Pushkin's "Klevetnikam Rossii" (1831)

[Frans Suasso]

I want to add a few remarks to Robert Chandlers reaction.



In 1ug. 1831 P{ushkin has recently married and has moved from Moscow to 
Tsarskoe Selo because of problems with his mother in law. He wants to 
improve his relations with the authorities  and hopes to get permission for 
his first historiographical work: The history of Peter I. He does 
evberything to present himself as a serious person and a loyal citizen.



Keep also in mind that some of Pushkins  relatives were  closely involved in 
the Polish events. Pushkins brother Lev was due to return to the army in 
Poland any moment  and his brother in law Pavlishchev was a civil servant in 
Warsaw. Pushkins opinions therefore  will not have been that  different from 
that of most Russians living in Poland.



Here are the dates and facts as they are  known  All dates are in old style.



Aug.2. Pushkin finishes the text. The autograph carries the following remark 
in Pushkins hand:

Tsarskoye Selo  August 2nd.



Aug. (first half) The emperor asks Zhukovski to send him a a copy of 
Klevetnikam Rossii.



Sept, 5 Anniversary of the Battle of Borodino. Pushkin finishes his poem 
with the same name. The autograph carries the date.



Sept. 5. The three poems are officially presented to the czar.



Sept 7.  Censor Gaevskiy approves the poems.



Sept 10. Printing is ready (two hundred copies). Censor gives permission for 
distribution.



Sept 11-13. The brochure is actually distributed, Adversiments  announcing 
the publication (available Smirdins bookshop) appear in the Northern bee.



Sept. 14 Russkiy Invalid reprints Pushkins poem Klevetnikam Rossii.



Sept 14  A.I. Turgenev (not the writer) mentions rumours that Pushkin has 
become  the historiographer of Peter I. and says that Pushkin was paid for 
his Klevetnikam Rossii.





I wonder if the eminent french Pushkinist the late Andre Meynieux has not 
published something about the French c onnection of Klevetnikam Rossii.



Thew widely praised Binyon gives a fair representation of the state of 
Soviet Pushkinology around 1990 with  all its nationalistic distortions and 
sometimes even forged sourcematerials.

Therefore do not believe him blindly.



Frans Suasso. Naarden Netherlands

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Chandler" <kcf19 at DIAL.PIPEX.COM>
To: <SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 11:35 PM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Pushkin's "Klevetnikam Rossii" (1831)


> Dear Philippe,
>
> I have some notes on this myself.  Here they are - summarized from 
> Binyon's
> biography of Pushkin:
>
> "During the 1820s Russian rule in Poland had grown more oppressive. In
> November 1830 the Poles had rebelled and a war had begun.  The Poles asked
> France to support them, and Pushkin was afraid that a new European war 
> might
> begin. In late August 1831, the Russian army took Warsaw and Poland was 
> once
> again subdued.  Even as a young radical, Pushkin had been supportive of
> Russian imperialism in the Caucasus, so it is not especially surprising 
> that
> he joined with Zhukovsky in publishing a small brochure On the Taking of
> Warsaw.  This contained one poem by Zhukovsky and two by Pushkin: OTo the
> Slanderers of Russia¹ and OBorodino Anniversary¹.  The former, the more
> important of these two poems, is addressed primarily to various French
> politicians who had been critical of Russia.  Pushkin¹s central argument 
> is
> depressingly similar to one repeated only too often by the Soviet regime 
> in
> similar circumstances: that this is a quarrel between Slavs, a Odomestic
> quarrel¹, and it is not for outsiders to interfere.  The three poems were,
> unsurprisingly admired at court.  No less surprisingly, many liberals,
> including Vyazemsky, were fiercely critical, accusing Pushkin of currying
> favour with the Tsar.  There is no doubt that this last criticism was
> unfair.  Whatever one may think of them, Pushkin¹s views were deeply held
> and entirely sincere."
>
> BUT I AM NO LONGER CONFIDENT OF MY LAST SENTENCE.  Pushkin wrote this poem
> at more or less the same time as he finally gave in to demands to rewrite
> his earlier version of BORIS GODUNOV; the original version was considered
> too positive in its portrayal of the False Dmitry (who, of course, enjoyed
> Polish support).  This does seem to have been a time when Pushkin - 
> insecure
> in many ways and desperately short of money - seems to have been trying to
> improve his position with the authorities.
>
> I too would be very interested to know what other people think.
>
> Vsego dobrogo,
>
> Robert
>
>> Dear list members,
>>
>> As I am preparing a contribution on relations between Russia and 
>> "Europe", I
>> came accross Pushkin's piece of poetry "Klevetnikam Rossii", where he
>> justifies the Russian repression of the Polish uprisal in 1830-31 against
>> French deputies expressing their sympathy to Poles.
>>
>> The text (a rather nationalist piece) is in marked contrast with 
>> Pushkin's
>> supposed progressist views...
>>
>> Could someone give me any any clue on where this text was first published 
>> in
>> Russia and France and under what circumstances it was written ?
>>
>> Thanks in advance
>>
>> Philippe
>> (Strasbourg, France)
>>
>>
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