Romanovsky was born into a military family in
Luhansk. He graduated from the Konstantinovsky Artillery School in 1897 and the
Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, Russia's senior
staff college, in 1903. He was assigned to the
Life Grenadier Guards of the
2nd Guards Infantry Division. He participated in the 1904
Russo-Japanese War, serving on the headquarters staff of the
18th Army Corps until 1906, when he was transferred to the
Turkestan Military District. In 1909 he was assigned to the
Russian General Staff. Upon the Russian entry into
World War I, Romanovsky was named chief of staff of the
25th Infantry Division. For action during the
Russian invasion of East Prussia he was awarded the
Order of St. George in 1914. In August 1915 he was appointed commander of the 206th Infantry Regiment, part of the
52nd Infantry Division. From June to October 1916 he served as chief of staff of the
13th Army Corps. From October 1916 to March 1917 he was
quartermaster general for the
10th Army before becoming chief of staff for the
8th Army under
Lavr Kornilov, who Romanovsky would follow as a staff officer when Kornilov became Supreme
Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional Government's armed forces. From July to September 1917 he served as
Chief of the General Directorate of the General Staff. After the
October Revolution, however, Romanovsky escaped the prison with Kornilov and traveled to the
Rostov region to seek allies among the anti-Bolshevik
Don Cossacks. He masqueraded as an ensign during his travels to escape detection by Soviet authorities. Romanovsky joined the
Volunteer Army upon its creation in December 1917 under
Mikhail Alekseyev, serving as head of the military headquarters and later as the army chief of staff. He participated in the
Ice March from
Rostov to
Kuban. He became chief of staff of the
Armed Forces of South Russia and in 1919 was promoted to
lieutenant general. Romanovsky was not a popular figure due to his abrasive personality and his advice to Denikin during the summer of 1919 to not prioritize the siege of
Tsaritsyn. He was blamed for the defeats the Volunteer Army subsequently suffered as well as the death of
Mikhail Drozdovsky, one of his rivals. In March 1920 the Volunteer Army evacuated from
Novorossiysk to the
Crimea. On March 16, 1920, after arriving in
Theodosia, Romanovsky resigned as chief of staff. On March 22, 1920, after the appointment of
Pyotr Wrangel as Commander-in-Chief of the White forces, Romanovsky (along with Denikin) left Theodosia for
Istanbul. He was killed on April 17, 1920 in the billiard room of the Russian embassy. His killer is believed to be Mstislav Khoruzin, an embittered former White officer. He was also a member of a monarchist organization and, like many others on the Right, considered Romanovsky to be a "liberal," a
freemason, and the chief architect of all the failures of the White cause. ==See also==