Daughter of Anna Kern. Prutnya Churchyard

Anna Petrovna Kern (miniature).

Perhaps the portrait is simply unsuccessful: Turgenev, after meeting sixty-four-year-old A.P. Kern, in a letter to Pauline Viardot, writes: “In her youth, she must have been very pretty.”

At the age of 17, having submitted to the will of her parents, Anna Petrovna married fifty-two-year-old General Kern, and gave birth to three daughters from him... (So what? Not an old man at all by today's standards... three children at that age!.. Well done! Really the martinet is narrow-minded... and in our time there are enough of them. Well, the girl was unlucky...)

In 1819, in St. Petersburg, in the house of her aunt E.M. Olenina, she listened to I.A. Krylov and met Pushkin for the first time, and, as she writes in her memoirs: “... did not notice him. In the daze... of Krylov’s charm it was surprising to see anyone other than the hero of the occasion.”

He had not yet become the Pushkin whom Russia admired, and perhaps that is why the ugly, curly-haired young man did not make any impression on her.

When she left, “...Pushkin stood on the porch and followed me with his eyes,” Kern writes in his memoirs.

Later, her cousin wrote to her: “You made a strong impression on Pushkin..., he says everywhere: “She was dazzling.”

She was nineteen years old, Pushkin was twenty.

Six years passed, and the “southern poems” of Pushkin, who was exiled to the village of Mikhailovskoye, thundered throughout Russia.

And she is already delighted with him... Here she is, Magic power art. The ugly, curly-haired young man turned into a desired idol. As she writes, “I longed to see him.”

She goes to her aunt in Trigorskoye, which was located near Mikhailovsky, to meet the FIRST Russian poet (well, like modern fans, she wanted to, and rushed from the darkness of the city to a pop star’s concert in regional center; she made her way behind the scenes to the steward... but she achieved... she saw!., and maybe she achieved something else...), and stayed there from mid-June to July 19, 1825 (normally, more than a month without a husband, without three daughters , - came off full program!) together with his cousin P.A. Wulf-Osipova and her two daughters, one of whom, Anna Nikolaevna, became interested in Pushkin and retained a deep unrequited feeling for the rest of her life.

The poet's genius seemed to have an effect on women a huge impact; however, women at any time liked men who were talented, famous and strong-willed and body.

For the entire month that Kern spent with her aunt, Pushkin appeared in Trigorskoye almost every day, read his poems to her, and listened to her sing. The day before leaving, Kern, along with her aunt and sister, visited Pushkin in Mikhailovsky, where the two of them wandered for a long time through the neglected garden at night, but, as Kern states in her memoirs, she did not remember the details of the conversation.

Strange... however, maybe there was no time for talking...

The next day, saying goodbye, Pushkin gave her a copy of the first chapter of Eugene Onegin, between the sheets of which she found a sheet of paper folded in four with the verses “I remember a wonderful moment...”

Five letters written by him after Anna Petrovna Kern, and carefully preserved by her, slightly reveal the secret of their relationship. Unfortunately, Kern's letters to Pushkin have not survived, which makes the picture incomplete.

Here are a few quotes: “Your visit to Trigorskoye left an impression on me that was deeper and more painful than that produced by our meeting at the Olenins.” "... I'm mad, and I'm at your feet." "...I'm dying of sadness and I can only think about you."

It is not known what Kern answered him, but in the next letter he writes: “You assure me that I do not know your character. What do I care about him? I really need him - should pretty women have character? The main thing is the eyes, teeth, arms and legs... How is your husband doing? I hope he had a thorough attack of gout the day after your arrival? If you only knew what disgust... I feel for this man!...I beg you, divine , write to me, love me..."

In the next letter: “... I love you more than you think... You will come? - won’t you? - and until then, do not decide anything regarding your husband. Finally, rest assured that I am not one of those who will never advise drastic measures - sometimes this is inevitable, but first you need to think carefully and not create a scandal unnecessarily. Now it’s night, and your image appears before me, so sad and voluptuous: it seems to me that I see... your half-open lips ... it seems to me that I am at your feet, squeezing them, feeling your knees - I would give my whole life for a moment of reality."

In the penultimate letter: “If you are very tired of your husband, leave him... You leave the whole family there and come... to Mikhailovskoye! Can you imagine how happy I would be? You will say: “What about publicity, what about a scandal?” Damn it! When they leave their husband, it's already a complete scandal, what happens next means nothing or means very little. Agree that my project is romantic! And when Kern dies, you will be free as air... Well, what do you say to that? " (By the way, E.F. Kern would die only 16 years later in 1841 at the age of 76 - he was a strong old man.)

And in the last, fifth letter: “Are you seriously saying that you approve of my project? ... my head was spinning with joy. Talk to me about love: that’s what I’m waiting for. The hope of seeing you still young and beautiful is the only thing I expensive."

It is probably impossible to draw direct parallels between Pushkin’s letters and the fact that at the beginning of 1826 Anna Petrovna Kern left her husband, the general, and went to St. Petersburg with her daughters, father and sister, because at the age of 20 (she was born on February 11, 1800) she writes in her diary: “... my fate is connected with a person whom I am unable to love and whom... I almost hate. I would run away... just to get rid of this misfortune - sharing fate with such a rude, uncouth man "

A few days after Pushkin gave Kern a piece of poetry in Trigorskoye, he ended his letter to one of his friends with these words: “I feel that my spiritual strength has reached full development, I can create." And what, if not love, makes a person create? Although many Pushkinists believe that his passion was not particularly deep. And the course of their unspoken thoughts can be understood: in the wilderness, in exile, an enthusiastic woman came to the Poet, and the poet was simply a man who was a poet...

On May 22, 1827, after being released from exile, Pushkin returned to St. Petersburg, where, as A.P. Kern writes, “I visited his parents’ house almost every day.” He himself lived in Demuth’s tavern on the Moika (one of the best St. Petersburg hotels) and “sometimes came to us when going to his parents.”

Soon the father and sister left, and A.P. Kern began to rent a small apartment in the house where Pushkin’s friend, the poet Baron Delvig, lived with his wife. On this occasion, Kern recalls that “once, introducing his wife to one family, Delvig joked: “This is my wife,” and then, pointing at me: “And this is the second one.”

“Pushkin... often came into my room, repeating the last verse he wrote...”, “... while visiting me, he talked about conversations with friends...” “... wanted to spend several hours with me , but I had to go to Countess Ivelevich..." Anna Petrovna vaguely recalls their relationship during this period.

Veresaev writes that only in Moscow, when Pushkin’s former passion had faded, did he recognize Kern as a woman, although some authors write that this first happened in Mikhailovskoye. Pushkin immediately boasted in a letter to his friend Sobolevsky, without mincing words and also using the vocabulary of cab drivers (sorry for the unseemly quotation - but that is what it is): “You don’t write anything to me about the 2100 rubles I owe you, and you write to me about m-me Kern, whom, with the help of God, I fucked the other day.”

Like all poets, like Pushkin, falling in love passed quickly. A little later, Pushkin would write to Wulf with slight mockery: “What is he doing? Whore of Babylon Anna Petrovna?" - meaning THEIR(Kern and Wolf)relationships. And ten years later, in a letter to his wife, Pushkin will call Anna Kern a fool and send her to hell.

Why so rude? Veresaev explains it this way: “There was one short moment when a piquant lady, easily accessible to many (but not to a poet in love (author)) was suddenly perceived by the poet’s soul as a genius pure beauty, - and the poet is artistically justified."

Got good home education possessing independent thinking, passionate about literature, she was always drawn to people who were smart, sincere, talented, and never before or later had she lived such a rich spiritual life as at that time. Among her friends were the entire Pushkin family, the Delvig family, Vyazemsky, Krylov, Zhukovsky, Mitskevich, Glinka, Baratynsky. Already in old age, when she was almost sixty, she reflected her impressions of communicating with them in memoirs that are of such a puritanical nature that Pushkin and his entourage look like a complete bronze composition, where Glinka is a “kind and amiable person”, a “dear musician” with "a most pleasant character", Mickiewicz is "constantly amiable and pleasant", and Baron Delvig is "amiable, kind and pleasant."

Only sometimes does she describe the living real faces, where Pushkin, “... is rash and arrogant... not always... prudent, and sometimes not even smart,” and that “... circle gifted writers and friends grouped around Pushkin, bore the character of a carefree Russian gentleman who loves to splurge... with a desire to have smart and noisy fun, and sometimes even to go on a revelry."

For these words, she is often accused of bias, but probably in vain. True talent is not tedious or boring, it creates as it breathes, easily and unnoticed by others, and does not put itself on a pedestal during life, but enjoys this life.

With no small amount of humor, she recalls that “Baratynsky never used punctuation marks other than a comma, and Delvig said that Baratynsky allegedly asked him: “What do you call the genitive case?”

From her memories it is impossible to determine the degree of her closeness with Pushkin in this period, but to assume that Pushkin had special treatment to A.P. Kern, is incorrect, because in 1828, as researchers write, he was already attracted to Anna Alekseevna Olenina and even asked for her hand.

By the way, Pushkin, as Kern herself notes, “had a low opinion of women, he was fascinated by their wit, brilliance and outer beauty“, and not virtue. Once, speaking about a woman who loved him passionately (apparently, he was talking about Anna Nikolaevna Wulf), he said: “... there is nothing more tasteless than patience and selflessness.”

Some biographers, analyzing her (Kern’s) girlish “Diary for Relaxation,” written by her at the age of 20, claim that it contains evidence of some special inclination of hers with early years to the coquetry and flirtation that developed subsequently, but not everyone agrees with this.

What's in it? Descriptions of balls (“...it’s four o’clock in the afternoon, and I just got out of bed, I’m so tired from the ball”), tea and dancing at the governor’s, a description of her passion for some “worthy object that has captured” her soul. She writes: “... I confess that for the first time I truly love, and all other men are indifferent to me.” “To love is to grieve, but not to love is not to live. So, I want to torment, grieve and live as long as God wants to move me into eternity.” (By the way, when she was seventy years old, she wrote that during her youth, young people “did not have that frivolity..., that licentiousness that catches the eye now..."). About what "worthy subject" we're talking about, it is unknown, but it is known that General Kern scolds her for the fact that “they saw me, I was standing around the corner with one officer,” “in the carriage, he (Kern) began yelling as if he had been stabbed to death, that ... no one There’s nothing in the world to convince him that I’m staying at home for the sake of the child, he knows the real reason, and if I don’t go (to the ball), then he’ll stay too.”

Her disgust for her husband is so great that she writes: "...even my daughter is not so dear to me..., if it were a child from..., it would be dearer to me than my own life." And some strange episodes related with the quirks of an elderly general husband are worthy of the pages of a modern scandalous yellow publication.

His nephew, who is a year younger than Anna Petrovna, settles in the general’s house, and in her notes, indicated in her diary “At 10 o’clock in the evening, after dinner,” literally the following: “I was just now with P. Kern (the general’s nephew) in his room. Not I know why, but my husband, at all costs, wants me to go there when he goes to bed. More often than not, I shy away from this, but sometimes he drags me there almost by force. But this young man... doesn’t is distinguished by neither shyness nor modesty... behaves like a second Narcissus, and imagines that you have to be at least made of ice in order not to fall in love with him, seeing him in such a pleasant pose. My husband made me sit next to his bed..., kept asking me, isn't it true, what is his nephew's Beautiful face. I admit, I’m just at a loss and can’t figure out what it all means and how to understand such strange behavior.”

In the thirties, events took place in the life of Anna Petrovna Kern that radically changed her St. Petersburg way of life. On February 18, 1831, Pushkin’s marriage took place with the brilliant Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova, with the one “whom he loved for two years...” - as he wrote in the sketch of the autobiographical story “My fate is decided. I’m getting married.” That is, since 1829 his heart belonged to Natalya Nikolaevna.

Soon, in the same 1831, Delvig died. With the death of Delvig and the marriage of Pushkin, A.P. Kern’s connection with this circle of people close and dear to her was severed.

The following years brought A.P. Kern a lot of grief. She buried her mother, her husband demanded her return, she tried to do translations in order to have a “means of livelihood,” but she did not have enough experience and skill, and nothing came of it.

Several harsh and mocking words of Pushkin regarding her translations are known, but Pushkin scholars note that his friendly attitude towards her remains unchanged. Pushkin even helped her in the efforts to buy out the family estate, which, unfortunately, were not successful.

And on February 1, 1837, she “cryed and prayed” in the twilight of the Stable Church, where Pushkin’s funeral service was held.

But life went on. Her second cousin, a pupil, falls head over heels in love with her, still attractive at 37 years old. cadet corps, A.V. Markov-Vinogradsky, is much younger than her in age, and she reciprocates. He sacrifices everything to her: career, material security, the location of his family. In 1839, their son was born (this is Anna Kern’s fourth child), who is named Alexander.

In 1841, General Kern died, and in 1842 Anna Petrovna officially formalized her marriage with A.V. Markov-Vinogradsky and took his surname.

She renounces the title of “Excellency,” the substantial pension assigned to her for General Kern, and her father’s support. This was another bold step in her life, which not every woman in her circle would have decided to take.

They lived together for almost forty years. Material insecurity, which at times reached the point of extreme need, and all sorts of everyday adversities haunted them relentlessly. However, no difficulties could disrupt the union of these two people; they, in their own words, “developed happiness for themselves.”

In 1851, Anna Petrovna wrote: “Poverty has its joys, and we always feel good, because we have a lot of love. Perhaps under better circumstances we would be less happy. We, despairing of acquiring material contentment, chase after the pleasures of the soul and catch every smile of the surrounding world in order to enrich yourself with spiritual happiness. Rich people are never poets... Poetry is the wealth of poverty..."

After Pushkin's death, Anna Petrovna jealously kept everything that was at least to some extent connected with the memory of the poet - from his poems and letters to her to the small footstool on which he happened to sit in her house.

And the further into the past the time of their acquaintance went, the more Anna Petrovna felt how generously she was gifted by fate, which brought her together on the path of life with Pushkin. And when they approached her with an offer to talk about her meetings with the poet, she did it willingly and quickly. At this time she was about sixty years old: well, this corresponds perfectly to Pushkin’s lines “... everything is instantaneous, everything will pass, whatever will pass will be nice.”

Later P.V. Annenkov reproached her: “... you said less than what you could and should have said,” in that the memories should have resulted in notes and “at the same time, of course, any need for half-trust, reticence, omissions as in in relation to oneself, and in relation to others... false concepts about friendship, about decency and indecency. Of course, for this it is necessary to separate from the small and vulgar considerations of the bourgeois understanding of morality, what is allowed and what is not allowed..." The public expected piquant details and scandalous revelations ?

After 1865, the Markov-Vinogradskys led a wandering life - sometimes they lived with relatives in the Tver province, sometimes in Lubny, sometimes in Moscow. They were still haunted by appalling poverty.

Anna Petrovna even had to part with her only treasure - Pushkin's letters, selling them for five rubles apiece (for comparison, during Pushkin's life, a very luxurious edition of Eugene Onegin cost twenty-five rubles per copy). By the way, earlier the composer Glinka simply lost the original poem “I Remember a Wonderful Moment” when he composed his music for it, by the way, dedicated to the daughter of Anna Kern, with whom (daughter) Glinka was madly in love... so the poor woman by the end of life, there was nothing left except memories... sad...

In January 1879, A.V. Markov-Vinogradsky died “from stomach cancer with terrible suffering,” and four months later in Moscow, in modest furnished rooms on the corner of Tverskaya and Gruzinskaya, at the age of seventy-nine, she completed her career life path and Anna Petrovna Markova-Vinogradskaya (Kern).

The well-known story, which has become a legend, is that “her coffin met a monument to Pushkin, which was being imported to Moscow.” Whether it happened or not is unknown for certain, but I want to believe that it happened... Because it’s beautiful...

There is no poet, there is no this woman... but this is the case when life continues after death. “I have erected a monument to myself not made by hands...” - Pushkin prophetically said to himself, but for this he had to create everything for which we know, love and appreciate him, but just one poem dedicated to a not sinless living woman, simple words genius “I remember a wonderful moment...” immortalized the name of an ordinary earthly woman to whom they were dedicated. And if somewhere poetic image And a real man don’t match, well... this only proves that both the Poet and the Woman were normal living people, and not popular prints as they were previously presented to us, and this human normality of theirs in no way detracts from their place in the spiritual aura of the nation.

And let one shine, but the other reflects...

Nikolay Latushkin

(Information based on the memoirs of A.P. Kern and various

literary and journalistic sources)

Anna Kern (02/22/1800 – 06/08/1879) – Russian noblewoman, author of memoirs. She gained fame due to her romantic relationship with A.S. Pushkin, was the muse of the famous lyrical work“I remember a wonderful moment.”

Origin

Anna was born in Orel, her parents were wealthy people and belonged to noble class. The father's name was Pyotr Poltoratsky, he was a landowner and official, his mother, Ekaterina Wulf, was a gentle woman by nature, completely submissive to her husband's will. At first, the family lived in the Oryol province, on the estate of Anna’s grandfather, and later moved to the estate of the Poltava province, in the city of Lubny, where Kern spent her childhood.

Anna was brought up in a manner appropriate to her position: she read a lot, spoke French. Having become a girl, blue-eyed and fair-haired, she aroused admiration in society for her attractive appearance. At the age of 17, Anna was forcibly married to a general English origin Ermolai Kern, he was 52 years old.

General's wife

The arranged marriage weighed heavily on Anna; she did not love, did not respect, and even hated her husband. Because of military service She had to move her husband to his destinations; two girls were born in the family - Ekaterina (1818) and Anna (1821). The mother treated the children rather coldly, was not interested in them, the daughters were raised at the Institute of Noble Maidens.

The hated family life contributed to the interests of the general’s wife, who found interesting friends in every new city and devoted herself to communicating with people and writing diaries.

So, in Kyiv she had a warm friendship with the Raevskys, in Dorpat - with the Moyer family, in St. Petersburg in 1819 she met I. Krylov and A. Pushkin. Later, famous composers and writers appeared in her social circle, including M. Glinka, I. Turgenev, F. Tyutchev and others.

Anna's charm attracted the attention of many, and she did not neglect it. At that time, according to her diaries, the general’s wife had a relationship with a man whom she called “Rosehip”, and a little later with the landowner A. Rodzianko.

In 1825, Anna came to the estate of her aunt Osipova near Pskov, where she again met Pushkin, who was serving exile in those places. Then she followed her husband to Riga, where she had romantic relationship with his cousin A. Wulf, a friend of Pushkin. In 1827, Kern separated from the general; by this time her reputation left much to be desired, but gossip and public opinion the woman cared little.

Relations with Pushkin

Despite the fact that Kern influenced the work of the great poet, their connection did not particularly affect the fate of each of them. When we met, Pushkin seemed uncouth and rude to Anna. He, on the contrary, was fascinated by the beauty. Later, before moving to Riga, when Alexander Sergeevich’s fame reached her, Anna changed her attitude and became interested in his work. Having received the first letter from the poet, she answered with joy. Kern was then visiting her aunt in Trigorskoye; he lived in Mikhailovskoye. Thus began a short relationship.

A. Kern. Drawing by A.S. Pushkin (1829)

They walked and discussed many topics. Pushkin showed his works to his beloved and dedicated his famous lines “I remember a wonderful moment” to her. When Kern was going to Riga, they agreed to correspond. Pushkin's letters have survived to this day, but they do not indicate deep love feelings, but are characterized by irony and a playful mood. Later, the poet even began to call Anna a harlot. Their communication ended in 1827. Anna talked with the poet’s parents for a long time and visited them. Kern preserved the image of Pushkin in her memoirs, thanks to which descendants recognized the poet as young and in love.

Life in love

Until 1836, Anna led an active social life, had numerous affairs, until she truly fell in love with sixteen-year-old cadet Sasha Markov-Vinogradsky, her second cousin. Her father was against this connection and, as punishment, deprived Anna of all financial support. Living together With this young man she was carried away and calmed down, three years later they had a son. In 1841, Anna's husband died, finally freeing his wife from marriage.

Kern could have received a substantial pension as the widow of a general, but in 1842 she marries Alexander, takes his surname and lives in poverty. They have lived in the Chernigov province for many years; Anna even had to overcome tuberculosis. In 1855, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where Alexander entered service in the department of appanages. The wife helps support their precarious financial situation by working part-time in translation.

Bust of A. Kern next to memorial plaque Pushkin (Riga, Latvia)

In 1865 they left St. Petersburg, since Markov-Vinogradov resigned. His pension was small, the couple continued to be poor, then Anna was forced to sell Pushkin’s carefully kept letters to her (for 5 rubles each). In January 1879, Alexander died of cancer, his son moved Anna to Moscow, where she also died a few months later. They planned to bury her in the village of Prutnya, Tver province, next to her husband, but this was not possible due to weather conditions. Now the exact burial place is unknown, there is only a memorial plaque in the cemetery.

Anna Petrovna lived a not boring life, about which she wrote memoirs “Memories of Pushkin”, “Diary”, “One Hundred Years Ago”, “Three Meetings with Emperor Alexander”, etc. 100 years after her death, a small monument to Anna Kern was erected in Riga .

Fans of Pushkin's work, of course, know who Anna Kern is. The biography of this woman is closely connected with the fate of the great Russian poet. Anna Kern is a Russian noblewoman who lived in the 19th century and went down in history precisely thanks to her role in the life of A.S. Pushkin. However, her fate is notable not only for this. Anna Kern went through a very interesting life path. Her biography can intrigue even people far from poetry. After reading this article, you will become familiar with the main events in her life.

Origin of Anna Kern

This woman was born in 1800, a year later than A.S. Pushkin. She went through a long and eventful life - Anna Kern died in 1879. The biography of our heroine begins with meeting her parents. Her father was Pyotr Markovich Poltoratsky. His grandfather on his side is Mark Fedorovich Poltoratsky (his portrait is presented below) - a Russian singer and state councilor (years of life - 1729-1795).

Anna Kern lived with her parents in the estate of the Oryol governor I.P. Wulf. This man was her maternal grandfather. Later the family moved to Poltava province, to county town Lubny. Anna Kern spent her childhood here, as well as in Bernovo, on the estate of I. P. Wulf.

The father and mother of our heroine were from the circle of official nobility. They were pretty wealthy people. Anna's father is a court councilor and a Poltava landowner. His father was M. F. Poltoratsky, the head of the singing choir located at the court, known even in the time of Elizabeth. M. F. Poltoratsky was married to Shishkova Agathoklea Alexandrovna, imperious and rich woman. The mother of our heroine was Ekaterina Ivanovna, nee Wulf. She was distinguished by her kindness, but was weak-willed and sickly. The head of the family was, of course, her husband.

Unhappy marriage, birth of daughters

WITH youth Anna Kern fell in love with reading. Her biography continues with the fact that after some time she began to “go out into the world.” The girl looked closely at the “brilliant” officers. However, her father himself introduced her to the groom. He brought Ermolai Fedorovich Kern, a general and officer, to the house (his portrait is presented below). When Anna met him, she was 17 years old, and her future husband was 52. Anna did not like this man. She wrote in her diary that she couldn’t even respect him, that she practically hated him.

This was expressed later in her attitude towards the children born from her marriage with the general - Anna was rather cool towards them. From Ermolai Fedorovich she had two daughters, Ekaterina and Anna (born in 1818 and 1821, respectively). They were sent to be raised at the Smolny Institute.

Forced relocations

Our heroine had to get used to the role of the wife of an army soldier from the time of Arakcheev. Her husband had to frequently change garrisons, moving on duty to Elizavetgrad, Pskov, Dorpat, or Riga...

In Kyiv, Anna Petrovna Kern became friends with the Raevsky family, whose brief biography interests us. She spoke of this family with admiration. Her close friends in Dorpat were the Moyers. The head of this family was a professor of surgery and worked at the local university. His wife was the first love of the poet Zhukovsky, his muse. Anna Petrovna also remembered a trip to St. Petersburg, which took place at the beginning of 1819. In the house of E. M. Olenina, her aunt, the girl heard Krylov, and also saw A. S. Pushkin for the first time. This is how Anna Petrovna Kern quietly entered the poet’s life. Pushkin's biography is marked with a bright page associated with this woman. However, their close acquaintance took place a little later.

Anna Kern's hobbies

In the same year, 1819, a certain man briefly appeared in the life of our heroine, whom Anna called “rosehip” in her diary. Then she began an affair with A.G. Rodzianko, a local landowner. It was he who introduced Anna Kern to the works of Alexander Sergeevich, whom she had already briefly encountered before. The great poet did not make an impression on Anna Petrovna at that time; he even seemed somewhat rude to her. However, thanks to A.G. Rodzianko, Pushkin and Anna Petrovna Kern became close. short biography This woman is noted for the fact that she was completely delighted with the poetry of Alexander Sergeevich.

Connection with Pushkin

By June 1825, Anna had already left her husband. She was traveling to Riga and on the way decided to look into the Trigorskoye estate, which belonged to P. A. Osipova, her aunt. Here our heroine again met Alexander Sergeevich (the Mikhailovskoye estate, where he was then located, was located nearby). The poet flared up with passion, which was reflected in famous poem Pushkin, dedicated to his beloved A. Kern (“I remember a wonderful moment…”). However, at that moment Anna Petrovna was flirting with Alexei Vulf, Osipova’s son and a friend of the poet. In Riga, a passionate romance took place between her and Alexei.

Alexander Sergeevich continued to suffer. Only 2 years later his beloved condescended to become her admirer. However, Anna Petrovna Kern and Pushkin did not stay together for long. The poet's biography is marked by the fact that, having achieved his goal, he discovered that his feelings had disappeared from that moment. Soon the connection between Alexander Sergeevich and Anna Petrovna ceased. But our heroine is still known as Pushkin’s mistress. Anna Kern, her biography and relationship with the great poet are of interest to many to this day.

A. Kern after the break with Pushkin

After this break, Anna was close to A.V. Nikitenko, A.D. Illichevsky, D.V. Venevitinov, the family of Baron Delvig, I.S. Turgenev, F.I. Tyutchev, as well as M.I. Glinka . The latter wrote music for Pushkin’s poem “I remember a wonderful moment...”. However, he dedicated it not to Anna Kern, but to her daughter Catherine. Our heroine stopped maintaining contact with this circle after Pushkin’s marriage. Nevertheless, after Delvig’s death she still had warm relations with the family of Alexander Sergeevich. Anna Kern still went to visit Sergei Lvovich and Nadezhda Osipovna Pushkin. She also kept in touch with Pushkina (Pavlishcheva) Olga Sergeevna, who was a “confidante” in her affairs of the heart. By the way, it is in her honor that Anna will name her youngest daughter Olga.

True love A. Kern

Our heroine continued to fall in love, despite the fact that she acquired the status of an outcast in secular society. At the age of 36, she met her true love. Her chosen one turned out to be Sasha Markov-Vinogradsky (his portrait is presented above), Anna Petrovna’s second cousin, at that time a 16-year-old cadet. Anna completely stopped appearing in secular society, to which she preferred a quiet family life. Three years later, her son Alexander was born, who was an illegitimate child, since Anna Petrovna was officially still married to the general.

Death of a spouse, new marriage

Her husband died early in 1841. As the general's widow, Anna was entitled to a significant pension. However, on July 25, 1842, she married her lover. Now Anna’s surname became Markova-Vinogradskaya. Because of this, our heroine could no longer claim a pension, so the spouses had to live quite modestly. They spent many years in a village near Sosnovitsy, located in the Chernigov province. This was the only way it was possible. This village is the only family estate of Anna Petrovna’s new husband.

Difficulties the family had to face

Alexander Vasilyevich in 1855 received a position in St. Petersburg. He began to work in the family of Prince S.A. Dolgorukov, and after a while - the head of the department of appanages. Life was not easy for the couple. Anna had to earn extra money by translating. However, despite all the difficulties, their union was unbreakable. Alexander Vasilyevich retired in November 1865 with the modest rank of collegiate assessor. Naturally, one could not count on a large pension. The Markov-Vinogradskys decided to leave St. Petersburg. They lived wherever they had to, the spouses were haunted by poverty. Anna Petrovna, out of need, sold Pushkin’s letters, for which she was given 5 rubles.

Death of Alexander and Anna

A.V. Markov-Vinogradsky died in Pryamukhin on January 28, 1879 in terrible agony. The cause of death was stomach cancer. Four months later, on May 27, Anna also died. This happened in Moscow, in furnished rooms located on the corner of Tverskaya and Gruzinskaya (Anna Petrovna was transported to Moscow by her son). They say that the funeral procession moved along Tverskoy Boulevard when a monument to A.S. Pushkin was erected on it. So great poet I met the “genius of pure beauty” for the last time.

Our heroine was buried in a graveyard near an old stone church located in the village of Prutnya (6 km from Torzhok). The road was washed away by rains, which did not allow the coffin to be delivered “to my husband” to the cemetery. 100 years later in Riga, near the former church, a modest monument to this woman was erected. Of course, bright and interesting personality there was Anna Kern. Her short biography presented in the article, we hope, convinced you of this.

, Torzhok; nee Poltoratskaya, by second husband - Markova-Vinogradskaya listen)) - Russian noblewoman, best known in history for the role she played in the life of Pushkin. Author of memoirs.

Biography

Father - Poltoratsky, Pyotr Markovich. Together with her parents she lived in the estate of her maternal grandfather I. P. Wulf, the Oryol governor, whose descendant D. A. Wulf is her great-nephew.

Later, the parents and Anna moved to the district town of Lubny, Poltava province. Anna spent her entire childhood in this city and in Bernovo, an estate also owned by I. P. Wulf

Her parents belonged to the circle of wealthy official nobility. His father is a Poltava landowner and court councilor, the son of the head of the court singing choir, M.F. Poltoratsky, famous back in Elizabethan times, married to the rich and powerful Agathoclea Alexandrovna Shishkova. Mother - Ekaterina Ivanovna, nee Wulf, a kind woman, but sickly and weak-willed, was under the command of her husband. Anna herself read a lot.

The young beauty began to “go out into the world”, looking at the “brilliant” officers, but her father himself brought the groom to the house - not only an officer, but also General E.F. Kern. At this time, Anna was 17 years old, Yermolay Fedorovich was 52. The girl had to come to terms and in January, on the 8th of the year, the wedding took place. In her diary she wrote: “It is impossible to love him - I am not even given the consolation of respecting him; I’ll tell you straight - I almost hate him.” Later, this was expressed in her attitude towards the children from her marriage with the general - Anna was quite cool towards them (her daughters Ekaterina and Anna, born in 1818 and 1821, respectively, were raised at the Smolny Institute). Anna Petrovna had to lead the life of the wife of an army servant of the Arakcheev era with the change of garrisons "as intended": Elizavetgrad, Dorpat, Pskov, Old Bykhov, Riga...

In Kyiv, she becomes close to the Raevsky family and speaks about them with a feeling of admiration. In Dorpat best friends become the Moyers - a professor of surgery at a local university and his wife - “Zhukovsky’s first love and his muse.” Anna Petrovna also remembered her trip to St. Petersburg at the beginning of 1819, where in the house of her aunt, E.M. Olenina, she heard I.A. Krylov and where she first met Pushkin.

However, after Pushkin’s marriage and Delvig’s death, ties with this social circle were severed, although Anna still had a good relationship with the Pushkin family - she still visited Nadezhda Osipovna and Sergei Lvovich Pushkin, “The Lion whose head I turned”, and of course, with Olga Sergeevna Pushkina (Pavlishcheva), "confidante in matters of the heart", (in her honor Anna will name her youngest daughter Olga).

Bust of Anna Kern near the Ave Sol hall, Riga

Anna continued to love and fall in love, although in “secular society” she acquired the status of an outcast. Already at 36 years old, she fell in love again - and it turned out to be true love. The chosen one was a sixteen-year-old cadet of the First St. Petersburg Cadet Corps, her second cousin Sasha Markov-Vinogradsky. She completely stopped appearing in society and began to lead a quiet family life. Three years later she gave birth to a son, whom she named Alexander. All this happened outside of marriage. A little later (at the beginning of 1841), old Kern dies. Anna, as the general's widow, was entitled to a decent pension, but on July 25, 1842, she officially married Alexander and now her last name is Markova-Vinogradskaya. From this moment on, she can no longer claim a pension, and they have to live very modestly. In order to somehow make ends meet, they have to live for many years in a village near Sosnovitsy, Chernigov province - the only family estate of their husband. In 1855, Alexander Vasilyevich managed to get a position in St. Petersburg, first in the family of Prince S.A. Dolgorukov, and then as a head of the department of appanages. It was hard, Anna Petrovna earned money by translating, but their union remained unbreakable until her death. In November 1865, Alexander Vasilyevich retired with the rank of collegiate assessor and a small pension, and the Markov-Vinogradskys left St. Petersburg. They lived here and there, and were haunted by terrible poverty. Out of necessity, Anna Petrovna sold her treasures - Pushkin's letters, for five rubles apiece. On January twenty-eighth, 1879, A.V. Markov-Vinogradsky died in Pryamukhin ( “from stomach cancer in terrible pain”), and four months later (May 27) Anna Petrovna herself died, in "furnished rooms", on the corner of Gruzinskaya and Tverskaya (her son moved her to Moscow). They say that when the funeral procession with the coffin passed along Tverskoy Boulevard, the famous monument was erected on it famous poet. This is how Genius met his “genius of pure beauty” for the last time.

Anna Kern's grave

She was buried in a graveyard near an old stone church in the village of Prutnya, 6 kilometers from

211 years ago, on February 22, 1800, Anna Petrovna Kern (Poltoratskaya), a contemporary of the poet Alexander Pushkin, was born. lyric poem Pushkin “I remember a wonderful moment...” In the photo: portrait of Anna Petrovna Kern (1800-1879). Work by an unknown artist. Drawing by Nadya Rusheva Anna Kern (1800 - 1879) Her parents belonged to the circle of wealthy official nobility. His father is a Poltava landowner and court councilor, the son of the head of the court singing choir, M.F. Poltoratsky, known back in Elizabethan times, married to the rich and powerful Agathoclea Alexandrovna Shishkova. Mother - Ekaterina Ivanovna, nee Wulf, a kind woman, but sickly and weak-willed, was under the command of her husband. Anna herself read a lot. The young beauty began to “go out into the world”, looking at the “brilliant” officers, but her father himself brought the groom to the house - not only an officer, but also General E.F. Kern. At this time, Anna was 17 years old, Yermolay Fedorovich - 52. The girl had to come to terms and in January, 8th, 1817, the wedding took place. In her diary she wrote: “It is impossible to love him - I am not even given the consolation of respecting him; I’ll tell you straight - I almost hate him.” Later, this was expressed in her attitude towards the children from her marriage with the general - Anna was quite cool towards them (her daughters Ekaterina and Anna, born in 1818 and 1821, respectively, were raised at the Smolny Institute). Anna Petrovna had to lead the life of the wife of an army servant of Arakcheev's times with a change of garrisons “according to assignment”: Elizavetgrad, Dorpat, Pskov, Old Bykhov, Riga... In Kiev, she becomes close to the Raevsky family and speaks about them with a feeling of admiration. In Dorpat, her best friends are the Moyers, a professor of surgery at the local university, and his wife, “Zhukovsky’s first love and his muse.” Anna Petrovna also remembered her trip to St. Petersburg at the beginning of 1819, where in the house of her aunt, E.M. Olenina, she heard I.A. Krylov and where she first met Pushkin. S. Gulyaev. I remember a wonderful moment. However, in 1819 a certain man flashed into her life - from the diary you can find out that she called him “rosehip.” Then she began an affair with the local landowner Arkady Gavrilovich Rodzianko, who introduced Anna to the works of Pushkin, whom Anna had encountered briefly earlier. He didn’t make an “impression” on her (then!), he even seemed rude. Now she was completely delighted with his poetry. Anna Petrovna Kern. Reproduction of a portrait by Ivan Zherin In June 1825, having already left her husband, on the way to Riga, she looked into Trigorskoye, the estate of her aunt, Praskovya Aleksandrovna Osipova, where she again met Pushkin (the Mikhailovskoye estate is located nearby). Pushkin flared up with the passion that was given to him by God and was reflected in the famous “I remember a wonderful moment...”. I remember a wonderful moment: You appeared before me, Like a fleeting vision, Like a genius of pure beauty. In the languor of hopeless sadness In the worries of noisy bustle, A gentle voice sounded to me for a long time And I dreamed of sweet features. Years passed. The rebellious gust of storms scattered my former dreams, And I forgot your tender voice, your heavenly features. In the wilderness, in the darkness of confinement, my days dragged on quietly, without deity, without inspiration, without tears, without life, without love. The soul has awakened: And now you have appeared again, Like a fleeting vision, Like a genius of pure beauty. And the heart beats in ecstasy, And for him, Divinity and inspiration have risen again, And life, and tears, and love
But Anna at that moment was flirting with the poet’s friend (and Osipova’s son?) Alexei Wulf, and in Riga a passionate romance took place between Anet and Wulf. Pushkin continued to suffer, and only two years later Anna condescended to become a brilliant admirer. But, having achieved his goal, Pushkin discovered that from that moment the poet’s feelings quickly disappeared, and their connection ceased. However, after Pushkin’s marriage and Delvig’s death, the connection with this social circle was severed, although Anna remained on good terms with the Pushkin family - she still visited Nadezhda Osipovna and Sergei Lvovich Pushkin, “The Lion” whose head I turned, and of course , with Olga Sergeevna Pushkina (Pavlishcheva), “confidante in matters of the heart.” Anna continued to love and fall in love, although in “secular society” she acquired the status of an outcast. Already at 36 years old, she fell in love again - and it turned out to be true love. The chosen one was a sixteen-year-old cadet of the First St. Petersburg Cadet Corps, her second cousin Sasha Markov-Vinogradsky. She completely stopped appearing in society and began to lead a quiet family life. Three years later she gave birth to a son, whom she named Alexander. All this happened outside of marriage. A little later (at the beginning of 1841), old Kern dies. Anna, as the general's widow, was entitled to a decent pension, but on July 25, 1842, she officially married Alexander and now her last name is Markova-Vinogradskaya. From this moment on, she can no longer claim a pension, and they have to live very modestly. In order to somehow make ends meet, they have to live for many years in a village near Sosnovitsy, Chernigov province - the only family estate of their husband. In 1855, Alexander Vasilyevich managed to get a position in St. Petersburg, first in the family of Prince S.A. Dolgorukov, and then as a head of the department of appanages. It was hard, Anna Petrovna earned money by translating, but their union remained unbreakable until her death. In November 1865, Alexander Vasilyevich retired with the rank of collegiate assessor and a small pension, and the Markov-Vinogradskys left St. Petersburg. They lived here and there, and were haunted by terrible poverty. Out of necessity, Anna Petrovna sold her treasures - Pushkin's letters, for five rubles apiece. On January twenty-eighth, 1879, A.V. Markov-Vinogradsky died in Pryamukhin (“from stomach cancer in terrible pain”), and four months later (May 27) Anna Petrovna herself died, in “m:)bedrooms”, on corner of Gruzinskaya and Tverskaya (her son moved her to Moscow). They say that when the funeral procession with the coffin passed along Tverskoy Boulevard, the famous monument to the famous poet was just being erected on it. This is how the genius met his “genius of pure beauty” for the last time. Silhouette of Anna Kern (presumably), here she is 25 years old. She was buried in a graveyard near an old stone church in the village of Prutnya, 6 kilometers from Torzhok - the rains washed out the road and did not allow the coffin to be delivered to the cemetery, “to her husband.” And 100 years later in Riga, near the former church, a modest monument to Anna Petrovna was erected with an inscription in a language unfamiliar to her.
Anna Kern's grave