office
Minister of Finance
the Minister of Finance
also: Министр финансов
The head of the Imperial Russian ministry controlling state revenue and expenditure. Chekhov invokes the office humorously as a deadpan stand-in for his family's lack of money.
Reading notes
- To L. A. Kamburova, 1880. Moscow. §5 Minister of Finance, Nikolai Alexandrovich
A mock title pinned on an acquaintance named Nikolai Alexandrovich, teased as a "bribe-taker" -- the imperial office invoked purely as deadpan household humor about money, as elsewhere in Chekhov's early letters.
- To M. M. and Ye. M. Chekhov, 6 May 1877. Taganrog. §4 the Minister of Finance
The head of the Imperial Russian ministry controlling state revenue and expenditure; Chekhov invokes the office as a wry, deadpan stand-in for "we have no money," without naming the family's poverty directly.