Vladimir May-Mayevsky

Vladimir Zenonovich May-Mayevsky

According to Peter Kenez, V. Z. Mai-Maevskii was a complex figure. He lived a dissolute life and his orgies brought ill-repute to the cause which he served. In territories under his control, terror and lawlessness reigned. His soldiers called him Kutuzov, not because of his style of leadership, but because of his appearance: he was fat and flabby and wore a pince-nez. He did not at all look like a soldier. Nevertheless, he was one of the ablest White military leaders."^[1]

May-Mayevsky was born in 1867 to a family of minor gentry in

During the

At the time of the

By December 1918, May-Mayevsky was a general fighting on the Don front, including the Battle for the Donbas (1919). His remarkable performance was due to his strategy of stationing his troops at railroad junctions, and then using the railroad network to speedily move troops to where they were needed most. According to Kenez, "On one occasin, one unit fought at three different places in the course of a single day." He also used airplanes for reconnaissance missions.^[1]

On 23 May 1919 May-Mayevsky was appointed chief commander of the Volunteer Army after his division drove the

In 1920, he led rearguard units in the final defence of the Crimea. Accounts differ on his end. According to one version, he shot himself during the evacuation of the White Army from Sevastopol on 12 November 1920, according to another - he died of heart failure in one of the hospitals in Sevastopol or while traveling by car to the ship for evacuation.

Distinctions

• Order of St. Stanislaus
  2nd degree, 1906 (3rd degree, 1900)
• Order of St. Anne
  2nd degree 1907 (3rd degree 1904)
• Order of St Vladimir
  3rd degree, 1912 (4th degree, 1909)
• Order of St. George, 4th class, 1915
• Gold Sword for Bravery
  (1915)
• Cross of St. George with a laurel branch, 1917
• Honorary Knight^{[clarification needed]} of the Order of St Michael and St George, 1921 (UK)

See also

• White movement
• Volunteer Army
• Russian Civil War

References