Why Nino Chavchavadze, who became Griboedov’s widow at 17, never married again

And surprise and great happiness

Nino knew him well since childhood, he taught her to play the piano and gave her dolls. Griboyedov was stunned by the beauty of the matured girl, her intelligence and charm. It should be noted that the famous Russian poet and diplomat did not greatly favor society ladies, considering them too superficial.

But in the case of Nino, not a trace of this hostility remained; he fell madly in love with the young princess and soon confessed his tender feelings to her. The fact that she was inflamed with reciprocal love for him was both a surprise and great happiness for Griboyedov.

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When Nino’s friend asked her what she felt at that moment, she, having difficulty finding words, replied that she felt as if she had been burned by a sunbeam. On the same day, the relatives blessed the lovers, and the wedding day was set. Such a rush was explained by the fact that in the near future Alexander Sergeevich had to go as ambassador to Persia.

Alexander Griboedov and Nina Chavchavadze

Great love stories July 11, 2020, at 1:19 pm Having lost her husband, Nina Chavchavadze will not stop mourning for him until her death. This beautiful woman under a thick black veil will be called the Black Rose of Tiflis. She really looked like a flower - beautiful, tender, widowed at only seventeen years old! Nina could have gotten married again, forgotten the past and been happy in a new marriage, but she chose to keep in her heart that love that is given to a person only once in a lifetime.

Alexander Griboyedov. I. Kramskoy

Alexander Griboyedov was born in 1795 into a wealthy noble family. Since childhood, the future author of the immortal play “Woe from Wit” was distinguished by his various talents. Sasha Griboyedov was extremely diligent: at the age of six he was fluent in three foreign languages ​​and played music. Such qualities allowed those around him to predict a brilliant future for the scion of the Griboyedov family. At eight, Griboedov entered the Moscow University Noble Boarding School, and at eleven he became a university student!

In 1808, at thirteen years of age, Griboedov received his first academic degree - candidate of literary sciences. However, his studies are just beginning - he has to master the moral and political department, and then the physics and mathematics department.

Griboyedov, undoubtedly, was one of those whom we now call child prodigies. However, it was not just science that occupied the talented young man: at the beginning of the war of 1812, Alexander volunteered for the Moscow Hussar Regiment. For three years he served his Fatherland with the rank of cornet and described all the events taking place with the talent of a true publicist.

The versatile talents of Alexander Griboyedov were noticed by many, and soon, in 1816, he exchanged military service for diplomatic service. He had been friends with the father of his future wife Nina, Alexander Chavchavadze, since the time when his little daughter easily fit on his lap. The girl was growing up, and during his regular visits, Griboyedov taught his friend’s daughter either to play the piano or to solve literary puzzles...

However, life threw him the biggest puzzle when, on his next visit, he saw not a girl barely reaching to his waist in children's pantaloons with lace, but an amazingly beautiful young girl with bottomless eyes and black as the southern night... Griboyedov felt that he had fallen in love - irrevocably and forever, but how can I tell this to the one whom I once rocked on my knees and with whom I seriously discussed the diseases of rag dolls?

She became not only a beauty, but also a rare clever girl. Even he, who always spoke disparagingly about women, had to admit this: “They feel vividly, but not deeply. They judge wittily, but without reason, and, quickly grasping details, can hardly comprehend or embrace the whole.” Reluctantly, he admitted that even among women there are pleasant exceptions in this regard, but he did not think that the sparkling beauty of the young girl standing next to him now would turn out to be exactly like that!

All his diplomatic talents faded next to his beloved. In her presence, he either blushed or became speechless, like an immature youth, and yet he was seventeen years older! But it turned out to be much easier to explain than he thought, because Nina also loved him - she loved him to the point of self-forgetfulness, not yet knowing that her first love would also be her last...

He received her hand and heart without difficulty. The wedding took place surprisingly quickly - just two months after he proposed to Nina, they got married in the Tiflis Cathedral. From excitement, and perhaps from the consequences of a fever that he had suffered not so long ago, Alexander dropped his wedding ring. The crowd of guests whispered: “Bad omen...” However, they were so happy that they did not think about omens or the fate of the world - only that they finally belonged to each other!

It was Nina who made her husband look at women differently. Under her influence, he writes: “Whoever has never loved or submitted to the influence of women has never produced and will never produce anything great, because he himself is small in soul...” Undoubtedly, they had one soul between them, therefore, when the time came for Griboyedov to go to serve in Persia, Nina did not want to stay on her father’s estate, Tsinandali.

The last days before departure, when they were hastily packing things for the ambassador’s wife, the two of them walked around the neighborhood. Alexander was somehow especially thoughtful and sad. Suddenly he said, pointing to Mount Mtatsminda: “If suddenly something happens to me, bury me over there.” Nina objected in fear: “Oh no, my love, our love will never die! It will live forever, just like your poetic gift!”

Undoubtedly, this was the day of prophecies, and their words were heard... The Griboedovs went to Persia together. Nina was already pregnant by that time, and the pregnancy was difficult. Traveling along mountain paths and spending the night in tents exhausted even experienced travelers, and such a “honeymoon trip” was not for a young expectant mother... However, Nina steadfastly endured all the hardships of a long, difficult journey. Soon they found themselves in Tabriz. Here Alexander left his wife, not wanting her to make another dangerous journey to Tehran.

There was trouble in Persia, and Griboyedov sent a letter to his wife by express, in which he asked her to go to Georgia, to see her father. There, under the supervision of her relatives, Nina would not be so lonely, and he would be calmer for her and the unborn child. The wife listened to the advice, and her father’s acquaintances helped her quickly make the way back to her father’s house.

At the beginning of 1829, Nina learned what they tried to hide from her with all their might: her beloved husband was no longer in the world. Alexander Griboyedov died, torn to pieces by a crowd of religious fanatics. Of the thirty-eight people who worked in the Russian mission, thirty-seven died. Miraculously, only the embassy secretary survived, hiding in the storeroom. Griboedov's body was so mutilated that he was identified by the scar left from the duel.

Upon learning the terrible news, Nina experienced a real shock. She went into premature labor, and the boy who was born lived only an hour. They managed to baptize him and give him the name Alexander - and he was gone.

Nina buried her husband where he asked, on Mount Mtatsminda. At his grave she erected a monument with an inscription that can still be seen today: «

Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory, but why did my love outlive you?”

To hush up the diplomatic scandal, the grandson of the Persian ruler brought precious gifts to St. Petersburg, including the famous Shah diamond. This was the price of the blood of thirty-seven subjects of the Russian Tsar - and Alexander Griboyedov. However, no diamonds in the world could quench the tears shed by the widows and children of the dead...

Nina continued to love her husband until the end of her days.
Until her death, she did not take off her black clothes and refused all suitors for her hand, because her heart belonged to someone else. She died of cholera, having outlived her lover by twenty-eight years. Dying, she whispered: “We will meet soon, we will meet again... and I will tell you about everything. And we will be together forever, together..." Author: Alexander Griboedov and Nina Chavchavadze

Didn't escape the sad fate

Two months later, the couple got married in the main cathedral of Tiflis. Before leaving for his duty station, Griboedov persuaded his young wife to stay with her parents. After all, a difficult path lay ahead through the mountainous terrain, and Russia’s relations with Persia were very tense. However, Nino responded with a categorical refusal, because she did not get married in order to live in separation from her beloved husband.

The young princess endured the long journey without any complaints; on the contrary, she was very pleased, which gave her husband another reason to admire her patience and delicacy. But even on the way, it became clear that Nino was pregnant. Considering the hostile attitude towards him on the part of the Persians, Griboyedov did not risk taking his wife with him to Tehran, leaving her in Tabriz.

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In separation, the poet experienced great torment; he wrote letters to Nino every day. Arriving in Tehran, Alexander Sergeevich wanted to complete his mission as quickly as possible in order to be reunited with his wife. But cruel fate decreed otherwise. Just a few days before his departure for his homeland, the embassy was destroyed by a crowd of angry Persians. Everyone who was in it was killed. Griboyedov also failed to avoid a sad fate.

Nina (Nino) Aleksandrovna Chavchavadze-Griboyedova. Afterword of Griboedov's fate.

I've been staring at this photo for probably half an hour now: Green ivy leaves on top of a withered, ancient, serpentine vine. Gray stone of the grotto. Elegant wrought iron fence. Behind it you can see a black (marble?) obelisk with a profile bas-relief. There's an inscription just below that I can't read. The monitor screen does not allow you to see letters that are too small. The only thing I can make out is the beginning of the line, consisting of only two letters, one word: “Mind.” And immediately in my brain intuitively flashes, pops up: “Your mind and deeds are immortal in the memory of Russians, but why did Love outlive You?” mine?!!!.. My “ignorance” and confusion evaporate, disappear without a trace: I am standing on Mount Mtatsminda. (There, at the foot of the mountain, are the monastery and church of St. David, the most famous and revered in Georgia! - author.) Below me, Tiflis, ancient as a legend, stretches out, and above, overhead, clouds slowly float. How they sailed a hundred, two hundred, a thousand years ago:

Nina Griboedova photography

I feel the clean, cool air, filled with the hot piercing rays of the sun and infused with the grape aroma of sadness..
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Or maybe immortal Love? It seems to me that Her imperious shadow hovers quietly in the air and touches my face like the soft wing of a bird.

I now know how to write about this Woman. Words are under my control. Their enchanting magic, capable of resurrecting any images long gone and hidden by the veil of Time, comes again. I am in her cloud.

Something invisible is guiding my hand, my fingers easily run over the keys. Phrases are born. An image is drawn. Captivated by the Poet. The image of a Woman who remained faithful to him. After almost half a century, she found eternal peace next to him. There are few documents and memories about her. And “a grain in the sea,” as they say, can’t be enough! But I already know how to write about her, for the shadow of Her immortal Love for the Poet has just touched me with a soft wing and overshadowed me. 1822 Georgia.. Kakheti.. Tsinandali, estate of the princes Chavchavadze - Dadiani.

She is laughing. She laughs loudly, jumping from stone to stone like a frisky goat:

-Nino, Ninobi! - the nanny hurries frightfully after her, waddling like a heavy duck, mercilessly getting tangled in the folds of her dark robe, and every now and then searching with her foot for a soft shoe with a bent toe that has slipped away. It’s hard for Nanny to walk on the stones, she angrily grumbles something under her breath, her breathing is intermittent and heavy.

Nino, a black-haired minx with a laugh, immediately feels sorry for her kind nanny, and she stops her funny game with a brook, which gently murmurs something between the stones, as if telling something to the fidgety girl - either a fairy tale, or a song, she I didn’t have time to understand and understand it completely! She so wanted to see where her friend - a stream - flowed, she followed him so enthusiastically, and, on you - nanny!

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Again you need to run headlong to your music lesson: study with Mr. Sandro! He’s so funny: he’s always adjusting the funny pieces of glass on his nose - called pensne, - meticulously watching her French accent and, mercilessly breaking his hand, forcing her to play nasty scales! Ten times the same thing! But she cannot get angry, she does not dare: Mr. Sandro, or, in Russian it is long and difficult, Alexander Sergeevich, is an old friend of her father, and he will be upset and unhappy if he finds out that Nino dared to become careless in her studies! And Kato too, and Mother - everyone will be upset! So it’s better to go with a nanny! Nina sighs doomedly, waves her palm to the stream that flashed farewell in the stones, and, hastily muttering to herself a prayer to Saint Nina * (* Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina is the patroness of Georgia, especially revered in these parts - author.), so that the lesson goes smoothly, she trudges sadly behind the nanny who continues to grumble tediously. She, incessantly complaining that Prince Sandro* (Prince Alexander Gersevanovich Chavchavadze - Nino’s father - general - major of the Russian army, the largest Georgian poet and writer, governor-governor of the Nakhichevan and Erivan regions - author.) and the young princess Kato * (*Ekaterina Alexandrovna Chavchavadze - Nina’s elder sister, in her marriage - the sovereign princess Dadiani, the ruler of the Megrelian principality, until 1857 - an autonomous territory of Georgia. - author.) they completely spoiled the little princess, and she “jumps like a goat” from morning to evening, caring little about it What will all the “good people” say to this? - He carefully pushes her with his palm in the back, saying, “Hurry up, fidget”!

- Who are these “good people”? - Nino is suddenly curious, having momentarily emerged from his thoughtful dreams. - Godmother Praskovya Nikolaevna? (P.N. Akhverdova is a great friend of the Chavchavadze family.. With her heartfelt participation, all the most important events in the life of Nina Alexandrovna took place, including the engagement and wedding with A.S. Griboyedov - author.)

“And she, of course,” the nanny nods in agreement, continuing to grumble tirelessly, “Go away, you goat, Mr. Sandro doesn’t like to wait!” And Princess Kato was already angry, everyone had lost you: she left in the morning, God knows where! You will hurt yourself like this, jumping on the stones of your loved ones someday! Oh, you goat, you goat!

Nanny sighs. Nino, who was walking barely - barely, suddenly, for no reason at all, begins to skip, she is tired of trudging along the mountain path up to the gates of the estate, like an old, overworked donkey: Her braids, beautifully styled by her nanny in the morning, are bouncing, strands of hair are knocked out onto the forehead, ribbons are untied!

-Way me! - the nanny groans dejectedly. - You have become completely restless! What will your father say if, God forbid, he sees you like this?! But Nino does not hear her lamentations. She runs cheerfully through the gate, along the paved courtyard. to the porch, flies through the dark, cool corridors, opens the doors to the bright music room, decorated with a soft Persian carpet: and freezes on the threshold.. The glasses of the pince-nez sparkle in the rays of sunlight, and the eyes are familiar, usually attentive - warm and very serious, this time somehow not strictly, but, on the contrary, slyly - they look at her mockingly. She hears the ceremonial: "Bon matine, princess"! From such a sudden movement, the braids jump and completely unravel, the hair, feeling the will, covers the back like wavy snakes, and for some reason one strand completely covers the left eye! Forgetting about decency, Nino carefully blows on the unruly curl and through it sees the laughing eyes of Mr. Sandro. She responds to the sparkling laughter of the “teacher’s” eyes with a strangled snort, and a minute later the music class is resounding not with the sounds of the given scales, but with peals of perky, young laughter, which breaks out later, through the chords of the carefully learned complex Sonata in B-flat by Amadeus Mozart..

July 16, 1828. House of Praskovya Nikolaevna Akhverdova. Tiflis.

Nino, sitting opposite Mr. Sandro at the table, was completely embarrassed... Yes, they had not seen each other for a long time and, perhaps, she had changed a lot, but it was not proper for him, a secular man, a diplomat, a Russian minister - envoy to Iran, to look at her like that!

It’s good that Ermolov isn’t at Seryozha’s godmother’s dinner,

(*Sergei Alekseevich Ermolov, the son of the famous General A.S. Ermolov, governor of the Caucasus, courted N.A. Griboedova for some time, without receiving either a direct refusal or a positive response from her - author.) unnamed, but still a gentleman - the groom, he is hot and hot-tempered beyond measure, Russian blood has turned into Caucasian wine - since childhood here - he could have imagined God knows what! I should have discreetly tugged my mother’s godmother’s sleeve so she can scold the messenger, but she’s sitting too far away, what a bummer! Nino sighed and lowered her eyelashes into a bowl of pink ice cream...

How important her dear teacher had become now! State Councilor, all in orders and ribbons, with the portfolio of a minister-envoy*. (*Griboedov was appointed minister-resident in Persia on April 15, 1828 - author.) Her father, as the governor of Erivan and the Nakhichevan and Ordebad lands, often sent him dispatches and letters sealed with some kind of especially secret sealing wax. Those letters, as Nino heard out of the corner of her ear, concerned the prisoners held by the Iranians. According to the terms of the treaty, with a terribly long name, * (* In the Turkmanchay Treaty, developed and concluded by A. S. Griboedov on February 10, 1828 on behalf of Russia with Persia, much attention was paid to the fate of prisoners, travelers, traders, as well as Iranian subjects - settlers living, for one reason or another, on the territory of Nakhichevan and Ordebad lands. The Turkamachay Treaty also determined by its provisions the fate of the property of the settlers, many of whom had land plots. (See the correspondence of A.S. Griboyedov with Prince A.G. Chavchavadze, given in the one-volume Collected Works of A.S. Griboedov. M. "Khud. Lit" pp. 588 - 590. 1988 - author.)

The provisions of the Turkmanchay Peace Treaty are quite lengthy and are well studied only by specialists from diplomatic departments. The government of Nicholas the First was completely satisfied with the results of the work of A. S. Griboyedov, a diplomat, and highly appreciated them: on March 14, 1828, for concluding this rather complex agreement, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 2nd degree with diamond signs and four thousand chervonets. — S. M. All dates and information are taken from the Biographical Directory “Decembrists”, ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1988 Personal collection of the author.) it was stated that they were supposed to be sent to their homeland without hindrance, but in fact their sending was insanely delayed by volumes of correspondence, piles of some terribly tedious business papers: Father walked on the days of receiving dispatches gloomier than a cloud, he was easily irritated, became less talkative and inattentive to household issues. At such moments, Nino tried to hide in the garden and not catch the eye of her preoccupied parent! And, to tell the truth, all these papers and intelligent conversations seemed extremely boring to her. She didn’t understand a word of them, she just felt incredibly sorry for the poor prisoners! With tears in her eyes, she prayed to God to ease their Fates, but she knew for sure that at sixteen years old there are many other, more pleasant activities for a young girl than poking her nose into the affairs of her elders. Nino took on many things at once, either she had to learn notes, or rewrite an exercise in French, or help Mother Solome receive guests, or finish embroidering a towel, or sort out newly arrived books from distant St. Petersburg and Moscow on the shelves in the library.. In the evenings. , busy, tired, she only had time to bow her head to the pillow before she immediately fell asleep. And the next day brought new troubles: guests, receptions, dinner parties, books, embroidery... Kato recently noticed to her that her playing had become worse, but it’s true, now there is no one to sit her down at the piano, her demanding teacher has become a minister, does he care?

For the swarm of thoughts that overwhelmed her, Nino did not even notice how the dessert was removed, and the servants bustled around the table with coffee trays. Someone gently touched her hand. She turned around and saw Mr. Sandro. He was excited about something and beckoned her to follow him. She obediently followed him, seeing that he headed into the living room, she thought that, out of old memory, he wanted to put her at the piano... But what she heard from his lips stunned her, spread, splashed over her heart like a golden, warm wave. He confessed to her an old and strange love, long unconscious, “perhaps coming from those old “music lessons.” She laughed, then cried, didn’t know what to answer, he was worried, endlessly dropped his foggy pince-nez, wiped it with a handkerchief, put it in his vest pocket, took it out again... She didn’t remember how she said “yes”, didn’t remember everything that happened later : Taking her hand tightly, as if afraid that she would run away, he led her to her mother, to her grandmother, to her godmother, everyone was announced, everyone gasped and congratulated, someone, headlong, rushed off to the cellars for champagne..

Sister Kato, flushed, excited, with sparkling blue eyes, hugged and kissed her endlessly, half-jokingly reprimanding something to Alexander - Nino would not even dare to call him now even to herself:

“Sandro”, only “Alexander”!

When later, Sonechka Orbeliani, an old friend, tried to find out from her the details of that evening, Nino embarrassedly lowered her eyelashes, fiddled with the tip of her gauze scarf and said quietly: “I don’t know, I really don’t know!” Like in a dream! Then, catching herself and finding the words, she added: “It was like being burned by a ray of sunshine!” The godmother, Praskovya Nikolaevna, laughingly confirmed: “And for sure, a solar eclipse has hit both of you, otherwise how can you explain it?! From the bay - floundering, we went to take a break before the chatter of the coffee shop, and here you are - here, please, they are running - flying: “Ninochka is a bride!” - and, giving everyone a happy, radiant look, she began to quietly cross her favorite - her pupil. She did not shy away from her affectionate embrace as before, as if she felt that the Godmother’s blessing would now be more significant for her than ever:

Entry in the metric book of the Zion Cathedral in Tiflis, dated August 22 (September 3, new style) 1828: “The Plenipotentiary Minister in Persia of His Imperial Majesty, State Councilor and Cavalier Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov entered into a legal marriage with the maiden Nina, the daughter of the general - Major, Prince Alexander Chavchavadzev and his wife, Princess Salome: "

From a letter from General I.F. Paskevich to Chancellor K. Nesselrode, November 1828:

“Your Excellency, of course, already knows that our plenipotentiary minister at the Persian Court, State Councilor Griboedov, before leaving for Persia, married the daughter of Major General Prince Chavchavadze, one of the most significant Georgian landowners, without asking permission.

As a result, I make it my duty to notify your Excellency that Griboyedov’s marriage took place somewhat unexpectedly and, due to the combination of various circumstances, especially due to the haste with which he had to fulfill the highest will of His Imperial Majesty in order to arrive in Persia as soon as possible, could not be postponed for the future - why, at Griboyedov’s convincing request for this, I took it upon myself to give him permission to consummate this marriage.

“Why do I ask you, if you deign to deem it necessary, to bring this to the attention of His Imperial Majesty.”

That short time of their “cinnamon, honeyed” happiness, just a week, Nino later remembered all her life: A long life without Alexander.. She found later, only then, after everything, in his unsorted archive, hastily brought from Persia, several lines of unfinished letters from an old friend of his, to whom Alexander “introduced” his Nino in absentia - Varvara Semyonovna Miklashevich. There were these lines in that letter: “I’m writing to you, and she looks over my shoulder, laughs, and suddenly says: “How did this all happen? Where am I and with whom? We will live forever and never die! She is happiness itself."

Nino later thought with a bitter smile that everything in her Alexander’s fate was too rapid: career, fame as a diplomat and playwright - the texts of “Woe from Wit,” rewritten by someone unknown, reached Tiflis! - and even marriage! They traveled in a caravan to Etchmiadzin*, (*a mountainous place in Armenia, where the oldest monastery in the region was located - author.) often spent the night in tents under the starry sky. There was a cool air coming from the mountains, a whiff of herbs. Alexander sat up late at the dim light of a travel candle or fire, writing something down in his travel journal, she fussed: now with tea, now with travel blankets, she was still afraid of an attack of malaria, it still seemed to her that he would get cold. He caught her hand in the air, touched her with gratitude with his warm lips, and once said that he was “pleased to get used to her tenderness: day and night at the head of the bed.” He said that he was used to wandering and wandering, mother Anastasia Feodorovna was sick (and now has been motionless for many years), the house was run without the owner’s steady hand, by his young sister Mashenka, not so much...

And then - university, service in the college, (*Collegium of Foreign Affairs - author.) the life of a bachelor in rented apartments, foreign lands, Tehran, Grozny *(*Fortress in the Caucasus, where Griboedov served for a short time and was arrested in the Decembrist case, in the winter 1826. Currently - Grozny - author.), again Tehran, St. Petersburg, Tiflis.. And so the feeling of homelessness strengthened in his soul. She tried to melt this ice as best she could, constantly thinking about... how and what she could do for him, so that he would be calmer and better. I didn’t dare to grumble at him for sitting bent over papers for a long time, I understood that this was important for him, and maybe he was writing something, God forbid he interfered! One day I read to her a passage hastily written down on a piece of paper:

“Whoever has never loved or submitted to the influence of women has never produced and will never produce anything great, because he himself is small at heart.. Women have a special feeling that the French call tact; this word cannot be translated even by paraphrase into any language. The Germans translated it as “mind of feeling”, which seems to me quite close to the original. Tact is the same as the genius or spirit of Socrates: the inner oracle. Following the suggestions of this oracle, a woman rarely makes mistakes. But this oracle acts only in a heart that loves...”

He read and looked at Nino from under his glasses, as it seemed to her, a little slyly: He wrote quickly, read from a sheet of paper with grains of sand still not falling off, in the wet ink of a deep purple color, and seemed pleased with himself: such a “heavenly grasp of phrases”, like he spoke often, this kind of improvisation came easiest to him, and at these moments he felt so happy and inspired that Nino, holding her breath, listened to him without interrupting then, afraid to frighten off this inspiration:

She walked around on tiptoes or quietly tugged at her sleeve when it was getting completely dark. I often sat with a book or embroidery, frozen, and listening to myself. Almost immediately I felt the birth of a secret inside, which is called new life. She wasn’t scared, but she kept thinking about how to tell him, and she’s worried about her beyond measure, and the way to Tevriz is still long! But then I decided. He flushed, beamed, again dropped his pince-nez, his pen, and scattered papers from his travel writing pad. She rushed to collect - it was no good for stamp papers to lie on the ground, he followed her, cursing that she was “careless, she keeps jumping like a goat!” This reminded her of the nanny, she laughed.. He smiled: “If you love me even half as much as I love you, dear Ninobi!” he suddenly exhaled, and, taking her palms, squeezed them tightly in his own, looking intently into the surprised, young eyes .. “Half?!” Why? - she flushed and carefully touched his hair with her hand... - and maybe I’m stronger?!”: And at that moment something flew between them like a light shadow. Whether an angel touched their souls, spreading wings over them, or God, who could know?:

In Etchmiadzin they were respectfully greeted by monks, with banners and singing a prayer for health, and in Erivan - a radiant mother and a sad, tired father, who kept frowning, meticulously asking Nino about his health, which had never happened to him before!

Mother warmly hugged Alexander, saying goodbye, and kept asking her to write to them and Kato more often, and father, contrary to usual, pulled Nino towards him, did not let her out of his arms for a long time, then kissed her on the forehead and crossed him. She couldn’t stand it, burst into tears, he began to console, and whispered in her ear that it was no good now to wet her eyes in vain, otherwise: what kind of grandson would General Chavchavadze have, really a crybaby?! She smiled, the tears immediately dried on her eyelashes... She sighed and quietly walked towards the carriage. It was time to leave. Mother, taking her by the arm, walked next to her and kept punishing and punishing her: to wrap herself up in the evenings, to go to bed earlier, to rest more, to eat better, to write to her more often.. She nodded, smiling, promised to do everything, looking at her, she called with her eyes to Alexander. She so wanted him to be next to her. He understood the call, moved away from his father, and took her arm on the other side. The father, exchanging glances with the mother, offered his hand to her, and so, in a long four, talking and smiling, they walked to the horses, making plans, talking about a future meeting:

She thought then that mother would still have time to repeat more than once her advice on how to behave while expecting a child. Neither she herself, happy Ninobi, nor the prince, nor princess Chavchavadze, could even imagine then that this was their farewell to Alexander and Nino - the last meeting with him, and even her, six months later they would see another.

The former, shining Ninobi, waving her hand at them from the window of the traveling carriage, will disappear forever: Instead of her, a light and mournful shadow will appear in the black dress of a widow.

From Yuri Prokhorov’s essay “The Unknown Griboedov.” Chapter “The Secret Springs of Griboyedov’s Death..”: Maltsov *(*First Secretary of the Russian Mission in Tehran. - author.) writes that on January 30 (February 11, according to present day) 1829, the bazaar was locked, in the morning people gathered in the cathedral mosque of Tehran, where there were ulemas and seids. It was announced to the people that the traitor Mirza-Yakub * (* Advisor under Griboyedov, distinguished by extremely hypocritical behavior, often violated the laws of Islam. Mirza - Yakub, who had been in the service of the Iranian Shah for more than 15 years - he was the treasurer and chief eunuch -, shortly before After the defeat of the Russian mission, he came to Griboyedov and announced to him his desire to accept Russian citizenship and return to the lands of his ancestors in Erivan. - author.)

An angry, fanatical crowd of thousands of men with daggers and sticks rushed to Griboyedov’s house.

The people besieged the embassy house. Griboedov ordered Mirza-Yakub to go out to the crowd, who immediately chopped him up and cut off his head. Two women were sent away, and they were immediately returned to the harem. But it was impossible to stop the crowd, despite attempts at persuasion by Prince Zilli Sultan and the appearance of Major Hadibek, sent by the Shah, with a hundred sarbaz who had no cartridges and tried to calm the people. The bloodshed lasted about an hour. The crowd threw stones and logs, and the Cossacks fired back. Maltsov writes that the women were not handed over to the crowd, and people stole guns from the attic of the guard stations.

It was impossible to stop the crowd, despite attempts at persuasion by Prince Zilli Sultan, and the appearance of Major Hadibek, sent by the Shah, with a hundred sarbaz, who had no cartridges and tried to calm the people. The crowd broke into the house, looting and destroying everything around. Griboyedov is believed to have run out with a saber and was hit on the head with a stone, then pelted with stones and hacked to death. The circumstances of the pogrom 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 Griboyedov, only writes that 15 people defended themselves at the door of the envoy’s room. Maltsov writes that 37 people in the embassy were killed (all except him alone) and 19 Tehran residents.

Riza-Kuli (*Iranian historian, researcher of Russian-Persian relations of Griboyedov’s time. - author.) writes that Griboyedov was killed with 37 comrades, and 80 people from the crowd were killed.

How did Maltsov escape? A Muslim saved him. One khan, whose house was next to the Russian mission, liked the young and capable Maltsov. Khan fell in love with Maltsov and, having learned about the danger threatening the mission, decided to save his friend. He managed to persuade Maltsov, on the day of Griboyedov’s murder, to climb over the roof into his neighboring house and take refuge there. So Maltsov escaped from inevitable death and from his refuge saw the defeat of the Russian mission. By the way, Dadash-bek and Rustem-bek were killed. One thing is unclear: why Maltsov does not write, did he offer Griboedov to save himself, did Griboedov refuse, and how could he, Maltsov, secretly abandon his comrades even before the crowd approached?

Not a very heroic image, and the Shah then showered Maltsov with favors. During the pogrom, the Shah himself locked himself in an arch (fortress), fearing an angry crowd, and surrounded himself with his army.

The heir to the throne, Naib Sultan, having met with Consul Amburger in Tabriz, said: “...Cursed be Iran and its unauthorized inhabitants! I swear by that God in whom we both believe, for He is one, that I would be glad to replace the shed blood with the blood of my wives and children.” Griboyedov's death, of course, remained unavenged. It didn't come to war

Only the son of the heir to the throne, Prince Khozrev-Mirza, came to St. Petersburg and, on behalf of the Shah, asked Emperor Nicholas I to consign the events of January 30, 1829 to eternal oblivion. The corpses of those killed in the Russian mission were taken out of the city, thrown into one pile and covered with earth. Soon Griboyedov’s body was dug up, and in a simple coffin, it was sent through Tabriz to Tiflis. In Nakhichevan, his body was transferred to another coffin, decorated with it and taken further. Near Herger, A.S. Pushkin saw the coffin with Griboedov’s body. Along the route of Griboyedov’s remains, he was given military honors, hundreds of people came out to honor his memory. Six horses pulled the drog, 12 people walked with torches on both sides of the coffin, over which there was a canopy. The spectacle made a strong impression even on the Persians. Many Armenian women prayed. The military took part in the mourning ceremonies. When they opened the coffin, it was discovered that the body was terribly chopped up and stoned. Then the coffin was caulked and filled with oil. Griboyedov more than once told his wife that in the event of his death in Persia (premonition?) his remains would be interred in the Church of St. David - “this poetic,” as he put it, “belonging to Tiflis.”

Only in 1836, the corpses of the remaining dead members of the Russian mission were transported to Tehran and placed in a pre-prepared crypt in the presence of two seids.* (*Guards, soldiers on guard duty. - author.)

The Shah of Persia sent Tsar Nicholas I a diamond to atone for the murder of A.S. Griboyedov. This 87-carat yellow Shah Diamond bears the names of Persian rulers dating back to 1591. Now it is in the Diamond Fund in Moscow.”

From a letter from Nina Aleksandrovna Griboedova to Mrs. MacDonald, the wife of the English envoy to Persia. Tiflis. Mid-February March 1829:

“A few days after my arrival, when I had barely rested from the fatigue I had endured, but was more and more worried in an inexpressible, painful anxiety with ominous premonitions of trouble, they considered it necessary to tear off the veil hiding the terrible truth from me.* (*From Nina Alexandrovna, the death of her husband was hidden for a long time due to her pregnancy, which she had a hard time bearing. She was told about the death of Alexander Sergeevich by her godmother, Praskovya Nikolaevna Akhverdova, in whose house she lived. - author.) It is beyond my strength to tell you what I experienced then: The revolution that took place in my being was the reason for the premature delivery of the burden. My poor child lived only an hour and was already united with his unfortunate father in that world where, I hope, both his virtues and all his cruel sufferings will find a place . Still, they managed to baptize the child and gave him the name Alexander, the name of his poor father.”

She didn’t want to, and couldn’t, remember that time! But memories came and visited involuntarily:. Filled with oil, a caulked coffin with the remains of what was once her adored Alexander.. She recognized her husband’s body from the arm shot in the old St. Petersburg duel* (*The famous “double” duel of Griboedov with Yakubovich and Shakhovsky, as a result of which he had the left hand was shot and seriously damaged - the author.) and on the ring that adorned one of the fingers.. The stone, sparkling, caught a ray of sunlight - the day in Tiflis turned out to be clear - and in Nino’s foggy - petrified consciousness a phrase from her long - long ago suddenly penetrated , seven months old, shining, past: “Like a sunbeam burned me!” She swallowed the bitterness of tears that had come, nodded briefly at the inquiring and alarmed gaze of the governor of Tiflis and the officers accompanying the coffin, and fell unconscious into the arms of her mother and the doctor who ran up. :

When, three hours later, she, accompanied by her mother and relatives, walked through the city behind the slowly moving coffin ditch with a canopy, the crowds of people who had gathered along the sides of the streets silently, with a heavy sigh, parted before her. She walked, almost unable to see the road in front of her, and the sun, which drowned her tears with its gentle heat, seemed cold and indifferent to her. She did not curse the World, which continued to live and breathe without Him, because she knew: this was how it should be, but she also knew one more thing: for her, this world - without Alexander - had become different forever. Slightly more colorless and colder:

She did not know and could never explain why the memories of the moments spent with Him became the sweetest for her, although they caused a lot of pain: She could not explain why she, almost immediately, involuntarily began to compare everyone who interested her with Him : Looking for at least a glimpse of his manner of speaking in an exciting and relaxed way, wearing a tailcoat, shaking off an invisible speck of dust from the snow-white cuffs of his shirt, playing abrupt, enchanting melodies on the piano with his healthy hand, laughing so hard that at times the glass rattled in the windows and the flames of candles swayed, dropped when excited a handkerchief, a pen... Or, quickly, almost without making blots, move it across the paper so that, at times, it seemed: the words were jumping onto the sheet right from the sharp tip, or, at worst, from the secret pocket of his velvet vest. ! She understood that all this was irreversible and could not be repeated in anyone; and that one should not so violently surrender to the power of someone who has gone forever, but she couldn’t help herself: Nothing!

Her heart responded warmly and cordially to the misfortunes of others, she tirelessly spent huge sums from her personal fortune on charity, did not shy away from entertainment and balls, enjoyed attending musical evenings, and often accompanied her father and sister at receptions:

The hospitable house of Chavchavadze-Griboedova in Tiflis and Tsinandali was always wide open for friends and acquaintances, but smiling, shining more and more with years of blossoming, real, southern beauty, Nina Alexandrovna, Nino, never took off her black widow’s dress at these evenings .. It could be luxurious, ordered from Paris, guipure, velvet, silk, crinkling, smelling of some strange, warm, tart aromas unique to her - they said it was taken from Tevriz! - but all the same, it was widow-like and sad: In such silent, non-screaming, fragrant mourning, she appeared everywhere.

We were perplexed only at first. Then we got used to it and found a special charm in it...

Tireless young admirers, who had not lost hope, unanimously called her “the black rose of Tiflis”, gray-haired older acquaintances bowed their heads respectfully when they met, and considered it a special honor to kiss her hand or walk her to the porch.. She knew that they, who hoped, were near there were many of her, their emotional impulses were often no secret to her, she treated everyone with equal, warm respect, without “pushing heads” against anyone: But her heart was silent. And she understood this silence... And cherished it like a rare jewel. She was not afraid of repeating the terrible pain of mortal separation from loved ones, as some said, explaining for themselves her stubborn refusal to remarry. She knew that there simply could not be more pain on Earth than the pain she suffered then, in the winter of 1829, this pain was unique, so there was nothing to be afraid of it!

She sadly - wisely, purely in a feminine way - knew that she simply would not be able to experience for any other person in the world that all-consuming feeling of immense, tender, burning, sunny surprise and lightning-fast acceptance in her heart, as was the case with her priceless “Sandro” !

To herself, now, she called him just like that, in the silence of the night, inaudibly stretching out the sounds caressing her tired soul, full of tenderness and sadness. Sometimes it seemed to her that she heard his quiet voice answering her, and then she fell asleep to this gentle, dear, familiar, almost “lullaby” muttering, feeling strange, empty, happy... And her lips, even while sleeping, moved as if They repeated these light, almost weightless words, cool like the wind from the mountains, fragrant like spring grass: “My priceless friend, I feel sorry for you, I’m sad without you as much as possible.” Now I truly feel what it means to love! Previously, I parted with many, to whom I was also deeply attached, but a day, two, a week - and the melancholy disappeared, now the further away from you, the worse. Let’s endure a few more, my angel, and let’s pray to God that after that we will never be separated again!*” *The lines of the only surviving letter from A. S. Griboedov to his wife are quoted. The remaining letters disappeared without a trace and have not been found to this day. Nina Alexandrovna’s response letters to her husband were also not preserved or are unknown to meticulous historians and archivists - author.)

PS Nina Aleksandrovna Griboyedova, nee Princess Chavchavadze, died in June 1857, at the age of forty-nine years, from cholera raging in Tiflis, where she lived with her sister at that time. While caring for a sick relative, Nina Alexandrovna refused to leave the city, went to see the sick person, but became hopelessly ill herself. Her fragile, “truly angelic” (Ekaterina Chavchavadze-Dadiani) soul, which had so long and quietly longed for a meeting with her lost Loved Ones, silently, at the summer dawn, left earthly boundaries, becoming only a mournful bronze figure hugging the foot of the gravestone with words engraved on it :

“Your mind and deeds are immortal in the memory of Russians, but why did my Love outlive You?!”

_______________

*The essay about N.A. Griboedova is based on genuine biographical facts taken from documents, correspondence, and memoirs of contemporaries. The author did not consider it possible to present some legends, rumors and versions and memories that do not inspire confidence in such a brief article, which in no way claims to be a complete biography of the legendary Woman, Wife and Widow of the Poet.

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