Aleksandr Soldatenkov

Aleksandr Soldatenkov completed his training with the Page Corps in 1908 and subsequently joined the Tsar’s Life Guards Cossack Regiment. He later worked for the Second Political Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, which was responsible for the activities of the secret police. In 1912, Soldatenkov competed in the Olympic Games in Stockholm, where he achieved only modest success in both the individual and team épée fencing competitions.

Soldatenkov’s activities around World War I are widely unknown. He came to London as the secretary of the Tsarist Russian Embassy. The sources indicate that he might have been involved in intelligence activities for Russia, Great Britain or both countries. Soldatenkov apparently also used his mother’s maiden name, Philipson, at times to conceal his identity. After 1920, he joined the British Navy. There, he made a career and eventually rose to the rank of major.

In 1936, he married the Englishwoman Imogen Matthew, but divorced her only two years later. In 1953, he got married again, this time to Dorothy Dulany Scott Brancker, the daughter of a RAF major-general. This marriage also didn’t last long because Soldatenkov passed away less than half a year later.