 Adam was born on 7 March 1891 in Vitebsk, Russian Empire.He enlisted in the Russian Navy to become a military officer, finishing the Naval Corps School in Saint Petersburg in 1911.From 1912 to 1916 he served aboard a training ship, armored cruiser General-Admiral class "Gerzog Edinburgski", next, armoured cruiser, "Rossiya", battleship "Tsarievitch", and submarines "Akula", "Bars" and "S-12".