George Yurii Shevelov was born Yurii Shneider in Łomża, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire in 1908. Some sources however, indicate Kharkiv as his place of birth (his mother incorrectly stated his birthplace in order to escape persecution).[1][2][3] His family moved to Kharkiv in 1910. His father, Vladimir Karlovich Shnaider (Schneider) was a high ranking Russian Imperial Army officer who held the rank of major-general.