How old was Arina Rodionovna. Arina Rodionovna's bad habits and other facts about Pushkin's nanny that were not included in the textbooks

Probably, each of us associates with the name of A.S. Pushkin the personality of his beloved nanny - Arina Rodionovna, to whom he dedicated several of his poems. She told him stories, which he later used as the basis for his creations. And it is possible that if it were not for her, the world would not have known the wonderful fairy tales written by the world famous poet. Now we will tell you in detail who she is. nanny Pushkin Arina Rodionovna, biography short content.

Everyone knows that Alexander Sergeevich's nanny was called Arina Rodionovna. But few people know that in reality nanny Pushkin had another name surname... In fact, she was originally named Irina - this is the name indicated in church documents about her birth and death. They called her Arina only in the home circle and when she came to serve in the Pushkin house. By the way, it is very interesting that Alexander Sergeevich himself never mentioned the name of his nanny in his poems.

But if everything is clear with the name of Pushkin's nanny, then the question of the surname of Arina Rodionovna is even more controversial. In fact, Pushkin's nanny simply did not have a surname. Since she was a representative of the peasant class and she did not really need her. She was often given the surname Rodionov - on behalf of her father, but the Pushkins called her Rodionovna.
Then historians gave her the surname Yakovlev, since it was this surname that her father had. But Pushkologists are still arguing on this score. Since this has not been proven by anything and none of her contemporaries called her by this name. And after marriage, it is customary to consider her Matveyeva.

Arina Rodionovna was born on April 21, 1758 in the village of Suida, St. Petersburg province. The name of her mother was Lukerya Kirillova, and her father's name was Rodion Yakovlev and they raised seven children.

Who is she by origin? Of course, a peasant woman. Initially, it belonged to Count Apraksin, but then Pushkin's great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, bought the estate from him. And then Arina Rodionovna became his property. So her service to the family of the future poet began.

In 1781, she married Fyodor Matveyev. And when she began to live with her husband, she began to serve Osip Abramovich Hannibal. Then she served as a nanny for his daughter - Nadezhda Osipovna.

In 1792, Alexander Sergeevich's grandmother, Maria Alekseevna Hannibal, took her to her house, so that she would raise her nephew Alexei. For good and loyal service, she was presented with her own separate hut.

After the birth of the eldest daughter of Nadezhda Osipovna - Olga, she began to educate her. And then she nursed her brothers - Alexander and Lev.

In 1807, the Hannibals ceded all their lands in the St. Petersburg province and left for the Pskov province. Namely, to Opocheskiy district.

It was not included in the sold property, because it was assigned to the owners. And so she also moved to a new location. By the way, the Pushkin family at one time wanted to give her freedom to her, but she refused it.

When Maria Alekseevna died, Pushkin's nanny began to live with the owners in St. Petersburg. And just like them, she left for the Mikhailovskoye estate of the Pskov province for the whole summer.

In the period from 1824 to 1826, she lived in this estate when Alexander Sergeevich was in exile.

After a short illness, when she was 70 years old, Arina Rodionovna died on July 31, 1828 in St. Petersburg, in the house of Pushkin's sister Olga.

The farewell to the nanny was modest, in accordance with her social status, and there was no signature on the grave. By the way, Alexander Sergeevich himself did not come to say goodbye to his darling. And of the members of their family there was only the husband of his sister Olga - Nikolai Pavlishchev.

Historians then for a long time could not find the place where Arina Rodionovna was buried. And until 1940, everyone thought that her grave was in the Bolsheokhtinsky cemetery. But after checking the records in church books, it became clear that she was buried in the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg. And now at the entrance to the cemetery there is a memorial plaque in honor of the great poet's nanny.

At school, in literature classes, we were always told what a significant role nanny Pushkin Arina Rodionovna biography short content had v life Pushkin and his formation as a poet. But really close relations between them became only during the period of his exile. And, by the way, it was then that he wrote poems in her honor.
During that period, they often spent time together, and the nanny told him various fairy tales and sang songs. She managed it just fine - here per what her I loved Pushkin... Many people think that this is what served as the basis for those tales that Pushkin himself wrote.

Pushkin composed his fairy tales five years after the end of exile. And probably, if not for his nanny, then we would not know these wonderful stories about the goldfish, about Tsar Saltan and others that all children know.

At the present time, we will no longer be able to objectively assess the contribution of Arina Rodionovna to the formation of the personality of Alexander Sergeevich as a poet and writer. But the fact is indisputable that the great poet loved her very much, and the time spent with her brought him only positive emotions.

There are no descriptions left about the appearance of Arina Rodionovna. Below you can see a portrait of one artist, it is he who is considered a portrait of Pushkin's nanny. But if you read the lines written by the sister of Alexander Sergeevich - Olga about the appearance of their nanny, then they hardly correspond to the image in the picture. She wrote that Arina Rodionovna had a full face and completely gray hair. There was no further mention of her appearance.

A drawing by Alexander Sergeevich was also found, which possibly depicts his nanny at a young and old age.

Alexander Sergeevich was very anxious and loving towards his nanny. He even used her image in his poem Eugene Onegin - the personality of his nanny became the prototype of Tatiana's nanny. He wrote about her that only she was his only friend and only with her he was not bored. Pushkin always thought about his nanny with great warmth and dedicated poems to her. Below you can read Pushkin's most famous verse, dedicated to his nanny.

Another thing that tells us about the appearance of Arina Rodionovna is the well-known bas-relief, which was made of bone. Where it came from and who its author is is still unknown. They first learned about his presence only when he was with Maxim Gorky.

Now you can see with your own eyes the bas-relief of Arina Rodionovna in the Central Museum of A.S. Pushkin, which is located in St. Petersburg.

So we told you all the details about the personality of the nanny A.S. Pushkin. Do you understand who Pushkin's nanny Arina Rodionovna was? Did the curriculum vitae help shape the performance? Leave your opinion or feedback for everyone on the forum.

Gorynina Alexandra 9 in class

The project reveals the role of Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva in the life and works of A.S. Pushkin

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MBOU "Ryl secondary school No. 4"

Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva in the life and work of A.S. Pushkin

Work of a student of the 9th grade

Gorynina Alexandra Alexandrovna

Project Manager:

Zalunina Tatiana Nikolaevna

Rylsk

2018

Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 2

Chapter 1. Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva in the life and work of A.S. Pushkin ………………………………………………………………… ..3

1.1. Biography of Arina Rodionovna …………………………………………………………… 3

1.2. Tales of the nanny and A.S. Pushkin himself …………………………………………………………… .7

1.3. Arina Rodionovna in the works of A.S. Pushkin …………………………………………………………… 10

Conclusion …………………………………………………………… 13

References ………………………………………………… ... 14

Introduction

Who doesn't know Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin? After all, he is one of the greatest poets of all times and peoples, if not the most. He is considered the creator of the modern Russian literary language. A.S. Pushkin became one of the main all-Russian national poets during his lifetime. I believe that everyone who has read at least one of his works at least once could not help falling in love with his work. A significant role in the life of the writer and poet was played by his nanny Arina Rodionovna. Her beloved pupil always spoke of her with pure love and deep respect. Around the legendary, I would even say, the image of the great poet's nanny has arisen and there are many disputes, legends and rumors.

Target: find out what influence Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva had on the life and work of A.S. Pushkin.

Tasks:

Study the biography of Arina Rodionovna;
Analyze the images of Arina Rodionovna in the works of A.S. Pushkin to understand her role in his work;
Find out the role of Arina Rodionovna in the life of A.S. Pushkin.

Hypothesis: Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva made a great contribution to the life and work of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.

Chapter 1. Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva in the life and work of A. S. Pushkin

1.1 Biography of Arina Rodionovna

Arina Rodionovna was born on April 10, 1758. For only one year she was a serf peasant of Fyodor Alekseevich Apraksin. In 1759, the Suida estate and the villages closest to it, together with the peasants, were bought from Fyodor Alekseevich by Pushkin's great-grandfather, A.P. Hannibal.

In ancient times, the birthplace of the nanny Alexander Sergeevich was called the Izhora land. These lands belonged to Veliky Novgorod and were part of the Vodskaya pyatina. Most likely, the knowledge of fabulous and song material came from the ethnographic features of the homeland.

Arina Rodionovna's parents were named Rodion Yakovlev and Lukerya Kirillovna. They lived in the village of Voskresenskoye. The future nanny was the third child in the family. The oldest was her sister named Evdokia. The next in seniority was their brother Semyon.

In 1768, at the age of 10, Arina Rodionovna lost her father.

Rodion Yakovlev died at the age of thirty-nine, leaving behind a wife and seven children (two sons and five daughters). From childhood, Arina Rodionovna was taught to do hard work, but she also knew how to spin, weave, sew, embroider, knit and weave lace. She has been a needlewoman since childhood. Later, when she lives in the village of Mikhailovskoye, she will teach needlework to all the girls of the estate.

In 1780, the elder brother of Arina Rodionovna Semyon got married. It was her turn to get married. The future nanny in colors remembered her difficult childhood years. Arina Rodionovna's stories about her past were reflected in the work of Alexander Sergeevich, and especially in the work "Eugene Onegin". Nanny Pushkin was the prototype of Nanny Tatiana - the main character of the novel. In the work she was known under the name Filipievna. In fact, that was the name of Arina Radionovna's grandmother. Full name - Nastasya Filippovna. Apparently, this heroine was also created by Alexander Sergeevich under the impression from the stories of the nanny. Indeed, Arina Rodionovna's grandmother was also married at the age of 13, like the heroine of the novel.

“Let's talk about the old days,” Tatiana insists in the third chapter of Eugene Onegin. I think that Aleksandr Sergeevich also more than once turned to his nanny, "the confidante of magical antiquity", "who kept in her memory a lot of old stories, fables ..."

Arina Rodionovna was married off to a poor peasant named Fyodor Matveyev. The relatives of the bride and groom were in a hurry to marry the young. Because the owner of these two villages, Hannibal, was dying. And after his death the inheritance will be divided by his sons. And if Arina and Fyodor are husband and wife, they cannot be separated.

Fedor, like his wife, was an orphan, and also did not have his own hut. In his village called Kobrino, few people lived their own yard. One castle courtyard consisted of three or more families. In 1782, a son was born to Arina and Fyodor, whom they named Yegor. Four years later, a daughter named Nadezhda was born. Two more years later, daughter Maria was born. The last child in the family was a boy named Stefan, who was born in 1797.

The family of peasants lived in close quarters and not in offense for about fourteen years. After she was taken as a servant to the Pushkin-Hannibal family. In 1795, the grandmother of Alexander Sergeevich Maria Alekseevna presented a separate hut for the family of Arina Rodionovna in Kobrin. She knew Arina herself and her older sister well, so she took the first to serve in the master's house.

Arina Rodionovna gave all her love to Alexander Sergeevich. She treated him like a mother.

Alexander Sergeevich truly appreciated and loved Arina Rodionovna. Growing up, the poet sketched a portrait of his nanny. He removed wrinkles from his own face. He portrayed her with a long braid in a sundress with a perky look. He introduced her as she might have been when she was a girl.

The family of Arina Rodionovna, of course, was in a special disposition with the gentlemen, like the family of the breadwinner and nanny of the lord's children. They were not given free freedom, but they were certainly provided with some kind of benefits: they were released for a certain time, the opportunity to have earnings. Such relations between the master and the serfs were quite widespread.

In 1808, Nadezhda Fedorova, the daughter of Arina Rodionovna, lives with her in the Pushkin house in Moscow. In 1816, her sons lived with her in the village of Mikhailovskoye, as well as the wife of Yegor Agrafena with their daughter Katerina.

Maria Alekseevna was unable to give freedom to the children of Arina Rodionovna, but she was able to take care of them. In the village of Kobrino, there remained a hut, specially built for this family. In 1800, selling the village with the peasants and all the buildings, the grandmother of Alexander Sergeevich somehow managed to agree with the new owners that the husband and children of Arina Rodionovna would live in this hut. They were, of course, excluded from the sale.

From 1824 to 1826, Arina Rodionovna lived with Alexander Sergeevich in the village of Mikhailovskoye, where the poet was sent into exile. According to neighbors, Pushkin's nanny was a respectable old woman, with a full kind face, her hair was completely gray. She also held a high place among the peasants of the estate. Alexander Sergeevich loved his nanny with all his heart. He was always extremely concerned about her health. After the expiration of the term of exile, Alexander Sergeevich left for St. Petersburg, and Arina Rodionovna remained the mistress of the estate. The sister of Alexander Sergeevich in 1828, against the will of her parents, married Nikolai Ivanovich Pavlishchev. Olga Sergeevna decides to take Arina Rodionovna to her place. Therefore, the nanny spent the last years of her life in the house of her pupil.

Arina Rodionovna arrived at the Pavlishchev estate in March 1828. Before that, she saw her son Yegor, granddaughter Katerina and other relatives for the last time. The nanny died a few months later. For a very long time, the exact date of Arina Rodionovna's death was not known. The only thing that we managed to find out was that she was buried in the Smolensk cemetery. And then the date of death became known - July 29, 1828.

Perhaps that is why Alexander Sergeevich did not like city cemeteries, knowing that his beloved nanny was buried in one of them? His experiences can be seen in the lines of the poems "Do I wander along noisy streets" and "When outside the city, thoughtful, I wander."

Perhaps that is why in the eighth chapter of Eugene Onegin, when the recollections of the main character Tatiana about the grave of her nanny are described, the poet wrote about it so touchingly?

A memorial plaque was unveiled at the Smolensk cemetery in the June Pushkin Days of 1977. At the entrance to the cemetery, in a special niche on the marble there is an inscription carved: “Arina Rodionovna, nanny A.S. is buried in this cemetery. Pushkin. 1758-1828. "

1.2 Tales of the nanny and A.S. Pushkin himself

Arina Rodionovna knew truly folk tales, but she also knew the stories of serfs. The first tales, which she told to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, were called "The Tale of the Bove-Cow", "Eruslan Lazarevich". While studying at the Lyceum, Alexander Sergeevich wrote the poem "Sleep".

A magic healer of mental anguish,

My friend Morpheus, my old comforter!

I've always loved to sacrifice to you,

And you blessed the priest long ago:

Will I forget that golden time

Will I forget the blissful bliss of the hour,

When, hiding in the corner in the evening,

I called and waited for you alone ...

I myself am not happy with my talkativeness,

But I love the memory of childhood.

Oh! I will keep silent about my mother,

About the charm of mysterious nights

When in a cap, in an old dress,

She, deviating the spirits by prayer,

Cross me with zeal

And it will begin to tell me in a whisper

About the dead, about the exploits of Bova ...

I do not move from horror, it happened

Barely breathing, I'll snuggle under the covers

Feeling neither legs nor head.

Under the image is a simple night light made of clay

Slightly illuminated deep wrinkles,

Dragoi antique, great-grandmother's cap

And a long mouth, where two teeth chattered, -

All involuntary fear settled in my soul.

I was in awe - and quietly at last

The languor of sleep fell on my eyes.

Then a crowd from azure heights

On a bed of roses winged dreams

Wizards, sorceresses flew

They enchanted my dream with deceptions.

I was lost in a fit of sweet thoughts;

In the wilderness of the forest, among the Murom deserts

I met the dashing Polkanov and Dobrynya,

And a young mind was floating in fictions ...

Unfortunately, only a fragment of the poem “Bova”, which Pushkin also wrote during his studies at the Lyceum, has survived. This tale was very popular at the time. The plot was as follows: the stepfather of Bova the prince imprisoned his stepson and wanted to execute him. But Beauvais is helped by an ordinary maid and he runs away. Further time he travels, defeating his enemies. His assistant was a werewolf (half dog, half human) named Polkan. Bova marries a very beautiful daughter of the king, but was separated from her. He returned to the princess only when she was going to marry another. Then they part again. Bova decides to marry another girl. But his children find him and report their mother. In general, Alexander Sergeevich liked this tale very much. Around 1822, he wanted to write a poem on this subject. But, to our regret, only drafts and excerpts have survived.

In 1820, Alexander Sergeevich finished his work on the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". I think that the name of the main character, he remade from Eruslan, which was also in one of the nanny's tales. They also inspired him to create the sorcerer Finn. Such wizards are mentioned in northern tales. And Pushkin heard them from Arina Rodionovna.

Here's another example. "The Tale of Wonderful Children and a Slandered Wife."

Plot: One king decided to marry. But he didn't like anyone. One day he accidentally overheard a conversation between three sisters. The eldest boasted that the state would feed one grain, the second, that the state would clothe one piece of cloth, the third, that from the first year she would give birth to 33 sons. The king decided to marry his younger sister. The ruler's stepmother was terribly jealous of the girl and, in the end, decided to ruin her. After nine months, the princess now gave birth to 34 boys. The latter was born unexpectedly.

Doesn't it look like anything? Of course, it reminds me, because this is the basis of "The Tale of Tsar Saltan and his brave and mighty hero Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and the beautiful Swan princess." In the tale of Arina Rodionovna, the king's name was Sultan Sultanovich. In Pushkin's fairy tale, the Swan Princess possesses magical abilities, and the nanny has 34 sons.

On the basis of yet another tale of the nanny, Pushkin created the "Tale of the priest and his worker Balda." But I have not found more than one piece similar in its plot to her.

It is also interesting that Arina Rodionovna named the main character Balda, and not Ivan the Fool, as in many fairy tales.

Another fairy tale served as a plot for writing "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Heroes." Similar ones are very popular in European folklore, but with Arina Rodionovna it is a little peculiar. The content of similar fairy tales is as follows: the evil stepmother, envious of her stepdaughter, decided to destroy her. But the girl is sure to save herself and lives in the house of robbers, gnomes or dwarfs. The stepmother must try to kill her three times. The last time it becomes lethal for the girl. They put her in a coffin, but at the end of the tale she comes to life.

1.3. Arina Rodionovna in the works of A.S. Pushkin

Let us recall Pushkin's poem "Winter Evening". By genre, it is a message, an appeal to the nanny. In this work, the lyric hero understands that, like a fit of bad mood, the blizzard and storm will subside, you just need to wait it out. The lyrical hero encourages his interlocutor - the nanny, tries to explain that there is no reason to be sad.

Or howling storms

You, my friend, are weary

Or do you doze under the buzz

Your spindle?

He invites the nanny to recall the folk songs that she sang to him before and in which life is captured in bright colors. The poet offers the interlocutor another way to cheer up during bad weather

Let's have a drink, good friend

Poor youth of mine,

Let's drink from grief; where is the mug?

The heart will be more cheerful.

According to Pushkin, it is unnatural for the human heart to be in a state of depression and sadness, a person was created for happiness and love.

In another poem by the poet, Nyane, we hear lines filled with Pushkin's love for his old nanny. He calls her

A friend of my harsh days

My decrepit dove!

The poet describes the nanny's longing for him, but in these lines we also hear Pushkin's longing for a woman who became a second mother to him.

You look into the forgotten gates

To the black distant path;

Longing, premonitions, care

They squeeze your chest all the hour.

Arina Rodionovna was also the prototype of Yegorovna in Pushkin's story "Dubrovsky". "She looked after him like a child, reminded him of the time for food and sleep, fed him, put him to bed." In these lines, Arina Rodionovna stands up in front of us, as if alive.

Nostalgia for Mikhailovsky and for the deceased nanny was the poem "... I visited again", written in 1835. Thematically, the work is dedicated to Pushkin's return to Mikhailovskoye, where he had not been for a long time. The poet sees the "disgraced house" where he lived with his nanny, his faithful companion from birth. But the nanny is no longer alive. There are only one memories of her.

Here is a disgraced house

Where I lived with my poor nanny.

The old woman is gone - already behind the wall

I do not hear her heavy steps ...

In 1833, Pushkin wrote the poem "Saint Ivan, how we will drink ..." (during his lifetime it was not published). Here, under the name of Pakhomovna, the poet remembers the late Arina Rodionovna. In the poems, as if written on behalf of the Russian peasant, Pushkin recreated the atmosphere of the nationality that surrounded the nanny. It is dedicated to the memory of Arina Rodionovna, a wonderful storyteller:

And we will also remember her:

We will begin to tell fairy tales

The craftswoman was

And where did that come from.

And where are jokes reasonable,

Sayings, jokes,

Fables, epics

Orthodox antiquity! ...

It is so gratifying to listen to it.

And I would not drink or eat.

I would have listened and sat.

Who came up with them so okay?

Listen, matchmaker, I'll start first.

The tale will be yours.

Conclusion

Having studied the biography of the poet's nanny and his work, I made the following conclusions:

Thanks to A.S. Pushkin, the name of Arina Rodionovna became known to the whole world.
Arina Rodionovna became not just a nanny, but a great friend for the poet.
The nanny influenced the formation of Pushkin as a poet and a person.
The poet used many plots and motives of fairy tales told by the nanny in his work.
From Arina Rodionovna Pushkin learned the first lessons of literary skill.

Bibliography

Blinova S.G. "Pushkin and His Time", Moscow, "Terra", 1977.
Korovina R.N. "The work of A.S. Pushkin", Moscow, 1992. 4. Pushkin A.S. "Poems", Moscow, "Ripol Classic", 1977
Internet resources

The serf peasant Arina Rodionovna, who raised the great poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, was born on April 10, 1758. the site has collected seven interesting facts about a woman, without whom many generations would never have known about Tsar Saltan and the goldfish.

Lost appearance

It is surprising that millions of Soviet and Russian schoolchildren can easily say who Arina Rodionovna was, but hardly anyone will be able to describe her external characteristics. Very little is known about them.

Portrait of Arina Rodionovna by an unknown artist. Photo: Public Domain

A portrait of a nanny by the hand of an unknown artist, which can be found in many textbooks, has been widely replicated. However, it can hardly correspond to real external data.

Moreover, the portrait contradicts the description of Arina Rodionovna that has survived to this day. It was made up by the daughter of the state councilor, Maria Ivanovna Osipova, who met Pushkin during his exile in Mikhailovsky: "The old woman is extremely respectable - her face is plump, all gray-haired, passionately in love with her pet ...". The portrait depicts an elderly and thin woman. It can not be called "full face" in any way.

There is another image from Italy. In 1911, Maxim Gorky visited the island of Capri. Some of the Russians who lived there handed the writer a portrait of Arina Rodionovna, carved from bone. Allegedly, until 1891, he was in Pskov, and then somehow ended up on an Italian island. Gorky gave the portrait to the Pushkin House.

Without your name and surname

Pushkin's nanny was born in the village of Voskresenskoye on April 21, 1758 in a family of serfs Rodion Yakovlev and Lukerya Kirillova - this is stated in the entry found in the Metric Book of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Suida. The parents named the girl Irina, or Irinya. In history, the colloquial form of the name has been preserved - Arina.

Already in the 20th century, archival documents about Arina Rodionovna were published, after which some authors began to endow her with the surname Matveyev - by her husband, or Yakovlev - by her father. However, this circumstance was criticized by Pushkin scholars, who pointed out that, as a serf peasant, the nanny did not have a surname.

Hut for education

It is known that Arina Rodionovna got married quite late by those standards - at the age of 23. The serf Fyodor Matveev became the chosen one. From this marriage she had four children, but the family life of Pushkin's nanny could not be called happy. In addition, the husband of Arina Rodionovna loved to venerate alcohol, which ultimately brought him to the grave.

The poet's nanny had to drag the family on her fragile female shoulders herself. In 1792, the grandmother of Alexander Pushkin, Maria Hannibal, took Arina Rodionovna to her place to raise Alexei's nephew. Maria Alekseevna liked the work of the new nanny so much that, overwhelmed with delight, she presented Arina Rodionovna with a separate hut, which, of course, became a great help for the serf family.

The image of Arina Rodionovna, who migrated from Pskov to Italy, and from there back to Russia. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Cheerful "drinking lady"

Next to Pushkin, Arina Rodionovna lived under the same roof until he entered the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum - this happened in 1811. Subsequently, the poet often referred to her in letters with the word "mother". When all the pupils grew up, the nanny left with the gentlemen for the Pskov province. In 1818, the writer's grandmother Maria Hannibal passed away. After her death, Arina Rodionovna lived with the Pushkins in St. Petersburg, and in the summer she returned with them to the village of Mikhailovskoye. There the poet in 1825 in exile wrote the famous lines:

Let's have a drink, good friend
Poor youth of mine,
Let's drink from grief; where is the mug?
The heart will be more cheerful.
Sing me a song like a tit
She lived quietly across the sea;
Sing me a song like a girl
In the morning I went to fetch water.

Arina Rodionovna actually shared the link with her beloved pupil. She was close to him and was able to inspire Pushkin. He was able to rediscover children's fairy tales, taking them as the basis for his works. In 1824 Alexander Pushkin wrote a letter: “Do you know my classes? I write notes before lunch, I have dinner late; in the afternoon I ride on horseback, in the evening I listen to fairy tales - and I reward the shortcomings of my accursed upbringing. What a delight these fairy tales are! Each is a poem! "

Perhaps, if it were not for the nanny, many today would not know the incredible stories about Tsar Saltan or the goldfish. The poet made Arina Rodionovna a prototype of Tatiana's nanny from Eugene Onegin, as well as Ksenia's mother from Boris Godunov. Several female images are copied from her and in "Arapa of Peter the Great".

Friends who were visiting at that time in Mikhailovsky with Pushkin called Arina Rodionovna "a cheerful drinking lady", although, of course, it is very difficult to suspect a devoted and impeccably performing nanny of alcohol abuse.

Pushkin did not say goodbye

The poet met his beloved nanny for the last time in the village of Mikhailovskoye in September 1827. By that time, Arina Rodionovna was already 69 years old. By January 1828, Pushkin's older sister Olga decided to get married. Parents were against the marriage of their daughter with Nikolai Pavlishchev. The couple settled in St. Petersburg, and their parents, stepping over themselves, had to allocate serfs for them to manage the household. Among them was Arina Rodionovna. She had to travel to the capital in March. The still winter-like cold road took away a lot of her strength - the nanny began to get sick. She died in the Pavlishchevs' house on August 12, 1828.

Arina Rodionovna was buried at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg. Two years later, Alexander Pushkin tried to find her grave, but could not - it was lost forever. Only in 1977 a plaque appeared at the Smolenskoye cemetery in memory of the poet's nanny.

It is an indisputable fact that Arina Rodionovna played a role in the formation of the poet Alexander Pushkin, however, it is very likely that she was not as significant as she was later presented.

The image of the writer's nanny began to be used especially zealously during the reign of Joseph Stalin. Arina Rodionovna, in the Soviet view, was made the poet's connecting link with the people, despite his aristocratic origin.

The poet himself, despite the repeated use of Arina Radionovna as a prototype for the heroines, especially did not speak about her influence on his formation.

The poet would have been killed nine years after the death of the nanny. Duel of Pushkin with Dantes. Artist A. Naumov 1884. Photo: reproduction

House without a mistress

In the village of Kobrino in the Leningrad region, the "House of Nanny A.S. Pushkin" appeared. The building is not Arina Rodionovna's original home. A museum of peasant life was made here in July 1974.

The only genuine thing, which, according to legend, belonged to the poet's nanny, here is a bag-sack made of house cloth. The rest of the exposition was supplemented by local residents.

The house of A. Pushkin's nanny, entrance to the museum. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The original house of Arina Rodionovna, like her grave, is gone.

Some call her Yakovleva, others - Rodionova, others - Matveyeva (by the name of her husband).

Since Arina Rodionovna was a serf all her life, she easily got along without a surname. And it remained in history - with a name and patronymic.

2. Looked completely different from the portraits

The most famous image of Pushkin's nanny is "Portrait of Arina Rodionovna by an unknown artist."

The images of Pushkin that have come down to us were made after her death and bear little resemblance to the scanty verbal descriptions of a woman. So, her most famous portrait hardly resembles a person from the memoirs of Maria Osipova, a contemporary of Pushkin: “She was an extremely respectable old woman, with a plump face, all gray-haired.”

Another image is captured on the high relief of Arina Rodionovna, who, under mysterious circumstances, ended up with Maxim Gorky in 1911.It is also assumed that one of Pushkin's sketches in the margins of the manuscript of the poem "Premonition" may be an image of a nanny in his youth and old age. But this also cannot be reliably stated.

Drawing by A.S. Pushkin (1828).

3. Was not the main educator in Pushkin's life

Until the age of two, little Alexander was looked after by Ulyana Yakovleva. She was his wet nurse and first nanny.

Arina Rodionovna first looked after his older sister Olga, and then the younger children, becoming a "common nanny". However, Ulyana remained under Pushkin until 1811.

In addition, after 5 years, noble boys were assigned an "uncle" who was supposed to bring a masculine element into their upbringing. For Alexander Pushkin, Nikita Kozlov became such a teacher, valet, and then a butler. He served the poet before and after the end of the themes - and until his death. It was he who brought the wounded Pushkin from the fatal duel and later carried the poet's coffin.

4. The poet appreciated the nanny's fairy tale only in exile

The legend that Arina Rodionovna played a major role in the creative work of young Pushkin, having “saturated” him with folklore since childhood, appeared after the poet's death. This story gained particular popularity during the Soviet era.

The writer appreciated the nannies only in exile, when he lived with Arina Rodionovna for two years in Mikhailovsky (1824-1826). And, judging by the poet's letter to his brother, earlier they did not have any influence on him:“Do you know my classes? Before dinner I write notes, I dine late; in the afternoon I ride on horseback, in the evening I listen to fairy tales - and I reward the shortcomings of my accursed upbringing. What a delight these fairy tales are! Each is a poem! "

5. Not every old woman in poetry - Arina Rodionovna

The features of Arina Rodionovna can be found in the images of mother Ksenia ("Boris Godunov"), mother of the princess ("Mermaid"), nanny Egorovna ("Dubrovsky") and, of course, nanny Larina ("Eugene Onegin").

The poet dedicated several poems to his. However, not all elderly women in Pushkin's poetry are "copied" from Arina Rodionovna. The nanny had a serious rival in the person of the poet's maternal grandmother, Marya Hannibal.

So, in the poem "Confidante of fairy old times ..." they often mistakenly see a dedication to the nanny because of the lines about the old woman "in a shushun, in big glasses and with a playful rattle" who rocked the baby's cradle. Many people forget the following lines about "expensive French perfume and pearls on the chest." These lines are dedicated to the poet's beloved grandmother.

6. Was a muse not only for Pushkin

Thanks to her stories, we have "The Tale of Tsar Berendey" by Vasily Zhukovsky. And the poet Nikolai Yazykov dedicated two poems to Arina Rodionovna: "To the nanny of Alexander Pushkin" (1827) and "To the death of the nanny of Alexander Pushkin" (1830).

7. The famous pupil has never been to her grave

Arina Rodionovna died at the age of 70, after a short illness, in the house of Olga Pushkina. Neither the poet nor his sister was present at her funeral. It was not possible to establish the exact reason for this. Most likely, Pushkin learned about what had happened too late.

Arina Rodionovna was buried as a peasant serf - in an unmarked grave at the Smolensk cemetery. Two years later, the poet tried to find her, but could not.

We will leave the disputes about the true role of Arina Rodionovna in the life of Alexander Pushkin to specialists. One way or another, it has become an important part of Russian culture. As Alexander Sergeevich said: "If the coming generation will honor my name, this poor old woman should not be forgotten either."

Arina was her home name, and her real name was Irina or Irinya.

She was born on April 10 (21), 1758, half a verst from the village of Suida - in the village of Lampovo, Koporsky district, St. Petersburg province. Her mother, Lukerya Kirillova, and her father, Rodion Yakovlev (1728-1768), were serfs and had seven children.

As a child, she was listed as a serf second lieutenant of the Semyonovsky Life Guards regiment, Count Fedor Alekseevich Apraksin. In 1759, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, great-grandfather of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, bought Suida and adjacent villages with people from Apraksin. In 1781, Arina married the peasant Fyodor Matveev (1756-1801), and she was allowed to move to her husband in the village of Kobrino, Sofia district (not far from Gatchina). After marriage, she became the poet's serf grandfather, Osip Abramovich Hannibal. She was a nanny at first for Nadezhda Osipovna, the mother of Alexander Sergeevich, and then became a nanny for her children: Olga, then Alexander and Lev.

In 1792, she was taken by Pushkin's grandmother, Maria Alekseevna Hannibal, as a nanny for Aleksey's nephew, the son of Mikhail's brother. In 1795, Maria Alekseevna presented Arina Rodionovna with a separate hut in Kobrino for her impeccable service. After Olga was born in 1797, Arina Rodionovna was taken into the Pushkin family, where she served as a nanny along with her relative or namesake Ulyana Yakovleva.

In 1807, the Hannibal family sold, along with the peasants, land in the Petersburg province and moved to the Opochetsk district of the Pskov province.

Arina Rodionovna was "attached" to the owners, and not to the land, therefore she was "excluded from the sale" and moved with the owners to the Pskov province. In 1824-1826, during the poet's exile, she lived in Mikhailovsky. This serf peasant woman, an old woman, dedicated his poems not only to Pushkin, but also to Yazykov. Friends of Pushkin conveyed greetings to her in letters to the poet.

After the death of Maria Alekseevna in 1818, he lives with the Pushkins in St. Petersburg, for the summer with them moving to the Mikhailovskoye estate of the Opochetsk district of the Pskov province. In 1824-1826, Arina Rodionovna actually shared Pushkin's exile in Mikhailovsky. At that time, Pushkin became especially close to the nanny, listened to her fairy tales, wrote down folk songs from her words. According to the poet, Arina Rodionovna was the "original of Tatiana's nanny" from Eugene Onegin, Dubrovsky's nanny. It is generally accepted that Arina is also the prototype of Ksenia's mother in Boris Godunov, the princess's mother (Mermaid), and the female characters of the novel The Arap of Peter the Great.

The great poet, using folklore in his work, owed much of this to his nanny. Perhaps that is why Alexander Pushkin said: "If the coming generation will honor my name, this poor old woman should not be forgotten either."

It was Arina Rodionovna who told Pushkin about the hut on chicken legs, about the dead princess and the seven heroes.

Almost until 1811, before entering the Lyceum, A. Pushkin lived under the same roof with Arina Rodionovna. It is no coincidence that the poet, referring to Arina Rodionovna, often calls her not only "nanny", but also "mother". The relationship between the poet and the nanny in the village of Mikhailovskoye, during the years of Pushkin's exile, became especially warm. In Mikhailovsky, Arina Rodionovna not only guarded the estate, but also took care of all the affairs of the master. This is what the poet wrote in those years to his brother Leo: "I write notes before lunch, I have dinner late ... In the evening I listen to fairy tales." He wrote down fairy tales, which the nanny knew a great many, songs, with interest "collected" sayings, proverbs, and folk expressions told to her.

The last years of her life she lived in St. Petersburg in the family of the poet's sister, Olga Pushkina (married to Pavlishcheva). Arina Rodionovna died at the age of 70, in 1828. This is the simple story of the life of A. Pushkin's nanny, whom he called "the confidante of magical antiquity," "the friend of my youth," "good friend," and so on. The poet himself, in his works, created a romantic image of his beloved nanny. This idea was continued by his contemporaries. We practically do not know what Arina Rodionovna was like in real life. Even about her appearance, only a few lines are said: "The venerable old woman - full face, gray-haired, who loved her pet ..."

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