The history of
The history of the Volkonsky
family and of its various members in different centuries, can be traced
in many sources, both in Russia and abroad. From a purely academical-historical
point of view, Princess Elizaveta Volkonsky's 1000-page history of the
family published at the very beginning of the twentieth century in Russia,
is undoubtedly the most important.The further we go back
in time, the more does the history of the family become blurred. This is
natural. The same can be said, however, about more recent times. This is
unnatural. The further we go forward in time after the Bolshevik revolution
of 1917, the less we know about the fate of this family and its members
scattered across the world.This brief biography
is an attempt to fill at least one of the "gaps" in information about one
of the lines of the family since the events of 1917. If any other member
of the Volkonsky family, a relative, or friend, who reads this site, can
add any information, their contribution would be very welcome.I belong to the "third"
line of the Volkonskys - those, who are directly descended from Prince
Fedor Ivanovich Tarussky who fell at the battle of Kulikovo in 1380.
More recent history
goes as follows:
My father: Valentin
Mikhailovich Volkonsky. Born 1892 at Knyazhi Borki (now called Arki Borki)
family estate near Zadonsk, Voronezhskaya Gubernia. Died in England in
1960. He graduated as midshipman from the last class of the Morskoi Korpus
in 1917, already at the time of the Kerenski provisional government. During
the Russian civil war he fought for the Whites as an artillery man on an
armoured train. After the civil war he found himself in Poland where he
met and married Lydia Alexandrovna Rybnikova, daughter of a landowner whose
family estate was at Romeiki, near Sarny, Volynskaya gubernia. This became
part of Poland after the Soviet-Polish war. Valentin Mikhailovich successfully
managed the estate which his wife had inherited until the outbreak of war
and the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939. The family (with two
children, Oleg and Elena) fled to western Poland, which was occupied by
the Germans.
In August 1944, another
dangerous and advenurous journey westwards began. Eventually, the family
made their way to southern Italy where Valentin Mikhailovich joined the
Free Polish Forces of General Wladyslaw Anders. When this army was moved
to Great Britain in 1946, the Volkonskys went with them. Prince Valentin
Mikhailovich Volkonsky ended his life working for the Royal Navy as a teacher
at the Military Language School in Scotland. His widow, Lydia Alexandrovna,
emigrated to America, where she died in 1977. Her memoirs were published
in 1972 in the Russian language newspaper "Russkaya Zhizn'" of San Francisco
under the title "My Life". The full title of the book is "Proshchai Rossia"
- "Farewell to Russia."
Uncle: (younger brother
of father) Alexandr Mikhailovich Volkonsky. Born 1900. Died 1961 in Paris.
Buried at St. Genevieve des Bois. No children.
Also served in the
White army and was evecuated together with Gen. Wrangel's forces from the
Crimea to Gallipoli, and then to France.
Grandfather: Mikhail
Apollonovich Volkonsky. Born (probably at Knyazhi Borki, near Zadonsk)in
1876. All traces of him disappear after 1917. Great grandfather:
Apollon Alexandrovich. Born 1826. Died - ?
Great-great grandfather
Alexandr Lvovich Volkonsky, 1793-1865.
(In case you don't have
such information, you can trace our line and all the Volkonskys lines,
all the way back to Prince Mikhail Chernigovsky under the
following website:
www8.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/html/russ.html)
You might find this
useful.
Myself: Oleg Valentinovich.
Born May 21, 1939 at Romeiki, Poland, at parent's family estate. Grew up
in England and graduated from Oxford University in 1962. Worked as broadcaster
for the Russian language services of the B.B.C. in London, Radio Liberty
in Munich, Germany, and the Voice of America in Washington D.C. USA. Author
of many radio broadcasts on historical subjects, including a 104-part cycle
under the title "Stranitsy Istorii" ("Pages of History") for the Voice
of America. Have lived in several countries: in England, France, The United
States, Germany, (and including a few years in Moscow, Russia). Currrently
resident of Dresden, Germany.
Married to Ekaterina
Mikhailovna Oreshenkova of Moscow. I have dual citizenship - British and
American.
Son: Alexandr Olegovich,
born 1984 In Washington, D.C. from first wife Pamela Judd, and American
citizen. Alexandr Olegovich has spent his summer vacations in Russia for
several years in a row and speaks Russian quite fluently.
Sister: Elena Valentinovna:
born at Romeiki, Poland, in 1922 and died at Mount Clemens, Michigan, USA,
in 2001. Married to Jan Sienkiewich, an American of Polish descent. I have
two daughters Gloria and Camilla.
Incidentally, (again)
Prince Repnin-Volkonsky who was governor-general of Dresden and the
Sate of Saxony after the battle of Leipzig against Napoleon in 1813, is
a very popular historical figure here. He is mentioned in many history
books and tour guides of Dresden. You can find him in German websites in
Internet under the name Wolkonski.
With best wishes and
regards,
Oleg Volkonsky
