Family
Tchiakovsky was born in Votkinsk, a small town in present day Udmurta, which is a former province of Vyotka in the Russian empire. He had four brothers named Nikolai, Ippolit and twins, Anatoly and Modest, a sister named Alexandra and a half sister, Zinaida, from his father's first marriage. Tchaikovsky's grandfather was Petro Feodorvych and received medical training in St. Petersburg and went on to become a physician's assistant in the army. Afterwards he became the city governor of Glasgov in Viatka. His father was Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, a lieutenant colonel in the Department of Mines and an engineer. His mother was Alexandra Andreyevna (nee d'Assier), the second of Ilya's three wives, and was 18 years younger than her husband.