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Rostislav Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy BlankoPresident of the company "Rostik International"
Date of Birth: 30.11.1958
Country:  Venezuela |
Content:
- Biography of Rostislav Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy Blanko
- Family History
- Life in Venezuela
- Education and Business Career
- Journey to Russia
- Conclusion
Biography of Rostislav Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy Blanko
Early Life and HeritageRostislav Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy Blanko, the President of Uchastie Company, was born on November 30, 1958, in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. He is a professional businessman who is fluent in four languages. Rostislav belongs to the ancient noble family of Tanaevskiy, with the coat of arms of Lebed, from the Minsk Voivodeship, known since the late 16th century. On his maternal side, he belongs to another noble family, Prevish-Kvinto, with the coat of arms of Drya, from the Vilna Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. His ancestors, Nikolai Tanaevskiy and Andzhey Kvinto, had their signatures on the act of election of the Polish king John III at the Sejm in 1674. Rostislav's great-grandfather, Nikolai Aleksandrovich Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy, served his entire life in public service and held the position of the Governor of Tobolsk during the February Revolution, with the rank of State Councilor. He was arrested by the Cheka in 1918 and was listed by the newspaper "Izvestiya" as one of those executed in response to the murder of Uritsky. However, he miraculously survived and was "relocated" to Kronstadt on a barge. In late 1918, he managed to escape from the Bolsheviks to Serbia, where he took monastic vows and became a monk named Nikodim. Nikolai Aleksandrovich passed away in Germany eight years before Rostislav's birth.
Family History
Rostislav's father, Nikolai Nikolaevich, served as an officer throughout the entirety of World War I and the Russian Civil War. Unfortunately, his firstborn son froze to death in his mother's arms during the retreat of the White Army to Romania. Rostislav was born in Serbia in 1924. He grew up under the immense influence of his grandfather. The manuscript of his grandfather's memoirs about life in pre-revolutionary Russia, written at the request of his grandson, became a family relic and instilled in many Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy family members a love for their lost homeland. This was during a time when other Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy family members were being raised to love the Soviet Motherland and to hate those who did not adhere to socialist ideals and lived in the "accursed West." To ensure their loyalty, part of the family name was "cut off," leaving all the heirs with only the Ordovskiy name. Despite this, life went on on both sides of the "Iron Curtain," although family members from the 1930s to the late 1980s knew nothing about each other.
Life in Venezuela
When the guns of World War II fell silent and it was time to take stock, the "overseas" branch of the family found itself in Germany. Nikolai Nikolaevich started studying dentistry but considered publishing books by Russian authors to be the main purpose of his life. "My job was to raise funds and publish good books. I almost didn't earn anything from it," he recalled later. It was during this time that he started publishing a magazine in Russian called "Yav." One day, while on a publishing trip to Paris, Nikolai Nikolaevich found himself caught in a police raid. Being stateless and Russian by blood, he was handed over by the French to the Soviet embassy, which was then a prison for such unfortunate individuals. He was flown by military aircraft to the Soviet zone in Germany, where SMERSH - the military counterintelligence - took charge of him. After a brief interrogation, Nikolai Nikolaevich was taken out to be shot. By the grace of God, a certain high-ranking officer arrived at the prison, and the execution was postponed until the next day. During the night, he miraculously managed to escape.
Realizing that it was dangerous to continue living in Europe, like many Russian emigrants, Nikolai Nikolaevich applied for visas at the consulates of many countries. Venezuela was the first to respond in 1948. He had to start from scratch there, as he only had the money he had earned as a dentist while the ship crossed the Atlantic. Upon arrival, Nikolai Nikolaevich worked as a dentist and eventually started a family. His chosen one was Genoveva Blanco, originally from Spain. At the age of 21, after the civil war, she came to Venezuela with six brothers and sisters in search of a new life. And she married a Russian. Thanks to her entrepreneurial abilities, the young family soon opened their own business in the trade and furniture manufacturing industry, creating one of the largest department stores in Venezuela, "Cadenas Comerciales." The Russian community in Venezuela was small but close-knit. The "colonists," with their own money, built several churches and opened parish schools. One of these schools was attended by Rostislav, who was raised in the Russian spirit. Interestingly, Rostislav acknowledges the important role his Spanish-speaking mother played in this process, as she actively contributed to his Russian upbringing, understanding that he would already acquire the Spanish language and culture.
Vadim Nikolaevich, Rostislav's father, established and headed the Venezuelan branch of the ORUR (Organization of Russian Young Scouts), which went beyond his work at the ORUR Communication Center. His assistance contributed to the establishment of other scout centers in Moscow (at Krutitskoye Podvorye), St. Petersburg, Ivanovo Oblast (Ples), Krasnodar Krai (Anapa), and more.
Education and Business Career
Rostislav began his education in Caracas, attending a 10-year Russian parish school. He then enrolled at St. George's British School to learn English. Later, he transferred to the German school "Gumbold Schule." At the age of 13, he was accepted into the prestigious Venezuelan Military Academy "Mariscal de Ayacucho," where he completed his studies with top grades and earned the rank of First Brigadier, the second-highest military rank at the academy. In 1978, at the age of 20, Rostislav was awarded a commendation by the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense for his achievements in military and civilian disciplines. He also won a scholarship to study at the university.
In 1981, Rostislav graduated from the prestigious Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela with a degree in Chemical Engineering. During his time at university, he also attended courses in chemical engineering at the Polytechnic College of the Ministry of Defense and at Metropolitan University. He actively engaged in commerce and distributed and sold books and later the latest electronics from the "Pioneer" company and other consumer electronics.
During these years, Rostislav began to demonstrate one of his key characteristics inherited from his mother: an extremely strong work ethic, remarkable sociability, and an interest in everything new. It seemed that even then he realized that he wanted to try everything himself while still having the support of his parents. He started exploring the business world, starting from a small country. However, it was the country where, as its people say, they "fell from a palm tree straight into a Mercedes." Venezuela had discovered enormous oil reserves, which influenced Rostislav's choice of his first profession.
After graduating from the university, Rostislav continued to study chemical engineering at the Ministry of Defense Polytechnic College and at the "Metropolitan" University. He also completed several courses and special programs in management, finance, business administration, philosophy, and psychology.
In 1981, Rostislav founded his first company, "Rostik International," which is still in operation today. Through this company, he expanded the import of electronics and engaged in distribution activities, including retail sales. As a result, he became one of the most important South American customers for Panasonic, Pioneer, Moulinex, TDK, and Kodak. Together with his cousin, Konstantin Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy, he started distributing American medical equipment. This experience provided him with international exposure. By the age of 23, he had already spent four full years in his thriving Venezuelan business. Rostislav, a tireless young Venezuelan, the son of immigrants, taught at the university while combining this demanding work with studying and engaging in commercial activities such as distributing and selling books and the latest electronics.
During these years, Rostislav's desire to try everything himself and his interest in new ventures became evident. He began his foray into the entertainment industry and organized tours for classical ensembles in South America. One of the significant events was a two-month tour of Latin American doctors to the USSR for a two-week course at the Svyatoslav Fyodorov Institute. Rostislav began promoting Fyodorov's surgical techniques and instruments in Latin America.
Journey to Russia
In 1984, something strange happened: Rostislav received a call from the Soviet commercial attaché in Venezuela, V.V. Legonkov. He had been informed that there was a Venezuelan who spoke Russian fluently and was involved in the distribution of cinema and video products. Rostislav received an official invitation from the Soviet Ministry of Health to attend the Tashkent International Festival of Asian, African, and Latin American Cinema as a guest. The organization of this festival at that time was a crucial political initiative.
Before his trip, Rostislav had to ponder (theoretically) a challenging question: would the descendant of emigrants encounter any problems when visiting the USSR, and was it reasonable to travel to the "KGB empire" at all? His father vividly remembered his time in "Paris," and his great-grandfather described his "encounter" with the glorious Chekists. In the end, the family decided that Rostislav could go. According to official documents, he was born in Venezuela, was a citizen of Venezuela, and what does his origin matter to anyone? And so he set off on this journey to see the country that his father passionately dreamt of and secretly hoped to find some relatives, if it wouldn't be too dangerous.
Thus, the decision was made, which ultimately would change both Rostislav's and his parents' lives. A few days before his departure to Russia, his childhood friend, also of Russian descent, Dr. Georgiy (Georges) Gan, a young Venezuelan ophthalmologist, asked Rostislav to find the renowned Russian doctor, Professor Svyatoslav Fyodorov, in Moscow and invite him to come to Venezuela. Rostislav took an official invitation from the Venezuelan Ministry of Health to Professor Fyodorov to participate in the annual ophthalmologists' congress in Venezuela. With this message in his suitcase and a secret dream in his heart, Rostislav arrived in Spain, where he boarded an Aeroflot plane, marking the beginning of his "Soviet experience."
During this first trip, he had many impressions, the most significant of which was that everyone around him was speaking Russian, and he heard songs on the radio that he had learned from his father in his childhood. It was the country that he had been taught to love from afar, but he was unlikely to fall in love with it at first sight. He saw monuments to Lenin standing everywhere, empty shelves in stores, colorlessly dressed people who were afraid to talk to him, a foreigner who spoke Russian.
In Tashkent, Rostislav watched over 50 films but couldn't find a single one that had commercial potential. Eventually, he chose an animated film, which he released in Venezuela in 1985.
On his way back, he stopped in Moscow, where he attempted to meet Professor Fyodorov through the Ministry of Health. However, unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. Every time Rostislav received a response that the professor was either very busy, unavailable for meetings, or unwell. Until the very last day of his visit, Rostislav couldn't reach Fyodorov. Then he found the address of Fyodorov's Eye Microsurgery Institute, took a taxi, and went there himself. Twenty minutes and a little ingenuity later, he found himself standing in front of Svyatoslav Nikolaevich, delivering the invitation. At that moment, he could not have imagined how many obstacles he would have to overcome to ensure that the professor, having accepted the invitation, could actually come to Venezuela.
Rostislav's activities in Russia began like this. He then organized two festivals of Venezuelan films in the USSR and two festivals of Soviet films in Venezuela. He managed to do this himself since these were already "perestroika" times, and in 1987 Rostislav became the first person to be allowed to practically handpick films without censorship. He brought a film delegation to Venezuela, including his Russian cousin, director Mikhail Ordovskiy from Leningrad ("Lenfilm"). The first festival was incredibly successful and was extended for several weeks.
Over the next few years, Rostislav tried to become an impresario and organized tours for classical ensembles throughout South America. The most notable of these was a two-month tour of Latin American doctors to the USSR for a two-week course at the Fyodorov Institute. Rostislav started representing Fyodorov's surgical techniques and instruments in Latin America and engaged in their distribution.
Conclusion
Rostislav Ordovskiy-Tanaevskiy Blanko's journey took him from Venezuela to Russia, where he made significant contributions in various fields, including publishing, entertainment, and medicine. His journey was driven by a love for his heritage and a desire to connect with his Russian roots. Despite the challenges he faced, Rostislav's perseverance and entrepreneurial spirit allowed him to achieve success in both his personal and professional life. Today, he continues to make a difference as the President of Uchastie Company and remains committed to promoting Russian culture and heritage.
