Pushkin

[Evgeny Steiner]

Dear Inessa, Alexandra, Lewis, and all,

Thank you for your interest and clarifications.
Yes, Pushkin definitely mixed Romantic ideas (Gypsies, Bairon, Greek
rebellion) and his own projected image in Aleko. My suggestion is that the
real Greek refugee, Aleko Grekulov, who most probably took part in the
insurrection of Alexander Ypsilanti and was a Phanariote Greek who settled
in Kishinev in (or shortly before) 1821 COULD BE Pushkin's immediate
trigger and source of material, if not inspiration. Not only he was Greek
and a freedom fighter to ignite the interest, but, according to family
legends, Aleko was a dashing young fellow with propensity towards risky
 escapades. (Oh, I forgot to mention in my first post that he was a
great-grandfather of my own grandfather, i.e. my direct ancestor.) Possibly
it was not by chance that the house of kupets Naumov where Pushkin lived
was bought later (in the end of the 1830s by this Aleko or his son.

Yes, it would be most interesting to scan the records of the local
government or the gentry assembly. The Grekulovs were quite prominent in
Kishinev: his descendant Alexander Grekulov was a chairman of the Russian
party in 1917 and a historian of Bessarabia, Alexander's brother Efim was a
historian (and rather notorious at that) of the Russian Orthodox church,
etc....

Last year on my way from London to Moscow I made a stop in Kishinev and
visited Pushkin Memorial museum. The administration was visibly impressed.
They called me "the descendant" ("потомок") and asked to sign some petition
to the city authorities. LOL.

All further insights are gratefully awaited.

Evgeny

On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 3:47 PM, Lewis B. Sckolnick <info at rectorpress.com>wrote:

> Is Pushkin calling himself Aleko before going south?
> What records are there of Aleko in the local government.
> Have any Bessarabian writers adopted him and or his name.
> Is that name elsewhere in Russian literature.
>
> Lewis
>
>>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> I have a question about Pushkin and his possible sources. Some months ago
>> I asked one American professor about this matter, and she recommended to
>> inquire with three prominent Russian pushkinists. (All of them work in the
>> West, and none of them cared to reply. Nomina sunt odiosa.) I hope the
>> question might sparkle some interest here.
>>
>> A few years ago I found that a certain Aleko lived in Kishinev in the
>> 1820s. His surname was Grekulov, and he was included in the book of Gentry
>> families (Книга дворянских родов) of Bessarabia province under the year
>> 1827. (As I learned from the local historians, it took about 5-6 years
>> between the application and registration - which makes his presence in town
>> exactly concurrent with Pushkin. And one more thing: Pushkin stayed in the
>> house that later (from the early 1840s) belonged to the Grekulov family.
>> The first registered owner of this family, "the widow Ekaterina Grekulova"
>> was a daughter-in-law of this Aleko; as a girl she met Pushkin many times
>> (her oral stories have been recorded). Close to that place (as you possibly
>> know, there is a museum now in that house) there was Grekulovsky Lane.
>>
>> I thought: what if the young Pushkin met this Aleko, who was most
>> probably slightly senior, and had a romantic air about him - as a Greek and
>> a fresh exile from his motherland. (The fact that he was the first
>> generation in Russia is additionally proved by the absence of his
>> patronymic in the Gentry Book). So - maybe Pushkin's Aleko was somehow
>> evoked by this Aleko Grekulov? (I myself take this hypothesis cum grano
>> salis - but why not?)
>>
>> With thanks for all comments and information,
>>
>> Evgeny
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Evgeny Steiner
>> Professorial Research Associate
>> Japan Research Centre
>> SOAS, University of London
>> Russell Square
>> London WC1H 0XG
>> United Kingdom ------------------------------**
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>
>
>

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