Memorable dates of Russia: “For Death or Glory…” Exhibition devoted to the 200th anniversary of Victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 held in St Petersburg

The Pushkin House (Institute of Russian Literature (IRLI RAS), St. Petersburg) is hosting the exhibition "For Death, or Glory ..." devoted to the 200th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1812.

The Pushkin House has a collection, large in scope and content, of materials related to the heroic events of 1812. The exhibition has first brought them together and made it possible to appreciate the significance of the collection of the Museum of Literature and the Manuscript Department.

The exhibition begins with exhibits that represent a kind of heroic-romantic cult of Napoleon, which had formed in France and exceeded its bounds and the bounds of the emperor’s life as well.

The war of 1812 soon became national, which is reflected in folk songs and popular prints, which are also presented at the exhibition.

The Pushkin House considers poetic reactions to war particularly important. Poems of G. Derzhavin, A. Vostokov, V. Pushkin, W. Kapnist, A. Bunina, I. Krylov, dedicated to the glorification of Alexander I, feats of Kutuzov and Bagration appear already during the invasion, upon the return of the Russian Army "from seized Paris."

The same theme takes an important place in the works of Pushkin. The exhibition includes autographs of his poems, the lines from which we have been using for 200 years to recall the heroic year of 1812.