Tatyana Bers, prototype of Natasha Rostova. Sexual magic

Their eyes look from the pages of novels, their laughter rings in the lines of poetry... They inspired poets and novelists. They were loved or hated (this also happened!) to such an extent that this love or hatred was simply impossible to keep in the heart, it certainly had to be done common property. Thanks to them, the disease of love or hate infected readers. They cared little, of course, whose treacherous eyes were despised by Lermontov, whom Pushkin was jealous of, whose passions Dostoevsky revels in, whose first kiss Tolstoy secretly admired, whom Tyutchev tenderly adores all his life and at whose feet Turgenev’s heroes lay their hearts... The main thing is the depth of feelings, the mystery, not idle curiosity!

Well, let us be curious and look into this depth, lift the veil of this mystery: the love or hatred of creators for their muses.

Web of Love (Tatyana Kuzminskaya – Leo Tolstoy)

It was a strange time for her... It seemed that life was over.

She was young, beautiful, talented, rich and adored by everyone. She had just - with everyone's approval - refused the man she loved more life and who loved her passionately. She refused because he had another woman, and they had children, and he was tossing between his old affection and new love, and did not know what to do, and this indecision of his offended her to the core.

Melancholy, hopeless, hopeless melancholy possessed her. The harder it was for her, the less she tried to show it, so that they would not talk to her about the patient, and most importantly, so that they would not feel sorry for her.

“Dying, dying... is the only way out,” she told herself. But how? Where? What remedy should I find?

One day, accidentally passing by the maid's room, she saw the head maid Praskovya pouring powder into a glass.

-What are you doing? You are sick? Is this medicine?

- No, what are you talking about, Tatyana Andreevna! - Praskovya answered. - This is poison, it removes all kinds of stains. I have to wash the napkin.

- Is he very poisonous?

- He’ll eat all his hands, what a disaster! - Praskovya answered. - We need to hide it. This is alum.

Praskovya put the glass of alum and the box on the shelf between her dishes and left.

Tatyana took a glass, added powder to it and held it in front of her in thought. She felt neither fear nor remorse then. Most likely, she didn’t think about anything then, but simply mechanically performed what tormented and sharpened her all this time. Hearing footsteps, she immediately drank the liquid from the glass. And she went to her room, lay down, listening to her feelings and quietly praying.

And suddenly a bell rang in the hallway. About ten minutes later, the door to Tatiana’s room opened and Alexander Kuzminsky entered - her cousin, her first love, her ex-fiancé, who had now become just her friend.

- From Yasnaya Polyana, he answered. – Sonya, Lev Nikolaevich and Sergei Nikolaevich will arrive in Moscow in about five days.

Sonya was the name of Tatiana's sister. Lev Nikolaevich was her husband, and Sergei Nikolaevich...

So he will come! So it's not over yet?

Tatyana sent Kuzminsky to drink tea in the dining room, and she went to her mother’s room. She already felt severe pain...

“Mom, I was poisoned,” she said quietly. - You need to save me; I want to see him.

The mother turned pale and almost fell unconscious. She sat down heavily on the floor:

- How? When?!

Tatyana answered her and at that moment suddenly realized what base madness she had committed in relation to her family. How right Lev Nikolayevich was when he wrote to her: “Besides your grief, you, you, have so many people who love you (remember me)…”

There was commotion in the house. Tatyana was given an antidote. The suffering was so strong that she was no longer interested in anything. Much later, she learned that Kuzminsky was delayed in arriving at her destination because of her illness, and Sergei Nikolaevich... he never arrived.

She woke up from her illness a different person. She realized for herself the impossibility of happiness and would like to forget this criminal stupidity of hers. And yet... however... her sister’s husband and her closest friend and mentor was none other than Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, which means that Tatyana could rest assured: sooner or later she would again come face to face with the story of her love, with her sinful act ... on the pages of his novel.

As long as Tatyana could remember, Tolstoy’s name often sounded in the house of her father, Andrei Evstafievich Bers, a Moscow doctor. He was married to his patient, Lyubov Isleneva, who grew up with his future famous writer and always considered him my friend. Their childhood, their relatives, even the maid Mimi were depicted by him in “Childhood” and “Adolescence”.

Tatyana had two sisters and a brother, Sasha. The eldest, Lisa, was a serious and uncommunicative girl, she read all the books. Only Tanya knew how to stir her up and cheer her up. The middle sister, Sonya, had a lively character, but easily indulged in sadness and sentimentality. That was her nature! She didn't seem to trust happy moments, did not know how to use them. It seemed to her that something was about to interfere with her happiness. This trait remained with her throughout her life, which is why she loved her younger sister, her complete opposite, “with this amazing, enviable gift of finding fun in everything and everyone.”

The family of the medical doctor Andrei Evstafievich Bers remained in the people’s memory only because the beautiful Sonya Bers married Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, and her younger sister Tanya became the prototype of Natasha Rostova.

Tatyana Bers turned out to be the most great love brother of the great writer Leo Tolstoy - Sergei, whom the future classic adored and considered the ideal person. How could the classic resist and not portray Tanya Bers as her most charming heroine? “I’m recording you all!” - Lev Nikolaevich said to his daughter-in-law, and under his pen the image of Natasha Rostova, the lovely young creature, glowing from within with happiness and sincerity. The naturalness of manners, errors in French, the passionate desire for love and happiness inherent in the real Tatyana Bers, gave completeness to the image of Rostova and: many vices to the images of other heroes of the novel - Drubetsky and Kurakin, in particular. Tanechka was not distinguished by cautious behavior, but Tolstoy did not want to change the essence of his heroine, despite the patriarchal views. And Lev Nikolayevich was simply jealous of Tatyana, rewarding fans of the real girl Bers with unseemly roles and dirty inclinations on the pages of War and Peace.

Tanya’s first love, and after a considerable period of time, her husband, was her cousin Alexander Kuzminsky. It is his features that are visible in Boris Drubetsky, whom Natasha turned his head with his youthful enthusiasm and girlish frivolity: “What nonsense!” Natasha said in the tone of a person from whom they want to take away his property. “Well, I won’t get married, so let him go, if he wants to.” It's fun and I'm having fun." Truly, "Cousinage dangereux voisinage" - "Cousins are dangerous neighbors"! Kuzminsky was a man of honor, an altruist, and even in some ways a simpleton. Drubetskoy is a completely different figure. Drubetsky’s insincere, greedy nature breaks through the outward decency of his manners and the success of his career: “The memory of the Rostovs’ house and his childhood love for Natasha was unpleasant for him, and since leaving for the army he had never been to the Rostovs,” he sarcastically notes in his Tolstoy's novel. Then the author selects a suitable couple for the cheater - the liar and libertine Helen Bezukhova. Despite the fact that the pure-hearted Alexander Kuzminsky endured a lot of suffering from his beloved, and his reward for his loyalty was only completely official letters, which, before ending up in the hands of his love-stupefied cousin, were strictly censored by the eldest of the Bers sisters, Lisa. However, one day the children in love (Tanya was fourteen years old, Alexander was seventeen) allowed themselves to kiss, but immediately decided that they would not do “anything like that” again. And when Tanechka turned sixteen, she persuaded her father to take her with him to St. Petersburg.

The capital intoxicated Tatyana like wine. Visiting his aunt, the head of the Nikolaev Institute noble maidens Ekaterina Nikolaevna Shostak, young Bers met her new hobby - the son of Ekaterina Nikolaevna, a handsome man, a socialite, an intelligent and charming gentleman - Anatoly Shostak. Lev Nikolaevich could not forgive his relative for the sudden feeling of almost illicit intimacy with Shostak, and Anatoly himself for his powerful sex appeal. While Tanya, rushing in a whirlwind social life, asked herself a burning question: “Is it possible to love two?” - her dear cousin Alexander Kuzminsky simply withdrew and experienced the betrayal of his beloved “far from the noise of the city.” The inexperienced, ardent girl was left to her own devices in the difficult task of choosing a suitor. But here Lev Nikolayevich stood up for Tanya’s honor, who was not supposed to do this due to his status. To begin with, he created a scandal for the younger Bers and repeated for a long time: “Don’t let yourself go!” - after a small incident on a country walk. Tanya and Anatole, who were riding on horseback, fell behind the others: Tatyana’s girth had loosened, and Shostak took advantage of the situation to confess his love to his “subject.” Having carefully elicited the details of Tatyana’s feelings at the moment of the love explanation, Lev Nikolaevich made a note for himself, and subsequently Bers was indignant when she saw her revelations on the pages of the novel. “I didn’t even suspect the purpose of his questions then and was frank with him,” she will write in her memoirs. Shostak, who provided the writer with a wealth of material, was actually thrown out by the Tolstoy family, and he had to leave. What to do: those were the times when a girl was not supposed to choose the hero of her novel. Tatyana and Anatole did not see each other after that for more than seventeen years and had already met family people. Tolstoy took revenge on the socialite in love in his own unique manner: Anatol Kuragin, the literary incarnation of Shostak, is a “restless fool,” in the words of his own father, an empty red tape and a reckless reveler - not worthy of love, friendship, or respect.

One gets the impression that Lev Nikolaevich was jealous not for himself, but for his beloved brother Seryozha, who suited Tanechka even less than the mumble Kuzminsky and the rake Shostak. Admiring the depth of nature and virtues of his older brother, Levushka brought out Seryozha in the story “After the Ball.” The reason for this was real event: Sergei told his brother about how one day after the ball, feeling in his soul a bright feeling for charming girl, he followed the object of his passion all the way home, climbed onto the balcony of her bedroom and saw the girl praying before going to bed. The beauty was kneeling next to the bed and repeating prayers, simultaneously eating sweets from standing nearby there are bonbonnieres on the table. Having discovered that the gentle creature has not only a subtle nature, but also a completely material stomach and a good appetite, Sergei was completely disappointed in his love. He climbed down from the balcony and no longer burned with passion for the gourmet. And this bore, in Lev Nikolaevich’s opinion, suited the lively and cheerful Tanya Bers perfectly!

Nevertheless, during the period of Lev Nikolaevich's groom, Tanya and Sergei Nikolaevich became close: Tatyana was only sixteen, and Sergei was already thirty-six, he was an experienced ladies' man. The younger Bers either flirted gracefully like a woman, or fell asleep in the living room on the sofa, her mouth parted like a child, and was so charming that the same thing happened to the elder Tolstoy as with Prince Andrei at the sight of Natasha Rostova: “The wine struck her charms.” in his head." Sergei was sincerely surprised that his brother intended to marry not the youngest of his sisters, but the rather dull and dull Sonya. Tatyana Bers, having conquered her newly acquired relative, fell head over heels in love. “The feeling of love filled my entire being,” she admitted. In the spring of 1863, Sergei Nikolaevich proposed to Tanya, but the wedding was postponed for a year due to the youth of the bride. At the appointed time, the groom arrived in Yasnaya Polyana. There were two weeks left before the wedding, preparations were in full swing.

And then the unexpected became clear: Lev Nikolayevich’s virtuous brother, it turns out, had been illegally cohabiting with the gypsy Marya Mikhailovna for a decade and a half, raised a whole brood of children with her, and only now began to wonder: how would the poor but proud gypsy perceive his marriage? At the same time, he did not care too much about the feelings of his own bride: Sergei Nikolaevich clearly lacked tact. Throwing about the topic “Should I marry the Bers girl?” could not help but offend the girl who was going down the aisle. Tanya, too, could not be denied pride and self-respect: she returned to her parents in Moscow, where she greatly missed her unfaithful betrothed and even tried to poison herself. She preferred poison to continuing her relationship with Sergei. Tatyana was saved from death by Alexander Kuzminsky, who was almost forgotten by her. He came for a visit after a long break literally at the moment when the unfortunate girl took poison. His unexpected visit, like a finger of fate, returned life and strength to Tanya, she began to recover and come to life.

A year later, having recovered from the tragedy she had experienced, Bers again came to Yasnaya Polyana, being sure that Sergei Nikolaevich would not appear again after what he had done with his frivolity and indelicacy. In vain she believed in the sanity and decency of the elder Tolstoy! In May, Sergei arrived as if nothing had happened, and everything started spinning like a crazy carousel. May crazy nights, dates and romantic explanations, which Lev Nikolaevich no longer interfered with the power of the head of the family - they destroyed the last strongholds of prudence between Sergei and Tatyana. It probably could have gone to the last extreme, but Sergei suddenly fled from the estate and sent his brother a desperate letter, complaining that it was “completely impossible for him to end Masha’s life.” Lev Nikolaevich had the courage to show the message to Tanya. The fact that this last betrayal did not break Tatyana was a real miracle. Lev Nikolaevich did not fail to observe his daughter-in-law’s suffering and reflect it in the experiences of Natasha Rostova. Like the heroine of the novel, Tanya’s heart wound “healed from the inside”; she learned to smile and sing again. Kuzminsky no longer left his first love, looked after her in sorrow and in joy, and in 1867 their wedding took place.

Ahead of Tatyana Andreevna Kuzminskaya was long life, difficult relationship with her husband, her feelings for Sergei Nikolaevich never fully extinguished. But this fragile woman had a remarkable and strong nature. Lev Nikolayevich portrayed in the married Natasha his ideal of the mother of the family, “throwing away all her charms at once.” But Tatyana did not succumb to his influence and did not embody other people’s ideals with her own life: she did not give up her “charms”, did not show the guests the described diapers and still paid a lot of attention to the “delicacy of speech” and the toilet. Tanya Kuzminskaya did not merge with the image of Natasha Rostova. She was and remained one of those few women whom Leo Tolstoy allowed to argue with himself and defend own point vision. Let us note that his wife Sofya Andreevna, for example, did not belong to this category. Independent and bright, Tatyana Bers-Kuzminskaya lived her own life. Long years she defended her “I” from the sincere concerns of her loving relatives - a heavy burden for a very young girl. Until today, Tatyana Kuzminskaya has to compete with her literary incarnation. And, I must say, she emerged victorious in this fight!

Tatyana Bers-Kuzminskaya. Prototype of Natasha Rostova.

Sisters - Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya (left) and Tatyana Andreevna Bers (right). Around 1860

The family of the medical doctor Andrei Evstafievich Bers remained in the people's memory only because the beautiful Sonya Bers married Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, and her younger sister Tanya became the prototype of Natasha Rostova.
Tatyana Bers turned out to be the greatest love of the brother of the great writer Leo Tolstoy - Sergei, whom the future classic adored and considered the ideal person. How could the classic resist and not portray Tanya Bers as her most charming heroine? “I’m recording you all!” - Lev Nikolaevich said to his daughter-in-law, and under his pen the image of Natasha Rostova, a charming young creature, glowing from within with happiness and sincerity, was gradually born. The naturalness of manners, errors in French, the passionate desire for love and happiness inherent in the real Tatyana Bers, gave completeness to the image of Rostova. Tanechka was not distinguished by cautious behavior, but Tolstoy did not want to change the essence of his heroine, despite the patriarchal views. And Lev Nikolayevich was simply jealous of Tatyana, rewarding fans of the real girl Bers with unseemly roles and dirty inclinations on the pages of War and Peace.

Yasnaya Polyana. Lev Nikolaevich, Sofya Andreevna (standing) and Tatyana Andreevna (right) in old age.

The capital intoxicated Tatyana like wine. While visiting her aunt, the head of the Nikolaev Institute of Noble Maidens Ekaterina Nikolaevna Shostak, young Bers met her new hobby - the son of Ekaterina Nikolaevna, a handsome man, a socialite, an intelligent and charming gentleman - Anatoly Shostak. Lev Nikolaevich could not forgive his relative for the sudden feeling of almost illicit intimacy with Shostak, and Anatoly himself for his powerful sex appeal. While Tanya, rushing in the whirlwind of social life, asked herself a burning question: “Is it possible to love two?” - her dear cousin Alexander Kuzminsky simply withdrew and experienced the betrayal of his beloved “far from the noise of the city.” The inexperienced, ardent girl was left to her own devices in the difficult task of choosing a suitor. But here Lev Nikolayevich stood up for Tanya’s honor, who was not supposed to do this due to his status. To begin with, he created a scandal for the younger Bers and repeated for a long time: “Don’t let yourself go!” - after a small incident on a country walk. Tanya and Anatole, who were riding on horseback, fell behind the others: Tatyana’s girth had loosened, and Shostak took advantage of the situation to confess his love to his “subject.” Having carefully elicited the details of Tatyana’s feelings at the moment of the love explanation, Lev Nikolaevich made a note for himself, and subsequently Bers was indignant when she saw her revelations on the pages of the novel. “I didn’t even suspect the purpose of his questions then and was frank with him,” she will write in her memoirs. Shostak, who provided the writer with a wealth of material, was actually thrown out by the Tolstoy family, and he had to leave. What to do: those were the times when a girl was not supposed to choose the hero of her novel. Tatyana and Anatole did not see each other after that for more than seventeen years and met as family people. Tolstoy took revenge on the socialite in love in his own unique manner: Anatol Kuragin, the literary incarnation of Shostak, is a “restless fool,” in the words of his own father, an empty red tape and a reckless reveler - not worthy of love, friendship, or respect.
One gets the impression that Lev Nikolaevich was jealous not for himself, but for his beloved brother Seryozha, who suited Tanechka even less than the mumble Kuzminsky and the rake Shostak. Admiring the depth of nature and virtues of his older brother, Levushka brought out Seryozha in the story “After the Ball.” The reason for this was a real event: Sergei told his brother about how one day after a ball, feeling in his soul a bright feeling for a charming girl, he followed the object of his passion all the way home, climbed onto the balcony of her bedroom and saw the girl praying before going to bed. The beauty was kneeling next to the bed and repeating prayers, simultaneously eating sweets from a bonbonniere standing on the table nearby. Having discovered that the gentle creature has not only a subtle nature, but also a completely material stomach and a good appetite, Sergei was completely disappointed in his love. He climbed down from the balcony and no longer burned with passion for the gourmet. And this bore, in Lev Nikolaevich’s opinion, suited the lively and cheerful Tanya Bers perfectly!
Nevertheless, during the period of Lev Nikolaevich's groom, Tanya and Sergei Nikolaevich became close: Tatyana was only sixteen, and Sergei was already thirty-six, he was an experienced ladies' man. The younger Bers either flirted gracefully like a woman, or fell asleep in the living room on the sofa, her mouth parted like a child, and was so charming that the same thing happened to the elder Tolstoy as with Prince Andrei at the sight of Natasha Rostova: “The wine struck her charms.” in his head." Sergei was sincerely surprised that his brother intended to marry not the youngest of his sisters, but the rather dull and dull Sonya. Tatyana Bers, having conquered her newly acquired relative, fell head over heels in love. “The feeling of love filled my entire being,” she admitted. In the spring of 1863, Sergei Nikolaevich proposed to Tanya, but the wedding was postponed for a year due to the youth of the bride. At the appointed time, the groom arrived in Yasnaya Polyana. There were two weeks left before the wedding, preparations were in full swing.
And then the unexpected became clear: Lev Nikolayevich’s virtuous brother, it turns out, had been illegally cohabiting with the gypsy Marya Mikhailovna for a decade and a half, raised a whole brood of children with her, and only now began to wonder: how would the poor but proud gypsy perceive his marriage? At the same time, he did not care too much about the feelings of his own bride: Sergei Nikolaevich clearly lacked tact. Throwing about the topic “Should I marry the Bers girl?” could not help but offend the girl who was going down the aisle. Tanya, too, could not be denied pride and self-respect: she returned to her parents in Moscow, where she greatly missed her unfaithful betrothed and even tried to poison herself. She preferred poison to continuing her relationship with Sergei. Tatyana was saved from death by Alexander Kuzminsky, who was almost forgotten by her. He came for a visit after a long break literally at the moment when the unfortunate girl took poison. His unexpected visit, like a finger of fate, returned life and strength to Tanya, she began to recover and come to life.
A year later, having recovered from the tragedy she had experienced, Bers again came to Yasnaya Polyana, being sure that Sergei Nikolaevich would not appear again after what he had done with his frivolity and indelicacy. In vain she believed in the sanity and decency of the elder Tolstoy! In May, Sergei arrived as if nothing had happened, and everything started spinning like a crazy carousel. May crazy nights, dates and romantic explanations, which Lev Nikolaevich no longer interfered with the power of the head of the family - they destroyed the last strongholds of prudence between Sergei and Tatyana. It probably could have gone to the last extreme, but Sergei suddenly fled from the estate and sent his brother a desperate letter, complaining that it was “completely impossible for him to end Masha’s life.” Lev Nikolaevich had the courage to show the message to Tanya. The fact that this last betrayal did not break Tatyana was a real miracle. Lev Nikolaevich did not fail to observe his daughter-in-law’s suffering and reflect it in the experiences of Natasha Rostova. Like the heroine of the novel, Tanya’s heart wound “healed from the inside”; she learned to smile and sing again. Kuzminsky no longer left his first love, looked after her in sorrow and in joy, and in 1867 their wedding took place.

Finally, fate played a nasty joke on Sergei Tolstoy, who decided to marry his gypsy, and Tatyana Bers: when both couples - Tatyana and Alexander, Sergei and Marya - were going to the priest to set a wedding date, their carriages met on a country road. The riders bowed and parted without saying a word. That night Tanya's pillow was wet with tears. Many years later, Bers’s nephew, Lev Nikolayevich’s son Ilya, wrote: “The mutual feelings of Uncle Seryozha and Aunt Tanya never died: They managed, perhaps, to drown out the flames of the fire, but they were unable to extinguish its last sparks.” The same opinion arose in Kuzminsky after he read the diaries of his bride with her permission. The passion palpable in every line evoked jealous reproaches from him. Tatyana answered him: “I will not allow anyone to rule over my soul and heart!” She was not easily subdued by circumstances.
Tatyana Andreevna Kuzminskaya had a long life ahead, a difficult relationship with her husband, and never completely extinguished feelings for Sergei Nikolaevich. But this fragile woman had a remarkable and strong nature. Lev Nikolayevich portrayed in the married Natasha his ideal of the mother of the family, “throwing away all her charms at once.” But Tatyana did not succumb to his influence and did not embody other people’s ideals with her own life: she did not give up her “charms”, did not show the guests the described diapers and still paid a lot of attention to the “delicacy of speech” and the toilet. Tanya Kuzminskaya did not merge with the image of Natasha Rostova. She was and remained one of those few women whom Leo Tolstoy allowed to argue with himself and defend their own point of view. Let us note that his wife Sofya Andreevna, for example, did not belong to this category. Independent and bright, Tatyana Bers-Kuzminskaya lived her own life. For many years she defended her “I” from the sincere concerns of her loving relatives - a heavy burden for a very young girl. Until today, Tatyana Kuzminskaya has to compete with her literary incarnation. And, I must say, she emerged victorious in this fight!

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Tatiana Kuzminskaya
My life at home and in Yasnaya Polyana

Part I
1846–1862

And where are you, peaceful pictures,
Lovely rural simplicity?
Among the warlike valley
I fly on the wings of dreams.

Pushkin

I. Ancestors on the father's side

My father was a Lutheran. His grandfather was from Germany. During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, regiments were formed, and instructors were needed to teach the new system. At the request of the empress, the Austrian emperor sent four officers of the cuirassier regiment to St. Petersburg, including captain Ivan Bers. He served in Russia for several years, married a Russian and was killed at the Battle of Zohrendorf. Our family spoke little about his wife, and I know nothing about her.

After the death of Ivan Bers, his only son, Eustathius, remained, who inherited a decent fortune from his mother.

Evstafiy Ivanovich, my father's father, lived in Moscow and married Elizaveta Ivanovna Wulfert, who was youngest daughter in a large family. She was a descendant of the ancient Westphalian nobles, whose family tree lies before me as I write these lines. I knew two of my grandmother’s sisters: Ekaterina, who married the landowner Voight, and Maria, who remained a girl. Then I remember one Wulfert, who was the Lubensky district leader of the nobility of the Poltava province for several three years. Another relative of the grandmother, a guard colonel, was the personal adjutant of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich.

In 1808, Evstafy Ivanovich had two sons: the elder Alexander and the younger Andrey (later my father). Like many wealthy families of that time, my grandfather’s family lived carefree in Moscow, despite the disasters that threatened it, which began in 1805. Many did not notice and did not want to notice the clouds that were slowly approaching Russia.

In 1812, there was a rumor that the French were approaching Moscow. As you know, residents of Moscow, who had not left the city before, left their homes and property in panic and left Moscow with great difficulty, not finding horses and carts. This was the case with my grandfather's family. Carried away by the general panic, grandmother Elizaveta Ivanovna decided to leave Moscow and went to the Vladimir province, to the estate of Prince Shakhovsky. I don’t know what relation she had to the Shakhovskys.

Evstafiy Ivanovich was left alone with his old servant, hoping to save at least part of his property. But he soon had to flee. The French were already entering Moscow, and fires were breaking out in all corners of the city. Both of his houses on Pokrovka burned down before his eyes. It was impossible to stay any longer, and he decided to run away.

At night, dressed in a simple dress, with two pistols from the famous old Lazaro-Sazarini factory, the only ones that had survived from all his property, he left the house. His old servant remained in the city.

The streets were dark and empty. There was a stench and a smell of burning in the air. Evstafiy Ivanovich safely got out of the city and walked quickly along the Vladimirsky tract. Along the way there were carts with wounded; in the villages where he stayed, they told him stories about the French, about the flight of the landowners, about how they buried gold, silver and other valuables. The peasants complained about the devastation of the fields, about ruin and insults.

In the distance he could see a red glow spread across the entire sky, and the stench in the air eloquently told him that all of Moscow was engulfed in flames.

Not feeling tired, he walked to the Vladimir province, where his family had gone. The thought that he remained a beggar depressed him; worry about whether his family had arrived safely haunted him. He walked like this for several days. He went through a lot during this time, as my father told me.

He was not destined to end his journey safely. On the way, he met a cordon of French soldiers and was arrested by them. Having asked who he was and learned from him that he knew French and German languages, they took him along as a translator, taking away his last property - two pistols.

I don’t know how long he was in captivity; I also don’t know whether he escaped from captivity or was released voluntarily, but I know that in the end he made it to the Shakhovsky estate, where he found his family.

At the end of the campaign, my grandfather’s family returned to Moscow and settled on the outskirts of the city in a small, low house, more like a hut. The windows froze in winter; the cracks were sealed with rags. The house was drowning in snowdrifts. The poverty was complete. I was told that my grandmother sewed reticules and sold them.

Finally, the government paid Evstafy Ivanovich only three thousand in banknotes for the losses caused by the war. No amount of trouble helped him get a large amount, and he had to come to terms with this reward: our government did not have the means to pay the losses not only with a full ruble, but even with a tenth of it, since Emperor Alexander I, while in Paris, presented the French with a military indemnity.

Having sold the place from under the burnt houses and adding to this money the three thousand rubles he received from the government, the grandfather again entered some kind of service and got down to business. His affairs gradually improved, but he could never return to his previous state.

When the boys grew up, they were sent to the best boarding school of Schlözer at that time; then, at the age of 15–16, they entered Moscow University, the Faculty of Medicine. Both are tall, handsome and capable; they graduated from university by the age of 19–20. At the end of the course, my father, as a doctor, went to Paris with the Turgenev family. Ivan Sergeevich was still a boy then. Railway It wasn’t there yet, and they were traveling in carriages. My father always remembered this journey as the most pleasant, poetic time.

My father lived in Paris for two years. He spoke with particular interest about this time. He attended lectures and improved in his specialty. In the evenings he listened to Italian opera, in which she participated famous singer Malibran of that time. My father was very musical; most of all he loved Italian music and often he himself took part in famous amateur Italian operas, organized at that time in Moscow by Princess Volkonskaya.

Our family has maintained a forever relationship with Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. Even as a child, I remember how every time Turgenev came to Moscow, he visited us. I also remember endless conversations at dinner about hunting in the Tula and Oryol provinces, and how I listened attentively to Turgenev’s stories about beautiful areas, about the sunset, about a smart hunting dog... And I was drawn to this unknown world, to this young birch forest, where he stood on the spring draft of woodcocks, which he so eloquently and lovingly described to his father.

Returning from Paris, my father entered the public service to the Senate. He was given a government apartment in the Kremlin Palace building. During the reign of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, my father received the court title of state physician. Then he worked to restore his noble dignity and coat of arms, since everything burned down in the 12th year, which was returned to both brothers.

The father moved his parents to live with him. Evstafiy Ivanovich soon died, and his mother, Elizaveta Ivanovna, lived with my father even after his marriage.

II. My maternal great-grandfather gr. P. V. Zavadovsky

My mother belonged to an ancient noble family. She was the daughter of Alexander Mikhailovich Islenyev and Princess Kozlovskaya, born Countess Zavadovskaya.

My great-grandfather by blood, Count Pyotr Vasilyevich Zavadovsky, was famous statesman and temporary worker of Catherine II. I read a lot about him and heard from my grandfather Islenyev, and in the subsequent presentation I borrow a lot from the notes of Listovsky, who was married to the granddaughter of Count. P. V. Zavadovsky.

Zavadovsky was one of those talented people, whom Catherine knew how to distinguish with her eagle gaze. While still young, he served under Count Rumyantsev, who then ruled Little Russia.

An insignificant incident promoted Zavadovsky to the service. Once, on behalf of Count Rumyantsev, Zavadovsky wrote a memo on a secret matter; it was to be presented to the empress. After reading the note, Rumyantsev approved it.

“White her,” he ordered.

When Zavadovsky rewrote it, it was sent to Catherine.

-Who wrote this note? – asked the empress. – I read the first business note with pleasure.

She was informed that it was Zavadovsky.

After this, Zavadovsky was appointed ruler of the secret office of Count Rumyantsev.

Later, Zavadovsky took part in Turkish war in 1769. He took part in the battle of Larga and Kagul, where our corps of eighteen thousand defeated one and a half hundred thousand Turks.

The Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Treaty was written by Zavadovsky together with Count Vorontsov.

In Moscow, probably the Rumyantsev Museum, there was a “statue of peace”, which depicts Count Rumyantsev and his assistants: Vorontsov, Bezborodko and Zavadovsky.

The following legend has been preserved.

After the end of the war, Rumyantsev refused the main entrance. He was traveling to Moscow to the Empress in a court carriage. Sitting opposite him was Zavadovsky, already with the rank of colonel. The Empress then lived at the Prechistensky Gate in the house of Prince Golitsyn.

Catherine met the winner on the porch and kissed him. Then she turned her attention to Zavadovsky, who stood aside, amazed by her majestic simplicity. Rumyantsev introduced Zavadovsky as a person who shared his work for ten years. The Empress paid attention not only to the handsome young colonel, but also to the St. George Cross hanging on his chest, and immediately gave him a diamond ring with her name.

Soon Zavadovsky was promoted to major general and then promoted to adjutant general. He lived in a palace. This rapprochement occurred in 1775.

So two years passed. Zavadovsky had many envious people and ill-wishers, and the court with its intrigues began to weigh on him. He wrote to his friend Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, who then lived in Italy:

“I have known the court and people from the bad side, but I will not change my character for anything, for I am not seduced by anything. In my condition I need a donkey’s patience.” In another letter he wrote to his friend. “Meekness and moderation are not suitable at court; While you honor everyone, you yourself will be despised by everyone.”

In 1777, Zavadovsky, on the advice of Vorontsov, went to the village, where, while relaxing, he enjoyed reading, hunting and farming. But he did not have to live in the village for long; he was soon returned by Catherine to the capital, where he was overwhelmed with business.

Zavadovsky's activities were very extensive. He participated in all the reforms of the second half of Catherine's reign. According to the historian Bogdanovich, Zavadovsky did more for the state in eight years than was done in the entire previous century.

Zavadovsky was entrusted with the management of the Corps of Pages, which was not then military, and other schools of the court department. He participated in the transformation of the Senate's office work. For example, in the past, the reading of a case lasted 5-6 weeks, and it goes without saying that its content could not be clearly retained in the memory of the senators, which the office cleverly took advantage of.

In 1784 he was chairman of the commission for the construction St. Isaac's Cathedral. Then the founding of the Medical-Surgical Academy belongs to him. He sent young doctors to London and Paris.

His favorite hobby there was public education. In 25 provinces, Zavadovsky founded public schools, which was mainly appreciated by the empress.

For his activities, Zavadovsky was granted by Catherine the title of count and an estate in Little Russia of six thousand souls, adjacent to his family. He called it “Ekaterinodar”, but Paul, upon ascending the throne, renamed it “Lyalichi”, which means “toy” in Little Russian.

Once Zavadovsky, under Catherine, praised the construction famous architect Gwarengi. Then the Empress instructed Guarengi to draw a plan for the palace and other buildings and begin work in Lyalichi, to which Zavadovsky remarked:

“In these mansions, mother, crows will fly,” making it clear that he is lonely, and there will be no one to live there.

“Well, that’s what I want,” said the empress.

Both the palace and outbuildings were erected. This magnificent estate was famous throughout the area.

Zavadovsky decided to marry very late, at 48 years old, to the beautiful young Countess Apraksina. He wrote about his intention to the empress. Catherine did not like the Apraksins and wrote:

“I feel sorry for the honest one, good Peter Vasilyevich, takes a sheep from black sheep».

To which Zavadovsky replied: “I’m taking a lamb from a mangy flock, but I firmly hope in my spirit that leprosy will not stick to me in any way, just as gold taken out of the dirt and cleansed from it does not stain anyone’s hands... Bless, I most humbly ask, my new lot with maternal blessing. From you I have all the good things of life. You are my cover and hope.”

The Empress sent Zavadovsky an image of the Savior, and his bride was granted a maid of honor.

Catherine herself traveled at this time in the south of Russia. Zavadovsky's wedding took place on April 30, 1787.

There is a portrait of Countess Zavadovskaya depicted with her little daughter Tatyana. He was written by famous artist Lumpy. This beautiful picture, as I was told, was in the palace in. K. Konstantin Nikolaevich, but I don’t know where she is currently.

Family life Zavadovsky's life turned out unhappily. The older children died; He especially grieved over the death of his eldest daughter, Tatyana, who died at the age of 4.

He wrote to Vorontsov: “What an unhappy father I am, why should I say! Only the first voice heard the six children and, holding them in his arms, he put them in the coffin.” “The incomparable daughter took all my well-being and my father’s happiness with her to the grave. Although I live, but, as if struck by thunder, I myself do not feel my life.”

Hard work and constant study saved him from utter despair.

Zavadovsky was tired, he was drawn to the village, he loved his dear Lyalichi, but his wife did not share his tastes: she did not love the village, led a secular court life, and no luxury in Lyalichi reconciled her with the village.

Her husband was a passionate hunter. The Surazh district, where his estate was located, was very remote and famous for all kinds of animals and game. Zavadovsky strove for solitude with all his soul, especially since the news of the death of the adored empress found him ill.

At the beginning of his reign, Paul treated Zavadovsky very mercifully; he sent his page to inquire about his health and on the day of his coronation he awarded him the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. In 1799, in February, the entire imperial family attended his ball, and Pavel, who was used to going to bed at 10 o’clock, left the ball, but the family stayed for dinner.

Maria Fedorovna had great confidence in Countess Zavadovskaya and often, locked up with her, cried about something that upset her.

Zavadovsky's activity decreased, although he remained in the Senate, in the bank and in various commissions, but his favorite cause, public education, was not in his hands. He was bored, mopey and wrote to Vorontsov:

“I have no business or place. The title is more empty than active, and a person, like any metal, rusts without use.”

Moreover, Zavadovsky was oppressed by Pavel’s hot-tempered, suspicious disposition, and he dreamed of resignation, which he sought in every possible way, but Empress Maria Fedorovna was against his resignation, and Pavel did not agree to it for a long time.

Zavadovsky knew that all his correspondence with Vorontsov was being read, and that ill-wishers were watching him in every possible way.

He wrote to Vorontsov:

“I am overwhelmed by sadness and despondency and strongly desire to take away my bones so that they are not buried in the fence of Neva.”

Finally he managed to get fired. Zavadovsky was in disgrace. Catherine's people became more and more thin around the emperor's throne.

The count was happy to return to his Lyalichi again. He set to work on the farm with pleasure. He loved gardening and did it himself, completed his own buildings and read a lot. But his wife was very bored in Derema and mourned her former St. Petersburg court life, as my grandfather told me.

A curious incident gives an idea of the order of that time.

Zavadovsky's ill-wishers informed Pavel that the count lived above him. This meant that the Mikhailovsky Palace stood below the count's house. Fortunately, Zavadovsky was warned in time and managed to order the basement floor and the terrace near the house to be filled up, which made the house a yard lower. This mound remains to this day.

Two years have passed since Zavadovsky left the capital. Paul's death made a big change in the count's life. In 1801, in March, Zavadovsky received with a courier from St. Petersburg from Alexander I a rescript written in his hand:

“Count Pyotr Vasilievich. At the very beginning of my accession to the throne, I remembered your faithful service and your talents, which you always used for its benefit. With this conviction, I wish you to hasten to come here and receive the verbal assurance that I am your friend.

Alexander".

Excited and moved to tears, Zavadovsky, telling his wife his joy, immediately sent a messenger to Surazh for the police officer to make orders about the horses along the postal route and go to the capital.

The hunter, riding on horseback after the police officer, found him playing cards. It must be said that the police chief knew better than anyone that Count Zavadovsky was in disgrace; he took advantage of his disgraced position, oppressing him wherever possible, wanting to profit from the former nobleman.

The police officer told me to say that he was busy and couldn’t come.

“Change the horse,” Zavadovsky ordered, “and tell him to ride immediately.”

And again the messenger galloped to Surazh. The police officer appeared with a dissatisfied look, and explained that he was a busy man and could not be sent for him until nightfall.

“I need to prepare horses along the highway to Smolensk,” said Zavadovsky, showing the rescript of the reigning sovereign.

“Sorry, it’s my fault,” the frightened police officer said, falling to his knees.

The bribe-taker police officer was sent to Vyatka, but soon, at the insistence of Zavadovsky, he was forgiven.

Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Zavadovsky was graciously received by the sovereign and appointed chairman of the commission for drafting laws, present in the Senate. He set to work again with ardor. His progressive views are visible from his letter to Count Vorontsov; he writes to his friend:

“Clouds of books of theoretical jurisprudence, which does not fit in with Russian life... I really want to destroy the whip, which I have never seen either in kind or in action, but one name raised and raises all the hatred in me.”

His dream was destined to come true only 50 years after his death.

Zavadovsky returned to his favorite activity again! And. He was Russia's first minister of public education. From his notes and letters during this time it is clear how tired he was from the service and how poorly he felt. He was already 72 years old, and his health had deteriorated greatly. He dreamed of returning to the village again, but this was impossible.

His children were growing up. He then had three daughters and two sons. Emperor Alexander I expressed his favor to him: his sons, youths, were granted chamber cadets; eldest daughter Sofia - maid of honor. His wife was awarded a knighthood of the Order of St. Catherine; In 1805, he himself received the diamond signs of St. Andrew the First-Called.

Zavadovsky died in 1812 and was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The Zavadovsky family ceased to exist. The eldest son died unmarried. The second was married and had a son, who died at the age of 16. Lyalichi was first sold to Engelhardt, then passed to Baron Cherkasov, then sold to the merchant Samykov.

One poet-traveler, having visited Lyalichi in the sixties, wrote the following poems, including in them local legends:

Here is the great queen
I created a shelter for my pet,
Art has called here,
And everything that only the capital shines with,
Transported into the silent wilderness.
The plan was drawn up by the brave Guarengi,
A palace arose, a temple was erected,
The city is full of beautiful buildings
Seen here and there everywhere.
Magnificent palaces,
Rotunda, a hall of luxurious row...
They look at the traveler from the walls
From the carpets beauties and gods,
And, full of waters, meadows and shadows,
An extensive park lay all around;
Kiosks and gazebos in it.
And herds of deer run around
In a menagerie dark and dense.
Under the dome, on a hill
Artist's hands creation -
Rumyantsev's colossus stood.
But the current of time took everything away:
The Jew took Rumyantsev away,
The wide yard is overgrown with grass,
And desolation reigned
In the palace and park. Only there
Sometimes he wanders at night
Wife under a black veil
In black clothes. Who is she?
He walks through the empty halls.
Her gait is barely audible,
Yes, the dresses are noisy, and in the darkness of the mirrors
Sometimes her face flashed.
Another vision:
Drives through the park at one o'clock at night
Coach. Her knock is dull
Can be heard far away. What's happened -
Is it the same carriage? Who is sitting in it?
Rumor among the people says
It's as if the queen herself is in it
He races with his pet in the park.

How Tanechka Bers became Natasha Rostova. All readers, without exception, are familiar with the image of Natasha Rostova from the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace".

All readers, without exception, are familiar with the image of Natasha Rostova from the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". Some people admire her, others hate her, but it is impossible to remain indifferent to her. He did not remain indifferent to the “ugly big-mouthed girl” and great writer, and not just because she was his wife's sister.

The medical doctor Andrei Evstafievich Bers had four children: a son, Alexander, and three daughters, Elizaveta, Sophia and Tatyana. Sofya Andreevna became the wife of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, gave birth to thirteen children, took care not only of the household and money, but also of publishing her husband’s works. After his death she for a long time kept the estate in order, and tourists from all over owe a lot to her globe what they can see when they arrive in Yasnaya Polyana.

But in his greatest novel, Tolstoy did not reveal it to his readers. His imagination, and then the imagination of many film directors, was struck by Sofia Andreevna’s sister, Tanya. Natural manners, mistakes in French, a passionate desire for love and happiness - all these qualities of Natasha Rostova were inherent in Tatyana Bers. “I’m recording you all!” - Tolstoy often said to his daughter-in-law, and it was true.

Charming young girl, loving life, enthusiastically reacting to all her manifestations - this is Natasha Rostova and... Tatyana Bers, and in her marriage Kuzminskaya.

Letters of love

Tanya's cousin Alexander Kuzminsky was her first love. A law student, a man of honor, an altruist, in some ways even a simpleton, he allowed Tatyana to joke, laugh at himself, and patiently participated in the children's games in which she involved him. However, Tolstoy did not like Alexander and believed that he was not worthy of Tatiana. That’s why he portrayed him in “War and Peace” as a most unpleasant person - in the image of Boris Drubetsky, a calculating careerist. It may very well be that Kuzminsky was essentially like that, however, when it came to Tanya, he could never cope with his feelings.

The answer to his feelings were official letters, and even those, before falling into his hands, were strictly censored by the eldest of the Bers, Lisa. However, one day the lovers (Tanya was fourteen years old, Alexander was seventeen) allowed themselves to kiss, but immediately decided that they would not do “anything like that” again. And they also decided that they would get married as soon as Alexander graduated from college, that is, in four years.

What is four years when you are fourteen years old! This is a huge period of time during which you can find the meaning of life, lose it and find it again. After this exciting event, Kuzminsky left for St. Petersburg, Tanya was allowed to correspond with him. She wrote drafts in French, and Sister Lisa corrected spelling errors. Therefore, Tanya’s letters to the groom were always very decent - just like his correct answers.

And life in the Bers house went on as usual. Originated new love, but this time not from Tanya, but from Sonya. Soon she married Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy and went with him to Yasnaya Polyana.

Whirlpool of emotions

Seeing that Tanechka was bored without her beloved sister and friend, Andrei Evstafievich took her with him to St. Petersburg. Before leaving, her mother gave her many instructions that were supposed to protect the sixteen-year-old girl from the temptations of the capital: speak French, do not run around the house, do not shout and “behave properly” with Kuzminsky. The caring mother foresaw everything, except for what no one can foresee: the outbreak of a new (and perhaps the first) passion. Its subject was Anatol - but not Kuragin, as in the novel, but Shostak, the son of an aunt, the head of the Nikolaev Institute of Noble Maidens, Ekaterina Nikolaevna Shostak.

So, another cousin. But how different! Handsome, socialite, smart and charming gentleman. And his compliments: “You are lovely today, this hairstyle suits you so well!” He looked at her completely differently from other men. Under this gaze she felt at the same time like an adult and very stupid, speechless, and frightened. In a word, it was a very exciting confusion of feelings.

Kuzminsky was wary, but did not consider it possible for himself to intervene and suffered quietly. But Lev Nikolaevich was not afraid to intervene. When one day Tanechka arrived in Yasnaya Polyana, and Anatole rushed after her, he put an end to this romance. The reason was a small incident on a country walk. Tanya and Anatole, who were riding on horseback, fell behind the others: Tatyana’s girth loosened, and Shostak took advantage of the situation to confess his love to his “object.” Lev Nikolaevich made a scandal for Tatyana and repeated for a long time: “Don’t let yourself go!” Shostak was actually kicked out. He and Tatyana Andreevna Kuzminskaya met only seventeen years later.

Gypsy passion

Lev Nikolaevich was, of course, a principled and sensitive person. But he intervened in the relationship between Tanechka Bers and Anatole not because of Alexander Kuzminsky’s serious intentions and not even because they hurt him personally. His brother Sergei, whom Leva idolized and considered the ideal of a person, was in love with the younger Bers.

Tanya and Sergei Nikolaevich became close even before her meeting with Anatoly Shostak, during the period of Lev Nikolaevich’s groom. Tatyana was only sixteen, and Sergei was already thirty-six, he was an experienced ladies' man. The younger Bers was so charming that the same thing happened to the elder Tolstoy as to Prince Andrei when he saw Natasha Rostova: “The wine of her charm went to his head.” Tatyana Bers, having conquered her newly acquired relative, fell head over heels in love. In the spring of 1863, Sergei Nikolaevich proposed to Tanya, but the wedding was postponed for a year due to the youth of the bride. At the appointed time, the groom arrived in Yasnaya Polyana. There were two weeks left before the wedding, preparations were in full swing.

And then the unexpected became clear: Sergei Nikolaevich had already been cohabiting for fifteen years with the gypsy Masha, who bore him three children and was expecting a fourth. Everyone knew about this except Tatyana. The writer’s brother seriously thought: “Should I marry the Bers girl?” Tatyana herself put an end to his tossing, refusing the “groom” with everyone’s approval. Then she decided to end it and own life, who became meaningless without a loved one, and took poison.

When the poison had already begun to take effect, Alexander Kuzminsky, her cousin, her first love, her ex-fiancé, who had now become just her friend, entered Tanya’s room. He told her that he had come from Yasnaya Polyana, and in five days his sister and her husband and Sergei Nikolaevich would arrive.

Sergey Nikolaevich! The thought that they could be together again lifted Tanya out of bed. She entered her mother’s room and said: “Mom, I was poisoned.” Immediately there was a terrible commotion, Tanya was given an antidote, and she came out of her in extreme pain. After an illness caused by an attempted poisoning, she emerged as a different person. And she also decided to connect her life with another person - Alexander Kuzminsky, to whom fate seemed to point her. Like the heroine of the novel, Tanya’s heart wound “healed from the inside”; she learned to smile and sing again. Kuzminsky no longer left his first love, looked after her in sorrow and in joy, and in 1867 their wedding took place.

All his experiences T.A. Kuzminskaya reflected in her diaries, which end simultaneously with the unmarried, “Natasha” period of her life. The family life of Natasha Rostova, described by Tolstoy, is nothing less than the ideal of family life for the writer. Tanechka (now Tatyana Andreevna), unlike Natasha, did not gain weight and continued to monitor both her speech and her toilette. The Kuzminsky family life was also not ideal: between them stood Tatyana’s love for Sergei Tolstoy - a strong, unfeigned, mutual, real unhealed wound. Tatyana Andreevna lived a long time, eventful life, but forever remained young, fragile,