Letters to the Editor

Pushkin’s Babushka

To the Editors:

You will undoubtedly receive an avalanche of responses to your “Survival Russian” article on the Babushka Factor [July/August 2006].  How could Arina Rodionovna be mistaken for Pushkin’s babushka?  It is true that Pushkin’s babushka, Maria Alexeyevna, had an important influence on the future poet, but it was far less than that of his nanny, Arina Rodionovna.  The influence is, of course, more appropriate for Lermontov’s babushka.