AUTHOR’S NOTE: THE
RUSSIAN CALENDAR
When
Pope Gregory XIII mandated the switch from the old Julian calendar
to the astronomically more accurate reckoning of the Gregorian
calendar in 1582, because of religious enmities neither Protestant
nor Orthodox countries would follow suit. England and the British
colonies in America did not switch over to the Gregorian calendar
until 1752 (with the result that most of America’s Founding Fathers
have two recorded birth dates, one ‘old-style’ and one Gregorian
about eleven days later); Sweden did not make the change until
1753, and Russia did not start using the Gregorian calendar until
after the 1918 Revolution that ended the rule of the Tsars. Thus,
in 1911, when this story takes place, all dates are different
depending on whether the action is taking place inside or outside
of Russia, the Julian date being two weeks behind the
Gregorian.
Greece did not switch
to the Gregorian reckoning until 1924, and many Orthodox churches
still use the Julian calendar to calculate the date of
Easter.