LEARMONTH-LERMONTOV. A HYISTORY OF THE NAME AND FAMILIES

The mentioned article probably raised for the first time the
question of the kin relations between Scottish Learmonths and
Russian Lermontovs before the Scottish historians and public.
Unfortunately since that time there have been no systematic studies
regarding this in Scotland. There was probably just a belief.
However a series of publications appeared in Scotland in 1925;
then again in 1941 and 1944 about the Scottish-Russian poet
Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov. These publications were based on
the Russian archive’s documentary work and Dr. Crocket’s request
to the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg,
1913 (Illus. 37).
The most impressive memories of the 100th anniversary of
Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov’s death were published in Scotland
dated July 1941 when the Second World War stormed through
Europe and Russia. There were performances, of private concerts
in Scotland devoted to the 100th Anniversary of Lermontov’s
birthday. The Scottish newspapers proudly published that the
descendant of Vladimir Nikolaevicn Lermontov (1796-1876) (see
part “Lermontov families”) made an extremely valuable donation
in 1941 of 20 000 rubles to the Russian National Defense Fund.
We believe that the modern Scottish public is familiar with
the poems and novels of the Great Russian Poet Mikhail Yurievich
Lermontov. His poems are very difficult to interpret in English as
are many other foreign poems. However many readers have
enjoyed his novel “The Hero of our Time”. There are also world
famous operas “Demon” by the Composer Anton Rubinstein and
“Masquerade” by the Composer Aram Khachaturian that were
originally written by Mikhail Lermontov as poems and script,
which are both often performed in London..
Lermontov Families (Illus. 35, 36).
To understand what the 1917 revolution in Russia meant
for the majority of the noble Lermontov families it would be better
to firstly deal with the family history before the revolution.
All the branches of the Russian Lermontov family used to be
conditionally known by the name of the estates that their ancestor
George Leirmont originally received from the Tsar as payment for
his services to the Russian people. They were Kolotilovo’s,
Ostrozhnikovo’s, Ismailovo’s; and Kuznetsovo’s, Lermontov
branches (Illus. 27 and 36). The Kuznetsovo’s Lermontov branch
came to an end by 1790. The Ismailovo’s Lermontov branch ended
in 1841with the death of the Russian poet Mikhail Yurievich
Lermontov. The descendants of the huge Kolotilovo’s and
Ostrozhnikovo’s Lermontov branches are alive and well today.
Ostrozhnikovo’s Lermontov’s
Nikolai Petrovich Lermontov (1770-1827) (Illus. 35, 36)
shared the ownership of Ostrozhnikovo Manor (Illus. 27) with his
brother Pavel Petrovich. In 1794 Nikolai was a retired Lieutenant
Commander and an active leader of the local Chukhloma nobility
(Chukhloma is located about 320 ml from Moscow).
He was married twice and had a family of ten sons. His first
wife gave him one son and the second nine sons. His second wife
was from the ancient Perphiliev family who were wealthy and
respected. Soon after this second marriage Nikolai moved to
the Manor Ivanovo located a few miles from Ostrozhnikovo to
mark his increased wealth. He eventually left Ostrozhnikovo to his
brother as Nikolai’s wealth increased from making money as a
vintner which was extremely profitable in Russia at this time. This
business helped him to establish many useful contacts with people
of influence in his region and also in the capital. All Nicolai
Lermontov’s sons were graduates from the Naval Cadet Corps or
from the Second Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg. In those days
education in the Cadet Corps was for the children of the nobility,
distinguished military officers and civil servants, as well as for
military orphans whose fathers had fallen in the course of duty.
The Cadet Corps were a distinctive feature of the national heritage
in the history of the Russian State. This fundamental education and
the personal characters of the Lermontovs enabled them to succeed
in a military career:
Peter Nikolaevich Lermontov, Lieutenant Commander (1791-
1843); Mikhail Nikolaevich Lermontov, Admiral (1792-1866);
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