Russian traces in Grothendieck's work and family history

Based on records in Russian archives, we present some new facts about life of Alexander Grothendieck's father in Russia and his anarchism activities. We found his name at birth and that he had at least three brothers. Moreover, we found the fate of his eldest son, David Aleksandrovich Shapiro, a prominent petrophysicist, and established contact with his daughter. Notably, in mid-90s David Shapiro has dictated several pages of memories about his parents which are now kept by his daughter.