04.01.2017 0 6623
Prince Tauride is one of the outstanding statesmen of the 18th century, a man of extraordinary abilities.
During the years spent in the service of Catherine II, Potemkin did an incredible amount for Russia: he contributed to the development of the Northern Black Sea region, annexed Crimea to Russian possessions, created the Black Sea Fleet, founded several cities ...
Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky
However, first of all, his name is associated with the expression "Potemkin villages", which has become the standard for ostentatious splendor and fictitious achievements.
The truth about the Potemkin villages has been known to historians for a long time. As well as the name of the author of a slanderous biography, published in parts in the Minerva magazine from 1797 to 1799 and reprinted without any verification by almost all European publishers.
It turned out that the articles (without a signature) came from the pen of the Saxon diplomat Georg Gelbig. He hardly had a personal prejudice against Potemkin.
Most likely, he simply fulfilled a social order. But many enemies of His Serene Highness in Russia hastened to agree with his opinion, and first of all, Paul I.
There were more than enough reasons for envy and hatred for the favorite of the empress. He easily, almost jokingly, received the benefits for which the rest had to stomp at the foot of the throne for years. He ignored many secular conventions.
He was successful with women. He won brilliant victories on the battlefield. He arranged magnificent receptions, the brilliance of which overshadowed even the court festivities.
According to the French envoy, Count Segur, Potemkin was able to work on a dozen projects at the same time, without giving the appearance that he was very busy. His position at court could not be shaken by any gossip and intrigue. Catherine II spoke of Potemkin: “He was my dearest friend... a man of genius. I have no one to replace him!”
Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin (1739-1791) belonged to an old Polish family, but his father was just a retired major: the family had long since become impoverished and occupied a not very significant place among the small estate nobility. Potemkin began to show abilities for science quite early, he studied at a private boarding school, and from 1756 at the gymnasium at Moscow University.
At the university, Potemkin proved to be one of the most talented students, and in 1757 he was introduced to Empress Elizaveta Petrovna among the best students of the university. Already at this time, he tells his comrades that he would like to become a minister or bishop.
Studying was easy for Potemkin: he had a photographic memory, quickly learned new concepts, and had an excellent linguistic flair (he spoke French and German, Latin, ancient Greek and Old Slavonic). However, the monotonous classes soon bored him, he stopped attending them, and in 1760 he was expelled "for laziness and not attending classes."
Potemkin decided to devote himself to a military career and the following year he entered the Horse Guards as a sergeant-major and became an aide-de-camp to Prince George of Holstein, uncle of Emperor Peter III.
For the first time, Catherine II drew attention to the young non-commissioned officer during the palace coup on June 28, 1762, in which he became involved thanks to his friendship with the Orlov brothers. According to family tradition, Potemkin noticed that Catherine did not have a lanyard on her saber and offered her his weapon.
For participation in the coup, he was promoted to second lieutenant, received the title of chamber junker and 400 souls of serfs. At that time - a little, but for a twenty-three-year-old young man, this was a great help. Soon, Grigory Orlov began to notice that his namesake pays too much attention to the Empress, and she herself willingly spends time listening to his stories.
This was not part of the plans of the Orlov brothers: it was assumed that after the coup, Catherine would become the wife of one of them. Alexey and Grigory Orlov decided to teach a lesson to a daring opponent. The conversation that took place in Potemkin's apartment turned into a fight. According to some reports, it was then that the future favorite received a severe eye injury.
After that, he abruptly changed his line of behavior, retired from society and took up science. For almost a year and a half he read a lot, thought about what he read, and led an almost monastic lifestyle. The reason, of course, was not the injury received, but disappointment in friends, who, as it turned out, were ready to sacrifice him for their own interests.
Then he was called to the court. The Empress made him a chamberlain, now Potemkin was to be titled "Your Excellency." However, he shows very little interest in a new appointment, and with the outbreak of war he goes to the front.
Potemkin entered the circle of close associates of the Empress after a number of victories won during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 (the most striking of them were near Focsani, Larga, Cahul). For successful military operations against the Turks, he was awarded the orders of St. Anna and St. George.
His boss, General Rumyantsev, in a letter to the Empress spoke of Potemkin as a courageous and brave warrior who fights without sparing himself. In one of the letters, dated 1773, the Empress made it clear that she was going to continue to maintain relations with Potemkin. In 1774 he was recalled to St. Petersburg, appointed adjutant general, vice-president of the Military Collegium, and elevated to the dignity of a count.
It is believed that from this moment on, the romance between Potemkin and Catherine II becomes something more than the relationship of a favorite with a crowned person. There is a version that their union was sealed by marriage (of course, the wedding took place in secret). And in 1775, their daughter Elizabeth was born, who was brought up in the family of A. N. Samoilov, Potemkin's nephew (in the metrics she was listed under the name of Elizabeth Grigoryevna Temkina).
The romance of Catherine II and Potemkin was exceptionally vivid. The empress showered favors on the favorite, her rewards were truly “royal”: titles, orders, money and jewelry rained down like golden rain. According to contemporaries, for ten years (from 1774 to 1784) he received 18 million rubles in cash and precious things.
He had the right to apply to the Treasury Chambers with his demands. Almost all European states presented Potemkin to high awards - politicians very quickly managed to figure out that Catherine's new chosen one had a huge influence on her, going far beyond the bedchamber.
Prussia awarded him the Black Eagle, Poland the White Eagle and Saint Stanislaus, Sweden the Saint Seraphim, and Denmark the White Elephant. And in March 1776, Potemkin received the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (it was from that time that they began to call him “Highest” - from the title “Your Grace”).
In turn, Potemkin tried his best to be useful to the Russian crown and the one who wore this crown. He pacifies the rebellion of Pugachev, solves the very important problem of the Zaporizhzhya Sich at that time, eliminating the freemen and turning the Sich into an organized army subject to the empress.
In 1776 he became the governor-general of the Novorossiysk, Azov and Astrakhan provinces. Having received this appointment, Potemkin took up the economic development and military strengthening of the South Russian lands. He founded the city of Kherson with a shipyard at the mouth of the Dnieper, supervised the construction of Yekaterinoslav (modern Dnepropetrovsk), and was engaged in the development of the Kuban.
The results of this activity were highly appreciated by the descendants: some of them believed that Potemkin did no less for the south of Russia than Peter the Great did for the north.
The projects of His Serene Highness were distinguished by their courage and grandiose scope. He was one of the first to understand the importance of the Crimea for Russia and wrote to Catherine about the need to annex it: “Crimea is tearing our borders with its position ... Suppose now that Crimea is yours and that there is no longer this wart on the nose - suddenly the position of the borders is beautiful .. ."
As soon as the Crimea was assigned to Russia by the manifesto of April 8, 1782, Potemkin began to develop new lands. He founded the military and sea port of Sevastopol, establishing the base for the creation of the Black Sea Fleet.
His absence from the capital created fertile ground for the emergence of new favorites. However, none of them could rise in the eyes of Catherine so high that Potemkin fell out of favor. Moreover, some historical documents suggest that Catherine consulted with the prince regarding her lovers and acted with his full consent.
However, he was also not faithful to the empress: Potemkin's love notes to a whole galaxy of beauties have been preserved, and in the memoirs of his contemporaries he looks like a Don Juan at all. There is nothing surprising in this: at the court (and not only in Russia) they were perfectly able to distinguish between love and "inspiration of the flesh."
In 1784, Catherine promoted Potemkin to the rank of Field Marshal, appointed President of the Military Collegium and Governor-General of the Crimea, which was then called the Tauride Region. And three years later, the Empress, with her retinue and invited representatives of the European royal families (among whom was the Austrian Emperor Joseph II) went on an inspection trip to the south of Russia.
Fireworks in honor of Catherine during her trip to the Crimea. Painting by an unknown artist, late 18th century
Potemkin did everything possible to make this trip pleasant for the crowned lover. He took care of both the carriages and the festivities arranged along the way (among them were military parades, fireworks, folk festivals).
“The journey of the Empress,” describes Prince de Ligne, who accompanied her, “can be called magic. At almost every step we met the unexpected, the unexpected. There they saw squadrons, there cavalry detachments, there lighting, which extended for several years; Here are gardens created in one night! Everywhere Catherine was crowned with celebrations, expressions of gratitude, reverence and delight.
But a much stronger impression was made by the transformation of newly developed lands into a flourishing land. In the cities he founded, the streets were carefully designed, there were churches, hospitals and schools. And in Sevastopol, the final destination of the journey, the empress and her entourage were greeted with a salute by a fleet of 40 warships.
Count Segur was so amazed at what he saw that he wrote:
“It seems incomprehensible how Potemkin, once in this newly conquered region, eight hundred miles distant from the capital, managed to achieve so much in just two years: build a city, build a fleet, build fortresses and gather so many people. This was a true miracle of active effort.
In Kherson, Potemkin created a military school, and in Yekaterinoslav he even planned to found a university. Grigory Alexandrovich was busy with Catherine II about the establishment of a conservatory in this city (almost 80 years before its opening in St. Petersburg). In addition, he showed concern for the soldiers, softening the military regulations and introducing a comfortable uniform. This does not in the least resemble the behavior of a temporary worker who is completely absorbed in the idea of enrichment.
However, ill-wishers stubbornly did not want to notice Potemkin's obvious successes. Rumors that everything seen is a fiction, covering up multimillion-dollar embezzlement, reached the ears of the empress.
His Serene Highness was accused of the fact that the villages and palaces, which Catherine II admired from the window of the carriage, were made of cardboard and plaster. And cheerful villagers, recruited from among the serfs, were allegedly transported from place to place as distinguished guests advanced.
"Grigory Potemkin shows imaginary settlements to Catherine II". Advertising and collection card from Homann AG. 1950s Even in relatively recent years, the myth of the Potemkin villages was considered a fact.
When the need for their services disappeared, Potemkin allegedly doomed hundreds of thousands of people to starvation, leaving them in the middle of the steppe.
The empress hurried to console Potemkin: “Between you and me, my friend, the conversation is short. You serve me, I am grateful to you. That's all. As for your enemies, by your devotion to me and your labors for the good of the country, you pressed them to the nail.
Potemkin was given the title of the Most Serene Prince of Tauride.
With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war (1787-1791), Potemkin again takes up arms. Under his leadership, Ochakov was taken. It happened on the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (December 6, 1788), and to commemorate the victory and to protect the reclaimed lands, the prince founded the city of Nikolaev.
Returning to St. Petersburg, Potemkin was greeted with triumph. The Empress awarded him with a laurel wreath, a specially made field marshal's baton, and the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.
In 1789-1790, he continued to participate in hostilities, showing remarkable talent not only in military affairs, but also in the selection of personnel. It was he who helped Suvorov advance, entrusting him with the most critical areas.
During the war, victories were won at Focsani and Rybnik, on the Salcha River, and the Tauride Prince himself took possession of Bendery. In 1790, he received the title of hetman of the Cossack Yekaterinoslav and Black Sea troops. From the headquarters, moved to Iasi, Potemkin led the campaign that brought the capture of Ishmael, Kiliya and the defeat of the Turkish squadron near Kerch.
The newly created Black Sea Fleet showed itself perfectly, despite the slanderers who claimed that all ships were built of rotten wood and would not last two days on the water.
In February 1791, Potemkin visited St. Petersburg for the last time in his life. In the Tauride Palace presented to him, he arranged a magnificent celebration in honor of Catherine, which was destined to become a farewell. He then returned south to dictate peace terms to Constantinople. By that time, his health had deteriorated greatly.
In Iasi, Potemkin felt very unwell, ordered to be taken to Nikolaev, but died on the way. The Most Serene Prince was buried in Kherson, founded by him, and a beautiful crypt was built over the grave. In 1798, under the new emperor Paul I, who hated his mother's favorite, this crypt was destroyed and the remains of the deceased disappeared.
Slandered both during his lifetime and after his death, Prince Potemkin, nevertheless, was one of the outstanding statesmen of the 18th century. And no matter what they say about the "Potemkin villages", the cities he built still exist today - as the most durable monument to His Serene Highness.
August 13, 2015, 00:42Prologue
There are historical figures about whom much is known, but this much, often, is very far from reality. One of these people is the Most Serene Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky.
Back in 1991, as a 14-year-old, I came across a novel by V.S. Pikul "Favorite", dedicated to the reign of Catherine II. And when I read it, I really got sick of the 18th century and the events associated with it. The fate of the protagonist of the novel, Grigory Potemkin, is striking. I was lucky that V.S. Pikul, creating his novel-chronicle, even then did not think in a stereotyped way, not in the way it was supposed to think and write about tsars, and even more so - their favorites, in the Soviet period.
Frame from the film based on the novel by V.S. Pikul "Favorite" (Catherine II - Natalya Surkova, G.A. Potemkin - Igor Botvin)
The fate of Potemkin is amazing (as, in general, the fate of his august lover). Descended from small estate nobles, born in the tiny village of Chizhovo in the Smolensk region, he became, in essence, the second person in the state, co-ruler empress, military figure, field marshal, brilliant administrator, founder of many cities in the south of the Russian Empire, their organizer and first governor. It is difficult to overestimate the reforms that this man carried out. For example, long before the reign of Alexander II, Potemkin developed a project for the abolition of recruitment in the army (the hardest duty established by Peter the Great), but did not have time to finalize it, or the reform of soldier's clothing (Potemkin proceeded from the convenience for soldiers and the rationality of the form) ... We can continue for a long time...
Well, really, who does not know about the illustrious favorite of Empress Catherine II? Meanwhile, for a long time he was characterized in the most impartial way. The eternal rival of another favorite of the Empress - G. Orlov. A sybarite and a lazybones, a tyrant with great power, always lounging on the sofa in one dressing gown. A mediocre commander who appropriates the victories of other brilliant associates of the Empress, for example, the victories of A.V. Suvorov.
In our cinema and literature, we meet just such an image. Well, for example, a characteristic image of a prince in wax, such a "spreading cranberry" in the best traditions of foreign historical films about Russia:
Or, here, Soviet films showing a favorite with all the indispensable attributes - a lot of diamonds, orders, brocades and silks, and an obligatory black eye patch:
(frames from the films "Suvorov", "Admiral Ushakov", "Emelyan Pugachev", and a photo from the stage of the theatrical production "Tsaritsa")
One of the reasons for such an interpretation of his image is that Potemkin, in the eyes of his contemporaries, was and forever remained only favorite , the shadow of the empress, who undeservedly received fame and honors. And how else could characterize the favorite? If they lived in our time, we would discuss their romance on Gossip))) But it was not just a fleeting romance! This is a long-term, real, deep and very sincere relationship between a man and a woman, placed by the will of fate above all...
My profession as a historian has taught me that we will never know exactly what famous historical figures were anyway. And also the fact that you always need to follow exclusively documentary data. The sources that have been preserved allow us to get a little closer to the truth. We only have versions based on real evidence. And a few facts that can be gleaned from documents, and then, carefully comparing and analyzing them.
In the photo there is a letter from Count Dmitriev-Mamonov to Potemkin, with marks on the margins of Empress Catherine (my photos, St. Petersburg, RGIA, June 2015):
Fortunately, a wide variety of documents have been preserved from the Catherine era. Including those that reveal to us the essence of their relationship. And the most important evidence is the huge correspondence between the prince and the empress. Imagine a huge 800-page tome published in the late 90s.
It is interesting that in the romantic correspondence of the prince and the empress, relating to the first two years of their relationship, we can only "listen" to Catherine - Potemkin carefully kept everything that she wrote to him (this can be traced by the dates that the interlocutors always indicated). She, fearing court intrigues, taught by bitter experience, wanting to leave her personal life only to herself, burned his messages immediately after reading. When their relationship took on a different quality, the empress stopped burning the letters, they were preserved, and here you can already "hear" the dialogue.
10 interesting facts and versions
1 . Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin was 10 years younger empresses. Versions of where they met are different. One of them says that the 18-year-old Potemkin first saw Catherine in St. Petersburg, when Moscow students, one of whom was Potemkin, were introduced to the court of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. According to other sources, the meeting took place during the days of the palace coup, in June 1762, which brought Catherine to power. Be that as it may, the Empress noticed Potemkin, and, according to the testimony of his contemporaries, he fell in love.
2. G.A. Potemkin really lost an eye at the age of 24. In numerous novels and films, the cause of this event is called a fight with the Orlov brothers, one of whom was at that time the favorite of Catherine II. However, there is absolutely no indication of this in the sources. Most often, the version is interpreted there that Potemkin lost his eye from unsuccessful treatment, resorting to the help of a charlatan healer. At the court of Potemkin was caustically called Cyclops. It is interesting that we will not find a black bandage in the portraits, of course, they did not depict it. Although all the portraits of the prince are characteristic - they depict him in half a turn. Because of his injury, the prince did not like to pose for artists and did this extremely rarely.
3. Potemkin's military career began long before his rise. He was a participant in the 1st Russian-Turkish war (1768-1774), fought in the army, Potemkin's merits were absolutely real. It was at the front that he received his first award - the Order of St. George 4th degree. Several letters of Potemkin to Catherine, which he wrote from the army, have been preserved.
4. Potemkin was not like other favorites of the Empress. His character is complex, energetic, ambitious. And very jealous. And yet - he sincerely truly loved, he waited for about 12 years. And at the very beginning of the relationship, he probably voluntarily or involuntarily demanded from Catherine a report on her previous relationship. Or maybe she herself wanted to sincerely tell him everything ... The result of this was a letter addressed to Potemkin, which the Empress entitled "Honest Confession". The letter is known under this name even now ... It is amazing, but in the letter Ekaterina thoroughly analyzes all her previous novels, trying to convey to the addressee that her not very happy female fate developed in this way. And in the end, she asked him to forgive her for everything.
5. Roman Empress and Potemkin began in 1774. Catherine was 45 years old, Potemkin - 35. Letters from that time are incredibly touching and tender messages. For example, here:
"My dear, what happy hours I spend with you ... We spend about four hours together, but there is no boredom on our minds, and we always part through strength and unwillingly. My dear dear, I love you very much, and you are good, and smart, and cheerful , and amusing, and there is no need for the whole world when I sit with you. I have never been so happy as with you ... "
One more thing:
"I'm not afraid that I can free myself from your networks, but that I am becoming more and more confused from hour to hour. To reduce my passion, you must make me unhappy. And even then I will probably stop loving you. No matter what happens "I need to think that you love me, and the slightest doubt in this severely torments me and makes me inexpressibly sad... I want you to love me, I want to seem attractive to you. But I show only folly and terrible weakness. You know - I'm sick, even and I don't send for a pharmacist, and I don't write a lengthy will. I love you...."
And dozens more like it!
6. In the historical literature, a very popular version is that Catherine and Grigory Alexandrovich were married. There is no direct evidence of this, there are only indirect ones (recorded in the memoirs of people already at the beginning of the 19th century, from someone's words). As for the empress herself, in her letters she often called her beloved "dear spouse", "husband", mentioned some important day that mattered to the two of them.
There is an even more interesting version - that Catherine and Potemkin had daughter Elizabeth. Elizaveta Grigoryevna Temkina is an absolutely real historical person. Judging by her patronymic and surname, she really was the illegitimate daughter of Grigory Alexandrovich (* for illegitimate children at that time, the paternal surname was cut - Betskoy (Trubetskoy), Pnin (Repnin), Temkin (Potemkin) ... But who was Elizabeth's mother? Another riddle. Here are the portraits. In the middle - Elizaveta Grigorievna:
(this portrait is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery)
Well, what - the eyes are similar to the eyes of Catherine)))
7. Of course, Catherine found in Potemkin not only a lover, a man with whom, apparently, she felt like just a woman, with whom she was like behind a stone wall! But after all, in addition to his love for her, there was also a huge mind, seething energy, a desire to serve his empress and Russia. Such a person was very necessary for Catherine, who for a long time had no one on whom she could rely in her many daily affairs, and whom she would have infinitely trusted. And when he appeared, Catherine appreciated him, and Potemkin began to quickly move up the career ladder. Here lies the main drama of their relationship. Potemkin could not perform state functions, give hundreds of orders and demand their execution, remaining the lover of the empress. Because for everyone he was another whim of Catherine, a "bed man", "night emperor" ... He was envied, he was slandered. And even if he was Catherine's husband, they could never become husband and wife in the eyes of people. And they chose the case ... It was very difficult and painful for both of them, the letters of 1776 show this. Subsequently, both he and she had other hobbies - this can be treated differently ... But their letters clearly tell us that they continued to love, that until the end they remained the closest and dearest people to each other.
8. After a personal break in relations, most often Potemkin and Catherine were far from each other. He was in the south, where he did a lot of things. She was in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo. But their letters - they were permanent. It is striking that with the then slow speed of information transfer, correspondents received 2-3 letters per month. Catherine discussed with Potemkin all the nuances of public affairs. It seems that there were no such events that Catherine would not report to Grigory Alexandrovich, asking for his advice. And what is also interesting and touching in these letters are the usual earthly requests to preserve health, congratulations on the holidays, and the transfer of gifts to each other. It seems like they really couldn't live without each other.
9. It must be said that even in the absence of Potemkin in St. Petersburg, various court parties did not abandon attempts to "topple" the giant. People simply could not understand why the position of the prince and the queen's boundless trust in him did not change for so many years. I repeat - in society, virtually everyone, starting with the heir to the throne, Paul, considered him only a favorite who had taken enormous power for himself ... Catherine tried not to offend her closest friend and co-ruler. But sometimes doubts came into her head, after careful processing of "interested persons". A wide variety of gossip circulated at court: that Potemkin was going to take the citizenship of another state, that he directed the money released from the treasury for personal needs, that in order to please his countless favorites, he was chasing couriers for shoes and fruit ... Without giving any assessment to these rumors, I will only note how, probably, it was not easy for him and her to endure them ... "Gossip is just gossip, but gossip repeated many times becomes disgusting slander" (c) - G.A. Potemkin.
10. Given the age difference between Catherine and Potemkin, it was hard to imagine that he would die before her. But she outlived him by 5 years. He died in early October 1791 right in the middle of the road on the way to his beloved Nikolaev ... In one of his last letters, he wrote: "Dear, it's hard for me to live because I don't see you ...". The courier delivered the last letter of Potemkin to the Empress already when Grigory Alexandrovich was not alive. Potemkin's death came as a shock to Catherine. Her secretary Khrapovitsky recorded that for several days she did not want to see anyone, she cried and even fell into hysterics, which had never happened to her. The last 5 years of Catherine's reign are sad years. In letters to various correspondents, Catherine constantly recalled Potemkin, spoke about how difficult this loss was. So she didn't write about anyone else...
Memory
Grigory Alexandrovich was buried in the church of St. Great Martyr Catherine in Kherson.
But even after death, he was not destined to find peace. The ashes of Potemkin were disturbed several times. New Emperor Paul I ordered to destroy Potemkin's grave, raze it to the ground. Then, already in the middle of the 19th century, during the reconstruction of the temple, the grave was opened 3 times, the remains were inspected. But the most egregious case occurred already in the 20s. XX century. In connection with the anti-religious campaign, the church of St. Catherine was turned into a museum of atheism. There, in 1930, the famous writer B. A. Lavrenyov, a native of Kherson, saw in three showcases the remains of the ashes and clothes of G. A. Potemkin. On those showcases there were inscriptions: “The skull of the lover of Katerina II Patiomkin”, “Tassels of the lover of Katerina II Patiomkin” and “Clothes of the lover of Katerina II Patiomkin”. Later, B. A. Lavrenyov wrote in his miniature “Potyomkin’s Secondary Burial”: “Potemkin, pulled out of the crypt and laid out into three exhibits, was already something unheard of in barbarism and idiocy.” The indignant writer sent telegrams to the People's Commissariat of Education and the Committee for the Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquity.
Soon, B. A. Lavrenyov received a letter from Kherson, in which it was reported, “... that one fine day the “museum” was closed, Potemkin was put together again, put in a new coffin, lowered into a crypt and immured with a government seal overlaid with lime” ...
No words...
Today, in different places of the former Empire, there are several monuments to Grigory Alexandrovich. Here is some of them:
1) in Odessa 2) in Kherson 3) in Smolensk 4) in Dukhovshchina (Potemkin's homeland) 5) in Sevastopol 6) in Bendery
And my favorites - where are they next:
Monument to Catherine II surrounded by associates, among whom, of course, there is Potemkin.
Monument "Millennium of Russia", a beautiful fragment, where they are together again:
************************************************************************
"He had qualities that are extremely rare and distinguished him from all others: he had a brave mind, a brave soul, a brave heart. Thanks to this, we always understood each other and did not pay attention to the talk of those who understood less than us. In my opinion, Prince Potemkin was a great man who did not fulfill even half of what he was able to do ... "(c) Catherine II.
Plan
Introduction
1 wedding
1.1 Date
1.2 Place of wedding
1.3 Those present at the wedding
1.4 Circumstances
2 Relations between Catherine and Potemkin
3 Testimonials
3.1 Correspondence between Catherine and Potemkin
3.2 Instructions from contemporaries
3.2.1 Foreign sources
4 Consequences
5 Opinions of historians
6 See also
Bibliography
Introduction
The wedding of Catherine II and Potemkin is a morganatic marriage, the secret wedding of Empress Catherine II and her favorite Grigory Potemkin, judging by the surviving evidence, it really took place and took place in the summer, autumn of 1774 or at the beginning of January 1775.
1. Wedding
autumn 1774
1784 (outdated version)
1.2. wedding place
There are several versions about the place of the wedding. In addition, it is not known why the confessor of the Empress could not perform the sacrament in any unconsecrated room of her palace, and it is not clear why - maybe to keep the secret, they had to leave the building.
Sampson Cathedral (St. Petersburg)
Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Watchmen, at the Nikitsky Gates (“Great Ascension”) (Moscow) - according to a stable Moscow legend, the wedding took place not in St. Petersburg, but in this Moscow church (or rather, in the previous building that stood in its place, since this built in 1798). The temple was located on the territory of the Moscow possessions of Potemkin
· Ekaterina Pella's estate near St. Petersburg (according to the version associated with 1784).
1.3. Those present at the wedding
About the persons present at the wedding, in addition to the main characters, it is known from 1 source - the message of F. N. Golitsyn (see below). The fact of the presence of Samoilov mentioned by him is confirmed by his descendants.
1. Potemkin, Grigory Alexandrovich, groom
2. Catherine II, bride
3. Samoilov, Alexander Nikolaevich, the groom's nephew, held crowns (the daughter of the newlyweds Tyomkin will be brought up in his family)
4. Chertkov, Evgraf Alexandrovich, chamberlain, close associate of the empress, held crowns
5. Perekusikhina, Marya Savvishna, the closest approximate empress
6. An unknown priest who performed the ceremony, probably the confessor of the Empress from 1770 to 1794 - Panfilov, Ivan Ivanovich
Potemkin
· Catherine
Samoilov
Chertkov
Perekusikhina
Panfilov
1.4. Circumstances
The precedent for such a secret marriage for Catherine and Potemkin was the story of the wedding of Elizabeth Petrovna and Alexei Razumovsky. In addition to the strong feelings that the couple had for each other, in the case of a late wedding date, the fact that Catherine was already pregnant with Potemkin's child could play a role. They were also influenced by the relief after the defeat of the Pugachev region and the important role in helping Catherine provided by Potemkin in this situation.
2. Relations between Catherine and Potemkin
Potemkin was a longtime acquaintance of Catherine, who took part in the coup, and replaced the young Alexander Vasilchikov in her heart, becoming her third official favorite (starting with Grigory Orlov). The connection between them began in the spring of 1774, Potemkin at that moment was 34 years old, Catherine was 10 years older (quite a lot, according to the criteria of that era).
The daughter of Catherine II and Potemkin - Tyomkina, Elizaveta Grigoryevna was born on July 13, 1775. The crisis in Catherine's relations with Potemkin lasted from the end of January to the end of July 1776: it was connected with the caliber of Potemkin's personality, whom Catherine herself made into a major statesman, having developed his inclinations. Numerous violent quarrels and scandals began. And, having a strong character herself, she understood this contradiction, especially since he could not become an emperor, and his character did not allow him to be just a secret husband, and wrote to him: "We quarrel about power, not about love", and began to move away from him as a woman, keeping as a politician. He was jealous of her, forced her to endure humiliation in the presence of strangers, he was extremely suppressed by the need to be in a subordinate position to the anointed empress, who was also his woman. Over time, Potemkin became more and more distant from the Empress. It was said that he pretended to be sick to avoid her embrace. The winter of 1776 (according to biographer Potemkin) is the most intense period of their relationship: “they loved each other, considered each other husband and wife, but felt that they were mutually moving away, and tried to find a way to stay together forever. It happened that Potemkin wept in the arms of his empress.
Thus, their love relationship continued until November 1776, when Catherine, in his absence on the affairs of the revision of the Novgorod province, drew attention to a man "quieter and more peaceful" than Potemkin - Pyotr Zavadovsky. The following year, Zavadovsky, who joined the Orlov party and began to act against Potemkin, lost the affection of the empress. What is significant: bursting into tears, the resigned favorite begs Catherine to save her mercy - and the mercy of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich.
Despite the gap in his personal life, thanks to his abilities, Potemkin maintained the friendship and respect of Catherine and until his death in 1791 remained the second person in the state. Ya. L. Barskov writes that in this respect, out of all twenty-odd favorites, he is an exception: to no one, even Platon Zubov, did the empress yield from her power as much as Potemkin, and moreover, immediately, in his very first year " case."
Potemkin's biographer writes: “The romance between Potemkin and Catherine II seems to have ended, but in fact it never ended. It turned into a stable marriage. The couple fell in love and made lovers and mistresses, but their relationship with each other remained the most important thing for them. (...) Most likely, neither then nor later did she completely refuse intimacy with the man whom she called her husband. Potemkin's rooms were still connected to the apartments of the Empress, he had the right to enter without a report, and the current favorite at any moment could be faced with the need to endure his company or even retire.
After the resignation of Zavadovsky, until the end of her life, Catherine will have only 6 more official favorites, and all of them (except the last one, Zubov), were recommended by Potemkin to the Empress and served as his adjutants. As the historian suggests, after the crisis caused by the appearance at the court of Zavadovsky, an unspoken agreement was concluded between Catherine and Potemkin: each favorite must protect the interests of the prince at court, she demanded from the favorites unquestioning obedience to Potemkin, and if this rule was violated, the favorite was resigned. The favorites of the empress were young people who had neither wealth nor influential relatives, who owed their rise entirely to Potemkin and Catherine and did not subsequently play an independent role. Potemkin's biographer writes that historians often overlooked the triangle "Catherine - Potemkin - young favorite", but it was precisely such a triangle that made up the "family" of the empress.
Platon Zubov, many years after Potemkin's death, complained about him: “Although I defeated him by half, I could not completely eliminate him from my path. And it was necessary to eliminate it, because the Empress herself always went to meet his desires and was simply afraid of him, like a demanding spouse. She only loved me and often pointed to Potemkin so that I could take an example from him.
When, on October 12, 1791, a courier brought to Petersburg news of the death of Potemkin, who died on the road from Iasi to Nikolaev on October 5, 1791 in the steppe, Catherine was shocked. “Tears and despair,” notes in the “Diary” her secretary A. V. Khrapovitsky. “Yesterday evening,” Khrapovitsky notes on 19/XI, “and today in the morning they cried, 24.XI. They combed their hair, removed their heads, but when putting on a dress, suddenly tears ... They complain of hypochondria and cannot bear the public, - 4/XII ... suddenly burst into tears while reading a letter from Iasi. In a letter to Grimm, she wrote (2 1/2 o'clock in the morning from October 12 to 13, 1791): “Again he struck me, like a butt in the head, a terrible blow, my student, my friend, one might say, my idol, Prince. Potemkin-Tavrichesky died in Moldavia from an illness that lasted a whole month. You can't imagine how upset I am. (...) He was passionately, zealously devoted to me; scolded and got angry when he thought that the thing had not been done the way it should have been done. (...) But there was another rare quality in him that distinguished him from all other people: he had courage in his heart, courage in his mind, courage in his soul. Thanks to this, we always understood each other and did not pay attention to the talk of those who understood less than us. In my opinion, Prince Potemkin was a great man who did not do even half of what he was able to do.
Potemkin himself, unlike many of her other favorites, was not married (which confirms the version of the wedding) and, like Catherine, found solace in the arms of much younger representatives of the opposite sex, moreover, which unpleasantly struck contemporaries, preferring his growing nieces (Catherine Engelgart, Alexander Branitskaya, etc.).
3. Evidence
3.1. Correspondence between Catherine and Potemkin
In at least 28 memos, Catherine calls Potemkin "husband" and "husband" (30 times), and calls herself "wife" (4 times). Sometimes she writes these words in full, sometimes she designates them with initial letters. Most often, she addresses him with the words “dear husband”, but there are also such combinations as “dear husband”, “dear husband”, “tender husband”, “priceless husband”, “dear husband”, “my own husband” . As V. S. Lopatin points out in his comments on the letters he published, for the first time Catherine calls him her husband in a letter dated “After 7.IV.1774”, when, in his opinion, the marriage had not yet been concluded, but Potemkin achieved her consent, but the onset of Great Lent, as well as the stay in St. Petersburg of the four Orlov brothers, make the Empress wait for an opportune hour.
“Many majestic images adorn the brilliant age of Catherine, but Potemkin overshadows all of them in the eyes of his descendants with his colossal figure. Everyone still doesn’t understand him now, just as they didn’t understand then: they see a happy temporary worker, a son of chance, a proud nobleman, and they don’t see the son of fate, a great man who won immense happiness for himself with his mind, and proved his rights to it with a genius, ”- famous critic Vissarion Belinsky wrote in the 19th century.
The personality of Potemkin caused a lot of gossip and controversy among historians at all times. They discussed not only his contribution to the development of the country, but also relations with Catherine II, who experienced periods of violent passion, then cooling.
On the birthday of the Most Serene Prince, the site recalls how the son of a middle-class Smolensk nobleman won the heart of the empress.
Example for favorites
On September 24, 1739, a son was born in the family of a middle-class Smolensk nobleman, who was named Grigory. At the age of five, the boy moved to Moscow to Grigory Kislovsky, his godfather, the former president of the Chamber College. In the capital, the young man entered Moscow University, where he was even awarded a gold medal for diligence in 1756. However, his passion for science did not last long. After 4 years, he was expelled for "laziness and not attending classes", after which Grigory appeared in the regiment of the Horse Guards, to which he was assigned in absentia.
After a couple of years of service, the 22-year-old Potemkin had a happy opportunity to attract the attention of Catherine herself, who came to power thanks to a palace coup in June 1762. Grigory Aleksandrovich, who was at that moment in the position of sergeant-major, was engaged in agitation in the guards, which allowed the conspirators to win them over to their side. The new empress did not forget those who helped her overthrow her husband, Peter III, from the throne. Together with other participants in those events, Potemkin was introduced from the regiment to the production from sergeant majors to cornets, but the empress wrote with her own hand next to his last name - "to be a second lieutenant." A few months later he was appointed chamber junker to the Court with an increase in salary.
Relations between Grigory Alexandrovich and the Empress, according to eyewitnesses, began in 1774, when Potemkin was 34 years old. The Empress was 10 years older than him. Before that, Sergei Saltykov, whom some ill-wishers considered the father of Paul I, the last Polish king Stanislav Poniatowski, Grigory Orlov, from whom Catherine's son Alexei was born in 1762, and Alexei Vasilchikov, who occupied Orlov's chambers in the palace when he at the beginning of 1772 he left for a peace congress with the Turks in Focsani.
Grigory Potemkin was 10 years younger than the Empress. Photo: reproduction
Despite the fact that the list of admirers of the loving empress was considerable, Grigory Potemkin managed to take a special place in it. Only she called him her “husband”, and herself his “wife”, connected with him by “holy ties”. Even after the end of their stormy romance, Potemkin managed to retain the role of the second person in the state.
Many years after the death of Grigory Alexandrovich, the new favorite of the Empress, the main educator of her grandchildren, Platon Zubov, complained that his benefactress always went towards Potemkin and "simply feared him, like a demanding spouse."
“She only loved me and often pointed to Potemkin so that I could take an example from him,” he recalled.
Photo: Public Domain / Portrait of Catherine II. F. S. Rokotov, 1763
Secret wedding
Historians agree that Potemkin was not just content with the role of favorite in the palace. The surviving eyewitness accounts indicate that in the fall of 1774 or at the beginning of January 1775 there was a secret wedding of Catherine II and Grigory Alexandrovich.
Among the places where this event took place are the St. Sampson Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the Moscow Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Watchmen and the estate of Catherine Pella near St. Petersburg.
The crowns over the heads of the spouses were held by the groom's nephew Alexander Samoilov and the bride's close associate Yevgraf Chertkov. The ceremony was attended by Catherine's closest friend, favorite Marya Perekusikhina. The rite was performed, according to some sources, by the confessor of the Empress Ivan Panfilov.
Soon a girl appeared in Potemkin's house, who was named Elizabeth. On the day when the baby was born, according to the official version, the empress had an upset stomach due to unwashed fruits ... The girl, who was considered the daughter of the empress, received the name Tyomkina. Surnames were given to such children by subtracting the first syllable from the father's surname.
The portrait of Elizabeth Grigorievna Temkina in the image of Diana can be seen today in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Elizaveta Grigorievna Temkina. Portrait by Vladimir Borovikovsky Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
After the birth of the girl, a difficult period began in the relationship between Catherine and Potemkin. Researchers of the life of the prince suggest that he was burdened by the role of a secret husband. Scandals often broke out between him and the Empress, while taking place in the presence of other people.
“We quarrel about power, not about love,” Catherine once wrote to him.
In the autumn of 1776, a new man appeared in the life of the Empress - Peter Zavadovsky, who also went down in history as the first Minister of Public Education of the Russian Empire. He stayed in the palace, however, not for long. A year later, due to intrigue, he was removed.
"He was zealously betrayed"
Until his death, Grigory Potemkin had enormous power in the country. He died on October 5, 1791 to Potemkin on the way from Iasi to Nikolaev.
“He was passionately, zealously devoted to me; scolded and got angry when he thought that the thing had not been done the way it should have been done. (...) But there was another rare quality in him that distinguished him from all other people: he had courage in his heart, courage in his mind, courage in his soul. Thanks to this, we always understood each other and did not pay attention to the talk of those who understood less than us. In my opinion, Prince Potemkin was a great man who did not even do half of what he was able to do,” Catherine II later wrote.
Favorite Vasilchikov began to tire Catherine II, and she had the idea to make changes in her personal life.
Soon a novice of heroic physique appeared at the court, with one eye. He was so untidy in dress and so rough in his manners that courtiers with refined manners shuddered at the sight of him. The hero's name was Grigory Potemkin.
Potemkin burst in like a hot wind from a sultry desert. Some kind of incomprehensible threat was guessed in it. Huge and clumsy, with a blind eye that he did not cover, Potemkin challenged the pomaded courtiers, accustomed to hiding their bodily flaws under bandages, wigs and yards of scented lace. He was a stranger. He was too unlike the people of the world, and no one knew how to treat him. A hero of the Turkish War, awarded for bravery, he did not shine with a soldier's bearing. His clothing was not even remotely reminiscent of the army. He preferred long coats made of shiny silk fabrics. His fleshy fingers shimmered, studded with gem rings. He wore his hair long and never powdered it. He walked with the heavy gait of a man tired of worldly fuss.
He was extremely intelligent and could entertain the company if he was in a cheerful mood (which was very difficult to judge, since it changed unexpectedly). He often fell into a state of sullenness, and then he did not want to see anyone. In a word, Potemkin could only give the court his ingenuity and remarkable mind. He could not boast of a noble origin. His father was an army colonel and owned only four hundred serf souls. (Wealthy nobles owned tens of thousands of serfs) He also did not differ in beauty, although, we note, some women nevertheless became victims of his male power. He was no longer young, but he had never held any important position. With him, everyone felt restless, and his appearance caused a real commotion. It soon became clear to everyone that he would be the next lover of the Empress.
The British envoy Gunning was convinced that the appearance of Potemkin at court, his lightning takeoff (Catherine granted him the rank of adjutant general, settled him with his closest relatives in the Winter Palace and showered him with honors and awards) would become a new page in the history of Catherine's reign.
“Here we are dealing with a change of scenery, which, in my opinion, deserves more attention than any other event since the beginning of the reign,” he wrote in a report to London. “Mr. any noticeable influence on affairs and to enjoy the confidence of his mistress, now has a successor who seems to have both in abundance. The shaggy, fragrant Potemkin evoked "universal astonishment, close to disgust," the envoy wrote. He was not at all like Vasilchikov, fledgling and shy. Potemkin was a force to be reckoned with. He was said to have unusual insight and what the ambassador called "a deep understanding of people."
“Thanks to these qualities and the laziness of his rivals, he believed that he was able to rise to the sky-high heights that boundless ambition promised him,” wrote Gunning in conclusion. In other words, he could easily take over the reins of power in Russia.
Catherine, no doubt, admired the huge, changeable in mood, brainy Potemkin. Her own state of mind, which had been gloomy for a long time, suddenly brightened up. The Empress perked up. There could be no doubt: the reason for this change was her new favorite. "She's just crazy about him," said Senator Yelagin. “They must really love each other, because they are very similar.” One way or another, Catherine finally found the kindred spirit she had been looking for all her life. She, intoxicated with happiness, literally glowed, exuding joy. At the age of forty At the age of five, she felt as if she had fallen in love for the first time in her life.
From love in Catherine's head, everything was mixed up, although her soul soared. She lost her usual prudence and balance. Her desire for smart conversations faded. A happy smile never left her lips. "When I'm with you, I forget about everything in the world," Catherine wrote to her new favorite. "Never before have I been as happy as now."
Potemkin knew how to touch Catherine's heart, how to make her feel that she was loved. He sang melodic and sweet-sounding songs to her. His voice was soft and sincere. He admired in her the traces of her former beauty, the fleeting sparks of youthful enthusiasm that flickered in her luminous eyes, the color of her rouged face. He aroused passion in her, called her a "fiery woman", made her believe that for him she was the only woman in the world.
It seems that Potemkin sincerely fell in love with the queen. When he took part in the coup d'etat that elevated her to the throne, he was still a young officer and did not play any noticeable role. Undoubtedly, he remembered what she was at that time, a stunningly brave woman on a white horse, boldly galloping towards her fate. He loved her insolence, which was akin to his own. He loved her directness, broad mind, dreams of improvement and change. He, too, had bold, sometimes fantastic ideas. He loved her strong, supple body of a mature woman, which sought love and gave it. His thirst matched hers, and together they found satisfaction.
Catherine did a lot for the Russian state, but she had to do even more. Next to Potemkin, her husband, assistant, and then, perhaps, co-ruler, everything seemed to her on the shoulder. Together with her adored lover, the Empress hatched daring plans of conquest. They liked to meet in the bath. Potemkin made Catherine literally roll with laughter when he parodied eminent courtiers. Then this game gradually turned into an erotic one, she reveled in his art to satisfy her. In order for a powerful woman to forget about her power and give herself into the hands of her lover, he had to bring her endless pleasure. Potemkin gave her this pleasure every night. They met, talked, sitting in the steam room or lounging on couches, from time to time refreshing themselves with dishes from trays that stood right there and drinking fine wines.
Potemkin liked to walk around in an embroidered caftan, worn over his naked body, over which soft flying silk flowed. Perhaps he also tried to teach Ekaterina to enjoy the feeling of light tissue on the skin; taught her to bliss in his usual surroundings - cozy sofas, lush thoughts and pillows, in the air saturated with the scent of perfume. He taught pleasures that are innumerable.
But, in addition to love pleasures, they also had hours of joint reflection.
Potemkin and the Empress had long conversations, during which he amazed her with his quick wit, accuracy of assessments, ability to feel subtleties and single out the main thing from many details. Their conversations often dragged on past midnight and ended with an erotic ending.
Potemkin was well aware that he owed his high position entirely to the mercy of the Empress. "I am the fruit of your hands," he confessed to her from the bottom of his heart. Yet his pride couldn't bear it. Was he not a man naturally given the right to rule? Didn't her title of empress hinder his advancement and the harmony between them? The French diplomat de Corberon, who was at the court of Catherine in 1775, recalled how Potemkin was "bloated with pride and selfishness", but such traits of his character as "gaiety, accessibility, accommodatingness" were moved into the shadows, giving way to not so attractive voluptuousness , "Asian insinuation" and obvious passivity.
The struggle for supremacy, both in love affairs and in the sphere of empire management, became the cause of their disagreement. The gulf grew wider between them because of his insecurity and her unwillingness to give in. "We always fight for power, but never for love," Catherine wrote in one of her notes. She longed for peace, she wanted to end uncertainty and suffering. She needed at least one single day "without disputes, without debates, without a showdown."
Potemkin by nature was a completely different person. Work never came first for him. From the side it might seem that he was not able to work at all, giving a clear preference for a sweet nap, lying on a spacious sofa, not even bothering to get dressed. In search of pleasure and entertainment, Potemkin showed inexhaustible imagination. Any entertainment served as an excuse to postpone business until a more favorable moment.
The periods of business activity were short - in the hours between sleep and reflection. He was characterized by immoderation in everything - in drunkenness, in the joys of love, in extensive religious reflections. The orderly home life preached by Catherine bored him. Any routine was a curse for him. For two years he shared a bed with the empress, and then he began to look at other women.
Nevertheless, Potemkin retained a unique and inextinguishable passion for Catherine. Both experienced sentimental affection for each other. She still remained his “little wife”, he was her “beloved hubby”. Between quarrels and alienation, the kinship of minds gave them joy, helped to solve state problems. Potemkin craved power and power. wanted to give Potemkin both power and power, measuring both one and the other exactly as much as she could afford.
Powerful, luxurious and rich - and in his prime and handsome - the prince was a tasty bait for women, especially for the adventurers and conceited daughters of Eve, who were captivated by the thought of acquiring earthly goods by charming a temporary worker. And indeed, the end of the 18th century, so distinguished by the abundance of womanizers and debauchees, had in it one of the most brilliant and happy Don Juan. The prince had dozens of love affairs. Not without reason in one pamphlet of a contemporary author, Potemkin was called the "prince of Darkness."
The relationship of the prince to his nieces, nee Engelhardt, is highly interesting. The relationship of the noble uncle to them was completely unplatonic. As is known, these nieces were summoned to Petersburg, brought closer to the court, and through the efforts of their uncles received a brilliant secular education. The favorite of them were Alexandra, later Countess Branitskaya, in whose arms Potemkin died, and Varvara, later Princess Golitsyna, whom Derzhavin called the golden-haired Plenira. Thanks to the uncle's not particularly moral school, the nieces were distinguished by a great licentiousness of temper even for that time, so that one of them, Nadezhda, the prince himself called Hope hopeless. Each of the nieces, thanks to her uncle, made a career at court and received wealth. Here are just a few lines from the prince's letters to Varvara, which make it possible to judge the nature of their relationship.
"Forgive me, my love, my soul, everything that I love!"
“Varenka, when I love you to infinity, when my spirit has no other food, besides you, then if you give this a contented price; is it any wonder for me to believe when you promised to love me forever. I love you, my soul, - "But how? Just like I haven't loved anyone yet... Forgive me, dear deity; I kiss you all over."
"Varenka, my life, my angel! Come, my dear, my darling, if you love me..."
“Mother, Varenka, my soul, my life! You overslept, fool, and you don’t remember anything ... I, walking from you, laid you down and kissed you and dressed you in a dressing gown and a blanket and crossed me ...”
"Varenka, my life, my beauty, my deity; tell me, my soul, that you love me, from this I will be healthy, cheerful, happy and calm; my soul, I am all full of you, my beauty. Farewell, I kiss you all ..."
Speaking about relations with nieces, the following fact should be mentioned. Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, sending his daughter to Russia at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I, said that he would not have dared to do this under Potemkin.
In addition to romances with nieces, the prince had an infinite number of others. Even during the most difficult days of the long siege of Ochakov in 1787-1788, in a luxurious dugout, he had a whole harem of beauties.
It is impossible to describe all the love affairs of the "magnificent Prince of Taurida." Possessing enormous means and power, he could freely satisfy his desires.
Jealous Potemkin did not hesitate to get rid of happy rivals in courtship. For example, Major Shcheglovsky was exiled to Siberia because he liked some noble Polish panna, who was courted by the powerful prince himself.
The year 1789 was marked by brilliant military deeds of the Russian armies in the south: Bendery, Fokshany, Akkerman were taken, Suvorov achieved victory at Rymnik. The prince turned out to be noble and grateful towards Suvorov, although later there were frictions between them. He wrote to Suvorov: "I will embrace you with a kiss, with sincere and large words I testify my gratitude!" The prince asked Catherine to reward the famous commander with unprecedented generosity.
At this time, the Empress carried on a lively correspondence with him, showered him with awards, honors, and gifts. We will only mention the diamond laurel wreath, which cost huge sums, sent by Ekaterina Potemkin for the occupation of Bendery. These were extraordinary favors, and this time seemed to represent the apogee of the power and glory of the magnificent prince of Taurida.
Although the campaign victories of this year were brilliant, the situation of the army and the devastated country was so difficult that Potemkin himself did not hide this before the empress, who began to think about peace, to which 1790 was devoted. In the winter of 1789-1790, military operations were not conducted, and the prince lived with unprecedented luxury in Iasi, and then in Bendery, where he settled a whole staff of beauties: Potemkin, de Witt, Gagarin, Dolgorukov and others. It was here that those Homeric feasts and insanely wasteful antics of the prince took place, which surprised contemporaries and the legendary legends about which have come down to posterity. Sarti's orchestra of 300 people thundered here, guns rumbled while toasting beauties, diamonds were distributed to the ladies during dessert. Courting Gagarina, the prince, because of her pregnancy, promised this new object of passion to convene a peace congress in her bedroom. From here couriers rushed for shoes and ribbons for ladies to Paris. Here a scene took place that frightened those present. Too loose with women, Potemkin once, after dinner at home, in a large company, grabbed Princess Gagarina by the waist, she answered him with a slap in the face. Then the prince got up and, without saying a word, left the room. The guests went cold with horror. But the prince found enough tact to treat this as an innocent joke: a little later, smiling, he left the office and presented Gagarina with an expensive trinket as a sign of reconciliation.
Potemkin once at a ceremonial dinner began to scold one of his generals - Krechetnikov - and Prince Dolgorukov defended the scolded. His Serene Highness was so angry that he grabbed Dolgorukov by the St. George Cross, began to pull him and said: “How dare you defend him?
Rising from the table, the prince, however, soon approached the Austrian generals who were here and said: "Sorry, gentlemen, I forgot! I treated him the way he deserves."
The terribly sensual prince was not content with the harem of beauties he had at headquarters: he needed more and more victories. Here, for example, is a characteristic excerpt from a letter (related to a later time) by Count Chernyshev from the camp near Izmail:
“In addition to public balls, which take place two or three times a week, a small society gathers with the prince every day in two small rooms, superbly decorated; in these, the monogram of the lady with whom the prince is in love flaunts. There are only invited ... However, God knows how it all will end, for they are waiting for Branitskaya, and an officer has already been sent to meet her. Mrs. L. must immediately come and is carrying with her a young girl, about 15 or 16 years old, lovely as cupid ... "
Apparently, the soul of the 50-year-old prince, tired and satiated with pleasures, now longed for the platonic, ideal, which is visible in his correspondence with his new chosen one. It was Praskovya Andreevna Potemkina, the wife of the great-brother of His Serene Highness P.S. Potemkina, nee Zakrevskaya. An amazing beauty, she lit such an ardent flame in the heart of the brightest that he forgot everything: glory, deeds, and bloody scenes of war. Here are short excerpts from the prince's letters to this woman, all letters to whom were equally ardent and enthusiastic.
“My life, my soul is common with me! How can I express in words my love for you, when an incomprehensible force attracts me to you, and therefore I conclude that our souls are akin to you ... there is not a minute, my heavenly beauty, for you to come out My joy and my priceless treasure - you are God's gift to me ... Of your indescribable charms is my ecstasy, in which I see you before me ... You are my color that adorns the human race, a beautiful creation, .. Oh, if I could depict the feelings of my soul about you!"
And what about the empress? At the end of 1775, Catherine and Potemkin came to an agreement. Potemkin will be her chief deputy in matters of state administration. But in the imperial bedchamber there will be a deputy and he will have a young, pleasant appearance, the one whom Catherine will choose. Potemkin was given the right to participate in the choice of his successor.
It was a peculiar variation of menage a trois. Few people understood such an order and the empress herself, by whose will everything happened. Over time, this misunderstanding resulted in open censure.
On January 2, 1776, a handsome young Pole, Pyotr Zavadovsky, moved into the chambers reserved for the Empress's favorite, which Orlov, Vasilchikov and Potemkin occupied in turn.
In March 1776, the empress announced to the court that Potemkin was receiving the title of prince of the Holy Roman Empire and from now on he should be addressed as "your grace." Yes, Zavadovsky took the place in the bedchamber of the Empress, but Potemkin remained her lord and master, her husband, the man who shared power with her...
During Catherine's journey in 1787 in the south of Russia, after the triumph of the Russian army, Potemkin behaved like a master in relation to the empress and her entourage. He threw luxurious balls, staged unprecedented fireworks, paid for concerts and feasts, hosted guests at the time-honored Pechersk Lavra, where he stayed. He himself looked like a distinguished person. At official meetings, he appeared in a marshal's uniform, "choking on the number of awards and diamonds," Segur wrote, "draped in lace and embroidery, with powdered and curled hair." In the Pechersk Lavra, however, he received guests in a slightly different form, more reminiscent of a Turkish vizier. With an uncombed head and bare feet, dressed in a silk robe, he reclined imposingly on a huge sofa, surrounded by his relatives (some of them, as you know, were his mistresses). So he met officers and foreign envoys.
It seemed that he was in some kind of Asian dream, but the insightful Segur nevertheless discerned that, despite his apparent idleness, Potemkin was not dozing and was headlong at work. He met with officials, sent and received reports, conducted informal negotiations, played chess with ambassadors, in a word, did everything to get closer to the goal that he and the empress had set for themselves. According to Segur, Potemkin was able to work on a dozen projects at the same time, without giving the appearance that he was very busy. He could oversee construction and agricultural affairs, give orders to civil and military officials, delving into an endless series of different undertakings.
In the memoirs, which tells about the stay of the queen in Kyiv, not a word is said about Catherine's private meetings with Potemkin. It can be assumed that they simply did not exist. Yet their old friendship could not disappear without leaving a trace. They undoubtedly loved each other and maybe sometimes slept together. Catherine made no secret of the fact that she missed Potemkin terribly when they were apart. In addition to keeping close to him a circle of nieces and ladies of noble birth, with whom he passionately fell in love, Potemkin, according to some accounts, was a frequenter of brothels and did not disdain courtiers to use the services of their wives in exchange for high patronage.
Leaving the place of the former Khan's glory, the Empress set off on a journey through the steppe, once inhabited by Tatar tribes, mercilessly exterminated by Potemkin's ruthless soldiers. The deserted lands returned to their original state. Eminent guests spent the night in huge tents erected by the servants of the Prince of Taurida. Marveling at the vastness of the new lands conquered by Russia, they did not cease to marvel at the deeds of Potemkin aimed at reviving the once fertile land. Settlements were built, new groves were planted, fields were sown. Several foreign settlers have already settled in this region with a favorable climate, to whom, as Potemkin said, replenishment will soon arrive.
Catherine never ceased to be amazed at the inventiveness of Potemkin, who did his best to brighten up her journey and show the greatness and power of Russia. He arranged military reviews, in which thousands of brand-new, bravo marching soldiers took part. Tatar warriors on fast horses amazed with the art of vaulting. Once, after sunset, the hills surrounding the city, where Catherine was staying, were lit up with fireworks. The lights formed a ring for many miles. In its center, on the highest point of the mountain range, tens of thousands of firecrackers highlighted her imperial monogram. The ground shook from the explosions. Never before has such power been concentrated in one place. The Russians looked strong, if not invincible.
In February 1791, after the capture of Ishmael by Suvorov, Potemkin went on his last trip to St. Petersburg. The prince was accompanied by a beautiful mistress Sophia Polonskaya, whose beauty caused a real sensation during her stay in Paris. For some time she entertained the "most serene", then she was replaced by another beautiful princess Dolgorukova. Naturally, Praskovya Andreevna Potemkina was forgotten. Encountering resistance from her husband in his courtship of the princess, Potemkin grabbed the unfortunate man by the aiguillettes in front of everyone and lifted him into the air, shouting: “Scoundrel, I gave you these aiguillettes like others: and you didn’t have any special merit for this. All of you rubbish, and I can do what I want with you and with everything you have."
Potemkin was greeted in St. Petersburg as a hero, with extraordinary pomp. Catherine showed favor to him: gracious signs of attention, awards and gifts rained down on him. On April 28, 1791, a magnificent ball was given in the Tauride Palace, presented to Potemkin by the Empress, which eclipsed the previous feasts of the "brightest" with unimaginable luxury. After the holiday, the commander-in-chief of all the armies was in no hurry to go to his subordinates and stayed in St. Petersburg for another three months. Among the reasons for such a long stay in the capital Potemkin Zavadovsky in a letter to the CP. Vorontsov pointed out the following: “The prince, having come here, does not do anything else than the society of women, looking for them to please and fool and deceive them. While still in the army, he fell in love with Princess Dolgorukova, daughter of Prince Baryatinsky. A woman has surpassed the morals of her sex in our century: she neglected his heart. He rushes about like a madman ... Wounded ambition makes him ridiculous ... "In addition, the prince experienced severe fits of melancholy and despair: he had premonitions of an imminent death, which this time did not deceive him. Finally, Catherine herself announced to the prince about the need to serve in the army. On June 24, 1791, Potemkin left Tsarskoye Selo.
The prince died on October 5, 1791 on the way from Iasi to Nikolaev. Already ill, he wished to leave the Moldavian capital, a place that "looks more like a coffin than an abode of the living." On the way, Potemkin felt an attack of suffocation. They carried him out of the carriage, laid him on the grass, and a few minutes later he was gone. According to Bezborodko, Potemkin did not take any medication; in case of a fever, he ordered to open all the windows in the house on the coldest nights, forced to pour whole streams of cologne on his head and sprinkled cold water on himself with a sprinkler, which he did not let go of.
Catherine was inconsolable. She wrote to her correspondent Grimm: “Yesterday I was hit like a butt on the head ... My student, my friend, one might say, an idol, Prince Potemkin-Tauride died ... Oh my God! Now I am truly madame ia Ressource (Itself assistant to himself. - Approx. ed.) ... He was a man of high mind, rare mind and excellent heart ... "
