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Pushkin's Duel and Death by D'Anthès

Pushkin dueled with Georges d'Anthès in January 1837 after rumors circulated that d'Anthès had been pursuing Pushkin's wife Natalia and that she was having an affair. On the day of the duel, d'Anthès shot and critically wounded Pushkin, while receiving only a minor arm wound himself. Pushkin died two days later of peritonitis from the gunshot. Pushkin was buried at the Svyatogorsky monastery near Pskov according to his wife's wishes, rather than in his uniform as the tsar had provided.

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49 views1 page

Pushkin's Duel and Death by D'Anthès

Pushkin dueled with Georges d'Anthès in January 1837 after rumors circulated that d'Anthès had been pursuing Pushkin's wife Natalia and that she was having an affair. On the day of the duel, d'Anthès shot and critically wounded Pushkin, while receiving only a minor arm wound himself. Pushkin died two days later of peritonitis from the gunshot. Pushkin was buried at the Svyatogorsky monastery near Pskov according to his wife's wishes, rather than in his uniform as the tsar had provided.

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noeliaetoile
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Death[edit]

By the autumn of 1836, Pushkin was falling into greater and greater debt and faced
scandalous rumours that his wife was having a love affair. On 4 November he sent a
challenge to a duel to Georges d'Anthès, also known as Dantes-Gekkern. Jacob van
Heeckeren, d'Anthès' adoptive father, asked that the duel be delayed by two weeks. With
efforts by the poet's friends, the duel was cancelled. On 17 November d'Anthès made a
proposal to Natalia Goncharova's (Pushkina's) sister – Ekaterina Goncharova. The
marriage did not resolve the conflict. Georges d'Anthès continued to pursue Natalia
Goncharova in public, and rumours that d'Anthès had married Natalia's sister just to save
her reputation circulated. On 26 January (7 February in the Gregorian calendar) of 1837
Pushkin sent a "highly insulting letter" to Heeckeren. The only answer to that letter could
be a challenge to a duel, as Pushkin knew. Pushkin received the formal challenge to a
duel through his sister-in-law, Ekaterina Gekkerna, approved by d'Anthès, on the same
day through the attaché of the French Embassy, Viscount d'Archiac. The duel with
d'Anthès took place on 27 January at the Black River. D'Anthès fired first, critically
wounding Pushkin; the bullet entered at his hip and penetrated his abdomen. D'Anthès
was only lightly wounded in the right arm. Two days later, on 29 January (10 February) at
14:45, Pushkin died of peritonitis.
At Pushkin's wife's request he was put in the coffin in evening dress – not in chamber-
cadet uniform, the uniform provided by the tsar. The funeral service was initially
assigned to the St. Isaac's Cathedral, but was moved to Konyushennaya church. Many
people attended. After the funeral, the coffin was lowered into the basement, where it
stayed until 3 February, when it was removed to Pskov province. Alexander Pushkin was
buried on the grounds of the Svyatogorsky monastery in present-day Pushkinskiye Gory,
near Pskov, beside his mother. His last home is now a museum.

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