A Closer Look (Part 65)

Russia, between about 1870 and 1874. This is Nikolas, the maternal Grandfather of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana.

Here's the original post. Here's his wife.

A Closer Look (Part 52)

Tambov, Russia, about 1905. This is Nina K., the mother of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana.

Here's the original post.

A Closer Look (Part 46)

Russia, between about 1870 and 1874. Let's take another look at the oldest photo posted on the blog.

A Closer Look (Part 28)

Tambov, Russia, 1902. This is Nina K., the mother of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana. The dark-haired members of my family (like my Dad) take after this, the Russian, side.

Here's the original post.

A Closer Look (Part 20)

Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, May 1931. This is my Great-Grandmother, Nina K. She was fifty-seven years old when she sat for this photo. Here's the original post.

Reaching Back

Tambov, Russia, 1902. This is my Great-Grandmother, Nina K. Here's the original post.

This image shows Nina K. visiting her daughter, Tatjana, and Tatjana's twins. Here's Nina K. later in life. This post explains why Nina K. looked so rattled later in life.

It's Sunday; why don't you come over for coffee.

Suburban Chicago, January 1966. Mom entertains a friend in Tatjana's corner of the living room. Barbie's the doll now wearing the fashion folkdress. Mom's still working on the red mohair sweater she wore the following summer in Glacier.

(Also on the table is this photo of my great-grandparents.)

One More Original

Radviliškis, Lithuania, 1923. Here's another original image. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, sits with her twins—Jonė and my Dad. Here's the cropped version I posted earlier.

A Wider View

I recently posted photos (here and here) that my Dad had cropped during his restoration of the original images. 

Here is another original snapshot; Dad's slightly altered image is here.

Radviliškis, Lithuania, 1923. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, introduces her twins—Jonė and my Dad—to her mother, Nina K. This photo differs only a bit from the one my Dad restored. The blankets (rugs?) are more visible here; I wonder if Tatjana used them as bedding for the twins.

Nina K., Later

Soviet Union, about 1931. Here's another later portrait of Nina K. Nina K. was the mother of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana.

Fifty

Soviet Union, October 16, 1924. This is Nina K., the mother of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana. This is a second image from the same photo shoot.
 
One of Nina K.'s other daughters, Natasha, sent this photo to Tatjana. Natasha noted that their mother had just turned 50 when she sat for this photo.

A Matched Set

Radviliškis, Lithuania, 1923. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, cuddles her twins—my Dad and Jonė. This photo was taken at the time Tatjana's Mother, Nina K., visited from the Soviet Union. The wins were a handful for their father, too.

Russian Roots, Revisited

Tambov, Russia, about 1905. I posted a photo of Pavel and Nina K.—the parents of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana—when I first started the blog. The image was one my Dad had rephotographed. Dad had zoomed in on the subjects' faces, cropping out a good part of the photo.

I recently found the original print stored in the envelope called "Babos šeima Rusijoi"—Grandma's family in Russia. I post the image here: the original gives a better view of my Great-Grandparents, sitting in front of their house. Pavel has a newspaper on his lap, and Nina K. holds some work; I wonder if it's mending.

Native Places

These two photo are from the envelope called "Babos šeima Rusijoi"—Grandma's family in Russia.

Nina K., the mother of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, was born in this house in 1875.

Tatjana would have remembered it as the home in which her maternal Grandparents lived.

Tambov, Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, August 1962. Natasha, one of Tatjana's two younger sisters, writes, "The house on Sadovaja Street, home of our dear Grandfather and Grandmother, and our Mama. I am sitting here with my husband. Tears are dimming my eyes, full of memories."

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Tambov, Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, August 1962. Natasha writes, "Sadovaja Street in Tambov, our hometown. I always long for native places."

Thanks again to my dear friend, D, for translating the texts from Russian to English.

A New View

A few months ago, I thought we had no more photos to post of my Great-Grandmother, Nina K.. My discovery of a new resource—the photos stored in the "Grandma's family in Russia" envelope—revealed one snapshot that no one had seen earlier.

This is Nina K. with a Grandson, Sasha. The photo does not identify which sister of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, was Sasha's mother. Based on the handwriting, though, it appears Sasha was the son of Elena. 

We did not know that Elena (or Natasha) had children. Sasha has the melancholy eyes that are common on that side of the family. He looks a lot like Tatjana's brothers.

Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, May 1931. Elena, the sister of my paternal Grandmother Tatjana, wrote, "My mother [Nina K.] and my son Sasha. May 1931. A keepsake for my beloved Tanjusha."

*     *     *     *     *

Thanks again to my dear friend, D, for translating Elena's words from Russian to English.

Sunshine for the Twins

Radviliškis, Lithuania, 1923. My Dad—the one on the left, in shorts—stands on the steps with his twin, Jonė. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, sat with them for this photo on the day they celebrated a visit from Tatjana's mother, Nina K.

This is how we dressed in 1902.

Here's one of the last photos of Nina that I have to post. She was twenty-seven years old when she stood for this shot. Her eldest child, my paternal Grandmother Tatjana, was then five years old.

I wonder what Nina thought as she stood there, waiting for the photographer to work his magic.

Tambov, Russia, 1902. My paternal Grandmother's mother, Nina K., poses for a formal portrait. Tatjana wrote on the back of this photo—in Russian and in Lithuanian—"My most sweet mother Nina, photo taken in the year 1902 in the city of Tambov."

Three Generations

My Great-Grandmother, Nina, received permission to leave Soviet Russia to visit her new grandchildren. As far as I know, this is the only time Nina saw my Dad and his twin sister, Jonė, and it is the last time Nina was with her daughter, Tatjana:

Radviliškis, Lithuania, 1923. On the left, Jonė sits on the lap of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, and on the right, my Great-Grandmother holds my Dad. This snapshot probably was taken on the same day as this photo. Dad is still wearing those cute booties.

Tatjana is wearing more modern, 1920s clothing, and Nina is wearing a nineteenth-century styled widow's dress.

This is the oldest photo of the old photo blog.

This image—probably from the 1860s—is not a daguerreotype photo. It is printed on paper.

The photo is in rough shape because it spent over a century folded up in my paternal Grandmother Tatjana's locket.

Russia, about 1860. These are the maternal Grandparents of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana. On the left sits Nikolas, and on the right, his wife, for whom we don’t have a first name.

Nikolas has his right hand tucked into his jacket. He elegantly poises his pinky. His wife has the melancholy, gentle eyes characteristic of the paternal side of my family. She looks like she could have been out shopping with Mary Todd Lincoln.

UPDATE: A little digging revealed that this photo more likely dates from between 1870 and 1874. My Great-Grandmother, Nina K., was born in 1875. This is the wedding potrait of her parents.

I fill in a missing link.

I  don't have many images of my Great-Grandparents, and I've posted most of them here. Early on, I talked about photos of my Mom's maternal Grandparents and her paternal Grandparents.

I also introduced my Dad's maternal Grandparents.

Here is my Dad's paternal Grandfather, Ambrose. He was born in 1838, and I think this photo dates from the late 1870s: 

 

Ambrose, like his son, Vytautas , served in the Russian Imperial Army during the years when Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire. I have two modern-day relatives who are dead ringers for Ambrose.

Here is Ambrose's wife, my Dad's paternal Grandmother, Salomea. She was much younger than Ambrose; she was born in 1859. I believe she sat for this photo in about 1905:

 

When I first saw Salomea's photo, I said, "Check out that fur vest." Next, I thought, "Wow! What an exotic name." I then looked up its meaning. It's a Polish name that means "peace." My name, "Irene," means "peace" in Greek. That's a connection that never came to mind.

I wish my name were "Salomea" instead of "Irene."