Olga Ivanovna Koenemann (Gnedich), 1849-1925, with her first son, Feodor Koenemann, 1873.
Feodor Feodorovich
KOENEMANN
RUSSIAN COMPOSER
April 8, 1873 - March 29, 1937
(Keneman, Koeneman - other last names spellings)
Olga Feodorovna Solovieva-Koenemann, 1891-1976, Moscow, Russia, the youngest sister of Feodor Koenemann.
Web-master and story by
Fyodor Soloview
,
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Feodor Koenemann (second from right) was the student of the finest music teacher in Moscow, Russia - Nikolai Sergeyevich Zverev (in the center). The greatest talents of the generation attended his school. In this class photo, left to right: S.Samuelson, A.Scriabin, L.Maximov, N.S.Zverev, S.Rachmaninoff, K.Chernyaev, F.Keneman, M.Pressman.
MUSIC BY FEODOR KOENEMANN
(over 100 works, in Russian)
1911. Zachiem krutitsia vetr v ovrage. Why the wind spins in ravine. For bass or baritone. Words by A. S. Pushkin. Soch. 10. No. 3
1918. When the King went forth to War. Quand le roi part aux combats... Ballad for bass voice. Words by M. Konopnitskaya. English version by R. Newmarch. TO BUY
Arrangement by F. Keneman. Adapted by F. Chaliapin.
1925. Korol' i Shut. The King and the Jester.
Le roi et le bouffon. [Song.] For bass or baritone. Words by N. Agnivtsev, English version by R. Newmarch.
Evgeny Filatov, Moscow, Russia.
Grandson of Evgeny Keneman - the youngest brother of composer.
An artist, art collector and art teacher.
Story about his house
in Moscow, Russia, which he wanted to save from expropriation by the city authorities (in Russian language).
Fyodor Soloview, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
- grandson of Olga Koenemann, his youngest sister. Inventor, designer and publisher of the original
"Six Generations"
playing cards and the card games, based on their genealogical concept.
Yulia Solovyeva, Moscow Russia.
Granddaughter of Olga Keneman, the youngest sister of the composer. Student at the art college in Moscow, Russia.
The author of a cycle of nostalgic rural landscapes.
The relatives of Feodor Koenemann with artistic skills
F.F. Koenemann (Ф.Ф.Кенеман)
grave at Piatnitskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia
Feodor Feodorovich Koenemann, 1923.
Photo by Lumiere, New-York.
Feodor Koenemann
's name, in Russian language "Фёдор Кенеман", after being translated into English, has received several variations. The other common name was Fyodor Koeneman (with one n) or Fyodor Koenemann (with two ns), another - Feodor Keneman, and he is also known as Theo Koeneman. Now, if you try to buy his music from the various publishers and web-sites, you may find his personality under those five different, but similar looking names.
However, Feodor Koenemann's most accurate last hame should be written in German as Könemann . This is how it was spelled in his father's birth certificate. But after residing in Russia, the spellings were changed, accepting the realities of Russian, and later - English languages.
So how
the Russian composer Feodor Koenemann got this German last name?
His father, Friedrich Napoleon Könemann (1838-1903)
was born in Moscow, Russia in the family of textile manufacturer Victor Alexander Könemann (1804-1885)
from German city of Eupen (now in Belgium), who built textile plant in the
village Kablukovo
, Bogorodsk Uyezd, not far East from Moscow, Russia in 1832. Victor's other two brothers - Eduard (1801-1853)
and Albert (1803-1887)
were also the owners of the textile factories - in Sobolevo and Moscow. Friedrich's mother,
Helena Peltzer (1805-1806)
, was the sister of the well-known textile manufacturer
Napoleon Peltzer
, whose textile factory on Narova river supplied Russian Army and officers with the finest clothing.
Friedrich (the father of the composer) was sent to the University in Koenigsberg to become an engineer, so he could build the new plants and improve the old ones belonged to the extended families of Könemanns and Peltzers in Russia.
Taking "the side orders", he got a job from the other Russian textile manufacturer (also of German descent) Leopold Koenig (1821-1903) in Sankt-Peteburg, who hired him to build now the different type of factory in his newly purchased estate in Akhtyrka Uyezd of Kharkov Gubernia in Urkraine - the sugar refinery plant. The warm climate of Ukraine was perfect to grow the beet, which was a base for the sugar production. By 1869, Friedrich engineered and built Gutianskiy (Guta) sugar-beet refinery, what later helped Leopold Koenig to become the "Zucker Koenig" - the Sugar King of Russia.
The Guta factory was supplied with coke, calcite (they are indispensable in production at a sugar factory), coal and other cargoes taken from the nearby Ahktyrka. Visiting Akhtyrka frequently and dealing with the local authorities and suppliers, Friedrich met his future wife, Olga Gnedich (1849-1925) , who resided in Akhtyrka in her family estate.
After work in Ukraine was done, Friedrich have moved with his wife Olga Ivanovna to Moscow. In 1870, his father Victor sold his old textile plant in Kablukovo, which he founded in 1832, to his wife's brother
Johann Georg Peltzer
(1810-1897). However, the final payment for the plant, 21,755 rubles from the Trade House "Peltzer & Becker", was received by Victor on February 18, 1877 by the court order.
Friedrich, the young engineer, changed his German name to Russian, and became Feodor Victorovich Koenemann. He had the straight goal: after getting out from the family textile businesses, to raise the large family and provide to his children the best education he could get in Moscow at that time. He was only 32 years by then.
When his first son, the future composer was born in 1873, he was named after his father - Feodor Feodorovich Koenemann.
Feodor Koenemann produced over 100 works, conducted the orchestras, and was the Professor of Moscow Conservatory. He was also the great pianist. His life-time friendship with Feodor Chaliapin created the perfect duet: Chaliapin was the singer, and Koenemann - his accompanist.
Feodor Feodorovich Koenemann, 1927. Photo by Napelbaum, Moscow, Russia.
Feodor Feodorovich Koenemann, Russian composer, pianist, Professor of Moscow Conservatory, the friend and accompanist of the world-known Russian singer Feodor Chaliapin, was born on April 8th, 1873 in Moscow, Russia.
Feodor was the first baby of his parents - Friedrich Napoleon Könemann and Olga Ivanovna Gnedich. The family of Olga Ivanovna, the Ukrainian aristocrats, resided for two centuries in Akhtyrka (Kharkov Gubernia) in their family estate. Olga's ancestors, the Gnedich, are well-known in Russia and Ukraine for their achievements in literature and poetry.
Akhtyrka by Victor Vasnetsov. 1879. Oil on canvas.
Feodor Koenemann became a student of Moscow Conservatory at the age of 19, in 1892. He took the class of Violin. After he was graduated from Conservatory in 1897 with the large gold medal, he moved to Astrakhan, where he managed for two years the Astrakhan Music Classes.
(to be continued. More info in Russian available here.)
Moscow address book, 1900.
Feodor Koenemann, freelance artist. Address: Brusovsky, Dobrov house. Place of work: Conservatory.
Click here, or at photo to enlarge.
Evgeny Feodorovich Keneman, Moscow, Russia.
1954 - Oct. 30, 1999
Grandson of Evgeny Keneman - the yougest brother of the composer.
The poet, writer and artist. His collection of verses "Groundlessness" (in Russsian language) was prepared for publication after his death by his friend Y.Nasimovich.
GENEALOGICAL FAMILY TREE OF KOENEMANN (KENEMAN) DYNASTY
(in Russian with photos)
Leopold Koenig, 1821-1903.
Russian sugar manufacturer from Sankt-Peterburg, "Zucker Koenig". He hired Friedrich
K
ö
nemann, the father of the composer, to engineer and
build Gutianskiy (Guta) sugar-beet refinery in Akhtyrsky Uyezd, Kharkov Gubernia, Ukraine (photos).
Get genealogical playing cards and card games, discover the structure of family tree in six generations and support our website! Card game "SIX GENERATIONS", invented, designed and published by the author of this website. Only $8.97.
House in the village Litvinovo, Bogorodsk Uyezd, Moscow Gubernia of the composer's grandmother Helena Peltzer relatives (at father's side.) Built in 1860s.
In English at GENEANET
Grandfather of the composer
Victor Alexander Koenemann
(1804-1885). Founder of textile plant on the river Vorya in the village Kablukovo, Bogorodsk Yuezd, Moscow Gubernia in 1832.
English version is old. For full version, please use Russian page, and use auto translation with Google.
This page last modified on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Father of the composer,
Friedrich Napoleon Koenemann
.
