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Belchenko (Andrei T.) papers
99049  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Literary Pseudonyms
  • Biographical Chronology
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content

  • Title: Andrei Terent'evich Bel'chenko papers
    Date (inclusive): 1898-1962
    Collection Number: 99049
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: Mainly in Russian
    Physical Description: 34 microfilm reels (5.1 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Russian consular official; consul general, Hankow, China, 1915-1920; subsequently Portuguese consul general, Hankow, and émigré in the United States. The collection includes diaries, speeches and writings, correspondence, consular reports, printed matter, and photographs, relating to Russian and Portuguese relations with China, political conditions in China, and Russian émigré affairs.
    Creator: Bel'chenko, Andreĭ Terent'evich, 1873-1958
    Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Access

    The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

    Use

    For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Andrei Terent'evich Bel'chenko Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Literary Pseudonyms

    1. A. B.
    2. A. F. G.
    3. Al'fa
    4. Andru
    5. A-Sh
    6. Az-Buki [Azbuki]
    7. Bat-ia
    8. Bat'ko
    9. B-ch
    10. Bol'shevik-teoretik
    11. G-N
    12. Ian'-Shi-Tzia
    13. Iu Chzhi U-tsai [Iu-chizhi u-tsai]
    14. Khan'kovets
    15. Kitaefil
    16. Liubitel' puteshestvii
    17. Obozrevatel'
    18. Odin iz russkikh
    19. Poltavskii Kazak [Poltavskii Kozak]
    20. Starozhil
    21. Tszyrev
    22. Ukhanets

    Biographical Chronology

    1873 October 29 (N.S.) Born, Kozlovka village, Bobrovskii uezd, Voronezh guberniia, Russia
    1897 Graduated from St. Petersburg University with degree in Oriental philology
    1898 Entered Foreign Ministry
    1899 Student interpreter, Imperial Russian Legation, Peking
    1901 Acting Consul, Foochow
    1902 Vice-Consul, Hankow
    1903 Assistant Secretary, Imperial Russian Legation in Peking
    1906 Consul, Neuchuang (Manchuria)
    1910 Consul, Foochow
    1912 Translator, Present-Day Political Organization of China
    1912 Consul, Canton
    1915 Consul-General, Hankow
    1920 Adviser to Chinese government on Russian affairs, Hankow
    1923 Portuguese Consul-General, Hankow
    1947 Left China for United States
    1958 February 1 Died, San Francisco

    Biographical Note

    Andrew T. Bel'tchenko, 1873 - 1958
    Andrew Bel'tchenko was born in the village of Kozlovka, Bobrovskii uezd, Voronezhskaiia guberniia, Russia, on 29 October 1873. He graduated from St. Petersburg University with a degree in Oriental philology in 1897. Entering the Foreign Ministry, he was assigned to the Imperial Russian Legation at Peking as a student interpreter in 1899, where he witnessed the Boxer Rebellion and participated in the defense of the diplomatic quarter against the Boxers. Steadily climbing the career ladder, he was commissioned Acting Consul at Foochow in 1901, Vice-Consul at Hankow in 1902, Assistant Secretary of the Russian Legation at Peking in 1903, Consul at Niuchuang (Manchuria) in 1906, Consul at Foochow in 1910, Consul at Canton in 1912, and finally, Consul-General at Hankow in 1915. Andrew T. Bel'tchenko
    More than a ministerial functionary, he was an avid student of China throughout his life. In 1912 he translated (into English) I. S. Brunnert's The Present Day Political Organization of China (Shanghai, 1912), and it was his intimate acquaintance with the politics and institutions of that land that saved him from the fate of other Russian diplomats when the Chinese government ceased to recognize their credentials. In 1920 he became advisor to the Chinese government in Hankow on Russian affairs (there was a small but influential Russian colony in Hankow with commercial enterprises), and from 1923 until his departure from China in 1947 he served as Portuguese Consul-General in Hankow, retaining his responsibilities for the Russian colony as well.
    The primary value of the collection lies in Bel'tchenko's reports, diaries, scrapbooks, and collected materials on Chinese politics for this period, particularly for 1927, when Hankow became the Nationalist capital. The materials include clippings and issues of rare newspapers, such as the Hankow Herald, North China Daily News, Central China Post, and others, many of which may no longer be extant. In addition, there are significant materials on the Russian and other foreign concessions in Hankow, the Japanese occupation of that region, and Russian émigrés in Hankow and Shanghai, including correspondence, clippings, registration books, legal papers, photographs and other matter.
    Following his departure from China, Bel'tchenko went briefly to Paris before settling in San Francisco, where he helped other Russian refugees from China as head of the Obshchestvo pomoshchi russkim na Tubabao and assisted in the work of the Museum of Russian Culture. He died in San Francisco on 1 February 1958.

    Scope and Content

    This collection consists of the papers of the Russian and Portuguese Consul in Hankow, China. The main emphasis is on this city and its surroundings in the period 1918-1946, but there is information on more general developments in China, Russia (the Soviet Union) and the United States over the entire period from 1898 to 1962.
    Where possible, the arrangement reflects the original order established by Bel'chenko and respects many of the categories defined by A. S. Loukashkin, who processed the collection upon its acquisition by the Museum of Russian Culture.
    A Chinese politics series has been created to encompass materials not readily absorbed into the usual series. This series contains materials relating to Bel'chenko's service as Portuguese Consul in Hankow as well as his continued performance of consular and representative functions with respect to the Russian colony in Hankow and to the Russian émigré diplomatic corps. It includes his consular reports, correspondence, and Bel'chenko's published and unpublished summaries and reports on Chinese political developments, with supporting materials (mainly clippings from the Hankow Herald, Central China Post, China Courier, People's Tribune, Journal de Shanghai, North China Daily News and other newspapers).
    Detailed processing and preservation microfilming for these materials were made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by matching funds from the Hoover Institution and Museum of Russian Culture. The grant also provides depositing a microfilm copy in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. The original materials and copyright to them (with some exceptions) are the property of the Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco. A transfer table indicating corresponding box and reel numbers is available at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
    The Hoover Institution assumes all responsibility for notifying users that they must comply with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17 United States Code) and Hoover Rules for the Use and Reproduction of Archival Materials.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Russians -- United States
    China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949
    Russia -- Foreign relations -- China
    China -- Foreign relations -- Russia
    Portugal -- Foreign relations -- China
    China -- Foreign relations -- Portugal