Tchaikovsky
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Viktor Ol'khovskii

Minor Russian writer and poet, born Viktor Ivanovich Ol'khovskii (Виктор Иванович Ольховский, Viktor Ivanovič Ol'hovskij, Viktor Ivanovich Ol'lkhovsky).

He was a contributor to the journals Son of the Fatherland (Сын отечества) and The Spark (Искра), amongst others. From 1885 he was an official at the Saint Petersburg customs house. Viktor's brother, Evgenii Ol'khovskii (1824–1876) was married to the composer's half-sister Zinaida (b. Tchaikovskaia, 1829–1878). It was because of this family connection that in 1854 Viktor provided the fourteen-year-old Tchaikovsky with a libretto based on his short story Hyperbola, although this projected opera remained unrealised.

Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Viktor Ol'khovskii:

• 2 letters from Tchaikovsky to Viktor Ol'khovskii have survived, dating from 1854.