I have a question!
My regular readers will know that I’ve been researching my maternal family for quite awhile now. My maternal grandparents, Paul and Olga Woronoff, escaped Russia in January 1920, during the Civil War in which my grandfather had volunteered for the White Army. As the Red Army began to advance into Southern Russia, which had been a stronghold of the Whites, the situation became desperate for the White Army’s soldiers and their families. My grandmother noted in her memoir that fortunately my grandfather had been given a mission to fulfill in Paris and, before that, he was to undertake certain duties for a few weeks in Constantinople. The question is, what were those duties?
I would like to write a sequel to my grandmother’s memoir, Upheaval, and am planning to travel to Istanbul and France next year to follow in the footsteps of my grandparents. I hope to see the places they lived and worked and get a sense of their journey. I realise that after one hundred plus years there might be little left of these places but I am hoping some have survived.
Which takes me to Istanbul, the first stop on my proposed journey. I have been trying to find out more about the duties my grandfather was tasked with when they landed in Constantinople. The certificate I have (see above) is the only documentation I have apart from my grandmother’s memories. The English translation of the certificate is:
“The following has been given to Lieut. Paul VORONOFF, detailed to Constantinople to be appointed to the Chief of the Russian Merchant Fleet, Vice-Admiral Homenko (sic).
All concerned are required to give to the above mentioned Officer every possible assistance.
This Certificate is in lieu of a Passport.
Signed and stamped by the Assistant of the Commander in Chief of the Black Sea Province.”
I can find very little information about Vice-Admiral Alexander Alexandrovich Khomenko apart from the fact that in 1919-1920 he was head of the Department of the Russian Merchant Fleet in Paris and subordinated to the leadership of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia.
The only other information I have comes from the memories of my grandmother who noted that my grandfather had been commissioned to Tuzla as a liaison officer attached to the British and that he would be stationed there for several weeks. Now I know the ship my grandparents escaped on landed at Tuzla so that the occupants could be disinfected before they were transported to Constantinople, and I assume that would have been the same for most, if not all, of the other émigrés. But what role would my grandfather have played in this?
Perhaps you, dear reader, have the answer to my question or know where to find it. I would love to find a primary source or a valid secondary source. My academic mind needs evidence rather than guesswork. I eagerly await any answers to my question!
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I don’t know if this will help, but maybe contact Nermin Bezmen, the Turkish writer, who has also written about her grandfather Kurt Seyit Eminof and Alexandra Verjenskaya. Seyit Eminof was a lieutenant in the Czar’s personal guard and was from Crimea. Shura was the daughter of a Russian nobleman. She might have information that is useful to you.
Thank you Denise, that sounds like a great idea!
She has homes in the US and Turkey. The least she will know is if the places your grandparents visited still exist. Her husband died a few months ago and she is missing him terribly. She is really active on Instagram.
Thank you! I’ll look her up on Instagram.
https://instagram.com/bezmennermin
Thank you! I’ve sent her a message.
This is so interesting! What a puzzle. Is there any info at the Russian Naval Archive (RGAVMF)?
Hi Emily, I haven’t attempted to get access to that archive yet, but I have a friend in St Petersburg who researches my family history for me and I assume she has or will look there!
I just found out that the actress Leslie Ann Warren’s father was born Woronoff.
How interesting! I believe there are a few Woronoff families around.