Chavchavadze, David (11092357): Difference between revisions
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'''[[Chavchavadze, David (11092357)|David Chavchavadze]]''' ( | '''[[Chavchavadze, David (11092357)|David Chavchavadze]]''' (20 May 1924 – 5 October 2014) was a London-born Ritchie Boy, Lend-Lease interpreter, and later a long-serving CIA officer and author of Georgian-Russian origin. | ||
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== Biography == | == Biography == | ||
David Chavchavadze was born on 20 May 1924 in London to Prince Paul Chavchavadze and Princess Nina Georgievna of Russia. The family moved to the United States in 1927. He was educated at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, began Yale University on scholarship, and after his freshman year volunteered for the U.S. Army. | |||
Chavchavadze enlisted on 26 February 1943 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts (ASN 11092357). Identified as a Russian speaker, he entered Camp Ritchie Class 10 (Russian) on 23 July 1943, graduated on 20 September 1943 as a classified assistant interpreter, and was promoted to technician third grade on 27 September 1943. He was posted to Alaska interpreting for Soviet personnel connected with Lend-Lease air ferry operations—including work associated with Andrei Gromyko—and later interpreted in postwar Berlin for occupation officials. Contemporary accounts state he was commissioned a second lieutenant around age 20 and left the Army as a captain. | |||
After the war he finished his history studies at Yale, joined the CIA in 1950, and spent about twenty-five years as a case officer in Soviet operations, including early work in Berlin. He later wrote ''Crowns and Trenchcoats: A Russian Prince in the CIA'' (1989) and ''The Grand Dukes'' (1989) and lectured on Russian history. He died on 5 October 2014 in Washington, D.C., at age 90. | |||
== Research notes == | == Research notes == | ||
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* Romanov prince | * Romanov prince | ||
* Author, "Crowns and Trenchcoats: A Russian Prince in the CIA" | * Author, "Crowns and Trenchcoats: A Russian Prince in the CIA" | ||
* | * Class 10 roster lists technician third grade at graduation; Telegraph obituary reports later commission and discharge as captain—rank_final follows the later grade. | ||
== Technical record == | == Technical record == | ||
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* | * 20 May 1924 — Born in London, England. | ||
* 26 February 1943 — Enlisted | * 1927 — Family moved to the United States. | ||
* 23 July 1943 — | * Educated at Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts); began Yale University. | ||
* | * 26 February 1943 — Enlisted at Fort Devens, Massachusetts (ASN 11092357). | ||
* | * 23 July – 20 September 1943 — Camp Ritchie Class 10 (Russian); graduated as classified assistant interpreter-Russian. | ||
* | * 27 September 1943 — Promoted to technician third grade. | ||
* 1943–1945 — Alaska Lend-Lease interpreting; later Berlin occupation interpreting; commissioned (accounts report captain by discharge). | |||
* Postwar — Completed Yale history studies; recruited by CIA (report September 1950). | |||
* c. 1950–1974 — CIA Soviet operations case officer (including Berlin); later contract debriefing work. | |||
* 1989 — Published Crowns and Trenchcoats and The Grand Dukes. | |||
* 5 October 2014 — Died in Washington, D.C. | |||
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== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11219248/Prince-David-Chavchavadze-obituary.html | * Dan Gross timeline research for David Chavchavadze (private research files; selected non-private findings) | ||
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chavchavadze Wikipedia | * ProQuest copies of Telegraph obituaries in RB Archive folder “David Chavchavadze…” (private PDFs, not uploaded) | ||
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/david-chavchavadze-cia-spy-with-russian-royal-roots-dies-at-90/2014/11/08/ddd65f86-5ec6-11e4-9f3a-7e28799e0549_story.html Washington Post — David Chavchavadze obituary (8 November 2014)] | |||
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11219248/Prince-David-Chavchavadze-obituary.html The Daily Telegraph / Telegraph.co.uk — Prince David Chavchavadze obituary (Nov 2014)] | |||
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chavchavadze Wikipedia — David Chavchavadze] | |||
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data | * Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data | ||
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records | * Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records | ||