Konstantin Vasil'evich Semchevskii papers, 1917-1978

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Summary

Creators:
Semchevskiĭ, Konstantin Vasilʹevich, 1894-1978
Abstract:
Memoirs, other writings, correspondence, printed matter, and photographs, relating to the Russian Civil War in Siberia, and to Russian émigré affairs.
Extent:
2 microfilm reels (0.3 Linear Feet)
Language:
Russian
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Konstantin Vasil'evich Semchevskii papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

K. V. Semchevskii was a Russian army colonel and member of the association of graduates of the Corps de Pages and former officers of the Guards Horse Artillery. Most of the correspondence (almost entirely with former comrades-in-arms), writings, and subject file reflect his involvement in these organizations and general information on Russian military history. The SUBJECT FILE/Russia. Armiia/General contains the diary of Gen. Bezobrazov for 1917-1924.

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 remain in the Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco as its property. 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.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1894 May 6
Born, Russia
1913
Commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Life-Guard Horse Artillery
Graduated, Corps de Pages, St. Petersburg, Russia
1918
Temporary chief of operations section, Siberian Army headquarters
Captain, Siberian Army
1919
Instructor, military school, Vladivostok
1920 February
Promoted to Colonel and appointed Quartermaster-General, Third Army, Siberia
1950
Arrived, United States
1978
Died, United States

Colonel K. V. Semchevskii was born on 6 May 1894 (O. S.) in Tiflis (Tbilisi). After graduating with honors from the Corps de Pages in 1913, he was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in the Life Guard Horse Artillery, with which he served until 1917. In October of that year, he entered the General Staff Academy, where he studied through July 1918, when, with a group of fellow officers, he escaped from Ekaterinburg to join Siberian White military units operating in the area. In August 1918 he was appointed head of the operations section of the army staff in Omsk, and promoted to the rank of guards captain the following month. In December 1918, he was appointed an instructor at an army school in Vladivostok. In November 1919, he assumed the duties of chief of staff of the 1st Cavalry Division, taking command of its remnants to lead them out of encirclement in January 1920. The following month, Semchevskii was promoted to the rank of colonel and appointed quartermaster general of the 3rd Army (from March 1920 - III Corps).

Along with his wife, Elena Vasil'evna Semchevskaia (a writer and poet), Semchevskii lived in China until emigrating to the United States in 1950. He wrote his memoirs, primarily of life in the Corps de Pages, and maintained correspondence with many of his fellow pages through the 1970s. He also taught at the Army Language School in Monterey, California, where he died in February 1978.

Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2001.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

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.

Terms of access:

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

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Konstantin Vasil'evich Semchevskii papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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