Oberon author's first book has family memoir down in black and white

Eugenia Miroshnikoff's family history is dotted with struggles through the generations during some of history's most turbulent times.

It could be the backdrop for a best-selling historical work of non-fiction, but that's not what prompted Eugenia to get her family memoirs down in black and white.

What sets her moving, historical, award nominated literature apart from many others set in the 20^th century is that this book is a true story penned in rural NSW.

Eugenia, who lives just outside Oberon in the Central Tablelands, hopes that by writing The Matryoshka Doll, her family past will not be forgotten.

Related reading:

"I'm one of the few people left alive who remember the stories handed down in our family," she said.

"I want my children and grandchildren to know their ancestors and I want the story of my ancestors to be told."

The Matryoshka Doll begins in Russia before the 1917 Revolution.

Eugenia's grandfather was a Russian Imperial Colonel, Ivan Georgievitch Savin, and he and his family had what Eugenia describes as an idyllic life.

All that changed when her family was swept into the ravages of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War that followed.

Ivan fought in the White Army against the Bolsheviks, so when the Russian royal family was murdered and political and social reforms led to the formation of the Soviet Union, that put a target on the family.

With the downfall of Imperial Russia, Ivan and his family fled Russia.

The family settled in Harbin, China, but not before family members were lost during the arduous journey which left three children destitute.

Eugenia said Harbin at that time was one of the largest Russian cities outside Russia.

Eugenia's father's family had already moved to Harbin from Russia just before the start of the Russian revolution.

Later, as communism reached Harbin when the Soviet Russian Army liberated Harbin from Japanese rule, the family fled to Brazil.

This time it was the next generation, Eugenia's parents, escaping with their children.

"I have vivid memories of China even though I was only very young at the time," she said.

"Family members ask me how I remember so much when I was so young, but I just do.

"I think even though I was a child and our parents tried to protect us from what was happening, we were aware something was wrong."

Even though she was born in China, Eugenia said she was brought up Russian with pre-revolutionary morals and philosophies.

"Russian people in Harbin believed one day the Russia they once loved would be restored and they would return to pick up their lives as before," she said.

As a result, they were taught Russian history and orthodoxy at school in preparation for their return as the new generation.

Even during their time in Brazil, where Eugenia completed much of her schooling, her Russian heritage and ancestry was celebrated.

A decade later, communism became a threat in Brazil.

"My mother, Tatiana, was the one that had the strength to organise for us to flee and find sanctuary somewhere safe," she said.

"At the age of 14, I left my beloved Brazil behind, and I am confronted by a new country with foreign customs."

Eugenia couldn't speak a word of English when her family landed in Brisbane, Queensland.

"It was difficult and, after a short period at an Australian school, I told my mother I was not going back," she said.

Those early days living with her family in Brisbane's Woolloongabba are a far cry from the person Eugenia is today.

She has three adult children of her own, grandchildren, is retired from a successful career in the finance industry, and speaks English like an Australian who was born here.

She said what stood out while writing the book was that right across her ancestry, it's the women who give strength to the family when times appear dire.

"It's interesting how the women are the ones that step up and continue the family legacy," Eugenia said.

Eugenia said the death of her grandparents had a tremendous effect on her mother.

"As an orphan, she was often mistreated, but she never lost her sense of justice, fairness and kindness," she said.

Eugenia said qualities such as justice, fairness and kindness, which are so prevalent in rural Australia give her hope for the future.

She said typical of all country towns, she found the people in Oberon were so lovely.

"They just embraced me and I just love it here," she said.

Even when world politics are unstable and leaders behave badly, she said the values of the wider population such as those in the country areas seems to eventually bring the world back into equilibrium.

Subscribers have access to download our free app today from the App Store or Google Play