Above is a photo, taken at Ivnia, of my maternal great-grandmother, Countess Catherine Nicholaievna Kleinmichel, her daughters and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich – according to the writing on the back of the photo. I believe my grandmother, Olga Voronov (Woronoff) née Kleinmichel, is second from the left, next to her
There are many items I have inherited from my parents which I have no idea what to do with. Are they worth anything? Do I sell them? If they are worth nothing, do I donate them? And if the latter, who to? Today’s post was prompted by a post on
After writing the final chapter of the story of my great-grandmother’s escape from Russia with her second husband, which you can start reading here, I was curious about her second husband. Where did he come from? Where and how did they meet? What did he do when they finally settled
In this final episode, we learn how my great-grandmother and her husband finally was able to leave Russia to be with her daughter, my grandmother. If you have missed the first four chapters of her story, you can start reading them here. Last week we followed my great-grandmother as she
So far I have been unable to find any photographs of my great-grandmother and her second husband during their last years in Russia. It is no wonder perhaps, with the chaos that surrounded them and the drudgery of everyday life. Who knows whether they even still owned a camera. The
Last time our story ended when my grandmother finally learned her mother and step-father had made their way back to Petrograd and how to contact them. She could at last get in touch with her mother. My grandmother had discovered my great-grandmother’s address through an acquaintance of her elder sister,