 According to the historian Martin Dimnik, Boris was a child when his father died in 1057.Boris became an "izgoi"a member of the Rurik dynasty debarred from rulingafter his father's death, because his uncle, Igor Yaroslavich succeeded his father in Smolensk.Boris's allegedly close relationship with his cousins, Oleg Svyatoslavich and Roman Svyatoslavich implies that their father, Sviatoslav Iaroslavich, Prince of Chernigov appeased Boris "in some manner, undoubtedly, by giving him a town", according to Martin.