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Serge Obolensky

Pushkin, 9 Oct 1890 – Grosse Pointe Farms, 29 Sep 1978

9 facts2 sources

Facts and their sources

  • Born9 Oct 1890, Pushkinor 20 Sep 1890Records disagree1 source
  • Died29 Sep 1978, Grosse Pointe Farmsnot verified1 source
  • FatherPlaton Obolenskynot verified1 source
  • MotherMariya Naryshkinanot verified1 source

A life in time

  1. 9 Oct 1890

    Born in Pushkin

  2. 29 Sep 1978

    Dies in Grosse Pointe Farms, aged 87

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

During his lifetime

He lived through 9 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Pushkin.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1890s · Serge is born in Pushkin

Who governed

What people wore

Rubber overshoes as rural status symbols

Rubber overshoes became a huge fashion trend in villages; people would wear them even in 30-degree summer heat just to show them off while attending church.

Getting around

Peasant Travel by Foot and Cart

For ordinary people like peasants, traveling to the nearest town was rare, often done on foot or by horse pulling a cart in summer or a sleigh in winter. Travelers carried simple food like bread, dried crusts, and vegetables, sometimes sleeping under their cart during the journey.

At the table

Peasant diet: bread, cabbage soup, and kvass

Peasant diets centered on rye bread, cabbage soup (shchi), and various porridges, with meat being a rare luxury reserved for holidays like Christmas or Easter. Ordinary families primarily drank water, kvass—a fermented beverage made from rye bread—or occasionally tea on special occasions.

The cinema. In a Paris café the Lumière brothers showed films to a paying audience for the first time.Around the world · 1895

The cinema. In a Paris café the Lumière brothers showed films to a paying audience for the first time.

Unknown authorUnknown author · public domain

In the news1891–1903

Trans-Siberian Railway Construction Begins

The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway began in 1891, eventually connecting distant parts of the empire and opening new economic opportunities.

Music

New popular song style: chastushki

Chastushki, which were short four-line rhyming couplets, emerged as a creative and popular new song genre among the youth in the late nineteenth century.

Daily life

Log cabins with multifunctional ovens

Peasant homes were typically log cabins with a large brick oven that served for both heating and cooking, and in many families, as a sleeping area. By the late 19th century, most homes were still heated black, meaning smoke escaped into the room or through the door, rather than through a chimney.