Anton Vladimirovich Serafimovich
Guardsman Major Anton (Anthony in English records) Vladimirovich (Patronym) Serafimovich- N/a
A veteran of the Russian Civil War, as with all men his age, Anton Serafimovich avoided service in the great War due to being a police officer in his home town of Serafimovich in the Don bend. His status as a police officer, albeit a junior one, was an awkward one. On the one hand, his efforts to join up had been gently, and publicly turned down, but few, if any, trusted the police in his (and every other) settlement in Russia. For many the police, whatever from they came in, were to be feared long before they were to be trusted, and they were never loved. Wives excepted of course, which, in Serafimovich's case was in July of 1916, just as the Brusilov offensive was raging on (to the Russians) the western front.
His charmingly bucolic and uneventful life was shattered, along with everyone else's by the events of 1917. Swept up in the chaos like dust in a gale, by the summer of 1918, Serafimovich was to be found in the Army of Southern Russia, acting (officially) as a provost or military policeman depending on where you come from (unofficialy, all Russian soldiers had a variety of other terms for him and his ilk, none of them printable). While he would never be able to bully a platoon of soldiers into advancing headlong into machine gun fire, he proved more than capable of keeping the excesses of army life from getting out of hand. Proving adept at helping to keep peace and order behind the lines with words and manner alone, and with his truncheon and fists if necessary (usually against drunken soldiers, many of whom he became quite familiar with).
It was at this time his abilities as a detective also came to the fore, proving capable of identifying and gathering evidence to find culprits in cases ranging from petty theft to no less than three murders. Though he didn't like detective work alone, considering it to be a team effort and always worked with someone else whenever he could, at times going so far as to press soldiers on leave into it claiming the work would help cure their hangovers, and get them out of the cell he had thrown them into the previous night.
As a result of all this he would recive an officers comission in General Wrangel's Souther Army, serving respectably though never being able to see the distinction, or danger, of frontline service. He was never too far from the front though, and could always see the carnage of the fighting if he wished.
At the end of the war, he was offered a position in the reorganised Guards Department, or Okhrana, by General Wrangel, who knew of Serafimovich's abilities thanks to several court martials Serafimovich had been involved in, and Wrangel had presided over. Anton accepted and moved his family, now consisting of his wife and two children, to Petrograd (or Petersburg, as it might still be called) in the summer of 1920 following the end of the civil war. To take up his new posting in the Department for the Protection of Public Security and Order, often abbreviated to "The Guards Department", or simply "The Okhrana". This re-incarnation of the Tsar's secret police holds a somewhat upleasant reputation. Though that reputation is due mainly to enemy propaganda and The Okrana not bothering to correct it as it has found it's ill deserved reputation to be, frankly, rather useful at times. Secret arrests and "enthusiastic" interrigations are now a thing of the past, the first being illegal and the latter unreliable, but many in Russia are not inclined to test the reliability of official statements.
As a new man to Petersburg, and city life generally, Serafimovich devoted himself to work and helping his family to adjust to their new situation. Life in a capital city can be overwhelming for someone who has never seen a city that was something more than a battlefied. However, Serafimovich and his family adjusted well to life in the capital. In the years since his arrival he has enjoyed a reasonably good and successful career, his activities mainly limited to Petrograd and its surroundings, mainly cooperating with local police whenever they stumbled upon a case with implications for espionage, or internal security. The plethora of Bolshevik lead plots targeting government officials, or ordinary civillians in the years immediately after the civil war, ensured he was kept busy.
After 16 years in his current career, Serafimovich is now a major, a respectable achivement that might be expected of any man of talent who skills don't necessarily translate well into office work, politics, and people management. His main role by then is organising protection details for members of the (permanent) provisional government. At times he also forms part of the detail, mainly for senior ministers and the president. All went well until early may of 1936, when the reds finally succedded in concealing a bomb in Kerensky's car, only the fact that the president was late kapt him alive as the bomb was on a timer. Nonetheless he was badly injured in the attack and it will take him a ong time to recover, and then not fully.
Sent to Ekaterinburg after the attempt on Kerensky's life
An exile, or a mission?
Mental characteristics
Education
Locally educated in his home village. As an adult he also recived training as a junior police officer, soldier and nco. After the wars ended he recived further training as an army officer and more specialist training as a bodyguard and detective, all as was beffitting of an officer of the Okhrana (who also hold army ranks).
Employment
Origionally a policeman in his home town of Serafimovich in the Great Don Bend. Anton then became a military policeman in the Volunteer Army during the Russian Civil War, then an officer of the military police in the Southern Army when it was formed, finally he became an officer in the Okhrana after the Civil War, residing in Petrograd until ... unfortunate recent events. He is now "on leave" officially while unofficially, he is investigating a possible plot against someone's life as a favour to General Wrangel in exchange for rehabilitation (eventual).
Accomplishments & Achievements
An up and coming police officer before the wars struck, he served capably during both the Great War and Civil War, before joining the Okhrana where he proved to be an able criminal detective, and body guard, at least until...
Failures & Embarrassments
.. the man he was protecting survived a car bomb by virtue of the fact that he was late getting into said car. That the man in question was the President (Acting (on a permanent basis)) of Russia, did not lessen the scale of the cock-up.
Mental Trauma
As with most men of his age, the wars left their mark on him too.
Intellectual Characteristics
A sound grasp of logic and reasoning, along with a perceptive mind, make Serafimovich a capable detective and bodyguard. Able to fit clues, circumstance, and the like together in ways that are perhaps not quite on the level of Sherlock Holmes, but nonetheless have a sound basis for the picture they make.
He is also sociable, though some question whether this is genuine affability, or a very clever, and deliberate, way to get others to open up around him
Morality & Philosophy
Legalistic and cynical are two words that would fit Anton Serafimovich very well. As a police officer he naturally has a high respect for the law, ensuring that he, and his colleauges (well subordinates anyway) also follow it. A trait which is depressingly rare in Russian law enforcement (and in other news, it is Monday).
Taboos
As with many veterans, he doesn't like talking about his experiences of the Great War or Civil War except under very specific circumstances.
Personality Characteristics
Vices & Personality flaws
He likes a cigarette, his wife doesn't but it's a habit he picked up in the army, and many old soldiers still smoke, it's also a good way to establish a rapport with someone. People will tell you all sorts of things if they like you well enough.
Hygiene
He likes things orderly and clean, including himself, his wife, his children, his home, and his colleauges.
Social
Family Ties
He still has family living in Serafimovich, but it is a long way from Petrograd, thus he rarely sees them, but he does keep in contact by lettter when he can.
Wealth & Financial state
He lives of a police officer's salary, which in his case allows for himself and his family to have a comfortable, if somewhat frugal, life.
Current Status
On a mission doubling as an interna exile
Current Location
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Guardsman Major
Age
38
Date of Birth
1st. November (O.S. 24th October)
Date of Death
At some point
Circumstances of Birth
Pretty normal, labour lasted 12 hours though and his mum still goes on about it.
Birthplace
Serafimovich
Children
Current Residence
Ekaterinburg
Sex
Male
Eyes
Brown, sharp, often cold at first meeting.
Hair
Black
Belief/Deity
Russian Orthodox
Comments