"White General – Red Chief" highlighted in the Presidential Library

On April 22, 2019, the presentation of a book by the researcher Nadezhda Emelyanova “Lone Warrior. White General – Red Chief. Juan Belaieff” was held at the Presidential Library within the framework of “Knowledge of Russia” video lecture. The publication is dedicated to the Russian general Juan Timofeevich Belaieff (1875–1957) - a participant in the World War I, who after forced emigration from Russia, became a citizen of the Republic of Paraguay and a national hero of this Latin American country.

One of the guests of the event was the Ambassador of the Republic of Paraguay to Russia, Ramon Díaz Pereira. The diplomat noted that he had heard well about General Belaieff and was very interested in a study about the fate of the commander.

“This book is a tribute to all Russians who contributed to the development of Paraguay both during the war and in peacetime”, - the ambassador noted. - During the Chaco War (1932-1935) 70 Russian officers fought for Paraguay. In addition, the Russians created the first engineering faculty at Paraguayan National University. Our national ballet was founded by ballet dancers from the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Russian artists also contributed to our culture”.

As fate would have it that after the Civil War in Russia, Juan Belaieff was forced to emigrate to Paraguay, where he distinguished himself in the Chaco War (1932–1935), the most bloody Latin American conflict of the 20th century. Russian man became a friend of Indian tribes, indigenous peoples of Paraguay. By the way, many of the Paraguayans from the middle of the last century bear the name of Ivan (Juan).

Another facet of the personality of General Belaieff is that he wrote beautiful poems. Mr. Pereira presented a small gift to the Director General of the Presidential Library Ilya Bykovnikov a commemorative plaque with a poem by Belaieff.

The author of the publication “Lone Warrior. White General – Red Chieа. Ivan Belaieff" Nadezhda Emelyanova shared her impressions of the work on the book: "This time was very full of events. For three months I have been traveling along all the routes of General Belaieff in Paraguay”.

“Russian trace” in Paraguay is not limited to Ivan Beliaeff alone. In this country, you can find settlements with Russian names (Caucasus, Siberia, etc.), many streets of the Paraguayan capital Asuncion are named after Russian emigrants.

According to Doctor of Political Sciences, Head of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia at MGIMO of the Russian Foreign Ministry Boris Martynov, "Beliaeff was going to create a small Russia from Russian émigrés, retaining the Russian spirit until better times..." Apparently he succeeded. 

Among other meeting attendees were also the grandson of Lieutenant-General Sergei Timofeevich Bellaieff, the elder brother of the hero of the book - the mitral archpriest, the senior priest of the St. John Stavropegic Nunnery Nikolai Belaieff and a descendant of General Dmitry Belaieff - the research officer of the PKU Information Historical and Scientific Center - Military Historical Library General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation".

Guests of the event were foreign participants from Spain and Paraguay, students and teachers of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, the Pushkin Leningrad State University, senior pupils of schools, gymnasiums and lyceums of St. Petersburg.

The Presidential Library’s e-collections are available to everyone, not only in Russia, but also abroad. Besides the fact that in all 85 regions of the Russian Federation there are more than 900 centers of remote access to the resources of the Presidential Library, it is also represented in 30 countries abroad, where 38 remote access centers are open. In total, the Presidential Library has more than 770,000 storage units.