Zhelikhovskaya, Vera Petrovna

Received home education. She spent her childhood in Odessa . After the death of her mother, she lived in Saratov with her grandfather-governor A.M. Fadeev and grandmother, Princess Elena Dolgoruka , then with her father in Tiflis and Grodno .

In 1855 she married N.N. Yakhontov, the brother of the poet A.N. Yakhontov . After the death of her husband, she moved with children to Tiflis, where her grandfather and uncle lived at that time. In Tiflis, she married the director of the gymnasium , V.I. Zhelikhovsky , a cousin on his father's side.

Since the 1870s she has collaborated in the press. After the death of her second husband ( 1880 ) she moved first to Odessa , then to St. Petersburg , where she was engaged in literary activities.

She died in St. Petersburg , was buried in Odessa at the First Christian Cemetery .

She made her debut in print with an essay on the visit to the gymnasium in Tiflis by the writer Vladimir Sollogub “Alaverdi and Yakhshiel” (Tiflis, 1872 ). Since 1878 Zhelikhovskaya wrote a lot for the youth, published a lot in general magazines and newspapers ( novels , short stories , dramas ). Since 1880, she published stories and tales from Caucasian life in the journal Russian Bulletin . She collaborated with almost all children's magazines and magazines for family reading (" Toy ", " Spring ", " Children's Word ", " Sincere Reading ", " Niva ", " World Illustration ", " Picturesque Review " and others).

Repeatedly reprinted autobiographical novels "How I was little" and "My adolescence", translated into several languages.

Fantastic works - the novel "Maya" ( 1893 ), the collection " Fantastic Stories " ( 1896 ) are sustained in a romantic tradition; their heroes are Cornelius Agrippa , northern shamans and eastern magicians with secret knowledge inaccessible to mere mortals. Along with stylized legends , Zhelikhovskaya owns stories about the mysterious phenomena of the human psyche. An interest in parapsychology was also reflected in the book The Inexplicable or Unexplained ( 1885 ).

Zhelikhovskaya wrote a great deal about Theosophy (in connection with the defense of Blavatsky's memory), about mysterious phenomena unexplored by science, etc. Ms. Igrek , Likhovsky N. used pseudonyms

• In the occult novel “Maya” in the image of the main character “with her passion for music,“ dreams ”, visions, etc., both young E.P. Blavatsky and V.P. Zhelikhovskaya (“ mediumistic ”manifestations and supersensible perception was not alien to both sisters). ” ^[2]
• On the mother’s side, Elena Andreevna Gan , Vera Petrovna Zhelikhovskaya was a descendant of the Grand Duke of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise . ^{[3] [4]}

• Zhelikhovskaya, Vera Petrovna // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Zhelikhovskaya Vera Petrovna / biography on the site "Biography.ru"
• Maya (occult novel)
• Works by V.P. Zhelikhovskaya on the site of the Tver diocese

Bibliography

• Russian writers. 1800-1917. Biographical Dictionary. T. 2: G - K. Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1992. S. 262-263.
• Mezier A.V., Russian literature from the 11th to the 19th centuries incl. , Part 2, St. Petersburg, 1902
• Sobolev M.V., A reference book for reading children of all ages, ed. 2nd, St. Petersburg, 1907
• About children's books, ed. "Labor", 1908
• Vengerov S.A., Sources of the Dictionary of Russian Writers, vol. II, St. Petersburg, 1910. N. Ch.