"Don Juan" list of Alexander Pushkin: What famous ladies were included in it

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

Legends still circulate about Pushkin's love affairs. Still would! The poet's temperament and amorousness did "their job" - on account of him more than a hundred ties with the first beauties of St. Petersburg and the province, including married ladies. And if Pushkin's poetic gift was exemplary, then the same cannot be said about his moral character. He openly boasted of his novels, not hesitating to announce the names and surnames. Moreover, during one of his visits to the Ushakovs, he left a note in Elizaveta Nikolaevna's album, which consisted of two parallel lists with female names. He himself called it the "Don Juan" list.

First list: 16 women who played an important role in Pushkin's life

Historians and Pushkin scholars practically do not argue about the first list - it lists in chronological sequence the names of women who were (no matter how cynical it may sound) an important "stage" in his life and work.

To tell the story of Pushkin's relationship with each of his mistresses, perhaps, you will have to write a whole book. Therefore, we will restrict ourselves to the brightest and most "significant" names from the list:

In St. Petersburg, she owned a salon, was an influential and wealthy woman. Pushkin could not help but take advantage of this, because in addition to bed excitement, he had a passion for money and wanted fame. And Golitsyna could help him in achieving his goals, he also provided her with services of a different nature. She was 20 years older than a lyceum graduate, but this did not bother the ambitious Sasha. After a year of patronage, he left Evdokia Ivanovna without a drop of regret, finally becoming "his own" in Petersburg.

READ ALSO: Princess Midnight: the mystery of Evdokia Golitsyna, mistress of the St. Petersburg salon

He had excessive respect for this woman, as can be judged by his correspondence with his brother (Lev Pushkin), in which he says that he values her "thought" more than the opinion of critics, magazines and the public. Researchers believe that in his Don Juan list she is given a place called "Catherine III". Aglaya Davydova. The wife of Alexander Lvovich Davydov, who had the imprudence to invite Pushkin to his estate in Kamenka in 1820. Although, as there were rumors, the affair with the poet was not the only one for Aglaya during her marriage. The poet later dedicated the poem "Coquette" to her, full of bile and disdain.

Undoubtedly, the trait that Pushkin summed up under his Don Juan list was his wife, Natalya Goncharova. Of course, she was not his last woman - the novels continued after the wedding, but it was her that he sought for 2 years. Pushkin, on the other hand, was always guided by passion, so the more unattainable the goal was, the more desirable it was for him. Therefore, we can say with confidence that his attachment to Goncharova was the strongest and deepest, if at all it can be said about the cynic Pushkin.

Who were the women on the second Don Juan list?

The second list contains 21 names, over which art critics are still guessing. Firstly, it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer - why did Pushkin divide his mistresses into two "camps"? Some were "loved" and some fleeting? Or maybe these lists have some other meaning? Secondly, Pushkin scholars are still arguing over some of the names from the second list, not being sure who he meant by this or that person. However, with some of them, there is still no doubt. For example:

Anna Kern

The one to which Alexander Sergeevich dedicated his masterpiece "I remember a wonderful moment …"! But in life, their romance was not so sublime."The genius of pure beauty" in private conversations and correspondence with friends Pushkin called the last words, saying that her name should not be pronounced in a decent society. Meanwhile, this did not prevent him from convincing Kern to flee from her husband and settle with him in Pskov. However, after such an act, the ardor of the young rake disappeared altogether - he left the young woman to fend for herself with a defamed name and lack of livelihood.

Agrafena Zakrevskaya (née Tolstaya)

She was the wife of Arseny Andreevich Zakrevsky, an extremely important and "state" man. However, this did not stop her from spinning novels on the side and becoming famous as an extravagant and passionate woman. Their acquaintance with Pushkin took place in 1828 - most likely it ended at the same time. Their romance was short-lived, but Pushkin wrote that she, by her nature, drives him to madness, even though he "loves her with all his heart."

These are just 6 names out of 37 indicated in the Don Juan list. And this list is far from complete. Only about his wife, Pushkin wrote that this was his 113th love. Actresses, princesses, serfs, wives of influential husbands - the poet had a huge number of women, but he loved only one - his Muse, whom he tried to find in an innumerable variety of female guises.