Мельникова (Пушкина) Валентина
a relative of grandmother Valentina Alekseevna
Daughter of an aunt of Valentina Alekseevna Melnikova — in Valery Sergeevich's recollection, grandmother's «second cousin»; her mother was possibly Anna Prokhorovna (S343). She lived with her husband, Valery Melnikov, in Lopasnya (Chekhov); her mother's family lived in a big house by the church that had once belonged to the priest, somewhere near Chekhov.
The surname Pushkina is the same as that of Efrosinya Ionovna's Chernyaevka relatives (S341); whether these Pushkins are connected is unknown (lead L105).
She graduated from Moscow State University and taught chemistry; she lived in the MSU hostel, where Valentina Alekseevna and little Valera came to visit her. According to Valentina Alekseevna, her son was named Valery thanks to her — so the family ended up with two Valery Melnikovs. When grandmother broke her hip, Valentina flew straight to Chekhov — oohing and aahing, and broke a two-litre Chinese thermos (Valery Sergeevich's account, S344). In a 1980s family photo she sits next to Valentina Alekseevna (S244). Igor and Valery Sergeevich call her Valentina Alekseevna's second cousin.
As a young girl, she is in a photo with her mother (S346) sent by Valery Sergeevich.
Vladimir Akimovich Pushkin of Lidinka was drafted in Lopasnya and went missing in February 1942. The military list names his wife as Matryona. There is no evidence yet that he was Valentina’s father or the husband of “Aunt Pushkina” (S489).
Sources
- S244. Photograph: A Melnikov family gathering in a yard — Saved copy
- S341. Chernyaevka registers 1897–1909: children of Timofei Vasilyev Pushkin and Yevfrosinia Ionova — Original — Saved copy
- S343. Valery Sergeevich Melnikov's account of the Lopasnya relatives: Valentina Pushkina and her mother (03.10.2026)
- S344. Valentina Melnikova (née Pushkina): Igor's caption to a family photo and Valery Sergeevich's account (03.10.2026)
- S346. Valentina Pushkina with her mother — Saved copy
- S489. Vladimir Akimovich Pushkin: genealogy and casualty list — Original — Saved copy
