Natalia Nikolayevna Pushkina-Lanskaya (russian: link=no, Наталья Николаевна Пушкина-Ланская; 8 September 1812 – 26 November 1863) ( Goncharova) (Гончарова), was the wife of the Russian poet
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
from 1831 until his death in 1837 in a duel with
Georges d'Anthès Georges may refer to:
Places
* Georges River, New South Wales, Australia
* Georges Quay (Dublin)
*Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Other uses
*Georges (name)
* ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas
* "Georges" (song), a 19 ...
. Natalia was married to
Major-General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Petr Petrovich Lanskoy from 1844 until her death in 1863.
Prior to marriage
Natalia (Natalya) Goncharova was born on 8 September 1812 (27 August 1812 Old Style) in Karian village in
Tambov Governorate
Tambov Governorate was an administrative unit of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, and later the Russian SFSR, centred around the city of Tambov. The governorate was located between 51°14' and 55°6' north and between 38°9' and 43°38' east ...
(in present-day
Znamensky District, Tambov Oblast
Znamensky District (russian: Знаменский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #72-Z and municipalLaw #232-Z district (raion), one of the twenty-three in Tambov Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southwestern central part of the obla ...
), where her family lived during the occupation of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
by the forces of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. Her father, Nikolay Afanasievich Goncharov, a scion of the family of paper manufacturers from
Kaluga
Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population:
Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...
, was pronounced demented in 1815; the household was managed by his wife, Natalia Ivanovna Zagriajskaya, an imperious lady with connections within Muscovite nobility. Her ancestors included
Petro Doroshenko
Petro Doroshenko ( uk, Петро Дорофійович Дорошенко, russian: Пётр Дорофе́евич Дороше́нко, pl, Piotr Doroszenko; 1627–1698) was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of Right-bank Ukr ...
,
Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks.
Natalie (as she was familiarly known) met
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
at the age of 16, when she was one of the most talked-about beauties of Moscow.
Marriage to Pushkin
After many hesitations, Natalia eventually accepted a proposal of marriage from Pushkin in April 1830, but not until she had received assurances that the tsarist government did not intend to persecute the libertarian poet. They were officially engaged on 6 May 1830, and sent out wedding invitations. Because of the outbreak of
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
and other circumstances, the wedding was delayed for a year. The ceremony took place on 18 February (Old Style) or 2 March (New Style) 1831 in the
Great Ascension Church
The Greater Church of Christ's Ascension (Большое Вознесение) is one of the largest parish churches in downtown Moscow. It is a major landmark of Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street and Nikitskiye Vorota Square. It is named "greater" to ...
on
Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street
Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street (russian: Большая Никитская улица, ''Nikitskaya Ulitsa'') is a radial street that runs west from Mokhovaya Street to Garden Ring in Moscow, between Vozdvizhenka Street (south) and Tverskaya Street (n ...
in Moscow.
During the six years of their marriage, Natalia Pushkina gave birth to four children: Maria (b. 1832, suggested as a prototype of
Anna Karenina
''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...
), Alexander (b. 1833), Grigory (b. 1835), and Natalia (b. 1836) (who married into the royal
House of Nassau-Weilburg
The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806.
On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...
to
Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau
Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau (20 September 1832 – 17 September 1905), was the only son of William, Duke of Nassau by his second wife Princess Pauline of Württemberg.
Marriage and issue
He married morganatic marriage, morganatically in Lo ...
and became Countess of Merenberg). As the family lived in the country for prolonged periods, while Pushkin spent most of his time in the capitals, there was a sizeable correspondence between Natalia and Pushkin. Seventy-eight letters from Pushkin to Natalia remain; they are frequently written in a light-hearted tone with touches of ribaldry, but none of them could be called love letters. It is believed that the poet dedicated several poems to her, including "Madonna" (1830). Natalya's correspondence with Pushkin was lost except for one letter, written together with her mother Natalia Ivanovna.
Reputed affair with D'Anthès
In 1835 Natalia met a French immigrant,
Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès
Baron Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès (born Georges-Charles d'Anthès; 5 February 1812 – 2 November 1895) was a French military officer and politician. Despite his later career as a senator under the Second French Empire, D'Anthès ...
, and was involved in a society intrigue, which provoked rumours of an affair with D'Anthès. These resulted in a duel between Pushkin and D'Anthès on 27 January 1837, in which Pushkin was mortally wounded. Commentators disagree about the propriety of Natalia's behaviour in this situation. Some, including
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
and
Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...
, covertly or overtly blamed Pushkin's death on her, feeling that she did not understand his greatness and failed to take an appropriate interest in his art. It does seem that she preferred worldly pleasures to his company, though to some extent she was obliged to socialise separately from him; for example, even during her pregnancies, she often had to chaperone her sisters in the court, since there was no one else to do so, and only by going into society could they find husbands. Her constant demands for money for costly dresses and jewellery forced the poet to write increasingly for money rather than for pleasure. However, modern research into archival materials and contemporary memoirs, including those of family members (who always mentioned Natalia Nikolayevna with great warmth and respect), leads to a more sympathetic view. It stands to her credit that she preserved Pushkin's letters to her (which suggests that she had some idea of the significance of his written heritage), and subsequently she allowed them to be published.
Second marriage and death
Much was made of Natalia's relationship with
Nicholas I after Pushkin's death; it was even rumoured that she became his mistress. In 1843, she met Petr Petrovich Lanskoy (1799–1877), who served at the same regiment as her brother. After having been blessed by the tsar, their wedding was held in
Strelna
Strelna ( rus, Стре́льна, p=ˈstrʲelʲnə) is a municipal settlement in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, about halfway between Saint Petersburg proper and Petergof, and overlooking the shore of ...
on 16 July 1844. Lanskoy was in favour with the tsar, and he had had a remarkable career before his marriage. Following the marriage, Natalia gave birth to three daughters: Alexandra (b. 1845), Elizaveta (b. 1846) and Sophia (b. 1848). Natalia died on 26 November 1863 and her ashes were laid in the cemetery of the
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Ale ...
.
References
Further reading
* Vadim Stark. ''Zhizn s poetom. Natalia Nikolayevna Pushkina'', in two volumes. Moscow: Vita Nova, 2006. , 5-93898-099-2, 5-93898-100-X.
External link
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pushkina, Natalia
1812 births
1863 deaths
People from Tambov Oblast
People from Tambovsky Uyezd
Russian nobility
Doroshenko family
19th-century people from the Russian Empire
Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)