The Smud FamilyAsk

The oldest documented ancestor

Falk Zhmood

The oldest documented ancestor of the direct line. We know he existed and what he was called because his son appears in the 1858 census identified as “son of Falik”.

Documentedc. 1797 – 1840

No paper written by him or about him survives. His name reaches us through a single word in the 1858 census: when recording his son, the census-taker wrote “David Falikov Zmud”, and “Falikov” in Russian means “son of Falik”.

He died around 1840. His name was not lost: the Ashkenazi Jewish custom was to name a child after a deceased relative, which is why the name Falk —or Falik, or Folke— reappears again and again in the following generations. Felix himself bore that name.

In the timeline

  1. c. 1797

    Falk Zhmood is born

    Falk Zhmood is born, the oldest documented ancestor of the direct line. His name reaches us through a single word in the 1858 census: “Falikov”, son of Falik.