In attempting this biographical sketch of Nelka I am using thememories of 45 years together and also a great number of letters asmaterial. Her Aunt, Miss Susan Blow, had the habit of keepingNelka's letters over the years. There are some as early as whenNelka was only five years old and then up to the year 1916, the yearher aunt died. These letters reflect very vividly the personality,the ideas, the aspirations, the disappointments and the hopes of aperson over a period of a long life. They paint a very real pictureof her personality and for this reason I am using quotations fromthese letters very extensively.Nelka de Smirnoff was born on August 19, 1878 in Paris, France.Her father was Theodor Smirnoff, of the Russian nobility. Hergrandmother had tartar blood in her veins and was born PrincessTischinina. Nelka's father was a brilliant man, finishing theImperial Alexander Lyceum at the head of his class. A versatilelinguist, he joined the Russian diplomatic service and occupiedseveral diplomatic posts in various countries, but died young, whenNelka was only four years old, and was buried in Berlin. Nelkatherefore hardly knew him, though she remembered him and throughouther life had a great veneration for him and loyalty for his memory. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.