Yelizaveta Tchaikovskaya

Stepmother of the composer (b. 1829; d. 1910), born Yelizaveta Mikhaylovna Lipport (Елизавета Михайловна Липпорт); known after her first marriage as Yelizaveta Mikhaylovna Aleksandrova (Елизавета Михайловна Александрова); and after her second marriage as Yelizaveta Mikhaylovna Chaykovskaya (Елизавета Михайловна Чайковская).

In 1863, Yelizaveta, who had by then lost her first husband, became acquainted with the Tchaikovsky family in Saint Petersburg, and two years later, she became the third wife of the composer's father, Ilya Tchaikovsky (1795–1880). As the composer's brother Modest later recalled: "With her unconditional devotion, affectionate solicitude, and tactfulness she won the respect and gratitude of all those around her. Pyotr Ilyich loved this woman very much, and in all practical difficulties he would turn to her for advice and assistance" . In his letters the composer would affectionately refer to her as "Dumpling" (Пышка), or by other jocular terms relating to her somewhat rotund physique.

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

8 letters from Tchaikovsky to Yelizaveta Tchaikovskaya have survived, dating from 1865 to 1892 or 1893, all of which have been translated into English on this website:

• Letter 76 – 29 October/10 November 1865, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 81 – 15/27 January 1866, from Moscow
• Letter 549 – 18/30 April 1877, from Moscow
• Letter 1598 – 9/21 September 1880, from Kamenka
• Letter 1833 – 14/26 August 1881, from Kamenka
• Letter 3980 – 8/20 December 1889, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 4266 – 4/16 December 1890, from Saint Petersburg
• Letter 4819a – early/mid-December 1892 or mid/late October 1893 (?), from Saint Petersburg

7 letters from Yelizaveta Tchaikovskaya to the composer, dating from 1875, are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin.