Ivan Beshoff

Ivan Beshoff (; 1882/84 – 25 October 1987) was a Russian participant in the 1905 mutiny on the battleship Potemkin. After the mutiny he fled to Britain where he met Vladimir Lenin and Irish republican James Larkin. Developing an interest in Ireland, he moved to Dublin in 1913, and later found work as an agent for the Soviet-owned company Russian Oil Products. He was arrested on suspicion of espionage. The company collapsed in 1940. Sometime after, he established a fish and chip shop, that survives as a chain in Dublin run by his descendants.

Biography

Beshoff was born at Dacha Rurey near Odesa, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His birth certificate gives his year of birth as 1884 but he stated that it was 1882. He was the son of a magistrate and briefly studied chemistry before running away to join the Russian Navy.

Beshoff was known to his friends in Ireland as John. He remained a follower of the Russian Orthodox church and visited the USSR three times in 1927, 1937 and 1962. He died in Ireland on 25 October 1987. He was the last surviving participant of the Potemkin mutiny.