Psychologists say that a person's hobby is his failed profession. Even those in power at all times are sometimes distracted by pleasant activities: someone is closer to poetry and aristocratic hunting, someone is closer to collecting or painting. Today we will talk about the alter ego of Russian celestials.
Yaroslav the Wise - the first bibliophile of all Rus'
In ancient Rus', the princes spent their free time from wars and state affairs at feasts and wars. The first Kyiv prince who acquired a hobby that fell into the annals was Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, nicknamed the Wise, who lived from about 978 to 1054. They say that he got his nickname thanks to books.
Yaroslav the Wise became the first prince of Kievan Rus, who learned to read and write, studied foreign languages and read independently. He created a library, in which, at his command, books were brought from Europe and Byzantium, copied and carefully stored. For his time, Yaroslav the Wise was very knowledgeable in the field of world politics, which helped him become one of the greatest princes of Rus'.
John IV the Terrible - a lover of heavenly bodies and chess
The Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, it turns out, had a very harmless hobby, which had nothing to do with such widely known entertainments as sitting on a barrel of gunpowder or wheeling. John Vasilievich had a weakness for heavenly bodies and was seriously interested in astrology. He not only bought maps of the starry sky, but also compiled them with his own hand. Judging by the maps, Ivan the Terrible knew for sure that at different points on the Earth, the picture of the starry sky looks different.
But the real passion of the Russian Tsar was chess. His constant partners on the chessboard were Prince Ivan Glinsky and Boris Godunov. But Malyuta Skuratov, despite all the efforts of the tsar, never mastered the science of chess. According to legend, John IV died sitting at the chessboard.
Peter I "loved silver not for silver"
Peter I can be considered the first Russian "professional" numismatist. The first Russian emperor had a special weakness for coins, however, not as a means of payment, but as a collectible. The collection included domestic coins, both Arabic and Greek. He was especially interested in coins of European minting, and rare coins belonging to the mints of Ancient Rome, Peloponnese and Persia were priceless for Peter.
The first Russian emperor even had several albums for storing coins made by himself. In his free time, Peter could spend hours sorting through coins, cleaning and examining them. The emperor's interest in coins played an important role in the formation and development of the Russian mint.
Peter III: toy battles with vodka
Emperor Peter III had a very unusual hobby. In addition to the traditional Russian weakness for alcoholic beverages, Peter III liked to play with toy soldiers. However, the autocrat took his passion with all seriousness, did not allow anyone to ridicule and always tried to replenish the “army” with new figures. In the collection of Peter III there were several thousand soldiers, who made up units and even entire armies. The monarch could arrange them for hours on a special table, simulating the course of the battle.
However, one day disaster struck. The palace rat thoroughly gnawed three soldiers from the collection. The ruler could not endure such an insult inflicted on him and the Russian army, albeit a toy one. Already on the same day, by his decree, the rat was caught and publicly hanged. However, this did not stop the rats from chewing on the soldiers.
Nicholas I - emperor-couturier
Autocrat of All Russia Nicholas I had a passion for fashion design. Contemporaries have repeatedly mentioned that the emperor liked to design the military uniforms of the Russian army. They say that Nicholas I knew the sewing business as well as any tailor, knew the purpose and application of all the elements of the uniform and could spend evenings and nights drawing sketches, finalizing them and bringing them to life.
Nicholas II - a connoisseur of violins
The last emperor of the Russian Empire, Nicholas II, was also fond of collecting. He collected violins. In his collection there were 128 violins and even the violin of the great Antonio Stradivari. Like any collector, Nicholas II was very sensitive to his exhibits. There is a legend that in the Winter Palace a hiding place was equipped for the Stradivarius violin in the column of the palace.
Non-proletarian hobbies of the leader of the proletariat
The leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's hobbies were by no means proletarian. Contrary to the ideals of social equality, Lenin was interested in cars, he was very fond of hunting, cycling and horseback riding, reading books and classical music. The leader of the proletarians of all countries was not indifferent to painting and theater. He did not advertise his hobbies, while many of his associates shared them.
Stalin is a connoisseur of wines and a movie lover
The father of all nations, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, had a special weakness for cinema, including Hollywood westerns. He believed that Lyubov Orlova could compete with Greta Garbo, and the USSR would still “give a light” to Hollywood. After the death of the leader, a sheet was found in his documents with the words of the song “Easy in the heart from a cheerful song” and the movie “Volga-Volga”.Another hobby of Stalin is wine of his own making. In the basement at the Near Dacha there were always bottles of Georgian wine, into which, at the direction of the leader, business executives added various berries.
Sybarite Brezhnev and the poet Andropov
Secretary General Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, perhaps more than orders, loved only hunting. He did not refuse this hobby even in the last years of his life, spending the weekend at the military hunting farm in Zavidovo. They say that wild boars were specially fed with potatoes there, and as a result, the beast approached the hunters for 30 meters. It was simply impossible to miss, but the huntsman, just in case, fired a shot at the same time as Brezhnev.
But Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, who did not stay long at the post of General Secretary, but is better known as the most mysterious chairman of the KGB of the USSR, wrote poetry. And it is worth noting that they are very good. Some of his contemporaries called him a fair and wise statesman, someone an insidious and ambitious politician - there are more than enough facts in his biography for both images. His poems are just as different: both lyrics, and comic, and even not quite decent content.
They say that once the historian of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Georgy Arbatov and political scientist Alexander Bovin sent Andropov a congratulatory letter, in which they casually expressed their fear that the authorities were corrupting people. The General Secretary answered them with a poem:
Some bastard screwed up
As if spoiling the power of people.
That's what all the wise men say
Since then, for many years in a row,
Without noticing (that's the attack!),
That more often people spoil the power.
As we can see, nothing human is alien even to "the mighty of this world." In any case, cute character traits make each of them more understandable and close to posterity.
Biography
Russian history knows many incomprehensible characters. One of them can be called Peter III, who was destined to become the emperor of our country. Peter-Ulrich, such is his full name, was the son of Anna Petrovna, and she, in turn, was the eldest daughter of Peter, and the Duke of Holstein Cal (his name was Friedrich). The future emperor of Russia was born on February 21, 1728. His mother, Anna Petrovna, died of consumption only three months after the birth of her boy. At the age of 11, Peter-Ulrich also loses his father. And the Swedish king himself, a famous historical figure, Charles XII was his uncle. Peter himself had every right to both the Swedish and Russian thrones. The future emperor lived in Sweden from the age of 11. It was there that he was brought up in every possible way in the spirit of, so to speak, Swedish patriotism, as well as fierce hatred for Russia. Peter-Ulrich grew up as a sickly and nervous boy. To a greater extent, this was due to the manner of his upbringing. Teachers took very harsh and humiliating measures against him.
In 1741 Elizaveta Petrovna, Peter Ulrich's aunt, became Empress of Russia. She immediately proclaimed an heir. It is not surprising that Peter-Ulrich himself turned out to be the successor. However, he had an unhealthy appearance, a low level of education and a mediocre mind. In 1945, Peter III entered into a legal marriage with a certain Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst. Immediately at baptism, she was given the name Ekaterina Alekseevna. She, after a certain period of time, occupied the Russian throne, and went down in history as Catherine II. The relationship between the spouses did not work out from the very beginning. He was too infantile and limited, but Ekaterina Alekseevna did not like it. For example, he played soldiers with great gusto, and indulged in various children's amusements. In a word, Peter III was not going to grow up. After the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna herself (this happened on December 25, 1761), it was Peter Fedorovich who immediately ascended the Russian throne. But he did not have time to crown himself.
Policy
Having ascended the Russian throne, Emperor Peter III immediately did an unprecedented thing. It is worth recalling that Russia then took part in the Seven Years' War (Alexander Suvorov was tempered at that time on the battlefields). So, the Seven Years' War developed so successfully that it was absolutely safe to put an end to the existence of the German state. There was another option - to oblige Prussia to pay a huge, at that time, indemnity, as well as to knock out trade agreements that were unfavorable to her. Peter III turned out to be a great admirer of Frederick II. Therefore, together with the above actions, he simply concluded a gratuitous peace with Prussia. The Russian people could not like this, because people achieved success on the battlefields with blood and courage. Therefore, this step on the part of the emperor can only be called tyranny and betrayal.
If we talk about the domestic policy of Peter III, then here he launched a rather active activity. He issued a huge number of different legal acts, and all this in a short period of time. It is worth highlighting from them the manifesto on the freedom of the nobility, the fight against dissent and the liquidation of the Secret Chancellery. It was under Peter III that the persecution of the Old Believers completely ceased. But in the army, the emperor began to impose the Prussian order. Thus, in a short time, he managed to turn a significant part of the country's society against him.
Pyotr Fedorovich never acted within the framework of a single political program. Most of his actions, according to historians, had, so to speak, a chaotic order. Every day the discontent of the society became stronger, and then a coup d'état followed. Immediately after this (in 1962), the Russian throne was taken by the wife of Peter III - Ekaterina Alekseevna. History will remember her as Catherine II.
Peter III died under very mysterious circumstances in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. Someone believes that it was a transient illness that knocked him down, while others believe that the conspirators, who are also supporters of Catherine II, simply helped him die. Emperor Peter III ruled for only six months (December 1761-July 1762). This time can be characterized by only one word - misunderstanding.
Many people have hobbies that have nothing to do with their main profession. Called the overseas word hobby (from English hobby), such a pastime was no exception among the rulers of our country, the autocrats of the Russian state sometimes had very interesting and unusual activities “for the soul”.
For example, Ivan the Terrible was seriously interested in astrology. It is not surprising that the English astrologer Elisey Bomeley was at the court of the king, who not only compiled horoscopes for Ivan IV, but also taught him the wisdom of his work. True, the Englishman was involved in palace intrigues, and was executed on August 2, 1575.
Another passion of the ruler was chess. Ivan the Terrible even died at the chessboard, arranging the pieces. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the king could not manage to put the king in his place, who fell several times.
Alexei Mikhailovich's favorite pastime was falconry. At that time, the position of the royal falconer was very honorable. Aleksey Mikhailovich personally drew up a special charter - "The constable of the falconer's way", which contained the rules of hunting.
To list all the hobbies of the great reformer Peter the Great is not an easy task. Whatever the sovereign did not do: he built ships, sewed boots, tore the teeth of the courtiers. I even tried to learn how to weave bast shoes, however, unsuccessfully. Peter angrily threw away the unwoven bast shoe, declaring "that there is no trickier craft."
But Emperor Peter the Third liked to play with soldiers. Once the sovereign even ordered the execution of a rat that crept into his chambers and ate two soldiers made of starch. The perfidious animal was hanged.
Nicholas the First rested from state affairs, developing sketches of uniforms for the Russian army. The emperor was so passionate about this occupation that he could sit for days on drawings of a military uniform.
Alexander III was passionate about fishing and hunting. At the age of twenty, he was already hunting bears. In 1894, the autocrat caught a bad cold while hunting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha and developed nephritis - an acute inflammation of the kidneys. At the insistence of doctors, the emperor left for treatment in the Crimea, where he died on October 20, 1894.
Nicholas II loved to play tennis, play the violin and chop wood. Even in 1918, while in custody with his family in Yekaterinburg, Nikolai was very lamented that he was deprived of the opportunity to do what he loved.
7 facts from the life of Emperor Peter III
Peter III was a very extraordinary emperor. He did not know the Russian language, he liked to play with soldiers and wanted to baptize Russia according to the Protestant rite. His mysterious death led to the emergence of a galaxy of impostors.
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1. Heir to two empires
Already from birth, Peter could claim two imperial titles: Swedish and Russian. On his father's side, he was the great-nephew of King Charles XII, who himself was too busy with military campaigns to marry. Peter's grandfather on his mother's side was the main enemy of Charles, the Russian Emperor Peter I.
An early orphaned boy spent his childhood with his uncle, Bishop Adolf of Eitinsky, where he was raised to hate Russia. He did not know the Russian language and was baptized according to the Protestant custom. True, he also did not know other languages \u200b\u200bbesides his native German, he only spoke a little French.
Peter was supposed to take the Swedish throne, but the childless Empress Elizabeth remembered the son of her beloved sister Anna and declared him heir. The boy is brought to Russia to meet the imperial throne and death.
2. Toy soldiers
In fact, the sickly young man was not particularly needed by anyone: neither the aunt-empress, nor the tutors, nor, subsequently, his wife. Everyone was only interested in his origin, even the cherished words were added to the official title of the heir: "Grandson of Peter I."
And the heir himself was interested in toys, first of all - soldiers. Can we accuse him of infantilism? When Peter was brought to St. Petersburg, he was only 13 years old! Dolls attracted the heir more than state affairs or a young bride.
True, with age, his priorities do not change. He continued to play, but secretly. Ekaterina writes: “During the day, his toys were hidden in my bed and under it. The Grand Duke went to bed first after dinner, and as soon as we were in bed, Kruse (the maid) locked the door with a key, and then the Grand Duke played until one or two in the morning.
Over time, toys become bigger and more dangerous. Peter is allowed to write a regiment of soldiers from Holstein, whom the future emperor enthusiastically drives around the parade ground. Meanwhile, his wife is learning Russian and studying French philosophers...
3. "Madam help"
In 1745, the wedding of the heir Peter Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna, the future Catherine II, was magnificently celebrated in St. Petersburg. There was no love between the young spouses - they differed too much in character and interests. The more intelligent and educated Catherine makes fun of her husband in her memoirs: “he doesn’t read books, and if he does, it’s either a prayer book or descriptions of torture and executions.”
With marital duty, Peter also did not have everything going smoothly, this is evidenced by his letters, where he asks his wife not to share the bed with him, which has become “too narrow”. This is where the legend originates that the future Emperor Paul was born not at all from Peter III, but from one of the favorites of the loving Catherine.
However, despite the coldness in the relationship, Peter always trusted his wife. In difficult situations, he turned to her for help, and her tenacious mind found a way out of any trouble. Therefore, Catherine received from her husband the ironic nickname "Lady Help".
4. Russian Marchioness Pompadour
But not only children's games distracted Peter from the matrimonial bed. In 1750, two girls were presented to the court: Elizaveta and Ekaterina Vorontsov. Ekaterina Vorontsova will be a faithful companion of her royal namesake, while Elizabeth will take the place of the beloved of Peter III.
The future emperor could take any court beauty as his favorite, but his choice fell, nevertheless, on this “fat and awkward” maid of honor. Love is evil? However, is it worth trusting the description left in the memoirs of a forgotten and abandoned wife.
The sharp-tongued Empress Elizaveta Petrovna found this love triangle very amusing. She even nicknamed the good-natured, but narrow-minded Vorontsova "Russian de Pompadour."
It was love that became one of the reasons for the fall of Peter. At court, they began to say that Peter was going, following the example of his ancestors, to send his wife to a monastery and marry Vorontsova. He allowed himself to insult and bully Catherine, who, apparently, endured all his whims, but in fact cherished plans for revenge and was looking for powerful allies.
5. Spy in Her Majesty's Service
During the Seven Years' War, in which Russia took the side of Austria. Peter III openly sympathized with Prussia and personally with Frederick II, which did not add to the popularity of the young heir.
But he went even further: the heir handed over to his idol secret documents, information about the number and location of Russian troops! Upon learning of this, Elizabeth was furious, but she forgave a lot of her near-nephew for the sake of his mother, her beloved sister.
Why is the heir to the Russian throne so openly helping Prussia? Like Catherine, Peter is looking for allies, and hopes to find one of them in the person of Frederick II. Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin writes: “The Grand Duke was convinced that Frederick II loves him and speaks with great respect; therefore, he thinks that as soon as he ascends the throne, the Prussian king will seek his friendship and will help him in everything.
6. 186 days of Peter III
After the death of Empress Elizabeth, Peter III was proclaimed emperor, but was not officially crowned. He showed himself to be an energetic ruler, and in the six months of his reign he managed, contrary to popular opinion, to do a lot. Estimates of his reign vary greatly: Catherine and her supporters describe Peter as a weak-minded, ignorant martinet and Russophobe. Modern historians create a more objective image.
First of all, Peter made peace with Prussia on unfavorable terms for Russia. This caused discontent in army circles. But then his "Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility" gave the aristocracy huge privileges. At the same time, he issued laws prohibiting the torture and murder of serfs, and stopped the persecution of the Old Believers.
Peter III tried to please everyone, but in the end, all attempts turned against him. The reason for the conspiracy against Peter was his ridiculous fantasies about the baptism of Rus' according to the Protestant model. The guards, the main support and support of the Russian emperors, took the side of Catherine. In his palace in Orienbaum, Peter signed the abdication.
7. Life after death
Peter's death is one big mystery. It was not in vain that Emperor Paul compared himself with Hamlet: during the entire reign of Catherine II, the shadow of her deceased husband could not find peace. But was the Empress guilty of her husband's death?
According to the official version, Peter III died of an illness. He was not in good health, and the upheavals associated with the coup and abdication could have killed a stronger person. But the sudden and so quick death of Peter - a week after the overthrow - caused a lot of talk. For example, there is a legend according to which the favorite of Catherine, Alexei Orlov, was the killer of the emperor.
The illegal overthrow and suspicious death of Peter gave rise to a whole galaxy of impostors. In our country alone, more than forty people tried to impersonate the emperor. The most famous of them was Emelyan Pugachev. Abroad, one of the false Peters even became the king of Montenegro. The last impostor was arrested in 1797, 35 years after the death of Peter, and only after that the shadow of the emperor finally found peace.