VOLESKÝ - Rodokmen

Narozen / Born :
Praha, Czech Rep.
1868-2-17

Zemřel / Died :
Praha, Czech Rep.
1947-6-5

So this man, my grandfather Bohumil (i) VOLESKÝ was brought to Russia with his parents. Apparently, upon instigation of his father František, a butcher in Votice, they emmigrated from the unhappy Austro-Hungarian Empire. Brought in their hands little Bohumil must have been because he was not even a year old when they left. They ended up in St. Petersburg, Russia. We don't know just what they did there, the family legend has it that František progressed through the ranks in a slaughter-house there to become what must have been an important manager and they did very well. How do we know that ? Because they eventually returned to Praha as a well-off family. Something about the "papers" and Austro-Hungarian army conscription for young Bohumil made them return back to Praha, it is not known for sure. The fact is, that Bohumil (i) grew up until his 18 years of age and got all his basic education in Russia and in Russian. He was apparently speaking a better Russian than Czech - the young ones absorb languages so fast -
So my grandpa apparently started his life being more Russian than Czech.
And it gives me chills thinking that should they have stayed in St. Petersburg - somebody like ME could have been a Russian ! Not a joyous thought considering just what Russia went through later on !
That ancestral Voleskys family, unwittingly, did it well.
When they returned, they settled in Praha where they bought an apartment building in a fast-growing quarter Praha-Vinohrady. Following Bohumil’s graduation from a middle school of commerce, he started an enterprise that focused on manufacturing of wood-working machinery – probably with his parents’ financial assistance. The self-made entrepreneur worked hard and guided the growth of the company (Bohumil Voleský, Ltd.) from the humble beginnings in 1892 somewhere in Praha-Karlín (or Praha- Libeň) into a manufacturing plant in Praha-Libeň, Ocelářská 9 that employed more than 100 technically highly skilled people producing large industrial wood saws, lathes, drilling and milling machines. Unfortunately, it was all lost later.
But thank you, my 2 Voleskys of the past (František and Bohumil-i), I grew up a Czech.
Although the adveturous wandering spirit remained - Bohumil (iii) ended up as a Canadian.
Somewhat better than a Russian ?