Bobrovnikova Deborah

I am trying to reasearch the Bobrovnikov family and I am running out of
sources. In my research attamepts, I came across your website and I am
hoping someone there can help me. The following is what I know.

My Father-in-law id Dr. David Dixon Porter (Bobrovnikov). He lives in
California and is a retired pathologist. His birth surname is Bobrovnikov
but he changed it to Porter after he received threats from Russia during the
cold war between the US and Russia. I can provide prrof of the surname
change if you need it. His father was Nicholas T. Bobrovnikov. The
information about him is below:
      Data from birth certificate, marriage certificate, death
certificate, naturalization record, Grinnell family bible, NTB book    
           (important for this and earlier generations) which covers his
life from birth until he entered the United States in 1924. Lived in
Markovka 1896-1900, in Starobielsk 1900-1914, Petrograd 1914-1917, student
at Petrograd Polytechnic Institute, Petrograd Institute of Technology, and
Vladimir Military School. In Russian Army July 1917-June 1918, then 4 months
at Kharkov University, then Dec 1918-Feb 1920 in Denikin Army, wounded.
Refugee camp in Cyprus Feb 1920-Sep 1921. Four months in Greece and
Yugoslavia. Nov 1921-Sep 1924, Prague, Czechoslovakia at Charles University.
1924- 1927 at the University of Chicago and Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay
WI, Ph.D. Jun 1927. Postdoctoral fellow at the University of California,
Berkeley and Lick Observatory 1927-1930. Professor of Astronomy at Ohio
Wesleyan and Ohio State Universities, Director Perkins Observatory. Retired
in 1970 and moved to Berkeley. Short biography by Donald E. Osterbrock in
Mercury, 15:46-50,63, 1986. Asteroid 2637 (A919 SB) named Bobrovnikoff in
his honor, "New names of minor planets" in International Astronomical Union
Minor Planets Circular July 24, 1983. "The asteroid was discovered Sept. 22,
1919 by K. Reinmuth at Heidelberg. Named in honor of Nicholas T.
Bobrovnikoff, director of the Perkins Observatory from 1934 to 1951,
currently preparing an authoritative history of astronomy. Perhaps best
known for his pioneering investigations on the effect of aperture size on
the observed total magnitude of comets, he made an exhaustive investigation
of the 1909-11 apparition of Halley's Comet and prepared in manuscript form
a comprehensive catalogue of physical observations of comets. His
spectroscopic study showing differences in the surfaces of minor planets,
published in 1929, was 'so far ahead of its time that it was overlooked'.
Following suggestions by D. D. Meisel and N. Sperling, the name was proposed
by B. G. Marsden, who found the identifications involving this planet."

Nicholas Bobrovnikov's Father was Fedor V. Bobrovnikov. Born Feb 21, 1856 in
Ryazhsk, RP, Russia. he was a Lumberyard owner and mayor of Markovka in what
is now Ukraine. Cause of death was stomach cancer but I'm not sure what
year. All I know about Fedor's father is that his name was Vasily Conrad
Bobrovnikov and he was born in Ryazhsk, RP, Russia in 1825.

I have come across several references to the Bobrovnikov family as a noble
family of Russia and the fact that they fled russia and the mayorship of
Fedor seems to lend credence to the possibility. But I have no way of
researching this family further as I do not speak russian and there are very
few avenues of research for Russian families on the internet. So, I am at
bit of a loss here. If anyone in your organization can help me, I would be
grateful. You can email me at dksbobrovnikova@dksdesigns.net if you have any
questions or any information that you can pass along. Also, is there any way
to get a copy of the names listed in the Nobility Archives??