Etienne

Research Status: Moderate Last Updated: 2026-10-22 Diary Coverage: 1874 (his death), recalled 1875, 1876, 1882; preface 1884

Identity

Etienne (Stepan) Babanine was the son of #Georges Babanine and his wife #Domenica, the younger brother of #Dina and of #Lola, and so Marie's first cousin. He was Dina's full brother: the preface says of Domenica «De Georges elle eut encore deux enfants. Une fille, Lola, et un garçon, Etienne. La fille est mariée. Le garçon est mort à seize ans, vous verrez comment» (000.0035). Kernberger (2013, Genealogy appendix) lists him as «Étienne Yégorovitch Babanine».

He is not the other Etiennes of the diary: uncle Etienne («Stiopa», Machenka's husband → #Tante_Etienne), grand-papa Stepan Babanine, or uncle Alexandre's son Etienne (aged 7 in 1875, 14 in 1882).

His death (January 1874)

Marie tells the story she promised in the preface as it reached Nice:

• 25 January 1874: a telegram from Domenica asks the consul to tell Georges that his son is dying; «Dans le journal russe on a lu que l'élève du collège militaire Etienne Babanine âgé de quinze ans s'est fait trois blessures avec un poignard, dans la maison de sa mère» (015.0334). Dina is not told.
• 25 February 1874: Domenica's letter announces his death: «Nous savions par les journaux qu'il s'est tué avec un poignard, mais sa mère ne dit rien des causes» (017.0038); during his illness he had asked for his photograph to be sent to «Moussia "qu'il aime encore sans espoir depuis l'enfance"» (017.0039).
• 13 March 1874: Marie reads the broken mirrors and her dream of losing a tooth as omens of «la mort du frère de Dina» (017.0295); in September 1875 she recalls «deux glaces cassées dans ma chambre, et deux morts dans la famille, le frère de Dina Etienne, et Emile mon oncle» (042.0003).
• 2 April 1874: Domenica finally gives the cause, vaguely: he had heard that «l'affaire du mariage» (the suit to annul his parents' marriage) had taken a serious turn and that he would be left without property; «Alors il se frappa» (018.0094).
• 1876: Georges exploits the death to beg money from Dina («pauvre petit Etienne est mort, donne-moi vingt francs !», 053.0297–0298).
• 12 March 1882: Marie sums it up: «le frère âgé de seize ans, brillant écolier … lorsqu'il a appris qu'il n'avait pas de nom … il s'est tué» (094.0313).

The age differs: fifteen in the Russian newspaper (015.0334), sixteen in the preface and in 1882.

Related Entries

• #Georges — his father
• #Domenica — his mother
• #Dina, #Lola — his sisters
• #Death — the theme entry

Tagging note

096.0431 and 096.0438 (October 1882, Tcherniakovka) tag this file for uncle Alexandre's son Etienne, who is alive and fourteen; those tags are wrong referents (no file for that boy).