Mariya Mamontova

Tchaikovsky Research
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Mariya Aleksandrovna Mamontova (Мария Александрова Мамонтова) (b. 1845; d. 1904), born Mariya Aleksandrova Lyalina Мария Александрова Лялина), was the wife of Anatoly Ivanovich Mamontov (1839–1905), a Russian publisher, translator and art collector.

The family also owned the Moscow Children's Education Workshop in Moscow, where various toys for children were manufactured, including the famous "Matryoshka" dolls.

In 1872 she asked Tchaikovsky for assistance in editing her compilation of Children's Songs on Russian and Ukrainian Tunes (Детские песнии на русские и малороссийские напевы). The composer harmonized and edited the first set of 24 songs in 1872, and reluctantly agreed to work on a second set of 15 songs in 1877 (which he subsequently lost). When she asked for his assistance with a third set in 1878 Tchaikovsky flatly refused, and later sought (unsuccessfully) to have his name removed from the published score of the first set.