Nikolay Stepanovich Leontiev, 1st Count of Abai, (; 26 October 1862 – 1910) was a Russian military officer,

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and traveler, explorer of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, writer, and veteran of the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, and the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

Biography

Leontiev was born on 25 February 1862 to a noble family in Kherson Province. He studied in Nikolaev's Cavalry military school, then served in the

Uhlan Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started as Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Polis ...

Leib Guard regiment. In 1891, he became esaul of a military reserve force of the Umansk regiment of the Kuban Cossack army. Like Mashkov and Ashinov before him, Leontiev had dreamed of going to Ethiopia and for many years he collected information about the country. Finally, Leontiev was able to go to Ethiopia on a research trip. Famous scientists, the Science Academy and the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

took great interest in this programme. But the main task of the Leontiev expedition was to establish friendly relations between

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Leontiev embarked on his journey to Ethiopia in January 1895 without telling the Russian government. He ingratiated himself to

Menelik II Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...

, claiming to possess a letter to him from the Czar. Menelik sent Leontiev as the head of his first diplomatic mission to Russia, ostensibly to place a wreath on the tomb of Alexander III. It is unclear whether Menelik believed Leontiev's claims or merely wanted to get rid of him. In sending Leontiev back to Russia, Menelik abrogated an agreement with Italy that forbade such diplomatic missions. Leontiev escorted the Ethiopian mission to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

where they met Tsar

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

. The Tsar learned of the diplomatic mission when they had already reached Cairo, and despite having no affiliation with Leontiev could not turn him back without risking embarrassment. Leontiev elevated the ranks of his traveling companions, giving himself the title of colonel despite being discharged from the army as a lieutenant and naming another member of his entourage a bishop despite no such title existing in the Ethiopian church. Nicholas II assured the Ethiopian mission that they would never recognize an Italian protectorate over Ethiopia. Seeking to hasten the departure of Leontiev as the Russian press began to discover his fraudulent credentials, Nicholas II sent him back to Ethiopia on an officially sanctioned mission. Italy became concerned about Leontiev's meddling in Ethiopia and rumors proliferated that his role was indicative of greater covert Russian involvement. Rumors and Italian fears of Russian subversion increased Leontiev's influence and the impact of his self-promotion. According to Paul B. Henze, during the

First Italo-Ethiopian War The First Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the First Italo-Abyssinian War, or simply known as the Abyssinian War in Italy (), was a military confrontation fought between Kingdom of Italy, Italy and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia from 1895 to ...

, Leontiev travelled around Europe and busied himself as a self appointed Ethiopian emissary to Italy, the Tsar and various other European dignitaries. In late 1895, Leontiev traveled to Europe and offered his services to Italy as a mediator in their conflict with Ethiopia. He was refused by the Italian treasury department but later told the Russian government that he had been offered two million lire to secure an agreement. Leontiev had arrived at Djibouti on 28 February 1896. Before leaving Djibouti on 4 March 1896, Leontiev had heard of the Ethiopian victory at the

Battle of Adwa The Battle of Adwa (; ; , also spelled ''Adowa'') was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Ethiopian army defeated an invading Italian and Eritrean force led by Oreste Baratieri on March 1, 1896, near the town of Adwa. ...

and arrived in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

in May 1896. According to his diary, Emperor

then commissioned him to take a letter to the Tsar Nicholas II. He had also claimed that a group of Italian prisoners were also released to him to be sent home in honor of the Tsar's coronation. Raymond Jonas wrote that Menelik likely assigned Leontiev to escort the prisoners in order to rid himself of the adventurer. Once he reached the African coast, Leontiev contacted the Italians and claimed to have been given the authority to negotiate the release of the remaining Italian prisoners, but the Italians did not believe him. According to a questionable illustrated book he published, Leontiev participated in one of the military expeditions to the region of

Lake Rudolf Lake Turkana () is a saline lake in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest Soda lake, alkal ...

alongside several thousand Ethiopian soldiers, and a number of

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

. A brigade lost 216 persons as killed or injured, Shedevr was injured and the Cossack Gogasov perished. Leontiev was able to solemnly report to the emperor Menelik II, how the young romantic

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe, also called ''poruchnick'' in Slavic languages, is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either the lowest or second lowest officer rank. Etymology The rank designatio ...

Shedevr solemnly raised the flag of Ethiopia above one of banks of

. Also according to his book, Leontiev organized the first modern battalion of the regular Ethiopian army and presented it to Menelik in February 1899. Leontiev formed the first regular battalion, the kernel of which became the company of volunteers of former soldiers he invited from

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, who were trained by Russian and French officers. The first Ethiopian military orchestra was organized at the same time. After being awarded a ceremonial position in Menelik's court, Leontiev involved himself in a number of investment schemes. He claimed that Menelik had appointed him governor-general of "the Equatorial Provinces of Ethiopia" in 1897 and traveled around Europe in 1898 selling shares in a company he claimed would exploit his non-existent mineral rights. He was able to use the buy-in of some early investors to convince others to buy in to the scheme and eventually obtained a number of British, French and Belgian investors. His scheme unraveled when the provinces he claimed to govern were revealed to be thousands of miles south of the Ethiopian border. Leontiev later organized a second and a third investment scheme under the same pretenses, bribing the Emperor's secretary Ato Gabriel Gobana into signing a document that allowed him a concession to prospect the empire for gold. The trick was discovered immediately by

Alfred Ilg Alfred Heinrich Ilg (30 March 1854 – 7 January 1916) was a Swiss engineer and First Minister of State to Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II. He was born in Frauenfeld, Switzerland and died in Zurich. Early life In 1854, Ilg was born into a poor ho ...

who informed the Yosef Neguse who in turn informed Menelik.

was outraged and in May 1902 ordered Leontiev to leave the country, thus ending his career in Ethiopia.Richard Caulk, ''"Between the Jaws of Hyenas": A Diplomatic History of Ethiopia (1876–1896)'', p. 648 Leontiev was in Peking with the Russian contingent in 1900 during the

. Later, he took part in the

. Leontiev died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1910, but his body is buried in

Awards

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...

* Cross of St. George * Order of the Star of Ethiopia, 1st Degree * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Seal of Solomon

Notes

References

Who Was Count Abai?
*

* ttp://www.proza.ru/2011/06/29/667 Count Leontiev is spy or adventurer...*
Nikolay Stepanovich Leontiev''
*
"Vesti" Len.region Rostislav Nikolaev - EMBASSY OF ABYSSINIA IN PETERSBURG
*
Диссертация - Эфиопия в оценке российского общественного мнения в конце XIX - начале XX вв.

Biography

Awards

See also

Notes

References

Further reading