Konstantin Khrutsky
Konstantin Vikentyevich Khrutsky | |
|---|---|
Константин Викентьевич Хруцкий | |
| Born | 22 March 1879 |
| Died | 14 February 1969 (aged 89) |
| Occupations | Church clerk; later an industrial worker; military impostor |
| Known for | Claiming to be a centenarian and the last surviving veteran of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) |
| Awards | Order of the Badge of Honour (25 January 1965); Jubilee Medal “40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR”; Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria) |
Konstantin Vikentyevich Khrutsky (Russian: Константин Викентьевич Хруцкий; Belarusian: Канстанцін Вікенцьевіч Хруцкі; 10 (22) March 1879 – 14 February 1969) was a Soviet-era military impostor who successfully passed himself off as a centenarian and the “last participant” of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), allegedly a defender of Shipka Pass and a recipient of the Cross of St. George. In fact, documentary records place his birth in 1879, one year after the war ended, and show that before the World War I he served as a minor clergyman (psalomschik or dyachok) in different Belarusian regions. After Khrutsky's death, a similar legend was promoted about his younger brother Samson.