Necropolis of Russian Shanghai (Некрополь русского Шанхая) record

  • ID: 1410
  • Surname: Rafaloff
  • Forename and paternity: Rafail Davidovich
  • Фамилия: Рафалов
  • Имя и отчество: Рафаил Давыдович
  • S: m
  • Date of birth // Дата рождения: ?
  • Date of death // Дата смерти: 1930-10-23
  • Details of death // Детали смерти: Suicide by shooting
  • Burial place // Место захоронения: Baikal Road
  • Obituary // Некролог: Slovo 1930-10-24; NCDN 1930-10-24; TCP 1930-10-25;
  • NRS // НРС: 362
  • Notes // Примечания: “Mr Rafaloff came to China three years. He was once a supporter of Trotzky, forced to leave the country. In exile, he contributed articles on politics and economics to local Russian newspapers. In 1929, he served with Angasia New Agency in Harbin and worked with E. Lenox of Putnam Weale. Later, he was on the staff of a Russian Weekly, Seven Days, but returned to Shanghai in May 1930. Mr Rafaloff’s real name is stated to be Baboushkin, and his sister is reported to be the wife of Rykov [a government leader in the USSR].” During his last visit to Shanghai, Rafaloff stayed at the Cathay Mansions hotel. Apparently, he could not pay his bill, and this and other financial embarrassments prompted him to shoot himself. “He fired a bullet into his head from a .25 Browning automatic; he also absorbed a certain amount of poison prior.” He was survived by wife Valentina Mihailovna, b. 1902 in Moscow.