Pushkin through the eyes of his contemporaries
About how professional artists and amateurs, Russians and foreigners saw and captured their brilliant contemporary; as well as quotes from memories of Pushkin.

...Perhaps (flattering hope)

The future ignorant will point out

To my famous portrait,

And he says: that was the Poet!

Please accept my thanks

Fan of peaceful Aonides,

O you, whose memory will preserve

My flying creations

Whose benevolent hand

Will shake the old man's laurels!...

1823 lines from "Eugene Onegin"

Xavier de Maistre "Pushkin the Child",1800 - 1802
(written in oil on a metal plate.)
It is believed that this is the first image of Pushkin. The miniature was presented to S.M. Velikopolskaya, the daughter of the family doctor and friend of the Pushkins, M.Ya. Mudrov. For more than a hundred years, the portrait was carefully kept by the Wielkopolskas. In 1950, the artist V.S. Yakut, after a successful performance in the role of Pushkin in A.P. Globa’s play “Pushkin,” received it as a gift. And ten years later, having learned about the creation of a museum dedicated to Pushkin in Moscow, Yakut donated a precious relic there.
About Pushkin: “A passion for poetry manifested itself in him with the first concepts”: “It happened... they asked him: “Why aren’t you sleeping, Sasha?” - to which he usually answered: “I write poetry”; here they threaten him with rods in order to force him to leave poetry and go to sleep; This is how the poetic genius developed in him from early childhood.”
N.V. Berg “The Village of Zakharovo”: “... The kind owner took me around the garden and showed me the places that the child Pushkin especially loved. First of all, we examined a small birch grove located not far from the house, almost at the very gate. In the middle there used to be a table with benches all around. Here, on good summer days, the Hannibals dined and drank tea. Little Pushkin loved this grove and even, they say, wanted to be buried in it.<...>From the grove we went to the shore of the pond, where a huge linden tree was still preserved, near which there had previously been a semicircular bench. They say that Pushkin often sat on this bench and loved to play here. From the linden tree there is a very good view of the pond, the other bank of which is covered with a dark spruce forest. Previously, there were several birch trees around the linden tree, which, as they say, were all covered with Pushkin’s poems. All that was left of these birches were rotten stumps; however, a little further on, one survived, on which traces of some kind of writing are still visible. I could make out quite clearly only a few letters: okr...k and vayut<...>
- Was the child Alexander Sergeich meek or naughty?
- He was meek, so quiet, Lord! all with books, it happened... sometimes they would play with their brothers, but then no, I didn’t spoil them with the peasants... the children were quiet, the children were respectful.
- When did he leave here?
- Yes, God knows! He must have left about twelve years old..." (from a conversation with Arina Rodionovna's daughter)

S.G. Chirikov "Portrait of Pushkin", 1810
I'm a young rake
Still at school;
I’m not stupid, I say without hesitation,
And without cutesy antics...
My height is the same as the tallest ones
Cannot be equal;
I have a fresh complexion, brown hair
And a curly head...
A real devil in pranks,
A real monkey face
Much, too much frivolity
(“My Portrait” 1814
translation from French)
Among Pushkin’s lyceum nicknames there was one given “based on his physiognomy and some habits”: “a mixture of a monkey and a tiger.”
“It is impossible to be more ugly - a mixture of the appearance of a monkey and a tiger; he comes from African ancestors and still retains some blackness in his eyes and something wild in his gaze.”<...>When he speaks, you forget about what he lacks in order to be beautiful, his conversation is so interesting, sparkling with intelligence, without any pedantry... It is impossible to be less pretentious and more intelligent in the manner of expression.” (Entries in the diary of Kutuzov’s granddaughter D.F. Fikelmon)

I. Repin "Pushkin at the exam in Tsarskoe Selo on January 8, 1815", 1911
Pushkin recalls the exam in Tsarskoe Selo, which took place in 1815, when the famous poet G.R. came to the lyceum. Derzhavin. Tired of the monotony of the exam, Derzhavin dozed off. He suddenly perked up when Pushkin began to read his poem “Memoirs in Tsarskoe Selo.” Derzhavin was delighted with the talent of the young poet. I. Repin depicted in his painting, painted in 1911, an exciting plot where a young poet reads his poem.

"...The members of Arzamas looked at the graduation of young Pushkin as a happy event for them, as a triumph. His parents themselves could not have taken a more tender part in it; especially Zhukovsky, his successor in Arzamas, seemed happy , as if God himself had sent him a sweet child. The child seemed to me quite playful and unbridled, and it even hurt me to watch how all the older brothers vying with each other spoiled my little brother. Almost always it was like this with me: those whom I was destined to love dearly. , at first our acquaintance seemed disgusting to me. They would ask: was he a liberal then? How could an eighteen-year-old boy who had just broken free, with a passionate poetic imagination and boiling African blood in his veins, not be, and in such an era? when free-thinking was in full swing, I didn’t ask then why he was called “Cricket”; now I find it very opportune: for at some distance from St. Petersburg, hidden within the walls of the Lyceum, he was already singing his sonorous voice from there in beautiful poetry.<...>He was praised, scolded, extolled, scolded. Cruelly attacking the mischief of his youth, the envious themselves did not dare to deny him his talent; others sincerely marveled at his wonderful poems, but few discovered what was, if possible, even more perfect in him - his all-comprehending mind and the lofty feelings of his beautiful soul...” (F. F. Vigel from “Notes”)

Egor Ivanovich Geitman
Pushkin. 1822
The first image of Pushkin that his contemporary readers saw was an engraving made by E. I. Geitman for the frontispiece in the first edition of the poem “Prisoner of the Caucasus.” Its publisher, poet and translator N.I. Gnedich, placed a note at the end of the book: “The publishers are adding a portrait of the Author, drawn from him in his youth. They think it’s nice to preserve the youthful features of a poet whose first works were marked by an extraordinary gift.”
The book was published in St. Petersburg at the end of August 1822. Having received it, Pushkin wrote to Gnedich from Chisinau: “Alexander Pushkin is masterfully lithographed, but I don’t know if it’s similar, the publishers’ note is very flattering - I don’t know if it’s fair”... “I wrote to my brother so that he begged S. Lenin not to print my portrait, if my consent is needed, then I do not agree.”

"..He knew how to be completely young in his youth, that is, constantly cheerful and carefree<...>This ebullient creature, in the most ebullient years of her life, one might say, plunged into her pleasures. Who was there to stop him and protect him? Is it his weak father, who only knew how to admire him? Are they young friends, mostly military men, intoxicated by the charms of his mind and imagination, and who, in turn, tried to intoxicate him with incense of praise and champagne wine? Was it the theatrical goddesses with whom he spent most of his time? He was saved from delusions and troubles by his own strong reason, constantly awakening in him, by the sense of honor with which he was full..." (F. F. Wigel from "Notes")

Joseph Eustathius Vivienne de Chateaubrun
Pushkin. 1826
“Among many, my attention was especially drawn to the young man who entered, of small stature, but rather broad-shouldered and strong, with a quick and observant gaze, unusually lively in his techniques, often laughing in an excess of spontaneous gaiety and suddenly suddenly turning to thought, arousing participation. Sketches of the face his were incorrect and ugly, but the expression of his thoughts was so captivating that one would involuntarily want to ask: what sadness is darkening your soul? The stranger’s clothes were a black tailcoat, buttoned up with all the buttons, and trousers of the same color... Pushkin? He constantly blushed and laughed; his beautiful teeth showed in all their brilliance, his smile did not fade." (V.P. Gorchakov. Excerpts from the diary about A.S. Pushkin)

“What a lucky man Pushkin is! He laughs so much that it’s as if his guts are visible” (artist Karl Bryullov)

“Short in stature, thick lips and shaggy... He seemed very ugly to me.” (Gypsy Tanya)

“... Pushkin dressed, although, apparently, casually, imitating in this, as in many other ways, his prototype - Byron, but this carelessness was apparent: Pushkin was very scrupulous regarding the toilet...” (A.N. .Wulf. Stories about Pushkin, recorded by M. I. Semevsky)

"... in 1822 there was a strong earthquake in Chisinau; the walls of the house cracked and shook in several places; General Inzov was forced to leave the house, but Pushkin remained on the ground floor. Then there were several more oddities in Pushkin, perhaps inevitable companions genius youth. He wore nails longer than the nails of Chinese scientists. Waking up from sleep, he sat naked in bed and fired a pistol at the wall." (A.F. VELTMAN "Memories of Bessarabia")

"...A. S. Pushkin usually wrote his poems in the morning, lying on his bed, putting the paper on his bent knees. In bed, he also drank coffee. Alexander Sergeevich wrote his works here more than once, but he never liked to read them out loud, for others..." (N.I.Wulf. Stories about Pushkin, recorded by V. Kolosov)

"...As a poet, he considered it his duty to be in love with all the pretty women and young girls he met<...>In essence, he adored only his muse and waxed poetic about everything he saw...." (M.N. Volkonskaya. From "Notes")

I.E. Vivien. "Portrait of Pushkin". 1826
A gouache miniature on an ivory plate and an Italian pencil drawing of the Russified Frenchman J. Vivien. Pushkin ordered him two copies, one he gave to P. A. Osipova, the second to the poet E. A. Baratynsky. This is a small intimate portrait, made simply, without any pretensions, in order to capture the poet’s features as a keepsake for his close friends - the image played the role of a current photograph.

Vasily Andreevich Tropinin. Pushkin. 1827
“Pushkin himself secretly ordered the portrait of Tropinin and presented it to me as a surprise with various farces” (S.A. Sobolevsky from a letter to M.P. Pogodin, 1868)

“The Russian painter Tropinin recently completed a portrait of Pushkin. Pushkin is depicted en trois quart in a dressing gown, sitting near a table. The similarity of the portrait to the original is striking, although it seems to us that the artist could not completely capture the quickness of his gaze and the lively expression of the poet’s face. However, Pushkin’s physiognomy is so definite and expressive that any painter can capture it, but at the same time it is so changeable and unsteady that it is difficult to imagine that one portrait of Pushkin could give a true idea of ​​it. Indeed: a fiery genius, animated by every new impression, must change the expression of his face, which constitutes the soul of his face... The portrait of Pushkin... will be sent to St. Petersburg for exhibition at the Academy. We hope that connoisseurs will appreciate the excellent work of this portrait” (note by publisher N.A. Polevoy in his magazine “Moscow Telegraph”)

Orest Adamovich Kiprensky - Portrait of A.S. Pushkin
Russia/Moscow/Tretyakov Gallery 1827 Oil on canvas
The portrait of 28-year-old Pushkin was created by order of his friend A. Delvig. “An artist’s friend and advisor,” as Alexander Sergeevich called him, Delvig foresaw that the portrait would become an important event in Russian cultural life, and it was no coincidence that he chose the already famous painter. Although Pushkin did not like to pose, he obeyed his friend’s wishes unquestioningly. In July 1827, Kiprensky wrote it in Sheremetyev’s house on the Fontanka. The poet responded to the finished portrait with an impromptu response:
Light-winged fashion favorite,
Although not British, not French,
You created again, dear wizard,
Me, the pet of pure muses,
- And I laugh at the grave,
Left forever from mortal bonds.
I see myself as in a mirror,
But this mirror flatters me.
It says that I will not humiliate
Predilections of important Aonides.
So to Rome, Dresden, Paris
From now on my appearance will be known.

“Kiprensky copied a portrait from Pushkin, which is unusually similar” (in a letter to N.A. Mukhanov’s brother, July 15, 1827)

“Here is the poet Pushkin. Don’t look at the signature: having seen him alive at least once, you will immediately recognize his penetrating eyes and mouth, which lacks only an incessant twitching: this portrait was painted by Kiprensky. (the exhibition opened on September 1)

Nikolai Ivanovich Utkin
Pushkin. 1827
Utkin’s engraving was used for the frontispiece in the almanac “Northern Flowers for 1828” published by Delvig, and was also sold as separate prints on large-format Chinese silk paper. However, the engraving was not just a mechanical reproduction from a pictorial original. In Utkin’s engraving there is no symbolic figure of the muse, no arms crossed on the chest, no highlighted background around the head, and the romantic cloak is almost invisible. In Utkin's engraving, the image of the poet is simpler and more humane. It is probably these qualities that explain the opinion of the poet’s father and his lyceum friends, who considered Utkin’s engraving to be the best portrait of Pushkin.

“Here’s our dear, kind Pushkin, love him! I recommend it to you. His portrait is strikingly similar - as if you see him himself. How you would love him, Sasha, if you saw him like I do, every day. This is a man who wins when you get to know him.” (Delviga’s wife Sofya Mikhailovna in a letter to her friend A.N. Semenova when sending the engraving. February 9, 1828)

"At first glance, his appearance seemed inconspicuous. Of average height, thin, with small features of a dark face. Only when you look closely into his eyes, you see a thoughtful depth and some kind of nobility in these eyes, which you will not forget later. In his pose, in his gestures, accompanying his speech was the restraint of a secular, well-bred man. The best thing, in my opinion, is Utkin’s engraving from Kiprensky’s portrait. In all other copies, his eyes are made too open, almost protruding, his nose is prominent - this is not true. face and a beautiful head, proportional to the face, with sparse, curly hair (I.A. Goncharov “From University Memoirs”).

Gustav Adolf Gippius
Pushkin. 1827-1828
G. A. Gippius, a native of Revel, educated at the Vienna Academy of Arts, who established himself as a lithographer and portrait painter in Germany and Italy, came to Russia in 1819. Pushkin in the Gippius lithograph is deprived of a romantic aura. This is a look at Pushkin from an outsider who does not feel sacred awe of the Russian national genius.

“God, having given him the only genius, did not reward him with an attractive appearance. His face was expressive, of course, but a certain anger and mockery overshadowed the intelligence that was visible in his blue or, better to say, glass eyes... And add to this the terrible sideburns, disheveled hair, nails like claws, short stature , affectation in manners, a daring look at women... the strangeness of the natural and forced disposition and unlimited pride - these are all the physical and mental advantages that the world gave to the Russian poet of the 19th century.” (diary entry by A. A. Olenina, June 18, 1828)

“...His secular brilliant mind is very pleasant in society, especially women. With him I entered into a defensive and offensive alliance against beauties, which is why the sisters nicknamed him Mephistopheles, and me Faust...” (A.N.Wulf. From "Diary" February 6, 1829)

Unknown artist
A.S. Pushkin. 1831
"... My sister tells me interesting news, namely two weddings: brother Alexander Yakovlevich and Pushkin to Goncharova, a first-class Moscow beauty. I wish him to be happy, but I don’t know if it’s possible to hope for this with his morals and his way of thinking. If Mutual responsibility is in the order of things, then no matter how much he, the poor man, bears horns, it is all the more likely that his first thing will be to corrupt his wife. I wish I was wrong about everything..." (A.N. Wulf. From the Diary. "June 28, 1830)

"Natalya Ivanovna<Гончарова>She was quite smart and somewhat well-read, but had bad, rude manners and some vulgarity in her rules. She had several sons and three daughters, Katerina, Alexandra and Natalya. There were about two thousand souls in Yaropolets, but despite this, she never had money and her business was in constant disorder. In Moscow she lived almost in poverty, and when Pushkin came to her house as a groom, she always tried to send him out before dinner or breakfast. She hit her daughters on the cheeks. They sometimes came to balls in tattered shoes and old gloves. Dolgorukaya remembers how at one ball Natalya Nikolaevna was taken to another room and Dolgorukaya gave her her new shoes, because she had to dance with Pushkin.
Pushkin remained the groom for almost a whole year before the wedding. When he lived in the village, Natalya Ivanovna did not allow her daughter to write letters to him herself, but ordered her to write all sorts of nonsense and, among other things, give him instructions so that he would observe fasts, pray to God, etc. Natalya Nikolaevna cried because of this.
Pushkin insisted that they get married as soon as possible. But Natalya Ivanovna bluntly told him that she had no money. Then Pushkin mortgaged the estate, brought money and asked for a dowry..." (E.A. Dolgorukova. Stories about Pushkin, recorded by P.I. Bartenev)

P.F.Sokolov
Portrait of Pushkin. 1836
Sokolov depicted Pushkin in his favorite pose with his arms crossed on his chest.

“His slightly dark face was original, but ugly: a large open forehead, a long nose, thick lips - generally irregular features. But what was magnificent about him was his dark gray eyes with a bluish tint - large, clear. It is impossible to convey the expression of these eyes : some kind of burning, and at the same time caressing, pleasant. I have never seen a more expressive face: smart, kind, energetic." (L. P. Nikolskaya, who met Pushkin at a dinner with the Nizhny Novgorod governor in 1833)

Thomas Wright
Pushkin. 1837
The first mention in print of Pushkin’s portrait is found in the newspaper “Northern Bee” dated March 17, 1837: “The portrait of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is engraved by a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts T. Royt with a photograph (meaning a death plaster mask) from his face and will be made in the end of this March."

“...drawn and engraved by G. Wright. We probably don’t know whether this portrait was drawn from life; it is likely that it was produced for a collection of famous contemporaries, the publication of which had long been begun by G. Wright. The elegant taste in decoration characteristic of this Artist is a distinctive advantage of the portrait. Below is a fac-simile with Pushkin’s signature.” (N.V. Kukolnik in the article “Letter to Paris”, giving an overview of the surviving portraits of Pushkin known to him)

“Please note that Pushkin’s appearance was noted by the Englishman. The head of a social man, the forehead of a thinker. The state mind is visible." The portrait is supplemented by a facsimile reproduction of the signature: “A. Pushkin." The signature gives the sheet graphic completeness and solemnity." (I. E. Repin)

Ivan Loginovich Linev. "Portrait of Pushkin". 1836-37 Canvas, oil.
“...I will tell you as I heard from Pushkin himself: in 1817 or 1818, that is, soon after graduating from the Lyceum, Pushkin met one of his friends, the captain of the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment (I forgot his last name). The captain invited the poet to visit a fortune teller who was famous at that time in St. Petersburg: this lady skillfully predicted the faces coming to her from the lines on her palms. She looked at Pushkin’s hand and noticed that he had features that formed a figure known in palmistry as a table. , usually converging to one side of the palm, Pushkin’s turned out to be completely parallel to each other... The fortune teller looked at them carefully and for a long time and finally announced that the owner of this palm would die a violent death, he would be killed because of a woman by a blond young man...
Pushkin<...>believed in the ominous prophecy of the sorceress to such an extent that when, subsequently, preparing for a duel with the famous American gr. Tolstoy, he shot at the target with me, then repeated more than once: “This one will not kill me, but the blond one will kill, so the witch prophesied,” and sure enough, Dantes was blond<...>Before the duel, Pushkin did not seek death; on the contrary, hoping to shoot Dantes, the poet had to pay for this only with a new exile to Mikhailovskoye, where he would take his wife, and there, in freedom, he planned to start compiling the history of Peter the Great..." (A.N. Wulf. Stories about Pushkin, recorded by M. I. Semevsky)

There is also a mystical version that the prototype for Linev’s portrait of the living poet was the image of Pushkin, already lying in a coffin. It is based on an attempt to reconstruct the events of January 29-30, 1837. It is reliably known that I. S. Turgenev brought a lock of hair, cut by Nikita Kozlov from the head of the deceased poet, to Linev’s house. Then there are speculations... Perhaps, having learned about the death of the poet, I. L. Linev went to the house on the Moika embankment to say goodbye to him and there he stood at the coffin, “absorbing” the image of the poet’s already dead face. Then he “revitalized” this image in the picture, but at the same time retained the features of the dead face he remembered - flattened, with a sunken chin, narrow and not prominent lips.

Fedor Antonovich Bruni
Pushkin (in the coffin). 1837
"... I knew the Russian poet quite closely and for quite a long time; I found in him a character too impressionable, and sometimes frivolous, but always sincere, noble and capable of heartfelt outpourings. His errors seemed to be the fruits of the circumstances among which he lived: everything, what was good in him flowed from his heart. He died for 38 years..." (P.Ya. Vyazemsky. Mitskevich about Pushkin)

"The tragic death of Pushkin awakened St. Petersburg from apathy. All of St. Petersburg was alarmed. There was an extraordinary movement in the city. On the Moika near the Pevchesky Bridge... there was no passage or passage. Crowds of people and carriages besieged the house from morning to night; cab drivers were hired simply to say : “To Pushkin,” and the cab drivers drove straight there.” (I. I. Panaev “Literary Memoirs”)

“We found a dark purple velvet coffin with Pushkin’s body in a semi-dark room, illuminated only by a reddish flickering fire from several dozen wax church candles. The coffin stood on a hearse with two steps, upholstered in black cloth with silver braid... The face of the deceased was unusually calm and very seriously, but not at all gloomy. Magnificent curly dark hair was spread out on the satin pillow, and thick sideburns bordered his sunken cheeks to his chin, protruding from under a high-knotted black wide tie. Pushkin was wearing his favorite dark brown frock coat with a shimmer." (V.P. Burnashev.)

The mask is the only documentary evidence of the structure of Pushkin's face. This is the most precious Pushkin relic. A plaster cast of the poet’s face was made by molder P. Balin under the guidance of the best master of sculptural portraits of that time, S.I. Galberga.

“Before the moment when he had to close his eyes forever, I rushed to him. There were Zhukovsky and Mikhail Vielgorsky, Dal (doctor and writer), and I don’t remember who yet. I had never imagined such a peaceful death before. Immediately went to Galberg. They removed the mask from the deceased, from which a beautiful bust was now prepared."
(from a letter from P. A. Pletnev to V. G. Teplyakov)

“It’s all over! Alexander Sergeevich ordered you to live long!” he [Pletnev] said barely audibly, wiping away a tear with his glove... Please, Count, quickly send him to take off the mask! Yes, come! - Pletnev almost shouted and, turning the cab, somewhere He rode off. And my father ran across the Neva home with me, and immediately sent for the foundry worker Balin, who lived opposite the gates of the Academy on the fourth line, and sent him to remove the mask from Pushkin. Balin removed it surprisingly successfully.”
(Maria Kamenskaya, daughter of Count F.P. Tolstoy, remembering the day of Pushkin’s death
according to M. A. Rybakov)

The first mention of Pushkin’s death mask with hair is found in N.V. Kukolnik’s 1837 article “Letter to Paris,” where he, answering the question “is there a true image of the late Pushkin left,” lists everything he knows: “Sculptural images: 1) mask of A. S. Pushkin; Palazzi also attached hair to half of her head; in a smaller thickness, but in his case, on a blue background, it is framed.” In 1890, literally quoting Kukolnik, S. Librovich stated: “Soon after Pushkin’s death, plaster photographs of the poet’s death mask, with hair attached to half of the head, works by Palazzi, which were sold for 15 rubles, and similar things were put on sale replica masks, also plaster, framed under glass, on a blue background. Both those and other photographs from the mask are now very rare and, as far as we know, are no longer in any of the known Pushkin collections.”

"...In April 1848, I once had the good fortune to dine with the Emperor. At the table, where the only strangers besides me were Counts Orlov and Vronchenko, the conversation turned to the Lyceum and from there - about Pushkin. "I saw Pushkin for the first time, - His Majesty told us, - after the coronation, in Moscow, when he was brought to me from his captivity, completely sick and in wounds... “What would you have done if you had been in St. Petersburg on December 14?” - I asked him casually. “I would be in the ranks of the rebels,” he answered without hesitating.” (M. A. KORF Note about Pushkin)

Notes:
Nikolai Vasilievich Berg(1823-1884) - poet and translator of German, English and Slavic poets
"Arzamas"(1815-1818) - the name of the literary circle. "This was a new consolidation of literary and friendly ties that had already existed between friends. Further, it was a school of mutual literary education, literary camaraderie. And most importantly, the meetings of "Arzamas" were a gathering place where people of different ages, sometimes even with different views and opinions on other extraneous issues, came together to talk about literature, tell each other their works and experiences, and have witty fun and fool around." P.A. Vyazemsky.
"Moscow Telegraph"- Russian magazine published in Moscow in 1825-1834. N. Polevoy once every two weeks. Closed by censorship decision.
Alexander Fomich Veltman(1800-1870) - writer
Philip Philipovich Vigel(1786-1856) - famous memoirist, “a slanderous, proud, touchy, caustic and intelligent man” (according to Herzen’s correct description), member of “Arzamas”
Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya(1805-1863) - daughter of N. N. Raevsky, from January 1825 the wife of S. G. Volkonsky, who followed him to Siberia.
Vladimir Petrovich Gorchakov(1800-1867) - 1820 divisional quartermaster at the headquarters of the 16th division, from May 1822 participant in the topographic survey of Bessarabia, one of Pushkin’s closest friends in Chisinau
Nikolai Ivanovich Wulf(1815-1889) - son of I. I. and N. G. Vulf, owners of the village. Bernova, Tver province, - as a child I saw Pushkin several times visiting the estate of his parents; his memories of the poet were recorded by V. Kolosov.
Alexey Nikolaevich Wulf(1805-1881) - memoirist, author of “The Diary”, close friend of A. S. Pushkin; occupies a prominent place in the biography of Pushkin
Sergei Aleksandrovich Sobolevsky(1803-1870) - Russian bibliophile and bibliographer, author of epigrams and other comic poems, friend of Pushkin, Lermontov and many other writers of the Golden Age of Russian literature, Prosper Merimee and many other European writers
Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov(1812-1891) - famous writer
Petr Andreevich Vyazemsky(1792-1878) - poet, literary critic
Natalya Ivanovna Goncharova, nee Zagryazhskaya (1785-1848) - mother of the poet’s wife Natalya Nikolaevna.
Ekaterina Alekseevna Dolgorukova, princess, born Malinovskaya (1811-1872) - daughter of the director of the Moscow Archive of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs A.F. Malinovsky, since 1834 the wife of the officer of the Life Hussar Regiment R.A. Dolgorukov. Her mother A.P. Malinovskaya took part in Pushkin’s matchmaking with Goncharova and was the bride’s estranged mother.
Pyotr Aleksandrovich Pletnev(1791-1865) - critic, poet of the Pushkin era. Pletnev was a faithful and caring friend, to whom Zhukovsky, Pushkin, and Gogol turned; Pletnev served all of them both in action and in advice; They valued his opinion very much.
Vladimir Petrovich Burnashev(1812-1888) - writer and agronomist
Ivan Ivanovich Panaev(1812-1862) - Russian writer, literary critic, journalist.
Korf Modest Andreevich(1800-1876) - baron, since 1872 count, Pushkin’s comrade at the Lyceum, who quickly made a bureaucratic career

Famusov

That's it, you are all proud!
Would you ask what the fathers did?
We should learn by looking at our elders...
A. S. Griboyedov

In the 60s of the 19th century, a new type of hero appeared in Russian literature, which is usually called the “new man.” This hero replaced the “superfluous man,” the main character of the works of the first half of the 19th century. “Superfluous people”, smart, educated, are not satisfied with the life around them and the ideals of their contemporary society. All of them are dissatisfied with their life without meaning, but cannot find a serious goal that would capture them and give meaning to their lives. That’s why they are called “extra people.” A convincing description of “superfluous people” is given by N.A. Dobrolyubov in the article “What is Oblomovism?”

The life position of the “superfluous people” was more or less clear for its time: the heroes demonstratively opposed themselves to the surrounding society and thereby were a living reproach to this society: why do young, educated, capable people turn out to be “superfluous”? But during the first revolutionary situation and later, the position of withdrawal from public life no longer becomes sufficient. We must do things in new historical conditions. New active heroes began to be called “new people” following N.G. Chernyshevsky, who so called the positive heroes of his social novel “What is to be done?”

The novel “Fathers and Sons” introduces a “new man” - Bazarov. True, Turgenev calls him a “nihilist” and explains in detail what he means by this foreign word. Having heard it for the first time, Nikolai Petrovich says: “This is from the Latin nihil - nothing... this word means a person who does not recognize anything” (V). Arkady immediately clarifies: “A nihilist is a person who does not bow to any authority, who does not accept a single principle on faith, no matter how much respect this principle is surrounded by” (ibid.). In other words, it is not true that Bazarov does not believe in anything, he trusts “experience”, “practical truth”, that is, he does not believe in “principles”, but believes in frogs. D.I. Pisarev, who, according to his socio-political views, should be classified as a real (and not literary) nihilist, approves of Bazarov’s similar beliefs: “It is precisely here, in the frog itself, that the salvation and renewal of the Russian people lies” (“ Motives of Russian drama", X). In the natural sciences, the critic explains his thought, phrases and authorities mean nothing; experimental evidence is needed here, and only the scientist who “will live a full mental life and look at things judiciously and seriously” can find them (ibid.).

The conversation about nihilists ends with a caustic remark from Pavel Petrovich: “Yes. Before there were Hegelists, and now there are nihilists. Let's see how you will exist in emptiness, in airless space" (V). This causticism has its own reason: no matter what Bazarov and his like-minded people say, they cannot escape the knowledge and achievements of previous generations, that is, “fathers.” This reveals one of the laws of dialectics (the transition from quantity to quality), formulated, among other things, by G. Hegel.

Bazarov as a “new man” is contrasted in the novel with the main ideological opponent - Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov, who, both in his beliefs and in his life history, is very reminiscent of “superfluous people”; it is not for nothing that Bazarov without ceremony calls him an “archaic phenomenon” (IV). In turn, Pavel Petrovich did not like the long-haired nihilist with bad manners and enormous pride at first sight. Bazarov’s bad manners, carefully noted by the writer (careless answers through clenched teeth, stomping on flower beds, sitting on the table, a careless pose “lounging” in a chair, yawning during a conversation), can be regarded as a conscious challenge to the aristocrats on the part of the “medical son”: Bazarov neglects rules of decency and demonstratively mocks the sleek hands and tight collars of the slacker Pavel Petrovich.

Both of them argue a lot in the novel and thus reveal their philosophical beliefs, political views, and life position. Turgenev cites in detail the statements of each of them about the people, state power, political struggle, the social structure of Russia, Russian history, science, art, etc. Bazarov wins these disputes, which proves the thoughtfulness, thoroughness of his beliefs and at the same time the vulnerability of many of the views of Pavel Petrovich, who, due to his age and long rural solitude, fell behind life. The former socialite does not understand that a new time is coming and it requires decisive action, and not just beautiful, albeit fair, reasoning. Bazarov says about the new time in the novel: “Before, in a more recent time, we said that our officials take bribes, that we have no roads, no trade, no proper court... And then we realized that we were talking, that’s all just chatting about our ulcers is not worth the trouble (...)” (X). Repeating this thought, Bazarov turns to Arkady: “Your brother, a nobleman, cannot go further than noble humility or noble boiling, and this is nothing. You, for example, don’t fight—and you already imagine yourself to be great—but we want to fight” (XXVI).

Thus, two fundamentally different life positions are revealed to the reader. Bazarov is a democrat both by origin (his grandfather plowed the land, and his father was a regimental doctor), and by conviction (“Our dust will eat your eyes, our dirt will stain you, and you have not grown up to us...” (XXVI), - says the main character to Arkady), and by his working lifestyle. Pavel Petrovich is an aristocrat, proud of his family, taking advantage of the fortune of his ancestors and demanding respect for himself “for the fact that he generally dined well, and once even dined with Wellinggon at Louis Philippe’s” (VII). Bazarov's behavior proves that he is a purposeful, efficient, strong-willed person. Turgenev's hero is a poor student, just like Rodion Raskolnikov, but he does not despair, withstands all the difficulties (lack of money, neglect of rich fellow students, enormous physical stress) that broke Raskolnikov, continues to study and is engaged in social activities. Bazarov is characterized by a materialistic worldview and serious studies in the natural sciences. The businesslike attitude of a nihilist is to the liking of the author, who, however, does not forget that Bazarov formulated his main goal very clearly: to break everything old, “to clear the place” (X).

Turgenev, of course, does not like such “destructive” sentiments, but, being an honest writer, he shows that even during the holidays in Maryino the nihilist continues to work persistently, cuts up frogs, treats little Mitya. And Pavel Petrovich, in the same Maryino, pays great attention to his appearance and manners, but at the same time does not interfere in the management of the estate, leaving this prosaic concern to his brother, he himself consoles his broken heart, looking for features of similarity with Princess R. Bazarov in Fenechka’s face he reasonably asks the elder Kirsanov his caustic question: “Excuse me, Pavel Petrovich, you respect yourself and sit with your hands folded; What good is this for the bien public?” (X).

Turgenev portrayed Bazarov as a man with a strong character, which was manifested, for example, in the hero’s love story for Odintsova. Although the nihilist confidently declares at the beginning of the novel that there is no love, but only a physiological attraction between the sexes, he falls in love quite romantically and is rejected by the “lady of his heart.” Thus, the story of Bazarov and Odintsova essentially repeats the story of Pavel Petrovich and Princess R. However, unhappy love “breaks” Kirsanov (“the extra person”): he loses interest in life, leaves for the village, where he completely surrenders to his sad memories and experiences. Unhappy love inflicts a severe mental wound on Bazarov (“the new man”), but cannot break him: he consciously seeks distraction in his work, helps his father treat peasants, etc.

Despite these serious differences, the two antipodean heroes are similar in some ways, for example, both poorly know and understand the life problems of men, although both are convinced of the opposite. Aristocrat Pavel Petrovich “always stands up for the peasants; True, when talking to them, he frowns and sniffs cologne” (VII); democrat Bazarov “didn’t even suspect that in the eyes of the peasants he was still something like a fool” (XXVII). Turgenev cites a conversation between a young nihilist and a man who cannot answer the master’s abstruse questions: the interlocutors do not understand each other at all. Having listened to the absurdity that the earth stands on three fish, and the village world lovingly obeys the strict master, Bazarov “shrugged his shoulders contemptuously and turned away, and the man wandered off,” reasoning that the master “was chattering something; I wanted to scratch my tongue. It is known, master; does he really understand? (XXVII).

To summarize, it should be said that Turgenev made an attempt to truthfully describe the new hero of Russian public life at a time when the ideological and psychological “portrait” of revolutionary democrats had not yet fully formed. And yet, many aspects of Bazarov’s character, as history has shown, were so correctly noted by the writer that they were repeated in the characters of real Russian revolutionary democrats (Dobrolyubov, Pisarev and others).

Portraying the “new man,” Turgenev contrasted him with the hero of the previous era—the “superfluous man.” The author showed that Bazarov has a stronger character than Pavel Petrovich: efficiency, determination, will, desire for action for the common good, breadth of life views and tasks favorably distinguish the young nihilist from the sophisticated gentleman, selfish, immersed in personal experiences, subordinate to external circumstances .

At the same time, the writer is frightened by the too radical beliefs of the “new people,” their contempt for universal human values ​​(family relationships, love), and disregard for the cultural and scientific traditions developed by their “fathers and grandfathers.” A complex attitude towards the “new man” allowed Turgenev to create a multifaceted, interesting image of the main character.

Where is this sculpture
Alexander Kachalin

Somewhere near Leninsky Prospekt?THE THIRD IS NOT ODD 6

Total 2.

Which empire that ever existed on earth was the largest and most powerful for its time?

Daniel Pago 2

The British Empire was the largest in the history of mankind with colonies on all continents (42.7 million km2). In second place is the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan. It is the largest continental unitary state in the history of mankind. It was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206 and included the largest territory in world history: from the Danube to the Sea of ​​Japan and from Novgorod to Cambodia.

Oleg Romanko 9

Total 2.

What determines the fate of humanity in this world? Some invisible being or law, like the Hand of the Lord hovering over the world?

Guest 1 Total 1 .

How to describe the drawing “Prometheus and Atlas” and answer the questions, see?

Assignment on the history of the “Ancient World” for grade 5:

Describe the drawing “Prometheus and Atlas”. What kind of torment and why did Zeus subject Prometheus to it?

What does the giant Atlas hold on his shoulders?

lady 2

This drawing depicts the heavy burden of the titan brothers Prometheus and Atlas. Titans in ancient Greek mythology are deities of the second generation, children of Earth and Heaven (Gaia and Uranus).

On the right in the picture is Prometheus, he is called the protector of people. According to legend, he stole fire from Olympus, which was taken from people in order to return it back and carried it to Earth in a reed stalk. He showed people how to preserve it. After which Zeus, the supreme god, punished Prometheus and chained him to a rock. Each time an eagle flew to him and pecked out his liver, which grew back. His punishment lasted many centuries. Prometheus was immortal, like other gods. And in the end he was freed by Hercules, who killed the eagle with an arrow.

On the left in the picture is Atlas, who holds the vault of heaven on his shoulders. According to ancient Greek myth, Zeus punished him this way for participating in the battle on the side of the Titans against the gods. Titan was the father of the Hespides, who guarded the golden apples that prolong youth. When Hercules needed to get them, he agreed with Atlas to help him. Hercules could not cope with the serpent guarding the garden, which is also depicted in the picture. Therefore, Hercules temporarily shifted the burden onto his shoulders while Atlas was getting apples. After the apples were received, Hercules cunningly transferred the firmament of heaven onto the shoulders of Atlas and he held it until the Titans and the gods made peace.

Black 2

Total 3.

Before Prometheus stole fire, were all people same-sex or asexual?

The Greek myth says that as punishment for the fact that Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to people, Zeus chained him to a rock and sent the first woman Pandora to people as punishment??
It turns out we were same-sex, because this is not only in Greek myths, but for example in Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine!

Zeus swore revenge. He ordered Hephaestus to fashion from clay the likeness of a bashful maiden, named Pandora. [French explanatory dictionary] Le Petit Robert 2. Paris, 1990, p. 1362). “After Zeus created beautiful evil instead of good, he brought the Virgin, where other gods were with people... The immortal gods and mortal people were amazed, as they saw a skillful bait, death for mortals” [Hesiod. Theogony, p. 585–589. Per. with others - gr. V. Veresaeva]. Then in Hesiod’s Theogony (VIII-VII centuries BC) there are 22 lines of reproach of women, where we read: to the grief of men, women were sent into the world, partakers of bad deeds.

Guest 1

I. A. Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons” was published on the eve of the peasant reform and caused heated debate. In the image of the key character, the author showed a “new man”, endowing him with merits and negative character traits.

Already from the beginning of the story, through the dialogue in the Kirsanovs’ house, it becomes clear that Evgeny Bazarov belongs to the nihilists who deny traditional foundations, art and everything that cannot be verified scientifically.

In further episodes, Turgenev reveals the strengths and weaknesses of a man with extraordinary thinking, who firmly defends his position. A clear negative trait in the image of Bazarov is a skeptical attitude towards love. He sincerely considers the bright feeling insignificant, but nature subjects Evgeni to the test of love for Anna Odintsova. He tries to fight the emotions that unexpectedly caused an internal conflict. Only before his death does Bazarov realize the utopian nature of the theory of nihilism. The author shows that a person is not able to deny spiritual feelings, therefore he condemns this character trait of the hero.

Bazarov's positive qualities include sincerity and openness. Servants and peasant children are drawn to him. Unlike Pavel Kirsanov, he is not arrogant and is capable of mercy, as evidenced by the scene with the treatment of little Mitya. Fenechka’s child sits calmly in his arms, although he had previously refused to go to Arkady. Turgenev emphasizes the hero’s kindness: “children feel who loves them,” he clearly welcomes this character trait of Bazarov.

At the same time, the author condemns Eugene’s cold attitude towards his parents and denial of affection for them. Bazarov rarely visited his home; he was tired of communicating with the elderly, although they always looked forward to him. The father literally did not leave his son a single step. It is obvious that Evgeny himself has tender feelings for his loved ones, but his character does not allow him to openly show affection. In the episode of Bazarov’s departure with Arkady, the old people are shown to be deeply unhappy, which indicates the condemnation of the culprit of their sadness.

Thus, through the hero’s behavior in various situations, the author shows his own attitude towards him. Turgenev does not approve of nihilism, the denial of obvious things and feelings, and neglect of parental love. At the same time, he accepts the sincerity, unselfishness and nobility in the character of the “new man”. The author does not share Bazarov's views, but clearly respects and sympathizes with his hero.

Updated: 2017-02-01

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