LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 3 



then that Ilia Ivanovitch's distant estate was remem- 

 bered, away in a remote part of Little Russia. What 

 energy, what perseverance had to be displayed by 

 his wife before she could persuade him to take refuge 

 there ! and how hard it must have seemed to the gay 

 officer to leave the capital for the lonely and mono- 

 tonous life of the country ! However, departure 

 was decided upon. The two boys, Ivan and Leo, 

 were placed in a school at Petersburg, to be prepared 

 for the Lycee and the Law School. Ilia Ivanovitch 

 obtained a post as Remount Officer for two Guards 

 regiments, and started with his wife, his daughter, 

 an aunt, and a younger brother, to settle down in the 

 country. 



The family settled at first in the old Ivanovka 

 house, where a son, Nicholas, was born. Though they 

 wished to have no more children, one more child was 

 born two years later, on the 16th May 1845 Elie 

 Metchnikoff. 



The Ivanovka house was old and inconvenient ; 

 Ilia Ivanovitch decided to build a new one at the other 

 end of his estate, in a place called Panassovka, which 

 thus became the family home. 



Emilia Lvovna threw herself into her domestic 

 occupations with her usual energy and ardour. She 

 was anxious to improve the situation, which had 

 become precarious, and wished at the same time to 

 create for her husband an environment suited to his 

 Epicurean tastes. Ilia Ivanovitch loved cards and 

 the table, both tastes easy to satisfy in the country, 

 and which became the pivot of life at Panassovka. 

 The great daily problem was the question of meals, 

 and long conversations had to take place with the 

 cook and with the housekeeper concerning catering. 



