New lead section for Nadezhda von Meck
Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck (Russian: Надежда Филаретовна фон Мекк) (10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1831 - 13 January [O.S. 1 January] 1894) was the wealthy Russian widow of a Russian railway tycoon, Karl von Meck. At her insistence, her husband resigned from a civil service position to become an entrepreneur in the railway boom in Russia. He was tremendously successful. Lines for which he was responsible included Kursk to Kiev and the highly profitable Moscow to Ryazan line, with its monopoly of grain transport from the Black Earth Region of Central Russia. Karl died suddenly in 1873. In his will, Karl von Meck gave his wife control over his vast financial holdings. This included two railway networks, large estates and several million rubles. With seven of their 11 children still at home, she concentrated on her business affairs and on the education of those children still dependent on her. She sold one railway and ran the other one with the aid of her brother and her eldest son, Vladimir.
Von Meck is best known today for her relationship with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. She supported him finaicially between 1877 and 1890, and for those years, they carried on a significant correspondence, exchanging over 1,200 letters between 1877 and 1890. The details they shared were extraordinary for two people who never met. He was more open to her about much of his life and his creative processes than to any other person.
Von Mech was an influential patron of the arts in general, maintaining a complex relationship with Nikolay Rubinstein and actively supporting and promoting young musicians even while her husband was still alive. Several of these musicians were continually employed by her. They lived in her household and played her favorite works. She hired Claude Debussy as a music tutor to her daughters, and he wanted to marry one of them.