Presidential Library marking Mikhail Lermontov's birthday

Mikhail Lermontov was born on October 15, 1814. Speaking about the artistic oeuvre associated with his name, it is impossible to pass over in silence the fact that the poet was close to the fine arts. He was a combination of poet and artist in one person.  

The poet's childhood was deprived of the brightest ray in a child's life - maternal affection, but the bright memory of her remained forever in his sensitive soul. The book Mikhail Lermontov 1814–1914 (1914), which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal, in addition to the facts of the poet’s biography and statements of his contemporaries, contains his personal memories. The boy saw his father in childhood only occasionally and by chance.

After the death of the mother, his maternal grandmother Elizaveta Alekseevna Arsenyeva took up raising the child. He grew up in the rich manorial estate of Tarkhany in Penza province, surrounded by tutors and governesses, among a noisy crowd of peers and female peers, whom his grandmother invited especially for the entertainment of her Michel, but soon the happy course of life was interrupted by a serious illness, which lasted almost two whole years. chained him to bed. Deprived of ordinary children's entertainment, he concentrated within himself, and deep, childish thoughts and fiery imagination quickly began to develop in him.

When the boy recovered, his grandmother took him to the Caucasus, to Pyatigorsk, for final recuperation. And then she began to prepare her grandson for admission to the Noble boarding school at Moscow University - the best educational institution in Moscow at that time.

By the time he entered the Noble boarding school, Lermontov had an excellent command of Russian speech (which was far from common in noble families at that time), he studied three foreign languages, drew excellently and played the violin and piano very well. Released from the boarding school at the beginning of 1830 with a certificate of “excellent diligence, commendable behavior and very good success”, Lermontov was admitted to the number of students in the moral and political department of Moscow University. After some time, he left the university and was enrolled as a cadet in His Majesty's Life Guards Hussar Regiment; on November 10, 1832 he entered the school of guards ensigns and cavalry cadets.

The book of the Russian artist Varvara Bubnova Mikhail Lermontov: marking the 125th anniversary of his birth (1814–1939): catalog of the exhibition in Leningrad (1941), contains the oeuvre associated with the name of Lermontov.

In the Caucasus, Lermontov received the creative stimulation he needed not only as a poet, but also as an artist, and for the rest of his life he remained faithful to his Caucasian impressions. Since childhood, the poet was very attached to the “mountains sacred to him”. The wife of the French consul, the poetess Gommer de Gelle, whom the poet met while on vacation in the Crimea, called him “Prometheus chained to the Caucasus mountains”.

Having traveled throughout the Caucasus during his service, he gained a wide variety of impressions. Here he finished his poem “Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov”, created such magnificent works as “Prayer (“I, Mother of God”), “When the yellowing field is agitated”, “The Dagger” and others.

At the beginning of January 1841, Lermontov received a vacation and went to St. Petersburg. Despite all his efforts, he was unable to retire and devote himself entirely to literary career: unexpectedly for himself, the poet received a categorical order in the spring - to leave the capital within 48 hours and go to his place of service. However, instead of going to the regiment, Lermontov filed a report of illness and, together with his closest friend, Mongo-Stolypin, left for Pyatigorsk straight towards his untimely death. Among other acquaintances, he met here his old friend and schoolmate, whose family he knew back in Moscow, a retired major of the Grebensky Cossack regiment, Nikolai Martynov...

In Pyatigorsk, Martynov became the main character of Lermontov’s apt and evil caricatures and received from him the nickname “highlander with a big dagger”. This nickname, which quickly spread throughout society, infuriated Martynov, as it humiliated his dignity.

After another quarrel, Martynov challenged Lermontov to a duel, which was scheduled for July 15, at 7 pm, at the foot of Mount Mashuk. Apparently, no one expected a tragic outcome: Lermontov announced in advance that he would not shoot, and Martynov told everyone that he did not know how to shoot. There was neither a doctor nor a crew at the scene of the duel; no one could subsequently figure out who was whose second. According to one of the witnesses to the incident, Nikolai Raevsky, after the end of the duel, a cheerful dinner was supposed to take place in the poet’s apartment. But fate decided otherwise...

More details about the poet’s works are available on the Presidential Library’s portal in the collection dedicated to Mikhail Lermontov. It includes books and periodicals containing the texts of his works, studies about his life and career, as well as postcards and photographs depicting monuments and places associated with his name. Of particular interest are reproductions of the poet’s paintings and drawings.