Vladimir Sergeyevich Timiryov (''Timirev''; Владимир Сергеевич Тимирёв; 1914–1938) was a Russian

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

painter and a victim of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

Life

Vladimir Timirev was born in 1914 as the son of Admiral Sergey Nikolayevich Timiryov of the

Russian Imperial Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. His mother was the poet

Anna Timiryova Anna Vasilyevna Timiryova (; 18 July 1893 – 31 January 1975) was a Russian poet. Born Anna Safonova, she was the daughter of composer Vasily Ilyich Safonov. At the age of 19 she married then Captain (and future Admiral) Sergey Nikolayevich Ti ...

. His maternal grandfather was the composer orchestra conductor Vasily Ilyich Safonov. In 1918, when he was only four years old, his parents separated. His mother commenced a

common law marriage Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, de facto marriage, more uxorio or marriage by habit and repute, is a marriage that results from the parties' agreement to consider themselves married, follo ...

with

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Alexander Kolchak Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a mili ...

, who became Vladimir's "stepfather." Vladimir's father Sergey subsequently moved to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

as a

White émigré White Russian émigrés were Russians who emigrated from the territory of the former Russian Empire in the wake of the Russian Revolution (1917) and Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and who were in opposition to the revolutionary Bolshevik com ...

. 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 ...

, Alexander Kolchak led one of the largest factions of the

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

White Movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

based at

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

. In February 1920, Vladimir's stepfather was betrayed by his allies and handed over to the

Bolsheviks 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, ...

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

. He was given a cursory trial and shot, whereupon his body was cast into the frozen

Angara River The Angara (; ) or Angar ( мүрэн) is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is the headwater tributary of the Yenisey. It is long, and has a ...

. For decades after his death, however, their association with Kolchak would have dire consequences for Vladimir and his mother. Anna was arrested numerous times following Kolchak's execution and also endured imprisonment in the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

Vladimir Timirev graduated from the

Moscow Architectural Institute Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy) - MArchI () is a famous architecture school located in Moscow, Russia. Since 1994, the Institute has been accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of Briti ...

. Upon completing his first year in 1930, he worked on the construction site of the Bobrikov Chemical Industrial Complex. After graduation, he worked as an artist and book illustrator.

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

’s book “

Northern Tales Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

” was published with Timirev’s illustrations. He published his drawings in newspapers for the reviews of stage plays. Timirev participated in a science and research expedition to the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

in 1935. During the expedition, he produced many sketches, drawings and water colours on the subject of the Caspian Sea. He also created a series of works about Vyshniy Volochok.

Arrest and execution

He was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

in 1938 and shortly afterwards executed by shooting. Apparently, the reason was an anonymous denunciation made by friends. The denunciation referred to the fact that Vladimir was the "stepson" of Admiral Kolchak, who was demonized in the Soviet propaganda of the time.

References

External links

* (archived link) {{DEFAULTSORT:Timiryov, Vladimir Sergeyevich 1914 births 1938 deaths Great Purge victims from Russia 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters Russian magazine illustrators 20th-century Russian illustrators People executed for treason against the Soviet Union Soviet painters Moscow Architectural Institute alumni Executed artists