Not only a writer, but also a scientist! That was Antony Pogorelsky, a multi-talented person who succeeded in a variety of undertakings. But because of his literary role, his scientific works were not always taken seriously, and that is why, probably, Pogorelsky is known to his descendants precisely as a writer. Which does not negate the fact that he lived an extremely interesting and eventful life.
A.S. Pushkin himself spoke highly of his work. Moreover, Pogorelsky’s “Lafertovskaya Makovnitsa” made such an impression on him that in his work “Undertaker” he quoted an excerpt from it. When Pushkin was not yet so famous and famous, critics coolly greeted his poem Ruslan and Lyudmila. Then Pogorelsky, already having authority in the literary milieu, defended Pushkin. In fact, his name was Alexei Perovsky. But he went down in history under his chosen pseudonym. Antony Pogorelsky was never married, and his family was interrupted, since he also had no children. For a long time there were rumors that it was Antony Pogorelsky who was the real biological father of Alexei Tolstoy, but they were not backed up by anything. All his life Pogorelsky liked to play around and make fun of them, because of which he earned a reputation as a hoaxer and generally a person with a developed sense of humor.
One of the closest friends of A. Pogorelsky was V. Zhukovsky, who, in turn, was a close friend of A. S. Pushkin. Pogorelsky was an expert in botany. He even published three volumes of scientific papers on this subject, and lectured on it at the university. Antony Pogorelsky came from the famous noble family of Razumovsky, but he was the illegitimate son of his father. He could not officially recognize him, but he provided him with a decent education, and in the future also supported him. The writer often contradicted the will of his father. So, contrary to his wishes, he volunteered for the army. True, when A. Pogorelsky wanted to become a member of the Masonic lodge, his father, who himself was a freemason, forbade him to do this, and the writer obeyed. Antony Pogorelsky considered the poet Goethe his idol. He even got a personal meeting with him.
In addition to his own works, he also created talented translations, thus acquainting Russian readers with the work of German writers and poets. Pogorelsky was fluent in German. By the way, he also translated from Russian into German. The work “Double, or my evenings in Little Russia” by some literary scholars is considered the very first fantastic work written in Russian. The cause of Antony Pogorelsky’s death was tuberculosis, a disease that was fatal in that era. He went to European resorts for treatment, but, alas, this did not help. While participating in hostilities A. Pogorelsky managed to stay both a regular army soldier and a partisan.
