There are fewer memorable places in Moscow. And that is why a small wooden house on Rostovskaya Embankment looks like a miracle.
It is clearly visible from the side of the river pier "Kyiv".
Everything is still immersed in greenery .... How many times I made my way through its thickets.
And how many turbulent events, fractures, he awakens in me.

The owner of the mansion was Mikhail Alexandrovich Bestuzhev, staff captain of the Life Guards of the Moscow Regiment, Decembrist, writer.\1800-1871\
Father - Alexander Fedoseevich Bestuzhev \ 1761 - 1810 \, an artillery officer.
Since 1800, the ruler of the office of the Academy of Arts, a writer.
Mother - Praskovya Mikhailovna\177-1846\.
Bestuzhev brothers: Alexander, Nikolai, Peter, Pavel.

In 1824 Mikhail was accepted into the Northern Society.
He brought the 3rd company of the Moscow regiment to Senate Square.
Arrested on December 14, 1825 at the Senate Square.
On December 18, 1825, he was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
On August 7, 1826, together with his brother Nikolai, they were taken to Shlisselburg.

Sent to Siberia on September 28, 1827.
It took two months to get to the Chita prison.
Three years later they were transferred to the Petrovsky Plant, September 1830.

On November 8, 1832, the term of hard labor was reduced to 15 years, and on December 14, 1835, to 13 years.
In the "hard labor academy" he studied Spanish, Polish and Latin, Italian, English.
He studied gold, watchmaking, bookbinding, turning, shoemaking, cartoning and hat making.
M. Bestuzhev, the author of the popular among the exiles song “Just Like Fog” (1835), dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the uprising of the Chernigov regiment.

In 1839, the brothers Mikhail and Nikolai Bestuzhev in a free settlement in the city of Selenginsk, Irkutsk province.

In February 1844, the mother of the Bestuzhev brothers sold the estate.
And, after the death of Praskovya Mikhailovna (October 27, 1846), the Bestuzhev sisters were allowed to settle in Selenginsk with all the restrictions prescribed for the wives of state criminals.

Here M.A. Bestuzhev was happy, he was married to the sister of the Cossack Yesaul Selivanov - Maria Nikolaevna.
He had four children: Elena, Nikolai, Maria, Alexander.
But .... all the children died in early adolescence.

He built a house, was engaged in the acclimatization of plants. Published in the first newspaper of Transbaikalia "Kyakhtinsky sheet".
He designed and produced a horse-drawn carriage, which was called "sideeyka" in Transbaikalia, even now.
In Selenginsk, the brothers Mikhail and Nikolai Bestuzhev became close friends with the head of the Buddhists, the Khambo Lama of the Gusinoozersky datsan, Gomboev.
Michael wrote a treatise on Buddhism based on "Buddhist Cosmology". It was handed over for storage to the Kyakhta merchant A. M. Lushnikov. The merchant placed the treatise in a chest with a will to open it in 1951. The chest is lost.

Several stories and memoirs on the history of the Decembrist movement were written.
In 1857, he led a flotilla in a large trading rafting along the Amur to Nikolaevsk (Amur expeditions of 1854 - 1858).
Left Selenginsk in June 1867 after the death of his wife.

Certainly he was an outstanding man. He was 25 years old when the desire to change the world, to make it fair, was the main thing.
It is now clear that revolutionary actions weaken the state. The people only lose.
In Russia, four generations lived in the name of the "Coming Future" in poverty and deprivation.
And there were no more Aristocrats of the Spirit comparable to the Decembrists in Russia.
There was a Soviet nomenklatura, officials who, by virtue of their positions, were supposed to show justice. But, personal enrichment and the use of one's position was above all.

M.A. Bestuzhev returned to Moscow at the age of 67 to his parents' wooden mansion,
at number 17, on the 7th Rostovsky lane.
He was full of plans and ideas.
But ... in the spring of 1871, the Moscow River overflowed its banks, the following were flooded: Rostovskaya, Berezhkovskaya, Dorogomilovskaya embankments. The townspeople traveled by boat.
The summer of 1871 was hot. A cholera epidemic was rampant in Moscow.

M.A. Bestuzhev died of cholera in Moscow on June 22, 1871. He was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery.

Portrait \ oil on canvas \ - Decembrist Mikhail Alexandrovich Bestuzhev 1800-1871

Vanchuzhueva Bin-Daria, Gomboeva Bayarma, Badmatsyrenova Nastya

The fate of Nikolai Bestuzhev is closely connected with Buryatia, which became for him a second home and a place of eternal rest. In the terrible conditions in which his life passed, he created magnificent drawings with inexhaustible energy.

According to the surviving drawings of the Decembrist, one can get an idea of ​​​​how the Decembrists lived in the Chita jail, in the Petrovsky hard labor prison and in the settlement. During the years of his stay in hard labor and in exile, he alone created over four hundred portraits of the Decembrists, their wives, children and friends, over sixty views of Chita, the Petrovsky Plant, Selenginsk and other places in Siberia.

In September 1839, Nikolai and Mikhail Bestuzhev arrived at a settlement in Selenginsk. The economic and trade center of the Baikal region was once located here, the Decembrists settled 5 versts from Novoselenginsk, closer to the Buryat uluses, which were under the authority of the Selenga steppe duma.

This neighborhood turned out to be favorable and beneficial for both sides. N. A. Bestuzhev admits in one of his articles: “The Buryats are both a carpenter, and a blacksmith, and a carpenter, and a worker with us, and a plowman, and a mower. It wouldn't be here without them." In a word, strong bonds of friendship and mutual respect were established between the Bestuzhev brothers and their steppe neighbors.

In addition, Nikolai Alexandrovich married a Buryat woman, whose Russian name was Dusha. From this marriage were born a son Alexei, who later became an outstanding businessman and philanthropist, known under the surname Startsev, and daughter Ekaterina, who married the official Naidan (Nikolay) Gomboev, whose activities are respectfully mentioned in the annals of the “History of the Selenga Mongol-Buryats” D-Zh . Lombotsyrenova.

Here Nikolai Bestuzhev worked as a professional artist, painted portraits of the inhabitants of Irkutsk, Selenginsk, Kyakhta, including oil, views of Buryatia and scenes of the life of the Buryats.

The Bestuzhev Museum in Novoselenginsk has preserved a unique and only portrait of Issus Christ, this is the last work of the master painted on canvas in oil, he wrote when he was already blind, also painted drawings on a crucifix.

The Decembrists spent thirty years in Siberia, and every day of their stay in hard labor and in the settlement was a day of struggle, a day of work. Their high level of education benefited the people around them, their high morality aroused imitation, they taught Siberians the arts and sciences, and taught their children.

The contribution of the Decembrists to the cultural, economic and political life of Siberia is invaluable.

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Abstracts for the topic: "The Decembrist artist Nikolai Bestuzhev"

Target: Having studied the works, exhibits in two museums (the Obruchev Museum in the city of Kyakhta and the Bestuzhev Museum in the village of Novoselenginsk), using various literature, various reference materials for a more detailed study of the topic “Artist - Decembrist Nikolai Bestuzhev” to give the most complete picture of this topic.

Relevance of this topic is undeniable - 185 years have passed since the Decembrist uprising on Senate Square and the preservation for posterity by N. Bestuzhev of the features of the participants in the first revolutionary uprising in Russia.

The fate of Nikolai Bestuzhev is closely connected with Buryatia, which became for him a second home and a place of eternal rest.In the terrible conditions in which his life passed, he created magnificent drawings with inexhaustible energy.

According to the surviving drawings of the Decembrist, one can get an idea of ​​​​how the Decembrists lived in the Chita jail, in the Petrovsky hard labor prison and in the settlement.During the years of his stay in hard labor and in exile, he alone created over four hundred portraits of the Decembrists, their wives, children and friends, over sixty views of Chita, the Petrovsky Plant, Selenginsk and other places in Siberia.

In September 1839, Nikolai and Mikhail Bestuzhev arrived at a settlement in Selenginsk. The economic and trade center of the Baikal region was once located here, the Decembrists settled 5 versts from Novoselenginsk, closer to the Buryat uluses, which were under the authority of the Selenga steppe duma.

This neighborhood turned out to be favorable and beneficial for both sides. N. A. Bestuzhev admits in one of his articles: “The Buryats are both a carpenter, and a blacksmith, and a carpenter, and a worker with us, and a plowman, and a mower. It wouldn't be here without them." In a word, strong bonds of friendship and mutual respect were established between the Bestuzhev brothers and their steppe neighbors.

In addition, Nikolai Alexandrovich married a Buryat woman, whose Russian name was Dusha. From this marriage were born a son Alexei, who later became an outstanding businessman and philanthropist, known under the surname Startsev, and daughter Ekaterina, who married the official Naidan (Nikolay) Gomboev, whose activities are respectfully mentioned in the annals of the “History of the Selenga Mongol-Buryats” D-Zh . Lombotsyrenova.

Here Nikolai Bestuzhev worked as a professional artist, painted portraits of the inhabitants of Irkutsk, Selenginsk, Kyakhta, including oil, views of Buryatia and scenes of the life of the Buryats.

The Bestuzhev Museum in Novoselenginsk has preserved a unique and only portrait of Issus Christ, this is the last work of the master painted on canvas in oil, he wrote when he was already blind, also painted drawings on a crucifix.

The Decembrists spent thirty years in Siberia, and every day of their stay in hard labor and in the settlement was a day of struggle, a day of work. Their high level of education benefited the people around them, their high morality aroused imitation, they taught Siberians the arts and sciences, and taught their children.

The contribution of the Decembrists to the cultural, economic and political life of Siberia is invaluable.

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to work for 8th grade students

Vanchuzhueva Bin-Daria, Gomboeva Bayarma and Badmatsyrenova Nastya

Subject: Decembrist artist Nikolai Bestuzhev

This paper discusses an interesting topic that is currently relevant: the Decembrist artist Nikolai Bestuzhev.

The relevance of this topic is undeniable - 185 years have passed since the Decembrist uprising on Senate Square and the preservation for posterity by N. Bestuzhev of the features of the participants in the first revolutionary uprising in Russia.

The fate of Nikolai Bestuzhev is closely connected with Buryatia, which became for him a second home and a place of eternal rest. The authors did a great job of covering the topic.Decembrist artist N. Bestuzhev accomplished a truly remarkable creative feat.

To reveal this topic, the authors conducted search work, visited and processed materials located in two museums (the Obruchev Museum in Kyakhta and the Bestuzhev Museum in the village of Novoselenginsk), studied a lot of different literature, various reference materials, collected and studied a sufficient amount of material, thereby trying to reveal their topic, namely the works of the artist Nikolai Bestuzhev.

In the terrible conditions in which his life passed, he created magnificent drawings with inexhaustible energy. According to the surviving drawings of the Decembrist, one can get an idea of ​​​​how the Decembrists lived in the Chita jail, in the Petrovsky hard labor prison and in the settlement.During the years of his stay in hard labor and in exile, he alone created over four hundred portraits of the Decembrists, their wives, children and friends, over sixty views of Chita, the Petrovsky Plant, Selenginsk and other places in Siberia.

The value of such work also lies in the fact that acquaintance with amazing, and sometimes unexpected information makes us read something, learn more, thereby instilling interest in art, watercolor painting, oil painting and knowledge in general.

The more interesting the video piggy bank looks (it can be used in history and drawing lessons). There are no large, serious calculations here, but the author has collected in a video piggy bank a unique and only portrait of Jesus Christ, drawings on a crucifix.

The material is presented, concise, interesting, logical and reasoned. In their work, the authors reflected the relationship between the work of the school and the house of the museum.

In the process of working on the abstract, the authors showed independence, used the search method. In addition, they acquired the skills of research work, independent work with scientific literature, and the skills of public speaking in front of an audience.

I believe that the work achieved its goal, the authors formed a set of key competencies: value-semantic, communicative, informational, etc., it expanded their knowledge in the field of history and art.

Dondokova E.V. teacher of the highest category

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PEOPLE'S MEMORY MARKED THE Decembrists BESTUZHEV.

In September 1839, the Decembrist brothers Bestuzhev Nikolai and Mikhail Alexandrovich arrived at a settlement in Selenginsk.

The inhabitants of Selenginsk, both Russians and Buryats, greeted the settlers with great cordiality, and when they got to know them and became closer, they began to come to them for advice and help, the Decembrists, if possible, shared with everything that they had often protected from the arbitrariness of local authorities . Mikhail Bestuzhev wrote: “Good Buryats live around us. The elders love and respect us.” And Nikolai Bestuzhev, whom the Selenginians called “the source of intelligence, knowledge and kindness,” wrote in his diary: “What kind of good people these Buryats are, I spend most of my time with them in questions and in conversations.”

With the arrival in Selenginsk, the brothers received their allotments of arable and hay land and began to farm, but the grain harvest brought only losses.

In the struggle for existence, the brothers opened a watch, jewelry and optical workshop in Selenginsk. Local Buryats became their students and assistants. They taught them the craft not only in their workshop, but also traveled to the uluses. The Buryats came to the Bestuzhevs, took a course of study, and then, stocking up on tools, returned home.

In 1847, sisters Elena, Maria and Olga came to the Bestuzhevs in Selenginsk “for voluntary eternal .... Conclusions with brothers. The brothers and sister did not see each other for more than 20 years, during these years the brothers Alexander, Pavel and Peter passed away. On the way to Siberia, mother Praskovya Mikhailovna died in Moscow in 1846.

Nikolai and Mikhail did everything possible to better and more comfortably furnish the life of the sisters in Selenginsk. Management of the economy passed into the hands of Elena Alexandrovna.

But their life was rolling towards sunset, youth had long passed. Elena was already 55 years old, a little less than Maria and Olga, Nikolai was 56 years old, and Mikhail was 47 years old, he was married to the sister of Yesaul Selivanov, had children. They lived together as a large and friendly family, worked, shared memories of the past at their leisure. Mikhail bought a piano on occasion, the sisters Maria and Olga played beautifully, and every evening the sounds of beautiful music rushed from the windows of the Bestuzhevsky house. For the residents of Selenginsk, all this was not usual.

Years passed. The Bestuzhevs worked, warmth and comfort always reigned in their house. Many Decembrists who were in Siberia visited them. The surviving documents and letters from contemporaries testify that it was a close-knit family, but time took its toll: the brothers and sister grew old, and their strength left them.

Nikolai Bestuzhev caught a cold while traveling to Irkutsk via Baikal. After being ill for 17 days, he died on May 15, 1855 at the age of 64.

After the death of Nikolai Bestuzhev, the family began to experience financial difficulties. Elena Alexandrovna began to seek to leave for Moscow in order to publish the works of her brother Alexander (Bestuzhev-Marlinsky) there and thereby financially help the family of her brother Mikhail. However, permission to leave was not given, since they were allowed to travel to Selenginsk on the condition that they could leave Siberia when both Bestuzhev brothers died.

Only after the death of Tsar Nicholas 1, when an amnesty was announced for the Decembrists, did they receive permission to leave. The sisters left for Moscow only in 1858, having lived in Selenginsk for 11 years. Attempts to publish the works of Brother Bestuzhev-Marlinsky for Elena Alexandrovna ended in failure. The light saw only a small collection of his stories.

After the departure of the sisters, Mikhail Bestuzhev lived in Selenginsk for almost 10 more years. Failure and misfortune pursued him: the 8th son of Nikolai died, and in Moscow - the daughter Elena, who lived with her sisters, in 1867, his wife died. Mikhail Bestuzhev stayed in Selenginsk with small children: a daughter and a son. Finally he decided to leave for Moscow. It was in 1867 that the old and sick Decembrist was granted a beggarly pension (114 rubles 28 kopecks) by the government. It was impossible to exist on this amount, only in 1869 Mikhail was assigned an annual pension from the Literary Fund (300 rubles), but he used this allowance for only a year and a half.

“We are five brothers,” wrote Mikhail Bestuzhev, “and all five died in the whirlpool on December 14.” Of the five brothers, Mikhail was the last to die. He died in Moscow on June 21, 1871 and was buried at the Vagantovsky cemetery.

The noble names of Nikolai and Mikhail Bestuzhev will never be forgotten in the history of culture and education of our people.

(1791-1855) Russian writer, Decembrist

An outstanding figure in the Russian liberation movement, the Decembrist Nikolai Bestuzhev was a richly and versatilely gifted person. A sailor and artist, inventor and traveler, naturalist, economist and ethnographer, he also possessed an outstanding literary talent, although his literary fame during his lifetime was eclipsed by the glory of his brother A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. But the name of Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bestuzhev rightfully belongs to Russian culture and Russian literature. “Nikolai Bestuzhev was a man of genius,” wrote N. I. Lorer, “and, my God, what he did not know, what he was not capable of!”

Nikolai Bestuzhev was born in St. Petersburg into a well-known noble family. Thanks to his father, he early joined literature, knew music and painting well. At the age of eleven, the boy became a pupil of the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps. In 1809, after completing his studies, he was left there as an educator with the rank of midshipman.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, Bestuzhev, along with the corps, was evacuated to Sveaborg, where he began an affair with L. I. Stepova (wife of the director of the navigation school in Kronstadt). According to one of Bestuzhev's contemporaries, she had "a strong influence on his life until the death of a civilian."

In 1813, Bestuzhev left the corps and began to serve in a naval crew stationed in Kronstadt. In May 1815, the ship on which Lieutenant Bestuzhev served went to Rotterdam, and the young officer could observe with his own eyes the establishment of a republic in Holland, which gave him an idea of ​​\u200b\u200b"civil rights".

Two years later he set sail again, this time to Calais with his brother Michael. Visiting Western countries, getting to know their culture and state structure, more and more strengthened the young officers in the idea that the omnipotence of the monarchy hinders the development of Russia. Reflections on the future of his homeland soon led Bestuzhev to the Masonic lodge of the Chosen Michael.

In 1823 he became head of the Maritime Museum and studied the history of the Russian fleet. By this time, Bestuzhev was already a prominent figure among the naval officers, gained fame in the scientific and literary environment. In 1824, K. Ryleev invited Bestuzhev to join a secret society, which was formed by the best representatives of the Russian nobility. Later they will be called Decembrists. They were concerned about the fate of Russia and prepared projects for its transformation. The secret society existed not only in St. Petersburg: its branches were in Moscow, in Ukraine, and in other places. The Petersburg secret society was called Northern, and Bestuzhev became one of the most revolutionary-minded group of "northerners". They insisted on expanding the rights of popular representation and on the release of the peasants from the land.

Together with his brother Alexander, N. Bestuzhev was one of Ryleev's main assistants on the eve of the uprising. On December 14, 1825, he brought the Naval Guards crew to Palace Square in St. Petersburg, although he had been with the Admiralty Department for several years and had nothing to do with practical naval service.

Nikolai Bestuzhev showed courage and fortitude during the investigation into the case of the Decembrists. He answered questions very reservedly, admitting only what was known to the Investigative Committee, keeping silent about the affairs of the secret society and almost without naming names. Many memoirists recall how boldly Bestuzhev behaved during interrogations. So, I. D. Yakushkin wrote: “In the eyes of the highest authorities, the main guilt of Nikolai Bestuzhev was that he spoke very boldly before the members of the commission and acted very boldly when he was brought to the palace.” During interrogations, he succinctly depicted the difficult state of Russia and already in his first testimony he said: “Seeing the breakdown of finances, the decline of trade and the trust of the merchants, the complete insignificance of our methods in agriculture, and most of all the lawlessness of the courts, our hearts trembled.”

It is also known that after the first interrogation, Nicholas I said about Bestuzhev - "the smartest person among the conspirators." Six months later, the tsar will also award the title of "smartest man" to A. S. Pushkin, but both "smartest" he will be very expensive: Pushkin will be under secret supervision, and N. Bestuzhev will be condemned especially severely. Obviously, it was his behavior during interrogations that influenced the decision of the judges.

In the "List of persons who, in the case of malicious secret societies, are committed by the highest command to the Supreme Criminal Court," all the convicts were divided into eleven categories and one extra-class group. Nikolai Bestuzhev was assigned to the II category, although the materials of the investigation did not give grounds for such a high "rank". Obviously, the judges understood the real role and importance of the elder Bestuzhev in Northern society. "Second-rate" were condemned by the Supreme Criminal Court to political death, that is, "put your head on the chopping block, and then send forever to hard labor."

Nicholas I introduced a number of “changes and mitigations” into the sentence, moving some of the “criminals” from one category to another. Convicted in the second and third categories, eternal hard labor was replaced by twenty years with deprivation of ranks and nobility and subsequent exile to the settlement.

On the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas I, the term of hard labor for the second category was reduced to 15 years. By the Manifesto of 1829, it was again reduced to 10 years, but Nikolai and Mikhail Bestuzhev were not affected by this reduction, and they entered the settlement only in July 1839.

In the casemates of the Petrovsky Zavod, N. Bestuzhev again began to actively engage in literary work. He wrote romantic stories, travel essays, fables, and poems. His translations from T. More, Byron, W. Scott, Washington Irving appeared in magazines, scientific articles were published - on history, physics, mathematics. Many of his manuscripts were destroyed after the defeat of the uprising, but there is enough printed material to judge the high skill and professionalism in all matters that the author touched.

The marine theme occupies a special place in his work. It is no coincidence that the posthumous collection of selected works by Bestuzhev is called Stories and Tales of an Old Sailor. Not only he himself was a sailor and historiographer of the Russian fleet, but his whole family was mainly connected with the sea. Involvement in the fleet undoubtedly contributed to the formation of revolutionary sentiments in the Bestuzhev family.

In Siberia, a new stage in the writer's work began. Memoirs of December 14 were conceived and partially written here, a number of works of art, also brought to life by the tragic events of the uprising. Both the memoir prose and the psychological story, in fact, reveal one topic - the paths that led the participants in the uprising to the square, and then to the “hard labor holes”, their worldview, their aspirations and hopes.

The memoir prose of Bestuzhev, who, among other things, had the sharp and precise eye of a painter, is especially noteworthy. His well-known "Memories of Ryleev" and a short passage "December 14, 1825" were conceived by him as part of a larger memoir of the December events. The idea remained unfinished - we know about this from the memoirs of Mikhail Bestuzhev, Nikolai Alexandrovich himself spoke about this with anguish before his death.

The image of Ryleyev is shown through the prism of a romantic story: he is enthusiastic and sensitive, his eyes “sparkle”, “his face is on fire”, and he “sobs”, etc., although we know that Ryleyev was extremely restrained on the eve of the uprising. “Memories of Ryleev” completes the “biographies of great men” laid down in the program of the Union of Welfare, bringing these biographies to December 14, 1825.

In his memoir prose, N. Bestuzhev, while maintaining an autobiographical basis, obscures the real faces and events with literary details and fiction. In the autobiographical story, the fictional narrative reflects his own experiences. But the work of N. Bestuzhev is not a passive registration of his life collisions. He creates a generalizing image of the Decembrist positive hero. Such an autobiographical story can be considered "Schlisselburg station". The story "Tavern Stairs" adjoins it. The fate of the heroes of the work merges with the fate of the political associates of the author. The plot of the rejection of personal happiness serves to express the severe self-denial of a person who has chosen the path of a professional revolutionary. A person who rebelled against autocracy sacrifices his freedom and therefore has no moral right to doom his beloved woman to suffering, who is expected to be separated from her husband, the father of her children.

Not only Bestuzhev wrote about the problem of personal happiness for a revolutionary. She was put before the members of the secret society by life itself, in which there were many such examples. It is known that some members who started families refused further revolutionary activities.

In the short story "Funeral" the writer considers the motive of the failed Decembrist. Here the author acts as a denouncer of spiritual emptiness and hypocrisy of the "big world", where decency should replace all the sensations of the heart, where everyone looks ridiculous if he shows weakness and lets others notice his inner state. Written in 1829, this story is one of the first prose works in which the falsity and spiritual emptiness of aristocratic circles are denounced. At that time, the anti-secular stories of V. Odoevsky and A. Bestuzhev had not yet been written. A. Pushkin's "Roslavlev" was not written either, where the "secular mob" is shown with the same journalistic fervor as in the stories of N. Bestuzhev.

The story "A Russian in Paris 1814" is also connected with reflections on the destinies and characters of the generation that entered into life on the eve of the Patriotic War. N. Bestuzhev himself was not in Paris (his military fate turned out differently), and the story is based on the Parisian impressions of his comrades in hard labor, and primarily N. O. Lorer. The moment of the entry of Russian troops into the capital of France, the realities, faces, incidents, folk scenes that Lorer remembered - all this was conveyed by Bestuzhev with memoir accuracy. The historian and the essayist manifested themselves here in full measure.

"A Russian in Paris in 1814" is one of the last works of art by Bestuzhev that have come down to us. In Siberia, he wrote a large local history article "Goose Lake" - the first natural-scientific and ethnographic description of Buryatia, its economy and economy, fauna and flora, folk customs and rituals. This essay once again showed Bestuzhev's many-sided talent as a novelist, ethnographer and economist.

He could not and did not have time to carry out many of his plans, some of his works of art were forever lost during the searches to which the exiled Decembrists were periodically subjected. Nevertheless, his literary heritage is very significant. Bestuzhev can be called one of the pioneers of the psychological method in Russian literature. An analysis of complex moral collisions in their connection with a person's duty to society reveals the genetic connection of his stories and novels with the work of A. I. Herzen, N. G. Chernyshevsky, L. N. Tolstoy.

N. A. Bestuzhev died in 1855 in the difficult days of the Sevastopol defense for Russia. Mikhail Bestuzhev recalled: “The successes and failures of the Sevastopol siege interested him to the highest degree. During the seventeen long nights of his dying agony, I myself, exhausted by fatigue, hardly understanding what he was saying to me almost in delirium, had to use all my strength to reassure him about poor, perishing Russia. In the intervals of the terrible struggle of his iron, strong nature with death, he asked me: “Tell me, is there something consoling?”

Until the end of his days, N. A. Bestuzhev remained a citizen and patriot.

The number of arts and crafts owned by N.A. Bestuzhev... is incalculable, because... ...he generally believed that in two or three days one could learn any business - house-building, acting, dentistry, jewelry, lithography, and whatever. In Buryatia, to this day, I know for sure, there are legends about him as a good sorcerer, and, they say, one old man carried some food supplies to his grave for about thirty years, so that "ulan-oron would not grieve" (that is, the red sun ) Bestuzhev.

Nathan Eidelman Big Jeannot. The Tale of Ivan Pushchin

Self-portrait (1837–39)

Nikolai Alexandrovich Bestuzhev, a naval officer by basic education, was an unusually versatile person. He is also known as a writer, critic, naval historian, translator, traveler, inventor, ethnographer, Decembrist. But I’ll make a reservation right away: I am primarily interested in him as a draftsman and painter, so the rest of his numerous talents, hobbies, participation in the uprising on Senate Square will be said at best in passing.

Portraits of Praskovia Mikhailovna and Alexander Fedoseevich Bestuzhev
Vladimir BOROVIKOVSKY

My hero was born on April 24, 1791 in the family of a nobleman Alexander Fedoseevich and Praskovya Mikhailovna Bestuzhev. He was the eldest of eight children. Until the age of 10, Nikolai received an education at home, which at that time included not only the study of several foreign languages, literature, the basics of science and art, but also drawing lessons. In addition, his father Alexander Fedoseevich was a collector of books, minerals, rarities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, prints, paintings. Our house was a rich museum in miniature... Being daily surrounded by such diverse objects that aroused children's curiosity, using at all times access to our father... listening to his talk and reasoning with scientists, artists and craftsmen, we involuntarily... sucked everyone through the pores of our body the noble elements of the elements around us- wrote one of the Bestuzhev brothers. All the best artists and writers of that time visited my father's house. No wonder that Nikolai from childhood was imbued with interest and love for painting, science and literature. After retiring from military service, A.F. Bestuzhev was appointed to the position of the head of the chancellery under the president of the Academy of Arts, Count A.S. Stroganov. This made it possible for the brothers Nikolai and Alexander to take drawing and painting lessons from the best professors of the academy, although they were not its official students.

self-portrait
Gouache, Kronstadt, 1814-15

In 1802, Nikolai was appointed to one of the best educational institutions in St. Petersburg - the Naval Cadet Corps, from where he acquired not only deep knowledge of maritime affairs, but also got acquainted with the basics of physics and astronomy, mastered German, French and English. At the end of the course, he was left at the corps as a teacher and educator, then served in a naval crew stationed in Kronstadt. He failed to take part in the war of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army. For more than ten years, Nikolai Bestuzhev devoted himself to the service of the fleet, made several voyages abroad, becoming a historiographer of the fleet in 1822, combining official and literary fields of activity.

Alexander Bestuzhev
Gouache, Petersburg, 1823-24
Nikolay BESTUZHEV

After graduating from the Naval Corps and before the uprising of 1825. Nikolai Bestuzhev continued to engage in miniature painting from time to time, he painted many portraits and framed them himself in elegant frames. But, unfortunately, only a few works have come down to our time. These portraits were still far from perfect, the proportions were violated in them, the color was not always expressive. However, as contemporaries noted, he managed to achieve similarities.

Nikolai Bestuzhev, self-portrait
Gouache, Petersburg, 1825

Nikolai Alexandrovich was familiar with the techniques of writing with gouache (watercolors, ground with white), which gave opaque dull tones. In addition, he mastered the very painstaking and delicate technique of miniature on ivory by the French painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey (light dotted lines and small dots that merged into a general tone, creating the impression of a lively and delicate glow of the skin), which required careful processing and finishing.

Nikolai and Alexander Bestuzhev often appeared in print with articles on academic exhibitions, reflections on artists and the problems of fine art. Immediately before the uprising on Senate Square, Nikolai Bestuzhev became a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, where he was supposed to oversee that part of the publication famous incidents depicting naval battles.

In 1824, Bestuzhev joined the secret Northern Society and became one of its active participants. On December 26, 1825, in the rank of lieutenant commander, he led the Guards marine crew to the Senate Square and remained with him until the tragic outcome of the rebellion. It was Nikolai Alexandrovich who the leaders of the uprising proposed to put at the head of the insurgent troops after the self-elimination of Sergei Trubetskoy, but he refused, since here, on a dry path, in command of the troops he has absolutely no idea. Nikolai was sentenced, along with his brother Mikhail, in the second category to eternal hard labor, the term of which was subsequently reduced in 3 receptions to 13 years. The Bestuzhev brothers, along with other convicted Decembrists, served their exile first in Chita, then in the Petrovsky Zavod.

Gates of the Chita fortress
Nikolay BESTUZHEV

The Bestuzhev brothers arrived in the Chita prison at the end of December 1827. It was here, in Chita, that Nikolai Alexandrovich's dream was born to perpetuate the appearance of his comrades-in-arms, participants in the uprising, by creating a portrait gallery of the Decembrists.

Portrait of Lyubiv Ivanovna Stepova

Upon arrival in Chita, Nikolai Alexandrovich painted a portrait of Lyubov Ivanovna Stepova, his first and only beloved. It was a miniature on ivory, executed in gouache from memory. Truly a piece of jewelry: a face, curls, a lace cap, a collar are painted with a dotted line with the tip of a thin brush, the complex texture of the fabric is transferred. Bestuzhev did not part with this miniature until the end of his days.

Maria Volkonskaya with her son Nikolenka, 1826
Pyotr SOKOLOV

It was problematic to get thin translucent plates of ivory in prison conditions. Therefore, Nikolai Bestuzhev, having arrived in the Chita prison, began to study the basics of watercolor painting. But there were no visible successes. Only after the portraits made by the very famous and fashionable at that time portrait painter and innovator in the field of "pure watercolor" painting by Pyotr Fedorovich Sokolov fell into the hands of Bestuzhev, the matter moved forward. These portraits were brought with them by the Decembrists or their wives. Portraits of Pyotr Sokolov served as a school of watercolor painting for Nikolai Alexandrovich, with their help he comprehended not only the finest technique of the master, but also the choice of a peculiar color range for each work. Taking them as a model, Bestuzhev painted most of the collection in watercolor, winning, according to his brother Mikhail, both in time and effect.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky
Pyotr SOKOLOV, Nikolay BESTUZHEV after the original by P.F. Sokolova

Based on the portraits of Raevsky, Maria Volkonskaya, the couple and children of the Muravyovs, Bestuzhev studied Sokolov's writing style, rewriting them more than once, trying to accurately copy Sokolov's masterpieces. A copy of the portrait of Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky, the father of Maria Volkonskaya, made by Bestuzhev from the portrait of Sokolov, has survived to this day. Most likely, this is the first watercolor he made in prison. It can be seen that it is still far from ideal: in addition to insufficient similarity, there is no transparent lightness of the stroke that distinguishes the work of Pyotr Fedorovich.

Nikita Muravyov, 1824
Pyotr SOKOLOV

Alexandrina Muravyova, 1825
Pyotr SOKOLOV

Nikita Muravyov received a portrait of his wife Alexandrina in the casemate of the Peter and Paul Fortress on December 28, 1825. In moments of the greatest depression, it is enough for me to look at your portrait, and this supports me.- recalled Muravyov. He took him to Siberia and did not part until his death. Nikolay Bestuzhev copied this work of Sokolov more than once at the request of his friends.

Where are the colors from, you ask? Firstly, the Borisov brothers brought two boxes of watercolors to Chita, one of whom was an amateur naturalist and had a good command of watercolors, studying flora and fauna and creating entire albums of birds, butterflies, plants, etc. But in the future, for many years, Nikolai constantly received from St. every request of the bride. It was Alexandrina who constantly ordered pens, pencils, paper, paints for miniatures on ivory, gouache and watercolors for Bestuzhev (and other Decembrist painters). Moreover, most of the artist's works are still in excellent condition. Even paper, which ages very quickly when exposed to artificial lighting and sunlight, according to experts, is not damaged, it is completely clean, without age spots, mold, etc. That is, the goods were delivered of excellent quality.

Ivan Abramov

Andrey Entaltsev, Alexander Bryggen

Vasily Tizenhausen, Alexey Cherkasov

And the first Decembrists, whose portraits were executed by Bestuzhev, were those convicted in the seventh category, i.e. sentenced to a year of hard labor with the subsequent sending to the settlement. They had to leave Chita in April 1828, so Nikolai Vleksandrovich had to work quickly. The artist saw his main task in preserving for posterity the living features of the participants in the December uprising on Senate Square. According to eyewitnesses, this was the main advantage of the first portraits, otherwise they were still far from perfect.

Nikolay Lisovsky, Vladimir Likharev, Sergey Krivtsov

Pavel Fomich Vygodovsky (Duntsov)

Only 10 works remain in the collection, the portrait of Zakhar Chernyshev, Alexandrina Muravyova's brother, has been lost. Most likely it was given to a sister who sent it to other sisters and it got lost. In general, Nikolai Bestuzhev painted portraits of his comrades in two copies. One portrait remained with him, the other he gave to the Decembrist who was moving to the settlement.

According to Mikhail Bestuzhev of the entire collection of watercolor portraits of fellow prisoners in Chita, not many were drawn, and they could not be the first in artistic terms, there were many reasons for this. Firstly, the lack of lighting in the room, secondly, the lack of materials and, thirdly, the experience of watercolor painting. But another important reason is not indicated; the fact is that Nikolai Bestuzhev worked in shackles, which the prisoners constantly violated, day and night, they were removed only for the time of washing in the bathhouse and in the church. The shackles were finally removed only at the end of 1828. Under each work there is a handwritten signature of the person depicted (not everywhere it is visible because of the passe-partout), so a collection of autographs was also attached to the portraits.

Artamon Zakharovich Muravyov, April 21, 1828

Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov
Chita prison, 1828

Then three portraits were created, painted directly in the prison. The Decembrists posed for the artist in their cells, Artamon Muravyov is depicted against the background of a prison wall, and Ivan Annenkov is a prison window.

Pyotr Ivanovich Falenberg

At first, Bestuzhev planned to create a gallery, depicting the Decembrists in a prison environment, so that it was clear that the portrait depicted a prisoner. But then he abandoned this idea, since in this way it was difficult to avoid monotony. According to this model, a portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Falenberg was also conceived, but it remained unfinished. This watercolor lay in the artist's archive for a long time (and without an autograph). When he began to complete the gallery, he cut out the signature from Falenberg's letter, pasted it on a sheet and included the unfinished portrait in the main collection.

Ekaterina Trubetskaya
Miniature on ivory, 1828

Eight wives of the Decembrists lived in Chita: Alexandrina Muravyova, Maria Volkonskaya, Ekaterina Trubetskaya, Elizaveta Naryshkina, Alexandra Entaltseva, Natalia Fonvizina, Alexandra Davydova, Polina Annenkova. Some of them had to leave their children in the care of relatives in European Russia: one Volkonskaya, two Fonvizina, three Muravyova, and six Davydova. Portraits of these glorious women were also created by Nikolai Bestuzhev.

Maria Volkonskaya against the backdrop of the tyn of the Chita prison
Watercolor by Nikolai Bestuzhev, 1828
On the wall hangs the already familiar portrait of his father - Nikolai Nikolayevich Raevsky, painted by Pyotr Sokolov.

Maria Volkonskaya against the backdrop of the tyn of the Chita prison, 1828

During these years, Nikolai Bestuzhev painted portraits of the wives of the Decembrists, in particular Alexandrina Muravyova, but all of them were sent to relatives in Europe and traces of them were lost. More than once he also created portraits of Maria Volkonskaya (but only two of them survived, against the backdrop of the Chita fortress) and Ekaterina Trubetskoy.

Julian Lublinsky, 1828

Of those convicted in the sixth category, whose term of imprisonment was approaching the end of July 1829, there was only one Yulian Kazimirovich Lyublinsky (Motoshovichovich) in Chita. This portrait is interesting because in it the artist tried not only to convey the similarity of a person, but also sought to show his character, feelings and mood.

Sergei Trubetskoy, 1828–30
reproduction from the lost portrait of Trubetskoy.
This watercolor portrait was considered one of the best created by Bestuzhev in Chita.

Ivan Pushchin, 1828-30

Sergei Volkonsky
Drawing from a lost watercolor portrait by N. Bestuzhev, 1828–30.

Without a doubt, during the years of hard labor in Chita, Nikolai Aleksandrovich drew a lot of his friends and comrades. Relatives of the Decembrists, having learned about the works of Bestuzhev, asked to send their portraits, so the artist was overwhelmed with orders, which he willingly fulfilled. However, very few of these portraits survived, they went from hand to hand. In the main collection, which Bestuzhev compiled and kept, he tried to include only those portraits that he painted on the eve of the release of prisoners from prison, so most of his works that were not included in this gallery have not reached us.

Vasily Ivashov, late 1820s

Ivan Shimkov, late 1820s

Alexander Bestuzhev
Portrait made from memory, 1828

Alexander Bestuzhev, 1828-1830

In addition, while in the Chita prison, Nikolai Bestuzhev, at the request of his younger brother Alexander (the future A. Marlinsky), who, bypassing hard labor, was sent from the Shlisselburg fortress to a settlement in Yakutsk, painted his portraits from memory. As requested by Alexander, ...moustache down and no sideburns...

View of Chita, taken from under the mountain.
Watercolor N.A. Bestuzhev. 1829–1830

View of Chita, taken from under the mountain, 1829-1830

Nikolai Alexandrovich painted not only portraits of the Decembrists, but also landscapes from nature in the Chita jail. He especially liked to observe the Siberian nature in the summer, he created a whole series of watercolor landscapes of Chita and its environs, finding poetic beauty in this poor, insignificant village.

The return of the Decembrists from the shooting of the plan of the neighborhood of Chita.
Watercolor N.A. Bestuzhev, 1828

Upon arrival at the kotorga, the prisoners tried to find a way to get around the harsh prison regime and get the opportunity to be in nature. Soon they were allowed to conduct topographic work (tools and devices were made by the same Nikolai Alexandrovich and Pyotr Ivanovich Falenberg)

The result of this activity was this plan for the Chita prison, carried out by Peter Falenberg in 1830.

Portrait of commandant Stanislav Romanovich Leparsky and his sister Isabella, 1829–1830

In 1829, Bestuzhev managed to get S.R. Leparsky permission to engage in landscape painting, that is, to paint outside the prison. While working, the painter was supposed to have a convoy, but this did not prevent him from creating simple, expressive and truthful Chita landscapes. Bestuzhev presented a lot of his watercolors to Leparsky as a token of his gratitude.

Chita. Garden at the commandant's apartment
On the left, Nikolai Bestuzhev at work, 1829–30.

Inner courtyard of the Chita prison. Watercolor N.A. Bestuzhev. 1829–1830

The second Chita prison and greenhouses S.G. Volkonsky.

In Chita, some Decembrists (Volkonsky, P. Borisov, Kuchelbecker, Rosen) were engaged in the study of agriculture and agriculture; they planted vegetable gardens, built greenhouses and planted flower gardens. To facilitate their work, Nikolai Alexandrovich designed and built a machine for watering plants.

Main street in Chita. On the left is the house of E.I. Trubetskoy, to the right is the house of A.G. Muravieva.

The only street in Chita, the house of Princess E. Trubetskoy, commandant and A. Muravyova, 1829-1830

House of Head Doctor D.Z. Ilyinsky in Chita. Damn grave. House and garden of Commandant S.R. Loparsky, 1829-1830

Bestuzhev sketched views of the prison yard, the streets of the village, the houses of the commandant of the prison and the wives of the Decembrists, greenhouses and flower beds arranged by the Decembrists, their places of rest. Almost all of the numerous landscapes from nature, Nikolai Bestuzhev generously gave away to his comrades. And they, in turn, sent them home. From these drawings one could get an idea of ​​how the Decembrists and their wives lived in the Chita prison.

Church in Chita, 1829–30

Church in Chita
Watercolors N.A. Bestuzhev, 1829-1830

And this is exactly the church in which the wedding of Ivan Annenkov and Polina Gebl took place in February 1828: It was a curious and perhaps the only wedding in the world. At the time of the wedding, the iron was removed from Annenkov, and immediately after the end of the ceremony, they put it on again and took him back to prison.(N.V. Basargin.)

Chitinsky prison. Devil's grave

Sopka near Chita with the grave of an unknown soldier, a participant in the uprising of the Semyonovsky regiment
On the watercolor, the artist depicted himself and the parade-major of the Chita prison Osip Leparsky
Watercolor by N.A. Bestuzhev, 1829–1830

Sopka near Chita with the grave of an unknown soldier - a participant in the uprising of the Semyonovsky regiment

The Chita River - a bathing place for the Decembrists, 1829–30

Banks of the Ingoda River in Chita

Many picturesque landscapes created by Bestuzhev have been preserved thanks to the efforts of Alexandra Ivanovna Davydova, who collected an album of Siberia from watercolors with images of views of Chita, Petrovsky Zavod, landscapes of the areas through which the Decembrists passed, moving from one prison to another. Of the 29 watercolors, 12 are by Nikolai Bestuzhev.

But most of the portrait gallery of the participants in the uprising on Senate Square was created by Nikalay Alexandrovich in another prison - the Petrovsky Plant, where the prisoners were transferred in 1830. But more on that next time.