Valerian Abakovsky

{{Short description|Soviet inventor (1895–1921)}}

{{No footnotes|date=January 2010}}

{{one source |date=March 2024}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Valerian Abakovsky

| image = Абаковский.jpg

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1895|10|5|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Riga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire (now Latvia)

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1921|7|24|1895|10|5}}

| death_place = Serpukhov, Russian SFSR

| resting_place = Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow

| occupation = Inventor, chauffeur

| education =

| employer =

| known_for = Aerowagon

| nationality =

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| relatives =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Valerian Ivanovich Abakovsky ({{langx|ru|Валериа́н Ива́нович Абако́вский}}, {{langx|lv|Valerians Abakovskis}}; 5 October 1895 – 24 July 1921) was a Soviet engineer who is best remembered as the inventor of the Aerowagon.

Early life

He was born in Riga on October 5, 1895, in to a Russian family. Although a talented inventor, he worked as a chauffeur for the Tambov Cheka.

The Aerowagon

The invention for which Abakovsky is remembered is the Aerowagon, an experimental high-speed railcar fitted with an aeroplane engine and propeller propulsion. It was originally intended to carry Soviet officials.

File:Аэровагон Абаковского.jpg

Death

File:Kremlin Wall Necropolis - Mass Grave No. 13 - Zhilin - Konstantinov - Abakovsky - Freeman.jpg, Ivan Konstantinov, Valerian Abakovsky and Paul Freeman]]

On 24 July 1921, a group of communists led by Soviet politician Fyodor Sergeyev took the Aerowagon from Moscow to the Tula collieries to test it. Abakovsky was also on board. Although they successfully arrived in Tula, on the return route to Moscow, the Aerowagon derailed at high speed, killing 7 of the 22 on board. The following people died in the accident:

  • {{ILL|Ivan Konstantinov|ru|Константинов, Иван (революционер)|vertical-align=sup}}, a Bulgarian delegate
  • Paul Freeman, an Australian delegate
  • {{ill|Oskar Hellbrück|ru|Гельбрих, Оскар}}, a German delegate
  • John William Hewlett, a British delegate
  • Fyodor Sergeyev (known as "Comrade Artyom")
  • {{ILL|Otto Strupat|de|vertical-align=sup}}, a German delegate
  • Valerian Abakovsky himself, at the age of 25.

The seven men killed in the crash lay in state at the House of the Unions, after which they were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Sergeyev is buried in Mass Grave No. 12, Konstantinov, Abakovsky and Freeman are buried in Mass Grave No. 13, while Strupat, Helbrich and Hewlett are buried in Mass Grave No. 14.

References

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  • Alexey Abramov / Алексей Абрамов, By the Kremlin Wall / У кремлёвской стены, Moscow / Москва́, Politizdat / Политиздат, 1978, pp./стр. 399 {{in lang|ru}}

{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abakovsky, Valerian Ivanovich}}

Category:1895 births

Category:1921 deaths

Category:Engineers from Riga

Category:People from Riga county

Category:Bolsheviks

Category:Soviet communists

Category:Soviet inventors

Category:Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis

Category:Inventors killed by their own invention

Category:Railway accident deaths in Russia

Category:Accidental deaths in the Soviet Union

Category:Russian inventors

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