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Yuri Ostasenko-Bogdanoff

1928–2012

Born
28 Jan 1928, Saint Petersburg
Country of birth
Soviet Union, today Russia
Died
4 Aug 2012, Saint-Lary
facts
6
sources
1
images and files
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Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Saint Petersburg

    Birth, Saint Petersburg

  2. Child born: Igor Bogdanoff

    Birth, Saint-Lary

  3. Died · Saint-Lary

    Death, Saint-Lary

What was it like?

The world around Saint Petersburg, 1928: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Yuri was born the same year as Andy Warhol, Stanley Kubrick, and Maya Angelou.

Born the same year

  • Andy Warhol

    American artist, film director, and producer (1928–1987)

  • Stanley Kubrick

    American filmmaker and photographer (1928–1999)

  • Maya Angelou

    American poet, author, and civil rights activist (1928–2014)

  • Elie Wiesel

    Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)

  • Che Guevara

    Argentine Marxist revolutionary (1928–1967)

  • Noam Chomsky

    American linguist and activist (born 1928)

Fashion

Factory Uniforms Promoted Equality

In the 1920s, female factory workers often wore navy blue coveralls as a uniform to demonstrate class unity and equality.

Iconic Leather Jackets and Boots

In the 1920s, leather jackets, breeches, and yellow boots were iconic symbols of power and chic for Soviet officials and activists.

Music

Popularity of the Song Bublichki

The urban song Bublichki became highly popular in the Soviet Union during the NEP era, with interest peaking between 1927 and 1930. While many recordings were produced in Europe and America, only one test recording was made within the Soviet Union.

Youth Gatherings and Chastushki Songs

Youth gatherings known as posidelki were common in the autumn-winter, where young people socialized, played games, and performed fast-paced, humorous satirical songs called chastushki. These performances were often accompanied by instruments like the accordion, guitar, or balalaika.

Getting around

Long distance travel times

An express train journey from the Polish border to the Manchurian frontier took eight days, while traveling the length of the Volga River by steamship could take a full week.

Around 1930–1930

Suburban train travel costs and times

In 1930, a train trip from Leningrad to Peterhof took 52 minutes and cost 50 kopecks, with trains running until shortly after midnight.

Daily life

Crowded Communal Living Arrangements

Most urban families lived in communal apartments, where several families shared a single kitchen and bathroom while occupying only one room each. Residents were allotted just 9 square meters per person, leading to severe overcrowding and a lack of privacy.

Rapid Increase in Literacy

Significant progress was made in education, with the literacy rate for those aged 9 and older rising from 51.1 percent in 1926 to 81.2 percent by 1939. Schooling became universally available to children as the state aimed for total literacy.

Food

The staple Soviet diet: bread and tea

Bread, potatoes, and tea were the core of the daily diet, with bread being the primary source of calories for most families. Meat, fish, and dairy were often considered luxuries or were consumed sparingly.

Around 1930–1949

Winter food preservation methods

Families frequently preserved food for winter by salting meat in barrels and storing vegetables like cabbage and cucumbers in cellars. In the countryside, milk was often frozen in containers and stored in cold, unheated hallways during the winter months.

Prices and wages
Around 1925–1926

Worker Budget, 1925-1926

In 1925-1926, a fourth-grade turner earned 90-95 rubles per month, spending 48 rubles on food, 13 on housing, and 4.80 on trams. He could spend no more than 15 rubles monthly on clothing and footwear.

Around 1933–1933

1933 Prices and Wages

In 1933, commercial shops sold black bread for 3 rubles per kilogram and meat for 15 rubles per kilogram, while a skilled worker might earn between 200 and 600 rubles monthly.

Work

Primary Workforce in Agriculture

In the late 1920s, the vast majority of gainfully occupied people worked in agriculture, with over 60 million people employed in that sector. Industry and construction combined accounted for less than 6 million workers.

Uninterrupted Production Schedules

To maximize production, the state introduced an uninterrupted work week in 1928 where factories operated continuously, organized into three shifts. Workers typically worked seven-hour days for four days followed by one rest day.

News and letters
Around 1914–1922

Unreliable mail delivery in rural villages

In rural areas, mail was often handled by parish clerks who did not always prioritize delivery, and small villages might receive mail only once a week or purely by chance.

Around 1914–1919

Wartime delays in postal delivery

During the First World War, logistical issues sometimes caused significant delays, such as a letter between nearby towns taking 10 days to travel only 26 versts because it was routed through a regional center.

During their lifetime

  1. 1932

    Collectivization Causes Great Famine

    Stalin initiated forced collectivization, which led to a catastrophic famine that killed millions of people.

  2. 1941

    German Invasion of USSR

    Germany invaded the Soviet Union, leading to the Great Patriotic War and the loss of approximately 27 million lives.

  3. 1944

    Women gain voting rights in 1944

    In October 1944, a government ordinance finally granted women the right to vote in France.

  4. 1950

    Creation of the minimum wage

    In 1950, the government established the minimum wage (SMIG) to improve workers' purchasing power.

  5. 1956

    Third week of paid vacation

    In 1956, French workers were granted a third week of paid vacation, significantly increasing their leisure time.

  6. 1967

    Legalization of the contraceptive pill

    The 1967 Neuwirth Law legalized the contraceptive pill, allowing women greater control over family planning.

Family

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.