Boris A. Bakhmeteff

Boris Alexandrovich Bakhmeteff (1880–1951) trained as an engineer in St. Petersburg after growing up in Tiflis. Postgraduate study brought him to the United States to investigate hydraulics; back in Russia he taught mechanics and hydraulic engineering. During the First World War he represented Russia’s Central War Industrial Committee in America. After the February Revolution he became deputy minister of commerce and industry and was sent back to Washington in 1917. ¹

Bakhmeteff headed the Provisional Government’s extraordinary embassy, whose remit included wartime finance, railways, and military cooperation. His ambassadorial position outlasted the government that appointed him. In explaining his continued presence to Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes in 1922, he emphasized protection of Russian interests and the settlement of commercial obligations to American businesses, conducted with the Treasury and State Departments. ^{2, 3}

When that work was largely complete, he proposed retiring and transferring responsibility for Russian property to financial attaché Serge Ughet. Hughes accepted: Bakhmeteff’s recognition as ambassador would end on June 30, 1922, while Ughet retained diplomatic privileges as custodian. This arrangement closed Bakhmeteff’s exceptional tenure without recognizing the Soviet government. ^{3, 4}

He returned to scientific work at Columbia University. His Hydraulics of Open Channels, published in 1932, developed an English version of his earlier Russian dissertation. Hydraulic scientist Hunter Rouse later identified Bakhmeteff as one of the immigrant scholars who helped strengthen the analytical foundations of American hydraulics. ^{5, 1}

Bakhmeteff also founded a profitable match business and used the Humanities Fund to support Russian émigré education and charitable work. He became an American citizen in 1934 and chaired the Engineering Foundation from 1945. He helped establish Columbia’s Archive of Russian History and Culture; the Humanities Fund supported it after his death, and the archive received his name in 1973. ¹