Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich

Major-General Count Arthur Cherep-Spiridovich (; 8 September 1866 – 22 October 1926) was a major-general in the Imperial Russian Navy who moved to the United States following the Bolshevik Revolution. He was a White Russian monarchist, and additionally he was heavily involved in Pan-Slavism, activism, and various chivalric orders and cultural organizations, especially in the White Russian diaspora community in America. He is perhaps best known for authoring a book titled The Secret World Government, or, "The Hidden Hand", which presents his theory that the world is being clandestinely governed by a group of 300 individuals of "Judeo-Mongol" ancestry.

Biography Cherep-Spiridovich claimed to be well versed in international affairs, and claimed a number of political successes and insights. He claimed to have been a Russian major-general, to have warned King Alexander I and Queen Draga Mašin of Serbia before their assassination in 1902, and to have warned Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia in 1904 before his 1905 assassination. He also claimed to have foreseen the First World War, and in the early 1920s he foresaw another international war.

Cherep-Spiridovich was president of the Slavonic Society of Russia and also of the Latino-Slavic League of Paris and Rome. Politically he was a supporter of the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and an opponent of Bolshevism. According to Lord Alfred Douglas, well-known men like Henry Ford and newspapers like the Financial Times in London took him seriously and helped him to reach a fairly wide public.

He moved to Harlem, New York, in 1920 He also organized the Universal Gentiles' League among Russians in the US. (1873-1952) (2) Albert Ivanovich Cherep-Spiridovich (died in August 1911) (3) Lieutenant-General (or General, or Count) Howard Victor Cherep-Spiridovich (aliases and/or pen-names of Howard Victor Broenstrup) (1886-1963)

Sometime between the death of Arthur on 22 October 1926 and 1930, Howard Victor Broenstrup (von Broenstrupp or von Broens-Trupp) (1886-1963), a patent attorney and Nazi propagandist in the United States, started using the aliases and/or pen-names Lieutenant-General (or General, or Count) Howard Victor Cherep-Spiridovich, apparently in an attempt to capitalize on the celebrity and notoriety which had become associated with the name "Count Cherep-Spiridovich" in the United States and Europe. The similarity of Broenstrup's aliases/pen-names with Arthur's name led many people who hadn't known the two men to mistakenly think they were the same person. Broenstrup used this confusion to his advantage - it allowed him to impersonate Arthur on many occasions, and to thereby capitalize on Arthur's celebrity, notoriety, and the mystery surrounding him.

Death Cherep-Spiridovich died on 22 October 1926 in his hotel room in the Barrett Manor, a hotel located in Arrochar, Staten Island, New York. The New York Times initially reported his death to be from accidental asphyxiation from a gas line, but after further investigation officials concluded (9 days later) that his death most likely was a suicide, because at the time of his death not only was he penniless and living in abject poverty, but his life's work of attempting to unite the 200 million Slavs in the U.S. and Europe into a republic had met with complete failure. Many Jewish sources including several newspapers from the time, also reported his death as a suicide.

Cherep-Spiridovich was buried in Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery and Columbarium (located at 155 Parkinson Avenue and Kramer Street, Grasmere, Staten Island, New York 10307). Since he was penniless at the time of his death, several organizations (including the Russian Naval Club, the Russian Unity Society, and the Russian Editors' Association) came to his aid and paid his funeral and burial expenses, in order to save him from the indignity of being buried as a pauper in "Potter's Field".

Works A Europe Without Turkey—the Security of France Requires (1913) Towards Disaster: Dangers and Remedies (1914) How to Save England (1920) Let Us Prevent the Second World War Already Prepared! (1921) The Secret World Government, or, "The Hidden Hand" - The Unrevealed in History - 100 Historical "Mysteries" Explained (The Anti-Bolshevist Publishing Association, 15 East 128th Street, New York) (1926) (A transcript may be found here