Vladimir Grigor’evich Datsyshen,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astaf’ev, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, e‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Dai Jianbing,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, China, e‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
V.D. Lachinov and D.P. Kazakevich – the First Managers of the Chinese Eastern Railway in the Emigrant Period of Harbin History
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-3-7
An important but insufficiently studied page in the history of the CER is the activities of the railway administration in a difficult and controversial period in the history of the railway during the years of the civil war and foreign intervention in Siberia. After the severance of communication between the Far East and Petrograd, the permanent Manager of the CER D.L. Horvath was elected in Beijing as the Managing Director of the road, and in 1918–1921 CER was headed by engineers V.D. Lachinov and D.P. Kazakevich. Becoming an assistant to the Manager of the CER in 1917, V.D. Lachinov acted as the Manager for more than three years, factually during the first year, and then formally as well. This course of events was determined by the fact that during the First World War, being the head of the Traction Service, he actually supervised the work of the entire railway. V.D. Lachinov managed the CER in close connection and interaction with his assistant, the like-minded and successor engineer D.P. Kazakevich. To study the place of these figures in the history of the CER, we used materials collected by their contemporary, E.Kh. Nilus, a participant in the events and at the same time a researcher of the CER. The materials prepared for the publication of the second volume of the Historical Review of the CER are kept in the USA. Among the materials collected, typewritten drafts of several chapters of the proposed second volume stand out the most, as they present biographical data on V.D. Lachinov and D.P. Kazakevich, as well as the facts of their participation in historical events on the CER in the first years after the revolution of 1917. The personal characteristics of the little-known leaders of the CER by E.Kh. Nilus are valuable, as the was an eyewitness and participant in the events. Materials collected by researcher E.Kh. Nilus show how experienced engineers and like-minded people, Harbin old-timers V.D. Lachinov and D.P. Kazakevich were able to maintain the stable operation of the CER in the years which were difficult for Russia and Northeast China. The further fate of these historical figures was complex, contradictory and even tragic, but largely thanks to their work, the CER survived and proved to be viable in the new historical circumstances.
Publishing: 28/06/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 24/03/2023
How to cite: Datsyshen V.G., Dai Jianbing. V.D. Lachinov and D.P. Kazakevich – the First Managers of the Chinese Eastern Railway in the Emigrant Period of Harbin History // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 3 (29), pp. 95–102. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-3-07.pdf]
Links: Issue 3 2023
Keywords: Chinese Eastern Railway; CER; managing staff; V.D. Lachinov; D.P. Kazakevich; archive of E.Kh. Nilus