White émigré
Vladimir Timirev was born in 1914 as the son of Admiral Sergey Nikolayevich Timiryov of the Russian Imperial Navy. His mother was the poet Anna Timiryova. His maternal grandfather was the composer orchestra conductor Vasily Ilyich Safonov. In 1918, when he was only four years old, his parents separated. His mother commenced a common law marriage with Rear Admiral Alexander Kolchak, who became Vladimir's "stepfather." Vladimir's father Sergey subsequently moved to China as a White émigré.