Kings, kings, emperors, presidents … We rarely find in history examples of the successful destinies of the mighty of this world. Much more often those in power become victims of intrigues, conspiracies, palace coups, military defeats, revolutions, and they simply fall under the bullets and bombs of the "people's avengers" … And impostors and doubles follow them like shadows.
Napoleon, Hitler, Nero and others
There was a man in Napoleon's retinue who outwardly was very similar to him. His name was François Robo. After the defeat of the Napoleonic armies and the exile of the emperor to the island of St. Helena, Robo returned home. In the fall of 1818, he suddenly disappeared without warning anyone. For his family, the fate of François remained a mystery. But the following record has been preserved in the church archives: "He died on the island of St. Helena." It seems that the doubts of the people who visited Napoleon on the island after 1818 are now becoming clear. They believed that the emperor had changed a lot - gait, demeanor and speaking. Moreover, the one who called himself Napoleon suddenly discovered a complete ignorance of the facts well known to the true Napoleon. There is also a personal letter from the commandant of the island with a mysterious phrase: "The emperor has departed" … Does this meanthat on the island of Saint Helena Bonaparte was replaced by a double? Quite possible.
Now let's move from Napoleon to another dictator. In 1939, the book The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler was published in England. The author was not named, it was only reported that the manuscript was forwarded from Nazi Germany through third countries. The book claimed that Hitler was killed back in 1938, and was replaced by a double, a certain Maximilian Bauer. In the postwar years, historians have slightly modified this version. Hitler allegedly died after the assassination attempt of Stauffenberg in 1944, and it was then that the double appeared on the stage.
All this seems, to put it mildly, unlikely. Let's say that many of Hitler's entourage were misled by a double, a skillful actor. But Eva Braun could not help but notice the change! It is unlikely that she would have rushed to besieged Berlin to become the wife of a double and soon die with him …
After the death of the Roman dictator Nero, doubles and impostors also appeared. There were several of them. A version of the story of one of them was described by Leon Feuchtwanger in the novel "False Nero". According to the writer, Nero's close friend, Senator Varro, in order to regain the lost power, found a double of the deceased emperor - a certain potter named Terence. As expected, the attempt to pass him off as Nero ended in failure - after all, the potter and the emperor are not the same thing. Yes, there were false Neroes, but false Caesars and false Caligul were not noted. What's the matter here? Apparently, in the fact that the circumstances of Caesar's murder were so obvious and well-known that the impostor would have had no chance. Caligula was hated so much (unlike Nero, who, with all his extravagances, was loved by the people) that the appearance of the false Caligula was simply meaningless …
But the state hostile to Rome - Macedonia, as they say, did not remain in debt. After the defeat of the Macedonian troops by the Roman legions, both King Perseus and his son Philip were killed. It was then that a certain Andrix appeared, who declared himself that very Philip, the legitimate heir of the king. Who was he? According to the Roman historian Titus Livy, the son of a cloth maker. However, his business was initially very successful. Even the Thracian king Teres believed him, entrusting him, as Philip, with command of his troops to retaliate against Rome. The clothier's son managed to win several local victories, but was soon defeated, brought to Rome, exposed and executed.
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The most famous impostor was, perhaps, Anna Anderson, posing as Grand Duchess Anastasia, who miraculously survived the execution of the royal family. Much has been written about her, and we will not dwell on her fate in detail. Let's just say that later genetic studies have irrefutably proved that Anna Anderson has nothing to do with the royal family.
Ghosts of Peter III
Let's go back to Russia. Few people were so "lucky" to have impostors as Peter III. The 18th century was a difficult time for the people (however, when was it easy?). Droughts, hunger, oppression … And rumors circulated that Tsar Peter III was not killed at all and did not die, but was hiding from his persecutors and would soon come to the aid of the people.
And he came - in 1765. It was a fugitive soldier Gavrila Kremnev. Upon learning of such a curious case, Catherine II did not even get angry. Kremnev was treated extremely mercifully, considering, in modern terms, the "corpus delicti", they just whipped and exiled.
But further - more. The Don Cossack Pugachev appeared. "Tsar Peter Fedorovich is alive!" shouted the crowd. Like this. It turns out that the tsar killed by the conspirators is alive. Once again in history, the thirst for legend turned out to be stronger than reality. The fate of Pugachev is too well known to be reminded of it once again. But the ghosts of Peter III continued their wanderings across Russia. Who was not there! And the peasants, and the Cossacks, and the soldiers … Even the eunuch was - Kondraty Selivanov. In the end, Russia turned out to be cramped for the shadows of the murdered emperor. Another Peter III showed up in Montenegro. It was someone named Stefan. Captain Taneyev and the monk Theodosius, who personally knew Pyotr Fedorovich (the first was the courtier, the second confessor of Peter), swore by oath that it was he who was. After requests from the Montenegrin elite to accept the kingdom in 1768, Stephen publicly proclaimed himself Peter III. He did not rule in Montenegro for very long. Then Montenegro was at war with Turkey, and Stefan was killed by a Turkish spy at night in a dream.
And is that all with the ghosts of Pyotr Fedorovich? No matter how … A fraudster under the same name toured Europe. For twelve years he managed to fool not only the European monarchs, but even Voltaire and Rousseau themselves! The real name of the impostor remained unknown, but his fate is known. He was exposed, arrested in Amsterdam and committed suicide in prison.
Second life of Alexander I
According to recognized historical sources, Russian Emperor Alexander I died in Taganrog in 1825. However, there is another version. If you believe her, Alexander acted like the current downshifters - he voluntarily renounced power, its temptations and privileges, hid in Siberia and lived there for another forty years under the name of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich.
So what kind of old man is this? This face is real, but whether he really could have been Alexander - let's try to figure it out.
The circumstances of Alexander's death (or imaginary death?) Are mysterious. Allegedly, he died suddenly from a sudden illness. At the same time in Taganrog, the courier Maskov died. outwardly very similar to the emperor. The body was brought to St. Petersburg in a closed coffin, and buried in it. It was opened only once, and the people present at the ceremony noted that Alexander's face had changed.
And soon the same old man Fyodor Kuzmich appears among the peasant settlers in Siberia. He hides his past, but his high education, knowledge of foreign languages, awareness of the details of the life of the capital's high society - everything suggests that this person is far from simple. They also noted his amazing external resemblance to the late Emperor Alexander. Of course, this was not noticed by the peasants. The elder, about whom there were rumors, was also visited by educated people. And after the death of Fyodor Kuzmich, his encrypted records were discovered. The attached letter said that they would reveal his secret.
So what, Alexander or not Alexander? Alas, the cipher of the records has not yet been solved. But experts who have compared the handwritings of Fyodor Kuzmich and Alexander claim that with a high degree of certainty we can say that these are different people.
End of the era of impostors?
This story, of course, is not about all impostors. The history of imposture and doubles is immense. Here are the mysterious Gaumata, posing as the son of the Persian king Cyrus, and several False Dmitrys, each of whom claimed the throne under the name of Tsarevich Dmitry, son of Ivan the Terrible, and the cornet Savin, who almost became the king of Bulgaria, and many others. But all this is in the past.
Is imposture possible - just in this classical sense - in our days, in the era of genetic examinations and computer technology? Who knows … Each weapon has its own defense, but a weapon can be found for each defense. So it may be too early to put an end to this topic.