Alexander Griboyedov wrote about musical popularity of Durnovo in the letter from Simferopol to Stepan Begichev, dated September 9, 1825: "When I come here, I see no one; I do not know anybody and do not want to know anybody.
"[2] Maria Sergeyevna Durnovo was the first to know about the literary intentions of her brother Alexander, about his writing of the first acts of the comedy Woe from Wit (Russian: Горе от Ума).
In the spring of 1823, while his comedy remained a secret to the public and to the majority of his friends, Mikhail Vielgorsky came across several sheets of a poem written by Alexander.
After the death of her brother, Durnovo and the playwright's widow Nina Alexandrovna Griboedova became the executors of Alexander Griboyedov's estate.
A year later on August 31, 1832, Chernsky County Court issued a decree:...after the death of State Councilor Alexander Sergeyevich son of Griboyedov, the remaining cash capital deposited in St. Petersburg Guardian Council, assigned to the legal heirs of the deceased: wife, Mrs. Nina Alexandrovna Griboyedova and his sister Maria Sergeyevna daughter of Griboyedov, after marriage Durnovo.