In search of inspiration

The crimson forest sheds its attire... Scarlet maples drop their leaves... A dreary time — yet, enchantment for the eyes… In autumn, it is so easy to catch rhymes, when leaves rustle so delightfully and soothingly beneath your feet, when everything around is getting ready for a long winter sleep, reminding us of the fleeting nature of time and the inevitability of the coming calm. In many places across Belarus, we can embark on a little journey along streets named after great poets and writers. From Griboyedov Street to Chekhov Street, then we turn from Pushkin Street and find ourselves on Gogol Street. Vitebsk is one of those ‘literary’ cities.

Pushkin Bridge in Vitebsk

In Pushkin’s footsteps

Pushkin was the first of the celebrated figures to visit Vitebsk. It is well known that the poet’s first journey across the Belarusian land took place in 1820 when, for the audacity displayed in his ode Liberty, Alexander Sergeyevich [Pushkin] fell into disgrace with the emperor and was sent from St. Petersburg to Chișinău in Moldova for his ‘southern’ exile. 
As is often the case, his initial visit was merely introductory, leaving practically no recollections behind. Pushkin would pass through Vitebsk again in 1824, this time heading to his ‘northern’ exile at the ancestral estate of his mother — Nadezhda Osipovna Pushkina — lost amid the endless forests of Pskov Region, known as Mikhailovskoye.
After passing through Mogilev, where the townspeople could not help but notice the eccentric poet, who, according to locals’ memories, strolled around the town wearing a traditional Russian shirt and boots, with a yarmulke on his head, and was followed everywhere by a servant dressed up as a Tatar boy, Pushkin continued his journey. After passing through Orsha at the beginning of August, Alexander Sergeyevich arrived in Vitebsk.
During his stay in the city, Pushkin took a keen interest in the local architecture, the appearance of the townspeople, and their dialects. Subsequently, Belarusian toponyms and dialectisms would become part of the poet’s literary works. In the drama Boris Godunov, written during his time in Mikhailovskoye, one can find phrases, such as: ‘Drink, but do not forget yourself’, ‘Let us drink a cup to the tavern keeper!’
In 1832, the poet finished the novel Dubrovsky, the work on the drafts for which had begun during his exile in Mikhailovskoye. However, the novel received its final title after Pushkin’s death, when his close friend and mentor — Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky — was reviewing the poet’s archives. Initially, the work was titled Ostrovsky, which also alludes to the story that happened in Vitebsk. 
The fact is that it was to the Vitebsk prison that Pavel Ostrovsky was taken for the deeds that Pushkin would describe in his novel. Whether the poet learnt about the story of the impoverished Belarusian nobleman turned bandit during his stay in Vitebsk, or from friends who had estates in Vitebsk province, remains uncertain. Yet, the fact that the name of the main character was retained in the drafts clearly indicates that the Vitebsk story had a significant impact on Alexander Sergeyevich.
Today, Vitebsk cherishes the memory of Pushkin. In the very heart of the city, near the Yakub Kolas Theatre, you can find a cosy Pushkin Quarter, where Pushkin Street seamlessly flows into Pushkin Square, culminating in Pushkin Bridge.
* * *
Vitebsk greets autumn. The gusty wind blowing from the Western Dvina River drives dry leaves along the cobbled streets. The autumn sun, curled up like a huge warm cat, dozes on the roofs and squares. Tourists and locals delight in the unseasonably warm weather and admire the city, dressed in luxurious golden attire. It is quite possible that one of them will find a pen dropped among the fallen leaves by some writer, to continue the literary history of Vitebsk. 

Vitebsk Theological Seminary

Recalling romance of Lermontov’s parents

If you cross Pushkin Bridge and ascend the steep steps to the Assumption Cathedral, to your right you will see a building of a semicircular shape. Today, it houses the Vitebsk Theological Seminary, but during the Patriotic War of 1812, both the cathedral and the seminary building served as military hospitals. The only difference was that the former was a hospital for the French army, whereas the latter provided care for Russian soldiers recovering their health.
Among those who were patients at the Vitebsk military hospital was a young officer in the Russian army — Yuri Petrovich Lermontov — the father of the future poet. With the enemy invading his homeland in September 1812, Yuri Lermontov joined the Tula militia as a commander of a rifle regiment. In the ranks of the Russian army, he participated in the expulsion of Napoleon’s army from Russia, and his detachment played a significant role in the capture of Vitebsk. In April 1813, Lermontov fell seriously ill, suffering from injuries sustained during battles. The illness was so severe that the young man had to stay in the hospital for over six months. 
In 1810, Yuri Lermontov met the only daughter of landowners Mikhail and Yelizaveta Arsenyev — Maria. The young girl fell in love with the handsome young man and wrote him poetic messages expressing her warm feelings for him. When Lermontov found himself in the Vitebsk hospital, Maria Mikhailovna [Arsenyeva] came to visit her fiancé. To this day, there is no confirmed information about the exact date of the marriage of Mikhail Lermontov’s parents. According to one version, it may have taken place in 1813 in Vitebsk when Yuri Petrovich was on the mend. However, no official document has been found to substantiate this. Nevertheless, in Vitebsk, which was always at the forefront of significant and, at times, tragic historical events, the marriage certificate could have simply been lost, giving rise to yet another, very plausible, legend of the city.

In the town of NN

Many Vitebsk residents have connected their hometown with world classics. One of the brightest examples of this connection is Marc Chagall’s illustrations for the poem Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. Gogol’s town of NN continues to raise quite a few questions. According to cultural scholar and art historian Mikhail Kazinik, the prototype for NN is Nizhny Novgorod, but even here, the scholar’s arguments are not entirely straightforward. Chagall depicted the province town in such a way that the image of his Vitebsk and Gogol’s NN become one. Even the boundaries of the town, deliberately limited by Chagall with a fence, a river, and an electric pole — which clearly does not belong to that time — do not contradict Gogol’s text.
It so happens that two talents are needed for a true discovery. Gogol travelled through Vitebsk several times on his way from St. Petersburg to Poltava and back. He knew the city well, often staying in Vitebsk for long periods while waiting for horses. Could Nikolai Vasilievich [Gogol] have taken notes about the place? Absolutely. Did he? Today, very few could definitively answer this question. However, the fact that looking at Chagall’s etchings for the poem Dead Souls provides the best understanding of Gogol’s text is an undeniable truth. Coincidence? Very doubtful.

For reference

The current year — 2024 — is a year of great anniversaries for literature. In spring, we marked the 215th anniversary of Nikolai Gogol’s birth. In June, we celebrated the 225th anniversary of Alexander Pushkin. On October 15th, we noted the 210th anniversary of the birth of poet Mikhail Lermontov.

By Artemiy Vasilevich