Pushkin is Our Everything

Considering that my blog's title references Alexander Pushkin, I feel it is only fitting to share my experience visiting one of his apartments.

Last week, I was able to take a guided tour through the Alexander Pushkin Museum and Memorial Apartment. The museum and memorial is situated in the last apartment rented by Pushkin, and it consequently happens to be the place where he died.

"Pushkin is our everything" is a very common phrase in Russia. Pushkin is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and is also credited as the founder of the modern Russian language.

Pushkin statue at his apartment museum

He was born in 1799 in Moscow and died in 1837. The poet was born into Russian nobility and received a very privileged education. One of the many intrigues of Pushkin's past is that one of his great-grandfathers was an African slave brought over to Russia and who eventually became an aristocrat. Pushkin became committed to social reform and was exiled for several years. Upon his return, he requested permission from the tsar to continue writing but was concerned with the strict limitations placed upon literature by the censors. Tsar Nicholas I allowed Pushkin to continue his works, and in order to overcome the issue of the censors, all of Pushkin's manuscripts were sent to the tsar to read. Subsequently, the tsar became Pushkin's personal editor.

In 1831, Pushkin married Natalya Goncharova, and the couple eventually had four children. Natalya was the belle of the ball, the beauty of the social circle. Pushkin loved his wife and called her his muse. However, Natalya's beauty attracted several men, even while she was married, and a scandal broke out that she was having an affair. In order to uphold his and his family's honor, Pushkin challenged his wife's alleged lover to a duel. Pushkin was fatally shot, and after two days of anguish, he died in his apartment.

I stood in the very room that Pushkin died in. I saw the couch he bled out on for two days; the clock his friend stopped when Pushkin took his final breath. I saw his desk, and the candle holders which lit the room while he penned his classic tales. It was a place of triumph, a place of suffering, a place of history.

Pushkin statue in front of the Russian State Museum

Pushkin was not only a great writer, but he made up his own language, which today is the modern Russian language. When he needed a word for his poem, but it did not exist, he just made it up. And through his wonderful stories, people were able to pick up on the new words and begin using them. Some of his greatest works include Ruslan and Ludmila, Boris Godunov, The Queen of Spades, The Captain's Daughter, and several fairy tales. Pushkin's The Bronze Horseman is about the worst flood in Saint Petersburg's history (ironically, Pushkin was in exile during the flood and did not actually experience it himself). The title is in reference to the famous statue of Peter the Great on horseback, and Pushkin's tale gave the statue the name it is now known by. Pushkin also penned Eugene Onegin, which was turned into an opera by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The story and music is also used as a ballet, which just happens to be what I saw at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In the museum, I saw original copies of Pushkin's work. I saw drafts of Eugene Onegin and The Bronze Horseman. Although I could hardly decipher his handwriting, especially with so many words crossed out, it was amazing to view the original works and thought process of Pushkin. His drafts also included doodles about the story he was writing. On top of being a fantastic poet, Pushkin was also a very good drawer.

Alexander Pushkin is everywhere: statues, bookshops, movies, postage stamps, he even has his own holiday. Worthy of note, Pushkin Day is on June 6, his birthday, which also happens to be when people celebrate Russian Language Day. Coincidence? I think not. Pushkin and his works are deeply ingrained in Russian culture, and practically all Russians have read his works. If they have not read them, then they have seen the tales in movies, ballets, operas, and cartoons. Due to his immense contributions to Russian culture, language, and life, Pushkin really is Russia's everything.