“Hero of Russian Poetry”: Exploring a new Pushkin State Museum’s exhibition

The Pushkin State Museum has opened the “Hero of Russian Poetry” exhibition dedicated to the 280 th anniversary of the birth of the poet and statesman Gavriil Derzhavin. Visitors can see exhibits associated with different milestones in his life: some of them have been provided by the National Pushkin Museum in St. Petersburg and the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House). Anna Khrustaleva, Pushkin State Museum’s worker, told us more about it.

Early life

Gavriil Derzhavin was born near Kazan in 1743 into a landed family of impoverished nobility. His father died suddenly leaving his family in debt. His mother struggled to help her son get a proper education. The future poet and statesman was first taught by a local churchman, then he attended an Orenburg school. He studied the basics of arithmetic and geometry, as well as French, German and Latin at the Kazan grammar school, which opened in 1758. The exhibition includes a lithograph made from the original work of the painter and engraver Louis-Julien Jacottet, which enables visitors to see what Kazan was like in those years.

After studying, Derzhavin enlisted in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Then, in his spare time, he began to write his first poems including commissioned ones for colleagues who sent them home, as well as for his beloved. In June 1762, as a member of the regiment, Gavriil Derzhavin took part in a coup, which enabled Catherine the Great to ascend the throne.

11 years later (at that time, his poems were first published) Derzhavin became one of those who suppressed the rebellion of the Yaik Cossacks led by Yemelyan Pugachev. Battles took place in Kazan, and Gavriil Derzhavin, who had been familiar with these places, was able to describe what he saw in detail in his memoirs. Then, much later, Alexander Pushkin turned to these notes while working on “The Captain’s Daughter” and “The History of the Pugachev Rebellion”.

Poet and statesman

In 1777, Gavriil Derzhavin ended his military career by joining the Governing Senate. A year later, he married Ekaterina Bastidon, the daughter of the former servant of Peter III and the nurse of Paul I. The exhibition has her portrait made from the original artwork of Vladimir Borovikovsky (1864). Derzhavin loved his wife very much, dedicated poems to her and affectionately called her Plenira (from the Russian word ‘plenyat’ meaning ‘captivate’). He was inconsolable when she died 16 years later. However, just six months later, he married again. His wife was Daria Dyakova, the daughter of the Senate Chief Prosecutor and State Councilor Alexei Dyakov and Princess Avdotya Myshetskaya.

Derzhavin had no children from either his first or second marriage. Nevertheless, he raised several foster children: they were nieces of Daria Dyakova (the daughter of her sister Maria and poet Nikolay Lvov) and sons of his close friend Petr Lazarev.

Work had an important place in Derzhavin’s life. In 1784, he wrote a philosophical ode “God”, in which he reflected on life and death. In the same year, it was first published in the Sobesednik newspaper, then it sometimes appeared in poetry collections, including handwritten ones. One of them is on display at the exhibition: the book was published between the end of the 18 th and the first third of the 19 th century, during Derzhavin’s lifetime.

Derzhavin and Catherine the Great

As a poet, Derzhavin gained great fame after the publication of the “Felitsa” ode dedicated to Catherine the Great. When creating it, Derzhavin was inspired by “The Tale of Tsarevich Chlor”, which the Empress came up with. The 1783 edition of “Felitsa” signed by the author is one of the museum’s exhibits. He wrote on a separate sheet of paper: “Ode to the Joyful Day of the Most High Birth of Her Imperial Majesty… Catherine II, Autocratrix of All Russia…” The ruler highly appreciated the work and presented a golden snuffbox with chervonets coins (gold coins) to Derzhavin.

She appointed Gavriil Derzhavin as governor of Olonets, Karelia (1784) and Tambov (1786). Thanks to Derzhavin, hospitals, schools, orphanages and much more were built there. However, being stubborn and short-tempered, he easily made enemies.

He was removed from the governorship twice, and in 1788, he was even put on trial: Catherine the Great saved Derzhavin by appointing him as cabinet secretary in 1791. But Derzhavin did not stay in his position for a long time: two years later the empress fired the poet sending him to work in the Senate.

“I told him ‘Let rank yield to rank. ’ This is the third time you could not get along with people, you might be to blame for it,” Catherine the Great wrote. He boiled with rage in front of me as well. Let him write poetry.

Another Derzhavin

Alexander Pushkin remembered his meeting with Gavriil Derzhavin all his life. They met during a public exam at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum on January 8, 1815. The young poet, who was only 15 years old, read his poem “Memories in Tsarskoye Selo”. Derzhavin, who by that time had completely retired from public affairs, was delighted. He said: “Another Derzhavin will soon appear to the world: this is Pushkin, who still at the Lyceum has surpassed all our writers.

Pushkin mentioned this acquaintance twice in his work: in the letter “To Zhukovsky” in 1816 and in the eighth chapter of the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” (“Aged Derzhavin saw and blessed us as he descended to the grave”). Recalling the meeting, he wrote:

“I cannot express my feelings: when I mentioned the name of Derzhavin while reading the verse, my boyhood voice rang, and my heart beat with rapt delight… I do not remember how I finished my reading, I do not remember where I ran away. Derzhavin was full of admiration; he demanded to see me, he wanted to hug me … They were looking for me, but they did not find me … “

This episode inspired artist Foma Railyan, who depicted a commemorative reading in 1899. You can view his drawing at the exhibition.

Later life

The later life of Derzhavin was quiet. He summered at his own estate, Zvanka, located in the Novgorod Governorate, which he was able to acquire thanks to the dowry of his second wife. He wintered in a house on the Fontanka in St. Petersburg.

Gavriil Derzhavin created a literary circle “Conversation of lovers of the Russian word” bringing its members together at his place. Poets Dmitry Khvostov, Vasily Zhukovsky, Pyotr Vyazemsky, writer Alexander Shishkov and many others visited him. He entertained the guests with hunting, fishing and dinner parties.

He completely devoted himself to his work: he wrote poetry, operas, comedies and fables. During that period, he created more than 60 works. But one of the poems, “The river of times in its aspiration …,” remained unfinished. Derzhavin died in his beloved estate in 1816. His body was buried in Khutyn Monastery of Saviour’s Transfiguration and of St. Varlaam, which was located nearby.