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Genealogy of Trotsky's Family

Introduction

Leon Trotsky [or, Lev Davidovich Trotskii, cyrillic: Лев Давидович Троцкий] was born on Friday, October 26, 1879 [according to the pre-1918 old (Julian) calendar style = November 7, 1879 according to the new (Gregorian) calendar style] at 23:11 PM local time as fifth child into a Jewish farmer family living on the outskirts of Ianovka [today’s name: Bereslavka] [1], a country village situated in the district of Elizavetgrad [today’s name: Kirovohrad], province of Kherson, Southern Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. The boy was named Lev [Yiddish form of first name: Leiba, or Lejba] Davidovich Bronshtein [cyrillic: Лейб Давидович Бронштейн]. The Bronshteins had altogether eight children, four of which died very early as infants. In Summer 1902, Lev D. Bronshtein adopted the name 'Trotsky' [Trotskii, cyrillic: Троцкий], under which he eventually should rose to fame and under which most of his major writings were published. Fatally wounded by Stalinist agent Jaime Ramón Mercader del Rio Hernández aka  “Frank Jacson” (1913-1978) in the late afternoon of Aug. 20, 1940, he died at the hospital Puesto Central de Socorro de la Cruz Verde, México, D.F., on Wednesday, August 21, 1940, at 18:48 PM local time.

Trotsky's parents:

  • David Leont'evich Bronshtein (1847 - 1922)
  • Anna L’vovna Bronshtein (born Zhivotovskaia, 1850 [?] - 1912 [?]) [2]

Trotsky's siblings:

  • Aleksandr Davidovich Bronshtein (1870 - Apr. 25, 1938) [shot, rehabilitated in 1956]
  • Elizaveta [or, Liza] Davidovna Bronshtein, m. Meilman (1875 - 1924) [spouse of Lev Naumovich Meilman, died from disease]
  • Ol'ga Davidovna Bronshtein, m. Kameneva [Rozenfel’d] (1883 - 1941) [spouse of Lev Borisovich Kamenev (i.e. Rozenfel’d, 1883-1936), divorced, shot]

    • Please note that the offsprings of Trotsky's brother and of his two sisters are not treated here in detail [3].

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Trotsky's life partners:

  • Aleksandra L'vovna Sokolovskaia, m. Bronshtein (1872 - 1938) [arrested, banished, shot]
  • Natal’ia Ivanovna Sedova (Apr. 5 [=Apr. 17 new style], 1882 - Jan. 23, 1962), daughter of Ivan Sedov and Olga Kolchevsky

    • Note: During his spell in a Moscow prison, in spring of 1900, Leon Trotsky (Bronshstein) and A.I. Sokolovskaia got legally married by a rabbi. However, some two years later the couple parted. In his Paris exile in 1903, Leon Trotsky fell in love with a young exiled Russian revolutionary woman who studied arts history at Sorbonne, N.I. Sedova.

"She [Sedova] was to remain his companion for the rest of his life and to share with him to the full triumph and defeat. Sokolovskaya [Sokolovskaia], however, remained his legal wife and bore his name. To all three the legal niceties of their connexion did not matter at all - like other revolutionaries they disregarded on principle the canons of middle-class respectability. [...] As far as we know, the question of a reunion between Trotsky and his first wife never arose. When he and Sedova returned to Russia there was no suggestion of discord. Ties of respect and a high-minded friendship were to bind the three of them to the end; and eventually his political fortunes affected with equal tragedy both the women and the children of both" [Deutscher, I.: The prophet armed, London, 2003, p.59]

For legal or citizen requirements (in order not to oblige his sons who had the name of her mother, i.e. Sedov, to change their names), Trotsky officially took the name of his companion Natal’ia, i.e. according to his passport he became Lev Davidovich Sedov. However, this change of name obviously was a pure technical matter: Trotsky, so far as we know, neither published nor signed any document using ‘Sedov’. Natal’ia Sedova sometimes signed ‘Sedova-Trotskaia’ and in secondary sources sometimes also has been refered to as ‘Nataliia Trotskaia-Sedova.
After Trotsky’s assassination in August 1940, Natal’ia Sedova lived in the house in Coyoacán, México, until 1960 when she settled in Paris, France, where she died on January 23, 1962.

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Trotsky's children:

  • Zinaida [or, Zina, Zinushka] L'vovna Bronshtein, m. Moglina, r. Volkova (March 14 [=March 27 new style], 1901 - Jan. 5, 1933) [Trotsky's daughter from A.L. Sokolovskaia, committed suicide].
  • Nina L'vovna Bronshtein, m. Nevel’son (1902 - June 9, 1928) [Trotsky's daughter from A.L. Sokolovskaia, died of tuberculosis].
  • Lev [or, Leva] L'vovich Sedov (Febr. 11 [=Febr. 24 new style], 1906 - Febr. 16, 1938) [Trotsky's elder son from N.I. Sedova, most probably assassinated by GPU in Paris]
  • Sergei [or, Seresha] L'vovich Sedov (March 21, 1908 - Oct. 29, 1937) [Trotsky's younger son from N.I. Sedova, imprisoned, banished, shot, rehabilitated in 1988]

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Trotsky's grandchildren:

  • Trotsky's elder daughter, Zinaida, was married first to Zakhar Borisovich Moglin (1897 - 1937) [shot], then divorced from him and later remarried to Platon Ivanovich Volkov (1898 - 1936) [shot]. She had a daughter by her first and a son by her second husband:
    • Aleksandra Zakharovna Moglina, m. Bakhvalova (1923 - 1989) [several years in prison and banishment, released, rehabilitated in 1956]
    • Vsevolod [or, Seva] Platonovich Volkov (b. March 7, 1926) [still living in Mexico as of January 2008. As a naturalized Mexican citizen, he uses the name Esteban Volkov. Occasionally, articles from his pen were also published under the name “Vsevolod Volkov”,  “Esteban Bronstein”, and “Vsevolod Volkov Bronstein”, respectively. Variants of spelling are ‘Volkoff’ and ‘Volkow’. His nickname is also spelled ‘Sieva’]. See also the feature about the Trotsky Museum in Coyoacán (México) within the framework of TrotskyanaNet.
  • Trotsky's younger daughter, Nina, was married to Man Samoilovich [or, Samsonovich ?] Nevel’son (1896 - 1937) [shot], from whom she got a daughter and a son:
    • Lev Manovich Nevel’son (Dec. 3, 1921 - ?) [disappeared without trace, fate unknown]
    • Volina Manovna Nevel’son (1925 - ?) [disappeared without trace, fate unknown]
  • Trotsky's elder son, Lev, married in 1925 Anna Samoilovna Riabukhina [4] (1899 - Jan. 8, 1938) [shot, rehabilitated June 20, 1990] from whom he got a son:
    • Lev [or, Liulik, Levuchka] L’vovich Sedov (1926 - ?) [fate after 1937 unknown]
  • Trotsky's younger son, Sergei, was married twice, first with Ol’ga Eduardovna Grebner (1906 - 1992), second with Genriet(t)a Mikhailovna Rubinshtein (1911 - 1987) [ten years in prison and banishment under Stalin, died in Tallinn]. From his second spouse he got a daughter:
    • Juliia Sergeevna Rubinshtein, m. Akselrod (b. Aug. 21, 1936) [1979 emigrated to USA, 2004 to Israel, still living there as at 2006]

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Trotsky's great-grandchildren:

  • Trotsky's grandson Vsevolod Platonovich (= Esteban) Volkov got 4 daughters:
    • Verónica Volkov Fernández (b. 1954) [living in Mexico as at 2006]
    • Nora Dolores Volkov Fernández (b. March 27, 1955) [living in the USA as at 2009] [5]
    • Natalia Volkov Fernández (b. 1956) [living in Mexico as at 2006]
    • Patricia Volkov Fernández (b. 1956) [living in Mexico as at 2006]
      [Patricia and Natalia are twin sisters]
  • Trotsky's grandchildren Volina Nevel’son and Lev Sedov most probably remained childless
  • Trotsky's granddaughter Juliia Akselrod got a son:
    • David Akselrod (b. 1961) [living in Israel]
  • Trotsky's granddaughter Aleksandra Bakhvalova got a daughter from her husband Anatol Bakhvalov:
    • Ol'ga Anatol'evna Bakhvalova (b. 1958) [living in Moscow as at 2006]

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Trotsky's great-great-grandchildren:

  • Trotsky's great-granddaughter Ol'ga got a son:
    • Denis Bakhvalov (b. 1983) [living in Moscow as at 2006]
  • Trotsky's great-grandson David got 3 children:
    • Zhozef Akselrod (b. ?) [living in Israel]
    • Roza Akselrod (b. ?) [living in Israel]
    • ? ? ? [unknown]
  • Trotsky’s great-granddaughter Patricia got 3 children, all living in Mexico as at 2006:
    • Rodrígo (b. 1985)
    • Lucía (b. 1993)
    • Andrés (b. 1997)
  • Trotsky’s great-granddaughter Natalia got 2 sons, both living in Mexico as at 2006:
    • Gerónimo (b. 1985)
    • Santiago (b. 1989)

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Selective bibliographical notes

 ... about the genealogy of the Trotsky family (and some related topics):

  • Bronshtein, Valerii Borisovich: Arbre généalogique familial / Valery Borissovitch Bronstein, in: Cahiers Léon Trotsky (Grenoble), 1990 (41), p. 119. [Note: the author, born Nov. 12, 1924, is the grandson of Trotsky's brother Aleksandr]
  • Bronshtein, Valerii Borisovich: Lev Trotskii, ego blizhaishie i dal’nie rodstvenniki / V. B. Bronshtein, in: Iz glubiny vremen (Sankt Peterburg), 1990 (4), pp. 90-105.
  • Bronshtein, Valerii Borisovich: Le sort de la famille Bronstein / Valeri Bronstein, in: Cahiers du mouvement ouvrier (Paris), 2000 (9), pp. 65-74.
  • Bronshtein, Valerii Borisovich: Sem’ia Trotskogo : kratkie biograficheskie svedeniia, in: Sedov, Sergei L’vovich: “Milaia moia resnichka!..” : pis’ma iz ssylki, Sankt-Peterburg [etc.], 2006, pp. 8-10.
  • Bronshtein, Valerii Borisovich: Stalin and Trotsky's relatives in Russia / Valery Bronstein. [Transl. from the Russ. ms. by Brian Pearce], in: The Trotsky reappraisal, Edinburgh, 1992, pp. 8-15.
  • Brossat, Alain: La tragédie des Bronstein, in: Rouge (Montreuil), 1990 (1418, suppl.), p.11.
  • Donkov, Igor Petrovich: O sem’e L.D. Trotskogo / I.P. Donkov, in: Izvestiia TsK KPSS(Moskva), 1990 (2), pp. 111-113.
  • Feldmann, Wilhelm: Trotzkis Exilgenossen, in: Vossische Zeitung (Berlin), 1929 (March23=Nr.141,Abend-Ausg.), pp. 1-2
  • Ivanova, I.I.: Lev Trotskii i ego zemliaki, in: Iz glubiny vremen (Sankt Peterburg), 1990 (4), pp. 76-90.
  • Ostrovskii, A.V.: O rodstvennikach L.D. Trotskogo po materinskoi linii, in: Iz glubiny vremen (Sankt Peterburg), 1990 (4), pp. 105-129.

 ... about Aleksandra L’vovna Sokolovskaia:

  • Gagen-Thorn, Nina Ivanovna: Rencontre au Goulag avec Alexandra Sokolovskaia, la première femme de Trotsky, in: Cahiers du mouvement ouvrier (Paris), 1999 (6), pp. 75-79

... about Natal’ia Ivanovna Sedova:

  • [Anon.]: [Biographical sketch], in: Women in world history : a biographical encyclopedia, 15, Detroit, Mich [etc.], 2002, pp. 591-592.
  • [Anon.]: Trotsky’s widow dies in Paris at 79, in: The New York Times (New York, NY), 1962 (Jan.24), p. 28.
  • Alba, Victor: [Obituary], in: Critica sociale (Milano), 1962 (54), p. 96.
  • Breton, André: [Obituary], in: La Brèche (Paris), 1962 (2), pp. 19-20
  • Clements, Barbara Evans: Trotskaia, Nataliia Ivanovna (1882-1962) ..., in: The modern encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet history, 39, Gulf Breeze, Flo., 1985, pp. 221-223. [Biographical sketch]
  • [Deutscher, Isaac?]: Natalya Sedova - devotion to Trotsky, in: The Times (London), 1962 (Jan. 24=Nr.55297), p. 15. [Obituary]
  • Deutscher, Isaac: Notes on talks with Natalia Ivanovna in Paris, in: Pratt, Malcolm: Interpreting Trotsky’s last years in exile, MA thesis, Univ. of Greenwich, London, 1993, pp. 83-91
  • Dunayevskaya, Raya: [Obituary] In memoriam, in: News & Letters (Chicago, Ill.), 1962 (Febr.)
  • Frías, Ismael: Natalia Trotsky, in: Equis X (Lima), 1988 (Aug.15), p. 11.
  • Funes, Bárbara: Natalia Sedova : la revolución en género feminino [Electronic resource] / Bárbara Funes y Gabriela Vino. 38 KB (6 pp.)
  • Hommage à Natalia Sedova-Trotsky, 1882-1962 / publ. par un groupe d'amis de Natalia Sedova-Trotsky. Paris, 1962. 122, [10] pp. [Containing obituaries and reminiscences by Marguerite Bonnet, Isaac Deutscher, Raya Dunayevskaya, Pierre Frank, Joseph Hansen, Livio Maitan, Maurice Nadeau, Pierre Naville, Laurette Orfila, Michel Pablo, Gérard Rosenthal, Alfred Rosmer, Laurent Schwartz, Jack Weber, Sara Weber.] [“Il a été tiré 1,500 exemplaires numérotés et strictement hors commerce”, p.4] [On pp. 113 sq.: Léon Trotsky parle de Natalia Sedova.]
  • James, Daniel: Trotsky’s widow fights on : sixteen years after her husband’s assassination, she remains an indomitable foe of Moscow, in: The New York Times (New York, NY), 1956 (Aug. 26), p. SM13.
  • Laude, André: Adieu à Nathalie Trotsky, in: Esprit (Paris), 30.1962 (1/6), p. 442.
  • Melville, Theo: [Obituary] Memoriam: Natalia Sedova, in: International Socialism (London), 1962 (8)
  • Natalia Sedova-Trotsky 1882-1962, in: Quatrième Internationale (Paris), 20.1962 (15), pp. 8-16. [Containing chiefly obituaries and a report about the memorial meeting at Père Lachasie cemetary, Jan. 29, 1962.]
  • Natalia Trotsky and the Fourth International. London, [1972]. 15 pp.
  • Saouter, Georges: Madame Trotsky à Saint-Maur, in: Vieux St.-Maur (Saint-Maur), 1989/90 (61/62), pp. 57-58
  • Teplova, E.F.: Neizvestnyi dokument iz istorii Museev Moskovskogo Kremlia, in: Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki (Moskva), 1990 (4), pp. 76-80.
  • Trotsky, Leon: Correspondance, 1933-1938 / Lev Davidovitch Trotsky ; Natalia Ivanovna Sédova-Trotsky. Préf., trad. et ann. par Jean van Heijenoort. [Paris], 1980. 178 pp.
  • Weissman, Constance: My reminiscences of Natalia Sedov Trotsky, in: International Socialist Review (New York, NY), 23.1962 (2=159), pp. 46-47

... about Lev L'vovich Sedov

  • [Anon.]: K godovshchine smerti L. Sedova, in: Biulleten’ oppozitsii (Paris), 11.1939 (74), p. 2.
  • [Anon.]: Leon Lvovitch Sedov, in: Quatrième Internationale (Paris), 1938 (6/7), pp. 26-28. [Obituary]
  • [Anon.]: Leon Sedoff, 1905 [sic!]-1938, in: The New International (New York, NY), 4.1938 (3=17), p. 70. [Obituary]
  • [Anon.]: Lev Sedov, in: Biulleten’ oppozitsii (New York, NY), 12.1941 (85), pp. 5-6.
  • [Anon.]: M. Sedoff Trotsky : organizer of the Fourth International, in: The Times, 1938 (Febr.19=Nr.47923), p.14. [Obituary]
  • [Anon.]: Otkliki pechati na smert’ tov. Sedova, in: Biulleten’ oppozitsii (Paris), 10.1938 (64), pp. 13-14.
  • [Anon.]: Pokhorony tov. Sedova, in: Biulleten’ oppozitsii (Paris), 10.1938 (64), pp. 12-13.
  • [Anon.]: Sie haben Trotzkis Sohn getötet, in: Der Einzige Weg (Zürich), 1938 (3), p. 53. [Obituary]
  • [Anon.]: Tovarishch Leva / P.T., in: Biulleten’ oppozitsii (Paris), 10.1938 (64), pp. 10-11. [Obituary]
  • [Anon.]: Trotsky son dies in Paris hospital, in: The New York Times (New York, NY), 1938 (Febr. 17), p. 5.
  • Broué, Pierre: Sédov, Lev Lvovitch, in: Dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier français, Partie 4, 1914-1939, Tom 41, Paris, 1992, pp. 200-203.
  • Broué, Pierre: Ljova, le "fiston", in: Cahiers Léon Trotsky (Grenoble), 1983 (13), pp. 5-24.
  • Broué, Pierre: Léon Sedov, fils de Trotsky, victime de Staline. Paris, 1993. 277 pp. (Collection La part des hommes) [Table of contents: p.7 Présentation - p.11 Un enfant aimé - p.29 Une adolescence au coeur de la révolution - p.43 Le grand vizir d’Alma-Ata - p.57 Plaque tourmente et joaillerie - p.87 En Allemagne, pour l’Internationale - p.115 France, sous le canon des tueurs - p.135 La plume contre les procès de Moscou - p.169 Procès de Moscou: la contre-enquête - p.219 Vers la mort - p.243 La longue marche vers la vérité - p.261 Conclusion - p.265 Sources - p.269 Index.]
  • Dallin, Lola: Léon Sedov / L. Yakovlev [i.e. Lola Dallin], in: Cahiers Léon Trotsky, 1983 (13), p. 56-60.
  • Dannat, Anton: Sedov, Léon (1906-1938), in: Dannat, Anton: Auf dem Floß der Medusa? Wien, 1997, pp. 339-340. [Biographical sketch]
  • Goloviznin, Mark: Sur la mort de Léon Sedov, in: Cahiers du mouvement ouvrier, 1999 (5), pp. 31-42.
  • Krivine, Jean-Michel: La mort de Léon Sedov / Jean-Michel Krivine ; Marcel-Francis Kahn, in: Cahiers Léon Trotsky, 1983 (13), pp. 44-54.
  • Léon Sedov (1906-1938). [1]-2. Grenoble, 1983. 128, 169 pp. (Cahiers Léon Trotsky ; 13.14=no.spéc.) [Two special issues of CLT containing material by and about L. Sedov.]
  • Lequenne, Michel: La mort ténébreuse de Léon Sedov, in: Critique communiste (Montreuil), n.s. 1985 (39), pp. 27-28.
  • Marie, Jean-Jacques: L’assassinat de Léon Sedov, fils de Léon Trotsky, in: Informations ouvrières (Paris), 1998 (July 15)
  • Marie, Jean-Jacques: Sur la mort de Léon Sedov, in: Cahiers du mouvement ouvrier (Paris), 1999 (6), pp. 81-88.
  • Oni ubili syna Trotskogo / Mezhdunarodnyi Sekretariat IV Internatsionala [et al.],  in: Biulleten’ oppozitsii (Paris), 10.1938 (64), pp. 9.
  • Poretsky, Elisabeth K.: Proshchai Lev Sedov / E.R. [i.e. Elisabeth K. Poretsky], in: Biulleten’ oppozitsii (Paris), 10.1938 (64), p. 11.
  • Prager, Rodolphe: Léon Sedov, cinquante ans après, in: Quatrième Internationale, 1988 (28), pp. 95-98. [Biographical sketch]
  • Price, Richard: Leon Sedov, in: Workers News (London), 1988 (7). [Biographical sketch]
  • Schüle, Annegret: Sedow, Leo, in: Schüle, Annegret: Trotzkismus in Deutschland bis 1933, Köln, 1989, p. 154. [Biographical sketch]
  • Sedov, Lev L’vovich: “Podtverdite poluchenie informatsii ...” : pis’ma syna L.D. Trockogo A.Ia. Shusteru, 1930 g. / [ed.:] A.F. Vasenev, in: Otechestvennaia archivy, 2000 (6), pp. 53-61.
  • Sedova, Nataliia Ivanovna: Otets i syn / Nataliia Sedova-Trotskaia, in: Biulleten' oppozitsii, 12.1941 (87), pp.5-9. [Also available in Engl. (with title: Father and son) and in other languages.]
  • Trotsky, Leon: Leon Sedoff - son, friend, fighter. New York City, 1938. 31 pp.
  • Trotsky, Leon: Léon Sedov - le fils, l’ami, le militant : dédié à la jeunesse prolétarienne / Léon Trotsky. [1-2], in: La lutte ouvrière, 3.1938 (70) and 3.1938 (72)
  • Trotsky, Leon: Leon Sedov - son, friend, fighter / Leon Trotsky. Father and son / Natalia Sedova Trotsky. Was Leon Sedov murdered? / Leon Trotsky. London, 1967. 48 pp. (A Young Socialist pamphlet)
  • Trotsky, Leon: Lev Sedov - figlio, amico, combattente / Lev Trotsky. A cura di Paolo Casciola. Firenze, 1998. 40 pp. (Quaderni Pietro Tresso ; 9)
  • Trotsky, Leon: Lev Sedov - syn, drug, borets / L. Trotskii, in: Biulleten' oppozitsii (Paris), 10.1938 (64), pp. 2-8. [Also available in Engl. (with title: Leon Sedov - son, friend, fighter) and in other languages.]
  • Turpin, Pierre: Léon Sedov, in: Turpin, Pierre: Le trotskysme aujourd’hui, Paris, 1988, pp. 184-185.
  • Wright, John G.: Leon Sedov, in: Fourth International (New York, NY), 5.1944 (2=41), pp. 54-55.

... about Sergei L'vovich Sedov

  • [Marie, Jean-Jacques]: Une victime collatérale : le fils oublié de Léon Trotsky, in: Cahiers du mouvement ouvrier (Paris), 2010 (46), pp. 103-112.
  • Popov, Komint Flegontovich: Sud'ba Sergeia Sedova, in: Voprosy istorii (Moskva), 1993 (10), pp. 157-160.
  • Sedov, Sergei L’vovich: “Milaia moia resnichka! ...” : pis’ma iz ssylki / Sergei Sedov. Pod obshch. red. I.A. Flige. Sankt-Peterburg : Memorial, 2006. 254 pp.

... about Zinaida L’vovna Bronshtein (m. Moglina, r. Volkova)

  • [Anon.]: Trotzkis Tochter suchte den Tod : das Ende einer Heimatlosen, in: Vossische Zeitung (Berlin), 1933 (Jan.11=Nr.18, Abend-Ausg.), p. 4
  • Chemouni, Jacquy: Trotsky, le père : l’attitude de Trotsky à l’égard des troubles mentaux et de la psychanalyse de sa fille Zina / Jacky Chemouni, in: Cahiers Léon Trotsky (Grenoble), 2001 (74), pp. 39-94
  • Chemouni, Jacquy: Trotsky, le père : l’attitude de Trotsky à l’égard des troubles mentaux et de la psychanalyse de sa fille Zina (à travers une correspondance inédite), in: Chemouni, Jacquy: Trotsky et la psychanalyse, Paris, 2004, pp. 213-262
  • Etkind, Aleksandr Markovich: Bednaia Zina : doch Trotskogo, vliublennaia v otsa, pokonchila s soboi v khode psikhoanaliza / Aleksandr Etkind, in: Zvezda (Sankt-Peterburg), 2001 (2), pp. 179-189
  • Gutierrez, Pepe: Zinaida Bronstein [Electronic resource]
  • Schlossman, Marc: Trotsky’s troubled daughter : Ken McMullen discusses Zina / Marc Schlossman and Janine di Giovanni, in: Cineaste (New York, NY), 16.1987/88 (1/2), pp. 44-45
  • Zina [Video recording] / dir.: Ken McMullen. [S.l.], 1985. [1 VHS, runnning time: 1:29 h] [6]

... about Vsevolod (Seva, Esteban) Volkov

  • Volkov, Esteban: My grandfather the revolutionary, in: The Guardian (London), 2003 (Febr. 13) [Interview]

Besides the above-listed items, there are a lot of biographical details about the members of the Trotsky family in some of the well-known studies about Trotsky’s life and personality, as for example:

  • Broué, Pierre: Trotsky. [Paris], 1988. 1105 pp. [also available in German and Italian language]
  • Broué, Pierre: Communistes contre Staline : massacre d’une génération, Paris, 2003.
  • Deutscher, Isaac: Trotsky. [1-3]. London, 1954-63. [Various pag.] [and later eds. in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and other languages]
  • Englund, Steven: Un essai de psycho-histoire : portrait d'un jeune révolutionnaire, Léon Trotsky / Steven Englund ; Larry S. Ceplair, in: Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (Paris), 24.1977, pp. 524-543.
  • Pomper, Philip: Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. New York, NY [etc.], 1990. XIII, 446 pp.
  • Van Heijenoort, Jean: Sept ans auprès de Léon Trotsky. Paris, 1978. 231 pp. [also available in English, Italian, and Spanish language]
  • Wolfenstein, E. Victor: The revolutionary personality. Princeton, NJ, 1967. X, 330 pp. [and later eds.]
  • Ziv, G.A.: Trotskii : kharakteristika (po lichnym vospominaniiam). Niu-Iork, 1921. 96 pp. [in Russian only]

It goes without saying that some of the archival collections featured in TrotskyanaNet’s sections on Archives in America and Archives in Europe are goldmines of information with regard not only to Leon Trotsky but to some of his close relatives, too; see for example the Trotsky-Sedov Papers and the Sergei L’vovich Sedov Letters preserved at Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, Cal.

Some of the genalogical data listed above have been gratefully derived from interviews which Prof. Gabriel García Higueras conducted with Esteban Volkov, Trotsky’s grandson, in Mexico, D.F. in 2006.

For relevant primary and secondary sources about Trotsky's family and genealogy as well as about some members of this family you may consult, too:
--- Lubitz, Wolfgang: Trotsky bibliography / comp. and ed. by Wolfgang and Petra Lubitz. 3., completely rev. and enl. ed. Vol. 1-2. München, 1999 [particularly chapters 2.8.01 and 9]
--- Lubitz’ Leon Trotsky Bibliography (online version) within the framework of TrotskyanaNet

Notes:

1) With regard to Trotsky’s exact birthplace, Marilyn Vogt-Downey wrote several years ago: “One of the most exciting presentations of the conference [i.e. the Fifth Conference of the Committee for the Study of Leon Trotsky’s Legacy, held in Moscow on Oct. 29-30, 1999, W.L.] was made by a young Ukrainian Trotskyist named Oleh Vernik. He reported on research he and his comrades have been conducting to locate Trotsky’s birthplace Yanovka [Ianovka]. [...] Locating Trotsky’s birthplace was no easy task because the name of the place had been changed a number of times during the Stalin period. However [...] an expeditionary team was able to ascertain that the 19th century village of Yanovka coincides with the present-day village of Berislavka [recte: Bereslavka]. Venturing a trip to that village, the team made some interesting discoveries”.
We have attached the compilation concerning Trotsky’s birthplace made by Marilyn Vogt-Downey from Oleh Vernik’s report as a PDF file [213 KB]. Both the quotation and the compilation are taken from Vogt-Downey, Marilyn: Fifth conference on Leon Trotsky highlights the relevance of his work : report from the October 1999 Moscow conference on Trotsky. New York, NY : Committee for the Study of Leon Trotsky’s Legacy, [2000]. 15, [2] pp.
Trotsky was born and spent most of his early childhood at Bereslavka (the former Ianovka [or, Yanovka]), today’s postal code: 27246), a small village situated at 47°54’0” N, 32°18’0” E, today belonging to the Bobrinetskii raion [Bobrinets district]; Bobrinets (postal code 27200) today is a  town with 12,000 inhabitants, some 20 km north of Bereslavka. Both places are part of the Kirovohradskii oblast’ [Kirovograd region]. The city of Kirovohrad is situated some 75 km north of Bereslavka and has some 240,000 inhabitants as of 2004; at the time when Leon Trotsky visited primary school there, however, the city was called Elizavetgrad (or, Elizabethgrad, or Yelisavetgrad) after empress Elizaveta Petrovna and in 1924 was renamed Zinov’evsk (or, Zinovievsk, or Zinovyevsk) after G.E. Zinov’ev, a prominent Bolshevik leader and president of the Communist International. After his downfall in 1934, the city was again renamed: Kirovo (from 1939: Kirovograd) after S. Kirov, a high-ranking member of the Stalinist CPSU Politbureau; “Kirovograd” is the Russian spelling while the (now official) Ukrainian spelling is “Kirovohrad”. In the late 19th century, Trotsky’s birthplace belonged to the Kherson oblast’ [Kherson region]. Other places in the southern Ukraine which played a certain role in Trotsky’s childhood and school education were Odessa, the well-known seaport which is more than 300 km from Bereslavka, and Mykolaiv (or, Mykolayiv) which in Russian is spelled Nikolaev (or, Nikolayev), situated at rivers Bug and Inhul, some 65 km from the Black Sea coast. In the Bobrinets Museum of Local Studies, Bobrinets honours its fellow-town man Trotsky by an exposition of material about his life and activity.
It should be mentioned here, that in many biographies and other works about Trotsky his date of birth has wrongly been given as “October 25” (Julian calendar style) instead of October 26.
For Trotsky’s various pen names, pseudonyms etc. as well as for a more or less complete list of the different spellings and transliterations of his names to be found in publications and in library catalogues, see the section about Trotsky’s Pseudonyms plus appendix within the framework of TrotskyanaNet.

2) Please note, that Anna’s name in various sources is given as “Ana”, “Aneta”, “Annata”, or “Annetta”, that her maiden name in some sources is given as “Issivovskaia” and that in some sources her year of death is given as “1910”.

3) Aleksandr Davidovich Bronshtein married Elena Iosifovna Berdichevskaia (1876[?]-1943) with whom he had 5 children: Matil’da Aleksandrovna, m. Menkes (1895-1952), Boris Aleksandrovich (1897-1937), Lev Aleksandrovich (1902-1947), Evgeniia Aleksandrovna, m. Uspenskaia (1908-1985), and Anna (Aneta) Aleksandrovna, m. Kasatikova (1912-1996). Elizaveta Davidovna Bronshtein married Naum Isakovich Meilman with whom she had a son, Lev Naumovich Meilman (1900-1960); Ol’ga Davidovna Bronshtein married Lev Borisovich Rozenfel’d, better known as Kamenev with whom she had two sons: Aleksandr L’vovich Kamenev (1908-1936) and Iurii L’vovich Kamenev (1916-1936).
[For further details see particularly Bronshtein, V.B.: Lev Trotskii, ego blizhaishie i dal’nie rodstvenniki, in: Iz glubiny vremen (Moskva), 1995 (4), pp. 90-105]

4) Please note, that in various sources (e.g. Broué, Pierre: Léon Sedov, fils de Trotsky, victime de Staline, Paris 1993, p.32) Lev Sedov’s wife has been referred to as “Anna Metallikova” instead of “Anna Samoilovna Riabukhina-Sedova” (the official form of name she adopted by marriage). However, it is quite likely that this is incorrect. Valerii Borisovich Bronstein, grandson of Trotsky’s elder brother Aleksandr, mentions in a genealogical contribution published in Cahiers du mouvement ouvrier (no. 9, 2000, p. 69) the version given by us above: “La femme de Léon Sedov, Anna Riaboukhina-Sedova, était resteé à Moscou et fut fusilleé en 1938; le sort de leur fils Lev (Lioulik) est à ce jour resté inconnu”.
Recently, a grandson of a cousin of Anna Riabukhina-Sedova informed us that Anna had two sisters, and the elder one, Asya Samoilovna, changed her name to Metallikova by marriage. This might perhaps explain the confusion.
In 1929, Anna Riabukhina-Sedova remained in the USSR while Lev Sedov left the country together with Leon Trotsky and Nataliia Sedova.
When Anna was arrested in 1937, she was living in Moscow together with her son Lev (Liulik). His fate after 1937 is not yet definitively known.
On the website of Memorial – which lists victims of the Stalinist purges and liquidations of the 1930s/ 1940s – we found the following note [accessed Febr. 23, 2007]:

“Rjabukhina-Sedova Anna Samoilovna. Rod. 1899, g. Polotsk Belorusskoi SSR; evreika, b/p, obr. srednee, starshii ekonomist Gordorstroia, prozh. v Moskve: ul. B. Serpuchovskaia, d. 46, kv. 155. Arest. 26.07.1937. Prigovorena VKVS SSSR 8.01.1938 po obv. v uchastii v k.-r. terroristicheskoi organizatsii. Rasstreliana 8.01.1938. Reabilitirovana 20.06.1990”

5.) Nora D. Volkov (or, Volkow) has made a remarkable career in the U.S. After having attended the Modern American School in Mécico City and after having earned a medical degree from the National University of Mexico in México City, her psychiatric residency was at New York University where she earned the Laughlin Fellowship Award as one of the 10 outstanding psychiatric residents in the U.S. After a professional career at renowned research institutions like for example the Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Medical School at the State university of New York, she became Director of the famous National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Instuitutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Md. in 2003. As a research psychiatrist and scientist, Dr. Volkow pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate the toxic effects of drugs and their addictive properties. She has also made important contributions to the neurobiology of obesity, ADHD, and the behavioural changes occuring with aging. She has published more than 300 relevant journal articles and the like in the field of drug abuse research and related psychiatric and bio-medical research. [From NIDA’s “Director’s page”, accessed on July 7, 2009] In 2007 she was listed in The Times 100, a “list of the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moralexample is transforming the world” (see www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1595326,00.html)

6) Ken McMullen’s (b. 1948) ambitious and sensitively made movie on Zina [Zinaida] was produced by TSI Films, London, in 1985 and was awarded the Special Prize of the Jury at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 1986. The script was written by Ken McMullen and Terry James. The main actors were Domiziana Giordano (as Zina), Ian McKellen (as Dr. Kronfeld) and Philip Madoc (as Trotsky). The film tells the tragic story of Zina, Trotsky’s eldest daughter, who committed suicide in Berlin at the age of 32. Most of the story is unfolding during Zina’s analytic sessions with Prof. Dr. Arthur Kronfeld (1886-1941), a renowned psychiatrist and pioneering psychoanalyst (recommended to her by Trotsky) who used both hypnosis and psychoanalysis to treat Zina’s deteriorated mental health and severe psychological problems (hallucinations, disorientation, nightmares, etc).
For more information about McMullen and his Zina movie see for example the Ken McMullen Zina filmpage and other British and German websites devoted to Zina; in the above-mentioned book of Jacquy Chemouni the McMullen film is dealt within a long footnote (note 21, p. 223). The case of Zina has also been dealt with on a scholarly website created by Ingo-Wolf Kittel and devoted to the life and work of psychiatrist Arthur Kronfeld (1886-1941). For exhaustive biographical sketches about Kronfeld see Ingo-Wolf Kittel’s encyclopaedic entry titled Kronfeld, Arthur, in: Biographisch-bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, Bd. 25, Herzberg, 2005, col. 750-760, and the entry about Kronfeld, Arthur, Dr. med. et phil., Prof., Psychiater und Psychotherapeut, in: Lexikon deutsch-jüdischer Autoren, Bd. 14, München, 2006, pp. 369-376.

Wolfgang and Petra Lubitz, Aug. 2004
Last rev. July 2010

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