanghai and San FranciscoSaint John of Shanghai and San Francisco also John the Wonderworker was a noted Eastern Orthodox ascetic and hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia who was active in the mid-20th century...
- Metropolitan Vitaly UstinovMetropolitan Vitaly UstinovMetropolitan Vitaly was the first Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia from 1985 until his retirement in 2001.-Biography:Rostislav Petrovich Ustinov was born to naval officer Peter Ustinov and Lydia Andreevna , daughter of the General of Police in the Caucasus...
Historians and philosophers:
- Nikolai BerdyaevNikolai BerdyaevNikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev was a Russian religious and political philosopher.-Early life and education:Berdyaev was born in Kiev into an aristocratic military family. He spent a solitary childhood at home, where his father's library allowed him to read widely...
- Sergey Bulgakov
- Ivan IlyinIvan IlyinIvan Alexandrovich Ilyin was a Russian religious and political philosopher, White emigre publicist and an ideologue of the Russian All-Military Union.-Young years:...
- Vladimir LosskyVladimir LosskyVladimir Nikolayevich Lossky was an influential Eastern Orthodox theologian in exile from Russia. He emphasized theosis as the main principle of Orthodox Christianity....
- Dimitri ObolenskyDimitri ObolenskySir Dimitri Obolensky was born Prince Dmitriy Dmitrievich Obolensky to Prince Dimitri Alexandrovich Obolensky and Countess Maria Shuvalov . He was descended from Rurik, Igor, Svyatoslav, St Vladimir of Kiev, St Michael of Chernigov, and Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov...
- Michael RostovtzeffMichael RostovtzeffMikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff, or Rostovtsev was one of the 20th century's foremost authorities on ancient Greek, Iranian, and Roman history....
- Lev ShestovLev ShestovLev Isaakovich Shestov , born Yehuda Leyb Schwarzmann , was a Ukrainian/Russian existentialist philosopher. Born in Kiev on , he emigrated to France in 1921, fleeing from the aftermath of the October Revolution. He lived in Paris until his death on November 19, 1938.- Life :Shestov was born Lev...
- George VernadskyGeorge VernadskyGeorge Vernadsky , Russian: Гео́ргий Влади́мирович Верна́дский) was a Russian-American historian and an author of numerous books on Russian history.- European years :...
- Nicholas ZernovNicholas ZernovNicholas Zernov was a Russian émigré and lay Orthodox theologian. He was born in Moscow and died in Oxford...
Artists, i.e. actors, authors, composers, musicians:
- Mark AldanovMark AldanovMark Aldanov was a Russian emigrant writer, known for his historical novels.Mark Landau was born in Kiev in the family of a rich Jewish industrialist. He graduated the physical-mathematical and law departments of Kiev University. He published serious research papers in chemistry. In 1919 he...
- André AndrejewAndré AndrejewAndré Andrejew was one of the most important art directors of the international cinema of the twentieth century. He had a distinctive, innovative style. His décors were both expressive and realistic...
- Yul BrynnerYul BrynnerYul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
- Ivan Bunin
- Alexandra DanilovaAlexandra DanilovaAleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen....
- Serge Diaghilev
- Oleg CassiniOleg CassiniOleg Cassini was a French-born American fashion designer noted for being chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design her state wardrobe in the 1960s....
- Dmitri NabokovDmitri NabokovDmitri Vladimirovich Nabokov is an American opera singer and translator. He is the only child of writer Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Vera Nabokov, and is currently executor of his father's literary estate.-Background:...
- Olga PreobrajenskaOlga PreobrajenskaOlga Iosifovna Preobrajenska was probably the best loved ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet....
- Sergei RachmaninoffSergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
- Vladimir NabokovVladimir NabokovVladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
- however, he never considered himself a white émigré, as he & his family were affiliated to the Kadet faction, a partyConstitutional Democratic partyThe Constitutional Democratic Party was a liberal political party in the Russian Empire. Party members were called Kadets, from the abbreviation K-D of the party name...
opposed to both the Communist & Czarist regimes. - Ayn RandAyn RandAyn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
- Anna Pavlova
- George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
- Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
Scientists and inventors:
- Alexander Procofieff de SeverskyAlexander Procofieff de SeverskyAlexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky was a Russian-American aviation pioneer, inventor, and influential advocate of strategic air power.-Early life:...
- Igor SikorskyIgor SikorskyIgor Sikorsky , born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft...
- Otto StruveOtto StruveOtto Struve was a Russian astronomer. In Russian, his name is sometimes given as Otto Lyudvigovich Struve ; however, he spent most of his life and his entire scientific career in the United States...
- Vladimir Zvorykin
- Ilya PrigogineIlya PrigogineIlya, Viscount Prigogine was a Russian-born naturalized Belgian physical chemist and Nobel Laureate noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility.-Biography :...
Other figures:
- Alexander AlekhineAlexander AlekhineAlexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
- Natalia, Princess BrassovaNatalia, Princess BrassovaNatalia Brasova, Countess Brasova was a Russian noblewoman who married, as her third husband, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia.-Early life:...
- Wassily LeontiefWassily LeontiefWassily Wassilyovich Leontief , was a Russian-American economist notable for his research on how changes in one economic sector may have an effect on other sectors. Leontief won the Nobel Committee's Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1973, and three of his doctoral students have also...
- Alexander ObolenskyAlexander ObolenskyPrince Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky was a Russian Rurikid prince and an international rugby union footballer who played for England. He was popularly known as just "The Prince" by many sports fans.-Biography:...
- Oleg PantyukhovOleg PantyukhovColonel Oleg Ivanovich Pantyukhov was the founder of Russian Scouting.-Early years:Oleg Pantyukhov was born in Kiev to a family of a military physician and an anthropologist. From 1892 to 1899 he studied at Tifflis cadet school. During his studies he became a member of the group named Pushkin...
- Nicholas V. RiasanovskyNicholas V. RiasanovskyNicholas Valentine Riasanovsky was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of numerous books on Russian history. He was born in Harbin, China to lawyer Valentin A. Riasanovskii and Antonia Riasanovskii, a novelist...
- Nicolas RossolimoNicolas RossolimoNicolas Rossolimo was an American-French-Russian-Greek chess Grandmaster. He was many times champion of Paris, France, and after relocating to the United States won the 1955 U.S. Open Championship...
- Boris SkossyreffBoris SkossyreffBoris Skossyreff was an adventurer who attempted to seize power in the European state of Andorra during the early 1930s...
- Pitirim SorokinPitirim SorokinPitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin was a Russian-American sociologist born in Komi . Academic and political activist in Russia, he emigrated from Russia to the United States in 1923. He founded the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. He was a vocal opponent of Talcott Parsons' theories...
- Victor StarffinVictor StarffinVictor Starffin , nicknamed , was an ethnic Russian baseball player in Japan and the first professional pitcher in Japan to win three hundred games.-Biography:...
- Alexandra Tolstaya
- Marie VassiltchikovMarie VassiltchikovMarie Illarionovna Vassiltchikov was a Russian princess who was acquainted with some of the people who plotted to kill kill Adolf Hitler in the July 20 Plot, but was not directly involved in the plot itself.-Early life:...
- Vladimir YourkevitchVladimir YourkevitchVladimir Ivanovich Yourkevitch was a Russian naval engineer, developer of the modern design of ship hulls, and designer of the famous ocean liner SS Normandie. He worked in Russia, France and the United States.-Biography:...
- Igor CassiniIgor CassiniIgor Cassini was an American syndicated gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain. He was the second journalist to write the Cholly Knickerbocker column.-Career:...
White Emigre organizations and entities
Orthodox Church Jurisdictions:- Russian Orthodox Church Outside RussiaRussian Orthodox Church Outside RussiaThe Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia , also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, ROCA, or ROCOR) is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church....
(РПЦЗ, Зарубежная Церковь) - Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western EuropePatriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western EuropeThe Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe is an exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Russian Orthodox tradition, based in Paris, and having parishes throughout Europe, mainly in France. The Exarchate is sometimes known as Rue Daru from the street...
(Парижский Экзархат) - Orthodox Church in AmericaOrthodox Church in AmericaThe Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
(АПЦ, Митрополия) - was not entirely founded by White Emigres but includes a significant percentage of White emigre parishes.
Military and semi-Military Organizations:
- Russian All Military Union (РОВС)
- The Don Cossack Host
- The Kuban Cossack Host
- The Terek Cossack HostTerek Cossack HostThe Terek Cossack Host was a Cossack host created in 1577 from free Cossacks who resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. In 1792 it was included in the Caucasus Line Cossack Host and separated from it again in 1860, with the capital of Vladikavkaz...
- The Russian CorpsRussian CorpsThe Russian Corps was an armed force composed of anti-communist Russian emigres that existed during the Second World War in German-occupied Serbia...
Combatants (Союз Чинов Русского Корпуса) - The Association of CadetsCadet Corps (Russia)The Cadet Corps is an admissions-based all boys military academy which prepared boys to become commissioned officers. Boys between the ages of 8 and 15 were enrolled. It was founded in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire in 1731 by Tsarina Anne. The term of education was seven years...
(Объединение Кадет Российских Корпусов за Рубежом)
Political organizations:
- The National Alliance of Russian SolidaristsNational Alliance of Russian SolidaristsThe National Alliance of Russian Solidarists ), known by its Russian abbreviation "NTS" is a Russian far-right anticommunist organization founded in 1930 by a group of young Russian anticommunist White emigres in Belgrade, Serbia .The organization was formed in response to the older generation of...
(НТС) - The Congress of Russian Americans
- The Russian Imperial Union OrderRussian Imperial Union OrderThe Russian Imperial Union-Order is an organization of Russian monarchists-legitimists. It was established on 8 October 1929 in Paris by white emigrants living abroad...
(РИС-О) - The High Monarchist Union (Высший Монархический Совет)
- The MladorossiMladorossiThe Union of Mladorossi was a political group of Russian émigré monarchists who advocated a hybrid of Russian monarchy and the Soviet system, best evidenced by their motto "Tsar and the Soviets"....
- The Russian All National Popular State MovementRussian All National Popular State MovementThe Russian All National Popular State Movement was a Russian political emigre organization based primarily in West Germany that sought to unite the participants of the Russian Liberation...
(РОНДД) - The Union of Battle for the Liberation of the Peoples of RussiaUnion of Battle for the Liberation of the Peoples of RussiaThe Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia was an organization of anti-communist Russians, regardless of ethnic origin, which emerged from the youth organization of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of...
(СБОНР) - was founded by the "second wave" emigres but also included many White emigres.
Youth organizations:
- Organization of Russian Young Pathfinders (ОРЮР)
- National Organization of Russian Scouts (НОРС)
- National Organization of Rangers (or "Knights") (НОВ, Витязи)
- National Association of Russian ExplorersNational Association of Russian ExplorersThe National Association of Russian Explorers is a youth organization founded by former Russian Scout Pavel Nikolaevich Bogdanovich, a White emigre and veteran of the Russian Imperial army, in the late 1920s after leaving the National Organization of...
(НОРР) - Russian Christian Students Movement (РСХД)
- Orthodox Organization of Russian Pathfinders (ПОРР)
- Russian SokolSokolThe Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...
(Русский Сокол)
Charitable organizations:
- The Tolstoy FoundationTolstoy FoundationThe Tolstoy Foundation is a non-profit charitable, philanthropic organization. It was established on April 26, 1939 by Alexandra Tolstoy, youngest daughter of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Its headquarters are in Rockland County, New York in Valley Cottage....
- Society for the Relief of Czarist ExilesSociety for the Relief of Czarist ExilesThe Society for the Relief of Czarist Exiles was an international organization established following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia to support the large number of White émigrés who fled that country during the Russian Civil War.- Reference :...
External links
- Russia Abroad: A comprehensive guide to Russian Emigration after 1917 Biographical databases. Photoarchive. Research results accompanied by original documents, paper extracts.