New Data About Andrei Chokhov: Commemorative And Onomastic Aspects

Abstract

The life of the famous foundry worker Andrei Chokhov († 1629) is known primarily through his works: cannons and bells, as well as through the documents of the Cannon Bureau (Pushkarskij prikaz) that accompanied their production. There are no biographical data about Chokhov: not only his origin, but even the names of his parents are unknown. The oldest Synodikon 1575 of the sacristy of Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery provides new information. In this text under 1614 is placed a memorial entry: “The family of bell and cannon master Andrei Chokhov”. The record consists of two male and two female names. There is reason to believe that Andrew’s grandfather, grandmother, father and mother are recorded in the Synodikon. Chokhov’s contribution to the Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery may have been in uenced by his receipt of new state commissions and a steady salary in the rst year of Tsar Mikhail Romanov’s reign. Additional information about Andrei Chokhov and his family is provided by analysing the master’s family name. He himself was referred to as both Chokhov and Chekhov. According to the hypothesis of E. L. Nemirovsky, it is a patronym derived from the non-Christian name Chokh, Cheh. Developing the scientist’s observations, it should be pointed out that these names in the 16th century were typical for the lands of Western Russia under Lithuanian rule and, on the contrary, were not found on the territory of the Moscow state. On this basis it can be assumed that Andrei Chokhov’s family came from the West Russian region