Nadezhda Von Meck - Financial Problems

Financial Problems

Von Meck's claim of bankruptcy was not entirely untrue. Along with his fortune, Karl von Meck had left a sizable amount of debt upon his death. This debt was far larger and more extensive than his wife had previously known. Rumors of this debt started circulating publicly in the early 1880s. Tchaikovsky had questioned her about it in his letters.

This debt was compounded by the financial mismanagement of von Meck's business assets by her son Vladimir. While he was as gifted in public relations as his father had been in engineering, Vladimir proved as extravagant as his mother in spending. He was the favorite among von Meck's children. This may have been why she tolerated his ways as long as she did. Unfortunately, it was also largely what pitted her and Vladimir against his siblings and sister-in-law, Anna (Tchaikovsky's niece). They claimed, among other things, that he was pocketing company funds for his own use. Regardless of the truth of these charges, the von Meck estate was in serious financial peril.

Vladimir suffered a nervous breakdown in 1890. That summer, his mother relieved him of his post. His replacement was von Meck's personal assistant, Władysław Pachulski. Originally employed by von Meck as a musician, he became an in-law by marrying her daughter Julia. He was also far more experienced in financial management than Vladimir had been and was able to save the von Meck estate from bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Vladimir had been found to have an advanced case of tuberculosis, the same disease from which his mother suffered. He would die from it in 1892.