The parish register was the official registry of civil status acts in Imperial Russia: births, marriages, and deaths. Such records began to be maintained in the early 18th century.
At the birth of a child, the following information was entered into the parish register: the record’s number; the dates of birth and baptism; the child’s name, gender, and social estate; the family’s place of residence; the names of the parents and, if applicable, the landowner (in the case of serfs); and the names of the godparents and the officiating priest. If desired, witnesses could also add notes. Clerks compiled monthly and annual summaries, tallying the total numbers of births, marriages, and deaths.
The museum’s exhibition includes a copy of the birth record of Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov, the third child of Ivan Pavlovich and Anna Petrovna Kuznetsov. Today, his birth is officially recognized as having occurred on July 27, 1911. He was baptized Nikanor — at home, he was affectionately called Nika or Nikosha.
Yet mysteries still surround Kuznetsov’s biography — beginning with his exact date of birth. His father, Ivan Kuznetsov, was an Old Believer who rejected the rites of the official Orthodox Church. Unlike his devout wife, Anna Petrovna, Ivan Pavlovich was largely non-religious and did not baptize his children.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, the Orthodox Church was closely tied to the state, and baptismal records served as legal proof of identity. In 1916, when the eldest daughter, Agafya, needed an official record, all four children — including Nikanor — were baptized in a single ceremony. The local priest, who was poorly educated, drafted the entry so ambiguously that both the day and year of Nikanor’s birth remain open to interpretation.
The 1916 parish register, compiled by Priest Mikhail Kuzovnikov and Deacon Malyshev, states: “The name of the child is Nikanor, July 28, 4 years old”, This already presents a contradiction: if the child was four years old at baptism in 1916, he must have been born in 1912, not 1911. Consequently, the year 1912 appeared in some documents even two decades later — and discrepancies persist even in Kuznetsov’s own letters to family and friends.
In a letter to the Tyumen District Committee dated January 31, 1930, Nikanor Kuznetsov himself listed his date of birth as August 28, 1911. According to his relatives, the family always celebrated his birthday on August 9 according to the “old style” calendar — which corresponds to July 27 in the “new style” calendar. Despite these inconsistencies, the recollections of his sister Lydia and brother Viktor affirm that July 27, 1911, is accepted as Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov’s true date of birth.
