…tall, thin, elegant, brown-eyed and black-haired. Over the years he grew heavier, but his stateliness has not been lost.

He had more common sense than deep thought. For his kindness he was loved by ordinary people, especially his subordinates, but his superiors sometimes disliked him for his directness and harshness. <…> His wife and he were very different, and he could not understand her. Being a natural soldier, he did not like her scholarly friends.

The sanatorium was located in the park of a luxurious Crimean estate of Prince F. F. Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, one of the richest men in Russia. He was called “the sack of gold” and it was said that many of the Grand Dukes were in his debt. He owned almost sixty estates in various parts of Russia, for the management of which he had his own main office with a whole system of economic and financial administration. <…> He was tall, heavily-built, and had a pompous, turkey-like manner. He took little part in general conversations, and on one occasion I saw him seriously discussing the question… …about breeding chickens. And it was amusing to see these two important generals discussing this agricultural matter, revealing their naive knowledge of it.