Dmitry Knyazhevich

Dmitry Knyazhevich was the son of a high-ranking cavalry officer and graduated from the Page Corps in 1894. He joined a cavalry regiment and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1898. Two years later in 1900, he completed his training at the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff and became Staff Captain of the Guards, and soon after, Captain of the General Staff for the Caucasus and St. Petersburg military districts. In the following years, he quickly rose through the ranks, serving primarily in regiments of the Life Guards until he was appointed aide-de-camp in 1904. Knyazhevich participated as a staff officer and lieutenant colonel in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. After a few years as staff officer in St. Petersburg, he was assigned to the Cavalry Guards Regiment in the rank of a colonel in 1909.

In 1912, Knyazhevich competed in the Olympic Games in Stockholm with minor success in the individual foil and épée team events. One year later, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division and, some months later, Commander of Her Majesty’s Life Guards Uhlan Regiment. In 1915, he was made Major General of His Majesty’s Suite.

From 1915-18, Knyazhevich commanded brigades and divisions of the cavalry. He was eventually killed in a battle with the Reds during the revolution. He was awarded various degrees of the Orders of St. Stanislav, St. Anna, St. Vladimir and St. George, the latter being the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire. He was married to Lidiya Afanasyevna (née Vilinbakhova), who was executed in 1919.