Sunday, 09 January 2011

Boris Skossyreff

Boris Skossyreff (1896? – 1989) was an adventurer who attempted to seize power in the European state of Andorra during the early 1930s. Russian sources give his name in Cyrillic as Борис Скосырев, for which the modern English transliteration would be Skosyrev.

In January 1919, a Boris Skossyreff - aged 22 and a former translator for the Japanese Military Mission - appeared in Westminster Police Court in London charged with passing fraudulent cheques: the money was eventually paid, by the same person according to The Times.

In December 1933, Skossyreff obtained Andorran citizenship and after some time he presented a plan for administrative reform involving the creation of several offices to which he asked to be appointed himself. He quickly got into trouble, however, and was expelled around May 1934.

On July 12 of the same year, he issued a proclamation in Urgell, Spain, declaring himself Boris I, sovereign prince of Andorra and "regent for His Majesty the King of France", and declaring war on the bishop of Urgell, Justí Guitart i Vilardebó, (the co-prince of Andorra). On July 20, he was arrested by Spanish authorities and taken first to Barcelona and then on July 23 to Madrid where he was imprisoned until being expelled in November.

Spanish authorities who held him in custody noted he carried a Dutch passport which indicated his date of birth as June 12, 1896. He declared himself to be a White Russian émigré, born in Vilnius (in 1896 part of Tsarist Russia but present day capital of Lithuania).

This account was somewhat conflicted by the publication "Spain Week by Week", which reported on 25 July 1934 that he was a 38 year old Pole who had been resident "for some years" in Catalonia and Majorca. The account claimed that Skossyreff made his proclamation on July 11, not the day after, and had declared himself "Boris I, Prince of the Valleys of Andorra, Count of Orange and Baron of Skossyreff…sovereign of Andorra and defender of the faith". After pledging his allegiance to the King of France - a purely theoritical allegiance, since France had had no king since 1848 - it reports that he deposed the Consell General de Batlles d'Andorra (Catalan for General Council of Mayors of Andorra), appointed a provisional government, promulgated a constitution and issued a Court Circular before being arrested by the Spaniards. This version is not supported by accounts in other languages.

A novel, entitled Boris I, rei d'Andorra (English translation: Boris I, king of Andorra) based on Skossyreff's story was written in 1984 by Catalan author Antoni Morell i Mora. The author dedicated the book to his grandmother, whom he claimed had personally met Skossyreff. The novel was later adapted for the stage by Beth Escuda.

References

The Times has a number of articles about Boris Skossyreff - both the takeover and the 1919 incident mentioned above (6 January 1919 p 4, 13 January p 2, 18 January p 5, and 20 January p 5).

External links

http://www.rg.ru/Anons/arc_2003/0104/6.shtm (in Russian)

http://66.218.71.231/language/translation/translatedPage.php?tt=url&text;=http%3a//www.andorrasite.com/boris.htm&lp;=de_en&.intl=us&fr;=yfp-t-501 (article on Boris, somewhat creatively translated from the German)

http://www.lamassanacomic.ad/ArticlesDiariAndorra/da07a344.PDF - a somewhat bizarre comic (in Catalan)

http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Boris_Skossyreff - a summary of the information available on Boris Skossyreff.

http://www.olhao.web.pt/Personalidades/TextosFFL/Boris_Skossyreff.htm - in Portuguese, with a photograph of his tombstone.

http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Boris_Skossyreff - information on former files at The National Archives and other sources.

Collection of articles in Catalan, Spanish, and English

History of Andorra Category:1896 births Category:1989 deaths Category:Andorran centenarians Category:Andorran politicians

This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.

Email this Page

Andorran's Images

Order: Reorder
Duration: 3:55
Published: 2008-08-11
Uploaded: 2010-12-02
Author: Theworldimages

theworld-youtube.blogspot.com Andorra officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), is a small landlocked country in Western Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. Once isolated, it is currently a prosperous country mainly because of tourism and its status as a tax haven. The people of Andorra are currently listed as having the highest human life expectancies in the world, at an average of 83.5 years at birth (2007 est) Contents.Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to Andorran people in return for fighting against the Moors. Overlordship of the territory passed to the local count of Urgell and eventually to the bishop of the diocese of Urgell. The Bishop then handed over the territory to the Lord of Caboet. The Caboet family married into the family of the French Count of Foix and through this marriage, the Count inherited all of the Spanish lord's land, including Andorra. In the eleventh century a dispute arose between the bishop and his northern neighbour over Andorra. The conflict was resolved in 1278 by the signing of a paréage, which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count of Foix (whose title would ultimately transfer to the French head of state) and the bishop of La Seu d'Urgell, in Catalonia, Spain. This gave the small principality its territory and political form. Over the years the title passed to the kings of Navarre. After Henry of <b>...</b>

Co-prince of Andorra invites the Pope to visit the country

Order: Reorder
Duration: 1:03
Published: 2010-12-11
Uploaded: 2010-12-13
Author: scabious2

Pope Benedict is invited to visit Andorra The co-prince of the tiny European country has audience with Pontiff Andorra /ænˈdɒrə/ ( listen), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra,[9] (Catalan: Principat de les Valls d'Andorra), is a small country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 83888 in 2009. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, being at an elevation of 1023 metres.[10] The official language is Catalan, although Spanish and French are also commonly spoken. The Principality was formed in 1278. The role of monarch is exercised jointly by the two co-princes, the President of the French Republic and the Bishop of Urgell, Catalonia, Spain. Andorra is a prosperous country mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually,[11] and also because of its status as a tax haven. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. The people of Andorra have the 2nd highest human life expectancy in the world — 82 years at birth. Andorra declared war on Imperial Germany during World War I, but did not actually take part in the fighting. It remained in an official state of belligerency until 1957 as it was not included <b>...</b>

Boris I de Andorra proyecto venda libro_0001.wmv

Order: Reorder
Duration: 10:04
Published: 2010-10-13
Uploaded: 2010-10-13
Author: Direndal9

Último libro sobre la figura del aventurero ruso Boris de Skossyreff Mawrusow (1896-1989). Exiliado de la Rusia comunista tras la caída del zarismo, se involucró en asuntos de espionaje internacional y en 1934 llegó a protagonizar una curiosa aventura para tomar el control de Andorra proclamándose rey del pequeño país pirenaico.