Forever Russian

I am Prince Yuri Yurevitch Obolensky. At this writing I am ninety years old, and this is the story of my life. I am descended from a well-known and ancient noble Russian family, who traces its origins back to the Varangian Chieftain Rurik, founder of the Rurik Dynasty which ruled over Kievan-Rus and Muscovy from 862 until the 16th century (CE). Rurik can quite arguably be called the first Tsar. By the end of the 19th century, my family was well ensconced in Russian society as part of the ruling elite, controlling great wealth and vast country estates. In 1917, however, the entire social order was turned on its head and many of my family were forced into exile as a result of the Bolshevik Revolution. Although some biographical facts are inevitable, the fiirst part of my account begins with two people very dear to my heart, namely my uncle Michael Obolensky, my father's older brother, and his wife Anna. They were a happily married couple, both of noble Russian lineages, whose carefree and oppulant existence in tsarist St. Petersburg changed drastically with the 1917 Revolution. This horrendous event put their personal lives in danger and eventually forced them to flee their cherished fatherland never to return They decided to settle in the south of France, where I joined them in 1930 when I was ten years old and where I remained under their affectionate care and guardianship throughout my teens.