The touching story of Mikhail Lomonosov's German love
Many great people had a peculiar idea of relationships and were not particularly loyal. The Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov could not be compared in this part with academician Lev Landau, but the light of our science was also a guy. Fortunately, Mikhail Vasilyevich's wife turned out to be a wise and selfless woman, so she won the fight for family happiness.
Despite the fact that Lomonosov's life has been described by dozens of authors, little is known about his personal life. We know that he was born in Kholmogorakh and came to Moscow with a fish train, where he studied for four years. Then there was a year of living in Kiev and moving to German Marburg.
Lomonosov got into the German university at the age of 25 and he probably had an experience of love affairs. Mikhail managed to live in a family with his mother and two stepmothers. Therefore, he probably had some idea about the relationship. Judging by the scientist's diaries, he took marriage seriously.
Mikhail Vasilyevich believed that it was impossible to marry the first one he came across and that it was not worth looking for a beautiful one. His ideal is a caring and homely woman, capable of providing a reliable rear for a man of science. At the same time, Lomonosov was a supporter of the fact that only an established, financially independent man needs to start a family.
But all these beliefs did not prevent Lomonosov from being a great lover of women. Arriving in Marburg, a Russian student rented a house from the widow of the brewer Frau Zilch. A woman and her young daughter, left without a breadwinner, rented out rooms of a spacious house. The beautiful daughter of the hostess Elizabeth, who was 9 years younger than Mikhail, fell into the student's soul. We do not know the details of their relationship, but biographers dryly write: "In February 1739, they were married in a civil marriage."
Immediately after the official start of the relationship, Lomonosov was transferred to study in Freiberg. 9 months after the departure of her common-law husband, Elizabeth Tsilkh gave birth to a daughter. As a decent man, Mikhail returned to Marburg and the couple got married in 1740. However, the family idyll did not work out, because very soon the young scientist was going to his homeland, to Russia.
He did not take Elizabeth and the child with him, but promised that he would adjust life and immediately take them away. At that moment, the woman was already expecting her second child. In fact, Lomonosov left the unfortunate in a position and with a one-year-old daughter in his arms. It was aggravated by the fact that Elizabeth's mother, Frau Zilch, was seriously and terminally ill and needed care.
Returning to Russia, Lomonosov completely forgot about the German family. For two years he lived as if nothing had happened, hiding his marriage from everyone. At that time, it was not difficult to do this, especially since the marriage according to the Lutheran rite of Orthodox Michael did not oblige to anything.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Tsilkh was waiting for her beloved. She believed that Mikhail was about to come and take her and the children to a distant snowy country. She gave birth to a son, whom she named Ivan, but the child died after living only a month. Frau Zilch died soon after, and there was still no news from her beloved. Elizabeth understood that her husband might have forgotten about her. But she pushed these thoughts away from herself and hoped for the best.
The woman could not write a letter to her husband, as he did not leave an address and promised to write himself. But Elizabeth decided to fight for happiness by any means and came out to the Russian ambassador. She outlined the situation to the official and handed over a letter for Mikhail. Thus, the ugly story of Lomonosov was made public.
But it was already 1743, and not the strict Anna Ioannovna sat on the throne, but the cheerful Elizabeth Petrovna. Therefore, the scientist got away with an unseemly act. The Empress only commanded to move his family from Germany to Russia and marry in the Orthodox tradition. Lomonosov could not disobey and humbly accepted these conditions.
Elizabeth came to Russia, having lost her daughter on the way, who fell ill and died. But Lomonosov could not meet his wife, as he was... in prison. It was the most difficult period of the scientist's life, connected with the conflict with the Germans at the Academy of Sciences. Soon Mikhail Vasilyevich was released and even allowed to work as before, but the Academy cut his salary by half.
The Lomonosovs barely made ends meet, but it benefited their relationship. Mikhail Vasilyevich finally realized how lucky he was in life and that Elizabeth was the very ideal of a scientist's wife. Later, the scientist described his wife in one of the treatises as an ideal woman and even noted that their age difference of 9 years is optimal for spouses.
Mikhail and Elizaveta Lomonosov lived together for 20 years and were a model of a happy couple for everyone. Behind them, there was no discord and connections on the side, which was rare for the society of the 18th century. The scientist died in 1765 in the arms of his inconsolable Lieschen. The woman outlived her lover by only a year and left after him in the year 1766.