Messages

46

Imperial Russian History / Re: How were serfs/servants referred to by social superiors?

« on: July 28, 2014, 02:15:12 PM »

In mid-18th century Russia a house serf was usually addressed by a diminutive-derogatory form of his/her first name, eg: Van'ka instead of Ivan, Mashka instead of Maria, etc. When a master wished to show special respect to distinguished or talented servants, he might address them by their full first names: Ivan, Maria, etc. Another form of respectful address of elderly and distinguished servants was by their patronymics, eg Petrovich, Egorovna etc. Addressing servants by family names was very unusual at that time.

47

Their World and Culture / Re: How common was it to have a train waggon of your own before the Revolution?

« on: June 03, 2014, 01:22:30 AM »

Personal rail cars were quite common in prerevolutionary Russia, however most of them were owned by the railway administration and intended for the use of high officials. Every minister or deputy minister, province governor, army corps commander, senator, etc. was entitled to such a personal car. Therefore all the necessary logistics (attaching/disengagement to regular passenger trains, forming extra trains, shunting, parking, technical maintenance etc.) existed and operated quite well. Much less numerous privately-owned cars enjoyed the same services, for which their owners paid the railway administration according to the government tariffs.

48

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Did GD Alexis Alexandrovich administer from St. Petersburg?

« on: May 31, 2014, 10:16:16 AM »

GD Alexei visited Vladivostok only twice: in 1872-73 and in 1876, both times aboard the frigate Svetlana. The "Grand Duke who visited the Far East frequently" was apparently Cyril Vladimirovich who in 1904 served there as a senior staff officer of the Russian Pacific fleet.

49

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Identify of colonel on Vladivostok Fortress staff

« on: May 30, 2014, 03:46:29 PM »

The Budberg's memoirs have been published in Russian, also on the web. They cover the period of 1917-1919.

50

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Identify of colonel on Vladivostok Fortress staff

« on: May 30, 2014, 03:39:58 AM »

The second in command (chief of staff) of the Vladivostok fortress in 1905 was Colonel Baron Alexei von Budberg (1869 - 1945 in San Francisco), later general and author of well-known memoirs. His family belonged to the Petersburg's high society.

51

Research Russian Roots / Re: A little help please!

« on: April 30, 2014, 10:43:54 AM »

To Susannah:
It's turned out that the above photo of Nikolay Usov and several other images of the Usov family were published in the Russian book Костюм и мода Российской империи. Эпоха Николая II [Costume and Fashion of the Russian Empire. The Nicholas II Period] (2013), by Dr. Olga Khoroshilov of St. Petersburg. You may contact her, if you wish, for more details: iskusstvomag@gmail.com, kitiart@mail.ru

52

Research Russian Roots / Re: A little help please!

« on: April 28, 2014, 10:20:29 AM »

Created a bigger version

Now it's much better. The photo shows, most probably, a cadet of the Vladimirskoye Officer School in St.Petersburg [юнкер Владимирского военного училища]. The period seems to be 1915-1917.

53

Research Russian Roots / Re: A little help please!

« on: April 19, 2014, 05:45:57 AM »

Larger photo of my Grandfather:

Still not large enough to see the shoulder boards. Should be at least x3. Try scanning only the informative part of the image at a higher resolution.

54

Research Russian Roots / Re: A little help please!

« on: April 15, 2014, 05:29:29 AM »

Might try, but from a much larger image.

55

Research Russian Roots / Re: Mefody Hudobenko - Cossack Guard

« on: April 12, 2014, 01:55:21 PM »

"Amazanke Cossack" might in fact be "a mazanka Cossack", which means a Cossack living in a typical Ukrainian peasant home [мазанка], ie not officially belonging to the Cossack class.

56

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Who was Stefan [Filipovich] Bezuglov?

« on: March 07, 2014, 06:38:57 AM »

No commissioned officer named Bezuglov appears on the unit rosters of either Kuban Host or HM Convoy for the 1900s - 1910s. As to the other parts of the Russian Army, it's too big an effort to check them all. The web search for Степан Безуглов yields no relevant information, although this surname is not rare among Don and Kuban Cossacks.

57

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Who was Stefan [Filipovich] Bezuglov?

« on: March 06, 2014, 12:55:02 AM »

a staff captain [pod'yesaul] of the 1st Kuban Cossack Foot battalion in full dress uniform, prior to 1912.

58

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Who was Stefan [Filipovich] Bezuglov?

« on: February 28, 2014, 12:57:26 PM »

As I've guessed, the officer on the photos is not Stepan Bezuglov. He's been positively identified as pod'yesaul Mikhail Zozulin, of 1st Kuban Cossack Foot battalion. In 1917 promoted to colonel, commanded 20th Kuban Cossack Foot battalion. Fought in the Civil War, emigrated to Yugoslavia, in 1941 joined the Russian Corps on the German side, died in Germany in 1945. Here's his photo in the mixed Russian-German uniform of the Russian Corps (front row, center):

59

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Who was Stefan [Filipovich] Bezuglov?

« on: February 26, 2014, 12:20:35 PM »

Now that the DB images opened, a few more details:
- The photographer's name is Granovsky, and he's definitely male.
- The guy presumed to be a grand duke isn't even an officer. He is an army's civil servant, probably a weapon master. There's also a military surgeon on this photo.
- The women on one of the photos wear Circassian costumes, so the men in black fur hats are also apparently Circassians.

60

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Who was Stefan [Filipovich] Bezuglov?

« on: February 26, 2014, 09:44:26 AM »

The posted photo (DB images don't open with me) shows a staff captain [pod'yesaul] of the 1st Kuban Cossack Foot battalion in full dress uniform, prior to 1912. He doesn't belong to the HM's Own Convoy. Moreover, he's most likely not Stepan Bezuglov, because no officer of that name served in the Kuban Cossack Host, at least after 1908.