His great-grandmother, Natalia Naumovna Ghetrig (Olgheevsky) was born in Chisināu. Among his publications are the 2003 book Odessa Memories, and he co- authored and edited Memories of Baku in 2013. Many of his books and exhibi- tions have involved the Russian and Western art of the 1920s-2010s, including the Soviet sale of Hermitagepaintings. In 2006, Iljine was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship. From 1968 to 1994 Iljine worked at Lufthansa, the flagship airline compa- ny of Germany. He started in marketing and sales and in 1971 he moved to the public relations department, eventually serving as their general manager for public affairs. While working at Lufthansa Iljine began to study modern art, as his job acquainted him with artists, gallery owners, and museums. He worked as the European representative for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation from 1994 to 2008, and in 2008 was also their representative in the Middle East. In this role he was instrumental in creating and implementing museum projects including Guggenheim Bilbao, Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin with Deutsche Bank, Guggenheim-Hermitage in Las Vegas, and the development of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. He also curated architectural competitions for designing the Guggenheim mu- seum in Lithuania and Mexico. From 2008 to 2010 he worked for GCAM (Global Cultural Asset Management Group) in New York, headed by Thomas Krens.