Aleksandra Nikolayevna Susokolova (, 6 May 1841 - 1 December 1918), better known as Aleksandra Jacobi (), was a Russian journalist, memoirist and publicist, translator and publisher who also used the pseudonym Toliverova and (after her third marriage) signed her work as Peshkova-Toliverova. Her portraits have been painted by her common-law husband

Valery Jacobi Valery Ivanovich Jacobi ( or Якобий; , Kudryakovo, Kazan Governorate, Russia - 13 May 1902, Nice, France) was a Russian painter

Vasily Vereshchagin Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (; 26 October 184213 April 1904) was a Russian painters, Russian painter, war artist, and traveller. The Violence in art, graphic nature of his Realism (arts), realist scenes led to many of them never being printe ...

.Koni, Anatoly.
The Unnoticed Death of a Notable Person
Кони А. Ф. Незамеченная смерть заметного человека // Собрание сочинений : в 8 т. / Прийма Ф. Я. — М. : Юридическая литература, 1969. — Т. 7. — С. 312—323, 492—495. — 568 с.Masanov, I. F
The Dictionary of Russian Authors' Pseudonyms
// Словарь псевдонимов русских писателей, ученых и общественных деятелей: В 4 т. - Т. 4. - М., 1960. - С. 471

Biography

Aleksandra Jacobi was born in

Yegoryevsk Yegoryevsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Yegoryevsky District, Moscow Oblast, Yegoryevsk Urban Settlement in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Guslitsa River southeast of ...

Ryazan Governorate Ryazan Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its capital was in Ryazan. Administrative division Ryazan Governorate consisted of the follo ...

, to a merchant family of Nikolai Ivanovich Susokolov and his wife Anna Ivanovna. Soon the family moved to

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

where she attended the Jungwald boarding school for girls and later the city gymnasium. After her first marriage to Vasily Tyufyayev (a teacher at the Kazan institute for the Daughters of nobility) broke down, she moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and in 1860 became close to a local circle of the Kazan community. She became romantically involved with

Valery Jacobi Valery Ivanovich Jacobi ( or Якобий; , Kudryakovo, Kazan Governorate, Russia - 13 May 1902, Nice, France) was a Russian painter

, later a renowned painter, and for the next decade remained his common-law wife. Their marriage has never been registered, but she adopted ''Jacobi'' as her pen name and continued to use it long after the two parted. Aleksandra Jacobi became and active member of the proto-Socialist 1860s movement in Russia and as one of this country's first feminists. In 1866, along with her husband she came to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and settled in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. A year later, she joined the

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

forces as a sister of mercy and worked for a while as a Russian correspondent for '' Golos'', reporting from the frontlines.

Arthur Benni Arthur William Benni (27 November 1839, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Tomaszów-Rawski, Congress Poland – 27 December 1867, Rome, Italy) was a Polish-born English citizen, known in Russia (where his name was spelled Арту′р Ива′нович Б ...

, whom she attended to in hospital during the last days of his life, died in December 1867, apparently in her arms. Several colourful biographies dealt with her seemingly extraordinary adventures in Italy, but later it transpired (from her own diaries and notes) that much of Jacobi's life of that period has been heavily romanticised and to some extent mythologised. Valery Jacobi Family Artist

Upon her return from Italy Jacobi continued a successful career in journalism and became a regular contributor to ''Molva'', ''Birzhevye Vedomosti'', '' Nedelya'' and ''

Novoye Vremya ''The New Times'' (, tr. ''Novoe Vremya'') is a Russian language magazine in Russia. The magazine was founded in 1943. The magazine is a liberal, independent Russian weekly news magazine, publishing for Russia and Armenia. (During the Soviet ...

''. She wrote memoirs on Garibaldi (as well as

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

and

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

among many others), translated numerous

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

's fairytales into Russian and was the first translator of the poetry by

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romanticism, Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called ...

and

Nikolai Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Некра́сов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈkrasəf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Alexeyevich_Nekrasov.ogg, – ) was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publ ...

into

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

.Alexandra Jacobi's profile
at the Online Dostoyevsky encyclopedia / www.fedordostoevsky.ru Jacobi was best known in Russia as a publisher and editor of the children's magazine ''Igrushechka'' (Игрушечка, Little Toy, 1887–1910) which attracted a host of celebrities, among them

Lev Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

and Mamin-Sibiryak, as well as

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held ...

, with whom Jacobi corresponded for many years. Although an active contributor, Leskov left some scathing remarks (albeit in private correspondence only) concerning this publication, once calling it "...stale old-fashion garbage, proved to be totally irrelevant... and full of hypocrisy."Leskov's 1894 letter to Sergey Shubinsky // Динерштейн Е. А. «Фабрикант» читателей А. Ф. Маркс. // М.: Книга, 1986. — Стр. 47—48, 135.

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

and Kornei Chukovsky were also among the detractors, but Anatoly Kony, a renowned Russian lawyer of the time, praised ''Igrushechka'' for good language, high-quality translations and brilliant biographical pieces (on Alfred Tennison,

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

and

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...

among many others), praising it for being a fine source of knowledge for the young readership, filled with the spirit of love, humanism and enlightenment. Jacobi edited three more publications, ''Na Pomoshch Materyam'' (На помощь матерям, Helping Mothers, 1894–1904), ''Zhenskoye Delo'' (Женское дело, Women's Cause, 1899–1900) and ''Krasnye Zori'' (Красные зори, Red Sunrise, 1911–1912). She died from the complications of pneumonia on 1 December 1918 in Petrograd, Soviet Russia, and was interred in the

Nikolskoe Cemetery Nikolskoe Cemetery () is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeteries in the complex. The third cemetery to be established in the monastery complex, the Nikolskoe ...

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexa ...

References

External links

The selected Works by A. Jacobi
at Lib.ru {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobi, Alexandra 1841 births 1918 deaths People from Yegoryevsky District, Moscow Oblast People from Yegoryevsky Uyezd Memoirists from the Russian Empire Journalists from the Russian Empire Editors from the Russian Empire Feminists from the Russian Empire 19th-century translators from the Russian Empire Burials at Nikolskoe Cemetery