Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Alexis N. Kniazeff Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1877-1993
Collection Number: BANC MSS 86/201 cz
Creator:
Kniazeff, Alexis N., 1913-
Extent:
Number of containers: 1 box, 39 cartons, 1 oversize box
Linear feet: 49.25
Repository: The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Materials assembled by Alex N. Kniazeff, including diaries, photo albums, family
papers and papers re Russian organizations in the U.S., especially San Francisco.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in Russian
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Until 1997, personal correspondence of the following persons represented in the collection may not be
cited in print: Mr. and Mrs. Alex N. Kniazeff, O. Geshvendt, V. V. Krasovskii, V. V. Lavrov, V. V.
Mersieu, N. V. Moravskii, M. D. Odinets, O. Pantiukhov, R. Polcharinov, N. Seolliarevich, E. M.
Tkachenko, and V. A. Volmenskii.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the
reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Alexis N. Kniazeff Papers, BANC MSS 86/201 cz, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.
Removed or Separated Material
- Photograph and picture postcard albums have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The
Bancroft Library.
- One map has been transferred to the Map Room.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Alexis N. Kniazeff Papers were purchased from Alex N. Kniazeff by The Bancroft Library on March
31, 1986, through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education for the Russian Emigre Project.
Additions were received in 1991.
Funding
Final processing and microfilming of the scrapbook of
Clippings from
various newspapers in Harbin, Tian Tszin, Shanghai, China, 1928-1942
provided in part by
a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biography
Alexis Nicolas Kniazeff was born in Tsitsihar Station (Manchuria, China) on August 5, 1909. His father,
Nikolai Ivanovich Kniazeff, an officer of the Russian Imperial Army Engineering Troops, and his mother,
Nadiezhda Shabanova, a Red Cross nurse during the war, were married after the Russian-Japanese War in
1905 and decided to remain in the Far East. During the Civil War, his father was a commandant of the
Manchuria station, and then an assistant commandant for the city of Harbin, where Alexis went to high
school. He graduated from the American Methodist College in 1927.
From 1927 to 1933, Alexis was a student of the Harbin Polytechnical Institute and, after completing a
government project, was awarded a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. At
the same time, he was graduated as a sergeant from an officer's training course. He completed additional
training in the Military Academy of the Russian All Military Union, and graduated in 1934 as a Chief
Cadet Officer.
Due to the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, Kniazeff moved to Tientsin, North China, where he worked for
a number of engineering companies. In 1945, Northern China was occupied by American Marines, who landed
from Okinawa to stop the Soviet troops. Kniazeff was working with the Kailan Mining Company when
communists surrounded Tientsin. An American consul general helped him to escape to Shanghai, where he
stayed for one and a half months, with other refugees waiting for evacuation to the Phillipines.
Kniazeff lived in Tubabao Camp (Philippines) until January 1951 and on January 25th, he arrived in San
Francisco.
From 1951 through 1974, Kniazeff worked for the following local companies: Pelton Water Wheel Co. (as a
draftsman and laboratory technician, 1951-1952); Bechtel Corporation (as an instrumentation designer,
1955-1958); and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (1958-1974). He also served as a college instructor for
the Army Language School-Presidio of Monterey from 1952-1955.
Kniazeff has been a member of the Russian Boy Scouts Organization since 1922, and has served as Assistant
Scoutmaster, Scoutmaster, Group Scoutmaster, Commissioner, and president in Harbin, Tientsin, Shanghai,
and Tubabao, as well as in San Francisco. Since 1951, he has been part of St. George's Knights, Inc.,
the Russian Orthodox Church Scout Organization.
Kniazeff has been a member of the Board of Directors of the All Cossack's Union of San Francisco, Inc.
(for which he also served as Treasurer), and the Trans-Baikal Cossack's Stanitza of San Francisco. He
was also a member of the Society of the Russian Veterans of World War I of San Francisco and of the
Supervisory Committee of Harbin Polytechnic Institute Alumni Association.
Alexis N. Kniazeff died in San Francisco in 1993.
Scope and Content
The collection consists primarily of materials assembled by Alexis N. Kniazeff, including diaries, family
papers, and Papers relating to Russian organizations in the United States, especially in the San
Francisco Bay Area.
These have been divided into two series. The first consists of Alexis N. Kniazeff's personal diaries,
spanning the years 1927 to 1953, and contained in nine notebooks written during his time in Harbin,
Manchuria; Tiantszin and Shanghai, North China; Tubabao, Philippine Islands; and finally, San Francisco,
California.
The remaining, and by far the largest, part of Kniazeff's papers comprises Series 2: Alexis N. Kniazeff
Collection, 1877-1993. The bulk of the collection consists of scrapbooks, although later only files,
which contain personal papers and correspondence of Kniazeff, his relatives, and close friends, in
addition to miscellaneous papers and printed materials. These document Kniazeff's life and activities as
a member of numerous organizations, mainly for the years 1904 through the 1980s. Of particular interest
are materials concerning the Russian Boy Scouts, the Russian Orthodox Church, and various other Russian
organizations in the United States, China, and other countries. In most cases, the volumes are organized
by subject, and within each volume, both originals and photocopied items are arranged chronologically.
Most of the materials are in Russian and English, with a few documents and letters in Chinese, Spanish,
German, Polish, and other languages.
Kniazeff was meticulous in the arrangement and recording of items within his collection. In addition to
sorting within specific categories or "Otdels," most items have also been given discrete item
identification or "accession" numbers. Since copies of his summary of these categories and item numbers
has been circulated and used in the scholarly community, the correlation of "Kniazeff #'s" are also
included in this finding aid, with a list of otdels included in the table of contents.