Garal'd Karlovich Graf was a Russian naval officer. In 1921 he became the head of the Chancery of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich and was arrested by the Germans in 1941, before settling in Pennsylvania in 1950. The Graf family papers (1920s-2004) contain Graf's typescript memoirs, writings, correspondence, and photographs. There is also correspondence and various papers of Graf's son, Vladimir, and a typescript of Captain Boris Aprelev's diary of service at the General headquarters in 1915.

Garal'd Karlovich Graf was a Russian naval officer. He achieved the rank of captain. Born in Vyborg in 1885, he graduated from the Naval Cadet School and served in the Russo-Japanese War, participating in the Battle of Tsushima. Thereafter, he served on various ships in the Baltic fleet, including the most advanced Russian destroyer, the Novik. He published "Na Novikie " (On the Novik ), in Germany in 1922. The book was translated into five languages. In 1913 he graduated from the Naval Academy. After the revolution he lived for a time in Finland. In 1921 he moved to Germany where he joined the monarchist movement. Ultimately, he became the head of the Chancery of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (and later his son, Vladimir Kirillovich), effectively acting as chief of staff to the claimant to the Russian throne. In 1929 he moved to Saint-Briac-sur-Mer, France, where the Grand Duke established his court. In 1941, in France, he was arrested by the Germans and spent 14 months in a concentration camp. In 1950 he resettled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he taught Russian and penned his memoirs of life as an émigré. These memoirs, originally titled by the author "Bor'ba za vosstanovlenie svergnutogo prestola" (The struggle to re-establish the lost throne), filled two bound volumes in final typewritten form. The memoirs were published as "Na sluzhbe Imperatorskomu domu Rossii," 1917–1941, in St. Petersburg in 2004. He died in Pittsburgh in 1966.

12 manuscript boxes, 1 video recording, digital media (4.8 Linear Feet)

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Box 1 and Box 4 may not be used without permission of the Archivist. The remainder of 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.