Annenkov Ivan Aleksandrovich (5 (17) March 1802, Moscow — 27 January (8 February) 1878, Nizhny Novgorod) — a Decembrist, lieutenant of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, convicted under the Second Category, who served a sentence of hard labor and Siberian exile; for the last twenty years of his life a Nizhny Novgorod resident: an official under the Decembrist governor A. N. Muravyov, five consecutive three-year terms as district marshal of the nobility, chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod district zemstvo board, and chairman of the congress of justices of the peace [1][2]. Together with his wife, the Frenchwoman Pauline Gebl, who followed him to Siberia, he became the hero of Alexandre Dumas's novel The Fencing Master, and their meeting with the writer took place here, in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin [8].
A Cavalry Guardsman and Conspirator
Ivan Annenkov was born in Moscow on 5 (17) March 1802, into a family firmly established in Russian society of the late eighteenth century. His father — retired captain of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment Aleksandr Nikanorovich Annenkov — served as a councillor of the Nizhny Novgorod civil chamber with the rank of state councillor and died in 1803, when his son was a year old; his mother, Anna Ivanovna, née Jacobi, was the daughter of the Irkutsk governor-general Ivan Varfolomeevich Jacobi [1]. Ivan received his early education at home: his tutors, the Swiss Dubois and the Frenchman Bergé, discovered in the boy an aptitude for both the exact sciences and the humanities, and cultivated in him a habit of serious and sustained reading. From 1817 to 1819 he attended lectures at Moscow University, took an interest in philosophy, statistics, and mathematics, but, like many of his contemporaries in the aftermath of the victories of the Patriotic War, dreamed of a military career [1][2].
On 10 August 1819, without completing his university course, Annenkov passed the obligatory examination at the Main Staff and enlisted in the Cavalry Regiment — one of the most privileged in the Guards; on 21 December of the same year he became a standard-bearer ensign, and on 13 March 1823 a lieutenant [1][2]. Service in the cavalry guards was a privilege not only because of the proximity to court: the uniform had to be purchased at one's own expense, and the lifestyle of a fixture in the capital's social scene demanded considerable money. His mother supported him financially but was often displeased with his conduct — particularly his duels — and threatened to cut his allowance; one duel, with V. Ya. Lanskoy, ended in his opponent's death [2].
In the regiment, Annenkov became close with officers whose interests extended beyond balls and card games: A. M. Muravyov, F. F. Vadkovsky, A. S. Gorozhansky, and later D. A. Artsybashev, P. N. Svistunov, and A. N. Vyazemsky; the acquaintance began in 1821, when the regiment was sent on maneuvers to Belorussia. In the spring of 1824, Pavel Pestel established a branch of the Southern Society in St. Petersburg, its core composed of cavalry guardsmen — Vadkovsky, Annenkov, Svistunov, and Depréradovich — whom he found "in a fully revolutionary and republican spirit" [14]. In 1824, members of the circle also joined the Northern Society, but the constitutional project of Nikita Muravyov struck them as too moderate — they were closer in spirit to the republican views of Kondratiy Ryleyev [1]. The cavalry guardsmen of this circle are also credited with efforts to secure the freedom of Aleksandr Nikitenko, a serf of Count D. N. Sheremetev and future professor at St. Petersburg University.
During the interregnum, at a meeting with Prince Ye. P. Obolensky on December 12, 1825, Annenkov spoke out against the uprising: he was willing to delay taking the oath to Nikolai Pavlovich, but he, a lieutenant, had no power to mutiny the Cavalry Guards regiment, and he refused to incite the soldiers to revolt [2]. On December 14, he and his comrades nonetheless swore allegiance to the new emperor and marched out with their regiment to Senate Square — against the rebels: during the uprising, Annenkov commanded a platoon of Cavalry Guards protecting the government artillery [1][2]. On December 19, the arrested Cavalry Guardsmen were interrogated in the presence of Nicholas I; their involvement in the secret society was deemed incidental, and Annenkov was ordered to spend six months in fortresses — he was sent to Vyborg Castle.
But early in 1826 he was brought to St. Petersburg and confined in the Peter and Paul Fortress, in cell No. 19 of the Nevskaya Curtain: following testimony from Ensign Tolstoy of the Moscow Regiment, the investigation learned of his involvement in the society's affairs, and during interrogations Annenkov incriminated himself by confessing that he had known of plans for regicide and had not reported them. Realizing there was no hope, he attempted suicide [1][2][4].
On July 12, 1826, the Supreme Criminal Court assigned Annenkov to the Second Category and sentenced him to 20 years of hard labor; on August 22 the term was reduced to 15 years, and on November 8, 1832, to 10. On the night of December 11, 1826, he was sent to Siberia in shackles, and on January 28, 1827, was delivered to the Chita Ostrog [1][2].
Pauline Gébl
In the summer of 1825, six months before the uprising, Annenkov met Jeannette-Pauline Gébl — the daughter of a Napoleonic officer who had come to Moscow as a milliner for the trading house of Dumansy. They met again at the fair in Penza: he was purchasing horses for the regiment, and she had come with Dumansy's shop. Learning that a gang of gamblers had plotted to fleece him — not long before he had already lost 60,000 rubles in a single evening — Pauline kept him at her side until late at night and foiled the conspiracy [4]. The Annenkovs had estates in Simbirsk, Penza, and Nizhny Novgorod Governorates, and the young couple made a brief journey under the guise of touring their properties, returning to Moscow in the autumn of 1825 [2].
December 14 upended their plans. On April 11, 1826, a daughter, Alexandra, was born, but Anna Ivanovna Annenkova refused to consent to her son's marriage to a milliner, while Pauline did not wish to wed without the mother's blessing, not wanting to be the cause of a quarrel. She obtained a meeting with Ivan in the Peter and Paul Fortress and promised to follow him to Siberia [2][4].
On 12 May 1827, Pauline set out from Moscow to Vyazma, where grand military maneuvers were under way: in St. Petersburg, approaching the sovereign was unthinkable. A French acquaintance named Lefèvre wrote her petition in the highest name; the aide-de-camp Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky advised her to add the note "to His Majesty's own hands" and to write to Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich as well. On 16 May, at the palace entrance, she presented her petition to Nicholas I [2][4].
Permission came on 16 November 1827. Leaving her daughter with her grandmother, almost without means, knowing no Russian, and accompanied by two servants, Pauline departed on 23 December; on 5 March 1828 she reached Chita, and on 4 April the wedding took place in the wooden Church of the Archangel Michael: the bridegroom was brought to the church in shackles, which were removed only on the church steps [2][7].
Your Majesty, allow a mother to fall at the feet of Your Majesty and to ask, as a favor, permission to share the exile of her civil husband. Religion, Your will, Sire, and the law will teach us how to correct our error. I sacrifice myself entirely for a man without whom I can no longer live… Deign, Sire, to open your noble soul to compassion, and graciously permit me to share his banishment. I renounce my homeland and am ready to submit wholly to your laws. At the foot of your throne I beseech you on my knees for this mercy
I ask permission to follow the state criminal into exile and to be married to him, so as to unite my fate with his forever and never to be parted from him
I renounce my homeland and will faithfully fulfill all that the law prescribes for me
Sire, I do not speak Russian; I wish to obtain gracious permission to follow the state criminal Annenkov into exile
I know, Sire, but I am prepared for anything — and I am a mother
Hard Labor and Siberian Service
In early August 1830, Annenkov left Chita with the first party of Decembrists bound for Petrovskiy Zavod: the 634-verst journey took a month and a half, with the last day's halt falling on September 22, and in September 1830 he was confined to the prison built for the Decembrists [2][16]. On December 14, 1835, he completed his term of hard labor and was assigned to settle in the selo of Belskoye in Irkutsk Governorate; on August 20, 1836, the family departed Petrovskiy Zavod, but the journey to their destination was delayed by the serious illness of Praskovya Yegorovna, who prematurely gave birth to twins in Irkutsk. On October 5, 1837, the Annenkovs were permitted to relocate to Turinsk in Tobolsk Governorate, where they moved on June 28, 1838, and on June 9, 1841, they were transferred to Tobolsk [1][2].
Through his mother's petitions, on September 26, 1839, Annenkov received imperial permission to enter civil service in Siberia. From then on he climbed steadily up the bureaucratic ladder [1][2]:
- November 25, 1839 — clerical clerk of the 4th grade at the Turinsk district court;
- June 9, 1841 — transferred to the staff of the chancellery of the Tobolsk general provincial administration;
- April 11, 1842 — promoted to the 3rd grade;
- September 10, 1843 — inspector of settlements at the Tobolsk exile bureau;
- April 24, 1848 — promoted to collegiate registrar;
- March 14, 1849 — assessor of the Tobolsk exile office;
- April 18, 1851 — assessor of the board of public welfare;
- December 25, 1854 — promoted to collegiate secretary for distinguished service.
Why Nizhny Novgorod
Under the manifesto of 26 August 1856, Annenkov was permitted to return from Siberia with his family and settle anywhere within the empire except St. Petersburg and Moscow; his rights were restored, and on 1 January 1857 he was granted the rank of titular councillor [1][2]. The choice fell on Nizhny Novgorod: the Decembrist Aleksandr Nikolayevich Muravyov, founder of the very first Decembrist organization, was serving as governor there, and the bulk of the family estate lay nearby — most of it was returned to Annenkov in 1859 [1][9].
Friends interceded on his behalf. Pyotr Svistunov, who was himself preparing to move from Nizhny to Kaluga, searched out lodgings for the Annenkovs in advance and bequeathed them all his household effects; together with I. I. Pushchin and E. I. Yakushkin he also worked to secure a position for Ivan Aleksandrovich. Annenkov himself hesitated for a long time: in early 1857 he fell seriously ill, then could not bring himself to set out on the long journey, and Praskovya Yegorovna was languishing in Tobolsk [3].
On 21 June 1857 Annenkov was appointed "to service in Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, assigned to attend upon the head of the governorate in a supernumerary capacity," and at the end of the following month the family departed Siberia [2][3][6].
Travel will restore you more surely than all medicines combined. Set out as soon as possible
The house on Bolshaya Pecherskaya
The Annenkovs rented a house on Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street — from Ivan Osipovich Leman, a civil servant of the 14th class [3][7]. The two-story wooden house at No. 16 was built in the first half of the 19th century, presumably by collegiate assessor Yegor Yegorovich Evenius: originally wooden on a stone foundation, unplastered, with five windows on the street façade; in the 1850s it passed to Leman. According to the heritage site's registration record, the Decembrist's family lived here from 1861 to 1870. The house was placed under state protection by a resolution of the Gorky Regional Executive Committee dated December 18, 1989, No. 471, and the protection explicitly covers its "memorial significance — connection with the life of the Decembrist's family" [9]. A commemorative plaque has been installed on the house [10].
Everything they had endured had changed their tastes and curtailed their needs, and the furnishings were extremely modest: in the drawing room a sofa, three armchairs on either side, chairs along the walls, and by the window itself a chaise longue — the mistress's favorite spot. The household was governed by a routine established once and for all. The family rose and had breakfast at nine, after which Ivan Aleksandrovich would retire to his study or to the "Noblemen's Chancellery," which was housed in the same building, or drive to the zemstvo office. Dinner was at five and lasted about two hours — he ate slowly and a great deal, always took a second helping, and the next course was not served until he had finished; between breakfast and dinner no eating was permitted, and the grandchildren were given their morning meal in secret, hastily, at a small table while their grandmother kept watch at the door [3].
After dinner the master would lie down to sleep for two hours, and the house fell into a deathly silence. In the evenings the old couple sat in the drawing room — he on the sofa, she on the chaise longue with her sewing — and remained there until two or three in the morning. Annenkov invariably sat in the same posture, crossing his legs so that he could see the sole of his shoe: according to his wife, this was a prison habit, the way he had sat in the fortress for hours on end. In his hand he held a snuffbox, and the hand with a pinch of snuff would hang in the air for a long time [3].
Praskovya Yegorovna was the complete opposite of her husband: she was never idle, kept the household in exemplary order, and never did learn to speak Russian well — she once told the servants to bring "the filthy stool," meaning a kitchen tabouret. The Annenkovs did not entertain and lived quietly, but given the master's position visitors came all day long, and it was usually she who received them [3].
Without Ivan Aleksandrovich's permission no one in the house, not even his wife, could order the horses to be harnessed, and they generally went everywhere on foot. But when the Yarmarka opened, all the city's shops except the food stalls moved there, and walking was out of the question: on such occasions people would go to Praskovya Yegorovna for permission. The horses, which had been standing idle and had grown fat, were led out of the stable, and by the time they returned they were lathered in sweat, while the master stood on the porch and fumed: "They've driven the horses into the ground again!" [3]
Come, eat, eat quickly — Praskovya Yegorovna would urge — or grandfather will see!..
Polina, give me my handkerchief
The Peasant Reform
Annenkov first encountered the question of peasant emancipation in 1858, when he was appointed government representative on the Nizhny Novgorod Committee for the Improvement of Serfs' Conditions; he made several trips to St. Petersburg as a deputy on peasant affairs. He subsequently served as a member of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Presence, in which capacity he was closely involved in drafting the Reform of 1861, and afterwards became chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Congress of Peace Mediators, earning wide renown in that role among the progressive circles of Nizhny Novgorod society [2][3].
His own estates, which had come to him neglected, mortgaged, and remortgaged to the guardianship council, obliged him to travel constantly, and every journey was a torment: he would spend two weeks preparing to set out. From the Penza selo of Skachki, which he held jointly with relatives, he wrote to his wife in Nizhny, and that letter reveals the man who had returned from Siberia [5].
He took particular pride in having carried out the principal task that the Decembrists had once set for themselves [9].
- Awards: silver medal "For Services in the Emancipation of the Peasants," April 1861 [1].
I found here the ways of American planters. Flogging goes on daily. The managers walk about day and night with whips in their hands
And tell the Governor that my old hatred of slavery has reawakened since I arrived in Penza Governorate, on these American plantations. What a difference from Nizhny Novgorod Governorate! It is day and night!
Marshal of the Nobility and the Zemstvo
Nizhny Novgorod Nobility elected Annenkov as their district marshal five consecutive three-year terms, and from 1864 he also oversaw the introduction of zemstvo institutions in the governorate. In October 1865 he was elected chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod district zemstvo board, and during his three years in that post he opened the first zemstvo schools and feldsher (paramedic) stations in the governorate [2][7].
Some reference publications give 1861 as the year of his first election as marshal; according to the chronology compiled by the editors of P. E. Annenkova's memoirs, it took place on 11 January 1863. Publications also differ on the name of the board: the editors and the building's registration record call it the district board, while biographical references call it the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo board [1][2][9].
| Date | Position or Event |
|---|---|
| June 21, 1857 | assigned to serve on the staff of the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Governorate in a supernumerary capacity [2] |
| 1858 | member of the Committee for the Improvement of the Conditions of Serf Peasants [2] |
| January 11, 1863 | elected District Marshal of the Nobility of Nizhny Novgorod [2] |
| July 1863 | released from the prohibition on residing in the capital cities [2] |
| January 18, 1864 | re-elected District Marshal of the Nobility [2] |
| September 1, 1864 – July 26, 1865 | chairman of the provisional commission for the implementation of the statute on zemstvo institutions [2] |
| October 1865 – September 21, 1868 | chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod District Zemstvo Board [2] |
| January 9, 1867 | elected Marshal of the Nobility for a third three-year term [2] |
| November 11, 1868 | elected honorary justice of the peace by the District Zemstvo Assembly [2] |
| December 17, 1869 | elected Marshal of the Nobility for a fourth three-year term [2] |
| June 13, 1872 – March 12, 1873 | deputy Provincial Marshal of the Nobility of Nizhny Novgorod [2] |
| December 16, 1872 | elected Marshal of the Nobility for a fifth three-year term [2] |
Shevchenko, Dumas, and Other Encounters
On 16 October 1857, during the Annenkovs' very first autumn in Nizhny Novgorod, Ivan Aleksandrovich met Taras Shevchenko, who had himself just returned from exile and was wintering in the city. They met at the home of N. K. Yakobi — Annenkov was related to him on his mother's side. The conversation that evening turned on Nikolai Turgenev, who had returned from exile, on his book, "on much and on many," and the guests parted after midnight. Three weeks later, on 8 November, at a regimental celebration at Veymarno's, the poet met Annenkov again and "did not part from him for the entire evening" [6].
On 3 October 1858, Alexandre Dumas arrived in the city — he had long been banned from entering Russia precisely because of "The Fencing Master." He stayed at the apartment of Grass, the steamship company manager, in what is now the Architects' House, from which there was a view of the Strelka and the fairground. Governor Muravyov held a reception in honor of the guest at the palace in the Kremlin (now the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum), having hinted at a surprise; no sooner had the writer taken his seat than the doors announced: "Count and Countess Annenkov" [8].
According to some accounts, Dumas later visited the Annenkovs on Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street, where a sequel to the novel was discussed, and Praskovya Yegorovna gave the writer her diaries, though nothing came of it. As a token of gratitude for the reception, Dumas presented Muravyov with a small top boot carved from boxwood [8]. Annenkova herself disliked the novel: in her words, it contained "more fiction than truth" [6], and after reading the book she intended to publish a response to it in Paris.
Both the Annenkovs' extraordinary fate and their consistently warm, even-tempered manner toward people aroused curiosity in Nizhny Novgorod society and a desire to know them better. In 1859, passing through Nizhny, Dostoyevsky attempted to call on Annenkov — he had known Praskovya Yegorovna since Tobolsk, where the Decembrist wives had visited him in the prison — but the family was in the country [7]. The memoirs that Praskovya Yegorovna dictated to her daughter Olga in 1861 were translated from the French by Olga Ivanovna, and they appeared in 1888 in M. I. Semevsky's journal Russkaya Starina [1][2].
In 1860 Annenkov spent four months abroad, and in 1861 Praskovya Yegorovna also traveled to France; according to some accounts the trip was joint and in Paris she was reunited with her brother, whom she had not seen since 1823, while according to the chronology given by the editors of her memoirs the spouses traveled separately, in different years [2][3].
Gray-haired, majestic, and meek, this exile in his conversation betrays not the slightest shadow of bitterness toward his cruel judges, and even good-naturedly jests about the favorites of the crowned drill sergeant
I bow before you, one of the first-called among our apostles!
Monsieur le Comte and Madame la Comtesse Annenkov, the hero and heroine of your novel "The Fencing Master"
These were the very Ivan and the very Pauline whose adventures Grisier had told me about, and whose adventures I had made into a novel. Needless to say, my hero and my heroine captivated me — or rather, I captivated them — for the entire evening
Family
In all, Praskovya Yegorovna gave birth to eighteen children. Of the eighteen born in Siberia, six were still alive by the time of the family's return to Russia in 1857 [7]; together with the eldest, Alexandra, who had been born in Moscow before the sentencing, seven children lived to adulthood.
The fate of the sons caused their parents no small amount of trouble. The eldest, Vladimir, finished gymnasium in 1849 but was not admitted to university — as the son of a state criminal — and began his career as a clerical copyist, yet eventually rose to become chairman of a circuit court. The second son, Ivan, preferred military service and was assigned as a non-commissioned officer without examination by imperial decree. In 1862, the father, after great effort, secured a position for Nikolai (and later for Ivan as well) as a justice of the peace in Penza [3].
| Name | Years | Fate |
|---|---|---|
| Aleksandra | 1826–1880s | born in April 1826, before the sentencing; by a decree of November 30, 1828, she was permitted to bear the surname Annenkova without inheritance rights; married name Teplova, wife of Major General A. G. Teplov [2] |
| Anna | 1829–1833 | born March 16, 1829, in Chita, named after her grandmother, lived four years [2] |
| Olga | 1830–1891 | born May 19, 1830; married K. I. Ivanov from 1852; transcribed and translated her mother's memoirs from French [2] |
| Vladimir | 1831–1897 | born October 18, 1831; married Princess M. S. Gagarina; presiding judge of the district court; died in October 1897 [2][3][18] |
| Ivan | 1835–1886 | born December 8, 1835; married Princess E. S. Gagarina; served in the military, then served as a peace mediator [2][3] |
| Nikolay | 1837–early 1870s | birth year given as 1837 in the chronology, 1838 in earlier lists; died unmarried, buried beside his parents [2][12] |
| Natalya | 1842–1894 | born July 28, 1842; never married [2] |
Death and Burial
Praskovya Yegorovna's death came suddenly: on the morning of September 14, 1876, she was found in her bed, already cold (other accounts hold that a long and painful illness had preceded it). That same morning, to all intents and purposes, Ivan Aleksandrovich's life ended as well — he could not live without her, his mental illness progressed rapidly, and a little over a year later, on January 27, 1878, he was gone [3].
The couple was buried at the cemetery of the Krestovozdvizhensky Convent — the city necropolis on the site of what is now Lyadov Square, where many of Nizhny Novgorod's distinguished citizens lay: the wife and daughter of Prince Gruzinskiy, the provincial marshal of the nobility Aleksey Turchaninov and his family, the photographer Andrey Karelin, and the writer Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky [13].
In 1953, when the abandoned necropolis was finally cleared, the Annenkovs' tombstone was moved to Bugrovskoe Cemetery, which Nizhny Novgorod residents call Krasnoye. Accounts differ as to exactly what was transferred: some sources speak of the couple's remains, others of the grave cross from the burial of Ivan Aleksandrovich, his wife, and their son Nikolay, while still others explicitly describe the relocated monument as a cenotaph [1][10][11]. Today the Annenkovs' graves stand near the main entrance, next to the tombstone of Melnikov-Pechersky; the base of the cross bears Praskovya Yegorovna's name, and their son Nikolay is also buried here [12].
After the death of I. A. Annenkov, — wrote the Decembrist Rozen in an obituary, — eight of the so-called Decembrists remained alive
Legacy
The story of the Annenkovs is known far beyond the city: it provided the plot for Alexandre Dumas's novel The Fencing Master (1840), which was banned in Russia under Nicholas I, and became one of the central storylines of Vladimir Motyl's film The Star of Captivating Happiness [8][11].
In 2006, when Bolshaya Pokrovskaya was paved with cobblestones and lined with bronze "Nizhny Novgorod types," one of the figures that appeared was the "Noble Couple" — the only one with real-life prototypes: Ivan Annenkov and Praskovya Yegorovna. It stood at the intersection with Oktyabrskaya Street. In August 2015, unknown individuals sawed off the hands of the couple in love; restoration proved laborious and costly — the sculpture itself had been valued at 992,000 rubles in 2005 — and for several years it stood on Pokrovka without hands before being dismantled [11][15].
In 2021, the administration of Nizhegorodsky District reported that the "Noble Couple" had been placed in conservation storage and that the question of restoration was being worked through: the difficulty lies in the fact that the sculpture had been made to a custom design in Chelyabinsk Region. It has not been returned to its place since [11].
The city still has the house on Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street with a memorial plaque [10], a grave at the Krasnoye Cemetery, and Praskovya Yegorovna's book, first published in Russkaya Starina in 1888 [1].
Sources
- prlib.ru — Presidential Library named after B. N. Yeltsin — "This Day in History" section — Birth of Lieutenant of the Cavalry Guards Regiment, Decembrist Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov
- ru.wikisource.org — Wikisource — chronology compiled by the publishers of P. E. Annenkova's memoirs — Chronological outline of the Annenkovs' lives
- ru.wikisource.org — Wikisource — essay by S. Ya. Gessen and A. V. Predtechensky based on the family archive and letters of the Decembrists — The Annenkovs in Nizhny Novgorod
- ru.wikisource.org — Wikisource — memoirs of Praskovya Yegorovna Annenkova (Pauline Gebl)
- ru.wikisource.org — Wikisource — letters of Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov
- ru.wikisource.org — Wikisource — diary of T. G. Shevchenko with editorial commentary
- ngounb.ru — Literary Map of Nizhny Novgorod Region, V. I. Lenin Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Universal Scientific Library — Annenkova Praskovya Yegorovna
- Nizhegorodskaya Pravda — on Alexandre Dumas's journey along the Volga in 1858 — Dumas's Adventures: Nizhny Novgorod Gave the French Writer a Meeting with His Russian Heroes
- web.archive.org — Old Nizhny. People. Streets. Courtyards — cultural heritage object passport (copy in web archive) — Bolshaya Pecherskaya, 16 — the house where Decembrist I. A. Annenkov and his wife lived (archive)
- names52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Biographical Encyclopedia — Annenkova (Gebl) Praskovya Yegorovna
- NN.RU — on the fate of the sculpture "The Noble Couple" — Where Did the "Lovers" from Pokrovka Disappear? The Fate of the Sculpture Uncovered
- V Gorode N — a report from Nizhny Novgorod cemeteries — Famous Graves and the Jewish Quarter: What to See at the Cemeteries of Nizhny Novgorod
- V Gorode N — on destroyed urban necropolises — Life on Bones: What Now Stands on the Sites of Old Cemeteries in Nizhny Novgorod
- litresp.ru — G. G. Frumenkov, V. A. Volynskaya. "The Decembrists in the North" — chapter on the cavalry guards — Alexander Semyonovich Gorozhansky
- V Gorode N — a guide to Bolshaya Pokrovskaya — Nizhny Novgorod Classic: Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street
- museums75.ru — Museum of the Decembrists of the Trans-Baikal Regional Museum of Local History — virtual exhibition on the journey from Chita to Petrovsky Zavod — Along the Decembrists' Road: Chita
- litresp.ru — "Memoirs of Pauline Annenkova," section "Letters of P. E. Annenkova" — petitions and letters with dates and resolutions
- decabristy-online.ru — Memoirs of M. V. Bryzgalova, née Annenkova, granddaughter of the Decembrist ("Secret Societies in Russia in the Early 19th Century," Moscow, 1926) — Encounters with the Decembrists