Chavchavadze, David (11092357)

David Chavchavadze
Personal details
Born	20 May 1924 London, England
Died	5 October 2014 Washington, D.C.
Nativity	Great Britain
Religion	Greek Orthodox
Known for	Cia Officer, Author
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	11092357
Rank	Captain
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 10 (23 July – 20 September 1943)
Section	7D
Enlisted	Ft Devens, Massachusetts
Battles / wars	WWII

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

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.

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

• to 1st Lt
• Alaska
• Cia
• Enlisted Reserve or Medical Administrative Corps (MAC) Officer
• Romanov prince
• 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

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	90
Nara ASN	11092357
Nara Name	CHAVCHAVADZE DAVID
Nara State	13
Nara County	1
Nara POE	1328
Nara DOE	260243
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	N-
Nara Branch Code	2
Branch	No branch assignment
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	5
Nara Nativity	K1
Nara Year of Birth	24
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	4
Nara Civilian Occupation	2
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	0
Nara Weight (lbs)	137
Class_ASN	11092357
Class_Name	CHAVCHAVADZE, David
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 20 May 1924 — Born in London, England.
• 1927 — Family moved to the United States.
• 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.

Sources

• Dan Gross timeline research for David Chavchavadze (private research files; selected non-private findings)
• ProQuest copies of Telegraph obituaries in RB Archive folder “David Chavchavadze…” (private PDFs, not uploaded)
• Washington Post — David Chavchavadze obituary (8 November 2014)
• The Daily Telegraph / Telegraph.co.uk — Prince David Chavchavadze obituary (Nov 2014)
• Wikipedia — David Chavchavadze
• 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
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2020-01-27 (1 post)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of David Chavchavadze for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Chavchavadze, David for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: DAVID CHAVCHAVADZE.doc)