Mikhail Bulgakov was the firstborn in the family of Professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy Afanasy Ivanovich and his wife Varvara Mikhailovna. Mikhail was born in 1891, a year later came his sister Vera, next year — Nadezhda. Varvara was born in 1895, then Nikolay and Ivan in 1898 and 1900 accordingly. The Bulgakovs’ last child was Elena, or Lyolya, born in 1902.

The Bulgakovs moved several times until they settled in 1906 on Andrew’s Descent in Kyiv. The atmosphere in the family was friendly and cheerful. They often played music, sang, and staged performances at home. In summer, Mikhail Bulgakov, along with his brothers and sisters, played tennis and football, as well as checkers, tiddlywinks and croquet.

Mikhail Bulgakov immortalized that house and his family in the novel “The White Guard”. He began writing a novel about the Turbin family when he lived in Moscow, in the early 1920s. The surname Turbina was the maiden name of the writer’s grandmother Anfisa Ivanovna.

Many of the characters in the novel were based on real people. For instance, one can recognize Bulgakov himself in the features of the main character Alexei Turbin; Elena was inspired by the writer’s sister Varvara, and his brother Nikolay was turned into Nikolka Turbin.

The Russian Revolution and the Civil War divided the Bulgakov family. Ivan and Nikolay did not have time to graduate from the Imperial Alexander Gymnasium in Kyiv. They had emigrated and never saw their older brother, although they were able to establish correspondence. Nikolay studied microbiology at the University of Zagreb in Croatia and then moved to Paris.

In the late 1920s, the impoverished Ivan moved in with Nikolay — he played the balalaika in a restaurant, and then studied to be a driver (taxi work was paid better). It was important for Mikhail Bulgakov to keep in touch with his family and friends. In 1923, he wrote to his sister Vera,