[BobC]

Alex ,

You may be interested to know I found this marriage record for what looks like J K M Shirazi :

Name Joel Kasha Mooshy Shirazi
Birth Date 1876
Age 40
Spouse's Name Eugenie Rosenstein
Spouse's Birth Date 1887
Spouse's Age 29
Event Date 11 Sep 1916
Event Place Congregational Church, Alexandroffsky, St. Petersburg, Russia
Father's Name Mooshy Shirazi
Spouse's Father's Name Isaac Rosenstein
Marital Status Single
Spouse's Marital Status Single

The first names look right for your J K M.

The record is found in what is known as the England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8) so even though it took place in St Petersburg there is some sort of English connection.

It turns out that the church was known as the British and American Congregational Church, probably the only non-Orthodox church in the city.

In 1911 his wife-to-be Eugenie was a student at a girls school in Chipping Barnett, Hertfordshire. She is shown as born in Russia.

So if Shirazi lived in St Peterburg for some time it could explain the Russian connection that would allow him to to translate Gorky.

BobC