Viktorin Mikhailovich Molchanov (January 11, 1886, Chistopol

Chistopol

Chistopol is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, on the Kama River. Population: It is served by the Chistopol Airport.-History:It was first mentioned in chronicles at the end of the 17th century...

, Governorate of Kazan – January 10, 1975, San Francisco) was a Russian Major-General and a participant in the White movement

White movement

The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...

.

Molchanov was born in 1886 to parents who were members of the Russian nobility. He graduated from the Elabuga Comprehensive School and Alexey's Military Institute in Moscow in 1906. Early in life Molchanov served in Primorsky Krai

Primorsky Krai

Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...

 and fought in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 as the captain of a field company. After he finished his tour, he returned to the Urals in time for the start of the Russian Revolution, in which he fought against the bolsheviks. During the Revolution, Molchanov was promoted and put in charge of the Izhevsk brigade and eventually an entire division in 1918.

After the defeat of Admiral Kolchak's armies and the subsequent retreat to Transbaikal, Molchanov was appointed the head of the 3rd Separate Rifle Corps of the Far Eastern Army by Ataman Grigory Semyonov

Grigory Semyonov

Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, or Semenov , was a Japanese-supported leader of the White movement in Transbaikal and beyond from December 1917 to November 1920, Lieutenant General and Ataman of Baikal Cossacks .-Biography:Semyonov was born in the Transbaikal region of eastern Siberia...

. In October 1920 the Ataman was defeated and the surviving units evacuated to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. General Molchanov moved to Primorye and established Vladivostok as his base on May 31, 1921. Under his command the Whites launched an offensive and captured Khabarovsk in November 1921 but his troops were smashed at Volochaevka on February 12, 1922 by Vasily Blyukher

Vasily Blyukher

Vasily Konstantinovich Blyukher Vasily Konstantinovich Blyukher Vasily Konstantinovich Blyukher (also spelled Bliukher, Blücher, etc., , Soviet military commander, was among the prominent victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of the late 1930s....

. General Molchanov moved to China and then settled down in the USA where he wrote his memoirs.