Blogs which describe moments in my life, or the lives of my family.
On this day, 102 years ago, my grandmother, Olga Woronoff, began a diary which documents their last months in Russia and their movements during the Civil War. My grandfather, Paul Woronoff, was fighting with the White Army (the Volunteer Army) and my grandmother had travelled to the south of Russia
The only family holidays I remember all took place before I began school. After that, I cannot remember going on any holidays as a family. Looking back through old photos it seems New Jersey was the place my parents preferred for holidays. Although I have no idea where the main
After their escape from Russia in 1920, my maternal grandparents – Olga and Paul Woronoff – together with my great Aunt Tata, made their way to France via Constantinople. As far as I can tell, my grandfather had been assigned to the White Army’s naval base in Paris but by
This week’s post was prompted by watching this video from the YouTube channel “In the Steps of the Romanovs”. The video reminded me of my teenage years when I would help my mother make blini (Russian pancakes) during Maslenitsa week. Maslenitsa week is similar to Shrove (or Pancake) Tuesday, except
There is something about reading the personal letters of my ancestors which is very addictive. Recently my friend Sveta, who lives in Russia, sent me transcripts of letters which my great grandfather, Konstantin Petrovich Kleinmichel, wrote to his sister Olga Petrovna Volkonskaya in the late 1800s. You can follow Sveta
My great grandmother – my maternal grandmother Olga Kleinmichel’s mother – Countess Catherine Nicolaievna Kleinmichel, neé Bogdanov was born in Riga on 2 November 1865, when Latvia was part of the Russian Federation. Her father, Nicholas Bogdanov, was Marshal of Nobility of the government of Kursk, Russia, an area which