A Frenchman and a priest for Pushkin and a German for Turgenev: Who were the first teachers of the great Russian writers

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

The first teachers undoubtedly play an important role in the life of every person. They not only lay the foundation of knowledge, but also influence the formation of the personality. Today, the child meets the first teacher at school, and in the 19th century, noble families invited tutors and teachers directly home. It was the home teachers who prepared the heroes of our today's review for admission to the gymnasium, taught and educated future classics.

Alexander Pushkin

Governors were usually invited to the Pushkin family, who for some reason did not stay for a long time. The Count of Montfort, thanks to his communication with children in his native language, allowed the young genius to perfectly learn the French language. After him, not only French, but also Latin was taught in the family by the teacher Ruslo, who was replaced by Shendel and Lodge.

Alexander studied English with his brothers and sisters with Miss Bailey's governess. Mathematics and the Russian language were taught by one of the best teachers of that time, Alexander Belikov, a priest of the Mariinsky Institute. At the same time, Alexander Sergeevich read a lot, and at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he entered, Pushkin surprised his comrades with a broad outlook and a good memory.

Mikhail Lermontov

The grandmother of Mikhail Lermontov, who loved her grandson very much and agreed with his father about raising the boy until the age of 16, did everything for the future writer to receive a good education. A separate class was equipped for him on the family estate, and the best teachers of that time gave the boy the basics of knowledge.

The first educator of the future poet was the Frenchman Jacot, later he was replaced by Jean Capet. Then the scientist Levi and Christina Roemer, who taught German, studied Lermontov, and the upbringing was entrusted to the governor Viso. Before entering the Moscow boarding school, Alexei Zinoviev, a teacher from the university who also became the first reader of the young poet, studied Russian and Latin languages, geography and history with the future poet. Literature was taught to Lermontov by Moscow University professor Alexei Merzlyakov.

However, in addition to these teachers, there were also many teachers with whom Mikhail Lermontov studied history and languages, mathematics and geography, drawing and music. The boy studied with interest, and his grandmother strongly encouraged the grandson's craving for knowledge and even gathered the peers of Mikhail Yuryevich, so that together it was more fun for them to master science. In total, 10 boys attended the classes together with the future poet.

Lev Tolstoy

The aunts who raised Leo Tolstoy, his brothers and sister, wanted to give their children a good education, and therefore hired 11 teachers who visited their nephews. The future writer was only five when he began to study with his brothers. Unfortunately, studying was not easy for Tolstoy, because the older children received more attention.

The very first teacher of Lev Nikolaevich was the Frenchman Saint-Thomas, very strict and demanding. He taught the boys French and Latin, but desperately did not like the future classics. When Saint-Thomas first punished the little Leo by locking him in a closet and threatening to flog, the impressionable boy was simply shocked. Lev Nikolaevich was much more sympathetic to the German Fyodor Rossel, a kind man with a difficult fate, who survived the horrors of captivity and escape from his native country.

Fedor Dostoevsky

Despite the fact that Fyodor Dostoevsky was born and raised in a poor family, the parents tried to give their children a good education. They became the first teachers for children themselves: they taught literacy, the basics of mathematics, reading and languages.

Later, the Drachousov brothers took the place of teachers: Nikolai taught French, Alexander - mathematics, Vladimir - literature. The children were introduced to the Word of God by a guest deacon, who could retell Bible stories in such a way that even mother Maria Feodorovna forgot about her business and listened with enthusiasm to the teacher, who told instructive stories with inspiration and emotion.

Ivan Turgenev

From early childhood, Ivan Sergeevich was raised by tutors, Germans or French. But the main influence on little Ivan was his mother, an emotional woman and not always able to restrain her emotions. The slightest offense could lead to serious punishment. At the same time, Varvara Turgeneva was very educated, knew languages and communicated with children mainly in French.

After Ivan was nine years old, the Turgenevs returned from Europe, where they lived, to Russia and hired teachers in Russian, French and Latin, dance, mathematics, history, geography and drawing. But the greatest mark in the memory and soul of the future writer was left by Ivan Klyushnikov, a teacher at the Weidengammer Moscow boarding school, who taught not only in an educational institution, but also came to give lessons at the Turgenevs' home. He introduced Ivan Turgenev to Russian history and became not only a mentor, but also a senior comrade for Ivan Sergeevich. Their communication lasted for many years.

Today, children begin to study most often not at home, but in kindergartens, which are already have long ceased to be just a place where a child is while parents work. Many requirements are put forward for preschool institutions, but the most important of them is the harmonious and comprehensive development of the baby.