7 women of the writer Turgenev, who were a source of inspiration for him

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

The personal life of this great writer was far from ideal, but thanks to her he was able to create masterpieces of Russian literature. He introduced us to a number of "Turgenev young ladies" who, like no one else, loved deeply and selflessly. But the men from his works were usually indecisive and easily gave up. Turgenev never hid that most of his characters have their own prototypes from life. And if he had not experienced a wonderful feeling of love, he would not have been able to write so many works. There were many women in Turgenev's life, but still he had seven most significant novels.

Ekaterina Shakhovskaya broke the heart of young Turgenev

For the first time Turgenev knew the feeling of love when he was fifteen years old. His beloved was nineteen-year-old Catherine, the daughter of Princess Shakhovskoy. They saw each other quite often, since their estates were in the neighborhood. Young people constantly came to visit each other. Ivan Sergeevich was captivated not only by the beauty of the girl, but also by her talent for poetry. Inside him passionate feelings raged, but he could not find the courage to confess them to the young princess. And, perhaps, they would have a great future, if not for one thing.

The charming Catherine captivated the heart of not only a timid young man, but also his father, Sergei Nikolaevich. And unfortunately for Turgenev Jr., Catherine reciprocated his father. These events broke the heart of Ivan Sergeevich, for a long time he could not come to terms with these relations between people dear to him. Over time, the wounds on his heart healed, but he did not forget about these events, describing them years later in his story "First Love". The main character Zinaida Zasekina recognizes the image of Princess Yekaterina Shakhovskaya, who broke his young heart to smithereens. Despite the large number of condemnations, Turgenev never hid from readers that all the heroes of this story, like many others, have real prototypes.

By the way, the fate of Turgenev Sr. and Catherine was tragic. The writer's father died after parting with Catherine. According to rumors, Sergei Nikolaevich committed suicide. A year later, Catherine got married, having given birth to a spouse of a son. But not even a week had passed since Catherine passed away, following her former lover.

Avdotya Ivanova gave birth to a daughter to the writer

The next significant woman in the life of the writer was the seamstress Dunya, whom he met when he arrived at his mother's estate. At that time he was twenty-three years old. Avdotya did not evoke special emotions and feelings in the writer, but still she was able to leave a significant mark on Turgenev's life. The girl became pregnant from him and gave birth to a daughter, Pelageya.

Turgenev learned about paternity after eight long years, having arrived for some time from abroad. It turned out that the writer's mother, Varvara Petrovna, took the girl away and kept her on her estate as a serf, and sent Dunya to her parents in Moscow, suddenly marrying her off. Although Ivan Sergeevich did not officially recognize paternity, he still did not abandon the child.

True, he changed his daughter's name from Pelagia to Polinetta, in honor of his beloved, who at that time was the opera singer Pauline Viardot. By the way, she reacted positively to the news about the suddenly appeared daughter of Turgenev, accepting her as her own. Polinetta went to Paris, where she was brought up with two children of the Viardot family. Also, the girl sometimes went with her father on various trips abroad.

Tatyana Bakunina could not evoke strong feelings in Ivan Turgenev

The writer met Tatyana Bakunina just a couple of months after the affair with Avdotya. This happened when the writer spent the whole winter visiting the estate of his friend Mikhail Bakunin. His attractive and intelligent sister Tatyana was three years older than Turgenev, and was fond of German philosophy.

At first, Ivan and Tatiana had friendly relations, but over time they grew into something more. Moreover, Tatyana felt great feelings, who was crazy about the writer. Turgenev, in turn, could not resist the onslaught of the feelings of a girl in love, responding, as it seemed to him, in return. But he soon realized that he still did not feel the same feelings as Tatyana. Still, this affair inspired Turgenev to write a couple of poems and stories, including his famous work called "Parasha".

Olga Turgeneva remained a short affair

Mutual feelings flared up in Ivan Sergeevich and his cousin Olga Alexandrovna. Turgenev even thought about the wedding, but the prospect of marrying a relative frightened and raised great doubts. So this romance turned out to be fleeting. But for the creativity of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, these relations contributed. Thanks to them, the novel "Smoke" appeared, where Olga became the prototype of the heroine Tatiana.

Maria Tolstaya left her husband for Ivan Sergeevich

Ivan Sergeevich's new hobby is Maria, the sister of Leo Tolstoy. The girl was married and was twelve years younger than Turgenev. The interest that the writer showed to her, she took for great love. As a result, she even decided to take a terrible step for those times - to leave her husband. Upon learning of such a decision, Turgenev literally immediately lost interest in the girl and lost all interest in her.

Judging by the statements of Ivan Sergeevich, he liked to achieve unapproachable and forbidden women more. As the saying goes, the forbidden fruit is sweet. The writer argued that most of all he was attracted to women with power, so to speak, with a core. He said that he could be happy only with the woman who put her heel on his neck, pressing his face into the mud.

So Maria was in vain in a hurry to please the writer, putting her whole previous life on the line. Having sacrificed her reputation and position in society, Mary had to go abroad, and soon she completely decided to go to a monastery. So this romance ended quickly enough. But nevertheless he managed to leave a mark in the works of Turgenev, because Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya became the prototype of Vera in the story "Faust".

Pauline Viardot captivated Ivan Sergeevich for forty years

Turgenev had an affair with the Spanish-French opera singer Pauline Viardot for almost a lifetime. He first saw her in the fall of 1843 at the opera house in St. Petersburg. The writer was then twenty-five years old, and the singer was twenty-two years old. Polina played one of the main roles in the Italian opera. All the intelligentsia of St. Petersburg gathered to listen to the young talent.

Despite the nondescript appearance, stoop, large facial features, Viardot managed to captivate Turgenev with his voice and charisma, which overshadowed the singer's external flaws. Literally at first glance, from the first notes, Turgenev realized that he was gone. The feelings that this opera diva aroused in him were like crazy love.

In the same autumn, Turgenev met Pauline's husband, Louis Viardot, on a hunt, an art critic, critic and director of the Italian Theater in Paris. And soon the writer's dream came true. He personally met Polina, whom he cannot forget and throw out of his head for several months. Ivan Sergeevich, who was head over heels in love, was not even embarrassed by the fact that the girl was already married. The most interesting thing is that Ivan Sergeevich and Louis became close friends, they went hunting together, spent evenings talking. And he paid no attention to the flirtation between his wife and the other.

When the tour in Russia ended, Ivan Sergeevich, without hesitation, decided to go to Europe with the Viardot family. Blinded by love, the writer tried to stop his mother, who did not like Polina terribly, she called her "the damned gypsy." Not even his mother's words stopped him that she would not give him a penny for the trip.

So, despite the fact that Varvara Turgeneva was one of the richest and most prosperous women in Russia, her son left for Europe with only the fee that he received for one short story. This money was enough for him only for a couple of months of living in Europe. So he had to create a series of stories called "Notes of a Hunter". And while he was painting this masterpiece, he was provided by the Viardot family.

But there were times when the Viardot family went on tour, leaving the writer without a means of subsistence. Here friends and Aunt Polina came to the rescue. But the writer did not always manage these funds rationally. For example, once Pauline's aunt took pity on the poor fellow, giving Turgenev thirty francs, twenty-six of which the fanatical lover spent on a trip to Paris to find out the latest news about her Pauline from the newspapers.

And once, in the absence of Louis and Pauline, Turgenev almost died of cholera. But he was lucky, his Russian colleague Alexander Ivanovich Herzen came to the rescue, who took him to his place, literally went out and put him on his feet.

But with each return of Polina to Paris, the writer forgot the difficult times, and his life again acquired meaning and happiness. Although Polina herself was with him more out of pity, and also to amuse her pride. Despite the fact that they mostly had platonic love, they were still able to spend a couple of weeks alone. It was a happy time for Turgenev. Coincidence or not, but nine months later, Polina gave birth to a son. Officially, the child was from Paul, but it was rumored that it was from Ivan Sergeevich.

Soon, Turgenev had to return to Russia for a short time to settle matters after the death of his mother. At the same time, Gogol dies, to whom Turgenev wrote an obituary, for which he was arrested. A couple of days later, the writer was transferred to house arrest on his estate. But after a year of imprisonment, having learned about Polina's concerts in Russia, the writer disguised himself as an ordinary tradesman in order to go to his beloved under a false passport. His risk, one might say, was not justified. Their meeting was rather cold and fast, the singer almost immediately left back to Europe.

But this did not affect Turgenev's feelings. Immediately after lifting his arrest, he went to Paris. Having settled next to the Viardot family, he became a true friend of this family. Over the years, Polina began to lose her beautiful voice, which forced her to leave the stage. Now Turgenev, who at that time was already famous both in Russia and in Europe, became the main earner and could set his own conditions. The main one was to live as one big family. Polina had to agree.

Now Pauline, Louis, their two children, Ivan Sergeevich and his illegitimate daughter lived under the same roof. In the same composition, they appeared at various social events. So they lived for seven years. Turgenev was happy that he finally became a real member of this family. By the way, Louis was not at all embarrassed by this, he received everything he needed from his wife, and he spent time with Ivan Sergeevich as with a good friend. Turgenev, on the other hand, said that since fate did not give him his family, he nailed to a stranger. Ivan Sergeevich advised all his acquaintances to marry, showing from his own experience how hard it is in old age to sit on the edge of a stranger's nest.

Marya Savina - Turgenev's last love

This actress captivated the writer literally at first sight. He saw Marya Savina on the stage of the theater, where she played the role of Varenka based on Turgenev's play "A Month in the Country". She so talentedly brought this image to life that even the writer himself was surprised and proud that he created such an interesting character. After the performance, he made his way backstage, giving her a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

The actress, in turn, kissed the writer on the cheek. This manifestation of tender feelings tied Turgenev even more to the girl. He fell in love and confessed his feelings to her. Since the girl was thirty-six years younger than him, the writer did not count on reciprocity. She considered him a friend, shared her experiences and preparations for the imminent wedding. Their meetings were rare, but they often wrote letters to each other.

When Maria's marriage cracked, Turgenev, overjoyed, decided to go abroad with her. But his plans were not destined to come true. In the sixty-fourth year of his life, the writer died with the Viardot family. Maria, as a token of her friend's memory, came to the writer's house-museum for a long time to put a bouquet of flowers in front of the portrait of Ivan Sergeevich.