Boris Arsenyev

Boris Arsenyev was a Russian career officer. The son of an orthodox military chaplain, he joined the Yaroslavl Cadet Corps in 1906 and attended the Pavlovsk Military School. After graduating in 1908, he was assigned as a second lieutenant to the 2nd Artillery Brigade. Two years later, he was transferred to the 19th Mortar Artillery Battalion. In 1911, he enrolled in the Main Gymnastics and Fencing School in the rank of lieutenant. In World War I, he served as an observer officer in the 20th Aviation Detachment at the Novogeorgievsk Fortress from 1915 and was promoted to staff captain in the following year. Arsenyev was awarded the Orders of St. Stanislav and St. Anna. Later, he joined the Whites and served in the armed forces of short-lived South Russia and of General Wrangel until the evacuation of Crimea.

As part of the 1st Army Corps, Arsenyev escaped to Gallipoli (now Gelibolu) in Turkey in 1921, where they were detained. He then went into exile in Bulgaria. Arsenyev became a member of the Gallipoli Society, founded by Wrangel for the survivors and a delegate to the 2nd Congress of the Union of Russian Military Invalids.

As a fencer, he competed successfully in various military tournaments, mainly in épée between 1912 and 1914. At the 1912 Olympic Games, he competed in the individual sabre event and advanced to the semi-final round. In the following year, he placed third in sabre fencing at the First All-Russian Olympiad in Kyiv and third in spadroon fencing in 1914 in Rīga.