Viktor Olkhovsky
Minor Russian writer and poet, born Viktor Ivanovich Olkhovsky (Виктор Иванович Ольховский).
He was a contributor to the journals Son of the Fatherland (Сын отечества) and The Spark (Искра), amongst others. From 1885 he was an official at the Saint Petersburg customs house. Viktor's brother, Yevgeny Olkhovsky (1824–1876) was married to the composer's half-sister Zinayda (1829–1878). It was because of this family connection that in 1854 Viktor provided the fourteen-year-old Tchaikovsky with a libretto based on his short story Hyperbola, although this projected opera remained unrealised.
Correspondence with Tchaikovsky
2 letters from Tchaikovsky to Viktor Olkhovsky have survived, dating from 1854, of which the one highlighted in bold has been translated into English on this website:
- Letter 51 – July 1854, from Oranienbaum
- Letter 52 – autumn 1854, from Saint Petersburg
