The name Georges Dantes forever entered the history of Russian literature. Everyone knows the characterization of this man that Lermontov gave in his famous work "The Death of a Poet." However, if everyone knows about his life before the duel with Pushkin and his sudden departure from Russia, then his future fate is a mystery to many. Meanwhile, Dantes made an excellent political career in France and died at the age of 84.
Youth
Georges Dantes was born in 1812 in Alsace in a half-ruined large noble family. He was the first male child, and his father, who held the title of baron and, despite poverty, being a member of the General Council of his department, predicted his son a military career. Having received his initial education in Alsace, the young man was sent to study at the Bourbon Lyceum in Paris, and then enrolled at the Royal Military College of Saint-Cyr. He studied at this prestigious university for only 9 months, after which he was expelled for legitimistic views.
Like many other young Frenchmen who did not want to serve Louis Philippe, Georges left France and went to seek fame in a foreign land.
Georges Dantes in military service in Russia: the beginning of a career
Initially, a young man who at that time was only 20 years old, went to Prussia. Despite the patronage of some members of the royal family, he was offered only the rank of non-commissioned officer. Dantes did not like the prospect of starting a career from scratch, so he decided to offer his services to the more generous Russian monarch.
In order to ensure a warm welcome in St. Petersburg, the young man even came up with a legend that in France he participated in the Vendee uprising and fled the country, fearing persecution by the authorities. In addition, he brought letters of recommendation from Prince William of Prussia and the Duchess of Berria. The latter was addressed directly to the Russian emperor Nicholas the First. Thanks to the efforts of his patrons, Dantes Georges Charles joined the guard. Moreover, he did not even have to pass the required exams in Russian literature, military proceedings and charters. By the highest order of Dantes, they were enlisted in the cavalry guard regiment of the Empress. Moreover, the empress, having learned that the young man could not count on the support of his relatives, convinced the spouse to assign him an annual unspoken benefit.
Strange adoption
Georges Dantes in the military service in Russia did not show much zeal and was not going to commit any feats. Two years after entering the regiment, he received the rank of lieutenant, but he directed all his efforts towards achieving success in secular circles. And he succeeded brilliantly, because, according to contemporaries, he had the exceptional ability to “like at first sight” and find patrons.
Even in spite of this circumstance, St. Petersburg high society was amazed to learn that the Dutch young envoy to the Russian court, de Haeckern, wanted to adopt an adult young officer who had his own father alive. Gossip began to go, allegedly Dantes Georges Charles is the illegitimate offspring of a diplomat. However, the version about the homosexual relationship of the 44-year-old Baron de Geckern and the 24-year-old lieutenant seemed more reliable.
Bypassing all laws prohibiting the adoption of adults, and also not allowing foster parents to be younger than 50 years old, an exception was made by the highest decree, and the young man adopted the name of the new father. In addition, he was accepted into Dutch citizenship by permission of the King of the Netherlands.
The new kinship allowed Dantes to occupy a higher position in the world than he had before, and to receive invitations to the houses of famous nobles, where there were units.
Acquaintance with Natalia Pushkina
Despite rumors of a connection with the “father,” Georges Dantes (portrait in his youth, see above) was a famous heartthrob and enjoyed exceptional success with the ladies. He was unusually handsome, courteous, and courteous. However, acquaintances noted as a drawback his habit of telling about his victories on the love front.
His fateful meeting with his wife A.S. Pushkin was held in Anichkov Palace. The most beautiful woman in St. Petersburg could not go unnoticed by such a famous womanizer as the adopted son of the Dutch envoy. At the same time, Georges Charles Dantes, whose biography tells the story of a minion of fortune, began to look for meetings with Natalia's elder sister, the unmarried maid of honor Ekaterina Goncharova, who lived in the Pushkin’s house.
Scandal with a "diploma"
A year and a half after Dantes became acquainted with Natalya Pushkina, her husband and several of his friends received anonymous libel in which the poet was awarded a “cuckold diploma” and was ridiculed as a husband whose wife is unfaithful not only to Dantes, but also to Nikolai the First. Who was the author of the message is unknown to this day. However, it was established that neither the father nor the son of Haeckern could be it.
Pushkin, who suspected precisely these two people who had long been disliked, sent Dantes an unmotivated challenge to a duel. The letter was delivered to Haeckern's house. The diplomat accepted the call on behalf of his adopted son, who was on duty in the barracks, but asked for a respite, to which the poet responded with consent.
So Dantes Georges Charles and Pushkin were in the center of attention of St. Petersburg society. Secular lions, among which the poet had many envious and ill-wishers, began to ridicule the "cuckold" in all.
Marriage proposal
Natalia Pushkina, as well as Zhukovsky and the aunt of the Goncharov’s maid of honor Zagryazhskaya, who was influential in the imperial court, began to make attempts to convince the poet to abandon the duel, but he was unshakable. The situation changed when it became known about the proposal of a hand and a heart made by Dantes to the sister of Natalia Ekaterina, who accepted him. Then the whole of St. Petersburg again began to discuss the personal life of the young Baron Haeckern. Some of the gossipers believed that the loving officer thus wanted to avoid a duel, since after the wedding, George Dantes became a relative for Alexander Pushkin, and there was no question of a duel. There were also those who cited Catherine's possible pregnancy as a reason, which simply shone with happiness or convincingly portrayed a bride in love.
As for Pushkin, they began to suggest to him that Dantes had met with Natalia in order to be able to be closer to her sister.
Marriage
For the marriage between Goncharova and Dantes, due to the difference in their religion, special permission was required, which was obtained without any problems. At the same time, the bride was allowed to remain Orthodox, but she agreed that her future children from Haeckern would be Catholics.
Georges Dantes Pushkin did not like, especially since he did not believe in the stories of his crazy passion for the shy Ekaterina. However, he had to withdraw the call. Moreover, the poet told his friends that he did not consider the undertaking with the marriage of Dantes to his relative to be a reason to evade a duel, since he learned that the enemy was going to postpone the wedding until the fight took place. So the incident was exhausted, and everyone engaged in preparations for the wedding ceremony, which took place in a close family circle.
Duel
After the wedding with Ekaterina Goncharova, Georges Dantes continued the life of a secular lion and a ladies man. As a relative, he continued to communicate with Natalya Pushkina, and her husband constantly heard rumors that in the light they laugh at him and compose puns about the love family quartet of two sisters and their husbands.
Unable to bear the ridicule, on January 26, 1937, the poet wrote an angry letter to Baron Haeckern, Sr., in which he said that he no longer wanted to see representatives of the family of the Dutch envoy in his house.
In response, he wrote that his son accepts the challenge to the duel that Pushkin had made earlier. A meeting of seconds followed, which agreed on the place and time of the fight.
The very next day, a duel took place between Georges Dantes, the adoptive son of Baron Haeckern, and Pushkin, which ended in a wound to Pushkin. After 2 days, the poet passed away.
Departure from Russia and life in Suls
According to the laws of that time, duelists officers were deprived of their ranks and sent to serve as ordinary soldiers. However, Dantes was a foreign citizen, and Nicholas I decided to take away his officer’s patent and expel him from the country. Together with him, his wife Catherine went abroad.
First, George Dantes and his wife went to their native Alsace, where the young man, like his own father, became a member of the General Council of his department. By this time, he already had three daughters, and his wife died during childbirth. He did not experience much grief and, having entrusted the care of children to his relatives, the baron went to Paris as a member of the Constituent Assembly.
In 1852, Louis-Napoleon, who decided to carry out a military coup, chose Haeckern to carry out a secret mission. Its purpose was to clarify the attitude of monarchs of leading European powers towards this scenario. Dantes brilliantly completed the task, and, taking the throne, Napoleon the Third appointed him an irreplaceable senator.
His successful career in politics lasted until 1870 and ended with the proclamation of the Third Republic. After some time, Dantes, who remained out of work, returned to the family estate, where he died in 1895, surrounded by daughters and grandchildren.
Now you know what life Georges Dantes lived. The biography of this person is an example of a successful career, for the sake of which beliefs are repeatedly changed and actions are performed that can hardly be called noble.