person
Nikolai Avksentyevich Manasein
Manasein
also: Манасеин, манасеин
Nikolai Avksentyevich Manasein (1834-1895), the actual Minister of Justice of the Russian Empire at the time of this letter; invoked here only as the butt of a local joke -- Chekhov's mother wants to petition the real Minister of Justice about a justice of the peace who is interfering with her cooking, prompting Chekhov to note that the petty local official Pleshcheyev used to call on, nicknamed "the little Manasein," is alive and unharmed.
Reading notes
- To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 13 August 1888. Sumy. §8 Manasein
Nikolai Manasein, the real Minister of Justice, to whom Chekhov's mother wants to petition about the local justice of the peace troubling her; "that little Manasein" is a joking local nickname for the justice of the peace himself (the very official Pleshcheyev used to call on in the mornings), not a reference to the actual minister -- Chekhov's joke turns on borrowing the great man's name for the petty local official.