Today, January 11th, was my grandfather’s birthday. Or was it? My grandfather, Pavel Voronov (Paul Woronoff) was born on December 29, 1886, or was he? I have official documents which state both dates as his birthday. This can be very confusing for a family historian if one doesn’t know that the calendar used by Russia was changed when the Bolsheviks took power.
Originally Russia used the Julian calendar, which was introduced throughout Europe by Julius Caesar. But there were flaws in the Julian calendar which led to errors and discrepancies – think leap years. It’s a fascinating story; you should Google it. These flaws led to certain dates, such as the solstices, changing dramatically over the years, which meant the Julian calendar was eventually out of sync by nearly two weeks.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decreed a new calendar be observed, the Gregorian calendar which fixed the flaws of the old Julian calendar. Over time the Gregorian calendar was taken up by most of the Roman Catholic world, but the countries which were mainly Protestant refuse to accept the change. It took nearly 300 years for the Gregorian calendar to be adopted in all but two countries – Russia and Greece.
In Russia it was Lenin who decided to align the country with the majority of the world and, in February 1918, he changed the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian. By all accounts it was one of the ways he and the Bolsheviks could destroy anything which remained of Imperial Russia and its traditions. This meant Russia lost the 13 days between February 1-13, 1918. Those days were removed as if they never existed. I wonder on what date the babies born during those 13 days celebrated their birthdays.
And that is why my grandfather, who was actually born on December 29, 1886, had his birthday changed to January 11, 1887.
Of course, the Russian Orthodox Church continued to use the Julian calendar as they rejected the new calendar as being some form of Catholic interference. To this day many in the Orthodox Church celebrate holy days according to the old calendar, so Christmas is on January 7, rather than December 25, etc.
At the time of the change I doubt my grandfather would have been worrying too much about the date of his birthday. He had bigger things to worry about, like staying alive. Sometime in early February of 1918 my grandparents, having made their way to the south of Russia in order to escape the madness of the Revolution in St Petersburg, were again making plans to leave, as the Bolsheviks were rapidly moving through the countryside, arresting all officers who had served in the Imperial armed forces. My grandfather had been an officer in the Imperial Navy and had a price on his head. If you want to know what happened next, you can read about their daring plan in the 2nd edition of Upheaval, available on my website or through my publisher, Downingfield Press.
