Jansy,
 
Thank you. So I simply should have looked up Boyd (the source, no doubt, of the author of the Russian biographical piece found in the net), instead of trying to identify VDN's potential foe via Google!
 
The correct way to "refer" to Timofey Pnin in public would be to say "Mr Pnin" or "Timofey Pnin," and if you happen to meet a Timofey Pnin, you can address him, politely and corteous, by name-and-patronymic.
 
best,
Alexey   

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