This photo was taken on August 27th 1956 in Moscow near a maternity hospital on the occasion of the birth of my son, Andrey Grin.
From left to right:
me as a happy father holding my newly born son, my wife Galina Grin, nee Ghermanson, my wife's mother Prascovia Ghermanson and my mother Raisa Grin, nee Liberman. This photograph was taken by my father Moisey Grin.
In 1951 I entered the Geographical Faculty of Moscow State University. I met my wife to be Galina Ghermanson at university. We studied in the same group. She was also a hydrologist. She was a nice young girl.
We got married between the 4th and the 5th years of studies. We had our wedding on New Year’s Eve. We had a civil registry in the registry office and a wedding party at home in the evening. There were many guests.
My wife came from the family of the Baltic Germans or Swedes, but she was registered as Russian in her passport. Her grandfather was Lutheran. He came from Rzhev, but later they moved to Moscow.
We lived with my parents. My wife defended her diploma before our son was born in 1956. I was happy to have a baby. It didn't matter to me whether it was a boy or a girl. It was a new human being and I was very happy. We named my son Andrey.
My nanny looked after him, and my wife or I didn't have to raise him till he turned 5. We had to start working and build up our life. I went to work and Galina went to the maternity home.
My work experience in the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR where I worked throughout my life started on the day when Andrey was born.
