Anybody know where Zabomgewka is, or was?

[Bert]

There's a tomb in San Michele cemetery, Venice, of a woman who was born in Zabomgewka, Russia in 1885. I've tried to find Zabomgewka, but failed. It could have had a name change after the revolution, so if anybody knows where it is or was, please let me know. I've had no luck googling it.

[Buenchico]

I suspect that your only chance of locating the place will be to get hold of a good-quality atlas of Russia (or, if the place isn't too small), The Times Atlas of the World (which is in every major reference library in the UK), and then working through all possible alternative spellings. When the original Cyrillic text was converted to early 20th century Italian it might not have undergone the same changes as when converting to current English. Try changing 'Z' to 'Zh', 'Sh', Szh', 'Sch', 'Tz', 'Ts', etc., and looking for any name which is roughly similar to what you're seeking.

Otherwise Sonia's origins might have to remain a mystery forever.

Chris

[atalanta]

You don't need an atlas - the reference book you need is called a Gazetteer. Just a list of place names.
Or try ringing up the Russian Embassy/Consulate/Information service

[spudqueen]

Looks like you're not the only one looking but not finding
http://www.justpocket.../sleeping-beauty.html

[Bert]

That 'justpocketcamera' site is one that copies posts on other sites. The link that spudqueen gave is to a photo and article that was posted by me on Venice Daily Photo.

[spudqueen]

Oh well, at least I tried!

[ichkeria]

The word "zabomgewka" is not a valid Russian word - either as a place name or an ordinary word. It looks to me as though it's a mis-transliteration of an actual Russian word, though what exactly I'm not sure. For example a Russian "v" looks like an English "b", a handwritten "t" looks like English "m", a "d" like an English "g" and so on. Whatever, it's definitely not correct.

[hveluwen]

The birth place (in French) on the grave is 'AZABOMGEWKA - RVSSIE', not 'Zabomgewka'. Her name is just labeled 'SONIA' but her last name seems to have been Kaliensky or Kalinski or Kalinsky. You also find records of her as 'Sonja Azabombewka'. Could it be that 'Kalinsky' was the family name and 'Azabombewka' the name of the estate or county or palace of the family? This site or name could have been wiped from history in the Russian revolution of 1917. Also remember that Russia uses the Cyrillic alphabet which is open to many translations into the western alphabet. To find the place, you may have to dig into the history of the Kalinsky family.