Anna Grigoryevna Gubskaya (Stoletova) was the sister of Vasily, Nikolai, Alexander and Dmitry Stoletov.
Anna was the youngest daughter in the family. She was born in 1847 and was home-schooled. At the age of 14, Anna began to keep a diary, which is now housed in the collection of the Museum-Reserve. The diary entries show that the girl’s daily life consisted of household activities: tea drinking, embroidery on canvas, sewing, walking to markets, horseback riding, visiting her sister Varvara, who lived with her family nearby, playing Russian Preference with her brother Mitya. For Anna, calling on relatives and hosting guests, as well as rare visits to the theater were significant events. The Stoletovs hired a teacher for Anna who came to their house. Her elder brother Alexander had a great influence on the formation of the girl’s worldview and literary taste.
It is presumed that she married Lieutenant Colonel Porfiry Ivanovich Gubsky in 1872. From 1863, Gubsky served as commander of the rifle companies of the 12th Velikiye Luki Infantry Regiment stationed in Vladimir. At that time, he was already a mature man and wished to have a family by marrying Anna Stoletova. In 1873, their daughter Alexandra was born, and three years later, their son Nikolai. After her husband’s death in 1888, Anna Grigoryevna Gubskaya focused on the upbringing and education of her children. She lived in the house of her older brother Vasily Grigoryevich Stoletov.
In her youth, Alexandra was associated with the
Bolsheviks, and in the 1920s and 1930s she contributed to the development of
the first Russian language curricula, textbooks and teaching aids. Nikolai
specialized in the history and political life of France, translated articles
and books from French a lot, worked as an editor of Small and Great Soviet
Encyclopedias, and wrote articles on history of the world for the Diplomatic
Dictionary. At the end of his life, Nikolai Porfirievich collected and recorded
family traditions and memories of Alexander Grigoryevich Stoletov — a copy of
this publication is kept in the archive of the Museum-Reserve. Anna Grigoryevna
Gubskaya died in 1905.
