Yelena Alexandrovna Ertel was born on July 27, 1889, and was the youngest daughter of the writer Alexander Ivanovich Ertel from his marriage to Mariya Vasiliyevna Ogarkova. She spent her childhood in the Yempelevo hamlet, Voronezh Governorate, and then in the village of Alexandrovka in the Morshansky Uyezd, Tambov Governorate, where she and her older sister Natalya were taught by their mother and home tutors.
According to Yelena’s schedule, compiled by Mariya Vasiliyevna in 1897, classes were held all days, except Sunday, from nine o’clock in the morning to one o’clock in the afternoon. Yelena studied scripture, Russian, French and arithmetic, learned fables by heart and practiced needlework.
Then the sisters were sent to a gymnasium. Natalya entered the Stoyunin Gymnasium in Saint Petersburg, and Yelena studied in the Kalaidovich Women’s Gymnasium for Pedagogy in Moscow. The latter was characterized by a high quality of education and strict morals. The gymnasium students were not allowed to attend masquerades and social clubs and attend public hearings in court. Apart from the introduction course, the gymnasium had eight classes, including one specializing in pedagogy. In a letter dated September 22, 1906, Yelena described her day to her grandmother Avdotya Petrovna,
