Background
Vasil’chikov, Illarion Sergeevich, Prince was born on April 15, 1881 in Tsarskoe Selo. Son of Prince Sergei Illarionovich Vasil’chikov.
Vasil’chikov, Illarion Sergeevich, Prince was born on April 15, 1881 in Tsarskoe Selo. Son of Prince Sergei Illarionovich Vasil’chikov.
Graduated in law (with a gold medal) from St. Petersburg University.
Sublieutenant in the Battalion of the Guard Fusiliers of the Imperial Family, 1905. In 1906, resigned and joined the 1st Department of the Imperial Senate. Member of the commission inspecting conditions in Turkestan (now Soviet Central Asia), on whose recommendation the now world-famous irrigation system of that area was set up.
Aged 28, Marshal of the Nobility of the Government of Kovno, the youngest such appointee in Russian history. In 1912, elected as Memberfrom Kovno to the 4th Duma, where he sat as a member of the Oktiabrist Party. In February 1917, member of the Temporary Committee of the State Duma which, until the formation of the Provisional Government, was the de facto government of Russia.
Appointed by the Provisional Government commissar for the re-organization of the Imperial Red Cross. Became a member of the new Governing Board of the Red Cross, a function which he retained until his death, after the Board transferred its seat abroad. Member of the Orthodox Church Council, 1917-1918, which re-established the Patriarchate abolished by Peter the Great.
Emigrated, 1919. Moved to Paris. Later returned to Lithuania, where his family estates were before the October Revolution 1917. Elected member of the National Congress, which in 1926 attempted but failed to unify all Russian emigre organizations.
Acted continuously as spokesman of the large Russian community in Lithuania. Fled Lithuania upon its annexation by the USSR in June 1940. Moved to Berlin, and later Baden-Baden.
Gave Russian language lessons to staff officers of the French occupation forces in Germany. Dedicated his last years to Russian Orthodox Church affairs. Awarded the Order of St. Vladimir by Patriarch Aleksii.