"Goodbye, my friend, goodbye": 5 versions of Sergei Yesenin's death
On December 28, 1925, the great Russian poet Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin died. And his death became one of the most mysterious and mysterious events of those times. There is still no single version of what happened. But here are the main assumptions of historians and relatives of Yesenin himself.
According to the generally accepted version of Yesenin's death, the poet took his own life by hanging. When on the morning of December 28, the poet's friend Georgy Ustinov entered his room at the Angleterre Hotel, he saw a lifeless body on the bed. A makeshift noose of torn sheets was tightened around the neck of the dead Yesenin. The examination also showed that death occurred from asphyxia. In addition, it has long been known that the poet was in deep depression - a week before his death he was being treated in a neuropsychiatric clinic.
Despite all of the above, during the investigation there were versions about the murder of the poet. The fact is that at the time of the incident, everything in the room was turned upside down. Also, the autopsy showed that there were minor injuries on Yesenin's body. For example, there were abrasions on the face and chest. It was assumed that someone killed the poet (strangled him with a pillow), and then staged suicide. But later, representatives of the special commission that investigated the case called this version "incompetent and unconvincing."
According to another unpopular version, the poet was shot during an "interrogation with partiality", which was conducted in the investigative house of the GPU. The authorities disapproved of Yesenin's bold statements, numerous scandals related to him, and his poems in general. But it was impossible to simply "liquidate" the poet. It was necessary to turn everything around so that no one would suspect anything. Therefore, Yesenin was first shot, and then his body was dragged to the Angleterre Hotel, which was located directly opposite the GPU... By the way, independent investigations by Yeseninologists showed that the poet had not rented a room in this hotel and none of the staff or residents had seen him before that ill-fated day.
Another version of the poet's death says that he killed himself "accidentally". The fact is that at the time of the discovery of the corpse, one detail seemed strange: Yesenin's right hand was bent and lay on the pipe. It seemed as if he really wanted to get into the loop, but then immediately changed his mind and tried to get out by grabbing the pipe.
Once a certain Major Titarenko declared that he knew who the real murderer of the great poet was. According to him, Gulag member Nikolai Leontiev inflicted fatal injuries on him. They met Yesenin quite by chance, at the train station. There they had a conversation about the Soviet government and a fight broke out. During the fight, Leontiev fired a revolver, and the bullet hit the poet right in the head. According to another version, Leontiev only hit Yesenin with the handle. However, the blow was so accurate and strong that the poet fell dead.