Vasily Vasilyevich Balabanov (russian: link=no, Василий Васильевич Балабанов; 30 January 1873 – 27 January 1947) was a former governor of Turkestan in Imperial Russia, a governor of Semirechye, an SR and a commissar of the Russian

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

Biography

Vasily Balabanov was the third of five children of Vasily Stepanovich Balabanov and Maria Muravskaya. In 1892 he was married for the first time. In 1894 Balabanov graduated from Moscow University and returned to the family estate in Bakhmut. He was noted for being sympathetic to the peasants and helped modernize methods and improve conditions. In 1905 he visited Asiatic Russia, impressed with the vastness and available land for the poor Russian peasants. He went to Moscow with his idea and came back with the backing of the government. After a slow start, with the loss of 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 ...

, there were many ex-soldiers and families attracted to the prospect and a trickle turned into a flood. Balabanov received the title of 'Minister of Resettlement of

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...

' and helped the new arrivals settle in the area. His first wife died after 4 children (Galina, Sergey, Alexey and Klara) and Balabanov married Anastasia Kvasnicki from Odessa, the daughter of a Jewish merchant with whom he had three children, Vladimir, Vasily and Taras. In 1913 Balabanov was appointed governor-general of the Turkestan Province. He spent time with dignitaries, and had one of the few automobiles in this remote area. Although he didn't live in a palace, the official house was large and it had many staff in attendance. With the start of

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 ...

in 1914 the Tsar needed soldiers from the peasants and Balabanov had to balance this with keeping enough farmers in the fields to produce enough food for everyone. As a result few staff were available to take care of his offices and home. His wife left and he married a third time to Vera Afanaseva who had to run the large official residence in Lepsinsk.

Russian Civil War

By 1919 the Russian Revolution had reached Turkestan. For many months there was fighting between the reds and whites, with one side taking a town only to be taken back a few days later. Balabanov spent a great deal of time working with Alexander Dutov and General Grigory Semyonov in diplomacy. One time Dutov sent Balabanov to convince Semyonov to join him in an attack. Semyonov claimed Balabanov was no longer the Governor because the government no longer gave support. Semyonov though wrote out appointments to Balabanov's three sons as Lieutenants. Balabanov was imprisoned several times by the reds narrowly escaping with his life, once being freed by a newly made red who remembered his helpfulness, once survived because the man next to him was the one who got shot. Another time the reds broke into the government house, took all his valuables and destroyed anything else. He refused the French offer of sanctuary but with the help of Dutov he escaped through the mountainous passes with his younger children, third wife, and trusted officers to China in 1920. One of the passes he had to pass was through a red blockade by walking quietly at night. He settled in the border area for about 6 months helping the anti-Bolsheviks until an assassination attempt (a 10,000 ruble reward was posted for him) forced him to flee with his family overland to

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, passing through the Gobi Desert. However, Alexander Dutov was assassinated when he escaped to China. At the time China did not recognize the

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, and Balabanov being invited to China by the Governor of the nearest Province as an equal was supplied with a small

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while in China to pay for expenses. When he and his family had arrived in Hankou, after 6 months of hard travel, and he went to the best hotel in the city, he startled the hotel management by his appearance, with dirty furs and ragged clothing, they were almost kicked out of the hotel until Balabanov gave proof of his identity. Balabanov and his family stayed in Hankou for 6 years before emigrating to

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on the RMS ''Empress of Russia'' with the help of Western Missionaries in

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. He settled with his family (Clara, Basil, Taras), Galina Doubroff, and Olga Lapka and lived on a farm in Richmond,

, and in

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teaching Russian. His family struggled with the change of life and depression in Canada, Balabanov never wanting to talk much about his previous life. He died in 1947.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balabanov, Vasily 1873 births 1947 deaths People from Bakhmut People from Yekaterinoslav Governorate Turkestan Politicians of the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to China Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Canada White Russian emigrants to China White Russian emigrants to Canada