View source for Ilya Tchaikovsky

{{picture|file=Ilya Tchaikovsky.jpg|caption='''Ilya Tchaikovsky''' (1795–1880)<br/>''From an original portrait in the {{RUS-KLč}} at [[Klin]]''}}
Father of the composer (b. 20/31 July 1795 in Slobodskoy, near Vyatka; d. 9/21 January 1880 in [[Saint Petersburg]]), born '''''Ilya Petrovich Chaykovsky''''' (Илья Петрович Чайковский).

==Biography==
Ilya was the fifth son of [[Pyotr Fyodorovich Tchaikovsky]] (1745–1818) and his wife Anastasiya (b. Posokhova, 1751–?), and became one of the foremost metallurgists in Russia. After graduating from the [[Saint Petersburg]] Mining College, from 1818 to 1821 he served as a mining engineer at the Perm iron works, and between 1821 and 1831 in the Department for Iron and Salt Affairs, where he enjoyed a broad authority within the Yekaterinburg region — from governing local factories to repealing the decisions of local courts.

On 11/23 September 1827, he married for the first time to Mariya Karlovna Keizer (d. 1831), and they had a daughter — [[Zinayda Olkhovskaya|Zinayda]] (1829–1878).

Over the next few years Ilya Tchaikovsky served as administrator of the Onezhsky salt board (1831–1837) and director of the Kamsko-[[Votkinsk]] iron works (1837–1848). In 1848, Ilya Tchaikovsky resigned his post in [[Votkinsk]] and brought his family to [[Moscow]], and later, in anticipation of a new appointment, to [[Saint Petersburg]]. However, the expected position in the capital did not materialize, and in May 1849 he returned with his family to the Urals, where he was appointed manager of the [[Alapayevsk]] and Nizhe-Nevyanskey iron works (1849–1852).

He married his second wife, [[Aleksandra Assier]] (1812–1854) on 1/13 October 1833, and the couple had seven children: Yekaterina (d. in infancy); [[Nikolay]] (1838–1911); Pyotr (1840–1893), the composer; [[Aleksandra Davydova|Aleksandra]] (1841–1891); [[Ippolit]] (1843–1927); [[Anatoly]] (1850–1915); and [[Modest]] (1850–1916).

In 1852 Ilya returned to [[Saint Petersburg]], and in 1858 he was appointed director of the Technological Institute in the capital, where he worked until his retirement in 1863. He married for the third and final time to [[Yelizaveta Tchaikovskaya|Yelizaveta Lipport]] (1829–1910).

Ilya Tchaikovsky enjoyed music, and played the flute sufficiently well to participate in amateur concerts, and he also encouraged his children's interest in music. Although he hoped that his son Pyotr would have a successful career in the civil service, he gave both moral and financial support to his son's decision to leave the Ministry of Justice to try to become a professional composer.

==Correspondence with Tchaikovsky==
57 letters from Tchaikovsky to his father have survived, dating from 1850 to 1879, all of which have been translated into English on this website:
* '''[[Letter 9]]''' – 21 October/2 November 1850, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and his wife [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 10]]''' – 8/20 November 1850, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 11]]''' – 23 November/5 December 1850, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 12]]''' – 10/22 December 1850, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 13]]''' – 17/29 December 1850, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 14]]''' – 24 December 1850/5 January 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 16]]''' – 18 February/2 March 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 17]]''' – 5/17 March 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 18]]''' – 19/31 March 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 19]]''' – 7/19 April 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 20]]''' – 12/24 April 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 21]]''' – 22 April/4 May 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 22]]''' – 30 April/12 May 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 23]]''' – 13/25 May 1851  (?), from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 24]]''' – 20 May/1 June 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 25]]''' – 26 May/7 June or 27 May/8 June 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 26]]''' – early/mid-June 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 27]]''' – 11/23 June 1851, from [[Nadino]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 28]]''' – 17/29 June 1851, from [[Nadino]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 29]]''' – 25 June/7 July 1851, from [[Nadino]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 30]]''' – 17/29 July 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]]
* '''[[Letter 31]]''' – 20 July/1 August 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]]
* '''[[Letter 36]]''' – 7/19 October 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 37]]''' – 28 October/9 November 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 39]]''' – 11/23 November 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 40]]''' – 18/30 November 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 41]]''' – 23 November/5 December 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 42]]''' – 2/14 December 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 43]]''' – 10/22 December 1851, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 44]]''' – 25 December 1851/6 January 1852, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 45]]''' – 1/13 January 1852, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 46]]''' – between 7/19 and 10/22 January 1852, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 47]]''' – late January or February 1852, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 48]]''' – 9/21 March 1852, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 49]]''' – 16/28 March 1852, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 50]]''' – 28 March/9 April 1852, from [[Saint Petersburg]] (addressed jointly to Ilya and [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya]])
* '''[[Letter 56]]''' – 9/21 July 1861, from [[Berlin]]
* '''[[Letter 57]]''' – 17/29 July 1861, from [[Antwerp]]
* '''[[Letter 58]]''' – 29 July/10 August 1861, from [[London]]
* '''[[Letter 59]]''' – 12/24 August 1861, from [[Paris]]
* '''[[Letter 125]]''' – 26 December 1868/7 January 1869, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 197]]''' – 2/14 June 1870, from [[Soden]]
* '''[[Letter 201]]''' – 12/24 July 1870, from [[Interlaken]]
* '''[[Letter 214]]''' – 26 October/7 November 1870, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 231]]''' – 14/26 February 1871, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 251]]''' – 31 January/12 February 1872, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 257]]''' – 8/20 May 1872, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 277]]''' – 22 November/4 December 1872, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 279]]''' – 9/21 December 1872, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 288]]''' – 5/17 February 1873, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 298]]''' – 7/19 April 1873, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 312]]''' – 24 May/5 June 1873, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 316]]''' – 23 July/4 August 1873, from [[Paris]]
* '''[[Letter 320]]''' – 9/21 October 1873, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 364]]''' – 27 September/9 October 1874, from [[Moscow]]
* '''[[Letter 572]]''' – 23 June/5 July 1877, from [[Glebovo]]
* '''[[Letter 1350]]''' – 22 November/4 December 1879, from [[Paris]]

27 letters from Ilya Tchaikovsky to the composer, dating from 1865 to 1877 (a{{sup|4}}, Nos. 4629–4653 and 5077), and a further 33 letters written jointly by Ilya and his wife [[Aleksandra Tchaikovskaya|Aleksandra]], dating from 1850 to 1852, are preserved in the {{RUS-KLč}} at [[Klin]].

==Bibliography==
* {{bib|1880/33}} (1880)
* {{bib|1970/91}} (1970)
* {{bib|1976/1}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/2}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/15}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/43}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/47}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/51}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/60}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/69}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/74}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/75}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/76}} (1976)
* {{bib|1976/78}} (1976)
* {{bib|1977/1}} (1977)
* {{bib|1979/8}} (1979)
* {{bib|1983/27}} (1983)
* {{bib|1983/86}} (1983)
* {{bib|1985/62}} (1985)
* {{bib|1995/123}} (1995)
* {{bib|1995/132}} (1995)
* {{bib|1998/79}} (1998)
* {{bib|2009/20}} (2009)

==External Links==
* [[wikipedia:ru:Чайковский,_Илья_Петрович|Wikipedia]] (Russian)

[[Category:People|Tchaikovsky, Ilya]]
[[Category:Correspondents|Tchaikovsky, Ilya]]
[[Category:Family|Tchaikovsky, Ilya]]
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