Who does not know Mikhail Lermontov? This Russian writer became a figure of world magnitude even during his lifetime, and his work provided him with immortal fame. Lermontov’s poems are studied to this day, and you can be sure that his glory will never fade.
The ancestors of the ancient family, in which Mikhail Lermontov was born, came from the Scottish bard-foreteller Thomas Lermont, shrouded in myths and legends.
In the XVII century, the Polish lieutenant Georg Lermont was captured by Russian troops. He went to the service of the Russian Tsar, took Orthodoxy and initiated the noble family of Lermontov.
On the red-and-yellow coat of arms of Lermontov with the royal figure in the center was the motto “My fate is Jesus”.
Young Lermontov preferred to consider his ancestor favorite of the Spanish King Philip III Francisco Lermo.
Lermontov’s mother died at the age of 21 from consumption – her already poor health was undermined by the numerous infidelities of her husband, who had cooled to his wife after the birth of his son. When she was gone, his father left little Mikhail in the care of his mother-in-law and went to a family estate near Tula.
Grandmother Lermontov, landowner Elizaveta Alekseevna, lived longer than her husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandson. The terrible relations between her and the poet’s father left an indelible imprint on the childhood and youth of Lermontov, who suffered from constant quarrels and scandals.
Lermontov was a morbid, sullen child, hating everyday life and living in a world of fantasy.
If you believe Lermontov’s memoirs, he fell in love for the first time when he was only 9 years old, and his chosen one from the Caucasian resort – 10 years.
At the university, Lermontov did not study two courses, for various reasons, deciding to abandon the continuation of education.
During the occupation at the Guards school, the horse got Lermontov’s hoof on his right leg, which caused severe trauma. The poet was treated by the famous doctor Nikolai Arendt, who had previously tried to save Pushkin from the death of a wounded man in a duel.
At a young age Lermontov was carried away by a girl from the neighboring estate of Ekaterina Sushkova, but she rejected his feelings and laughed at the young man. Many years later, becoming a hussar and heir to a great fortune, Lermontov upset the planned marriage of Sushkova and compromised her, exposing it in the most unfavorable light.
For the first time Lermontov was arrested and sent into exile in the Caucasus for too ardent accusations of Dantes in the death of Pushkin.
The first duel of Lermontov took place after the ball, where he quarreled with the son of the French ambassador. The foreigner missed, and the poet shot into the air, thereby exhausting the incident. For participation in the duel, the writer was again arrested and sent to the most dangerous section of the Caucasian war.
In the Caucasus, Lermontov wrote his famous novel The Hero of His Time, the first edition of which was almost immediately sold out.
During a short vacation in St. Petersburg, Lermontov wanted to put an end to military service and devote himself to creativity, but his grandmother was categorically against it. Therefore Lermontov was forced to return to his regiment, despite the painful apprehension.
After coming to the Caucasus, Lermontov quarreled with retired Major Nikolay Martynov, and soon a duel took place between them. According to the generally accepted version, the poet shot up, and his opponent – right into the writer’s chest.
The coffin with the body of Lermontov during the funeral was carried on the shoulders of officers of all the regiments in which he had occasion to serve for his life.
The body of the poet rested in Pyatigorsk for 250 days. Then Lermontov’s grandmother managed to obtain an imperial permission to rebury the writer in the family crypt.
