Uliana Mihailovna Kositzin

Uliana, along with her husband Ivan, are responsible for adopting and raising Glebyshka (George) and bringing him to the United States. Information on Uliana comes from 3 sources: Ancestry.com documents, documents found in the Kositzin’s home (2008 and 2022) and first-hand recollections in an interview with Irene in 2008.

She was one of two sisters to Peter Buyanoff (George’s biological father). She was the aunt of Irene Shegoleff, George’s only sister. She was born in Blagoveshchensk, Russia on July 5, 1884. Her parent’s names were Michael and Ethimia Nesterova. She is the grandmother, by adoption, to: Jeff Kositzin, Susan Jackson Kositzin, Brenda Nicolay Kositzin and John Kositzin.

At the age of 62, along with Ivan, they submitted a petition, to officially adopt George, to the District Court of Tientsin, Hopei Province, China on July 31, 1947. Since George was born in China, he was considered a Chinese citizen, and was subjected to Chinese laws regarding emigration and adoption. At the age of 65, the I. R.O. (International Refugee Organization), which was shut-down and replaced by The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, granted Uliana a Certificate of Travel (January 28, 1950). Before she was granted the certificate of travel, she submitted a “biography” on December 28, 1949 to the I.R.O. The I.R.O. granted refugee status to herself, her sister Elena, and her adopted son George, on January 16, 1949. She was naturalized in the United States on June 12, 1950.

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Uliana and Ivan arrived in San Francisco on March 17, 1950, departing from Manila, Philippines on February 20, 1950. They traveled on The American Presidents line ship the President Cleveland. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required all “resident aliens” to possess an identification card.

While in San Francisco, and before being admitted to the Beverly-Manor Convalescent Hospital, she lived at 229 8 th Avenue in the Richmond District (Little Russia). She was an active member of the Seventh Day Adventists Church in San Francisco.

She died on June 4, 1981 at the age of 96, while resident at the Beverly-Manor Convalescent Hospital on Grove Street in San Francisco, and is buried at the Russian Sectarian Cemetery in Colma, California.