In late 1917, Valentin Andreyevich Shugaevsky, bought two tickets from St. Petersburg to Chernigov, the town in Ukraine where he was born. Valentin was thirty-three years old and an employee of the Ministry of Finance where he had recently been appointed as Head of the Salary Department. In his spare time he worked in the Numismatics Department of the Hermitage Museum classifying coins. It is unknown whether he received any income from his work at the Hermitage.
Traveling with Valentin was Polina Grigorievna Kunashova, a seventeen year old student who grew up in St Petersburg and whose father owned an embroidery establishment there. Polina had tuberculosis and the winter weather in St Petersburg was especially difficult for her. The couple was in love and Valentin convinced Polina to live with his mother and complete her education in Chernigov where the winters were much milder. At least this is the story that was passed down.
As it turns out, the situation was much more complex. After three years of war the Russian economy was in shambles, food and fuel was scarce and expensive in St. Petersburg. These shortages along with dissatisfaction with the war led to civic unrest. In February the Tsar was forced to abdicate and in October the Bolsheviks took over the government in a violent coup. The couple would be leaving this mayhem.
The Ministry of Finance where Valentin worked resisted dealing with the Bolsheviks and it must have been a stressful time for Valentin as events played out. As fate would have it, Valentin’s father, Andrei Stefanovich, passed away shortly after the Bolsheviks took control. Valentin received permission for a leave of absence so that he could visit his mother. The timing of his father’s death would provide cover for Valentin later on when Bolshevik functionaries looked at his work history.
We don’t know how Valentin and Polina met. Valentin was almost twice Polina’s age and from a different class. We can assume that timing of their decision to leave St Petersburg was brought about by the circumstances at hand and was probably rushed. Whether she left with her parent’s blessing is unknown.
When Valentin and Polina left St Petersburg, no one knew that the Bolsheviks would be in control for over seventy years. Valentin may have thought that he might be back soon to work for a less radical government. As far as we know, Valentin never returned to St. Petersburg.
Notes:
In 1914 the city of St Petersburg was renamed Petrograd and it remained Petrograd until it was renamed Leningrad in 1924.
Chernigov is the Russian name for the city where Valentin grew up. The Ukrainian name is Chernihiv.
The revolutions are traditionally named according to the Julian Calendar which was in use in Russia till 1918. By 1917 most of the world had switched to the Gregorian Calendar which we use today.
The Hall of Coins and Medals.
The Hermitage Museum has one of the most famous art collections in the world.
It also has over 1 million coins and medals.