In his famous Акафист Гришке Распутину ("The
Acathistus to Rasputin," 1916), Amfiteatrov (cf. "Amphitheatricus, a not
unkindly writer of fugitive poetry in the liberal gazettes"*) mentions, among
other high officials of the pre-Revolutionary
Russia, Andronnikov:
Радуйся Штюрмера обретение, радуйся Протопопова
возвеличение, радуйся Саблера удаление, радуйся Андронникова окрыление, радуйся
Самарина низвержение, радуйся Джунковского отстранение, радуйся, Григорие,
распутниче великий.
In 1914-16 Prince M. M. Andronnikov (1875-1919),
the editor of the Golos russkogo ("The Voice of a Russian")
newspaper, was attached to the office of the Chief Procurator of the
Synod. He belonged to the Rasputin clique. He had the same sexual
predilections as Kinbote. After the murder of Rasputin he was
arrested and exiled to Ryazan. After the Ocober cup he managed to
become head of the Kronstadt Cheka (secret police). In 1919 he was caught
red-handed when given a bribe and executed as "a German spy". He
appears in many memoirs (see for instance Beletsky's "Grigory Rasputin",
1923).
Another Andronnikov, Irakly (1908-90), was a famous
Lermontov scholar and talk show artist. He started to perform on television
(show Андроников Рассказывает, Andronikov Tells) in 1954. He was a TV
star and VN might have seen him (as he saw Yashin, the Dynamo goalkeeper whose
mannerisms Andronnikov's friend Niagarin could imitate to
perfection**). Interestingly, in 1917 the Provisional Government (to
which VN's father was made secretary) appointed Irakly's father Laursab Senate
Criminal Department Secretary.
*see Kinbote's note to line 71
**see K.'s note to line 681
Alexey Sklyarenko