Alexander Griboyedov | |
|---|---|
 Posthumous portrait (1873) byIvan Kramskoi | |
| Russian Ambassador toIran | |
| In office 1828[1]–1829 | |
| Monarch | Nicholas I of Russia |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (1795-01-04)4 January 1795 |
| Died | 11 February 1829(1829-02-11) (aged 34) |
| Resting place | Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Spouse | Nino Chavchavadze |
| Alma mater | Imperial Moscow University (1808) |
| Occupation | Diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer |
| Signature |  |
Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (Russian:Александр Сергеевич Грибоедов,romanized: Aleksandr Sergeevich Griboedov; 15 January 1795 – 11 February 1829)[a] was a Russiandiplomat,playwright,poet, andcomposer. His one notable work is the 1823 verse comedyWoe from Wit. He was Russia's ambassador toQajar Persia, where he and all the embassy staff weremassacred by an angry mob in the aftermath of the ratification of theTreaty of Turkmenchay (1828), which confirmed the cession to Russia of Persia's northern territories comprisingTranscaucasia and parts of theNorth Caucasus. Griboyedov played a pivotal role in the ratification of the treaty. The immediate cause for the incident was Griboyedov giving refuge to Armenians who had escaped from the harems of the Persian shah and his son.
Griboyedov was born inMoscow, the exact year unknown, with biographers debating whether it was in 1790 or 1795. His mother who dreamed of providing him with a career made sure Griboyedov received the best education.[3]
He received a master's degree inphilology fromMoscow University, and subsequently enrolled in the doctorate program. Griboyedov was fluent in all major European languages such as French, English, German, Italian, Greek, Latin, and mastered oriental languages like Arabic, Persian and Turkish. According toPushkin Griboyedov was one of the smartest people in Russia at the time.[3]
In 1812, he quit the program and enrolled in the military.[4] He obtained a commission in ahussar regiment, which he resigned in 1816. The next year, he entered thecivil service. In 1818 he was appointed secretary of the Russianlegation inPersia, and transferred toGeorgia.[5]
He possessed musical talent, played the piano and composed several waltzes. Only two of his waltzes survive to the present day, although it is recorded that he composed several, including vaudevilles in association with stage plays. He is best known for his literary compositions and poetic verses.
Hisverse comedyThe Young Spouses (Russian:Молодые супруги,Molodye Suprugi), loosely based on a French play byAuguste Creuzé de Lesser, which Griboyedov staged in Saint Petersburg in 1816, was followed by other similar works, mostly either translated or co-authored with more experienced writers of the day. Neither these nor his essays and poetry would have been long remembered but for the success of his verse comedyWoe from Wit (Russian:Горе от ума,Gore ot uma), a satire on Russianaristocratic society.[5]
As a high official in the play puts it, this work is "apasquinade on Moscow". The play depicts certain social and official stereotypes in the characters of Famusov, who hates reform; his secretary, Molchalin, who fawns over officials; and the aristocratic young liberal andAnglomaniac, Repetilov. By contrast the hero of the piece, Chatsky, an ironic satirist just returned from western Europe, exposes and ridicules the weaknesses of the rest. His words echo the outcry of the young generation in the lead-up to theDecembrist revolt of 1825.[5]
In Russia for the summer of 1823, Griboyedov completed the play and took it to Saint Petersburg. It was rejected by the censors. Many copies were made and privately circulated, but Griboyedov never saw it published.[5] After his death the manuscript was jointly owned by his wifeNina Alexandrovna Griboyedova and his sisterMaria Sergeyevna Durnovo (Griboyedova).[6] The first edition was not published until 1833, four years after his death. Only once did he see it on the stage, when it was performed by the officers of the garrison atYerevan. Soured by disappointment, he returned to Georgia. During theRusso-Persian War of 1826–1828, he put his linguistic expertise at the service of generalIvan Paskevich, a relative. After this, he was sent to Saint Petersburg where he worked on theTreaty of Turkmenchay negotiations. There, thinking to devote himself to literature, he started work on a romantic drama,A Georgian Night (Russian:Грузинская ночь,Gruzinskaya noch), based on Georgian legends.[5]
Alexander Griboyedov's education was not only extensive, continuing into doctoral work before shifting to military training, but had included musical study as well. Although producing only a small number of works during his lifetime, he was well experienced in an array of instruments including piano, organ, and flute. During his musical study, it is recorded that he studied with the Irish pianist, composer, and ostensible "creator" of the nocturne formJohn Field, along withJohann Heinrich Müller in the field of music theory.[7][8]
Grioboyedov was regarded as a "very good musician" by the likes ofMikhail Glinka, and had routine salons at his residence which were attended by many musical luminaries of his time, although relatively minor in the contemporary decade, includingVladimir Odoevsky,Alexander Alyabyev,Mikhail Vielgorsky, andAlexey Verstovsky.
Out of work as a composer, only two compositions survive to the present, those being his two waltzes in A-flat major and E minor. He is known to have composed the musical score to the opera-vaudeville (or operetta) called "Who is a Brother, Who is a Sister, or Deception for Deception" (1824), written by the composer himself in collaboration withPyotr Vyazemsky.[9]
Several months after his wedding toNino, the 16-year-old daughter of his friendPrince Chavchavadze, Griboyedov was suddenly sent to Persia asMinister Plenipotentiary.[10] In the aftermath of theRusso–Persian War of 1826–1828 and the humiliatingTreaty of Turkmenchay, there was stronganti-Russian sentiment in Persia. Upon arrival in Tehran, theOrder of the Lion and the Sun was conferred on him. Soon after Griboyedov's arrival, a mob stormed theRussian embassy.
The incident began when an Armenianeunuch escaped from theharem of the Persianshah, and at the same time two enslavedArmenian women escaped from the harem of the Shah's son-in-law. All three sought refuge at the Russian legation. As agreed in theTreaty of Turkmenchay, Georgians and Armenians living in Persia at that time were permitted to move to Russian-controlled Georgia andEastern Armenia.[11] However, the Shah demanded that Griboyedov return the three escapees. Griboyedov refused. His decision caused an uproar throughout the city and several thousand Persians encircled the Russian compound demanding their release.
Soon after, urged on by the mullahs, the mob stormed the building. A high-ranking Muslim scholar, Mirza Masih Astarabadi, issued a fatwa saying that freeing Muslim women from the claws of unbelievers is allowed.[12]
Griboyedov and other members of his mission had prepared for a siege and sealed all the windows and doors. Armed and in full uniform, they were resolved to defend to the last drop of blood. Although small in number, theCossack detachment assigned to protect the legation held off the mob for over an hour until finally being driven back to Griboyedov's office. There, Griboyedov and the Cossacks resisted until the mob broke through the roof of the building, and then through the ceiling, to slaughter them. The escaped eunuch and Griboyedov, who fought with his sword, were among the first to be shot to death; the fate of the two Armenian women remains unknown.[11][13] Second secretary of the mission Karl Adelung and, in particular, a young doctor whose name is not known, fought hard, but soon the scene was one of butchered, decapitated corpses.
Griboyedov's body, thrown from a window, was decapitated by a kebab vendor who displayed the head on his stall.[12] The mob dragged the uniformed corpse through the city's streets and bazaars, to cries of celebration. It was eventually abandoned on a garbage heap after three days of ill-treatment by the mob, such that in the end it could be identified only by a duelling injury to a finger. The following June, Griboyedov's friendAlexander Pushkin, travelling through the southern Caucasus, encountered some men from Tehran leading an oxcart. The men told Pushkin they were conveying the ambassador's remains to Tiflis (nowTbilisi).Griboyedov was buried there, in the monastery of St. David (Mtatsminda Pantheon).[12]
When Nino, Griboyedov's widow, received news of his death she gave premature birth to a child who died a few hours later.
In a move to compensate Russia for the attack and the death of its ambassador, the Shah sent his grandsonKhosrow Mirza to Saint Petersburg to avoid another war withTsar Nicholas I.[12][14] The Shah also gifted to the Tsar theShah Diamond.[15]
Russian sources claim that[16] British agents, who feared Russian influence in Tehran, and Persian reactionaries, who were not satisfied with the Treaty of Turkmenchay, were responsible for inciting the mob.[16] According to George Bournoutian, the Tsar and General Paskevich likely did not greatly regret the loss of Griboyedov, who held liberal beliefs and favored autonomy for Christians in Transcaucasia. TheRusso–Turkish War of 1828–29 might have been another reason for the Russian inaction.[16] His wife had written on his tombstone in Tiflis: "Your mind and works are immortal in Russian memory, but why has my love outlived you?"[15]
Author Angela Brintlinger has said that "not only did Griboyedov's contemporaries conceive of his life as the life of a literary hero—ultimately writing a number of narratives featuring him as an essential character—but indeed Griboyedov saw himself as a hero and his life as a narrative. Although there is not a literary artifact to prove this, by examining Griboyedov's letters and dispatches, one is able to build a historical narrative that fits the literary and behavioural paradigms of his time and that reads like a real adventure novel set in the wild, wild East."
One of the main settings forMikhail Bulgakov's satirical novelThe Master and Margarita is named after Griboyedov, as is theGriboyedov Canal inCentral Saint Petersburg. One of the central streets ofTbilisi, the capital ofGeorgia, is named after Griboyedov. This street is crossed by Alexander Chavchavadze street, named after Griboyedov's father-in-law, famous Georgian poet,Alexander Chavchavadze.
On 17 April 1944 Pravda ran a lengthy feature on the commemoration of Griboyedov's 150th birthday when high-ranking officials, military leaders, diplomats, writers, and artists had attended a celebration in theBolshoi Theatre. Novelist and Stalin deputyLeonid Leonov eulogized Griboyedov, mentioning especially his love of his fatherland.
The reception to the Shah's grandson Khosrow Mirza in theWinter Palace, and Tsar Nicholas receiving from him the Shah Diamond, are featured in the 2002 Russian filmRussian Ark.
There are streets n.a. Griboyedov in many cities of Russia and neighboring countries.
Other places
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Griboyedov, Alexander Sergueevich".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 593.
This article incorporates text fromD.S. Mirsky's "A History of Russian Literature" (1926-27), a publication now in thepublic domain.
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