Motovilov's conversation with Seraphim of Sarov took place in October 1831, and then the elder revealed to the young man that he was destined for another bride — Elena Ivanovna Milyukova (b.

But Khomyakov himself was also an outstanding person, capable of turning the head of a provincial girl: poet, philosopher, artist, mechanical inventor, homeopathic doctor, possessor of encyclopaedic knowledge in 15 scientific fields, polyglot who learnt 32 languages, etc.

[11][16][17] This is the subject of a Khomyakov family legend (told by Alexei Stepanovich's biographer V. N. Lyaskovsky), according to which M. A. Khomyakova made her sons promise to keep their chastity until marriage.

[18] Khomyakov's love for Yazykova was preceded only by a strong feeling for the famous capital beauty Alexandra Osipovna Smirnova, who rejected his advances.

Khomyakov's biographer V. N. Lyaskovsky wrote at the end of the 19th century: "Through the poet N. M. Yazykov, who belonged to the Kireevsky circle, Alexei Stepanovich met his sister Katerina Mikhailovna, and on 5 July 1836 they were married ... in the house church of the Counts Panin on Nikitskaya in Moscow".

After the death of Ekaterina's mother in 1831, her older sister, Praskovya Mikhailovna (1807–1862), who was married to Pyotr Alexandrovich Bestuzhev, the leader of the nobility of the Syzran region of Simbirsk Governorate, took care of her upbringing.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna immersed herself in the household and the children's education, while fully sharing her husband's beliefs and being a reliable support for him in all family matters.

[11] Ekaterina Mikhailovna was an obedient daughter-in-law of an imperious and energetic mother-in-law —Maria Alekseevna Khomyakova[25]— who caused her much trouble by her wayward character.

The church historian and biographer of A. S. Khomyakov, N. M. Bogolyubov, wrote that in the 1837 poem The Late Lamp was Burning the poet described the influence of his wife on his creative inspiration.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna's religious beliefs are revealed in a letter from A. S. Khomyakov to I. S. Aksakov: One day two ladies were talking all evening about miracles; my late wife, who was present, came back in a bad temper, and when I asked her what she was unhappy about, she told me the whole conversation.

A year after writing it, he showed it to Ekaterina Mikhailovna, who was so enthusiastic about it that she sent a copy to her brother; thus the poem To the Children became famous and was considered one of the best examples of "spiritual poetry".

[33] Gogol scholar V. A. Voropaev believes that "Ekaterina Mikhailovna was an invisible centre of the spiritual life of the Moscow Slavophile community.

After his wife's death, Khomyakov recalled Lipitsy in a letter to Y. F. Samarin: Katya loved it even more than I did; she said she would not give it up for Richmond, which was her favourite place abroad" (Ekaterina Mikhailovna was travelling with her husband in Germany, France and Great Britain in the summer of 1847).

The rest of the letters are devoted to Ekaterina Mikhailovna's everyday life, and references to major figures in the history of Russian culture are incidental.

[35] After the revolution, Ekaterina Mikhailovna's letters became part of the Museum of the 1840', opened on the initiative of the Khomyakovs' daughter Maria Alekseevna (1840–1919), who died shortly afterwards.

N.M. Yazykov wrote to his sisters Ekaterina and Praskovya in Repyevka from Yazykovo on 28 June 1835: "I am very glad that you like Gogol's novels — they are wonderful!

[37] From Gogol's letter to Yazykov dated 10 February 1842 we can learn about his attitude towards the Khomyakov family: "I love them, I rest my soul spending time with them".

In 1835 Gogol met Lyudmila Dmitrievna Kozhina, née Yazykova, at a Moscow literary salon (she was a cousin of the poet N. M. Yazykov).

[41] Е. M. Khomyakova, along with other friends of the writer and married ladies (A. P. Elagina, E. A. Sverbeyeva and E. G. Chertkova), was one of the guests at Gogol's birthday party, which he had arranged on 9 May 1842 at the house of M. P.

[13] Ekaterina Mikhailovna Khomyakova's daughter, Maria Alekseevna, later said that, according to her father, Gogol, who did not like to talk about his trip to the Holy Land, only told her "what he felt there".

She has received the Blessed Sacrament and is waiting for the end; she has already begun to rave... she caught a cold while walking in her garden, she got a fever and inflammation in her chest, and now, they say, she is on her last breath.

This was the main cause of death, according to the husband, and not the illness — she died more of exhaustion than of disease itself" (Khomyakov was not a professional doctor, but was interested in homeopathy and cured his serfs).

Other guests, however, justified Auvers on the grounds that the inflammation, fever and typhus left the French doctor no choice, and that he himself knew that the risk of aggravating the condition by taking calomel was too great.

[4][44] The writer V. G. Lidin, who was present at the exhumation of Khomyakova's body, testified that "a turtle comb was stuck in her hair, fully preserved as a coiffure".

F. Samarin, who was in close contact with Alexei Stepanovich, testified that Khomyakov's life was divided: "During the day he worked, read, talked, went about his business, gave himself to everyone who cared about him.

Samarin concluded from Khomyakov's explanation that "Ekaterina Mikhailovna died, against all probability, due to a necessary combination of circumstances: he himself clearly understood the cause of the illness and, knowing exactly what means should have helped, he hesitated, contrary to his usual determination, to use them".

Samarin goes on to say that when he listened to Khomyakov, he objected to him: "Everything seems obvious to him now, because the unfortunate outcome of the disease has justified his fears and at the same time erased from his memory all the other signs on which he himself probably based the hope of recovery".

[7] А. S. Khomyakov recalled these days two weeks later: "The death of my wife and my grief shook Gogol to the core; he said that many people he loved with all his soul were dying for him, especially N. M. Yazykov.

Mochulsky believes that this is an accurate diagnosis of the author's own illness: Gogol died because the dead Khomyakova called him; he too "submitted" and also "melted like a candle".

V. A. Voropaev and N. Urakova point out that the real reason for such an unexpected reaction of Gogol to the death of E.M. Khomyakova will hardly ever be fully unravelled, but one thing remains undeniable: it was the strongest spiritual shock.