Dmitry Begichev

Begichev was born into a family of the ancient nobility. He had a successful military and civil service career. He was governor of Voronezh Province from 1830 to 1836, and in 1840 he was appointed as a senator.^[1]

He published his literary works anonymously. His five-volume novel The Kholmsky Family was published in Moscow in 1832. The language of The Kholmsky Family is fluent and often colloquial. The novel contains numerous quotes from Russian and French literature, and even quotes of "worldly wisdom" from Benjamin Franklin. The Kholmsky Family is an important antecedent of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Like War and Peace it reflects the world-view of the Russian gentry.^[1]

• Father - Captain Nikita Begichev
• Mother - Alexandra Kologrivova
• Brother - Stepan Nikitich Begichev (b. 22/07/1785 - d. 03/09/1859), career military
• Sister - Elizaveta Nikitichna Begicheva (Yablochkova) (b. 1771 - d.1843), writer, grandmother of Pavel Yablochkov inventor of Yablochkov candle electric carbon arc lamp