Vladimir May-Mayevsky

Vladimir Zenonovich May-Mayevsky KCMG (; – 30 November 1920) was a Russian military leader who was a general in the Imperial Russian Army and one of the leaders of the counterrevolutionary White movement during the Russian Civil War.

Biography According to Peter Kenez, May-Mayevsky was a complex figure. He lived a dissolute life and his orgies brought ill-repute to the cause which he served. In territories under his control, terror and lawlessness reigned. His soldiers called him Kutuzov not because of his style of leadership but because of his appearance: he was fat and flabby and wore a pince-nez. He did not at all look like a soldier. Nevertheless, he was one of the ablest White military leaders."

On 23 May 1919, May-Mayevsky as the was appointed as the commander of the Volunteer Army after his division drove the Red Army from the city of Kharkov. His forces moved on to secure Kiev, Orel and Voronezh. However, his forces were thus overextended, and after suffering a number of defeats, problems with his alcoholism increased. May-Maevsky was blamed for the military retreats from Tula and Orel and accused of "moral decay". On 27 November 1919, General Anton Denikin replaced him with General Pyotr Wrangel, an effective general without the moral weaknesses of May-Mayevsky.

In 1920, he led rearguard units in the final defence of the Crimea. Accounts differ on his end. According to one version, he shot himself during the evacuation of the White Army from Sevastopol on 12 November 1920. According to another, he died of heart failure in one of the hospitals in Sevastopol or while traveling by car to the ship for evacuation.

Distinctions link=Order of St. Stanislav Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd degree, 1906 (3rd degree, 1900) link=Order of St. Anna Order of St. Anne 2nd degree 1907 (3rd degree 1904) link=Order of St. Vladimir Order of St Vladimir 3rd degree, 1912 (4th degree, 1909) link=Order of Saint George (Russia) Order of St. George, 4th class, 1915 Gold Sword for Bravery (1915) link=Cross of St. George Cross of St. George with a laurel branch, 1917