Boris Ivanowsky Biography Research

One of the most successful racing drivers of his generation and pretty mysterious person - life and fate of M. Ivanowsky from Russia

Introduction

If you are interested in motorsport history, you might have heard the name of Boris Ivanowsky before. In two words, M. Ivanowsky is probably the most successful Russian-born racing driver to date, whose most remarkable achivments are wins in Spa 24h, Coupe Georges Boillot, Irish Grand Prix and 2nd place (overall) in Le Mans 24h.

Despite the world fame in first half of 20th century, the name of Ivanowsky is practically forgotten today outside the motorsport world. Surely, there are pages on Wikipedia and several motorsport websites dedicated to him, but information there is rather scarce and repeats quite often. So, we knew almost nothing about him as a person... Until recently.

What you are reading now is an attempt to put together everything we know by far about famous Russian racing driver Boris Ivanowsky.

This study focuses on Ivanowsky's biography outside of motorsport, as his racing achievements are realtively well studied and presented in open sources.

All data for this article has been collected from archival documents, books, newspapers, magazines and websites since 2019. If you would like to know more about the sources of information used, please contact me (contact information is at the end).

I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. David Webb and his colleagues from the Association des Chercheurs de l'Histoire des 24 heures du Mans. Thanks to their findings and many years of hard work, this study takes on a complete look.

Descent and Childhood

Boris' father, Hippolyte Ivanowsky (b.1857), Russian nobleman, was a senior official in the Ministry of Railways. He took part in Trans-Caspian railway construction in mid 1880s and later became head of that railroad. Most likely it was in the Caspian region, where he met his future wife Lidya Linevich (b.1870). Lidya was a daughter of Nikolai Linevich (b.1839), a career military officer, Russo-Turkish War veteran, who at that period of time commanded a local rifle brigade.

Boris Ivanowsky was born on January 12th 1893 in Ashgabat, Transcaspian Oblast of Russian Empire. He was the firstborn in the family, later he had two brothers Leo (b.1897) and Nikolai (b.1900). Boris's mother died in 1900, shortly after the birth of her younger son, due to "inflammation of the meninges".

Hippolyte Ivanowsky repeatedly asked his superiors to transfer him to another place of service due to health issues, but his request was granted only in January 1901, when he was appointed head of Syzran-Vyazemskaya railway and moved with his sons to Kaluga. A year later Ivanowsky's father was transferred again, this time to Caucasus, where he became a head of Transcaucasus Railway in Tiflis. Boris entered school there. In January 1905, the father's career forces the family to move again , they have to go to Siberia, to the city of Tomsk (where administration of Trans-Siberian Railway was located at the moment). The family was provided with everything necessary, children were getting a proper education, but weather conditions were really harsh. Thanks to Ivanowsky's father official correspondence from his personal file, we learn Boris repeatedly suffered from pneumonia (which could easily become fatal at the time). Doctors strongly recommended sending the boy to a place with a milder climate. In 1908 Boris moves to Tsarskoye Selo, a small town near capital city of St.-Petersburg, where the royal residences and houses of the aristocracy are located. He lives and studies there at the gymnasium for one year, when he again has to leave to reunite with his family in Kharkov, at his father's new place of service - Southern railways. After a year in the southern lands, the family goes to the capital - Hippolyte Ivanowsky is appointed to lead the Nikolaevskaya railway, which connects two major Russian cities: Saint-Petersburg and Moscow. Here, Boris finally graduates from school: he spends his final year in private Gurevich Gymnasium - one of the finest and most prestigious educational institutions in Imperial Russia. He had to change 5 schools in 8 years of study, because of the endless moving.

Higher Education, Great War and Revolution

Despite the difficult school years, Boris manages to enter a good university: the recently opened Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. In one of the few interviews he had, Ivanowsky says his childhood spent among trains and other machines had a great impact on him. This could probably explain his major of choice at the Institute: Boris is studying electromechanics. Ivanowsky spend three full years at the Institute, when the First World War broke out. From his student file we know Boris asks the office to give him a student identification certificate, so he can volunteer for a military vehicle company, on July 29th, the day after the War started. His further fate in the next 12 months is unknown, he was expelled from the Institute in absentia and, judging by the documents, his family was trying to find him. Most likely he was at the front lines.

In July 1915 Boris enters Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy in St.-Petersburg, to get a military degree. He graduated from Academy in March 1916, received the rank of warrant officer and was enrolled in the Engineering Troops. Later, in September 1916 he was promoted from warrant officer (praporshchik) to second lieutenant (podporuchik) of Engineering Troops.

We suppose, Ivanowsky served in the Life Guards Sapper Battalion (part of 1st Guards Corps). Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm this information with the help of any military documents, at the moment. Boris was often presented is a "former imperial guard" in media. He could emphasize this in order to promote himself later, however, given his background, he might have been genuinely proud of this status.

According to later documents, Ivanowsky was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class. This information is not confirmed by the available Russian lists of the recipients, however, the order itself (white cross) can be seen in later photographs, one of them is shown below.

There is no data about Ivanowsky's participation in the Russian Civil War. According to his own words from a newspaper interview, he was forced to leave the country due to persecution by the Bolsheviks. He managed to escape the country through the territory of Finland. The story sounds quite convincing, since the persecution of the nobility and high officials during the October Revolution was a very common practice.

Life in Immigration and Racing Career

According to the naturalization documents, Ivanowsky, like many Russian refugees, settled in France in 1919. According to his own story in the interview, Ivanowsky started out as a car washer in a Parisian car repair shop. Later, he became a mechanic, and then took the position of technical director of the garage.

As far as we know, the first official race of Ivanowsky was Bol d’Or marathon, which took place between June 9th and 10th, 1924 at the Saint Germain race track. He drove Е.Н.Р. car and managed to finish 2nd, behind renowned French racing driver, Robert Sénéchal. There is also information in press that Ivanowsky participated in motorcycle racing earlier, however it was not possible to confirm this by any alternative sources.

In 1928 alone, Ivanowsky won at least three major competitions: famous Spa 24h, Coupe Georges Boillot and Circuit des Routes Pavées in Lille. A year later, he won the first Irish International Grand Prix, held in Phoenix Park, driving Alfa Romeo car.

On May 24th, 1929, Boris Ivanowsky and his future wife, Irenе (Iraide) Focht-Romanoff (b.1900), had a daughter. The daughter was named Marine (mistakenly called Maurice in some sources). Boris and Irene married in December 1930.

At the beginning of his career, Ivanowsky among others drove Ratier cars. We can assume, Boris maintained pretty close relations with the Ratier family. Musée Paulin Ratier keeps Ivanowsky's letter of condolences on the death of the company founder, dated January 1940.

While living in Paris, Ivanowsky moved several times. Between the late 1920s and early 1940s, he lived in a places like Rue du Rocher, avenue Mozart, Rue Descombes, Rue des Dardanelles and Rue Duret. It is also worth noting that, according to a 1930 ACF autoclub member directory, he lived in Château Sans-Souci (Bellevue) for a short time, which belonged to Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich of Russia and his wife Zinaida Rachevsky.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Ivanowsky made a highly successful racing career, his name and even photographs can be found in the pages of old European and American newspapers. In total, he participated in more than 20 professional races across Europe. Perhaps his main achievement, thanks to which he is mostly remembered today, was the silver prize at 1931 Le Mans marathon, where he drove Mercedes-Benz SSK with Henri Stoffel as a co-pilot.

There is some evidence confirming Boris Ivanowsky was into gambling. Obviously, a common thing for wealthy people of the time. The archives of French Prefecture of Police keep the file from the Department of Gambling Business Control dated 1930-1931. File says Ivanowsky was sentenced to a fine for issuing an unsecured check in Paris.

Apart from racing, Ivanowsky was also engaged in car sales business. He also held a number of positions at Alfa Romeo's Paris agency. Boris was not just a driver and not just a seller, he obviously had a deep understanding of cars: in 1927, together with his compatriot, Said Toukaeff, he patented the design of a special spare wheel for cars.

Ivanowsky's last known race was 1932 Monte Carlo Rally. He managed to take third place in the overall standings on his Ford.

Second World War and Later Life

In 1940, when the War comes to France, Ivanowsky returns to military service. On April 7th, he arrived at the Mechanized Infantry Headquarters (Centre d'organisation des dragons portés) and was enlisted as a foreign volunteer in Second lieutenant rank. Later in July, Boris entered a Militrary Academy of the Cavalry, but was officially demobilized two months later (probably, for the reason of France occupation).

In April, 1941 Ivanowsky applied for naturalization in France. The request was granted a few years later, after the end of the War.

The war for Boris Ivanowsky did not end in 1941: in September 1944 he was conscripted and enlisted in an expeditionary corps in the French Far East Expeditionary Corps (CEFEO). He served there until at least 1948, holding various positions in the quartermaster service in French Indochina, and then in the headquarters of General Leclerc in Calcutta. By August 1948 he held the rank of Army Captain. Ivanowsky was awarded the Croix de Guerre with a silver star during World War II.

In February 1946, Boris Ivanowsky became a defendant in a police investigation. French Police Prefecture received a complaint that he allegedly collaborated with the occupiers during the War. However, he was acquitted, as the investigation found out that he was a member of the Resistance.

Later, Ivanowsky, judging by the documents, left the military service, however, he probably stayed in Asia. In the course of 1948-1949 he made several plane trips to the USA, visiting New York and San Francisco, as a commercial broker. In 1949, he took a journey on SS Santa Rosa cruise ship (Grace Line) from New York to La Guaira, Venezuela.

In June, 1950 Journal officiel de la République française published a notice. It says Boris Ivanowsky, in accordance with the decision of the Military Tribunal of Paris, was found guilty of espionage and sentenced in absentia to confiscation of all present and future property. No additional information about this case was found, as well as any other later official notices about Ivanowsky. His last known address is 1424 Estrada Singalong, Manila, Philippines.

Some say Boris Ivanowsky could have died in a car accident in Venezuela in 1967, however, there is not a single documentary evidence of this information to day.

***

"I'm very happy to win the first Irish Automobile Grand Prix."