[It is a long way from Slagelse to Sebastopol].

Above I have told the story of Frederik Lov, who was the brother of my great-great-grandmother. He was born in 1802 as son of a watchmaker and graduated from the grammar school in Slagelse in 1822, the very year when the fairyteller Hans Christian Andersen was sent to the same school. Frederik Lov went to Copenhagen to study at >>The Royal Surgical Academy<<, but just before his final graduation he left for St. Petersburg in Russia as the Russian government had invited senior medical students and young doctors to come to work in Russia. True, it has been promised that the students could pass their exam in Russia in their native language. However, it turned out that Danish was not covered, so instead he was examined in Latin and passed his examination in 1828. He started his medical career at the naval hospital in Archangelsk, where he stayed for two years and learned to speak Russian. In 1830 he went with the frigate >>Smirna<< from Archangelsk towards Kronstadt, but was shipwrecked near Halmstad in Sweden. He was saved and could continue the journey one month later. In Kronstadt he was offered to join the Black Sea navy. He went to Sebastopol, where he stayed for the rest of his life. He participated in several military actions, especially in the Caucasian area. During the Crimean War he worked as a doctor in the fortifications of Sebastopol. At that time his family was evacuated and his house was destroyed by bombs. In 1874 he died as a highly decorated man. Frederik Lov's son Karl was also an officer. He was involved in battles in Caucasus like his father. After having left the army he became chief of the telegraph station of Sebastopol and later on the manager of the public bank of the town and elected member of the Duma. He lived at the house of Frederik Lov, which had been rebuilt after the Crimean War, and ever since descendents of Frederik Lov, lived in this house until it was destroyed by German bombs in 1942 and never rebuilt. A great-great-granddaughter of Frederik Lov, Olga Kulago, participated in the defense of Sebastopol in 1942 and was evacuated to Caucasus. After the war she studied medicine and graduated in 1950. She worked as an obstetrician until her retirement in 1977.