person
Anna Ivanovna (Suvorin's mother-in-law)
Suvorin's mother-in-law
also: Анна Ивановна, моя теща, my "mother-in-law"
The mother of Suvorin's wife, Anna Ivanovna Suvorina -- i.e. Suvorin's actual mother-in-law -- whom Chekhov addresses with the standing joke nickname "my mother-in-law" after his March 1888 stay with the Suvorin household; he sends her regards and news of a fabric they bought together at Korovin's. NOT to be confused with (Alexander Chekhov's common-law wife in Moscow, an unrelated woman of the same first name and patronymic) or (Suvorin's actual wife, this woman's daughter) or (a Taganrog family acquaintance).
Reading notes
- To A. S. Suvorin, 3 April 1888. Moscow. §9 my "mother-in-law" Anna Ivanovna
Anna Ivanovna, the mother of Suvorin's wife -- i.e. Suvorin's actual mother-in-law -- whom Chekhov jokingly calls his own "mother-in-law" as a standing pleasantry from his March 1888 stay with the household. This is a DIFFERENT Anna Ivanovna from, the common-law wife of Chekhov's brother Alexander in Moscow, who appears under the same first name and patronymic in earlier letters; the two share only their given name and patronymic and must not be conflated. It is likewise distinct from (Suvorin's actual wife, this woman's daughter) and from (an unrelated Taganrog acquaintance).
- To A. S. Suvorin, 29 August 1888. Sumy. §9 Anna Ivanovna
Anna Ivanovna, the mother of Suvorin's wife -- Suvorin's actual mother-in-law -- routinely sent regards in these letters; distinct from, the unrelated common-law wife of Chekhov's brother Alexander, who shares only the same first name and patronymic.
- To A. S. Suvorin, 2 October 1888. Moscow. §26 Anna Ivanovna
"Anna Ivanovna" is attested in the corpus both as Suvorin's wife (Anna Ivanovna Suvorina) and as his mother-in-law of the same name; this short closing salutation, grouped with Suvorin's children Nastya and Borya, does not by itself disambiguate which Anna Ivanovna is meant. Linked here to the mother-in-law entity as the closer alias match, but the reference should be treated as ambiguous between the two rather than settled.
- To A. S. Suvorin, 30 November 1891. Moscow. §11 My very lowest bow to Anna Ivanovna.
Confirmed as Anna Ivanovna, Suvorin's actual mother-in-law -- the mother of Suvorin's wife -- per the entity's standing disambiguation note distinguishing her from three other Anna Ivanovnas in the corpus: (Alexander Chekhov's common-law wife in Moscow), (Suvorin's own wife, this woman's daughter), and (an unrelated Taganrog family acquaintance). The closing formula here (\textit{поклон нижайший}, "my very lowest bow") matches the standing warm, joking-formal courtesy Chekhov extends to her elsewhere in the Suvorin letters.