One of the most mystical personalities in Russian literature is N.V. Gogol. He was a secretive man during his lifetime and carried away many secrets with him. But he left genius works in which fantasy and reality are interwoven, beautiful and repulsive, funny and tragic.
Here witches fly on a broomstick, little fellows and little ladies fall in love with each other, the imaginary examiner takes on a pompous appearance, Viy raises his eyelids filled with lead and runs away from Major Kovalev Nos. And the writer unexpectedly says goodbye to us, leaving us in admiration and perplexity. Today weāll talk about his last charade left to his descendants, the secret of Gogolās grave.
Writer childhood
Gogol was born in the Poltava province on March 1, 1809. Before him, two dead boys were already born in the family, so the parents prayed for the birth of the third to Nicholas the Wonderworker and named the first-born in his honor. Gogol was a sickly child, he was shaken a lot and loved more than other children.
Religiosity and a tendency to forebodings passed on from his mother. From his father - suspiciousness and love for the theater. The boy was attracted by secrets, scary stories, prophetic dreams.
At 10, he and his younger brother Ivan were sent to the Poltava school. But the training did not last long. Brother died, which greatly shocked little Nikolai. He was transferred to the Nizhyn gymnasium. Among his peers, the boy was distinguished by a love of practical jokes and secrecy, for which he was called the Mysterious Carlo. So the writer Gogol grew up. His work and personal life were largely determined by his first childhood impressions.
Gogol's art world - the creation of a crazy genius?
The writer's works amaze with their phantasmagoricity. On their pages terrifying sorcerers come to life ("Terrible Revenge"), the witches rise at night, led by the monster Wii. But along with evil spirits, caricature paintings of modern society await us. A new auditor arrives in the city, dead souls are bought by Chichikov, Russian life is shown with utmost honesty. And next - the absurdity of Nevsky Prospect and the famous Nose. How were these images born in the head of the writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol?
Creative researchers are still at a loss. Many theories are related to the madness of a writer. It is known that he suffered from painful conditions during which mood swings, extreme despair, and fainting were observed. Perhaps impaired thinking prompted Gogol to write such vivid, unusual works? After all, after suffering, periods of creative inspiration began.
However, the psychiatrists who studied the work of Gogol, do not find signs of insanity. In their opinion, the writer suffered from depression. Hopeless sadness, special sensitivity are inherent in many brilliant personalities. This is what helps them to become more aware of the surrounding reality, to show it from unexpected sides, amazing the reader.
Gogol: interesting facts from life and death
The writer was a shy and private person. In addition, he had a good sense of humor and loved pranks. All this gave rise to many legends about him. So, excessive religiosity suggests that Gogol could be a sect.
Even more speculative is the fact that the writer was not married. There is a legend that in the 1840s he made an offer to Countess A. M. Viliegorskaya, but was refused. There was also rumor about the platonic love of Nikolai Vasilievich for the married lady A.O. Smirnova-Rosset. But all this is a rumor. As well as talk about Gogolās homosexual tendencies, which he allegedly tried to get rid of through austerities and prayers.
Many questions are caused by the death of the writer. Gloomy thoughts and forebodings prevailed over him after the end of the second volume of Dead Souls in 1852. In those days he communicated with the confessor Matvey Konstantinovsky. The latter urged Gogol to abandon sinful literary activity and devote more time to spiritual pursuits.
A week before Lent, the writer exposes himself to the most severe austerities. He hardly eats or sleeps, which negatively affects his health. On the night of February 12, he burns papers in the fireplace (presumably the second volume of Dead Souls). Since February 18, Gogol does not get out of bed and prepares for death. On February 20, doctors decide to start compulsory treatment. On the morning of February 21, the writer dies.
Causes of death
How the writer Gogol died, they are still wondering. He was only 42 years old. Despite feeling unwell lately, no one expected this outcome. The doctors could not make an accurate diagnosis. All this gave rise to many rumors. Consider some of them:
- Suicide. Before his death, Gogol, of his own free will, refused food and prayed instead of sleeping. He deliberately prepared for death, forbade to treat himself, did not listen to the exhortations of friends. Perhaps he passed away of his own free will? However, for a religious person, afraid of hell and the devil, this is not possible.
- Mental illness. Perhaps the reason for this behavior of Gogol was the clouding of reason? Shortly before the tragic events, Ekaterina Khomyakova, sister of the writerās close friend, to whom he was attached, died. February 8-9, Nikolai Vasilievich dreamed of his own death. All this could shake his unstable psyche and lead to unnecessarily severe asceticism, the consequences of which were terrifying.
- Incorrect treatment. For a long time Gogol could not be diagnosed, suspecting either typhoid fever or stomach inflammation. Finally, a consultation of doctors determined that the patient had meningitis, and subjected him to unacceptable bloodletting, warm baths, and cold dousing with such a diagnosis. All this undermined the body, which was weakened by a long abstinence from food. The writer died of heart failure.
- Poisoning. According to other sources, doctors could provoke intoxication of the body by writing Golol three times calomel. This was due to the fact that various specialists who did not know about other appointments were invited to the writer. As a result, the patient died of an overdose.
The funeral
Be that as it may, the burial took place on February 24th. It was public, although the writerās friends objected to it. Gogolās grave was originally located in Moscow on the territory of the St. Danilov Monastery. The coffin was brought here in their arms after the funeral in the church of the martyr Titiana.
According to eyewitnesses, at the place where Gogolās grave is located, a black cat suddenly appeared. This caused a lot of sense. Assumptions crept that the writerās soul moved into a mystical animal. After the burial, the cat disappeared without a trace.
Nikolai Vasilyevich forbade to erect a monument on his grave, so a cross was set up with a quote from the Bible: "I will laugh with my bitter word." Its basis was a granite stone brought from Crimea by K. Aksakov ("Golgotha"). In 1909, in honor of the centenary of the writer's birthday, the grave was restored. A cast-iron fence was installed, as well as a sarcophagus.
The autopsy of the grave of Gogol
In 1930, the Danilovsky Monastery was closed. In its place, it was decided to arrange a reception center for juvenile delinquents. The cemetery was urgently reconstructed. In 1931, the graves of such prominent people as Gogol, Khomyakov, Yazykov, etc., were opened and transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery.
This happened in the presence of representatives of the cultural intelligentsia. According to the memoirs of the writer V. Lidin, they arrived at the place where Gogol was buried on May 31. The work took all day, as the coffin was deep and inserted into the crypt through a special side hole. The remains were discovered at dusk, so no photographs were taken. The NKVD archives contain an autopsy report that does not contain anything unusual.
However, according to rumors, this was done in order not to make a fuss. The picture that was opened to those present shocked everyone. A terrible rumor immediately spread in Moscow. What did the people who were present at the Danilovsky cemetery that day see?
Buried alive
In oral conversations V. Lidin said that in the grave Gogol was lying with his head turned to one side. In addition, the casing of the coffin was scratched from the inside. All this gave rise to terrible assumptions. What if the writer fell into a lethargic dream and was buried alive? Perhaps waking up, he was trying to get out of the grave?
Interest was fueled by the fact that Gogol suffered from tofephobia - the fear of being buried alive. In 1839, in Rome, he suffered severe malaria, which led to brain damage. Since then, the writer has fainted, turning into a prolonged sleep. He was very afraid that in this state he would be mistaken for a dead man and buried ahead of time. Therefore, he stopped sleeping in bed, preferring to doze half-sitting on a sofa or in an armchair.
In his will, Gogol ordered not to bury him until the appearance of obvious signs of death. Is it possible that the writer's will was not fulfilled? Is it true that Gogol turned upside down in the grave? Experts say that this is impossible. As evidence, they point to the following facts:
- Gogol's death was recorded by the five best doctors of that time.
- Nikolai Ramazanov, who was taking off his death mask from a great namesake , knew about his fears. In his memoirs, he states: the writer, unfortunately, slept forever.
- The skull could be rotated due to the displacement of the coffin lid, which often happens over time, or while carrying it in your arms to the burial place.
- It was impossible to make out scratches on the upholstered over 80 years old upholstery. This is too long.
- Oral stories of V. Lidin contradict his written recollections. Indeed, according to the latter, Gogolās body was found without a skull. In the coffin lay only the skeleton in a frock coat.
Legend of the missing skull
Apart from V. Lidin, the headless body of Gogol is mentioned by archaeologist A. Smirnov, as well as V. Ivanov, who were present at the autopsy. But is it worth believing them? After all, the historian M. Baranovskaya, standing next to them, saw not only the skull, but also the light brown hair that remained on it. And the writer S. Solovyov did not make out a coffin or dust, but he found ventilation pipes in the crypt in case the dead person resurrected and he needed to breathe something.
Nevertheless, the story of the missing skull was so āin the spiritā of the author Vij that it developed. According to legend, in 1909, during the restoration of Gogolās grave, collector A. Bakhrushin persuaded the monks of the Danilov Monastery to steal the writerās head. For a good reward, they sawed off the skull, and he took his place in the theater museum of the new owner.
He kept it secretly, in the case of a pathologist, among medical instruments. Having passed away in 1929, Bakhrushin took with him the secret of the location of Gogol's skull. However, could the story of the great phantasmagoric, who was Nikolai Vasilievich, end on this? Of course, she came up with a sequel worthy of the pen of the master himself.
Ghost train
Once, Gakholās great-nephew, fleet lieutenant Yanovsky, came to Bakhrushin. He heard about a stolen skull and, threatening with a loaded weapon, demanded that he be returned to his family. Bakhrushin gave the relic. Yanovsky decided to bury the skull in Italy, which Gogol loved and considered a second home.
In 1911, ships from Rome arrived in Sevastopol. Their goal was to pick up the remains of compatriots who died during the Crimean campaign. Yanovsky persuaded the captain of one of the ships, Borgose, to take a casket with a skull with him and hand it over to the Russian ambassador in Italy. He was supposed to bury him in the Orthodox rite.
However, Borgose did not have time to meet with the ambassador and went on another voyage, leaving an unusual casket in his house. The captainās younger brother, a student at the University of Rome, discovered a skull and planned to scare his friends. He had a trip in a fun company through the longest tunnel of the time on the Roman Express. A young rake took the skull with him. Before the train entered the thickness of the mountains, he opened a casket.
Immediately an unusual fog enveloped the composition, among those present a panic began. Borgose Jr. and another passenger at full speed jumped off the train. The rest evaporated along with the Roman Express and Gogol's skull. The search for the train was unsuccessful, the tunnel was hastened to walled up. But in subsequent years, the train was seen in different countries, including Poltava, the writer's homeland, and in Crimea.
Is it possible that where Gogol was buried, only his ashes are? While the spirit of the writer travels the world in a ghost train, without finding peace?
Last refuge
Gogol himself wanted to be laid to rest in peace. Therefore, we will leave the legends to science fiction lovers and transfer to the Novodevichy cemetery, where the remains of the writer were reburied on June 1, 1931. It is known that before the next burial, admirers of Nikolai Vasilievichās talent stole pieces of a frock coat, shoes and even the bones of the deceased. V. Lidin admitted that he personally took a piece of clothing and placed it in the binding of "Dead Souls" of the first edition. All this, of course, is terrible.
Together with the coffin, the fence and Golgotha āāstone, which served as the basis for the cross, were transported to the Novodevichy cemetery. They did not begin to install the cross in a new place, since the Soviet government was far from religion. Where he is now is unknown. Moreover, in 1952, a bust of Gogol by N.V. Tomsky was put on the site of the grave. This was done contrary to the will of the writer, who, as a believer, urged not to honor his ashes, but to pray for the soul.
Calvary was sent to the cutters workshop. There the stone was found by the widow of Mikhail Bulgakov. Her husband considered himself a student of Gogol. In difficult moments, he often went to his monument and repeated: "Teacher, cover me with your cast-iron overcoat." The woman decided to install a stone on Bulgakovās grave, so that after death Gogol would invisibly protect him.
In 2009, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Nikolai Vasilievich, it was decided to restore the original appearance to the place of his burial. The monument was dismantled and transferred to the Historical Museum. The black stone with a bronze cross was again installed on the grave of Gogol at the Novodevichy cemetery. How to find this place to honor the memory of the great writer? The grave is in the old part of the cemetery. From the central alley, turn right and find the 12th row, plot number 2.
Gogolās grave, as well as his work, is fraught with many secrets. It is unlikely to be able to solve them all, and is it necessary? The writer made a covenant to his relatives: not to grieve for him, not to bind him to the ashes that the worms gnaw on, not to worry about the burial place. He wanted to perpetuate himself not in a granite monument, but in his work.