Presidential Library marks 210th anniversary of Mikhail Lermontov's birth

On October 15th, 2024, the 210th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Lermontov, a great Russian poet, will be celebarted. His childhood was spent at the rich manor in Tarkhany, Penza Governorate. Lermontov lost his mother at an early age, and a few years later, his father. His maternal grandmother, Elizaveta Arsenyevna, took over his upbringing and education.

After leaving Moscow University, Lermontov came to St. Petersburg. In 1832, his grandmother brought him to the city on the Neva River to continue his studies. However, at the university, they refused to count his two years at Moscow University and he enrolled in the School of Guards and Cavalry Juniors (since 1859, the Nikolaev Cavalry School).

In the collection of the Presidential Library, a rare edition from 1883 called The Lermontov Museum of the Nikolaev Cavalry School is presented. The library is celebrating the 210th anniversary of Mikhail Lermontov's birth.

The life of a young man in St. Petersburg is described in a biographical essay on the Illustrated Complete Works of Mikhail Lermontov (1914-1915). During this time, he goes even deeper into himself, hiding his true creativity from almost everyone around him and hiding his soul behind a tightly pulled mask, pretending to be a "daring lancer" trying to take precedence over everyone else.

During the period from 1830 to 1836, which included his time in St. Petersburg, Lermontov wrote several tragedies, such as Spaniards and People and Passion, as well as romantic dramas like A Strange Man, Masquerade, and Two Brothers.

Alexander Bilderling was one of Mikhail Lermontov's admirers. After the poet's death, he initiated the creation of a museum in the educational institution where Lermontov was brought up. In December 1883, the museum was opened, with an exhibition that included original and copy manuscripts, paintings, drawings, official documents, publications, and musical compositions - all related to Lermontov's literary works and the lives of himself and his contemporaries. Relatives of the poet donated a Circassian belt, a powder horn, dagger, red morocco shoes, and a mother's album to the museum.

The mention of the Nikolaev Cavalry School and the name of Bilderling is available in another rare document presented in the Presidential Library collection. It is titled The Case of the Construction of a Monument to Mikhail Lermontov at the Nikolaevsky Cavalry School in St Petersburg (1909-1912) and discusses the creation of a committee to build a monument to the poet at the school, as well as the collection of donations for its installation.

A competition was announced between domestic sculptors for the prizes for the monument project. The requirements for the participants were developed by artists and architects who had graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts or had proven themselves through their created works.

The site for the monument was chosen to be the garden in front of the main entrance to the building of the Nikolaev Cavalry School on Novo-Peterhof Avenue, later renamed Lermontovsky Avenue. Three best projects were to be chosen by "the highest authority", and after their approval, the project would be put into execution.

The opening of the monument was originally planned for 1914 to commemorate the centenary of the poet's birth, but the First World War disrupted these plans. The monument finally took its place on Lermontovsky Prospect in 1916.

More information about the life and works of Mikhail Lermontov can be found on the Presidential Library's website in the collection dedicated to the poet. This collection includes books, periodicals, and other materials containing texts of Lermontov's works, as well as research on his life, works, and images of places associated with him. Of particular interest are the reproductions of paintings, drawings, and sketches by Lermontov himself, which show him not only as a poet and novelist, but also as an artist. The illustrations by famous artists for Lermontov's works deserve special attention, including sketches for theatrical productions of his play Masquerade directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold and designed by Alexander Golovin.