Eufrosinia Antonovna Kersnovskaya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1908-01-08)8 January 1908 |
| Died | 8 March 1994(1994-03-08) (aged 86) |
| Parent(s) | Anton Antonovich Kersnovski-sr. (died in 1936-1939) and Alexandra Alekseevna Kersnovskaya (née Karavasili) (1878 – 17 january 1964) |
| Relatives | Anton Antonovich Kersnovski (brother) (1905 – 24 June 1944) |
| Website | http://www.gulag.su |
Eufrosinia Antonovna Kersnovskaya (Russian:Евфроси́ния Анто́новна Керсно́вская; 8 January 1908[1] – 8 March 1994[2]) was a Russian woman who spent 12 years inGulag camps and wrote her memoirs in 12 notebooks, 2,200,000 characters, accompanied with 680 pictures.
She wrote three copies of the work. In 1968, friends typedsamizdat copies, repeating the pictures on the back sides of the sheets. Excerpts from the work were first published inOgonyok andZnamya magazines in 1990, as well as inThe Observer (June 1990). After that,German andFrench publications followed. In 2001 the complete text, in six volumes, was published inRussia.
Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya was born inOdessa to a family ofRussian gentry. During theRussian Civil War the family moved to their estate inBessarabia to becomefarmers. Bessarabia was soonunited withRomania.
In 1940, Bessarabia was annexed by theSoviet Union, and the Kersnovskaya family (Eufrosinia and her mother) were oppressed as formerlandowners. In June 1941 shewas deported to Siberia as anexile settler (ссыльнопоселенец) to work as alogger.
In 1942 she attempted to escape, but was recaptured and sentenced to death.[3][4] She refused to ask for clemency and wrote on a sheet of paper provided to her for this purpose: "I cannot demand justice, I do not want to ask for mercy". Kernovskaya's death sentence was nevertheless commuted to 10 years oflabor camps, which she spent in theNorillag (Норильлаг,Norilsk labor camp) atmining works.
After the discharge in 1953 she lived inYessentuki and wrote her memoirs during 1964–1968, which were published only in 1990.
Her memoirs are illustrated by hundreds of drawings of life in theGulag. They are also remarkable for the quality of the drawings.
