Lev Urusov

Who is Lev Urusov?

Prince Lev Vladimirovich Urusov was a Russian diplomat. From 1910 until his death, he was a member of International Olympic Committee.

Lev Urusov was born in the family of State Councillor and Chamberlain Vladimir Pavlovich Urusov. In 1898 he graduated from Alexandrovski Lyceum in Saint Petersburg and from the same year started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His two big assignments came in 1910-1912 when he was appointed a head of Russian diplomatic mission in Bulgaria, and then in 1912-1916 when he served as the first secretary at the Russian embassy in Japan. In 1917, after February Revolution in Russia, Lev Urusov emigrated to France and lived there till his death in 1933.

Prince Urusov was one of the leading tennis players of Russia those years. In 1907 he won the Championship of Saint Petersburg, and the next year he became the Champion of Russia. In 1913, during his diplomatic mission in Japan, he won the Open Championship of Tokyo. In 1910, he was elected a member of International Olympic Committee. He retained this position even after the revolution, and remained, while living in France, the only official representative of Russia in IOC.