STEPPES Count Kiselev wanted to hand Andrei Mikhailovich all the papers concerning the Saratov Province and send him straight away to Saratov to manage affairs pending the opening of the Chamber of State Property. But Andrei Mikhailovich reminded him that he was currently in service with another ministry, holding the position of Chief Trustee over the Kalmyks, and to go to Saratov he must first receive an official appointment and title. This would be more convenient to do after... Read more
ZENEIDA R-VA At the end of 1837, Helena Andreevna returned to Colonel Pyotr Alekseevich. When she was healthy, Helena Andreevna would sit for hours at a time writing behind her green calico partition, which the children called “mother’s office.” Neither of the girls dared to touch anything in that corner, separated from their nursery by a single curtain. It was through her writing, and translations of works by Bulwer-Lytton, that Helena Andreevna earned money to pay the governesses and... Read more
Winter Palace Having arranged for his family to stay at the waters, Andrei Mikhailovich left Pyatigorsk on June 23 for Stavropol to carry out assignments regarding state property. Soon after, the famous Molokan Mennonite. Johann Cornies came to Stavropol specifically to visit and see him.[1] He was a remarkable man whom Andrei Mikhailovich loved and respected very much. Having arrived in Russia about twenty years earlier from Prussia, a complete pauper, and worker, Cornies managed in short order to... Read more
A HEROINE OF OUR TIME Spring 1837. Along the boulevard, young men in love, jealous of their beauties in advance, drafted battle plans for conquests of the heart. [1] Here, in the evening, Circassians brought their best horses, and the Armenians spread out their most expensive wares on square carpets. A boulevard like this had its own peculiar charm, and one could admire the beautiful faces under the hats of the latest fashion. You would meet young fashionables... Read more
PYATIGORSK They left St. Petersburg on May 8, stopping on the way to see Prince Tyumen eighty miles before reaching Astrakhan. Everyone was delighted to find Elena Pavlovna was already waiting for them there with Nadya. From there, on May 20, they all went together to Astrakhan by water in large boats. Having stayed in Astrakhan for two weeks, they all set off again together on June 9 for Pyatigorsk, since Andrei Mikhailovich also had to go to the... Read more
DUELLISTES Following a petition from Timiryazev, Count Bludov summoned Andrei Mikhailovich to St. Petersburg to explain many inconsistencies in the new “Regulations on the Administration of the Kalmyks, 1835” and the necessary corrections it required. At the beginning of 1837, he set off for St. Petersburg, taking Rostya with him to enroll him in the artillery school, and also Katya, who wanted to visit the capital and see her older sister. The first leg of the journey took them... Read more
LOVE AND AMBITION 1836 Serving as Vera’s nurse, and far from consoled by the loss of her son, Helena Andreevna nevertheless enriched her usual activities with her joy. She still played the piano with Lelya, sang songs to her, taught her literacy, and rejoiced at the extraordinary abilities and intelligence of her five-year-old girl. She continued her own work, studying Italian, French, German, and her favorite, English. She played the pianoforte, and read a lot, taking an interest in Orest... Read more
KALMYK ULUS While Andrei Mikhailovich was seeing to the Kalmyk administration, in Kathmandu an employee of the British East India Company named Brian Hodgson obtained copies of some ancient Tibetan texts. These writings were based on old Sanskrit manuals from Bihar, India, where Prince Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment under the “Bodhi Tree.” Hodgson, realizing the potential significance of these texts, sent them to the authorities of the Royal Asiatic Society (London,) and La Société Asiatique (Paris.) The Paris shipment... Read more
NEVSKY PROSPEKT July 1836 The Hahn family left Ekaterinoslav on April 30th for Karachev (Oryol Province,) Pyotr Alekseevich having been transferred to the 3rd Cavalry Artillery Division. When they arrived, they found the battery had gone to Voronezh. So, on May 24, they went to Voronezh. There was another change in plans. The Battery was now in Stary Oskol, so the family continued to Stary Oskol. On the 4th day of their arrival, Pyotr Alekseevich was asked to go to... Read more
ASTRAKHAN Andrei Mikhailovich went to Ekaterinoslav in the summer of 1835 and took Katya along with him. The purpose of the visit was twofold, the first was official business, and the second was to visit his mother. His trips around the colonies continued, but this service, in its new form, began to bore him. Disorder and neglect arose in the administration, both due to General Inzov’s weakness and due to the excessive reduction of material resources continuing the organization... Read more
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