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By Michael de V. Merriman Based on the many hours of his own work plus the encouragement, support, resources and tea provided by family and friendsS |
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Obituaries Gabriel de Wesselitsky 1841 - 1930 10.Obituaries
"The Times"1930
WilMr. de Wesselitsky's long career na | {(NSH a journalist and lasting |i ULWLbbLLl lbKdiplomatist, Y]formorethansixtyyears,madehim j|oneof Russian_ figures 4 %he lcgi]nfGalionaffairsbHefore the DIPDIESG MAT[ST’Iwar, He was born In Tsarskoa Selo, nearwhatwas then8t. Pelersburg,: In 1841, and recelved hig educationinOne Timgent for CZflr'. 89,the Training School of Ensigns of Had RemarkableCareerinthe Guardin St. Petersburgand in the Universityof Heldelberg. After merving for atimeas leu-Letters and Statecraft. lennnt In theImperialGuardhe re-.e celvedhisfirst in public as mecretary of the Russlan For- tralnln{zlife LONG SOUGHT BALKAN PEACEelgnOfficein 1864.Thenextyear,= : B okhe wasa secretary for the compositioni/. of the DiplomaticHistory of Russia for AlexanderIII, who was then helr He UrgedRusslato Ally Herselfto the throne occupled his father, 1866 he presentedtoAlexander ITWith Englandand FranceIn 1866n bXIn to come to an rgrmlnlrdurglng thmunderstandin wEnglandand—Author of Many Books. FranceIn orgorto puta atopto the! ´¢advanceof thePrussians. In tho nextthreeyearshe trav- Wireless to New York Timra, in Trne Q"‘é‘ b"«Xlfln'fl'tVcb'y(NearEnslf.=anroughtbeforeEuropean capl-LONDON,Aug. 28.—Gabriel de gle talstheplIghtof theBosno Herro:Wesselitsky-Bojldarovitchhas dled at govinianrefugees,foundingan In- Bournemouthat the age of 89 after ternationalCommittesof Assistance BPEMARRADISLSRRI,SN Ttandte ot Baapecin,ardentSlavophile,philanthroplistand Sriieh pleadingthecauseof theautonomyJournalist.Hispersonalnacquain-|| of thisterritoryfrom.Austria-Fun-tancewithNapoleon111, Bismarck, In wascharge.eussinnov-Fope Leo XIII, Emperor gary:lhe Eélrgpe&n grem:. AGfter‘a0e ol with a r&lnalon ofpacificn-and Prince von Buelow gave “his Wllllan.nernment tlontheBalkanInsurgentsgnve many books a special interest.himfullpowertorepresentthem' In 1875 he was appointedunoffl-and he succecdedIn obtainingau- &l &ootthe"Risdetonomyfor Bosno-Herzogovinia,CISN SRRERVO 9Auissian Governs Aftertheoutbreakof warIn 1876mentwiththemissionot restoringheenteredtheMontenegrinArmy peace in the Balkans,He met with gne repreanteofno-lerzo-heart-breakingfallure after bringing gndlg%efiJoined thte f'}f’:fi," Il}rms´«- govina at the Berlin Congrens.all parties to terms. AsnjournallsthebeganhisHe servedtheBritlshMinlstryof ::,nreter h:l 186'“ ac%lngv;ts corrg;pr;:!-ent and writerinenra,Berlin London,From1806to 1911heccompanied theBritishdelegation i"“"""‘“‘"“ ":h"" ehep!“l“‘”‘and waspresidentof theForelgnPress{4 the peace conferenceIn 1919. k= |Association,He was alwnysan ar- ; hvs edent advocateof harmoniousrela- tlons between Englandand Russie andaldedtheBritidhGovernment duringthewar.’)2 Amonghis manypublicetionsare '“TheProblemof Asla,””‘“TheRus- sian Revolution,' 'Anglo-nusalnnRelatlons,”"‘BosnlaandHerzogo- vina,””“TheEnigmaof Peterhof'’ and“TenMonthsof My Life." |
52 "The Times" 1930
T o ORITOARY —) ’ iy ) Ty M. DBWHESSELITSKY M. 'Gabriel do _"Vnsselilsky-fl?qldaro-{ vitch, who died at BournemouthonWed- nesday at the agoeof 89, had had a remark- nblo carcer ag Slavo- diplomatist,ardent phil, philanthropist; and journalist. Born at TsarskoeSelo, near St. Petersburg, in 1841, the son of Lieutenant-General Sergo, dn Wesselitsky,of an old HerzegovinianSerb, family settledin Russinsinco the days of CatherineII.,ho was educatsdat the school® of Fnsignsof theQunrdandat Heidelberg, nnd was commissjonedin the ImperialGuard in 18568. In 1860 he foughtunderGaribaldi in SouthernItaly,In 1864ho enteredthe ForeignOffice, and wns appointedsecretary forthecompositionof thediplomatichistory of Ruskia for the hoit to the throns(Alexander LLL). In 1866 ho presentedto the Teat Alexandet11. a memoirurging an understand- ing with England and Tranco to limit tho Wesselileky joined tho Moniencgrin Army ambitionsof Prussin.:1lis Slavophilloanings | and tookpartin ite campaignin 1876,joingd toroughthimunder‘suspicionof a being tho RussianArmyin 1877, andrepresented g and ho left Russia and Bosnin-Herzegovinaat the Berlin Congress of x;?luuonmry."travelled in the NearFast.Iosetfledin 1878,Hehadbegunwrilingfor newspapers Parjs, whero his fortuneennbledhim lead Yo in 1867,andbecamec´¢orrespondentof the a lifn of leisure little suiled to his temperamont, NovoeVremyain 1882.He wnas in Viennn In the early spring1876 the mews of the till1887,andin Botlintill his expulsionna rovolt in Herzegoviddwas accompaniedby an enemyin 1892,3o then settledin London, - accountdof the miseriessufferedby the and wag presidentcf the ForeignPressAsso- refugecs from the 'Turks.”He resolvedo intion from 1808 to 1918Iie began advocat- organizerelief on & large scalé, and succeeded mg’ an Anglo-Russianfinderstandingandn in foundingan , Intdtmational Councilof Utiple ententein 1001,,Duringthe War he . Assistance, which was’ ultimntely, withmore thib Ministry of Informa- | enleredthe servicecf or lesghesilation,supportedbythe"leading| tion, and in 1918 wes attachedin an advisory men of Burope.This work both won him the to the Office, accompanying confidenceof tho Herzegoviniansand marked cnpncitrF!orek‘l:‘ {sh delegation to the Peace Conferencs bim ont to the Powersgglchdesireda peace- s % :Jm][flllrlpn Il settlementas a usefulmadiator. Acoord- In his fong 1ifn had known per- .| ingly,y~at- the instapcgfofM. Novikoff, the of the rulers and statesmon of his Wnssn’"skzmost RuesianAmbassadot{1 Vienna,ho wentin snnn.llftime, inclnding Napoleon111., Bismarck,Pope April,1875, to St. Petersburg,wheroit was Leo XI1L,theEmperdrWillinmII.,Prince nownocrime{0hea Blavophil,andwas yBiilow, Holstein, an1 Benckondorll,and this appointedby the Chancellor,Prince Gml.cl_m-gave interest 10 his books, which In- an unofficialagentof theRussian““ koff, .;pt‘cinlcluded The Problem of Asia,”Tho Russian "~ “ Uovernment,chargedwith the missionof Rovolution,”Anglo-Russinn Relations,” restoringpeacein theBalkans,At an inter- “'T'ha German Peril an Grand Alliance,” {view with the Herzegovinianchinfs Weaselil~ ‘“Ten Months of fly Lifo.”Hisbook" ',hoand " to terma and was appointed Jtky brought tham, Russin andDemoctgey ´¢+ TheGermnn {theit plenipotentdary.He then, with the con- Cankor in Rusein,”-vritlenat the suggestion sentof Count,Andrassy,the Austro-Hungarian the late Mr. Harry Oust, nppearedin 1018, ForeignMinister, truvelladJn greab secrecy idfand was translatedgflnmanylanguages.’He to Constantinople,whetetheterms showedhimsolfalweys wero firm friend of this occepted by the Grand Vizier, Mahmud Nedim The. Bolsheviktrovolutionwas @ :.countryiy - Pnebn,A conlerencoof thoChancellorsof Lorrible Llowto' him, him not only the three Empires in Berlin, but there | of his rdsources, but &lsd of hie the newsa of the institroction jn Bulgaria followzdegr!vingcountry,’ for hd\could not recognize. meg whom he regatded scattored his dreams of peace and alsoclosed 8 | his careeras a diplomatiat. nrpem,\R
53 Dr Gabrielde Wesselitsky Bojidarovitch
9. Some of those whom he met during the course of his work.
1818 — 1881 Russia Czar AlexanderII 1845 — 1894 Czar AlexanderIII Prince Gortchakoff- Chancellor
Count Benckendorff- Ambassador in Paris
- 1898 —1815
Prince Otto Von Bismarck Chancellor of Germany
Prince Von Buclow 1858 — 1918 Prince William Hohenzollern
(he also met him in 1892 when he was Kaiser)
— Austria Hungary Kallay
Haymerle 1823 ~ 1890 Count, Andrassy of Hungary - 1914 Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand the Crown Prince
— 1890 Napoleon III —1808 France Emperor
- Guiseppi Garibaldi General Italy 1886 — 1870 War for the Unification of Italy
1841 - 1910 GreatBritain Edward, Prince of Wales
He also met him when he was King Emperor 1836 — 1908 Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman- Prime Minister
1804 — 1981 Lord Beaconsfield Benjamin Disraeli— Prime Minister
- Vatican City Pope Leo XIII he also met him as Cardinal Pecci 1878 -1903
-~1860 — 1918 Prince Nicholas he also met him when he was King Nicholas of Montenegro
Ottoman Empire The Grand Vizier, Chief Officer of the Ottoman Empire.
Also he met various delegates to the congress of Berlin,1878 and to the treaty of Versaillesin 1919.
Dr Sergeide WesselitskyBojidarovitch
Who becameSergei de Vessilitskyin 1923
and became Sergei de VesselitskyMerrimanin 1932
Introduction— Backgroundand Up-bringing
1882 - 1957Lived74 years
Sergei's background and family circumstances have been referred to in earlier
chapters.
His parents,Gabriel and Julia met whilst Julia and her mother, Mrs Monroe, were on a visit to Saint Petersburg. I understand that they met at Court Receptions.
They were married in Geneva, Switzerland in 1870. An account of their wedding was recorded in the form of cards and newspaper articles in the Monroe Family scrapbook,a picture of the Russian Orthodox Church and documents are held by the family. We also have their marriage certificate.
Gabriel and Julia settled down in a house in Dresden, Capital city of the Kingdom of Saxony.Three children were born to them there. The eldest,Vava,was born on the 16th August 1871. A dedicated artist, she never married and died at Vevey, Montreaux, Switzerland in 1927. Vava - Varvara- Barbara.
Vera was born on the 8th August1872 in Dresden.She livedin Englandand was a
very hard workingSocialWorker,spending many years working with people in the poorer parts of the East End of Londonin conjunction with the Settlement there.
She wrote a book called"The Homeworker and her outlook". A descriptive study of Tailoresses and Boxmakers.This was published in Londonin 1916. She never married. She died in London in 1932.Earlier she had become a naturalised British subject.
Sergel was born on the 31st August 1882 in Dresden, a Russian subject. As can be understood from his background he certainly experienced a cosmopolitan upbringing. His father was a Russian Diplomat living in Saxony before it became part of the German Empire (in 1871).
His father's family were of Balkan origin. Sergei's mother was a citizen of the United States of America, daughter of a State Senator and the family were of
Scottish and English origin.
his upbringing Sergei's grandmother was a considerable influence on him an became a particular friend especially during their many travels together. They appeared to have shared a similar outlook. Sergei recalled later in life that he had a Swiss Governess in 1888 and that it was from her that he had learnt to speak French. He also learnt from her a liking" for her beautiful country; its grand mountains and valiant people". She gave him much advice bout travel in Switzerland particularly the importance of being sure footed and not hurrying in the mountains, stressing how important it was to understand the
Nature of the mountains and travelling conditions.
Sergei wrote that from the year 1799 onwards some member or other of the family had visited Switzerland almost every year until 1939.
He wrote that his mother though delicate in health most of her life, was able to climb Alpine peaks from the age of 44 to 66 years, reaching summits of 14,000 and 15,000 feet above sea level.
Both Vava and Vera, neither strong in health, also climbed considerably in the Alps a number of peaks includingthe Matterhorn (14,780feet) and the Dent Blanche (over13,000 feet), both in Switzerland.
When Sergel was christened in Dresden in November 1882 one of his Godfathers was
M. de Nouikoff (means Newman) who had been Ambassador for Russia to the Austro—Hungarian Empire. As he could not attend in person, his place was taken (by proxy) by M. de Kazarinoff, Russian Charge d'Affaires of the Court of Saxony. The family Still have his Korch Christening cup in silver.
One of Sergei's earliest memories was of breaking up large blocks of beet sugar in the cellar for the use of the family .He was enrolled at a private school in Dresden and well remembered cycling to and from school.On some occasion she said that he had "to ride through"groups of boys who were antagonistic to those at the private School and who themselves went to state schools.
Sergei's first visit to England was in 1892 on a family holiday.
In 1895 as a boy of thirteen he climbed his first mountain which was the Ortler,
12,800feet, the highest mountainin Austria—Hungary. It was not until 1901 that he commenced regular annual visits to the Alps for climbing.
His feelingfor (also) knowledge and understanding of foreign languages developed
from an earlyage.He was always a keen philologist. iwas brought up on Russian and English primarily.
Sergei's education continued at the University of Leipzig, Saxony,from 1900 to
1904.During the University vacations he took the opportunity to travel widely.
29 His studies continued in political economy and human geography as well as in history, and in due course he was awarded a Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Thefamily still have the relevantdocuments.For his degree he wrote a thesis on "The Railway systems of Southern Russia and Trans—Caucasia".His studies continued for many years particularly in history,biography and geography.
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