Rafael de Nogales Méndez

Rafael de Nogales Méndez was a Venezuelan who spent much of his life in political exile. Before serving in the Ottoman army he had been a gold prospector in Alaska and a spy during the Russo-Japanese War, and he travelled widely. According to the source, in 1915 he joined the German army and was sent to Turkey to serve in the German staff attached to the Turkish army. He rose to the post of cavalry instructor and was military governor of several districts.

In his book “Four Years Beneath the Crescent” (Spanish edition 1924) he unmasked the organisers of the Armenian Genocide, showing that the ruling Young Turks carried out the extermination of the Armenians in a systematic and centralised way. His testimony is important evidence of the Armenian Genocide. He is described as a man of wide learning who spoke several languages and as one of the most remarkable Venezuelans of the 20th century.

In the photograph he wears a military uniform, a fur hat with a crescent and star badge, decorations on his chest and gloves in his hand.