One of the guests at Antonina Pavlovna's fiftieth birthday is little old lady Nikoladze ("The Event," Act Two). In his memoirs, "Из литературных воспоминаний" ("From Literary Reminiscences"), that appeared in the Rul' newspaper (April 16, 1922 - August 1, 1923), Amfiteatrov mentions N. Ya. Nikoladze, the editor of Novoe obozrenie ("The New Review," a Tiflis newspaper), and Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (who jokingly addressed  Aleksandr Valentinovich Amfiteatrov, the young author of Demon, "Mikhail Yurievich"):

Когда Чехов прознал, что я в далёкой провинциальной газете ("Новом обозрении" Н.Я. Николадзе в Тифлисе) согрешил поэмою "Демон", он при первой затем встрече так и приветствовал меня: "Здравствуйте, Михаил Юрьевич... "

The heroine of M. Yu. Lermontov's Demon is Tamara. In Act Three of VN's play Barboshin mentions Tamara Georgievna Grekov, the blond lady of twenty-seven with a lap-dog, and one Dr Rubini. G. B. Rubini (1794-1854) was a famous tenor, while Anton Rubinstein (1829-94) is the author of Demon (the opera based on Lermontov's poem).

Alexey Sklyarenko

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