Many of us know who Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin is. Some have information about the facts from the biography of the famous poet. And, of course, we all read his immortal literary creations: The Prisoner of the Caucasus, The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Belkin's Tales, and so on. But few can remember how many children Pushkin had. This is a very interesting question. The fact is that the great poet is a father with many children. He left behind four children. His many descendants today live across the globe.
A few facts from the biography of the great poet
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born on May 26, 1799 in Moscow in the family of a college registrar. The boy grew up, went to study. He spent six years at Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Here for the first time his poetic talent was appreciated. After training, Alexander becomes a college secretary. He improves in writing poetry, and then tries himself in prose. In 1831, the poet was married to Natalia Goncharova, to whom he married more than once.
Many interesting facts were left by
Pushkin's biography. Children and grandchildren of the writer, his duel with Dantes, ridiculous rumors about the bad reputation of his wife Natalia, which ultimately led to the death of the famous poet, and much more. A whole book is not enough to write about everything. Therefore, let us raise the veil of secrecy over one page in the life of Alexander Sergeyevich - we will tell about his children.
The eldest daughter of the poet Maria
The first child of the Pushkin couple appeared on May 19, 1832. A girl was born. She was named Maria in honor of the grandmother of Alexander Sergeyevich. It must be said that the children of Pushkin and Goncharova were gifted and smart. It is known that Masha already at 9 years old was fluent in two foreign languages: German and French.
She was educated at the privileged Catherine Institute, after which she became the maid of honor of Empress Maria Alexandrovna. In April 1860, the girl married Major General L.N. Hartung. In 1877, Mary's husband, unjustly accused of theft, shot himself in court. This was a terrible blow to the poet’s daughter.
Maria Alexandrovna died on March 7, 1919 in Moscow. She did not leave descendants after herself. It is known that it was the poet’s eldest daughter who became the prototype of Anna Karenina in the immortal novel of L. Tolstoy. Some features of her expressive appearance were reflected by the writer in this work.
Pushkin Alexander Alexandrovich
If the poet’s eldest daughter did not leave offspring, then the next child in the family - son Alexander - became a father with many children. How many children did Pushkin Jr. have? It turns out a lot. In total, he had 11 children from his first marriage and 2 children from his second. Sasha was born in 1833. He was a favorite of Natalia and Alexander. His parents lovingly called "Sashka." Since childhood, he was distinguished by energy and wild temper. Sasha studied and brought up in the Page Corps, after which he was distributed by the cornet to the Life Guards of the Horse Regiment.
He built a brilliant military career, rose to the rank of lieutenant general, was awarded medals and orders. The first time he married an ancestral cousin of stepfather Sophia Lanskoy. It was a romantic love story. The church banned such an alliance. However, Natalia Goncharova did everything to ensure that the son and daughter-in-law were happy. This love story ended tragically: Sonya died very early, not even forty years old. Eleven children were left without a mother. Alexander Alexandrovich, despite being very busy, tried to pay them a lot of attention. His children were helped to raise by his sister Maria and maternal aunt Anna Vasilchikova. The second time, Sasha married in 1883 to Maria Pavlova. Contemporaries recall that she was an unpleasant person who loved to complain about the hard life of the general’s wife.
For children from her husband’s
first marriage , she never replaced her mother. In this union, Alexander had two more children: a son and a daughter. The youngest - Elena - appeared when General Pushkin was 57 years old. Alexander lived to an advanced age and died on July 19, 1914.
Younger son Gregory
As mentioned above, the children of Alexander Pushkin were gifted and talented. And although none of them continued the work of his father, did not become a poet or writer, everyone made a good career and achieved recognition in society. The third child in the family of the great poet, son Gregory, appeared in 1835. He, like his elder brother Alexander, graduated from the Page Corps.
After that he served, resigned with the rank of colonel. He was a secret adviser. What is known about his personal life? For a long time in his youth, he was inappropriately connected with the Frenchwoman, who bore him three daughters. Natalia Goncharova was very worried about the fate of her youngest son. In 1884, Gregory finally married - to Barbara Moshkova. Children in this marriage did not appear. Until 1899, Gregory lived in Mikhailovsky, where, having equipped the office of his famous father, he immortalized his memory.
"The beautiful daughter of a beautiful mother" - Natalya Alexandrovna
The fourth child of the Pushkin couple was born in 1836. It was a girl who was called Natasha. The children of Pushkin and Goncharova were distinguished by strength of character, stubbornness, impetuosity. Tasha was not an exception (the so-called girl in the family). Contemporaries of the poet noted how she looks like her father. The girl received home education. She was called the "beautiful daughter of a beautiful mother." At 17, Tasha announced to her mother and stepfather the desire to marry M. L. Dubelt, who proposed to her. Goncharova was against this marriage. However, the daughter's requests she had to give in.
This union did not last long, having broken up in 1862. After that, Natalia Pushkina leaves with her two older children abroad to her aunt. After the divorce, she had to give up her ex-husband the right to raise one of her daughters, Anna. Her two other children remained in Russia under the supervision of her grandmother Natalia. Soon in London, Tasha married a German prince - the notorious Nikolai Wilhelm Nassausky. She lived a long and happy life with him. Princess Natasha, of course, did not become due to the fact that the marriage was unequal, but she was granted the title of Countess Merenberg. In a marriage with the prince, she had three children: daughters Sophia and Alexandra and son Georg. Countess Merenberg died in 1913 in France in the city of Cannes. After her death, Natalia’s body was cremated, the ashes were scattered over the tomb of her husband in the crypt. This was her testament.
Descendants of Pushkin today
Thus, two of the four children of the great poet continued the clan. We wonder how many children Pushkin had? But even more interesting are the questions about how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren he had, where his descendants live today. It turns out that about fifty distant relatives live in Russia. Among them is Tatyana Lukash, whose great-grandmother was the granddaughter of Alexander Sergeyevich. The last direct descendant of the Pushkin clan on the male line, bearing this last name, is Alexander Alexandrovich, who is the great-great-grandson of the writer. He lives in Belgium. Also, the descendants of the great poet live in the USA, and in Germany, and in England.
We hope that in the article we answered in detail the question of how many children Pushkin had, and also talked enough about each of them.