On October 26, 1836, Valerian Alexandrovich Neronov was born into a military family.
He was descended from the nobility of the Moscow Governorate, but even as a child, fate bound him to our city. He received his early education at the 1st Kharkiv Gymnasium, and upon graduating on September 15, 1853, he enlisted as a cadet in the Novorossiysk Dragoon Regiment. With the regiment, he took part in the Russo-Turkish War at the Battle of Kurekdere (July 24, 1854), where two of his horses were killed, and in the operations during the siege of Kars in 1855.

We will not go into detail about Valerian Alexandrovich’s subsequent military career, but one notable fact is worth mentioning.

On February 27, 1867, he was transferred to the Cavalry Guard Regiment as a staff captain, while remaining attached to the school (the Nikolaev Cavalry School). He was then promoted to captain and assigned to the Guards Cavalry.

It should be noted that at that time, the Cavalry Guard Regiment, as a Guards heavy cavalry unit, was one of the most elite formations in the empire.
Enlistment in the Cavalry Guard usually marked the beginning of a successful career.

Many governors, generals, and other high-ranking officials of the empire began their rise to the top precisely with the Cavalry Guard Regiment.
Due to personal circumstances, on July 1, 1873, Valerian Alexandrovich was discharged from service with the rank of colonel. In retirement, he served as a member of the zemstvo in the Kharkiv branch of the Peasants’ Bank. He was chairman of the Kharkiv Church Board.
Construction of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on Nikolayevskaya Square, designed by Kharkiv diocesan architect V. H. Nemkin, began as early as 1887.
Valerian Alexandrovich also took an active part in its construction.

However, he was not destined to live to see the solemn consecration of the new church, which took place on October 3, 1896.

He died on March 25, 1893, and was buried in the village of Otradnoye, Kup’yansk District, Kharkiv Governorate.

In 1908, a unique four-volume work was published in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Cavalry Guard Regiment (which had been lavishly celebrated on January 11, 1899). This unique work contained rare photographs and biographies of the Cavalry Guards and officers who served in the regiment from 1724 to 1908.

It is thanks to this wonderful publication that we have come to learn about Valerian Alexandrovich’s life, as well as what he looked like.

However, there were quite a few native Kharkiv residents among the cavalry guards as well. So, to be continued…