Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova

Reading notes

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 28 August 1888. Sumy. §6 Elena Mikh.

  Disambiguation: this "Elena Mikhailovna" ("Elena Mikh."/"El. Mikh.") is Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova, the eldest of the Lintvaryov sisters at the family's Sumy estate, Luka -- a physician described in the earlier letter as "an intelligent and kind" doctor. the letter of 10 June 1888 already records an incipient courtship between her and Alexander: he had drunkenly written her a letter Anton intercepted, and she reportedly "considers him an extraordinary man." This letter is Chekhov's extended, skeptical weighing-in on that same match. She is distinct from her sisters Zinaida Mikhailovna and Natalya Mikhailovna, and from the unrelated Elena Ivanovna of the Luka household, who has a different patronymic and no connection to this courtship.

• To Al. P. Chekhov, 28 August 1888. Sumy. §7 Elena Mikh(ailovna)'s face

  Same referent as "Elena Mikh." at loc 6 -- Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova; the full patronymic is spelled out here (partly reconstructed from an abbreviation in the source, marked with parentheses) as Chekhov imagines her reaction to Alexander's letter.

• To Ye. M. Lintvareva, 9 October 1888. Moscow. §3 dear colleague

  As far as this corpus documents, this is the first letter Chekhov addresses directly to Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova herself, rather than about her: the earlier letters to his brother Alexander and to Suvorin discuss her only in the third person, weighing whether Alexander's proposed courtship of her was genuine. Here, with the courtship question dropped entirely, Chekhov writes to her as a fellow physician and friend -- "dear colleague" (уважаемый товарищ) and "dear doctor" (\S4) both acknowledge her own medical practice at the Lintvaryov family estate, Luka.

• To E. M. Lintvareva, 27 October 1888. Moscow. §3 Doctor, you forgot to write how much the plakhtas cost

  The second letter in the corpus addressed directly to Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova, following of 9 October 1888; the same easy, teasing, doctor-to-doctor register continues, opening on the same unfinished business (the plakhtas, the Ukrainian woven skirt-wraps) left dangling in that earlier letter.

• To Ye. M. Lintvareva, 23 November 1888. Moscow. §3 Esteemed colleague

  The third letter in the corpus addressed directly to Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova, following (9 October 1888) and (27 October 1888); the same easy, doctor-to-doctor register continues, opening once again with the collegial address rather than a personal one.

• To Ye. M. Lintvareva, 23 November 1888. Moscow. §4 I received the plakhtas long ago, but have not thanked you for them until now

  Settles the running business of the plakhtas (the Ukrainian woven skirt-wraps) first raised in and chased again in: Chekhov now confirms receipt, reports that many arrived without their price-slips so his reconstructed total looks suspiciously low, and offers again to send payment or goods in kind.

• To N. M. Lintvareva, 11 February 1889. Moscow. §5 Elena Mikhailovna

  The eldest Lintvaryov sister, a physician practicing from the Luka estate; sister of the addressee Natalya Mikhailovna and of Egor Mikhailovich. Reported here as away in Kiev.

• To Ye. M. Lintvareva, 17 April 1889. Moscow. §3 Dear Elena Mikhailovna

  Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova, eldest daughter of the widowed Lintvaryova family, a physician practicing from the family's Sumy estate at Luka, where the Chekhovs summered; see also.

• To Ye. M. Lintvareva, 6 September 1889. Moscow. §13 I am sending you my erysipelas.

  Erysipelas (рожа / here given in the source as the Latin "erysipelas") is a bacterial skin infection. Since the addressee is herself a practicing physician, this one-line postscript is best read as a doctor-to-doctor pun -- an absurd, mock-clinical "gift" -- rather than a literal report of illness, though the letter alone does not permit ruling out a coy reference to a genuine minor ailment.

• To N. M. Lintvareva, April 1891. Rome. §4 Elena Mikhailovna

  Elena Mikhailovna Lintvaryova, the addressee's elder sister and the family's physician at Luka, already established in the corpus; mentioned here only in passing as recent personal news, with no connection to the Suvorin/Stoyanova business of \S3.