8 February 1837 year
On the outskirts of St. Petersburg during a duel with Georges Dantes mortally wounded Alexander Pushkin — "the sun of Russian poetry."
I felt a strong blow to my side when I was shot, and a hot shot to my lower back, a lot of blood flowed along the way. (from a conversation between Pushkin and the doctor Vasily Sholts)
The reason for the duel was Dantes' obsessive courtship of Pushkin's wife. Natalia GoncharovaShe didn't reciprocate, but rumors still spread throughout St. Petersburg.
Unwilling to tolerate ridicule, Pushkin wrote an angry letter to the Dutch ambassador Louis Heckern, who adopted 24-year-old Dantes (according to some contemporaries, Gekkern and Dantes were in an intimate relationship).
I cannot allow your son, after his vile behavior, to dare to talk to my wife, to feign devotion and unhappy love, when he is simply a rogue and a scoundrel.
The duel took place the next day, on the Black River.
By that time, the 37-year-old poet had already faced more than 20 challenges to duels. He had only fought his opponents three times—the other duels ended in reconciliation.
Pushkin was an excellent marksman, able to hit targets perfectly from 20 paces. Yet, he never once shed the blood of his opponents, refusing to fire.
The conditions of the duel with Dantes were deadly: the opponents shot at each other from 10 steps away.
Dantes fired the first shot, causing Pushkin to fall instantly: the bullet entered his upper right leg and went deep into his abdomen. His bullet pierced Dantes' arm, slammed into his chest, and struck the metal button of his suspenders, crushing two ribs.
"Did I kill him?" Pushkin asked. “No, you wounded him,” said the second. - As soon as we get better, we'll start again.
Konstantin DanzasPushkin, whom he had chosen as his second a few hours before the duel, hadn't had time to invite a doctor. He didn't even have bandages to cover his wound.
The journey to the poet's home took an hour and a half, and the second spent another three searching for a doctor. During this time, the wounded man lost a lot of blood.
Pushkin died two days later, in severe pain. More than 50,000 people attended his funeral.
