Daughters of genius: how the fates of Maria and Natalia Pushkin developed

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

Entire volumes have been written about the life of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and his wife Natalia Goncharova, many films have been shot, but their union continues to excite the minds of fans of Russian literature. As you know, the widow of Alexander Sergeevich became the wife of Major General Lanskoy, who accepted and raised Pushkin's children as his own. In this review, a story about how the fates of Alexander Sergeevich's daughters - Maria and Natalia - developed.

Masha, Masha, Mashenka

So in letters to his wife, the poet called his favorite. He told his friends that Natalya Nikolaevna was relieved of the burden with a small lithograph from his person. Mashenka, indeed, was born a copy of her father, which became more and more pronounced with age. The girl grew up very sickly, but despite this, she was mobile and cocky. Her younger brothers often suffered from her lively disposition.

She did not recognize dolls - she loved boyish games more. Mother was for her the center of the universe: Masha adored her and tried to imitate Natalya Nikolaevna in everything. Since childhood, Maria loved horses and was fond of horse riding, so she kept a proud posture throughout her life. The girl received an excellent education, in addition, she played the piano masterly, excelled in chess, drawing, studying foreign languages and handicrafts.

Despite the fact that she inherited large outlines of her face from her dad, Masha was distinguished by delicate grace, grace of manners and sparkling wit. At the age of twenty, the eldest daughter of Alexander Sergeevich began to appear frequently and was soon granted a maid of honor of the imperial court. Maria, shining in salons and at balls with her erudition, extraordinary thinking and exotic beauty, was the object of desire of many "worthy husbands", but she got married late. Perhaps this is due to her legibility and not too much dowry.

There were always a lot of people in the Lansky house - writers. poets, actors and military. For the first time, the meeting between Maria Pushkina and the famous horse breeder Leonid Gartung took place in the house of the girl's stepfather. Masha immediately drew attention to Hartung, a man with deep, beautiful, but sad eyes, - he was something akin to her. Natalya Nikolaevna did not interfere with their union, and soon the young people got married and left near Tula, to the estate of Leonid Nikolaevich.

Maria was incredibly happy in the union - it was a worthy and respected marriage. Her family nest became a hospitable and generous home, where tea parties and musical evenings were often held. Here Maria Alexandrovna met Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. After lengthy conversations about literature and art, they remained good friends, and later Tolstoy conveyed the features of Mary in the guise of Anna Karenina. The cloudless married life was not destined to last long.

A tragedy struck in the Hartung family: in 1877, Maria's husband was unjustly accused of fraud and brought to trial. It was obvious that his name was entwined with intrigues, and Leonid Nikolaevich, an ambitious man, committed suicide. After the death of her husband, Maria Alexandrovna was practically left penniless. At first, she lived with the Lansky's half-sisters, and then, when her elder brother Alexander became a widow, she moved in with him and replaced the mother with his 11 children.

Until old age, she was very friendly and active. She was always kind to all the events associated with the name of her father. Maria Alexandrovna became the honorary chairman of the Pushkin Moscow Public Library, attended all literary evenings dedicated to the great poet. In the last years of her life, dressed in all black, Pushkina - Gartung sat for a long time near the granite monument, recalling the warmth of her father's hands and his affectionate words: "Masha, my Mashenka …". In 1919, on March 7, Maria Alexandrovna died peacefully.

The poet Nikolai Dorizo dedicated the following lines to her:

Imp Tasha

When Natasha Pushkina, the youngest daughter of Alexander Sergeevich, was little, her family nicknamed her "Tasha the Imp." A mischievous and ubiquitous baby, several nannies could barely cope with her, she knew only the mother's affection, and she did not remember her dad, since she was only eight months old when he died. The girl received an excellent education and by the end of the boarding school she was fluent in French and German. At the age of 16, Tasha began to go out into the world. And then the first tragedy in her life happened. And there will be plenty of them in her destiny …

Natalia fell in love with the young Count Orlov, the son of the head of the imperial chancellery and head of the tsarist gendarmerie Alexei Fedorovich Orlov. The connection of the young was strong and mutual, but the almighty father of Nicholas stood in the way of their marriage, sending his son abroad. The openness and charm of the girl did not play any role: they needed a noble bride with a "pure" pedigree.

A proud girl with her usual impetuosity, in revenge to the whole world, or maybe so that the previous pain would soon subside, accepted the very first offer. The lucky one was Mikhail Dubelt. Ironically, his father served as a general in the gendarme corps commanded by Orlov. Natalia's mother was categorically against Tasha's choice: Mikhail was known as a mot, a gambler and a brawler. The persuasions of mother and stepfather did not help, and soon the stubborn woman knew all the bitterness of her mistake.

Family happiness did not work out from the first days of marriage. Michael preferred cards to his wife, and her dowry, 28 thousand silver, was lowered by him in a matter of days. There were constant quarrels in the Dubelt family. Mikhail was jealous, and Natalya often undeservedly suffered from his assault. She hoped that the head of the family would grow up and come to his senses, but even the birth of three children did not change Mikhail's habits. The marriage broke up, but the indomitable Dubelt chased his ex-wife across Europe, haunting her.

Exhausted from suffering, Natalya Alexandrovna nevertheless found her happiness. In Germany, she met a prince and a true nobleman by blood and education - Nikolai Wilhelm of Nassau, he soon became her husband, and Natalia received the title of Countess Merenberg. It was an extremely successful marriage, which was not hindered by social inequality, nor three children, nor a former spouse. Now Natasha loved and was adored by her husband and his relatives.

In alliance with Nikolai, she had three more children, and her life was radically transformed. But fate sometimes throws up thorns on the star path. And again, Natalya Alexandrovna found herself in the center of a grandiose scandal, the prerequisite for which were the private messages of her father. Once the mother gave them to her, so that in difficult times, Pushkin's daughter was able to cope with the plight. Now Natalia did not need anything, but just decided to transfer them to publication, in order to open the poet's thoughts and syllables to fans of his talent.

The countess asked her friend, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, to help in this, and he began work immediately, considering it a matter of honor. But society considered this step an interference in Pushkin's personal life, and his sons even wished to challenge Turgenev to a duel.

Her husband came to help Natalya - he instantly and delicately settled the hype, and the passions associated with the publication of letters quickly subsided. And, as they say, Nikolai and Natalya lived for a long time in harmony and loyalty.

According to the rules of the Principality of Nassau, after the death of Natalia, it was forbidden to rest next to her husband. Then the daughter of the genius poet wrote in her will so that after leaving the world, her ashes would be scattered over the resting place of her husband. This clause of the countess's willful will was executed by her family on March 10, 1913. There was no cross, no wreath, no plate after the youngest daughter of Pushkin. Only portraits and memory remained.

It is worth saying that in the life of the genius of Russian literature there was a real life drama. In the society of that time, everyone knew how Alexander Pushkin's relationship with his mother did not work out … The relationship between mother and son developed very uneasy.