# Peter Ivánovich — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories character guide

> Peter Ivánovich in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Peter, Prince Peter Ivánovich

**First appearance:** 0056-the-death-of-ivan-ilyitch

## Snapshot

A respectable colleague of Ivan Ilyitch who attends the funeral and finds himself confronting the discomfort of another man's death.

## Who they are

Peter Ivánovich moves through the funeral with the practiced composure of a man who knows the correct thing to say and the correct amount to feel. He was Ivan Ilyitch's friend, or near enough, and his presence at the service is as much about social obligation as grief. Yet the dead man's face unsettles him in a way he cannot quite name, and his discomfort becomes the reader's entry point into the story's central question: what does a life amount to when it ends?

## In the story

### [The Wisdom of Children](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-wisdom-of-children)

Implied to be 'Peter Semenovich,' who abuses Michael Ivanovich behind his back, as revealed in the children's conversation.

### [The Memoirs of a Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-memoirs-of-a-mother)

The deceased tutor, described as a man of 'unconscious Christianity' who lived a life of extreme self-sacrifice and asceticism. He was deeply in love with Marie Alexandrovna and had a significant moral influence on the family.

### [My Dream](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/my-dream)

Prince Michael's brother and provincial governor; present during the initial conversation about Lisa's disgrace.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters/peter_ivanovich
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters