Ludmila Ershov

June 30, 1933 - November 28, 2018

Ludmila Ershov, an active member of the Bay Area Russian community since 1952, passed away in San Francisco on November 28.

Born to Mihail Duca, a Russified Romanian, and Lyubov Olovyankina of Kungur, Russia, in the French concession of Shanghai in 1933, she was raised in Russian culture and attended the College Municipal Francais. After 2 years in a Displaced Persons camp in the Philippines, her family spent two years in Paris, which at the time was still reeling from the war. Her Master’s degree at San Francisco State College was followed by a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Stanford, and she taught 20 happy and fruitful years at San Francisco State University. In 1992 she established a summer study abroad program in St. Petersburg and for ten summers accompanied her students to Russia. She served on the board of Fort Ross Interpretive Association beginning in 1995. After retiring from SFSU as Professor Emerita she donned a sarafan to help bring Fort Ross alive for visitors. She was a core volunteer at the Russian Center, especially for the Russian Festival. A deft, ingenious and prolific cook, her holiday receptions were keenly anticipated, as were her cooking lessons and impromptu aperitifs. She was a faithful, engaged and supporting member of Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church on Anza for many years and an active participant in the sisterhood. She is survived by her husband of 45 years Peter Schwalbenberg, a son Alex (Natalia Kouznetsova), a daughter Maria (Raymond Grech), 5 grandsons and a great grandson. Services will be at the Christ the Saviour Church, 490 12th Avenue in San Francisco at 2 PM Sunday, Dec. 2nd and again at 10 AM Monday followed by interment at the Serbian Cemetery in Colma. Her family suggest remembering her with donations to the Chronicle Season of Sharing fund.