“The Max Linder of Vladivostok”: the russian press about vice-governor V. Lodyzhenskiy’s Far East tour (1912-1914)

On the eve of World War I V.I. Lodyzhensky, the Vice-Governor of Primorskiy Krai, emerged as one of the most popular characters in the Russian press. Vladivostok and St. Petersburg newspapers wrote that he had unlawfully arrested journalists, had been sued by the prosecutor’s office, had devised a new method of fighting against “Jews’ dominance” and had established a “bureau granting relief from military service”. His neglect of the law and unscrupulousness in financial matters made him scandalously notorious. In 1913-1914 newspaper articles about him made the Ministry of Internal Affairs launch several investigations into Lodyzhensky’s professional activities. The essay based on unpublished documents from the Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East offers Lodyzhensky’s realistic portrayal as an embezzler and extortioner being protected by the Imperial Court.