The future couple Ivan Pavlov and Seraphima Karchevskaya met in 1878 in Saint Petersburg. He was 29 years old, while she was only 19, but this difference was hardly noticeable: Seraphima was a serious girl and seemed older than her age, and Ivan, despite his extensive beard, looked younger because of his cheerful and lively temper.

Ivan was a graduate of Saint Petersburg University and was getting medical education. Seraphima graduated from the gymnasium in Rostov-on-Don and arrived to enter the higher women’s pedagogical courses, which she would complete with success.

In Saint Petersburg, Seraphima Karchevskaya lived with her friend Yevdokia Prokopovich, whom she affectionately called Kiyechka. One day, Kiyechka’s brother, a medical student, invited the Pavlov brothers over to the young female students. That day, the acquaintance of Seraphima and Ivan Petrovich never took place — the girl was sick in her bed and did not come out to meet the guests. However, she could hear all the conversations around the table. As Seraphima later recalled, she was fascinated by someone’s laughter that sounded childish and booming.“Only a soul that is pure can laugh like that, ” she thought. That was Ivan Pavlov laughing.

The Pavlov brothers became regular guests of the girls,

Seraphima Vasilyevna found in Ivan Petrovich “that hidden spiritual strength that helped him in his work all his life and inadvertently mesmerized all his colleagues and friends.” The young people were brought together by their shared passion for Shakespeare. At that time, the famous Italian performer Rossi was touring in Saint Petersburg, and the young people did not miss a single performance. Seraphima Vasilyevna wrote, “My joy knew no bounds.I watched Shakespeare’s characters, whom I knew from childhood, come to life in the most artistic way. Perhaps my enthusiastic stories drew the attention of Ivan Petrovich, who was a great admirer of Shakespeare himself all his life. We got to know each other better over time.”