Yakovlevich Korolev, was a Russian migrant and his mother,
Maria Mykolayivna Moskalenko, was Ukrainian. His father had originally moved to Zhytomyr to be a teacher of Russian language. Three years after his birth his parents divorced.Korolev grew up in Nizhyn, under the care of his grandparents. His mother had wanted an advanced education, and so she was often taking courses in Kiev. He grew up a lonely child with few friends, but he proved a good student, especially in mathematics. In 1916 his mother married Grigory Mikhailovich Balanin, an electrical engineer, and Grigory proved a good influence on the child. Grigory moved the family to Odessa in 1917.