When Edward Samuel Miliband, British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, did a radio interview for the station “Ekho Moskvy” in Russia (together with his brother David Miliband, who is Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs), he did of course not expect to fing long-lost relatives. During the interview, a woman named Sofia Davidowna Miliband called and said “I am Sofia Davidovna Miliband, I am your relative; I am the only one left”. Despite the fact that the shows host cut her off, believing she was joking, Ed Miliband later met the 86-year old woman. It turned out that she was not joking: he remembered having known of Sofia’s existence when he was a child, and described her as “an amazing woman”.

Ms. Davidowna Miliband was once the leading expert on Iran at the Moscow School of Oriental Studies, and thought she was the only Miliband left at all. After some time of translating and calling back home, Ed Miliband found out that his great-great grandfather was the brother of Sofia’s grandfather, who had been born in Warsaw’s Jewish quarter as well. Mr. Miliband’s ancestor fled Poland in the 1920s, ended up in Belgium, and then fled to England with forged papers when Hitler’s army invaded Belgium.

The Secretary was so eager to meet his relative that he left a reception at the British embassy, to the amazement of the ambassador and dozens of guests and media

Photo: open eye communications