“He who endures to the end will be saved”: the medical and moral duty of Dr. Botkin. Tsarist life physician Evgeny Botkin Botkin, doctor of the royal family, canonized

In 1907, after the death of the life physician of the Royal Family, Gustav Hirsch, the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, when asked who she would like to invite to the place of the family doctor, immediately answered: “Botkin”.

Representatives of the well-known merchant family of the Botkins in Russia were major benefactors and organizers of churches, they donated a lot to churches and orphanages. Many famous personalities belonged to this family: writers, artists, writers, art historians, collectors, inventors, diplomats, and also doctors. The father of Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin, who in April 1908 became the life physician of the family of the last Russian Emperor, was the famous Sergei Petrovich Botkin, a general practitioner, life physician of Alexander II and Alexander III, who gained fame as an outstanding scientist, subtle diagnostician, talented teacher and public figure.

Evgeny Sergeevich was the fourth child in a large family. He was born on May 27, 1865 in Tsarskoye Selo, received an excellent home education, on the basis of which he was immediately admitted to the fifth grade of the Second Petersburg Classical Gymnasium. Particular attention in the family was paid to the religious education of children, which, of course, bore fruit. The boy also received a thorough musical education, acquired a delicate musical taste. On Saturdays, the capital's beau monde gathered in the Botkins' house: professors of the Military Medical Academy, writers and musicians, collectors and artists, such as I.M. Sechenov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A.P. Borodin, V.V. Stasov, N.M. Yakubovich, M.A. Balakirev. The spiritual and everyday atmosphere at home had a great influence on the formation of character and the formation of the personality of the future life physician of the Royal Family.

From childhood, Eugene was distinguished by modesty, a kind attitude towards others, rejection of fights and any violence. His elder brother, Russian diplomat Pyotr Sergeevich Botkin, recalls him: “From a very tender age, his beautiful and noble nature was full of perfection. He was never like other children. Always sensitive, delicate, inwardly kind, with an extraordinary soul, he was terrified of any fight or fight. We other boys used to fight furiously. He, as usual, did not participate in our fights, but when the fist fight took on a dangerous character, he, at the risk of injury, stopped the fight. He was very diligent and smart in his studies.

The brilliant abilities of Evgeny Botkin in the natural sciences manifested themselves in the gymnasium. After graduating, following the example of his father, a doctor, he entered the junior department of the opened preparatory course of the Military Medical Academy. In 1889, Evgeniy Sergeevich successfully graduated from the academy, having received the title of "doctor with honors" and was awarded the personalized Paltsev Prize, which was awarded to "the third highest score in his course."

Evgeny Botkin began his medical career in January 1890 as an assistant doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor. A year later, he went to study in Germany, studied with leading European scientists, got acquainted with the organization of Berlin hospitals. In May 1893 Evgeny Sergeevich brilliantly defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1897 he was elected Privatdozent of the Military Medical Academy.

His introductory lecture to students reflects his attitude towards patients, which has always distinguished him: “Once the trust you have acquired from patients turns into sincere affection for you when they are convinced of your invariably cordial attitude towards them. When you enter the ward, you are greeted with a joyful and friendly mood - a precious and powerful medicine, which you will often help much more than potions and powders ... Only the heart is needed for this, only sincere cordial participation in a sick person. So do not be stingy, learn to give it with a wide hand to those who need it. So let's go with love to a sick person, so that we can learn together how to be useful to him.

In 1904, with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin volunteered for the front and was appointed head of the medical department of the Russian Red Cross Society. More than once he was at the forefront, replacing, according to eyewitnesses, a wounded paramedic.

In his 1908 book, Light and Shadows of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905: From Letters to My Wife, he recalled: “I was not afraid for myself: I had never felt the power of my faith to such an extent. I was fully convinced that no matter how great the risk I was exposed to, I would not be killed unless God wanted it. I didn’t tease fate, I didn’t stand by the guns so as not to interfere with the shooters, but I realized that I was needed, and this consciousness made my situation pleasant.

From a letter to my wife from Laoyang dated May 16, 1904: “I am becoming more and more depressed by the course of our war, and therefore it hurts that we are losing so much and losing so much, but almost more because the whole mass of our troubles is only the result of a lack of people of spirituality, a sense of duty, that small calculations become higher than the concepts of the Fatherland, higher than God. At the end of the war, Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir III and II degree with swords "for the difference shown in cases against the Japanese."

Outwardly, a very calm and strong-willed doctor Botkin was distinguished by a fine mental organization. His brother P. S. Botkin describes the following incident: “I arrived at my father’s grave and suddenly heard sobs in a deserted cemetery. Coming closer, I saw my brother [Eugene] lying in the snow. “Oh, it's you, Petya; here, I came to talk with dad, ”and again sobs. And an hour later, during the reception of patients, it could not have occurred to anyone that this calm, self-confident and domineering person could sob like a child.

The family life of Evgeny Sergeevich did not work out. His wife, Olga Vladimirovna Botkina, left him, carried away by fashionable revolutionary ideas and a student at the Riga Polytechnic College, 20 years younger than her. At that time, the eldest son of the Botkins, Yuri, was already living separately; son Dmitry - a cornet of the Life Guards of the Cossack regiment - with the outbreak of World War I went to the front and soon died heroically, covering the retreat of the reconnaissance Cossack patrol, for which he was posthumously awarded the St. George Cross of the IV degree. After a divorce from his wife, the younger children, Tatyana and Gleb, whom he selflessly loved, remained in the care of Dr. Botkin, and they responded to him with the same adoration.

After being appointed medical officer of His Imperial Majesty, Dr. Botkin and his children moved to Tsarskoye Selo, where the Tsar's Family lived since 1905. The duty of the life physician was to treat all members of the royal family: he regularly examined the Emperor, who had fairly good health, treated the Grand Duchesses, who seemed to have been ill with all known childhood infections.

Of course, the poor state of health of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Tsesarevich demanded great attention and care from the doctor. Nevertheless, being a moral and extremely decent person, Evgeny Sergeevich never touched upon the health issues of his highest patients in private conversations.

Head of the Chancellery of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, General A.A. Mosolov noted: “Botkin was known for his restraint. None of the retinue managed to find out from him what the empress was sick with and what treatment the queen and heir followed. He was certainly a devoted servant to Their Majesties." The doctor's daughter Tatyana also recalls: "My father always considered any gossip and gossip about the Royal Family to be completely unacceptable, and even to us children, he did not convey anything other than already known facts."

Very soon, the life physician Evgeny Botkin sincerely became attached to his august patients, subdued by their simple and kind attitude, attention and sensitive care for everyone around him. Having suffered a serious illness on the imperial yacht Shtandart in the autumn of 1911, the doctor wrote to his eldest sons: “... I am much better and again I should only thank God for my illness: it not only gave me the joy of receiving our dear little [younger children Tanya and Gleb ] in my sweet cabin, not only brings them the joy of visiting me here, where they like it so much, but gave them the extraordinary happiness of being treated kindly by all the Grand Duchesses, the Heir Tsesarevich and even Their Majesties.

I am also truly happy, not only with this, but also with the boundless kindness of Their Majesties. To reassure me, the Empress comes to me every day, and yesterday the Sovereign himself was there. I can't tell you how touched and happy I was. By their kindness they made me their servant until the end of my days…”

From another letter, dated September 16, 1911: “Everyone was so kind to our little ones that I was simply touched. The sovereign gave them a hand, the Empress kissed their humble heads, and they themselves will write to you about the Grand Duchesses. The meeting between Alexei Nikolaevich and Gleb was incomparable. At first he said to Tanya and Gleb “you”, but soon switched to “you”. One of the first questions to Gleb was: “What is the name of this hole?” “I don’t know,” Gleb answered embarrassedly. - "Do you know?" he turned to Tanya. "I know - a half portico."

Then again questions to Gleb: “Whose crutch is this?” “Papulin,” Gleb answers quietly. [So the children of Dr. Botkin always called their father, Evgeny Sergeevich] “Whose?” - a surprised question. - "Papulin", - repeats the completely embarrassed Gleb. Then I explained what this strange word meant, but Alexei Nikolayevich repeated his question several times later, in the midst of another conversation, interested in a funny answer and, probably, Gleb's embarrassment, but he already answered boldly ...

Yesterday, when I lay alone during the day and was sad about the children who had left, suddenly, at the usual time, Anastasia Nikolaevna came to entertain me and wanted to do everything for me that my children did, for example, to let me wash my hands. Maria Nikolaevna also came, and we played noughts and crosses with her, and now Olga Nikolaevna ran in - right, like an Angel, flying in. Good Tatyana Nikolaevna visits me every day. In general, everyone spoils me terribly ... "

The children of Dr. Evgeny Botkin also retained vivid memories of the days spent in Tsarskoye Selo, not far from the Alexander Palace, where the Tsar's Family lived. Tatyana Melnik-Botkina later wrote in her memoirs: “The Grand Duchesses ... constantly sent bows, sometimes a peach or an apple, sometimes a flower or just a candy, but if one of us got sick - and this happened to me often - then by all means every day even Her Majesty inquired about her health, sent holy water or prosphora, and when I had my hair cut after typhoid, Tatyana Nikolaevna knitted a blue cap with her own hands.

And we weren’t the only ones who enjoyed some kind of exceptional location of the Royal Family: They extended their care and attention to everyone they knew, and often in their spare moments the Grand Duchesses went to the rooms of some dishwasher or watchman to babysit the children whom They everyone was very fond of it."

As can be seen from the few surviving letters of Dr. Botkin, he was especially reverently attached to the Heir. From a letter from Yevgeny Sergeevich, written on March 26, 1914, on the way to Sevastopol: “... the beloved Alexei Nikolaevich is walking under the window. Today Alexey Nikolaevich walked around the carriages with a basket of small blown eggs, which he sold for the benefit of poor children on behalf of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, who boarded the train with us in Moscow ... "

Very soon, it was the Tsesarevich who became the main object of anxiety and medical care of Yevgeny Sergeevich. It was with him that the doctor spent most of his time, often during life-threatening attacks, day and night, without leaving the bedside of the sick Alexei. From a letter from the doctor to the children (Spala, October 9, 1912): “Today I remember you especially often and clearly imagine how you must have felt when you saw my name in the newspapers under the bulletin on the state of health of our beloved Alexei Nikolaevich ... I am unable to convey You, what I am worried about ... I am not able to do anything but walk around Him ... I am not able to think about anything but Him, about His Parents ... Pray, my children ... Pray daily, fervently for our precious Heir ... »

Slept, October 14, 1912: “... He is better, our priceless patient. God heard the fervent prayers offered to Him by so many, and the Heir positively felt better, glory to Thee, Lord. But what were those days? How the years lay on the soul ... And now she still cannot completely straighten out - it will take so long for the poor Heir to get better and so many more accidents can be on the way ... "

In the summer of 1914 riots broke out in St. Petersburg. Crowds of striking workers walked the streets, destroyed trams and lampposts, and killed policemen. Tatyana Melnik-Botkina writes: “The reasons for these riots were not clear to anyone; caught strikers were diligently interrogated as to why they started this whole mess. “But we don’t know ourselves,” were their answers, “they hit us with trifles and they say: hit the trams and policemen, well, we beat them.” Soon the First World War began, which at first caused a grandiose patriotic upsurge among the Russian people.

Since the beginning of the war, the Emperor lived almost without a break at Headquarters, which was first in Baranovichi, and then in Mogilev. The Sovereign instructed Dr. Botkin to stay with the Empress and the children in Tsarskoe Selo, where infirmaries began to open through their efforts. In the house where Yevgeny Sergeevich lived with his children, he also set up an infirmary, where the Empress and her two eldest daughters often came to visit the wounded. Once Yevgeny Sergeevich brought there the little Tsarevich, who also expressed a desire to visit the wounded soldiers in the infirmary.

“I am surprised at their ability to work,” Evgeny Sergeevich told his daughter Tanya about the members of the Royal Family. – Not to mention His Majesty, who impresses with the number of reports that he can accept and remember, but even the Grand Duchess Tatyana Nikolaevna. For example: She, before going to the infirmary, gets up at 7 o'clock in the morning to take a lesson, then they both go to dressings, then breakfast, again lessons, detour of infirmaries, and when evening comes, They immediately take up needlework or reading " .

During the war, all the everyday life of the imperial medical doctor went the same way - at work, and the holidays were distinguished by visiting the Liturgy with the children in the Fedorovsky Sovereign Cathedral, where members of the Royal Family also came. Tatyana Melnik-Botkina recalled: “I will never forget the impression that gripped me under the vaults of the church: the silent, orderly ranks of soldiers, the dark faces of the Saints on blackened icons, the faint flickering of a few lamps and the pure, delicate profiles of the Grand Duchesses in white scarves filled my soul with tenderness , and fervent words of prayer without words for this Family of the seven most modest and greatest Russian people, silently praying among the people they loved, escaped from the heart.

At the end of February 1917, a wave of revolutionary events swept Russia. The Sovereign and Empress were accused of high treason and, by order of the Provisional Government, were placed under arrest in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo. They were repeatedly offered to secretly leave Russia, however, all proposals of this kind were rejected by them. Even being imprisoned in cold Tobolsk and suffering various hardships, Alexandra Fedorovna told Dr. Botkin: "I'd rather be a scrubber, but I'll be in Russia."

The commissars of the Provisional Government suggested that the imperial retinue leave the Royal Family, otherwise the former courtiers were threatened with sharing their unhappy fate. As a person deeply decent and sincerely devoted to the Royal Family, Dr. Botkin remained with the Sovereign.

Tatyana Melnik-Botkina describes the day when her father made this decision: “... My father, who had been on duty at Their Highnesses all night, had not yet returned, and at that moment we were happy to see his carriage entering the yard. Soon his steps were heard on the stairs, and he entered the room in a coat and with a cap in his hands.

We rushed to him with greetings and questions about the health of Their Highnesses, who were already lying [seriously ill with measles], but he pushed us away so as not to infect measles and, sitting aside at the door, asked if we knew what was happening. “Of course we do, but is it all that serious?” - we answered, already now alarmed by the sight of our father, in whom something frightening slipped through his usual restraint and calmness. “So seriously that there is an opinion that, in order to avoid bloodshed, the Sovereign should abdicate the throne, at least in favor of Alexei Nikolaevich.”

We answered this with deathly silence. “Undoubtedly, protests and riots will begin here, in Tsarskoye, and, of course, the palace will be the center, so I beg you to leave home for the time being, since I myself am moving to the palace. If you value my peace of mind, then you will do it.” “When, to whom?” “I have to be back at the palace in two hours at the latest, and before that, I would like to take you personally.” And indeed, two hours later, my younger brother and I were already settled in with an old friend of our parents ... "

At the end of May 1917, Dr. Botkin was temporarily released from arrest, since the wife of his eldest son, Yuri, was dying. After her recovery, the doctor asked to return to Their Majesties, since according to the rules, a person from the retinue, released from custody, could not be allowed back. Soon he was given to know that the chairman of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky personally wanted to see him.

The conversation took place in Petrograd: Kerensky warned Botkin about the decision of the Provisional Government to send the arrested Family of the Sovereign to Siberia. Nevertheless, on July 30, Dr. Evgeny Sergeevich entered the Alexander Palace to the arrested, and on the night of July 31 to August 1, he was taken to Tobolsk together with members of the Royal Family.

Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin with his daughter Tatiana and son Gleb

In Tobolsk, it was ordered to observe the same regime as in Tsarskoe Selo, that is, not to let anyone out of the allotted premises. Dr. Botkin, however, was allowed to provide medical care to the population. In the house of the merchant Kornilov, he had two rooms in which he could receive patients from the local population and guard soldiers. He wrote about this: “Their confidence especially touched me, and I was pleased with their confidence, which never deceived them, that I would receive them with the same attention and affection as any other patient, and not only as an equal to myself, but also as patient, who has all the rights to all my cares and services.

Since the Sovereign, Empress and Their children were not allowed to go outside the fence, Dr. Botkin wrote a letter to Kerensky without their knowledge, in which he said that he considered it his duty as a doctor to declare a lack of exercise for the arrested and ask permission to give them walks in the city, even if under guard. Kerensky's answer soon came with permission, however, when Yevgeny Sergeevich showed the letter to the head of the guard, the latter declared that he could not allow walks, since an attempt on the Sovereign could occur.

According to Tatyana Botkin's daughter, who came to her father in Tobolsk with her younger brother, such assumptions were completely unfounded, since almost the entire population of the city belonged to the members of the Royal Family with the same loyal feelings.

In April 1918, a close friend of Ya.M. Sverdlov Commissioner V. Yakovlev, who immediately announced the doctors were also arrested. Dr. Botkin, who even with the advent of the Bolsheviks continued to wear a uniform - a general's coat and epaulettes with the monograms of the Sovereign - was demanded to remove his epaulettes. He replied to this that he would not take off his shoulder strap, but if this threatened with any trouble, he would simply change into civilian clothes.

From the memoirs of Tatyana Melnik-Botkina: “April 11 ... about 3 o'clock, my father came to tell us that, by order of Yakovlev, he and Dr. Derevenko were also declared arrested along with Their Majesties, it is not known for how long, maybe only for a few hours maybe two or three days. Taking only a small suitcase with medicines, a change of linen and washing accessories, my father put on his clean palace dress, that is, the one in which he never went to the sick, made the sign of the cross, kissed us, as always, and went out.

It was a warm spring day, and I watched him carefully cross the muddy street on his heels in his civilian overcoat and fedora. We were left alone, wondering what the arrest could mean. At about seven in the evening, Klavdia Mikhailovna Bitner came running to us. “I came to tell you in confidence that Nikolai Alexandrovich and Alexandra Fedorovna are being taken away tonight, and your father and Dolgorukov are going with them. So, if you want to send something to the pope, then Evgeny Stepanovich Kobylinsky will send a soldier from the guard. We thanked her heartily for the message and started packing, and soon received a farewell letter from my father.

The basement of the Ipatiev House, in which the Royal Family and their faithful servants were killed

According to Yakovlev, either Tatishchev or Dolgorukov, and one of the male and female servants, were allowed to go with the Sovereign. There were no orders about doctors, but even at the very beginning, having heard that Their Majesties were going, Dr. Botkin announced that he would go with Them. “But what about your children?” Alexandra Fyodorovna asked, knowing about his close relationship with the children and the anxieties that the doctor experienced in separation from them. Evgeny Sergeevich replied that the interests of Their Majesties always come first for him. The empress was moved to tears by this and thanked him very heartily.

On the night of April 25-26, 1918, Nicholas II with Alexandra Fedorovna and daughter Maria, Prince Dolgorukov, the maid Anna Demidova and Dr. Evgeny Botkin, under the escort of a special detachment led by Yakovlev, were sent to Yekaterinburg. Tatyana Melnik-Botkina writes: “I remember with a shudder that night and all the days that followed. One can imagine what were the experiences of both parents and children, who almost never parted and loved each other as much as Their Majesties, Their Highnesses loved ...

That night I decided not to go to bed and often looked at the brightly lit windows of the governor's house, in which, it seemed to me, sometimes the shadow of my father appeared, but I was afraid to open the curtain and very clearly observe what was happening, so as not to incur the displeasure of the guards. At about two o'clock in the morning the soldiers came for the last things and my father's suitcase... At dawn I put out the fire...

Finally, the gates of the fence opened and the coachmen, one after the other, began to drive up to the porch. The yard became busy, the figures of servants and soldiers appeared, dragging things. Among them stood out the tall figure of His Majesty's old valet Chemadurov, who was already ready to leave. Several times my father came out of the house, in Prince Dolgorukov's hare sheepskin coat, as Her Majesty and Maria Nikolaevna, who had nothing but light fur coats, were wrapped in his fur coat ...

Here we set off. The train left the fence gate opposite from me and turned past the fence, straight at me, in order to then turn left under my windows along the main street. In the first two sledges sat four soldiers with rifles, then the Sovereign and Yakovlev. His Majesty was sitting on the right, in a protective cap and a soldier's overcoat. He turned, talking to Yakovlev, and I still remember His kind face with a cheerful smile. Then again there was a sleigh with soldiers holding rifles between their knees, then a cart, in the depths of which one could see the figure of the Empress and the beautiful face of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, also smiling with the same encouraging smile as the Sovereign, then again the soldiers, then the sleigh with my father and Prince Dolgorukov. My father noticed me and, turning around, blessed me several times ... "

Neither Tatyana nor Gleb had a chance to see their adored father again. To all their requests for permission to follow their father to Yekaterinburg, they were told that even if they were taken there, they would never be allowed to meet with the arrested.

The prisoners who arrived in Yekaterinburg were removed from the train by the Red Army and searched. Prince Dolgorukov was found with two revolvers and a large sum of money. He was separated and taken to prison, and the rest, in cabs, to the Ipatiev mansion.

The regime of detention in the "house of special purpose" was strikingly different from the regime in Tobolsk. Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin did not find a room - he slept on the floor in the dining room with the valet Chemadurov. The house itself was surrounded by a double fence, one of which was so high that only a golden cross could be seen from the Ascension Church, located on the mountain opposite; however, as follows from the doctor's letters, it was a great pleasure for the prisoners to see the cross.

Botkin's daughter Tatyana remarked: “... Still, the first days, apparently, it was still more or less tolerable, but already the last letter, marked on the third of May, was, despite all the meekness of my father and his desire to see only good in everything, very gloomy. He wrote about how insulting it is to see undeserved distrust and to receive sharp refusals from the guards when you turn to them as a doctor with a request for indulgences for prisoners, at least for walks in the garden. If there was discontent in my father’s tone, and if he began to consider the guards harsh, then this meant that life there was already very difficult, and the guards began to scoff.”

The State Archives of the Russian Federation store the last, unfinished letter of Evgeny Sergeevich, written on the eve of the terrible night of the murder: “I am making my last attempt to write a real letter - at least from here ... My voluntary imprisonment here is not limited by time, as my earthly existence is limited. In essence, I died, I died for my children, for friends, for a cause ... I died, but not yet buried, or buried alive - anyway, the consequences are almost the same ...

The day before yesterday I was reading calmly ... and suddenly I saw a brief vision - the face of my son Yuri, but dead, in a horizontal position, with his eyes closed. Yesterday, during the same reading, I suddenly heard a word that sounded like "Daddy." I almost burst into tears. And this word is not a hallucination, because the voice was similar, and for a moment I had no doubt that this was my daughter, who should be in Tobolsk, talking to me ... I probably will never hear this such a dear voice again and will not feel those so expensive hugs with which my children spoiled me so much ...

I don’t indulge in hope, I don’t lull myself into illusions, and I look straight into the eyes of unvarnished reality… I am supported by the conviction that “he who endures to the end will be saved” and the consciousness that I remain true to the principles of the 1889 graduation. If faith without deeds is dead, then deeds without faith can exist, and if any of us joins deeds with faith, then this is only by the special grace of God to him ...

This also justifies my last decision, when I did not hesitate to leave my children as complete orphans in order to fulfill my medical duty to the end, just as Abraham did not hesitate at the request of God to sacrifice his only son to him.

The last Russian physician Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin, fulfilling his medical and human duty, consciously remained with the Royal Family until the last days of Their lives and together with them was martyred in the basement of the Ipatiev House on the night of July 16-17, 1918.

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Evgeny Botkin was born on May 27, 1865 in Tsarskoye Selo, in the family of an outstanding Russian scientist and doctor, the founder of the experimental direction in medicine, Sergei Petrovich Botkin. His father was a court physician to Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III.

As a child, he received an excellent education and was immediately admitted to the fifth grade of the St. Petersburg classical gymnasium. After graduating from the gymnasium, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University, but after the first year he decided to become a doctor and entered the preparatory course of the Military Medical Academy.

Evgeny Botkin's medical career began in January 1890 as an assistant doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor. A year later, he went abroad for scientific purposes, studied with leading European scientists, got acquainted with the organization of Berlin hospitals. In May 1892, Evgeny Sergeevich became a doctor at the Court Chapel, and from January 1894 he returned to the Mariinsky Hospital. At the same time, he continued his scientific activity: he was engaged in immunology, studied the essence of the process of leukocytosis and the protective properties of blood cells.

In 1893 he brilliantly defended his dissertation. The official opponent on the defense was the physiologist and the first Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov.

With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War (1904), Evgeny Botkin volunteered for the active army and became head of the medical unit of the Russian Red Cross Society in the Manchurian army. According to eyewitnesses, despite his administrative position, he spent a lot of time on the front lines. For distinction in work he was awarded many orders, including military officer orders.

In the autumn of 1905, Evgeny Sergeevich returned to St. Petersburg and began teaching at the academy. In 1907 he was appointed chief physician of the community of St. George in the capital. In 1907, after the death of Gustav Hirsch, the royal family was left without a medical doctor. The candidacy of the new life physician was named by the empress herself, who, when asked who she would like to see in this position, answered: “Botkin”. When she was told that now two Botkins are equally known in St. Petersburg, she said: “The one that was in the war!”.

Botkin was three years older than his august patient, Nicholas II. The duty of the life physician included the treatment of all members of the royal family, which he carefully and scrupulously performed. It was necessary to examine and treat the emperor, who had good health, the grand duchesses, who suffered from various childhood infections. But the main object of Yevgeny Sergeevich's efforts was Tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia.

After the February coup in 1917, the imperial family was imprisoned in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo. All servants and assistants were asked to leave the prisoners at will. But Dr. Botkin stayed with the patients. He did not want to leave them and when it was decided to send the royal family to Tobolsk. In Tobolsk, he opened a free medical practice for local residents. In April 1918, together with the royal couple and their daughter Maria, Dr. Botkin was transported from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg. At that moment there was still an opportunity to leave the royal family, but the doctor did not leave them.

Johann Meyer, an Austrian soldier who fell into Russian captivity during the First World War and defected to the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg, wrote his memoirs “How the Imperial Family Perished”. In the book, he reports on the proposal made by the Bolsheviks to Dr. Botkin to leave the royal family and choose a place of work, for example, somewhere in a Moscow clinic. Thus, one of all the prisoners of the special purpose house knew exactly about the imminent execution. He knew and, having the opportunity to choose, he preferred to salvation loyalty to the oath given once to the king. This is how Meyer describes it: “You see, I gave the king my word of honor to remain with him as long as he lives. It is impossible for a man of my position not to keep such a word. I also cannot leave an heir alone. How can I reconcile this with my conscience? You all need to understand this."

Dr. Botkin was killed along with the entire imperial family in Yekaterinburg in the Ipatiev House on the night of July 16-17, 1918.

In 1981, together with others shot in the Ipatiev House, he was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

PASSION BEARER EVGENY VRACH (BOTKIN) - life and icon

Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin was born on May 27, 1865 in Tsarskoe Selo, St. Petersburg province, in the family of a famous Russian general practitioner, professor of the Medical and Surgical Academy, Sergei Petrovich Botkin. He came from the merchant dynasty of the Botkins, whose representatives were distinguished by deep Orthodox faith and charity, helped the Orthodox Church kwi not only with their own means, but also with their labors. Thanks to a reasonably organized system of upbringing in the family and the wise guardianship of parents, many virtues were laid in the heart of Eugene from childhood, including generosity, modesty and rejection of violence. His brother Pyotr Sergeevich recalled: “He was infinitely kind. One could say that he came into the world for the sake of people and in order to sacrifice himself.

Eugene received a thorough home education, which in 1878 allowed him to immediately enter the fifth grade of the 2nd St. Petersburg classical gymnasium. In 1882, Evgeny graduated from the gymnasium and became a student at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at St. Petersburg University. However, the very next year, having passed the exams for the first year of the university, he entered the junior department of the opened preparatory course of the Imperial Military Medical Academy. From the very beginning, his choice of the medical profession was conscious and purposeful. Pyotr Botkin wrote about Evgeny: “He chose medicine as his profession. This corresponded to his vocation: to help, support in a difficult moment, relieve pain, heal without end. In 1889, Eugene successfully graduated from the academy, receiving the title of doctor with honors, and from January 1890 began his career at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor.

At the age of 25, Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin married the daughter of a hereditary nobleman, Olga Vladimirovna Manuylova. Four children grew up in the Botkin family: Dmitry (1894–1914), Georgy (1895–1941), Tatyana (1898–1986), Gleb (1900–1969).

Simultaneously with his work in the hospital, E. S. Botkin was engaged in science, he was interested in questions of immunology, the essence of the process of leukocytosis. In 1893, E. S. Botkin brilliantly defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After 2 years, Evgeny Sergeevich was sent abroad, where he practiced at medical institutions in Heidelberg and Berlin. In 1897, E. S. Botkin was awarded the title of Privatdozent in Internal Medicine with a clinic. At his first lecture, he told students about the most important thing in a doctor's work: "Let's all go with love to a sick person, so that we can learn together how to be useful to him." Evgeny Sergeevich considered the service of a physician to be a truly Christian deed, he had a religious view of illnesses, saw their connection with the state of mind of a person. In one of his letters to his son George, he expressed his attitude to the medical profession as a means of knowing God's wisdom: “The main delight that you experience in our work ... is that for this we must penetrate deeper and deeper into the details and the secrets of God's creations, and it is impossible not to enjoy their expediency and harmony and His highest wisdom.
Since 1897, E. S. Botkin began his medical practice in the communities of sisters of mercy of the Russian Red Cross Society. On November 19, 1897, he became a doctor in the Holy Trinity Community of Sisters of Mercy, and from January 1, 1899, he also became the chief physician of the St. Petersburg Community of Sisters of Mercy in honor of St. George. The main patients of the community of St. George were people from the poorest strata of society, but doctors and attendants were selected in it with special care. Some women of the upper class worked there as simple nurses on a general basis and considered this occupation an honor for themselves. Such enthusiasm reigned among the employees, such a desire to help suffering people that the people of St. George were sometimes compared with the early Christian community. The fact that Yevgeny Sergeevich was accepted to work in this “exemplary institution” testified not only to his increased authority as a doctor, but also to his Christian virtues and respectable life. The position of the chief physician of the community could only be entrusted to a highly moral and believing person.

In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began, and Evgeny Sergeevich, leaving his wife and four small children (the eldest was ten years old at that time, the youngest four years old), volunteered to go to the Far East. On February 2, 1904, by a decree of the Main Directorate of the Russian Red Cross Society, he was appointed assistant to the Commissioner-in-Chief for the active armies for the medical unit. Occupying this rather high administrative position, Dr. Botkin was often at the forefront. During the war, Evgeny Sergeevich not only showed himself to be an excellent doctor, but also showed personal courage and courage. He wrote many letters from the front, from which a whole book was compiled - “Light and Shadows of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.” This book was soon published, and many, having read it, discovered new sides of the St. Petersburg doctor: his Christian, loving , an infinitely compassionate heart and an unshakable faith in God. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, after reading Botkin's book, wished that Evgeny Sergeevich became the personal doctor of the Royal Family. On Easter Sunday, April 13, 1908, Emperor Nicholas II signed a decree appointing Dr. Botkin as a medical officer of the Imperial Court.

Now, after the new appointment, Evgeny Sergeevich had to constantly be with the emperor and members of his family, his service at the royal court proceeded without days off and holidays. The high position and closeness to the Royal family did not change the character of E. S. Botkin. He remained as kind and considerate to others as he had been before.

When the First World War began, Evgeny Sergeevich asked the sovereign to send him to the front to reorganize the sanitary service. However, the emperor instructed him to stay with the empress and the children in Tsarskoe Selo, where infirmaries began to open through their efforts. At his home in Tsarskoye Selo, Evgeny Sergeevich also set up an infirmary for the slightly wounded, which the Empress and her daughters visited.

In February 1917, a revolution took place in Russia. On March 2, the sovereign signed the Manifesto on abdication. The royal family was arrested and taken into custody in the Alexander Palace. Yevgeny Sergeevich did not leave his royal patients: he voluntarily decided to stay with them, despite the fact that his position was abolished and his salary was stopped. At this time, Botkin became more than a friend for the royal prisoners: he took upon himself the duty of mediating between the imperial family and the commissars, interceding for all their needs.

When it was decided to move the royal family to Tobolsk, Dr. Botkin was among the few close associates who voluntarily followed the sovereign into exile. Dr. Botkin's letters from Tobolsk are striking in their truly Christian mood: not a word of grumbling, condemnation, discontent or resentment, but complacency and even joy. The source of this complacency was a firm faith in the all-good Providence of God: "Only prayer and ardent boundless hope in the mercy of God, unfailingly poured out on us by our Heavenly Father, support us." At this time, he continued to fulfill his duties: he treated not only members of the Royal family, but also ordinary citizens. A scientist who for many years communicated with the scientific, medical, and administrative elite of Russia, he humbly served, like a zemstvo or city doctor, ordinary peasants, soldiers, and workers.

In April 1918, Dr. Botkin volunteered to accompany the royal couple to Yekaterinburg, leaving his own children in Tobolsk, whom he loved passionately and tenderly. In Yekaterinburg, the Bolsheviks again invited the servants to leave the arrested, but everyone refused. Chekist I. Rodzinsky reported: “In general, at one time after the transfer to Yekaterinburg, there was an idea to separate them all from them, in particular, even the daughters were offered to leave. But everyone refused. Botkin was offered. He stated that he wanted to share the fate of the family. And he refused."

On the night of July 16-17, 1918, the royal family, their entourage, including Dr. Botkin, were shot in the basement of the Ipatiev house.
A few years before his death, Evgeny Sergeevich received the title of hereditary nobleman. For his coat of arms, he chose the motto: "By faith, fidelity, work." In these words, as it were, all the life ideals and aspirations of Dr. Botkin were concentrated. Deep inner piety, most importantly - sacrificial service to one's neighbor, unshakable devotion to the Royal family and fidelity to God and His commandments in all circumstances, fidelity to death. The Lord accepts such fidelity as a pure sacrifice and gives for it the highest, heavenly reward: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

, Yekaterinburg) - Russian doctor, life physician of the family of Nicholas II, nobleman, saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, passion-bearer, righteous. Son of the famous doctor Sergei Petrovich Botkin. Shot by the Bolsheviks along with the royal family.

Biography

Childhood and studies

He was the fourth child in the family of the famous Russian doctor Sergei Petrovich Botkin (life physician of Alexander II and Alexander III) and Anastasia Alexandrovna Krylova.

In 1878, on the basis of the education received at home, he was immediately admitted to the 5th grade of the 2nd St. Petersburg classical gymnasium. After graduating from the gymnasium in 1882, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University, however, having passed the exams for the first year of the university, he left for the junior department of the opened preparatory course of the Military Medical Academy.

In 1889 he graduated from the academy third in graduation, having received the title of doctor with honors.

Work and career

From January 1890 he worked as an assistant doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor. In December 1890, at his own expense, he was sent abroad for scientific purposes. He studied with leading European scientists, got acquainted with the organization of Berlin hospitals.

At the end of his business trip in May 1892, Evgeny Sergeevich became a doctor in the court choir, and from January 1894 he returned to the Mariinsky hospital as a supernumerary intern.

On May 8, 1893, he defended his dissertation at the Academy for the degree of Doctor of Medicine “On the question of the effect of albumose and peptones on some functions of the animal body”, dedicated to his father. I. P. Pavlov was the official opponent on defense.

In the spring of 1895, he was sent abroad and spent two years in medical institutions in Heidelberg and Berlin, where he listened to lectures and practiced with leading German doctors - professors G. Munch, B. Frenkel, P. Ernst and others. In May 1897 he was elected Privatdozent of the Military Medical Academy.

In the autumn of 1905, Evgeny Botkin returned to St. Petersburg and began teaching at the academy. Since 1905 - honorary physician. In 1907 he was appointed chief physician of the community of St. George. At the request of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, he was invited as a doctor to the royal family and in April 1908 he was appointed medical officer of Nicholas II. He remained in this position until his death.

He was also an advisory member of the Military Medical Scientific Committee at the Imperial Headquarters, a member of the Main Directorate of the Russian Red Cross Society. Since 1910 - a real state councilor.

Link and death

He was killed along with the entire imperial family in Yekaterinburg in the Ipatiev House on the night of July 16-17, 1918. According to the memoirs of the organizer of the murder of the royal family, Ya. M. Yurovsky, Botkin did not die immediately - he had to be "shooted".

“I am making one last attempt to write a real letter - at least from here ... My voluntary imprisonment here is as unlimited in time as my earthly existence is limited. In essence, I died, I died for my children, for friends, for a cause ... I died, but not yet buried, or buried alive - anyway, the consequences are almost the same ...
I don’t indulge in hope, I don’t lull myself into illusions, and I look straight into the eyes of unvarnished reality… I am supported by the conviction that “he who endures to the end will be saved” and the consciousness that I remain true to the principles of the 1889 graduation. If faith without deeds is dead, then deeds without faith can exist, and if any of us joins deeds with faith, then this is only by the special grace of God to him ...
This also justifies my last decision, when I did not hesitate to leave my children as complete orphans in order to fulfill my medical duty to the end, just as Abraham did not hesitate at the request of God to sacrifice his only son to him.

Canonization and rehabilitation

On February 3, 2016, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a decision on the general church glorification Passion-bearer righteous Evgeny the doctor. At the same time, other servants of the royal family were not canonized. Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) of Volokolamsk, commenting on this canonization, said:

The Council of Bishops issued a decision to glorify Dr. Evgeny Botkin. I think this is a long-awaited decision, because this is one of the saints who is revered not only in the Russian Church Abroad, but also in many dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, including in the medical community.

On March 25, 2016, on the territory of the Moscow City Clinical Hospital No. 57, Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevsky consecrated the first church in Russia in honor of the righteous Evgeny Botkin.

Family

Evgeny Botkin · Alexey Volkov · Anastasia Gendrikova · Anna Demidova · Vasily Dolgorukov · Klimenty Nagorny · Ivan Sednev · Ilya Tatishchev · Alexey Trupp · Ivan Kharitonov · Ekaterina Shneider · Yakov Yurovsky Peter Ermakov

An excerpt characterizing Botkin, Evgeny Sergeevich

“It’s a good thing,” said the man, who seemed to be a hussar to Petya. - Do you have a cup left?
“At the wheel.
The hussar took the cup.
“It’s probably light soon,” he said, yawning, and went somewhere.
Petya should have known that he was in the forest, in the party of Denisov, a verst from the road, that he was sitting on a wagon recaptured from the French, near which horses were tied, that the Cossack Likhachev was sitting under him and sharpening his saber, that a large black spot to the right - a guardhouse, and a bright red spot below to the left - a dying fire, that the man who came for a cup was a hussar who wanted to drink; but he knew nothing and did not want to know it. He was in a magical realm, in which there was nothing like reality. A big black spot, maybe it was definitely a guardhouse, or maybe there was a cave that led into the very depths of the earth. The red spot may have been fire, or perhaps the eye of a huge monster. Maybe he’s definitely sitting on a wagon now, but it’s very possible that he’s not sitting on a wagon, but on a terribly high tower, from which if you fall, you would fly to the ground all day, a whole month - all fly and you will never reach . It may be that just the Cossack Likhachev is sitting under the wagon, or it may very well be that this is the kindest, bravest, most wonderful, most excellent person in the world, whom no one knows. Perhaps it was the hussar who was exactly passing for water and went into the hollow, or perhaps he had just disappeared from sight and completely disappeared, and he was not there.
Whatever Petya saw now, nothing would surprise him. He was in a magical realm where anything was possible.
He looked up at the sky. And the sky was as magical as the earth. The sky was clearing, and over the tops of the trees clouds quickly ran, as if revealing the stars. Sometimes it seemed that the sky was clearing and showed a black, clear sky. Sometimes it seemed that these black spots were clouds. Sometimes it seemed that the sky was high, high above the head; sometimes the sky descended completely, so that you could reach it with your hand.
Petya began to close his eyes and sway.
Drops dripped. There was a quiet conversation. The horses neighed and fought. Someone snored.
“Fire, burn, burn, burn…” whistled the saber being sharpened. And suddenly Petya heard a harmonious chorus of music playing some unknown, solemnly sweet hymn. Petya was musical, just like Natasha, and more than Nikolai, but he never studied music, did not think about music, and therefore the motives that suddenly came to his mind were especially new and attractive to him. The music played louder and louder. The tune grew, passed from one instrument to another. There was what is called a fugue, although Petya had no idea what a fugue was. Each instrument, now resembling a violin, now like trumpets - but better and cleaner than violins and trumpets - each instrument played its own and, without finishing the motive, merged with another, which began almost the same, and with the third, and with the fourth , and they all merged into one and again scattered, and again merged first into a solemn church, then into a brightly shining and victorious one.
“Oh, yes, it’s me in a dream,” Petya said to himself, swaying forward. - It's in my ears. Or maybe it's my music. Well, again. Go ahead my music! Well!.."
He closed his eyes. And from different sides, as if from afar, sounds trembled, began to converge, scatter, merge, and again everything united into the same sweet and solemn hymn. “Ah, what a delight it is! As much as I want and how I want,” Petya said to himself. He tried to lead this huge chorus of instruments.
“Well, hush, hush, freeze now. And the sounds obeyed him. - Well, now it's fuller, more fun. More, even happier. - And from an unknown depth rose increasing, solemn sounds. “Well, voices, pester!” Petya ordered. And first, men's voices were heard from afar, then women's. The voices grew, grew in a steady solemn effort. Petya was terrified and joyful to listen to their extraordinary beauty.
The song merged with the solemn victory march, and the drops dripped, and burning, burning, burning ... the saber whistled, and again the horses fought and neighed, not breaking the chorus, but entering it.
Petya did not know how long this went on: he enjoyed himself, was constantly surprised at his own pleasure and regretted that there was no one to tell him. Likhachev's gentle voice woke him up.
- Done, your honor, spread the guard in two.
Petya woke up.
- It's getting light, really, it's getting light! he cried.
Previously invisible horses became visible up to their tails, and a watery light was visible through the bare branches. Petya shook himself, jumped up, took out a ruble bill from his pocket and gave it to Likhachev, waved it, tried the saber and put it in its sheath. The Cossacks untie the horses and tighten the girths.
“Here is the commander,” said Likhachev. Denisov came out of the guardroom and, calling to Petya, ordered to get ready.

Quickly in the semi-darkness, they dismantled the horses, tightened the girths and sorted out the teams. Denisov stood at the guardhouse, giving his last orders. The infantry of the party, slapping a hundred feet, advanced along the road and quickly disappeared between the trees in the predawn fog. Esaul ordered something to the Cossacks. Petya kept his horse in line, impatiently waiting for the order to mount. Washed with cold water, his face, especially his eyes, burned with fire, chills ran down his back, and something in his whole body trembled quickly and evenly.
- Well, are you all ready? Denisov said. - Come on horses.
The horses were given. Denisov was angry with the Cossack because the girths were weak, and, having scolded him, sat down. Petya took up the stirrup. The horse, out of habit, wanted to bite his leg, but Petya, not feeling his weight, quickly jumped into the saddle and, looking back at the hussars moving behind in the darkness, rode up to Denisov.
- Vasily Fyodorovich, will you entrust me with something? Please… for God's sake…” he said. Denisov seemed to have forgotten about the existence of Petya. He looked back at him.
“I’ll tell you about one thing,” he said sternly, “obey me and not meddle anywhere.
During the entire journey, Denisov did not say a word to Petya and rode in silence. When we arrived at the edge of the forest, the field was noticeably brighter. Denisov said something in a whisper to the esaul, and the Cossacks began to drive past Petya and Denisov. When they had all passed, Denisov touched his horse and rode downhill. Sitting on their haunches and gliding, the horses descended with their riders into the hollow. Petya rode next to Denisov. The trembling in his whole body grew stronger. It was getting lighter and lighter, only the fog hid distant objects. Driving down and looking back, Denisov nodded his head to the Cossack who was standing beside him.
- Signal! he said.
The Cossack raised his hand, a shot rang out. And at the same moment there was heard the clatter of galloping horses in front, shouts from different directions, and more shots.
At the same moment as the first sounds of trampling and screaming were heard, Petya, kicking his horse and releasing the reins, not listening to Denisov, who shouted at him, galloped forward. It seemed to Petya that it suddenly dawned brightly, like the middle of the day, at the moment a shot was heard. He jumped to the bridge. Cossacks galloped ahead along the road. On the bridge, he ran into a straggler Cossack and galloped on. There were some people in front—they must have been Frenchmen—running from the right side of the road to the left. One fell into the mud under the feet of Petya's horse.
Cossacks crowded around one hut, doing something. A terrible cry was heard from the middle of the crowd. Petya galloped up to this crowd, and the first thing he saw was the pale face of a Frenchman with a trembling lower jaw, holding on to the shaft of a pike pointed at him.
“Hurrah!.. Guys…ours…” Petya shouted and, giving the reins to the excited horse, galloped forward down the street.
Shots were heard ahead. Cossacks, hussars, and ragged Russian prisoners, who fled from both sides of the road, all shouted something loudly and incoherently. A young man, without a hat, with a red frown on his face, a Frenchman in a blue greatcoat fought off the hussars with a bayonet. When Petya jumped up, the Frenchman had already fallen. Late again, Petya flashed through his head, and he galloped to where frequent shots were heard. Shots were heard in the courtyard of the manor house where he had been last night with Dolokhov. The French sat there behind the wattle fence in a dense garden overgrown with bushes and fired at the Cossacks crowded at the gate. Approaching the gate, Petya, in the powder smoke, saw Dolokhov with a pale, greenish face, shouting something to people. "On the detour! Wait for the infantry!” he shouted as Petya rode up to him.
“Wait?.. Hurrah!” Petya shouted and, without a single minute's hesitation, galloped to the place where the shots were heard and where the powder smoke was thicker. A volley was heard, empty and slapped bullets screeched. The Cossacks and Dolokhov jumped after Petya through the gates of the house. The French, in the swaying thick smoke, some threw down their weapons and ran out of the bushes towards the Cossacks, others ran downhill to the pond. Petya galloped along on his horse along the manor's yard and, instead of holding the reins, strangely and quickly waved both hands and kept falling further and further from the saddle to one side. The horse, having run into a fire smoldering in the morning light, rested, and Petya fell heavily to the wet ground. The Cossacks saw how quickly his arms and legs twitched, despite the fact that his head did not move. The bullet pierced his head.
After talking with a senior French officer, who came out from behind the house with a handkerchief on a sword and announced that they were surrendering, Dolokhov got off his horse and went up to Petya, motionless, with his arms outstretched.
“Ready,” he said, frowning, and went through the gate to meet Denisov, who was coming towards him.
- Killed?! exclaimed Denisov, seeing from a distance that familiar to him, undoubtedly lifeless position, in which Petya's body lay.
“Ready,” repeated Dolokhov, as if pronouncing this word gave him pleasure, and quickly went to the prisoners, who were surrounded by dismounted Cossacks. - We won't take it! he shouted to Denisov.
Denisov did not answer; he rode up to Petya, dismounted from his horse, and with trembling hands turned towards him Petya's already pale face, stained with blood and mud.
“I'm used to anything sweet. Excellent raisins, take them all,” he remembered. And the Cossacks looked back with surprise at the sounds, similar to the barking of a dog, with which Denisov quickly turned away, went up to the wattle fence and grabbed it.
Among the Russian prisoners recaptured by Denisov and Dolokhov was Pierre Bezukhov.

About the party of prisoners in which Pierre was, during his entire movement from Moscow, there was no new order from the French authorities. On October 22, this party was no longer with the troops and convoys with which it left Moscow. Half of the convoy with breadcrumbs, which followed them for the first transitions, was beaten off by the Cossacks, the other half went ahead; the foot cavalrymen who went ahead, there was not one more; they all disappeared. The artillery, which the first crossings could be seen ahead of, was now replaced by the huge convoy of Marshal Junot, escorted by the Westphalians. Behind the prisoners was a convoy of cavalry items.
From Vyazma, the French troops, who had previously marched in three columns, now marched in one heap. Those signs of disorder that Pierre noticed on the first halt from Moscow have now reached the last degree.
The road they were on was paved on both sides with dead horses; ragged people, lagging behind different teams, constantly changing, then joined, then again lagged behind the marching column.
Several times during the campaign there were false alarms, and the soldiers of the convoy raised their guns, fired and ran headlong, crushing each other, but then again gathered and scolded each other for vain fear.
These three gatherings, marching together - the cavalry depot, the depot of prisoners and Junot's convoy - still constituted something separate and integral, although both, and the other, and the third quickly melted away.
In the depot, which had at first been one hundred and twenty wagons, now there were no more than sixty; the rest were repulsed or abandoned. Junot's convoy was also abandoned and several wagons were recaptured. Three wagons were plundered by backward soldiers from Davout's corps who came running. From the conversations of the Germans, Pierre heard that more guards were placed on this convoy than on prisoners, and that one of their comrades, a German soldier, was shot on the orders of the marshal himself because a silver spoon that belonged to the marshal was found on the soldier.
Most of these three gatherings melted the depot of prisoners. Of the three hundred and thirty people who left Moscow, now there were less than a hundred. The prisoners, even more than the saddles of the cavalry depot and than Junot's convoy, burdened the escorting soldiers. Junot's saddles and spoons, they understood that they could be useful for something, but why were the hungry and cold soldiers of the convoy standing guard and guarding the same cold and hungry Russians, who were dying and lagging behind the road, whom they were ordered to shoot - it was not only incomprehensible, but also disgusting. And the escorts, as if afraid in the sad situation in which they themselves were, not to give in to the feeling of pity for the prisoners that was in them and thereby worsen their situation, treated them especially gloomily and strictly.
In Dorogobuzh, while, having locked the prisoners in the stable, the escort soldiers left to rob their own shops, several captured soldiers dug under the wall and ran away, but were captured by the French and shot.
The former order, introduced at the exit from Moscow, that the captured officers should go separately from the soldiers, had long been destroyed; all those who could walk walked together, and from the third passage Pierre had already connected again with Karataev and the lilac bow-legged dog, which had chosen Karataev as its master.
With Karataev, on the third day of leaving Moscow, there was that fever from which he lay in the Moscow hospital, and as Karataev weakened, Pierre moved away from him. Pierre did not know why, but since Karataev began to weaken, Pierre had to make an effort on himself in order to approach him. And going up to him and listening to those quiet groans with which Karataev usually lay down at rest, and feeling the now intensified smell that Karataev emitted from himself, Pierre moved away from him and did not think about him.

The Russian Orthodox Church canonized Dr. Evgeny Botkin as a saint. The decision to canonize was made at a meeting of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on Wednesday, February 3.

“I think this is a long-awaited decision, because this is one of the saints who is revered not only in the Russian Church Abroad, but also in many dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, including in the medical community,” said the head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk
He also noted that the church would continue to study the biographies of the royal servants who were killed along with Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

The personal doctor of the Romanov family, Yevgeny Botkin, was canonized by the Russian Church Abroad in 1981, along with the tsar's servants - the cook Ivan Kharitonov, the footman Aloisy Trupp and the maid Anna Demidova. All of them were shot along with the emperor's family.
According to the memoirs of the organizer of the murder of the royal family, Ya. M. Yurovsky, Botkin did not die immediately - he had to be “shooted” ...

Nicholas II and his family were shot in the basement of the Ipatiev house in Yekaterinburg, where they were kept under arrest, on the night of July 17, 1918. On the site of this building is now the Church-on-the-Blood.

A few years before his death, Evgeny Sergeevich received the title of hereditary nobleman. For his coat of arms, he chose the motto: "By faith, fidelity, work." In these words, as it were, all the life ideals and aspirations of Dr. Botkin were concentrated. Deep inner piety, most importantly - sacrificial service to one's neighbor, unshakable devotion to the Royal family and fidelity to God and His commandments in all circumstances, fidelity to death. The Lord accepts such fidelity as a pure sacrifice and gives for it the highest, heavenly reward: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

“I gave the king my word of honor to stay with him as long as he lives!”

In 1893 he brilliantly defended his dissertation. The official opponent on the defense was the physiologist and the first Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov.

In the center from right to left E. S. Botkin, V. I. Gedroits, S. N. Vilchikovsky.
In the foreground, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with Grand Duchesses Tatyana and Olga.

Grand Duchesses Maria and Anastasia and Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin

Johann Meyer, an Austrian soldier who fell into Russian captivity during the First World War and defected to the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg, wrote his memoirs “How the Imperial Family Perished”. In the book, he reports on the proposal made by the Bolsheviks to Dr. Botkin to leave the royal family and choose a place of work, for example, somewhere in a Moscow clinic. Thus, one of all the prisoners of the special purpose house knew exactly about the imminent execution. He knew and, having the opportunity to choose, he preferred to salvation loyalty to the oath given once to the king. Here is how Meyer describes it: “You see, I gave the king my word of honor to stay with him as long as he lives. It is impossible for a man of my position not to keep such a word. I also cannot leave an heir alone. How can I reconcile this with my conscience? You all need to understand this."

Dr. Botkin was killed along with the entire imperial family in Yekaterinburg in the Ipatiev House on the night of July 16-17, 1918.

In 1981, together with others shot in the Ipatiev House, he was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin was born on May 27, 1865 in Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg province. He was the fourth child born from his father Sergei Petrovich's first marriage to Anastasia Alexandrovna Krylova. (Dr. S.P. Botkin was a world-famous luminary of the Russian therapeutic school.)

Both the spiritual and everyday atmosphere in this family was unique. And the financial well-being of the Botkin family, laid down by the entrepreneurial activities of his grandfather Pyotr Kononovich Botkin, a well-known tea supplier in Russia, allowed all his heirs to lead a comfortable existence on a percentage of that. And, perhaps, that is why there were so many creative personalities in this family - doctors, artists and writers. But along with this, the Botkins were also related to such famous figures of Russian culture as the poet A.A. Fet and philanthropist P.M. Tretyakov. Yevgeny Botkin himself from early childhood was a passionate admirer of music, calling such classes a “refreshing bath”.

The Botkin family played a lot of music. Sergey Petrovich himself played the cello to the accompaniment of his wife, taking private lessons from the professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory I.I. Seifert. Thus, from early childhood, E.S. Botkin received a thorough musical education and acquired a keen ear for music.

In addition to playing music, the Botkin family also lived a rich social life. The capital's beau monde gathered for the famous "Botkin Saturdays": professors of the IMPERIAL Military Medical Academy, writers and musicians, collectors and artists, among whom were such outstanding personalities as I.M. Sechenov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A.P. Borodin, V.V. Stasov and others.

Already from childhood, E.S. Botkin began to show such character traits as modesty, a kind attitude towards others and rejection of violence.

So in his book "My Brother" Pyotr Sergeevich Botkin wrote: “From the tenderest age, his beautiful and noble nature was full of perfection. He was never like other children. Always sensitive, out of delicacy, inwardly kind, with an extraordinary soul, he was terrified of any fight or fight. We other boys used to fight furiously. He, as usual, did not participate in our fights, but when the fist fight took on a dangerous character, he, at the risk of injury, stopped the fight. He was very diligent and smart in his studies.

Primary home education allowed E.S. Botkin in 1878 to immediately enter the 5th grade of the 2nd St. Petersburg Classical Gymnasium, where his brilliant abilities in the field of natural sciences were almost immediately manifested. Therefore, after graduating from this educational institution in 1882, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Imperial St. Petersburg University. However, the example of his father, a doctor, and love for medicine turned out to be stronger, and the very next year (having passed the exams for the first year of the university) he enters the junior department of the opened Preparatory Course of the IMPERIAL Military Medical Academy.

In 1889, Yevgeny Sergeevich's father dies and almost at the same time he successfully graduated from the IVMA third in graduation, having received the title of Physician with honors and the personalized Paltsev Prize, which was awarded "to the third highest score in his course ..."

His own way of practicing Aesculapius E.S. Botkin begins in January 1890 as Assistant Doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, and in December of the same year he is sent to Germany, where he practices with leading doctors and gets acquainted with the arrangement of hospitals and hospital business.

At the end of medical practice in May 1892, Evgeny Sergeevich began to work as a Doctor of the IMPERIAL Court Singing Chapel, and from January 1894 he returned to work at the Mariinsky Hospital as a supernumerary Resident.

Simultaneously with clinical practice, E.S. Botkin is engaged in scientific research, the main areas of which were work in the field of immunology, the essence of the process of leukocytosis, the protective properties of blood cells, etc.

In 1893 E.S. Botkin marries Olga Vladimirovna Manuylova, and the following year, their first-born son, Dmitry, is born in their family. / Looking ahead a little, it must be said that there were four children in the family of Evgeny Sergeevich: sons - Dmitry (1894-1914), Yuri (1896-1941), Gleb (1900-1969) and daughter - Tatyana (1899-1986) /

May 8, 1893 E.S. Botkin brilliantly defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine on the topic "On the Effect of Albumose and Peptones on Certain Functions of the Animal Organism", which he dedicates to his father. And his official opponent in this defense was our outstanding compatriot and physiologist I.P. Pavlov.

In 1895 E.S. Botkin is again sent to Germany, where for two years he improves his qualifications, practicing in medical institutions in Heidelberg and Berlin, and also attends lectures by German professors G. Munch, B. Frenkel, P. Ernst and others.

In May 1897 E.S. Botkin is elected Privatdozent of IVMA.

On October 18, 1897, he reads his introductory lecture to students, which is very remarkable in that it very clearly shows his attitude towards the sick:

“Once the trust of the patients you have acquired turns into sincere affection for you, when they are convinced of your invariably cordial attitude towards them. When you enter the room, you are met with a joyful and friendly mood - a precious and powerful medicine, which you will often help much more than potions and powders. (...) Only the heart is needed for this, only sincere heartfelt concern for a sick person. So do not be stingy, learn to give it with a wide hand to those who need it. So, let's go with love to a sick person, so that we can learn together how to be useful to him.

With the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 - 1905, E.S. Botkin volunteers for the Active Army, where he is appointed Head of the Medical Unit of the Russian Red Cross Society (ROKK) in the Manchurian Army.

However, while occupying this rather high administrative position, he nevertheless prefers to be at the forefront most of the time.

They say that once a wounded Company Paramedic was brought to the Field Infirmary. Having rendered him first aid, E.S. Botkin took his medical bag and went to the front line instead.

His attitude to participation in this war, Dr. E.S. Botkin describes in some detail in his book Light and Shadows of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. (From letters to his wife)”, published in St. Petersburg in 1908, some excerpts from which are given below:

“I was not afraid for myself: never before have I felt the power of my Faith to such an extent. I was completely convinced that no matter how great the risk to which I was exposed, I would not be killed if God did not want it, I did not tease fate, did not stand at the guns so as not to interfere with the shooters, but I realized that I was needed, and this consciousness made my position pleasant.”

“I am more and more depressed by the course of our war, and therefore it hurts that we lose so much and lose so much, but almost more because the whole mass of our troubles is only the result of people’s lack of spirituality, a sense of duty, that petty calculations become beyond concepts about the Fatherland, above God. (Laoyang, May 16, 1904),

“I have now read all the latest telegrams about the fall of Mukden and about our terrible retreat to Telnik. I can't convey my feelings to you. (…) Despair and hopelessness seizes the soul. Will we have something in Russia? Poor, poor country." (Chita, March 1, 1905).

Military work of Dr. E.S. Botkin in his post did not go unnoticed by his immediate superiors and at the end of this war "For the difference shown in cases against the Japanese", he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir II and III degree with swords and a bow.

But outwardly calm, strong-willed and always benevolent Dr. E.S. Botkin was actually a very sentimental person, as P.S. directly points out to us. Botkin in the already mentioned book "My Brother":

“.... I came to my father’s grave and suddenly I heard sobs in a deserted cemetery. Coming closer, I saw my brother (Eugene) lying in the snow. “Oh, it’s you, Petya, you came to talk with dad,” and again sobs. And an hour later, during the reception of patients, it could not have occurred to anyone that this calm, self-confident and domineering person could sob like a child.

May 6, 1905 Dr. E.S. Botkin is appointed Honorary Physician of the Imperial Family, which he learns about while still in the Army.

In the autumn of 1905, he returned to St. Petersburg and began teaching at IVMA, and in 1907 he was appointed Chief Physician of the St. George Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Red Cross, the medical part of which since 1870 was headed by his late father.

After the death of the Life Medic Gustav Ivanovich Hirsch, which followed in 1907, the Royal Family was left without one of those, the vacant position of which required urgent replenishment. The candidacy of the new court physician was named by the Empress herself, who, when asked who she would like to see in his place, answered: “Botkin”. And when asked which of them exactly (at that time there were two Botkins in St. Petersburg), she said: “The one who fought.” (Although the brother of E.S. Botkin, Sergei Sergeevich, was also a participant in the past Russo-Japanese War.)

Thus, starting from April 13, 1908, Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin became the Honorary Physician of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II Alexandrovich and His Family, exactly repeating the career path of his father, who was the Physician of the two previous Emperors - Alexander II and Alexander III.

I must say that by that time all the Medical Officers (as the doctors at the Highest Court were officially called), serving the Royal Family, were on the staff of the Ministry of the IMPERIAL Court and Destinies, representing a fairly significant group of the best titled specialists in many medical specialties: therapist , surgeon, ophthalmologist, obstetrician, pediatrician, dentist, etc.

His love for the sick, E.S. Botkin also transferred to the August patients, since his immediate duties included medical supervision and treatment of all members of the Royal Family: from the terminally ill Heir to the Tsarevich to the Sovereign.

The Sovereign himself directly related to E.S. Botkin with undisguised sympathy and trust, patiently enduring all medical and diagnostic procedures.

But if the health of the Sovereign was, one might say, excellent (except for poor dental heredity and periodic pains of a hemorrhoidal nature), then the most difficult patients for Dr. E.S. Botkin were the Empress and the Heir.

Even in early childhood, Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt suffered from diphtheria, complications after which, over the years, affected quite frequent bouts of rheumatism, periodic pain and swelling in the legs, as well as in violation of cardiac activity and arrhythmias. And, besides, the five transferred births, which finally undermined Her already weak organism, contributed to the development of those to a large extent.

Because of these constant illnesses, eternal fears for the life of Her infinitely sick Son and other internal experiences, the outwardly majestic, but in fact very sick and aged early Empress, was forced to refuse long walks, soon after his birth. In addition, due to constant swelling of her legs, She had to wear special shoes, over the size of which, at times, evil tongues made fun of. Pain in the legs was often accompanied by constant palpitations, and the attacks of headache that accompanied them deprived the Empress of rest and sleep for weeks, which is why she was forced to stay in bed for a long time, and if she went out into the air, then only in a special stroller .

But even more trouble for Dr. E.S. Botkin was delivered by the Heir Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, whose congenital and fatal illness required his increased medical attention. And it happened that he spent days and nights at his bedside, providing him not only with medical care, but also treating him with a medicine no less important for any patient - human participation in the grief of the patient, giving this unfortunate creature all the warmth of his heart.

And such participation could not fail to find a mutual response in the soul of his little patient, who one day would write to his beloved doctor: "I love you with all my little heart."

In turn, Evgeny Sergeevich also attached himself with all his heart to the Heir and all the other members of the Royal Family, more than once telling his household that: “They made me a slave until the end of my days with their kindness.”

However, the relationship of the Life Physician E.S. Botkin and the Royal Family were not always so cloudless. And the reason for this is his attitude towards G.E. Rasputin, which served as the very “black cat” that ran between him and the Empress. Like the majority of loyal subjects who knew about Elder Gregory only from the words of people who had never communicated with him, and therefore, due to their thoughtlessness, in every possible way exaggerate and fan the most dirty rumors about him, the beginning of which was laid by the personal enemies of the Empress in the person of the so-called “blacks”. (So the Empress called her enemies, united around the Court of the Montenegrin Princesses - Stana Nikolaevna and Milica Nikolaevna, who became the wives of Grand Dukes Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. and his brother Peter Nikolaevich.) And oddly enough, not only people who were far from the Highest believed in them Dvor, but also persons close to him, like E.S. Botkin. For he, having fallen under the influence of these rumors and gossip on a universal scale, sincerely believed in them, and therefore, like many, he considered G.E. Rasputin "evil genius" of the Royal Family.

But as a man of exceptional honesty, who never betrayed his principles and never compromised, if such was contrary to his personal conviction, E.S. Botkin somehow even refused the Empress her request to host G.E. Rasputin. “It is my duty to provide medical assistance to anyone,” said Evgeny Sergeevich. But I won’t accept such a person at home.”

In turn, this statement could not but cool for some time the relationship between the Empress and Her beloved Life Medic. Therefore, after one of the crises of illness that happened to the Heir to the Tsesarevich in the autumn of 1912, when Professor E.S. Botkin and S.P. Fedorov, as well as the Honorary Life Surgeon V.N. Derevenko pleaded powerless before such, the Empress began to trust G.E. Rasputin. For the latter, possessing God's Gift of healing, is not known to the mentioned luminaries. And therefore, by the power of prayer and conspiracies, he managed in time to stop the internal bleeding that had opened in the Heir, which with a high degree of probability could have ended in death for him.

As a doctor and a man of exceptional morality, E.S. Botkin never spoke on the side about the health of his August patients. So, the Head of the Chancellery of the Ministry of the IMPERIAL Court, Lieutenant-General A.A. Mosolov in his memoirs "At the Court of the last Russian Emperor" mentioned that: “Botkin was known for his restraint. None of the retinue managed to find out from him what the Empress was sick with and what treatment the Queen and the Heir followed. He was certainly a devoted servant to Their Majesties."

Occupying such a high position and being a person very close to the Sovereign, E.S. Botkin, however, was very far from any "intervention in Russian state policy." However, as a citizen, he simply could not help but see the perniciousness of public sentiment, which he considered the main reasons for the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. He also well understood that the hatred for the Royal Family and the entire House of Romanov, kindled by the enemies of the Throne and the Fatherland, is beneficial only to the enemies of Russia - the Russia that his ancestors served for many years and for which he fought on the battlefields.

Having subsequently revised his attitude towards G.E. Rasputin, he began to despise those people who composed or repeated various fables about the Royal Family and Her personal life. And about such people he spoke as follows: “If there were no Rasputin, then the opponents of the Royal Family and the preparers of the revolution would have created him with their conversations from Vyrubova, if it were not for Vyrubova, from me, from whomever you want.”

And further: “I don’t understand how people who consider themselves monarchists and talk about the adoration of His Majesty can so easily believe all the gossip spread, can spread them themselves, raising all sorts of fables against the Empress, and do not understand that by insulting Her, they are thereby insulting Her August Consort, who is allegedly adored."

By this time, not everything was going well and Evgeny Sergeevich's personal life.

In 1910, leaving the children in his care, his wife left him, carried away by the revolutionary ideas that were fashionable at that time, and with them a young student of the Riga Polytechnic Institute, who was fit for her sons, who was younger than her by as much as 20 years. After her departure, E.S. Botkin was left with three younger children - Yuri, Tatyana and Gleb, since his eldest son, Dmitry, had already lived on his own by that time. Inwardly greatly experiencing the departure of his wife, Evgeny Sergeevich with even greater energy began to give the warmth of his soul to the children left in his care. And, it must be said, those who adored their father paid him in full reciprocity, always waiting for him from work and worrying whenever he was late.

Using the undoubted influence and authority at the Highest Court, E.S. Botkin, however, never used one for personal purposes. So, for example, his inner convictions did not allow him to put in a word to get a “warm place” even for his own son Dmitry, the Cornet of the Life Guards of the Cossack Regiment, who went to the front with the outbreak of World War I and died on December 3, 1914. (The bitterness of this loss became an unhealed bleeding wound in his father's heart, the pain from which remained in him until the very last days of his life.)

And a few years later, new times began in Russia, which turned into a political catastrophe for her. At the end of February 1917, a great turmoil began, started by a bunch of traitors, which already in early March led to the abdication of the Sovereign from the Throne.

Subjected to house arrest and held in custody in the Tsarskoye Selo Alexander Palace, the Sovereign and His Family, in fact, turned out to be hostages of future events. Limited by freedom and isolated from the outside world, they stayed in it only with the closest people, including E.S. Botkin, who did not want to leave the Royal Family, which became even more dear to him with the beginning of the trials that fell to her lot. (Only for a very short time, he leaves the August Family to help the typhoid widow of his deceased son Dmitry, and when her condition no longer aroused his fears, Evgeny Sergeevich, without any requests or coercion, returned back to the August Prisoners.)

At the end of July 1917, Minister-Chairman of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky announced to the Sovereign and His Family that instead of going to the Crimea, all of them would be sent to one of the Siberian cities.

True to his duty, E.S. Botkin, without a moment's hesitation, decides to share their fate and go to this Siberian exile with his children. And to the question of the Sovereign, to whom he would leave his youngest children Tatyana and Gleb, he replied that for him there was nothing higher than caring for Their Majesties.

Arriving in Tobolsk, E.S. Botkin, along with all the servants of the former. Tsar, lived in the house of the fisherman Kornilov, located near the Governor's house, where the Tsar's Family was settled.

In the house of Kornilov E.S. Botkin occupied two rooms, where, in accordance with the permission received, he could receive soldiers of the Consolidated Guards Detachment for the protection of the former tsar and the local population, and where on September 14, 1917, his children Tatyana and Gleb arrived.

About these last days of medical practice in his life, about the attitude of soldiers, Tobolsk residents and just the local population who came to him from afar, E.S. Botkin wrote in his last letter addressed to "friend Sasha": “Their trust especially touched me, and I was pleased with their confidence, which never deceived them, that I would receive them with the same attention and affection as any other patient, and not only as an equal to myself, but also as a patient who has all the rights for all my cares and services.

Family life of Dr. E.S. Botkin in Tobolsk is described in detail in the book of memoirs of his daughter Tatiana "Memoirs of the Royal Family and Her life before and after the revolution." So, in particular, she mentions that, despite the fact that her father’s personal correspondence was subjected to censorship, he himself, unlike other prisoners, could move freely around the city, his apartment was never subjected to inspection, but to sign up with him Anyone who wished could attend.

But the relatively serene life in Tobolsk ended with the arrival of the Extraordinary Commissar of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee V.V. on April 20, 1918. Yakovlev with a detachment of militants, who announced to the Royal Family that, by order of the Soviet government, he would have to take Her out of the city in the very near future, according to the route known only to him.

And again, even in this situation, full of anxiety and uncertainty, Leib-Medic E.S. Botkin, true to his medical and moral duty, sets off together with the Sovereign, Empress, Their Daughter Maria and others to meet their death.

On the night of April 25-26, 1918, they leave Tobolsk and follow in carts towards Tyumen. But what is characteristic! Suffering along the way from endless road shaking, cold and renal colic, Dr. E.S. Botkin remains a doctor even in this unbearably painful situation for him, having given his fur coat to the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, who, having gone on this long journey, did not take really warm clothes with her.

On April 27, the Most August Prisoners and those accompanying Them reached Tyumen, and on April 30, after several days of ordeals and adventures on the road, they were taken to Yekaterinburg, where E.S. Botkin as a prisoner was placed under arrest in the DON.

While in the Ipatiev house, E.S. Botkin, faithful to his medical duty, did everything in order to somehow alleviate the fate of his crowned patients.

Remembering this years later, the former Commandant of the House of Special Purpose Ya.M. Yurovsky wrote:

“Doctor Botkin was a true friend of the family. In all cases, for various needs of the family, he acted as an intercessor. He was soul and body devoted to the family and experienced the hardship of their life together with the Romanov family.

Almost the same thing, more than forty years later, his former assistant G.P. Nikulin:

“As a rule, we always intercede for all kinds of things, which means that there have always been cases, here, Dr. Botkin. He, therefore, addressed ... "

And in this they were both absolutely right, since all the requests of the arrested were transmitted either directly to the Commandants of the DON (A.D. Avdeev or Ya.M. Yurovsky, who replaced him), or to the members of the Ural Regional Council on duty (these were appointed in the first month of the stay of the Royal Family in the DON, where they were on daily duty).

After arriving in Yekaterinburg and placing the August Children transported from Tobolsk in the Ipatiev house, Dr. E.S. Botkin understands that his "fading forces" to care for the sick Heir to the Tsarevich is clearly not enough.

Therefore, the very next day he writes to A.G. Beloborodov a note with the following content:

"Yekaterinburg.

To the [Yekaterinburg] Regional Executive Committee

Mr Chairman.

As a doctor who has been monitoring the health of the Romanov family for ten years,currently administered by the Regional Executive Committeein general, and Alexei Nikolaevich in particular, I turn to you, Mr. Chairman, with the following most zealous request. Alexey Nikolaevich, whose treatmentled by Dr. Vl.[adimir] Nick.[olayevich] Derevenko, is subject to joint suffering under the influence of bruises, completely inevitable in a boy of his age, accompanied by sweating of liquid in them and the most severe pain as a result. Day and night in suchcases, the boy suffers so inexpressibly that none of his closest relatives,speaking of his mother, chronically ill in heart, not sparing herself for him, unable to endure caring for him for a long time. My fading powers are also lacking. Klim Grigorievich Nagorny, who is with him, after several sleepless and full of torment nights, knocks himself off his feet and would not be able to stand at all if Alexei Nikolaevich's teachers, Mr. Gibbs, and especially his tutor, Mr. Gilliard. Calm and balanced, they, replacing one another, by reading and changing impressions, distract the patient from his suffering during the day, alleviating them and giving, in the meantime, his relatives and Nagorny the opportunity to sleep and gather strength to change them in turn. Mr. Gilliard, to whom Aleksey Nikolaevich has been especially accustomed and attached during the seven years that he has been with him inseparably, sometimes spends whole nights near him during his illness, letting the exhausted Nagorny sleep. Both teachers, especially, I repeat, Mr. Gilliard, are absolutely indispensable for Alexei Nikolaevich, and I, as a doctor, must admit that they often bring more relief to the patient than the medical supplies that are in stock for such cases, to self-treatment, is extremely limited.

In view of the foregoing, I decide, in addition to the request of the parents of the pain-to disturb the Regional Executive Committee with the most zealous petitionadmit y.g. Gilliard and Gibbs to continue their selfless service underAlexey Nikolaevich Romanov, and in view of the fact that the boy is just now in one of the most acute attacks of his sufferings, which he endures especially hard due to overwork from travel, do not refuse to let them - in the extreme case, even one Mr. Gilliard - to him tomorrow.

Dr. Ev.[genius] Botkin

Passing this note to the addressee, commandant A.D. Avdeev could not resist imposing his own resolution on it, which perfectly expressed his attitude, not only to the sick child and Dr. E.S. Botkin, but also to the entire Royal Family as a whole:

“Having looked at the real request of Dr. Botkin, I think that one of these servants is superfluous, i.e. the children are all royal and can take care of the sick, and therefore I suggest that the Chairman of the Regional Council immediately show these presumptuous gentlemen their position. Commandant Avdeev.

At present, among many researchers of the royal theme, who in their works make a certain bet on the so-called "memoirs of an eyewitness" by J. Meyer. (The former prisoner of war of the Austro-Hungarian army, Johann Ludwig Mayer, who published those in 1956 in the German magazine Seven Days under the title “How the Royal Family Died.”) So, according to this “source”, a version appeared that, after visiting DON political leadership of the Urals came up with the idea to talk with Dr. E.S. Botkin, calling him to the premises of the "Revolutionary Headquarters".

« (…) Mobius, Maklavansky and Dr. Milyutin were sitting in the room of the Revolutionary Headquarters when Dr. Botkin entered. This Botkin was a giant.(…)

Then Maklavansky began to speak:

“Listen, doctor,” he said in his pleasant, always sincere voice, “the Revolutionary Headquarters has decided to let you go free. You are a doctor and want to help suffering people. For this you have enough opportunities with us. You can take over the management of a hospital in Moscow or open your own practice. We will even give you recommendations, so that no one can have anything against you.

Dr. Botkin was silent. He looked at the people sitting in front of him and seemed unable to overcome a certain distrust of them. It seemed that he sensed a trap. Maklavansky must have sensed this, for he continued convincingly:

- Understand us, please, correctly. The future of the Romanovs looks somewhat bleak.

The doctor seemed to slowly understand. His gaze shifted from one to the other. Slowly, almost stammering, he decided to answer:

- I think I understood you correctly, gentlemen. But, you see, I gave the king my word of honor to stay with him as long as he lives. For a man of my position, it is impossible not to keep such a word. I also cannot leave an heir alone. How can I reconcile this with my conscience? You still need to understand this...

Maklavansky cast a brief glance at his comrades. After this, he turned again to the doctor:

- Of course, we understand this, doctor, but you see, the son is incurable, you know this better than we do. Why would you sacrifice yourself for... well, shall we say, for a lost cause... For what, Doctor?

- Lost business? Botkin asked slowly. His eyes faded.

- Well, if Russia dies, I can die too. But in no case will I leave the king!

- Russia will not perish! Mobius said sharply.

- We'll take care of it. Big people will not die...

- Do you want to separate me by force from the king? - asked Botkin with a cold expression on his face.

“I still don’t believe this, gentlemen!

Mobius looked intently at the doctor. But now Dr. Milyutin has entered.

"You bear no responsibility for a lost war, doctor," he said in a sugary voice.

- We can’t reproach you with anything, we only consider it our duty to warn you about your personal death ...

Dr. Botkin sat for several minutes in silence. His gaze was fixed on the floor. The commissioners already believed that he would change his mind. But suddenly the face of the doctor changed. He got up and said:

- I am glad that there are still people who are concerned about my personal fate. I thank you for coming forward to meet me... But help this unfortunate family! You will do a good job. There, in the house, the great souls of Russia bloom, which are covered with mud by politicians. I thank you, gentlemen, but I will stay with the king! - said Botkin and stood up. His height exceeded all.

"We're sorry, Doctor," Mobius said.

- In that case, go back again. You can think more."

Of course, this conversation is pure fiction, as well as the personalities of Maklavansky and Dr. Milyutin.

And, nevertheless, not everything in the "memoirs" of J. Meyer turned out to be the fruit of his unbridled imagination. So, the "Revolutionary Headquarters" he mentioned actually existed. (Until May 1918, it was called the Headquarters of the Revolutionary Western Front for the fight against counter-revolution, after which its employees were enrolled in the staff of the Central Siberian District Commissariat for Military Affairs, in which J. Meyer began to occupy a very modest position as a copyist of the Agitation Department).

Like all prisoners of the Ipatiev House, Dr. E.S. Botkin wrote letters and received answers to them from distant Tobolsk, where his daughter Tatyana and his youngest son Gleb remained. (Currently, the RF GA has several letters from T.E. Botkina, which she wrote to her father in Yekaterinburg.)

Here is an excerpt from one of them dated May 4 (April 23), 1918, in which she puts all her daughter love:

« (…) Precious, golden darling my daddy!

Yesterday we were terribly delighted by your first letter, which had been coming from Ekaterinburg for a whole week; nevertheless, this was the most recent news about you, because Matveev, who arrived yesterday with whom Gleb talked, could not tell us anything except that you had renal colic<неразб.>I was terribly afraid of this, but judging by the fact that you already<неразб.>wrote that he was healthy, I hope that this colic was not strong.(…)

I can't imagine when we'll see each other, because I have no hope for<неразб.>leave with everyone, but I will try to come closer to you. Sitting here without you<неразб.>very boring and pointless. Do you want something to do, but you don’t know what to do, and how long will you have to live here? During this time, there was only one letter from Yura, and even that was an old one dated March 17, but nothing more.

Until I finish, my dear. I don't know if my letter will reach you. And if it does, then when. And who will read before you(This phrase is inscribed between the lines in small handwriting. - Yu.Zh.)

I kiss you, my precious, many, many and hard - as I love.

Goodbye, my dear, my golden, my beloved. Hope to see you soon. I kiss you many more times.

Your Tanya".

« (…)I am writing to you already from our new rooms and I hope that this letter will reach you, because he is being driven by Commissar Khokhryakov. He also said that he could deliver you a chest of things, in which I put everything that we had from your things, i.e. several photographs, boots, underwear, a dress, cigarettes, a blanket and an autumn coat. I also handed over the pharmacies to the commissioner as family property, I don’t know if you will receive our letter. I hug you very, very tightly, my beloved, for your such good and affectionate letters.

Wrote letters from the Ipatiev house and Evgeny Sergeevich. He wrote to his younger children - Tatyana and Gleb in Tobolsk, to his son Yuri, and also to his younger brother Alexander Sergeevich Botkin. To date, at least four of his messages to the last two persons are known. The first three, dated April 25 (May 8), April 26 (May 9) and May 2 (15), were addressed to Yuri, and the fourth, written on June 26 (July 9), Alexander ...

Their content is also very interesting. So, for example, in his first letter he talked about the weather and extremely short walks:

“... Especially after being outdoors, in the garden, where I sit most of the time. Yes, and so far, due to the cold and unpleasant weather, it has been very short: only the first time they let us out, but yesterday we walked for 55 minutes, or even 30, 20 and even 15. After all, the third day we had another 5 degrees of frost, and this morning it was still snowing, now, however, it is already over 4 degrees of heat.

The second letter mentioned above was more lengthy. However, it is noteworthy that in it he not only does not complain about fate, but even in a Christian way pities his persecutors:

“... While we are still in our temporary, as we were told, room, which I do not regret at all, as because it is quite good, and because in the "permanent" withoutthe rest of the family and their escorts would probably be very empty if, hopefully, it was at least the same size as the house in Tobolsk. It's true, the garden here is very small, but so far the weather hasn't made us especially regret it. However, I must make a reservation that this is purely my personal opinion, because with our general obedience to fate and the people to whom she handed us over, we do not even ask ourselves the question of “what the coming day is preparing for us”, because we know that “ his wickedness prevails for the day ... and we only dream that this self-sufficing malice of the day would not be really evil.

... And we had to see a lot of new people here: the commandants change, or rather, they are often replaced, and some kind of commission came to inspect our premises, and they came to interrogate us about money, with an offer in excess (of which, by the way, I have , as usual, it didn’t turn out) to transfer for storage, etc. In a word, we cause them a lot of trouble, but, really, we didn’t impose on anyone and didn’t ask for it anywhere. I wanted to add that we weren’t asking for anything, but I remembered that it would be wrong, because we are constantly forced to disturb our poor commandants and ask for something: either denatured alcohol has come out and there is nothing to warm food or to cook rice for vegetarians, then we ask for boiling water, then the water supply is clogged, then the linen needs to be washed, then the newspapers need to be received, etc., etc. It’s just ashamed, but it’s impossible otherwise, and that’s why it is especially expensive and comforting every kind smile. And now I went to ask permission to take a walk a little in the morning: although it is fresh, the sun shines affably, and for the first time an attempt was made to take a walk in the morning ... And she was also amiably allowed.

... I end with a pencil, because. due to the holidays I could not yet get either a separate pen or ink, and I still use strangers, and even then more than anyone else.

In his third letter to E.S. Botkin also told his son about the new events that took place in the place of their new imprisonment:

“... Since yesterday, the weather has sharply turned to heat, a piece of the sky, visible from my window that has not yet been painted with lime, is exactly gray-blue, indicating cloudlessness, but from all the caresses of nature we are destined to see a little, because . we are allowed only an hour a day of walking in one or two steps ...

… Today I am updating my stationery, which was kindly delivered to me yesterday, and I am writing with my new pen and ink, which I updated yesterday in a letter to the children. taking possession of someone else's pen and inkwell, I constantly prevented someone from using them, and the gray paper, laid out for me by Tanyusha, I had long ago worn out and wrote on pieces of writing; He also took out all the small envelopes, except for one.

... Well, we walked for exactly an hour. The weather turned out to be very pleasant - better than one could have imagined behind the smeared windows. I like this innovation: I no longer see a wooden wall in front of me, but I sit as if in a comfortable winter apartment; you know, when the furniture is in covers, like we have now, and the windows are white. True, the light, of course, is much less and it turns out to be so scattered that it hurts weak eyes, but after all, things are moving towards summer, which can be very sunny here, and we, Petrograders, are not spoiled by the sun.

His last birthday in the life of E.S. Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin also met in Ipatiev's house: on May 27 (14) he turned 53 years old. But, despite such a relatively small age, Evgeny Sergeyevich already felt the approach of death, which he wrote about in his last letter to his younger brother Alexander, in which he recalls the past days, pouring out all the pain of his soul ... (His rather voluminous text , it is hardly worth citing, since he has been published more than once in various publications. Tatyana Melnik (nee Botkina) " The life of the Royal Family before and after the revolution, M., Ankor firm, 1993; "Royal Life Medic" THOSE. Botkin, edited by K.K. Melnik and E.K. Miller. St. Petersburg, ANO "Publishing House" Tsarskoye Delo ", 2010, etc.)

This letter remained unsent (currently stored in the State Archives of the Russian Federation), which was later recalled by the already mentioned G.P. Nikulin:

“Botkin, then... So I repeat that he always interceded for them. He asked me to do something there for them: to call a priest, you understand, here ..., take them out for a walk or, there, fix the watch, or something else, there, some little things.

Well, once I, then, checked Botkin's letter. He wrote it, he addressed it to his son (younger brother. - Yu.Zh.) in the Caucasus. So he writes something like this:

“Here, my dear (I forgot, there, what his name was: Serge or not Serge, no matter how), here I am there. Moreover, I must tell you that when the tsar-sovereign was in glory, I was with him. And now, when he is in misfortune, I also consider it my duty to be with him. We live this way and that way (he “so” - he writes in a veiled way). Moreover, I don’t dwell on the details because I don’t want to bother ..., I don’t want to bother the people whose duties are to read [and] check our letters.”

Well, that was the only letter I had... He didn't write anymore. The letter [this], of course, was not sent anywhere.”

And his last hour E.S. Botkin met with the Royal Family.

July 17, 1918 at approximately 1 o'clock. 30 min. midnight Evgeny Sergeevich was awakened by Commandant Ya.M. Yurovsky, who informed him that in view of the alleged attack on the house by an anarchist detachment, all those arrested should go down to the basement, from where they might be transported to a safer place.

After Dr. E.S. Botkin woke everyone else, all the prisoners gathered in the dining room, from where they proceeded through the kitchen and the adjacent room to the landing of the upper floor. According to the stairs of 19 steps available there, they, accompanied by Ya.M. Yurovsky, G.P. Nikulina, M.A. Medvedev (Kudrina), P.Z. Ermakov and two Latvians with rifles from among the internal guards descended along it to the lower floor and through the door there they went out into the courtyard. Once on the street, they all walked a few meters around the yard, after which they again entered the house and, having passed through a suite of rooms on the lower floor, found themselves in the very one where they were martyred.

It makes no sense to describe the whole course of further events, since this has been written about many times. However, after Ya.M. Yurovsky announced to the prisoners that they were “forced to be shot”, Evgeny Sergeevich could only utter in a voice slightly hoarse with excitement: “So they won’t take us anywhere?”

After, through considerable efforts, Ya.M. Yurovsky finally stopped the shooting, which took on a careless character, many of the victims were still alive ...

But when at last I managed to stop(shooting. - Yu.Zh.), he later wrote in his memoirs, I saw that many were still alive. For example, Dr. Botkin was lying, leaning on the elbow of his right hand, as if in a resting position, with a revolver shot[I] done with him…”

That is, Ya.M. Yurovsky directly confesses that he personally shot the former Life Medic E.S. Botkin and is almost proud of it ...

Well, time put everything in its place. And now those who considered themselves "heroes of October" have moved into the category of ordinary and murderers and persecutors of the Russian people.

And the Christian feat of Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin, as the successor of the glorious medical dynasty and a man of duty and honor, did not go unnoticed even decades later. At the ROCOR Local Council held on November 1, 1981, he was canonized as the Holy New Martyrs of Russia who suffered from the power of the godless under the name of the Holy New Martyr Eugene Botkin.

On July 17, 1998, the remains of E.S. Botkin were solemnly buried along with the remains of the members of the Royal Family in the Catherine's chapel of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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