Steve's History Website
my family's journey through time
Shugaevsky Family
Part 5 (Stefan's Sons)
Stefan's Children (recap from Part 2)
Click on images to enlarge.
Stefan and his wife, Efrosenia, had two girls and two boys. Sophia was born 1840, Olga in 1844, Andrei in 1846, and Pavel in 1849. I assume that all of the children were born in Chernihiv or nearby, as Stefan worked a priest in Chernihiv starting in 1839. This page mostly contains what I've uncovered about Andrei who was my mother's grandfather. First, there are a few details about Pavel
Pavel Stefanovich, born 1849
Like their father Stefan, Andrei and Pavel attended the Chernigov Theological Seminary. Andrei graduated in 1867 and Pavel in 1871. Right now I don’t have much more information about Pavel other than he worked for the Noble’s Land Bank (description below). There is no information about what Pavel did between his graduation in 1871 and the founding of the land bank in 1885.
From the English Language Wikipedia article Noble's Land Bank
Nobles' Land Bank (Russian: Дворянский земельный банк) was a bank operating in the Russian Empire founded in 1885. The bank was created to provide cheap loans to Russian landed nobility as the mortgages of their estates.
According to a Russian language Wikipedia article (source: click here), the land bank was located in St. Petersburg. When my Great-Uncle Leonid was emigrating to the United States, he claimed that his uncle, Pavel Shugaevsky, in St. Petersburg was his closest relative.
The compiler of the Genealogy Book of Chernigov Landed Gentry, 1901 didn’t include any wife for Pavel. On one internet searching trip I found one more document referencing Pavel, also from 1901. It is in the St. Petersburg directory for that year directory. I was hesitant to but a good copy from a Russian language web site, but here is a fuzzy screen shot.
Its from https://arc.familyspace.ru/archive/Sankt_peterburg_1901_3/p665.
After the last name are abbreviations for Pavel and Stefanovich. Then there is what may be an address. The Noble's Land Bank spelled with abbreviations. No wife is listed.
In 1903, my grandfather, Valentin, moved to St. Petersburg to attend school. Valentin's brother showed up in 1904 for the same purpose. Unfortunately we have no personal stories from this period.
Chernihiv Theological Seminary
Andrei and Pavel attended the same school that their father went to. Below are a few selections from seminary class lists. Only sections that contained a “Shugaevsky” are shown - the classes had more students than shown below and had up to three ranks (levels of achievement). Besides Andrei and Pavel, there is a Nikolai and an Ivan Shugaevsky who may not be closely related.
Andrei graduated at the top of his class and continued his education for free in Kiev. After my mom translated notes from Valentin, I deduced that “Kiev DA” after Andrei’s name stood for Kiev Dukhovnaya Akademiya (Kiev Theological Academy). More on this below.
Pavel graduated four years later and was also in Rank 1. The list was translated using Google Translate.
Yezersky Alexander
Vasyutinsky Fedor
Baradulin Ivan
Smirnov Ivan
Vinitsky Michael
Puchkovsky Ivan
Pinevsky Nikolay
Mozolevsky Dimitri
1871
Rank 1:
Obukhovsky Ivan
Lachinsky Theodore
Chernyshev Alexey
Volkovich Ivan
Mikhail Fotiev
Vinogradsky Vasily
Korovkevich Vasily
Prigarovsky Andrey
Krushovsky Peter
Romaskevich Moses
Shugaevsky Pavel
Nikolsky Michael
Byalyatsky Ivan
Maksimovich Vasily
Maksimovich Nikolay
Maksimovich Mikhail
Gorbyk Alexey
Grabovsky Ivan
Levitsky Stefan
1881
Eliminated before the end of the course:
From class V:
Dismissed by petition:
Rklitsky Nikolay
Sindarovsky Michael
Shugaevsky Ivan
1884
Retired to the Diocesan Office:
Rank 2:
Yakubovich Michael
Nechaev Vladimir
Golovinsky Nikolay
Fedorov Dimitri
Pomerantsev Ivan
Koritsky Vsevolod
Mogilevsky Nikolay
Chikilevsky Konstantin
Slusarevsky Vasily
Pavel Martirov
Stopkevich Arkady
Vinitsky Isidore
Christmas Dimitri
Mayarovsky Mikhail
Shugaevsky Nikolay
Lebedev Stefan
Nikiforov Paramon
Korolev Peter
Sindarovsky George
Dobrogaev Ivan
Graduates of the Chernigov Theological Seminary 1867-1871, 1874-1911
1867
Rank 1
Shugaevsky Andrei - appointed to the Kiev DA to the government account
Sluchevsky Peter - assigned to the Kiev DA to the government account
Slyusarevsky Mitrofan
Verikotsky Ivan
Obukhovsky Vasily
Krylovsky Alexander
Velyatsky, Ivan Grigorievich
Mikhail Lubentsov
Mozolevsky Evgraf - appointed to the Kiev DA as a volunteer
Stakhevich Andrey - appointed to the Kiev DA as a volunteer
Old post card of Chernihiv Theological Seminary. Source: click here
Another post card of the seminary.
Source: click here
Chernihiv College. I think this is the same school but it was rebuilt. I don't know thge history.
An old sketch of the school
For a Russian language Wikipedia article about Chernigov Theological Seminary click here.
For an English language article from the Encyclopedia of Ukraine click here
A Russian language web site about the reestablished school that also has some historical detail: click here.
Andrei and Pavel were fortunate to be able to attend school in their home town. Seminary took six years and was free. Many students left after four years to attend university (more on this below). Since the brothers both graduated (at about twenty-one years of age) they must have completed all six years. Andrei went to on to study in Kiev. I don’t know if Pavel continued his studies.
More on Chernihiv Theological Seminary and Their Education (some background for the history buffs – others can go to the next page)
Part of writing this history involves background research to understand what life was like at the time and what choices my ancestors had. In researching education in the Russian Empire I found that English language sources don’t have the specifics I’m looking for and Russian language sources on the internet are brief and need to be translated.
The educational system in the Russian Empire had some similarities to western Europe, but was very different than anything in the United States. One problem is that with a single decree from the Tsar, the educational system could change overnight. As shown below, this occurred soon after Andrei and Pavel graduated.
When Andrei and Pavel went to seminary, it was a route to higher education at a secular university. Like a gymnasium, it was an advanced secondary school. One reason to go to seminary instead of another school might be location. Another important one was cost – I believe it was free. It was also open to students of all classes. Many of the students in seminaries were sons of priests.
From a Russian language Wikipedia article on seminaries
(Source: click here)
In 1814-1818, the reform of theological schools in the Russian Empire was undertaken, as a result of which the seminaries became equal to the gymnasiums in their status , while the academies were the highest religious institutions. Until the end of the 1870s, the graduates of the seminaries had free access to higher educational institutions , along with the gymnasium students; then this access was closed.
Training in seminaries was free, and orphans and children of poor parents were accepted for state support. The course of study was six years. In the seminary, young people of Orthodox confession were accepted from all classes, both those who had already studied in other educational institutions and had received home education; for admission to the 1st grade was set age from 14 to 18 years. Theological sciences prevailed in the seminary course, but the general education sciences that were part of the course of classical gymnasiums were also taught in considerable amounts.
There is some valuable information and many humorous anecdotes in the memoir of a priest, Matvey Polonsky, who also attended Chernihiv Theological Seminary. He had planned to enter a university, but had to change his plans. To remedy a shortage of priests, the university access for seminary students became very limited. This is probably why Andrei’s three sons, Valentin, Leonid, and Anatoly, did not attend the seminary. This change took place after Andrei and Pavel graduated.
Matvey covers many details I don’t include here: what they ate (mostly borscht), what the school day was like, what the classes were like, pranks, and more. Unfortunately, the computer translation is difficult to understand.
Source: click here
…in Russia there were a lot of parishes without priests.The mass of seminarians, having graduated from the 4th grade of the seminary, went to the university, and the smallest part remained for the 5-6th classes of theology. In the Chernigov seminary in 1878, in the 4th grade there were 86 pupils in 2 departments, and for the 5th grade only 14 remained; 72 people went to university.