Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky

In 1876, Modest became the tutor to a deaf-mute boy Nikolai ("Kolya") Hermanovich Konradi (1868–1922) and, using a special teaching method, helped him to talk, write, and read.

In his still unpublished autobiography, broadly quoted by Alexander Poznansky, Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky mentions his and his brother's homosexuality.

[1] Modest chose to dedicate his entire life to literature and music.

He wrote plays, translated sonnets by Shakespeare into Russian and wrote librettos for operas by his brother Pyotr, as well as for other composers such as Eduard Nápravník, Arseny Koreshchenko, Anton Arensky and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Being the nearest friend of his brother, he became his first biographer, and also the founder of the Tchaikovsky Museum in Klin.