Prince Aleksandr Sergeevich Obolensky ( February 17, 1916 , Petrograd - March 29, 1940 , RAF Martlesham Heath ) - an English rugby player of Russian origin . He was known among fans under the nickname Obo, The Flying Prince ( Eng. The Flying Prince ) and The Flying Slav ( Eng. The Flying Slav ).
 Alexander Obolensky | ||
 | ||
| general information | ||
| Full name | Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky | |
| Nickname | Wallpaper, Flying Prince, Flying Slav | |
| Date of Birth | February 4 (17), 1916 | |
| Place of Birth | Petrograd , Russian Empire | |
| Citizenship |  Russian Empire  Great Britain (since 1936 ) | |
| Date of death | March 29, 1940 (24 years old) | |
| A place of death | RAF Martlesham Heath (6 miles from Ipswich ), Suffolk , England | |
| Career | ||
| Club career * | ||
| 1934 - 1939 |  Leicester Tigers | |
| National team** | ||
| 4.01 - 21.03 1936 | England | 4 (6) |
* The number of games and points for a professional club is considered for the national league, Heineken Cup and Super Rugby. ** The number of games and points for the national team in official matches. | ||
Content
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 The early years
- 1.2 Rugby
- 1.2.1 Attempt Obolensky
- 1.3 Death
- 2 Monument
- 3 notes
- 4 Footnotes
- 5 Links
Biography
The early years
Born in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg ) in the family of the guards captain Prince Sergei Alexandrovich Obolensky (1879-1960) and Lyubov Aleksandrovna Obolenskaya (nee Naryshkina ; 1890-1967) [1] . When Alexander was three years old, his family was forced to flee Russia, in which the Bolshevik revolution took place in 1917. He studied at the elementary school for boys in Etwall and at Trent College in Long Eaton , County Derbyshire , after which in 1934 he entered the Braznouz College of Oxford University , which he graduated in 1938.
Rugby
He played rugby for the university team, as well as for the Leicester Tigers and Rosslyn Park teams. In January 1936 he was included in the England national rugby team , not having British citizenship, which he received a few months later, in March of that year [2] . He became famous in the match with All Blacks (1936). The English won with a score of 13: 0 thanks to two brilliant βdriftsβ of Obolensky [approx. 1] Obolenskyβs contribution to the outcome of this match is all the more important as it was Englandβs first ever victory over New Zealand.
Later in the same 1936 Obolensky was called up to the England national team three more times, he played in matches with Wales on January 18 , Ireland on February 8 and with Scotland on March 21 , but did not enter attempts in these games. He was elected to the team of βBritish Lionsβ, which made in 1936 a game tour to Argentina . From 1937 to 1939, Obolensky played seven games for FC Barbarians , making 3 attempts.
Obolensky's Attempt
January 4, 1936, Alexander Obolensky brought 2 attempts in his debut match for the England team . One of two attempts forever entered the annals of world sports and is still considered the most outstanding skid in the history of rugby [3] .
Obolensky got the ball on the right flank and made a diagonal jerk through three quarters of the field, bypassing half a team of New Zealanders and landing the ball on the left flank in the opponent's test field. The drift was shot on film (recording is available on the Internet).
Doom
Immediately after the outbreak of World War II in 1939 he entered the service of the 54th Royal Air Force squadron. March 29, 1940 died while landing on a Hawker Hurricane fighter during a training flight.
Monument
On February 18, 2009 in Ipswich , where Alexander Obolensky was buried, the monument was unveiled, which was attended by rugby fans from all over England, veterans of the Royal Air Force and relatives of the prince [4] . Funds for the monument ( Β£ 50,000 ) were donated by companies and individuals (in particular, the local company Call Connection donated the first Β£ 20,000). 5000 donated by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich .
Vladimir Nabokov described the outstanding game of Obolensky in his lecture on N. V. Gogol: βSeveral years ago, at a rugby match in England, I saw how the magnificent Obolensky hit the ball with his foot and immediately changed his mind and caught him in the throw with his handsβ [5 ] .
Notes
- β The action in which a player lands the ball in the opponent's score zone. In English this action is called "attempt" ( English try ). The same term βattemptβ is used in the rugby rules and in the Russian language, although both names are often used in colloquial speech and in Russian-language literature: βdriftβ and βattemptβ.
Footnotes
- β Mikhailov G. K. Additions and clarifications to the 1st volume // Noble clans of the Russian Empire / Leaders of the team of authors P. Kh. Grebelsky, S. V. Dumin . - M .: Likominvest, 1996. - T. 3. - S. 254. - 10,000 copies.
- β > 7 April 1936. Issue: 34272. Page: 2276 The London Gazette.
- β A. Baranov: "A monument to Prince Obolensky will appear in Ipswich . " Russian service of the BBC , January 9, 2009
- β Shilov, E. Monument to the Russian prince in the English city // Russian service of the BBC . - February 19, 2009
- β Nabokov V. Lectures on Russian literature. M., 2001.S. 84.
Links
- Montage of England rugby tries on YouTube . Footage of two drifts of A. S. Obolensky in a test match between England and New Zealand on January 4, 1936 .
- Site of the monument to A. S. Obolensky in Ipswich .
- In honor of the Flying Prince . The plot in the program " Today " about the monument to A. S. Obolensky (February 11, 2009).
- Nalbandyan, Zurab. Russian legend of British sport (rus.) // News Time : Newspaper. - 08/14/2008. - No. 147 .