Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva was not only the daughter of the world famous Russian chemist, but also the wife of Alexander Blok. Many interesting events happened in her life. Despite her ordinary appearance, according to her contemporaries, she attracted many outstanding men of her time.
Anna Akhmatova, who was a friend of the poet, considered his wife stupid. Despite this, Lyubov Dmitrievna was Blok's main muse, the same Beautiful Lady whom he sang in his poems.
Childhood
Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev had six children, so we can say that the family was large. From a previous marriage, he already had Olga and Vladimir, and after the wedding with Anna Popova, Lyuba was born.
When the scientist was dismissed at the university, he left for Boblovo, his estate. Here he spent most of his time with his family. Children were not pampered, but later Lyubov Dmitrievna recalled that she was happy.
The first love
The families of Mendeleev and Blok communicated. When the fathers worked together at the university, the children often met for walks in the garden. There were joint games, conversations.
Serious feelings arose much later, in 1898. And before that, the young Blok fell in love with Ksenia Sadovskaya, a married lady with three children. He was sixteen and she was thirty-seven. They met at the Bad Nauheim resort. Falling in love was strong, Blok enlightened Xenia with poems, asked for secret dates. The relationship arose after returning to St. Petersburg, but soon Blok cooled down, and Lyubov Dmitrievna became his only muse.
Their meeting in adolescence took place in Boblovo during a performance. Lyuba played Ophelia, and Sasha was Hamlet. Blok was amazed by a girl who was both gentle and unapproachable, but Lyuba did not like him. She thought he was an arrogant poser. Despite this, after the end of the performance, they went for a walk. During the conversation, mutual sympathy arose, so their romance began.
After the meeting in Boblovo, the young people returned to St. Petersburg, but their feelings began to fade away. Block considered that the relationship was over. Mendeleeva decided to get an education. She entered the Higher Women's Courses and plunged into student life.
From the outside, the impression was that they would no longer be together, but fate itself intervened. First, Lyubov caught the eye of Alexander on the street, on the way to classes. Later there was a chance meeting at the Maly Theater.
Blok, carried away by the ideas of Soloviev, considered these meetings a sign from above. In Lyuba he saw his Beautiful Lady. His feelings, which had been dormant until that moment, woke up. Soon they almost turned into an obsession with the girl. Lyuba refused to share his ideas. On the basis of disagreements, their feelings sometimes cooled down, then passion again woke up.
Marriage proposal
The denouement came in 1902, when Blok proposed in November. It was accepted, and Lyubov Dmitrievna became his wife. The poet's mother, Alexandra Andreevna, nee Beketova, disliked her daughter-in-law. She devoted all her time to raising her son, so the news of his imminent marriage was a blow to her.
She considered Mendeleeva arrogant and cold, and the attitude towards her did not improve even after the wedding. Only many years later, after the death of Blok, the women were able to make friends. They were brought together by a common grief, and until her death, Alexandra Andreevna lived with Lyuba.
The family life of the young couple was complicated by the fact that the poet followed the teachings of Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. The wife was for him the embodiment of Femininity, the ideal, but Blok shared carnal and spiritual love. For Lyuba, he experienced feelings of the second kind, avoiding physical contact. He believed that intimacy would ruin the relationship.
It is believed that this is what prompted Mendeleev to seek other relationships. Blok also did not stand aside, he started novels. Often it was a serious relationship, but there were also contacts with girls of easy virtue.
Over time, a love triangle formed, consisting of a married couple and Andrei Bely, who was a close friend of Blok. Lyubov Dmitrievna supported a spark of interest in him, but was not going to part with her husband. But such a relationship began to tire her, Bely was asked to stop visiting the Blocks, not to see each other for at least a year. The poet went to Munich. When the term expired, he saw Mendeleev several times, but his feelings had already faded away.
Blok did not escape the torment of love. He always had a weakness for actresses, and after meeting with Natalia Volokhova, he decided that he felt not only physical attraction to her, but also felt spiritual closeness.
His hobby was so serious that rumors of an imminent divorce began to circulate in circles close to the couple. Lyubov Dmitrievna decided on a conversation, she came to Volkhova with a proposal to completely take over the life of Alexander.
The actress refused, the romance quickly ended, but she decided not to part with the wife of her ex-lover. Almost all her life she was friends with Love.
Mendeleeva had a relationship with Georgy Chulkov, he was also one of the poet's friends. Alexander did not attach importance to his wife's hobby. He was right - the gentleman quickly bored her.
Mendeleeva had a serious affair with Konstantin Davidovsky. With this young actor, Lyubov Dmitrievna went to the Caucasus, she wrote to Blok in letters about the course of the theatrical tour and relationships. After returning home, Lyubov Dmitrievna broke off the connection with Konstantin, but later it turned out that she was pregnant. Blok reacted with understanding, because the couple could not have their children because of the syphilis suffered by the poet. But the child died shortly after birth.
The spouses go on a journey to relieve their heartache. At times they are overwhelmed by feelings for other people, once Love even asks Blok to let her go, but he does not give her permission to divorce. He himself was also fond of women.
The carousel of betrayals could drag on for a long time, but Block loses health. Despite the undertaken treatment, he dies at the age of 40, it happened on August 7, 1921. The poet's mother lived for 2 more years, huddling with her daughter-in-law in a small communal apartment.
Mendeleeva worked at a choreographic school, published a book with memories of her husband. After his death, she did not meet with anyone else, protecting the memory of him.
