Yourkoff

Overview

Nicolas Yourkoff, nicknamed «Pâris», the lover and constant companion of Mme Nina Sapogenikoff, for whom she «a quitté la Russie, sa maison, ses richesses, sa position» (056/1876-03-28; the husband, M. Sapogenikoff, only visits twice a year: «Madame demeure à Genève avec les enfants et M. Yourkoff, un ami qui ne les quitte jamais, c'est comme une seule famille», 006/1873-06-16). He appears from Geneva in May 1873 (005/1873-05-24: «Mr Yourkoff with Alexis and Cima … came to go to the circus with us») through the Nice years 1874-75 (024-049) as Nina's escort, and dies by suicide at Monaco in March 1876: «Hier, Yourkoff s'est tué à Monaco» (056/1876-03-28), «Il n'avait que trente-six ans» (056/1876-03-29). After his death he remains Marie's emblem of a ruined love: she is compared to «Nina qui ne voulait rien manger après la mort de Yourkoff» (070.0676, Naples 1877), and in August 1876 Nina seems «tout aussi gaie que si Yourkoff n'avait jamais existé» (064/1876-08-09). The Bains Georges scene of June 1877 recalls him and Nina as a «lost circle» of her earlier Nice life (071.0588, 071/1877-06-07).

References in Diary

Heavily tagged (about 100 paragraphs). Key dates: 005/1873-05-24 (first appearance, Geneva); 006/1873-06-16; 024/1874-10-26 (nickname Pâris explained, 024.0414); 029-034 (1875, Nice and Monaco); 044-049 (autumn 1875, including the long 045/1875-09-26 entry); 056/1876-03-28 to 03-30 (his suicide and its aftermath); 059/1876-04-29 to 05-09 (aftermath); 064/1876-08-09; 070/1877-04-17 (070.0676); 071/1877-06-07 (071.0588).

Identity

Nicolas Yourkoff (Mon Journal tome 4 index: "Yourkoff (Nicolas), [Paris], [Ménélas]"), the companion of Nina Sapogenikoff. Marie explains his nickname at 024.0414 (26 October 1874): "Pâris (Yourkoff) surnommé ainsi par les enfants de Nina qui le nommèrent Pâris", while at Geneva a M. and Mme Laloff called the pair "Ménélas et Hélène". In the 1875 Nice carnets he is usually "Pâris" (029.0016, 030.0152, 030.0204, 030.0215). He killed himself at Monaco in March 1876 (056.0073: "Hier, Yourkoff s'est tué à Monaco").