Family History

Victorian-WWI-Revolution

This is my Maternal Great grandfather – Konon Ustinovich Sheetik (also can be spelled Konan or Conan, or Conon). He was born in 1874 in a possibly Polish family of a poor nobleman. The family legend states that Ustin had around 10 children and one day he was angry with Konon and threw a knife at him at a dinner table and Konon got up and walked off never to be seen again by the rest of the family. There is a possibility that some of them settled in Danzig.

Konon being only a youth made his way to the capital -St.Petersburg, where he became an apprentice to the pharmacist. Alone in unfamiliar city he made a good life for himself.

In 1896 (on October 3) Konon enlisted in the army. He became apprentice to the feldsher (surgeon-barber or nurse practitioner in modern terms) and served in prestigious Life Guard Finland Regiment. From 1899-1902 he was a part of Russian Red Cross Medical Company that set out to help in Anglo-Boer War. This information is very new to me and I came across it in records of Russian involvement in Anglo-Boer War. This is the source, and an incredible one at that – Russians In South Africa.

It appears that he brought back a Smith & Wesson revolver. My mother heard many stories about Konon’s work as a physician after the Russian-Japaneese War, and one of them (told by his wife Maria, who I have memories off) involved him sleeping a revolver in the pocket of his rich fur coat as he was making a late night house call in St.Petersburg.

Konon finally received his education as the physician. It seems that after his military career, he worked as a physician for Prince Obolenski’s family, which later on would not be favorable for him as the Communists would come to power.

At some point Great Granddad married my Great Grandma – Maria.


Maria

She was probably from a peasant class or a provincial burger class, but she was very beautiful and she could write. This picture is inscribed on the back in her hand: “To my parents from their daughter, to remember”.

They had Vladimir (Waldemar) – my grandfather, Anatole, Iya (Ludmila) and Tamara. My grandfather Vladimir was the youngest.