Okay, I did some research. Turns out every Russian name consists of three names: a first (given) name, a patronymic name and a surname.reader2121 wrote:Is Eugene Iretnev and Eugene Ivanich the same person? I'm confused?
So our protagonist's full name is likely Eugene Ivanich Irtenev.Patronymic name
Russian patronymic name is derived from father's name according to rule:
Russian male patronymic name forms by adding ending -evich, -ovich. (Nikolaevich, Mikhailovich). For example, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Tha name of Lev Tolstoy's father was Nikolay, so the Lev Tolstoy's patronymic name is Nikolaevich.
Russian female patronymic name forms by adding ending -ovna, -evna. (Nikolaevna, Mikhailovna). For example, Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva. Tha name of Raisa Gorbavheva's father was Maxim, so the Raisa's patronymic name is Maximovna.
Russians used First and Patronymic Name in formal relationships, with unfamiliar people, with doctors, teachers, lecturers, older members of family, directors, leaders and other respected people (ex. Vladimir Vladimirovich, Lev Nikolaevich, Fedor Mikhailovich).
Tolstoy starts the story with the line: "A brilliant career awaited Eugene Irtenev." And the only other place in the story that this surname "Irtenev" is used is in the last paragraph of the alternative ending: "And indeed, if Eugene Iretnev was mentally deranged when he committed this crime, then everyone is similarly insane."
Elsewhere in the story, the name Eugene Ivanich is used. In fact, "Ivanich" appears five times in the story. This is the case in two different translations I have seen.
For example, here:
"The watchman had been his father's huntsman, and Eugene Ivanich chatted with him, and the man began telling some strange tales of hunting sprees. It occurred to Eugene Ivanich that it would be convenient to arrange matters in this hut, or in the wood, only he did not know how to manage it and whether old Daniel would undertake the arrangement."
Thus, Eugene Ivanich Irtenev's name is shortened for most of the story to given name and patronymic. The narrator refers to Eugene most frequently using the patronymic. And in the alternative ending, as Eugene Ivanich returns from prison, the narrator returns to using Eugene's surname perhaps as a reintroduction to a character who is now an "enfeebled, irresponsible drunkard."