Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès

Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès

Alexander Pushkin, painting by Orest Kiprensky (1827)

Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès (around 1855)

Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès (born February 5, 1812 in Colmar , † November 2, 1895 in Sulz / Upper Alsace ) was a French officer and politician. He became famous for his duel with the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin .

Early years

Georges-Charles was the third of six children of the landowner Joseph Conrad Baron d'Anthès and his wife Marie-Anne-Louise, née Countess von Hatzfeld. His great-grandfather Jean-Henri Anthès was in December 1731 by Louis XV. been raised to the nobility.

As the firstborn son, d'Anthès was destined for a military career and attended the Saint-Cyr military school . During the July Revolution of 1830 he was on the side of Charles X. After his forced abdication and flight to Great Britain, d'Anthès refused to serve the July monarchy , took his leave and retired to his father's estate.

Russia

Tired of the monotonous country life, d'Anthès decided to leave France. He was given permission by the French government to enter foreign services without losing his French citizenship . D'Anthès refused entry into the Prussian army because he had only been offered a position as a sergeant.

He went to St. Petersburg , where he was accepted as a cornet in the Chevalier Guard thanks to influential protection ; In 1836 he was promoted to lieutenant. His good connections gave him access to the highest circles, and soon he was a welcome guest in the salons of the first society. He met Baron Louis Borchard de Heeckeren, the Dutch ambassador to Russia. Heeckeren (* 1792), a wealthy and childless bachelor, decided to adopt d'Anthès. The biological father gave his consent to the adoption , and with the permission of the Dutch king, Georges-Charles carried the name de Heeckeren d'Anthès from May 5, 1836.

The duel with Pushkin

In Saint Petersburg d'Anthès made the acquaintance of the poet Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) and his wife Natalja (1812–1863). He married her sister Katharina Goncharova, but courted Natalja Pushkina in a striking and provocative manner. Because of his obtrusive devotion to Pushkin's wife, rumors arose that cast doubt on her marital fidelity. Pushkin wrote an insulting letter to the adoptive father Heeckeren, whereupon d'Anthès challenged his brother-in-law Pushkin to a duel , which took place on January 27th ^. / February 8, 1837 ^greg. was carried out. Pushkin was badly wounded and died two days later from his gunshot wound. D'Anthès was only slightly injured in the arm and chest.

He was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress , but pardoned, demoted and expelled from Russia by Tsar Nicholas I.

After Pushkin's death, the poet Mikhail Lermontov wrote a poem entitled The Death of the Poet , in which he sharply condemned d'Anthès without naming him.

“… Smiling, he cheekily despised the
language and customs of the foreign country;
could not spare him, who was our fame ... "

Back in France

The grave of his wife Katharina, b. Goncharova

In Berlin, d'Anthès met his wife again. He returned to France with her and settled in Soultz in his parents' house. His wife died on October 15, 1843, a few weeks after giving birth to their fourth child.

D'Anthès turned to politics. In 1845 he became a member of the General Council of the Haut-Rhin department . After the February Revolution in 1848 , he was elected as a member of both the constituent and legislative branches, where he voted with a majority and completely joined Charles-Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte , whose coup d'état of December 2, 1851 he welcomed.

Once more he returned to Russia; on a secret mission he was supposed to investigate the tsar's attitude towards the restoration of the empire by Louis Napoléon. After his return he was by decree of March 27, 1852 by the now Emperor Napoleon III. appointed senator. In 1863 he became an officer of the Legion of Honor , and in 1868 commander. The fall of Napoleon III. 1870 also marked the end of d'Anthès' political career.

He withdrew into private life and died in Sulz / Upper Alsace on November 2, 1895.

See also

The poet's death

literature

• Louis Metman: Georges Charles d'Anthès . Paris 1912 ( entry in FEB (French) [accessed on October 11, 2010]).
• Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. 1888.
• Mikhail Lermontov: Poems . Russian German. Reclam-Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-15-003051-X .
• Aleksandr Gamiev: Puškin i Dantes. Poėmy i stichotvorenija. Egorov Publishing House, undated (2003) In Russian

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michail Lermontow: Poems . 2000, p. 67.

Web links

Commons : Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès  - Collection of images, videos and audio files