Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net

Vera Butakova

Vera Vasil'evna Butakova (Вера Васильева Бутакова) was the composer's sister-in-law, born Vera Davydova (Давыдова) in 1843.

Vera was the sister of Tchaikovsky's brother-in-law Lev Davydov, and she became attached to Tchaikovsky became friendly during a family holiday at Hapsal [now Haapsalu] in Estonia in 1867. The composer dedicated his cycle of piano pieces Souvenir de Hapsal, Op. 2 to her, as well as the song Sleep (No. 4 of the Six Romances, Op. 57), written in 1884.

Although it appears that Vera had romantic feelings for Tchaikovsky during the late 1860s, these were not reciprocated, and in 1871 she married a much older man — Vice-Admiral Ivan Ivanovich Butakov (1822–1882), commander of the Russian Mediterranean fleet, and had three sons — Grigorii (b. 1873); Ivan (1874–1879); and Stepan (b. 1879).

Vera Butakova died in 1923, aged 80.