Moments in Time

Blogs which describe moments in my life, or the lives of my family.

Countess Olga Kleinmichel and partner at fancy dress ball

Dancing with the English at Taganrog 1919

Prior to delving into my family history I had no idea that the English played a role in the Russian Civil War. Of course I knew my grandparents eventually escaped Russia on a British steamer, but I did not realise there was a British mission to South Russia from late

Read More

Is it a bird? Funny family photos…

It is not too often that I burst out laughing when I turn the page of one of the many family photo albums I have inherited. But when I saw the photo above that is exactly what I did. On a gatepost, which holds one half of a gate, in

Read More

The Major General, His Awards and His Family

Major General Alexei Aleksandrovich Voronov was my maternal great-grandfather. I have written about him once before here. Since then I have discovered a bit more about him. Alexei attended the Pavlovsk military school, graduating in around 1870 as a “Harness Junker”, which appears to have been a rank of senior

Read More

My mother was also an author; can the urge to write be inherited?

If you have read my previous posts you will know that my grandmother, Olga Woronoff, wrote a book, Upheaval, about her life in Russia before and during the Russian Revolution and the Civil War. I have found at least two unpublished manuscripts also written by my grandmother. You might have

Read More

The Eldest of Seven, Husband of Two and Father of Eight

Although I have written about his two marriages before, I have not yet looked for more information about my paternal great grandfather, Otto von Fircks – pictured above. Despite having plenty of genealogical information about him, I have not been able to find out much about him as a person,

Read More