Pushkin: The Genius Who Self-Destructed
By Asif Javed
Williamsport, PA
Several years ago, a group of Pakistani physicians, this scribe among them, was surprised by some odd-looking Russians in St Petersburg: they had swarthy expressions, curly black hair and long side whiskers. “Look-alikes of Pushkin,” we were informed. Pushkin who? Here is the story of a tumultuous life.
Alexander Pushkin was born in Russian nobility. But he had an African ancestor some of whose features were passed on to him. Pushkin’s mother treated him harshly, some have said, because her son’s physical appearance reminded her of her African grandfather.
The greatest influence on Pushkin's life was from an uncle; a poet, he recognized the talent in Pushkin early on and took him along to literary gatherings. Sent to a prestigious school, Pushkin was a poor student. But he was a voracious reader. While still at school, he had read Iliad, Odyssey and most of the 18th century French literature. His love affair with books continued all his life. At death, his personal library had 4,000 books, in 14 languages.
Pushkin started to write poetry while still at school. Before long, he was taken notice of. Literary critics were quick to realize that a new star was born. Soon, his popularity soared and by 1826, he was widely regarded as the best poet in Russia. Although not directly involved in the Decembrist uprising of 1825 against the Tsar, Pushkin's poems were the inspiration for several conspirators. An alarmed Tsar sent him to exile in Southern Russia. They later reconciled and Pushkin was allowed back in the court at St Petersburg and given a title too. Although Tsar recognized Pushkin's talent, their relationship had several ups and downs.
At that point in life, Pushkin had almost everything that a man desires: already a literary giant, widely read, admired, and darling of the Tsar. But some major character flaws were to be his undoing. For one, he had an insatiable appetite for women. A classmate reports: “Pushkin was so fond of women that, at the age of just fifteen or sixteen, his eyes would catch fire...just from touching the hand of his dancing partner. He would snort and blow, like a spirited stallion in a young herd." Years later, Pushkin himself came up with his Don Juan List that had twenty-one female names on it. He could be quite indiscreet about his love affairs; while in exile he impregnated the wife of a provincial governor who was required to keep an eye on him for the Tsar. Eccentric, impulsive and unpredictable, he once turned up for dinner as a guest wearing “transparent muslin trousers without underwear" that made a horrified female guest leave with her daughters. His relationship with his parents remained strained. He quarreled with his father who was checking Pushkin's mail by the order of the Tsar. Often tactless and awkward, later in life he had fits of depression, developed a reputation for bravado, and being short tempered. Unfortunately, he also got addicted to gambling and was often in debt.
Despite his weaknesses, Pushkin might still have avoided the tragic fate in store for him, were it not for a fateful decision: marriage with Natalia. He saw exceptionally beautiful Natalia, fell in love, and proposed marriage. Despite reservations about his reputation, and lack of consistent income, her parents approved. A thirty-one-year-old Pushkin got married to the nineteen-year-old Natalia in 1831. Thus, began a final downward spiral in his life that was to lead to self-destruction.
The marriage seemed happy early on. They lived in St Petersburg and enjoyed frequent balls at the court. Over the years, they had four children. Pushkin had always been careless with money. But after marriage financial strain got worse. The luxurious lifestyle was keeping them in debt. The social gatherings and expected court presence, though enjoyable, left little time for Pushkin to write which was his main source of income. The debts continued to mount. He considered moving to the countryside, to save money, and to have more time to write. But Natalia would have none of it. She was enjoying her social success in St Petersburg and being a favorite of the Tsar.
Natalia was naïve, uncultured and, unfortunately, quite a flirt. There were rumors that Tsar Nicholas was one of her lovers. Pushkin was close to Tsar but could hardly be expected to ignore this rumor. There were several other admirers of Natalia. But the one who has left an imprint in history was a French exile, Baron d' Anthes, who was working as a Lieutenant in the Chevalier Guards. Although married to Natalia’s sister, he had been trying to seduce Natalya all along.
There were all kinds of rumors swirling around in St Petersburg about Natalia's love affairs. Over the years, Pushkin had ruffled several feathers with his reckless behavior. Tsar liked him but several courtiers did not. The poet laureate, who had seduced women for years, was now at the receiving end of malicious gossip. A mature, cool-headed person might have handled it differently. But Pushkin was not the one. He considered throwing a challenge for a duel to Anthes but then changed his mind when some friends intervened. And then came an infamous letter.
The anonymous letter, also sent to several of Pushkin's friends, stated that "Pushkin had been unanimously elected to be the deputy Grand Master of the order of Cuckolds and Historian Laureate of the order." To this day, the identity of the author remains uncertain but Pushkin suspected Anthes. He was furious but some friends prevailed upon him and he calmed down. Unfortunately, soon after the letter, Pushkin, and several other people, overheard Anthes making a vulgar joke while flirting and dancing with Natalia at a family gathering. There was no one stopping Pushkin now. An enraged Pushkin wrote a most insulting letter to Anthes's adopted father, in which he described Anthes as servile, coward, a man of despicable conduct, and his father to be a "pimp of the bastard". The die had been cast. Pushkin soon received the challenge for duel from Anthes. It was accepted.
Pushkin calmly walked up to the designated site of the duel probably expecting to walk away unhurt. After all, he had been through several duels before. But on this occasion, his luck ran out. The adversary’s bullet pierced his abdomen. An injured Pushkin was brought home in agonizing pain. The doctors declared the injuries to be fatal. The news of the duel, though fought in secret, spread like wildfire. Thousands stood in vigil outside his house. As the death approached, Pushkin murmured: “Life is finished...It’s hard to breathe...I am suffocating.” Pushkin, the flower of Russian poets, died on Jan 29, 1837. He was thirty-seven.
After Pushkin's death, Tsar was incredibly supportive and generous to his family. Natalia and children received pensions. All of Pushkin's debts were paid, and his manuscript were published by the government, with proceeds going to his family.
Pushkin is sometimes compared to Mozart: like the great Austrian composer, Pushkin, too, displayed long periods of sustained brilliance; and, despite death at young age like Mozart, his literary output was outstanding. He is acknowledged to be the author of the first major work in almost every literary genre in Russian. “Pushkin, even more than Goethe or Scott, was remarkable for the ease with which he moved from one literary form to the next and effortlessly transformed them all. He is the closest thing that literature has to Mozart,” writes A. N. Wilson, Tolstoy’s biographer.
Pushkin's status has grown over time. His place, right at the pinnacle of Russian poets, remains unchallenged. Even his prose places him among the best among Russian writers. Gogol, whose Dead Souls and The Inspector General remain among the classics of Russian literature, admitted once that he got the plots for both from Pushkin. Dostoevsky gave his famous Pushkin speech in 1880 when a statue of Pushkin was unveiled in Moscow. The author of Crime and Punishment said: "All-human and all-uniting Russian soul is embodied, above all, in Pushkin." Today, Pushkin has statues in Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Czech Republic. He is one of the few Russian writers to have been embraced both by the Tsarist as well as the following Communist regime. A senseless duel on that cold Jan morning in 1837 led to what Wilson considers “the greatest single tragedy in the history of literature. There is no knowing what masterpieces we have lost by that death.” Oh, those Russians!
Reference: Alexander Pushkin by Robert Chandler; Tolstoy by A. N. Wilson
The writer is a physician in Williamsport, PA and may be reached at asifjaved@comcast.net
