Alexander Ivanovich Spiridovich (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Спиридо́вич; 1873–1952) was a police general in the

Russian Imperial Guard The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard (russian: Лейб-гвардия ''Leyb-gvardiya'', from German ''Leib'' "body"; cf. Life Guards / Bodyguard) were military units serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Rus ...

. He became a historian after he had left Russia.

Life

Spiridovitch was born in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

. In 1893 he graduated from military academy and was promoted to sub-Lieutenant of the 105th Orenburg regiment garrison in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

. In 1899 he joined

Special Corps of Gendarmes The Separate Corps of Gendarmes (russian: Отдельный корпус жандармов) was the uniformed security police of the Imperial Russian Army in the Russian Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main responsibilitie ...

and started to work in

Okhrana The Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order (russian: Отделение по охранению общественной безопасности и порядка), usually called Guard Department ( rus, Охранное отд ...

in Moscow. In 1902 he was named Chief of the Kiev Section of the Okhrana. At that time, Kiev was a principal center of activity for the

Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

. Spiridovitch and his men were highly recognized for their counter-terrorist work, and at the young age of 29, was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In May 1905, Spiridovich was shot twice at close range in the streets of Kiev by a pistol fired by the Bolshevik Peter Rudnenko (who had been Spiridovich's own informer within the revolutionary circles). He was forced by his injuries to take a leave of absence from service and rest until the winter of 1905. In 1906 Spiridovitch was appointed the head of

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 ...

's secret personal guard, the post he occupied for ten years. After the assassination of the Prime Minister

Pyotr Stolypin Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin ( rus, Пётр Арка́дьевич Столы́пин, p=pʲɵtr ɐrˈkadʲjɪvʲɪtɕ stɐˈlɨpʲɪn; – ) was a Russian politician and statesman. He served as the third prime minister and the interior minist ...

in Kiev, Spiridovich was investigated for failure to take necessary measures to guard Stolypin, but no charges were brought, and he retained his position. During the First World War, Spiridovich accompanied Nicholas II on his trips between

Tsarskoe Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the cen ...

, the military headquarters in

Baranovichi Baranavichy ( ; be, Бара́навічы, Łacinka: , ; russian: Бара́новичи; yi, באַראַנאָוויטש; pl, Baranowicze) is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus, with a population (as of 2019) of 179,000. It is not ...

and

Mogilev Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...

, and many military formations on the front. In 1915, he was awarded the rank of major general. In August 1916 Spiridovich was appointed mayor of

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea ...

. 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 ...

Spiridovitch, who was visiting Saint Petersburg, was arrested – as one of the first – on personal order of

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; Reforms of Russian orthography, original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months ...

. On October 2, he was released from the

Peter and Paul fortress The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early 1920s i ...

by accident, and managed to leave Russia. He and his second wife and children re-settled in Paris in 1920.

Works

Russian language

Революционное движение в России:Российская Социал-Демократическая Рабочая Партия
"Revolutionary movement in Russia:

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...

", 1914
Революционное движение в России:Партия Социалистов-Революционеров и ее предшественники
"Revolutionary movement in Russia:

", 1916
Записки жандарма.
"Memoirs of gendarme", 1928

"Great war and February Revolution". Published in 1962.

French language

* ''Les Dernières années de la Cour de Tsarskoe Selo'', Payot, Paris 1928. * ''Histoire du terrorisme russe, 1886-1917''. Paris, Payot, 1930 * ''Raspoutine 1863-1916''. 1936 — biography of

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...

English language

* Book 1 Les Dernières Années de la Cour de Tsarskoe Selo, English Translation by Emily Plank, Russiahouse Press, 2009 * Book 1 God, The Tsar & Mother Russia, Russiahouse Press, 2009

External links