Viktorin Mikhailovich Molchanov (russian: Викторин Михайлович Молчанов) (January 11, 1886 in Chistopol, Governorate of Kazan – January 10, 1975 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

) was a Russian Major-General and a participant in the White movement.

Biography

Molchanov was born in 1886 to parents who were members of the minor Russian nobility. His father was the head of the local post office. Viktorin Molchanov graduated from the

Elabuga Yelabuga (alternative spelling that reflects the Cyrillic spelling: Elabuga; russian: Елабуга; tt-Cyrl, Алабуга, ''Alabuğa'') is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River and east ...

Comprehensive School and Alexey's Military Institute in Moscow in 1906. After graduation, he first served in the Second Caucasus Engineering Battalion in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

. In 1909 Molchanov transferred to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

, serving in Primorsky Krai. He fought in

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 ...

as the captain of a field engineer company in the Third Siberian Division stationed in Poland. After he finished his tour, he returned to the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

in time for the start of the Russian Revolution, in which he fought against the Bolsheviks. During the Revolution, Molchanov was promoted and put in charge of the Izhevsk brigade and eventually of an entire division in 1918. After the defeat of Admiral Kolchak's armies and the subsequent Great Siberian Ice March retreat to Transbaikal, Molchanov was appointed the head of the 3rd Separate Rifle Corps of the Far Eastern Army by Ataman Grigory Semyonov. In October 1920 the Ataman was defeated and the surviving units evacuated to China. General Molchanov moved to Primorye and established

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

as his base on May 31, 1921. Under his command the Whites launched an offensive and captured

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

in November 1921 but his troops were smashed at the

Battle of Volochayevka The Battle of Volochayevka was an important battle of the Far Eastern Front in the latter part of the Russian Civil War. It occurred on February 10 through 12, 1922, near Volochayevka station on the Amur Railway, on the outskirts of the city of K ...

on February 12 1922 by the forces commanded by Vasily Blyukher. General Molchanov moved to China, then to Japan, and in 1923 settled in the United States, where he was interviewed for a lengthy oral history of his life for the University of California's Center for Slavic and East European Studies.

References

the Encyclopedia of Transbaikalia

External link

1886 births 1975 deaths People from Chistopol Primorsky Krai Russian anti-communists Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of World War I People of the Russian Civil War White movement generals History of Zabaykalsky Krai Russian nobility {{russia-mil-bio-stub