On February 10, 1837, at 2:45 pm, Alexander Pushkin's heart stopped beating. An investigation into the causes of the poet's death gave rise to a large number of assumptions, including about the possible perpetrators of the tragedy.
Wife
The affair of the poet's wife Natalia Goncharova is one of the most frequently heard versions of the reasons for the fatal duel. Some researchers ardently argue that the superficial Natalie was windy, loved balls, and enjoyed her popularity in society. She was allegedly cold to her husband, irritated from talking about literature and constantly made scenes of jealousy. She was courted not only by Dantes, the emperor himself showed signs of attention to her. Natalie was a truly gorgeous woman, and it is hardly surprising that many men idolized her. But could she have gone too far? Hardly. Many contemporaries saw in her an example of purity and purity. In addition, for 6 years of married life with Pushkin, Natalya Nikolaevna was pregnant 5 times and gave birth to 4 children. Did she have the strength to demonstrate her "talents" at balls,when the actual management of the house lay on her shoulders. Her letters to her brother clearly demonstrate how interested she was in her husband's work and how sincerely she experienced his failures. However, it was on her that the main burden of accusations fell after the death of Alexander Sergeevich.
Masons
Knowing about Pushkin's fervor, his enemies could well have correctly outdone Natalya Nikolaevna's fictitious infidelity. The death of the poet could be thirsty for many, including the Masons. It is known that Alexander Sergeevich was among them. He joined the Ovid lodge in Chisinau in May 1821 and took an oath, the deviation from which, quite possibly, cost him his life. Later, in Mikhailovsky, Pushkin's views changed dramatically - he discovered the insidiousness and danger of Freemasonry. When the poet returned to the capital in 1828, he realized that he had found a large number of enemies who were eager to punish the "traitor." Former "comrades" will make several unsuccessful attempts to denigrate Pushkin in the eyes of the emperor (the poet, in particular, was credited with the authorship of the scandalous "Andrey Chenier"). Seeing the loyal, almost friendly attitude of Nicholas I to Pushkin, the "brothers" probablydecided to choose another means - a duel, which could not have a happy ending. The poet will either be killed or go to hard labor as a violator of the strictest imperial prohibition on dueling.
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Emperor
An important argument for supporters of the emperor's personal interest in the poet's death is the phrase: "Pushkin is dead and thank God." However, this phrase is abbreviated, and its full version has a completely different meaning: "Pushkin died and, thank God, he died a Christian." It is known that on September 8, 1826, a long and frank conversation took place between Pushkin and the emperor. Alexander Sergeevich saw in front of him a new, hitherto unknown emperor, and Nikolai - the true Pushkin. In the future, the emperor will not only help Pushkin with money, but will also allow, for example, to use the state archive and deal with history, which the poet by that time will be extremely carried away.
Disgruntled foreigners
In favor of the fact that the emperor needed Pushkin, there may be an assumption about the poet's cooperation with the "St. Petersburg newspaper" ("Journal de Saint-Petersbourg"), the format of which was primarily aimed at raising the image of Russia abroad. Whether Pushkin was satisfied with his new propaganda "mission" is difficult to say unequivocally. His phrase is known: “If he had not died, then all of him (the tsar) would have been: if only he would have been working in the Journal de Saint-Petersbourg”. It can be assumed that Nicholas I gave Pushkin money "on loan", thereby paying for the excellent work done. Knowing the sharpness of thought and the accuracy of the word that Pushkin possessed, it is likely that his work could not evoke delight outside of Russia. The version is difficult to prove, but among others it has a right to exist.
Benckendorf
There is no doubt that Pushkin's free-thinking in the last years of his life was almost extremist by Russian standards of that time, and this could not but worry the people who were responsible for “peace and grace” in the state. There is a version that the chief of the gendarmes, Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf, is directly related to the death of Pushkin. Allegedly, he deliberately did not prevent the duel, although he was well aware of it and had a personal order from the emperor. During his explanations with Nikolai Benckendorff found an excuse: he allegedly sent gendarmes, only to Yekateringof. Such ignorance seems odd to say the least.
Countess Nesselrode
The Countess Nesselrode, who was called "Mister Robespierre", could also be an interested assistant to Benckendorff. In the salon of the wife of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, not only Freemasons gathered, but also the largest representatives of the so-called German court party, among whom were Benckendorff and Heeckern (Dantes's "father"). The countess and the poet hated each other. Pushkin did not miss the opportunity to tell an anecdote about the countess, who hardly spoke Russian. Nesselrode, first of all, could not forget the insult that Pushkin inflicted with his epigrams on her father, a former Mason, Count Guriev, who served as finance minister under Alexander I. The countess gossip tirelessly and skillfully fueled scandals. She talked about Pushkin's cruel treatment of his wife, for example, premature birth was explained by the fact that the husband brutally kicked his wife in the stomach. Pushkin's squandering became "facts": he allegedly did not deny himself anything, while his relatives were forced to live in poverty. Not without the help of the countess, gossip was launched about Pushkin's connection with Natalya Nikolaevna's sister and about Natalie's intrigues with Dantes and the emperor.
Pushkin
The fierce struggle, which Pushkin confronted almost alone, makes one remember another version of the possible reason for such an early death. Allegedly, the poet not only thought a lot about death, but also longed to leave this world. There could be obvious reasons for this. Pushkin could clearly want to escape from intrigue and humiliation, “go to the country” in order to improve his health (according to some sources, he developed Parkinson's disease) and to do what he loved - creativity. But in the summer of 1835, he realized that he had virtually nowhere to go, and that he might not have been able to leave the study of archives and stop communicating with educated people. At the same time, life in the capital was not cheap, and not only morally. It cannot be ruled out that in moments of despair he felt that he had reached a dead end, from which the only way out was suicide. But he could not commit a terrible sin, and therefore he accepted death from his executioner with such humility. At the same time, in recent years, Pushkin worked selflessly, the circle of his interests has greatly expanded. His last days, it seemed, were permeated with one desire, which he put on a poetic form back in 1830: "I want to live in order to think and suffer …"