Emilio Kosterlitzky facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emilio Kosterlitzky
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|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Eagle of Sonora Mexican Cossack |
| Born | November 16, 1853 Moscow, Russia |
| Died | March 2, 1928 (74 years old) Los Angeles, California |
| Buried |
Calvary Cemetery
|
| Allegiance |  Mexico |
| Service/ |
 Mexican Army |
| Years of service | 1871 - 1914 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | Mexican Apache Wars |
| Other work | Spy |
Emilio Kosterlitzky (1853–1928) was a Russian-born commander of the Mexican Rurales, or border police, during the late Nineteenth Century.
Biography
Emil Kosterlitzky was born on November 16, 1853 in Moscow, to a German mother and Russian Cossack father. He was noted for his language ability; he spoke English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Polish, Danish and Swedish.
In his teens, Emil joined the Russian Navy as a midshipman. By 1871, at the age of 18, he deserted his ship in Venezuela. Kosterlitzky then traveled to the Mexican state of Sonora, where he changed his name to Emilio and joined the Mexican Army. During the 1880s he fought in the Mexican Apache Wars. He also assisted American troops pursuing Apaches across the border under the 1882 United States–Mexico reciprocal border crossing treaty. Kosterlitzky became known to the American troops, who called him the "Mexican Cossack". In 1885, Kosterlitzky was appointed commander of the Gendarmería Fiscal, the customs guard for the Mexican government, by President Porfirio Díaz.
In 1913, Kosterlitzky was captured in Nogales, Sonora, by revolutionaries during the Mexican Revolution. He was jailed until 1914, when he, his wife, Francisca, and two daughters moved to Los Angeles, California, in the United States, where he became a translator for the U.S. Postal Service. During World War I, he pretended to be a German physician. He returned to Mexico in 1927, to investigate a plot against the government of the state of Baja California.
Kosterlitzky died in Los Angeles on March 2, 1928, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.
See also
In Spanish: Emilio Kosterlitzky para niños
