“"He was a Russian Jew, a scholar, and a man of reason and logic, but above all a man of peace."
- – Rabbi Koslov on Andrei Ivanov
“"I want you to know how proud I am of you, Susan. I always have been. But a father should give his daughter love as well as respect, and in that I failed you. I'm sorry. I'm ashamed. Forgive me. Thank you, dushenka moya.""
- – Andrei's dying words to his daughter
Andrei Ivanov (Андрей Иванов) was a Russian scholar and the father of Susan and Ganya and the husband of Sofie Ivanova.
History[]
Born in the Russian Consortium, Andrei would become an accomplished author, critic, and noted pacifist. Andrei was critical of Earthforce and humanity's place in space in general, saying humanity should not travel to other worlds until they could live in peace on Earth.[1]
Andrei married Sofie Ivanova and the couple had two children, Ganya and Susan.
He was vocally opposed to a contemporary author named Kasherev, a radical Neo-Communist, whom Andrei believed would be personally responsible for the death of Russian culture. When Susan was thirteen, Andrei was invited to a reading by Kasherev, but had no interest in going. However, Susan (a passionate fan of Kasherev) begged him to take her. Andrei reluctantly went along, and after the reading Susan asked a question that resulted in Kasherev calling her a "bourgeois twit barely out of diapers." Andrei responded by saying his daughter was "neither bourgeois, nor a twit, and had long been out of diapers while Kasherev's writings had not risen past the level of their contents."[1]
Unknown to Andrei for many years, his wife was secretly a telepath. The Psi Corps learned of this on her thirty-fifth birthday. Rather than join the Corps, she elected to take "sleepers," drugs that inhibited her telepathic abilities. The drugs had the effect of causing severe depression. Ten years later, Sofie committed suicide. Her loss devastated Andei and the whole family.[2][3]
Not long after Sofie's death, the Earth-Minbari War broke out. Ganya joined Earthforce and was killed in action just over a year after Sofie's suicide. His death pushed Andrei deeper into his grief. When Susan joined Earthforce against his wishes, their relationship strained.
In 2258, Andrei's health began to fail rapidly. He was brought to a medical facility where he slipped in and out of a coma. He came out of it as Susan reached him via Gold Channel from Babylon 5. With his dying breath, he apologized for being so hard on her, and conveyed how much proud he was of her (that he always had been) and that he loved her.[3]
Andrei's death was considered a great loss by the Russian community. Susan was unable to attend his funeral, but many months after his death was able to finally sit shiva with the help of Rabbi Koslov, coming to peace at last.[1]