Paul Bashkirtseff

Basic Information

- Full name: Pavel Konstantinovitch Bashkirtsev (Paul Bashkirtseff in French usage)
- Born: 1859 or 1860, at the family estate of Gavronzi near Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
- Died: 1899 (per Kernberger, 2013)
- Father: Constantin Bashkirtseff (1833--1883), landowner and former marshal of nobility
- Mother: Maria Stepanovna Babanina (1833--1920)
- Sister: Marie Bashkirtseff (1858--1884), diarist and painter
- Wife: Alexandrine Patchenko (called "Nini" in the diary), married 1880
- Father-in-law: M. Patchenko
- Sister-in-law: Catherine (Nini's sister)
- Name day: June 29 / July 11 (Saint Paul, Orthodox calendar)

Biographical Overview

Paul was Marie Bashkirtseff's younger brother, roughly one year her junior. Born into a noble but troubled family, he was caught in the crossfire of his parents' bitter separation (1861--1862). When Marie was perhaps four or five, their father Constantin and paternal grandfather General Paul Grigorievitch Bashkirtseff kidnapped both children and hid them at Gavronzi to force their mother's return. Marie vividly recalled the terrifying scene in the yellow pavilion where she and Paul cowered in one room while their grandmother shouted insults from another (carnet 000).

After the rescue by their maternal family, Paul grew up primarily with his mother's household. When the family left Russia in 1870, the traveling party included Grand-papa, Maman, the Romanoffs, Dina, Walitsky, Paul, and Marie. They settled in Nice, where Paul spent his adolescence.

Unlike Marie, who received intensive private education and pursued artistic ambitions with ferocious determination, Paul's upbringing was neglected. By 1874, at roughly fourteen, Marie painted a devastating portrait in words: "maigre, pale, nonchalant, et parfois ennuyeux comme un moustique" (thin, pale, nonchalant, sometimes annoying as a mosquito). He was barely literate, corrupted by servants (especially cook Adam), frequented cafes and theaters, consorted with actresses, and stayed out until 2--3 AM. Marie judged him "use autant qu'on peut l'etre" (worn out as much as one can be) at only fourteen years old (carnet 017, March 24, 1874).

The Fortune Teller's Prophecy

A Jewish fortune teller in Poltava told their mother: "Tu as deux enfants -- le fils sera comme tout le monde, mais la fille sera une etoile" (You have two children -- the son will be like everyone else, but the daughter will be a star). This prophecy became family mythology, repeated throughout Marie's childhood, and she recorded it in her 1884 preface (carnet 000). Marie's own assessment was equally stark: at age five, performing as the great dancer Petipa, "Paul n'etait presque rien" (Paul was almost nothing) (carnet 000).

Marriage to Alexandrine Patchenko (1879--1880)

In late 1879, Paul became engaged to Alexandrine Patchenko (called "Nini"), a young woman from a neighboring family in the Poltava region. Marie described her as "d'assez bonne famille connue, du meme pays, voisine, assez riche, jeune, jolie et d'apres ses lettres bonne nature" (from a good enough known family, from the same region, a neighbor, fairly rich, young, pretty, and from her letters of good nature) (carnet 087, December 28, 1879).

Marie consented magnanimously to the marriage but privately noted: "Paul taille en hercule et beau garcon, pourrait faire un meilleur mariage" (Paul, built like a Hercules and a handsome fellow, could make a better match). She predicted he would "never be anything but a gentleman farmer" (carnet 087, December 31, 1879). She wrote a cordial letter to the fiancee: "Mon frere vous apportera le consentement de maman. Moi, je fais des voeux pour votre bonheur et j'espere que vous rendrez notre cher Paul aussi heureux qu'il merite de l'etre" (carnet 087, December 31, 1879).

The Wedding Scandal

The wedding nearly ended in disaster. In March 1880, as Paul and his fiancee entered the church to be married, their father Constantin arrived with a letter from the archbishop blocking the ceremony. Marie was frantic -- not primarily for Paul but because the crisis threatened to pull Maman and Dina away to Russia just as she was finishing her painting "La question du divorce" for the 1880 Salon. She wrote: "Jugez-moi comme vous voudrez, les drames de Paul m'ont laissee calme et ceci me desespere et m'exaspere" (Judge me as you will, Paul's dramas left me calm while this [the painting crisis] drives me to despair) (carnet 087, March 12, 1880).

Paul was reported to be suicidal after the humiliation. Maman feared "Paul a voulu se tuer" (Paul tried to kill himself). Marie observed with cold lucidity: "Paul a vingt ans et qui peut repondre de lui dans cinq ans?" (Paul is twenty and who can answer for him in five years?) (carnet 087, March 12, 1880). The crisis resolved -- the father backed down and proposed to officially request the bride's hand to efface the scandal.

The wedding eventually took place at Micha's country estate. Marie later heard the account from Maman in February 1881: "Paul a amene sa femme a Gavronzi. M. Bashkirseff tres emu est sorti les recevoir sur le perron et a embrasse la petite qui est venue se jeter aux pieds de maman en poussant des cris et des sanglots, les cheveux denoues, de tres beaux cheveux noirs" (Paul brought his wife to Gavronzi. M. Bashkirtseff, very moved, came out to receive them on the front steps and embraced the girl who threw herself at Maman's feet, crying out and sobbing, her hair loose, very beautiful black hair). Paul was "pale et tremblant, appuye au mur" (pale and trembling, leaning against the wall) (carnet 091, February 25, 1881).

The couple settled in a separate pavilion at Gavronzi, described by Marie as "un nid noye dans de grands arbres" (a nest drowned in tall trees). But Marie found their domestic life joyless: "pas une lueur de jeunesse" (not a glimmer of youth). They slept in separate narrow beds divided by the washstand (carnet 092, July 13, 1881). Marie did not believe Nini had genuinely loved Paul, noting she had kept another suitor -- "age, commun, horrible et riche" (old, common, horrible, and rich) -- as a backup throughout the courtship.

Marie's Portrait of Nini

In 1881, Marie painted Portrait of Alexandrine Patchenko, the Painter's Sister-in-Law (oil on canvas, 92.5 x 73 cm), depicting Nini relaxed on a sofa holding a book. This painting survives in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam -- one of Marie's approximately 60 works that were not destroyed by the Nazis during World War II.

Paul in Later Years (1881--1884)

At Gavronzi (Summer 1881)

During Marie's extended visit to the family estates in 1881, Paul features prominently. He and Nini lived at Gavronzi, managing the property. Marie observed Paul's domestic life with harsh clarity: "Paul est presque toujours maussade, madame est indifferente dans sa satisfaction d'avoir atteint son but" (Paul is nearly always sullen; his wife is indifferent in her satisfaction at having reached her goal) (carnet 092, July 13, 1881).

Marie worried about Nini's fidelity, predicting that the foolish Micha would cuckold Paul within a year. Paul's name day celebration (Saint Paul, July 11) saw military musicians hired, card-playing, dancing, and champagne until 2 AM. Marie gave Paul fifty rubles for the occasion (carnet 092, July 11, 1881).

Maman's relationship with Paul was volatile. Uncle Alexandre inflamed tensions: "Maman est tres montee contre Paul, elle est meme en quelque sorte haineuse pour lui. C'est ce cher oncle Alexandre qui l'a soufflee" (Maman is very worked up against Paul, she is even in a way hateful toward him. It's dear Uncle Alexandre who influenced her) (carnet 092, July 8, 1881). Alexandre was systematically buying out the Babanine brothers' inheritance shares and was "brouille avec Paul" (quarreling with Paul) -- Marie attempted to reconcile them (carnet 092, July 9, 1881).

Father's Illness and Death (1883)

In February 1883, Marie telegraphed Paul and Princess Eristoff to come from Russia because their father was gravely ill: "La princesse Eristoff et Paul sont arrives ce matin de Russie, appeles par une depeche de moi" (carnet 098, February 26, 1883). After their father recovered enough to travel, Marie noted his departure with relief and anger: "Ce soir mon pere est parti! Quelle chance. Avec sa soeur et avec Paul. Ces gens-la sont de sales gens ou a peu pres" (carnet 098, March 11, 1883). She was outraged that the father and aunt took first-class tickets for themselves but put Paul in second class: "Savez-vous qu'ils ont pris des premieres classes pour eux et une deuxieme pour Paul? Qu'en dites-vous?" Yet she softened toward Paul himself: "Quant a Paul c'est un brave garcon que sa femme rend bien malheureux" (As for Paul, he's a good fellow whom his wife makes very unhappy) (carnet 098, March 11, 1883).

Their father died at Gavronzi on June 11, 1883. Marie made her testament addressed to "M. Paul Bashkirseff, Poltava. En mains propres. Russie" (carnet 088, June 1, 1880) -- designating her brother as executor of her affairs in Russia.

Inheritance Disputes (Autumn 1883)

After their father's death, Paul came to Paris to discuss the inheritance with Marie. He proposed giving her 10,000 rubles for her share of the property, arguing everything had to be sold immediately. Marie suspected his true plan: "Il me donnera ses dix mille et ne vendra rien et la vieille Eristoff l'aidera a payer les interets des dettes... Et la propriete revient entiere a Paul" (He'll give me his ten thousand and sell nothing, and the old Eristoff will help pay the interest on debts... And the property comes entirely to Paul) (carnet 101, September 21, 1883).

Paul outraged Marie by lying about their father's feelings: he claimed the father had loved his daughter-in-law, when in fact "mon pauvre pere ne s'est jamais calme sur ce mariage et ne pouvait pas supporter sa belle-fille, c'est de notoriete publique la-bas et ici" (my poor father never calmed down about this marriage and couldn't bear his daughter-in-law, this was common knowledge there and here). Marie called Paul "un imposteur, un scelerat, capable de tout" (an impostor, a scoundrel, capable of anything) and made him return a signed power of attorney (carnet 101, September 26, 1883). But that same evening they reconciled over memories of their father: "nous sommes tres bons amis, je suis d'humeur conciliante" (carnet 101, September 26, 1883).

In July 1883, Paul's conduct toward their mother provoked one of Marie's fiercest outbursts: "Paul et sa femme se conduisant comme des cochons avec maman et j'ecris a Paul cinq pages d'injures parfaitement meritees. Je suis si revoltee de l'ingratitude de Paul et de son ignoble femme que je tremble en lui ecrivant. Sale individu, va!" (Paul and his wife behaving like pigs toward Maman, and I write Paul five pages of perfectly deserved insults. I am so revolted by Paul's ingratitude and his vile wife that I tremble writing to him. Dirty individual!) (carnet 100, July 13, 1883).

Paul departed Paris on September 27, 1883, with Marie's full powers of attorney for the property settlement, having "jure sur la tete de ses enfants" (sworn on his children's heads) not to cheat her (carnet 101, September 27, 1883). This mention of "his children" confirms that Paul and Nini had at least one child by 1883.

Final Diary Mentions (1884)

Marie's last known references to Paul are poignant in their ordinariness. In July 1884, she compared a theater actor's understated style to her brother: "Mon frere Paul est un peu comme ca mais c'est sans malice; il ressemble a Dupuis aussi physiquement" (My brother Paul is a bit like that but without malice; he also resembles Dupuis physically) (carnet 105, July 11, 1884). In her testament (carnet 104, May 14, 1884), she listed Paul among those for whom she would want to provide: "Et pour Dina et pour ma tante et pour maman et pour Paul..."

Marie died on October 31, 1884. Paul survived her by fifteen years, dying in 1899 at approximately age 39 or 40.

Significance in the Diary

Paul appears in entries across the entire span of the diary (1873--1884), in all four phases of Marie's life:

1. Nice adolescence (1873--1877): Paul as companion and annoyance -- riding partner, shopping escort, theater companion, but also the embodiment of wasted potential that Marie feared and despised 2. Paris art student (1877--1880): Paul as distant family drama -- his wedding crisis disrupts Marie's Salon preparations 3. Gavronzi visits (1881): Paul as provincial husband -- Marie observes his joyless marriage and the sordid local customs with ethnographic detachment 4. Final years (1882--1884): Paul as inheritance antagonist -- property disputes, lies about their father, alternating fury and reconciliation

Marie's relationship with Paul encapsulates core themes of the diary: the gulf between her extraordinary ambitions and the "ordinary" lives around her, the destructive family dynamics of the Bashkirtseff-Babanine clan, and the painful tension between sisterly affection and contempt. She could write five pages of insults and reconcile the same evening. The fortune teller's prophecy -- one child ordinary, one a star -- haunted both their lives.

Physical Description

Marie described Paul at different ages:
- Age 14 (1874): "maigre, pale, nonchalant" (thin, pale, nonchalant); "use autant qu'on peut l'etre" (worn out as much as one can be) (carnet 017)
- Age 20 (1879--1880): "taille en hercule et beau garcon" (built like a Hercules and a handsome fellow) (carnet 087) -- a striking transformation from the wasted adolescent
- Age 24 (1884): Resembles the actor Dupuis of the Varietes physically -- a man of understated, natural manner (carnet 105)

After Marie's Death

Paul continued to manage the Gavronzi estate after Marie's death in 1884. Details of his later life are sparse in available sources. He died in 1899 (per Kernberger, 2013), surviving his sister by fifteen years and his father by sixteen. The fortune teller's prophecy proved correct: Marie became world-famous through her diary and art, while Paul remained obscure -- a provincial landowner whose life left no independent historical record beyond what his sister wrote about him.

Key Diary Passages

| Date | Carnet | Content | |------|--------|---------| | 1884 preface | 000 | Fortune teller: "le fils sera comme tout le monde, mais la fille sera une etoile" | | 1884 preface | 000 | Childhood: "Paul n'etait presque rien" | | 1884 preface | 000 | Kidnapping at Gavronzi: "Paul et moi etions dans une chambre" | | 1874-03-24 | 017 | Devastating portrait: "maigre, pale, nonchalant... use autant qu'on peut l'etre" | | 1876-09-06 | 066 | At the piano: "Kapitan faisait des gestes desesperes pour empecher Paul de bavarder" | | 1878-01-12 | 077 | At Walitsky's death: "le pauvre garcon qui est nerveux comme une femme"; "Paul est fou de Cassagnac" | | 1879-12-28 | 087 | Paul's engagement: "Paul se marie. Moi je consens" | | 1879-12-31 | 087 | Marie's letter to Nini: "je fais des voeux pour votre bonheur" | | 1880-03-10 | 087 | Wedding blocked at church by father | | 1880-03-12 | 087 | Marie's anguish: art vs. family -- "les drames de Paul m'ont laissee calme" | | 1881-02-25 | 091 | Wedding account: "Paul pale et tremblant... appuye au mur" | | 1881-07-08 | 092 | "Maman est tres montee contre Paul" | | 1881-07-11 | 092 | Paul's name day: military band, fifty rubles, champagne | | 1881-07-13 | 092 | Marriage critique: "pas une lueur de jeunesse" | | 1883-02-26 | 098 | Paul arrives from Russia for father's illness | | 1883-03-11 | 098 | "Quant a Paul c'est un brave garcon que sa femme rend bien malheureux" | | 1883-07-13 | 100 | "Paul et sa femme se conduisant comme des cochons avec maman" | | 1883-09-21 | 101 | Inheritance negotiations: "la propriete revient entiere a Paul" | | 1883-09-26 | 101 | Paul lies about father; Marie calls him "imposteur, scelerat" | | 1884-05-14 | 104 | Testament: "Et pour Dina et pour ma tante et pour maman et pour Paul..." | | 1884-07-11 | 105 | Last physical description: "Mon frere Paul... il ressemble a Dupuis" |

Related Entries

- #Maman -- Their mother Maria Stepanovna Babanina, who raised both children after the separation
- #Father_Bashkirtseff -- Their father Constantin (1833--1883)
- #Paul_Grigorievitch_Bashkirtseff -- Paul's paternal grandfather, General; Paul was likely named after him
- #Nini -- Alexandrine Patchenko, Paul's wife (married 1880)
- #M_Patchenko -- Nini's father, Paul's stingy father-in-law
- #Catherine_Eristoff -- Nini's sister
- #Gavronzi -- The Bashkirtseff family estate where Paul lived
- #Dina -- Marie's cousin, raised as family
- #Georges -- Marie's uncle
- #Alexandre -- Marie's uncle, quarreled with Paul over inheritance
- #Adam -- Cook who corrupted Paul as a teenager
- #Walitsky -- Family friend whom Paul loved; "nerveux comme une femme" at his death

Sources

%% 2026-05-24T14:00:00 RSR: Comprehensive expansion of glossary entry from Moderate to Comprehensive. Added birth/death dates (1859/1860--1899), full biographical arc, wife identification (Alexandrine Patchenko = "Nini" in diary), wedding scandal of 1880, Gavronzi domestic life 1881, inheritance disputes 1883, final diary mentions 1884, physical descriptions across years, fortune teller prophecy, key diary passages table. Sources: Katherine Kernberger, "I Am the Most Interesting Book of All" Vol I / "Lust for Glory" Vol II (Fonthill Press, 2013) -- death date 1899 from Kernberger's glossary/chronology. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Bashkirtseff) -- family background. Encyclopedia.com (https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bashkirtseff-marie-1859-1884) -- fortune teller prophecy, family history. Rijksmuseum (https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-1988) -- portrait of Alexandrine Patchenko. Mathilde Blind, Introduction to The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff (1890) -- family background. Diary entries from carnets 000, 017, 066, 077, 087, 088, 091, 092, 098, 100, 101, 104, 105, 106. %%