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VGI Updates

Wiesner, M. Liliosa

Sister M. Liliosa Wiesner served as the tenth Mother General of the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis (1948-1960).  She was born Mary Wiesner, daughter of Jacob J. Wiesner & Barbara Ann Ingenthron, on 5 May 1887 in Kansas.  She died in 1974 in Peoria, Illinois.

Her Volga German ancestors come from the colony of Kamenka.

Rauschenbach, Boris

Boris Rauschenbach was a Soviet physicist and rocket engineer.  He developed the theory and instruments for interplanetary flight control and navigation.

Dr. Rauschenbach was born 18 January 1915 in St. Petersburg where his Volga German father had migrated to be the manager of a leather factory.  He died on 27 March 2001 in Moscow.

His Volga German ancestors come from the colony of Katharinenstadt.

Spomer, Ron

Ron Spomer was born 4 March 1953 and grew up in rural South Dakota. 

He is the author of 6 books & 100s of articles relating to the outdoors, particularly hunting.  He is the star of Orion Entertainment’s TV shows “Winchester's Whitetail Revolution” and “Winchester's World of Whitetail."

His Volga German ancestors come from the colony of Bangert.

Denis, Sergio

Argentine pop singer Sergio Denis was born Héctor Omar Hoffmann, son of Feliciano Hoffmann and María Esther Fenzel, on 16 March 1949 in San José near Coronel Suárez in Buenos Aires Province.

He died 15 May 2020 in Buenos Aires after a long illness following a fall in March of 2019.

His Volga German ancestors come from the colony of Dehler.

Welk, Lawrence

Lawrence Welk was an American musician who hosted the television program The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982.  His ancestors came from the German colonies near Odessa in Ukraine.  He is not a descendant of the Volga German colonists.

Denver, John

Born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., he was an American musician known as John Denver.  His ancestors come from the German colonies near Odessa in Ukraine. He is not a descendant of the Volga German colonists.

Schell, Alejandro

Alejandro Schell was born 9 October 1897 in Sewald and died 7 September 1972.  He was ordained 13 December 1922.  He was consecrated as the Bishop of Lomas de Zamora in Argentina on 10 April 1963 and served until his death.

He served the Volga German parishes in the San Isidro and Villa Ballester neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.

Bishop Schell's Volga German ancestors came from the colony of Sewald.

Stieben, Santiago

Santiago Lautaro Stieben is an Argentine actor, born to Ernesto & María Elena Stieben on 15 August 1985 in Buenos Aires. His most popular role was as "Roña", the streetwise boy in the successful 1995 Argentine television series Chiquititas (Tiny Angels).

His Volga German ancestors come from the colony of Neu-Bauer.

Prediger, Andreas

Artist Andreas Prediger was born 16 November 1926 in the Volga German colony of Marienfeld. In 1932, his family left the Volga German Republic and settled first in Belarus and then in (Russian) Georgia.  The deportation in 1941 had a profound impact on the young Prediger, and is reflected in his art.  From 1954 to 1989, he worked as an art teacher and later decorator.  In 1991, his work was featured during an exhibition of German Russian art in Moscow. The following year, his work was exhibited in Dusseldorf, Berlin, and Munich.