23. The Good Guys and Romantic Heroes Don’t Always Win
George d’Anthes, a French officer serving in the Russian army, had been publicly pursuing Pushkin’s wife, Natalia. A beautiful, flirtatious and frivolous woman, Natalia might have encouraged the pursuit. Whether anything came of it or not, rumors swirled of an affair between the Frenchman and the poet’s wife. The era’s code of honor demanded that Pushkin challenge the offender to a duel, which the poet did in November, 1836. However, d’Anthes married Natalia’s sister soon thereafter, which made him Pushkin’s brother-in-law. So that challenge was dropped.
However, the slimy d’Anthes continued to publicly pursue Natalia Pushkina. He went about it so openly, that rumors once again circulated. This time to the effect that the Frenchman had married Natalia’s sister only to save her honor – and to have an excuse to get closer to Pushkin’s wife. So another challenge was issued, and this time it was accepted. On February 7th, 1837, Pushkin and d’Anthes met in a duel. In movies and fiction, the good and romantic guy wins. This was real life, however, and the trained soldier d’Anthes fatally wounded Pushkin, who in return only managed to slightly wound the Frenchman’s arm. Russia’s greatest poet died of his injuries two days later.
Also Read: Most Bizarre Duels in History.