Alexander Pavlovich Rodzyanko (; 26 August 1879 – 6 May 1970) was an officer of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

during the

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and lieutenant-general and a corps commander of the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. He also competed at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

Biography

Rodzyanko came from an old Ukrainian aristocratic family: his father Pavel Rodzyanko was a major landowner and his uncle Mikhail Rodzianko chaired the

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from 1911 to 1917. Aleksandr received his education in the Russian

Page Corps The Page Corps (; ) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprudence prepared boys for civil service. The present-day equiva ...

military academy and at the

Cadre Noir The Cadre Noir (; ) is a corps of , or instructors, at the French military riding academy École Nationale d'Équitation at Saumur in western France, founded in Versailles before transferring to Saumur in 1828. During the Second World War, the ...

cavalry-school in

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; he then joined the elite Russian

Chevalier Guard regiment The Chevalier Guard Regiment () was a Russian heavy cavalry guard regiment, created in 1800 by the reformation of the Chevalier Guard corps, itself created in 1764 by Catherine the Great. As other Russian heavy cavalry guard regiments (the Life ...

. An excellent equestrian sportsman, he also studied for a year at the cavalry school at

Pinerolo Pinerolo (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary between Pinerolo and San Pietro Val di Lemi ...

in Italy under Captain Federico Caprilli, known as "the father of the modern forward seat". After successfully participating in London (1911), winning the King Eduard VII Cup, he competed in the 5th-placed jumping team for Russia at the 1912 Olympic Games in

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. Most of the equestrian information about Rodzyanko was published by a Dutch horse magazine, called the 'Hoefslag' by the secretary of the FEI Max E. Amman. Promoted Colonel in 1912, he went on to take part in

. In 1914 he was sent to the frontline where he briefly served in the 2nd Kuban regiment and the 1st Linear Cossack regiment and headed the 16th Don regiment. He later served at the 8th Army and Chevalier Guard Regiment. From May 1916 he headed the Cavalry Officers School. From June to July 1917 he headed the Garrison of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. In October 1917 in

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

the 17th Cavalry division that he headed was disbanded and he was interned by the Germans. After the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

he accompanied Prince Lieven to solicit (unsuccessfully) British help for counter-revolutionaries active in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. In 1918 he lived in Riga and received the German assistance in recruiting the volunteers into the anti-bolshevik units. In 1919 General Nikolay Yudenich appointed Rodzyanko (then commander of the Whites' Northern Corps) as his aide, where he led the counter-offensive actions against the Reds and participated in the unsuccessful advance on Petrograd. Once the Northwestern Army had been pushed back to Narva, Estonia, on 23 November 1919 Yudenich sent him to

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to seek financial support for the further anti-bolshevik combat. After his mission proved abortive, he chose not to return to Estonia but settled in the

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and later in the

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His brother Pavel Rodzyanko became an instructor at the Irish cavalry school in

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and later emigrated to the United States. Aleksandr Pavlovich Rodzyanko became president of the Chevalier Guards association, wrote memoirsВоспоминания о Северо-Западной армии. Берлин 1921; 2-е издание — М., 2000. and died in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

aged 90.Aleksandr Rodzyanko
. sports-reference.com He is buried at the Novo-Diveevo cemetery in Nanuet,

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Honours and awards

* Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class with Swords (1913) * Order of St. Anna, 3rd class (1913) *

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

, 3rd class (1913) * Order of St. Anna, 4th class (1915) More than 7 medals

Biography

Honours and awards

References

Further reading