The official opening of the 2nd solo exhibition of the artist Valentin Georgievich Trubetskoy, a member of the Creative Union "LIK" (Krasnogorsk), a member of the Creative Union of Artists of Russia and the International Federation of Artists ("IFA"), took place on November 30
2002

V.A. Trubetskoy took part in exhibitions: 1992 - the exhibition "Russian Opening Day" (Goirle, the Netherlands).
2001 - exhibition hall "On Kashira".
2001 and 2002 - showroom in Tushino. These are quite large exhibitions. They were attended by about 150 artists from Moscow, Yaroslavl and other regions. These exhibitions are organized by the Nash Izograf society.
2002 - gallery "Vykhino", on Tashkent street.
2002 - an exhibition organized by the All-Russian Fund of Culture in
M. Milyutinsky per.

Valentin Georgievich Trubetskoy is an active participant in all exhibitions dedicated to the "City Day" (Krasnogorsk).
Artist V.G. Trubetskoy was born into a peasant family. In the village of Snegiri, Istra district, the house in which he was born has been preserved. Now my sister lives there. As a child, he loved to draw, at school he designed wall newspapers. Studies, family, work did not allow me to devote myself to artistic creativity earlier. And in 1976, it would seem a chance meeting (does everything in our life happen by chance).

In the hospital ward, V.G. Trubetskoy met with the artist Pyotr Nikolaevich Reshetnikov, who over the years became the “Honored Artist of Russia”. “My maestro,” Valentin Georgievich calls him. From this meeting, the creative life of our fellow countryman began. Prior to that, he sometimes painted, painted in oils.

In 1977 - 1979, Valentin Georgievich studied with the artist Nikolai Ivanovich Kasatkin at the People's University. “Fortunately, under the Soviet regime, education was free,” the artist comments. Now he has about 200 works - mostly landscapes and still lifes. The artist's paintings are bought at exhibitions. One of the five works presented was sold at an exhibition in the Netherlands.

This is the second personal exhibition of the artist in the exhibition hall of the Krasnogorye Cultural Center. He wanted to organize art exhibitions with a musical program, like the December evenings at the Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin. So far it doesn't work.

The current solo exhibition features 25 oil paintings. Here is our native nature: even listen to the names themselves - “Winter Theater of the Funnel”, “On the Zhizdra River”, “Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Pushkino”, “Autumn on the Mozhaisk Reservoir” ... After all, this is our native ... With what love and warmth it was written " Sunset”, peace and tranquility pours from the canvas. "Winter Morning" is a fairy tale spied on by an artist-poet.

In the article “Spring Thaw in the South-East” of the newspaper “Nash Izograf” (2002), artist Sergey Isaev notes: “V. Trubetskoy presents a landscape painting as a theater with a ramp, a screen and a stream of light - "Winter Theater". This painting is in our exhibition. Indeed, you look, and it seems that now, against the background of these scenery, the fairy tale “Twelfth Night” will be played out, or the trees themselves will float in a round dance.

The artist has wonderful still lifes. "Still life with a jug" - how each element is written out! Juice-filled fruit, cup golden glitter. This is how the old masters wrote. Cozy bouquets "Lilac" and "Peonies" catch the eye. An aura of kindness emanates from the artist's paintings.

I have been to the exhibition three times. She invited her neighbor Natalya Ivanovna Ovcharenko to the exhibition. It turns out that under the leadership of V.G. Trubetskoy, her husband worked at his main job. She has a painting by Valentin Georgievich “Pure Water”, a gift from him. How many warm words I heard about the hero of my essay, his family. How he helped my neighbor in difficult times. It seems that this could not be written about. But after all, in this way, I understood where this aura of goodness and light from the artist's paintings came from. It is his kind soul that guides his imagination and brush.

I don't want to leave the show. No matter how much I write about her. Better to come and see for yourself.
Valentin Georgievich continues to work at his main job. He writes a lot, visits Moscow exhibitions. Improves his skills. “Exhibitions are good lessons in craftsmanship. Now I look at my early works, and I think - today I would have done it differently. Better,” says the artist.

In Russia, the surname Trubetskoy has been known since 1500 - princes, boyars and governors, a Decembrist and jurist, linguist, philosopher and sculptor. Trubetskoy people, of high spirit, who devotedly loved Russia. The artist Valentin Georgievich Trubetskoy, our contemporary and countryman, a peasant son, is among just such people of this famous family.

Prince S.P. Trubetskoy. Watercolor by N. Bestuzhev

His personality is the most controversial among the Decembrists. If this was not determined earlier, in the wake of events, now it is difficult to say why he did not go to Senate Square: is it a lack of political courage, or a desire to thwart the uprising, or nervous strain?

N. M. Druzhinin wrote: “Trubetskoy “fell to the position of a political traitor.” One could consider this statement too straightforward and cruel, if it were not known about the behavior of S. Trubetskoy during the investigation. If you believe the same Druzhinin, the prince "humiliatedly renounced not only revolutionary goals, but also old comrades in society." In his testimony, Trubetskoy most of all accused Pestel as the source of all illegal thoughts, and Ryleev - in preparing an uprising. Perhaps "thanks" to his confessions, Pestel and Ryleev were sentenced to death. Trubetskoy himself considered himself guilty, first of all, for not “denouncing” Pestel “before the higher authorities” in time. Trubetskoy was convinced of the need for reforms in Russia, but he strove for moderation in his projects. He was opposed to bloodshed, hoping that negotiations with the government would be possible.

But in the list of those sentenced to eternal hard labor, the name of Trubetskoy was the first. He was one of the main leaders in the preparation of an armed uprising, some called him "Northern Pestel", but due to his betrayal, interest in his personality is somewhat lower than in other leaders of the movement.

An experienced staff officer, Trubetskoy was rather secretive, did not really trust even his comrades-in-arms, had personal prejudices against some accomplices, in particular, against Pestel. At the head of the Southern Society, he would like to see Major General Mikhail Orlov. He acted not directly, but indirectly, through other persons. Although Pestel's position was closer to him than that of Muravyov and Bestuzhev. He understood that the forces that were supposed to be involved in the uprising would not be enough.

Origin, childhood and youth

Coat of arms of Trubetskoy

Sergey Petrovich Trubetskoy was born in 1790 in the family of a real state councilor, the Nizhny Novgorod provincial marshal of the nobility, Prince Peter Sergeyevich Trubetskoy. The nobles Trubetskoy belonged to one of the most ancient families. They traced their pedigree from Gediminas, whose grandson, Dmitry Olgerdovich, became the founder of their family. In the 18th century, several military figures from the Trubetskoy family came to the fore. Among them is Prince Nikita Yuryevich Trubetskoy - Field Marshal General. He was a gifted and educated man, he spoke German fluently, knew literature well, was active and industrious. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, he was an opponent of the project to limit the autocratic power of the empress, which earned her trust and favor. Under Anna Ioannovna, he became the Prosecutor General of the Senate. N. Yu. Trubetskoy participated in the Russian-Polish war, acting as General-Kriegs-Commissar. He retained the same post during the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739.

Nikita Yuryevich Trubetskoy also held a high place under the regency of Biron, showing himself to be a faithful supporter of the regent. And under Elizabeth Petrovna, he also found a place worthy of himself. During her coronation, he acted as supreme marshal and was awarded the Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Under Catherine II, he received the rank of colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. But his son had more freedom-loving views, for which he was sent into exile under Paul I. But upon his return from exile, he was appointed a Moscow senator.

The mother of Sergei Petrovich Trubetskoy is the Most Serene Princess of Georgia.

He received a home education (until the age of 16 he was brought up at home), among the teachers - a German, a Frenchman, an Englishman - it is natural that the young man knew these languages. He was a student of Moscow University. The range of interests of S. Trubetskoy was very wide, but he chose a military career for himself.

Military service

Sergei Petrovich Trubetskoy

He began his military service as a lieutenant in the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, then became an ensign and second lieutenant. Member of the Patriotic War of 18712: he started it from Vilna and Borodino and ended in a foreign campaign. He proved to be a very brave warrior and deserved awards: the Order of Anna 4th degree, the Order of Vladimir 4th degree with a bow, the Prussian Order of Merit and the Kulm Cross. He was wounded near Leipzig, but did not leave the battlefield. Career growth was constantly observed: lieutenant, staff captain, captain, senior adjutant of the General Staff, colonel.

Mason, was a member of the Three Virtues lodge, and then the local master of this lodge. But, becoming a member of secret societies, he left the lodge.

Secret Society of the Decembrists

He was a member of the Union of Salvation, one of its founders, the Union of Welfare, one of the leaders of the Northern Society and the author of the Manifesto to the Russian people.

In 1819-1821, Trubetskoy lived in France, during which time changes took place in the Welfare Union. Members of the society in Moscow at the congress decided to create two societies - Northern and Southern. N. Muravyov, E. Obolensky and Trubetskoy, who returned from abroad, became the leaders of the Northern Society. Pestel led the Southern Society. He wanted to change the political system of Russia, to make it a republic, but this could be achieved through regicide. Trubetskoy and Muravyov objected, their ideal was a constitutional monarchy. Trubetskoy objected to many provisions of Pestel's Russkaya Pravda, suspecting him of wanting to become a dictator and gain unlimited power. It was not possible to unite the societies in 1823, but the need for unification was obvious to everyone. Trubetskoy begins to develop an acceptable plan for the unification of the Northern and Southern societies, but he did not have enough time - events developed very rapidly.

He was appointed dictator of the uprising, but did not come to Senate Square and did not take personal part in the uprising, but managed to swear allegiance to Nicholas I. Why? This question has not been directly answered for about 200 years.

“No century is able to write its own history” (H. Spencer)

Personal belongings of the Decembrist Trubetskoy in the Trubetskoy House-Museum

According to the temperament of S. P. Trubetskoy, as people who knew him closely testify, he was a serious, modest, extremely restrained person, “not without the ability for deep and strong feelings.” He had an extraordinary mind. The manifesto written by him was signed by his hand on December 13, 1825, which indicates that he hoped for success.

Having become acquainted with these facts of his biography, one can hardly believe that such a person could betray his comrades on his own initiative.

Perhaps he considered it a crime to lead an uprising, doomed in advance, in his opinion, to defeat. His exit to the Senate Square on the day of the uprising could be a signal for unnecessary bloodshed. Perhaps he could not overcome the horror of the need for decisive action without faith in victory. On the other hand, he was not so naive as to consider his absence from the square as a disruption of the uprising.

"Colonel Prince Trubetskoy. Arrogant, conceited, cowardly, who wanted to act, but because of timidity and indecision was horrified by his own plans - that's Trubetskoy. In noisy meetings before the start of the rebellion in St. Petersburg, he was mostly silent and retired, but was unanimously elected dictator, apparently so that the princely title of a famous family would shine at the head of the uprising. His accomplices, gathered on Petrovsky Square, waited in vain: the brave dictator, pale, confused, sat in the General Staff of His Majesty, not daring to stick his nose out. He himself recognized himself as the culprit of the uprising and the unfortunate fate of those whom he had involved in the crime with his encouragement, adding boastfully that if he had once entered the crowd of rebels, he could have become a true fiend, some kind of Robespierre or Marat. Judging by his character, it is doubtful,” wrote A.D. Borovkov in "Essays on My Life" (Alexander Dmitrievich Borovkov (1788 - 1856) - Russian official, memoirist. In 1825-1826 - Secretary of the Investigative Committee on the Decembrist case, compiler of "Borovkov's Alphabet").

Arrest and exile

S.P. Trubetskoy was arrested on the night of December 15, 1825 and taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress with a note from the emperor: “Trubetskoy, who is sent here, should be put in the Alekseevsky ravelin. It’s more strict to watch him all, especially not to allow him to go anywhere and not to see anyone. ”

He was convicted of the 1st category and sentenced first to death, and then, after the sentence was commuted, to eternal hard labor. Then the terms were reduced to 15, 13 years. Initially, Trubetskoy served his sentence in the Nerchinsk mines, later - at the Petrovsky plant. By royal decree, he was sent to a settlement in the village of Oyok, Irkutsk province, his wife was allowed to live with children in Irkutsk. S.P. Trubetskoy is allowed to come there for a while.

Ekaterina Trubetskaya was the first to follow her husband to Siberia. She was only 25 years old. They did not have children yet, she could still arrange her life differently. But she did what her heart told her to do. Trubetskaya, followed by Maria Volkonskaya, went to Siberia and could not imagine what awaited them there. Ladies from the highest Petersburg society, they were now outside the law, that is, the authorities no longer protected them from criminals. And the criminals then mostly inhabited Siberia.

When his wife, Ekaterina Ivanovna (née Laval), wished to accompany her husband into exile, Emperor Nicholas and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna tried to dissuade her from this intention. When she remained adamant, the emperor said: “Well, go, I will remember you!”, And the empress added: “You are doing well that you want to follow your husband, in your place and I would not hesitate to do the same!”

In order to earn a living on his own, Trubetskoy begins to farm in the settlement: he grows vegetables, raises livestock. But there he continues his intellectual life: he studies the Greek language, science (medicine, meteorology), writes memoirs. While still in hard labor, he begins to write memoirs about his activities in secret societies, but after the arrest of S. Lunin in 1841, he destroys most of them.

According to the amnesty manifesto of August 26, 1856, by Emperor Alexander II, he was restored to the rights of the nobility, but without the princely title, which was granted to children by a special royal decree.

S.P. Trubetskoy after the amnesty

After the amnesty, he lived in Kyiv (with his daughter), in Odessa, and then in Moscow. He died there in 1860 and was buried in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent.

Trubetskaya lived in exile for 28 years and died on October 14, 1854, before the royal decree on pardon. “It was kindness personified, surrounded by the adoration not only of her comrades in exile, but of the entire Oek population, who always found help from her in word and deed,” that is how those who knew her characterize her. Her husband, Prince Sergei Petrovich, survived her by 6 years.

Trubetskoy did not communicate with anyone: he did not want to be the subject of anyone's curiosity. But until the end of his days, he never explained why on that fateful day, December 14, 1825, he did not come to Senate Square.

The Decembrists left in Siberia not only a good memory of themselves, they contributed to the formation of traditions of intelligence and humanity, which allowed Irkutsk to become the capital of Eastern Siberia, both administratively and economically, as well as culturally and spiritually.

Their beneficial and versatile influence has not been erased by time. The houses and graves of the "first-born of freedom" are preserved here.

Trubetskoy House-Museum in Irkutsk

Trubetskoy House-Museum in Irkutsk

The house of Prince S.P. Trubetskoy was built for the youngest daughter of the Decembrist, Zinaida, in 1854 on Arsenalskaya Street (now it is Dzerzhinsky Street). After Trubetskoy left, the house was rented out. Since the 1920s, there have been communal apartments in it. In 1965-1970, its restoration took place, and after it the museum of the Decembrists was opened here. The grand opening took place on December 29, 1970.

The exposition of the Trubetskoy House-Museum tells about the history of Decembristism - from the events of December 14, 1825 to the amnesty granted by Emperor Alexander II in 1856, and the return of the Decembrists from exile. In the lower, semi-basement floor of the house there is an exposition about the stay of the Decembrists in hard labor (Blagodatsky mine, Chita, Petrovsky plant). On the residential floor, the exhibits tell about the life of the Trubetskoy family in Irkutsk, as well as about the life and work of other Decembrists in Siberia. Here are stored authentic items belonging to the Decembrists: the Trubetskoy family, K.F. Ryleev, P.G. Kakhovsky, P.A. Mukhanov, I.I. Gorbachevsky, V.F. Tours, exhibitions, literary and musical evenings, performances are held in the house of S.P. Trubetskoy.

Grave of S.P. Trubetskoy

October 05, 1858 - October 04, 1911

prince, statesman and politician, landowner

Biography

Born October 5, 1858 in Moscow. He was baptized on October 21 of the same year in the Church of St. Nicholas in Gnezdniki, his godparents were his grandfather, Lieutenant General Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Trubetskoy (1798-1871), the owner of the Akhtyrka estate near Moscow and his aunt, Countess S.V. Tolstaya, whose pupil P.N. Trubetskoy was with his sisters Sophia and Maria after the death of his mother. Their childhood passed in the Uzkoye estate. Their father, director of the Moscow branch of the Imperial Russian Musical Society (RMO), Prince Nikolai Petrovich Trubetskoy, remarried in 1861 - to Sofya Alekseevna Lopukhina (1841-1901), N. P. Trubetskoy had ten children from his second marriage - half-brothers and sisters P. N. Trubetskoy; the most prominent among them were the famous university professors and philosophers Sergei and Evgeny Nikolaevich Trubetskoy.

After graduating from the law faculty of Moscow University, P. N. Trubetskoy began his service under the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1883, for the first time, he “executed the position” of the Moscow district marshal of the nobility, replacing Count A.V. Bobrinsky, at the same time, the Uzkoye estate near Moscow passed to him from S.V. Tolstoy (formally it was sold for a fairly small amount for such a possession). In 1884, he replaced the provincial marshal of the nobility. Subsequently, P.N. Trubetskoy received the posts of district and provincial leaders through elections.

After the wedding on October 1, 1884 with Princess Alexandra Vladimirovna Obolenskaya (1861-1939), they went on a trip to Europe.

P.N. Trubetskoy was the Moscow provincial marshal of the nobility in 1892-1906. At the same time, he received court and civil titles, having gone from chamber junker to Jägermeister and becoming a full state councilor in 1896.

P.N. Trubetskoy owned a number of estates in the southern regions of the country: in the village. Kozatsky of the Kherson province, Dolmatovo of the Tauride province, Sochi (Arduch) of the Black Sea province. As a major winemaker, he was one of the founders (in 1901) of the Viticulture and Winemaking Committee of the Imperial Moscow Society of Agriculture. In Kozatsky, in addition to numerous vineyards planted in 1896, there was fine-wool sheep breeding - one of the best in Russia and a large stud farm.

On July 31, 1900, in Uzkoy, where Sergey Nikolaevich Trubetskoy then lived, the famous philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov died in the office of P. N. Trubetskoy. P.N. Trubetskoy attended his funeral, which took place in the Novodevichy Convent.

In the spring of 1905, P. N. Trubetskoy, together with Prince A. G. Shcherbatov, Counts Pavel and Pyotr Dmitrievich Sheremetevs, publicists N. A. Pavlov and S. F. Sharapov and others, became the founder and main figure of the monarchist Union of Russian people in Moscow ( after the defeat in the elections to the 1st State Duma, the activity of the Union declined sharply; many of its members became members of other Black Hundred-monarchist organizations).

In 1906, he was elected from the noble societies to the State Council (P.N. Trubetskoy and the St. Petersburg provincial marshal of the nobility Count V.V. Gudovich, supported by the Minister of the Interior P.N. Durnovo, owned the idea of ​​a separate representation from the nobility in the State Council. In the State Council, P. N. Trubetskoy subsequently headed the land commission.At one time he was the chairman of the Center Party, which was seen as a well-known liberalism, since, as a rule, only persons who got into the upper house of the Russian parliament, not by election, became chairmen of groups and parties, but by appointment of Nicholas II.

P. N. Trubetskoy died on October 4, 1911, being killed in Novocherkassk by one of his own nephews, Vladimir Grigorievich Christie. The families of Trubetskoy and Christie arrived there for the solemn ceremony of transferring the ashes of the Don military leaders, among whom was their ancestor Count V. V. Orlov-Denisov, to the tomb of the newly completed military cathedral. After the ceremony, P. N. Trubetskoy went for a ride in a car with his nephew's wife Maria (Maritsa) Alexandrovna Kristi, nee Mikhalkova (1883-1966) and arrived in his car at the Novocherkassk station. V. G. Christie also came there, who shot P. N. Trubetskoy. On October 7, his body was transported to Moscow and buried in the Donskoy Monastery. At the request of the widow of P. N. Trubetskoy, Nicholas II stopped the investigation of this case, V. G. Christie was exiled to the estate of his parents Zamchezhye (Kishinev district, Bessarabia province).

After reading this very interesting historical work of Prince. Gr. N. Trubetskoy can involuntarily endure a very unfavorable impression of our Russian Cossacks, especially the Cossacks of the Don Cossacks ...

According to tradition, memoirs or memoirs are published either during the lifetime of the author or 100 years later. But during this time, so many turbulent changes have occurred in the life of an ordinary person in any country in the world that our century can be freely doubled ...

Being one of the last to enter this department, I ask you to forgive me for stealing your attention after so many knowledgeable and authoritative people. If I still decide to do this, then, firstly, because I believe that the opinion of an ordinary member of the Council, who is trying to the best of his ability to understand the questions put before us, should be taken into account, and secondly, because that I am convinced that the question of the restoration of the patriarchate can be decided not only by learned canonists...

"EVENING TIME"

edited by B. A. Suvorin

The months of November and December of 1917 passed in fruitless attempts by the Moscow Right Center to find large material forces to support the creation of the Volunteer Army, undertaken in Novocherkassk by General Alekseev. I had to travel twice from Moscow to Petrograd on this matter...

Having embarked on the path of conciliation with the left, Kaledin was guided by an idea that has not been outlived even at the moment I am writing these lines (May 1919). He found it necessary to create a strong government, but he thought that under the given conditions this was possible only if a broad democratic foundation was laid under it. He himself walked honestly towards democracy, and, as a straightforward and noble person, he hoped to find the same attitude among those with whom he wanted to work, in order to implement the principle of strong power on the basis of mutual trust and concessions. No wonder he was called the "slave of honor" ...

After the departure of the Headquarters and General Alekseev to Rostov, I remained in Novocherkassk and continued to head the department of the Political Department, which here dealt mainly with propaganda issues ...

We also had to make a quick decision. It was unthinkable to leave Novocherkassk with the whole family. Where and how was it to go? Novocherkassk was to be surrendered without a fight. The Bolshevik Cossacks were advancing on it, so one could hope that it would not be flooded and plundered. But we men, who were close to the organization of the Volunteer Army, could not stay. No matter how terrible it was to part with the family and leave it to complete obscurity, but there was no choice ...

“Old Mishan,” as I called him, was unusually trusting, and more than once I took advantage of his weakness when I was younger, lied to him all sorts of fables about myself, and he took everything to heart, scolded me and harassed me ...

I came to Moscow at the insistent invitation of my friends of the Right Center. The political situation during my flight from the Don developed as follows. The retreat of the Volunteer Army from Rostov coincided with the termination of peace negotiations between the Germans and the Bolsheviks and the advance of the Germans. The victorious march of the latter was stopped by the capitulation of the Bolshevik government and peace in Brest ...

Orsha was in the hands of the Germans. With a sigh of relief, we left the soil of the Soviets, but we experienced a mixed feeling of deliverance and, at the same time, humiliation when we saw the first German helmet. As soon as the train approached, German soldiers began to scurry around the cars, selling wine, cigarettes, and chocolate under the floor. Soon we heard stories about how quickly the German soldiers and officers applied to the Russian mores of bribery and speculation./.

After spending about a week in Kyiv, I went by steamboat to the village where P. N. Milyukov temporarily settled in order to see and talk with him about our affairs. In Kyiv, all the time passed in continuous meetings and conversations. Sitting on the ship, I will try to understand my observations ...

From the message of the book. Grigory Nikolaevich, I see that not only in general terms, but in almost all details, our views on ways to get Russia out of the present situation coincide. Like him, I consider the restoration of statehood and the unification of Russia the first and main task ...

My assessment of the situation in Ukraine is shared by Pavel Nikolaevich. At my request, he formulated his main provisions, which are sent to you under No. II ...

The following is a reasonable attempt to understand in good faith the prevailing currents of the moderate circles of Moscow society and to sum up their views on the current state of affairs. It should be noted that events alternate so quickly and change the general situation that the writer of these lines cannot be sure how fully his views reflect at the moment the mood of Moscow, which he left two weeks ago ...

On this visit to Kyiv, I stayed with Darusya Gorchakova. My wife and Kostya have already left, the first - to Novocherkassk, the second - to the Crimea to the Butenevs. On the eighth of August I left for Novocherkassk via Yekaterinoslav. Express trains went there, and as fast as they had never gone before. The schedule was drawn up by the Germans. The train rocked from side to side from high speed...

Now about the Volunteer Army and the Kuban. — The size of the army is about 40 thousand. But I ask you to count this number extremely secret. Moreover, it tends to increase all the time. On the one hand, from Ukraine, where the Volunteer Army is much more known than in Great Russia, volunteers are coming all the time. The Germans have been putting up obstacles lately, but they are much easier to bypass than the Bolsheviks...

I returned from Ekaterinodar to Persianovka for the children, Nikolai and Mikhail, and went with them on a steamer from Rostov to Yalta, where I arrived on September 16/29. My wife, with her younger sons Seryozha and Petrusha, went there two weeks earlier. The Butenevs, old and young, lived in the Crimea, and we decided to settle down with them. The area where we lived was considered within the city limits, but in fact it was two miles away from the city, on the Simferopol highway, on a mountain above Yalta. We settled in a whole colony, in close proximity to one another ...

During my stay in Ekaterinodar, I gained impressions that led me to some disappointing thoughts.

First of all, the visual impression was unpleasant. Ekaterinodar was full of officers. Along the main street, Krasnaya, they loitered idle, in whole crowds, filled all the coffee houses and restaurants, littered with crazy money, while receiving an insignificant salary, easily lost thousands of rubles at cards ...

The ancient princely family of the Trubetskoys has put forward recognized thinkers, religious and public figures in the modern history of Russia. In this series of glorious names, the fame of Grigory Nikolayevich Trubetskoy (14. IX. 1873 - 6. I. 1930) - a diplomat, church and state politician, publicist - is somewhat in shadow. Only recently the creative heritage of the prince began to attract the attention of historians, researchers of cultural and religious processes of the critical era, embracing the pre-war and first post-revolutionary years. The texts of his writings have been collected and already published in the form of books: "The Years of Troubles and Hopes 1917-1919". Montreal. 1981; "Russian Diplomacy 1914–1917 and the War in the Balkans". Montreal, 1983. In memory of G.N. Trubetskoy was once published a collection of memoirs (Paris, 1930). So the biography of this bright personality, the nature of the diplomatic and ecclesiastical activities of the prince are presented in the literature quite fully. Briefly, the information available is as follows.

After graduating from the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, Prince G.N. Trubetskoy joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was appointed attaché to Constantinople. Since 1901, he has served as the first secretary of the embassy, ​​also engaged in searching for antiquities of the Middle East. His articles on "the history of the Patriarchate of Constantinople began to appear on the pages of Vestnik Evropy, a liberal magazine, but not alien to Russian interests.

Ten years spent the book. Trubetskoy in Constantinople. In 1906, he left the diplomatic service and moved to Moscow, where, together with his brother Yevgeny Nikolayevich, he began publishing the Moscow Weekly, with the goal of uniting and synthesizing statehood with intellectual quests.

An ascetic of historical culture, a convinced monarchist, an adherent of religious and deeply moral values, he at the same time declared himself as a constitutionalist and preacher of the program of liberal imperialism. These views of his are reflected in the collections "Great Russia" published by him. Six years later, in 1912, Grigory Nikolayevich returned to serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an adviser on Middle Eastern affairs. There was a hope to revive the fading interest in the fate of foreign Slavs.

At the beginning of the First World War, Prince G.N. Trubetskoy was appointed envoy of the Imperial Court to Serbia. He had to visit this country at the time of the most sorrowful trials. After the Austrian attack on Belgrade, the Serbian government, along with diplomatic missions, moved to the island of Corfu. Book. Trubetskoy was recalled to St. Petersburg, where he was offered to head the Middle East department of the ministry. The February coup, outbreaks of violence, and then the Bolshevik terror forced Grigory Nikolayevich to go over to active resistance: at the end of December 1917, he went to Novocherkassk, joined the first Council of the Volunteer Army, and gathered Russian forces to repel the Bolshevization of Russia. In February 1918, Prince. Trubetskoy again in Moscow, here he entered into the closest communion with the hierarchs gathered from all over the country for the Holy Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Grigory Nikolayevich himself, elected to the Council from the Army in the field, participated in its work from the day of its opening, and even spoke at one of the first meetings, on August 17, 1917, with a welcoming speech in which he declared: “We believe that the spirit of the Christ-loving army does not completely flew away from the ranks of the Army, and that with the help of her valiant sons, free Russia will be resurrected. Allow me to ask the Local Council with your prayers to support the Army, kindle the flame of faith that we need. " (Acts of the Holy Council of the Orthodox Russian Church. Book 1, issue 2, M., 1918, p. 48). This was followed by a departure to the Don to organize armed resistance to the Bolsheviks, and no further participation was given in the meetings. Council communion was resumed only during Great Lent in 1918.

On the unfolding front of the Civil War, Prince. G.N. Trubetskoy joined the ranks of the White movement and took the most vital part in the campaigns. Having headed the Administration for Confessions in the government of General Denikin, he turned out to be for many Orthodox at the forefront and in the rear with a living conscience - he was so able to create an atmosphere of goodwill and affection for people. From its spiritual heat and quiet radiance, the soul really warmed. One of the prince's contemporaries will later say about him: "He was a conscience in public affairs; he was extremely patient, kind and condescending with people - not out of weakness, but out of love; he treated people with great love - but he was always determined and is clear in his judgments, especially in everything that concerns conscience. Such people are a living testimony of God, in them the words of the prayer are fulfilled: "Hallowed be thy name" (Newspaper "Russia and Slavs", Paris, 1930, 18 Jan. Only to the persecutors of the Church, and later also to the Renovationists, did he treat with irreconcilable severity. In the anti-Bolshevik struggle, Prince Trubetskoy lost his son Konstantin (1903-1921), died at Perekop, and many people close to him.

In 1920, Grigory Nikolayevich joined the government of General Wrangel, heading the Department of Foreign Relations. The heroic Crimean standing began, marked by both success and betrayal of the allies, ending with the collapse of the Army. After the evacuation from the Crimea, Prince. G.N. Trubetskoy first settled with his family near Vienna, and at the end of 1923 he moved to France, to Clamart. Here, on his estate, he converted a capital garden arbor into a house church, in which the service began, to the delight of all believers in the Russian colony. A diplomat died in the church. A.V. Kartashev would later say at the wake of the prince: “Quiet, peace-loving, gracious and kind - he was like an old man among us, and not a worldly person. Not a layman, but a minister of the Church. A reader and a singer in his house church in Clamart - this was a symbol of his Russian church soul. The pathetic nerve of his soul in Abroad was undoubtedly the church one. From the time Grigory Nikolayevich entered the All-Russian Church Council of 1917 as a member, he, as it were, accepted initiation into church service. ("Russia and the Slavs", January 11, 1930).

A sincere follower of Patriarch Tikhon, he also faithfully observed his hierarchal precepts, suffered hard from the internal church schism, and called on everyone to embark on the path of united church work.

To put it bluntly: during the years of emigration, Prince. Trubetskoy came especially close to the problems of the life and fate of Orthodoxy. Here he created a detailed study "Propaganda of godlessness and defense of faith in Soviet Russia." Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, who personified the remnants of Imperial Russia, often turned to the experience of his statesmanship. In any parties of the Russian Diaspora, Prince. Trubetskoy was not a member, but he sympathized with some ideological quests: he was no stranger to Eurasianism and inter-confessional rapprochement. In a historical perspective, all these searches turned out to be harmful to the Russian cause.

But on the resurrection of Russia, Prince. G.N. Trubetskoy believed and strongly, literally on the eve of the day of his death, he expressed this faith as follows: "Let's defeat ourselves, our cowardice and unbelief, and let us make the Star of Bethlehem light up in our hearts and the doxology of Angels be heard." (In memory of Prince G.N. Trubetskoy. Collection of articles. Paris, 1930. P. 33.). Grigory Nikolaevich died on Christmas Eve in a foreign land, in Clamart.

Note book. G.N. Trubetskoy's "Journey to Optina Pustyn" occupies the final pages of his book "Russian Diplomacy 1914-1917 and the War in the Balkans".