The Russian Album

by Michael Ignatieff

Winner of the Royal Society of Literature Award

In The Russian Album, Michael Ignatieff chronicles five generations of his Russian family, beginning in 1815. Drawing on family diaries, on the contemplation of intriguing photographs in an old family album, and on stories passed down from father to son, he comes to terms with the meaning of his family's memories and histories. Focusing on his grandparents, Count Paul Ignatieff and Princess Natasha Mestchersky, he recreates their lives before, during, and after the Russian Revolution.

Genres: Russia, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Memoir, Canada, World War I

224 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2001

About the author

Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a historian, Ignatieff has held senior academic posts at the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, Harvard University and the University of Toronto.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ignatieff constructs a bittersweet family history stretching back to his illustrious ancestors in service to Russian tsars, through the revolution and into exile, ultimately landing in Canada. Their eminence resulted in ample record, historical and personal. The Russia Album is centered in Ignatieff’s grandparents who, sadly, died before he was born. The research and the emotional effort that went into this undertaking couldn’t have been easy. Ignatieff brings alive the end of the Romanoff dynasty through real people he is connected to who were actually there. He writes from a North American perspective, which adds to the accessibility of the book. I only wish for more. I’ll have to Google him to see if he at least posted more from the family album.

Significantly, Ignatieff did not learn Russian from his parents. He is remarkably dispassionate about the wreckage of the Russian Revolution. He is passionate, intimidated even, about getting his family story right. He presents them as flawed, talented, ambitious individuals who were very much a product of their class and time. He contrasts himself as a relatively untethered creator of his future.

This book makes me want to read family histories written by descendants whose ancestors stayed in the USSR. It also makes me sad that I didn’t get to know my great grandparents, who emigrated from Poland, better. They never really learned English, nor did they bring many documents. No photos. I did make it back to their villages in eastern Poland before my grandfather, their oldest son, died. The change in 3 generations of part of my family is astounding and humbling. They escaped poverty, WWI and communism. Now I have a healthy, comfortable existence in gorgeous, warm San Francisco. Immigrants. We still need them.

[Ana-Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting approach to history of the family, by integrating personal memories with memoirs, photos and factual history. Michael Ignatieff (yep, he is currently the rector of CEU) is kinda burdened by his family's historical figures, so he decides to explore their lives. Mostly, he talks about his paternal grandparents, but he goes even deeper in his history and explores also briefly the lives of his uncles. His writing style is very simple and easy to read, making it an enjoyable read.

[Jeanneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een familiegeschiedenis die zich afspeelt in Rusland ten tijde van de tsaren en de Russische revolutie.
De schrijver wil niet romantiseren en is bij de feiten gebleven maar het leest niet als een opsomming. Wat echt gebeurd is heeft in dit geval geen romantiseren nodig.
Ik vond het heerlijk om te lezen.

[Harmke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vluchten is ingrijpend. Ook volgende generaties merken de gevolgen. Je ziet het verdriet bij je (groot)ouders, je hebt weinig of heel andere familiefoto’s. Ignatieff heeft het verhaal van zijn grootouders op papier gezet, op basis van het Russische familiealbum met foto’s en de verhalen van zijn ooms en vader.

Ignatieff wilde het verhaal over het Russische verleden van zijn familie waar nauwelijks over gesproken werd op papier zetten. Zodat zijn kinderen en neefjes en nichtjes en iedereen daarna weet waar zij ooit vandaan zijn gekomen: “Maar ik wil de weg gebakend en verlicht achterlaten, zodat zij net als ik de voor hen liggende duisternis tegemoet kunnen reizen, zeker van de weg achter zich. (p. 290).”

Mijn leeservaring lees je nu op Harmkes Leestips.

[Bas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schitterende verkenning van het leven van de Russische grootouders van de auteur. Zijn voorzaten behoorden tot de hoogste kringen van het Russische rijk en dit boek koppelt hun persoonlijke leven mooi aan de wereldgeschiedenis. Kwam in het eerste hoofdstuk ietwat langzaam op gang, maar werd met name tijdens de gedwongen vlucht uit Rusland af en toe een echte ‘pageturner’.
Een grappig toeval was dat ik met dit boek wederom in Kislovodsk terechtkwam, waar ik vorige week met Ali en Nino ook al was.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just my sort of book - a moving but unsentimental look at Ignatieff’s aristocratic family who fled Russia in the aftermath of the revolution. Given his historian background there are also lots of interesting and intelligent thoughts about how much (or even if) his own identity is bound up in that of his forefathers. For various reasons (much of them thanks to the an indomitable English nanny) the story is not quite as tragic as others you may read but of course there is still a wistfulness for a world lost even alongside the pragmatism of a family determined to get by in their new circumstances.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Ingnatieff has written a uniquely fascinating personal yet biographical account of his famous Russian family -- a family whose service to the Tsar and Russia was enormously important, yet a family cast aside as Revolution reshaped the Russia they had dedicated their lives to bettering. He details the accomplishments of his famous (and not so famous) relatives and also ponders the family's outcome following their exile after the Russian Revolution in 1917. All the while, he tells their stories through his genealogical rediscovery of his family's past through close examination of family photos, artifacts, and interviews. He also breaks through the wall of impassive biographer with his personal reflection of his own life and how his genealogical research impacts him.

As I am also descendant of prominent Russian emigres who fled Russia during this same period, I was particularly interested in this book. Ingnatieff has written a deeply personal book to him in The Russian Album, but also one that resonates with other genealogists, like me, who are searching for their families' past through the wreckage of revolution and refugee status that irreparably tore our Russian families asunder. I deeply admire what Ignatieff has written with this book and believe that other genealogists, historians, and biography enthusiasts will find this to be a rewarding read.

[Alexander Vreede · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een geweldige en zeer leesbare geschiedenis van 5 generaties van 2 Russische families. Middelpunt zijn de beide grootouders van de schrijver die een belangrijke rol speelden in de gebeurtenissen voor en rond 1917.
Een boek dat ik met heel veel plezier heb gelezen.

[Melina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A masterful first chapter. Then, a narrative of larger than life characters that shaped part of Russia´s history. Interesting but at times too anecdotical imho. Towards the end, with the meetings with the surviving members of his Russian family and the visit to his family´s original lands the book recovers part of its human sensitivity that made it interesting in the first place. Well written, amicable, entertaining.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know how to put what I felt when I was reading the book. Sad, angry, confused a whole lot of emotions I had. Maybe later on I will change my mind about the 3 stars but at this point in time that is what I feel I need to give it. I know that this isn't really a review but it is the best I can do at the present time.

[Marie Josell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting mix of a family history and their place in the greater world history. The author seems to have wanted to make peace with his family's past and it seems he did in the end. Well written, I would recommend.

[Misha Herwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read. Michael Ignatieff tells the story of his family's journey from Imperial Russia to Canada using family photographs as his starting point. The complexities of relationships are explored and a series of strong characters drawn which give the book depth and resonance.

[Sandra Smit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goed boek. Voor mij iets te veel over de oorlogen en posities van z’n grootouders. Ik had meer van het nabije verleden van z’n ooms willen weten. Nadat ze uit Rusland weg waren. Dus het laatste hoofdstuk had echt mijn interesse. Goed geschreven. 3 1/2 sterren.

[Rob Melich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A family memoir that reminds us of the relationship of the individual and historic change, in this case the Russian revolution.
Anyone looking for a template to write a family memoir would benefit from this book. The closing paragraph sums up the challenge of writing a family story.

[Paul Juniper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

[gomma rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice perspective, narrative is quite captivating at times. I enjoyed this book

[Juliette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving and highly interesting family memoir. Well written and it really gives you an insight on their personal lives: before, during and after the revolution.

[Vivie W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything a book should be

[Jessica-sim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het is belangrijk om terug te kijken èn om verder te kijken dan onze neus lang is. Als je de ander geheel te begrijpt, is er geen noodzaak meer voor haat (en oorlog…)

[Bárbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,8.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed family memoir of the author's grandparents and their role in Russia in the early 20th century. Reads like a larger than life detective story. Superbly researched

[Coalbanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The past has no hold on Michael Ignatieff, his ancestors do not govern his future or guide his path as had been the case for previous generations. His grandfather was set on his path by his parentage & the patronage/favour which that parentage bestowed uopon him - the flaws in the Tsarist regime & Bolsheviek Revolution changed everything for him, his family & thier descendants. Michael Ignatieff, one generation removed from that history & not too encumbered by the prestige of his impressive maternal lineage, has been free to make his own way and has done so with no small sucess so far. Now for that short walk across the aisle in the House...

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important statement about valuing inter-generational communication and history. Ignatieff undertook to write an entire history of his grandparents, who he had known, to know them better and understand who he is in terms of his history. Of interest to young or middle-aged parents who wonder of what use extended family are, and are used to ignoring anyone not in their own nuclear family. People say "Go forward or stand still"...sometimes it's helpful to see who you came from, and care about them.

[Arthur Hessel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating search by a Canadian writer and journalist into the past of his father's ultra-aristocratic Russian family. His great great grandfather helped lead the Russian army into Napolean's Paris, his fascinating great-grandfather helped determine the Russo-Chinese border, served as Russian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and wrote the anti-Jewish legislation of Alexander III. His grandfather was Nicholas II's Minister of Education. A tour through Russian history from a unique perspective.

[Denis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The power of memories, of exile, of what's been lost... Ignatieff, whose family has left Russia during the Revolution, has written a very elegiac, nostalgic remembrance about family and the country that has disappeared. It's beautifully written, with emotion but without embarrassing sentimentality, and it does capture the elusive quality of fleeting memories and of what's gone forever.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow going through the first chapter, but afterwards a fascinating story of a family experiencing the end of the Russian Empire and a new beginning in Canada. As a fan of Nicholas and Alexandra, I found this a more personal and sympathetic story. It captured and held my interest.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another one of the books I had leftover from a class in my undergraduate studies assigned to read. I held on to it for 6 years after graduating and then finally delved in. I loved reading all about Mr. Ignatieff's family and the sacrifices and journeys they endured. Fascinating read.

[Lanell · Rating 4 out of 5]

this man wanted to write the story of his Russian grandparents. this is a good picture of life in Russia before the Bolsheviks took over.

[Ibis3]

Edition irrelevant.

[Ruth Zaryski Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this family history memoir and strongly recommend it. Beautifully written, spare, with lingering detail and magical depiction of characters, times and places we can only imagine. Read it!