29 Facts About Boris Skossyreff

Boris Skossyreff was born in Lithuania to a family of lower nobility from Belarus.

Boris Skossyreff moved to the Netherlands in the mid-1920s, where he was in a list of Prominent Foreign Revolutionaries in 1924, prepared by the General Intelligence and Security Service, in which he was noted as an international swindler.

Boris Skossyreff was born on 12 June 1896, in Vilnius, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire.

Boris Skossyreff later acquired a Dutch passport which elaborated that his supposed title was Monsieur le Baron Boris de Skossyreff - a possible title, but likely to be false, due to the rarity of Barons in Russia.

Boris Skossyreff stated that he attended the prestigious Lycee Louis-le-Grand in Paris, followed by Magdalen College, Oxford.

Boris Skossyreff was alleged to have served in the British Foreign Office, and partaken in several classified missions which took him to Siberia, Japan and the United States.

Boris Skossyreff was noted by his superiors in his post-action report for his gift for languages, which gave him an ability to connect with foreigners.

The Archives of the Dutch Government establish that Boris Skossyreff did not serve the Royal Household, nor was rewarded with a title, instead being found in a list of Prominent Foreign Revolutionaries in 1924, prepared by the General Intelligence and Security Service, in which he was listed as an "international swindler".

In 1932, Skossyreff registered "Boris de Skossyreff: import - export, representation" in Santa Marta, Colombia.

On his first visit to Andorra, Boris Skossyreff took up residence in the village of Santa Coloma d'Andorra, near Sant Julia de Loria.

Boris Skossyreff saw himself as "exiled" and settled in La Seu d'Urgell in the Hotel Mundial, where he began behaving like an authentic monarch; one which led to many interviews, some of them telephone calls, including those given to the newspapers The Times and The Daily Herald.

Boris Skossyreff's argument was based on the fact that the French heads of state continued to have the rights and functions of co-princes from Andorra, and as the Duke claimed to be the "rightful" King of France, he had rights over Andorra.

Boris Skossyreff was seen walking around often with monocle and a baton, adopting the character and mannerisms of a monarch.

Boris Skossyreff released an innovative constitution for Andorra that would have substantially modified the traditional Andorran political system.

Boris Skossyreff printed ten thousand copies of his Constitution, addressed to Spanish and French celebrities.

Boris Skossyreff proposed to make Andorra one of the most important business centers in the world, where banks, financial entities and international companies would not waste time installing their social domicile there, taking advantage of the tax regime.

Boris Skossyreff asked for a reward in return for his gift to the Andorran people - for the General Council to proclaim him Prince of Andorra.

Boris Skossyreff was accompanied by his young partner, the American millionaire Florence Marmon, who was the former wife of Howard Carpenter Marmon.

The pretended reign of "King Boris Skossyreff I" was only to last for a few days.

Boris Skossyreff declared war on the Bishop of Urgell, who asked the Spanish authorities to act.

Boris Skossyreff was sent to the Modelo prison in Madrid, while acting as a monarch in exile.

Spanish authorities noted that Boris Skossyreff carried a Dutch passport, but declared himself to be a Russian white emigre.

However, this background is somewhat contradicted by a report in the publication Spain Week by Week, which claimed on 25 July 1934, that Boris Skossyreff was a Jew who resided for some years in Catalonia and Majorca.

In Olhao, Portugal, Boris Skossyreff met Francisco Fernandes Lopes who wrote an article in 1935 about the "King of Andorra".

Boris Skossyreff was later said to have called Francisco Fernandes Lopes in distress with a plea to contact the then Portuguese dictator - Oliveira Salazar - to have him diplomatically intercede for him; one which seems to have occurred.

Boris Skossyreff went on to France in 1936, where he was arrested again in Saint-Cannat.

In February 1939, Boris Skossyreff was in a French prison camp with Spanish anti-Francoists, alongside Italian and Central European anti-fascists from the regions occupied by the Third Reich before World War II.

Boris Skossyreff took up residence in Boppard ; however, he went to an area controlled by the Soviets, leading to his arrest and sentencing to 25 years of forced labor in a Siberian camp.

Boris Skossyreff was released in 1956, returned to Boppard and died there in 1989.