Contemporaries considered him a naive romantic. Some even laughed at this lyric poet. In history, he remained as the killer of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.
It is strange that life distributes the roles of heroes and villains. When a century separates from a historical event, then all the images become overgrown with myths, and it is very difficult to get to the true picture. Nobody wants to forgive the one who killed the poet in a duel. Few people even try to understand the extent of his guilt in what happened.
Childhood
Kolya was born in October 1815 in Nizhny Novgorod. His father was very famous and wealthy. Every year he had more children - his wife gave birth to eight. Solomon Martynov did not want to vegetate in the province, so he left with his large family to the estate near Moscow that belonged to him.
Immediately after the move, the nobleman began to get to know his neighbors. Elizaveta Arsenyeva and her grandson Misha were frequent guests in his house. The latter was a year older than Nikolenka, and the boys became friends. They really liked it when a relative of the Martynovs, Nikolai Zagoskin, came from Moscow. He was a hero of the war of 1812 and a famous writer. Children listened to his stories and themselves dreamed of literary glory and exploits on the battlefield. With a difference of a year, the friends entered the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers.
Youth
There was a feeling that these teenagers were constantly competing with each other. They wrote to the magazine, which was published by the cadets themselves, chose each other as opponents in fencing lessons. Nikolai was taller and already in his youth attracted the eyes of the ladies. For success in his personal life, Michel Lermontov presented his friend with impartial compliments. Everyone who knew Martynov admired his gentle character. When Lermontov broke his leg, he visited him in the infirmary. After leaving school, Kolya often invited a friend to visit and hoped that he would become the husband of one of his many sisters.
Having received their education, the young people began serving in the army. Nikolai Martynov entered the cavalry regiment. It was an elite military unit stationed in St. Petersburg. In 1837, the young man asked the command to send him to the Caucasus. Relatives were horrified to learn that their boy preferred dubious adventures to his career. They failed to dissuade the guy. Soon Lermontov was not exiled to the Caucasus either.
Officers
Service in the troubled border garrisons inspired Nikolai Martynov to be creative. According to his contemporaries, his texts were too pompous and naive. Lermontov noticed this too and did not miss the opportunity to present his school friend with a portion of criticism. In the correspondence of young people, there were mutual barbs.
When Mikhail Yuryevich presented the novel "A Hero of Our Time" to the public, everyone considered that he had brought Nikolai Martynov under the name of Grushnitsky. There was also a more offensive version: it was rumored that Princess Mary was written off from Natalia Martynova. Lermontov often visited the family of his school friend and, according to rumors, seduced the unfortunate girl. The brother of the slandered Natasha claimed that there was an unsuccessful matchmaking, and the bride's mother rejected the groom. The author of the scandalous work himself did not comment on the guesses. This behavior of the beacon of Russian literature put an end to his friendship with Martynov.
Duel
Our hero was very proud that he came to the Caucasus as a volunteer and participated in battles with the mountaineers. He tried to underline his combat experience with an exotic outfit. In July 1841 he was invited to visit the commandant of Pyatigorsk. To impress one of the daughters of the old campaigner, Nikolai dressed up in a Circassian coat and a hat, and hung a dagger from his belt. As soon as he entered the room where the guests were gathering, there was a loud laugh. It was Mikhail Lermontov who could not stand it when he saw a friend in such an outlandish outfit. The one for whom this masquerade was arranged also laughed. The matter ended with a challenge to a duel.
The seconds claimed that on the fatal July day, Lermontov said that he would not shoot his friend. Martynov did not show similar nobility. Those who studied the biography of Mikhail Yuryevich suspected that the ambitious scoundrel had hired a hired killer for the mockery and did not bother to deliver the mortally wounded man to the city to the doctor. As far as such suspicions are justified, there is still debate.
Effects
For participation in the deadly duel, Nikolai Solomonovich and the seconds were brought to trial. The duelist was demoted, but the sentence was delayed. Powerful relatives managed to save their offspring from imprisonment, he got off with a guardhouse and church repentance. During his exile in Kiev, the prisoner managed to get married.
Martynov was forced to return to his ancestral nest, where he met his victim many years ago. Lermontov's killer made his contribution to perpetuating the name of the poet. He left a memoir, where he described the tragic incident in great detail. Many writers represented him in their works as a notorious murderer, although he did not send anyone else to the next world.
Nikolai Martynov died in 1875. A little more than 50 years passed, and the avengers came to his grave. These were good children who, in 1924, did not wander, but went to school. The guys broke into the crypt of the Martynov family, somehow identified the murderer of their favorite poet and threw his bones into the river.
