"As to thee, Hector, thou art to
me as a father and a revered mother
and a brother, and thou art my
husband."--_The Iliad._
Studies on childhood--The family in the upper flat--Lessons in
zoology--Second marriage--Private life--Visit and death of Lvovna
Nevahovna--Conjugal affection.
Metchnikoff's anthropological researches led him to the study of
childhood, which in its turn suggested reflections on questions of
Pedagogy. His eyesight was still weak and his hunger for activity very
great; in order to satisfy it, he gave lessons in a Lycée and public
lectures in the Odessa University. Though time was passing, Metchnikoff
could not get used to his solitude; he spent his active kindness on his
friends and all around him, whilst living like an ascetic and giving
away all that he could spare. But nothing could quench his thirst for a
family life and affectionate intimacy.
My family at that time lived in the same house as he did, on the floor
above him; we were eight children, our ages ranging from one to sixteen
years. We were noisy neighbours and we incommoded Metchnikoff, who was
awakened every morning by the noise in our kitchen, where meat was
being minced for the children. One fine day he could stand it no longer
and went upstairs to ask if this nuisance could not be stopped; my
father promised that he would see that it ceased. We were all seated
round the tea-table when he came in, and, seeing a stranger, my sister
and I hurriedly collected our lesson books, and hastened to leave the
room. We did not even have time to distinguish Metchnikoff's features,
but were struck by his paleness. Shortly after that incident we met him
at the house of a mutual friend. He had already seen us from his window
as we went off to the Lycée, and it used to amuse him to see us bravely
stepping over a large pool of water which was permanent in the street.
One of his pupils was a professor in our Lycée, and Elie had the
opportunity of informing himself concerning our studies. Having heard
that I was interested in natural science, it occurred to him to offer
to give me lessons in zoology. I was delighted. He asked and obtained
permission from my parents, and we eagerly set to work. Elie, being
strongly attracted by me, returned to his former idea of training a
girl according to his own ideas and afterwards making her his wife. He
might have realised his programme of completing my education first and
marrying me afterwards if he had not been prevented by the complete
lack of accord between his ideas and those of my father. It was the
eternal conflict of two generations, "fathers and children." My father
was an excellent man, of great nobility of character, but he was a
type of the old Russian patrician school and belonged to a different
epoch, with different opinions and customs. This caused inevitable and
frequent disagreements, and Elie decided to ask for my hand without
further delay.
My mother was much younger than my father, and her sympathies
were all with the young generation. She was an idealist, gentle,
intelligent and artistic, and, in her youth, had painted and played the
violoncello, but a very early marriage and numerous children had forced
her to give up the practice of art, to her lifelong regret. Great
sympathy arose between her and Elie; she supported him in everything
and became for him a tenderly attached friend. He explained to her his
theories on marriage, and then confided to her his feelings towards
me. My extreme youth troubled her very much, but Elie endeavoured to
reassure her, saying that he fully understood the rashness of his
projects, but that he was ready to suffer all the consequences; in
fact, he declared, if he did not succeed in making me happy, he would
have the strength to help me to create another existence for myself. I
had not suspected my Professor's feelings towards me, and was deeply
moved when I was told of them; it seemed to me impossible to understand
that this superior, this learned man could wish to marry a little girl
like myself! I thought with terror that he must be mistaken about me;
I felt as if I were going up for an examination without any previous
study. However, I had a great affection and admiration for Elie; I was
attracted by his whole personality, which produced a strong impression
upon others as well as upon myself. This is how Setchénoff describes
him, in his own autobiography:
Elie Metchnikoff was the soul of our circle. Of all the young men I
have known in my life, young Metchnikoff was the most attractive with
his lively intelligence, inexhaustible wit and abundant knowledge
of all things. He was, in Science, as serious and as productive (he
had already done much in zoology and acquired a great name in that
branch) as he was full of life and varied interest in a circle of
friends.
Moreover, my young imagination was impressed by his sad history and by
his interesting appearance, at that time not unlike a figure of Christ;
his pale face was illumined by the light in his kindly eyes, which at
times looked absolutely inspired. My whole heart went out to him, but I
was not yet ripe for matrimony and was somewhat thrown off my balance
by the unexpectedness of the event. Fearing that I was not up to his
level, I used to try beforehand to find worthy subjects of conversation
in order that he should not feel bored in my society, but everything
I thought of seemed to me so clumsy and stupid that I rejected one
subject after another until he came and found me at a loss. He could
not understand how deeply I was troubled, and cannot have been
satisfied with my attitude, which really was that of a zealous pupil.
Our marriage took place in February 1875; it was a very cold winter and
the ground was covered with a thick coating of glistening snow. A few
hours before the ceremony my brothers came with a little hand sledge
to fetch me for a last ride. "Come quick," they said, "this evening
you will be a grown-up lady, and you can't play with us any more!" I
agreed, and we rushed out to the snowy carpet which covered the great
yard of our house. In the midst of our mad race my mother appeared
at the window; she had been looking for me everywhere and was much
disturbed. "My dear child! what are you thinking of? It is late, you
have hardly time to dress and to do your hair!" "One more turn, mother!
It is the last time, think of it!" Other childish emotions awaited me;
my wedding-dress was the first long dress I had ever worn, and I feared
to stumble as I walked. Then, too, I was frightened at the idea of
entering the church under the eyes of all the guests. My little brother
tried to reassure me by offering to hold my hand, and my mother made me
drink some chocolate to give me courage.
Elie was awaiting us at the entrance; my shyness increased when I heard
people whispering around us, "Why, she is a mere child!" The ceremony
took place in the evening, after which Elie wrapped me carefully in
a long warm cloak and we set off, the sledge gliding like the wind,
towards our new home. In spite of the day's emotions, I rose very
early the next morning in order to work at my zoology exercises and to
give my husband a pleasant surprise. He was now free to superintend my
education, a very difficult and delicate task when having to do with a
mind as unprepared for life as mine was.
The scientific methods which Metchnikoff applied to everything might
have constituted a grave error at this delicate psychological moment;
yet, in many ways, he showed himself a strangely clear-sighted
educator. He made it a principle to give me entire liberty whilst
directing me through the logic of his arguments. It is with deep
gratitude that I realise how he, so superior to me, took care not to
stifle my fragile individuality but to respect it and to encourage
it to develop. Like all Russian young people of the time, I was very
enthusiastic concerning political and social questions that I was not
mature enough to understand, and my father forbade us to frequent
political circles with which he had no sympathy, fearing that we might
be influenced by them. Elie, on the contrary, left me full liberty,
though he himself disapproved of my tendencies. He considered that
political and social questions belonged to the realm of practical
experience, in which young people were lacking, as also in practical
preparation. He never prevented me from making myself acquainted with
the social movement, but submitted it to close analysis and criticism;
it is owing to this very efficacious method that I did not become one
of the numerous political victims of that time.
Elie took a lively and warm interest in everything which concerned
me. Not having had time to pass my final examinations from the Lycée
before my marriage, I was now obliged to go up before a special board
for the whole curriculum. He helped me to prepare this, even the
catechism, with the utmost keenness and gaiety, enlivening the driest
subjects by means of interesting and instructive reading. I was glad to
continue my biological studies under his direction after I had passed
my examinations. Not only did he give a general interest, a leading
thread, to every particular subject, but he also knew how to develop
independent work. For instance, he made me compare representative
examples of divers groups by practical study in order to let me deduce
for myself their characteristics and their generic connections.
And it was not my education only which interested him; he associated me
with every detail of his life and initiated me into his thoughts and
his work; we read together a great deal, he had an excellent delivery
and liked reading aloud.
He thoroughly enjoyed giving me pleasure; we often went to concerts
and theatres, and beautiful music or dramatic scenes moved him even to
tears. Musical themes haunted him, and he would whistle them softly
to himself even at his work. Without caring for luxury, he was glad
to contribute to the simple embellishment of our home because he knew
I appreciated it. When we travelled, always with scientific research
as an object, he never failed to point out every interesting feature
that we happened to pass. He had a peculiar talent for making a journey
instructive as well as attractive; his eagerness, infectious gaiety,
inquisitive mind, and remarkable organising faculty made of him an
incomparable guide and companion.
We worked together for many years; it was both delightful and
profitable to work with him, for he opened out his ideas unreservedly
and made one share his enthusiasm and his interest in investigations;
he could create an atmosphere of intimate union in the search for truth
which allowed the humblest worker to feel himself a collaborator in an
exalted task.
Though I always took a strong interest in scientific questions, Art
was the real passion of my life. But, imbued as I was with the narrow,
utilitarian views which surrounded my youth, I had looked upon Art as
a luxury which should not be indulged in at a time when the poorer
classes could not read and write. When at last I became emancipated
from this fallacy, my husband did his best to encourage my artistic
development though he himself did not appreciate plastic art. Form and
colour in themselves or in harmony did not appeal to him; he took much
more interest in a subject than in the way it was treated; he liked
psychological or realistic work, landscapes, "genre" pictures, but
classical, Renaissance, or Impressionist works bored him. In spite of
the divergence of our tastes in that connection, he never ceased to
encourage me or to take an active interest in my work; often and often
he accompanied me to picture galleries, making sincere and somewhat
pathetic efforts to appreciate the beauty of great masterpieces.
Next to music he enjoyed Nature most, perhaps because it offered him
an inexhaustible source of scientific observation. His wearied nerves
caused him to seek for soothing impressions, and calm, quiet ponds were
what he preferred, with their reeds and aquatic plants, among which he
loved to discover tiny beings, hidden under the leaves and below the
surface of the water.
Teaching and public work took up nearly the whole of his time;
his leisure was devoted to home life and to an intimate circle of
friends with whom he was bound by a common scientific fervour and by
a University life. He kept up those friendships even after life had
scattered them. His active kindness made him a centre of attraction
to his relations and we were always very much surrounded. After his
father died, in 1878, his mother and two of her grandchildren came to
live with us. She was at that time sixty-four years of age and had the
appearance of an old lady; she did not follow the fashion but wore her
white hair simply parted and framing her face; alone her fine dark
eyes had preserved their youthful sparkle and bore witness to her
former beauty. She had a bright and cheerful disposition and a charming
kindliness to every one; her desire for activity was unfortunately
thwarted by the state of her health.
Elie showed his mother a tender solicitude which manifested itself in
the smallest details; for instance, he who detested cards would play
Patience with her; or he would drive her round the markets, which
interested her like the good housekeeper she was. When he came in from
the laboratory he never failed to go to her to ask her for details
of her health; he talked to her playfully and affectionately, making
her laugh, telling her the incidents of the day. She continued to be
interested in everything, especially that which concerned her dear
Elie, the "consolation of her life," as she called him.
In spite of his affection for his mother, he bore her almost sudden
death very stoically, knowing as he did that the grave heart disease
from which she suffered was bound to cause her increasing pain.
My family became his, and the relations between him and my father
became such that the latter, feeling ill and nearing his end, made
him our guardian. Until the last my mother preserved for my husband
a tender friendship which he fully returned. For years he bore the
burden and responsibilities of the family. With my young brothers and
sisters he kept up a tone of merry affection; always indulgent with
them, he was anxious to neglect nothing that could be useful. Though
ever led by the desire to procure happiness around him, it sometimes
happened that he made a mistake in his appreciation and failed to
reach his goal. The human soul is a riddle, life is complicated, and
we ought not always to judge by results but by motives.... As far as I
am personally concerned, his affection, kindness, and solicitude have
always been unbounded. If during early years a few misunderstandings
arose between us, they were due to my youthful obstinacy or to his
nervous sensitiveness. We had our trials, but our friendship and deep
affection emerged from them stronger and purer than ever. At a certain
time, Elie, believing that happiness called me elsewhere, offered me
my liberty, urging that I had a moral right to it. The nobility of his
attitude was the best safeguard.... As years went on, our lives became
more and more united; we lived in deep communion of souls, for we had
reached that stage of mutual comprehension when darkness flees and all
is light.