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1. Introduction
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Daniel Klionsky (living in San Francisco) has been in communication with newly-discovered Klionskys in Russia. A Klionsky granddaughter in St. Petersburg, Esther Shapiro, has been collecting her Klionsky-family information.
Esther has established that her family is related to the artist Marc Klionsky, and thus to all of Marc's other known Klionsky relatives.
Thanks to the work of Daniel and Esther, the good memories of some of Esther's old relatives, and the prominence of Marc in the international art world (so that all Klionskys try to figure out how they are related to him), here are facts that have recently come to light.
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2. Liza "Elizaveta" Klionsky's story
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Liza, Soviet Russia c. 1930s
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An old relative of Esther's named Liza "Elizaveta" Klionsky (around 90 years old) lives in St Petersburg, Russia.
She was born and lived much of her life in Borisov, and she remembers there a Mendel Klionsky, son of Gershon.
She says that Mendel was the first cousin of her father Zalman-Eli, and knows that Mendel is the grandfather of the artist Marc (who emigrated to NYC around 1973).
Since Zalman-Eli and Mendel were first cousins, both named Klionsky, their fathers would have been brothers.
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The family tree that includes Liza can be found at the following URL:
Esther Shapiro family tree
That tree was supplied by Esther Shapiro and translated by Daniel Klionsky.
Esther is daughter of Meruta Ketzlakh, granddaughter of Mina-Leya Klionsky Krupkin, great-granddaughter of Man Klionsky, and great-great granddaughter of Note Klionsky (born 1824).
Liza is the granddaughter of one of Note's brothers, making Esther's grandmother a second cousin of Liza.
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3. Nathan Klionsky's story
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Another one of Esther's relatives named Boris Klionsky is first cousin of her mother's and a second cousin of Liza. (Boris now lives in Israel; he son of Nathan, grandson of Man and great-grandson of Note).
He reports that his father (who died in 1996) told him on multiple occations that Marc Klionsky, the painter, was his 3rd cousin.
That relationship suggests that the great grandfathers (Note and Gershon) of Boris and Marc were brothers.
This implies the same relationships identified by Liza - that her grandfather (name Unknown1), Note, and Gershon were brothers.
From other known family relationships, we previously knew that Gershon had brothers Yisroel Yitzhak, Zalman Mordecai, and Unknown2 (father of Girsha). [It is possible that Unknown1 and Unknown2 will prove to be the same person, as both are known to have sons named Girsha.]
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Nathan, Soviet Russia, c. 1936 |
[Reader's caution: If you know a Boris Klionsky, don't get confused. There are at least 4 other living Boris Klionsky men in Esther's family, and at least one more from another family not (yet) known to be related. There was also another Mendel aka Mark; son of Zalman Mordecai, and several other Mark Klionsky men other than the artist Marc.]
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4. Marina Kitaina's story
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Marina Kitain in Moscow, 2005
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Marc Klionsky in NYC, 2005
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Esther has also been in contact with Marina Kitaina, granddaughter of Mendel (and Marc's first cousin).
Esther learned from Marina that Mendel had a small bakery in Borisov, and that Mendel's lived on the same square in Borisov (near the church) as Man Klionsky's father Note.
While this fact does not help establish the connection between these families, it is an interesting introduction to photos of that square on our www.klionsky.org website :
church
map
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5. Matching names
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A relationship had previously been highly suspected between Esther's known relatives and Marc's known relatives because of the high correspondance of given names.
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On the following name list, the first two entries were previously known to be brothers and related to Esther; the next four were known to be brothers and related to Marc.
Those two grouping were not know to be related to each other. (Other names without family resonance aren't listed.)
- Note (wife Mina): sons: Zalman, Man, Wolf
grandchildren: Girsha, Isaac, Chaim, Leib, Eliahu, Mina-Leya, Nathan
- Unknown1: sons: Zalman-Eli, Girsha, Mendel, Berl, Shmerl
grandchildren: Nota, Liza
- Unknown2: son: Girsha
grandchildren: Don, Lisa
great grandchildren: Mark, Gerta
- Yisroel Yitzhak: son Berko (=Berl/DovBehr/Barnett)
- Zalman Mordecai: sons: Mendel/Mark, Berl/Barnet, Shimon, Israel
grandchildren hebrew names: Zalman, Chaim, Beryl, Mordecai, Minnie, Shmuil
- Gershon: sons: Mendel, Shmuil
grandsons: Wolf, Gershen
great grandsons: Mark, Marc
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| August 3, 2005 |
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