UDC

94(47)”17

Authors

Obyedkov Ivan Valentinovich
Moscow City Teacher Training University 4, 2-y Selskokhozyaystvennyy proezd, Moscow, 129226, Russian Federation;
e-mail: ksumballon@mail.ru

Abstract

The article dwells on the previously unknown episode from the life and work of the Russian writer and journalist Valery Ioilyevich Yazvitsky (1883–1957). Modern Russian readers know him primarily as the author of the Ruler of All Rus’, a historical novel about Ivan III. While studying at Kazan University, Yazvitsky was actively involved in the revolutionary events of 1905 as a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. In February 1906, he was arrested and exiled to the Arkhangelsk Province to be placed under strict police surveillance. In February 1907, he escaped from the exile and emigrated to Western Europe. In 1910, Yazvitsky arrived in Bulgaria, which became a refuge for many Russian expatriate journalists. According to the Russian Naval Minister I.K. Grigorovich, Yazvitsky, when in Sofia, started to cooperate with the Russian diplomatic mission, as well as with the naval agent in Bulgaria, Senior Lieutenant V.V. Yakovlev. Archival documents give reason to believe that at the beginning of World War I Yazvitsky worked in Sofia on several fronts. On the instructions of the Russian mission, he analysed materials on international politics published in the Balkan periodicals. In addition, he published propaganda articles in Bulgarian newspapers, advocating Russia’s foreign-policy interests. When Bulgaria entered the war against Russia and Russians were planning amphibious assaults on Varna and Burgas, he wrote texts of the leaflets for Bulgarian soldiers. In November 1915, on his way home to Russia, Yazvitsky was arrested on the border. However, due to support from the Ministry of the Navy, the Police Department decided to drop all the charges against him, and the journalist was released. This article is based primarily on the documents from the Russian State Archive of Military History (RGVIA).

Keywords

World War I, Bulgaria, Russian intelligence, V.I. Yazvitsky

References

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