Michael Annenkoff

General Michael Nicolaivitch Annenkoff (1838 in St. Pertersburg, Russia- January 22, 1899 in St. Petersburg, Russia) was a Russian nobleman, author, military officer, Governor-General of Trans-Caspia, and renowned engineer. His most enduring accomplishment was the completion of the Transcaspian railway and the planning of the Trans-Siberian railroad, which was under construction at the time of his death.

Education and Early Career

Born into the wealthy Annenkoff family, son of General Nicholas Annenkoff, Governor of Odessa and the southwestern provinces and aide-de-camp to the Emperor, Michael studied at the Ecole des Pages and was appointed general adjutant to the general staff of the Imperial Army at St. Petersburg [Colby, Frank and Peck, Harry Thurston. “The International Yearbook,” Dodd, Mead, & Co. 1900] . From 1864-1866, during the Polish uprising, Michael earned a reputation as a competent commander and military tactician: by age 27 he had been made a Colonel of the Imperial Army and appointed Aide-de-Camp to Emperor Alexander III of Russia [O’Brien, Augustin. Petersburg & Warsaw. Oxford, London: page 128. 1864.] .

In the 1870s, Michael served as Military Attaché to Germany, during the Franco-Prussian War, and then later to France. His writings on German military tactics during the war were widely read [Annenkoff, M.N. Observations and Views of a Russian Officer. 1871.] . By 1878 he had been appointed a Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Army. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1880, General Annenkoff was placed in charge of transportation, learning the valuable skills that would later make him one of the most prominent engineers of his era [Appletons’ Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year. D. Appleton & Co., 1900.] .

The South Caucasus

In the 1880s, General Annenkoff served on several campaigns in the south Caucasus, most notably against the Turkoman populations (serving under General Mikhail Skobelev in the Merv Campaign). In order to move troops and supplies, he completed laying more than 1,000 miles of track in less than three years (1885-1888), which brought him immediate engineering fame. He was honored by scientific bodies throughout Europe, including being appointed a vice-president of the International Congress of Geography (1891) [Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. Nature Publishing Group, Feb. 28, 1895.] . He later became a planner and chief promoter of the Trans-Siberian railroad.

Of note, General Annenkoff was also involved in the annexation of Bokhara as a client state of the Czar [White, Andrew Dickson. Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White: With Portraits. The Century Co., 1905.] . Before his death, Emir Mozzaffur al-Din named his fourth son, Emir Abdul Ahad, by a slave as his heir. The Russians allowed the young son to be educated in St. Petersburg and Moscow, hoping to instill pro-Russian sentiment. However, upon Emir Mozzafur’s death, the elder sons attempted to seize the emirate. General Annenkoff simply marched an army into Bokhara where he placed the younger son on the throne and left Russian troops, which in effect placed Bokhara under control of the Russian Emperor [Curzon, George Nathaniel. Russia in Central Asia in 1889 and the Anglo-Russian Question. Longman, Green, & Company. 1889.] .

General Michael N. Annenkoff died in 1899, reportedly from suicide. There was suspicion that he had misappropriated funds from the Transcaspian line [In Foreign Lands. New York Times, August 28, 1899: page 7.] . At the time, he was a member of the Imperial Military Council in St. Petersburg.

Family

Most prominent of General Annenkoff’s sisters were Madame Marie de Struve, wife of Karl de Struve, Russian Ambassador to Japan, the United States, and The Netherlands respectively [Epoch. Munsey’s Magazine, v. VII., 1892: pages 266-7.] ., and Anna, Vicomtess de Vogüé, wife of French critic and author, Vicomte Eugene Melchior de Vogüé. In 1878 the Vicomte de Vogüé and Miss Anna Karenine Annenkoff were married at the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.

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