“I see Kama, snows, moonlight...”: Alexandra Likhacheva’s notes as an experience of personal reflection and poeticized observation of provincial life

The article studies the gymnasium diary and notes of Alexandra Likhacheva (Zotina), preserved within the collection of personal and family sources of the Perm Region Museum. Alexandra attended the Protogymnasium and later the Mariinsky Gymnasium in Perm, maintaining diary entries from 1903 to 1907 during her time as a gymnasium student. Additionally, the collection contains letters and scattered sheets of notes from later years, predominantly composed in verse. The diary and letters of Alexandra Likhacheva make it possible to reconstruct the chronicle of the private life of the young gymnasium student, showcasting her experiences such as attending all-night services, dances, games, and the exchange of photographic cards. These documents open the pages of everyday life and leisure activities of the well-to-do strata of Perm’s population in the early 20th century, who went to the theater, allowed themselves to attend balls at the Noble Assembly and private lounges, embarked on trips to the Caucasus and abroad, and enjoyed dacha holidays in Kurya. The diary of Alexandra Likhacheva shows the way of keeping diary entries, and the language used. The entries in the gymnasium diary are fragmentary, but behind the statement of a boring or cheerful pastime, there are hidden experiences, conversations about feelings, and the desire to understand oneself. The author highlightes how the culture of reading and private correspondence shaped the manner of looking into oneself, verbal expression, putting experiences and feelings on paper, and comparing oneself with artistic images. After the revolution, Alexandra continued to reside in Perm, in a house on the embankment of the Kama River. She retained the habit of talking to herself and making separate poetic notes. Despite the fact that we do not know the future fate of Alexandra Likhacheva (Zotina), who she was by profession, however, the deciphering and analysis of her records reveal the personality of a provincial girl of the Soviet years who took refuge in her inner world, but retained a critical and creative eye, piercing observation of the surrounding.