Tatiana Kuzminskaya. Destiny, translated into all languages ​​of the world - Shchekino, Shchekinsky district, Tula region

July 16th, 2014 , 02:59 pm

I was compiling a portfolio for a film studio here and decided to post this information on the blog from there - for journalists)

NIKOLAY ARKHIPOV (DJ Arhipoff) - composer, music producer, arranger, remixer, guitarist, and also well-known in the domestic punk rock community, the author and producer of the album “Bomb Rex” - the best album / 2000 / cult group"Az". As a super guitarist and bass player, Nikolai Arkhipov not only worked with many famous musicians, such as Kamal Balan, Dr. Alexandrov, Rishad Shafi, gr. “Arabica” “Gunesh”, Anatoly Gerasimov and others, but also taught more than 1000 people to play the instrument, who now work in almost all famous young Moscow rock bands. He created several young rock bands - "Reaktor" http://www.realmusic.ru/reaktor_arhipov/, "Stinger" / an album of Nikolai Arkhipov's works released by the Megaliner company in 2004/ and "Splashes" (with the hit - Internet, sounded on Radio Maximum). Nikolai Arkhipov's (dj arhipoff) remix of the soundtrack to the film “9th Company” broke all records for downloads on the Internet - more than a million downloads from 20 countries - and was heard on almost all radio stations in the country. Author of instrumental pieces, etc.
In pop music, Nikolai Arkhipov first tried himself as a composer and music producer 12 years ago, recording a clip of his songs with the young singer Zhenya Topol. “Girl-Summer”, the main hit from her first album, included in all the charts, including the Golden Gramophone, was also created by Nikolai Arkhipov.

Creative Union Nikolai Arkhipov and Lyubov Voropaeva has existed for 10 years. Together they successfully and fruitfully collaborate in both pop and rock music. Among them joint work songs “I am alone, you are alone”, “The sky is getting closer” (Spanish Leusz Lubich), “Wild love”, “I forget our nights”, “Just don’t be silent”, “Russian bathhouse” (Spanish Andrey Vertuzaev) , project by Ivan Panchenko (songs “Medals”, “White Elephant”, “Roses”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, etc., which occupied the top lines of the charts of many radio stations), songs “She was looking for love” (Spanish Zlata Bozhen ), “And I’m Russian” (Tatyana Chubarova), “Fate” (Artur Rudenko), “Just Fly” and “Not for You” (Roma Vlasov (Ricci), “Winged Soul” (Alexander Kvarta, Ukraine), “Lonely hearts" (Alexander Kaminsky), works for the rock groups "Reactor", "Stinger" and "Bryzgi", which were rotated on many radio stations and included in all punk rock collections, "Love has your eyes" - Ivan Lovi, (music producer - Nikolai Arkhipov), an album of 10 songs “My Tender” by Sergei Dymov: “I’m jealous”, “My Tender”, “Autumn Angel”, “Red Guitar”, etc., albums of songs by Alexander Bury and Alexey Pinchuk (arranger and music producer – Nikolai Arkhipov), project “Herr Anton” with hits “Lonely Man”, “Plump Girls”, “Bald Baby”, “Natasha V.”, “Alka Nau”, “Happy New Year!” and others (music, arrangements , music production, recording), Kirill Andreev (“Ivanushki International”) with the hit “Coffee with Rum” and so on.. and so on.

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 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 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 put an end to her own life, which had become meaningless without her 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.

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.

All his experiences T.A. Kuzminskaya reflected in her diaries, which end simultaneously with the unmarried, “Natasha” period of her life. Family life 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,

Maybe she looked like this?

Yesterday I read a wonderful post. evo_lutio about the balance and union of Hecate and Selene, as a result of which the mature and beautiful Diana is born, whom it is impossible to pass by without “breaking your neck.” For anyone who hasn't read this author yet, I highly recommend it. In some cases (I’m sure!) it will help even those who are sure that their “roof” is in place and sits there quite firmly.

When thinking about the post, I thought - and it’s true, there are a number of women who managed to maintain, if not sexual attractiveness, then certainly attractiveness into old age, thanks to the special magic of their image; an image that is sometimes thoughtful, and sometimes born “from within,” coming from deep inner harmony. And slight self-confidence of course!

And at the same time, most of them were far from beauties in the usual sense.

Jeanne-Antoinette de Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (last lifetime portrait, after 40)

Grace, taste and subtle intelligence - is this enough to be the mistress of the king of the greatest of powers for 20 years? And at the same time, do everything so that he does not notice either his cool temperament, or his ordinary appearance, or his cynical extravagance. I think this is not always enough; there were, are and will be many more skeins, but there is only one Pompadour!

Elizaveta Ksaverevna Vorontsova (Branitskaya)

“He (Vorontsov) could not help but like her: it cannot be said that she was pretty, but no one except her had such a pleasant smile, and the quick, gentle look of her cute little eyes pierced right through. Moreover, Polish coquetry made its way in her through the great modesty to which her Russian mother taught her from an early age, which made her even more attractive.”
This is what a contemporary wrote about her (F.F. Wigel).

She was a "girl" until she was 26 years old, in order to eventually marry the rich and noble nobleman Mikhail Vorontsov and shine in full force your charm (and your spouse’s wealth). Already a fully mature lady, she turned the heads of hordes of admirers, including Pushkin and Alexander Raevsky. 20-year-old Pushkin fell in love with her when she was 36.

Pauline Viardot

The phenomenon of the wild popularity of this frankly ugly lady among men is well described in George Sand’s novel “Consuelo”, the prototype main character which Viardot became - when she started singing, the audience literally went crazy, no one paid attention to her physical ugliness. Although many sing well, not all admirers have been dying for decades. Turgenev drowned in these languid eyes for 40 years!

Tatyana Andreevna Kuzminskaya-Bers

One of my favorite “ugly beauties” is the prototype of Natasha Rotova, the sister of Tolstoy’s wife. Those around her, without any discussion, recognized her as irresistible despite the obvious imperfection of her features. Lev Nikolaevich himself, who had observed her since childhood, considered her absolutely charming. It was lively passionate girl, cheerful, spontaneous. Like literary heroine, which was copied from her, she sang wonderfully. She had many admirers and was repeatedly wooed. The “adult”, secretly married brother of Lev Nikolaevich fell madly in love with her, mutually, the lovers wanted to run away, but their plan was revealed (the details of the story, the exposure of the “bigamist” and the girl’s suicide attempt - all this was described by Tolstoy in the episode of Natasha’s failed escape with Anatoly) . And then Tanya married her childhood friend, cousin Sasha Kuzminsky.

Alma Mahler

She was called "the wife of geniuses", "muse" and... "cloaca". She was married three times - to Gustav Mahler, the architect Walter Gropius and the writer Franz Werfel. Her lovers were also the artist Oskar Kokoschka and the composer Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Gustav Klimt was after her for some time. Alma herself wrote music and even gave a little concert. A real "la femme tarible", but she looks like an ordinary, albeit quite pleasant lady.

Inessa Armand

An interesting lady, but not perfectly beautiful either. Although her contemporaries described her as a bright beauty and a fiery rebel, in the photographs we see an ordinary woman with smart eyes and not entirely correct facial features. She left her first husband for his younger (18-year-old) brother, and later almost broke up the family of Lenin and Krupskaya - her affair with the leader of the proletariat lasted 10 years. After her sudden death Lenin never recovered from cholera - he himself suffered a stroke a few months later.

Matilda Kshesinskaya

The Romanovs always loved to wander behind the scenes of ballet. Several of them wandered towards her at once (don’t think, no disgrace - not all at once, in turn): Tsarevich Nicholas, his cousin Sergei Mikhailovich and another cousin Andrei Vladimirovich. She eventually married the latter, already in immigration. Despite her controversial career, she was an outstanding, very technical ballerina. And tiny - 1 m 52 cm. It’s hard to call her a beauty - there is something elusively bird-like about her. Photographs, even the highest quality, shamelessly rob pretty women - we cannot appreciate grace and plasticity, we cannot hear a gentle voice and ringing laughter - what love magic is made of.
It’s interesting, but with a stretch I can consider myself a contemporary of hers - she lived to be almost 100 years old and died when I was 2 months old.

Mata Hari (Margaret Gertrude Zelle)

Looking at latest photos of this woman, taken already in prison before the execution, it is impossible to believe that for a night with her men were ready to pay crazy amounts of money, give diamonds and give away state secrets. She - clear example, what an ordinary (and not the most beautiful) woman can achieve when she is properly angered by her scoundrel husband. Margareta began dancing naked, came up with an exotic name for herself, a beautiful legend and raised the price to the skies. If it looks so easy, try it again!

Sofya Petrovna Kuvshinnikova

“There was a lot in Kuvshinnikova that could please and captivate. One can completely understand why Levitan became interested in her.” O. Knipper-Chekhova.
Levitan fell deeply in love with her when he was 28. Women liked him unimaginably, and he knew it, but he chose her - 41 years old, married, ugly. She had a simple face and dark skin, but she was beautifully built until old age and very original: she loved hunting, painted pictures, played music, decorated her home a little pretentiously, arranged unusual techniques for people of art. The mocker-Chekhov was also in love with her, was jealous, then hated her and, in an ungentlemanly manner, made sarcastic remarks about her behind her back.

Sonya Golden Pen(Blyuvshtein Sofya Ivanovna)

She was pockmarked and had a wart on her cheek. She was born in a Jewish town, somehow received a good education, and knew languages. This woman had amazing charm and excellent manners, she lured rich fools in order to then rob them with their boyfriends (or husbands, she changed several of them). Her personality still excites minds, even though her “career” did not last long - about 15 years. She escaped from hard labor several times, “making the guards fall in love” with her. But still life ended like this:

Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai.

You probably already know about “a glass of water” by heart. Noblewoman, revolutionary, first Soviet female ambassador, tireless sexual reformer. Crowds of fans and lovers to their very gray hairs. But the usual one in the photo!

Gala (Elena Dyakonova)
Wife and muse of Salvador Dali, previously the wife of the poet Paul Eluard (and mistress of Max Ernst). She managed to combine the qualities of a muse and a cynical manager who managed all her husband’s affairs. The marriage was strong and happy, but in its own way - Gala did not miss a single man of interest to her (fortunately, there was no end to them), especially in her old age.

Golda Meir
I once read a biographical essay about her, and was quite surprised: the 5th Prime Minister (and creator) of Israel, “the woman who collected money for the whole country,” had a rich sex life and many lovers! Men who knew her said that until old age she emanated an amazing sexual magnetism - this is from her grandmother, who was more like her grandfather, smoked like the Chaiten volcano, and had only two dresses (“one for going out, the other for other occasions” )!!!

Josephine Baker
Only officially she was married 5 times! I saw her dancing on YouTube, and this is what I found interesting: even though she danced almost naked, her movements were more comical and self-irony than erotic! Her figure is divine, it’s not for nothing that she was called the “ebony princess”, her plasticity is amazing, inhuman, and her face is rustic. But there is an abyss of charm and humor.

Lou Salome

What did she do in her life - writing, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and sex, of course. Moreover, for a long time I somehow didn’t dare (with my husband, with whom I lived for 40 years, I never entered into a full-fledged relationship), but in mature years Once I started, I couldn’t stop. She was loved by Nietzsche and Paul Rehe (platonically), Rilke and a dozen other German men and men of other nationalities. Large-mouthed, drooping forehead, protruding jaw, but very pleasant!

Lilya Yurievna Brik
Lilya was small, big-headed, with tiny arms and legs. She’s also red-haired and, as you can see, freckled. Hard look, right? The photo was taken by Osip Brik, her husband. It seems to me that he knew his wife well and very accurately captured her dark, animal essence in the frame. Her numerous men remembered her with reverence and even horror - her power over them was limitless. Isis!

Marlene Dietrich
She made herself and became an erotic symbol of her era. And if she hadn’t, she would have remained like this: a simple medchen, of which there are plenty behind bar counters and in weaving factories.

Wallis Simpson
Middle-aged, twice divorced, flat-chested, and from some angles, even repulsive. So what? And because of you, the British king abandoned the throne?

Coco Chanel
She rose from the very bottom, which she really didn’t like to remember. It was not thanks to beauty - she never had any special beauty or stature - but thanks to charm, talent and the ability to present herself, she became one of the most popular high society. Her lovers were millionaires, grand dukes and brilliant officers; Mademoiselle had something to remember in the long evenings of lonely old age.

Camilla Parker Bowles
It was not herds that ran after her, but one real British prince, and he did so all his life! For me, this is the most revealing, although sometimes not very beautiful, story. eternal love. I really like Camilla; It seems to me that her main weapon is optimism and a disarming smile.

Barbra Streisand
A truly demonic look! And also a beautiful voice and, they say, beautiful skin. Who didn’t look after her! Clinton even seemed to have a crush on her.

Maybe it’s all about some kind of magic that the beauties themselves do not control and are not aware of, maybe it’s about talent, maybe it’s about image and style. It’s hard for me to say, they are so different, and each is beautiful in its own way.

It is known that Tolstoy’s prototypes for Natasha Rostova were his wife Sophia, nee Bers, and his sister-in-law, Sophia’s sister, Tatyana. The fate of Sophia, the classic's wife, is well known to a wide range of readers, but how did Tatyana's life turn out? Her story is told in a wonderful blog Duchesselisa in LiveJournal.

Tanya was youngest daughter in the Bers family, she had 2 older sisters - Lisa and Sonya and brothers - Alexander and Vladimir. The Beers family was no different from many others noble families XIX century. Three dreamy girls grew up in an atmosphere of happiness, reading books, music, and Saturday dance classes.

Lisa, Tanya and Sonya

He talked with Lisa about literature, even attracted her to his magazine Yasnaya Polyana. He asked her to write two stories for his students: “About Luther” and “About Mohammed.” She wrote them beautifully, and they were published in their entirety in two separate books, among other appendices. He played four hands and chess with Sonya, often told her about his school and even promised to bring his two favorite students. He treated me like a teenager. He put me on his back and rolled him around all the rooms.”

Tanya and Sonya Bers (Tanya is standing)

But Sonya agreed... And Lisa could not forgive either her sister or Lev Nikolaevich for a very long time.

Tanya Bers’s first love and then her husband was her cousin Alexander Kuzminsky. However, was he love? More like a childhood friend, a beloved cousin. Moreover, Tanya very soon became interested in another young man - in St. Petersburg she falls madly in love with the secular dandy Anatol Shostak. And again echoes of “War and Peace”. Lev Nikolaevich very sharply condemned Tanya’s hobby, if not to say that he was angry with her, as if he himself were in Kuzminsky’s place.

Sister Sonya wrote to Tanya at that time: “I just received a letter from Sasha Kuzminsky, long, sweet and pitiful. Leva and I decided that he was nice, but it seems you traded him for the windbag Anatol. And even though I invited him to come to us, Sasha is much nicer and prettier to me.”

After a whirlwind of St. Petersburg balls, Tatyana returns to Yasnaya Polyana, Anatole follows her. But both Tatyana’s family and Anatole’s relatives are against this union. We're not even talking about an engagement, let alone a wedding. Sister Sonya and Lev Nikolaevich are trying in every possible way to convince Tanya and they succeed.

“The door opened and Anatole entered. He told me about his departure. Natalya Petrovna left the room, leaving us alone. I suddenly remembered our walk in Baburin, a small forest and a young crescent moon on the left... “To tears,” and I cried bitterly. I won’t describe our farewell - it was sad. I was angry with the Tolstoys for their attitude towards Anatole. Anatole and I, without knowing it, separated for a long time. We met for the first time after 16 - 17 years. I was married and had children. And he was married to his husband’s sister, Shidlovskaya. Anatole then served as governor in Chernigov.

I felt how calmness was gradually returning to me, and then my carefree cheerfulness. This love did not take root. This unconscious, young passion, like a wave in the surf, swept over me and immediately freed me.”

Sergei, Nikolai, Dmitry and Lev Tolstoy

Despair reached the point that Tanya even tried to poison herself:

“I took a glass, added powder to it and held it in front of me in thought. I felt neither fear nor remorse. Most likely, I didn’t think about anything then, but simply mechanically performed what was tormenting and sharpening me all this time. Hearing footsteps, I immediately drank this powder. Putting the glass down, I went to my room. I felt either pain or a burn on my tongue and mouth. I lay there quietly for half an hour, when something incredible and unexpected happened!
A bell rang in the hallway. About ten minutes later the door opened and Kuzminsky entered.
- Where? - I exclaimed in surprise, not knowing whether to rejoice at his arrival or not.
“From Yasnaya Polyana,” he answered. - Sonya, Lev Nikolaevich and Sergei Nikolaevich will arrive in Moscow in about five days. Lev Nikolaevich - to stage his play. I’m on my way to St. Petersburg from Kyiv, passing through Yasnaya and visiting you.
- I'm so glad to see you, - in a weak voice I said. - Are you for long?
- See you tomorrow. Are you sick?
- Yes, I’m not feeling well; but it will pass. Let's go upstairs, I'll order some coffee.
Having given the order, I called my mother and asked her to go to my room. The brothers stayed with Kuzminsky. I was already starting to feel severe pain.
Mother, not understanding anything, went downstairs with me. As we walked up the stairs, she asked me, noticing my paleness and anxiety:
- What's wrong with you? I didn't answer.
- Tanya, are you sick?
- Mom, Tolstoy and Sergei Nikolaevich are coming to Moscow in 4 - 5 days.
“Yes, I know,” said mom. - And you will finally talk to him!
“Mom, I was poisoned,” I said quietly but clearly. - You need to save me: I want to see him.
Mom didn’t listen to my words, her legs gave way, she turned pale and, in order not to fall, she quietly sank onto the steps of the stairs.”

And then cousin Sasha proposed to her, Tanya agreed. Was she happy with him? Judging by the memoirs, this cannot be said: “Despite the fact that we spent part of our youth together and, it would seem, knew each other well, we still had to “pull a heavy load up the mountain” during our honeymoon. But this does not mean that our affection for each other decreases. I don’t want to say this, but there was a difference in character, upbringing, outlook on life, on people. IN early youth, especially for me, the difference in views did not bother me. We slid along them. Like two fledgling chicks, we rejoiced in love. We indulged in it carelessly and mindlessly, especially me. My husband has always been more serious than me. And I, having already experienced a more serious feeling and not finding happiness in it, returned, as if under protection, to my first, unclouded, pure love, thinking of landing on the shore of salvation.”

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 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. 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-struck 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.

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 Nikolayevich 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 kicked 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.

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.
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 implement own life other people's ideals: 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 speeches” 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!