Who gave birth to Alexander Pushkin's illegitimate child, and How the great poet reacted to this event

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The poet Alexander Pushkin is known as a great lover of women. Contemporaries argued that not a single lady could resist him, to whom he showed signs of attention. He has dozens of passionate affairs with a wide variety of women, young and mature, beautiful and ordinary. A certain Olga Kalashnikova also got into Pushkin's Don Juan list. Read in the material who this girl was, what kind of relationship connected her with the poet and how this novel ended.

The loving poet and his Don Juan list

Once, while visiting the noblewoman Elizaveta Ushakova, Alexander Pushkin, who at that time was 30 years old, left a list in the woman's diary. It consisted of women's names, and the poet's signature was accompanied by a satirical self-portrait. On it Pushkin was tempted by the devil himself. It can be assumed without a doubt that the poet wrote the names of his mistresses. Whether it was an intimate relationship, or Pushkin's fantasies associated with falling in love - is now unknown. It should be noted that the poet was gallant, so there were no surnames on the list, only names or cute nicknames. You can count 37 female names. The list was made in two columns. The first was short and the second long.

According to historians, the first column is the hottest and biggest loves, the second column is short-lived novels, intrigues. In the second list, towards the end, you can see the name Olga. Biographers say that Pushkin was referring to Olga Kalashnikova. It was this woman who gave birth to the great poet's son, whom he, however, did not want at all.

An affair with a young serf peasant woman Kalashnikova

When Pushkin was twenty-five years old, in 1824, he visited the Boldino estate in Pskov. It was there that the poet had a passionate affair with a nineteen-year-old peasant serf, who was the daughter of the estate manager. This was Olga Kalashnikova. The girl lost her head from the attention of an ardent poet. In the notes of the Decembrist Ivan Pushchin, a friend of Pushkin, you can find a mention of the novel of Alexander and Olga.

How long this relationship lasted, today it is difficult to say. Researchers believe that at least one and a half years. It is believed that some of Pushkin's poems were dedicated to Kalashnikova, and that the poet hinted about this love story in the work "Eugene Onegin". Be that as it may, after a while, around the winter of 1826, the serf of Pushkin's heart confessed to pregnancy.

Illegitimate son Paul

Based on Pushkin's correspondence with friends, one can understand how he reacted to this event. The poet did not even want to think about the recognition of the illegitimate child, and even more so about his upbringing. He was embarrassed by Olga's low social background. In a letter to Prince Vyazemsky, the poet wrote that he wanted to get rid of the woman by sending her to Moscow for secret childbirth, and then transfer the baby to the family of the prince's serfs. It seems that the child will be separated from his mother, Alexander was not embarrassed. The prince did not agree with this decision and proposed another option: write a letter of repentance to the girl's father and entrust him with the fate of Olga. At the same time, it should be noted that when Pushkin becomes a master, he will pay in full for everything that happened.

It is not known for certain how Pushkin reacted, whether such a letter was written, whether a serious conversation took place. However, after a while, Kalashnikova gave birth to a boy who was named Pavel. He was recorded in the family book as the son of a sexton, while Olga was named his godmother. This manipulation made it possible to "hush up" the incident. Kalashnikova remained an honest girl for those around her, while, being the godmother to the child, she could spend all her time with him. Alas, fate was cruel to little Pavlusha. He lived only two months and flew to heaven.

How Olga Kalashnikova lived after the death of a child

Olga had to somehow live on, because her son could not be returned. She managed to free herself from the bonds of serfdom: for this she became the wife of a certain ruined nobleman. But there was a kind of calculation, since her father had a considerable fortune and could help her daughter's husband. At the same time, the girl became a noblewoman. Both parties appeared to be pleased with the decision. There is information that in the following years financial difficulties constantly arose in the family, and Olga often turned to Pushkin for help. The poet did not particularly seek to finance Olga, and in most cases refused, but sometimes he still sponsored a woman. True, the amounts were very modest. After 1840, there is no mention of Kalashnikova. It is not known how her fate developed and in what year she left this world.

Today one can treat Pushkin's actions in different ways. Some believe that he acted unworthily, refusing to recognize his own son. On the other hand, such behavior was the norm for the noble society of that time. The poet strove to protect himself and his family from shame. However, there are examples when poets who were Pushkin's contemporaries did not pay attention to the conventions associated with estates in such cases. For example, the poet from England Shelley married a girl from a simple family. She worked in a cheap tavern. A romantic and progressive man decided to help her, save her from a humiliating beggarly position and make her a lady of high society.

By the way, Russian classics did not immediately become famous. AND often the authorities had to do with it.