Whom and for what Pushkin called "joy", or Real male friendship of the great writer

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

In the monographs of Pushkin scholars Pavel Voinovich Nashchokin is mentioned as the main and truly devoted friend, admirer and critic of Pushkin. Alexander Sergeevich got married in Nashchokin's tailcoat and was buried in it. It was Nashchokin who lost consciousness upon hearing the news of the poet's death and spent long days in a severe fever. Only the poet called it the words "my joy", entrusting his new lines to the unbiased and competent gaze of a faithful friend. Addressing his entourage, Pushkin said: "You all need me for some reason, and only Nashchokin loves me."

The son of a general who defied Suvorov

All the creative elite of Moscow and St. Petersburg once visited the house of the art expert Pavel Nashchokin. This man was loved and respected for his rare intelligence and charm. Nashchokin represented a noble family with a history spanning more than 500 years. His ancestor, Dmitry Nashchoka, went to the boyars and served the Moscow prince Simeon the Proud. Most of the representatives of the men of the Nashchokins were military or diplomats, were at the royal courts. Nashchokin's father, Voin Vasilievich, was a prominent figure in the Catherine era with the rank of general. True, glory overtook this daredevil with a quick-tempered disposition after he slapped Generalissimo Suvorov in the face.

Paul was in many ways similar to his father, inheriting, in the first place, extreme unpredictability. At the same time, he took the kindness of character and deep wisdom from his mother. Having received an excellent education at home, he continued to study at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he met Pushkin. The study, however, did not work out. Disillusioned with the sciences, the young man decided on a military career, but soon resigned with the rank of lieutenant and from the army.

Closest friend and first critic of Pushkin

Never, to anyone and about anyone, Pushkin wrote the way he did with Nashchokin. The rarest human affection is evidenced by the long-term correspondence of friends, full of frankness and tenderness. Pushkin trusted Nashchokin with the most intimate thoughts and feelings, referring to him as "my joy." It was the most honest friendship of hearts, although much space in the correspondence was given to a host of other issues, including money. Pushkin trusted his comrade in business like no one else.

In addition to friendly relations and trust in everyday matters, Pushkin and Nashchokin were associated with literary predilections. And if Pavel Voinovich did not work out with an official education, then independent work in this direction was carried on by him tirelessly. Nashchokin read a lot, communicated with outstanding people and had a unique literary taste. One of Pavel's friends, the director Kulikov (pseudonym - Krestovsky), wrote about this. He noted that thanks to his amazing reading, Nashchokin was an expert in French and Russian literature, studying the works of many other peoples in translations. Nashchokin knew life, gravitated towards the fine arts, had a critical instinct, intuitively making the most precise "judgments". When the Russian elite read Marlinsky, Nashchokin openly ridiculed the pretentious manner of the author, prophetically predicting his imminent failure. And he himself delved into the then unpopular Balzac, forcing everyone he met to read him and shouting about French talent right and left.

Pushkin did not doubt his friend's critical talent and was the first to read new works to him. I fully agreed with his assessments and subtle criticisms. After all, Pavel Voinovich, honest with his friend, did not always admire Pushkin's lines. He allowed himself to censure, and as harshly and categorically as he saw fit.

Cold-bloodedness and eccentricities

Nashchokin never had his own home, renting different houses depending on the state of finances. He had neither a stable income nor a permanent address. But this situation never bothered Pavel Voinovich. He did not bother with questions of money, entourage, feeling calm both in luxurious apartments and in the poorest rooms. Pushkin, visiting a friend after long separations, found the address of Nashchokin elementary: every cabman knew Pavel Voinovich's house. Nashchokin, who was frivolous in everyday life, squandered his initial state in a matter of months. But Pavel Voinovich did not know how to fall in spirit, being guided by philosophical composure. And fate has constantly demonstrated the justice of his attitude to life. Nashchokin went bankrupt a dozen times, and soon became a rich man again. Either friends helped, then an inheritance fell, then a big win in cards. In this addiction, Pushkin and Nashchokin were united.

The death of a friend turned into a frank blow for Nashchokin. When he was informed that Pushkin had been killed, Pavel Voinovich collapsed unconscious, and then fell into bed for a long time with a fever. He did not accept such a loss until his last breath, having outlived a friend for 17 years. Until the end of his days, Nashchokin blamed himself for not preventing the duel.

Spouse of a friend

In 1834, Nashchokin married Vera Alexandrovna Narskaya. He, of course, introduced his chosen one to a friend long before the wedding. On the day of their acquaintance, Pushkin talked with the woman for more than one hour. And when, leaving, Nashchokin jokingly asked if the poet allowed him to marry, Pushkin replied seriously: "I do not allow, but I order." Pushkin's wife and Pavel Voinovich were also friendly. By the way, Pushkin got married in his tailcoat. Either there was no money to order a new one, or time. In it, after the duel, Alexander Sergeevich was buried.

Pushkin treated Vera Alexandrovna, his sincere admirer, with open sympathy, feeling at home in her company. Vera Aleksandrovna outlived Alexander Sergeevich, her own husband and all contemporaries close to him for decades. Journalists, biographers, writers of Pushkin often asked her to share stories and memories about the poet's life. The spouse did not leave Nashchokina with the means for a comfortable existence, so at the end of her life she suffered. One St. Petersburg correspondent, who visited Nashchokina in 1899, wrote that the woman with whom it was interesting to talk to Pushkin and whom the same Gogol considered his own kind angel, drags out her existence in hunger and cold. In need, she even had to sell some letters from her husband's personal correspondence with his dear Alexander Sergeevich.

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