Ivan Susanin was a peasant who lived in Kostroma district. In the history of Russia, he is known as the man who saved the tsar (Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov) from the Polish invaders. To date, there is no reliable information about the identity of this national hero. According to historical chronicles, Susanin served as a headman in the village of Domnino, Kostroma district. A detachment of Polish interventionists asked Ivan Osipovich to bring them to his village, where Tsar Mikhail Romanov was staying. For this, Susanin was rewarded. Instead, the future hero led the Poles into a dense forest. After some wandering, the interventionists guessed that the man decided to destroy them. After prolonged torture of the peasant, they realized that he would not indicate the road leading to the village. The Poles killed Susanin. But the murderers themselves soon died in the forest swamps. Today the name of this noble man is immortalized. And the diploma handed to his son-in-law serves as proof of the existence of the hero. And also the remains of a man found near Kostroma, which, apparently, belonged to Susanin. Well, now we will examine in more detail what Ivan Susanin is famous for and study some facts of his biography.
The life of Ivan Susanin
Before proceeding directly to the feat and personality of Ivan Osipovich Susanin, I would like to acquaint the reader with the period of time in which the great martyr lived. So, it was in the first half of the 17th century. In the early 1600s, Russia was swept by unprecedented class, natural, and religious disasters. It was during this period that the following famines occurred: the famine of 1601-1603, the seizure of the throne by an impostor, the coming to power of Vasily Shuisky, the Polish invasion of 1609, the militia of 1611 and many other incidents.
Great sorrow also crept up to the Kostroma region, where, in fact, Ivan Susanin lived , whose biography leaves many white spots. The episodes characterizing that time include: the destruction of Kostroma in 1608-1609 by False Dmitry II, an attack on the Ipatiev Monastery, the defeat of Kineshma by Polish troops and other bloody events.
Whether the events described above, namely anxiety, internecine troubles and the invasion of enemies, had a bearing on Susanin and his relatives, or did they bypass their family until some time, is unknown. But this whole era is the time when Ivan Susanin lived. And the war approached the very home of the hero when it seemed that it had already ended.
Susanin's personality
Ivan Susanin, whose biography contains extremely few known facts, is an interesting person. Little is known to us about the existence of this man. We only know that Ivan had a daughter with an unusual name for our time - Antonida. Her husband was the peasant Bogdan Sabinin. Susanin had two grandchildren - Konstantin and Daniil, but when they were born, it is not known exactly.
There is also no information about the wife of Ivan Osipovich. Historians are inclined to believe that at the time the peasant committed the feat, she was no longer alive. And since Antonida was 16 years old in the same period, the scientists, when asked about how old Ivan Susanin was when he led the Poles into the forest, answer that he was in adulthood. That is, it is about 32-40 years.
When everything happened
Today, many people know what Ivan Susanin is famous for and what feat he accomplished. But regarding what year and at what time everything happened, there are several versions. Opinion one: the event took place in the late autumn of 1612. As an argument in favor of this date, the following information has been provided. In some legends it is said that Ivan hid the king in the pit of the recently burned barn. The story also tells that the hero also covered the pit with charred boards. But this theory was denied by most researchers. If this is still true, and ancient legends do not lie, then it was really in the fall, since the sheep were drowned and burned at this particular time of the year.
Or maybe the last winter month of 1613?
In the minds of ordinary people, thanks to numerous artistic canvases, literary works and the opera of Glinka M.I., the image of Ivan Susanin, who led the Poles through snowdrifts through the forest, was firmly entrenched. And this is the generally accepted version. Therefore, there is reason to believe that the feat was accomplished somewhere in the second part of February or the first half of March. At this time, the Poles were sent, who were to kill Tsar Mikhail in order to destroy the stabilization of Russia and wage a further struggle for the right to become the head of the Russian throne.
But anyway, no one will ever know the truth about the exact date of the feat. After all, an incredibly large number of important details remains a mystery. And those that were saved, most likely, are misinterpreted. What is famous for Ivan Susanin, we are aware. And let everything else remain a myth.
Susanin's Death in the Village
In several historical chronicles that describe how Ivan Susanin hid Romanov in a pit in the village of Derevnishche, it is said that in the same village of Ivan Osipovich, the Poles tortured and then killed. But this theory is not supported by any documents. This version was not supported by almost anyone who was studying the life of the famous hero.
The most common version of death
The following theory regarding the death of a hero is the most famous and most supported by historians. According to her, Ivan Susanin, whose feat is described above, died in the Isupovsky swamp. And the image of a red pine tree that grew on the hero’s blood is considered incredibly poetic. The second name of the swamp sounds like “Pure”, because it is washed by the suffering blood of Ivan Osipovich. But all this is only folklore speculation. But be that as it may, it is the swamp that is the main scene of the entire Susanin feat. A peasant drove the Poles through a quagmire, luring them into the very depths of the forest, away from the village they needed.
But along with this, many questions arise. If Ivan Susanin (the story of the feat described above) really died in the swamp, did all the Poles die after his death? Or only a part of them has sunk into oblivion? Who then said that the peasant was no longer alive? There is no mention of the death of the Poles in any documents that historians managed to find. But there is an opinion that the real (and not folklore) hero Ivan died not in a swamp, but in some other place.
Death in the village of Isupovo
The third version regarding the death of Ivan suggests that he died not in a swamp, but in the village of Isupovo. This is evidenced by a document in which the great-grandson of Susanin (I. Sobinin) asks Empress Anna Ioannovna to confirm the benefits granted to the descendants of Ivan Susanin. According to this petition, it was in the specified village of Ivan Osipovich that his death overtook him. If you believe this legend, then the residents of Isupovo also saw the death of their fellow countryman. Then it turns out that they brought bad news to the village of Domnino, and perhaps they brought the body of the deceased there.
This version is the only theory that has documented evidence. She is considered the most real. In addition, the great-grandson, who was not so distant in time from his great-grandfather, could not know what Ivan Susanin is famous for and where he died. Many historians also share this hypothesis.
Where is Ivan Osipovich Susanin buried
The question of where the grave of the Russian hero is located will be natural. If you believe the legend that he died in the village of Isupovo, and not in the swamp of the same name, then burial should be necessary. It is assumed that the body of the deceased was buried in a cemetery near the Resurrection Church, which was a parish church for residents of the villages of Derevnishche and Domnino. But this fact is not significant and multiple evidence.
It is impossible not to mention the fact that a little later after the burial, the body of Ivan was reburied in the Ipatiev Monastery. This is also a version that does not have strong evidence. And she was rejected by almost all researchers of Susanin's feat.