My great-grandfather Ivan Ermakov lived at the end of XIX – beginning of the XX century. His life was surrounded by mysteries and puzzles, and very little was known about it. His daughters left one-sided and contradictory memories of him. I have asked family history investigator Mr. Peter Rempel to try to shed light on his life story. Mr. Rempel conducted an investigation in many Russian archives and, like a detective, he was able to reconstruct the extraordinary and dramatic life path of my great-grandfather Ivan. He came from a peasant family and was recruited as a soldier. After his army service he made an astonishing career in Astrakhan, both before and after the Bolshevik revolution. He became the second person in the Astrakhan gubernia (province) after the governor, investigated and fought widespread criminal practices at the province administration, faced and repelled false accusations and at some point even threatened the governor and demanded compensation from his administration. Even more remarkable was his life in the early Soviet time. Despite his pre-revolution career, he became a trusted member of the local Soviet administration, and he even met Stalin and Kalinin in person concerning Astrakhan district matters. Peter Rempel has revealed many details and first-hand documentary evidence of this uncommon life story. He has also traced the life paths of Ivan’s ancestors over 400 years, starting from the 16th century, and found among other their grievance letters which tell about their household, disobedience to authorities, aspirations and worries. These ancestors, who have long been forgotten, became for me lively characters with their own personalities. Mr. Rempel has described all his findings in a thick nice book (in Russian), which guides the reader through my family history. I am very thankful to him for this!

Alex Ermakov