Vassily Soldatenkov

He was born into the Soldatenkov family, in 1879 which was a noble merchant family of Moscow, Russia.[1] His father was Vasily Soldatenkov, who worked for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. His great uncle was Kozma Soldatyonkov, a businessman, textile manufacturer, inventor and book publisher.[2]

As a child, he was interested in motorsports and chess. He spent most of his early life in Italy.[1] He began participating in motorsports by at least 1904 and became the first Russian to ever go past 101km/h in car named, "Lina".[1] The car was named after the Italian singer, Lina Cavalieri, who he had a romantic relationship with.[1] He won a 5km race in Verona in 1907[1] and competed in the 1911 Targa Florio, where he came in third.[1][3] During the race, he came down with a serious case of ophthalmia.[1] He joined the Imperial Russian Automobile Society in 1912 and became a special envoy for Russia.[4][5]

Soldatenkov was also known for his chess skills.[6][7] He had defeated chess champion Frank Marshall[8] and was credited with helping to develop the Marshall Attack.[8]

Soldatenkov moved to Italy after the 1917 October Revolution. He was once married to Princess Elena Gorchakov of Russia, but the couple divorced in November 1919.[9][8] He married Madelaine Reece on March 16, 1920.[8][9] She was the niece of Martin Voel (Assistant Chief Treasurer of the United States), but the couple divorced in 1928.[10] Soldatenkov died in Italy in 1944.[11][12]