Part One: The Biography of Giorgio Scerbanenco’s Grandfather — An Attempt at Reconstruction
Giorgio Scerbanenco is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Italian crime fiction genre. He achieved particular acclaim for his series of novels featuring Duca Lamberti, a physician turned amateur detective. Scerbanenco is often dubbed the “Italian Simenon,” drawing comparisons to the world-famous Belgian writer Georges Simenon, the creator of Commissar Maigret. Giorgio Scerbanenco’s noir stories have also served as a major source of inspiration for prominent film directors, including Fernando Di Leo and Quentin Tarantino.
The Mystery of the Surname and Family Legends
For many readers, the intrigue begins right on the book covers. The author’s distinctly Italian first name, Giorgio, is unexpectedly paired with a surname that clearly points to Ukrainian roots. Consequently, almost every biography of the writer opens by mentioning that he was born in Kyiv, Ukraine.
At birth, he was named Volodymyr. His mother, Leda Giulivi, came from a wealthy Roman family. His father was a Ukrainian named Valerian Afanasievich Shcherbanenko. According to family tradition, Valerian’s mother was a Polish countess named Helena, and his father was Afanasie Shcherbanenko, who was believed to own vast estates across the Ukrainian regions of Kyiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv.
Valerian and Leda met in Italy, married in Rome, and later settled in Kyiv. There, in the summer of 1911, their son Volodymyr was born. Due to the boy’s frail health, his mother spent the winters in Italy, returning to her husband in Ukraine during the warmer months. The outbreak of World War I tore the family apart; Leda and her child remained in Italy as traveling back to Kyiv became too dangerous. Later, around 1919–1920, she braved a journey back to Ukraine to find her husband, with whom she had lost all contact.
Upon arriving, Leda learned of Valerian’s death. One family version suggests he was executed by the Bolsheviks. Another popular theory in Ukrainian circles proposes that he served as an officer in the army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR) — an independent state established between 1917 and 1921 following the collapse of the Russian Empire — and died fighting Bolshevik forces. Following this tragedy, Leda and her son returned to Italy for good. Volodymyr eventually changed his name to Giorgio, leaving only fragmented memories and a unique, foreign-sounding surname to remind him of his childhood in Ukraine.
Unknown Pages of a Well-Known Biography
The narrative outlined above comprises nearly everything currently known about Giorgio Scerbanenco’s Ukrainian ancestry. It is widely believed that most documents concerning the writer’s Ukrainian relatives were lost during the wars and revolutions of the early 20th century, leaving their true history unexamined.
However, a logical question arises: if the family was indeed wealthy and socially prominent, could all traces of them truly vanish without a vestige? This very question served as the catalyst for a new investigation. Following an extensive archival search, a series of historical documents emerged, partially reconstructing the family’s past. The very first discoveries challenged the popular family legends, presenting a much more nuanced and less mythologized history. The true story of Giorgio Scerbanenco’s Ukrainian roots is best approached by examining the biography of his paternal grandfather, Afanasie Andreevich Shcherbanenko.
Afanasie Shcherbanenko: From State Peasant to Honored Citizen
Afanasie Andreevich Shcherbanenko was born in 1856 in the settlement of Merefa. At the time, these Ukrainian lands were part of the Russian Empire; today, the area is located within the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. His parents belonged to the social class of “state peasants” — meaning they were legally owned by the state rather than private landlords, granting them a degree of personal freedom uncommon for serfs of that era.
Little evidence remains regarding his early education, though records suggest he likely attended a teacher training seminary. His professional path, however, is exceptionally well-documented. At the age of 23, he began teaching at “public schools” (narodnye uchilishcha) — elementary institutions designed specifically for the children of rural families. Throughout the 1880s, he taught in various villages within the Kharkiv province, and in 1884, he secured a position at a public school in Sumy, a city in eastern Ukraine, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Afanasie’s professional dedication earned official recognition. He received numerous financial bonuses from local authorities and was awarded “For Diligence” medals, issued by decrees of the Russian Emperor. In 1900, Afanasie was elevated to the status of a Personal Honored Citizen (Lichny Pochetny Grazhdanin). This was a privileged social rank in the Russian Empire, granted to individuals of non-noble origin as a reward for exceptional state service.
Shcherbanenko and Chekhov
Afanasie Shcherbanenko was an accomplished violinist. As a result, he was frequently invited to perform at musical evenings hosted by the Lintvarev family, an influential noble house in Sumy. It was almost certainly at these gatherings that he met Anton Chekhov, the world-renowned playwright famous for masterpieces like The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, and Three Sisters. In 1889, Chekhov stayed as a guest at the Lintvarev estate near Sumy. Chekhov’s biographers note that their acquaintance extended far beyond formal musical evenings; the famous writer frequently visited Afanasie at his home, and the two often went fishing together, reflecting a warm, informal friendship.
The Shcherbanenko Family: Births and Losses
Archival records also allow us to partially reconstruct the lives of Afanasie’s immediate family. Though minimal details survive about his wife — the paternal grandmother of Giorgio Scerbanenco — one fact is certain: Valerian’s mother was not named Helena, as family tradition claimed, but Elizaveta Yulianovna. Born around 1862, she began working as a schoolteacher around 1879. Whether she truly possessed Polish roots or a noble title remains unverified.
Records show that Elizaveta gave birth to five children, though three of them (Nadiya, Valerian, and Andriy) died in infancy. A son born in 1884 survived and was given the name of his deceased older brother, Valerian. This practice was common at the time to honor the memory of lost children. In time, this “Valerian the Second” would become the father of Volodymyr, the future Giorgio Scerbanenco. Valerian’s younger brother, Borys, born in 1891, also survived into adulthood.
In 1895, Elizaveta passed away from tuberculosis, an event that severely strained the family’s financial situation. A surviving letter reveals Afanasie petitioning local authorities to grant young Valerian a scholarship to attend the gymnasium (a classical secondary school). Crucially, such scholarships were a form of social assistance intended for children from low-income families. This document strongly contradicts the long-held family belief that Afanasie Shcherbanenko possessed grand wealth and estates.
Despite these hardships, Afanasie secured an excellent education for his sons. Valerian graduated from the gymnasium with a gold medal and enrolled in the Nizhyn Institute of History and Philology — an institution that trained teachers of classical languages. Upon graduation, he worked as a teacher of Latin and Ancient Greek at the Second Kyiv Boys’ Gymnasium, one of the city’s most prestigious educational institutions at the time. Prior to this appointment, Valerian had traveled to Italy, married Leda Giulivi, and endured the tragic loss of their firstborn son, Georgiy. In 1911, following Georgiy’s passing, Volodymyr — the future author Giorgio Scerbanenco — was born to Valerian and Leda in Kyiv. Afanasie Shcherbanenko served as the godfather to his grandson. According to one compelling theory, it was in memory of his deceased older brother that Volodymyr later adopted the pen name Giorgio, the Italian equivalent of Georgiy.
A New Family and the Death of Afanasie Shcherbanenko
Once his sons had grown up, Afanasie Shcherbanenko finally tended to his personal life. In August 1912, he remarried, wedding 28-year-old Stefanida Deynychenko. She was half his age and stood two months younger than his own son, Valerian. However, their union proved tragically brief. At the end of September 1912, just weeks after the wedding, Afanasie Shcherbanenko died of heart failure. In April of the following year, Stefanida gave birth to a son, naming him Afanasie in honor of her late husband.
Questions Remain, the Search Continues
Such was the life of Afanasie Andreevich Shcherbanenko — grandfather and godfather to Giorgio Scerbanenco. His biography is typical of a provincial intellectual of that era, yet it is punctuated by unexpected twists and deep personal dramas. Most importantly, it stands in stark contrast to the family legends that found their way into the author’s official biographies. But does a similar reality apply to the history of his son, Valerian, the father of Volodymyr-Giorgio Scerbanenco? Was he truly connected to the UNR Army? And can we now establish the true circumstances of his death?
P.S. This material is part of a broader, ongoing investigation into the Ukrainian history of Giorgio Scerbanenco’s family, built upon verified archival sources. If you are intrigued by the Ukrainian lineage of Giorgio Scerbanenco, or if you are working with historical materials related to this topic, the author would be delighted to exchange information and discuss potential collaboration: 330730@gmail.com
P.P.S. This text is an adapted version of an article originally published in Ukrainian, which can be viewed here. The Italian version of this material can be found here or here. The adaptation for an international audience was prepared by the author with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) and subsequently edited to ensure historical accuracy; the translation process was also AI-assisted. The original historical research and the Ukrainian text were produced independently by the author.
