In the life of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin there were many women who left a mark in his work. Communication with them brought him inspiration, which later spilled over into immortal poetic lines. Quite complete information has remained about some of them, while others will forever remain a mystery to researchers. These include the young Italian Amalia Riznich, with whom fate brought the poet during his southern exile.
Punishment for freethinking
Pushkinâs meeting with this woman was preceded by events that almost turned out for him to be sent to Siberia or imprisonment in the Solovetsky Monastery. The fact is that in the spring of 1820 he was called to the St. Petersburg Governor General Count M.A. Miloradovich about a series of seditious verses, as well as epigrams written in the address of some high-ranking persons, including the emperor Alexander I.
Thanks to the intercession of influential friends, and, first of all, N.M. Karamzin, the punishment was mitigated, and instead of Siberia, the poet was transferred from the capital to the office of the Chisinau mayor I.N. Inzova. Having stayed there for less than three years, Pushkin achieved a transfer to Odessa, where he was placed at the disposal of the Governor-General of Count M.S. Vorontsova. There, fate arranged for him to meet with Amalia Riznich - a woman undoubtedly loved by him, but the relationship with which was forever left for descendants covered in a veil of secrecy. Who was this muse that inspired Pushkin to create several poems dedicated to her.
The mystery woman
The biography of Amalia Riznich is little studied by the Pushkinists, mainly because of the limited number of documents that shed light on her life. Researchers have at their disposal only fragmentary evidence of contemporaries. Moreover, not only not one of her lifetime portraits was preserved, with the exception of sketches on the margins of manuscripts made by Pushkin himself, but not even a single line written by her hand.
This is partly due to the fact that Amalia Riznich was destined to live in Russia for only a year, and then disappear forever, leaving only a trace in Pushkinâs poems. All that is known about this mysterious woman is that she is Italian, and, having been born in Florence (date not set), in 1822 she married a young and wealthy businessman of Serbian origin, Ivan Stepanovich Riznich, under whose surname went down in the history of Russian literature.
Businessman from Dubrovnik
Much more is known about him than about his wife. He was a very outstanding person. He was born in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik on October 13 (present time) in 1792 in the family of a wealthy merchant Stefan Riznich, who subsequently transferred all his affairs to him.
Having received primary education at home, Ivan Riznich then studied at Padua (according to other sources, Bologna) and Berlin universities, thanks to which he became a very enlightened person. He was fluent in several foreign languages, well-read and well versed in opera. In Odessa, where his office for exporting bread was located, Riznich appeared in the early 1920s and immediately attracted the attention of local society. In 1822, his first meeting with Pushkin took place, when the poet, who was still in the state office of the Chisinau city governor, made a trip to the sea.
Italian beauty
The earliest information included by researchers in the biography of Amalia Riznich dates back to April 1823, when Ivan Stepanovich, who had gone to Vienna a few months earlier, brought her to Odessa as his legal wife. For lack of portraits of this woman, an idea of ââher can be made only from the memoirs of contemporaries, testifying that she was a real beauty. Everyone who happened to see her, noted the extraordinary slenderness of the figure, large eyes full of southern passion and magnificent magnificent hair.
Impressed by others and her outfits, for which her husband did not spare money. Local fashionistas, trying to imitate the newcomer foreigner in everything, adopted even her usual style of wearing men's hats with wide brim and lush dresses falling to the ground, which she wore in an interesting position. As the poet of the Pushkin era V.I. wrote later Tumansky, whose memoirs also helped compile a short biography of Amalia Riznich: âAmong Odessa ladies, she was a real phenomenon.â
If we add here the wealth that her husband possessed, it is not surprising that Amalia quickly became one of the Odessa beau monde. However, according to the same contemporaries, she and her husband were not accepted in the highest society, since the doors of the house of Countess Elizaveta Ksaverievna Vorontsova, the wife of the Governor General, remained closed to them. Obviously, the Vorontsovs considered Ivan Riznich at least a rich and educated, but still a merchant, with whose family true aristocrats could not communicate.
Sudden departure
It is known that Amalia Riznich lived in Odessa for a very short time, and in May 1824, having received permission from the city magistrate, together with her young son Alexander, she went to Austria, from where she then proceeded to Italy and, finally, to Switzerland. On the trip, she was accompanied by an old servant, two permanent maids and another person, which will be discussed below.
The further fate of Amalia was very tragic. A year after leaving Odessa, she died of consumption, and there were rumors that the secular lioness spent the last months of her life in extreme poverty, deprived of all means of subsistence, and escaped starvation only thanks to the meager handouts received from her mother-in-law.
Soon after, her young son died. Characteristically, this tragedy left her husband Ivan Riznich absolutely indifferent. Subsequently, he tried to assure that he had sent his wife enough money to treat and support the child, but his words were doubtful. What happened between the spouses and what caused such a hasty gap between them?
Socialite
To try to answer this question, one should return to that fertile time when the beautiful Amalia was a recognized star of Odessa society. Female beauty has always been an attractive force, and as for Madame Riznich, she was simply irresistible, as many sophisticated womanizer showed later. In addition, being a true socialite, she was distinguished by her courage, relaxedness, ability to hold on and passion for all kinds of entertainments.
Naturally, from the first days of stay in Odessa, the young beauty was surrounded by a crowd of fans, among whom was our great poet. There was no information about when the first meeting of Pushkin and Amalia Riznich occurred, but it is known that the visiting Italian made an indelible impression on Alexander Sergeyevich.
Love poet
Amorous in nature (thanks to which Russian literature was enriched with many wonderful lyric poems), the poet immediately fell under the charm of a beautiful woman. It is curious that this did not hide from the eyes of her husband, and later he wrote that Pushkin wound around his wife like a kitten - this expression Riznich found the most suitable.
Was it jealousy in him? Hardly. After all, flirting, as you know, has always been an integral part of secular communication, another matter is to what extent it extended. Here it is impossible to give a comprehensive answer, since it is not known how much Alexander Sergeyevich succeeded in his courtship. By the way, he had a very dangerous rival in the person of the Polish gentry I. Sobansky. And besides him, there were many admirers.
Broken happiness
So, surrounded by a brilliant society and universal love, Amalia lived a year. Having given birth to a child, she not only did not lose her former beauty, but became even more attractive, and seemed a true embodiment of female happiness, when suddenly everything collapsed overnight. Hasty gatherings, a break with her husband and a flight-like departure abroad, where, judging by the subsequent events, no one was waiting for her.
In high society, there were rumors that some of the fans still managed to reach the heart of the beauty. This, allegedly, caused an outbreak of rage in the deceived husband, which entailed an ugly scene of jealousy, and served as the cause of the ensuing tragedy. The names of many secular red tape were mentioned as a possible culprit of what happened, among which Alexander Sergeyevich was mentioned. Although it is not known for certain how far the relationship between Pushkin and Amalia Riznich has gone.
Heartless lover
As for the indisputable facts, which were confirmed in the subsequent recordings of Ivan Stepanovich himself, it is known that Amalia, who was rejected by him and urgently left Odessa, was accompanied by the same Pole pan Sobansky, mentioned above, as an attendant.
Having arrived with her in Vienna and spent a month together in one of the best hotels, he left her and, returning, struck out of his life. It is very likely that it is he who is the true culprit of the family drama. Pushkin, after Amalie, also left Odessa, but directed his way not to Austria, but to Mikhailovskoye, which was established with absolute accuracy.
The muse that inspired the poet
What role did Amalia Riznich play in Pushkinâs life? We can only make assumptions about this, but it is hardly appropriate to talk about any deep feelings that go beyond fleeting love. It is enough to recall that the poet looked after her during his tumultuous and confirmed by many facts romance with Elizaveta Vorontsova (the portrait is given above) - the wife of Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 and governor general of Odessa. To her, he dedicated his immortal poem "The Talisman."
Is it possible to assume that two women simultaneously found a place in the heart of Alexander Sergeyevich? Of course you can. And this happens often, but in such cases, none of them leaves a deep mark.
Poetry is another matter. The treasury of Russian literature forever included Pushkin's poems dedicated to Amalia Riznich. Among them are such masterpieces as âForgive me jealous dreamsâ, âUnder the blue sky of my native countryâ and several stanzas from âEugene Oneginâ. In addition, the poem "Night" was probably dedicated to her. Amalia Riznich, thanks to the poet's genius, forever entered the history of Russian culture.
As already mentioned above, not one of her lifetime portraits by a professional artist has come down to us. Only fluent sketches on the margins of manuscripts made by Pushkinâs hand and depicting Amalia Riznich are known. Photos taken from them are presented in the article and allow you to get at least some idea of ââthis Italian with a characteristic Roman profile.
Cheated husband
Concluding the conversation about the role played by Amalia Riznich in Pushkinâs life, we will briefly touch upon the future fate of her husband, who remained in Odessa, and, probably, bitterly repented of having connected his fate with the windy beauty two years earlier. He, as was written above, escaped from all worries concerning not only her fate, but also their son Alexander. In this deliberate callousness, many researchers see evidence that he had good reason to doubt his paternity. Which, however, should not have allowed him to evade the fulfillment of a purely Christian duty in relation to a child.
The second marriage of Ivan Riznich
Having gained freedom after the death of his wife, he was not slow to enter into a second marriage. This time, his chosen one was the Polish Countess Paulina Rzhevuska. About this lady it is known that she was the sister of the wife of the French writer Honore de Balzac Evelina Gansky, as well as a certain Caroline Sobanska, who was married to the same Polish lady who accompanied Amalia, who was rejected by her husband, and comforted her at the Vienna hotel for a month. To complete the picture, we note that during his stay in Odessa, Pushkin managed to have an affair with this Carolina, thereby taking revenge on his happier (however, who knows) rival in the fight for the heart of Amalia Riznich.
The commercial activity of Ivan Semenovich, which began so successfully in Odessa, soon crashed. He went bankrupt, and with his wife moved to Kiev, where he received the position of director of the bank. Their daughter Maria, having matured, married the famous French mystic and occultist Saint-Yves. Over time, she settled in St. Petersburg and became the mistress of one of the most fashionable high-class salons.