The life and activities of Alexander Griboyedov – in rare materials of the Presidential Library

January 15, 2018 marks the 223th anniversary of the birth of a diplomat, writer and composer Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. The tPresidential Library portal features electronic collection dedicated to the author of the immortal comedy "Woe from Wit". The selection includes digital copies of books, magazines, archival documents, literary critical, biographical, graphic and other interesting materials.

A significant part of the collection is devoted to the literary activity of A. S. Griboyedov. A separate section contains the texts of his works, reviews and other critical works, as well as educational publications. Among them - a rare edition "Woe from Wit" in 1861, as well as the complete collection of 1889, about which the magazine "Vestnik Evropy" wrote: "The latest edition of Griboedov is, undoubtedly, the best and most complete edition of it. It tries to give the correct and complete text and reports a very detailed and detailed commentary on Griboyedov's writings. "It is worth noting that when acquainting with the literary heritage of Griboyedov is impossible to confine oneself only to poetry and dramaturgy - travel notes represent him as an interesting travel writer.

Meanwhile, not literature has become the main occupation of Alexander Sergeevich. His whole life was connected with diplomatic activity and the desire to bring the greatest possible benefit to the state. This is told by materials from the collection "Biography, government activities". Especially noteworthy are the digital copies of the editions of the journals "Russian Antiquity" in 1874 and 1876, which give a detailed description of Alexander Griboyedov's activities in Persia and his participation in the conclusion of the Turkmanchai Treaty. N. Muraviev wrote: "... Griboedov in Persia was absolutely in his place ... he replaced us there with his one face twenty thousand strong army ... there is, perhaps, no man in Russia so capable of taking his place".

In the journal "Russian Antiquity" was published the work of one of the first biographers Griboyedov, Orientalist Adolf Berger, dedicated to the tragic death of the writer. He was killed in 1829 when the religious fanatics of the Russian embassy in Tehran defeated them. In his article Adolf Berger, using official documents - notes, dispatches and reports of the highest government officials of Russia, Persia and England - tried to objectively analyze the causes of this incident as objectively as possible. The author noted: "The official information about this event, as far as I know, has not yet appeared in our press. And this, in my opinion, constitutes a rather important gap in our literature, the more important that it directly concerns a person like Griboyedov. The filling of this gap serves the purpose of this article. "Another view on the death of the Russian ambassador is presented in M. Y. Alaverdyanets's notes "The Death of A. S. Griboedov on Armenian Sources".

Rare edition "A. S. Griboyedov: his life and death in the memoirs of his contemporaries" (1929) quotes, among others, A. S. Pushkin. The poet said about Griboyedov: "Born with ambition equal to his talents, he was entangled for a long time with chains of petty needs and uncertainty. The capabilities of the state's man remained without use; the poet's talent was not recognized; even his cold and brilliant bravery remained for a while in suspicion. <...> He felt the need to reckon once and for all with his youth and turn his life abruptly. He said goodbye to Petersburg and went absent with absentmindedness to Georgia, where he spent eight years in secluded vigilant pursuits. His return to Moscow in 1824 was a revolution in his fate and the beginning of continuous success. His handwritten comedy "Woe from Wit" produced an unwritten action and suddenly put it along with the first of our poets. After a while, then the perfect knowledge of the region where the war began opened up a new career for him; he was appointed an envoy. Arriving in Georgia, he married the one he loved ... I do not know anything more enviable than the last years of his stormy life. The very death that befell him in the midst of a bold, unequal battle, had nothing terrible for Griboyedov, nothing tedious. It was instant and beautiful".