Obituaries - Dec. 30, 1987

Alexander G. Barmine, Soviet General Who Defected to U.S.

Alexander G. Barmine, 88, who defected from the Soviet Army in 1937 as a brigadier general and subsequently became a private in the U.S. Army and then a journalist. In 1945, he wrote “One Who Survived,” a book about his experiences in the Soviet military and diplomatic services. He had defected during Stalin’s purges of his general staff. He came to the United States in 1940, after living in France, and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1943. Barmine headed the Russian services of the Voice of America from 1948 to 1964 and was a senior adviser on Soviet affairs to the U.S. Information Agency until 1972, when he retired. On Christmas Day from complications of a stroke, according to family members.