Pushkin Lev Sergeyevich (1805–1852) was in itself no less gifted by nature than his older brother Alexander, however, he had bathed in the rays of his fame all his life. In the intellectual environment in which he lived and was brought up, the bar was raised too high for him, he did not want to vegetate in the hustle and bustle of life, and he could not take the height, so he became a figure more complicated and tragic.
Lev Sergeyevich Pushkin: biography
In the Pushkin family, the youngest son Leo was born on April 17, 1805 in Moscow. Just after the end of the war with Napoleon in 1814, they moved to St. Petersburg and settled not far from Sennaya Square.
In 1815, the boy entered the Main German School of the Lutheran Church of St. Petra, then studied at the Noble boarding house of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, later - at the Noble boarding house of the Main Pedagogical Institute.
The younger brother of the great poet was at one time the literary secretary of A.S. Pushkin, then, by fate, he was destined to become a military officer, a participant in the Persian wars and a knight of Russian orders.
Childhood
Alexander was very close to his sister Olga, but they would get closer to Leo later. Until the age of five, he was nursed by Arina Rodionovna and Lyubasha. Nadezhda Osipovna loved her youngest son Levushka very much and spoiled him very much. This could be explained by the fact that out of eight children born by her, five died.
Leva grew up a real barchuk in the family. Father in his letters called him “his Benjamin” - a character from the Old Testament Bible. In 1814, the ten-year-old Leo was decided to send to study in St. Petersburg, in a Noble boarding house. And after him the whole family also got over. Mother did not want to part with her son for a single day.
In 1817, when he was transferred to the Noble boarding house of the Main Pedagogical Institute, his family immediately rented an apartment on Fontanka, and Levushka was visited every day.
Kyuhlya
The home atmosphere in the Lyceum was also created by Leva's beloved literature teacher Wilhelm Küchelbeker, who lived in a boarding house, and his friends often visited him - A. Pushkin, E. Baratynsky, A. Delvig and others.
In 1821, Pushkin Lev Sergeyevich and several other pupils of the boarding house were expelled for the "riot" that occurred due to the dismissal of Kuchelbecker. They did not want to listen to the lectures of the new teacher, during the lessons they extinguished candles and even beat up with the overseer.
At this time, A. S. Pushkin was in the Southern exile, and Leo was in the parental home. The summer of 1824, Leo spent with his parents and sister in Mikhailovsky and enthusiastically greeted his elder brother Alexander who had unexpectedly arrived. They became friends even more and managed to talk about a lot. Alas, this so long and serene communication, alas, they will no longer be destined to discover.
Pushkin's brother - Lev Sergeevich
Alexander in March 1821 evaluated his brother in his youth as an intelligent man and with a wonderful soul. While still a pupil of the boarding house, Pushkin Lev Sergeyevich plunged into that bohemian literary and theatrical environment that was familiar to Alexander. He loved to visit Zhukovsky, the Karamzins, Turgenev, Vyazemsky salons, visited Delvig almost every day, and even fell in love with Alexandra Voeikova.
In the autumn of November 1824, he joined the Department of Foreign Religions, and then two years later he resigned and went to serve as a cunker in the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment.
The exiled Alexander Sergeevich made Leo his representative in St. Petersburg. I must say that the latter had a very beautiful calligraphic handwriting, and he often engaged in copying his brother’s poems for publications. Alexander also allowed him to manage the publishing royalties. By the way, it is worth recalling that he devoted the second chapter of Onegin to his younger brother.
Anger
Pushkin Lev Sergeevich, possessing a phenomenal memory, recited verses of his brilliant brother by heart to his guests and friends. All this later diverged in manuscripts, so the publishers did not undertake to publish them - well, who needs them if they are read by heart in all the living rooms and salons of Moscow and St. Petersburg? A.S. Pushkin was angry and greatly offended by his brother, because he was experiencing serious financial problems because of him.
Alexander wrote to his friend Delvig to find out what was being done with Leo. The fame of the cheerful playboy of life and the money of an older relative soon reached him.
Pushkin Lev Sergeyevich reveled in the literal and figurative sense of his role as "plenipotentiary representative" and practically did nothing more.
Brilliant brother
Count Vyazemsky later wrote about him that his memory was typographic, somewhat hidden and contraband, it clearly imprinted in the brain everything that was read or pronounced. After the death of Leo, the count considered that the unpublished creations of his brother Alexander Pushkin were buried with him, which remained hidden under jewelry. In general, Leo brought a lot of trouble to his famous brother, but he loved him dearly fraternally and strictly fatherly.
Andrei Andreyevich Delvig wrote that Leo was very witty and also wrote good poems. He had a Negro appearance, but his skin was white, his hair was curled and blond by nature. Of course, what Lev Sergeyevich Pushkin was like, the photo will not be able to tell us, but his portraits, painted by contemporaries, help to form an idea of this man.
Military career
Leo was a member of the Persian-Turkish company (1827-1829), then, until May 1831, he was on vacation, and then, being in the rank of staff captain, he moved to the Finland Dragoon Regiment. He also participated in the Polish company and resigned. He lived in Warsaw, then in 1833 he returned to Petersburg and entered the service as an official of the Ministry of the Interior. Then he changed his place of service to a separate Caucasian corps. When he was in the Caucasus, he heard the news of his brother’s death, and he fell into despair, even wanted to go to Paris to arrange a duel with Dantes.
There, in the Caucasus, L. Pushkin became friends with M. Yu. Lermontov and was even present in the Verzilin family during the quarrel between Lermontov and Martynov.
Brave lion
Leo Pushkin was a brave officer, he was very charming and cheerful, everyone loved him: both his superiors and his subordinates. Brother Alexander, of course, was proud of his merits - Leo's track record was replete with the names of battles taken by fortresses and awards.
After retiring from service, he moved to Odessa and worked there at the state port customs. He also had many women, but by the age of 37 he decided to start a family.
In 1843, Leo married Zagryazhskaya Elizabeth Alexandrovna, a relative of Natalia Goncharova, with whom he maintained good relations throughout his life. In the family they had four children.
Lev Pushkin died of a liver disease and dropsy, which developed due to the constant use of alcohol. At the age of 47, he was buried in the 1st Odessa Christian cemetery.