15 facts about Griboyedov

In January, lovers of literature celebrated the 220th birthday of the great playwright Alexander Griboedov, known to every inhabitant of Russia only from the play Woe from Wit. Of course, Alexander Sergeevich also had other works. But we will not talk about them, but about interesting facts from his biography.

1. Alexander Sergeevich was born on January 15, but it is not known exactly what year. Textbook authors usually indicate 1795, however, this is most likely incorrect. Since this year was born the brother of Griboedov, Pavel, who died in infancy. So the question of whether to celebrate the anniversary of the poet (220 years) in 2015 or just the modest date of his birth is an open question.

2. The parents of Alexander Griboedov were distant relatives from the same branch of the family. The playwright's mother, Anastasia Fedorovna, was his father Sergei Ivanovich's second cousin.

3. Griboyedov was brilliantly intelligent and educated. Long before he came of age - if we take the year of his birth as a basis, then even in childhood, the future luminary of Russia entered Moscow State University. Griboyedov did not just study - he graduated from 3 faculties at once. He planned to get to the doctoral, but failed because of Napoleon - in 1812, seventeen-year-old Griboyedov volunteered to go to war. Alexander Sergeevich did not take part directly in the battles, he served in the rear.

4. In his youth, the playwright was still a bully. Being somehow within the walls of the Catholic Church, he sat down at the organ and began to play sacred music, and a few minutes later he suddenly began to play the Russian dance music - "Kamarinskaya", which outraged everyone present.

5. Griboyedov, like all secular people of that time, played music and was a good composer. He is considered the author of two melancholic waltzes, one of which is called Griboedovsky.

6. Once Griboyedov was wounded in a duel. The reason was the intrigue around the famous actress Istomina. No, Griboyedov was not in love with her, but in some strange way he got involved in a story that ended in a duel involving four people. Griboedov was wounded by the cornet Alexander Yakubovich in the little finger. Now, in order to play the piano, he had to put a leather case on his finger.

7. He completed his famous play, which Alexander Sergeyevich originally called more eloquently "Woe to the Wit", in the Lipetsk region, on the estate of his "friend and brother" Stepan Begichev Field Lokotsy (the second name of the estate was Dmitrovskoye) - it was located on the territory of the present Izmalkovsky district - then it was the Tula province.

8. "Woe from Wit" Griboyedov was the first to show Ivan Krylov. The author himself read his work to the already elderly fabulist by that time. He listened in silence for several hours, and then declared: “The censors will not let this pass. They swagger over my fables. And this is much cooler! In our time, the empress would have sent the first trip to Siberia for this play.

9. Krylov was right, maybe that's why during the life of Griboyedov not a single theater staged Woe from Wit. But read it with rapture. Literary critics have counted 45 thousand handwritten copies of this work, passed from hand to hand throughout the country.

10. Alexander Griboyedov was a member of the Masonic Lodge. He belonged to the largest secret society in St. Petersburg "United Friends". From fellow Masons, he demanded to speak only in Russian and advocated the spread of Russian letters.

11. Griboyedov was suspected of having links with the Decembrists, for which he was arrested in 1826. However, he was soon released, as the evidence given against him was not enough. He, indeed, did not just maintain acquaintance with the Decembrists. But, being a diplomat, he tried to alleviate their plight.

12. Griboedov's wife, Princess Nina Chavchavadze, was much younger than him. She was 17 and he was in his 30s when they got married. The wedding took place on August 22, 1828 at the Zion Cathedral in Tiflis. Their love was passionate, and the marriage was short-lived - six months later, Griboyedov died.

13. Griboedov died in February 1829, while performing his official duty as the Russian ambassador to the Persian embassy. During the uprising, fanatics attacked a foreign mission. Then 37 people died, only one survived. The remains of Griboyedov were identified by the same little finger shot off in a duel ...

14. As a compensation and apology from Persia, the Shah presented Russia with the most significant jewel of the Persian crown - the Shah diamond. This is one of the seven largest diamonds in the history of the world, its weight exceeds 88 carats.

15. Nina Chavchavadze-Griboyedova remained faithful to her husband. On the grave of the playwright in the Tiflis monastery, she left a bitter epitaph in which she expressed the sorrow of all of Russia and her personal pain: "Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory, but why did my love survive you?" The "Black Rose of Tiflis" wore mourning after the tragic death of her husband until the end of her days. She lived another 28 years without remarrying, although there were many proposals.

N. Iankoshvili, "Portrait of Nina Chavchavadze - Griboyedova"