Paul Nazaroff (Pavel Stepanovich Nazarov; Russian: Па́вел Степа́нович Наза́ров; died 1942) was a Russian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and writer who was caught up in the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, and became the leader of a plot to overthrow

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

rule in Central Asia.

Biography

He was born in

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

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 (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

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 The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

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 ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

in China in early 1920, as he tells in his book ''Hunted Through Central Asia'' (translated into English in 1932 and reissued in 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 Peter Stuart Hopkirk (15 December 1930 – 22 August 2014) was a British journalist, author and historian who wrote six books about the British Empire, Russia and Central Asia. Biography Peter Hopkirk was born in Nottingham, the son of Frank St ...

's ''Setting the East Ablaze'' also gives details of Nazaroff's adventures.

Published works

* ''Hunted through Central Asia'', Paul Nazaroff, 1932.
''Moved On! from Kashgar to Kashmir'', 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, pp. 765-792.

References

* ''Setting the East Ablaze'', Peter Hopkirk, 1986. 1942 deaths Year of birth missing White Russian emigrants to China {{Russia-bio-stub