THE CORPS OF PAGES
 
That the Order of Saint John and its military academy, the Corps of Pages, existed in Russia prior to the Bolshevik Revolution is a fact made evident from the record of the Union of Pages.  From its creation in Russia in 1759, until the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, this formal educational institution graduated 4,505 individuals.  These young men, trained in the discipline, moral values, integrity and ideals of the ancient and holy Order of Saint John, became some of the most capable and influential leaders in the Russian Empire.  They included officers in the imperial army and navy, distinguished courtiers, outstanding administrators, prominent clergymen, professors, scientists, physicians, philosophers, builders, artists, poets, historians, teachers and diplomats.  Moreover, as noted by the historian Marvin Lyons, these men wore their Maltese Crosses with much pride and devotion.
 
In 1921, the Union of Pages listed 1,073 graduates of the Corps of Pages living outside Communist Russia.  (The exact number of those who remained in Russia is unknown, but few of them survived the imprisonment and purges inflicted by the Soviets.)  Of the 1,073 recorded in 1921, only 135 were alive in 1936.  In 1987, just 36 remained.  In 1989, only 14 were still living.
 
The numbers we refer to here are the actual graduates of the Corps of Pages.  This does not include the Hereditary Knights created by Paul I to insure the perpetuation of the Order.  Some of those family lines are now extinct, while others continue to this date - some with an unbroken chain of identity with the Order, and with persistent devotion to its cause and mission.  One such active Hereditary Knight Commander, His Highness Serge Sergevitch Troubetzkoy, O.S.J., is a direct descendent of three hereditary families:  the Cheremetievs and Demidovs on his mother's side, and the Troubetzkoys on his father's side.  All of these are noble families which achieved great distinction over centuries of Russian history.  Prince Serge Troubetzkoy, now in his eighties, is currently the Lt. Grand Master of the Sovereign Order.