What is Ivan Susanin famous for? Ivan Susanin: biography, feat. What did Ivan Susanin do?

Not a single royal dynasty came to the throne as unusually as the House of Romanov. This remark belongs to the famous writer Ivan Gogol, who, not without reason, believed that the feat of Ivan Susanin inextricably linked the tsar with his subjects. What is known about this significant incident for Russian history?

Volkov Adrian - picture Death of Ivan Susanin

Due to the limited source base, the biography of Ivan Susanin is the subject of historical controversy. The only documentary source about his life is the charter of Mikhail Fedorovich in 1619. It talks about granting Susanin's son-in-law half of the village with relief from all taxes and duties, while the folk hero is mentioned quite briefly. The rest of the information about this man’s life is legendary.

It is generally accepted that Ivan Susanin was born in the village of Domnino, 70 miles away from Kostroma. According to one version, he was a serf peasant of the Shestov nobles, according to another, he served as a patrimonial headman. It is known that he had a daughter, Antonida, and a son-in-law, Bogdan Sabinin.

The above-mentioned royal letter states that in the winter of 1613, the newly elected Tsar Mikhail Romanov lived with his mother Martha in the village of Domnino. At that time, the Troubles turned from a civil war into a struggle against the interventionists from Poland. The nobles decided to capture the newly elected tsar; for this purpose, a small Polish-Lithuanian detachment headed to Domnino.

Along the way, the interventionists met the peasant Susanin, who was ordered to show the way to the village. But he led the detachment in the opposite direction, and sent his son-in-law Bogdan to Domnino to warn the tsar and his mother of the impending danger. Susanin led the Poles deep into the forest, and then to the Isupov swamp, for which he was tortured and killed. It is assumed that at that time this person was already in old age. The enemy detachment also died in impassable terrain. At this time, Mikhail Romanov took refuge in the Ipatiev Monastery.

After 6 years, the king thanked the relatives of the peasant who saved him by giving them land and exemption from taxes. The death of Ivan Susanin was not forgotten even later. The descendants of the national hero repeatedly received letters of grant and preferential decrees until 1837.

The cult of Ivan Susanin during the Russian Empire

In Tsarist Russia, the image of Ivan Susanin was the subject of a cult. Paintings, sculptures, musical and literary works were dedicated to his feat. It was his name that official propaganda actively used during the suppression of the Polish uprisings and the War of 1812.

In 1838, the central square of the city of Kostroma began to be officially called Susaninskaya. In addition, the hero was depicted among other prominent historical figures on the monument “Millennium of Russia” (1862). Propaganda had its effect; two centuries later, what Susanin did was to some extent repeated by Osip Komissarov, who saved Emperor Alexander II from death. It is interesting that Komissarov was born not far from Susanin’s native village.

Nevertheless, it was in pre-revolutionary Russia that the first criticism of the official version of the feat was voiced. Thus, the historian N. Kostomarov believed that the only reliable fact in the entire history of Susanin was his death from one of the bandits during the Time of Troubles. S. Soloviev was also known for critical reviews of this story, who believed that the peasant was tortured by the Cossacks.

probable place of death

During the Soviet era, the initial attitude towards Susanin was negative. So, in 1918, the monument to Ivan Susanin was thrown off its pedestal. The people's hero began to be called the king's servant, and the feat for which he became famous was called a fairy tale.

Attitudes changed dramatically in the late 1930s. He again entered the list of national heroes. The regional center, near which Susanin once lived, was renamed in his honor. At the same time, a version spread that he was a “patriot of the Russian Land” who fought against foreign invaders, and did not save the Tsar. In the 60s of the last century, a monument to Susanin was even erected in Kostroma.

In post-Soviet Russia, Susanin’s personality is interpreted in two ways. Most historians continue to call him a folk hero, while recognizing that he was prompted to his feat by vassal loyalty rather than patriotism. There are also several versions of how events took place. For example, A. Shirokopad believes that Susanin suffered from a predatory raid of the Zaporozhye Cossacks.

• In some publications, Susanin is given the patronymic name Osipovich. However, there is no mention of this in the sources; in addition, in the 17th century it was not customary to call peasants by their patronymics.
• In Soviet times, the peasant Matvey Kuzmin was no less famous than Susanin. In 1942, at the cost of his own life, he led a German detachment under machine-gun fire from Soviet soldiers. The enemy detachment was destroyed, but the German commander managed to kill Kuzmin. After the end of World War II, a book appeared describing the exploits of 58 “followers” ​​of Susanin.

In 2003, remains were discovered in the necropolis of the village of Isupovo that may belong to Susanin. However, professional archaeologists and historians dispute their authenticity.

BIOGRAPHY OF IVAN SUSANIN

One who does not remember his ancestors,

doesn't know himself...

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Photo. 1895

A house in the village of Derevenki, standing on the site where, according to legend, Bogdan Sobinin’s house was located.

One of the most important questions is: who was Ivan Susanin in the Domninsky estate? The documents of the 17th century say nothing about this. Historians of the 18th–19th centuries usually called him a peasant.

The archpriest, referring to the legends that existed in Domnina, was the first to point out that Susanin was not a simple peasant, but a patrimonial headman. He wrote: “That Susanin was the headman of the estate, I consider this reliable because I heard about it from my great-uncle. The elderly priest of the village of Stankov, Mikhail Fedorov, was raised, together with my own grandfather, by their grandfather, and my great-great-grandfather, the Domninsky priest Matvey Stefanov, a native of Domninsky and died around 1760. And this was the grandson of the Domninsk priest Photius Evseviev, an eye-witness of the mentioned event. This was recorded as a sexton under his father, the priest Eusebius, in a deed of gift from the great old lady Martha Ioannovna in 1631.” In another place he repeats again: “The old peasants of Domna also said that Susanin was the headman.”

Afterwards, some authors began to call Susanin Marfa Ivanovna’s clerk, and, apparently, this is true. As is known, in the boyar estates of the 16th–17th centuries there were two main officials: the headman and the clerk.

The headman was an elected official of the local community (“mir”), while the clerk (or “village”) was appointed by the owner of the estate. -Silvansky wrote: “The management and management of the master’s estate were usually in the hands of a clerk (village) authorized by the master... Poselsky was in charge of the master’s own household on the boyar land, but in relation to the plots occupied by peasants as independent owners, he was only a collector of dues and taxes, and also a judge and steward. His reward was the use of the granted plot of land, especially the special duties that he collected from the peasants for his own benefit.”

Apparently, Susanin was not an elected headman, but rather a clerk (village), managing the Domnina estate and living in Domnina at the boyar court. This conclusion is in no way contradicted by what Susanin calls “patrimonial headman.” Firstly, even in ancient times the term “elder” also had the meaning of “manager”. Secondly, by the time this term had somewhat changed its meaning, which it had in the 17th century, and from designating an elected person who performed a number of important worldly functions, it became - at least on noble estates - also synonymous with the words “clerk”, “ steward", "burmister".

We also know very little about Susanin’s family. Since neither documents nor legends mention his wife, then, most likely, by 1612–1613. she has already died. Susanin had a daughter, Antonida, who was married to a local peasant, Bogdan Sobinin.

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Photo. 1895

The village of Spas - They were wheezing. In the center is the Transfiguration Church.

https://pandia.ru/text/79/084/images/image006_27.jpg" align="left" width="117" height="173 src=">Apparently, it was the churchyard in Spas-Khripely that was the main a religious center for the peasants of the Domnino estate (the Church of the Resurrection in Domnino, as we remember, was clearly an estate), including, of course, for Ivan Susanin.

Most likely, it was here that he was baptized, got married and baptized his daughter Antonida; in the parish cemetery near the walls of the Transfiguration and St. Michael the Archangel churches, of course, his mother (whose name, apparently, was Susanna) and his wife, unknown to us, were buried; his father could also be buried here. Here, in the churchyard of Spas - Khripeli over Shacha, apparently, Ivan Susanin himself was initially interred.

You thought you found a traitor in me:

They are not and will not be on Russian soil!

In it, everyone loves their homeland from infancy

And he will not destroy his soul by betrayal.

He who is Russian at heart is cheerful and courageous

And joyfully dies for a just cause!

Kondraty Fedorovich Ryleev

Literature

1. “Ivan Susanin: legends and reality.” - Kostroma, 1997

2. “I saw Susanin.” - Yaroslavl, 1988

3. http://www. *****/biography/?id_rubric=4&id=489 Statesmen. Biography of Ivan Susanin.

4. http://www. *****/persona/1456/bio/ Ivan Susanin – biography

5. http://www. *****/biograf/bio_s/susanin_io. php BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX

The name of Ivan Susanin, who gave his life for the Tsar, is known to many history buffs, but this folk hero is especially appreciated by Kostroma residents. In the glorious city on the Volga there is a monument to a martyr who died a terrible death to save the life of the monarch. We invite you to find out what Ivan Susanin is famous for, as well as get acquainted with some interesting facts from his life journey.

Information about life

Since the hero of our material was a serf before he accomplished his feat, very little data about his childhood and life in general was preserved - no one was interested in the fate of an ordinary forced person. Therefore, in the biography of Ivan Susanin there are more blank spots than verified facts. However, researchers believe that this brave man was originally from the village of Derevnischi (another version is Derevenki), and lived in the village of Domnino, Kostroma region (which now belongs to the Susaninsky district).

It is believed that Susanin was not an ordinary serf, but the headman of the estate, however, this version is based on local legend and has no evidence. There is also an opinion that the future national hero lived at the boyar court and served as a clerk.

The next fact is that Ivan Susanin had a daughter, Antonida, who got married and gave birth to children. However, we have not received any information about the peasant’s wife, so researchers assumed that he was married, but widowed early.

Historical background

Speaking about what Ivan Susanin is famous for, it is necessary to characterize the historical situation that developed in Russia during the period of his life. It was a difficult time, the Time of Troubles, a time of fierce struggle for the throne on the one hand and Polish-Lithuanian attacks on the other. At the beginning of the 17th century, the country was struck by a horrific famine, the autocratic throne was temporarily occupied by an impostor, then the throne went to Prince Vasily Shuisky, who was king for about 4 years. The former monarch was overthrown, captured by the Poles and ended his life far from his native land.

The boyars came to power and tried to place a prince from Poland on the Russian throne. In these circumstances, Susanin’s feat takes on new meaning - the peasant not only saved a particular young monarch, but also prevented the fact that a Pole would be at the head of Russia.

Legend of the feat

What did Ivan Susanin do to immortalize his name forever? At the cost of his life, he saved Tsar Mikhail Romanov from an attack by a Polish-Lithuanian detachment. In 1613, the young monarch and his mother lived on their Kostroma estate in the village of Domnino, of which Susanin was the headman. The Polish invaders decided to get to the young king and kill him, but they needed a guide to show the way. The headman had to carry out this mission. Susanin managed to ask his son-in-law, Bogdan Sobinin, to warn Mikhail and advise him to take refuge behind the walls of the Ipatiev Monastery, which saved the Tsar’s life.

Death of a Hero

Threats and bribery had no effect. According to a popular legend, the brave peasant agreed, but led the enemy detachment into an impassable swamp, from which the strangers could not get out. Having exposed the deception, the Poles tortured the hero, but he did not give up and did not give up the tsar’s refuge. After this, the angry invaders brutally killed Ivan Susanin. Who was he, according to this concept? A true patriot who accepted martyrdom for the sake of Tsar Michael.

Another version of the feat

There is another legend explaining why Ivan Susanin is famous, more prosaic and therefore less popular. The point is this: Tsar Mikhail, while on his estate in Domnino, accidentally learned that a Polish detachment was approaching him to capture him. The monarch hastily fled and by chance ended up in the house of Ivan Susanin. He fed the tsar and hid him so well that the arriving Poles could not find Mikhail even with their dogs. They tortured the peasant, forcing him to reveal the location of the king, but the hero remained faithful to the ruler and accepted his death courageously.

After the detachment left, Mikhail left his refuge and hid behind the walls of the Ipatiev Monastery.

Historical facts

We got acquainted with the legend about the feat of Ivan Susanin. However, there is so little reliable information about this folk hero that some skeptics believe that he did not really exist. We invite you to find out some real historical information that has documentary evidence.

• Susanin entered the annals of history as a man who gave his life for the king. At the same time, some scientists question the formulation itself, because if this man led the Poles into impenetrable forests at the end of 1612 (and not in 1613, as is commonly believed), then young Mikhail was not yet a king.
• It is known for certain that the national hero was not a simple peasant, but a patrimonial headman of the Romanovs.
• Susanin's patronymic has not been preserved, despite the fact that, according to tradition, the full name Ivan Osipovich is attributed to him. We have not received information about the real name of the hero’s father.
• The sources do not contain information about the name of Susanin’s wife, but he had a daughter, Antonida, most likely his only descendant. The name of Antonida’s husband, Bogdan, is also known.

The key evidence that Ivan Susanin really existed is a personalized letter from the monarch, in which the hero’s son-in-law, Bogdan, and his descendants are exempt from taxes. Also, by the will of the king, half of the village was granted to Antonida’s husband. If we assume that the feat is nothing more than a legend, then it becomes incomprehensible why the king would grant such unprecedented favors to an ordinary peasant.

Controversial issues

We found out what Ivan Susanin is famous for, but there are a lot of blank spots in his biography. The very facts of the heroic feat of this patriot are also controversial:

• The place of the hero's death is unknown. Thus, some researchers believe that the Poles, angry at the deception, brutally tortured the unfortunate peasant and then killed him in the forest. This version, being more interesting, was used by writers and poets in literary works and is therefore more widespread. However, other historians believe that the national hero was killed near the village of Isupovo.
• The death of the Poles in the swamp. It is generally accepted that Ivan Susanin led the enemy detachment into an impassable swamp, where his plan was exposed, he himself was brutally tortured and killed. But the invaders could not get out of the swamp and died themselves. However, this fact is questioned by archaeological finds.
• Age. It is customary to portray Susanin as a very old man with long gray hair. In fact, his age was hardly more than 40 years. Most likely, Antonida was 16 years old at the time of her feat.
• Saved the king from what? Not all historians are sure that if captured by the Polish invaders, Mikhail would have been killed. It was suggested that a captive monarch would force Russia to be more accommodating and capitulate.

Despite these disagreements, the Romanov dynasty subsequently highly valued the feat of Ivan Susanin:

• Nicholas the First ordered to call the main square of the city of Kostroma Susaninskaya (this name has been preserved to this day). Also in the city on the Volga, a majestic monument to the national hero was erected.
• After the charter of 1619, for two hundred years, Susanin’s descendants received charters from subsequent monarchs confirming their privileges.

The legend of Ivan Susanin and his feat is widely popular; musical and literary works are dedicated to this man; many streets in Russian cities bear his name. There is a museum of the feat of this patriot; motor ships and an ice drift were named in his honor.

The meaning of the feat

Speaking about what Ivan Susanin is famous for, it is necessary to indicate the following points:

• After the national hero saved the tsar, the Romanov dynasty reigned in Russia, ending the difficult Time of Troubles for the country and its people. A certain stability appeared, still weak and illusory, but the monarch, God’s chosen one, was on the throne, instilling in people hope that life would get better.
• The very accession of Michael is associated with patriotism, a simple peasant gave his life for this monarch, his sacrifice was selfless, so the young king immediately earned special treatment.

Ivan Susanin is a significant figure; this peasant managed not only to save the Tsar, but also to demonstrate to the enemy the power of Russian patriotism.

Ivan Susanin at the Monument to the 1000th Anniversary of Russia in Veliky Novgorod

- peasant of Kostroma district, village. Domnin, which belonged to the Romanovs; known as the savior of the life of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. Until very recently, the only documentary source about the life and feat of Susanin was the letter of grant from Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, which he granted in 1619, “on the advice and request of his mother,” to the peasant of the Kostroma district, the village of Domnina, to “Bogdashka” Sabinin half of the village. Derevishch for the fact that his father-in-law Ivan Susanin, who “was found by Polish and Lithuanian people and tortured with great immeasurable tortures, and tortured, where at that time the great sovereign, the tsar and the Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich..., knowing about us... enduring excessive torture... he didn’t say anything about us... and for that he was tortured to death by Polish and Lithuanian people.” Subsequent letters of grant and confirmation in 1641, 1691 and 1837, given to Susanin’s descendants, only repeated the words of the letter of 1619. In chronicles, chronicles and other written sources of the 17th century. Almost nothing was said about Susanin, but legends about him existed and were passed on from generation to generation. Until the beginning of the 19th century. no one thought, however, to see Susanin as the savior of the royal person. This is how Shchekatov first presented it in print in his “Geographical Dictionary”; after him, Sergei Glinka in his “History” directly elevated Susanin to the ideal of national valor. Glinka’s story was literally repeated by Bantysh-Kamensky in his “Dictionary of Memorable People of the Russian Land.” Soon, Susanin’s personality and feat became a favorite subject for poets, who wrote a number of poems, thoughts, dramas, stories, stories, etc. about him, and for musicians (the most famous are “Ivan Susanin” - Ryleev’s Duma, “Kostroma Forests” - drama by N. Polevoy, "Ivan Susanin" - opera by Kavos, "Life for the Tsar" - opera by M. I. Glinka). In 1838, in Kostroma, by order of Emperor Nicholas I, a monument to Susanin was erected “as evidence that noble descendants saw in Susanin’s immortal feat - the salvation of the life of the newly elected Tsar by the Russian land through the sacrifice of his life - the salvation of the Orthodox faith and the Russian kingdom from foreign domination and enslavement.” . The scarcity of sources and the disagreement among the authors who narrated Susanin’s feat prompted N.I. Kostomarov to be critical of both Susanin’s personality and his feat. Based mainly on the fact that he is not mentioned in contemporary or close to his time chronicles and notes, that existing sources do not confirm the presence of a Polish-Lithuanian detachment near the village. Domnina and that at the beginning of 1613 Mikhail Fedorovich lived with his mother not in the village of Domnina, but in the fortified Ipatiev Monastery, he saw in Susanin “only one of the countless victims who died from robbers in the Time of Troubles.” He was vehemently objected to by S. M. Soloviev (“Our Time,” 1862). M. P. Pogodin ("Citizen", 1872, No. 29 and 1873, No. 47), Domninsky ("Russian Archive", 1871, No. 2), Dorogobuzhin and others; but they were all guided mostly by theoretical considerations and guesses. From the late 1870s and especially the 1880s, with the opening of historical societies and provincial archival commissions, new documents about Susanin’s feat began to be discovered, almost contemporary “Notes” and numerous handwritten “legends” of the 17th and 18th centuries were discovered, in of which the admiration of those who wrote for the feat of Susanin is obvious (others directly called him a “martyr”). In 1882, Samaryanov, who collected many sources that had not been published before him, managed to prove that Poles and Lithuanians in a whole detachment approached the village of Domnin with the aim of killing the newly elected Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and that Mikhail Fedorovich “hid from the Poles” in the Ipatiev Monastery on the advice of Susanin from With. Domnina, after the appearance of the Polish-Lithuanian detachment. Samaryanov’s provisions are confirmed by later finds of documents dating back to Susanin and stored in the Kostroma Archival Commission, in the Archaeological Institute, etc.

Monument to Ivan Susanin in Kostroma

The essence of the legends about Susanin’s feat comes down to the following. Soon after his election to the throne, when Mikhail Fedorovich lived with his mother in the village. Domnina, their ancestral estate, came to the Kostroma region. Polish and Lithuanian people with the aim of killing the new rival of the Polish prince Vladislav; near the village They came across Domnin, Susanin, who undertook to be their guide, but led them in the opposite direction, into dense forests, sending his son-in-law Bogdan Sabinin to Mikhail Fedorovich before leaving with advice to take refuge in the Ipatiev Monastery; in the morning he revealed his deception to the Poles, despite cruel torture, did not reveal the Tsar’s place of refuge and was chopped into small pieces by the Poles. Among the direct descendants of Susanin, the Landrat census book, stored in the Moscow archive of the Ministry of Justice, names Fyodor Konstantinov, Anisim Ulyanov (Lukyanov) and Ulyan Grigoriev, who lived in the village of Korobov, granted to Susanin’s daughter, Antonida Ivanovna, in 1633, under 1717. Cf. N. I. Kostomarov, “Historical monographs and research” (vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1867); his, “Personalities of the Time of Troubles” (“Bulletin of Europe”, 1871, No. 6); Samaryanov, “In Memory of Ivan Susanin” (Kostroma, 1884, 2nd ed.); I. Kholmogorov, “Note on the descendants of Susanin” (“Proceedings of the Archaeographic Commission of the Imperial Moscow Society”, vol. I, issue I, 1898); D. I. Ilovaisky, “The Time of Troubles of the Moscow State” (M., 1894).

V. P-v.

Encyclopedia Brockhaus-Efron

20 years later, another opera with the same name appeared. Its author was composer M.I. Glinka. It was this work that made Susanin’s name widely known throughout Russia, immortalizing his feat. For several years, M.I. Glinka nurtured the idea of ​​​​creating a Russian opera on a military-patriotic theme. V. A. Zhukovsky, the creator of Russian romanticism and educator of the future Emperor Alexander II, advised him to choose the feat of the Kostroma peasant Susanin as the plot. In 1936, the opera premiered on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg. The opera was a resounding success with the audience and was favorably received by the royal family.

Glinka's opera was originally called Ivan Susanin. However, in order to avoid confusion with the creation of Kavos of the same name, it was decided to change the name to a more patriotic and sublime one. Glinka's opera became known as “A Life for the Tsar.” Both works were performed on the same stage, without interfering with each other. Kavos even served as conductor at Glinka's performances. The difference is that in Kavos’s opera Susanin remains alive, but in Glinka’s he dies heroically. However, both of them portrayed Susanin as a fearless defender of the Motherland.

The image of Ivan Susanin in painting and literature

In painting, the image of Ivan Susanin is reflected in the works of M.I. Scotti “The Feat of Ivan Susanin”, M.V. Nesterov “Ivan Susanin’s Vision of the Image of Mikhail Fedorovich”, A. Baranov “The Feat of Ivan Susanin” and many other lesser-known paintings. It is noteworthy that not even a verbal description of Ivan Susanin has been preserved from his contemporaries. Therefore, all his images are nothing more than the imagination of artists.

Monuments to Ivan Susanin

In 1967, a new monument to Susanin was erected in Kostroma. It represents the figure of a peasant in traditional Russian clothing. The inscription “To Ivan Susanin – patriot of the Russian land” is engraved on the cylindrical pedestal. The author of the monument was the young sculptor Lavinsky. According to art critics, this monument reveals the image of Susanin in the best possible way. He shows the greatness of the Russian man, who is consciously ready to accomplish a mortal feat.

In 1835, by decree of the emperor, the central square of Kostroma was renamed from Ekaterinoslavskaya to Susaninskaya. With the Bolsheviks coming to power, the square's original name was returned. At the beginning of the century, the Soviet government disapproved of Susanin, calling him a tsar's henchman. Only during the Great Patriotic War, Susanin’s feat again began to be considered as a feat in the name of the Russian people, and not in the name of the monarchy. Since 1992, the square again began to be called Susaninskaya.