“…He and We Have So Much in Common, Such an Affinity”: Letters of Avgusta Sazanovich and Matvey Muravyov-Apostol

Abstract

The article examines the history of the relationship of the Dostoevskys with the family of one of the last Decembrists — Matvey Muravyov-Apostol, and notes the vital role of the ward of the Decembrist Avgusta Sazanovich in their communications. The correspondence acquaintance of F. M. Dostoevsky with M. I. Muravyov-Apostol took place during the Siberian penal servitude through Baron A. I. Wrangel, and personal acquaintance — in Tver in 1859. Communication subsequently resumed in the 1870s and continued until the last years of the Decembrist’s life and the writer’s death. The main documentary sources were letters from A. P. Sazanovich to F. M. and A. G. Dostoevskys, published in the Appendix to the article. Nineteen of these letters were introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, and the remaining four were published unabridged. The letters of Sazanovich reveal unknown episodes of the biography of both MuravyovApostol and the Dostoevskys, as well as other persons from their circle (Decembrists, Petrashevites, etc.), clarify the fate of the unique documents of the Decembrists and the history of the A. G. Dostoevskaya collection. These documents demonstrate that the Muravyov-Apostol family and the Dostoevskys have developed a warm relationship based on mutual respect, trust and support. In the letters A. P. Sazanovich appears as a strong and outstanding woman who shared all the difficulties of life with Muravyov-Apostol, and similar in spiritual power and beliefs to Dostoevsky and his wife and assistant, a selfless giver, and a subtle admirer of the writer’s work.