Paul Voronov, Standart Officer

Greetings everyone,


I'm a 27 years Belgian, from White Russian origin (my family emigrated after the Revolution to Belgium). My last name is the same as this famous officer (written in latin alphabet "Woronoff"). Our family is coming from St-Petersburg. I read that this Paul Woronoff was born in Kostroma. According to family tradition, it appears that before living in St-Petersburg (founded in 1703) my ancestors would have been coming from this same city. Kostroma is located in Eastern Moscovia and is the craddle of the Romanov dynasty.  I would like to know if someone would have some informations about the ancestors/genealogy of this Paul Voronov.

Best regards,

Constantin Woronoff

Constantin, you're probably aware that Voronov is a very widespread Russian surname. The phonebook of every large Russian city contains hundreds (in Moscow and Petersburg - thousands) of Voronovs, most of whom are not related to each other. The name Voronov (unlike Vorontsov from the same root "Voron", which means "Raven") doesn't indicate whether a person is of a noble or a peasant descent.

Prior to 1917, there were 27 different noble families named Voronov. Lieutenant Pavel Alexeyevich Voronov, of the yacht Standart, belonged to the second eldest family; their ancestor Ivan Voronov was awarded lands in the Kostroma district in the late XVIth c. Since then, it seems like none of those Voronovs was prominent in the Russian history. As to Pavel, after his apparent romantic involvement with GD Olga Nikolayevna he married another Olga, Countess Kleinmichel. Upon taking part in the Civil War he emigrated to US and died there in 1964.

Dear Mike,

Thanks for your most interesting answer. Indeed, the name Voronov is quite widespread within Russia. Our family belongs to the nobility of the St Petersburg Government. Most of our ancestors served in the Imperial Army. Genealogic studies led us to go back to the second half of the 18th century. We could track our ancestors until that period. We are related to the Potemkin family (via my great-grand mother, born Alexandra Wladimirovna Potemkina, little little cousin of most famous lover of Empress Catherine II). It's only through a family oral tradition that we have the potential liaison with Kostroma (no existing archives may proove this). It would be most interesting to have access to existing sources and bridge the gap...

Best regards,

Constantin

In the 1900s, al least two Voronovs (father and son, both named Alexander) lived in Petersburg at 3, Palmenbakhskaya St. (close to the Smolnyi Institute). Alexander Sr. was a high-ranking official (Actual Civil Counsellor), Alexander Jr. carried a lesser civil rank of Collegiate Assessor.

"In the 1900s, al least two Voronovs (father and son, both named Alexander) lived in Petersburg at 3, Palmenbakhskaya St. "
They were actually my great great grand father and great grand uncle.
Youri Alexandrovitch Woronoff, was the brother of the latest, and Superior Officer in the Izmaïlovsky regiment of the Imperial Guard.
Are your informations coming from the "Almanach de Saint Petersboug" ?

Regarding the short historical notice about Ivan Voronov (who was awarded lands in the Kostroma district in the late XVIth c), what are your main sources ?

Thanks for your most interesting insights.

Very best regards,

Constantin Woronoff

As regards Ivan Voronov of Kostroma:
http://www.rulex.ru/01030848.htm

As to the Petersburg Voronovs, I now have a list - complete with addresses, occupations and ranks - of all 96 of them registered in SPb and suburbs as of 1913, copied from the "All St. Petersburg" directory by a friend in Kazan and emailed to me today. At least a half of that number were widows, clerics, artisans and other non-nobles.

Yuri Alexandrovich Voronov was then retired Guards colonel and lived at 20, Furshtadtskaya St. Pavel Voronov appears on the list as midshipman of the Guards Equipage. None of the Voronovs lived in 1913 at Palmenbakhskaya St.

Dear Mike,

Yuri Alexandrovich Voronov, retired Guards colonel who lived at 20, Furshtadtskaya married Alexandra Vladimirovna Potemkina. They had 2 sons, Wladimir and Andrei. Andrei (born 1913) was actually my grand-father.

best regards,

Constantin

I thought this could be interesting.
Browsing in a post on a russian blog, i found something new about Voronov. It seems he was among those sailors Nicholas II sent to help the people of Messina and Reggio Calabria (Sicily and Calbria, Italy) after the terrible earthquake that detroyed the two cities on December 28th, 1908.
I will try to find more infos through the italian online archives about the terrible earthquake.

EDIT: i noticed that this post is in "russian roots" after i wrote; i thought it was a thread about Voronov bio. If a mod noticeit, please can you move the post? (i was unable to delete it myself). I'm sorry, and thanks.

I thought this could be interesting.
Browsing in a post on a russian blog, i found something new about Voronov. It seems he was among those sailors Nicholas II sent to help the people of Messina and Reggio Calabria (Sicily and Calbria, Italy) after the terrible earthquake that detroyed the two cities on December 28th, 1908.
I will try to find more infos through the italian online archives about the terrible earthquake.

EDIT: i noticed that this post is in "russian roots" after i wrote; i thought it was a thread about Voronov bio. If a mod noticeit, please can you move the post? (i was unable to delete it myself). I'm sorry, and thanks.

Sunny, though I could never recall where , I've seen the reference to Pavel Voronov and his service after the earthquake in Messina, Reggio di Calabria area. That source further mentioned that Pavel's commendable performance in that area came to Nicholas' attention. I can't recall if it resulted in an award or commendation (quite possibly), but it did lead to Pavel's posting on the Standart. And the rest is sort of history.(see Olga).

I thought this could be interesting.
Browsing in a post on a russian blog, i found something new about Voronov. It seems he was among those sailors Nicholas II sent to help the people of Messina and Reggio Calabria (Sicily and Calbria, Italy) after the terrible earthquake that detroyed the two cities on December 28th, 1908.
I will try to find more infos through the italian online archives about the terrible earthquake.

EDIT: i noticed that this post is in "russian roots" after i wrote; i thought it was a thread about Voronov bio. If a mod noticeit, please can you move the post? (i was unable to delete it myself). I'm sorry, and thanks.

Sunny, though I could never recall where , I've seen the reference to Pavel Voronov and his service after the earthquake in Messina, Reggio di Calabria area. That source further mentioned that Pavel's commendable performance in that area came to Nicholas' attention. I can't recall if it resulted in an award or commendation (quite possibly), but it did lead to Pavel's posting on the Standart. And the rest is sort of history.(see Olga).

You know, this stroke me a little; being Italian, this touches me deeply.

Sunny. Yes I understand your feeling and it speaks well of you. When I read of this action of Russian naval vessels in the Mediterranean Sea in 1908 I thought it was unusual that those ships would be in a position to offer relief and rescue assistance to a civilian calamity in a foreign nation. A humane gesture by Nicholas that was in fact not out of character.