Bestuzhev A.A. (1797-1837), writer, critic, decembrist

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BESTUZHEV (pen name Marlinsky) Alexander Alexanderovich (1797, St. Petersburg - 1837), writer, critic, decembrist, staff-captain (1825). Trained at the Mining Cadet Corps but never graduated (1810-15). From 1816 served with the Dragoon Guards located near Peterhof in Marli (hence the pen name). From 1822 was adjutant of General A.A. Bethencourt, from 1823 - that of Duke A.F. Wurttemberg. From 1818 he was published in journals Syn Otechestva, Sorevnovatel Prosveshcheniya i Blagotvoreniya, Severny Arkhiv, Nevsky Zritel and others. In 1823-25 he edited together with K.F. Ryleev Polyarnaya Zvezda almanac. He was a member of the Free Society for Lovers of Russian Literature (1820) and Free Society for Lovers of Literature, Sciences, and Arts. From 1823 he had been a member of the Northern Society; in 1825 he became one of its leaders. He was an active organizer and participant of the uprising on 14 December 1825: commanded the Moscow Guards. After arrest he was kept at the Nicholas Curtain of St. Peter-and-Paul Fortress. In 1826 he was sentenced to death (according to the confirmation of 10 July 1826, the execution was changed to 20 years hard labour). From August 1826 he was kept in Rochensalm Fortress. In 1827 he was exiled to a Village in Yakutsk. In 1829 he was sent as a common soldier to the Caucasus. He died in a fight with tribesmen at Mt. Adler. Bestuzhev is one of the most popular romanticist writers of the 1820s-30s, author of stories and tales Roman and Olga (1823), The Tournament at Revel (1825), The Trial (1830), Amalat-Bek (1832), Frigate Hope (1833), Nikitin Sailor (1834) and others. In the 1800s he lived at 40 Fifth Line of Vasilievsky Island (the house has not been not preserved), in the first half of the 1820s - at 18 Seventh Line of Vasilievsky Island (reconstructed), in 1824-25 - in the house of Russian-American Company at 72 Moika River Embankment (reconstructed), from August to September 1825 - at 1 St. Isaac's Square (reconstructed).

Reference: Шубин В. Ф. Поэты пушкинского Петербурга. Л., 1985. С. 168-205, 314-15; Петербург декабристов. СПб., 2000 (ук.).

A. D. Margolis. Bestuzhev Alexander Alexandrovich
Bethencourt Avgustin Avgustinovich
Margolis Alexander Davidovich
Ryleev Kondraty Fedorovich
Wurttemberg Alexander-Friedrich, Duke
5th Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 40
7th Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 18
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 72
St.Isaac's Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 1
Шубин В. Ф. Поэты пушкинского Петербурга. Л., 1985
Петербург декабристов / Сост. А.Д.Марголис. СПб., 2000 Dragoon Life Guards Regiment
Syn Otechestva (Son of the Fatherland), journal
Polyarnaya Zvezda (The Polar Star), almanac
Free Society for the Lovers of Literature, Sciences and Arts, Literary and Social Organization
Decembrists
Moscow Life Guards Regiment
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Peter and Paul fortress