Rare materials of the Presidential Library on the International Family Day

International Family Day is traditionally celebrated on May 15, 2017. There are plenty of unique sources in open access on the Presidential Library website and in the electronic reading room, revealing family relations throughout different periods of Russian history.

The digital copy of the diary of Nicholas II, which he led from 1890 to 1906, is available on the Presidential Library website. Browsing this document, apart from working schedule of the Emperor, his decisions on state affairs and the policy of the Russian Empire, you can get an impression of his relationship with his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. He wrote: “I can not express how I enjoy such nice, quiet evenings face to face with my dearly beloved wife. Involuntarily, the heart turns to God with grateful prayer for the gift of such total unlimited happiness on the earth.”

A note he made on the birthday of Olga, the older daughter of the imperial couple, is worth mentioning. “Sent by God daughter we called with a prayer Olga. When all the worries was over, a blissful state began in the recognition of what had happened,” - Nicholas II wrote on November 3, 1895. It is also worth noting that, despite the busy schedule, the Emperor did his best to devote time to the family.

In addition, it is clear in the following lines that the sovereign cared a lot about the significant for the spouses dates: “The anniversary of our engagement! It seems I will never in my life forget this day, how was I happy then in all respects.”

A relationship of the famous Russian diplomat, writer, composer Alexander Griboyedov with his wife are also of great interest. There is a digital copy of writer's letter addressed to his young wife on the library website. The message was sent from Griboedov's last official trip to Persia, which became for him last and fatal. “My priceless friend, I feel sorry for you, it is so sad without you. Now I really know, what does it mean, to love. I used to leave others to whom I was also strongly attached, but after a day or two, after a week my melancholy was going away, while now it is getting worse, as I am far cry from you. We have to cope with it a little more, my angel, and we will pray to God that when it’s over, we would never separate again.”

The library also has materials that reveal the manner of behavior of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin with his wife and children. A mortally wounded poet was brought to his apartment on the 12 Moyka River Embankment. A letter of an eyewitness of the last days of Pushkin's life was published for the first time in 1875 in the September issue of the magazine “Russkaya Starina” (Russian antiqueness). It remained unknown at that time, who exactly wrote it and to whom it was addressed. “His first word to his wife, when they brought him wounded into the room and put him on the couch, was this: “How I am happy! I'm still alive, and you're near me! Don’t worry: you are innocent, I know that you are innocent.” In the meantime, he didn’t tell her that his wound is deadly, by his demand the doctor didn’t shy that away from him,” – said in the letter. The eyewitness continues: “Saying goodbye to the children, he made the sign of the cross over them. He bided farewell with his wife several times and always spoke to her with tenderness and love…”

Special feelings of Julian Semenov to his wife can be seen in his postcards. There is an entire collection dedicated to the life and work of the writer in the Presidential Library. One of its sections includes electronic copies of his postcards to Ekaterina Mikhalkova.

In addition to electronic copies of official documents and materials of the war years the collection of the Presidential Library entitled Memory of the Great Victory included letters from front-line soldiers to their relatives and close ones. In one of them intelligence operative Nikolai Mitrokhin gives his daughter a parental advice, which she is needed. In this difficult for the whole country time correspondence was the only way to keep in touch with the family, take part in their lives, all together celebrate even if little, but still the victories.

The part of parents in the development of the personality of children is priceless. This postulate successfully passed through the centuries and struck root in our minds. As far back as in 1900, in the book entitled A marriage and a family was stated: “children should show their parents true respect, obedience, humbleness and love.”