Pushkin is one of the key figures in Russian culture. In fact, it was he who created the modern Russian language and literature. The legacy left by him over thirty years of creativity was the very cornerstone on which subsequent generations of writers and poets grew up, who formed modern Russian culture. According to the well-known literary critic, sooner or later every poet in Russia begins to "try on a lionfish and a cane," that is, no matter how you write it, it will not work better than Pushkin.
Alexander Sergeevich lived a relatively short, but very eventful life. In this life there was everything: fun, and love, and recognition. The phenomenon of Pushkin was that he was able to very simply and intelligibly "reach out to the reader", to awaken in him an interest in things that seemed insignificant and ordinary. But at the same time, Pushkin's poetry was very deep and forced the reader to think more broadly, regardless of whether it was a romantic elegy or another verse "on the topic of the day."
And, as befits a real poet, Pushkin simply could not end his life in the "usual way." His departure from life was as bright as his work. Death in a duel - what could be the best epilogue to such a bright life?
However, this is where the most interesting questions begin. First, the circumstances of Pushkin's last duel were such that it, in fact, should not have taken place at all - there were too many accidents that led to it. Secondly, after his death, almost no one saw the body of Pushkin, the poet's funeral service in the Stable Church and subsequent events took place with a closed coffin and no one could say for certain whether Pushkin was there or who else. An equally important fact was that at the trial that took place after the duel, Pushkin appeared as a chamberlain, although he had the rank of junker chamberlain. A similar circumstance could have been allowed at any other time, but not under Nicholas the First. At that time, a new bureaucratic system was emerging, and the rigor in the paperwork was simply fantastic. Those who have doubts about this issue are advised to read the "collective author" Kozma Prutkov about the bureaucratic order of that time, especially his poem "To the Place of Printing." And, most importantly, during the autopsy of Pushkin's grave, no remains were found. After the duel, the tsar paid off all of Pushkin's debts and arranged the careers of all his children.
The result of the duel itself is also interesting. Pushkin, who had previously spent about fifteen duels, suddenly loses the sixteenth. This, of course, can be allowed, at least according to the theory of probability, but not in this case. During a trip to the South (in 1820), Pushkin began to practice pistol shooting. He carried a box of two pistols with him everywhere and trained almost daily. To train his hand, he ordered an iron cane weighing about 7 kilograms. Almost everywhere where Pushkin lived or quartered, a shooting range for pistol shooting was arranged. Considering fifteen years of practice in shooting, it can hardly be assumed that Pushkin could not hit Dantes from 8 meters.
If we consider the poet's life from a slightly different angle, not related to creativity, or social life, then a number of interesting circumstances emerge. Immediately after graduating from the Lyceum, Pushkin enters to serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sending him to the so-called "southern exile". Surprisingly, his trip coincides with the beginning of the Greek revolution. Pushkin spent about four years in the south of Russia, communicating in military circles and conducting extensive correspondence with participants in the Greek uprising. Even his mistress at that time was the Greek woman Calypso Polykhroni, who fled with her family from the Turks to Russia.
In his next "hot spot", the Caucasus, Pushkin goes already with a solid retinue. The half-squadron of Cossacks accompanies the poet on his trip to the key fortresses, which were taken by the Russian army. An interesting fact of this trip is that Pushkin travels almost incognito, disguising himself as a military priest. He is quite active, and only a direct order from St. Petersburg gives grounds for Paskevich, the commander-in-chief of the troops in the Caucasus, to send Pushkin from the active army to Tiflis. Pushkin has been living there for almost six months, also doing some secret affairs. The schedule was so tight that in Tiflis, Pushkin writes practically nothing (from literature), which, in fact, is not characteristic of him - during all his trips, if he did not write something serious, then at least he did outline.
In the light of these trips, Pushkin appears before us not just as a poet, but as an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an intelligence analyst who oversees military conflicts, and, possibly, providing information to the "center". In addition, one should not forget that Alexander Sergeevich was on a short leg with the tsar. He also had access to state archives with highly classified information. In the rank of a titular adviser or captain, to have access to information that even the colonels do not have - this really cannot be explained by Nicholas I's love for Pushkin's poetry alone. All of the above suggests that, perhaps, both the duel and the death of Pushkin were staged, pursuing some mysterious goal …
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In the middle of the last century, a very interesting (and seditious for Pushkinists) thought was expressed that Pushkin was not killed in 1837, but left Russia incognito for France, where he did some work on the Foreign Ministry, and for conspiracy he worked under named … Alexandre Dumas! At first glance, the idea seems absurd, but there are some interesting coincidences that indirectly confirm it.
Pushkin and Dumas were Quarterons (a quarter African). Both were fluent in the French literary language. Dumas wrote 73 novels in his life, of which only two before 1837. In general, the work of Dumas before the "Count of Monte Cristo", written in 1844, cannot be called creativity. Five newspaper essays and two unsuccessful novels are nothing compared to 71 novels, about a hundred plays and fairy tales, and a huge number of stories written after. Well, and "the cherry on the cake" - the name of the protagonist, as a hint: Edmond Dantes.
There are all the means to test this theory in our time. Both Pushkin and Dumas had children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A genetic examination would put everything in its place. However, the descendants of the great writers are in no hurry. And they can be understood: the results can be sensational …