Video: Passion around Idalia: Who really played a fatal role in the duel of Pushkin and Dantes
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The names of the main characters in the drama, which took place in 1836-1837. and led to the death of the poet in a duel, all have long been well known. However, the biographers of Alexander Pushkin are still arguing about who was actually guilty of what happened. Some are sure: Natalya Goncharova is not at all the fatal woman, because of whom serious passions flared up. And the name of a real femme fatale is Idalia Poletika.
In all publications dedicated to this duel, the name of Idalia Poletika is mentioned among those involved in the tragic denouement of the Pushkin-Goncharova-Dantes love triangle. It is known that she was a close friend and distant relative of Natalie, and that it was she who arranged a date between Dantes and a friend in her house. They wrote that she did this in revenge for the fact that Pushkin allegedly did not reciprocate her feelings for him and even laughed at her.
Idalia Poletika was called the second beauty of St. Petersburg - nevertheless, the championship is usually given to Natalia Goncharova. Idalia was smart, sharp-tongued and cunning, behind her was a train of scandals, intrigue and gossip. They said that there was more than one duel on her account, arranged in such a way that the culprit herself remained in the shadows. Because of this, she even received the nickname "Madame Intrigue". Her husband was Alexander Poletika, a colonel who was called "ladybug" for his meek disposition. Idalia did not marry for love, and everyone knew about her novels. One of her chosen ones was Pyotr Lanskoy - the one who in the future will become the second husband of Natalia Goncharova.
At first, their relationship with the poet was friendly, but then suddenly Idalia began to demonstrate in public her open hostility to him, calling him a "poet". Different people spoke about the reasons for this hatred. For example, there is a version that her anger was caused by the fact that once Pushkin, who was riding in a carriage with her and his wife, jokingly grabbed Idalia by the knee. However, this could be a reason for irritation, but not for hatred.
Be that as it may, she really arranged a meeting between the poet's wife and Dantes. Idalia invited a friend to visit her, and she left under some pretext. In the living room Goncharova was met by Dantes, who immediately proceeded to an ardent explanation. He threatened to shoot himself in front of her if she did not reciprocate. Natalie was saved by the fact that at that moment Idalia's daughter ran into the living room, followed by the governess, and the poet's wife, taking advantage of the moment, hastily left Poletika's house. That same evening, Natalie told her husband about this date. According to some researchers, Idalia personally took part in drawing up a slanderous anonymous letter about Pushkin's acceptance into the order of the cuckolds, which served as a pretext for a duel. The further outcome of events is known to everyone. After the poet's death, Poletika redirected her anger to his wife, especially after 7 years later her former lover married Natalya Goncharova, taking care of her and her “brood,” as Idalia contemptuously called her children.
However, there is another version of what happened. At the beginning of 1836, Dantes carefully concealed the name of his chosen one, protecting her reputation. In a letter to his adoptive father, Baron Gekkern, he confessed: "". Some researchers suggest that in fact this letter is not at all about the poet's wife, but about … Idalia Poletik.
Supporters of this version believe: at first, no one knew about the secret romance of Dantes and Poletika, but later they began to guess about it. So, A. Smirnova-Rosset wrote: "". That is, Goncharova was only a cover for Dantes' true passion. And after the poet's death, he was demoted and expelled from the country, and this became the true reason for Poletika's hatred of Goncharova. Natalie's sister Catherine, who became Dantes' wife, in bewilderment wrote to him: "". The reason for these tears should have been well understood by him. She kept the bracelet that Dantes had given her before her departure until the end of her days.
Later Poletika saw Dantes several times in France. She spent her last years alone, having outlived her husband and children. And the mystery of Pushkin's death still remains unsolved to the end.
A lot has been written about the fatal duel and its culprits, where less is known to the general public about how was the fate of Natalia Goncharova after the death of the poet.
Recommended:
A tube of vodka, a call of spirits and a glamorous fight: How our "Greats" played each other and those around them
In some countries, on April Fool's Day, it is customary to arrange rallies in the first half of the day, and those who like to joke in the afternoon risk being branded as "April fools." Our famous compatriots were never embarrassed by this - they managed to joke, albeit not always successfully, 365 days a year
What role did the cabaret singer play in Stalin's life, whose role Olga Buzova played in the performance of the Moscow Art Theater
News about the participation of the "singing presenter" in the production of the Moscow Art Theater. Gorky's "Wonderful Georgian" caused a lot of controversy and ridicule. In the story, Olga Buzova plays the role of Bella Chantal, a cabaret and corporate singer who, according to the theater's artistic director Eduard Boyakov, "makes everyone laugh." And she is also the last love of Joseph Stalin. Despite the fact that the image of the singer is partly fictional, he has a very real prototype
More Than Just Helpers: The Celebrity Housekeepers Who Played a Fatal Role in Their Destiny
After the victory of the October Revolution, it seemed that the institution of domestic servants should be eliminated. However, the profession of a housekeeper existed at the official level, they had their own trade union and each had a special pay book. At the same time, au pair played different roles in the lives of their employers. Some actually became family members, while others deliberately destroyed the house in which they happened to work
"Children's games" by Bruegel the Elder, which children played 5 centuries ago and are played today
For over four and a half centuries painting by Bruegel the Elder "Children's Games" excites the imagination of the audience. She seems to return each of us to the world of childhood, where play was fundamental in a child's life. This work of the Dutch master is considered a kind of encyclopedia of children's entertainment and fun, which, by the way, are very relevant today.
Quadruple duel over a ballerina: How Alexander Griboyedov took part in a bloody duel
These four young people - and none of the participants in the events at that time was more than twenty-five - did not, of course, think that they would end up in the chronicles of duels, in which both the main opponents and the seconds shoot themselves. No, they were driven by something completely different - love and jealousy, loyalty and hostility, nobility and self-sacrifice. Like any duel, this one left its mark on the further fate of its participants - those, of course, who survived