Peter Alexandrovich Polovtsov (; ,

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

– 9 April 1964

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

) was an

Imperial Russian The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. He was the younger son of

Alexander Polovtsov Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov, Sr. (; – ) was a Russian statesman, historian and patron; he was also known as the founder of the Imperial Russian Historical Society, which was founded in 1866 and dissolved in 1917.< ...

. Polovtsov escaped from

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

in February 1918 with the aid of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

agents Ranald MacDonell and Edward Noel. He was provided with the passport of Reverend Jesse Yonan, an American missionary, and travelled in disguise from

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

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

on the

Transcaucasus Railway The Transcaucus Railway () was the first railway in the South Caucasus.Большая Советская Энциклопедия. Гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский, 2-е изд. Т. 16. Железо — Земли. 1952. 672 стр., и ...

. They travelled on a train escorted by 10,000 armed troops of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. Noel's involvement in this came to light when he was held captive by the Jangalis in March 1918 and was used to pressurise MacDonell, then in Baku, to desist from trying to topple the Baku Commune.''On Secret Service East of Constantinople'' by

Peter Hopkirk Peter Stuart Hopkirk (15 December 1930 – 22 August 2014) was a British journalist, author and historian who wrote six books about the British Empire, Russia and Central Asia. Biography Peter Hopkirk was born in Nottingham, the son of Frank St ...

, John Murray, 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polovtsov, Peter 1874 births 1964 deaths People from Pushkin, Saint Petersburg People from Tsarskoselsky Uyezd Imperial Russian Army generals Russian Provisional Government generals Orientalists from the Russian Empire Saint Petersburg Mining University alumni Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I White Russian emigrants to France Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. George Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class