Strange marriage: Lyubov Mendeleeva and Alexander Blok. Lyubov Mendeleeva and Alexander Blok

Born as the last, seventeenth child in the family, he received his first lessons in chemistry while observing the production cycle in a glass factory, which was run by his mother. Quite a lot is known about the scientific and social achievements of Dmitry Ivanovich. These are fundamental works on chemistry, physics, technological processes, metrology and meteorology, the opening of higher courses for women in Russia. And the name of the treatise "On the combination of alcohol with water" is known to almost the entire adult population of the country, as well as his famous periodic table.

Despite two official marriages and seven children born, in our time no exact information has come down about the direct descendants of Dmitry Ivanovich.

D.I. Mendeleev's first marriage

Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was married twice. The first time he married Feozva Nikitichna Leshcheva, the stepdaughter of the storyteller Pyotr Ershov. The famous scientist had three children with his first wife. The girl Masha was born in 1863, died as a child. Son Volodya was born two years after Masha, died in 1898. Daughter Olga was born in 1868 and died at the age of 82.

His son, Vladimir Dmitrievich, was a naval officer on the Pamyat Azov frigate, which very often called at the only Japanese port of Nagasaki open to foreigners. In order to prevent Russian sailors from going beyond the port territory, the Japanese poured an artificial island, placed restaurants and shops there. And, of course, the most attractive thing for men, they settled Japanese women there. According to the laws of that time, for a certain amount of money, Russian naval officers were allowed to have a contract wife (this custom is well described in V. Pikul's novel "The Three Ages of Okini-san"). In 1893, January 28, the Japanese contract wife of Vladimir Mendeleev, Taka Hideshima, gave birth to a girl Ofuji, the Japanese granddaughter of the great chemist. Mendeleev recognized his granddaughter, helped her mother with money. To this day, information about the Japanese descendants of the great scientist has not survived. Presumably, Ofuji and her mother died in the big earthquake. The Russian son of Vladimir Dmitrievich died in childhood, and three years later, Vladimir Mendeleev himself was gone.

Olga lived until 1950. After the revolution, she moved to Moscow, where she served in the NKVD kennel, as she was fond of breeding purebred dogs. Her only daughter, Natalya, did not survive her mother much, as she suffered from an incurable disease. In 1947 Olga Dmitrievna's book "Mendeleev and the Family" was published

Mendeleev's second marriage

To register a second marriage with D.I. Mendeleev with seventeen-year-old artist Anna Ivanovna Popova did not work for a long time. She was 26 years younger than the renowned chemist, and the scientist had been in love with her since 1878. Having hardly achieved a divorce, the scientist was still punished for a divorce from his first wife. At the direction of the church, he could not get married officially for several years. And at this time, the couple already had their first daughter. However, having persuaded the priest of the Admiralty Church for 10,000 rubles, in 1881 he was married to his beloved woman. And the priest, of course, was defrocked for arbitrariness and bribery.

In the second marriage, Dmitry Ivanovich had four children. Twins Vasily and Maria, daughter Lyubov and son Ivan. Information about Maria and Lyubov has reliably reached our days. Maria gave birth to a daughter, Katerina, who has survived to this day and had a son, Alexander Kamensky. Unfortunately, Alexander did not lead a very healthy lifestyle, was twice convicted and disappeared in the vastness of his homeland. In April 2014, they unsuccessfully tried to find him through the program “Wait for me”.

There is no exact information about Vasily Mendeleev. He was fond of designing tanks and submarines. Due to a conflict with his mother, who did not allow him to meet with the girl he liked, he left home. Presumably he died during a typhoid epidemic in 1922.

Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva was married to the famous poet A. Blok. She had no children from him, she died in 1939.

Ivan Dmitrievich Mendeleev (1983-1936) was the only one who was able to show his talent as a writer, philosopher, scientist. He died under strange circumstances in the village where the great chemist himself used to live.

D.I. Mendeleev and Agnessa

There are rumors about the German branch of the great scientist and public figure DI Mendeleev. In Germany, he had a stormy and passionate affair with the actress Agnes Voigtmann. Agnes was by no means a saint and led a free life. The actress met during this period with other men. When Agnessa gave birth to a girl, strongly doubting her paternity, Mendeleev still supported the mother of the child for all eighteen years, right up to the marriage of her daughter. The descendants of this branch of history are still unknown.

Maybe time will pass, and the great-great-grandchildren of the great chemist will respond in Japan or Germany.

Real name famous poet Andrey Bely - Boris Bugaev. He was born on October 14 (26), 1880 in the family of the famous professor and mathematician Nikolai Vasilyevich Bugaev. Famous composers, writers, scientists and bohemians were frequent guests at the professor's house in the very center of Moscow, on the Arbat. The boy grew up in an atmosphere of beauty and harmony, was fond of poetry, wrote poetry. As a university student, he published his first collection of poetry, Northern Symphony. Boris devoted a lot of time to poetry, made acquaintances with famous writers, soon they learned about him in literary circles. The pseudonym Andrei Bely, which he chose, symbolized spirituality, purity and tranquility.

Early 1904 Andrey Bely met Alexander Blok who became his close friend. Blok at that time was already a famous poet, married to Lyubov Mendeleeva. The talented poet was not an exemplary spouse, he preferred to spend time in the arms of easily accessible women. The offended Lyuba often complained to her husband's friend, Andrei Bely, about her humiliating position, talked about unfulfilled dreams and imperceptibly fell in love with these deep, rare blue eyes with thick eyelashes. One of Andrei Bely's contemporaries wrote: "It was an amazing creature ... The eternal playing of a boy, slanted eyes, a dancing gait, a stormy waterfall of words ... eternal lies and constant betrayal."

He had great success with women. A man with a refined soul, sensual, understanding the experiences of a woman, Andrey could not remain indifferent to the feelings of Lyuba Mendeleeva ... And when she confessed her love for him, he reciprocated. Later, being lovers, as if justifying her insane passion, Blok's wife recalled: "I was left to the mercy of anyone who would take care of me." Lyuba and Andrei often quarreled, parted and again strove for each other, but they could not break the bonds that bound them. She could not leave her husband, and Andrei did not insist on this, observing, as it were, from the sidelines the suffering of his friend and beloved.

In 1906 Alexander Blok wrote the famous play "Balaganchik" about his strange place in this love triangle. After two years of passionate love relationships, Lyubov Mendeleeva, in despair, decided to part with her lover for a while. For almost a year Andrei and Lyubov were in separation, which Andrei could hardly endure and even thought about suicide, and his beloved was torn between feelings and sanity. Finally, she made a decision and announced to Bely that she would stay with her husband and try to forget him, erase him forever from her life. Abandoned, disappointed in his feelings, hoping to forget his beloved woman, Andrei Bely goes abroad.

Lyubov Mendeleev returned to her husband , who was delighted with her return. Blok, tired of numerous novels, was sick and disappointed. Before returning to her husband, she managed to have a small affair with the actor Davidovsky, from whom she was expecting a child. Blok was very attentive to his wife and promised to love the baby. When the child died, a few days after birth, they went through the pain of loss together, and became even closer.

While abroad, Andrei Bely wrote two collections of poems dedicated to his friend Blok and his wife. In 1910, returning to Russia, the poet married Asa Turgeneva and made a number of travels with her to Egypt, Tunisia, Palestine, then they moved to Europe. In 1916, Andrei Bely returned to his homeland. It was a completely different person. A man with a broken destiny, tormented by suffering, but still unable to forget his beloved. Asya's wife left him for another. He was completely alone. But even after the death of Blok (1921), Bely did not try to get closer to Mendeleeva.

Later, Bely had a woman who lived with him in the last years of his life. Quiet, caring Claudia Nikolaevna Vasilyeva was his last girlfriend. On January 8, 1934, Andrei Bely died in her arms. His beloved Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva survived him by five years.

The hand did not touch her,
I did not burn her sponge with a kiss ...
Everything about her shone with such purity
The gaze was dark and wonderfully deep.

These poems are Russian poet Alexander Blok dedicated to his future wife Lyubov Mendeleeva, the eldest daughter of the famous chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, the creator of the Periodic Table of the Elements.

Sasha and Lyuba had known each other literally from childhood, but they became close in the summer of 1895, vacationing in the estates near Moscow, which both respected families had. At that time, the amateur theater was in vogue among the intelligentsia. The production of Hamlet, where Blok played the prince and Lyubov Mendeleev played Ophelia, became fateful for them. By that time, the young poet had already experienced a passion for a 37-year-old married lady with many children. Ksenia Sadovskaya, but, apparently, the feeling of love for her did not completely outlived, therefore, at that time, he had poems with notes, where the initials of both his mature passion and the young maiden appear. Blok - 17, Mendeleeva - 16. An ideal time for love. But after that summer season, the young people broke up. Seemingly common story. Well, who in this life has not experienced country romances? But then everything went according to a different scenario.

Later, in her memoirs “And there were, and fables about Blok and about myself” Lyubov Dmitrievna wrote: “I remembered Blok with annoyance. I remember that in my diary, who died in Shakhmatovo, there were very harsh phrases about him, like "I am ashamed to remember my love for this veil with a fishy temperament and eyes ..." I considered myself free. " But when in 1901 they accidentally see each other in St. Petersburg, Lyubov Dmitrievna will write "This meeting has agitated me." She also “excited” Blok, since from that meeting he began to devote wonderful poems to Lyubochka and call her the Beautiful Lady, Eternal Wife, and the Mysterious Virgin. When Blok makes an official offer, both Lyuba and the entire Mendeleev family will meet him very favorably.

In the spring of 1903, the couple got engaged, and on August 30 (according to the new style) the wedding took place in the church of the village of Tarakanovo. Then the young people went to Blok's apartment in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, this union of a poet and a muse could seem ideal only at the time of courtship. On their wedding night, Blok told his young wife that he considered physical love unworthy of their high feelings and there would be no intimacy between them: he couldn’t actually copulate with her as he copulated with some fallen woman. The young wife was horrified, she decided that Sashura, as she called him, had stopped loving her. But Blok assured the girl that, on the contrary, he loved her too much, but for him she was almost a saint, the embodiment of Eternal Femininity. And indulge in carnal joys with her is blasphemous.

Block kissed his wife on the forehead and went to sleep in another room. The girl tried by various means to awaken her husband's passion. All women's tricks were used, whose effectiveness has been tested for centuries: beautiful dresses, underwear, candles ... But Blok was adamant. And even the suffering of the young woman did not soften him. “I can’t say that I was endowed with the stormy temperament of a southerner. I am a northerner, and the temperament of a northerner is frozen champagne. Just do not believe the calm cold of a transparent glass, all its sparkling fire is covered only for a while, ”Mendeleeva wrote in her memoirs.

If then the young woman knew that this "wedding night" was not a clouding of the mind of an agitated young spouse, but the torture to which she was doomed for the rest of her life, perhaps she would have fled back to her father's house the next day. But she continued to hope that someday she would seduce her husband. And for a year after the wedding she remained a virgin. But the young husband did not deny himself carnal joys with other women all this time. They are not goddesses, so why limit yourself? A year later, she still managed to lure her husband to bed. The process did not bring much pleasure either to her or to him.

Later, in the union of Blok and Mendeleeva, a third "term" appeared: poet Boris Bugaev, he is Andrey Bely. Here he loved Lyubov Dmitrievna precisely as a woman. This "triple alliance" lasted until 1907, after which Blok-Mendeleeva broke off relations with Bely. But this practically did not change Blok's feelings for her.

By the way, Blok called “Beautiful Ladies” and actresses Natalia Volokhova, Lyubov Delmas, and their admirers, and even ordinary prostitutes. Anyway, he was a phenomenal walker, in his sexual fantasies embodied in life, he did not limit himself in anything.

In the end, an intimate relationship with his wife ceased to be such a rarity for Blok. But she herself, according to Mendeleeva, they were no longer happy: "Rare, short, manly selfish meetings." This life continued for a year and a half.

Blok biographer Vladimir Novikov asserted: “Between spouses there is no such thing as the earthly side of marriage. Blok convinces Lyubov Dmitrievna that they do not need "astartic" love. He does this quite sincerely, but at the same time not by free choice, but by force. There is a certain psychophysiological anomaly that interferes with ordinary bodily intimacy. In fact, an attempt was made to marry, consisting exclusively of the spiritual and spiritual unity of the spouses. "

Naturally, abstinence was a burden for the young woman, and she began to have lovers. The first was poet Georgy Chulkov, others followed, often actors. Lyubov Dmitrievna honestly wrote to her husband about each new lover and reported: "I love only you."

When the woman became pregnant by the artist under the pseudonym Dagobert, Blok received this news quite well-wishingly: "We will raise." The poet could not have his own children because of the transferred syphilis. But the child died shortly after birth.

Over the years, Blok understands that the love of all prostitutes, dancers and actresses will not replace Lyubasha's feelings for him. But by that time, the woman had already moved away from him, the awakened femininity throws her from one whirlwind romance to another. At the end of his life, Blok finally realizes that there is only one woman for him - Lyuba - calls her as beautiful as in her youth ... Although Anna Akhmatova about Blok's wife he will write the following: “She looked like a hippopotamus standing up on its hind legs. Eyes - slits, nose - shoe, cheeks - pillows. " And internally she, according to the poet, "was unpleasant, unfriendly, as if broken by something." But Blok, as Akhmatova argued, at the end of his life saw in Lyubov Dmitrievna that girl with whom he had once fallen in love ... And he loved her.

Lyubov Dmitrievna will outlive her husband by 18 years. After his death, she will not marry again. Her last word will be "Sasha".

Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva went down in history not only as the daughter of an outstanding chemist, but also as the wife of one of the greatest Russian poets. Her life was filled with various interesting facts, and besides her lawful husband, Alexander Blok, she was not deprived of the attention of other equally famous men.

It is paradoxical that the daughter of Dmitry Mendeleev had a completely unprepossessing appearance. Judging by the surviving photos and eyewitness memories, the woman was rude and had a slightly squat figure.

The legendary poetess and friend of Blok, Anna Akhmatova, spoke of the poet's wife very impartially, hinting that she was rather stupid. In any case, Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva, whose memories are very ambiguous, is recognized as the main muse of the great Blok, and therefore her persona definitely deserves our attention.

Childhood story

Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva was born and raised in a large family. Her father, Dmitry Mendeleev, had six children in total. From his first marriage, he already had a daughter, Olga, and a son, Vladimir. Lyuba was born into a scientist - besides her, the family had a sister Maria and two brothers - Ivan and Vasily. Many who have studied the biography of the scientist know that the fate of Lyubin's father, like that of many brilliant people, was not easy. He had a rather complex character. After he found himself in a forced retirement from the university, Mendeleev, together with his family, spent most of the time in the estate, which was located in Boblovo.

Despite the fact that in the family of the outstanding chemist, children were never particularly pampered, the future wife of Alexander Blok herself recalled that her childhood was very happy, stormy and filled with joy.

Children's meetings of future spouses

The families of Blok and Mendeleeva communicated with each other quite closely and always maintained warm relations. This was the reason that Alexander Blok and Lyubov Mendeleeva, whose love story will be discussed in our article, had the opportunity to meet for the first time in childhood. When their parents worked together at the university, little Sasha and Lyuba were often taken out on joint walks in the university garden. But then they were just children, and serious feelings between them arose many years later, in 1898.

The stormy adolescence of the Russian poet

In the future, Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva will become the only and eternal muse for Blok. But before love feelings for this woman matured in him, he was seen in a stormy and slightly strange relationship with a certain Ksenia Sadovskaya. This thirty-seven-year-old woman was married and at the time of her acquaintance with Alexander she already had three children. At the same time, Blok at the time of his love for Sadovskaya was only 16 years old. The meeting of these two seemingly completely inappropriate people in terms of romantic relationships took place at one of the German resorts called Bad Nauheim. Blok fell deeply in love with this woman, enlightened her with his poems and made secret dates. After they return to St. Petersburg, a relationship develops between them. But very soon Alexander grows cold towards his lady and he has a new favorite - Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva.

First falling in love with each other

Once Lyubin's mother invited seventeen-year-old Sasha to watch one of the performances that that summer were often staged in Boblovo for local peasants. Lyubov Dmitrievna, whom we are considering, throughout her life periodically dreamed of becoming a great actress, and, of course, she took an active part in staging these performances, even playing the main roles in some of them.

On that evening, a fatal meeting for young people, excerpts from Hamlet were staged on the stage of an impromptu theater. Of course, Lyuba played Ophelia, and Blok himself volunteered for the role of Hamlet.

The girl made a huge impression on him, she was fresh, young, gentle and at the same time strict and unapproachable. At first, the young man made the opposite impression on her. She called him an arrogant poser.

After the performance, Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva and Blok nevertheless decided to take a walk and were left alone. It was during this joint walk that they were imbued with mutual sympathy. Later, both recalled that this meeting was the beginning of their romance.

Passion for mysticism, the teachings of Solovyov and dreams of the "Beautiful Lady"

It is a well-known fact that Blok was very attached to the teachings of Soloviev and was susceptible to various hoaxes. He believed in the existence of a certain mysterious Beautiful Lady, who is the embodiment of tenderness and femininity. And the meaning of all life is to find it and love it with special love all your life.

It is this Beautiful Lady that will become the main subject of the famous Blok's lyrics, and very soon he will find a living embodiment of the image in his old acquaintance - Lyuba.

Mystical meetings in St. Petersburg

After that meeting in Boblovo, the relationship between Sasha and Lyuba cooled down. He returned to Petersburg and gradually began to consider for himself that their acquaintance was completely over. Mendeleeva, in turn, entered the Higher Courses for Women in St. Petersburg, completely immersed herself in the student atmosphere. It seemed that the young people had long since parted with thoughts of each other. But chance began to bring them together. Once in St. Petersburg, Blok accidentally saw Lyuba, who was on her way to study. He did not call out to the girl, but simply followed her secretly, escorting her to the very building of the Women's Courses.

Very little time passed, and the poet again saw Lyuba. This time, a chance meeting took place at the Maly Theater, during the premiere of King Lear. It was then that the conviction that all these meetings were far from accidental appeared and firmly rooted in Blok's head.

He realized that everything that happens between him and Anyone is a mystical coincidence. Solovyov's ideas demanded to find his only "Beautiful Lady", and Blok found her in the person of Mendeleeva.

Resurrection of love feelings

After meeting in the theater, young people renew their communication again. In Blok, strong feelings awaken to Lyuba, which begin to border on some kind of obsession. She, on the contrary, in every possible way refuses to perceive his ideas and considerations on mystical topics. On the basis of ideological and religious considerations, they often argue and quarrel. Their relationship during this period is very unstable: they either feel tenderness for each other, then they completely cool down.

The logical development of this all comes in November 1902, when Alexander makes his favorite proposal, and Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva accepts it.

The poet's relationship with his mother and her dislike for Mendeleeva

Alexandra Andreevna Beketova, Blok's mother, had a rather difficult fate. In her youth, she had a whirlwind romance with a lawyer, Alexander Blok Sr. It ended with the wedding and the birth of the future poet. But this marriage was very unsuccessful. The young husband loved to drink and allowed himself to raise his hand against his wife. She was forced to leave him and devoted her entire subsequent life to her son. She adored her Sasha and devoted all her free time to him. Of course, when he announced his imminent marriage, Alexandra Andreevna was, to put it mildly, not happy. She was very jealous of Blok, and besides, she did not really like Mendeleev herself. Beketova considered her daughter-in-law too cold and somewhat arrogant. Even after the wedding took place, the mother-in-law did not begin to perceive her daughter-in-law normally, and their relationship did not work out in any way. It is paradoxical that women were able to make friends many years after the death of Alexander. The grief brought them so close that until her death, Alexandra Andreevna lived with the once hated Any.

Earthly and spiritual love as understood by Blok

Blok's adherence to the Soloviev teachings in many ways complicated his married life with Any, because, strictly following them, Alexander perceived her as a kind of ideal, the embodiment of Eternal Femininity.

In the poet's mind, there was a clear division between carnal, physical and spiritual love. For his wife, he harbored precisely the second kind of feelings and constantly shied away from physical intimacy, believing that she would eventually destroy their relationship. Most likely, this was the factor that forced Mendeleev to seek happiness with others in the future. At the same time, Blok did not lag behind his wife and had relations with both ordinary girls of easy virtue and started quite serious novels. The first in this family was formed with the help of a close friend of Blok - the poet, known under the pseudonym Andrei Bely.

Endless betrayals and romances on the side

Bely at a certain period of time was very close to Blok. Alexander and his wife often visited Bely, and with each meeting he fell more and more in love with Lyubov Dmitrievna. She behaved ambiguously: on the one hand, she was not going to leave her husband, but in Bely she supported a spark of interest. He wrote letters to her with ardent confessions and requests to leave her husband, she showed them to her husband, and this trio had constant proceedings. All this continued for three years, during which Bely brought himself to a state of pathological dependence on Mendeleeva. All this eventually began to tire her. At one of the last joint meetings, it was decided that Bely and the Blok family would not see each other for the next year. He kept his word and went to Munich. After that, he met with Mendeleeva several more times and finally completely lost interest in her.

In this non-standard pair, not only the wife of Alexander Blok sinned with intrigues on the side. The poet himself was seen in endless relationships with girls of easy virtue, but he also had serious affairs. For example, it is worth remembering one of the actresses (for whom Blok always felt a special weakness) named Natalia Volokhova. She was quite spectacular outwardly, and at some point it seemed to Alexander that it was for her that he felt both spiritual, unearthly closeness, and carnal passion. The passion for this lady was so serious that they began to talk about the imminent divorce of Blok and Mendeleeva. But Lyuba was not taken aback, she herself came to Volkhova and invited the actress to take upon herself not only love joys with her husband, but all the rest of the household care of him. After that, the actress's romance with Blok quickly ended, and her friendship with her lover's wife, oddly enough, lasted almost her entire life.

Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva: children

Blok's wife also had a serious affair. Her chosen one was a young actor named Konstantin Davidovsky. The woman was with him on a theatrical tour of the Caucasus and honestly wrote about everything in letters to Blok. After the end of the tour, Lyuba returns home and breaks off all relations with her lover. But it turns out she was pregnant. Since the time was long, Blocks decide to leave this baby and pretend that he is their common. Unfortunately, after birth, the child lived for only 8 days. Paradoxically, but Alexander experienced the death of the baby much more difficult than his own mother.

Blok's departure from life

After the death of the child, in order to recover, the spouses travel a lot, Lyuba tries to forget herself and is fond of theater. She again has an affair with an actor who is 9 years younger than her. She asks Blok for a divorce, but he does not let her go. The poet himself, in turn, a little later became fond of the opera singer - Lyubov Delmas, but the passion passes quickly. It would seem that this string of mutual betrayal could drag on indefinitely, but the end was put by the strange illness of Blok, for which the doctors at that time could not find any explanation. He was tormented by a high temperature, severe incomprehensible pain. The poet died on August 7, 1921. The mother survived her son by only 2 years, and this time, oddly enough, she huddled in a small communal apartment with her once hated daughter-in-law.

After the death of her husband, Lyubov Dmitrievna Blok herself published a book of memoirs about him, worked at a choreographic school. They say that after the death of Alexander, she did not start a single novel, thus keeping him faithful after his death and protecting the memory of him.

Robert Talson

1894 year. Moscow. Women's gymnasium. Girls in strict dark dresses are recording an exhausting lecture. Feathers creak together, the professor paces from wall to wall:
- It should be added that in paragraph number eight there is a paragraph ...
He does not have time to finish, because an inkwell flies across the classroom, covering the desks with blue splashes, hits the wall and breaks.
- Who did this? - the teacher shouts in rage.
- I AM! - a plump girl with thick blond hair smiles.
- Why? The startled teacher asks, stammering.
- And I was bored! - answers the schoolgirl Lyuba Mendeleeva.

Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva-Blok (1881-1939)

The daughter of the great chemist was born in the summer of 1881. By that time, Dmitry Mendeleev had not yet managed to file a divorce from his first wife, and the newborn girl was registered only in the winter of next year. Lyuba was proud of her wrong date of birth and saw in this a good sign, promising her a bright, eventful life.
In Boblovo, Mendeleev's estate, performances were often staged for neighbors and peasants. Lyuba, who dreamed of becoming an actress, was a little offended that her cousins ​​were more popular with the public and with boy actors. The sisters were pretty, and Lyuba found herself plump and too tall.
In the summer, a seventeen-year-old boy, a great original, often visited Boblovo. He, too, was going to become an actor and played in life, as on stage, portraying a mysterious English prince. The young man's name was Alexander Blok. Then he himself was not yet sure that he would be a poet.
By the time Blok arrived, Lyuba was dressing in all pink and pretending to be indifferent and unapproachable. So she decided to stand out from the crowd of cheerful, talkative girlfriends.
The trick had an effect - many boys drew attention to Lyuba, including Blok.
In the production of Hamlet, this couple got the main roles. Blok was irresistible in a tight-fitting black suit of a Danish prince, and Lyuba Mendeleeva amazed everyone in the role of Ophelia. Her main highlight was her loose, thick blonde hair almost to the toes. Hair is a cloak, so they talked about Lyuba in the role of Ophelia.
Ten minutes of quiet conversation behind the scenes marked the beginning of Blok's painful romance with Mendeleeva. They didn't really have time to say anything to each other, but Lyuba felt the emergence of an invisible connecting thread. Since then, she, according to her own statement, could send a mental call to Blok - and he rushed to her on a white horse eight miles away, just to be silent together.
Once the trick did not work - the young man contracted a disease, during the treatment of which the doctors forbade him to ride. The romantic did not want to move on the cart, and that was the end of the first chapter of the love story.
“I remember Blok with annoyance,” said Lyuba. She was oppressed by the innuendo, the vagueness of the relationship. She left for St. Petersburg to continue her studies at the theater studio. The girl called the few fans soulless mannequins. She didn't need a light flirtation - she wanted to break hearts.
When Lyuba managed to stay in the house alone, she took off her dress and walked naked through the hall, looking at herself in the mirrors. After a month of such exercises, a special plastic appeared in her. Seeing Lyuba by chance in the city, on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island, the matured Blok was amazed at the change that had taken place in her.
- Divine! Was all he could whisper. Blok has already decided on his mission - he left the theater and devoted himself to poetry. He needed a muse, a beautiful lady - and so he found her!
Lyuba felt that Blok was following her. But she did not turn around and walked along and across the entire Vasilievsky Island with a smooth gait. The poet became her shadow. For the next months, she mentally called him either to the theater box or to student gatherings, and Blok would certainly appear.
Lyuba received several notable roles in the theater, she was a so-called young household actress. She had to come to terms with this role, romantic heroines did not trust her. Blok came to the premieres and saw that the performance of his Beautiful Lady was gaining public approval. After the performance, they roamed the streets.
There is no end to forest paths.
Only meet up to the star
Slightly noticeable traces ...
Hear the ears of the forest blades.
This is Blok's first poem that Lyuba heard from him.
- You are more than Afanasy Fet! - in all seriousness she said. Blok was happy. They went to churches but avoided worship. They stood by the oldest, darkest icon. Lyuba prayed to the Mother of God, and Blok prayed to Lyuba.
The girl did not hide that endless walks and beautiful conversations were not quite what she needed from a young man.
- Goodbye! She blurted out one day.
It seemed that everything was over between them.
Once Lyuba went to the theater and sat in the choir, in the darkest and most inconspicuous corner. A few minutes later, Blok appeared in the hall and walked straight to her, knowing and feeling exactly where she was. Excited, Alexander and Lyuba left the theater and went out into the street, under the snow.
Blok made an official proposal to Lyuba Mendeleeva. She confessed that she did not understand a word - only the meaning.
- I agree! - she said, and immediately began to doubt her decision.
Block took out a piece of paper in his pocket and handed it to her:
- Read it!
It was a suicide note. The block was going to shoot himself in case he was refused. Lyuba crumpled up the sheet and put it in her pocket. She will keep this note all her life.
The relatives of Lyuba and Alexander were not against their marriage. Only Alexandra Andreevna Blok, who doted on her son, openly began to be jealous.
They got married on Blok's estate, Shakhmatovo. The ruins of the 17th century church, in which the lovers were married, have survived to this day.
The first wedding night was a shock for Lyuba.
- I cannot be with you as with a street girl! - said the young husband to the discouraged girl.
He had hinted earlier that he adheres to such a strange belief, but Lyuba did not believe it.
She was completely alone again.
- Eternal wife! - Blok told her, singing her soul and other intangible qualities. In response, Lyuba dresses up and flirts, trying to demonstrate her physical attractiveness. But the bait is pecked by another. Blok's best friend, Andrei Bely, falls in love with Lyuba. He writes her notes with threats of suicide, pursues, begs ....
- You must belong to me! - as he repeats deliriously.
Wanting to annoy her husband, Lyuba becomes Bely's mistress. This story almost ended with a duel between the two poets, but Lyuba rounded the second over a cup of tea, and the duel was canceled.
Passion boiled in my chest -
Human grief is forgotten
There is nothing ahead
The past is covered with a haze.
Blok writes to his wife, but he himself starts an affair on the side.
Love goes on tour. She does not need an actress's salary, she is supported by her famous father. They say that in order to play the main role in the Meyerhold Theater, Lyuba spent her money on the production.
Among her colleagues, she singled out a young actor and nicknamed him - my page. Actors move from city to city, their love develops in the rooms of provincial hotels.
Lyuba returned to Petersburg to her husband pregnant. She did not want a child, did not see herself in the role of a mother. Blok persuaded her not to get pregnant. Having suffered several diseases, he became childless, but he wanted an heir, even if not a blood family.
The growing belly irritated Lyuba. He prevented her from maintaining the attractive image of the Beautiful Lady. She did not take care of herself and often drank vodka in a dubious company.
The boy who was born lived only eight days. Lyuba repeated that it was not for nothing that her life line on her right palm was covered by a red spot.
Blok wept at the grave of his step-son.
I will suppress a dull anger
I'll betray longing for oblivion.
Holy little coffin
I will pray at night.
Love felt the need to be cleansed, to do something good, but her life was surrounded by darkness. Block began drinking and dating the singer.
Lyubov finished nursing courses and went to the front of the First World War. She worked as a nurse for over a year until Blok begged her to return. He could not live without her. But together they were even worse.
- He was not normal, I realized this very late, - Lyuba repeated, - He was too refined, intelligent, already degenerating breed ...
The delight of Alexander Blok from the accomplished October revolution was replaced by a painful and aggressive state.
- Blok is afraid that those 12 sailors from his poem will be moved to his apartment! - Poetess Zinaida Gippius joked gloomily.
Love organized the post-revolutionary life as best she could - Blok's mother, Alexandra Andreevna, sent to the market to sell jewelry, stoked the stove with Viennese chairs and cleaned the pungent-smelling herring.
- Oh, my beautiful hands! What a slippery fish has done to you! - Lyuba cried.
After all, Blok wrote about her hands:
I recognize you in sad dreams
And I squeeze with my hands,
Your magic hand ...
By 1921, their small family's fortunes were nearing disaster.
The unfortunate poet was attacked by fits of rage. He beat the dishes, could not sleep at night ... Aggression gave way to apathy and loss of strength. Death became a liberation for the poet.
Mother and widow wept together at the coffin. Several thousand Blok fans gathered at the funeral.
Lyubov Dmitrievna survived her husband by 18 years. She no longer started novels, and somehow quickly resigned herself to old age. Her friend, the ballerina Vaganova, arranged for the poet's widow in a choreographic school. At the end of her life, Lyubov Dmitrievna discovered another talent in herself - she became a theorist of classical dance.
In 1939, while preparing Blok's archives for printing, she died unexpectedly. On her last breath, Lyubov managed to whisper the name of her late husband: "Sasha ..." She returned to him again.
“And because, no matter what happened to us, we always had a way out into this world, where we were unshakably inseparable, faithful and pure. In it, it was always easy and safe for us, even if we even cried at times about our earthly troubles. "