Yevgeniy (Eugene) Granovskiy

Yevgeniy (Eugene) Granovskiy passed away peacefully at his home in Missoula, Montana from complications of Parkinson’s disease in the early morning of Saturday, October 14, 2023 with his wife and two of his sons close by.

Eugene was a man who loved to share everything that fascinated him about the world with the people he loved. He was a story-teller, a collector, a tour guide, a joker, and a thoroughly principled, dedicated man who was devoted to his family and friends until his very last breath.

Eugene was born in Moscow, Russia (then Soviet Union) on June 25, 1940 to loving parents Anna (neé Zilberman), a chemistry professor and classically trained soprano, and Boris Granovskiy, a metallurgist and engineer. Three days shy of Eugene’s first birthday, the Soviet Union was invaded by Germany, and Eugene’s family was evacuated East to the Ural Mountains, where they spent most of the rest of the war. Like that entire generation of Soviet children, Eugene’s life and family were deeply affected by the war, and a number of his relatives never returned from the front.

After the war, Eugene accompanied his dad who was sent to Germany to identify promising new technologies. While there, Eugene began to master languages, learning to speak German better than his native Russian. Over time, he would also learn French and English, which served him well in his career and – later – in his new life in America.

Eugene recalled a happy childhood with his younger brother Lev (born 1948), despite sharing a single apartment with several other families as Moscow was rebuilding after the war. His parents owned part of a summer cottage (or dacha) outside of Moscow, where he spent many happy summers, and where several generations of Granovskiy children, including Eugene’s own, would grow up. The dacha was one of Eugene’s favorite places on this Earth. For decades, he spent his time and loving effort growing berries, fruits, and vegetables, collecting mushrooms, repairing the building and, most importantly, hosting friends and relatives for big, happy, loud gatherings during the long summer evenings.

After graduating high school with outstanding grades and a gold medal, Eugene was admitted to Moscow’s Institute of Steel and Alloys, where he met several of his lifelong friends. Unbeknownst to him, Eugene attended the Institute at the same time as the future love of his life, Liya (neé Belotserkovskaya), who was three years ahead of him in her studies.

Eugene received his Ph.D. in the physics of metals and defended his dissertation in the city of Sverdlovsk. According to one of his favorite stories, many years later he was talking to Volodya Levit, a friend he made in Columbus, Ohio. Volodya told him “You know, Eugene, I attended your Ph.D. defense!” Eugene was flattered, thinking that his work was significant enough to attract spectators. Volodya continued: “I was in charge of hosting the party for the guy defending right after you, so I was just there, making sure you finished on time so I could get the room set up.”

After graduating in the early 1960s with highest honors, Eugene began working as a research scientist at the Soviet Institute of Electromechanics, where he would spend most of his ‘first’ career until the start of Perestroika – the pro-Western movement that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union - in the late 1980s. Eugene was highly effective at work and became a respected scientist, publishing a number of academic articles and earning several patents. Perhaps more importantly, Eugene used every opportunity afforded to him by his job and the associated travel to participate in his many hobbies and passions.

From his very first overnight hike in the Dombai Mountains with his family as a 13-year-old, Eugene was in love with the outdoors.  He enjoyed hiking, mountaineering, canoeing, and skiing all over the vast Soviet wilderness. But his true lifelong passion was the sport of orienteering – finding checkpoints in the woods using a map and a compass – which he discovered in 1963, when it was first starting to appear in Moscow. Orienteering appealed to every aspect of Eugene’s nature: the desire to be outdoors, to solve problems, to exercise both mind and body. In him, the sport evoked the intrepid spirit of his favorite literary hero, Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.

Over the next several decades, Eugene was extremely active in orienteering as a competitor, event organizer, event official, and even federation president. He was involved in most major national orienteering events in the USSR as an organizer, controller, or referee, traveling all over the nation and passing on his expertise to younger generations of orienteering organizers. He was extremely proud when his contributions to the foundation of Soviet orienteering were acknowledged by the Russian Orienteering Federation, and a tribute to him was published in the Russian orienteering magazine.

Eugene’s life was transformed when, on a canoe trip with his first son Sasha and some friends on the Toropa River in 1976, he met Liya and immediately fell in love. The two of them would be inseparable for the next 47 years, and Liya was by Eugene’s side until the very last moments of his life. Liya and Eugene married soon after meeting, and Liya gave birth to their son on December 29, 1980 – the same day that Eugene’s father Boris was being buried. Naturally, Eugene and Liya’s son was named Boris after his grandfather.

In 1992, Eugene and Liya made the extremely difficult decision to move their family to America, to escape the political instability and looming military draft for Boris, and to give their family the opportunity for a better life. Their son Greg (from Liya’s first marriage) had already moved to New York in 1989 and played a huge role in convincing Liya and Eugene to follow suit.

On November 9, 1992, Eugene, Liya, Liya’s father Grigoriy, and their youngest son Boris immigrated to New York, beginning a new chapter of Eugene’s life. This was a challenging time for Eugene, as he had to give up everything he knew – a successful career, well-established hobbies, and groups of close friends and relatives – for the unknown.

The first couple of years in a foreign land were difficult, and he took on low-paying jobs outside of his field of expertise just to make sure his family was provided for. For years, however, he sent resumes and applications for his dream job – that of an analyst of international scientific literature for Chemical Abstracts, based in Columbus, Ohio. In 1999, Eugene finally received a job offer from Chemical Abstracts. He and Liya relocated to Columbus and remained there until 2021, cultivating a fabulous group of close friends there.

Everywhere Eugene went, he created communities. In Columbus, his and Liya’s home was a social hub, hosting friends for dinners and parties, and even hosting small concerts for former Soviet musicians who were passing through town. Eugene remained active in orienteering, now traveling to competitions to meet up with his son Boris, who followed his footsteps into the sport. He and Liya loved to travel, visiting numerous countries and continents, from Italy to Israel to Mexico, as well as going to see their sons Sasha (in Saint Petersburg, Russia) and Greg (in San Raphael, California) with their families.

Eugene adored his sons and grandkids, and telling family stories became his biggest passion in retirement. He spent countless hours exploring his family’s genealogy (back to the 1850s!) and getting in contact with long-lost relatives all over the world. Together, he and Liya wrote and published several books telling the stories of their family across continents and centuries.

In 2021, soon after retiring, Eugene and Liya relocated to Missoula, Montana to be closer to their youngest son Boris, his wife Allison (a Missoula native), and granddaughter Inara. At that point, Parkinson’s disease made mobility difficult for Eugene, but he continued hiking, walking, and exploring his neighborhood – seeing beauty and wonder everywhere he went – as long as he could. In the last months, Eugene would give wheelchair rides to Inara, teach her to play Rummikub, and charm his new Montana friends and family with his stories. He enjoyed meeting Allison’s large extended family in Montana and, estimating that there were about 200 family members, would introduce himself and Liya as Brown family members #201 and #202.

Finally, he was very excited about Grizzly Orienteering, a new orienteering club started in Missoula by Boris and Allison. He attended events, contributed to the club, and asked about the details of every event right up until his final days. Fittingly, an orienteering event held by Grizzly Orienteering on the day of Eugene’s passing was dedicated to his memory.

Eugene passed away peacefully on October 14, 2023 – what would have been his father Boris’s 114th birthday. Already very ill, he held on until both his sons Greg and Sasha had the opportunity to visit and say their goodbyes.

Eugene will be forever missed by his loving family: wife Liya, sons Greg (Nonna), Sasha (Tanya), and Boris (Allison), grandchildren Tanya, Diana, Nikki, Leana, Misha, Inara, brother Lev, nephew Boris (Dasha), cousins Volodya (Lena), Sasha Shik, and Nina Bronstein, their families, as well as the Sandomirsky, Lukashov, and Rybakov families, as well as numerous friends from all over the world.

Eugene’s family would like to express their profound gratitude to the staff of the Springs, Case Management, and Hestia Hospice, especially Dr. Saul Rivard, who all provided exceptional care for Eugene and his family during Eugene’s difficult final months.

A virtual memorial to honor Eugene’s life will be held on Sunday, November 12 at 11am Mountain time / 1pm Eastern time / 9pm Moscow time. Please contact boris.granovskiy@gmail.com for details.

Donations in Eugene’s memory can be made to Grizzly Orienteering at https://www.grizzlyorienteering.org/ or to the charity of your choice.