Yuri Vitalievitch SMIRNOFF (aka George) [1903-1947]

For the record, George Vitalievich Smirnoff was born on 27 October 1903.

It hardly matters now, but my father was never known as Yuri.  Yuri is just the Russian form of George.  Because so many thousands of Russians were refugees fleeing the USSR when he was young, they all spoke to each other in Russian.  As the refugees moved around they picked up other languages and, as you know, in Hongkong at that time it was strictly survival time.

George Smirnoff was buried in Hongkong. His grave is at the Happy Valley Cemetery very close to the entrance.  It has an approx. 4 ft tall Russian cross.  The stone is of white marble but I'm told it has become quite weathered.

He is buried in section 13 of the cemetery, plot 13---/02/07-. The inscription on his gravestone reads:

GEORGE VITALIEVICH
SMIRNOFF
Born 27-10-1903
Died 6-2-1947
<Russian script.>
HK Marble Co. #10363

There are photos at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=smirnoff&GSiman=1…; 

During 1944-1945, George and his family left Hong Kong for the relative safety of Macau. While in Macau he painted a series of watercolours.

There was an exhibition of his paintings to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, and the writeup has more information about him and his background: http://www.mam.gov.mo/oldmam/shows/smirnoff/english/safeharbour_e.htm

His daughter Irene has also written about those years at: http://gwulo.com/node/35127

My husband's uncle was a student of your father and went on to teach in Porto, Portugal. We have a small watercolor of your father's from Macau. Luis Demee.

The first article says that the Smirnoff home was "bombed" perhaps in 1943. Actually, I am pretty certain that it was the very first American air raid on Hong Kong during the War which occurred on the 25th October, 1942. By a strange coincidence, my elder brother and I were visiting the two Smirnoff girls, Irina and Nina, when that air raid took place. The Smirnoffs lived on the top 3rd floor of an apartment building which had six apartments. There was a dividing wall between the  6 flats, and the building had two entrances. During the air raid, we heard lots of bombs whistling down before exploding. Then we heard a bomb whistling down, but instead of an explosion there were several loud thumps. That was a 500 lb bomb hitting the roof of the adjoining section of the building, and then crashing down several floors before landing on the ground floor, WITHOUT exploding. It lay there just a few feet away from us on the other side of a thin dividing wall. Several days after the air raid, I went back to the site and managed to sneak past the Japanese sentries and had a look at that bomb lying on its side. It looked pretty ugly to me!

One of the most energetic people I have met since my arrival in Hongkong is Mr. George V. Smirnoff, an interesting and clever Russian painter. Eight months ago Mr. Smirnoff arrived in the Colony to take up his duties as an architect and engineer with Marsmans, but all his spare time is devoted, like Joseph Orban, the famous Austrian architect in New York, to painting pictures in oils and pastels.
His work is largely influenced by the Russian school, of which Levitan was the founder, and which came to prominence toward the end of the last century. It encourages spiritual impressions rather than realistic ones. This school also follows a certain amount of French technique and expression, and the idea that life in the shape of people or animals is unnecessary.
Mr. Smirnoff handles sunshine and cloudy scenes cleverly. One particularly interesting piece of his work is done with the palette knife; it deals with sea and a small sailing boat.
Shortly he hopes to have an exhibition, and, strange to say, two of the subjects to which he intends to devote much time will not be some of the surrounding scenery. One will be the Victoria monument, with the Hongkong bank in the background, and the other a submarine and a Chinese junk, on the lines of “ships that pass in the night”.
This Russian artist spent 25 years in Harbin before coming to Hongkong. There he was connected with many societies, and devoted much of his time to decor for the theater, specializing in light opera and ballet. This he found particularly interesting as there are more freedom in scope for the imagination, and it is the one occasion he enjoys to introduce modern work.
Mr. Smirnoff intends to build a studio in Cheung Chau, where he will entertain from time to time the artists of the Colony. He hopes to hold his exhibition next month and will exhibit about 70 pictures.

By Paddy. South China Morning Post, June 14, 1939, p. 5.

Mr. G. V. Smirnoff
Mr George V. Smirnoff, well-known Russian civil engineer and architect, was found dead in the courtyard of his house at 15 Cameron Road about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday. According to a police report, Mr. Smirnoff either jumped or fell from the bathroom of his house, which was on the third floor.
The late Mr. Smirnoff, who was 44, leaves a widow and three children. He graduated form the Harbim Polytechnical Institute in 1927 and was for some years in Tsingtao where he successfully practiced as an architect and designed a number of villas and bungalows.
He came to Hongkong in 1938 and was associated with Messrs Marsmans Ltd until the outbreak of the Pacific War. He spent the latter part of the war years in Macao.
Returning to Hong Kong in October 1945 he was connected until the end of the last year with the Architectural Office, Public Works Department. Of late months, he was in indifferent health and was convalescing from a disease of the nerves prior to returning again to Marsmans.
An able painter in both water colours and oils, Mr. Smirnoff had been, prior to the war, an enthusiastic member of the local Artists’ Guild, organizing a number of exhibitions. A requiem mass was held yesterday evening at the Russian Orthodox Church, Kowloon, and the funeral takes place at 3 PM today at the Colonial Cemetery, happy Valley.
South-China Morning Post, Feb 8, 1947, p. 6.