Moyka river Embankment 12
Tel. 571 3531
Open: 10am- 6pm
Wed- Mon
Closed: last Friday each month, public holidays
The memorial museum-apartment of A. S. Pushkin is a museum that tells about the last months of the poet's life. Since 1953, it has been part of the All-Russian Museum of A. S. Pushkin (before that, since 1925, it was part of the Pushkin House of the USSR Academy of Sciences).
In the house of Princess S. G. Volkonskaya on the embankment of
the Moika River “near the Konyushenny Bridge”, Alexander Sergeevich
Pushkin rented an apartment from the beginning of September 1836. “I
hired Pushkin,” the contract, certified by a notary, says, “the
whole, from one gate to the other, the lower floor of eleven rooms,
consisting of services ...”.
After the death of the poet, his
widow left Petersburg; the owners of the mansion rented the
apartment to other tenants, and by the beginning of the 20th century
its architectural appearance had changed significantly. In the
autumn of 1924, the former Pushkin apartment was transferred from
the jurisdiction of the Housing Association to the jurisdiction of
the Pushkin circle of the society "Old Petersburg - New Leningrad",
then - from December 31, 1925 - to the jurisdiction of the Academy
of Sciences. Since that time, work has been going on to reconstruct
the apartment, which was carried out in stages and continued until
the beginning of the 21st century. The last significant changes took
place in 2012, when the former nursery turned into a living space -
with toys from Pushkin's time, authentic portraits of Pushkin's
children and wife.
The first commemorative meeting, dedicated
to the anniversary of the death of A. S. Pushkin and then becoming
traditional, was held on the initiative of the Pushkin Circle on
February 10, 1925 in the poet's living room restored by that time.
The first museum was opened by employees of the Pushkin House of the
Academy of Sciences on February 13, 1927 in several rooms: an
office, a living room, a dining room, an entrance hall and a former
nursery (the author of the museum concept and its first scientific
curator is the head of the Literary Museum of the Pushkin House of
the USSR Academy of Sciences M. D. Belyaev) . The museum was
substantially transformed by the 100th anniversary of the death of
the poet - on February 10, 1937 (according to the new style) (the
author of the new concept is a prominent specialist in the field of
museum construction B. V. Shaposhnikov), then in 1949 birthday of A.
S. Pushkin), and from the beginning of the 1960s, work began here on
the so-called “memorialization”, which involves the transformation
of conditional interiors into reconstructed household premises,
reminiscent of the life of the Pushkin family and his work in 1836 -
early 1837.
In 1982-1987, during a major overhaul, not only
the former apartment of A.S. Pushkin was recreated in its original
form, but also the entire mansion, completely transferred to the
All-Russian Museum of A.S. Pushkin N. I. Popova, artist - T. N.
Voronikhina).
The year of the 200th anniversary of the birth
of A.S. Pushkin began in the museum with the opening of an
introductory exhibition telling about Pushkin's life and the
circumstances preceding his duel at the Black River. In 2012, the
nursery was recreated, in which the four children of the poet lived;
Pushkin's vest, which had previously been in the front room, was
transferred to the office. Icons appeared in the apartment, which
came to the museum from the descendants of the poet's family and
testify to the belonging of this family to the Russian Orthodox
culture. “I kiss you,” Pushkin wrote to his wife on August 3, 1834,
“thank you for praying to God on your knees in the middle of the
room. I pray little to God and hope that your pure prayer is better
than mine, both for me and for us.”
The author of the concept
of re-expositions in 1999-2012 is the head of the Memorial
Museum-Apartment of A. S. Pushkin G. M. Sedova; artist - L. A.
Zhukova.
Today the museum on Moika 12 keeps the largest
number of authentic items that belonged to Pushkin. The life of the
poet and his work are reminiscent of the desk and Voltaire chair in
his office, a travel chest and a desk, walking sticks and a smoking
pipe, an inkwell with a black chick, a knife for cutting papers, a
bell for calling servants. In the room of the poet's wife, her
portrait, made in 1832 by the artist A.P. Bryullov, as well as her
perfume bottle, coral bracelet, purses embroidered with beads and
silk, and other memorabilia are displayed.
The museum has
portraits of the poet himself and members of his family, it keeps
things related to the duel and the death of A. S. Pushkin - the vest
that he was wearing on the day of the duel, a lock of hair cut from
the head of the deceased at the request of I. S. Turgenev, death
mask by sculptor S. I. Galberg.
In the study there is a
genuine sofa on which the poet died on January 29, 1837. In 2008, on
the initiative of the head of the museum-apartment, G. M. Sedova,
the leather surface of the sofa was studied by employees of the
Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Leningrad Region. At
the same time, microscopic traces of blood were found, which turned
out to be identical to the lock of the poet's hair, as well as the
blood of A. S. Pushkin, preserved on his genuine vest.
In the
lower (basement) floor, where utility rooms were located in
Pushkin's time, there is an "introductory" exposition dedicated to
the last months of A. S. Pushkin's life. Two small halls display
engravings, watercolors and lithographs of Pushkin's time, portraits
of the poet's friends, genuine wedding shoes of Pushkin's wife and
fragments of drapery that once adorned one of the rooms of the
poet's apartment, donated to the museum in 1968 by collector S.
Lifar. Here are also materials telling about the duel on January 27,
1837 on the Black River: a copy of the anonymous libel received by
Pushkin on November 4, 1836, the terms of the duel, signed by the
seconds of A. S. Pushkin and Baron Georg Gekkeren (d'Antes) - K. K
Danzas and Viscount Olivier d'Arshiac (in the literature about
Pushkin, he is usually called Auguste d'Arshiac due to the incorrect
decoding of the French initial "O"), as well as a copy of the
portrait of d'Arshiac (the original is kept in the RGADA) and an
image of the place of the duel, made by the artist D. Lobanov in
1880 with the assistance of K. Danzas.