Vladimir Davydov

December 14] 1906) was the second son of Lev and Alexandra Davydov, and nephew of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who called him "Bob".

[1] From his earliest years, Davydov showed an aptitude for music and drawing, which was encouraged by his uncle.

After he studied at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg, however, Bob decided on a military career and joined the Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment.

[1] He resigned his commission as a lieutenant in 1897[2] and moved to Klin, where he helped the composer's brother Modest create a museum to commemorate Tchaikovsky's life.

[4] Tchaikovsky considered relocating from Klin to Saint Petersburg in the last few years of his life so as to live closer to Davydov (a potential move that caused fellow composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov some distress[5]) writing to his brother Modest, "Seeing the importance of Bob in my life is increasing all the time.... To see him, hear him and feel him close to me will soon become for me, it seems, the paramount condition for my happiness.

Two men in dark jackets, waistcoats and light slacks and carrying top hats and canes, a man in his 20s with dark hair standing and the second in late middle age with balding grey hair and a beard
Davydov (right) with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , in 1892