Rastigaev Paternal Great Grandparents

Our paternal great grandparents were Lavrenty Rastigaev and Pauline Ernst. Lavrenty was a Don Cossack officer. Pauline's maiden surname Ernst indicates a possible German Jewish background. It's believed they may have had six sons and three daughters, of which our grandfather Alexander, is believed to be their eldest son. The family home may have been on the Russian Black Sea.

The photo of Lavrenty and Pauline was taken in Marijampole, Lithuania, which during that period, had a Jewish population of 82%. Theodore is reported to have been able to speak Yiddish and read Hebrew. Family members recall accounts that one of the female family members of this great grandparents' generation was Jewish. These separate snippets of information lend support to the speculation that Pauline indeed came from a Jewish family. Don Cossack tradition dictates that Christianity was mandatory from a spouse and the family was brought up in the Russian Orthodox religion.

The -ev ending indicates a Don Cossack surname. The surname means "belonging to the time of ripening". Rastigaevs are recorded as 18th century nobility in the Belgorod,Veronezh and Kursk regions of Russia.

Rastigaev Pie, named after an early Rastigaev nobleman, is a fish or meat pie with distinctive holes on the pastry crust; during Catherine the Great's time, it was considered as one of the finest dishes of the time in Russian cuisine.