My Family and early years:
I came to life from a very diverse cultural background, with parents of different nationalities and grand parents also of different national background. This diversity of cultural influences I was immersed into is consequence of the fact that I was born in the Caribbean basin, a region that traditionally has been target of many migration currents. In particular on XIX and XX centuries the unstable situation of Europe pushed some of my ancestors to migrate to this part of the world.
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I think to have grown in Caribbean countries has been favorable to help me shape an open mind, my polymath interests and career. It definitively has a lot to do with the fact that I have various citizenships, as well to have learnt since child and speak different languages.
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My mother (T.Marina Aldana-Molina) was born in El queremal, a town in the high peak of Andes on the way from Cali to Buenaventura, during a trip of my Grand parents from the Pacific Ocean to the western Colombian Andes. After basic education in Benalcazar Liceo in Cali she graduate Commerce Baccalaureate in Maria Auxiliadora College of Bogota 1942. She was bank manager and also a business women as well as Educator, being the first Columbian lady to had an office as National Bank Principal ( Bco Aleman-Antioqueno & Almagran) in between 1948 and 1953, in Bogota. She graduate from Miami University in Literature and carried out studies of Finance, Commodities and Stock Market in Lindsey Hopkins College during 1950s. She spent her last 30 years of career working as foreign languages teacher and applied Hypnosis in education Trainee( Silva Mind CO, Harris Institute in Cali, A.S.I.A technical schools, and St Johns Catholic vocational Schools in Colombia.
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My Father (Sergio A. Trofimoff-Ambrosimoff) was Licenciate Chemist, Coming from a family of Russian-Ukrainian and Estonian immigrants, refugees from WWI, He grew up in Pasadena, Calif., Minatitlan, Ver., Tacubaya- Mexico, Pachuca- Hidalgo. His career was with the materials manufacturing Vitricotas Mexican company, European Multinational pharmaceuticals Kendall, electrochemical Koblenz and cosmetics laboratories Helena Rubinstein operating in Mexico and the Caribbean countries. He married my mother in Sta Fe de Bogota, Colombia. His College years were at Hidalgo Autonomous University and then He graduated with honors in 1967 from UNAM Institute of Chemistry, with Thesis in Electrochemistry. His adviser was Prof. Luis E. Miramontes a Mexican National Prize of 1986 in Chemistry( for his invention of Synthesis of norethisterone) , who was as well adviser of Dr. Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez, one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995 (due to his discovery of the role of CFCs in ozone depletion).
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My maternal grand mother (S. Molina de Roxas-Cabal) worked as as taylor along 1920s and 1930s, and had an orphanage for children of refugees or victims of violence in Cali all along until end of 1940s, in Cali, Columbia. She was daughter of Spanish immigrant to Cuba and Columbia in 1898 a little after the American Spanish War. His father was a member of family of writers of Sephardic roots and her mother was Columbian descendent also of Sephardic immigrants that came to the region of Cartago, Cauca Valley in the XVI century. My Great Grand Grand Mother (G. Barona-Molina de Cabal) was obstetrician and the founder of the Hospital of Cartago. My G. Grand mother (B. Cabal de Molina ) was children teacher in the city of Buga, and when moved to Cali founded a orphanage in the early 1900s for the children victims of the 1000 days civil war.
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My maternal grand father (J.M.Aldana-Dossmann) was the son of Colombian father who was descendent of the Spaniard Conqueror Lorenzo de Aldana, of Asturian origin, and of a French lady that was member of a family of Alsacian Engineers (Sebastian and Daniel Dossmann) coming to the country to work in Gold minery, the construction of the trans-isthmus railroad in Panama as well as the digging of the first attempt to make a inter-oceanic canal without sluices in Panama. He studied at Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé, Bogota, pursuing a Civil Engineer degree, but was forced to interrupt his studies and became Army Lieutenant Colonel due to the 1000 days civil war. At the peak of his military career He was promoted to General for heroic actions trying to prevent the revolution in Panama agitated by the T. Roosevelt Administration. He became Realtor entrepreneur and city councilman in Cali Colombia for the rest of his life.
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My paternal grand mother ( Raquel Rodriguez -Jordi ) was the daughter of a Estonian Livonian immigrant Maria Jordi, a professional musician violinist, educated in Germany. Her father was Uncle of the famous Mexican legendary film directors: Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, Ismael Rodriguez and Roberto Rodriguez, who owned the Rodriguez Hermanos Company producing 41 of the best Mexican films ever along 1940s and 1950s. She was raised in Veracruz and Guerrero by her step father Wilhem Ambrosimoff, who was also Estonian Engineer emigrated to Texas in 1905 and then to Zacatecas 1923 and Queretaro 1930, Mexico, in the boom of the silver minery in the country. She married and widowed James Blackmore, a British manager worked for the Royal Dutch Co in Veracruz before to engage my Grand father.
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My paternal grand father (P.I.Trofimoff-Sazanova) was a Russian immigrant to Japan, China, Egypt, France and in his late years to Mexico. He was born in Penza and got Topography-Geology Engineer degree in the University of that province and later Navy Officer rank in the Alexander Academy of Vladivostok. He moved away from Vladivostok due to the Bolshevik Revolution during the civil war. In 1919 soon after his arrival to France he met Mr. C.Goulbenkian who was the famous 5% man, legendary Russian entrepreuner that was associate founder of British, Royal Dutch and Shell Petroleum companies. This encounter changed his career for ever. Working decades for the Royal Dutch Company and Shell He is credited to be the discoverer, with Vladmiir Olhovsky, another Russian immigrant to Mexico, of the first petroleum fields on that country in 1920s and 1930s.
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I was born in a place under international jurisdiction in between Mexico and Spain,also in unusual conditions. In 1936 Spain entered in a cruel civil war when Gral Francisco Franco launched a military rebellion against the Republic. In 1939 finally he took Madrid by force and became dictator of Spain for 36 years. Mexico broke all diplomatic relationships with Spain for all the fascist rule of Franco and also hosted permanently the Republican Spanish government in exile.
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The Spanish immigrant community became extremely important since was conformed by intellectuals escaped from the Dictatorship. The Spanish Republicans in exile had its own schools, colleges and medical system. I was born in the Spanish Hospital at Polanco, north west of Mexico city, that was at that time under binational jurisdiction since Mexico considered The Republican government in exile as a foreigh legitimate State.
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Mexico only reestablished relationship with the Spanish Kingdom in 1975 after the death of Franco and that year the Spanish Republican Government in exile was dissolved , in Mexico and also in France.
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In the use and costumes of the Hispanic World my complete last name is Trofimoff-Aldana, that includes my paternal Surname followed by my maternal surname.
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Trofimoff is a Ionic lastname, it is original from Ephesus, a very important Greek city of Asia Minor, todays Turkey. It was spread from there to the black sea since the early times of the Helenic Empire, of Alexander the Great. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1493 it became Russian and Ukrainian. Its meaning is studious, disciple, scholar or wise.
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Aldana is a Swabian Last name, it was brought the invasion of Germanic tribes from the north to the Iberic Peninsula in the VI Century, and it became well known in Asturias. Its original form was Aldan and it means people that live long. Everybody in the Aldana branch of my ancestry have died well passed 80 years old and many have reached a century of life.
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Other surnames in my Ancestry are: Sazanoff, Ambrosimoff, Jordi, Molina, Roxas, Cabal, Sokoloff, Solovieff, Rangel, Dossmann, Pastrami, Barona, Rodriguez, Angeloff, Striffler.
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PreSchool: Colegio Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico city DF, Mex.
Elementary School: Eton College, UK
Middle School: LACORDAIRE COLLÈGE, Fr
High School: Colegio Lacordaire part of St Tomás de Aquino Univ. System, Cali, Col.
College: Pontifical Javeriana University Electronics, Sta Fe de Bogota, Col., 1992
Under Graduate:
Bs Eng. Comp. information Systems, Univ. del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Col. 1996
Bs Eng. Power & Industrial Electronics, UniValle, Santago de Cali, Col. 1997
Education Specialist , Univ. de Sn Buenaventura, Sta Fe de Bogota, Col. 1998
Visual and Plastic Artist, Inst. Municipal de Bellas Artes/InColBallet, Cali, Col. 2000
Graduate school:
Informatik Specialty Instruktor Training Kursen, Deutsche Schule, 1997
Technology Education Certification, SENA Univ., Santiago de Cali, Col., 1999
Data Bases Specialist Certification, Dgesca, UNAM, Mexico city, DF, Mex. 2001
Information Science Licenciate, UniVer, Mexico city, DF, Mex. 2005
Ms Sc Industrial Mathematics, UTexas, 2007
Ms Sc General Statistics, UTexas 2009
Post Masters, EE ARRI, Fort Worth, UTexas, 2011
EE PhD Candidate Drexel Univ.,Philadelphia, PA, 2015