Beloved Tyutchev. “Your sweet gaze, full of innocent passion”: Tyutchev and his beloved women

In the person of Eleanor, Tyutchev found a loving wife, a devoted friend and constant support in difficult moments of life.

I still languish with the longing of desires,

I still strive for you with my soul -

And in the twilight of memories

I still catch your image...

Your sweet image, unforgettable,

He is in front of me everywhere, always,

Unattainable, unchangeable,

Like a star in the sky at night...

But, unfortunately, their marriage did not last long. On May 30, 1838, Tyutchev received news of the sinking of the steamship Nicholas I off the coast of Prussia, on which his family was supposed to be traveling. After nervous and physical shock, Tyutchev’s wife dies in severe suffering. According to family legend, “Tyutchev, having spent the night at the tomb of his first wife, turned gray with grief.”

So sweet and gracious

Airy and light

to my soul a hundredfold

Your love was there.

Ernestina Dernberg

“You would be a blessing to me...”

A woman of remarkable appearance, well educated and, moreover, rich. Ernestina's romance with Theodore developed against the backdrop of increasing family difficulties in the Tyutchev family. In August 1837, senior secretary at the mission in Turin. Eleanor was supposed to come to him in the spring of next year, but for now the lovers met in Germany and Italy. One of the meetings in Genoa was supposed to be the last: with his wife alive, further meetings were meaningless for Ernestina. However, in August 1838, unable to withstand the difficulties of family life, Eleanor died, and in December 1838 Ernestine took the vacant seat.

Oh, if only you had dreamed then,

What the future held for both of us...

Like a wounded person, you would wake up screaming,

Or I would have passed into another dream.

Enchanted Ernestina did not heed the warnings of fate and on July 17, 1839 she became Theodore’s wife. Baroness Ernestina von Dernberg ceased to exist, Ernestina Tyutcheva appeared.

By the way, after the marriage was formalized, Ernestina adopted Anna, Daria and Ekaterina. Ernestina loved her adopted daughters and maintained warm, trusting relationships with them throughout her life.

Ernestine twice had the chance to become a participant in “love triangles” created by Theodore’s “excessive amorousness.” And both times fate left Ernestina next to Theodore. Theodore didn't just have an affair. In 1851, he formed a second family with Elena Deniseva. The confrontation between the families lasted 14 years and ended with the death of Deniseva in 1864.

Ernestine outlived her Theodore by 21 years and died at a very old age.

Elena Aleksandrovna Deniseva

“Oh, how murderously we love...”

When Fyodor Ivanovich was 47 years old, his new love interest began, enriching Russian poetry with an immortal lyrical cycle. “The Denisiev Cycle” is the pinnacle of Tyutchev’s love lyrics.

Denisyeva suffered severe trials. To be rejected by society and her own father, subjected to the most severe accusations - the poor woman had to drink this bitter cup to the dregs.

Tyutchev met Elena Denisyeva, a student at Smolny and the niece of the institute’s inspector, in 1845. This happened after Tyutchev arranged for his daughters to work at Smolny. Twenty-five-year-old Elena immediately fell in love with Tyutchev and was ready to do anything for him. A secret marriage between the lovers was concluded in the summer of 1850, which Ernestina, Tyutchev’s wife, did not even suspect. However, soon the secret connection became known in society.

The peak of the hobby passed, and already in 1851 Tyutchev “summed up” the results:

Oh, how murderously we love,

As in the violent blindness of passions

We are most likely to destroy,

What is dear to our hearts!

How long ago, proud of my victory,

You said: she is mine...

A year has not passed - ask and find out,

What has survived from not me?

Where did the roses go?

The smile of the lips and the sparkle of the eyes?

Everything was scorched, tears burned out

With its flammable moisture.

Do you remember, when you met,

At the first fatal meeting,

Her magical gaze and speech,

And the laughter of a child is alive?

So what now? And where is all this?

And how long was the dream?

Alas, like northern summer,

He was a passing guest!

Fate's terrible sentence

Your love was for her

And undeserved shame

She laid down her life!

A life of renunciation, a life of suffering!

In her spiritual depths

She was left with memories...

But they changed them too.

And on earth she felt wild,

The charm is gone...

The crowd surged and trampled into the mud

What bloomed in her soul.

And what about the long torment?

How did she manage to save the ashes?

Pain, the evil pain of bitterness,

Pain without joy and without tears!

Oh, how murderously we love,

As in the violent blindness of passions

We are most likely to destroy,

What is dear to our hearts!

The relationship between Tyutchev and Denisyeva continued for 14 years. They had three children. The death of Elena Alexandrovna from consumption on August 4, 1864 was an irreparable loss for the poet. The poem “All day long she lay in oblivion” is the last of the works of the “Denisiev cycle.”

All day she lay in oblivion,

And all of it was already covered with shadows.

The warm summer rain was pouring - its streams

The leaves sounded cheerful.

And slowly she came to her senses,

And I started listening to the noise,

And I listened for a long time - captivated,

Immersed in conscious thought...

And so, as if talking to myself,

She spoke consciously

(I was with her, killed but alive):

“Oh, how I loved all this!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You loved, and the way you love -

No, no one has ever succeeded!

Oh my God!.. and survive this...

And my heart didn’t break into pieces...

Tyutchev love lyrics romantic

F.I. Tyutchev loved several women throughout his life. He loved them deeply, sublimely, sincerely. The poet's feelings for each beloved were genuine. They were often accompanied by suffering. But they brought extraordinary depth, passion, and selflessness into the poet’s life. If these women had not existed, there would have been no wonderful poems in which the poet laid bare his soul and revealed the secret of a wonderful feeling - love.

It is heartfelt and multifaceted, like love itself in the poet’s life - a riot of feelings, contradictory and inspiring, resulted either in tragedy or drama. Five love stories, five women of the great poet left a mark on his life, in his heart and in his poems.

1. Katyusha Kruglikova

The first love of the famous poet was... a courtyard girl at the estate, Katyusha Kruglikova. It would seem an insignificant, simple and naive story, but... The relationship between the lovers went so far that Tyutchev’s influential parents had to intervene, who, of course, were against such a hobby for their son. Using their connections, they obtained permission for Fyodor to graduate from university early and sent him away from home - to St. Petersburg, and then to Munich, where Tyutchev would spend twenty-two years. Katyusha, after some time, was given her freedom, and then provided with a dowry and married off... She was Tyutchev’s only beloved to whom he did not devote his poems - perhaps because of the brevity and youth of their romance.

In Munich, Tyutchev’s heart was captured by the young and noble Amalia von Lerchenfeld, the illegitimate daughter of the Prussian King Frederick William III and Princess Thurn and Taxis. The beautiful Amalia reciprocated the passionately in love poet and agreed to his proposal, but her relatives were against it. Tyutchev was refused, and when he left Munich for a while, Amalia married his colleague, Baron Kruender. They say this caused a duel between them. Later, I remember walking with Amalia along the banks of the Danube, Tyutchev will write the poem “I Remember the Golden Time.”

I remember the golden time, I remember the dear land to my heart. The day was getting dark; there were two of us; Below, in the shadows, the Danube roared.

And on the hill, where the white ruin of the castle looks into the distance, you stood, young fairy, leaning on the mossy granite.

With an infant's foot touching the fragments of an age-old pile; And the sun hesitated, saying goodbye to the hill, and the castle, and you.

And the quiet wind, passing by, played with Your clothes, And from the wild apple trees, flower after flower, blew onto the shoulders of the young ones.

You looked carefree into the distance... The edge of the sky was smoky in the rays; The day was dying out; The River sang more sonorously in its darkened banks.

And you spent the happy day with carefree joy; And sweet is fleeting life A shadow flew over us.

The work is dedicated to Amalia, who throughout her life maintained friendly relations with the poet who was once in love with her.

Nee Countess Botmer, by her first husband - Peterson, becomes Tyutchev's first wife. The poet meets her in Munich, having arrived there as a freelance attaché of the Russian diplomatic mission. Their marriage was happy: Eleanor fell in love with Tyutchev instantly and loved selflessly, surrounding him with touching care. Tender and fragile, like a beautiful vision, she turned out to be a reliable support for her husband. Having taken over the entire economic part of the marital life, Eleanor, with a very modest income, was able to equip a cozy and hospitable home and ensure cloudless happiness for her family. And when, having moved to Turin, the Tyutchevs found themselves in a difficult financial situation, Eleanor herself went to the auction and took care of home improvement, protecting her mopey husband from these worries. However, Eleanor's poor health was undermined by overwork and nervous shock: it was caused by the shipwreck of the steamship Nicholas I, on which Eleanor sailed to her husband with her children. The woman refused long-term treatment and never recovered from the disease: soon a cold hit Eleanor, and she died at the age of 37. Tyutchev’s grief was so great that, sitting at his wife’s coffin, he turned gray in a few hours. In 1858, on the anniversary of Eleanor’s death, the poet wrote poems dedicated to her memory:

At the hours when it happens

It's so heavy on my chest

And the heart languishes,

And darkness is only ahead;

Without strength and without movement,

We're so depressed

What even consolation

Friends are not funny to us,

Suddenly a ray of sunshine welcomes you!

He will sneak in to us

And the fire-colored one will splash

Stream, along the walls;

And from the supportive firmament,

From the azure heights

Suddenly the air is fragrant

There's a smell coming through the window...

Lessons and tips

They don't bring us

And from fate slander

They won't save us.

But we feel their strength,

We hear them grace,

And we yearn less

And it's easier for us to breathe...

So sweet and gracious

Airy and light

to my soul a hundredfold

Your love was there.

Tyutchev became interested in Baroness Dernberg while still married to Eleanor: he shared a spiritual closeness with Ernestina, and the poet could not resist. He wrote about her:

I love your eyes, my friend,

With their fiery-wonderful play,

When you suddenly lift them up

And, like lightning from heaven,

Take a quick look around the whole circle...

But there is a stronger charm:

Eyes downcast

In moments of passionate kissing,

And through lowered eyelashes

A gloomy, dim fire of desire.

His frequent meetings with the Baroness led Tyutchev’s legal wife to attempt suicide (although unsuccessful), after which Fyodor Ivanovich promised to end his relationship with Ernestina - but was unable to do so. Ernestina followed Tyutchev to Turin, and two years after Eleanor’s death, the poet proposed to the baroness. Ernestina was rich, beautiful, smart - and generous. She will forgive her husband for betrayal, and one day, after a long break, the family will be reunited again.

5. Elena Deniseva

Another dramatic love story of Tyutchev is the young lover Elena Denisyeva, a student of the institute where Tyutchev’s daughters studied. To meet with her, the poet rented a separate apartment and, when the secret relationship became obvious, he practically created a second family. For 14 years, Tyutchev, as had happened once before, was torn between two beloved women - his legal and “common-law” wife - he tried unsuccessfully to make peace with the first and could not part with the second. But Elena suffered much more from this destructive passion: her father and friends abandoned her, she could forget about her career as a maid of honor - all doors were now closed to her. Denisyeva was ready to make such sacrifices, she was ready to remain an illegitimate wife and felt absolutely happy, registering her children with the surname Tyutchev - not understanding that this emphasized their “illegal” origin. She idolized him, believing “that his wife was more important to him than his ex-wives” and, indeed, she lived his entire life. Anyone who could object to the fact that she was the “real Tyutcheva” could become a victim of Denisyeva’s nervous attack, which already signaled her ill health. Constant worries, caring for children, and the birth of her third child completely exhausted her - consumption worsened, and Denisyeva died in the arms of her lover, not even reaching the age of forty... Many of Tyutchev’s most piercing poems, united in “ Denisievsky cycle". One of the most famous among them is “Last Love”.

Interesting facts from Tyutchev’s life related to his beloved women.

Tyutchev was adored by women, they idolized him. Fyodor Ivanovich was never a Don Juan, a libertine, or a womanizer. He adored women and they responded in kind. His many beautiful lyrical poems are dedicated specifically to women.

1. Fyodor Tyutchev in 1822 was appointed as a freelance official at the diplomatic mission in Munich
In the spring of 1823 (he was 23 years old) he met in Munich the very young (15-16 years old) Countess Amalia Lörchenfeldor (better known as Krüdener). At the time they met, Amalia knew that she was very beautiful and had already learned to command men. Pushkin, Heine and the Bavarian King Ludwig were also fond of it. And Tyutchev (as he was called Theodor) was modest, sweet, always embarrassed when meeting her, but was very helpful in his relations with Amalia. They began to sympathize with each other, exchanged watch chains (Tyutchev gave her a gold one, and she gave him a silk one). They walked together a lot around Munich, through its beautiful suburbs, and on the banks of the beautiful Danube.

In 1824, Fyodor Tyutchev gave Amalia the poem “Your sweet gaze, full of innocent passion...”, and also decided to ask Amalia’s hand in marriage from her parents. The girl herself agreed, but her parents did not, because they did not like the fact that Tyutchev was young, not rich, not titled. A little later, Amalia’s parents agreed to marry Tyutchev’s colleague, several years older than him, Baron Alexander Krudener.
Tyutchev was offended to the depths of his soul. Until the end of their days, Fyodor Tyutchev and Amalia Krudener remained spiritual friends. In 1836, Tyutchev wrote another poem, which he dedicated to Amalia “I remember the golden time...”, and in 1870 - “K.B.”:
I met you - and everything is gone
In the obsolete heart came to life;
I remembered the golden time
And my heart felt so warm

2. Time, as we know, heals, and in 1826 Fyodor Tyutchev secretly married Eleanor Peterson, who was the widow of diplomat Alexander Peterson. She left four sons from her first marriage. Emilia-Eleanor Peterson was from the old count family of Bothmer. Eleanor was three years older than Fyodor Tyutchev. Their marriage lasted twelve years, they had three daughters. The first seven years of their family life were the happiest for Fyodor Tyutchev. Why are the other five years not so happy? Eleanor loved her husband very much, they simply idolized him. But in 1833 she finds out. that her husband became interested in Ernestina Dernberg, née Pfeffel (at that moment she was married to Baron Fritz Dernberg). She was one of the most beautiful girls in Munich. Well-bred, from the family of a Bavarian diplomat. In those years, Eleanor gained a little weight and became more domestic. And it’s not surprising. House, husband, children... And Ernestina was very young, many people liked her. So there was someone to be jealous of her husband. For Eleanor, this was a strong blow. She even tried to commit suicide by stabbing herself in the chest several times with a masquerade dagger.
After the publicity of all the events related to Tyutchev’s novel and Eleanor’s suicide attempt, Fyodor Ivanovich is transferred to work in the city of Turin. Eleanor forgave her husband because she loved him very much. They return to Russia, but after some time Tyutchev returned to Europe. In 1838, Eleanor, along with her three little daughters, boarded a ship to Lubeck to visit her husband. But on the night from 18 to 19 there was a strong fire on the ship. Eleanor suffered a great shock while saving her children. All these events completely undermined her health, and in August 1838, Eleanor died in the arms of her beloved husband. Tyutchev was so stunned by the death of his wife. that he turned gray overnight. Ten years after her death, he will write the poem “I am still languishing with the longing of desires...”

3. Already in 1839, Tyutchev married his beloved Ernestina Dernberg. Ernestina is beautiful, educated, very smart and she is very close to Tyutchev. He writes poems to her: “I love your eyes, my friend...”, “Dream”, “Upstream of your life”, “She was sitting on the floor...”, “The executing God took everything from me...etc.
These poems strikingly combine earthly love, marked by sensuality, passion, even demonism, and an unearthly, heavenly feeling. There is anxiety in the poems, fear of the possible “abyss” that may appear before those who love, but the lyrical hero tries to overcome these abysses. Tyutchev writes about his new wife: “... do not worry about me, for I am protected by the devotion of the creature, the best ever created by God. I won’t tell you about her love for me; even you might find it excessive. But what I cannot praise enough is her tenderness towards children and care for them, for which I don’t know how to thank her. The loss they had suffered was almost compensated for them... two weeks later the children became as attached to her as if they had never had another mother.”
Ernestina adopted all of Eleanor's daughters, and Tyutchev and Eleanor had three more children together - daughter Maria and two sons Dmitry and Ivan.

4. Unfortunately, Tyutchev was in love and he cheated on his wife often, and after 11 years of marriage he completely lost interest in her, since he was in love with Lelya Denisyeva. Elena Alexandrovna was from an impoverished noble family, her mother died when she was still little, her father married a second time, and Lelya was raised by her aunt. Lelya Denisyeva was 23 years younger than Tyutchev. How their relationship began and where their relationship began is unknown, but here’s what they said about Tyutchev’s relationship with Lelya: “The poet’s passion grew gradually until it finally evoked on Denisyeva’s part such a deep, so selfless, so passionate and energetic love that it embraced all of him.” creature, and he remained forever her prisoner...” But in the end, everyone suffered. Fyodor Ivanovich himself suffered endlessly, continuing to adore his wife and passionately, in an earthly way, adore young Lelya. His young mistress suffered, severely and categorically condemned by society for this broken marriage. Tyutchev did not need to invent passions for his works. He simply wrote down what he saw with his own eyes, what he experienced with his own heart.
Love for someone else's husband forced Lelya to lead a strange life. She herself remained the “Maiden Deniseva,” and her children bore the surname Tyutchev. A surname, but not a noble coat of arms. Her situation was very reminiscent of the one in which Princess Dolgorukaya, the morganatic wife of Alexander II, lived for many years. But unlike her confidante in misfortune, Lelya Denisyeva was not so strong in spirit, and her lover was not so omnipotent. From the abnormality of her position, the open contempt of society, often visited by needs, she suffered from consumption, which slowly but surely brought the still young woman to the grave.
Tyutchev was very well aware of the importance of Lelya for his life, and he was not mistaken. Her health and frequent childbirth were undermined. Lelya gave birth to her last child two months before her death. From the former beauty, gaiety, life, only a ghost remained - pale, almost weightless... Lelya Denisyeva died in Tyutchev’s arms on August 4, 1864, fourteen years after the start of their painful romance.
Tyutchev did not break with his family. He loved both of them: his legal wife Ernestina Dernberg and illegitimate Elena Denisyeva and suffered immensely because he was unable to respond to them with the same completeness and undivided feeling with which they treated him. Tyutchev outlived Lelya by nine years and died far from dear to her grave in Italy. But his last gratitude still went to Ernestina Fedorovna - faithful, loving, all-forgiving:
The executing god took everything from me:
Health, willpower, air, sleep,
He left you alone with me,
What else could I pray to him?”
Fyodor Tyutchev called his legal wife Ernestina Fedorovna - Nesti, and Elena Alexandrovna - Lyolya
Here are some interesting facts from Tyutchev’s life in brief.

Used: Interesting

Eleanor, Countess of Bothmer(1800-1838), in first marriage Peterson, first wife of the poet Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (1803-1873).

Biography

Emilia Eleonora von Bothmer born on October 19, 1800 in the family of a German diplomat, Count Karl-Heinrich-Ernest background Bothmera(1770-1845) and his wife Anna, née Baroness von Hanstein(1777-1826). Eleanor was the eldest child and had eight brothers and three sisters. The family often traveled due to the father's work - to Italy, France and Switzerland. All the count's daughters received a classical home education. By the age of sixteen, Eleanor had turned into a beautiful socialite with impeccable manners, fluent in German and French. Many considered Eleanor "endlessly charming."

In 1818, Eleanor became the wife of a Russian diplomat, secretary of the Russian mission in Munich Alexander Karlovich Peterson. In 1825, she became a widow and was left with four sons in her arms. Eleanor had a modest house in Munich on Carolinenplatz, just opposite the Russian mission building. At the evenings given by this mission, the young, charming widowed countess in February 1826 met Fyodor Tyutchev, who arrived at the Bavarian embassy as a supernumerary assistant secretary. The rapprochement happened rapidly. Eleanor fell in love with Tyutchev immediately and wholeheartedly.

Second marriage and family

In March 1826, the 25-year-old Eleanor Peterson secretly married to a 22-year-old Fedor Tyutchev. For another two years, many in Munich, according to Heinrich Heine, did not know about this wedding (the legal marriage of Fyodor Tyutchev with Eleanor Peterson took place only on January 27, 1829). Thus, Tyutchev became related to two old aristocratic families of Bavaria ( Bothmer and Ganstein) and fell into a whole host of German relatives.

The marriage was happy. In the person of Eleanor, Tyutchev found a loving wife, a devoted friend and constant support in difficult moments of life. Fyodor Ivanovich admitted years later:

Never would a person become so loved by another person as I am loved by her; for eleven years there was not a single day in her life when, in order to strengthen my happiness, she did not agree, without a moment’s hesitation, to die for me.

In 1830, Eleanor spent six months in Russia, where she was cordially received by the entire Tyutchev family. At this time, Dolly Fikelmon wrote in her diary:

I forgot to mention a meeting with one beautiful woman - Madame Tyutcheva... She is still young, but so pale, fragile, with such a sad look that she can be mistaken for a beautiful vision. She is smart and seems to me to have some pretension to wit, which does not fit well with her ethereal appearance; her husband is a small man with glasses, very ugly, but speaks well.

Eleanor's letters to her family portray her as a loving, sensitive woman who idolized her husband, but, apparently, serious mental demands were alien to her. The business and economic side of the Tyutchev family life lay entirely on her. In Munich, Eleanor managed to create a cozy and hospitable home, despite the fact that with Tyutchev’s very modest salary and the relatively small financial assistance of his parents, she barely managed to make ends meet. And yet, the first seven years of their married life (until 1833) were a time of almost cloudless family happiness.

In February 1833, at a ball, Tyutchev’s first meeting took place with his future second wife, Baroness Ernestina Dernberg, who occupied one of the first places among the Munich beauties. IN Ernestine the poet found, in addition to beauty, intelligence, brilliant education, deep spiritual intimacy. She completely overshadowed the sweet and charming, admittedly, but dim Eleanor.
Realizing the danger, Eleanor did everything possible to save the family. However, nothing could stop Tyutchev. Eleanor fell into despair and in May 1836 attempted to commit suicide by stabbing herself several times with a dagger. There was no misfortune - the dagger was from a fancy dress. Seeing the blood, Eleanor ran out into the street in despair and fell unconscious. The neighbors brought it home. And soon the excited husband rushed over. Within 24 hours, Eleanor's life was in danger. She recovered physically, but the nervous shock did not go away. Tyutchev swore to his wife to break off relations with Baroness Dernberg. The couple agreed to leave Munich.

At the beginning of May 1837, having received a 4-month leave, Tyutchev and his family left for Russia. Soon after Tyutchev’s arrival in St. Petersburg, he was appointed as an official of the Russian diplomatic mission in the capital of the Sardinian kingdom, Turin. A few days later, temporarily leaving his family in St. Petersburg, Tyutchev went to his new destination. There new meetings with Ernestina awaited him.

On May 14, 1838, Eleanor and her three young daughters sailed to her husband, planning to travel by boat to Lübeck, and from there by carriage to Turin. Near Lubeck on the night of May 18-19 by boat a fire broke out. It was not possible to extinguish the flame. The captain rushed the ship to the rocky shore and ran it aground. Passengers with difficulty and not without losses crossed to the shore - five people died, and the ship burned down. Eleanor Tyutcheva showed complete self-control and presence of mind during this disaster. Tyutchev characterizes his wife’s behavior in the ordeal that befell her:

It can be said in all fairness that the children twice owed their lives to their mother, who, at the cost of her last remaining strength, was able to carry them through the flames and snatch them from death.

During the shipwreck, Eleanor suffered almost no physical harm. But she received a severe nervous shock, which required treatment and rest. However, fearing for her husband, Eleanor did not dare to stay for treatment in Germany for more than two weeks and went with him to Turin.

Upon arrival in Turin, the Tyutchevs found themselves in an extremely cramped financial situation. They settled in the suburbs, and things were very difficult for them, despite the financial assistance allocated from the treasury. Tyutchev’s wife went to the auction, trying to improve the home as much as possible. The poet was a bad helper in this regard. And she herself, noticing her husband’s “irritable and melancholic mood,” consciously protected him from the minor worries of their gradually improving life. However, overwork, a deep nervous shock, from which Eleonora Fedorovna was never able to recover, and a severe cold broke her already fragile health.
On August 27, 1838, Eleanor died in severe suffering. Tyutchev's grief knew no bounds. On the night he spent at his wife’s coffin, his head turned gray.

Children

Eleanor had seven children. Four sons from his first marriage:

Karl (1819-1875)
Otto (1820-1883)
Alexander (1823-?)
Alfred (1825-1860)

The eldest three sons graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, the youngest was raised in Munich.
Three daughters from his second marriage:

Anna (1829-1889), maid of honor, author of memoirs.
Daria (1834-1903), maid of honor
Catherine (1835-1882), maid of honor

Source: wikipedia.org

Emilia Eleanor von Bothmer was born on October 19, 1800 in the family of the German diplomat, Count Karl-Heinrich-Ernest von Bothmer (1770-1845) and his wife Anna, née Baroness von Hanstein (1777-1826). Eleanor was the eldest child and had eight brothers and three sisters. The family often traveled due to the father's work - to Italy, France and Switzerland. All the count's daughters received a classical home education. By the age of sixteen, Eleanor had turned into a beautiful socialite with impeccable manners, who spoke fluent German and French. Many considered Eleanor "endlessly charming."
In 1818, Eleanor became the wife of a Russian diplomat, secretary of the Russian mission in Munich, Alexander Karlovich Peterson. In 1825, she became a widow and was left with four sons in her arms. Eleanor had a modest house in Munich on the Carolinen parade ground, just opposite the Russian mission building. At the evenings given by this mission, the young, lovely widowed countess in February 1826 met Fyodor Tyutchev, who arrived at the Bavarian embassy as a supernumerary assistant secretary. The rapprochement happened rapidly. Eleanor fell in love with Tyutchev immediately and wholeheartedly.

Files: 1 file

Tyutchev's first wife - Eleonora Fedorovna

Eleanor, Countess Bothmer (1800-1838), in her first marriage, Peterson, the first wife of the poet Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (1803-1873).

Biography

In 1818, Eleanor became the wife of a Russian diplomat, secretary of the Russian mission in Munich, Alexander Karlovich Peterson. In 1825, she became a widow and was left with four sons in her arms. Eleanor had a modest house in Munich on the Carolinen parade ground, just opposite the Russian mission building. At the evenings given by this mission, the young, lovely widowed countess in February 1826 met Fyodor Tyutchev, who arrived at the Bavarian embassy as a supernumerary assistant secretary. The rapprochement happened rapidly. Eleanor fell in love with Tyutchev immediately and wholeheartedly.

Second marriage and family

In March 1826, 25-year-old Eleanor Peterson secretly married 22-year-old Fyodor Tyutchev. For another two years, many in Munich, according to Heinrich Heine, did not know about this wedding (the legal marriage of Fyodor Tyutchev with Eleanor Peterson took place only on January 27, 1829). Thus, Tyutchev became related to two old aristocratic families of Bavaria (Botmer and Ganstein) and fell into a whole host of German relatives.

The marriage was happy. In the person of Eleanor, Tyutchev found a loving wife, a devoted friend and constant support in difficult moments of life. Fyodor Ivanovich admitted years later:

In 1830, Eleanor spent six months in Russia, where she was cordially received by the entire Tyutchev family. At this time, Dolly Fikelmon (Countess Daria Fedorovna Fikelmon - granddaughter of Field Marshal Kutuzov, daughter of A.S. Pushkin’s friend E.M. Khitrovo) wrote in her diary:

In February 1833, at a ball, Tyutchev’s first meeting took place with his future second wife, Baroness Ernestina Dernberg, who occupied one of the first places among the Munich beauties. In Ernestine, the poet found, in addition to beauty, intelligence, brilliant education, deep spiritual intimacy. She completely overshadowed the sweet and charming, admittedly, but dim Eleanor.
Realizing the danger, Eleanor did everything possible to save the family. However, nothing could stop Tyutchev. Eleanor fell into despair and in May 1836 attempted to commit suicide by stabbing herself several times with a dagger. There was no misfortune - the dagger was from a fancy dress. Seeing the blood, Eleanor ran out into the street in despair and fell unconscious. The neighbors brought it home. And soon the excited husband rushed over. Within 24 hours, Eleanor's life was in danger. She recovered physically, but the nervous shock did not go away. Tyutchev swore to his wife to break off relations with Baroness Dernberg. The couple agreed to leave Munich.

On May 14, 1838, Eleanor Fedorovna and her three young daughters sailed to her husband, planning to travel by steamship to Lubeck, and from there by carriage to Turin. Near Lübeck, on the night of May 18-19, a fire broke out on the ship. It was not possible to extinguish the flame. The captain rushed the ship to the rocky shore and ran it aground. Passengers with difficulty and not without losses crossed to the shore - five people died, and the ship burned down. Eleanor Tyutcheva showed complete self-control and presence of mind during this disaster. Tyutchev characterizes his wife’s behavior in the ordeal that befell her:

On August 27, 1838, Eleanor died in severe suffering. Tyutchev's grief knew no bounds. On the night he spent at his wife’s coffin, his head turned gray.

Tyutchev's second wife - Ernestina Dernberg

Baroness Ernestine Pfeffel (Ernestine von Pfeffel; 1810-1894), in her first marriage Baroness Dörnberg, is best known as the second wife of the poet F. I. Tyutchev. Her grandfather’s brother is a famous German fabulist (cf. entry in the diary of A.I. Turgenev:

“...she is the granddaughter of the glorious Pfeffel; her father was a minister in Paris").

Biography

Ernestine Dernberg, born in 1810. Her father, the Alsatian baron Christian Hubert von Pfeffel (1765-1834), was a Bavarian diplomat, ambassador to London and Paris. Her mother, Caroline (1789-1811), nee Baroness von Tettenbornrano, died early, and her father married his children’s governess, who turned out to be a very bad stepmother. Ernestine was brought up in a Parisian boarding school. At the first opportunity she got married - without love and to a man no longer young.

In September 1830, Ernestine married diplomat Friedrich von Dernberg (1796-1833) in Paris (where her father headed the Bavarian mission). Shortly before the latter’s death (1833), through her brother Karl (son-in-law of Pavel of Württemberg), she met the Russian diplomat Fyodor Tyutchev at a ball in Munich.

Despite having a wife (Countess Bothmer), the poet began to court the young widow; At least 8 of his poems are dedicated to her. The lovers met in the vicinity of the Bavarian capital. This connection strained the situation in the Tyutchev family. In May 1836, the poet’s wife tried to commit suicide.

In order not to compromise the embassy, Tyutchev was exiled to Turin, where Ernestine followed him. After the death of Countess Bothmer, the poet proposed to Ernestina. They got married on July 17, 1839 in Bern. From his first marriage, the poet already had three daughters, whom Ernestina actually adopted.

Ernestina was a rich woman, and Tyutchev made no secret of the fact that he lived on her money. She was considered a beauty; Her portrait was painted by the court painter Stiler. Nevertheless, in the 1850s, Tyutchev became interested in Elena Deniseva and actually created a second family with her. After Denisyeva’s death, he reconciled with his wife and died in her arms.