To the history of the Shafonsky family

About the activities of our outstanding countryman, descendant of the Ukrainian Cossacks, epidemiologist, lawyer, historian - Opanas Filimonovich Shafonsky (1744–1811) many scientific publications have been written, but there is very little archival information and relevant research by researchers on the history of his family. Among the unique sources, which shed light on the history of the Shafonsky family and are stored in the funds of our museum, It is worth noting "Canon" - a Cyrillic old printed book of religious content 1746 year of publication. This old print was kept in the family of our compatriot. On the blank pages of the book, because the paper in the XVIII - XIX centuries. was quite expensive, contains handwritten records of the scientist's family. They belonged to the son-in-law of Opanas Filimonovich's mother's sister, about which we have no information.

According to the records, we know where and when mother O died. Shafonsky - Agafia Ivanovna: “April 1789 12 number our little girl Agafia Ivanovna, the widow of a centurion, was buried in the church by his construction in the cemetery Sosnitsky in the same crypt with her husband ". The handwritten notes also contain information about Sister A. Shafonska - Pelageya Ivanovna, her maiden name: "December 1794 16 number of my mother-in-law Pelagiya Ivanovna daughter Pinskaya above Shafonskaya's own sister will die ... ". Based on the quoted records, we can say, that Agafia was buried with her husband in the ancestral tomb in Sosnytsia 12 April 1789 year, and her sister had the maiden name Pinsk.

Між іншим, the book mentions seismic (earthquake in Kiev 1802 year), meteorological phenomena, description of the author's dream, everyday events and fragmentary memories of family history. Maybe, that the records were kept by more than one person, and several. So, handwritten records of the Shafonsky family in the Canon, undoubtedly, is a valuable source of family history and everyday life of the XVIII century., which requires further scientific study.

It is interesting, that in the genealogical list of the Shafonsky family included in the "Pedigree book of the Chernihiv nobility" of Count G. miloradovic (1839–1905) there is no mention of Opanas Shafonsky's mother, her family. As for another well-known researcher of aristocratic pedigrees. Modzalevskoho (1822–1920), then in his "Little Russian genealogy" there is no description of the Shafonsky family at all.

Researcher,

Candidate of Historical Sciences Valentin Rebenok