In the 1870s, a famous photo studio operated in Moscow, which was headed by Vladimir Grigoryevich Chekhovskoy. He was a talented photographer who, for his excellent work, was appointed Court Photographer of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich. Chekhovsky owned photo studios in Moscow and Odessa, where his wife Evdokia Platonovna and son Dmitry worked. Apart from doing business, they also took photographs.
A lot of photographs taken by this family have been preserved. Highly artistic photographs attracted artists, writers, artists, and musicians to the studio. In the 1870s, the famous Chekhovsky photographers made a portrait of the mother of the outstanding pianist Alexander Goldenweiser. In the picture there is a vivid image of a beautiful young woman. Gentle features, a thoughtful look, and an open face feature a romantic, refined, and intelligent personality.
Varvara Petrovna Goldenweiser (nee Shchekotikhina) was born on December 3, 1848. She came from the family of an impoverished nobleman and judicial official — Pyotr Yegorovich Shchekotikhin. Varvara did not receive a proper education, but thanks to her natural ingenuity and good books, she managed to make up for this. She did not have a proper musical education, except for episodic piano lessons from the elderly German musician Garras, who taught at her grandmother’s — Anna Stepanovna Popova. Her love for music and innate talent musical endowment allowed Varvara to play the piano well.
Varvara Goldenweiser cared not only about the health and upbringing of children — she made a significant contribution to their education. She often took her little Sasha to the theater and concerts, trying to instill a taste for good music, and in the evenings, she read classical works to her children in Russian and foreign languages. Being the center of the family, Varvara tried to surround herself with intelligent and educated people who would have a beneficial effect on her children. She did not like vulgarity and deviations from the norms of decency, so anyone who did not follow the established rules was excluded by Varvara from her inner circle and was no longer allowed into the house. Since childhood, the love within the family that had been brought up by the mother remained the basis of the Goldenweisers for many years.
