Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1963 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 file or 0.01m3
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born 1893, St Petersburg; educated at Rugby; worked in father's business, 1912-1914; appointed to the British Military Mission, Russian War Office, Petrograd, 1915 March; liaison officer at Russian Front, 1917; joined M1 Directorate, War Office, 1918; liaison officer with the White Army in Eastern Siberia, 1918-1920; Lieutenant, 4 Battalion Middlesex Regiment, 1921; General Staff Officer Grade 3 (Russian Section), Army Headquarters, India, 1922-1928; Military Attaché, Persia (Iran), 1928-1931; Captain, 8 Punjab Regiment, 1932-1935; War Staff, India Office, 1939-1942; Lieutenant Colonel, 1941; Director of British Secret Intelligence Service in Asia, 1942-1944; posted to Political Intelligence Centre, Middle East (PICME), Cairo, Egypt, 1944-1945; retired, 1945; died 1972.
Archival history
GB 0099 KCLMA Steveni 1963 collection level 1 file or 0.01m3 Steveni , Leo , 1893-1972 , Colonel
Born 1893, St Petersburg; educated at Rugby; worked in father's business, 1912-1914; appointed to the British Military Mission, Russian War Office, Petrograd, 1915 March; liaison officer at Russian Front, 1917; joined M1 Directorate, War Office, 1918; liaison officer with the White Army in Eastern Siberia, 1918-1920; Lieutenant, 4 Battalion Middlesex Regiment, 1921; General Staff Officer Grade 3 (Russian Section), Army Headquarters, India, 1922-1928; Military Attaché, Persia (Iran), 1928-1931; Captain, 8 Punjab Regiment, 1932-1935; War Staff, India Office, 1939-1942; Lieutenant Colonel, 1941; Director of British Secret Intelligence Service in Asia, 1942-1944; posted to Political Intelligence Centre, Middle East (PICME), Cairo, Egypt, 1944-1945; retired, 1945; died 1972.
Placed in the Centre by Professor Richard Aldrich, 2002
Unpublished typescript memoirs, 1893-1969, including: accounts of life in the British colony in St Petersburg before World War One; work in the British Military Mission at the Russian War Office; events witnessed during the Russian Revolution and conditions for the Russian Army during the Revolution, 1917-1918; evacuation of British personnel from Russia, February 1918; negotiating with Finnish Red and White commanders while travelling through Finland during the Civil War; liaising with Admiral Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak and the White armies in Harbin, China, 1918; liaising with General Mikhail Konstantinovich Dieterichs, Czechoslovak Legions, and a special mission to Ataman Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov (or Semenov) in Chita, Transbaikalia, November 1918; activities as General Sir Harry Knox's liaison officer at the White Army Headquarters in Omsk, November 1918 - November 1919; the retreat from Omsk to Vladivostock following the success of the Bolshevik army, November 1919 - March 1920; stationing in Gibraltar and Egypt, 1921-1922; life and work in Simla, Waziristan and Kamptee, India, 1922-1928; work as an intelligence officer, Meshed, Persia (Iran), 1928-1931; life and work in Bombay, Ajmer, Jhansi, Alwar and Delhi, India, 1932-1935, including description of rioting under the Maharajah of Alwar; experiences working in India, China and Egypt during World War Two, including visit to Palestine; account of working in the post-war timber trade and as a consultant in the Russian Section of the London Chamber of Commerce. Also article `Anglo-Russian Timber Trade: Personal Reminiscences and Reflections of Col L Steveni', The Timber Trades Journal, 11 March 1961, and article by Richard J Aldrich, University of Nottingham, from Modern Asian Studies 32, 1 (1998), pp. 179-217, entitled "Britain's Secret Intelligence Service in Asia during the Second World War" including analysis of Steveni's role as Director of British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in Asia.
1 file
Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification.
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archives and Information Management.
English
Summary guide entry on-line.
Peter Flemming, The Fate of Admiral Kolchak (London, Rupert Hart-Davies, 1963)
Decorations: OBE, MC
Entry compiled by Katharine Higgon Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997. Feb 2007 Wars (events) Ajmer Alwar China Civil war Delhi East Asia Eastern Europe Egypt Europe Finland Gibraltar India Industry International conflicts Iran, Islamic Republic Jhansi Kamptee Maharashtra Middle East Mumbai North Africa Northern Europe Pakistan Palestine Political movements Revolutionary movements Russian Civil War (1917-1922) Russian Federation Russian Revolution (1917) Salsette Island Simla SIS , Secret Intelligence Service x Secret Intelligence Service South Asia Steveni , Leo , 1893-1972 , Colonel St Petersburg Uttar Pradesh War Waziristan Western Europe World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945)
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Placed in the Centre by Professor Richard Aldrich, 2002
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Unpublished typescript memoirs, 1893-1969, including: accounts of life in the British colony in St Petersburg before World War One; work in the British Military Mission at the Russian War Office; events witnessed during the Russian Revolution and conditions for the Russian Army during the Revolution, 1917-1918; evacuation of British personnel from Russia, February 1918; negotiating with Finnish Red and White commanders while travelling through Finland during the Civil War; liaising with Admiral Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak and the White armies in Harbin, China, 1918; liaising with General Mikhail Konstantinovich Dieterichs, Czechoslovak Legions, and a special mission to Ataman Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov (or Semenov) in Chita, Transbaikalia, November 1918; activities as General Sir Harry Knox's liaison officer at the White Army Headquarters in Omsk, November 1918 - November 1919; the retreat from Omsk to Vladivostock following the success of the Bolshevik army, November 1919 - March 1920; stationing in Gibraltar and Egypt, 1921-1922; life and work in Simla, Waziristan and Kamptee, India, 1922-1928; work as an intelligence officer, Meshed, Persia (Iran), 1928-1931; life and work in Bombay, Ajmer, Jhansi, Alwar and Delhi, India, 1932-1935, including description of rioting under the Maharajah of Alwar; experiences working in India, China and Egypt during World War Two, including visit to Palestine; account of working in the post-war timber trade and as a consultant in the Russian Section of the London Chamber of Commerce. Also article `Anglo-Russian Timber Trade: Personal Reminiscences and Reflections of Col L Steveni', The Timber Trades Journal, 11 March 1961, and article by Richard J Aldrich, University of Nottingham, from Modern Asian Studies 32, 1 (1998), pp. 179-217, entitled "Britain's Secret Intelligence Service in Asia during the Second World War" including analysis of Steveni's role as Director of British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in Asia.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
1 file
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archives and Information Management.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Summary guide entry on-line.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Decorations: OBE, MC
Notes area
Note
Decorations: OBE, MC
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English