Whenever I read biographies on normal soviet people, i’m always surprised when i see shit like “Ivan McLenin Jr.’s mother was a radiochemist who also taught classical piano. His father was a soldier in the Red Army and became a mechanic after the war.”

And while western biographies are varied, more often than not when it’s from around the same time period I see “Joe Davis’ mother was a doctor but resigned early and became a stay at home mom after having children”