Teveleva (née Bykovskaya, later Abkina) Feiga Davidovna (26 August 1900, Krustpils) — secretary-typist.
Feiga Teveleva was born into the family of a timber industry grader. In 1907, her family moved to Riga. She entered a private gymnasium but did not complete her studies due to the school’s evacuation during World War I. In 1916, she moved to Borovichi (Novgorod province), where she completed secondary education in 1917. Soon after, she moved to Petrograd and attended lectures at the Commercial Institute for two years.
In 1918, she married Iosif Abkin (1896, Poland — 1919), a student of the Petrograd Institute of Railway Engineers. In March 1919, she gave birth to a son, Abram Abkin (1919, Petrograd). A few months later, she was widowed: her husband, who had gone on a business trip to Kyiv, was shot by Petliurist forces in Zhmerynka.
In autumn 1920, she returned to Riga. In 1925, she remarried — to Itskhak Tevelev (1892, Riga — 1969, Riga). In 1926, she gave birth to a daughter, Berenika Tserlina (née Teveleva) (1926, Riga).
Professional activity:
• 1918–1920 — typist at the Murmansk Railway Committee in Petrograd
• 1921–1923 — typist at the timber office “M. Lulov” in Riga
• 1924–1926 — clerk at the timber factory of the joint-stock company “Stella” (Riga)
• 1929–1939 — clerk at the Riga joint-stock company “Eksportwood”
• 1940–1941 — secretary-typist at trust No. 58 “Glavneftespetsstroy”
When the German-Soviet war began, she was evacuated with her husband to the Alma-Ata region.In
1941–1943 she worked in a kolkhoz, in 1943–1944 she worked as a secretary-typist at the Kazan district executive committee (Alma-Ata region), in 1944–1945 — as a secretary-cashier at a timber plant in Turgen. In 1945 she returned to Riga
Postwar employment:
• 1946 — statistician in the Planning Department of the Main Administration of Motor Transport under the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR
• 1946–1947 — norm-setter at a tailoring and footwear combine
• 1947–1948 — typist-storekeeper at “Latselektromekh”
• 1949–1950 — secretary-typist at the wool factory “Aktivist” (Riga)
• 1950–1953 — head of Riga Pharmacy No. 2
• 1955–1961 — seamstress at the artel “Dzirkstele”
• From 1961 — pensioner
During the Nazi occupation of Latvia, all her close relatives were killed in Riga: her father Iosif Bykovsky (1876–1941), her brothers Moisei (1898–1941), Binyamin (1911–1941), Uziel (1932–1941), and her sister Zlata (1909–1941).
Her son from her first marriage, Abram Abkin (1919), left Riga in 1938 for the territory of present-day Israel. In 1942, he graduated in Haifa as an electrical engineer. She did not see her son for more than 24 years.
From 1957, she repeatedly applied for permission to visit him in Israel, but was refused several times. One of the reasons cited by the authorities in 1963 was suspicion of “speculative activities” due to visits from foreign sailors.
In 1962, she submitted an emotional petition to the authorities requesting permission to visit her son, emphasizing her age, long separation, and desire to see her grandchildren at least once.
In 1965, she was finally granted permission for a visit. In 1972, the family received permission to emigrate to Israel to join her son.
Family:
Itskhak Tevelev (1892–1969) — second husband
Iosif Abkin (1896–1919) — first husband
Abram Abkin (1919) — son
Berenika Tserlina (née Teveleva) (1926) — daughter
Iosif Bykovsky (1876–1941) — father
Branna Bykovskaya (née Fainer) (1876–1901) — mother
Moisei Bykovsky (1898–1941) — brother
Binyamin Bykovsky (1911–1941) — brother
Zlata Bykovskaya (1909–1941) — sister
Uziel Bykovsky (1932–1941) — brother