Ivan was born in the town of Berezovka (aka Novoalexandrovka) in Ananiev uyezd, Kherson province (now this is the city of Berezovka in Berezovsky district, Odessa region, Ukraine). Ivan was born in 1881 into the family of a Greek (both ethnic Greek and Greek citizen) Vasily Dmitriievich (i. e. son of Dmitry) Zelasko (Zelyasko) and his wife Maria Nikolaievna (daughter of Nikolay). Ivan's father Vasily was a blacksmith and had his own smithy. He died of consumption in 1889 when Ivan was only 8 and his younger sisters Fyokla (Thecla) and Alexandra were 3 years and 4 months old respectively.

Ivan worked as the locomotive driver. Later on he lived in the hamlet of Velikie Lamzaki ("the Great Lamzaki") which is now the village of Velikie Lamzaki in Kominternivsky district, Odessa region, Ukraine. He first married Yulia Andreievna (daughter of Andrey) in about 1904 and in that marriage they had three daughters - Maria, Raisa and Alexandra. However, October 10, 1911 Yulia died after a very hard journey in a cart (she was pregnant and the baby died before the delivery).

In about 1912 Ivan married Fevronia Ivanovna (daughter of Ivan) and in that marriage they had eight children - Valentina, Semyon, Ivan jr., Vera, Nila, Antonina, Pyotr and Vasily. Unfortunately, Fevronia also died soon after her last child, i. e. Vasily, was born (in late 1924).

In 1929 Ivan was exiled to Arkhangelsk (Russia) for two years as he had agreed to keep the agricultural implements of his relatives and friends who had been unjustly dispossessed as the kulaks and exiled from their native hamlet. Besides, Ivan's property worth of 15,000 roubles (the evaluation of rouble as of 1929) was confiscated.

In 1931 Ivan returned to the city of Odessa (according to the Soviet legislation he could no longer live in the hamlet he had been exiled from). He settled in Odessa district called Peresyp and kept on working as a locomotive driver, at first at Odessa timber export mill and then at Odessa cracking factory (i. e. petroleum refinery).

April 4, 1932 he married again, this time Maria Shapovalova employed as a cook at one of Odessa dining halls. They lived together till Ivan was arrested December 16, 1937 right in his job under the ridiculous pretext of "being involved in rebel sabotage anti-Soviet activities". The real reason was the fact that the Soviet government decided to get rid of the Greek citizens and ethnic Greeks as Greece had been one of the countries that were against Russia during the World War I. This ethnic cleansing was known later as "the Greek campaign". And even though all of Ivan's relatives and colleagues stated that he had nothing to do with any anti-Soviet organisations and activities (not a single evidence of it was produced at the trial), he was still sentenced to capital punishment. Ivan was shot right at Odessa Second Christian Cemetery February 14, 1938. He is buried there in a mass grave. And Ivan's two elder sons (Semyon and Ivan jr.) were exiled to Kazakhstan as the deportees (that was a common measure of the Soviet totalitarian regime towards the family members of the convicted). Semyon Zelasko remained in Kazakhstan and had a family there and Ivan jr. returned later and lived with his wife in Odessa.

Ivan Zelasko was rehabilitated posthumously October 11, 1958 (the case was closed due to "failure to prove corpus delicti", i. e. failure to prove elements of a crime).

Born 1881, г. Березовка (Berezovka), Одесская обл. (Odessa region);

Verdict: 31 January 1938.

Sentenced: death penalty

Source: Сведения Одесского академического центра (Украина) (Data of Odessa Academic Centre, Ukraine)

File number: 10094 - УСБУ в Одесской обл.