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Childhood

Peter Vyazemsky, whose brief biography will be discussed today, came from an ancient princely family. His father, Prince Andrei Ivanovich, was a secret adviser to the Nizhny Novgorod and Penza governor. Peter's mother's name was Jenny O'Reilly. She later became known as Evgenia Ivanovka Vyazemskaya. The parents met in France, during Andrei Ivanovich’s grand tour of Europe. At that time, Jenny was married, and she had to ask her husband, a French officer, for a divorce. Andrei Vyazemsky's parents were against such a marriage, but he turned out to be adamant.

On August 9, 1972, the newly-made couple had a son, Peter. In honor of him, my father purchased the village of Ostafyevo in the Moscow region for 26 thousand rubles. It was here that, in the period from 1800 to 1807, a two-story estate was erected, which now houses the Russian Parnassus Museum. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Vyazemsky estate was a gathering place for the cultural Russian retinue.

Soul of "Arzamas"

The only heir of Prince Andrei Ivanovich Vyazemsky, his son from his marriage to the Englishwoman Jenny O'Reilly, Pyotr Andreevich spent his childhood and youth years partly in Moscow, partly on the Ostafyev estate near Moscow, bought by his father a few days after the birth of his son. He was orphaned early, having lost his mother at ten and his father at fifteen. However, he was not left without the good guidance of his elders: his guardian was N.M. Karamzin, married to Ekaterina Ivanovna Kolyvanova, the illegitimate daughter of Prince Andrei Ivanovich. Pyotr Andreevich subsequently called Karamzin in poetry “the mentor and guardian” of his “youth.”

In the literary field P.A. Vyazemsky joined early. Subsequently, Khodasevich will say about the era when Vyazemsky was destined to “come out into the world”: “Russian pseudo-classicism was ending. Derzhavin has long outgrown its narrow boundaries. The first mine, planted under classicism by Karamzin’s sentimentalism, has already exploded. However, Karamzin himself... was already leaving the poetic field: he was working on “The History of the Russian State.” In a word, a vast field opened up for new forces. Zhukovsky and Batyushkov tried to “find new sounds.” In the vague distance, the vague outlines of the coming romanticism were outlined. Already, in contrast to the prim Derzhavin-Shishkov “Conversation”, a perky revolutionary group with its “soul” arose. Zhukovsky and Batyushkov joined her. Even the sweet and mediocre Vasily Lvovich Pushkin joined, although he was not very suitable - neither in age nor in writings: he was a “sympathizer.” Vasily Lvovich’s young nephew was much more suited to Arzamas. But he studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and could not attend meetings: under the name “Cricket” he “from the lyceum’s confinement gave his voice as if from behind a stove.”

Pushkin and Vyazemsky met in reality around 1816, when the former was a “young rake”, and Vyazemsky, his elder by seven years, was already the father of the family. The difference in age and status in a certain way influenced their relationship, in which Pyotr Andreevich, although succumbing to the charm of Pushkin’s muse, still played the role of “elder”, at times scolded his comrade, sought to “return him to the shores”, to sober him up. In 1825, during the era of Pushkin’s exile, he wrote to him: “The opposition is a fruitless and empty craft for us in all respects: it can be homework for oneself and in honor of one’s penates... but it cannot be a trade. It is not valued by the people. Believe that they remember you from your poems, but they won’t talk about your disgrace twice a year... You serve something that we don’t have..."

In the Vyazemsky family, Pushkin found at times the support he needed so much, admonition, brightened up with a friendly joke. No less than Pyotr Andreevich himself, he loved his wife Vera Fedorovna, née Gagarina, and a number of researchers attribute to him a brief romantic infatuation with her. However, there is no doubt that even for the “eternally idle reveler,” as the poet himself described himself, the bonds of friendship were sacred. On the eve of his own wedding, Pushkin asked Vera Feodorovna to be his imprisoned mother. And Princess Vera herself called him, half-jokingly, “adopted son.”

The beginning of creative activity

Vyazemsky Pyotr Andreevich received a wonderful education at home. And in 1805 he entered the St. Petersburg Jesuit boarding school at the Pedagogical Institute. In the same year, Pyotr Vyazemsky, whose biography is very interesting, began serving in the Boundary Office as a cadet. Quite early he began writing poetry. The young poet’s first known work was the tragedy “Elmira and Fanor,” written in 1802 in French. And in 1808, in the “Bulletin of Europe” one could see Vyazemsky’s first publication - the poem “Message to Zhukovsky in the Village.”

Since 1809, Prince Peter Vyazemsky began to publish regularly. In 1818 he became widely famous. In the early work of the poet, one could notice the strong influence of the leading Russian poets of that time: G. R. Derzhavin, I. I. Dmitriev and V. A. Zhukovsky, as well as representatives of “light” French poetry. Nevertheless, Vyazemsky managed to quickly develop a personal manner, which, on the one hand, as A.F. said. Voeikov, surprised her contemporaries with Voltaire’s wit, and on the other hand, evoked associations with a lively and witty girl, as K. N. Batyushkin said.

Personal life

The well-born and witty Pyotr Vyazemsky was known as an enviable groom. In 1809, the young man fell in love for the first time. The object of the sighs of Pushkin’s future friend was the daughter of the Perm governor Sofya Karlovna, who was 20 years older than young Vyazemsky. At a provincial ball, the ardent lover invited the lady to run away with him to St. Petersburg. But the socialite refused and called Peter a “naive child,” to which Vyazemsky burst into tears in the middle of the dance.

Vera Fedorovna, wife of Pyotr Vyazemsky. Artist Karl Reichel / Chronos

Less than 2 years passed before Pyotr Andreevich was consoled and married. The prince met his future wife while staying with friends at an estate near Moscow. One of the young ladies, complaining about the degeneration of the male gender, threw a shoe into the pond. The two knights dived for the shoe. One of them, Prince Vyazemsky, fell ill with severe pneumonia in the evening.

He was ill for two weeks, and the owner’s daughter, Vera Gagarina, nursed the young man. The young people were imbued with mutual sympathy, and the girl’s mother hinted to Vyazemsky that now he, as a decent person, was obliged to get married. The hasty union turned out to be strong and durable, bringing the couple 8 (according to other sources - 9) offspring, of which only Pavel outlived his parents.

Interesting fact: the Vyazemskys’ marriage was unusual - experiencing mutual sympathy and respect, Peter and Vera, ahead of Chernyshevsky’s characters, allowed each other to have extramarital affairs. One of the princess’s lovers was Alexander Pushkin, who dedicated several poems to Vyazemskaya.

Daughters of Peter Vyazemsky. Artist Fyodor Bruni / Wikipedia

In turn, Pyotr Andreevich courted the wife of the “sun of Russian poetry,” especially after Natalya Nikolaevna was widowed. These hobbies did not interfere with the friendly communication between Vyazemsky and Pushkin, the writers’ discussion of creativity, political problems and personal life. Alexander Sergeevich wrote more letters to Pyotr Andreevich than to his wife.

The Vyazemsky couple took to their graves the secret of why, knowing about Pushkin’s duel with Dantes, they did not dissuade their great friend from the fatal act. In his works, Pyotr Andreevich repeatedly tried to explain the reason for this, but, as they say, “he was confused in the testimony.” Pavel Petrovich Vyazemsky pointed out the contradictions in his father’s notebooks.

Marriage and war

In 1811, Pyotr Vyazemsky married Vera Fedorovna Gagarina, with whom the marriage turned out to be very strong and happy. The couple had eight children.

In his youth, the prince had the opportunity to take part in the war with Napoleon. He voluntarily joined the ranks of the people's militia and, with the rank of lieutenant, took part in the Battle of Borodino. For his courage on the battlefield and, in particular, the rescue of the wounded General Bakhmetov, the prince was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, fourth degree. Many researchers believe that Vyazemsky’s stories about the Battle of Borodino were used by Leo Tolstoy when writing War and Peace.

In the period from 1813 to 1817, Pyotr Vyazemsky, whose poems became increasingly widespread, established himself as one of the most promising young Russian poets. He actively performed in various genres, ranging from friendly messages and epigrams to satirical couplets and fables. At this time, he joined the Arzamas literary community and made many friendly contacts with outstanding poets.

"Ivan Tsarevich" epigrams

Vyazemsky wrote poetry in different genres - fables, friendly messages, political pamphlets. But epigrams made the young poet famous among Moscow writers.

“At the same time, a small miracle appeared in Moscow. The minor boy Vyazemsky suddenly stepped forward, both as Karamzin’s defender from the enemies, and as a threat to the dirty guys, who, hiding behind his name and banner, dishonored them... Young child, let him still amuse himself; and the child was much heavier on his hand! As Ivan Tsarevich used to do, Prince Pyotr Andreevich took someone by the hand, hand off, and someone by the head, head off.”

Philip Wiegel, memoirist

Vyazemsky’s ideas about the relationship between advanced literature and political struggle provided him with literary opponents for many years. Together with Pushkin, he wrote epigrams on Thaddeus Bulgarin, and together with Boratynsky, on Nikolai Polevoy. The poet’s “target” included Mikhail Dmitriev and Alexander Pisarev, who criticized “Woe from Wit,” employees of the magazines “Conversation” and “Bulletin of Europe” and many contemporary writers.

He buried his talent in the “Noble Nest”, Since then, mediocrity has had a pathetic hue on it, And this fallen talent languishes as a hanger-on of the singer Viardot, who has lost her voice.

Peter Vyazemsky, epigram on Ivan Turgenev

Evgeny Baratynsky

Thaddeus Bulgarin

Nikolay Polevoy

Warsaw

In 1817, with the help of friends, Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, whose biography is the topic of our article, moved to Warsaw to serve as a translator for the imperial commissar. There, the prince took part in the opening of the first Sejm, translated the famous speech of Alexander the First, famous for its liberal promises, and took part in the drafting of the “State Charter of the Russian Empire.” In addition, he translated into Russian, edited and finalized the French-language draft constitution of Pechard-Deschamps. Vyazemsky's activities were highly valued in Warsaw. On March 28, 1819, he became a court councilor, and on October 19 of the same year, a collegiate councilor. And this despite the fact that the term of office was usually six years. Peter Vyazemsky was included in the courtyard of Alexander the First. He discussed issues of the future constitution with the emperor.

At that time, a liberal atmosphere reigned in Warsaw, which the easily carried away prince accepted very warmly. In 1818 he joined the Warsaw Masonic Lodge of the Northern Shield.

Vyazemsky’s experiences at that time were close to the sentiments of the Decembrists. In 1820, he became a member of the Society of Good Landowners and signed a note on the liberation of the peasants, submitted to the emperor by Count Vorontsov. Alexander the First refused large-scale changes, which greatly upset such an ambitious reformer as Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky. The poet's poems "Petersburg", "To the Ship" and "Indignation" reflected his thoughts on this matter. Poignant poetry led to the prince being removed from service. When he came to Russia on vacation in June 1821, he was forbidden to return back to Poland. Then Pyotr Andreevich decided to resign and refused his court title, despite the emperor’s dissatisfaction.

Career and social activities

In the life of the writer, periods of closeness to the royal court alternated with periods of disgrace. Vyazemsky managed to be a cosmopolitan and a patriotic soil activist, a friend of the Decembrists and the head of Russian censorship, a deputy minister of education and a police officer. Assessments of his activities in government positions are polar.

Peter Vyazemsky in old age / Album of the Most August Persons of Russia, Wikipedia

The prince's political ideal was an enlightened monarchy; the poet dreamed of gradual democratic reforms and a softening of morals. Vyazemsky was not a member of secret societies, although he sympathized with the ideas of the Decembrists, since he rightly believed that in Russia any uprising would turn into a bloody and senseless rebellion. The accuracy of the forecast is explained by the fact that Pyotr Andreevich loved and knew history, and subsequently founded the Russian Historical Society.

The prince’s courageous act was to keep for 30 years a folder with prohibited papers that the Decembrist Ivan Pushchin gave to Vyazemsky before his arrest. Among the documents saved by Pyotr Andreevich are manuscripts of poems by Pushkin and Ryleev, a draft constitution drawn up by Nikita Muravyov.

Opal

In the period 1821 to 1828, the prince was in disgrace and lived under secret supervision in Moscow, periodically traveling to Ostafyevo. In the period from the end of 1827 to the autumn of 1829, Vyazemsky intermittently stayed near Saratov on his father-in-law’s estate, periodically visiting Penza and maintaining contact with Pushkin and Davydov.

The defeat of the Decembrist uprising, which took place on December 14, 1825, and the execution of five activists, three of whom Vyazemsky knew well, the poet perceived as a personal insult and sharply condemned. In 1831, he even dared to condemn Pushkin and Zhukovsky, who published their odes about the defeat of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831. It is worth noting that in the future the prince will reconsider his assessments. In his old age he would speak of the Decembrists without a note of sympathy, and in 1863 he would publish a brochure with a strong anti-Polish sentiment caused by the Polish uprising of 1863-1864.

In the 1830s, poetry faded into the background in Vyazemsky’s work. At that time, he was actively involved in journalism, became the founder of the Moscow Telegraph magazine, published a number of critical articles and reviews, and translated two novels by his good friend Adam Mickiewicz into Russian. In those days, Pyotr Vyazemsky, whose poems began to be published much less frequently, became one of the five most popular poets in Russia. His wit was noticed more than once by both critics and ordinary people. And the lines of his poems became folk songs.

Communication with Pushkin

Vyazemsky’s friendship with A.S. Pushkin dates back to the 1820s. They met in 1816 in Tsarskoe Selo and communicated well until Pushkin’s death. Alexander Sergeevich greatly appreciated Vyazemsky’s work, supported him in all his endeavors, dedicated poems to him, put his quotes as epigraphs to his works, and even introduced him into “Eugene Onegin” as a character. According to E.F. Rosen, A.S. Pushkin even tacitly forbade criticizing Vyazemsky in his presence.

Pyotr Andreevich, in turn, did not skimp on flattering words towards Pushkin’s work. In 1831, he translated the novel Adolf for him. Vyazemsky also acted as the publisher of the poem “The Bakhchisarai Fountain”. In his work he was strongly influenced by Pushkin's style.

At the same time, Vyazemsky, apparently, did not realize the importance of Pushkin for Russian culture. In his old age, in his thoughts about Russian geniuses, he singled out three figures: Peter the Great, Lomonosov and Suvorov. He called Pushkin nothing more than “high original talent.”

Quotes

• “And he’s in a hurry to live, and he’s in a hurry to feel”
• “I have tasted the sweet poison of all temptations, I have tasted the bitterness of all possible tears.”
• “Our life in old age is like a worn-out robe: It’s both ashamed to wear it and a pity to leave it behind”
• “The expression “leavened patriotism” was used jokingly and stuck. There is no big problem in this patriotism. But there is also fusel patriotism; this one is destructive: God forbid from it! It darkens the mind, hardens the heart, leads to binge drinking, and binge drinking leads to delirium tremens.”

Conflict with the government

The independent position of the prince, which was reflected in his journalistic activities, did not please the government. In 1827, a real campaign was launched against the poet. He was accused of being a bad influence on young people and depraved behavior. For the next two years, the prince tried to regain his innocence and even turned to Nicholas the First for help. As a result, Pyotr Andreevich had to leave the Moscow Telegraph, apologize to the emperor and become an official at the Ministry of Finance. In connection with his appointment to public service, the poet and his family moved to St. Petersburg.

"Russian Catullus, Russian Martial..."

Peter Andreevich inherited the village of Krasnoye-on-Volga from his father, to whom it was granted by the emperor. Although he never lived here, preferring Moscow, Ostafyevo near Moscow, and in the second half of his life, the resort towns of Europe, he had been here more than once since 1815, and therefore told the following anecdote in his “Autobiographical Introduction” (1878) , what is happening in it dates back to the 1820s): “One day I came to my Kostroma estate, to the well-known commercial and industrial village of Krasnoye in the region. On Sunday, after mass, the priest gave a welcoming speech to me and the church. He spoke with fervor, the people listened with reverence. Praising my civic and landowner virtues, he continued, pointing at me: “You still don’t know what kind of master God gave you; So know this, Orthodox brothers! he is the Russian Horace, the Russian Catullus, the Russian Martial! “At each of these names the people bowed low to me and almost made the sign of the cross. You can imagine what it was like for me to listen and what a face I made at this exhibition and classical torture.”

So the ancient Epiphany Church remembers such curiosities!

The Krasnosel residents especially long remembered Vyazemsky’s arrival in 1827, after a large fire that destroyed a significant part of the village. Then Pyotr Andreevich provided significant material assistance to the fire victims, without which Krasnoye might not have been revived, and earned a grateful memory of himself as a “good gentleman.” And for Vyazemsky himself, Red became a source of inspiration - here or based on local motives, he created many poems, including the famous “Evening on the Volga.”

Service

The prince rose quite rapidly in rank, and by 1839 he became a full-fledged state councilor. In parallel with this, he received the Order of St. Anne of the second degree and the Order of St. Stanislaus of the first degree. The prince himself treated his public service rather ironically. He considered himself absolutely incompetent in financial transactions. At times he behaved defiantly, for example, he pointedly ignored court ceremonies in the Winter Palace.

Nevertheless, Vyazemsky’s work at the Ministry of Finance was quite fruitful. During his career, he published several economic articles, took part in organizing the Russian-English treaty of 1843, founded a library in the department of foreign trade and repeatedly replaced the director of the department in his absence. In 1831, Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky organized the Second All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition. In fact, for 13 years Russian foreign policy was based on Vyazemsky. He did not become director of the department for a purely formal reason: because he was not a military man.

Military career

In 1812, having sent his pregnant wife along with the Karamzins to Yaroslavl, cadet chamberlain Vyazemsky volunteered for the people's militia and went to the front. He served as an adjutant under General Miloradovich, participated in the Battle of Borodino and saved the wounded General A. Bakhmetev from under fire, for which he was subsequently awarded the Order of St. Vladimir IV degree with a bow.

Pyotr Andreevich recalled his participation in the Russian-French war with his characteristic humor: “I was so inexperienced in military affairs and such a peaceful Moscow barich that the whistle of the first bullet that flew over me, I mistook for the whistle of a whip. I turned back and, seeing that no one was following me, I guessed the true meaning of this whistle.”

Streak of tragedies

In the 1830s, Vyazemsky began a dark period in his life, consisting of the deaths of children and many friends, among whom Pushkin occupied a special place. Due to the tragedies experienced, the poet’s work increasingly began to show melancholy, bordering on gloom. And by the 40s, religious motifs even appeared in it. It was then that official recognition of the poet’s creative merits came - he became a member of the Russian Academy and the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences.

Gradually Vyazemsky began to move away from active literary activity. Until 1836, the poet was still planning to publish his own almanacs and magazines, but with the death of Pushkin, his activity as a journalist and critic almost came to naught.

1840-1850

The poet systematically abandoned liberalism in favor of conservatism and religiosity. At the same time, he was no longer perceived as a fashionable and relevant writer. A new generation of readers considered the work of Prince Vyazemsky to be outdated, and critics did not disdain disparagingly sharp phrases in their reviews of him. In his critical works “Yazykov-Gogol” and “A Look at Our Literature in the Decade After the Death of Pushkin,” Vyazemsky sharply condemned the new generation of Russian writers. Among the writers close to him at that time, we can note Zhukovsky, Gogol, Tyutchev and Pletnev. While traveling abroad, the poet met and began to communicate well with many European writers - Stendhal, Mickiewicz and de Sainte-Beuve. Since the 1840s, Pyotr Andreevich began actively promoting Russian literature abroad, in which he achieved serious success.

In 1848, Vyazemsky turned to Nicholas the First with a “Note on Censorship,” in which he proposed reforming Russian censorship. In 1850, when Pyotr Andreevich’s seventh child died, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and in the early 50s he was treated in Europe for an attack of a nervous illness. The poet responded to the events of the Crimean War with a cycle of patriotic poems, which were widely distributed throughout Russia and some European countries.

Peter Vyazemsky

On July 23, 1792, the poet Pyotr Vyazemsky was born.

Private bussiness

Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky (1792 - 1878) was born in Moscow in the family of an actual privy councilor, Nizhny Novgorod and Penza governor, Prince Andrei Ivanovich Vyazemsky and Jenny O'Reilly. In honor of the birth of Peter, his father in August 1792, for 26 thousand rubles, purchased the small (152 serf souls) village of Ostafyevo and an estate with a beautiful linden alley, the presence of which became the decisive argument for the purchase. In seven years, he built a luxurious two-story mansion there (now the Russian Parnassus Museum).

The Vyazemsky estate, where Peter spent his youth, became one of the centers of cultural life in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. In particular, the prince invited his son-in-law, Nikolai Karamzin, who from 1804 to 1815 worked here on the “History of the Russian State” to settle in Ostafyevo.

Karamzin was married to Peter’s illegitimate half-sister Ekaterina (nee Kolyvanova). In his early youth, Pyotr Vyazemsky was orphaned - when he was only 10 years old, his mother died, and 5 years later his father died. He remained the only heir to a large fortune. Karamzin was appointed his guardian. They had such a warm relationship that in one of his poems Peter called him “second father.”

Thanks to Karamzin’s tutelage, the young prince from an early age entered the circle of Moscow writers of the Karamzin circle. He received an excellent education at home, and in 1805 he was sent to the St. Petersburg Jesuit boarding school at the Pedagogical Institute. However, just a year later, Peter returned to Moscow, as he was irresistibly attracted to a wild life and did not at all like his monastic upbringing. At home, he began taking private lessons from invited German professors. In 1805 he entered the service in the Boundary Office as a cadet.

The boy began to try the pen very early. He wrote his first known work, the French-language tragedy Elmira and Fanor, in 1802, at the age of 10. In 1808, his first published poem (under the cryptonym K.P.V..ii) was published in the “Bulletin of Europe” - “Message to Zhukovsky in the Village.”

In his early work he was strongly influenced by the leading Russian poets of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. - Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin, Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, as well as French “light poetry”. At that time, Russian had not yet become the fundamental literary language. Pushkin is considered its creator. And Vyazemsky met and became friends with him much later.

Peter Vyazemsky began publishing regularly in 1809. In 1813-1817 he was already considered one of the most promising young poets in Russia. He quickly developed his own style, which amazed his contemporaries with “Voltaire’s sharpness and strength” (A.F. Voeikov) and at the same time evoked associations with a “lively and witty girl” (K.N. Batyushkov), wrote in a variety of genres - from the epigram and friendly messages to fables and satirical couplets. He joins the Arzamas literary society, makes many friendships in literary circles, and is in constant personal and creative contact with Vasily Zhukovsky, Konstantin Batyushkov, Vasily Pushkin.

In 1817, friends obtained Vyazemsky’s appointment to Warsaw as a translator for the imperial commissar in the Kingdom of Poland. He personally met with Emperor Alexander I several times and was a translator for the emperor. Vyazemsky was present in Poland when the first Sejm was opened, together with other officials he compiled the “State Charter of the Russian Empire”, and discussed with the emperor issues related to the future constitution. In March 1819, Vyazemsky received the rank of court councilor, and already on October 19 of the same year - the rank of collegiate councilor, equal to a colonel.

The liberal atmosphere of Warsaw at that time was warmly embraced by the easily carried away Vyazemsky. Being a representative of a once influential ancient family, he was burdened by the despotism of the autocracy, the rise of the newly created aristocracy and the isolation of the old noble nobility.

Vyazemsky’s experiences during this period closely coincided with the sentiments and ideas of the Decembrists. In 1820, he joined the Society of Good Landowners and signed a note on the liberation of the peasants, submitted to the emperor by Count M. S. Vorontsov.

However, Alexander I’s refusal to carry out large-scale reforms disappointed Vyazemsky. He was not afraid to express his convictions demonstratively in his widely known poems (“Petersburg”, “Indignation”, “To the Ship”), private letters and conversations. As a result, Vyazemsky was removed from service. In April 1821, while he was on holiday in Russia, he was forbidden to return to Poland. The offended prince resigned, refusing, among other things, the court rank of chamber cadet. Alexander I expressed displeasure to him and accepted his resignation.

As a result, Vyazemsky began to be considered a dangerous oppositionist. Beginning in 1820, he was under secret surveillance. Until 1828, he was in disgrace with the authorities and lived mainly in Moscow.

At this time, poetry for Vyazemsky noticeably faded into the background - he became interested in journalism, worked in the most popular Russian magazine “Moscow Telegraph”, wrote sharp critical articles and reviews, translated into Russian the novel “Adolphe” by Benjamin Constant and “Crimean Sonnets” of his close friend Adam Mickiewicz, planned to write a novel.

The prince's journalistic activities and his critical speeches aroused the displeasure of the government. In 1827, a real campaign of persecution was launched against Vyazemsky - he was accused of “depraved behavior” and a bad influence on young people. In 1828-29, the prince, trying to protect his good name, turned to Nicholas I with a “Note on Prince Vyazemsky, compiled by himself,” in which he openly explained his position, and at one time even intended to emigrate.

As a result, Vyazemsky was forced to leave the Moscow Telegraph.

By 1829, the financial situation of the Vyazemsky family had become completely deplorable. For the sake of his family, Peter decided to reconcile with the emperor and wrote a letter of apology to Nicholas. The monarch demanded that they be brought orally not only to him, but also to his royal brother in Warsaw.

After the apology, Vyazemsky was hired as an official of special assignments under the Minister of Finance. In connection with entering the service in April 1830, he moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and later moved his family to the capital.

Vyazemsky's further service was also connected with the Ministry of Finance: he held the positions of vice-director of the department of foreign trade (1833-1846), manager of the Main Loan Bank (1846-1853), member of the council under the Minister of Finance (1853-1855).

He grew up in ranks: State Councilor (1833), Actual State Councilor (1839), received awards - the Order of St. Anne, 2nd degree with crown (1837), Order of St. Stanislav, 1st degree (1848), was repeatedly awarded cash payments and rent.

During his work, he wrote several articles of an economic nature, participated in the development of the Russian-English treaty of 1843, repeatedly managed the foreign trade department in the absence of the director, and organized the Second All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition in Moscow in 1831. In fact, for 13 years, Russian foreign trade policy was under the jurisdiction of Vyazemsky. He did not head the department for a purely formal reason: since the structure of the department included the Border Guard Corps, only a military man could be the director of the department.

In the 1830s, a series of personal tragedies began in Vyazemsky’s life: the death of children, numerous friends, among whom Pushkin occupied a special position. In connection with the losses he experienced, the poet’s work becomes more and more melancholy, poetry-memories predominate in it, and religious motifs appear.

Vyazemsky gradually retreated from active literary activity. In 1831, 1833 and 1836. he still planned to publish his own magazines and almanacs, and actively participated in Pushkin’s journal Sovremennik, but with the death of Pushkin, his activity as a critic and journalist practically disappeared.

Ironically, it was at this time that official recognition of his literary merits came - membership in the Russian Academy (December 2, 1839) and the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences (October 19, 1841)

During his foreign travels in 1835 and 1838-1839, Vyazemsky became friends with many European writers; His closest relationship was with Stendhal, whose work the prince highly valued; he was also friends with Adam Mickiewicz, Charles de Sainte-Beuve, and communicated with Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Hugo, Alfred de Musset. Vyazemsky actively promoted Russian literature abroad and achieved noticeable success in this.

In 1848, the biography of playwright Denis Fonvizin, written by Vyazemsky back in the late 1830s, was published - the first Russian biography of the writer. Even in the manuscript, it received an enthusiastic assessment from Pushkin (“the book is perhaps the most wonderful since books have been written here”). However, after lying in manuscript for 18 years, the biography was too late to reach the reader, and it was published in a tiny edition of 600 copies.

In March 1848, Vyazemsky tried to attract the attention of Nicholas I with a note on censorship, in which he proposed radically reforming Russian censorship and entrusting its leadership to an honest and educated person. Following this note, the so-called Buturlinsky Committee was created in Russia, but this did not in any way affect the official position of the prince himself.

In 1850, after the death of his seventh child, 36-year-old daughter Maria, Vyazemsky undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to the Holy Sepulcher, after which he was treated for a severe attack of a nervous illness in Europe.

A certain renaissance happened to Vyazemsky only after the start of the Crimean War. Pyotr Andreevich responded to it with a cycle of vivid patriotic poems, which were widely published in Russia and were translated into several European languages. He also wrote in French a book of political journalism, “Letters of a Russian veteran of 1812 on the Eastern Question, published by Prince Ostafevsky” (1854-55), which was published in Belgium, Switzerland and Prussia (the book was translated into Russian only in 1883 ).

After the accession of Alexander II, who always treated the prince with great respect and sympathy, Vyazemsky returned from Switzerland to Russia in June 1855 and received the post of Comrade Minister of Public Education under Minister Abraham Sergeevich Norov. From December 1856 to March 1858, he simultaneously headed the Main Directorate of Censorship and supervised the preparation of censorship reform.

By the end of the 1850s, Vyazemsky already enjoyed considerable influence at court, was one of the favorite close associates of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, and dedicated many poems to her and other members of the ruling house (including writing poems for the birth of the future Emperor Nicholas II).

In August 1855 he became a privy councilor, and in December of the same year - a senator. In March 1861 - chamberlain of the Court of His Imperial Majesty, and in October 1866 - member of the State Council. In 1861, the 50th anniversary of the poet’s literary activity was solemnly celebrated in St. Petersburg.

The prince’s activities as head of Russian censorship aroused polar assessments - he heard praise from older writers, and abuse from “revolutionary democrats”, including Alexander Herzen. It ended in March 1858. Vyazemsky resigned, saying that he preferred to fight censorship as a writer, and not as its boss. After resigning, he nevertheless retained influence at court.

Back in the late 1810s, Vyazemsky began to suffer from a nervous illness, which only worsened over time (modern researcher L. A. Yuferev diagnoses the prince with “recurrent depressive disorder”). The illness was accompanied by severe bouts of depression and painful insomnia, for which Vyazemsky was unsuccessfully treated with chloral hydrate; these images became one of the main ones in the poet’s later lyrics.

Since the late 1850s, the prince lived mainly in Europe - in Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland. He dedicated many poems to European cities - Venice, Berlin, Vicenza, Verona, Geneva, Florence, Dresden, Prague, Carlsbad, Nice, Vevey, etc. However, he did not forget his homeland - he regularly visited Russia, mainly Moscow, St. Petersburg and its palace suburbs.

In 1866, Pyotr Vyazemsky became the founder and first chairman of the Russian Historical Society. In the summer of 1867, in the empress’s retinue, he made a long trip to Crimea and Moldova, after which he wrote a large cycle of poems, “Crimean Photographs of 1867.” He regularly published excerpts from his notebooks, which he kept intermittently since the 1810s, and memoir articles in the Russian Archive magazine, including the sharply polemical “Memories of 1812,” directed against the distortion of history in “War and Peace.” Lev Tolstoy.

Vyazemsky spoke mostly negatively about Russian literature of the 1850-1870s - in particular, he was outraged by the works of Alexander Ostrovsky and Nikolai Nekrasov. With reservations, he accepted the works of Ivan Turgenev, Alexei Pisemsky, Ivan Goncharov, Alexei Tolstoy, Apollo Maikov.

Throughout the 1850s–1870s, Vyazemsky continued to write poetry in various genres: from political pamphlets and epigrams to dedication poems to deceased friends and court odes.

At the beginning of October 1862, Vyazemsky’s first and only lifetime collection “On the Road and at Home,” which included 289 poems, was published in Moscow in a circulation of 1,186 copies. The success of the collection was very modest - in two years it was not possible to sell even half of the circulation.

If in the 1850s-1860s the prince actively published in the Russian press, then starting from the 1870s he practically stopped publishing. In his later lyric poetry, he developed the early themes and motives of his own poetry, tried to modernize the aesthetics of classical Russian poetry of the 19th century, and adapt it to the requirements of modern times. Since the 1850s. was influenced by one of his closest younger friends, Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev; poets dedicated a number of poems to each other.

Vyazemsky's last major publication in Russia (20 poems) took place in April 1874.

Since 1873, the prince lived mainly on the waters in Homburg, Germany, where he worked on preparing a 12-volume Complete Collection of his Works and “postscripts” to his old articles. The old prince's physical and mental condition gradually deteriorated.

On November 10, 1878, Pyotr Vyazemsky died “of senile weakness” at the Beausejour hotel in one of his favorite European resorts, Baden-Baden. He was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra of St. Petersburg.

What is he famous for?

P.F. Sokolov. Portrait of Prince P.A. Vyazemsky. 1824. GLM

Pyotr Vyazemsky was one of the five most popular writers of his time. He was repeatedly called “the wittiest Russian writer.” Vyazemsky’s poems became folk songs (“The troika rushes, the troika gallops…”), quotes became proverbs (“He’s in a hurry to live, and he’s in a hurry to feel,” “leavened patriotism,” “Grandfather Krylov”).

However, as he moved away from liberalism and free-thinking and moved towards conservatism and deep religiosity, Vyazemsky gradually ceased to be perceived as a fashionable and relevant writer. To a new generation of readers, his work seemed outdated, and critics, including Vissarion Belinsky, spoke of him with disdain and even outright mockery.

Contemporaries did not appreciate Vyazemsky's later work - his poems were already perceived as hopelessly archaic, became the subject of ridicule and numerous parodies (including Vasily Kurochkin and Dmitry Minaev).

Despite the enormous contribution made by Vyazemsky to the development of Russian literature of the 19th century, for a long time he was not considered as an independent and major phenomenon. Already at the end of the 19th century, Vyazemsky as a poet was practically forgotten.

A great contribution to Vyazemsky’s “discovery” was made in the 1920s. Soviet literary critics Lydia Ginzburg and Vera Nechaeva. However, during the Soviet era, Vyazemsky was perceived as nothing more than a “poet of Pushkin’s era” or “Pushkin’s circle.” The early years of the poet’s work were brought to the fore, his “revolutionism,” “fight against God,” and friendship with the Decembrists were emphasized in every possible way, while his later years were viewed as of little value due to their “reactionary nature.” Vyazemsky’s official and religious poems have not been republished; his notebooks have not yet been published in full.

Only since the 1980s has the perception of Vyazemsky in the history of Russian literature changed. He begins to be seen as a major self-sufficient poet who had a huge influence both on his era and on subsequent periods of Russian literature (for example, Joseph Brodsky called Vyazemsky one of his main teachers).

Of no less interest are Vyazemsky’s memoirs based on the notes he kept for more than sixty years. In his “Old Notebook” he collected memories of the high society of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and also left a number of small articles-monographs dedicated to the dead people most dear to him.

Vyazemsky’s “Old Notebook” - a voluminous chronicle of Russian and foreign life - was published in 3 volumes after his death and republished again in Russia in 2003.

What you need to know

Pyotr Vyazemsky refused to participate in the secret society of the Decembrists. But before Pushchin’s arrest, he came to him with an offer to keep the papers that his friend saw fit. Only 32 years later Vyazemsky returned the briefcase with forbidden poems by many authors to the poet. Only for one act of storing such documents could Peter go to hard labor.

However, despite voluntarily offering assistance in storing forbidden papers, Vyazemsky did not participate in the Decembrist uprising. He believed that bloody methods of a coup were unacceptable and more peaceful options should be sought.

Not being a supporter of the Decembrists, Vyazemsky perceived the defeat of the uprising on December 14, 1825 as a huge tragedy and sharply condemned the execution of five participants in the uprising, three of whom he knew personally. However, over time, he revised many of his assessments and in his old age spoke about the Decembrists without any sympathy.

Direct speech

Pushkin to Vyazemsky (1823): “Don’t forget the prose; You and Karamzin alone own it.”

Literary critic D. S. Mirsky about Vyazemsky’s poetry: “There is nothing less romantic than his early poems: these are either elegant, polished and cold exercises in poetic commonplaces, or brilliant experiments in all kinds of literary games with words, where a pun gives rise to a pun, joke - joke, piling up whole mountains of verbal humor.”

Mirsky about Vyazemsky’s personality: “He had the misfortune to outlive all his contemporaries. And although his poetic talent brought its best results precisely in recent years, Vyazemsky was forgotten and abandoned by critics and readers long before his death. He became a grouchy reactionary who hated with all his heart everyone born after 1810.”

11 facts about Pyotr Vyazemsky

• The parents of Pyotr Vyazemsky met when Prince Andrei was on a tour of Europe. By the time they met, Jenny O'Reilly was married to a French army officer and needed a divorce. Andrey's father and mother. Vyazemsky was categorically against marriage, but he was adamant and married his chosen one, who later became known as Princess Evgenia Ivanovna Vyazemskaya.
• The first work - an epigram - was written by Peter Vyazemsky as a child for his Russian teacher. After that I quarreled with him almost immediately. And I no longer invited him for my training. The epigram was very popular among German professors.
• In his youth, he participated in the Patriotic War with Napoleon, volunteered to join the people's militia and took part in the Battle of Borodino with the rank of lieutenant. On the battlefield he saved the wounded General A.N. Bakhmetev, for which he received the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree with a bow.
• According to some researchers, Vyazemsky's stories about participation in the Battle of Borodino were used by Leo Tolstoy during the creation of War and Peace.
• Vyazemsky took an active part in the life of Arzamas and the struggle between supporters of Karamzin and Shishkov. In the group he received the nickname Asmodeus.
• In 1818 in Warsaw, Vyazemsky joined the Masonic lodge of the Northern Shield.
• Vyazemsky and Alexander Pushkin met in Tsarskoe Selo in 1816 and maintained a close relationship until Pushkin’s death. Pushkin highly valued Vyazemsky’s work, especially his magazine prose, and dedicated several poems and the third edition of the poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” to him. Pushkin repeatedly put quotes from Vyazemsky (“Eugene Onegin”, “The Station Agent”) as epigraphs to his works, repeatedly quoted Vyazemsky in his work, and introduced him as a character in “Eugene Onegin”. According to E.F. Rosen, Pushkin even introduced an unspoken ban on criticizing Vyazemsky in his presence. In turn, Vyazemsky spoke with admiration of Pushkin’s work, dedicated his translation of the novel “Adolph” (1831) to him, acted as the publisher of the poem “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai”, and experienced the strong and beneficial influence of Pushkin’s stylistics. Some of Vyazemsky’s poems—for example, “Waterfall” (1825) and “It seemed to me: now I can serve...” (1828)—were corrected by Pushkin personally.
• It was Vyazemsky who, back in 1827, came up with the name of Pushkin’s magazine “Sovremennik” and developed its concept.
• Vyazemsky is the only example where a poet, who has gone through a 70-year career, published a single book of poetry, and at the age of 70
• In 1811, Pyotr Vyazemsky married Princess Vera Fedorovna Gagarina. Despite the fact that Vera was much older than Peter, the marriage turned out to be happy and long, they had eight children.
• Two close friends of Vyazemsky, a daughter, a grandson, and later his wife died in Baden-Baden. The poet dedicated many poems to him, including “If I die in a foreign land, it’s better here, in view of my native graves...”.

Materials about Pyotr Vyazemsky

Prince Peter Vyazemsky: biography and creativity

Other poets of the older generation. D. S. Mirsky

Article about Pyotr Vyazemsky on Wikipedia

Vyazemsky, Pyotr Andreevich in the library of Maxim Moshkov

Change of Emperor

When Alexander II, with whom Vyazemsky always had good relations, began to dominate Russia, the prince became a comrade of the Minister of Public Education, and headed the Main Directorate of Censorship. At the end of the 1850s, he was a respected person at court, and one of the favorite close associates of Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Vyazemsky dedicated many poems to her, as well as to other representatives of the ruling house. He again began to actively climb the career ladder and in 1866 became Chief of the Imperial Court. In 1861, the city of St. Petersburg solemnly celebrated the 50th anniversary of Pyotr Andreevich’s writing activity.

In 1858, Vyazemsky ended his active career, declaring that he preferred to fight censorship as a writer. At the same time, his authority at court remained unchanged. Back in the late 1810s, the prince began to suffer from a nervous disease, which worsened over time. It was accompanied by painful insomnia and severe bouts of depression.

Wanderings

At the end of the 1850s, the poet spent most of his time in Europe. He dedicated his poems to many European cities. Coming to Russia, he stayed in Moscow or St. Petersburg. In 1866, the prince founded the Russian Historical Society. In the summer of 1867, as part of the empress’s retinue, he went on a trip to Crimea and Moldova, after which the poetic collection “Crimean Photographs of 1867” was published.

Vyazemsky spoke mostly negatively about Russian literature of 1850-1870. The works of Ostrovsky and Nekrasov greatly outraged him. With some reservations, the poet accepted the work of Turgenev, Pisemsky, Goncharov, Tolstov and Maykov. Pyotr Vyazemsky himself, whose biography, unfortunately, is coming to an end, meanwhile actively wrote poetry, without limiting himself to any particular genre. In October 1862, his collection “On the Road and at Home” was published, which included 289 poems. This publication became the first and last collection of the poet's lifetime. Until the 1870s, the poet actively published in the press.

Late lyrics

In his last verses, Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, whose brief biography became the subject of our conversation today, developed the early themes and motives of his poetry. He sought to modernize the aesthetics of classical Russian poetry of the nineteenth century. Since the 50s, the influence of his young colleague, Fyodor Tyutchev, has been visible in his work. Contemporaries did not appreciate Vyazemsky's later works. His poems were mocked, parodied and perceived as hopelessly archaic.

Gradually, the prince’s physical and psychological condition worsened. On November 10, 1878, he died of “senile weakness” in a hotel in Baden-Baden. The prince's body was transported to Russia. Pyotr Vyazemsky, whose photo has survived in small quantities, was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery.

Creation

Just as many-sided as Vyazemsky’s social activities are his poetry. Pyotr Andreevich’s first poems were an imitation of the works of Zhukovsky and Karamzin, but then the poet “cut through” his own voice. Vyazemsky, even before Pushkin, introduced simple human speech into poetry. The evolution of Pyotr Andreevich’s style is visible when comparing the poems “First Snow” (with long lines and heavy rhymes) and “Birch” (with aphoristic definitions). Like Pushkin, Vyazemsky devoted quite a lot of poems to autumn.

Pyotr Vyazemsky - “Troika”. Read by Pavel Besedin

The prince's best works (for example, "Troika") became folk songs. The religiosity the writer rediscovered in adulthood was reflected in his spiritual poems (“Prayer”). With the help of Eldar Ryazanov and composer Andrei Petrov, Vyazemsky’s ballads received a new life in the film “Say a word for the poor hussar.”

The prince's favorite genre was poetic satire, which included both political epigrams and poetic jokes addressed to friends. In his later works, Vyazemsky anticipated the literary experiments of the Silver Age. No less important than poetry are the notes of Pyotr Andreevich, the anecdotes he collected and the witticisms of his authorship.