Fet Manor in the village of Vorobyovka, Kursk Region, was the place he loved. He put his soul into the old park, linden alleys, poplars, in their shadow poetry was born in the poet’s soul, its wonderful crystal lines. This marvelous quiet corner is little known to a modern resident of Russia. And once there were and admired the discreet beauty of these places L. Tolstoy, V. Soloviev, Y. Polonsky. Pyotr Tchaikovsky liked to come here on foot from the estate of his brother, located nearby, in Ukolovo.
Where is Feta Manor
The village of Vorobyovka (1st Varobyevka) is located in the Zolotukhinsky district of the Kursk region, ten kilometers east of the Root Desert, on the gentle left bank of the Tuskari River. The estate is located on the right bank, in its highest place, from where you can see the bell towers of the churches of the monastery. The stone house is surrounded by a large park, consisting of most of the centuries-old oaks. It contained linden alleys and lakes.
The farm buildings surrounding the Fet manor have survived to our time. But the years that have passed since the poet walked along the linden alleys, breathing in the sweet air, giving him inspiration to create his wonderful poems, altered these places. “And the tired chest breathed in the air with pure air ...” At present, the Fet Museum-Estate is located here (in the Kursk Region).
Now there is no fountain built at the very bottom, opposite the balcony, numerous flower beds arranged on the descent to the river, a garden in which herons and rooks arranged their nests. But still there are nightingales singing in a huge desolate park, in the spring lilac blossoms.
Manor acquisition
Fet lived a long life full of adversity and maybe even resentment. To establish himself in this world, he had to perform an unloved service, to do what he did not want at all, but he did it diligently, with all responsibility. Fet Manor in Vorobyovka was his reward for his long patience. She gave him inspiration lost for a while, joy in life. He loved her.
After marriage, he buys a property in the Oryol province. Living in it after his retirement, as the poet himself admits, he did not write a single line. The Vorobyev estate, which Afanasy Afanasyevich acquires from the heirs of retired general P. M. Rtishchev, aroused inspiration in him.
The poet fell in love with her at first sight and bought for a lot of money in those days, 105 thousand rubles, despite all the dissuasions of acquaintances from the purchase, who claimed that the estate was in disrepair. But Fet had already seen her as she would be in the near future. He conceived the reconstruction of the house and did not wait for it to be completed, but settled in the kitchen house, taking an active part in the transformation of his estate.
Arrangement
Having bought a beautiful but neglected manor house, the center of which was a house with a mezzanine, the poet immediately began perestroika. He is finishing the second floor. On the second floor there is a billiard room, guest rooms, as well as the “upper” cabinet of Afanasy Afanasevich.
The first floor of the main house of the Fet manor was divided into two parts by a corridor and a canopy:
- in the living room there was a bedroom, an office and a wife's room;
- in the front room there is a dining room and a living room for receiving guests.
Everything was done to the taste of the poet - conveniently and comfortably. Furniture, as well as cacti and household utensils were transported from the Oryol estate, which Fet sells without regret, trying to leave all his grievances there. Finishing material was brought from Moscow. In the spring, flowering plants from the arranged greenhouse were transferred to the house, which made it more comfortable and more beautiful.
Poet or practical host
He was a zealous host. With pleasure I did business and wrote poetry. In the estate of Athanasius Fet there was a large income-generating farm. A large number of pigs allowed every fall to send ham for sale to Moscow. Also, up to one hundred heads of sheep were kept here, which gave meat and wool.
In addition, a farm was built on the left bank of the Tuskari River south of the estate, to which the zealous landowner Fet attached great importance. The local population, evaluating him as a practical owner, treated him with respect. Especially loved the inhabitants of Vorobevka husband Athanasius Afanasevich. Having no children of her own, she was the godmother to many of the children in the village, helping them with all she could.
Neighborhoods of the estate Fet in the Kursk region
Places around the village of Vorobyovka were once covered with forests, in which oaks prevailed. But over time, part of them was cut down. There were small areas left, one of which was converted into a park near the estate. There were linden and lilac alleys in it, as well as bushes of honeysuckle, acacia, numerous rose bushes, a chestnut tree brought by Fet from the Turgenev estate of Spassko-Lutovinovo was planted.
Around the estate of Fet, several ponds were built, in which, apparently, fish were bred. Only one lake has survived to our time, with a round island in the middle. On it was once built a rotunda surrounded by water. This lake, from old memory, is called a "fish landing". To the west of the main house was a large garden in which cherry and apple trees grew.
Combine incompatible
How did Fet manage to combine two seemingly incompatible features: a lyric poet and a business man who turned a seedy estate into a beautiful estate? Fet himself answered simply that life is a "harmonious fusion of opposites."
In his estate in the Kursk region, Fet found this merger in the change of "labor and idle fun." Life seemed beautiful precisely because of this balance. He was distinguished by one feature - to seek and find happiness in the prose of life. He did not like the service, but he continued to carry it. He was burdened by life in the city, but he lived in it, finding happy moments without which his life would stop.
That is why life in Vorobyovka gave him poetic inspiration, where the physical labor, which caused satisfaction, brought peace and balance to his life, which awakened his emotional upsurge. This period was the most fruitful in his work. The atmosphere of the Fet estate in Vorobyovka (Kursk region) had a positive effect not only on him, but also on the creative people who visited her.
Present
Almost a hundred years have passed since the poet lived in these places, the estate was in oblivion. The estate passed the fate of Yasnaya Polyana and Spassko-Lutovinov, which became reserves and preserved the estates of his contemporaries and friends in their original form. The revolution, the years of Soviet power and World War II, swept through these places, did not leave anything from its former splendor.
The main building of the Museum of the Fet estate in the Soviet years was used for various purposes. Not so long ago there was a school. Today, on the second floor there is an office of the poet’s times, a billiard room and a number of rooms. There is no need to talk about the authenticity of the exhibits, since all that was valuable was exported to the regional center a long time ago. But the building itself, some utility rooms have survived to the present day.
There are few reviews of the restored estate. They are different. There are positive and unflattering. Lovers of the poet's work want to see the beautiful places that inspired him, so they come here. Adventurers may be a little disappointed.
Fetov readings are held annually at Fet’s estate (photos of estates are given in the article), which are attended by fans of the poet from all over the country, as well as his descendants living abroad. The estate needs restoration and more attention from the administration of the region.
Birth story
I would like to note that the official name of the poet is Athanasius Shenshin, and he signed his works Athanasius Fet. No, this is not a pseudonym that many writers and poets took for themselves. This is the name of his own father Johann Fet, who lived in the German city of Darmstadt and worked as an assessor in court. He never saw his son and even abandoned him. But Fetu, for a number of circumstances that arose with his origin, had to bear his last name.
The story of the birth of Athanasius Fet is unusual. His mother, Elizabeth Petrovna Senshina, nee Charlotte-Elizabeth Becker, was married to Johann Fet and lived in Darmstadt. Having a baby and being pregnant at 7 months, she left her husband and fled with Oryol landowner, captain Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin to Russia.
23/11 1820 a boy was born, who was named Athanasius, the legitimate son of A.N. Shenshin and Sh. E. Becker. This was most likely done for a bribe. They could not be married, Charlotte was not Orthodox and at that time was married to I. Fet.
Deprivation of surname and nobility
Two years after the escape of his wife, I. Fet decided to marry a second time to the teacher of his daughter Carolina. Therefore, he gives his wife a divorce. Charlotte accepts Orthodoxy and is called Lizaveta, after which there is a wedding. This discrepancy was discovered 14 years later. The case was handled by the Spiritual Consistory, which canceled the entry in the baptismal book and identified Johann Fet in the fathers. Afanasy Shenshin was deprived of his surname, the right of the hereditary nobility and all privileges.
But the fact is that his own father, justifiably doubting that the future poet was his own son, also refused him and deprived him of his inheritance. Theoretically, A. Shenshin could be his father, since the child, according to his mother, was like him. This changed the fate of the young man, who had to devote the best years of his life to his unloved service in order to restore the nobility and all the privileges that were lost.
Brief biographical data. Youth
In November 1820, a boy was born in the village of Novoselki, Mtsensk Uyezd, Orel Region, who was Orthodox christened on the seventh day and named him Athanasius. The father recorded the Oryol landowner, a hereditary nobleman, the leader of the nobility Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin. Her mother is Charlotte Elizabeth Becker, who at that time was married to Johann Fet and bore the name Fet. This rash act on the part of the parents cost Afanasy Shenshin, who was deprived of his surname, nobility and proper privileges at the age of 14.
This undoubtedly inflicted severe moral trauma on the ambitious young man, and we can only guess what was going on in his soul. In 1835, he was assigned to the German private guesthouse Krumer, located in the small town of Võru in Estonia. In it, he first became interested in poetry, writing his first poems. After graduation, he enters the law, and then at the philological faculty of Moscow University.
In 1840, while studying at the university, he published his first poetic collection, The Lyric Pantheon. A. Grigoryev, his classmate, took an active part in his publication. The collection was very successful, which inspired the aspiring poet. This is followed by positive reviews and reviews in the magazines Sovremennik, Domestic Notes and Moskvityan.
Military service
But the life circumstances associated with the desire to restore the family name and the nobility prompted young Athanasius to enter the military service, which gave him the right to receive a title faster than civilian. He entered the cuirassier regiment in 1850 and a year later received his first military rank. In 1853, he received an appointment in the Life Guards Uhlan Regiment, whose apartments were near St. Petersburg.
This allowed him to communicate more often with the Russian literary elite. He agrees with the classics of literature: I. S. Turgenev, N. A Nekrasov, I. A. Goncharov. In the army, Fet served until 1858 and rose to the rank of headquarters captain of the guard. This position a year earlier, according to the "Table of Ranks", made it possible to get the nobility. But before the poet had to resign, they had made changes to the Table and would have had to serve until the new rank. Fet resigns.
Marriage
In 1850, Fet experiences a personal tragedy - the death of her lover, Maria Lazic. To her, he dedicated his poem "The Talisman." He painfully endured this difficult life test, and only eight years later met his future wife - Maria Botkin, with whom he lived until the end of his days. She was the sister of a fan of Fet, a literary critic V.P. Botkin.
Civil service
With the money of his wife, the poet acquires the Stepanovka estate in Mtsensk district of the Oryol province, where he is elected as a court judge. In this position, he served eleven years. It was at this time that he published a two-volume book of poems. In 1873 the nobility and legal surname were returned to the poet. It would seem that all his wishes were fulfilled, but nothing new appeared in the poet's work.
Resignation, village life and death
The poet has a desire to leave away from his native Mtsensk. He acquires a manor in the Kursk region. Fet again returned to creativity and excelled in managing the estate. His four compendiums, “Evening Lights,” are published.
In 1892, Fet and his wife were in Moscow, where he died of a heart attack. According to some reports, he was preceded by an attempted suicide. What really happened remains a mystery. Russian poet Athanasius Fet is buried in the clan tomb of the Shenshin in the village of Kleimenovo.