Pavel Zavarzin Gendarme officer, major general Date of Birth: 25.02.1868 Country: France

1. Early Life and Military Service
2. Career in the Gendarmerie
3. Revolution and Exile

Early Life and Military Service

A Noble Lineage:Mikhail Aleksandrovich Zavarzhin was born into a noble family in the Kherson Governorate. He received his general education at the Odessa Real School before attending the Odessa Infantry Cadet School, where he graduated with honors in 1888.

Service in the Imperial Army:Upon commission as a sub-lieutenant, Zavarzhin joined the 16th Rifle Battalion, where he served for a decade. Notably, he participated in the security detail for Princess Alix of Hesse (later Empress Alexandra Feodorovna) during her arrival in Russia, earning him the Hessian Order of Philip the Magnanimous.

Career in the Gendarmerie

Transfer to the Gendarmes:In 1898, Zavarzhin transitioned into the Separate Gendarmerie Corps. He held various positions, including:

- Adjutant of the Bessarabian Provincial Gendarmerie Administration (17 June 1898)

- Adjutant of the Taurida Provincial Gendarmerie Administration (7 August 1899)

- Assistant Chief of the Volochisk Detachment of the Kiev Gendarmerie Police Administration for Railways (11 May 1900)

- Chief of the Lubensk Detachment of the Moscow-Kiev Gendarmerie Police Administration for Railways (1 June 1901)

- Assigned to the Bessarabian Provincial Gendarmerie Administration (11 June 1903)

- Assistant Chief of the Mogilev Provincial Gendarmerie Administration in Gomel Uyezd (24 June 1904)

- Reserve Officer of the Odessa Gendarmerie Administration (30 July 1904)

- Reserve Officer of the Don Oblast Gendarmerie Administration (7 July 1905)

- Chief of the Division for the Protection of Public Safety and Order in Warsaw (11 August 1906)

- Chief of the Division for the Protection of Public Safety and Order in Moscow (29 December 1909)

- Chief of the Odessa Municipal Gendarmerie Administration (31 July 1912)

- Chief of the Warsaw Provincial Gendarmerie Administration (1916-1917)

Wartime Duties:During the First World War, the Warsaw Gendarmerie Administration was evacuated and ceased functioning. In September 1916, Zavarzhin was invited to St. Petersburg and placed at the disposal of the Department of Police. He later inspected gendarmerie units in Siberia and the Far East.

Revolution and Exile

Imprisonment:During the February Revolution of 1917, Zavarzhin was arrested by the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry. After a brief imprisonment, he managed to flee Russia.

Emigration and Death:Zavarzhin emigrated to France, where he lived in exile. He was laid to rest at the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery.