Apollinaria Prokofyevna Suslova

Polina was the older sister of Nadezhda Suslova of the first of the Zurich 7. She didn’t spend much time in Zurich, instead she was in Paris attending lectures, discussing literature and the state of Russia. She was a writer, publishing her first story “Pokuda” (In a While) in Fyodor Dostevesky’s periodical Epoch in 1861 [link to Literature]. We get the best glimpse of her from her own diary, published along side Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Gambler and her own short story The Stranger and her Lover. [link to book]

She was born in 1839, the affair with FD must have began in 1862 (her diary starts in August of 1863)

“you fell in love with me by mistake, because yours is a generous heart, you waited until you were 23, you are the only woman who does not demand of a man that he obligate himself in any way, but at what price: a man and a women are not one and the same. He takes, she gives.”

1863

She had been in Paris since the spring of 1863 where she was waiting for FD to join her and travel to Italy.

“my sister [Nadezhda Suslova] would have censured me for my trip to Italy, but I don’t feel that way myself. I have a kind of passion for traveling; to learn, to see, and isn’t this legitimate?”

Instead of coming straight to Paris, FD stopped in Wiesbaden hoping to win some money for their travels at the roulette table. He succeeded, but then managed to lose it all when he stopped again at Baden-Baden. When he finally reaches Paris, Polina’s response is “you’re a little late.” While she waited on the arrival for FD, she fell in love with Salvador, a young medical student from South America.

FD urged her to write to him, particularly whenever she was especially happy or unhappy, it feels like FD is a collector of women’s emotions.

Salvador distances himself from Polina with no explanation, she is heartbroken. She is considering moving to the countryside to live among the peasants to try and be some use to them, she considers living without being useful to other people an unworthy life to live. She also wants to exact revenge on Salvador, maybe kill him, but she would prefer him to suffer.

She feels obligated to send him “the money” for what reason it is not clear. He provided a service to her that is usually reimbursed in money, she feels indebted to him, or wants to show him that she would like to move forward as if they were to meet again as if they were strangers.

She refers to herself as entirely barbarian, she has no appreciation for affected pleasantries.

September 5th, she left Paris for Baden-Baden, in Paris she says she lost a great deal of hope. What sort of hope, for her future, for Russia, for finding love? They have an awkward encounter, FD is still pursuing Polina, she doesn’t want to lead him on, but doesn’t shut down his hopes. He gambled away his money and might not be able to journey to Italy, she questions if she is under any obligation to pay for his troubles.

On the way home from her trip to Italy with FD they encountered Alexander Herzen and his family. His son Alexander Alexandrovich Herzen, graduated from the University of Bern in 1861 with a medical degree.

Before their trip was over, Polina and FD fought and made up over the emancipation of women, I’d like to know more about that conversation.

October, FD sends her a letter asking for money, he had lost all his money gambling.

1864

In April, Polina met Evgenia Tur. Elizaveta Vasilievna Salias de Turnemir, an emancipated woman, she hosted a well attended literary salon in Russia. She worked on The Russian Messenger and was forced to flee to France in 1862. She invites Polina to move in with her and her son. It’s unclear if she accepts the offer until she falls sick in May and the the Countess Salias took care of her for two weeks. Their relationship cooled after a debate on Russian customs.

“I was born into a peasant family, I was brought up among the people until I was 15, and I shall live with the mushiks; there is no place for me in civilized society. I’ll go to the muzhiks, and I know that they are not going to hurt me in any way.”

Next, Polina meets Marko Vovchok aka Maria Aleksandrovna Markovich, she writes a letter referencing Apollinaria and Turgenev [link to paper on Vovchok and Turgenev]. Markovich knew the name Nadezhda when Polina said her name was Suslova.

June “More and more I am occupied with the affairs of my sister [Nadezhda Suslova], regarding her education. My further stay in Paris also depends on that.”

On Russia: “I am not a worshiper of the revolution. It seems to me that one should have abandoned this idea a long time ago, the idea that a revolution is the only way to achieve one’s ends. We need a revolution. (I am not looking forward to the revolution, rather, I look upon it as a sad necessity)”

She references her past relationship with FD:

“I said that during my first youth I paid no attention to beauty, and that my first love was a man of 40.” “You were probably 16 then?” “No, twenty three.”

December, it is difficult to understand what Polina is feeling:

“I am now thinking about my return to Russia. Where shall I go, to whom? To my brother, to my father? I will never be as free as I would like to, and to what end should I suffer this dependence? What have I in common with these people? Carry out my ideas! Stupid. Why, besides, no one is going to give me his children. It seems to me that things in Russia are not nearly so bad as some people say they are. Really, the purpose of it all is, properly speaking, that the people should be well off, and the people today eat better than ever before. And as to the universities being closed - what does that matter?”

1865

By February, her sister Nadezda must have already started classes in Zurich, she tells her doctor, “the next time we met, he would have to take second place as my doctor, while my sister would take first place.”

“They like to see others act freely, but they won’t do it themselves. They love freedom platonically.”

Polina travels to Zurich in June, she spends time with Maria Kniazhina (Maria Kniaschnina), the first woman to start taking classes in Zurich in 1864, opening the door for Nadehda the following year. She has constant arguments with the girls, she does not feel as strongly about natural sciences and is bothered by their distain of art or history, or specifically historical art.

She leaves Paris for good, returning to Petersburg by November. Fyodor Dostoevsky visits her, he scolds her “You can’t forgive me that you gave yourself to me, and so you are avenging yourself; that’s a feminine trait.” He had been offering her his hand and his heart, she isn’t interested. She had a visit with Piotr Ivanovich - is this the P.I. Bokov, who married Maria Obruchova?