View source for Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky

{{short description|Russian writer}}
{{Refimprove|date=August 2009}}
{{family name hatnote|Ilyich|Tchaikovsky|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
[[File:Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky.jpg|thumb|Modest Tchaikovsky]]

'''Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky''' ({{langx|ru|Моде́ст Ильи́ч Чайко́вский}}; {{OldStyleDate|13 May|1850|1 May}}–{{OldStyleDate|15 January|1916|2 January}}) was a [[Russian people|Russian]] [[dramatist]], [[opera]] [[librettist]] and [[translator]].

==Early life==
Modest Ilyich was born in [[Alapayevsk]], [[Verkhotursky Uyezd]], [[Perm Governorate]], the younger brother of the composer [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]. He graduated from the [[Imperial School of Jurisprudence]] with a degree in law. In 1876, Modest became the tutor to a deaf-mute boy Nikolai ("Kolya") Hermanovich Konradi (1868–1922) and, using a special teaching method, helped him to talk, write, and read. In his still unpublished autobiography, broadly quoted by [[Alexander Poznansky]], Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky mentions his and his brother's homosexuality.<ref>Poznansky, Alexander. ''Tchaikovsky Through Others' Eyes''. Indiana University Press, 1999, p. 8</ref>

==Career==
Modest chose to dedicate his entire life to literature and music. He wrote plays, translated [[sonnet]]s by [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] into Russian and wrote librettos for operas by his brother Pyotr, as well as for other composers such as [[Eduard Nápravník]], [[Arseny Koreshchenko]], [[Anton Arensky]] and [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]]. Being the nearest friend of his brother, he became his first biographer, and also the founder of the Tchaikovsky Museum in [[Klin, Klinsky District, Moscow Oblast|Klin]].

==Plays==
* ''Predrassudki''  (''Предрассудки –  Prejudices'')
* ''Simfoniya'' (''Симфония – Symphony'')
* ''Den' v Peterburge'' (''День в Петербурге – A Day in St Petersburg'')

==Opera libretti==
* [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]: '''''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]''''' (''Пиковая дама - Pikovaya dama''), Op. 68, 1890.  Premiered: {{OldStyleDate|19 December|1890|7 December}}, [[St Petersburg]]
* Tchaikovsky: '''''[[Iolanta]]''''' (''Иоланта – Iolanta''), Op. 69, 1891, based on the Danish play ''Kong Renés Datter'' (''King René’s Daughter'') by [[Henrik Hertz]], translated by Fyodor Miller and adapted by Vladimir Rafailovich Zotov.  Premiered: 1892, [[Mariinsky Theatre]], [[St Petersburg]].
* [[Eduard Nápravník]]: '''''[[Dubrovsky (opera)|Dubrovsky]]''''' (''Дубровский'').  Premiered: {{OldStyleDate|15 January|1895|3 January}}, at the [[Mariinsky Theatre]], [[St Petersburg]].
* [[Arseny Koreshchenko]]: '''''Ledyanoy dom''''' (''Ледяной дом'').  Premiered: {{OldStyleDate|20 November|1900|7 November}}, [[Moscow]].
* [[Anton Arensky]]: '''''Nal' i Damayanty''''' (''Наль и Дамаянти''), after the epos ''[[Mahabharata]]''.  Premiered:  {{OldStyleDate|22 January|1904|9 January}}, [[Moscow]].
*[[Sergei Rachmaninoff]]: '''''[[Francesca da Rimini (Rachmaninoff)|Francesca da Rimini]]''''' (''Франческа да Римини''), Op. 25, 1904, after the story of the heroine Francesca da Rimini from the fifth canto of [[Dante]]'s epic poem ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'' (the first part of ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'').  Premiered: {{OldStyleDate|24 January|1906|11 January}}, [[Bolshoi Theatre]], [[Moscow]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
Tchaikovsky, Modest:  ''The Life And Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky'', University Press of the Pacific (2004) {{ISBN|1-4102-1612-8}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky}}
* {{IMDb name|1091469|Modest Tchaikovsky}}

{{Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tchaikovsky, Modest Ilyich}}
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Alapayevsk]]
[[Category:People from Verkhotursky Uyezd]]
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Russian opera librettists]]
[[Category:People from the Russian Empire of French descent]]
[[Category:Imperial School of Jurisprudence alumni]]
[[Category:Russian gay writers]]
[[Category:Russian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]
[[Category:Russian twins]]
[[Category:Gay dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century LGBTQ people from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century people from the Russian Empire]]