Vladimir Sergeevich Tolstov

Born July 7 (19), 1884; died 1956 in Sydney. One of the leaders of the counterrevolution in the Urals in 1919 and 1920; major general (1919).

Tolstov, the son of a cossack officer, passed the graduation examinations at the Nicholas Cavalry School in 1905. He served in World War I (1914–18), becoming commander of the 6th Urals Cossack Regiment and rising to the rank of colonel. In March 1919, Tolstov was proclaimed ataman of the Urals Cossack Host; he commanded the White Cossack Urals Corps and then the Detached Urals Army.

After the army’s defeat near Gur’ev in January 1920, Tolstov retreated with the remnants of the army to Fort Aleksandrovskii (present-day Fort Shevchenko); from there he emigrated to Iran. In 1921 and 1922, together with General P. N. Wrangel, Tolstov headed the Russian Council. In 1922 he moved to Australia, where he became a businessman.