Georges Dantes will forever remain in the history of Russia as the man who killed Alexander Pushkin, the genius of Russian poetry. At the end of his life, he claimed that he owed his brilliant political career to the duel and did not regret anything. How did his fate develop?
Duel and its aftermath
The young man from a poor noble family, who left France due to the coup of 1830, liked the childless Baron Louis Heckern, who was heading for Russia as the ambassador of the Netherlands. They met in one of the hotels in Germany, after which Dantes followed the baron to Russia and was later adopted by him. The French presented to the court was enrolled in the Cavalry Regiment and became a member of the high society. At the time of his appearance in Russia, Georges Dantes was 21 years old, and he was unusually handsome.
At social events, the Frenchman openly courted the first beauty Natalia Goncharova, compromising her name. After a series of anonymous letters, Pushkin was forced to challenge the hangman to a duel, but at the request of Gekkern, the duel was postponed. And after Dantes' proposal to Ekaterina Goncharova, the sister of the poet's wife, it became completely impossible. But even after the wedding, the Frenchman did not leave the pursuit of the beauty, with whom he was probably in love.
On January 25, 1837, Pushkin wrote an angry letter in which he denied Dantes and his father the right to visit the house, and on the 27th, the duel took place near the Black River. Both were injured. Pushkin - in the stomach, and Dantes - in the hand. After 2 days, St. Petersburg said goodbye to the greatest poet of our time, and the Frenchman recovered, but was stripped of all titles and expelled from the country.
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Political career
Dantes was destined to live to be 83 years old and make a dizzying political career in Europe. He supported Napoleon's nephew when he was just claiming the presidency, carrying out important assignments for him. Thanks to the connections of Gekkern, Dantes was a member of the Constituent Assembly, which gave him a certain weight. After coming to power, Napoleon III thanked his supporters.
In particular, he appointed Dantes a senator for life. This made the politician a wealthy person, for he was entitled to an annual salary of 30 thousand francs. Dantes lived in his native Sulce and at one time was even the mayor of this city. He was also engaged in business, died at a venerable age, surrounded by his loved ones in 1895.
Personal life
Ekaterina Goncharova, despite the death of Pushkin, followed her husband and even gave birth to four children. In 1843, she died in childbirth, leaving her husband as a widower. Being a well-to-do person, he tried to sue Russian relatives because of his wife's inheritance, but lost the case.
According to the recollections of Dantes, the eldest son wrote a book where he presented him in the most favorable light and in every possible way denigrated Pushkin. But not all children supported their father. Leonia-Charlotte, one of his daughters, was very fond of the work of the Russian poet. Having learned about the role played by her father in his life, the girl lost her mind. Until the end of her days, she accused her father of the death of a genius writer and called him a murderer. Leonia-Charlotte died in a psychiatric hospital, where Dantes placed her at the age of 18. Thus, fate nevertheless punished the culprit of the poet's death.
Victoria Samarskaya
