The Wolkoff House Museum

Ivan Wolkoff (1827–1900), originally from Yaroslavl, arrived in Lappeenranta in the 1840s. He began his career as a gardener, butcher and merchant. Ivan was later awarded the rights of a Finnish citizen and merchant. Ivan and his wife, Lyubov, had 10 children, and their sons, Mikhail and Nikolai, carried on their father’s business. Nikolai lived in the house on Kauppakatu with Maria, his wife from St Petersburg, and their children, Johannes and Anna.

Johannes studied agronomy and was responsible for looking after the garden and farms. He lived in the house of his birth with his wife Martta and their five children. Anna studied languages and graduated with a master’s degree. After marrying, she lived in Imatra. When Anna’s husband, Väinö Nissinen, died in a train accident, Anna Wolkoff-Nissinen moved back to her childhood home on Kauppakatu. In 1946, she was awarded a tenure at the Lappeenranta Lyceum. She is remembered as a legendary teacher of German and Russian.

The Wolkoff House was a family home for four generations. The heirs decided to donate it for use as a museum in 1986. The house was inaugurated as a museum in 1993.