Europe and the Soviet Union
Vladimir I. Toumanoff: From Russia, by way of Constantinople to American Diplomacy
The son of White Russian exiles, carried out of Constantinople as a baby, who later served in Moscow.
- Fled
- Russia, by way of Constantinople
- Status
- Fled persecution
- Arrived in the U.S.
- 1923
- Service
- Foreign Service Officer for 25 years; Political Officer, U.S. Embassy Moscow (1958 to 1960)
- Region
- Europe and the Soviet Union
Vladimir Toumanoff's parents escaped the Bolsheviks in 1919 and lived as exiles in Constantinople. His father had been a colonel in the Imperial Guard. In 1923, the year Vladimir was born, the family learned it was about to be handed over to the Soviets and fled to New York within a day.
He served for twenty-five years in the Foreign Service, including in Frankfurt and as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, where he interpreted in meetings between Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson and Nikita Khrushchev.
Read the history behind this story on the The Soviet Union page, or browse all the diplomats.