Ignatiev Alexey Alekseevich was a military leader in Tsarist Russia and in the USSR. As well as a diplomat, adviser to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (then - the People's Commissariat) and a writer. He belonged to an old noble and count family. One of his ancestors served as a bed-keeper for Tsar Mikhail Romanov. Consider the biography of Count Alexei Alekseevich Ignatiev in more detail.
Family
Count Ignatiev was born in 1877, on March 2, in a family belonging to a very noble family. His father, Alexei Pavlovich, was a prominent figure, a member of the State Council, a governor-general in three provinces, and was killed during a meeting. As A. Ignatiev believed, the tsarist secret police had to do with this. Mother, Sofya Sergeevna, came from the family of princes Meshchersky.
Famous personalities were other relatives. So, the younger brother Pavel was an agent in France, and his uncle, Nikolai Pavlovich, served as the Minister of the Interior and wasfamous diplomat. With his participation, the Beijing Treaty of 1860 and the San Stefano Peace Treaty were signed, which ended the Russian-Turkish war.
Early years
From his youth, the fate of Alexei was closely connected with a military career.
- In 1894 he graduated from the cadet corps in Kyiv, which prepared teenagers for military service with the rank of officer.
- When Count Ignatiev was 14 years old, he began his studies at the most privileged military institution of that time in Russia - the Corps of Pages. Here much attention was paid to German and French. According to his father, Alexei was sent here to get rid of tearfulness and effeminacy. Generals' sons and grandsons were enrolled in the Corps of Pages, but sometimes exceptions were made for representatives of princely families. His father and uncle also studied here.
- In 1895, Alexei was introduced to Tsar Nicholas II, he began to serve the Empress.
- Aleksey graduated from the Corps of Pages in 1896, was released into the Cavalier Guard Regiment and was in court service with the rank of cornet. In 1900 he was promoted to lieutenant.
- 1902 - the year of graduation from the Academy of the General Staff as a captain of the General Staff.
- 1902-1903 - study of cavalry techniques at the Officers' Cavalry School.
- 1903-1904 - command of a squadron in the Uhlan regiment.
On the Eastern Front
With the beginning of the Russian-Japanese war, Ignatiev Alexei Alekseevich goes to the front. He gets to the headquarters of the command of the Manchurian army, and then to the intelligencecontrol. Thus began his activity on the basis of military diplomacy, which determined his future fate.
Contacts with military agents allowed him to study the morals of employees in foreign armies. Under his command were Americans, Germans, British, he was obliged to check the correspondence. At the end of the war, Ignatiev had the rank of lieutenant colonel and was awarded two orders - St. Anna (IV class), St. Stanislav (III class). And from 1906 to 1908 he also received orders - St. Vladimir (IV class), as well as St. Stanislav (now II class) and St. Anna (now II class)
After the war
Count Ignatiev's diplomatic career continued after the war. In 1908 he served as a military attache in countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In 1912 he was sent to France. He was not specifically trained in the activities of a military agent, and he had to work, relying on intuition. His direct duties included:
- Inform your general staff about the forces of the host country, compiling reports on exercises, maneuvers, visits to military units.
- Transfer all newly appeared military and technical literature.
During his stay in France, Ignatiev was responsible for the purchase of weapons and ammunition for the Russian army, single-handedly managing the Russian account in a French bank. And also he was the head of a wide agent network. In 1914, the count was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir (III class).
Paris life
With the beginning of the 1st World War, when the Russians were in dire need of ammunition, A. Ignatiev was given a largeorder for the supply of heavy shells. None of the French went to its implementation. The count was on friendly terms with Andre Citroen, a French industrialist, who came to his aid. This was followed by the spread of rumors that Ignatiev capitalized on military supplies, using his connections. However, no direct evidence was provided by anyone.
Representatives of the circles of Russian emigration condemned Count Ignatiev for his relationship with the dancer Natalya Trukhanova, who performed in a half-naked form. For the sake of Natalia, he divorced his wife, Elena Okhotnikova. Beginning in 1914, Ignatiev and Trukhanova lived in grand style in a luxurious apartment.
Transfer of gold to Soviet Russia
After the October Revolution took place, Russia had 225 million gold rubles in the Bank de France. They were intended for the purchase of the next batch of equipment by Ignatiev. Various emigrant organizations began to claim for the funds that turned out to be ownerless, posing as legal representatives of the Russian Empire.
And then General Alexei Alekseevich Ignatiev made an extraordinary act that stunned many. In 1924-1925. The Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with the states of different continents. In this regard, many of them, including France, organized a diplomatic mission. Turning there, Ignatiev handed over the money to Leonid Krasin, who was a sales representative. In return, he asked for a Soviet passport and permission to return tohomeland that became Soviet.
Renunciation of relatives and friends
After that, the Russian emigration declared Alexei Ignatiev a traitor, and his brother made an attempt on his life. But the attempt was unsuccessful - the bullet only passed along the edge of the count's hat, which he kept to remember this event. His mother disowned him, forbidding him to appear in her house so that he would not dare to dishonor the family.
Close friends also turned away from Alexei Alekseevich, among whom was Karl Mannerheim, who studied with him at the Academy of the General Staff. Only Natalia Trukhanova remained with him.
Undercover work
However, permission to travel to Russia was not issued immediately. At the same time, family incomes decreased sharply, Ignatiev began to grow mushrooms and sell them. Until 1937, he was officially assigned to the Soviet trade mission in France. But in reality he was engaged in undercover activities, but already in the interests of Soviet intelligence.
A. A. Ignatiev led a network of dozens of illegal intelligence agents who worked undercover in various official structures. When he returned to his homeland in 1937, he received the rank of brigade commander, and in 1940 - major general, but already in the Red Army.
In Moscow
While in Moscow, Alexei Ignatiev was the curator of language courses, which were held by representatives of the Red Army command. He was the head of the department of foreign languages. From 1942 he worked as an editorin the military publishing house of the Ministry of Defense.
According to unofficial data, the knight of military diplomacy Count A. A. Ignatiev (that's what V. I. Vinokurov calls him in his book) continued to work in foreign intelligence and was even in good standing with I. V. Stalin. A former class enemy, the tsarist officer not only served his homeland as a scout, but also engaged in creativity.
Before the war, the memoirs of Alexei Alekseevich Ignatiev "50 years in the ranks" were published, he was a member of the Writers' Union. In the 90s, his cookbook of recipes was released, which he wrote for more than 20 years.
In 1943, he initiated the creation of a cadet corps in Moscow. Stalin approved this proposal, calling the school Suvorov. And also with the filing of Ignatiev, shoulder straps were returned to the army. In the same year, he became a lieutenant general.
After death
In 1947, Ignatiev retired at the age of 70. He died in Moscow in 1954. His grave is located at the Novodevichy cemetery. A memorial plaque was erected to A. A. Ignatiev on Lubyansky passage in Moscow. In addition to the awards already mentioned, he was awarded a medal for the victory over Germany and the commander's cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor.
The life of this wonderful man is reflected in the cinema. The film "Kromov" was shot by director A. Razenkov in 2009. It is based on the story of V. B. Livanov, which is called “The We alth of the Military Attache”, written in 1985. The main role in the film "Kromov" (2009) was played by Vladimir Vdovichenkov, known for the TV series "Brigada".
