Table-Talk

Reburial of M. S. Vorontsov

On November 10, 1856, Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, former governor-general of New Russia and Bessarabia, was buried in the Cathedral of the Holy Transfiguration in Odessa. Twenty four years later, his wife, Elizaveta Ksaver'evna, was buried at his side. In 1936 the Cathedral was blown up and the remains of the Vorontsovs moved to the Slobodskoe Cemetery on the outskirts of Odessa. On November 10, 2005, or 149 years after Vorontsov's burial, he and his wife were returned to the newly restored Cathedral.

Most of the photographs below were submitted by S. G. Reshetov, corresponding member of the Russian Genealogical Society. His article describing the ceremonial reburial is forthcoming in the next issue of the Proceedings of the Vorontsov Society.

The ceremony began in front of the colonnade of Vorontsov's former residence.

Procession through the streets of Odessa.

Dignitaries pictured: Viktor Chernomyrdin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Ukraine; Feliks Dolzhenkov, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Odessa; Anatolii Vorokhaev and Mr. Kurennoi, Deputy Heads of the City Odessa. Other participants included Metropolitan Agafangel; Vasilii Tsushko, Chairman of the Provincial Administration; Eduard Gurvits, Head of the City Odessa; Ivan Svida, Commander of Forces in the Odessa Military District.

The Vorontsovs' final resting place in the Cathedral.