The photo depicts Lydia Vershinskaya with her husband Yevgeny Chuiko and her daughter Lyalya. She was born in the family of a Krasnoyarsk petty-bourgeois and owner of gold mines Valentin Amosov. Despite her background, which promised a comfortable life, she did not grow up spoiled. Largely due to the fact that the girl’s youth fell during the years of the revolution and the civil war in Russia.
Lydia Vershinskaya worked in the healthcare sector all her life. When the photo was taken, she served as a paramedic at the city hospital in Igarka, and later was in charge of a nursery there. In 1945, she moved to Krasnoyarsk and got a job in the regional committee of the Union of Medical Workers, where she worked until 1956. After that, Vershinskaya served as a senior inspector and deputy chairman of the regional committee of the Red Cross Society.
During the war in Igarka, while already married to Yevgeny Chuiko, Lidiya adopted a 10-year-old Latvian boy, Vilnis Pintis, whose mother had died. Risking her life, she took him to Krasnoyarsk and arranged for him to go to school using forged documents to the name of Viktor Vershinsky. After the end of the war, the boy, according to his recollections, was taken away by a certain man without Vershinskaya’s knowledge, allegedly on behalf of the surviving father. However, he ended up not with his relatives, but in a Latvian care home. Later, he managed to escape. Eventually Vilnis got to his native home — the one where he had lived before the adoption and where, to his great happiness, he met his aunt. Soon he got in touch with Vershinskaya and maintained warm relations with her until her death, calling her mom.
Vilnis often visited her, lived with her in Krasnoyarsk, and wrote letters when being apart from her. In 1957, he even graduated from the Red Cross courses, inspired by the example of his foster mother. However, after that, he made a choice not in favor of a medical career, preferring the theater.
Yevgeny Chuiko, who is depicted in this photo, was the second husband of Lydia Vershinskaya. Also pictured is her daughter Larissa. She was a gifted child: she loved to read books, had an absolute hearing, and played the piano. It was her who instilled in Vilnis Pintis a love of theater in his childhood.
Lydia Vershinskaya worked in the healthcare sector all her life. When the photo was taken, she served as a paramedic at the city hospital in Igarka, and later was in charge of a nursery there. In 1945, she moved to Krasnoyarsk and got a job in the regional committee of the Union of Medical Workers, where she worked until 1956. After that, Vershinskaya served as a senior inspector and deputy chairman of the regional committee of the Red Cross Society.
During the war in Igarka, while already married to Yevgeny Chuiko, Lidiya adopted a 10-year-old Latvian boy, Vilnis Pintis, whose mother had died. Risking her life, she took him to Krasnoyarsk and arranged for him to go to school using forged documents to the name of Viktor Vershinsky. After the end of the war, the boy, according to his recollections, was taken away by a certain man without Vershinskaya’s knowledge, allegedly on behalf of the surviving father. However, he ended up not with his relatives, but in a Latvian care home. Later, he managed to escape. Eventually Vilnis got to his native home — the one where he had lived before the adoption and where, to his great happiness, he met his aunt. Soon he got in touch with Vershinskaya and maintained warm relations with her until her death, calling her mom.
Vilnis often visited her, lived with her in Krasnoyarsk, and wrote letters when being apart from her. In 1957, he even graduated from the Red Cross courses, inspired by the example of his foster mother. However, after that, he made a choice not in favor of a medical career, preferring the theater.
Yevgeny Chuiko, who is depicted in this photo, was the second husband of Lydia Vershinskaya. Also pictured is her daughter Larissa. She was a gifted child: she loved to read books, had an absolute hearing, and played the piano. It was her who instilled in Vilnis Pintis a love of theater in his childhood.
