Vera Butakova
Sister-in-law of the composer (b. 1843; d. 1923), born Vera Vasilyevna Davydova (Вера Васильевна Давыдова); known after her marriage as Vera Vasilyevna Butakova (Вера Васильевна Бутакова).
Vera was the sister of Tchaikovsky's brother-in-law Lev Davydov, and she became attached to Tchaikovsky during a family holiday at Hapsal [now Haapsalu] in Estonia in 1867. The composer dedicated the cycle of piano pieces he was writing at the time — Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2 — to Vera.
Although it appears that Vera had romantic feelings for Tchaikovsky during the late 1860s, these were not reciprocated, and in 1871 she married a much older man — Vice-Admiral Ivan Ivanovich Butakov (1822–1882), commander of the Russian Mediterranean fleet, and had three sons — Grigory (b. 1873); Ivan (1874–1879); and Stepan (b. 1879).
Tchaikovsky's Works Dedicated to Vera Butakova
- Souvenir de Hapsal, for piano, Op. 2 (1867)
- Sleep — No. 4 of the Six Romances, Op. 57 (1884)
