Russia

Pavel Voronov in uniform

A letter to a deserter; you do not exist for us…

That is the gist of the letter I found among my grandparent’s possessions. It was written by my grandfather, Lt Pavel Voronov (Paul Woronoff). This letter is most likely a draft as words and sentences have been crossed out. In the image below I have crossed out most of the

Read More
Book written by Tatiana Botkin

A Book Over One Hundred Years Old, Fragile and Falling Apart

UPDATE November 2023!!! I am happy to announce that I have donated this book to the State Library of Victoria who will undertake to restore it. I hope to be kept in the loop as regards to the restoration and, if I am, I will share the updates here. #statelibraryvictoria

Read More
Ipatief House Ekaterinburg

An ancient motif; the swastika – lucky charm of Empress Alexandra

It is apparently common knowledge that Empress Alexandra of Russia believed the swastika to be lucky. However, I didn’t know that until I began to look through old French magazines which I inherited. It makes sense though as, according to my grandmother Olga Woronoff, the Empress was deeplyreligious but also

Read More