How serf stories lived in classical literature. What works of Russian classics depict the theme of serfdom? Why can't I see my bride? (Unified State Exam in Literature)

These people could be united, explaining their commonality with a huge talent and an irresistible desire to create. However, this is not what connects them at all - the fact is that they were all born into serf families. Didn't you know? Meet the seven great Russian serfs!

1.Andrey Voronikhin

Yes Yes. The Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg was built by a serf. Even not so - hereditary serf.

All members of the Voronikhin family were serfs of Count Alexander Stroganov, the president of the capital's Academy of Arts. Whether the count was a timber merchant or an idle provincial master, the world would hardly have recognized the genius architect Andrei Voronikhin.

But fate turned out this way and not otherwise. A reverent attitude to art reigned in the Stroganov estate. Serfs were also introduced to the fine sciences. A talented boy who got into one of the icon-painting workshops showed extraordinary diligence, and the count sent the apprentice to Moscow to study with the famous architects V.I. Bazhenov and M.F. Kazakov. Returning to St. Petersburg, the 26-year-old boy received his freedom and, together with the son of the count, went to study abroad.

For several years Voronikhin mastered painting and architecture in Switzerland, Germany, France. Days and nights in libraries. Great art of the Renaissance! Everything went just fine. But then the French Revolution of 1789 happened! The curator of Voronikhin and Stroganov Jr. - Romm became one of the ideologues of the revolution and entered the Convention. The count had to urgently recall the young men to Russia. And in time - the beloved mentor soon lost his head ... on the guillotine.

In Russia, Voronikhin's talent was helped by the unfortunate event - the fire in the Stroganov mansion. The count entrusted his young protégé to rebuild the building, erected according to the design of the great Rastrelli. Voronikhin was a little over 30 years old. The architect had no experience, but he had talent, hard work and honesty. These qualities were quite enough - Voronikhin began to be involved in the construction of mansions and park ensembles.

In 1799, by the decree of Paul I, a competition was announced for the design of a new church "in the Roman style" on Nevsky Prospekt. The competition was attended by star architects - Cameron, Toma de Thomon, Gonzago. But Voronikhin's project, similar to St. Peter's Cathedral, won.

Step by step, without ceasing to study and improve, the serf boy became a professor of architecture at the Academy of Arts and the author of one of the most significant architectural structures in Europe.

2. Petr Eliseevich Kasatkin, his descendants and the Eliseevs' store

The Eliseevsky store, which has been synonymous with paradise throughout its history, is so named not in honor of one person, but in honor of a dynasty. After the revolution, there were no Eliseevs left in the family, but the store remained Eliseevsky.

Meanwhile, all this grocery luxury began small - with a platter of strawberries. The serf gardener Pyotr Eliseevich Kasatkin was able to grow a summer berry in a greenhouse in the midst of a harsh winter and bring it to the Christmas table of Count Sheremetyev. Miracle? Undoubtedly! Another miracle was the freedom and 100 rubles - a lot of money.

Arriving in St. Petersburg, Kasatkin invested every penny in the business - he bought a wonderful product - oranges. With a tray on his head, Pyotr Eliseevich went out to Nevsky and began to call out to the noble audience:

"Who will not spare a penny to please a lady with an orange?"

By evening, the oranges were sold out. The profit amounted to 1 ruble. The Eliseevs' case has gone! A year later, Peter was able to ransom three children and a brother. Soon, the “Eliseev Brothers Partnership” was opened - the sons of Elisha.

Smart business yielded results quickly. The brothers hired merchant sailing ships to deliver exotic fruits to St. Petersburg. From warm countries, mainly Spain and Portugal, traders brought sherry, Madeira and Malvasia to the city. The wines made a splash! The Eliseevs' store became famous, and the merchants themselves and their grown children received a merchant rank.

At the end of the 19th century, after the death of Peter Eliseev, his brother Grigory Eliseev, a former serf peasant, was a real state councilor and a member of the Duma.

The store, owned by the same family for many years, got better day by day. The sellers were paid excellently here, but they were also asked strictly. Regardless of whether a poor customer came in or a rich one, in the Eliseevsky store he was served according to the highest class.

House of the Eliseev Brothers Trade Association

House of the Eliseev Brothers Trade Association

Alas, in 1917 the gastronomic empire came to an end. On the site of the Eliseevsky store, he cordially opened the doors to the empty shelves of “Gastronom No. 1”. For almost a century, citizens have forgotten why the store was called Eliseevsky, although they did not stop calling it that.

And during the hungry time there was still an anecdote: “Merchant Eliseev returns to Leningrad from the other world - to look at his store:“ Everything seems to be in place, only, I remember, there were barrels with red and black caviar at the entrance. interfered with? "

Today the Eliseevsky store is a landmark of Nevsky Prospect. Tourists do not leave the temple of trade without an edible souvenir. But few people know that the founder of the empire - serf gardener .

3. Taras Shevchenko

The university, metro station, theater and embankment are named after this serf. It's hard to believe, but a poet, artist and national hero - Taras Shevchenko really came out of the serfs. The landowner Engelhardt, who owned the family, noticed the young man's artistic gift and sent him to study in St. Petersburg. Fortunately, the talent of the serf boy also made an impression on the rather influential cultural figures of that time - Venetsianov, Bryullov and Zhukovsky. The patrons tried to persuade Engelhardt to let Shevchenko go, but the landowner did not agree to sign his freedom to his serf artist. Bryullov described the master of the young serf in the following way: "This is the largest pig in Torzhkov's shoes."

In the end, Karl Bryullov painted a portrait of Zhukovsky and raffled it off. With the proceeds of 2,500 rubles, Taras Shevchenko was bought free.

Freedom has done its job. In 1840, the first collection of Shevchenko's poems "Kobzar" was published in St. Petersburg, and after that the poem "Gaidamaki" was published. Shevchenko wrote pictures and poetry equally well. However, not everyone liked his ideology. “Outrageous content”, “imaginary troubles of the hetman’s rule”, “impudent slander”, “harmful and dangerous poems” - as soon as the zealots did not incline the poet's work.

Most of all he got it for the poem "Dream", where blatant satire on the empress came through. 33-year-old Shevchenko instantly fell under the recruitment and was sent to the outskirts of the empire. Only after the death of Nicholas I, the disgraced poet fell under the amnesty. Today the former serf is considered one of the most significant figures in Russian literary history.

4. Semyon Badaev

Is this name unfamiliar to you? Quite possible. The personality of Semyon Badaev is known to a narrow circle of specialists, and only his technological feats have come down to us. We are talking about the legendary Badayev steel, in the 19th century the best in the world in terms of the combination of toughness and strength.

At the beginning of the 19th century, up to two thousand poods of Badayev steel were produced annually at steel factories. Thanks to this strongest alloy, Russia got rid of its import dependence on steel for a long time. Machine tools, agricultural machines, weapons and tools, medical instruments - all of this began to be produced from the Badayev alloy from the middle of the 19th century.

Semyon Badaev is an example of a unique talent, an absolute self-taught, which the government bought out of serfdom from the landowner Rogozin. For the freedom of the brilliant metallurgist, 3000 rubles were paid, a huge amount at that time. But freedom of the empire from steel imports cost much more!

For outstanding achievements, the former serf was awarded a gold medal on the Vladimir ribbon and was awarded the officer's rank. However, the regalia did not stop the Russian nugget - he worked for the rest of his life at the Kamsko-Votkinsk plant, where he was looking for an even more perfect formula for steel. By the way, it was at this plant, 10 years after the death of the inventor, that one of the Russian metallurgical wonders was made - the spire of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

5. Mikhail Schepkin

You are not mistaken - the Shchepkinskoe school is named after a serf. A former serf. The founder of the Russian realistic theater, the predecessor of the Stanislavsky system.

Count Gavrila Volkenstein, who owned the family of little Misha, was not indifferent to all kinds of actions, so he organized a home theater for fun. In one of the productions - the comedy "Bizarre", played entirely by schoolchildren, Misha Shchepkin distinguished himself so much that together with the "troupe" he was invited by the mayor to entertain the audience at his daughter's wedding. This was in 1800.

However, almost random experience was not enough for the talent to be able to unfold in full force. It helped Shchepkin to open up ... drunkenness. The fact is that Mikhail dreamed of a stage and spent all his free time in the Barsov brothers' theater in Kursk - which he just did not do - and prompted, and rewrote roles, and brought inventory. Once one of the actors started drinking, and the role went to Mikhail Shchepkin, who knew the text very well. Soberly assessing the chance, the young man played as if the honor of Russia depended on his role. In a sense, this is what happened ...

The young actor was noticed. Soon he already played at the Kharkov, and then at the Poltava theater. Moreover, plays are written and images are created especially for the innovative artist who lives the role on stage. At the same time, the actor remains a serf. Only in 1822, fans raised an impressive amount to buy free for Mikhail Schepkin.

Already a free man, Shchepkin entered the troupe of the Moscow Maly Theater, where he brilliantly played roles in performances based on plays by Shakespeare, Gogol, Griboyedov. Among the people, the theater where Shchepkin played was called the Shchepkin House.

6. Orest Kiprensky

If you have ever attended school, you know Kiprensky very well. Kiprensky is the author of the most famous portrait of Pushkin. And also portraits of Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Davydov, Olenin and other influential persons of the early 19th century. In general, Orest Kiprensky is considered the earliest Russian portrait painter.

As often happened in those powerless times, the landowner Dyakonov, not particularly worrying about the consequences, helped one of his peasant serfs to become a mother. Little Orestes was recorded in the family of the serf Adam Schwalbe, and he received his patronymic Adamovich. The surname was invented in honor of the place of residence of the goddess of love - Cypride. According to another version, Orest Adamovich was baptized in Koporye, and Kiprensky - the transformation of this toponym. When the boy was six years old, he still received a most valuable gift from his biological father - freedom!

The second gift from my father was a place in the educational department of the Academy of Arts. Kiprensky graduated from this school with a gold medal and even stayed to work at the Academy. On the one hand - a brilliant successful artist with an incredible sense of color, light, mood, on the other - a licentious and passionate reveler, intemperate in libations - Kiprensky was far from academism and was not perceived by his contemporaries as a significant figure of art. For a long time, the artist was completely forgotten. And only at the beginning of the twentieth century, art connoisseurs began to show interest in his work.

On the Roman tombstone of the painter is written "In memory of Orest Kiprensky, the most famous among Russian artists."

7. Praskovya Zhemchugova

The 8-year-old serf girl of the Sheremetyevs, Parasha Kovaleva, sang so bewitchingly that the shocked gentlemen took her to their estate in Kuskovo. There, the "nightingale" studied dances, music, languages, stage skills, mastered the harp and harpsichord. The girl's "pearly" voice suggested the count and surname. However, Sheremetyev also gave precious surnames to all the other peasant artists, from the Granatovs to the Turquoise.

Zhemchugova played her first role at the age of 11, and by the age of 17 she was already an accomplished actress. Arriving in St. Petersburg, the count introduced his "lark" to Pavel I. Having received the greatest patronage, the actress became very popular in high society, and in 1801 Praskovya Zhemchugova became the wife of Nikolai Sheremetyev. To create a genealogy for his serf wife, the ambitious Sheremetyev recorded her in the metric as the Polish princess Kovalevskaya. And of course he gave free to his wife and all her relatives.

The most famous song of Zhemchugova, which has survived to this day, is considered to be the autobiographical poetic story of a meeting of a serf peasant woman with her future husband - the song "Evening late from the forest, I drove the cows home ...". For two centuries the song was one of the most beloved among the people and today it can often be heard at folklore festivals.

• PS: The portrait of the actress P.I. Kovaleva-Zhemchugova was performed by the Russian painter Nikolai Ivanovich Argunov, whose entire serf dynasty (including him) was also at the disposal of the Sheremetyevs.

Boris TARASOV

"RUSSIA FORTRESS. HISTORY OF PEOPLE'S SLAVERY"

With gratitude I dedicate the book to my wife Dasha, whose active help and support helped to create this work.

Everyone knows that serfdom existed in Russia. But what it really was - today almost no one knows. It would not be an exaggeration to say that after the angry denunciations of serfdom by A. Herzen and several other writers and publicists of that time, the problem was surrounded by a kind of conspiracy of silence that continues to this day. The reason is that the truth about the two centuries of popular slavery is often too inconvenient for various reasons. Authors of academic research prefer to delve into economic details, often ignoring the social and moral significance of the phenomenon as a whole; authors of educational and popular science works avoid covering this topic, preferring more heroic and patriotic subjects to it. As a result, an entire epoch falls out of the historical memory of society, or rather, incorrect ideas about it are formed that have nothing to do with reality. Even if they remember serfdom, they certainly begin to assert about the "patriarchal" relationship between peasants and landowners, completely losing sight of the fact that at the beginning of the peasant reform, 23 million Russian peasants, from the point of view of the laws of the Russian Empire, were the complete private property of their masters. And this "baptized property" was sold with separation of families, exiled to Siberia, played at cards and, finally, perished under whips and rods from inhuman punishments not only until the date of "liberation" on February 19, 1861, but in some cases even during several years after her. And many legal and domestic remnants of serfdom remained in force almost until the last days of the empire.

It is difficult to overcome the formed distorted view of the serf era. It will take a lot of effort to dispel the unscrupulous statements and speculations that have accumulated over the past time, which have been replicated in many publications. But all the more valuable for achieving this goal and restoring the truth are the opinions of contemporaries and eyewitnesses of the era, who not only lived under serfdom, but learned it from their own experience - the landowners and their serfs. Therefore, special attention is paid to their testimonies on the pages of the book offered to the attention of the reader. They, as well as objective data from other sources, fragments of police reports and legislative decrees, personal imperial decrees, peasant petitions open Russia from an unfamiliar and unfamiliar side. To some, this "behind the scenes" of a great empire may seem too unsightly. But we must not forget that historical truth is always "bitter" in comparison with the sweetened and retouched historical myth.

Chapter I. An intolerable and cruel yoke

Our old mother is rich, even in abundance, in such facts that the current generation would not even think of in a dream. There is something to write about ...

Russian antiquity, vol. 27, 1879

How Russian peasants ended up in slavery on their land

Having ascended the throne of the largest monarchy in the world under extremely dubious circumstances, the young German princess, who became famous under the name of Catherine the Great, in order to maintain power, and with her her life, was forced to listen carefully and look closely at what was happening in her vast power. The information received was extremely disappointing, but there was no doubt about its reliability, since the information came from reliable sources.

So, Count P. Panin told the empress: "The lord's extortions and corvee work not only surpass the examples of the closest foreign residents, but often act out of human tolerance."

Not uncommon in Russia in the second half of the 18th century was four-, five-, or even six-day corvee. This meant that the peasant worked all week on the landowner's arable land, and in order to cultivate his land, from which he not only fed his family, but also paid state taxes, he had only Sunday day and nights.

A. Radishchev conveyed his conversation with the peasant: “God help me,” I said, going up to the plowman, who, without stopping, was finishing the conceived furrow.

Don't you have time to work all week, which you don't even let go of on Sundays, and even in the heat of the day?

In a week, sir, six days, and we go to the corvee six times a week; Yes, in the evening we carry hay that has risen in the forest to the master's yard, if the weather is good "...

The Novgorod governor Sivere reported to Catherine that the extortions of the landowners from their serfs "exceeded all likelihood." The condition of the villagers was directly characterized by contemporaries as slavery.

Foreign travelers who visited Russia during the reign of Catherine left notes full of amazement and horror from what they saw. “What precautions did I not take,” wrote one French memoirist, “so as not to witness these tortures,“ they are so frequent, so common in the villages, that it is impossible not to hear all the time the cries of the unfortunate victims of inhuman arbitrariness. These screams haunted me even in my sleep. How many times have I cursed my knowledge of the Russian language when I heard orders for punishment being given. "

The servants of the courtyard could not do without slaps and slaps in the face in almost any master's house. And the differences could only be found in what one contemporary wrote that "the punishments of slaves change in accordance with the mood and character of the master." Somewhere a lady prefers to hit the serf girls with a backhand with a shoe, placing them in a row in front of her; elsewhere, 80 maids were flogged at once for failing to meet the deadline. According to the well-known princess E.R. Dashkova, Field Marshal Count Kamensky, in the presence of her footman, beat two peasants so hard that he broke both of their heads on the stove.

The writer Terpigorev recalled his landowner grandfather, who was nicknamed "the dentist" for his rare ability to knock out courtyard servants' teeth with one blow in a moment of lordly anger, or even for fun. It is noteworthy that this gentleman stood out from a number of his own kind not by the fact of beating his slaves - almost everyone did this, but only by the extraordinary dexterity of beating, which the neighbors-slave-owners were amazed at good-naturedly.

Finally, in December 1762, a complaint was filed with the empress from 40 serfs Daria Saltykova. They declared the monstrous atrocities of their mistress and drew the ruler's attention to the fact that the Justitz Collegium, instead of conducting an investigation, did not interrogate the landowner, as if due to her illness, but meanwhile she was completely healthy and still tormented her servants. At the same time, the petitioners themselves were arrested and kept on guard.

The Saltychikha case, against the general background of impunity and abuse, really stood out for its special cruelty, which gave reason to doubt the mental health of the landowner.

So, she beat her yard Maksimova with a rolling pin on the head with her own hand, burned her hair with a torch. The ladies Gerasimov, Artamonov, Osipova and together with them the 12-year-old girl Praskovya Nikitin, the mistress ordered the grooms to flog with rods, and after that she forced the women who were barely standing on their feet to wash the floors. Dissatisfied with their work, she again beat them with a stick. When Avdotya Artamonova fell from these beatings, Saltykova ordered to take her out and put her in the garden in one shirt (it was October). Then the landowner herself went out into the garden and here she continued to beat Artamonova, and then ordered to carry her to the entrance and lean her against the corner. There the girl fell and did not rise again. She was dead. Agafya Nefedova Saltychikha beat her head against the wall, and crushed the skull of her groom's wife with an iron iron.

In Russian literature, the problems associated with serfdom have been touched upon more than once. A number of writers directed their efforts, some to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent, towards making the long-awaited event come true: the shackles of serfdom fell. Sometimes these were only indirect indications of the terrible position of the peasantry in the power of the landowners. In other cases, it was serfdom that served as the main theme of the literary work.

The first work of this kind in Russian literature is the book by A.N. Radishchev "A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow". This work is dedicated by the author exclusively to the question of the position of the peasants and is directed entirely against serfdom. The picture painted by Radishchev is really terrible. But his book was not written at the right time, and the author personally paid for it. The soil had not yet been prepared for such works, the time had not yet come for the realization of Radishchev's ideal - the fall of serfdom. On the orders of Empress Catherine II, Radishchev was arrested and interrogated, but even here he did not renounce his beliefs. To give legal form to his condemnation, he was accused of treason and exiled to Siberia.

The fate of Radishchev must have served as a formidable warning to more than one writer, and for a long time after him literary works directed directly against serfdom did not appear. Nevertheless, all prominent writers of the subsequent era spoke out against this phenomenon of Russian life, in a more hidden form. This issue was raised by Pushkin and Griboyedov, Lermontov and Gogol.

In Griboyedov's Woe from Wit, in several places through the lips of the characters, his attitude towards serfdom is manifested. Separate expressions affecting the situation of the servants slip through Liza, but in the foreground it is necessary to put Chatsky's story about the exchange of landowners who saved his life by the peasants for greyhounds and about the "sale one by one" of "marshmallows" and "cupids".

Pushkin also touched on this issue and expressed himself much more definitely than Griboyedov, becoming, of course, in the ranks of the opponents of serfdom. Everyone knows the final words of his poem "Village":
"I will see, friends, the liberated people
And slavery, which fell by the king's mania ... "

At this time, already society, as a result of events in the West, as well as thanks to advanced minds and literary influence, had a different attitude to serfdom and was increasingly imbued with a humane attitude towards the peasants and the idea of ​​the need to free them. This was reflected in the later works of Pushkin: Onegin, as a person belonging to the enlightened strata of Russian society, “replaced corvee with a light quitrent”.

Paid attention to the issue of serfdom and Lermontov. In his "Strange Man" notes of sympathy for the peasantry break through.

There are also few mentions of serfdom in Gogol. Only in a few places in Dead Souls does he touch the peasantry, but here he shows more than once sympathy for him, as, for example, when describing poverty in the village of Plyushkina, in the story of how Korobochka sold her peasant women, and especially in Chichikov's reflection on the list of the dead shower. Here Gogol himself speaks through the lips of Chichikov, and shows deep sympathy for the peasants, deep lyricism in describing their fate.

Grigorovich, a contemporary of Turgenev, who only shortly before the appearance of The Hunter's Notes wrote the famous story “Village” and then, the next year, “Anton Goremyku”, is directly approaching the question of the situation of the peasants. Here, serfdom alone serves as a theme and content, the depiction of the situation of the peasants is not a side touch, and the author's intention is not hidden by it. He openly attacks serfdom, directly declares himself to be its enemy. But now he has nothing to fear the fate of Radishchev, since then half a century has passed, and Russian life has gone far ahead. The ground is already shaking under the feet of the serf-owners. And so, in the first ranks of their enemies, perhaps even at the head of the attackers of serfdom, Turgenev becomes.

The public significance of Turgenev's "Notes of a Hunter"

Turgenev was deeply imbued with the consciousness of the pernicious nature of serfdom, its injustice, cruelty and shame. He could not come to terms with its existence, he clearly, definitely realized the need to cancel it and, prompted by this consciousness, struck him sensitive blows. A direct consequence of this way of thinking was the famous "Annibal's oath", Turgenev's oath to himself to use all his strength to overthrow the serfdom that was still shaking then, which for him was, in his own words, his personal enemy.

In order to better implement his plan of attack, Turgenev settled abroad: from a distance he could better, mustering his strength, attack his enemy. Indeed, he carried out this attack, and it took the form of "Notes of a Hunter" - stories that were first published separately in different magazines, and then published by Turgenev himself as a collection in two parts.

"Notes of a Hunter" - this was the fulfillment of Turgenev's "Annibal oath", and in a loud protest against the prevailing shameful injustice - their social significance.

Turgenev's "Notes of a Hunter" influenced not only those strata of society that were already inclined to censure serfdom. It is especially important to note that Emperor Alexander II himself, who had previously spoken out against some laws that facilitated the situation of the peasants, later said that after he had read The Hunter's Notes, he was never abandoned by the thought of the need to free the peasants.

It was not easy for the peasants during the time described by AS Pushkin in the story "Dubrovsky" - the time of serfdom. Very often the landowners treated them cruelly and unfairly.

It was especially hard for the serfs for such landowners as Troyekurov. The wealth and noble family of Troyekurov gave him tremendous power over people and the ability to satisfy any desires. For this spoiled and uneducated person, people were toys that had neither soul nor will of their own (and not only serfs). He kept the maids under lock and key, who were supposed to be engaged in needlework, forcibly gave them in marriage at his discretion. At the same time, the landowner's dogs lived better than people. Kirila Petrovich treated the peasants and servants "strictly and in his own way", they were afraid of the master, but hoped for his dominion in relations with neighbors.

A completely different relationship developed with the serfs at Troyekurov's neighbor, Andrei Gavrilovich Dubrovsky. The peasants loved and respected their master, they sincerely worried about his illness and looked forward to the arrival of Andrei Gavrilovich's son, the young Vladimir Dubrovsky.

It so happened that a quarrel between former friends - Dubrovsky and Troyekurov - led to the transfer of the property of the first (together with the house and serfs) to Troyekurov. Ultimately, Andrei Gavrilovich, who has grievously survived the insult of his neighbor and the unfair decision of the court, dies.

The peasants of Dubrovsky are very attached to their masters and are determined not to allow themselves to be handed over to the power of the cruel Troyekurov. The serfs are ready to defend their masters and, having learned about the court's decision and the death of the old master, they raise a riot. Dubrovsky got in on time for the clerks who came to clarify the state of affairs after the transfer of property. The peasants have already gathered to knit the police chief and the deputy of the district court Shabashkin, shouting: “Guys! Down with them! ”when the young master stopped them, explaining that by their actions the peasants could harm both themselves and him.

The clerks made a mistake by staying overnight in Dubrovsky's house, because the people, though calmed down, did not forgive the injustice. When the young gentleman walked around the house at night, he met Arkhip with an ax, who first explained that he “had come ... to see if everyone was at home,” but afterwards he honestly admitted his deep desire: “everyone would be at once, so ends in the water. "

Dubrovsky understands that the matter has gone too far, he himself is put in a hopeless position, deprived of an estate and lost his father due to the tyranny of a neighbor, but he is also sure that "the clerks are not to blame."

Dubrovsky decided to burn down his house so that strangers would not get it, and ordered to bring his nanny and other people who remained in the house, except for the clerks, into the courtyard.

When the courtyards, by order of the master, set fire to the house. Vladimir was worried about the clerks: it seemed to him that he had locked the door to their room, and they would not be able to get out of the fire. He asks Arkhip to go and check if the door is open, with instructions to unlock it if it is closed. However, Arkhip has his own opinion on this matter. He blames the people who have brought the bad news for what is happening and locks the door tightly. The clerks are doomed to die. This act can characterize the blacksmith Arkhip as a cruel and ruthless person, but it is he who climbs onto the roof after a while, not afraid of fire, in order to save a cat distraught with fear. It is he who reproaches the boys who rejoice at the unexpected fun: "You are not afraid of God: God's creature will die, and you are foolishly rejoicing."

Blacksmith Arkhip is a strong man, but he lacks education to understand the full depth and seriousness of the situation. Material from the site

Not all serfs had the determination and courage to complete the work they had begun. Only a few people disappeared from Kistenevka after the fire: the blacksmith Arkhip, the nanny Yegorovna, the blacksmith Anton and the courtier Grigory. And, of course, Vladimir Dubrovsky, who wanted to restore justice and saw no other way out for himself.

In the vicinity, instilling fear in the landowners, robbers appeared who robbed the landowners' houses and burned them. Dubrovsky became the leader of the robbers, he "was famous for intelligence, courage and some kind of generosity." The guilty peasants and serfs, tortured by the cruelty of their masters, fled into the forest and also joined the detachment of "people's avengers".

Thus, Troyekurov's quarrel with the old Dubrovsky served only as a match that managed to ignite the flame of popular discontent with the injustice and tyranny of the landowners, forcing the peasants to enter into an implacable struggle with their oppressors.

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On this page material on topics:

• the image of peasants in the story by Dubrovsky
• Dubrovsky's attitude to peasants and households
• Pushkin the master of the peasant
• characteristics of arkhip blacksmith
• composition dubrovsky and serfs

PRASKOVYA Zhemchugova

On March 7 (February 23, old style), 1803, Praskovya Ivanovna Zhemchugova-Kovaleva, a famous actress, serf of the Sheremetyevs, died. A bright dramatic talent, an extraordinary voice and beauty quickly made Praskovya, the daughter of the serf blacksmith Kovalev, inherited by the wife of Sheremetyev Sr., the prima of the serf theater, and later the Countess Sheremetyeva. Empress Catherine II herself, delighted with Zhemchugova's play, awarded her a diamond ring in recognition of her talent.

The fate of Praskovya Kovaleva could have turned out differently, if not for the fashion of that time for serf theaters and not a rare gift - an extraordinary bewitching voice. 8-year-old Praskovya was taken to the count's estate in Kuskovo and began to teach stage skills, dancing, music, playing the harp and harpsichord, and foreign languages. Then she received the pseudonym of Zhemchugov: Sheremetyev wanted to change the peasant surnames of his actresses for pseudonyms formed from the names of precious stones - Zhemchugov, Biryuzov, Granatov. It is believed that the actress received the pseudonym Zhemchugova for her gentle "pearly" voice.

Praskovya played her first role at the age of 11; she appeared as a servant in Gretry's opera "The Experience of Friendship." At the grand opening of the Sheremetyev Theater, timed to coincide with the victory in the war with Turkey on June 22, 1795, Praskovya shone in the title role of the Turkish woman Zelmira, who fell in love with a Russian officer, in the musical drama by I. Kozlovsky to the text of P. Potemkin "Zelmira and Smelon, or the Taking of Izmail" ... At the age of seventeen, Zhemchugova played her best, in the opinion of her contemporaries, the role of Eliana in The Marriages of the Samnites. It was for this role that Emperor Paul I presented Praskovya with a pearl necklace, and the owner of the theater, by that time the son of Count Sheremetyev, was awarded the title of Chief Marshal.

In 1798, Count Nikolai Sheremetyev gave free Praskovya and the entire Kovalev family, and in 1801, having received the Tsar's permission for an unequal marriage, he married an actress. At the request of his wife, according to the project of the architect Giacomo Quarenghi, the count built the Hospice House - one of the first institutions in Russia to provide medical assistance to the poor and orphans. The Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine traces its history from him.

Praskovya Zhemchugova died in 1803 from consumption at the age of 34, three weeks after the birth of her son Dmitry. She was buried in St. Petersburg in the family tomb of the Sheremetevs in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

MIKHAIL SHEPKIN

The founder of the Russian realistic theater, Mikhail Schepkin, was born in the Kursk province into a family of serfs, Count GS Volkenshtein, who organized a home theater for the fun of children, then young Mikhail became interested in acting. In 1805, he made his debut on the professional stage: quite by accident it was necessary to replace the actor in the play based on the play by L.-S. Mercier. Since that time, with the permission of Count Volkenstein, the actor began to play in the theater of the Barsov brothers in Kursk.

Prince V. Meshchersky had a great influence on the young actor, whose manner of acting struck Shchepkin. He himself believed that his transformation into a real actor took place under the influence of Meshchersky's play. He "did not play, but lived" on the stage. Since then, Shchepkin began to implement a realistic style of play, using the principle of "internal justification of the role." Shchepkin promoted getting used to the image of the character being portrayed so that the audience felt the sincerity of the game. This new stage style made Mikhail Shchepkin the foremost actor in the province. In 1822, fans of his talent collected the required amount and bought the actor out of serfdom. In order to collect the required amount, a performance was organized, with a subscription fee. In 1822, the already free Shchepkin was invited to the troupe of the Moscow Maly Theater, which was later given the unofficial name "Shchepkin's House". In the capital, he brilliantly played the roles of Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Famusov in Griboyedov's Woe From Wit, and the mayor in Gogol's The Inspector General.

New principles of acting: deep penetration into the character and understanding of the character, which became widespread thanks to Shchepkin, later formed the basis of the famous "Stanislavsky system". The Higher Theater School at the State Academic Maly Theater in Moscow, the Regional Drama Theater in Belgorod and streets in Moscow, Kursk, and Alma-Ata were named after Shchepkin.

TARAS SHEVCHENKO

The future National Hero of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko was born in the Kiev province into the family of a serf landowner Engelhardt, who, noticing the boy's talent for drawing, sent him to study in St. Petersburg to the artist V. Shiryaev, intending to make Taras his serf painter. In St. Petersburg, the talented serf was introduced to the secretary of the Academy of Arts V. I. Grigorovich, artists A. Venetsianov and K. Bryullov, poet V. Zhukovsky, thanks to whose efforts Shevchenko was redeemed from serfdom. For this, the portrait of Zhukovsky, painted by Bryullov, was drawn in a lottery, and the received 2,500 rubles went towards Shevchenko's freedom. As a token of gratitude to Zhukovsky, Shevchenko dedicated to him one of his largest works - the poem "Katerina".

In 1840, Kobzar, the first Ukrainian collection of Shevchenko's poems, was published in St. Petersburg. Soon he published "Gaidamaki" - his largest poetic work, "Poplar", "Katerina", "Naymichka", "Khustochka", "Caucasus". For his poem "Dream", which contained a satire on the empress, Shevchenko was sent into exile with a ban on writing and drawing. He was freed by an amnesty after the death of Nicholas I.

Shevchenko, who wrote over a thousand works of art, is considered the founder of modern Ukrainian literature and the norms of the literary Ukrainian language. In addition, Taras Shevchenko is one of the most famous masters of Ukrainian painting. The National University in Kiev, the embankment in Moscow, Ukrainian theaters and the Kiev metro station are named after him.

ANDREY VORONIKHN

The Russian architect Andrei Voronikhin was lucky to be born into a family of serfs, Count A.S. Stroganov, a renowned philanthropist and philanthropist. Stroganov opened several art schools, in one of which Voronikhin also studied painting with the famous icon painter Yushkov. Soon the count himself drew attention to the talent of the young man and sent him to study at the Moscow School of Architecture, where V.I.Bazhenov and M.F. Kazakov became his mentors. Count Stroganov granted free Voronikhin in 1785, and a year later the young man went to study architecture, mechanics, mathematics and natural sciences in France and Switzerland with the son of the count.

In 1791, the young architect began his first work - finishing the interiors of the Stroganov Palace, built according to the project of Rastrelli, an adherent of the Baroque style. Voronikhin preferred the simplicity of classicism. It is believed that it was the European journey, during which Voronikhin got acquainted with the samples of ancient architecture, that predetermined his love for classicism, which turned to the forms of ancient architecture as a standard of harmony, consistency and beauty. In the same style of classicism, he rebuilt the interiors of the Stroganov dacha and several other houses.

The most famous work of Voronikhin was the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, made in the Empire style. After the completion of construction, Voronikhin was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the second degree, and went down in history as one of the founders of the Russian Empire style.

IVAN SVIYAZEV

The serf princess Shakhovskoy, the architect Ivan Sviyazev, was educated at the Imperial Academy of Arts. At the exam in 1817 for his project "Post yard" he received a silver medal of the 2nd degree, but a year later Sviyazev was expelled from the academy due to the status of a serf. Sviyazev was released in 1821, after which he immediately received the title of artist-architect of the Academy of Arts.

For ten years the architect worked in Perm, where, according to his designs, a school for the children of clerical workers, the house of a civil governor, and a theological seminary were built. Sviyazev owns the final design of the bell tower of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which now houses the Perm Art Gallery. In 1832 Sviyazev moved to St. Petersburg, where he worked as an architect and teacher at the Mining Institute, where he published the first in Russia "Guide to Architecture", adopted for teaching at the Mining Institute and other educational institutions. For this work, Sviyazev was awarded the title of a member of the Academy of Sciences, which gave an honorable review of his work, and the architect himself was invited to various educational institutions to lecture on architecture. In addition to this work, Sviyazev also published the "Textbook of Architecture", "Foundations of the Art of Stoves" and a number of articles published in the "Mining Journal", "Journal of the Ministry of State. Property "," The Journal of Fine Arts "and" Proceedings of the Imperial Free Economic Society.