Speaking of the Bohemian lady (whom d'Onsky married after his
duel with Demon Veen: 1.2): I notice that Bogemsky ("Bohemian") was a
penname of Chekhov's younger brother Mikhail (1865-1936). He used it when
publishing his stories in Detskiy otdykh* ("Children's Relaxation"). In
a letter of September 21, 1886, to M. V. Kisilyova, Chekhov writes of his
family's life in Moscow and calls his brother "Bogemsky:"
Ма-Па [Maria Chekhov,
the writer's sister] видается с длинноносой Эфрос, дает в молочной**
уроки по 7 коп. за урок и берет у Богемского уроки по географии, которую дерзает
преподавать. Боже, отчего я не преподаю китайского языка? ...Богемский, он же
финик, рисует виньетки по 3 руб. за штуку, ухаживает слегка за Яденькой, бывает
у Людмилочки, надоедает всему миру философией и спешит съерундить другой рассказ
в «Детский отдых».***
The author of "The Duel" (1891), Chekhov seems to have served
as a model (at least, to a certain degree) for Ada's husband Andrey
Vinelander.**** Like her mother, Ada is an actress; in 1901 Chekhov
married the actress Olga Knipper. Btw., Mikhail Chekhov's marriage
collapsed at the last moment: his bride ("little Countess") suddenly
married another. Mikhail Pavlovich shouldn't be confused with Chekhov's nephew Mikhail Aleksandrovich (son of Chekhov's elder
brother who published stories in Suvorin's Novoe Vremya), an
actor of genius and famous director (who left Russia in the 1920s and, in
fact, might have served as a model for Odon in Pale
Fire).
*A magazine that Chekhov used to call Detsko-Bogemsky
otdykh.
**Chekhov's calls molochnaya (dairy) the
Moscow gymnasium of Mme Rzhevsky (whose relatives owned a milk farm and
milk shops). One is reminded of a quite accidental milkmaid who entered the
scene during Demon's duel with d'Onsky. Incidentally, this duel took place in
Nice, and Chekhov often spent winters in Nice (the fact mentioned in
Ada: 2.9)
***apologies, no translation
****the scene of Van's meeting with Ada's family (Andrey and
his sister Dorothy) in Mont Roux is a Chekhovian pastiche
(3.8)
Alexey Sklyarenko