Immail Mikhail Nikolaevitch Gouloum-Bek
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/M23L-8QX Son Nick says his name was Michel, not Michael. I suspect he adopted that name when he was in Paris. Nick says he spoke Russian and even taught Nick's brother some Russian.
His surname in Georgia was Golum-Bek, but it became Beck after immigration to the USA; that's according to Nick. But he has a postcard dated 1939 where Dimitry addresses his wife as "Mrs. Bubsy GolumBeck", at 1325 Newport Ave., Chicago.
On son Nick's birth certificate, his birth placeis listed as Riga, Latvia, but Nick is sure it was Georgia, whereas Bonnie is confident Latvia is correct. We have linked to a Family Search record (M23L-8QX) that says he born 8 July 1900 in Riga, Latvia. From Nick about that: "I believe that is wrong. My sister found that information on an application for a visa in Constantinople when my father was escaping from Russia. The Red Bolshevik army had defeated the White Army and had escaped to the Black Sea, where they were picked up by two American curisers. " Another source has it that he was born 1901 06 16, but on son Nick's birth certificate he listed his age as 42, so that can't be right.
From a blurb for the opening of his hair salon in Chicago: "Dmitri, a Russian nobleman and a former Captain in the Czar's cavalry, has led a highly adventurous and colorful life. Driven to the Black Sea in retreat by the Bolsheviks in 1920, he and his troop of White Russians were dramatically rescued at Sebastapol by an American destroyer.. Faced with a complete reorganization of his life he became interested in hair styling and discovered he possessed an unusual artistic ability... He studied in Constantinople, Palermo, Vienna, and then in Paris, where for a number years he worked under the famous Emile... Since his arrival in the United States in 1927 he has been hair stylist for exclusive salons in New York and Chicago, and numbers among his clientele many leaders in the social world." -- Dmitri of Paris Salon of Creative Hair Styling, 4802 Broadway, telephone Sunnyside 2666. (in Chicago).
Dmitri was trained at the Alexandrovsky Military Academy in Russia.
Obituary, in the Evanston Mail, 2/25/1952: "Robert Beck, 50, 609 Davis Street, died Feb. 19 in the St. Francis Hospital. He had operated the Dimitri Beauty Shop at the Davis Street address, and had been an Evanston resident for 20 years. Surviving are two sons, Nicholas and Michael; one daughter, Bonnie, and a brother, Vladimir Sochevanoff. Funeral services were conducted Friday at 11 a.m. from the chapel at 1460 Sherman Ave."
Michel lived in Gori, Georgia, as a young boy.
Dmitri was fighting against the Bolsheviks for the White Russians, as a Captain in command of 1600 Cossack troops, at the age of 16. He was captured and about to be executed, but a soldier recognized him as his childhood friend, and let him escape from the paddy wagon. He made his way down to Sebastopol, got on an American destroyer, and made his way to Constantinople, and then eventually to Paris. As a Cossack, he was accustomed to braiding the manes of his horses elaborately, so that provided him the skill he needed to become a hair dresser for women.
destroyer, and made his way to Constantinople, and then eventually to Paris. As a Cossack, he was accustomed to braiding the manes of his horses elaborately, so that provided him the skill he needed to become a hair dresser for women.Listed as "Robert" on Nick's birth certificate.