The Two Helenas: an unknown duo portrait

The duo portrait of Helena Andreyevna Hahn and her eldest daughter Helena Petrovna Blavatsky is an invaluable treasure at the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family that is currently being established in Dnepropetrovsk.

The portrait was presumably painted in 1844-45, and since then it stayed with the Hahn`s family in their family estate near Shandrovka village in Pridneprovie [Pridnestrovie] region. In the 1910s the portrait was transferred by their owners to Crimea, and in the late fifties – to Kirghizia. In 1991, the portrait returned to H.P. Blavatsky`s native land. 

The H.P. Blavatsky Fund was initiated to establish the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and her Family. The Museum Center is part of the Dnepropetrovsk National History Museum in the Ukraine. In 1991, about a year after the Fund’s start, the Council of the H.P. Blavatsky Fund organized an event in Dnepropetrovsk to celebrate the 160th birthday of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. It was the first time in Ukraine that an event was organized in memory of H.P. Blavatsky. The conference, entitled “H.P. Blavatsky and the Present,” counted with a number of delegations from Ukraine and Russia and drew a confluence of researchers from all over the world including delegations from the international Theosophical Society Adyar and the International Association “World Through Culture”. During the conference a commemorative plaque was installed on the wall of the house where H.P. Blavatsky was born on the Fadeyev's estate. Thematic exhibitions were opened in the halls of the History Museum and the Art Museum, readings were organized at high schools and universities. All these events celebrating H.B. Blavatsky’s birthday in Dnepropetrovsk were widely covered by the press, and counted with the support of local authorities who publicly expressed their intention to support the establishment in the homeland of their fellow-countrywoman  with «great spirit and fiery heart» (Helena Roerich) [Письма Елены Рерих, т.1, от 08.09.1934, Минск, Прамеб, 1992. – с.270] a museum and a scientific center named after Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

Soon after the celebrations the Council received many supporting letters. One letter was of special interest to us, because the name of the sender was Nikita Konstantinovich Hahn. The correspondent author informed us that he, like H.P. Blavatsky, is a descendant of baron August Hahn who arrived in Russia in the middle of the 18th century. Nikita K. Hahn also included in the letter his family tree showing that both he and H. P. Blavatsky are distant relatives. Additionally, Nikita K. Hahn wrote: 

Being engaged in the restoration of the family tree for the Russian branch of Hahns, and having accomplished only its initial part (by the way, I have been systematically working on it since 1986), I succeeded, nevertheless, in restoring much of it, in particular, to find living descendants of a younger branch of August Hahn... to which H.P. Blavatsky belongs. The descendants of this branch... currently live in Bishkek…   

After that, I went to meet Nikita K. Hahn in Tashkent. There he informed me about the dramatic history and destiny of H.P. Blavatsky's ancestors and descendants. The documents collected by Nikita K. Hahn testify that Gustav Hahn von Rottenshtern-Hahn (HPB’s great-grandfather) and Wilhelm Hahn von Rottenshtern-Hahn were members of an ancient German aristocratic family that (according to the family’s legend) were ascending to a female line of the Carolingian dynasty and German knights-crusaders. In 1857, following the invitation of the tsar's government, Gustav Hahn von Rottenshtern-Hahn and Wilhelm Hahn von Rottenshtern-Hahn left Mecklenburg, Germany to Petersburg, Russia. The reason why they left Germany is because they were the youngest sons in the family, and as such they could not claim their family’s fortune. Therefore, they decided to look for a better life in foreign lands. 

Gustav Hahn von Rottenshtern-Hahn (HPB’s great-grandfather) was born in Anhalt-Zerbst, Germany. After his arrival in Russia he began to be called August Ivanovich (1729 or 1730-1799).  During the early years of his life he seemed to have been acquainted with the princess of Anhalt-Zerbst (also a child at the time) who later became the Empress Catherine II (1729-1796). The Empress Catherine II helped August Ivanovich to obtain several high-rank positions such as the St. Petersburg Postal Director, the rank of Full Councilor of State, a Russian noble rank and a coat of arms. The design of the coat of arms was based on the Knight coat of arms of the Hahn family which is a red walking cock on a silver shield . He was also granted lands in Pridneprovie region. Many of his children and grandchildren became persons in high-rank positions within the Russian Empire and served loyally to their new fatherland. One of his sons, Alexis Gustavovich von Hahn (circa 1780-1815), was a Lieutenant General and H.P. Blavatsky’s grand-father. When Blavatsky was born Alexis G. von Hahn had already passed away, and she may have heard stories about him from her father. For instance, H.P. Blavatsky, in one of her letters to A. P. Sinnett, recollected that her father Petr Alekseyevich von Hahn (1798-1875) was one of eight sons of the general Alexis Gustavovich von Hahn. «My father was a captain of an artillery regiment when he married my mother».  

Currently, there is more information available about H.P. Blavatsky`s mother and her family line than there is information about the Hahn family line of her father. Perhaps it is relevant to recollect here that Blavatsky’s mother, Helena Andreyevna Hahn (1814-1842), whose maiden name was Fadeyev, descended from a noble family. The Fadeyev’s maternal family line goes back to the Dolgorucky family, as well as to the ancient French aristocratic family of Bandre du Plessis, and by her father’s side the line reaches back to a the Russian hereditary noble family of Fadeyevs, as well as to the German family of von Probsens from Lifland. 

Helena Andreyevna Hahn was a well-known writer and her pen name was Zeneida R-va. Most of her life was connected to the towns of Pridneprovie and Yekaterinoslav.  Helena A. Hahn spent her childhood and youth at their family estate on Petersburgskaya Street. There at the age of sixteen she was married to Petr Alekseyevich von Hahn, and a year later she gave birth to her first daughter, Helena Petrovna Hahn. The mother, Helena A. Hahn, died young, but before her passing she had written eleven romantic novels. At the time of her death, she left three children to her family: Helena Petrovna, who was eleven, her second daughter, Vera, who was seven, and the two-year-old son Leonid. I.S. Turgenev wrote the following words about Helena Hahn: “This woman had both a warm Russian heart and much life experience of a woman with passionate beliefs, and Nature did not deprive her of those “simple and sweet” sounds which were happily reflected in her inner life”. 

In 1842, H.P. Blavatsky’s father, Petr Alekseyevich von Hahn (1799-1875), had become a widower, which left him with the challenging task of fulfilling his wife's final wish of caring for the children. Realizing that his nomadic military life at military garrisons, camps, and his participation in military campaigns was unsuitable for the children, he sent them to the home of his wife's parents, Andrey Mihaylovich Fadeyev (1789-1867) and Helena Pavlovna Fadeyev (1788-1860). However, after he finished his military service and retired from the army, he returned to take care of his children.  He traveled with his daughter, Helena Petrovna, and looked after her during her own travels for the rest of his life. He also lived for some time with his daughter Vera  and her seven children. Towards the final years of his life, Petr was living with his son, Leonid and his family where he passed away. 

We know very little about Petr Alekseyevich Hahn's brothers. H.P. Blavatsky recollected Ivan Alekseyevich   and Gustav Alekseyevich.  She visited her uncle, Aleksey Petrovich, who, according to the Hahn’s family legends was a member of the Southern Society of the Decembrists and was sent away to permanent exile to the Hahn’s family estate at the Orely River, near the Shandrovka village in the province of Yekaterinoslav.   Petr Alekseyevich Hahn, his wife and children had frequently visited his brother Alexey at their family estate at the Orely River. It seems that after Petr lost his wife, the Shandrovka estate at the Orely River became his main family residence. Petr also kept his archives and family relics there. Most likely, he visited the Shandrovka estate with his daughter Helena around 1844 or 1845. It is believed that at that time, Petr could have left with his brother a duo portrait depicting his late wife, Helena Andreyevna with his daughter Helena Petrovna.  The author of this article has given this portrait the symbolic name of the “Two Helenas”.  

In 1991, the author of this article traveled from Tashkent to the capital of Kirghizia to meet another Petr Hahn. This was Professor Petr Alekseyevich Hahn (1918-1993) and his family which included his wife 

(a scientist in the field of floriculture) and their children, Aleksey Petrovich and Natalia Alekseyevna, who are scientists in forestry. Professor Petr Alekseyevich Hahn lived in a small house with a front lawn covered by flowers at the Academgorodok (Academy Town). Petr Alekseyevich Hahn achieved a Ph.D. in biological sciences and was a Chief Scientific Worker in the Department of Forestry at the Institute of Biology with the Academy of Sciences in Kirghizia. Professor Petr was a bright and kind handsome man. His life’s destiny was as dramatic as the life destiny of all members of the Hahn family that had been dramatically changed by the Russian Revolution. 

The Professor’s great-grandfather, Alexey Alekseyevich Hahn, was the brother of H.P. Blavatsky’s father. Alexey A. Hahn had five children – two sons, and three daughters. One of his sons, who was Blavatsky’s cousin, was Petr Alekseyevich Hahn (1864 or 1865-1915). Petr Alekseyevich Hahn inherited the family estate near Shandrovka village in Yekaterinoslav province. Professor Petr Alekseyevich Hahn informed me the following about his grandfather: “Petr Alekseyevich Hahn was a hussar who retired early and quickly restored his estate in Shandrovka village. He had a stud farm and a timber mill. In Alupka town, he built a large and beautiful summer residence”.   

Based on my research, H.P. Blavatsky's cousin Petr Alekseyevich Hahn was an influential figure in Yekaterinoslav province. In the beginning of the 20th century he became a marshal of the nobility at the Novomoskovsk district of the Yekaterinoslav province,  a provincial councilor,  and the honorable Justice of the Peace.  Alexey was a skilled manager  whose efforts in breeding a rare Spanish Rambouillet and Negretti sheep strain were awarded with a Small Silver Medal in the field of livestock farming at the Yekaterinoslav Southern Russian Regional Agricultural, Industrial, and Handicraft Exhibition in 1910.  Moreover, his son, Petr A. Hahn was a member of the council of the Yekaterinoslav Museum named after A.N. Pol, a local collector and amateur archeologist. Petr Alekseyevich Hahn had two sons. In this family the elder son was always named Petr or Aleksey. So, Petr’s oldest son was named, Aleksey, and the younger son, Konstantin. Konstantin graduated from Oxford University and stayed in Europe. Konstantin’s son, George Konstantinovich Hahn (date of birth and death unknown), lived in the USA.  The eldest son of Petr A. Hahn (Blavatsky’s cousin) was Alexey Petrovich Hahn (date of birth and death unknown). Alexey Petrovich Hahn lived with his father and in 1915 he married Sofia Emilevna Dandre (1889-1986). Sofia Emilevna Dandre was the great-granddaughter of Cyril Razumovsky and member of a Russified French noble family who had an estate in the Poltava region. 

Professor, Petr A. Hahn, said that Sofia’s mother, Dmitrievna Dandre (date of birth and death unknown), was “a Theosophist, vegetarian, a fan of H.P. Blavatsky, and one of the chairs of the Theosophical Society in Ukraine. Moreover, the grandmother was a relative to the well-known Theosophist Anna Kamensky.” 

Towards the end of 1915, Alexey P. Hahn inherited the Shandrovka estate and the summer residence in Alupka. In 1918, in Alupka, Aleksey and his wife Sofia had a son, our future forestry professor, Petr Alekseyevich Hahn. After the revolution Aleksey P. Hahn, who was a member of the White Movement, left for Paris. For many years he was working in Versailles as a gardener. His wife and sin stayed in the Crimea. Professor P.A. Hahn writes in his autobiography:

 [In 1925 my estate in Alupka] “…was confiscated, and our family moved to the summer residence of his grandmother's sister Yekaterina Kleigels…. In 1927, an earthquake destroyed the residence, and I was sent to my grandmother Dandre in Poltava…. In 1930, my mom compiled a petition for preservation of a church in Alupka. Many Church members signed the petition. Having been accused of anti-Soviet propaganda in Simferopol, my mother was sentenced to exile at Kob village in the Irkutsk area. The same year, I was sent to my grandmother's cousin А.В. Bekker. I lived with him for two years. In 1932, I finished seven classes of school and went to work at the state farm "Mikhaylovsky" in Paninsky region. In December 1934, my mother was released and moved to Novosibirsk city. I joined her there. In September 1935, I entered the Faculty of Forestry of the Siberian Timber Institute (Krasnoyarsk). In 1941, I graduated from the Institute with honours degree and accepted a position of Technical Manager at Beshkaragaysky Logging Enterprise (lespromkhoz). In 1944, I was called up to military service in the acting army. I served in the Guards Cavalry Regiment as a senior clerk at the regiment headquarters. In 1945, I was demobilized. The Forestry Ministry of the USSR assigned me to a job in Kirghizia. From 1945-1947, I worked as a forestry chief specialist at the Uzgensky Timber Enterprise. In 1947, I was transferred to become a director of the Forestry Experimental Station in the city of Frunze. From 1952 to 1954, I studied at the Highest Forestry Courses in Moscow and defended my thesis to receive a Candidate of Science degree.Up to 1966, I was a director of the Forestry Experimental Station. In 1966, the Station was placed under the authority of the Academy of Sciences of Kirghizia and reorganized to become a Department of Forest at the Institute of Biology. That same year, I received a Doctor of Science degree in forestry. In 1967, I received a professor degree. In 1980, I was decorated with the Order of Friendship of Peoples. In 1990, I was awarded with a title of the Honored Science Worker of Kirghizstan”.20

Additionally, the Professor informed me that when the Hahn family left for Crimea they took along with them their furniture, family portraits, archives and other family relics. The old duo portrait of the “Two Helenas” was among their collection, and it was of special value to them. This portrait remained at the Hahn`s Shandrovka estate for many years, and all the family was very proud to have this portrait in their collection. Later, the portrait was taken to their estate in Alupka. 

The Hahn family constantly discussed the two women in the portrait. The Professor heard about the “Two Helenas” portrait from both his mother and grandmother. His mother and grandmother in their turn heard about the portrait from the Professor's grandfather and other members of the family. The relatives were proud to say that the two women in the portrait were well-known writers, Helena Andreyevna Hahn, and her eldest daughter, Helena Petrovna Hahn (later Blavatsky according to her husband's name) who was also a founder of the International Theosophical Society. Professor Petr Alekseyevich Hahn had no more information to provide about the portrait. He knew neither the name of the painter, nor the date the portrait was painted. Also, he had no idea how the portrait appeared in Shandrovka. He only knew that the Hahns preserved it from generation to generation as a special family treasure.

Before Sofia Emilevna Hahn (the Professor’s mother) was arrested in 1930, she asked some friends to help her keep the family papers and relics.  Frightened by Stalin’s repressions and afraid of being chased for keeping relics of aristocrats, she hid many papers and pictures in an attic and in a cellar. The duo portrait of the “Two Helenas” was returned to the owners, but with paint crumbling off the surface, pimples, and bubbles apparent in the pictorial layer, as well as holes visible in the canvas. The portrait suffered serious damages due to dampness, cold, and heat. The rest of a portrait was not in much better condition. The Professor took the family valuables with him from Crimea, and kept them at his residence. During our meeting, he decided to entrust me with the portrait of the “Two Helenas”, as well as a portrait of his great-grandfather, Aleksey Alekseyevich Hahn, to be given to the Dnepropetrovsk National History Museum for the newly established Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family. Thus, according to the Will of H.P. Blavatsky`s descendants, and after a long and dramatic journey, these two portraits have finally been returned to the Pridneprovie region. They were placed in the museum which the Professor's grandfather, back as in 1905, donated some relics of August Hahn – a stone Polovtsian woman sculpture and artifacts from archeological excavations in Shandrovka. The portraits provided by the Professor were added to the museum collection, which had been closed to the public for many years. 

Both the duo portrait of the “Two Helenas” and Aleksey A. Hahn's portrait require restoration and further research about their history. The duo portrait keeps one of the many secrets of H.P. Blavatsky who said about herself: “I am a psychological puzzle, a rebus and enigma for future generations – a sphinx!”21 The girl in the portrait looks no more than fourteen years old. However, Helena was painted beside her mother who died before her daughter reached her eleventh year. Yet, by who and when was this portrait painted? Research conducted in recent years provides a basis for only a presumable hypothesis.

The “Two Helenas” was painted by an unknown, yet skillful painter. According to one of the explanations presented by the portrait investigators, this duo portrait could have been painted around 1844-45. This was during the time of Petr A. von Hahn's travels with his daughter Helena around Russia and Europe. Regarding this period, Helena Blavatsky wrote: “For the first time I was in London together with my father in 1844, not in 1851... My father brought me to London to learn to play music. Later, I took music lessons from old Mochelet. We lived somewhere near to Pimlicko – but I am not sure of it... My father and me, we spent a week at Bath and were deafened by ringing bells during all days of our stay there... For two or three months, we have been traveling around France, Germany and Russia.”22 Sylvia Cranston, in her biography of H.P. Blavatsky, also refers to this trip, but she dates it to the end of 1845.23 We have some reasons to infer that the portrait was commissioned by HPB’s father, Petr A. von Hahn, during the time he was traveling with her. The portrait does not depict Helena`s younger brother and sister. Most likely, the portrait was painted by an artist with HPB posing for the painting, who may have also used an image of HPB’s mother, such as a medallion or a miniature that Helena or her father, who just recently had become a widower, might have owned. Or, perhaps the painter could have known HPB’s mother and painted her from memory.

The portrait depicts a woman painted on a dark background, and the girl on a light background. The two women figures are mournfully leaning towards each other. We can see the grief on their faces. These features suggest to a certain degree that the portrait may have been painted after HPB’s mother passed away. Therefore, it would be possible to suggest that HPB’s father, expecting to become separated, again,  from his favorite daughter, decided to commission the duo portrait. It is also possible that Petr left the portrait in his brother’s estate at Shandrovka. Such an assumption is supported by the fact that the portrait was preserved at the Shandrovka estate and transferred to succeeding generations of Hahns. On the other hand, if the portrait had been painted some other time and under other circumstances it could have been kept at the Fadeyev’s family in Tiphlis (Tbilisi). It could also have resided with Nadezhda Fadeyev in Odessa, with Vera Zhelihovsky in Petersburg, or with Leonid Hahn in Stavropol.

These portraits are a cherished family treasure that, by the request of Professor Petr. A. Hahn’s will, were brought by the author of this article from Bishkek to Dnepropetrovsk to become a part of the collection at the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family, which is currently being established.24 With the incorporation of the duo portrait at the museum, it is possible to imagine Professor Hahn pronouncing the same words as Professor Nikolas Roerich in 1925 at Adyar: “In this house of Light, allow me to hand over a picture devoted to Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.” Let this portrait become a foundation for the future Blavatsky museum whose motto will be: “Beauty is a clothing of the Truth.”25 

This invaluable gift was received from H.P. Blavatsky's descendants in 1991 when the efforts were underway to establish the Museum Center, and founders of the Center had just begun their efforts to regain the House [where H.P.B. was born]  back to Blavatsky in order to serve as the home for the museum. The portrait of the “Two Helenas” became a key symbol and a guarantee of success for the implementation of this great project to establish the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family. 

______________________________________________________________________________

1. Hahn, K. N., 1991. Letter of Nikita K. Hahn to H.P. Blavatsky Fund August 19, 1991. Research Archive of the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family.

2. Service record of August Hahn. Russian State Historical Archive (RSHA). Collection 1289. List 16. File 19, File 47. Patent for title of nobility granted to August Hahn. December 9, 1791. Russian State Historical Archive (РГИА). Collection 1343. List 19. File 570.

3. According to a legend the knight-crusader Count von Hahn von Rotternstern was awaken by a cock a doodle doo and found a Saracen in his tent. The unexpected visitor tried to kill the Count. The image of the cock who saved the life of the Count was drawn on the Coat of Arms of the Count and the Count's name was changed to Hahn von Rotternstern-Hahn. (I need source for this information, from where you read about this legend)

4. Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett. Ed. by A.T. Barker. N.Y.-L., 1923. P. 150, Letter 63.

5. Тургенев И.С.. Полн. собр. соч.: В 28 т. — М.-Л., 1963.  Т.5. С.370 (V.5. P.370).

6. Many years after the death of Helena Andreyevna, Petr Alekseyevich Hahn married again. His second wife baroness von Lange died soon after the birth of her daughter Liza. As a result, H.P. Blavatsky had one more sister, stepsister Elizaveta Hahn.

7. Vera Petrovna Hahn (1835-1896) (known as Yakhontova by the name of her first husband, and as Zhelikhovskaya by the name of her second husband) was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s younger sister, devoted friend and advocate, as well-known Russian writer.

8. Leonid Petrovich Hahn (1840-1885) – H.P. Blavatsky's younger brother, lawyer (was he a lawyer? In case he was you should write that he was a lawyer and H.P. Blavatsky's younger brother). He lived with his family and his father and was a Justice of the Peace in Stavropol.

9. Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett. Ed. by A.T. Barker. N.Y.-L., 1923. P. 150, (Letter 63).

10. Ibid.

11. A.A. Hahn's participation in Decembrist Uprising is his family legend that has not been yet documented.

12. History of Shandrovka's estate of H.P. Blavatsky's grandfather inherited by her uncle and his descendants was first told to this article's author by H.P. Blavatsky's descendants, and, later on, during follow-up research studies, was enriched with additional facts.

13. Recorded by Elena Alivantseva, the author of this article according to Professor P.A. Hahn. September 1991. Research Archive of the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family.

14. Днепровская молва. №4, 1899 С.109

15. Календарь-ежегодник «Приднепровье». Екатеринослав, 1910. С.268.

16. Екатеринославский адрес-календарь на 1915 г. Катеринослав, 1915. С.422.

17. Отчет Новомосковской еуздной Земской управы за 1901 г., ч.2. Екатеринослав, 1901. С.167.

18. Отчет-Альбом Южно-Русской областной сельскохозяйственной, промышленной и кустарной выставки. Екатеринослав, 1912. С.277-278.

19. Recorded by Elena Alivantseva, the author of this article according to Professor P.A. Hahn in 1991 in Bishkek.

20. Hahn , P.A., 1992. Autobiography. Research Archive of the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

21. Pisareva , E.F., 1937. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. A Biographical Sketch. Geneva, P.44.

22. Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett. Ed. By A.T. Barker. N.Y.-L., 1923. P. 150, (Letter 61).

23. Cranston, S., and Williams, C., 1999. H.P. Blavatsky: Life and Creative Art of the Founder of The Modern Theosophical Movement. Riga-Moscow, Ligatma, 1999. P. 642.

24. Currently, the portrait “Two Helenas”, awaiting for the opening of the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family, is exhibited with the museum collection “Pridneprovie Literature” of Dnipropetrovsk History Museum.

25. Рериховский вестник: Публ. Сообщ. Исслед. Вып. 1. – Л. – Извара, 1991. – 63 с.

About the Author:  Elena Alivansteva is a cultural expert, an expert in museum studies, a research manager at the Museum Center of H.P. Blavatsky and Her Family, and an Honored Culture Worker of Ukraine.

Titles to the illustrations in the article:

HPB’s grand-father, Gustav Hahn von Rottenshtern-Hahn (1729 or 1730-1799).
Known in Russia as August Ivanovich  

HPB’s grand-father, Wilhelm Hahn von Rottenshtern-Hahn (1729 or 1730-1799).

After his arrival in Russia he began to be called August Ivanovich. Born in Anhalt-Zerbst