This is how the Moscow researcher Alexander Portnov puts the question. He was interested in riddles in the fate of the great Russian scientist, and the most important of them: did the son of a simple peasant become an academician only because he was striving for knowledge with all his might ?!
“Is curiosity enough,” Portnov argues, “for a peasant in serf Russia to make such an incredible career?”
The researcher, studying the biography of Lomonosov, more than once heard the opinion that Mikhail Vasilyevich was the illegitimate son of Peter I. And indeed, the Russian tsar repeatedly visited Arkhangelsk, worked at the Bazhenov shipyard, which was located next to the town where the future genius. That is, in principle, it is possible to link together the names of the peasant and the king. This allowed Portnov to explain other equally surprising mysteries in the biography of Lomonosov.
Peter the Great
So, the son of a simple fisherman from a village on the far outskirts of the country, a commoner, became a member of the Russian and Swedish academies, a nobleman, a scientist in various fields of science. In the entire history of Russia, not a single peasant son could repeat the fate of Lomonosov. And this incredible fact made Portnov continue his research. He saw the next riddle in the inexplicable wealth of Mikhail's father, Vasily Lomonosov.
In the inventory of 1710 it is written that Vasily was a poor peasant who got married the same year, and the next year was already happy with the heir. Portnov was surprised that, according to the inventory of 1722, Vasily Lomonosov was considered the richest man in the entire Arkhangelsk region. He had a large estate, fishing industry, the largest two-masted ship.
How did he manage to earn such wealth? The question is unanswered, but nevertheless it has been posed. Another mystery, according to Portnov, is associated with the words of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov himself about himself. Here is what he once wrote: “My father left me. And the mother was still in infancy … It seems to be illogical, because it was the son who left his father and in December 1730 left for Moscow with a train.
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The only son of the richest industrialist in the big Arkhangelsk region passed away. What caused the breakup with your father? After all, these, in fact, the closest people to each other never saw each other again … Misha Lomonosov's mother died when he was only nine years old. His father then married twice more, but he no longer had sons. One can imagine how he would have to love the only one!
He should, but as if he did not love him, because he was very harsh towards the boy and often beat him. When Lomonosov ended up in Moscow, he often lived from hand to mouth, on three kopecks a day, but his father, donating huge money for the construction of the church, never helped him, did not send a penny to his son. Mikhail did the same: he borrowed money from visiting Arkhangelsk peasants, but never asked his father for money. Another strange story!
Portnov also calls the history of Mikhail Lomonosov's education a mystery. It turns out that the decree of the Holy Synod of 1723 forbade the admission of peasant children to the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, but, contrary to the ban, Michael was accepted. But he hid the truth and called himself a noble's son, but the leadership of the Academy, if desired, could reveal the deception very easily. But no, he was even enrolled with a decent scholarship at that time.
Then the events unfold even more surprisingly: Lomonosov was sent to St. Petersburg, where in 1736 the Cabinet of Ministers of Russia approved his candidacy for a trip abroad - to England, Holland, France. For a peasant son, it was an incredible success, or someone promoted him, clearly helped and helped, and this secret philanthropist was omnipotent, A. Portnov believes.
Lomonosov was given 300 rubles for the road, and he was given 400 rubles a year for annual living - the money at that time was simply huge. And finally, the researcher saw another mystery - now in Lomonosov's behavior.
It turned out that Mikhail Vasilyevich was distinguished by an extremely sharp character, but he got away with everything. Portnov can give many examples of this, but here is only one, connected with the scandal that Lomonosov committed at the Russian Academy after returning from a trip abroad. It turns out that he "reviled the professors with selective abuse, called them thieves and with words that make it ashamed to write …".
Such a record was left by a contemporary of Lomonosov. Of course, the scientist cursed for the cause, the mediocre and thieving Germans who had settled in the Russian Academy drove him to despair, but the insult was public and very loud. According to the laws of that time, hard labor or prison was due for this, but Lomonosov only deducted a small amount from a good salary. Apparently they were afraid, but why? But then, after the death of the scientist, they won back gloriously.
The heir to the throne and the future emperor Paul reflected the opinion of the royal court about the great scientist: "What to regret about the fool, he just ruined the treasury and did nothing!" Of course, A. Portnov emphasizes, the successors of Peter I could not appreciate Lomonosov's brilliant contribution to Russian science. Lomonosov himself idolized Peter, dedicated odes and paintings to him.
A beautiful mosaic portrait of Peter I, also created by Lomonosov, has survived. He also owns the words: "If I need to find a person similar to God according to our concept, except for Peter the Great - I will not!" Here are how many riddles and coincidences A. Portnov collected. Is he right in his assumptions about the close relationship between Lomonosov and Peter I?
These burning riddles remain unanswered so far. The researcher only drew his attention to them, to answer the scientists … Only once, in a strange way, the fate of father and son crossed. Many people know the mysterious story of Mikhail Lomonosov's visionary dream. When he was returning from Germany to Russia, he had a terrible dream on the ship: he saw his father dying on an unknown island after a shipwreck, who asked to be buried in a Christian way.
Mikhail Vasilyevich told the exact place where to look for the missing father, and indeed the body of Vasily Lomonosov was found exactly where the son indicated …
