Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov last years of his life. Alexander Griboedov: an interesting short biography

Griboedov Alexander Sergeevich is a wonderful and versatile person, a Russian writer who was also a composer, poet and diplomat, who began in Moscow on January 15, 1795.

Griboyedov biography

Since not everyone is interested in the details of the biography of writers, but it is necessary to know about Griboyedov and the facts of his life, we suggest that you get acquainted with Griboyedov, his biography and work in a brief summary.

The future writer and author of the brilliant comedy Woe from Wit was born into an impoverished noble family. The future writer receives his first education at home, where his mother educates her son. Next, the gifted boy studies at a boarding house in Moscow, after which he enters the university to study literature. At the age of 13, Griboyedov received his PhD and entered the ethical and political department, and then the physics and mathematics department. Alexander Griboedov was a very educated and talented young man, knowing about ten languages ​​and fluent in them.

Getting acquainted with the future writer Griboyedov and his brief biography further, we learn that during the Patriotic War of 1812 he volunteered for the war, but he did not have to fight, as he ended up in a reserve regiment. Here in the service he writes articles and translates a French play.

In retirement, he continues to write, combining writing with diplomacy. Lives in St. Petersburg, writes comedies for the theater, moves in theatrical circles, and later goes to Persia, acting as embassy secretary. Here in Persia, Griboyedov begins his work on the famous comedy Woe from Wit, which he continued to write in the Caucasus.

There were also arrests in Griboyedov’s biography, since the writer was suspected of involvement in the Decembrists, but due to lack of evidence, his involvement in the uprising could not be proven, and Griboyedov was released.

A.S. Griboyedov was a good diplomat, so in 1826 he was sent to Persia, where he concluded a peace treaty, after which he remained to work there as an ambassador. But he did not have long to work at the embassy, ​​because in 1829, during the Tehran riot, Griboyedov died at the hands of an angry crowd at the age of 34. Griboyedov was buried in Tbilisi.

Biography of Griboyedov interesting facts

If we talk about the biography of Griboyedov and interesting facts, then it’s worth saying that Griboyedov knew ten foreign languages ​​and communicated fluently in all of them.
Griboyedov was a second.
The writer wrote two waltzes for piano.
Griboyedov was once wounded in a duel, which later made it possible to identify the writer’s body.

Playwright, poet, diplomat Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov was born on January 4 (15), 1795 in Moscow into a noble family. At the age of fifteen he graduated from Moscow University. During the Napoleonic invasion he enlisted in the army and served for two years in a cavalry regiment. In June 1817, Griboyedov entered service in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs; in August 1818 he was appointed secretary of the Russian diplomatic mission in Persia.


From 1822 to 1826, Griboedov served in the Caucasus at the headquarters of A.P. Ermolov, from January to June 1826 he was under arrest in the Decembrist case.

Since 1827, under the new governor of the Caucasus, I.F. Paskevich, he was in charge of diplomatic relations with Turkey and Persia. In 1828, after the conclusion of the Turkmanchay Peace, in which Griboyedov accepted active participation and the text of which he brought to St. Petersburg, he was appointed “Minister Plenipotentiary” to Persia to ensure compliance with the terms of the treaty.

In the same year in August, Alexander Griboyedov married eldest daughter his friend - the Georgian poet and public figure Alexandra Chavchavadze - Nina, whom he knew since childhood, often studied music with her. Having matured, Nina evoked in the soul of Alexander Griboyedov, an already mature man, a strong and deep feeling of love.

They say she was a beauty: a slender, graceful brunette, with pleasant and regular features, with dark brown eyes, charming everyone with her kindness and meekness. Griboyedov called her Madonna Murillo. On August 22, 1828, they were married in the Zion Cathedral in Tiflis. There is an entry in the church book: “The Plenipotentiary Minister in Persia of His Imperial Majesty, State Councilor and Cavalier Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov entered into a legal marriage with the girl Nina, the daughter of Major General Prince Alexander Chavchavadzev...”. Griboyedov was 33 years old, Nina Alexandrovna was not yet sixteen.

After the wedding and several days of celebrations, the young couple left for the estate of A. Chavchavadze in Kakheti, Tsinandali. Then the young couple went to Persia. Not wanting to expose Nina to danger in Tehran, Griboyedov temporarily left his wife in Tabriz, his residence of the plenipotentiary representative Russian Empire in Persia, and went to the capital to present to the Shah alone. In Tehran, Griboedov was very homesick for his young wife and worried about her (Nina had a very difficult time with her pregnancy).

On January 30, 1829, a crowd, incited by Muslim fanatics, destroyed the Russian mission in Tehran. During the destruction of the embassy, ​​the Russian envoy Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov was killed. The riotous crowd dragged his mutilated corpse through the streets for several days, and then threw him into a common pit, where the bodies of his comrades already lay. Later he was identified only by the little finger of his left hand, mutilated in a duel.

Nina, who was waiting for her husband in Tabriz, did not know about his death; Worried about her health, those around her hid the terrible news. On February 13, at the urgent request of her mother, she left Tabriz and went to Tiflis. Only here they told her that her husband was dead. She suffered from premature labor due to stress.

On April 30, Griboyedov’s ashes were brought to Gergery, where A.S. saw the coffin. Pushkin, who mentions this in his “Travel to Arzrum”. In June, Griboyedov’s body finally arrived in Tiflis, and on June 18, 1829, it was interred near the Church of St. David, according to the wishes of Griboedov, who once jokingly told his wife: “Don’t leave my bones in Persia; if I die there, bury me in Tiflis, in the monastery of St. David." Nina fulfilled her husband's will. She buried him where he asked; Nina Alexandrovna erected a chapel on her husband’s grave, and in it there was a monument depicting a woman praying and crying in front of a crucifix - an emblem of herself. On the monument there is the following inscription: “Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory; but why did my love survive you?”

Nina Alexandrovna survived her husband by 28 years; she died in 1857 from cholera and was buried next to her beloved.

Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. Born on January 4 (15), 1795 in Moscow - died on January 30 (February 11), 1829 in Tehran. Russian diplomat, poet, playwright, pianist and composer, nobleman. State Councilor (1828).

Griboyedov is known as homo unius libri - the writer of one book, the brilliantly rhymed play "Woe from Wit", which is still very often staged in Russian theaters. It served as the source of numerous catchphrases.

Griboedov was born in Moscow into a wealthy, noble family. His ancestor, Jan Grzybowski (Polish: Jan Grzybowski), in early XVII century moved from Poland to Russia. The author's surname Griboyedov is nothing more than a peculiar translation of the surname Grzhibovsky. Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Fyodor Akimovich Griboyedov was a clerk and one of the five compilers of the Council Code of 1649.

The writer's father is retired Second Major Sergei Ivanovich Griboedov (1761-1814). Mother - Anastasia Fedorovna (1768-1839), maiden name was also Griboedova.

According to relatives, as a child Alexander was very focused and unusually developed. There is information that he was the great-nephew of Alexander Radishchev (the playwright himself carefully hid this). At the age of 6 he was fluent in three foreign languages, in his youth already six, in particular fluent in English, French, German and Italian. He understood Latin and ancient Greek very well.

In 1803 he was sent to the Moscow University Noble Boarding School; Three years later, Griboedov entered the literature department of Moscow University. In 1808 he received the title of candidate of literary sciences, but did not leave his studies, but entered the moral and political department, and then the physics and mathematics department.

On September 8, 1812, cornet Griboyedov fell ill and remained in Vladimir, and, presumably, until November 1, 1812, due to illness, did not appear at the regiment's location. In winter, during Patriotic War In 1812, when the enemy appeared on Russian territory, he joined the Moscow Hussar Regiment (a volunteer irregular unit) of Count Pyotr Ivanovich Saltykov, who received permission to form it. Arriving at his place of duty, he found himself in the company of “young cornets from the best noble families” - Prince Golitsyn, Count Efimovsky, Count Tolstoy, Alyabyev, Sheremetev, Lansky, and the Shatilov brothers. Griboyedov was related to some of them. Subsequently, he wrote in a letter to S.N. Begichev: “I was in this squad for only 4 months, and now for the 4th year I have not been able to get on the right path.”

Until 1815, Griboedov served in the rank of cornet under the command of cavalry general A. S. Kologrivov. Griboyedov’s first literary experiments - “Letter from Brest-Litovsk to the Publisher”, the essay “On the Cavalry Reserves” and the comedy “The Young Spouses” (translation of the French comedy “Le secre”) - date back to 1814. In the article “On the Cavalry Reserves” Griboyedov acted as a historical publicist.

In 1815, Griboedov came to St. Petersburg, where he met the publisher of the magazine “Son of the Fatherland” N.I. Grech and the famous playwright N.I. Khmelnitsky.

In the spring of 1816, the aspiring writer left military service, and in the summer he published an article “On the analysis of the free translation of the Burger ballad “Lenora”” - a response to N. I. Gnedich’s critical remarks about P. A. Katenin’s ballad “Olga”. At the same time, Griboyedov’s name appears in the lists of active members of the Masonic lodge “Les Amis Reunis” (“United Friends”).

At the beginning of 1817, Griboyedov became one of the founders of the Masonic lodge "Du Bien". In the summer he entered the diplomatic service, taking the position of provincial secretary (from the winter - translator) of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. This period of the writer’s life also includes his acquaintances with A. S. Pushkin and V. K. Kuchelbecker, work on the poem “Lubochny Theater” (a response to M. N. Zagoskin’s criticism of “Young Spouses”), and the comedies “Student” (together with P. A. Katenin), “Feigned Infidelity” (together with A. A. Gendre), “Own Family, or the Married Bride” (co-authored with A. A. Shakhovsky and N. I. Khmelnitsky).

In 1817, the famous “quadruple duel” between Zavadovsky-Sheremetev and Griboedov-Yakubovich took place in St. Petersburg. It was Griboyedov who gave the reason for the duel, bringing the ballerina Istomin to the apartment of his friend Count Zavadovsky (Griboyedov was 22 years old at that time). Cavalry guard Sheremetev, Istomina’s lover, summoned Zavadovsky. Griboedov became Zavadovsky’s second, and Yakubovich, a cornet of the Life Ulan Regiment, became Sheremetev’s second.

Griboyedov lived with Zavadovsky and, being a friend of Istomina, after the performance he brought her to his place, naturally, to Zavadovsky’s house, where she lived for two days. Sheremetev was in a quarrel with Istomina and was away, but when he returned, instigated by A.I. Yakubovich, he challenged Zavadovsky to a duel. Yakubovich and Griboyedov also promised to fight.

Zavadovsky and Sheremetev were the first to reach the barrier. Zavadovsky, an excellent shooter, mortally wounded Sheremetev in the stomach. Since Sheremetev had to be immediately taken to the city, Yakubovich and Griboedov postponed their fight. It took place the following year, 1818, in Georgia. Yakubovich was transferred to Tiflis for service, and Griboedov also happened to be passing through there, heading on a diplomatic mission to Persia.

Griboedov was wounded in the left hand. It was from this wound that it was subsequently possible to identify the disfigured corpse of Griboyedov, killed by religious fanatics during the destruction of the Russian embassy in Tehran.

In 1818, Griboyedov, having refused the position of an official of the Russian mission in the United States, was appointed to the post of secretary under the Tsar's Charge d'Affaires of Persia. Before leaving for Tehran, he completed work on “Sideshow Trials.” He went to his duty station at the end of August, two months later (with short stops in Novgorod, Moscow, Tula and Voronezh) he arrived in Mozdok, and on the way to Tiflis he compiled a detailed diary describing his travels.

At the beginning of 1819, Griboedov completed work on the ironic “Letter to the Publisher from Tiflis on January 21” and, probably, the poem “Forgive me, Fatherland!”, and then went on his first business trip to the Shah’s court. On the way to the appointed place through Tabriz (January - March) he continued to drive travel notes, started last year. In August he returned back, where he began to advocate for the fate of Russian soldiers who were in Iranian captivity. In September, at the head of a detachment of prisoners and fugitives, he set out from Tabriz to Tiflis, where he arrived the following month. Some events of this journey are described on the pages of Griboyedov’s diaries (for July and August/September), as well as in the narrative fragments “Vagin’s Story” and “Ananur Quarantine”.

In January 1820, Griboyedov went there again, adding new entries to his travel diary. Here, burdened with official chores, he spent more than a year and a half. His stay in Persia was incredibly burdensome for the writer-diplomat, and in the fall of the following year, 1821, due to health reasons (due to a broken arm), he finally managed to transfer closer to his homeland - to Georgia. There he became close to Kuchelbecker, who had arrived here for service, and began work on the draft manuscripts of the first edition of “Woe from Wit.”

Since February 1822, Griboyedov was secretary for diplomatic affairs under General A.P. Ermolov, who commanded the Russian troops in Tiflis. The author’s work on the drama “1812” is often dated to the same year (apparently timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Russia’s victory in the war with Napoleonic France).

At the beginning of 1823, Griboyedov left the service for a while and returned to his homeland, for more than two years he lived in Moscow, in the village. Dmitrovsky (Lakotsy) Tula province, in St. Petersburg. Here the author continued the work begun in the Caucasus with the text “Woe from Wit”, by the end of the year he wrote the poem “David”, a dramatic scene in verse “Youth of the Prophetic”, vaudeville “Who is the brother, who is the sister, or Deception after deception” (in cooperation with P. A. Vyazemsky) and the first edition of the famous waltz “e-moll”. It is customary to attribute the appearance of the first entries of his “Desiderata” - a journal of notes on controversial issues of Russian history, geography and literature - to the same period of Griboedov’s life.

The following year, 1824, dates back to the writer’s epigrams on M. A. Dmitriev and A. I. Pisarev (“And they compose - they lie! And they translate - they lie!..”, “How magazine brawls spread!..”), the narrative fragment “Character my uncle,” the essay “Special Cases of the St. Petersburg Flood” and the poem “Teleshova.” At the end of the same year (December 15), Griboyedov became a full member of the Free Society of Lovers of Russian Literature.

At the end of May 1825, due to the urgent need to return to his place of duty, the writer abandoned his intention to visit Europe and left for the Caucasus.

Subsequently, he will learn Arabic, Turkish, Georgian and Persian. The first teacher who taught Griboedov the Persian language was Mirza Jafar Topchibashev. On the eve of this trip, he completed work on a free translation of the “Prologue in the Theater” from the tragedy “Faust”, at the request of F.V. Bulgarin, he compiled notes to “Extraordinary Adventures and Travels...” of D.I. Tsikulin, published in the April issues of the magazine “Northern” archive" for 1825. On the way to Georgia, he visited Kiev, where he met prominent figures of the revolutionary underground (M. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, A. Z. Muravyov, S. I. Muravyov-Apostol and S. P. Trubetskoy), lived for some time in Crimea, visiting the estate of his old friend A.P. Zavadovsky. On the peninsula, Griboyedov developed a plan for the majestic tragedy of the Baptism of the ancient Russians and kept a detailed diary travel notes, published only three decades after the author’s death. According to the opinion established in science, it was precisely under the influence southern trip he wrote the scene “Dialogue of Polovtsian Husbands”.

Upon returning to the Caucasus, Griboyedov, inspired by participation in the expedition of General A. A. Velyaminov, wrote the famous poem “Predators on Chegem.” In January 1826, he was arrested in the Grozny fortress on suspicion of belonging to the Decembrists; Griboedov was brought to St. Petersburg, but the investigation could not find evidence of Griboedov’s membership in a secret society. With the exception of A.F. Brigen, E.P. Obolensky, N.N. Orzhitsky and S.P. Trubetskoy, none of the suspects testified to the detriment of Griboyedov. He was under investigation until June 2, 1826, but since it was not possible to prove his participation in the conspiracy, and he himself categorically denied his involvement in the conspiracy, he was released from arrest with a “cleansing certificate.” Despite this, Griboyedov was under secret surveillance for some time.

In September 1826 he returned to service in Tiflis and continued his diplomatic activities; took part in the conclusion of the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty (1828), beneficial for Russia, and delivered its text to St. Petersburg. Appointed as Resident Minister (Ambassador) to Iran; On the way to his destination, he again spent several months in Tiflis and married there on August 22 (September 3), 1828, Princess Nina Chavchavadze, with whom he only lived for a few weeks.

Foreign embassies were located not in the capital, but in Tabriz, at the court of Prince Abbas Mirza, but soon after arriving in Persia, the mission went to present itself to Feth Ali Shah in Tehran. During this visit, Griboyedov died: on January 30, 1829 (6 Sha'ban 1244 AH), a crowd of thousands of rebellious Persians killed everyone in the embassy, ​​except for the secretary Ivan Sergeevich Maltsov.

The circumstances of the defeat of the Russian mission are described in different ways, but Maltsov was an eyewitness to the events, and he does not mention the death of Griboedov, only writes that 15 people defended themselves at the door of the envoy’s room. Returning to Russia, he wrote that 37 people in the embassy were killed (all except him alone) and 19 Tehran residents. He himself hid in another room and, in fact, could only describe what he heard. All the defenders died, and there were no direct witnesses left.

Riza-Kuli writes that Griboyedov was killed with 37 comrades, and 80 people from the crowd were killed. His body was so mutilated that he was identified only by a mark on his left hand, received in the famous duel with Yakubovich.

Griboedov's body was taken to Tiflis and buried on Mount Mtatsminda in a grotto at the Church of St. David.

The Persian Shah sent his grandson to St. Petersburg to resolve the diplomatic scandal. To compensate for the blood shed, he brought rich gifts to Nicholas I, including the Shah diamond. This magnificent diamond, framed with many rubies and emeralds, once adorned the throne of the Great Mughals. Now it shines in the collection of the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin.

At the grave, Griboyedov’s widow Nina Chavchavadze erected a monument to him with the inscription: “Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory, but why did my love survive you!”

Yuri Tynyanov dedicated the novel “The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar” (1928) to the last years of A. S. Griboyedov’s life.

Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov was born in Moscow in 1795. He came from a wealthy noble family, belonging to that high Moscow society, which he later described in his comedy “Woe from Wit” (see its full text and summary on our website). He received an excellent upbringing and education, first at home, with various teachers and tutors, then at the Noble boarding school. Griboyedov was fluent in several foreign languages, played the piano beautifully, and was sometimes fond of musical improvisation; From childhood, a talented, gifted nature was visible in him. At the age of fifteen he entered Moscow University, where he remained for 2 years. Here his literary views and tastes were formed and determined; Griboyedov was greatly influenced by the professor of aesthetics Boulet, a supporter of the classical theory of art, with whom he had many and frequent conversations.

Portrait of Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov. Artist I. Kramskoy, 1875

Griboyedov left the university in 1812, at the height of the Patriotic War; he immediately volunteered for military service, but he was unable to participate in hostilities; His regiment spent more than three years in Belarus, moving from one town to another. Subsequently, Griboyedov recalled these years with bitterness. military service, spent mostly in card game, in revelry and entertainment, distracting him from all cultural work. Cheerful, ardent, passionate Griboyedov, then still very young, was easily carried away by the example of the officer environment around him, often becoming the center of various pranks and antics. They say, for example, that once, on a bet, he rode into a ball of a rich Belarusian landowner on horseback.

In 1816, Griboyedov retired and decided to serve in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. While living in St. Petersburg, he was interested in theater and met the writers Shakhovsky, Khmelnitsky, Katenin, whose works were then staged. Through Shakhovsky, Griboedov met members literary society“Conversation of lovers of the Russian word” and wholeheartedly joined the classical movement. (See Stages of Griboyedov's creativity.) In his first comedy - “Student” - Griboedov ridicules, offends Zhukovsky and even, oddly enough, Batyushkov. But in this same comedy, the issue of serfdom is also quite seriously touched upon, depicting the difficult situation of the serf peasant, from whom the master demands an unbearable quitrent.

Together with Shakhovsky and Khmelnitsky, Griboyedov wrote a very funny comedy, “One’s Own Family, or a Married Bride,” which is still sometimes staged on stage; This comedy is always a success thanks to its lively, funny pictures and very easy language.

One of Griboyedov’s plays, “The Young Spouses” (adapted from French), was staged on stage already in 1815.

In 1819, Griboedov was appointed secretary at the Russian embassy in Persia, and had to go to the Persian city of Tabriz. He wanted to devote himself entirely to literature, but his mother demanded that he serve. Griboedov devoted himself wholeheartedly to his official activities and soon attracted attention with his outstanding diplomatic abilities. Despite his service, Griboyedov found time for serious studies. In Tabriz, which he wittily called his “diplomatic monastery,” he seriously studied Persian and Arabic languages, Persian literature, history. There he also worked on his famous comedy “Woe from Wit,” which he conceived at almost the age of fifteen. In Tabriz the 1st and 2nd actions were completed.

Woe from the mind. Maly Theater performance, 1977

On business matters, Griboyedov traveled from Tabriz to Tiflis (Tbilisi) several times. The famous General A.P. Ermolov, commander-in-chief in the Caucasus, drew attention to the brilliant abilities young man, and, at his request, Griboedov was appointed his secretary for foreign affairs. He remained in Tiflis until 1823. Despite his success at work and Ermolov’s cordial attitude, Griboyedov was irresistibly drawn to Russia. Finally, he received leave and spent about a year in Moscow, then in St. Petersburg, then on the estate of his friend Begichev in the Tula province.

Arriving in Moscow after a long absence, plunging, like his hero Chatsky, into the whirlpool of Moscow society, Griboedov, under a fresh impression, finished “Woe from Wit” on Begichev’s estate.

Rarely what literary work, without being published, spread and became known as quickly as “Woe from Wit.” Friends rewrote it and passed the manuscripts on to each other. Many memorized passages and entire scenes of the comedy. “Woe from Wit” immediately aroused wild delight in society – and equally violent indignation; All those who felt hurt and ridiculed in the comedy were indignant. Griboedov's enemies shouted that his comedy was an evil libel against Moscow; they did everything they could to prevent Woe from Wit from being published and to be staged. Indeed, “Woe from Wit” was published only after Griboedov’s death, and he saw the production of his truly wonderful comedy only once, performed by amateur officers in Erivan (Yerevan), in 1827.

Despite Griboedov's ardent desire to resign, he had to, at the insistence of his mother, return to serve in the Caucasus.

After the accession of Emperor Nicholas I to the throne in 1826, Griboyedov was unexpectedly arrested and brought to St. Petersburg; he was accused of participating in Decembrist conspiracy, but very soon he was justified and was released. It has not yet been established whether he was really a member of the “Northern Society”. In “Woe from Wit” Griboyedov expressed his negative attitude towards secret societies(Repetilov); but it is known that he was really close and corresponded with some of the Decembrists (Kuchelbecker, Bestuzhev, Prince Odoevsky), poets and writers.

In 1826-27, Griboyedov took an active part in the war against Persia, serving under General Paskevich, who replaced Ermolov in the Caucasus. Many times Griboyedov showed brilliant courage and self-control during the war. The conclusion of the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty, according to which Russia received the Erivan region and a large indemnity, was the work of Griboyedov, who led the diplomatic negotiations. Paskevich, appreciating his merits, wanted him to personally report to the Emperor about the concluded peace. Nicholas I received him very graciously, rewarded him and soon appointed him envoy to Persia.

Griboedov's diplomatic career was brilliant; he was only 33 years old when he was appointed to the responsible post of envoy. But this honor and distinction did not please him. Never before had it been so difficult for him to leave Russia. Heavy, vague premonitions did not give him peace. Saying goodbye to his friends, he felt that he would never see them again.

On the way to Persia, Griboyedov stopped in Tiflis and spent several months here. Griboyedov loved one young girl, Princess Nina Chavchavadze, whom he had previously seen as a girl. Having met Nina again, Griboyedov proposed to her and, having received consent, soon got married. The happiness of the young couple did not last long! Griboedov had to go to Persia, to his destination. He did not want to take his young wife with him, since the atmosphere in Persia after the recent war was very tense; his wife accompanied Griboyedov to Tabriz, from where he went alone to Tehran, hoping after a while to discharge his wife there. But they were never destined to meet again in this world...

The Persians were extremely irritated against Griboedov, who concluded such a disadvantageous peace for them. There is reason to believe that British diplomacy also supported this irritation of the Persians against Russia. Griboyedov, as a representative of Russia, immediately took a very firm and decisive position; he did everything he could to free many Russian prisoners languishing in Persian captivity, and also took under his protection the Christians who were persecuted by the Mohammedans. The irritation of the Persians was fueled by fanatical mullahs. Having learned that Christians who had fled from Persian persecution were hiding in the embassy house, an excited crowd of people surrounded the embassy, ​​demanding their extradition.

Griboedov refused to hand over the Christians hiding under his protection. A huge crowd of Persians began to storm the house. Griboyedov himself, with a saber in his hands, became the head of the Cossacks defending the embassy and was killed in this unequal battle - the Persians were ten times more numerous than the Russians, who were all killed by the enraged crowd. From the entire Russian embassy, ​​one person escaped, and he spoke about Griboyedov’s firm, courageous behavior and his heroic death. Only on the third day did the troops arrive; the rebellion was pacified. A vengeful crowd of Persians mutilated Griboedov's body, dragging him through the streets of the city; he was recognized only by the cramped finger of his hand, which had been shot through in a duel several years earlier.

Russian playwright, diplomat and composer Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov was born on January 15 (4 according to the old style) 1795 (according to other sources - 1790) in Moscow. He belonged to a noble family and received a serious education at home.

In 1803, Alexander Griboedov entered the Moscow University Noble Boarding School, and in 1806 - Moscow University. In 1808, having graduated from the verbal department with the title of candidate, he continued to study in the ethical and political department.

Spoken French, English, German, Italian, Greek, Latin languages, later mastered Arabic, Persian, and Turkish.

With the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Griboedov left his academic studies and joined the Moscow Hussar Regiment as a cornet.

At the beginning of 1816, having retired, he settled in St. Petersburg and entered the service of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs.

Leading a secular lifestyle, he moved in the theatrical and literary circles of St. Petersburg. He wrote the comedies “Young Spouses” (1815), “One’s Own Family, or The Married Bride” (1817) in collaboration with playwrights Alexander Shakhovsky and Nikolai Khmelnitsky, “Student” (1817) together with the poet and playwright Pavel Katenin.

In 1818, Griboyedov was appointed secretary of the Russian mission to Persia (now Iran). Not the least role in this kind of exile was played by his participation as a second in the duel of the chamber cadet Alexander Zavadsky with officer Vasily Sheremetev, which ended in the death of the latter.

Since 1822, Griboyedov in Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia) held the position of secretary for diplomatic affairs under the commander of Russian troops in the Caucasus, General Alexei Ermolov.

The first and second acts of Griboedov's famous comedy "Woe from Wit" were written in Tiflis. The third and fourth acts were written in the spring and summer of 1823 while on vacation in Moscow and on his estate close friend retired Colonel Stepan Begichev near Tula. By the autumn of 1824, the comedy was completed, and Griboyedov went to St. Petersburg, intending to use his connections in the capital to obtain permission for its publication and theatrical production. Only excerpts published in 1825 by Thaddeus Bulgarin in the almanac "Russian Waist" were censored. Griboyedov's creation spread among the reading public in handwritten copies and became an event in Russian culture.

Griboyedov also composed musical pieces, among which two waltzes for piano were popular. He played the piano, organ, and flute.

In the fall of 1825, Griboyedov returned to the Caucasus. At the beginning of 1826, he was arrested and taken to St. Petersburg to investigate alleged connections with the Decembrists, the instigators of the uprising in the capital on December 14, 1825. Many of the conspirators were close friends of Griboyedov, but in the end he was acquitted and released.

Upon returning to the Caucasus in the fall of 1826, he took part in several battles that began Russian-Persian war(1826-1828). Having brought the documents of the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty with Persia to St. Petersburg in March 1828, Griboedov was awarded and appointed minister plenipotentiary (ambassador) to Persia.

On his way to Persia, he stopped for a while in Tiflis, where in August 1828 he married 16-year-old Nina Chavchavadze, the daughter of the Georgian poet, Prince Alexander Chavchavadze.

In Persia, among other things Russian minister was engaged in sending captive Russian citizens to their homeland. An appeal to him for help by two Armenian women who had fallen into the harem of a noble Persian was the reason for reprisals against the diplomat.

Reactionary Tehran circles, dissatisfied with the peace with Russia, set a fanatical crowd against the Russian mission.

On February 11 (January 30, old style), 1829, during the defeat of the Russian mission in Tehran, Alexander Griboedov was killed.

Together with the Russian ambassador, all the embassy employees, except for secretary Ivan Maltsev, and the Cossacks of the embassy convoy died - a total of 37 people.

Griboyedov's ashes were in Tiflis and interred on Mount Mtatsminda in a grotto at the Church of St. David. The tombstone is crowned with a monument in the form of a weeping widow with the inscription: “Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory, but why did my love survive you?”

Griboedov's son, baptized Alexander, died without living even a day. Nina Griboyedova never remarried and never took off her mourning clothes, for which she was called the Black Rose of Tiflis. In 1857, she died of cholera, refusing to leave her sick relatives. She was buried next to her only husband.

For death Russian ambassador Persia paid with rich gifts, including the famous Shah diamond, which is kept in the collection of the Russian Diamond Fund.

The comedy in verse by Griboyedov "Woe from Wit" was staged in Moscow in 1831 and published in 1833. Her images became household names, and individual poems became sayings and catchphrases.

A canal and a garden in St. Petersburg were named after Griboyedov. In 1959, a monument to the writer was erected on Pionerskaya Square.

In 1959, a monument to Alexander Griboedov was erected in Moscow at the beginning of Chistoprudny Boulevard.

In 1995, the State Historical, Cultural and Natural Museum-Reserve A.S. was opened in the Smolensk region. Griboyedov "Khmelita" is the family estate of the Griboyedovs, with which the playwright's childhood and early youth are associated.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources