This exhibit is a copy of a photograph of Sophia Alexandrovna Aksakova, the wife of the first Ufa governor Grigory Sergeevich Aksakov. Before marriage, she bore the family name of the Shishkovs, the ancient Russian noble family, closely associated with the Aksakovs.
In the book of noble bloodlines, where all the different privileges of Russian nobility were documented, the Shishkovs were described in the sixth part, which meant that they belonged to one of ancient noble lineages. Many members of the Shishkov family were in fact of the ‘noble ranks’, and in older times, as boyars, they often had the court ranks of stolniks and striapchis, responsible for serving the royal table.
Among the famous descendants of this family were the Admiral, Minister of Education and famous literary figure Alexander Semenovich Shishkov, as well as poet, writer and translator Alexander Ardalionovich Shishkov, who had close friendly relations with Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov was friends with both the poet Shishkov and the Admiral Shishkov. He got to know the former in 1808, when he was on service in St. Petersburg. Since then, and up until his departure in 1811, Sergey Aksakov and his brother Nikolai were regular guests in his house.
Sophia Alexandrovna’s father, Alexander Fedorovich, was the Admiral’s cousin. He was born in 1788, and already at the age of seventeen, in 1805, he joined the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Afterwards he was appointed to the office of the Orenburg military governor and by the end of 1808 he had reached the rank of Provincial Secretary. During this time, he had an unsuccessful affair with Sergey Aksakov’s sister, Nadezhda Timofeevna. At the end of 1818 he married Maria Bulgakova, who was eighteen years of age at that time, and together with her had six children.
Born in 1830, Sophia Alexandrovna married Grigory Aksakov on January 1, 1848 in Simbirsk. Their marriage was supported by both the Aksakovs and the Shishkovs. Shortly before the wedding, Sergey Timofeevich Aksakov gave his future daughter-in-law an album, which had a handwritten note on the first page: “Every shred of paper will last longer than any, even the most precious, human life. Should you save these sheets of paper, dear Sophia, they in turn will save for you the vibrant memories of the past. S. Aksakov, December 27, 1847, Moscow”. Presently, this album is kept in the Abramtsevo Museum Reserve near Moscow.
In the book of noble bloodlines, where all the different privileges of Russian nobility were documented, the Shishkovs were described in the sixth part, which meant that they belonged to one of ancient noble lineages. Many members of the Shishkov family were in fact of the ‘noble ranks’, and in older times, as boyars, they often had the court ranks of stolniks and striapchis, responsible for serving the royal table.
Among the famous descendants of this family were the Admiral, Minister of Education and famous literary figure Alexander Semenovich Shishkov, as well as poet, writer and translator Alexander Ardalionovich Shishkov, who had close friendly relations with Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. The writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov was friends with both the poet Shishkov and the Admiral Shishkov. He got to know the former in 1808, when he was on service in St. Petersburg. Since then, and up until his departure in 1811, Sergey Aksakov and his brother Nikolai were regular guests in his house.
Sophia Alexandrovna’s father, Alexander Fedorovich, was the Admiral’s cousin. He was born in 1788, and already at the age of seventeen, in 1805, he joined the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Afterwards he was appointed to the office of the Orenburg military governor and by the end of 1808 he had reached the rank of Provincial Secretary. During this time, he had an unsuccessful affair with Sergey Aksakov’s sister, Nadezhda Timofeevna. At the end of 1818 he married Maria Bulgakova, who was eighteen years of age at that time, and together with her had six children.
Born in 1830, Sophia Alexandrovna married Grigory Aksakov on January 1, 1848 in Simbirsk. Their marriage was supported by both the Aksakovs and the Shishkovs. Shortly before the wedding, Sergey Timofeevich Aksakov gave his future daughter-in-law an album, which had a handwritten note on the first page: “Every shred of paper will last longer than any, even the most precious, human life. Should you save these sheets of paper, dear Sophia, they in turn will save for you the vibrant memories of the past. S. Aksakov, December 27, 1847, Moscow”. Presently, this album is kept in the Abramtsevo Museum Reserve near Moscow.
