II S. D. P From the history of literary life of Pushkin's time Aunt's Album (Instead of a Preface) A little less than a century ago, theater historian N. V. Drizen found an old album with drawings and poems in the family archives. The album belonged to his great-great-aunt;

Poetic vocabulary of Arabic wedding songs. Reflection in them of folk life and social relations In the lyrical poetry of the Arabs, traditional vocabulary and ordinary images that acquire the role of symbols often hide a deep social meaning. Moreover, social

On November 10 and 11, students of grades 6 and 6 of school No. 1 became guests of the literary and musical lounge "Salons of Pushkin's time" .

Irina Karpova, an employee of the city library named after E.R. Dashkova, told the children about the most interesting phenomenon of Russian cultural life of the first half of the 19th century - secular salons.

With the help of media presentation, music and poetry, it was possible to create an atmosphere that inspired the great writers, poets, artists and musicians of Pushkin's era.

The schoolchildren “visited” the living rooms of Zinaida Volkonskaya, Anton Delvig and Ekaterina Karamzina. We found out why these salons attracted Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Baratynsky, Gogol, Glinka and other people gifted with various talents. We “saw” them in a relaxed, friendly and creative atmosphere, saw new, significant touches in already familiar portraits.

At the end of the event, children were asked to share their impressions. I would like to quote one of the reviews: “I liked the calm atmosphere of the lesson. I often got goosebumps. I really want to create the same salon. I really, really liked it. Thank you!" Shishanova Taya .

Literary salons of St. Petersburg in the 19th century

Introduction

The history of Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century is closely connected with the phenomenon of literary salons that flourished in St. Petersburg at that time. Many St. Petersburg salons of the first half of the 19th century were led by women. According to Vyazemsky ...the female mind is often hospitable, it willingly orders and welcomes intelligent guests, carefully and deftly hosting them... Such salon owners were Elizaveta Mikhailovna Khitrovo and Dolly Fikelmon (daughter and granddaughter of Field Marshal Kutuzov), the Karamzins - Ekaterina Andreevna, Sophie and Catherine, Alexandra Osipovna Smirnova-Rosset. The decoration of the Olenins’ salon were its lovely hostesses, especially Anna Alekseevna, with whom A.S. was in love at one time. Pushkin. During the times of the commoners, in the second half of the 19th century, the word “salon” no longer had such an attractive meaning as, for example, in the time of Pushkin, when the literary salons of Golitsina, Volkonskaya, Olenins, Karamzins were known to all reading and writing people in Russia. Salons where the stars of new authors shone and already recognized writers and poets shone with their talent.

The purpose of this work is to consider the phenomenon of literary salons in St. Petersburg in the 19th century.

1.The history of the “salon”

The first salons appeared probably in France, during the era of Louis XIII (early 17th century). The noble Italian Julia Saveli married Mr. de Vivon and decided to rebuild the house according to the classical model. Along with symmetrically arranged windows and rooms following each other in a solemn enfilade, a new way of life came. The hostess, a beautiful and educated lady, received guests, according to French custom, in the morning while lying in bed. She was visited by familiar aristocrats, artists, scientists and poets. During the cheerful and intelligent conversation, time flew by for everyone: the lady was combing her hair, getting dressed, and her guests exchanged news and gossip, read poems and plays. However, they often played politics: the salon of Julie de Vivon, and then the salon of her daughter, Marquise Catherine de Rambouillet, was in opposition to the Court.

So, the rules of salon life were established for two centuries to come. The salon (“living room” in French) was a kind of circle around a brilliant lady, which united her friends from different walks of life. These circles were always created according to interests: some were fascinated by religion, others by politics, and others by literature, art and music. Salons were opened by noble ladies, rich bourgeois women, and fashionable courtesans.

For the most part, the salons were a refuge for the opposition: here it was not the king who reigned, but a beautiful or at least quite intelligent and amiable lady, before whom both the peer and the poor artist were equal. The ideologists of the Great French Revolution drew inspiration from such salons. Of course, the presence of the lady put a rein on both minds and tongues. And already under Hegel (early 19th century) this resulted in outright affectation, which the great German philosopher spoke of with sarcasm.

Referring to the role of salons in French culture, Pushkin used to say that French poetry was born in the hallway and did not go beyond the living room.

But it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the salon is a cell of civil society, especially if it supports opposition to the harsh regime. They are also an indicator of the maturity of society.

In Russia, even in the 18th century, there was no smell of real salons. The Hermitage circle under Catherine the Second was a salon only in appearance: here they did not have fun and develop, they made a career here. Paul 1 did not tolerate contradictions in anything at all. He even married courtiers and gave them away in marriage at his own discretion, like serfs. What kind of salons are there!.. salon literary bookstore

2. Salon “Night Princess”

The owner of the first authentic salon in Russia was Princess Evdokia (Avdotya) Ivanovna Golitsyna, née Izmailova (1780-1850). She was born into a very respectable and wealthy family: her mother was the sister of the famous Prince Yusupov. Avdotya Izmailova probably received black wavy hair, fiery black eyes and dark, elastic skin from her Tatar ancestors. In her father's family, she also received an excellent education for a woman of that time.

The young beauty created a sensation at court, and Emperor Paul decided to make her happy: he matched her with a rich and noble groom, Prince S.M. Golitsyn. But the couple turned out to be so “incompatible” that as soon as Alexander ascended the throne, they parted with a light heart.

Prince Peter Vyazemsky notes that in Golitsyna’s very beauty there was something chaste even in her mature years. After separating from her husband, Avdotya Ivanovna met her only love, to whom she remained faithful all her life - the brilliant Prince M.P. Dolgoruky.

In 1808, Prince Dolgoruky died a heroic death in one of the battles with Napoleon. Princess Golitsyna withdraws into grief. But his bonds are unlocked by universal grief: the War of 1812. The princess takes part in patriotic events, does extensive charity work, and prints a highly courageous brochure. After the fall of Bonaparte, she debates about the future of Russia and Europe in Paris with the smartest people of that time: M.F. Orlov, M.S. Vorontsov, brothers A. and S.I. Turgenev. Princess Golitsyna is an ardent patriot. But was she smart? The same Prince P. Vyazemsky notes that she was, rather, “smart for others.” In other words, she turned out to be a genius at intelligent and gracious communication.

Returning to St. Petersburg in 1816, the princess naturally became... the owner of the salon. And what a salon! Her house on Millionnaya turns into a kind of temple of art, painted by the best artists of the era. Nothing from fast-moving fashion - everything is simple, majestic and original to the point of impossibility. The hostess receives guests in clothes that make one remember not Parisian fashion magazines, but pictures from the life of Ancient Rome. The conversations last all night, because the princess is afraid of... the night. The gypsy predicted death for her at night in a dream. For these vigils, Golitsyna was nicknamed “the night princess” (“la Princesse Nocturne”). But the spirit of enlightenment and partly (among the guests, of course) even republican spirit reigns in the conversations. And among her guests are poets: the sarcastic Vyazemsky, the good-natured Zhukovsky, the dreamy Batyushkov. This latter writes enthusiastically in 1818 that it is difficult for anyone to surpass Avdotya Ivanovna Golitsyn in beauty and pleasantness and that her face will never grow old. Since 1817, barely leaving the Lyceum, young Pushkin was at her feet. The wise Karamzin finds the passion of the brilliant young man too demonstrative and ardent. He writes, not without irony: “In our house, the poet Pushkin fell mortally in love with Pythia Golitsyna and now spends his evenings with her: he lies out of love, gets angry out of love, but he doesn’t write out of love yet...”

A.S. Pushkin dedicated one of his early masterpieces (“K***”) to Golitsyna:

Don't ask why with a sad thought

In the midst of love I am often darkened,

Why do I raise my gloomy gaze at everything,

Why isn’t sweet life sweet to me?

Don't ask why my soul is cold

I fell out of love with gay love

And I don’t call anyone dear:

Whoever has loved once will never love again;

He who knew happiness will never know happiness,

For a brief moment we are given bliss:

From youth, from bliss and voluptuousness

Only despondency will remain.

If the first half of the poem is about his feelings, then the second is about her fate, and here Pushkin showed that wonderful quality, the genius of which was also Golitsyna herself, - the ability to be imbued with the feelings and thoughts of another person, or “empathy.”

Of course, he didn’t stay at the princess’s feet for very long, especially since, as you know, he was writing poetry then, and Golitsyna… a treatise on mathematics! And although her contemporaries, who were already in love, called this lady’s needlework “complete nonsense,” Golitsyna did not abandon her studies in mathematics until her death...

Pushkin will remember Golitsyna even in southern exile. The princess will help him transfer from provincial Chisinau to the almost capital city of Odessa. But the end to their relationship, perhaps, will be beautifully put by the poet back in 1819, with a poetic madrigal to her when sending the ode “Liberty”:

A simple student of nature,

So I used to sing

A beautiful dream of freedom

And he breathed it sweetly.

But I see you, I listen to you, -

So what?.. A weak man!..

Having lost freedom forever,

I love bondage with my heart.

Alas, the glory of the salon most often faded along with the beauty of its owner. We know nothing about how Pushkin treated Golitsyna after returning from exile - but they could not help but meet! But one of his contemporaries wrote down very bitter and cruel words about the “night princess” in the 30s: “Old and terribly ugly, she always wore dresses of sharp colors, was known as a scientist and, they say, corresponded with Parisian academicians on mathematical issues. She seemed to me just a boring bluestocking” (V.V. Lenz).

In 1845, O. de Balzac visited St. Petersburg. Golitsyna did not know him, but at midnight she sent a carriage for him with an invitation to her place. However... the creator of “The Human Comedy” was offended and wrote to her: “With us, dear lady, they only send for doctors, and only those with whom they are familiar. I’m not a doctor.” In the 40s, Golitsyna went to Paris. They say that the greatest literary critic Sainte-Beuve listened to her opinions...

Golitsyna died in St. Petersburg and was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. She ordered an interesting and in its own way touching epitaph to be inscribed on the monument to herself: “I ask Orthodox Russians and those passing here to pray for the servant of God, so that the Lord will hear my warm prayers at the throne of the Most High to preserve the Russian spirit.”

. "Queen of Muses and Beauty"

...Everything is significant and symbolic in the fate of this woman. She was born in the historical year 1789 in the German “Florence on the Elbe” - Dresden. His father, Prince Beloselsky-Belozersky, was nicknamed “Moscow Apollo” for his beauty, but he was also smart and educated: he was friends with Mozart and Voltaire. This latter highly praised the prince's French poetry. For his sober analysis of the events of the French Revolution, the “Moscow Apollo” fell out of favor, was dismissed from the diplomatic service and lived as a dissident in Turin since 1794. He devoted himself to art and raising two daughters who lost their mother so early.

The prince was especially pleased with the youngest, amazingly graceful, lively and musical. When she grew up and appeared at the Russian Court, she amazed everyone with her beauty, education (she knew eight languages!), and her magnificent singing and performance on stage. Professionals (including Rossini and the famous actress Mars) sighed: if not for the extremely high origin of the princess, much more noble than the emperor himself, what a star the opera stage would have found in her!..

So, talents, beauty, art and politics crowned the heroine of our essay almost from the cradle. We are talking about the owner of the most famous Russian salon of the 19th century - Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna Volkonskaya.

Princess Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya became Princess Volkonskaya by the will of her father. Actually, they matched her with another Volkonsky - Sergei (the future Decembrist). But he was so passionate about politics that he did not succumb to its spell. Otherwise, you see, poor Zinaida, instead of Paris, Vienna and Rome, would have to conquer the Siberian expanses with her husband... But fate preserved her for all-European glory, and she got the Decembrist’s brother Nikita as her husband.

Living in Paris, the princess became fascinated by the bohemian life of the French capital, made friends with actors and even participated in rehearsals for professionals. The free air of Europe, however, familiar to her from the cradle, turned Zinaida’s head too much. The sovereign put his indignation and, in fact, the order to return back to his homeland in the most refined form: “... If I was indignant at you, ... I confess to you frankly, it was for the preference that you give to Paris with all its pettiness. Such a sublime and excellent soul seemed to me unsuitable for all this vanity, and I considered it pitiful food for her. My sincere affection for you, so long-standing, made me regret the time that you waste on activities that, in my opinion, are so little worthy of your participation.” Or maybe it’s the parade parades in gloomy St. Petersburg and the company of Arakcheev, who looks like a non-commissioned officer!..

She settled in Odessa, where she had a salon. Here the poet K. Batyushkov fell in love with her. She told him so much and colorfully about her beloved Italy that he could not stand it and went there. Alas, his mental illness was already approaching irreversibly...1820-22. Volkonskaya conducts in Rome, in the Palazzo Poli (next to the Trevi Fountain). Here the artist F. Bruni (the future luminary of Russian classicism) seriously falls in love with her and forever remains her close, devoted friend. Here she is surrounded by Russian artists and sculptors: S. Galberg, S. Shchedrin, A. (later K. himself) Bryullovs. Here she raises her son Sasha and adopted son Vladimir Pavey. She found this last one literally on the London pavement (in French, pavé means “pavement”). The English gavroche seemed so similar to the late Grishenka...

The Tsar nevertheless expresses an adamant desire for the princess to return to her homeland. She submits. In St. Petersburg, Volkonskaya is engaged in historical research in the archives and as a result writes the historical book “Slavic Painting of the 5th Century.” For her work, she is the first woman! - becomes a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Antiquities at Moscow University.

After Alexander's death, Volkonskaya leaves for Moscow. Her court successes ended. As one of her friends wrote, “At Court they do not tolerate ... mental advantage.” The new Tsar and his family were oh so less developed than her beloved Alexander... She settles in the house of the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes on Tverskaya. This is how a contemporary describes the princess’s apartment, which became a temple of art and a temple of her talents and beauty: “Her dining room is mustard green with watercolor landscapes and a Caucasian sofa. Her office is hung with Gothic paintings, with small busts of our kings on consoles... The floor of her salon is painted white and black, which perfectly imitates a mosaic. I can’t tell you how beautiful and in good taste it all is.”

The luminaries of Russian literature and culture of that time visited here: P. Vyazemsky, D. Davydov, E. Baratynsky, P. Chaadaev, V. Odoevsky, M. Zagoskin, M. Pogodin, S. Shevyrev, A. Khomyakov, the Kireevsky brothers... But Of course, the stars of the greatest magnitude here were Pushkin and A. Mitskevich.

Pushkin came here after exile, at the time of his most noisy triumphs. Z. Volkonskaya greeted him with a performance of a romance based on the verses “The Sun of Day Has Gone Out...” This method of artistic coquetry touched the poet. He did not fall in love, but he was completely imbued with a friendly disposition. And at the same time he dedicated these verses to Z. Volkonskaya:

Among the scattered Moscow,

With the hustle and bustle of whist and boston,

You love Apollo games.

Queen of muses and beauty,

You hold with a gentle hand

Magic scepter of inspirations,

And over the pensive brow,

Double crowned with a wreath,

And the genius curls and burns...

In Volkonskaya’s salon, he said goodbye to the wife of the Decembrist M. Volkonskaya (nee Raevskaya), his long-time and very deep passion. This evening was memorable for everyone. Zinaida sang and played music a lot, as if trying to nourish the soul of Maria, who was leaving to join her husband in hard labor, with “Italian sounds,” to which she said goodbye, it seemed, forever. But, having arrived in Siberia, she discovered that in the huge box that Zinaida presented to her there were not warm clothes, but... clavichords! Romantic Maria needed them even more!

Without wanting it, Zinaida Volkonskaya crushed hearts and changed destinies. Adam Mickiewicz was almost engaged to Caroline Janisch (later the famous poetess K. Pavlova), but fell in love with the brilliant princess. The engagement was upset. But Zinaida remained only his friend. At the same time, the young and handsome poet D. Venevitinov falls in love with her. He devotes passionate lines to her, but Zinaida is only friendly with him.

In the anguish of unrequited feelings, Venevitinov leaves for St. Petersburg, where he will face arrest, stay in a damp dungeon (all this in connection with the Decembrist case), rapid illness and early death (March 15, 1827).

Saying goodbye, Zinaida gave him an antique ring.

You were dug up in a dusty grave, a herald of age-old love,

And again you are dust from the grave

You will be bequeathed, my ring, -

Having written these lines, the poet did not know to what extent he turned out to be a prophet in them! Dmitry Venevitinov not only faced a quick, too quick death. A hundred years later, the poet’s grave was dug up, the ring was removed, and now it is in the Literary Museum.

Zinaida experienced this loss very painfully; she was tormented by remorse. The common grief brought her closer to Venevitinov’s mother. When visiting St. Petersburg, Volkonskaya always stayed with her...

At the end of 1826, Volkonskaya married the Italian aristocrat Ricci. To do this, she had to convert to Catholicism.

This incurred the colossal displeasure of Tsar Nicholas, because he considered himself the guardian of the Orthodox faith. But no amount of reproaches, persuasion, or threats helped: in 1829, Zinaida Volkonskaya and her husband left Russia, virtually forever. Volkonskaya will travel several more times from Italy to St. Petersburg to settle matters. But she will not succumb to the tsar’s pressure: her homeland will now be Italy, and her faith will be Catholicism.

She settles in Rome in a beautiful villa near the Cathedral of San Giovanni in Laterano. Its terrace is the remains of an ancient aqueduct. In one of the alleys of the park, the princess erects a lot of monuments: to her mother and father, Pushkin, Goethe (with whom she was talking about Pushkin at one time!), Alexander the First, Walter Scott.

Bryullov also created the best portrait of Volkonskaya.

Russian artists, poets, musicians, and writers constantly visited the villa. It’s amazing that it was in this very un-Russian place that Gogol wrote his “Dead Souls”!

The year became one of the darkest for the inhabitants of the Volkonskaya villa. In March, Gogol dies, in April - Zhukovsky, in July - Bryullov... In 1860, Count Ricci dies. Zinaida outlived him by two years... Along with her, the era of salons left Russian life. In any case, this is what P. Vyazemsky categorically stated.

The most accurate words about Z. Volkonskaya were probably said by her great-nephew Prince S.M. Volkonsky: “A sophisticated representative of young romanticism in its combination with awakening and still little realized nationalism, she was a typical fruit of Western civilization, sacrificing itself in the service of its native art”...

Descendants auctioned Volkonskaya's priceless archive with autographs of Pushkin, Zhukovsky and Gogol, drawings by Kiprensky, Bruni, A. Ivanov and Bryullov. The USSR authorities did not find funds to purchase them. Most of these relics ended up in the USA.

4. “I loved you...”

If we decide that the fate of the star of the literary-aristocratic salon has always been surprisingly happy, then we will be cruelly mistaken. The life of one of the most famous beautiful ladies of Pushkin and Lermontov's era, Anna Alekseevna Olenina, is direct proof of this.

The salon of the President of the Academy of Arts and Director of the Public Library Alexei Nikolaevich Olenin could not help but be one of the main centers of culture in Northern Palmyra at the beginning of the 19th century. Easy to communicate, witty and amiable, Olenin amazingly combined warmth, intelligence, deep education with an amazing ability to “search”, that is, he was a hunter of ranks and awards. And if he had to choose between muses and a career, he always fearlessly preferred the second. When the unfortunate poet Delvig incurred the disfavor of the authorities, Olenin immediately dismissed him from service. When the time came for Arakcheevism, it was Olenin who proposed to the academicians (meaning the Academy of Sciences) to elect non-commissioned Arakcheev as its honorary member. To a cautious question about the candidate’s scientific achievements, Olenin replied: “He is very close to the sovereign!”

The wife of a successful nobleman, Elizaveta Markovna, was also distinguished by her amazing cordiality (some thought it was feigned). Sometimes even unwell, she lay on the couch among the guests and smiled at them nonviolently... Olenin remained, in general, a literary Old Believer, he belonged to the “Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, which is why I.A. Krylov (he became one of his own here, a completely domestic person) and G.R. Derzhavin. But “new times - new songs,” and V.A. appears in the salon. Zhukovsky, P.A. Vyazemsky, K.N. Batyushkov. Over time, the voice of M.I. will be heard here. Glinka, and the best artists will decorate Olenin’s house and his dacha in Priyutino very elegantly... This dacha is the first prototype of Soviet “houses of creativity” in Rus'. A beautiful house in a picturesque area not far from the capital, each guest is provided with a comfortable room, and the schedule is drawn up in such a way that, in addition to going to the table, a creative person has complete time at his disposal. He can ride on horseback, he can shoot with a bow or a gun, he can walk, he can fool around, play charades, sing and dance, participate in “fairs” where everyone dresses in folk costumes... Of course, he can create something if he the noise of guests or the ringing of Cupid's arrows does not disturb. And this ringing sounded louder over the years: Olenin had five children and one pupil. It was her, Anna Furman, that the translator of Homer N.I. first fell in love with. Gnedich, and then the poet Batyushkov. It was about her that he wrote one of his most famous poems:

O memory of the heart! You are stronger than the mind of the sad memory And often with your charm you captivate me in a distant land. I remember the voice of sweet words, I remember blue eyes, I remember golden curls of carelessly curly hair. My incomparable shepherdess I remember the whole simple outfit, And the sweet, unforgettable image travels with me everywhere. My guardian genius, with love He was given the joy of separation: If I fall asleep, he will cling to the headboard And sweeten the sad dream

Pushkin found the first four lines superfluous, but it was in them that Batyushkov expressed the entire simple and sad plot of his “novel.” The Venisons were not against marriage. But Anna herself admitted to the poet that she was only entrusting him with her fate - not her heart. Batyushkov retreated.

When the grandchildren asked the Olenins’ daughter Anna why she didn’t marry Pushkin, she answered: “He wasn’t rich!” Among the Olenin children, Annette Olenina, or Aneta at home, shone. She was smart, fragile, she had perhaps the smallest and most charming leg in all of St. Petersburg. As soon as Aneta came out into the world, she was immediately noticed. There was no end to the fans. She became the universally recognized center of attraction of Olenin's salon.

At her feet is Pushkin himself! He had just returned from exile (1828). At one time here he met a relative of the owner A.P. Kern. As is known, he dedicated his masterpiece and several rude but insightful remarks to her...

But Olenina did not get bitter berries, but only pretty flowers. And what! Pushkin simply raved about it in 1828: “You and you”, “Lush city, poor city......

In Olenina, Pushkin was attracted by his youth, the originality of his mental makeup (as it seemed to him then), small legs and wonderfully expressive eyes:

What a thoughtful genius they are,

And how much childish simplicity

And how many languid expressions.

And how much bliss and dreams!

Lelya will put them down with a smile -

There is a triumph of modest graces in them;

Will raise - Raphael's angel

This is how the deity contemplates!

With “childish simplicity,” Aneta wrote in her diary at the same time: Pushkin “is quite modest, and I even talked to him and stopped being afraid that I wouldn’t lie about something sentimental.” The physical ugliness of the genius is noted more than once in the diary... However, Aneta strongly advocates for women's equality in the matrimonial issue - she speaks out, however, only on the pages of her diary: “A woman’s mind is weak, you say? Let it be so, but her mind is stronger. For that matter, leaving obedience aside, why not admit that a woman’s mind is as extensive as yours, but that the weakness of her body does not allow her to express it? After all, a bear breaks people, but a bee gives honey.” They say that Pushkin himself broke off the engagement. And a year later he wrote another of his love masterpieces - “I loved you...” It is also addressed to her, Anete Olenina, but three years later the poet will mark the poem in French next to the autograph: “long past.”

Meanwhile, it was not at all so easy for the brilliant Anete to get married. For just a year and a half, suitors hovered around her, and then...

Aneta suffers in silence, withdraws into female friendship, and enjoys serious reading (Hegel, Fichte). She is seriously in danger of remaining an old maid and becoming a “blue stocking.” Pushkin wrote passionate poems to Olenina, but Lermontov wrote only humorous ones... In 1838, Elizaveta Markovna died. Now Aneta has the whole house and her inconsolable sick father in her arms. Only in 1842, at the age of 34, Anna Olenina became the wife of Mr. Andro, the illegitimate son of Count Langeron. General Andro adores her, but is painfully jealous, irritable and tyrannical, and hates everything that connects her with the wonderful people who graced her youth. But as soon as her husband died, Aneta left for the village of Derezhna in Volyn, where a chest with relics of her youth had long been sent: albums, diaries, souvenirs, autographs of Pushkin and Zhukovsky, Lermontov and Gnedich. The coquetry of youth has become the heartfelt memory of old age.

Anna Alekseevna lived to be 80 years old; she died in 1888, surrounded by objects that proved to her the truth of Batyushkov’s “unsuccessful” lines:

O memory of the heart! You are stronger

Mind sad memory...

5. Muses at the Karamzin samovar

In principle, a salon is a flexible concept. There were salons-temples, temples of beauty and talents of its owner (like those of Golitsyna and Z. Volkonskaya), there were political circles with the aim of influencing public opinion in favor of the government and weaving intrigues (the Nesselrode salon), there were salons in opposition to the Court (the salon of the great Princess Elena Pavlovna).

But among the St. Petersburg salons there was a very special one. It could be called a “family haven of muses.” Not in the sense that its owner (or rather, the owner) were artistically gifted, but in the sense that nowhere have writers and artists (but especially writers) felt so at home and at ease. Guests were expected here every evening. The red living room with simple straw armchairs was dominated by a samovar and... the Russian language! This was the only living room in St. Petersburg where at that time they preferred their native speech and never played cards. Poets in modest frock coats and the first beauties who stopped by, dressed for a ballroom, diplomats and provincial relatives, all found interest and spiritual relaxation in the salon, which was run by the wife (and then widow) of the historian Karamzin Ekaterina Andreevna and her daughters Sophia and Ekaterina.

Here is a picture of the Karamzins’ salon from rough sketches for “Eugene Onegin”:

In a truly noble living room

They shunned the panache of speeches

And petty-bourgeois delicacy

Magazine prim judges.

A secular and free mistress

The common folk style was adopted...

And a provincial newcomer

The hostess was not embarrassed by her arrogance:

She was the same for everyone

Relaxed and sweet...

This is said about Ekaterina Andreevna Karamzina, née Kolyvanova, half-sister of the poet Vyazemsky (she was the daughter of Prince Vyazemsky and Countess Sivers), Karamzin’s second wife and, as many claim, Pushkin’s secret deepest affection. The evil-tongued memoirist states: “She was white, cold, beautiful, like an ancient statue” (F.F. Vigel). The daughter of free love, Ekaterina Andreevna knew how to inspire respect in anyone who interacted with her. Together with her, Tsar Alexander the First loved to open balls. His beloved sister Ekaterina wrote to Karamzin absolutely enthusiastically: “I don’t dare tell Ekaterina Andreevna everything that I think about her... Embracing her with all my heart, I let her figure it out for herself. Believe in my true respect."

It is known that Pushkin was deprived of the love and attention of his mother, and fell in love with Ekaterina Andreevna Karamzina not so much as a woman, but precisely as an ideal mother. He shared with her his anxious joy on the eve of marriage. Dying, the poet asked her to bless him. Karamzina did this from afar, then Pushkin asked her to come to him and kissed her hand. She burst into tears and left...

Ekaterina Andreevna was almost 20 years younger than her husband. Of course, there was no very ardent love on her part, but the deepest sympathy, respect, and lasting affection arose. Ekaterina Andreevna helped her husband in his works as an editor, literary collaborator, literary agent... She raised her stepdaughter Sophie (Karamzin’s daughter from his first marriage) as her own. After Karamzin’s death in 1826, Ekaterina Andreevna maintained her salon, expanded and strengthened her secular and court connections, although she did not like the fuss of high society - and all for the sake of her children: her adopted Sophie and her Catherine and two sons. This very happily did not affect Sophie’s fate... One can only wonder how this sweet and very lively girl (somewhat exalted and childish) never “made a match for herself”!

Sophie did not understand the tragic background of Pushkin's duel. But the poet himself, long before this, seemed to have seen through her not very successful life. He dedicated these lines to her:

In the worldly steppe, sad and boundless,

Three keys mysteriously broke through:

The key of youth, the key is fast and rebellious,

It boils, runs, sparkling and murmuring;

Castalian key with a wave of inspiration

In the worldly steppe he gives water to exiles,

The last key, the cold key of oblivion,

He will hide the heat of the heart sweetest of all.

Sophie then turned 18... And in the album of 39-year-old Sophie, another genius - Lermontov - jokingly noted the emerging change in his worldview:

I loved you in the past too,

In the innocence of my soul,

And storms of noisy nature,

And storms of secret passions.

But their beauty is ugly

I soon comprehended the mystery,

And I'm bored with their incoherent

And a deafening tongue.

I love you more year after year,

Giving space to peaceful desires,

In the morning the weather is clear,

In the evening a quiet conversation,

I love your paradoxes

And ha-ha-ha, and hee-hee-hee,

Smirnova little thing; Sasha's farce

And Ishki Myatlev’s poems...

Sophie was, if not the soul of the Karamzin circle, then certainly its main fidget. In the salon she was nicknamed “Samovar Pasha” because she was responsible for pouring tea for the guests.

In the 40s, the Karamzin salon took first place among Russian literary salons. Young then I.I. Panaev writes, not without irony: “In order to gain literary fame in high society circles, it was necessary to get into the salon of Mrs. Karamzina, the widow of the historiographer. Diplomas for literary talents were awarded there. This was already a real high-society literary salon with a strict selection, and the Recamier of this salon was S.N. Karamzin, to whom all our famous poets considered it their duty to write messages.” Sophie Karamzina died on the threshold of a new era, in 1856, at 54 years old. But even on her deathbed, she retained both her childishness and secularism, repeating in delirium that “there is no death, death is just an affectation” (from a letter from F.I. Tyutchev).

Ekaterina Andreevna’s own daughter, also Ekaterina, was distinguished by her mother’s strict and calm character. She married Prince Meshchersky, a kind but completely expressionless man, and played the first violin in her family. She also had her own salon, with a somewhat political slant. Conservative, I must say. However, that was a completely different era.

6. Literary salon in a bookstore

Along with the salons that were kept by famous and wealthy society ladies, a new phenomenon appeared in St. Petersburg - a literary salon in a bookstore. It was a salon in the shop of Smirdin, a talented bookseller who did a lot for Russian literature.

In 1831, Smirdin rented premises on Nevsky Prospekt for a high fee, where previously foreign merchants and wealthy booksellers had primarily traded. The bookstore, built on a European model, also housed his extensive reading library. Soon Smirdin's store and library became a fashionable literary salon in St. Petersburg. Pushkin, Gogol, Delvig, Batyushkov, Zhukovsky and other writers visited him. Having supplemented and expanded Plavilshchikov’s collection, Smirdin organized access to his books for a low fee. This allowed people of the common class to use its funds. The library was equipped with an extensive catalog compiled and published in 1828. Using it, one could make all kinds of inquiries about publications from the late 18th - early 19th centuries.

In his store A.F. Smirdin tried to diversify the methods of book trading: he sent books by mail, organized book lotteries and cheap sales of leftovers. Smirdin did a lot of bibliographic work in the store and made extensive use of advertising in newspapers and magazines. One of the advanced trading methods was the work of determining circulations. For these purposes, Smirdin organized the acceptance of pre-orders for printed books.

In search of a mass buyer, Smirdin turned his attention to those segments of the population that had not attracted the attention of booksellers before him, namely: people from different classes - merchants, philistines, clergy, peasants, and bureaucrats. It was a poor but active group of buyers.

Thus, Smirdin’s bookstore was a transitional link from the literary salon, as it was in aristocratic St. Petersburg, to the various literary circles that appeared in St. Petersburg in the second half of the 19th century.

Conclusion

The literary salons of St. Petersburg in the 19th century played an important role in the literary process of that time. Public readings, exchange of information and news took place there. Salons were the place where one could freely express one's opinion, where free social thought lived and flourished. In the second half of the 19th century, the very concept of “salon” lost its meaning. “Circles” appeared in which writers, poets, critics gathered not around a beautiful hostess, but united by one ideology, a single goal. The Petrashevsky circle is known, the circle that united around the magazines Sovremennik, Otechestvennye Zapiski, the Polonsky circle, which included the critic Stasov and many others.

Bibliography

Annenkov P.V. Materials for the biography of Pushkin. - M., 1984

Bertenev P.I. About Pushkin: Pages of the poet's life. Memoirs of contemporaries. - M., 1992

Veresaev V.V. Pushkin in life: A systematic collection of authentic testimonies from his contemporaries. - M., 1984.

Friends of Pushkin. M.: Publishing house. Pravda.1985

Ivanov Vs. Alexander Pushkin and his time.-M.; Innovator, 1996

Kunin V.V. The life of Pushkin, told by himself and his contemporaries - M., 1987.

Saint Petersburg. Interesting questions and answers. Collection. S.-Pb.: Publishing house. Parity.2000

Tretyakova L. Russian goddesses. M.: Publishing house. Isograph. 2001

Tyrkova-Williams A.. From the lives of wonderful people. Pushkin.

Chereysky L.A. Pushkin and his entourage.-L., 1975.

Chizhova I.B. A magical luminary of the soul... L.: Lenizdat. 1988

Tsyavlovsky M. Chronicle of the life and work of A.S. Pushkin.

Eidelman N.Ya. “Our union is wonderful...” About the Pushkin graduation from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. -M., 1982

Tags: Literary salons of St. Petersburg in the 19th century Abstract Culturology

Delvig Batyushkov Zhukovsky Vyazemsky Kuchelbecker Baratynsky Yazykov Davydov

Salon of Zinaida Volkonskaya 2

House of Zinaida Volkonskaya The Moscow house on Tverskaya Street belonged to Princess Z.A. Volkonskaya at the beginning of the 19th century.

Zinaida Volkonskaya inherited this house from her father, Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Beloselsky-Belozersky. He was a Muscovite, was friends with N.M. Karamzin and had the nickname “Moscow Apollo”. Prince A.M. Beloselsky-Belozersky was one of the most educated people of his time. He wrote poetry in Russian and French, was fond of theater, and collected works of art. 3

Zinaida Volkonskaya Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna Volkonskaya (1792 - 1862) writer, daughter of Prince A.M. Beloselsky-Belozersky.

Since 1808, she was a maid of honor, and soon married Prince Nikita Grigorievich Volkonsky, the brother of the famous Decembrist Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky.

7 Batyushkov K.N. K.N. Batyushkov was born on May 18, 1787 into a noble family.

He was brought up in St. Petersburg, in private boarding schools, where he studied foreign languages ​​well, became thoroughly acquainted with literature and began to write poetry himself.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Batyushkov’s appearance exactly corresponded to the ideas of people at the beginning of the 19th century. about what a poet should be.

Pale face, blue eyes, thoughtful look. He read poetry in a quiet, soft voice, inspiration shone in his eyes.

Batyushkov - artist At the very end of 1809, Batyushkov arrived in Moscow and soon, thanks to his talent, bright mind and kind heart, he found good friends in the best spheres of the then Moscow society. Of the writers there, he became closest to Vasily Lvovich Pushkin (Pushkin’s uncle), V. A. Zhukovsky, P. A. Vyazemsky and N. M. Karamzin. 8

“My genius” Oh, memory of the heart! You are stronger than the mind of the sad memory And often with your sweetness you captivate me in a distant land. I remember the voice of sweet words, I remember blue eyes, I remember golden curls of carelessly curly hair. My incomparable shepherdess I remember the whole simple outfit, And the sweet, unforgettable image Travels with me everywhere. Guardian, my genius - by love He was given the joy of separation; Will I fall asleep? - he will lean against the headboard and sweeten the sad dream. 9

“A terrible thunder is thundering everywhere” A terrible thunder is thundering everywhere, The sea is swollen with mountains towards the sky, The elements are furious in dispute, And the distant sun’s duty is extinguished, And the stars are falling in rows. They are calm at the tables, They are calm. There is a pen, there is paper and - all is good! They don’t see or hear, And they all write with a quill pen! 10

Poetic fame He gained wide popularity in Russia as a poet in 1818-19. Vyazemsky quickly developed his own style of writing, which amazed his contemporaries with “Voltaire’s sharpness and strength” (A.F. Voeikov) and at the same time evoked associations with a “lively and witty girl” (K.N. Batyushkov). 14

"Black Eyes" Southern Stars! Black eyes! The lights of someone else's sky! Do my eyes meet you in the cold sky of pale midnight? The constellation of the South! The heart is at its zenith! The heart, admiring you, Southern bliss, southern dreams Beats, languishes, boils. The heart is embraced by secret delight, In your burning fire; You search for the sounds of Petrarch, the song of Torquato in the silent depths. The impulses are in vain! Deaf tunes! There are no songs in the heart, alas! The southern eyes of the northern maiden, Tender and passionate like you! 15

“Evening Star” My evening star, My last love! For the darkened years, shed a greeting ray again! Among young, incontinent years, We love the shine and ardor of fire; But half-joy, half-light Now it’s more joyful for me. 16

“Why are you, days?..” “Why are you, days?” - said the poet. And I will ask: “Why are you, nights?” Why does your darkness drive away the light And curtain your eyes? And so our life is short, And time quickly mows down the years, And sleep takes away almost a third from this piece of land. If only I were happy familiar, Oh, how I would hate the dream! But my treasure, I would see an encroacher on the shrine. To the lucky one - a dream? He steals his hours of bliss, And on the fly, even without that, he counts so few of them to the lucky one - a break. with everything that the heart breathed with joy: Like a dead person, he is blind, deaf and dumb, It’s as if the soul did not exist. Death is called an eternal sleep, And here we are temporarily dead. Why should we sleep when we then have time to sleep enough? 17

Baratynsky Evgeniy Abramovich 18

19 Baratynsky E.A. “Reading Baratynsky’s poems, you cannot deny him your sympathy, because this man, feeling strongly, thought a lot, and therefore lived, as not everyone is given to live,” V.G. wrote about Baratynsky. Belinsky.

Evgeny Baratynsky Descended from the Polish noble family of the Boratynskys, who left for Russia at the end of the 17th century.

In 1819, Baratynsky entered the Life Guards Jaeger Regiment as a private.

In St. Petersburg, he avoids old acquaintances, but makes new ones: here he meets Delvig.

As a nobleman, Baratynsky had greater freedom than ordinary lower ranks.

Outside of service, he wore a tailcoat and did not live in a common barracks.

They rented a small apartment with Delvig and together they wrote a poem: Where the Semyonovsky regiment, in the fifth company, in a low house, lived the poet Boratynsky with Delvig, also a poet. They lived quietly, paid little rent, had to go to the shop, rarely dined at home... 21

Baratynsky retired on January 31, 1826, moving to Moscow.

In Moscow, Baratynsky met with a circle of Moscow writers Ivan Kireevsky, Nikolai Yazykov, Alexei Khomyakov, Sergei Sobolevsky.

To obtain nobility, the child was fictitiously enlisted in the Astrakhan Hussar Regiment, receiving the rank of ensign, which gave the right to personal nobility.

In 1797, 14-year-old Zhukovsky entered the Moscow University Noble Boarding School and studied there for four years. 52

In 1816, Zhukovsky became a reader under the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.

In 1817, he became a Russian language teacher to Princess Charlotte, the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and in the fall of 1826 he was appointed to the position of “mentor” to the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II 53

54 More than half of everything Zhukovsky wrote are translations.

Zhukovsky opened Goethe, Schiller, Byron, Walter Scott, Grimm, Jung and many others to the Russian reader.

“Svetlana” Once on Epiphany evening the girls wondered: They took the shoe off their feet behind the gate and threw it; The snow was cleared; listened under the window; fed the Counting chicken grain; The ardent wax was heated; In a bowl of clean water they placed a gold ring, emerald earrings; They spread out a white cloth and sang in tune over the bowl, sublime songs. The moon glows dimly In the twilight of the fog - Dear Svetlana is silent and sad. “What, my friend, is the matter with you? Say a word; Listen to the circular songs; Take out a ring for yourself. Sing, beauty: “Blacksmith, Forge me gold and a new crown, Forge a golden ring; I should be crowned with that crown, betrothed with that ring, with the holy vestment." 55

59 Yazykov N.M. Yazykov’s nature also includes a love of freedom.

Yazykov was close here not to the tradition of Byron, who created the first freedom-loving character in European literature, but to Denis Davydov.

Davydov and Yazykov - this is their originality - paint not a general romantic type of an “exceptional” personality, but a “national character”, covered in the romance of daring and strong passions.

Yazykov did this consciously and persistently. All the properties of “nature” are presented in his poems as properties of the Russian national character.

To D.V. Davydov Life is a happy darling, You deserve two wreaths; You know, Suvorov rightly baptized your chest: He was not mistaken in a child, You grew up and flew, Full of all grace, Under the banners of the Russian army, Proud and joyful and courageous.

Your chest burns with stars, You heroically obtained them In hot battles with enemies, In fatal battles; Warrior, famous from childhood, You were still under the Swede, And on the Finnish granites Your sonorously hoofed horse brought up the shine and tramp. 60

61 Davydov Denis Vasilievich

D. Davydov Representative of the old noble family of the Davydovs. Born in the family of foreman Vasily Denisovich Davydov, who served under the command of A.V. Suvorov, in Moscow.

In 1801, Davydov entered service in the Guards Cavalry Regiment, located in St. Petersburg.

In September 1802, Davydov was promoted to cornet, and in November 1803 to lieutenant.

At the same time, he began to write poetry and fables, and in his fables he began to very caustically ridicule the top officials of the state. 62

One of the remarkable forms of cultural life of Russian society at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. there were salons. Appearing at the end of the 18th century. (like the salon of G.R. Derzhavin) and focusing on the Parisian salons of the pre-revolutionary period, Russian salons especially flourished in the 1820-1830s. 1 Literary, musical, political, and more often harmoniously uniting discussion of new works by domestic and foreign writers, and playing music in living rooms, and disputes about the latest political news with foreign envoys, preserving a friendly, relaxed, playful atmosphere, salons became a significant fact of national culture, giving rise to new values, forming the historical, political, aesthetic consciousness of its participants 2. As S.S. wrote Uvarov, “private, so to speak, home societies, consisting of people united by free calling and personal talents... had and have not only here, but everywhere, a tangible, although in some way invisible, influence on contemporaries” 3.

The Karamzin salon occupied a special place in the cultural life of the capital. Established during the life of the historiographer, the salon finally took shape under his widow Katerina Andreevna from the late 1820s. and especially in the 1830-1840s, attracting the entire color of St. Petersburg society. In the first half of the 1820s. it was a circle united by the interests of literature and history and grouped around N.M. Karamzin, who “was some kind of life-giving, radiant focus” 4 for his young friends.

“At least our literary society,” the already mentioned S.S. Uvarov recalled about him, “consisted of Dashkov, Bludov, Karamzin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov and me. Karamzin read us his story. We were still young, but so educated, so that he listens to our comments and uses them" 5. It was not for nothing that the future Minister of Education mentioned the “senior Arzamas residents” who were moderate in their political views: 6: right above the living room of the Karamzins, who then lived with Katerina Fedorovna Muravyova in house No. 25 on Fontanka, Decembrist youth gathered in the office of her son Nikita Muravyov, talking about the same thing , but from directly opposite positions. "The young Jacobins were indignant" at Karamzin's "History...": "several individual thoughts in favor of autocracy... seemed to them the height of barbarity and humiliation" 7 . The historiographer looked at the youth with the smile of condescension of a man wise in life 8 and “never, in the most heated debates, crossed the boundaries of polite objection” 9 . Only once, getting angry, did he allow himself a sharp phrase: “Those who cry out against autocracy more than others carry it in their blood and lymph” 10 .

The traditions of the salon were maintained by the widow

After Karamzin’s death in 1826, the traditions he established were supported by the historiographer’s widow, Katerina Andreevna. As Prince A.V. wrote Meshchersky, “being in this sweet and hospitable family, I immediately found myself in the most intelligent environment of St. Petersburg society, in which the memory of the unforgettable Nikolai Mikhailovich was still so fresh and where, according to legend, both the former friends of the late historiographer and young poets, writers and scientists gathered new generation" 11 - "Karamzin's spirit seemed to group them around his family" 12. Among the famous figures of Russian culture who visited the Karamzins’ salon at different times, we can mention A.S. Pushkina, V.A. Zhukovsky, P.A. Vyazemsky, A.I. Turgeneva, E.A. Baratynsky, M.Yu. Lermontov, F.N. Glinka, V.F. Odoevsky, N.V. Gogol, F.I. Tyutcheva, A.S. Khomyakova, Yu.F. Samarina, P.A. Pletneva, S.A. Sobolevsky, V.A. Solloguba, E.P. Rostopchin, A.O. Smirnov-Rosset.

The Karamzin salon was unique both in terms of the longevity of its existence (from the late 1820s until the death of Katerina Andreevna Karamzina in 1851), and in its composition, which collected names significant for Russian culture. As V.A. wrote Sollogub, everything “that bore a well-known name in art in Russia diligently visited this hospitable, sweet, highly aesthetic house” 13. Sollogub was echoed by A.F. Tyutchev: “it so happened that in the modest salon of E.A. Karamzina, the most cultured and educated part of Russian society gathered for more than twenty years” 14. I.I. also wrote about the same thing, but with a feeling of obvious disapproval. Panaev, who accused the Karamzin salon and the writers in it of “literary aristocracy”: “In order to gain literary fame in the high society circle, it was necessary to get into the salon of Mrs. Karamzina, the widow of a historiographer. Diplomas for literary talents were issued there” 15.

There Pushkin “shunned the panache of speeches”

In the review by I.I. Panaev echoes the disputes of 1830-1831. around the Literaturnaya Gazeta, in which A.S. collaborated. Pushkina, P.A. Vyazemsky, A.A. Delvig was accused by their opponents of “literary aristocracy,” and this general formula meant completely different things: N.A. Polevoy, publisher of the Moscow Telegraph, saw in “aristocratism” a rejection of romantic rebellion and love of freedom, N.I. Nadezhdin, on the contrary, meant by “aristocratism” lordly dissatisfaction with reality and disdain for people’s life, and F.V. Bulgarin presented the employees of Literaturnaya Gazeta almost as aristocratic conspirators against the existing order 16 .

A.S. Pushkin and P.A. Vyazemsky vigorously objected to his opponents. “Referring to the biographical dictionaries of Novikov and Grech, we will point out,” wrote Prince P.A. Vyazemsky in the Literary Gazette, “that most of our writers belonged to the aristocracy, that is, a rank enjoying the benefits granted to the nobility: therefore, in Russia the expression literary aristocracy cannot in the least be a criticism, but on the contrary, it is a commendable and, even better, a fair criticism. Our noble living rooms are also not dens of darkness and ignorance: they connect us with educated Europe; Russian and foreign books are read in them; travelers like: Humboldt, Madame Stahl, Statford Canning, Count Segur find sympathy and correspondence with their concepts; echoes of European enlightenment are heard in them, not in the houses of merchants, not in the residences of the bourgeoisie, our artisans" 17.

Connected with the controversy surrounding the “literary aristocracy” are the draft stanzas of the eighth chapter of Eugene Onegin, designated in the white manuscript of the novel as XXVI and XXVII, in which A.S. Pushkin depicted Tatiana’s St. Petersburg living room as “truly noble”:

In a truly noble living room
They shunned the panache of speeches
And petty-bourgeois delicacy
Magazine prim judges
[In the living room, secular and free
The common syllable was adopted
And didn't scare anyone's ears
With its living strangeness...] 18

The prototype of this rough sketch was, most likely, the Karamzins’ salon, in which, according to the unanimous reviews of contemporaries, a homely, patriarchal tone was adopted, shunning the “panache of speeches,” and the Russian, “common” language for conversations, as evidenced by the notes of A. AND. Kosheleva (“these evenings were the only ones in St. Petersburg where they did not play cards and where they spoke Russian...”) 19 and poetic lines by E.P. Rostopchina:

They speak and think Russian there,
There, hearts are imbued with a feeling of homeland;
There decorum is fashionable with its narrow chain
Doesn't suffocate, doesn't constrict... 20

Pushkin’s expression “in a truly noble living room” sounded like praise 21, as a reflection of the best qualities that were inherent in the ancient Russian nobility: a sense of honor and self-worth, noble noble pride, an honorable pedigree, decorated with the names of ancestors who became famous in the service of the Fatherland.

Disputes about the “literary aristocracy” continued after Pushkin’s death. “Make peace with Shevyrev for the sake of his wonderful article about the dark side of our literature, which he published in the first book of “Moskvityanin” for this year,” wrote Prince P.A. Vyazemsky to A.I. Turgenev in 1842. “Fedorov read it to us the other day at the Karamzins' 22. In the article by this S.P. Shevyrev, in particular, argued that the best representatives of Russian literature “in idle apathy cede the main roles to literary industrialists - and this is why our modern literature has become rich in money and bankrupt in thought” 23.

Public opinion was formed here

Literary problems were the main, but not the only, subject of conversation in the Karamzins’ salon. In addition to them, political and diplomatic issues were discussed, there were debates on topical topics: “Literature, Russian and foreign, important events here and in Europe, especially the actions of the then great statesmen of England Canning and Guskisson most often formed the content of our lively conversations,” recalled about the atmosphere in the salon at the turn of the 1820s-1830s. A.I. Koshelev 24.

The interest in politics and diplomacy inherent in the Karamzin salon does not allow it to be classified as a purely literary salon; discussion of current political problems turned the salon into an important factor in the formation of public opinion in the capital. According to Prince A.V. Meshchersky, “the Karamzin house was the only one in St. Petersburg in the living room of which society gathered not for secular gossip and gossip, but exclusively for conversation and exchange of thoughts” 25. “Nobles, diplomats, writers, socialites, artists - all met amicably on this common ground: here one could always find out the latest political news, hear an interesting discussion of the issue of the day or a book that had just appeared” 26, A.F. also testified. Tyutcheva.

What contributed to the attractiveness of the Karamzins' salon among the intellectual elite of St. Petersburg society in the 1830s-1840s? “Where did that charm come from, thanks to which the guest, having crossed the threshold of the Karamzins’ salon, felt freer and more animated, his thoughts became bolder, the conversation more lively and witty” 27? The answer, most likely, lies in the word “freedom” used. P.A. wrote about this. Pletnev Y.K. Grot: “In the society of the Karamzins there is something that is almost nowhere to be found: freedom, and therefore life” 28. The freedom from the tight confines of high society rules and conventions that the Karamzin salon gave its visitors was especially acutely felt in the 30s and 40s. XIX century, no wonder A.S. Khomyakov called it a “green oasis” “among the destructive sands” and “granite desert” 29 of St. Petersburg. In this salon one could observe the following picture: “After tea, the young people played burners, and then they started dancing” 30. According to A.I. Koshelev, evenings with the Karamzins “refreshed and nourished our souls and minds, which was especially useful for us in the stuffy atmosphere of St. Petersburg at that time” 31 .

Tea with tartines is an indispensable ritual

In addition to freedom, what made the Karamzin salon especially attractive was its emphatically homely character: “they were received simply, as a family” 32 . The regulars of the salon had their own language, which in a playful form reflected the features of the Karamzins’ home life, for example, “the habit of calling trousers chronicles.” The fact is that the Karamzins’ old servant Luka often sat “in the Turk’s pose” and cut out his trousers, to which V.A. Zhukovsky came up with a joke: “Karamzin,” said Zhukovsky, “saw something white and thought it was a chronicle.” After this, the youth of the Karamzin salon began to call pantaloons chronicles 33.

The Karamzins changed their place of residence several times, but the atmosphere of their receptions remained unchanged: in the center of the living room there was an oval table with a large samovar, at which Katerina Andreevna or the historiographer’s daughter Sofya Nikolaevna poured tea for the guests and treated them to thin tartines made of bread and butter - “and all the guests they found that nothing could be tastier than tea, cream and tartines from the Karamzin salon" 34. According to the poetic confession of E.P. Rostopchina,

At this sight our hearts come alive,
At the round table, by the bright fire,
It forgets the cold of winter, the cold of society
And, touched, suddenly comprehends
Poetry of home life... 35

Most likely, the comfort of home attracted young Pushkin to the Karamzins: “having no family life, he always looked for it from others, and he felt comfortable with the Karamzins” 36, wrote A.O. Smirnova-Rosset. It is all the more offensive to realize that in front of the eyes of Katerina Andreevna, so respected by the poet, in this house close to him, Pushkin’s dying tragedy later unfolded 37 that the Karamzins accepted and treated Dantes kindly, about whom Sofya Nikolaevna wrote warm and sympathetic lines to her brother, understanding Pushkin’s state and awareness of the catastrophe came only with the death of the poet.

After the death of Pushkin, V.A. went to the house of the Karamzins. Zhukovsky was introduced by M.Yu. Lermontov, who became a good friend of Sofia Nikolaevna. “Sophie Karamzin is crazy about his talent” 38, reported Y.K. Grotu P.A. Pletnev. In the spring of 1840, before his second exile to the Caucasus, Lermontov wrote his famous poem “Clouds” (“Heavenly clouds, eternal wanderers!”) in the Karamzin salon 39. The autograph of the poem has not survived, but there is a copy made by Sofia Nikolaevna 40.

It was Sofya Nikolaevna, the eldest daughter of N.M. Karamzin from his first marriage to E.I. Protasova, set the tone in the Karamzins’ salon. According to A.V. Meshchersky, “Sofya Nikolaevna was truly a driving spring, guiding and enlivening the conversation, both in general and in private conversation. She had an amazing talent for welcoming everyone, seating and grouping guests according to their tastes and sympathies, always finding new topics for conversation and showing the most lively and spontaneous participation in everything... In this case, she resembled the famous Madame Recamier" 41. The role of Sofia Nikolaevna and A.F. was determined in a similar way. Tyutcheva: “Poor and dear Sophie, I can now see how she, like a diligent bee, flutters from one group of guests to another, connecting some, separating others, picking up a witty word, an anecdote, noting an elegant dress... entering into conversation with some lonely lady, encouraging the shy and modest debutante, in a word, bringing the ability to get along in society to the level of an art and almost a virtue" 42 .

As noted by Yu.M. Lotman, “the picture described in Tyutcheva’s memoirs is so reminiscent of a scene from Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” that it is difficult to abandon the idea that Tolstoy had access to Tyutcheva’s then-unpublished memoirs. The emotional assessment in Tolstoy’s novel is exactly the opposite, but this is even more so emphasizes the similarity of the picture itself" 43. This testified to the degeneration of the Karamzins’ late salon into a “machine of faceless social communication.”

At the time of its heyday, the Karamzin salon was a remarkable phenomenon of Russian culture and socio-political thought. On the one hand, it was a significant fact in the history of Russian literature associated with the names of A.S. Pushkina, M.Yu. Lermontova, N.V. Gogol and other representatives of the golden age of Russian culture, who read their works here. On the other hand, it is important for the history of socio-political thought as one of the factors in creating public opinion in St. Petersburg. In both cases, the main thing seems to be that the Karamzins’ salon created a special intellectual and emotional atmosphere of dialogue, free exchange of thoughts and feelings, which is a necessary condition for any creativity.

Notes
1. Muravyova I.A. Salons of Pushkin's time: Essays on the literary and social life of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg, 2008. P. 7.
2. Vatsuro V.E. S.D.P. From the history of literary life of Pushkin's time. M., 1989. P. 256.
3. Uvarov S.S. Literary memories // "Arzamas": Collection. In 2 books. Book 1. Memoir evidence; On the eve of "Arzamas"; Arzamas documents. M., 1994. P. 41.
4. Vyazemsky P.A. Notebooks // Karamzin: Pro et contra. Comp. L.A. Sapchenko. St. Petersburg, 2006. P. 456.
5. Quote. by: Aronson M.I. Circles and salons // Aronson M., Reiser S. Literary circles and salons. M., 2001. P. 67.
6. The Arzamas Society (1815-1818) united supporters of the Karamzin direction in literature.
7. Pushkin A.S. Karamzin // Collection. Op. in 6 volumes. T. 6. M., 1969. P. 384.
8. For example, Karamzin spoke about N.I. Turgenev: “He is a terrible liberalist, but kind, although sometimes he looks askance at me, because I declared myself a non-liberalist” (Letters from N.M. Karamzin to I.I. Dmitriev. St. Petersburg, 1866. P. 253) .
9. Dmitriev M.A. Chapters from the memories of my life. M., 1998. P. 100.
10. Vyazemsky P.A. Notebooks (1813-1848). M., 1963. P. 24.
11. From my old days. Memoirs of Prince A.V. Meshchersky. 1841 // Russian archive. 1901. N 1. P. 101.
12. Smirnova A.O. Autobiographical notes // Smirnova-Rosset A.O. Diary. Memories. Ed. S.V. Zhitomirskaya. M., 1989. P. 192.
13. Memoirs of Count V.A. Sollogub // Literary salons and circles. First half of the 19th century. M.-L., 1930. P. 214.
14. Tyutcheva A.F. Memories. At the court of two emperors. M., 2008. P. 18.
15. Panaev I.I. Literary memories // Aronson M., Reiser S. Literary circles and salons. M., 2001. P. 206.
16. Lotman Yu.M. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Biography of the writer // Lotman Yu.M. Pushkin. St. Petersburg, 1995. pp. 134-136.
17. Vyazemsky P.A. Explanation of some contemporary literary issues. Article I. On the spirit of parties; about the literary aristocracy // Vyazemsky P.A. Favorites / P.A. Vyazemsky. Comp., author entry. Art. and comment. P.V. Akulshin. M., 2010. pp. 138-139.
18. Lotman Yu.M. Roman by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin". Commentary // Lotman Yu.M. Pushkin. St. Petersburg, 1995. P. 711; Izmailov N.V. Pushkin and the Karamzin family // Pushkin in the Karamzin letters of 1836-1837. M.-L., 1960. P. 24-25.
19. Koshelev A.I. Notes // Aronson M., Reiser S. Literary circles and salons. M., 2001. P. 209.
20. Rostopchina E.P. Where I feel good. 1838 // Aronson M., Reiser S. Literary circles and salons. M., 2001. P. 208.
21. Izmailov N.V. Pushkin and the Karamzin family...S. 25-26.
22. Quote. by: Aronson M., Reiser S. Literary circles and salons. M., 2001. P. 214.
23. Ibid. P. 213.
24. Koshelev A.I. My memories of A.S. Khomyakov // Koshelev A.I. Selected works / A.I. Koshelev; Comp., authors intro. Art. and comment. P.V.Akulshin, V.A.Gornov. M., 2010. P. 324.
25. From my old days. Memoirs of Prince A.V. Meshchersky. 1841... P. 101.
26. Tyutcheva A.F. Memories. At the court of two emperors... P.19.
27. Ibid. P.19.
28. Correspondence of Y.K. Grota with P.A. Pletnev. T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1896. P. 647.
29. Khomyakov A.S. To the album of S.N. Karamzina // Aronson M., Reiser S. Literary circles and salons. M., 2001. P. 215.
30. Correspondence of Y.K. Grota with P.A. Pletnev. T. 1... P. 260.
31. Koshelev A.I. My memories of A.S. Khomyakov... P. 324.
32. From my old days. Memoirs of Prince A.V. Meshchersky. 1841... P. 101.
33. Smirnova A.O. Autobiographical notes... P. 179.
34. Tyutcheva A.F. Memories. At the court of two emperors... P. 22.
35. Rostopchina E.P. Where I feel good... P. 208.
36. Smirnova A.O. Autobiographical notes... P. 179.
37. Muravyova I.A. Salons of Pushkin's time: Essays on the literary and social life of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg, 2008. pp. 359-360.
38. Correspondence of Y.K. Grota with P.A. Pletnev. T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1896. P. 158.
39. Izmailov N.V. Pushkin and the Karamzin family... P. 27.
40. Muravyova I.A. Salons of Pushkin's time... P. 383.
41. From my old days. Memoirs of Prince A.V. Meshchersky. 1841...S. 102.
42. Tyutcheva A.F. Memories. At the court of two emperors... P. 19.
43. Lotman Yu.M. Culture and explosion // Lotman Yu.M. Semiosphere. St. Petersburg, 2004. P. 96.