The Black Russian
Page 34
dissolution of, 1.
See also Turkish National Movement
Paris, 1
Paris, Hôtel de, 1, 2
Pera Palace Hotel, 1
police. See Moscow: bribery of public officials in
Polish–Soviet War, 1, 2
aftermath, 1
Polyakova, Nastya, 1
Proctor, Bertha, 1, 2, 3, 4
prohibition in Russian Empire, 1, 2
Provisional Government, 1, 2
Pullman, George M., 1
Quinlan, Joseph B., 1
racial attitudes, 1
in Constantinople, 1, 2
in Paris, 1
in Russia, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
in United States, 1, 2.
See also Coahoma County
in Victorian England, 1
Randolph, John, 1
Rasputin, Grigory, 1, 2, 3
Ravndal, Gabriel Bie, 1, 2, 3
background and overview, 1
Elvira Thomas and, 1, 2, 3
Ermano Mendelino and, 1
Frederick’s debt and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Frederick’s passport application and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
telegram to Washington, 1
Wilbur Carr’s letter to, 1
real estate, 1, 2
Red Army, 1
Revolution of 1905, 1, 2
Revolution of 1917, 1
See also October Revolution
Reyser, Arthur, Jr., 1, 2, 3
Richardson, Officer, 1
Riviera, 1
Royal Dancing Club (“Jockey Club”), 1
Rue, Larry, 1
Rumbold, Horace, 1
Russia, 1
See also specific topics
attitudes toward foreigners, 1
blacks in, 1, 2
entering, 1, 2
Frederick’s first thought of going to, 1
Frederick’s “love” for, 1
racial attitudes in, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
revolutionary changes in, 1
See also October Revolution;
Revolution of 1905;
Revolution of 1917
Russian citizenship (of Frederick), 1, 2
citizenship application, 1
concealing of, 1, 2, 3, 4
Odessa and, 1
reasons for seeking the protection of, 1
United States and, 1, 2
Russian Civil War, 1, 2, 3
See also October Revolution; Odessa
Russian patriotism, Frederick’s public expressions of, 1, 2
Russian Revolution. See Revolution of 1917
Russo-Japanese War, 1, 2
Scott, Daniel, 1, 2
Sergey, Grand Duke, 1, 2
Serpoletti (Fronshteyn), Andrey, 1, 2
Serra, Mario, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Sèvres, Treaty of, 1, 2, 3
Shchukin, Yakov Vasilyevich, 1
Shelton, Frank, 1
Skinner, Robert, 1
“soldiers’ theater,” 1
Speransky, Mikhail Mikhaylovich, 1
St. Louis, 1
State Department, U.S., 1
Frederick’s Russian citizenship unknown by, 1, 2
passport applications and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
William Jenkins and, 1
“Stella Club.” See Anglo-American Garden Villa
Strelna, 1
Sudakov, Aleksey Akimovich, 1, 2, 3, 4
Sukhodolsky, 1
tango, 1
Tannenberg, Battle of, 1
terror, 1, 2, 3, 4
See also Cheka
terrorism, 1, 2, 3
Thomas, Bruce (son), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
birth, 1, 2, 3
death, 1
marriage, 1
in New York City, 1, 2
in Turkey, 1
Thomas, Elvira Jungmann (3rd wife)
background and overview, 1
children, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
citizenship, 1
in Constantinople, 1, 2, 3
in Czechoslovakia, 1
death, 1
departure from Soviet Union, 1, 2
finances, 1
Frederick’s death and, 1, 2
Frederick’s first meeting with, 1
Frederick’s marriage to, 1, 2, 3
Frederick’s relations with, 1, 2, 3
Isaiah Thorne and, 1, 2
Mikhail Thomas and, 1
nationality, 1, 2
Olga Thomas and, 1
Ravndal, U.S. protection of Frederick, and, 1, 2, 3
Valentina Thomas and, 1, 2, 3
Thomas, Frederick Bruce, 1
alternative names and aliases, 1
“Fridrikh Brus (Fyodor Fyodorovich) Tomas,” 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
birth, 1
characterizations of
as Constantinople’s “Sultan of Jazz,” 1
as Moscow “Merchant of the First Guild,” 1
death, 1
education, 1, 2, 3, 4
employment, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
See also specific businesses
family background and early life, 1
farm life, 1
finances, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
See also under Anglo-American Garden Villa; Aquarium; Maxim
becoming rich, 1, 2, 3
generosity, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
loans and debt, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
lost his fortune escaping from Odessa, 1, 2.
See also Odessa: Frederick’s escape from
taxes owed, 1, 2
homes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
imprisoned in Angora, 1
never denied anyone a free meal, 1
as parent, 1, 2.
See also specific children
passports and passport applications, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Charles Allen and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
first passport application in Paris, 1, 2
Gabriel Bie Ravndal and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Russia and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
people he may have been named after, 1
personality, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
physical appearance, 1, 2
pneumonias, 1, 2, 3
privacy, 1
reinventing himself, 1
religion and, 1.
See also churches
siblings, 1, 2
See also Thomas, Ophelia
speech and language skills, 1, 2, 3
threats against, 1
was never tempted to return to U.S., 1
Thomas, Frederick “Fedya,” “Fred,” Jr. (son), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Thomas, Hannah (mother), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Thomas, Hedwig Antonia Hähn (1st wife), 1
background and overview, 1
children, 1, 2
death, 1, 2
marriage to Frederick, 1
Thomas, India P. (stepmother), 1
background and overview, 1
churches and, 1
and the farm, 1
finances, 1, 2
Frederick Thomas and, 1
house rented by, 1
Lewis Thomas’s murder and, 1
in Louisville, 1, 2, 3
marriage to Lewis Thomas, 1
Ophelia Thomas and, 1, 2, 3
William Dickerson and, 1, 2, 3
Thomas, Irma (daughter)
in Berlin, 1, 2
birth of, 1, 2
Hedwig Thomas’s death following, 1, 2
finances, 1
Frederick Thomas and, 1, 2, 3, 4
suicide, 1
Valli Thomas and, 1, 2, 3, 4
Thomas, John (brother), 1, 2
Thomas, Kate (sister), 1
Thomas, Lewis (father), 1
background and overview, 1, 2
character, 1
children, 1
churches and, 1, 2
farm, 1, 2, 3, 4
finances, 1, 2, 3, 4
house rented by, 1
influence on Frederick, 1, 2
marriage to India, 1
in the newspapers, 1
Sheltons and the murder of, 1
William Dickerson and, 1, 2
Thomas, Mikhail (son), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
birth, 1, 2
Bruce Thomas and, 1
children, 1
education in Prague, 1, 2
finances, 1
Frederick Thomas and, 1, 2, 3, 4
later life, 1
Thomas, Olga (daughter). See Golitzine, Olga Thomas
Thomas, Ophelia (sister), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Thomas, Valentina (“Valli”) Leontina Anna Hoffman (2nd wife), 1
affair with Bolshevik commissar, 1, 2, 3
background and overview, 1
Elvira Thomas and, 1, 2, 3
finances, 1, 2, 3
Frederick’s citizenship and, 1, 2, 3
Frederick’s conflicts with, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Frederick’s marriage to, 1, 2
in Germany, 1, 2, 3, 4
Irma Thomas and, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
as nanny for Frederick’s children, 1, 2
passports and, 1, 2, 3
residences, 1, 2
Thomas, William (brother), 1
Thomas, Yancy (brother), 1, 2
“Thomas and Co.,” 1, 2.
See also Aquarium
Thomas Chapel, 1
Thomass, Bruce, 1
Thomass, Chantal, 1
Thorne, Isaiah, 1, 2, 3
“Tobacco for the Soldier,” 1
Tomas, F. F., 1
Trotsky, Leon, 1
Trukhanova, Natalia, 1
Tsarev, Mikhail Prokofyevich, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
tsars, 1
Turkey, 1, 2, 3.
See also Constantinople; Istanbul changes in, 1
Turkish National Movement, 1, 2, 3
See also Kemal, Mustafa
Turks, 1
typhus, 1, 2
Ukraine. See Odessa
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe), 1
Vertinsky, Aleksandr, 1, 2, 3
Villa Stella. See Anglo-American Garden Villa
Villa Tom, 1, 2
Volunteer Army. See White Volunteer Army
Weir, Joseph A., 1
White Volunteer Army, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Williams, Percy G., 1
World War I, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Odessa and, 1
Wrangel, Pyotr, 1, 2, 3
Yar Restaurant, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Yeni Maxim, 1, 2.
See also Maxim
Yildiz Municipal Casino, 1, 2, 3
Yildiz Palace complex, 1, 2
Zavadsky, Alexey Vladimirovich, 1
Zhichkovsky, Richard Fomich, 1
Zia Bey, Mufty-Zade K., 1
About the Author
Vladimir Alexandrov received a PhD in comparative literature from Princeton, and taught at Harvard before moving to Yale, where he is now B.E. Bensinger Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Also by Vladimir Alexandrov
Andrei Bely: The Major Symbolist Fiction
Nabokov’s Otherworld
Limits to Interpretation: The Meanings of Anna Karenina
About this Book
Born the son of slaves in America’s Deep South, he escaped the stifling racism of his native land to pursue a dream of freedom, wealth and personal happiness that took him from Brussels to Monte Carlo, and from Moscow to Constantinople. Embracing triumph and tragedy and spanning continents, wars and revolution, his life story is as colourful as it is improbable. He is the ‘Black Russian’. Frederick Bruce Thomas was born in 1872 to former slaves who had become prosperous farmers in Mississippi. When his father was brutally murdered, the teenaged Frederick fled the Deep South and headed for New York City, where he worked as a waiter and valet. Deploying charm, charisma and cunning, he emigrated to Europe, criss-crossing that continent to find employment as a multilingual waiter in locations as diverse as London and Leipzig, Venice and Vienna, before settling in Moscow in 1899. There he married twice, acquired a mistress, and became one of that city’s richest and most fêted restaurateurs and nightclub impresarios. But then came the shock of the Bolshevik Revolution. Frederick and his family were forced to flee Russia for Constantinople, where, ever resourceful, he reinvented himself afresh, opening nightclubs that introduced jazz to Turkey. However, Frederick’s luck was finally running out: the long arm of American racism and his own extravagance landed him in a debtor’s prison in 1927, after which death came swiftly. Written with a novelist’s verve, The Black Russian is both the extraordinary story of the most engaging and unexpected of heroes, and a meticulously researched and richly characterized tour of the changing political and cultural landscape of the early twentieth century.
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Reviews
‘A fascinating tale of culture clash and historical change, researched with energy and written with verve.’
Anne Applebaum, author of Gulag: A History
‘As a reader, I found myself fascinated by this well-written story. As a writer, I found myself envious of Vladimir Alexandrov for having discovered such a remarkable man whose life, both triumphant and tragic, spans continents, wars and a revolution—and whom no one seems to have noticed before. An extraordinary and gripping book.’
Adam Hocschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost
‘Hang on for the ride of a lifetime. With the verve of a novelist, historian Alexandrov takes one on an adventure through pre-war Mississippi, London, Paris, Tsarist Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution, ending up in decadent Constantinople.’
John Bailey, author of The Lost German Slave Girl
Copyright
First published in the United States of America in 2013 by Atlantic Monthly Press, an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc , New York
Published in the UK in 2013 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © 2013 by Vladimir Alexandrov
The moral right of Vladimir Alexandrov to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The quotations from Prince Andrey Lobanov-Rostovsky on pp. xvii–xviii are reprinted with the permission of Scribner, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from The Grinding Mill: Reminiscences of War and Revolution in Russia, 1913–1920 by Prince A. Lobanov-Rostovsky. Copyright © 1935 by The Macmillan Company.
All rights reserved.
The quoted passage on pp. 178–179 from Morris Gilbert, “Alors, Pourquoi?” The Smart Set. Vol. LXXII, No. 3 (November 1923), 47–48, is reprinted with the permission of Hearst Corporation.
ISBN (HB) 9781781855195
ISBN (XTPB) 9781781855201
ISBN (E) 9781781855188
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