I believe my maternal grandparents, Olga and Paul Woronoff, never saw the revolution coming, and they certainly didn’t think the turmoil, violence and bloodshed would last. Coming closely on the heels of World War I, it must have been a time of such uncertainty but even so, in their minds,
OK, I’ve stolen part of the quote by Sarah J Maas, an American fantasy author. The full quote is “Libraries were full of ideas – perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.” How true that is! After all it was said by Edward Bulwer-Lytton that “the pen is
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
What inspired you to revisit and revise your grandmother’s memoir for a second edition? That was a question I was asked during the book launch for the 2nd edition of Upheaval and a question which I’m often asked by both friends and contacts on social media. I never envisaged revisiting
Ever since I started researching my ancestors I’ve wanted to ask them questions. Why did my maternal grandparents leave the vineyard in France? Why did my father’s sister move to Peru? Why did my paternal grandfather study iridology? There is so much I wish I knew about the decisions they
It was the best book launch I’ve ever had – ok, it was the first book launch I’ve had but it really did go well. Having the book launch online was the best decision as we were joined by people from different areas of Australia as well as different countries