Valerian Abakovsky
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Valerian Ivanovich Abakovsky (, ; 5 October 1895 – 24 July 1921) was a
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
engineer who is best remembered as the inventor of the
Aerowagon The Aerowagon or Aeromotowagon () was an experimental high-speed railcar fitted with an aircraft engine and propeller traction invented by Valerian Abakovsky, a Soviet engineer from Latvia. It produced speeds of up to . The Aerowagon was origi ...
.


Early life

He was born in
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 ...
on October 5, 1895, in to a
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
family. Although a talented inventor, he worked as a chauffeur for the
Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...
Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...
.


The Aerowagon

The invention for which Abakovsky is remembered is the
Aerowagon The Aerowagon or Aeromotowagon () was an experimental high-speed railcar fitted with an aircraft engine and propeller traction invented by Valerian Abakovsky, a Soviet engineer from Latvia. It produced speeds of up to . The Aerowagon was origi ...
, an experimental high-speed railcar fitted with an aeroplane engine and propeller propulsion. It was originally intended to carry
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
officials.


Death

On 24 July 1921, a group of communists led by Soviet politician
Fyodor Sergeyev Fyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev (; ; March 19, 1883 — July 24, 1921), better known as Comrade Artyom (), was a Russians, Russian Bolsheviks, Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet Union, Soviet politician, agitator, and journalist. He was a close friend ...
took the Aerowagon from
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
to the Tula collieries to test it. Abakovsky was also on board. Although they successfully arrived in Tula, on the return route to Moscow, the Aerowagon derailed at high speed, killing 7 of the 22 on board. The following people died in the accident: * , a Bulgarian delegate * Paul Freeman, an Australian delegate * , a German delegate * John William Hewlett, a British delegate *
Fyodor Sergeyev Fyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev (; ; March 19, 1883 — July 24, 1921), better known as Comrade Artyom (), was a Russians, Russian Bolsheviks, Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet Union, Soviet politician, agitator, and journalist. He was a close friend ...
(known as "Comrade Artyom") * , a German delegate * Valerian Abakovsky himself, at the age of 25. The seven men killed in the crash
lay in state Lying in state is the tradition in which the body of a deceased official, such as a head of state, is placed in a state building, either outside or inside a coffin, to allow the public to pay their respects. It traditionally takes place in a m ...
at the
House of the Unions The House of the Unions (, also called ''Palace of the Unions'') is a historic building in the Tverskoy District in central Moscow, Russia. It is situated on the corner of Bolshaya Dmitrovka and Okhotny Ryad streets. History The first building ...
, after which they were buried in the
Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...
. Sergeyev is buried in Mass Grave No. 12, Konstantinov, Abakovsky and Freeman are buried in Mass Grave No. 13, while Strupat, Helbrich and Hewlett are buried in Mass Grave No. 14.


References

* Alexey Abramov / Алексей Абрамов, By the Kremlin Wall / У кремлёвской стены, Moscow / Москва́, Politizdat / Политиздат, 1978, pp./стр. 399 1895 births 1921 deaths Engineers from Riga People from Riga county Bolsheviks Soviet communists Soviet inventors Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis Inventors killed by their own invention Railway accident deaths in Russia Accidental deaths in the Soviet Union Russian inventors {{USSR-engineer-stub