Achilles Nikolayevich Alferaki ("Achilles" sometimes spelled Akhilles or Ahilles) (July 3, 1846, Kharkov, Russian Empire – December 27, 1919, Saint Petersburg, Soviet Union) was a Russian composer and statesman of Greek descent. His brother was Sergei Alphéraky.
Alferaki was born in Kharkov, present-day Ukraine, to Nikos and Maria Alferakis. He spent his childhood in Taganrog, present-day Rostov Oblast, in the magnificent Alferaki Palace on Catholic Street (now Frunze Street) designed by the architect Andrei Stackenschneider.
Alferaki was educated at home before attending the historical and philological faculty at Moscow University. There he also studied music theory. In 1870, he returned to Taganrog in order to run the family business[clarification needed]. Following the death of the city's governor Lev Kulchitsky in 1873, he served briefly as acting governor. During the 1880s, he served as mayor of Taganrog until 1888, when he moved to Saint Petersburg. There he became Chancellor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1891 and later Director of the Russian Telegraph Agency.
Alferaki died in Saint Petersburg in 1919. One of his family's descendants was Anna Marly, a Russian-born French singer and songwriter, author of Chant des Partisans and a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur. Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
