Sophie Tutcheff (paternal aunt)

Identity

Full name: Sophie Pavlovna Tutcheff, nee Bashkirtseff (nickname: Sonia). Marie writes «Sophie Pavlovna Tutcheff» (067.0187); the Mon Journal t.9 index reads «Tutcheff (Mme), Sophie Pavlona Bashkirtseff», and the patronymic agrees with her father, General Paul Grigorievitch Bashkirtseff. The t.1-t.7 and t.10 indexes print «Tutscheff (Mme Sophie Grigorievna)», a slip for Pavlovna. Marie's 1873 «Sophie Grigorievna» (002/1873-02-23) is somebody else: «Sonitchka», Mlle Sophie Kolokolzoff (Kolokolzoff; 009.0146, t.2 index «Sonitchka: Kolokolzoff (Sophie)»).

Relationship: Marie's PATERNAL aunt -- sister of Marie's father (Papa/Constantin Bashkirtseff). Daughter of the General (Paul Grigorievitch Bashkirtseff).

Sources disagree: Marie calls her «la sœur de mon père» (068.0214, 18 December 1876), and her father's «sœurs, Mmes Tutcheff» (011, 25 October 1873) and «son frère» (065, 2 September 1876) point the same way. Kernberger (2013, glossary) calls her Marie's maternal aunt. This entry follows Marie.

Married name: Mme Tutcheff, married to M. Tutcheff (described by Marie as "un excellent bonhomme gros comme un tonneau" -- an excellent fellow fat as a barrel).

NOT to be confused with: "Ma tante" in the early diary, who is Nadine Romanoff, nee Babanine -- Marie's MATERNAL aunt. See MA_TANTE.

Role in the Diary

Sophie Tutcheff appears in two distinct phases:

Early Diary (1873): Visiting Relative

In carnets 001-003, a «Sophie» visits Nice with an «Emile», indexed as Tutcheff in Mon Journal t.1 (identity open, see below). She appears alongside but SEPARATELY from "ma tante" (Nadine Romanoff). For example, February 23, 1873: "nous etions maman, ma tante, Sophie, Emile, Dina, moi." She is treated as a guest, not a permanent household member. The «Sonitchka … Sophie Grigorievna» to whom Marie throws carnival bouquets that day is not the aunt but Mlle Kolokolzoff (009.0146).

Later Diary (1875+): Family Enemy

From carnet 004 onward, Mme Tutcheff becomes one of the family's most dangerous enemies. Marie describes her with increasing venom:

• "cette vipere" (this viper) -- carnet 06
• "sa bouche de serpent" (her serpent's mouth) -- carnet 09
• "calomnieuse envenimee" (poisoned slanderer) -- carnet 09
• "usees comme la figure de Mme Tutcheff" (worn out like Mme Tutcheff's face) -- carnet 09

She spread damaging gossip about the Babanine-Bashkirtseff family in Nice society and was closely associated with the enemies who fueled the Romanoff lawsuit scandal.

Affair with Prince Constantin Eristoff

Marie reveals (carnet 09): "Le prince Constantin est l'amant de ma tante Tutcheff" (Prince Constantin is my aunt Tutcheff's lover). This liaison was part of the broader family scandal.

Connection to the Romanoff Scandal

Mme Tutcheff actively worked against Maman and Ma tante (Nadine Romanoff) in Nice society. Marie writes: "La Tutcheff pretend qu'elle n'a rien fait" but Marie identifies her as a key source of the calumnies that damaged the family's reputation.

The family identified three main enemies in Nice: "Tutcheff, Skariatine et Boukowski" (carnet 08).

Visit to Papa (Carnet 09)

During Marie's visit to her father in Russia (carnet 09), she encounters Mme Tutcheff directly. Marie maneuvers against her influence over Papa:

"Je ne la menage pas cette bonne tante, et comme je ne fais qu'appuyer sur l'influence qu'elle exerce sur mon pere, il tache... homme faible et orgueilleux, de prouver qu'elle ne le domine pas."

Marie describes their tense meeting: "Mon pere m'amena Mme Tutcheff... Je me levai pour lui tendre la main et effleurer de mes levres sa bouche de serpent, et je me rassis aussitot la laissant debout."

Emile (1873) and M. Tutcheff

An «Emile» came to Nice with a «Sophie» in February-March 1873 and left with her on 19 March («Emile et Sophie partent ce soir… il lui donnait le bras», 003.0054). The Mon Journal t.1 index calls him «Tutscheff (Emile)», but who he is remains open: Sophie Tutcheff's husband, or Maman's brother Emile Babanine (Kernberger 2013, glossary: «Émile: Uncle Babanine»). See Emile Tutcheff. He is not the uncle Emile who died in 1874 (023.0628): that was Emile Stépanovitch Babanine (t.5 and t.9 indexes, 067.0481; see Oncle Emile). In December 1873 «Mon oncle et ma tante Tutcheff sont arrivés» (014.0264). Sophie's husband, «M. Tutcheff», maréchal de noblesse, is alive in 1876-82 (062/1876-06-16, 067/1876-10-19, 094/1882-04-09); the diary never gives his first name.