Major I.S.K. Soboleff (26 November 1892 – 2 November 1984), also known as Ivan Sergeevich Kralichek-Sobolev, was a Russian White Army officer, adventurer, and writer. He is best known for undertaking a pioneering around-the-world journey by motorcycle in the late 1920s using a Nansen passport, an internationally recognized refugee travel document issued to stateless persons.
Early Life and Background
Soboleff was born in Omsk, central Siberia, into a Cossack family within the Russian Empire. He served as a cavalry lieutenant in the Imperial Russian Army. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, he fled Russia as a White Army officer and became a stateless refugee.
Around-the-World Motorcycle Journey
In the late 1920s, Soboleff embarked on a round-the-world motorcycle journey using a Nansen passport. He chronicled this experience in his memoir Nansen Passport: Round the World on a Motor-Cycle (1936, G. Bell & Sons). The journey was a pioneering feat of motorcycle travel and drew attention to the plight of stateless refugees.
Military Service and Later Life
Soboleff later settled in Great Britain. During World War II, he served as a Major in the British Army and was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on 14 June 1942, while serving as a Lieutenant with the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade in the Middle East (Egypt and Libya). He also published a second memoir, Cossack at Large (1974, Peter Davies).
Death
Soboleff died on 2 November 1984 at the age of 91. He is buried at Bournemouth Crematorium and North Cemetery in Bournemouth, Dorset, England.
