Count Fyodor Arturovich Keller (russian: Фёдор Артурович Келлер; german: Theodor Alexander Graf von Keller; October 12 ( 24), 1857,
Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
– December 8 (21), 1918,
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
) was a
Russian Imperial
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
General of the cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...
monarchist
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
.
Military career
Fyodor Arturovich Keller was born in Kursk, to the family of ethnic German General Artur Fyodorovich Keller. He was a cousin of Fyodor Eduardovich Keller, who distinguished himself in the
Russo-Japanese war
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
.
Fyodor Keller studied at the preparatory boarding school of Nikolaev Cavalry School, and passed the exam to enter the Tver Cavalry Cadet School in 1878, but after the start of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he volunteered for battle. He was awarded the 1st and 2nd class Crosses of St. George for bravery.
After the war he served in the 1st Leib Dragoon Moscow Regiment. He ascended ranks and on February 16, 1904, he was appointed the commander of the 15th Alexander Dragoon Regiment in Kyiv.
From June 1906 he was the commander of the Leib Guards Dragoon Regiment. In 1907, he was awarded the rank of Fliegel-Adjutant and in July of the same year, he was promoted to major general with enrollment in
H. I. M. Retinue
His Imperial Majesty's Retinue, ''His Imperial Majesty's Suite'' (abbr. ''H. I. M. Retinue'', ''H. I. M. Suite''; , e.g. ) was a retinue unit of personal aides to the Russian Emperor, who usually were officers of th ...
.
During the
First Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
between 1905 and 1907, he acted as a provisional Governor-General of
Kalisz
(The oldest city of Poland)
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, image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town
, image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...
, and survived two assassination attempts. The first attempt failed when Keller managed to catch a bomb thrown at his carriage, and it failed to explode. In the second attempt, Keller received multiple shrapnel wounds, when a bomb exploded beneath his horse.
On June 14, 1910, he was appointed commander of the 1st brigade of the Caucasus Cavalry Division, and on February 25, 1912, commander of the 10th Cavalry Division. On May 31, 1913, he received the rank of lieutenant general.
When
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out, Keller’s division became part of the 3rd Army of General
Nikolai Ruzsky
Nikolai Vladimirovich Ruzsky (russian: Никола́й Влади́мирович Ру́зский; – October 18, 1918) was a Imperial Russia, Russian general, member of the state and military councils, best known for his role in World Wa ...
. In August 1914 he defeated the 4th Austro-Hungarian cavalry division in the battle near Yaroslavitsa. During the
Battle of Galicia
The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Battle of Lemberg, was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely defeated and ...
, he organized the pursuit of the enemy and took 500 prisoners and 6 guns near
Yavoriv
Yavoriv ( uk, Яворів, ; pl, Jaworów; yi, יאַוואָראָוו , translit=Yavorov; german: Jaworiw) is a city in the Lviv region of western Ukraine which is around 15 kilometers from the Polish border. It is the administrative centre o ...
. For services in battle he was awarded the
Order of St. George
The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...
of the 4th (September 1914) and 3rd (May 1915) degrees.
From April 3, 1915, he was the commander of the 3rd cavalry corps. During the offensive at the end of April 1915, he distinguished himself with a successful cavalry attack at Balamutovka and Rzhaventsy, breaking through Austrian fortifications, taking strategically important heights and many prisoners.
During the general offensive of the Southwestern Front in
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
in 1916, Keller's corps was part of the 9th Army of General
Platon Lechitsky
Platon Alekseevich Lechitsky (18 March 1856 – 2 February 1921) was a Russian general.
Biography
Born in the Grodno Governorate, Grodno province in the family of a rural priest Alexei Nikolaevich and Sofia Alexandrovna (née Pavlovskaya) Lechit ...
. In early June, Keller's corps, together with the corps of General
Mikhail Promtov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Promtov (June 12, 1857 - 1950 or 1951) lieutenant general, artilleryman, one of the centenarians of the Imperial Russian Army, a participant in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), the Russo-Japanese War, commander of the World W ...
was ordered to pursue the retreating southern group of the 7th Austro-Hungarian Army. He was conferred the rank of General of the cavalry on 15 January 1917.
Revolution and civil war
After the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
in 1917, Keller was one of the two Russian generals, along with
Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski
Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, or Nakhichevansky, francised spelling: Hussein Nahitchevansky ( az, Hüseyn xan Naxçıvanski; russian: Гусейн-хан Нахичеванский or ) (28 July 1863 in Nakhchivan City – January 1919 in St. Peters ...
, who supported the
Czar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the t ...
. Keller sent a telegram to the
headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief
The Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief ( uk, Ставка Верховного Головнокомандувача) is the highest command and control body for the troops and individual Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces o ...
to offer
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
the use of his corps for suppression of the revolt, but Nicholas II never received this telegram.
Count Keller refused to take the oath of allegiance to the
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...
, and was dismissed from his position. He left for
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.
Later Keller moved to Kyiv, where on November 19, 1918 he was appointed by
hetman
( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders.
Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...
Pavlo Skoropadskyi
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi ( uk, Павло Петрович Скоропадський, Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army ...
the commander-in-chief of all the troops on the territory of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Skoropadskyi needed the support of Russian monarchists in his struggle against the Ukrainian insurgents, but Keller understood the appointment as the beginning of his own dictatorship. Keller instituted a five-member Council of the State Defense, composed entirely of the monarchist politicians, and stated that he served one Russian state. Skoropadskyi dismissed Keller on November 26 for "overstepping his authorities" and replaced him with general Prince Alexander Dolgorukov.
When Kyiv was taken by the troops of
Directorate of Ukraine
The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on November 13–14, 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Ukr ...
, Keller was arrested and executed. He was buried in Pokrovskyi Monastery in Kyiv.