The relationship between Nicholas 1 and Pushkin is of interest to many modern historians. The way the head of state and the greatest poet of his time communicated with each other can tell a lot about the era, the personalities of the poet and the sovereign. It is well known that Alexander Sergeevich had a difficult relationship with the authorities. At the same time, it is obvious that in the case of Nicholas 1, everything was not so simple. In this article we will talk about the meetings of the poet and the sovereign, communication and correspondence.
Attitude towards power
It is well known that Pushkin's attitude towards Nicholas 1 was rather positive than vice versa. In one of his letters to his wife, he jokingly claimed that he had seen three kings in his life. "The first one scolded my nanny for me, ordering me to take off my cap." It was Paul I, according to legend, he met a young poet who was no more than two years old during a walk. The boy allegedly did not take offa headdress in front of the sovereign, for which he reprimanded him. Apparently, this is a hoax invented by Pushkin himself. The second tsar, who was Alexander I, did not favor the poet, as he himself admitted in the same letter.
But the third upek him in chamber pages in his old age, but Pushkin did not want to exchange him for a fourth. He ended his letter to his wife with folk wisdom that one does not seek good from good.
Pushkin had a fairly good relationship with Nicholas 1, which continued until the death of the writer in 1837. On the one hand, this may indicate that the very attitude of the poet to power has changed, since with the accession to the throne of Nicholas, he was already an older and more mature person, and not a frivolous youth, as under Alexander. At the same time, one should pay tribute to the emperor, who had enough education to understand: before him is the genius of his time, the glory of which will remain for many years to come.
Indeed, good relations between Pushkin and Nicholas 1 were established literally from their very first meeting.
A lot in common
It is worth noting that there was a lot in common between the great Russian poet and the outstanding tsar. Perhaps, on this basis, they became close. Nicholas 1 and Pushkin were practically the same age. If the poet was born in 1799, then the emperor was only three years older than him.
They were brought up and grew at the same time. The years in which both formed as individuals fell on the reign of Alexander I, the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon,delight and pride in the victory of their own army against the enemy.
The uprising of the Decembrists also connected them. Many of Pushkin's friends took part in the rebellion, and it was after these events that Nikolai took the throne.
In exile
At the same time, Pushkin's first meeting with Nicholas 1 took place only in the autumn of 1826. By that time, the poet had been in exile for several years.
It all started in the spring of 1820, when Alexander Sergeevich was summoned to the governor-general of St. Petersburg, Count Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich. The poet had to explain himself about the content of his poetic works, including epigrams on Archimandrite Photius, Arakcheev, even Emperor Alexander I.
It is noteworthy that the poet replied to Miloradovich that all the papers had been burned, but he was able to restore the poems from memory, which he did immediately. Of particular danger was the fact that, in addition to sharp epigrams, at that time he had already written freedom-loving poems "The Village", an ode "Liberty".
It is known that Arakcheev offered to imprison Pushkin in the Peter and Paul Fortress or send him to the army forever. His deportation to Siberia or imprisonment in the Solovetsky Monastery was seriously discussed. It was possible to mitigate the punishment only thanks to the efforts and efforts of his many friends. Especially fought for Pushkin Karamzin. As a result, the young poet was transferred to Chisinau for official service.
On the road, the poet caught pneumonia after swimming in the Dnieper during one of the stops on hisway. In order for his he alth to improve, the Raevskys organize Pushkin's trip to the Crimea and the Caucasus. He reached Chisinau only by September.
The reason for his second exile was a letter dated 1824, in which he confessed his passion for atheistic teachings. He was fired from the service, sent to his mother's estate - the village of Mikhailovskoye.
First meeting
It was from Mikhailovsky that Pushkin went to his first meeting with Nikolai 1. On the night of September 4, 1826, a courier sent by the Pskov governor arrived in the village. It was reported that the poet, accompanied by a courier, should come to Moscow, where the emperor was at that moment.
Shortly before that, the poet sent a letter to Nicholas 1. In it he asked the sovereign to allow him to return from exile and resume public service.
The first meeting between Pushkin and Nicholas 1 took place on September 8, immediately after his arrival in the city. The poet went to a personal audience. It is known that the first meeting between Pushkin and Nicholas 1 took place tete-a-tete, without prying eyes. As a result, Alexander Sergeevich was returned from exile, he was guaranteed the highest patronage, as well as exemption from ordinary censorship. The poet was allowed to live in both capitals.
In letters to friends, Alexander Sergeevich claimed that he was received by the monarch in the most gracious way. In addition, several details of this meeting between Pushkin and Nicholas 1 became known. In particular, the emperor asked the poet if he would have gone to Senate Square in December 1825 if he had been inPetersburg. Pushkin was frank, admitting that he would certainly go, since many of his friends and associates participated in the conspiracy. He would never be left out. Only his absence in the capital led to the fact that Pushkin did not participate in the Decembrist uprising. At the same time, most modern researchers believe that the poet was really not aware of the impending coup, although he was friends with many Decembrists, he expressed free-thinking thoughts.
At the same time, Pushkin further explained that he could follow his comrades, since he was easily carried away by such ideas. But, according to him, deep down he was not a revolutionary, which the monarch himself immediately realized. As a result, the conversation ended successfully.
According to the results of this meeting between Pushkin and Nicholas 1, the poet promised not to participate in anti-government activities. The emperor announced that he himself would become his personal censor - a decision never seen before. Immediately after this conversation, Nikolai shared with one of his courtiers the idea that he had just talked to one of the smartest people in the country.
The creative result of this conversation between Pushkin and Nicholas 1 was the poem "Stans", in which the poet compared the sovereign with Peter the Great.
Mutual sympathy
It is generally accepted that after this, mutual sympathy developed between the emperor and the writer. Nikolai patronized Pushkin, repeatedly providing him with material support so that he could engage in literature without worrying about money.
It is known that when PushkinIn 1828, he planned to marry the 16-year-old Moscow beauty Natalya Goncharova, her mother was afraid of this union, because she believed that the poet was in bad relations with the authorities. The Tsar instructed to tell her that this was not so, and Alexander Sergeevich was under his paternal care.
Correspondence
The relationship between Pushkin and Nicholas 1 is evidenced by their long-term correspondence. It is known that the emperor really personally got acquainted with the works of the poet before their publication. For example, he gave a positive review of the poem "Boris Godunov".
Pushkin often spoke positively about Emperor Nicholas 1 in letters to his friends. For example, he supported his decision to appoint Nikolai Gnedich as head of the main board of schools. In a message to Pyotr Pletnev, Alexander Sergeevich emphasized that this does honor to the sovereign, whom he sincerely loves and rejoices every time he acts like a true king.
At the same time, Nikolai was still wary of the poet, remembering his freethinking. For example, when at the end of 1829 Alexander Sergeevich wished to go to friends abroad, he submitted a corresponding petition to Benckendorff. A refusal came from the sovereign.
The emperor in poetry
Telling even briefly about Nicholas 1 and Pushkin, their relationship, it is necessary to mention what place the emperor occupied in the poet's work.
Pushkin has a so-called "Nikolaev cycle", which includes nine poetic works. All of them are dedicated to the sovereign. ATof them, the poet speaks positively about his person, since Nicholas, unlike his predecessor Alexander I, did not become a cruel and limited despot. He cared about the preservation of the autocratic system, but at the same time patronized many enlightened people in the country. After all, Pushkin was not the only artist who found support from him.
When analyzing the relationship between Pushkin and the authorities, his attitude towards the emperors, one must also take into account the fact that Alexander ascended the throne as a result of a coup d'état. Although he did not take a direct part in it, his father was still killed by the people who gave him the throne. Therefore, a shadow still remained on him as on a person who took advantage of the fruits of patricide, and Alexander himself was always latently afraid that he could also become a victim of such a massacre.
Unlike him, Nicholas received the throne without bloodshed, in full accordance with the law. For his contemporaries, including Pushkin, this was of great importance.
Finally, in the last years of his reign, Alexander frankly compromised himself in the eyes of most of his subordinates. He was accused of non-intervention in the conflict, which at that moment broke out in the Balkans. The emperor decided to limit himself to verbal statements, while the Turkish sultan exterminated the Orthodox Greeks who defended their independence. In Russia, most considered them brothers in faith.
Nikolai 1 acted radically differently. First by diplomatic, and then by military measures, he forced the Turks to retreat. Alsohe energetically resolved many issues of domestic policy.
Disagreements
At the same time, it must be admitted that the relationship between Pushkin and Tsar Nicholas 1 was not cloudless.
At the end of 1833, Nikolai awarded Pushkin the junior court rank of chamber junker, which, as they say, led the poet into indignation. After all, it was assigned exclusively to young people at the very beginning of their careers.
Because of the heavy employment, the emperor often could not pay attention to the censorship of all the works of the poet, leaving it at the mercy of the head of the Third Department of the Royal Chancellery, Benckendorff. He acted as an intermediary between them.
Benkendorff, as the head of the secret police, tried by all means to oppress Pushkin. After it became known that the emperor would be the poet's personal censor, he demanded that Pushkin provide all his writings without exception, even the most insignificant ones. And without appropriate approval, they were forbidden not only to publish, but even to read to friends.
Many people saw Nikolay's cunning in this decision, but we have to admit that this assumption has no basis. The emperor did not need to start dubious games with Pushkin. Most likely, the reason for this was the excessive zeal of the gendarmes.
It is worth remembering that after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising, the authorities failed to completely eliminate the conspiracy. Only those who were clearly in sight were convicted, while many leaders of the so-called "noble revolution" successfully escaped punishment. Moreover, on tri althere was not a single senior dignitary who expected, if the rebels were successful, to be among the members of the Provisional Government. As a result, the conspirators of the "second echelon" remained untouched, continuing to play a fairly important role in political life. Obviously, Benckendorff included Pushkin among them. It was no secret to anyone that in his youth he already sinned with freethinking, was a member of a secret society. Now, while praising the monarch, he became an object of hatred for many, especially from the thinking and progressive part of the population.
There was even a rumor that Pushkin was a paid government agent. It is believed that in this way they tried to pit him against Nikolai. The emperor was regularly sent denunciations in which he refused to believe. Spiteful critics even went so far as to start spreading rumors in "anonymous letters" about the tsar's love affair with the poet's wife. This time, the slanderers were closer than ever to the goal. Pushkin, being jealous by nature, was immediately ready to believe even the most incredible gossip. Only a frank conversation with Nikolai and his wife herself allowed to shed light on the truth.
Feeling that clouds were gathering over Alexander Sergeevich, Nikolai even made him promise not to fight in a duel under any pretext. Pushkin promised, but he could not keep his word. He did not endure another attempt on his honor. The duel against the Frenchman Dantes became his fateful day. There were rumors that Nikolai, having learned about the upcoming duel, instructed Dantes to prevent it, but he did not do this or did not want to.
Financialhelp
It is well known that Nikolai helped the poet more than once with money. True, he did not always agree. For example, in 1835, Pushkin asked for a vacation of three or four years, intending to go to the village for this time with his whole family. However, in return, the emperor offered to go on vacation for only six months and financial assistance in the amount of ten thousand rubles.
The poet refused, asking for 30 thousand in return with the condition that this money be withheld from his subsequent salary. As a result, he was bound by service in St. Petersburg for several years to come. However, even this amount did not cover even half of his debts. After the end of the payment of salaries, he had to rely only on his literary income, which directly depended on reader demand.
and calm Russia. When the answer was brought from the sovereign, Pushkin was still alive. Nikolai forgave him and promised to take care of the poet's family.
After his death, the tsar ordered to pay off all of Pushkin's debts, and also bought out his father's mortgaged estate, assigned a substantial pension to his children and wife. His works were published at public expense, the income from which was also relied upon by his relatives.
Dantes, who fought with Pushkin in a duel, was sentenced to death. However, the sentence was never carried out. Dantes was expelled from the country as a foreigner. Was forced to leave his post as the Dutch envoy and his adoptive father Gekkeren.
By order of the Emperor, Benckendorff searched for the authors of "anonymous letters", but he failed to do so. Only many years later it became known that they were compiled and sent by Herzen's comrade-in-arms, Prince Dolgorukov, who was considered one of the representatives of the galaxy of "noble revolutionaries." Because of his beliefs, he was sent into political exile and then emigrated. When it became known that it was Dolgorukov who was the indirect culprit in Pushkin's death, he was already abroad.
Modern fanfiction
The relationship between the emperor and the most famous poet of Russia is still of great interest even to the authors of modern fan fiction, who treat facts as freely as possible. For example, they are described as yaoi.
Nikolai 1 and Pushkin allegedly felt a strong attraction to each other during their first meeting. Modern authors fantasize, seeing precisely in this the change that occurred in Alexander Sergeevich, when he turned from a liberal and freethinker into a monarchist and conservative.
When describing their meeting in 1830, when the Polish uprising began, the light kiss that the sovereign left on the poet's forehead deserves special attention. After him, in the works of Pushkin, one can feel the love that Nikolai himself always felt for his own country.
Of course, such free fantasies may seem wild to someone. But the very fact that the relationship between these two people is of such interest in modern society is interesting.society.
