How many duels did Pushkin have, and why did the great poet shoot himself even with his own uncle?

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

Pushkin often described duels in his works. He took many details from his personal experience, as he was an avid duelist. Everyone knows that the great poet fought with Dantes. This was his last duel, but not the first. During this showdown, which was widespread in the old days, no one died at the hands of Pushkin. Read what kind of shooter Alexander Sergeevich was, why he called his own uncle to the barrier and what saved Georges Dantes from death.

First duel with my uncle at 17

According to researchers, there were about 30 dueling stories in the life of non-Pushkino. He challenged many, but not all of them led to a duel. And if a duel did take place, fortunately, it did not always lead to the death of the participants. The poet was often challenged to a duel, he also often threw the glove, but often quarrels ended in reconciliation.

For the first time, Pushkin challenged a man to a duel when he was only 17 years old. He planned to shoot with none other than his cousin Pavel Hannibal. The nephew and uncle quarreled over the lady, as they often did. Everything ended well - the relatives made up, there was no fight. And then everything went on increasing. Almost every year, Pushkin received a challenge to a duel or challenged himself. When he was in exile in Odessa and Chisinau, duels followed one another.

Biographers believe that in just two years, from 1820 to 1822, there were at least fifteen dueling stories. Not all of them ended in a duel, and the governor of Inzov assisted in this. He considered the exiled poet talented and very promising and tried to protect him from nonsense. Upon learning that there was one quarrel between Pushkin and someone else, he immediately put the hot Pushkin in the guardhouse, and the alleged rival was sent away, to another province.

Quarrel with Fyodor Tolstoy, a failed duel and is it true that the poet was flogged with rods in the secret office

In 1819, Pushkin graduated from the Lyceum and plunged headlong into the abyss of worldly pleasures. Once, when he was playing cards, it seemed to him that one of the players was cheating. This man was Count Fyodor Tolstoy, nicknamed the American. To Pushkin's claims, he replied that yes, it is, but he should not be told about it at all. The "American" was 37 years old, and he was considered a man with a stormy biography and an amateur to participate in duels. Pushkin was very young in comparison with him - he had just turned 20 years old.

Of course, the count was offended that some boy was reprimanding him. To take revenge, he chose a very strange way: he spread rumors that Pushkin had been punished with rods in the secret office. In other words, Tolstoy wanted to show the poet his place and explain to society that this is the only way to behave with insolent youth. When Pushkin was in Chisinau, he found out who spread this gossip. The confidence ripened in him that it was imperative to call Tolstoy to a duel after the arrival of St. Petersburg. This idea captivated the poet so much that he began to train hard in pistol shooting. There was no duel with Tolstoy, but Pushkin brought his shooting skills to perfection.

What kind of shooter was Pushkin and how he trained

Contemporaries argue that Pushkin was always in good physical shape and was excellent with firearms. Even at the Lyceum, the poet delighted teachers with successes in subjects such as fencing and dancing. He always loved to swim and did it very well, knew all the secrets of horseback riding, walked for a long time and did boxing. When Pushkin decided to challenge the "American" to a duel, he began to train constantly in shooting. Classes were held in the early morning for a long time.

Contemporaries claim that he could have hit a playing card from ten steps. Inhabited in Mikhailovskoye, Pushkin riddled the barn wall with bullets, frightening the peasants during his training. When the poet walked on foot, and his walks could be quite long and distant, he took a heavy cane with him. This was done in order to strengthen the hands.

How many duels actually were and challenges even to friends

So, there were many dueling stories, but Pushkin had only five fights. Some of them were quite strange. For example, in 1819, there was a duel between Pushkin and Wilhelm Küchelbecker, his lyceum friend. The reason was the poet's epigram, to which Wilhelm was greatly offended and challenged Pushkin. The first shot was for Kuchelbecker, he missed. After that, Pushkin Shot into the air, the friends hugged and made up.

The poet also had a duel with Kondraty Ryleev. It ended in reconciliation, and both duelists fired into the air. The reason for the fight was the rumors spread by Fyodor Tolstoy, which were mentioned above. Ryleev told someone this gossip, and Pushkin found out about it. The result was Ryleev's challenge to a duel. As in the case of Küchelbecker, Pushkin shot into the sky, and Ryleev did the same.

The next fight took place in 1822; Colonel Starov was Pushkin's opponent. The duel took place for a stupid reason: during a public Christmas ball, the poet and the colonel began to argue that the orchestra should play - a mazurka or a square dance. The fight took place in a strong blizzard, the duelists fired two shots each, I moved the barrier, but no one hit. From the frost, the participants of the duel stiffened their fingers, a strong wind was blowing, visibility was poor. The seconds demanded to stop the fight.

In the same 1822, Pushkin challenged warrant officer of the General Staff Alexander Zubov to a duel, having caught him cheating during a card game. Pushkin arrived at the duel holding a cap filled with cherries. He ate fragrant berries and spat bones in the direction of Zubov. He flew into a rage and missed. Pushkin did not shoot.

Fatal duel and how the button saved Dantes

Everyone knows Pushkin's last duel on the Black River. She also became a point in his life. This was the fight when the poet really wanted to destroy his opponent and was not going to shoot in the air. Unfortunately, Pushkin was mortally wounded. But even in this state, he tried to make his shot, which turned out to be well-aimed. Georges Dantes was saved from death by a button on his uniform, into which a fatal bullet from Alexander Sergeevich's pistol hit and rebounded.

Pushkin was reputed to be a conflicted person, and often, as they say, ran into trouble. There is even 6 stories of how he trolled people with impunity, and he got nothing for it.