Fans of Pushkin’s work, of course, know who Anna Kern is. The biography of this woman is closely connected with the fate of the great Russian poet. Anna Kern is a Russian noblewoman who lived in the 19th century and went down in history precisely because of her role in the life of A.S. Pushkin. However, her fate is not only remarkable for this. A very interesting life path was Anna Kern. Her biography is able to intrigue even people who are far from poetry. After reading this article, you will get acquainted with the main events in her life.
The origin of Anna Kern
This woman was born in 1800, a year later than A. S. Pushkin. She went a long and eventful life - in 1879, Anna Kern died. The biography of our heroine begins with meeting her parents. Her father was Peter Markovich Poltoratsky. His grandfather, Mark Fedorovich Poltoratsky (his portrait is presented below), is a Russian singer and state adviser (years of life - 1729-1795).
Anna Kern lived with her parents in the estate of the Oryol governor I.P. Wolfe. This man was her maternal grandfather. Later, the family moved to the Poltava province, in the county town of Lubny. Anna Kern’s childhood passed precisely here, as well as in Bern, in the estate of I.P. Wolfe.
The father and mother of our heroine were from the circle of the official nobility. These were quite wealthy people. Anna's father is a court adviser and a Poltava landowner. His father was M.F. Poltoratsky, the head of the singing chapel, who was at court, already known at the time of Elizabeth. M.F. Poltoratsky was married to Shishkova Agafoklei Alexandrovna, a powerful and wealthy woman. The mother of our heroine was Ekaterina Ivanovna, nee Wulf. She was distinguished by kindness, but was weak in character and painful. The main thing in the family was, of course, her husband.
Unhappy marriage, birth of daughters
From a young age, Anna Kern loved reading. Her biography continues with the fact that after a while she began to "go out into the light." The girl peered at the "brilliant" officers. However, her father himself introduced her to the groom. He brought to the house of Yermolai Fedorovich Kern, a general and an officer (his portrait is presented below). When Anna met him, she was 17 years old, and her future spouse - 52. This man did not cause sympathy from Anna. She wrote in her diary that she could not even respect him, that she practically hated him.
This was expressed later in relation to children who appeared from marriage with the general - Anna was pretty cool towards them. From Yermolay Fedorovich she had two daughters, Catherine and Anna (born 1818 and 1821, respectively). They were brought up to the Smolny Institute.
Forced relocations
Our heroine had to get used to the role of the wife of an army servant from the time of Arakcheev. Her husband often had to change garrisons, moving on duty to either Elizavetgrad, Pskov, Derpt, or Riga ...
In Kiev, Anna Petrovna Kern made friends with the Raevskikh family, whose brief biography interests us. She spoke with admiration about this family. Her close friends in Dorpat were Moyers. The head of this family was a professor of surgery and worked at a local university. His wife was the first love of the poet Zhukovsky, his muse. Anna Petrovna also remembered the trip to St. Petersburg, which took place at the beginning of 1819. In the house of E. M. Olenina, her aunt, the girl heard Krylov, and also saw A. S. Pushkin for the first time. So Anna Petrovna Kern quietly entered the life of the poet. Pushkin's biography is marked by a bright page associated with this woman. However, their close acquaintance took place a little later.
Hobbies of Anna Kern
In the same 1819, a certain man appeared in the life of our heroine for a short while, whom Anna called "dog rose" in her diary. Then she began an affair with A. G. Rodzianko, a local landowner. It was he who introduced Anna Kern to the works of Alexander Sergeyevich, with whom she had already briefly encountered before. The great poet then did not impress Anna Petrovna, he even seemed to her somewhat rude. However, thanks to A.G. Rodzianko, Pushkin and Anna Petrovna Kern became close. A brief biography of this woman is noted by the fact that she was completely delighted with the poetry of Alexander Sergeyevich.
Communication with Pushkin
By June 1825, Anna had already left her husband. She went to Riga and on the way decided to look into the Trigorskoye estate, owned by P.A. Osipova, her aunt. Here our heroine again met with Alexander Sergeyevich (the Mikhailovsky estate, where he was then, was located nearby). The poet broke out in passion, which was reflected in Pushkin's famous poem dedicated to his beloved A. Kern ("I remember a wonderful moment ..."). However, at that moment Anna Petrovna flirted with Alexei Wulf, son of Osipova and a friend of the poet. In Riga between her and Alexei there was an ardent affair.
Alexander Sergeevich continued to suffer. Only after 2 years, his lover descended to her admirer. However, Anna Petrovna Kern and Pushkin spent a short time together. The poet’s biography is marked by the fact that, having achieved his goal, he discovered that his feelings had disappeared from that moment. Soon, the connection between Alexander Sergeyevich and Anna Petrovna ceased. But our heroine is still known as Pushkin’s mistress. Anna Kern, her biography and relationships with the great poet to this day are of interest to many.
Social circle A. Kern after breaking with Pushkin
After this breakup, Anna was close to A. V. Nikitenko, A. D. Illichevsky, D. V. Venevitinov, the family of Baron Delvig, I. S. Turgenev, F. I. Tyutchev, and also to M. I. Glinka . The latter wrote the music for Pushkin's poem "I remember a wonderful moment ...". However, he dedicated it not to Anna Kern, but to her daughter Catherine. Our heroine ceased to maintain contact with this circle after the marriage of Pushkin. Nevertheless, after the death of Delvig, she maintained a warm relationship with the family of Alexander Sergeyevich. Anna Kern still went to visit Sergey Lvovich and Nadezhda Osipovna Pushkin. She also kept in touch with Pushkina (Pavlishcheva) Olga Sergeevna, who was a “confidante” in her heart affairs. By the way, it was in her honor that Anna would call Olga her youngest daughter.
True love A. Kern
Our heroine continued to fall in love, despite the fact that she acquired the status of an outcast in secular society. At the age of 36, she met her true love. Her chosen one was Sasha Markov-Vinogradsky (his portrait is presented above), the second cousin of Anna Petrovna, then a 16-year-old cadet. Anna completely stopped appearing in secular society, to which she preferred a quiet family life. After 3 years, her son Alexander was born, who was an illegitimate child, since officially Anna Petrovna was still married to the general.
The death of a spouse, a new marriage
Her husband died in early 1841. As a general's widow, Anna was entitled to a significant pension. However, on July 25, 1842, she married her lover. Now the surname of Anna has become Markov-Vinogradskaya. Because of this, our heroine could no longer claim for retirement, so the spouses had to live quite modestly. For many years they spent in a village near Sosnovitsy, located in the Chernigov province. This is the only way to make ends meet. This village is the only family estate of the new spouse Anna Petrovna.
Difficulties the family had to face
Alexander Vasilievich in 1855 got a place in St. Petersburg. He began to work in the family of Prince S. A. Dolgorukov, and after a while - the head of the department of inheritance. Spouses did not live easily. Anna had to earn extra money with translations. However, despite all the difficulties, their union was unbreakable. Alexander Vasilievich in November 1865 retired with a modest rank of a college assessor. Naturally, one could not count on a large pension. Markov-Vinogradsky decided to leave St. Petersburg. They lived where necessary, the spouses were persecuted by poverty. Anna Petrovna, because of need, sold Pushkin's letters, for which she was given 5 rubles.
The death of Alexander and Anna
A.V. Markov-Vinogradsky died in Pryamukhin on January 28, 1879 in terrible agony. The cause of death is stomach cancer. After 4 months, May 27, Anna died. This happened in Moscow, in furnished rooms located on the corner of Tverskaya and Gruzinskaya (her son moved Anna Petrovna to Moscow). They say that the funeral procession moved along Tversky Boulevard when a monument to A.S. Pushkin was erected on it. So the great poet last met with a "genius of pure beauty."
Our heroine was buried on a graveyard near an old stone church located in the village of Prutnya (6 km from Torzhok). The road was washed away by rains that did not allow the coffin to be delivered "to her husband" in the cemetery. After 100 years, a modest monument to this woman was erected in Riga, near the former church. Of course, Anna Kern was a bright and interesting person. A brief biography of her, presented in the article, we hope, convinced you of this.