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Yvanoff (Alexander) papers
2000C80  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Location of Originals
  • Chronology
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content Note

  • Title: Alexander Yvanoff (Aleksandr Efimovich Ivanov) papers
    Date (inclusive): 1957-1976
    Collection Number: 2000C80
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 1 microfilm reel (0.15 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Memoirs, correspondence, and photographs, relating to the Russian Civil War, Russian émigré life in the Philippines, and guerrilla activities in the Philippines during World War II.
    Creator: Yvanoff, Alexander, 1896-1973

    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.

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2000.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Alexander Yvanoff Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

    Location of Originals

    Originals in: Museum of Russian Culture, San Francisco.

    Chronology

    1896 January 20 Born, Kazan', Russia
    1917 Ensign (Praporshchik), Russian Army
    1922 Left Vladivostok for the Philippines
    1930 October 6 Married Petronila Brown
    1941-1945 Fought the Japanese in the Philippines in a guerrilla unit
    1973 January 25 Died, Zamboanga, Philippines

    Biography

    Yvanoff was born in Kazan' on 20 January 1896. As an ensign (praporshchik) in the Russian army in 1917, he witnessed the collapse of the front, and returned to Kazan', where he joined the anti-Bolshevik army in 1918. He remained with the Whites till his evacuation from Vladivostok with Admiral Iu. K. Stark's flotilla in October 1922.
    A fluke of fate left him stranded in the Philippines (instead of continuing on to the United States as had been his intention), and there he remained, working as a logger, surveyor, and miner.
    During the Second World War, he fought with guerrilla forces against the Japanese, and spent the post-war years locating and defusing bombs and landmines left in the Philippines. Yvanoff died in Zamboanga on 25 January 1973. He described his life in a memoir entitled "From Kazan to Zamboanga," recorded by Ann Evans, the wife of a mining engineer for whom Yvanoff had worked.

    Scope and Content Note

    The piece de resistance of this collection is Yvanoff's memoir, "Kazan' to Zamboanga," detailing his family history, participation in the Russian Civil War in Siberia and the Far East, evacuation to the Philippines and life there, including participation in anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare during World War II.
    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 the 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.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    World War, 1939-1945 -- Philippines
    Philippines -- History -- Japanese occupation, 1942-1945
    Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921
    Russians -- Philippines