СІМЕЙНІ ІСТОРІЇ РОДИНИ КОВАЛЕВСЬКИХ

The article deals with family retellings of the representatives of the Kharkiv sergeant-noble family of Kovalevsky. A large number of its members is known in various fields. Representatives of the Kovalevsky family become military, hold responsible state positions, study science and culture. From the actions of the representatives of the dynasty gradually formed a variety of family retellings, legends. They are recorded in memoirs, memoirs, documents, newspaper articles, and eyewitness accounts. The feature of family legends is a variety of variations that may arise in connection with the lack of information, the conscious or unconscious distortion of facts, etc. Family legends can be used to increase authority, to increase their social status, to "decorate" reality. It is because of the fact that for a long time the real story of the family can change, there is a great need for careful study, arrangement and selection of the necessary information to achieve the most accurate reflection of family history. In this article, an attempt is made to understand some of the most promising sources of information in order to achieve the goal. Prospects are: the memoirs of Maxim Maximovich (1851-1916) - My Life and Peter Yevgrafovich Kovalevsky (1901-1978) - The Revenge of the Kovalevsky for three hundred years 1651-1951, as well as compiled a variety of authorship collection of articles in the book "M. M. Kovalevsky scholar, state and public figure and citizen". Of particular importance are archival funds. Namely, the fund of the Central Intelligence Agency of Ukraine № 1814, devoted to the aristocratic genus Kovalevsky. Comprehensive study of various sources of information opens the "forgotten" pages of the story of the family and, if necessary, corrects the existing ones. This article does not pretend to a comprehensive study of family history. The main attention is paid only to some representatives of the genus Kovalevsky, their relatives and friends (A. I. Kovalevsky, V. Ya. Kovalevskaya, P. E. Kovalevsky, M. I. Kovalevsky, E. P. Kovalevsky, M. M. Kovalevsky senior , M. M. Kovalevsky junior, P. I. Kovalevsky, I. I. Mechnikov, V. N. Karazin, their acquaintances - G. C. Skovoroda, M. I. Kovalinsky, P. L. Lavrov). The article also included references to some of the family estates in order to update the material