The Bunins became friends with the Zhirovs — Aleksey and Elena — in 1937 when the Bunin family moved to France from Odessa. Elena was fond of literature and was acquainted with many famous writers. Soon she became friends with the Bunins.

The Zhirovs had only one daughter Olechka, whom the Bunins loved very much. The girl lived in their house for a while. When they were not together, Bunin used to write letters to them with funny poems. They always were quite close.

This letter was written by Vera Bunina to congratulate Olechka on her Angel Day (the day when she was baptized). Ivan Bunin left a postscript: 

The couple chose pink paper for the letter which Vera Nikolaevna kept especially for that very day.

In the letter, Vera Bunina also reported about the writer’s poor health: “Vanya is struggling to breathe”. Bunin could not bear the heat which came to Paris along with sirocco — a strong and hot wind, which is typical for the Mediterranean coast. She also said that in her mind, she “was spending summer in Little Russia”, in “Gogol”s places” which she never had a chance to visit.

The writer’s spouse mentioned the Struves. She wrote about a visit to Peter Alekseyevich Struve and said that she was glad to see his sister Tatiana who looked pretty and a little plumper after giving birth. Peter Alekseyevich Struve, grandson of a famous publicist, was a doctor who treated those in need for free. In 1964, he was ordained and became a protopriest of the lower church of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris. Philipok, who was mentioned in the letter, was Philip Petrovich Struve, Peter Struve’s son.  

Vera Bunina also recommended Olechka a textbook “Russian Literature”, one of the authors of which was her friend Viktor Strazhev. She wrote that Nikita Struve, the younger brother of Peter Alekseyevich, failed an exam due to his poor knowledge of Slavic grammar.

Presently, Nikita Struve is known as a literary critic, church historian, publisher, and public and church figure. He graduated from the Sorbonne, and in 1950, started to teach Russian language and Literature at the University of Paris; he also headed the YMCA-Press publishing house.