The name of Georges Dantes forever entered the history of Russian literature. Everyone knows the characteristics of this man, which Lermontov gave in his famous work "The Death of a Poet". However, if everyone knows about his life before the duel with Pushkin and his sudden departure from Russia, then his further fate is a mystery to many. Meanwhile, Dantes made a great political career in France and died at the age of 84.
Youth
Georges Dantes was born in 1812 in Alsace in a half-ruined noble family with many children. He was the first male child, and the father, who bore the title of baron and, despite poverty, is a member of the General Council of his department, predicted a military career for his son. After receiving his initial education in Alsace, the young man was sent to study at the Bourbon Lyceum in Paris, and then entered the Royal Military School of Saint-Cyr. He studied at this prestigious university for only 9 months, after which he was expelled for his legitimist views.
Like many other youngthe French, who did not want to serve Louis Philippe, Georges left France and went to seek glory in a foreign land.
Georges Dantes in military service in Russia: the beginning of a career
Initially, the young man, who at that time was only 20 years old, went to Prussia. Despite the patronage of some members of the royal family, he was offered only the rank of non-commissioned officer. The prospect of starting a career from scratch did not suit Dantes, so he decided to offer his services to a more generous Russian monarch.
In order to ensure a warm welcome in St. Petersburg, the young man even invented a legend that in France he participated in the Vendean uprising and fled the country, fearing persecution by the authorities. In addition, he brought letters of recommendation from Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and the Duchess of Berry. The latter was addressed directly to the Russian Emperor Nicholas the First. Thanks to the efforts of his patrons, Dantes Georges Charles entered the guard. Moreover, he did not even have to pass the mandatory exams in Russian literature, military justice and regulations. By the highest order, Dantes was enlisted as a cornet in the cavalry guard regiment of the Empress. Moreover, the Empress, having learned that the young man could not count on the support of his relatives, convinced her husband to assign him an annual tacit allowance.
Strange adoption
Georges Dantes did not show much zeal in military service in Russia and was not going to perform any feats. Two years after joining the regiment, he received the ranklieutenant, but directed all his efforts to achieving success in secular circles. And he succeeded brilliantly, because, according to contemporaries, he had an exceptional ability to "like at first sight" and find patrons.
Even in spite of this circumstance, the St. Petersburg high society was amazed to learn that an adult young officer, whose own father was alive, wants to be adopted by the Dutch envoy to the Russian court de Gekkern. Gossip began to circulate, allegedly Dantes Georges Charles is the illegitimate offspring of a diplomat. However, the version of the homosexual relationship between the 44-year-old Baron de Gekkern and the 24-year-old lieutenant seemed more reliable.
In circumvention of all the laws that prohibited the adoption of adults, and also did not allow people under 50 to become adoptive parents, an exception was made by the highest decree, and the young man took the name of the new father. In addition, he was accepted into Dutch citizenship by permission of the King of the Netherlands.
The new kinship allowed Dantes to take a higher position in the world than he had before that time, and to receive invitations to the houses of famous nobles, where only a few were entered.
Meet Natalia Pushkina
Despite the rumors about the connection with the "father", Georges Dantes (portrait in his youth, see above) was a famous heartthrob and enjoyed exceptional success with the ladies. He was unusually handsome, courteous and courteous. However, acquaintances noted as a disadvantage his habit of talking about his victories at a love meeting.front.
His fatal meeting with his wife A. S. Pushkin took place in the Anichkov Palace. The most beautiful woman in St. Petersburg could not go unnoticed by such a famous womanizer as the adopted son of the Dutch envoy. At the same time, Georges Charles Dantes, whose biography tells about the life of a darling of fate, began to look for meetings with Natalia's older sister, the unmarried maid of honor Ekaterina Goncharova, who lived in the Pushkins' house.
Diploma scandal
A year and a half after Dantes met Natalya Pushkina, her husband and several of his friends received anonymous libels in which the poet was awarded a "cuckold diploma" and ridiculed as a husband whose wife is cheating on him not only with Dantes, but also Nicholas I himself. Who was the author of the message is unknown to this day. However, it has been established that neither the father nor the son of Gekkerna could be him.
Pushkin, who suspected precisely these two people, whom he had long disliked, sent Dantes an unmotivated challenge to a duel. The letter was delivered to Gekkern's house. The diplomat accepted the challenge on behalf of his adopted son, who was on duty in the barracks, but asked for a delay, to which the poet agreed.
So Dantes Georges Charles and Pushkin were in the center of attention of St. Petersburg society. Secular lions, among whom the poet had many envious and ill-wishers, began to ridicule the “cuckold” to the fullest.
Marriage proposal
Natalya Pushkina and Zhukovskyand the aunt of the Goncharovs, the maid of honor Zagryazhskaya, who enjoys influence at the imperial court, began to make attempts to convince the poet to abandon the duel, but he was unshakable. The situation changed when it became known about the marriage proposal made by Dantes to Natalia's sister Ekaterina, who accepted it. Then all of Petersburg again began to discuss the personal life of the young Baron Gekkern. Some gossips believed that the loving officer thus wanted to avoid a duel, since after the wedding, Georges Dantes became a relative for Alexander Pushkin, and there could be no question of a duel. There were also those who cited the possible pregnancy of Catherine as the reason, who simply beamed with happiness or convincingly portrayed a bride in love.
As for Pushkin, they began to suggest to him that Dantes met with Natalia in order to be able to be closer to her sister.
Marriage
For the marriage between Goncharova and Dantes, due to the difference in their religion, special permission was required, which was obtained without problems. At the same time, the bride was allowed to remain Orthodox, but she agreed that her future children from Gekkern would be Catholics.
Pushkin did not like Georges Dantes, especially since he did not believe in the stories about his insane passion for the modest Catherine. However, he had to withdraw the call. Moreover, the poet told his friends that he did not consider the venture with the marriage of Dantes to his relative a reason to evade the duel, since he learned that the enemy was going to postpone the wedding untilfight will take place. So the incident was over, and everyone started preparing for the wedding ceremony, which took place in a close family circle.
Duel
After the wedding with Ekaterina Goncharova, Georges Dantes continued the life of a socialite and ladies' man. As a relative, he continued to communicate with Natalya Pushkina, and her husband constantly heard rumors that they were laughing at him in the world and making puns about the love family quartet of two sisters and their husbands.
Unable to withstand ridicule, on January 26, 1937, the poet wrote an angry letter to Baron Gekkern Sr., in which he said that he did not want to see representatives of the Dutch envoy's family in his house anymore.
In response, he wrote that his son was accepting a challenge to a duel, which was made by Pushkin earlier. A meeting of seconds followed, who agreed on the place and time of the duel.
The very next day, a duel took place between Georges Dantes, the adopted son of Baron Gekkern, and Pushkin, ending with Pushkin's injury. The poet died 2 days later.
Departure from Russia and life in Sulsa
According to the laws of that time, duelist officers were stripped of their ranks and sent to serve as privates. However, Dantes was a foreign citizen, and Nicholas I decided to take away his officer's patent and expel him from the country. His wife Ekaterina went abroad with him.
First, Georges Dantes and his wife went to their native Alsace, where the young man, like his own father, became a member of the General Council of hisdepartment. By this time he already had three daughters, and his wife died in childbirth. He did not experience any particular grief and, having entrusted the care of the children to his relatives, the baron went to Paris as a member of the Constituent Assembly.
In 1852, Louis Napoleon, who decided to carry out a military coup, chose Gekkern for a secret mission. Its purpose was to clarify the attitude to this scenario on the part of the monarchs of the leading European powers. Dantes brilliantly coped with the task, and, having taken the throne, Napoleon the Third appointed him an irremovable senator.
His successful career in politics continued until 1870 and ended with the proclamation of the Third Republic. After some time, Dantes, left out of work, returned to the family estate, where he died in 1895, surrounded by his daughters and grandchildren.
Now you know what kind of life Georges Dantes lived. The biography of this person is an example of a successful career, for the sake of which beliefs are repeatedly changed and actions are performed that can hardly be called noble.
