Frederick van Millingen was born in 1836 in
Istanbul, as the first son of
Julius Michael Millingen, one of the personal physicians of
Lord Byron, and his first wife Marie Dejean. He was the couple's second child after Frederick's sister
Evelina van Millingen. Through his father, Frederick was also the grandson of noted English
numismatist James Millingen, who was of
Dutch-Jewish descent. Frederick van Millingen maintained poor relations with the rest of his family, and soon joined the Ottoman Army after converting to
Islam and taking on the name of Osman Bey. He was in the Ottoman service 1853 to 1864, but clashed with
Fuad Pasha. Afterwards, Millingen led a life of wandering in Europe, attacking the English, his father, the Jews, the
Armenians, and others. He is the author of several books written in French, English or Italian, with his books in German being translations. Contrary to what
Norman Cohn claimed (
Warrant for genocide, the myth of the Jewish world-conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, London, 1967, p. 61), undoubtedly due to having incomplete information at the time, Millingen (and not "Millinger") was neither Jewish nor Serbian, but of British nationality (a nationality which he never disowned) and perhaps also Ottoman. His family was strongly committed to
Presbyterianism. He eventually relocated to Russia and converted to
Russian Orthodox Christianity, taking on the name of Vladimir Andreevich. Another name he used at some point was Kibrizli-
Zade (). ==Antisemitic writings==