Regarding the family of the Frenchman Louis Antoine Desaix, one of
Napoleon's generals, who died in 1800.  What is the name of the member
of Desaix's family that links his family to a Russian family of
nobility?  The Russian family names possibly may include Lunskaya or
Bachmanov, or others.

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 24 Sep 2005 14:23 PDT

Dear topspin,

Do you have any additional information? Where did you learn about this
genealogical link, what details were mentioned? Anything may prove
very helpful.

Scriptor

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 24 Sep 2005 16:57 PDT

I agree with scriptor-ga 100%...whatever additional information you
have would be a great help.  What leads you to believe there's a
Russian connection at all, particularly to the two families you
mentioned?

The most I've come up with thus far is the name of Desaix' father...I
didn't even see the mother listed.  So this may be a particularly hard
figure to track down.

pafalafa-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 24 Sep 2005 17:39 PDT

Just for the record: General Desaix' mother was Amable de Beaufranchet
d'Ayat (bapt. 16 April 1734, d. 23 August 1802.

Scriptor

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 25 Sep 2005 10:51 PDT

The question may become rather interesting.

First, we have one Lee A. Riordan (8 May 1926 - 8 Dec. 2000). He
mentioned in his book "Jishin: Lives Shattered, Love Discovered Amid
the Great Tokyo Quake" how his father Hugh Riordan met his future wife
in Tokyo in 1923, Tatiana Lunskaya Bachmanoff, a Russian countess who
had escaped the Russian Revolution:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/sunday/books/0301lois.stm

I searched the U.S. Social Security Index and found out that Hugh
Riordan was born on 25 Dec. 1893 and died in Oct. 1970. His wife,
Tatiana Riordan, was born on 20 May 1898 and died in Nov. 1983. Their
last residence was Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Next, I searched the Ellis Island immigration records, and I was
extremely lucky. I found both Hugh Riordan and Tatiana. Obviously,
they were married before she came to the USA with him.
http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/

They arrived in New York from Cherbourg, France, on the ship
"Leviathan" on 21 Dec. 1924. Hugh Riordan's entry in the ship manifest
says:

Hugh L. Riordan -- Place of Birth: Greenbush, Wisconsin -- Place of
Residence: Port Washington, Wisconsin -- Papers issued by embassy in
Tokyo

And Tatiana's record:

Tatiana Riordan -- Place of Birth: Kobrine, Russia -- Last Place of
Residence:  -- Place of Residence in the USA: With husband, Port
Washington, Wisconsin -- Languages: English, French, Russian --
Nearest Relative or Friend: Friend, Admiral Sergeef, Villa Jardimet,
Nice, France

Hugh L. Riordan and Tatiana Lunskaya Bachmanoff/Riordan came to the
USA, had one son in 1926 - Lee A. Riordan -, and obviously another one
in 1932, Hugh Desaix Riordan. He was born on 7 May 1932 in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and died on 7 January, a famous doctor of medicine.
http://www.brightspot.org/drs/hdrresume.shtml

Why, if not for reasons of family history, should Hugh and Tatiana
choose the unusual name "Desaix" for their son? I believe that the
answer to the question lies somewhere in this direction.

I will see what I can find out, but any additional information would
be most helpful.

Scriptor

Here is a Louis Jean Desaix, the right age to be his son  - and to
have been a young officer in the Russian campagne:

http://www.milautograph.ch/authors_overview.php?doc_ptr=182&index_ptr=3

mentioned in this book:
Général Louis Jean Desaix, baron de l'Empire, commandant du département de
l'Yonne (1790-1845) (Le) / Jacques Leviste. - p. 99-125 : ill. * Sujets : ...

Copy of my posting to the related question:
	 
With great trepidation at questioning Scriptor, this site does list a
Lunskaya, and also with names that I would suspect to be Jewish:

http://www.purs.org/people_sub/shereshev3.htm

Indeed, Jewish, when one clicks on the other pages at the bottom of the list.

The name also brought this site, Topspin, which nicely links both the
names on your other question, albeit with a different spelling, but
perhaps "Bachmanoff" could help that search:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/sunday/books/0301lois.stm

See the 3rd paragraph.

Strange things is, I inadvertently used Lanskaya  - also Lanskaja - 
when searching on the other question, finding lots of mentions.  And
somewhere either on that name or on Desaix, the name Riordan came up.

It would seem that we need to look "downstream" for a connection to the general.

The plot thickens, Myoarin

A Dr. Hugh Desaix Riordan died recently, one of the great supporters
of breastfeeding, La Leche League, etc., etc.

Although the name Lunskaya appeared on that list of the People of
Shereshev, apparently Jewish, anyone form that family would not have
fled after the Russian revolution.  This suggests that the spelling in
Riordan's book is incorrect, maybe a misspelling that occurred on a
document at that time and had to be continued.
That happened; many US immigrants got new spellings of their names by
choice or accident.

So -- maybe Riordan is a connection between Desaix and Lanskaya Bachmanov/ff,
or maybe it is not, and this is just a coincidence.

Topspin, can you add anything  - ANYTHING?

I found a Desaix Anderson (or Andsersen) and another American with
Desaix as a second name.  The former is a contemporary author (1991
book), the latter born in the 19th century, early owner of Scientific
American magazine.  There is also a couple with the family name Desaix
who write and illustrate children's books.
A Robert Desaix or Dessaix is an Australian.
I had the thought that maybe a Desaix had befriended Tatiana and her
nearest friend in France, Admiral Sergeef.