Oh, you son of a bitch! Why did Pushkin fake his death and become Alexander Dumas

The brilliant poet, the founder of the modern Russian language Alexander Pushkin did not die as a result of a duel on the Black River. He only faked his death and secretly moved to Paris, where he became famous again under the name of Alexandre Dumas (who is the father). We agree, it sounds like utter nonsense.

We propose to consider this hypothesis, the absurdity of which is recognized by one of its supporters, Oleg Gorosov. However, after reading his thorough text, vague doubts creep in willy-nilly.

On January 27, 1837, in St. Petersburg, during a duel with the cavalry guard Georges Dantes, the light of Russian literature, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, was mortally wounded. And soon after that, a new star shone in France — also Alexander, only by the name of Dumas. But what is remarkable: the French Alexander outwardly turned out to be strikingly similar to the Russian one.

Pushkin and Dumas

Pushkin and Dumas are almost the same age: the first was born in 1799, the second — in 1802. If you look at the portraits of the two geniuses, you will immediately notice their amazing similarity: dark skin, eye color, the shape of the forehead, eyebrows, nose, dark curly hair. And in his youth, Dumas is completely the spitting image of Pushkin.

Experts say that all this is due to the African roots of both Alexanders. Pushkin's maternal great-grandfather was Abram Hannibal, a pupil of Peter I brought from Africa. Dumas had a black grandmother on his father's side — a former slave from the island of Haiti. And yet, although the African features have been preserved after generations, this does not explain the reason for such a strong similarity. After all, belonging to the same race does not make people look like each other like two drops of water.

Russian and French Alexanders are similar not only in appearance. Pushkin showed literary abilities from an early age, while in the exact sciences he turned out to be completely incompetent. He also had lower scores on behavior. Researchers of the poet's life noted that " for all five years of his stay at the lyceum, Pushkin successfully defended his personality from any encroachments on it, studied only what he wanted, and the way he wanted."

The adult Pushkin was known for his violent character, loved carousing, cards and duels. At the same time, Alexander Sergeevich was considered an excellent brewer. Another bright feature of the poet is his indifference to the weaker sex. It is also worth noting Pushkin's political views: he was friends with future Decembrists, and for epigrams addressed to Alexander I, he almost landed in Siberia.

And here is how the writer Andre Mauroy described the young Alexander Dumas in his book "Three Dumas": "He was like an elemental force, because African blood was boiling in him. The spontaneity of his nature was manifested in his refusal to submit to any discipline. The school had no effect on his character. Any kind of oppression was unbearable for him. Women? He loved them all at once."

Mauroy also noted Dumas ' inability to the exact sciences. Like Pushkin, Dumas was not indifferent to the political situation in the country. Moreover, when the July Revolution broke out in France in 1830, the writer personally participated in the storming of the royal Tuileries Palace.

Comparing the two Alexanders, you can really decide that we are not talking about different people, but about the same person. With the only difference that one lived in Russia, the second-in France.

The question arises: why did Pushkin have to fake his own death at all? It turns out that in the last years of Alexander Sergeevich's life, things were just terrible. He was bound by huge debts, no less problems arose in the literary field. For example, his poem "The Bronze Horseman", completed in 1833, was banned from printing personally by Nicholas I.

In general, the writer's relations with the royal court were quite cool. Even the fact that the Russian emperor granted Pushkin the rank of a chamber junker in 1834 only provoked the poet's rage. As he noted in his diary: this is "quite indecent for my years," because such a rank was usually received by very young people. Pushkin believed that the chamber junkership was given to him only because the court wanted to see his wife at their balls.

Alexander Sergeyevich was also disturbed by secular rumors about his wife's secret relationship with Dantes. And in 1836, he suffered another blow — his mother Nadezhda Osipovna died. As Pushkin's contemporaries noted, in the last years of his life, Alexander Sergeevich was on the verge of despair.

And so in January 1837, Dantes ' bullet broke Pushkin's hip neck and penetrated into his stomach. It is believed that the wound at that time was fatal. Although a number of experts believe that the cause of Alexander Sergeevich's death was a mistake of doctors and with the right approach, he could have survived. Or maybe that's how it happened?

Dying, Pushkin wrote to the emperor: "I am waiting for the tsar's word to die in peace." Nicholas I replied that he forgives him everything, and even promised to take care of Pushkin's wife and children, as well as cover all his debts (which was fulfilled). Now Alexander Sergeyevich could die in peace. But the way the funeral of the genius took place still raises a lot of questions.

Many people wanted to say goodbye to the celebrity, but people were deliberately deceived: they announced that the funeral service would be held in St. Isaac's Cathedral, where the people gathered. In fact, the body was placed in the Stable Church, where it was secretly moved under the cover of night. After the funeral service, the coffin was lowered into the basement and held until February 3, and then sent to Pskov. At the same time, the governor of Pskov was given a decree of the emperor to prohibit "any special expression, any meeting, in a word, any ceremony, except for what is usually performed according to our church rite at the burial of the body of a nobleman." So Nicholas I himself could know the true reasons for the" death " of the great poet.

Now let's consider whether Pushkin could have become Dumas.

One of Napoleon's generals and his friend Thomas-Alexandre Dumas died when his son Alexander was about four years old. Since then, the French world has almost forgotten about the once famous surname. And suddenly, in 1822, a twenty-year-old young man appeared in Paris, who introduced himself as the son of a legendary general, and began to seek protection from his father's former associates. In Paris, no one doubted the authenticity of his origin, because the young man did not look like a European, and everyone knew about the African roots of General Dumas. Could this young man be Pushkin?

Of course, it is confusing that in 1822 Alexander Sergeevich was alive and well and there were still 15 years left before the fatal duel. One can only assume that the poet, due to his adventurous nature, could lead a double life. Just in the early 1820s, he was not seen in the light‑Pushkin lived in the south for four years. During this time, he could easily have repeatedly visited Paris and even written several works there in French under the pseudonym Dumas. Nothing prevented him from leaving Mikhailovsky, where he was exiled for two years in 1824.

By the way, once Alexander Dumas was "buried alive". In 1832, a French newspaper published a report that Dumas was shot by the police for participating in the uprising. After that, the writer left France for a long time. If we take on faith the story that Dumas is Pushkin, perhaps the latter tried to stop the scam in this way. After all, a year before that, he was married to Natalia Goncharova. But then he could change his mind and keep his French image.

It is noteworthy that before Pushkin's death, Dumas wrote only a few small works and was almost unknown. But at the end of the 1830s, he suddenly began to give out novel after novel, and even outside of France they started talking about him.

Pushkin-Dumas, as if apologizing, made his imaginary murderer Georges Dantes a positive character. The main character of "The Count of Monte Cristo" is named Edmond Dantes. If you remember, Dantes faked his own death and returned to the world under a different name, becoming the Count of Monte Cristo. Was the writer thus hinting at his own death in the image of Pushkin?

Another interesting fact: in 1840, Dumas, having never visited Russia by that time, wrote the novel "Fencing Teacher", in which he told in detail the history of the Decembrists and the uprising of 1825. He also translated many works of Russian authors, including Pushkin, into French.

In general, the French writer showed great interest in Russia. However, he visited it only in 1858. Even if Dumas was once Pushkin, he could no longer be afraid of being recognized, because by that time he had grown fat and aged. The writer became a welcome guest in all the noble houses of St. Petersburg. The Russian nobles did not even suspect that they were receiving Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who may have died more than twenty years ago.