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Catherine Riasanoff Grunberg

Vera, Katia's mother, comes from the Tatischeff noble family. Katia's father, Boris Dimitrievitch Riasanoff, is a judge of the peace in the Baltic countries, lawyer in Saint Petersburg and expert in paintings. Katia's grandfather, Dimitri Fedorovitch Riasanoff, an engineer, distinguished himself by building the Troistky Bridge over the Neva. He had married a descendant of the famous pedagogue Pestalozzi.

The Riasanoff family lives in Saint Petersburg and owns an estate in the Saratof department. This vast property with a triangular perimeter was given to Waksel, one of the family's Swedish ancestors, by Catherine the Great as a reward for his work in remote regions of the empire. Legend has it that Waksel received as a gift from the Empress as many square meters as he could cover in a day's walk.

In the fall of 1918, Katia entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Fomin's studio. Out of more than seventy students there are only three girls. The work tables are distributed. While the students were already at work, Katia sa a young man arrive who is desperately looking for somewhere to sit, because all the tables were already occupied. Katia offers him half of her table. A few days later she saw the young man return in the evening. Katia did not take long to learn the name of the young man with the lost look: Volodya Grunberg in fact stands out by attracting the master's wrath because he had neither eraser nor pencil and did not do very well with his copy work. In the spring of 1918, Katia learned of Volodya's arrest. He was then released and arrested again. Katia attended his trial. Emaciated by scurvy, Volodia was painful to wach. Unable to listen to the interrogation, Katia walked away. When she returned, she heard the judge's sentence: “Condemned to the death penalty. » Desperate, the young girl droped her head against the wall while covering her ears. When she finally regained her senses, a dead silence reigns in the room. Then she heard the judge's voice again:

- Given the sincere repentance of the accused, the death sentence is commuted to forced labor. No doubt the judge was trying to impress the public.

Katia was already thinking quickly about how to obtain a reduction in his sentence. But once again his thoughts were interrupted by a new declaration from the judge:

- But given the state of health of the accused, the punishment is waived.

The relief was immense. Volodya was immediately released, and, because of a new decree concerning students, he was also released from his military obligations. On April 25, 1920 Katia married Vladmir Grunberg at the Zaks police station. The religious wedding was celebrated by Father Joltovsky, the Archpriest of the military and naval clergy. On January 6, 1921, the day before Orthodox Christmas, she gave birth to a little girl: Marianne Grunberg. In the fall of 1921, thanks to false papers that she and Volodya had drawn themselves, the whole family emigrated on the Cargo II liner with Austrian prisoners. The family first settled in Berlin, then moved to Paris in 1923.

They moved into a large apartment on Rue Boucicaut with other family members. Thanks to his brother Genia, who worked as an impresario, Volodya created graphics for ballet programs and for a magazine devoted to dance. When Genia left for Nice to shoot the film "Les Misérables", he persuaded his younger brother to follow him with his wife and children, promising him a job as an extra in the film. Volodya had nothing to lose and hoped for more success in Nice. There he found his cousins, Kotik and Bobik, Constantin and Boris. The latter was president of the Society of People of Letters and wrote a book on Turgenev. Katia became a dresser for filming, a job paid with tips; she notably worked for a Franco-German production with Magda Schneider and Edwige Feuillère. Katia will always remember with gratitude the generosity of Madame Schneider, Romy's mother, and was angry with Edwige Feuillère who, despite her promise, forgot to pay her for her services. The family stayed in Nice for a few years, then returned to Paris. In 1931 his son was born, baptized Youlik in memory of his illustrious paternal grandfather.

Katia had 3 brothers, Serge who was a naval officer and emigrated to Canada, Petia who was a musician and remained in Russia, André who was a colonel of the Finnish dragoons, who emigrated to Paris and is buried in the cemetery, and a younger sister Vera who remained in Russia.