Residents in the East Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk were asked in the poll, "Who do you consider a real Englishman?"

Some 30,000 people took part, and Chelsea FC owner Abramovich, 42, comfortably defeated Winston Churchill, James Bond, and David Beckham, among others.

A statue of Abramovich will now be erected in the centre of the city on December 11, a short distance from a monument to Lenin. The poll was organized by the local branch of the Russian-British Cultural Association.

Abramovich has a residence in Knightsbridge, London.