Today every schoolchild knows that the great poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was killed in a duel defending the honor of his wife, the beautiful Natalya Nikolaevna. But what could the Freemasons have to do with this? It is possible that the most direct …
The story of "Ovid"
According to the poet's diary, his initiation into Masons took place in the Ovid lodge in Chisinau on May 4, 1821. The master of the lodge, Major General Pavel Pushchin, Pushkin even dedicated a poem:
… And soon, soon the abuse will cease
Among the slave people
You will take the hammer in your hand And you will call: freedom!
I praise you, oh faithful brother, Promotional video:
O venerable bricklayer!
Oh Chisinau, oh dark city, Rejoice, you enlightened one!
Meanwhile, the Ovid lodge was considered temporary. According to the rules, the official status of a Masonic lodge can only be awarded by a higher lodge. In this situation, it was the Great Administrative Lodge "Astrea", which, in turn, was subordinate to the Grand Provincial Lodge, which was already ruled by foreign masters.
However, in the case of "Ovid", official recognition never happened. The reason, probably, was the scandalous story with the Bulgarian Archimandrite Ephraim. He was to be ordained a Freemason in the basement of the old cathedral. The people gathered in the church saw how the blindfolded archimandrite was led by the arms to the basement. The crowd decided that the clergyman was in danger, rushed into the basement and "freed" him, interrupting the initiation ceremony into Masons.
This was quickly learned not only in Chisinau, but also in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In general, the Chisinau lodge did not wait for the award of official status. It ceased to exist in November 1821, and on August 1, 1822, Emperor Alexander I banned Masonic lodges and any secret societies in Russia. Former members of "Ovid" were harassed by the authorities.
This period of Pushkin's life is described in detail in an anonymous article published in the Parisian newspaper Temps on March 5, 1837, shortly after the poet's death. The author testifies: “Several Frenchmen, who were then in Chisinau, founded a Masonic lodge there. Pushkin joined it …”The article provided such details that only a person who personally knew the members of the lodge could know.
Pushkin and Masonic symbolism
Despite the fact that formally Pushkin probably could not be considered a Freemason, he continued to count himself as such. So, in a letter to Vasily Zhukovsky dated January 20, 1826, the poet admits that he "was a freemason in the Chisinau lodge." He also wore a long fingernail on his little finger, which served as one of the hallmarks of the Freemasons. Once the artist Tropinin, who came to paint a portrait from him, drew attention to this. Subsequently, he told Prince Obolensky that he made a Masonic sign to Pushkin, but the poet only shook his finger at him in response.
In addition, it is mentioned more than once that Pushkin wore mascot rings with Masonic symbols. They can be seen on the poet's hand in the portrait by Tropinin.
So, until the end of his life, Pushkin did not part with a massive gold ring of a twisted shape, into which an octagonal carnelian was inserted with an inscription in Hebrew carved on it. It was presented to the poet by Countess Elizaveta Vorontsova. While dying, Pushkin presented the ring to Zhukovsky, who liked the gift so much that he began to wear it constantly on the middle finger of his right hand next to the wedding ring.
After the death of Vasily Andreevich, his son presented the ring to Ivan Turgenev. He, in turn, expressed the wish that after his death the ring would pass to Leo Tolstoy. But his beloved Pauline Viardot ordered otherwise and donated the relic to the Pushkin Museum of the Alexander Lyceum. From there the ring was stolen.
Another ring - with turquoise, a gift from Pavel Nashchokin, Pushkin shortly before the fatal duel presented to his comrade Danzas. Holding out the ring to him, he said:
- Take it and carry it. It is a talisman against a violent death.
Soon the poet died in a duel. By coincidence. Danzas was one of his seconds. However, Danzas could not save the gift: some time later, the ring was lost.
The poet used Masonic symbolism in poetry addressed to other freemasons. For example, in the "Message to Siberia" he writes about "freedom", which "will greet us joyfully at the entrance," and about "brothers" who "will give us the sword." All these are symbols that the members of the brotherhood understand. Researchers find echoes of Freemasonry in other Pushkin's works, for example "Bacchic Song", "Wanderer", "Belkin's Tales", "Little Tragedies". This is especially evident in the poem "The Prophet". It contains elements of the Masonic initiation ceremony: the eyes “open” and “become all-seeing”, instead of the “sinful tongue”, “the sting of a wise snake” is put into the hero's mouth, “a burning coal” is put into the chest instead of the heart, and the Prophet rises to life at the call of God …
A victim of intrigue?
But not everything in the relationship between Pushkin and the Freemasons developed so smoothly. Candidate of Historical Sciences Vadim Pigalev, who investigated this issue, writes: “The masters of the lodges and grandmasters taught:“If a writer writes in his book thoughts and reasoning that are absolutely correct, but not suitable for our teaching or too premature, then this author should be either bribed or dishonored.
In all likelihood, over time, Pushkin had disagreements with his Decembrist friends, many of whom were Masons. As you know, he sympathized with them, but never took part in the 1825 uprising. The “brothers” did not like the fact that Pushkin to some extent exposes their “mysteries” in his work. “Alexander Sergeevich did not meet the strict criteria of Freemasonry with his character, way of thinking, creativity. - says Pigalev. - For the "brothers" it became clear that the poet was getting out of their control, ceased to honor the order's interests and rituals, which seemed more and more ridiculous to him, "and it hurts not in Russian", he was losing the initial craving for Freemasonry, dictated earlier curiosity and Chisinau boredom”.
It was impossible to bribe the poet, but meanwhile he became a very inconvenient figure for the Freemasons. And then the Frenchman Georges Dantes appeared on the scene, whose relatives belonged to the Order of the Knights Templar and who himself was strangely "adopted" by the Dutch envoy to Russia, Baron Louis Heckern. This was followed by the entry of Dantes into high society and courtship of Natalie Pushkina …
On November 4, 1836, Pushkin and all his friends received an anonymous libel, indicating an alleged close relationship between his wife and Dantes. The letter was, apparently intentionally, used terminology close to the Masonic: “Cavaliers of the first degree, Commanders and Knights of the Most Serene Order of the Cuckold, gathered in the Great Chapter under the chairmanship of the highly esteemed Grand Master of the Order of His Excellency D. L. Naryshkin, unanimously elected Mr. Alexander Pushkin as Deputy Grand Master of the Order of the Cuckolds and historiographer of the Order …"
One way or another, the anonymous letter did her dirty deed: Pushkin challenged Dantes to a duel. But the fight was postponed due to the fact that Dantes asked for the hand of his sister-in-law Ekaterina Goncharova. In January, a new batch of anonymous letters was circulated. Although they ended up on the table of the then chief of the III branch, Alexander Benckendorff, he, being also a freemason, did nothing to "sort out" the situation. Subsequently, all letters were lost and have not been found to this day.
“Evil forces made Natalya Nikolaevna a toy and an instrument of their black plans,” testified one of the adherents of the Masonic lodge, E. Groth. "If they had not been able to use Natalie, they would have found another way, but they would have ruined Pushkin."
Find in the grave
The funeral of Pushkin was also disposed of by the Masons - Counts Grigory Stroganov and Karl Nesselrode. During the ceremony, Prince Pyotr Vyazemsky put a white Masonic glove in the coffin …
During the restoration of the tombstone of Pushkin's grave in 1953, a strange find was made. The press wrote: “The doors of two large slabs that lie at its base have opened. When the slabs were removed, in the center of the base there was a chamber, square in shape, with walls lined with brick in one row. The chamber height is 75 centimeters. There is a small window in the east wall. At the bottom of the chamber, two human skulls and bones were found. The examination showed that the bones belong to elderly people”. It is believed that Count Grigory Stroganov put all this in the poet's grave in 1841 during the installation of the tombstone: the Masons practiced the "cult of the dead head" …
Irina SHLIONSKAYA