Recovering bit by bit the pedigree of Nadezhda Krupskaya, historians investigated the genetic branch of her family, starting with her great-grandfathers. While picking up the archives, they came across various facts that could testify to the presence of both German and Polish roots in the Krupsk family. In some publications one could even find versions of Jewish origin. In fact, half of these versions are groundless.
A few facts about the ancestors of Nadezhda Krupskaya
Lenin's wife and faithful companion-in-arms was born in St. Petersburg in 1869. Nadezhda's family came from the nobility, as evidenced by the archives of the Mogilev province. Paternal grandfather - Ignatius Krupski belonged to the class of the Polish nobility. Almost completely ruined during the war of 1812, he moved his family to the Kazan province, where Nadezhda's father, Konstantin Ignatievich Krupsky, was born. As the son of an officer and an orphan, Konstantin could count on free training in the cadet corps. Taking advantage of the benefits, he successfully studied as a cadet, after which he entered the artillery school. His rapid career could hardly be called. In the rank of lieutenant, he earned very little, his earnings were barely enough to feed his family.
On the maternal side, the Tistrov family did not have any ranks or titles. Vasily Tistrov - Nadezhda's grandfather was a mining engineer. He did not accumulate any fortune during his lifetime; his daughter Elizabeth, having reached adulthood, worked as a governess. Nadezhda was born into a poor family, where her mother worked as a governess, and her father served in the humble rank of lieutenant. Some sources contain information about German roots, which were actually present several generations before the birth of Nadezhda. Therefore, the official version of the origin of Krupskaya confirms both German and Polish roots. Considering that until the collapse of the USSR, such information was not particularly advertised, there is not so much information about the ethnic origin of the Krupskaya clan to this day.