Childhood and youth
Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov was born into a family that held a firm position in Russian society of the late 18th century. His father, a retired captain of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, Alexander Nikanorovich, served as a counselor of the Nizhny Novgorod civil chamber with the rank of state counselor. Ivan received his early education at home. A Swiss tutor, Dubois, and a Frenchman, Berger, were engaged to teach him, and they managed to discover in the boy good abilities both for the exact sciences and the humanities, and instilled in him a taste for steady, serious reading.
In 1817–1819 he attended lectures at Moscow University. However, despite his interest in lectures on philosophy, statistics, and mathematics, the young man, like many of his peers, dreamed of a military career, which was entirely natural after the glorious victories of Russian arms in the Patriotic War.
On 10 August 1819, without finishing his university course, having passed the mandatory examination at the Main Staff, I. A. Annenkov entered as a junker one of the most privileged Guards regiments — the Chevalier Guard. Service in it was a privilege not only because of its proximity to the Court, but also because only members of very wealthy families could afford to serve in it, since both the uniforms, which were purchased at one's own expense, and the lifestyle of the habitues of the capital's high society required substantial means.
His mother, Anna Ivanovna (née Yakobi, daughter of the Irkutsk governor-general Ivan Varfolomeevich Yakobi), provided for her son, although from time to time she was displeased with his conduct (for example, his participation in duels). She even threatened to reduce his allowance and withdraw her support altogether. But for the time being, it went no further than threats.
Involvement in the Decembrist movement
In 1821, when the regiment was sent to maneuvers in Belorussia, Annenkov quickly grew close to his new fellow officers: A. M. Muravyov, F. F. Vadkovsky, and A. S. Gorozhansky. Their interests were not limited to balls and cards. Ivan Alexandrovich was drawn to their erudition and their interest in abstract, quite serious and at the same time lofty reflections, which resonated with his own. This fit perfectly with the romantic ideal of the hero that was fashionable at the time. The young men were breaking free of the routine of everyday life, and it seemed to them that they were unlike others. Thus a circle arose, which over time was joined by D. A. Artsybashev, P. N. Svistunov, and A. N. Vyazemsky.
In 1824 all members of the circle joined the Northern Society. However, N. M. Muravyov's draft "Constitution" did not appeal to them, "on account of the moderation of its views." They were far more drawn to the republican views of K. F. Ryleev. The Decembrist Chevalier Guards took an active part in the fate of the serf prodigy Alexei Nikitenko, who later became a professor at St. Petersburg University, compelling their fellow officer Count D. Sheremetev to grant him his freedom.
During the interregnum and the Decembrists' preparations for the uprising, I. A. Annenkov, at a meeting on 11 December 1825, agreed not to swear allegiance to Nicholas Pavlovich, but, understanding that as a mere lieutenant he would not be able to incite the Chevalier Guard Regiment to mutiny, refused to encourage the soldiers to revolt.
On 14 December I. A. Annenkov, together with his comrades, was nonetheless forced to swear allegiance to the new emperor, and later — to march out onto Senate Square against the rebels. Nicholas I, in whose presence the arrested Chevalier Guards were interrogated on 19 December, deemed their involvement in the activities of the secret society to be incidental, and Annenkov was ordered to spend six months in fortresses. Annenkov was sent to Vyborg. But already on 1 February Ivan Alexandrovich was brought to St. Petersburg and confined in cell No. 19 of the Neva Curtain of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The investigative commission, after the testimony of ensign Tolstoy of the Moscow Regiment, obtained information about his participation in the affairs of the secret society. Realizing that a favorable outcome could not be hoped for, Annenkov fell into deep despondency. He attempted to take his own life, but unsuccessfully.
The Supreme Criminal Court placed Annenkov in the second category, sentencing him to 20 years of hard labor. On the night of 11 December 1826 he was sent to Siberia in chains.
On 28 January 1827 the Decembrists were brought to the Chita prison, and for I. A. Annenkov the period of penal servitude began.
Love
Six months before the December uprising, Ivan Alexandrovich met Pauline Gueble at a fair in Penza — the daughter of a Napoleonic officer, who had come to Moscow to work as a modiste at the trading firm of Dumancet. Ivan Alexandrovich was purchasing horses for the regiment, while Pauline had come to the fair together with the Dumancet shop. The Annenkovs had estates in the Simbirsk, Penza, and Nizhny Novgorod provinces, and the young couple, under the pretext of touring them, made a brief journey together. They returned to Moscow in November 1825. 14 December overturned all their plans and dreams. Pauline was expecting a child (their daughter Alexandra was born on 11 April 1826), but Anna Ivanovna did not give her consent to her son's marriage to a modiste. Already that summer Pauline had refused the young man's proposal to marry without his mother's blessing, not wishing to be the cause of a quarrel between mother and son.
Pauline managed to arrange a meeting with Ivan, who was being held in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and promised to follow him to Siberia. Ivan Alexandrovich made his peace with his fate.
After her beloved's exile, Pauline appealed to the emperor for permission to follow him: "Your Majesty, allow a mother to throw herself at the feet of Your Majesty and beg, as a mercy, permission to share the exile of her unlawful husband. Religion, Your will, Sovereign, and the law teach us how to make amends for our mistakes. With all my heart I offer myself in sacrifice to the man without whom I can no longer bear to live… Consent, Sovereign, to open Your great soul to compassion, generously allowing me to share his exile. I renounce my nationality and am ready to submit to Your laws. At the foot of Your throne I beg You on my knees to grant me this mercy. I place my hope in it. I remain, Sovereign, Your Majesty's obedient and devoted subject. Pauline Gueble."
The Emperor granted the Frenchwoman permission to follow him to Siberia. Leaving her daughter with her grandmother, and with almost no means, not knowing Russian, Pauline set out for Chita with two servants on 23 December 1827. On 5 March 1828 she reached the place of Annenkov's confinement, and on 4 April 1828, in the wooden Church of the Archangel Michael, Pauline and Ivan were married. The shackles were removed from the groom only for the duration of the wedding ceremony.
The romantic love story of Pauline Gueble and Ivan Annenkov inspired Alexandre Dumas to write the novel "The Fencing Master." And the director Vladimir Motyl made the story of their relationship one of the central storylines of the film "The Star of Captivating Happiness."
Hard labor and exile
In September 1830 the convicted Annenkov was transferred to the Petrovsky Zavod, and on 8 November 1832 his term of hard labor was reduced to 10 years.
On 14 December 1835 Ivan Alexandrovich was released from hard labor, and on 20 August 1836 transferred to settlement in the village of Belskoye in Irkutsk province. On 5 October 1837 permission was granted to transfer him to the town of Turinsk in Tobolsk province, where the family arrived on 28 January 1839.
Anna Ivanovna Annenkova petitioned the emperor, and on 26 September 1839 Nicholas I graciously permitted Ivan Alexandrovich to enter civil service in Siberia. On 25 November he was appointed a clerk of the 4th class in the Turinsk district court; on 9 June 1841 he was transferred to the staff of the chancellery of the Tobolsk general provincial administration; on 11 April 1842 he was promoted to the 3rd class; on 10 September 1843 he was appointed inspector of settlements of the Tobolsk expedition for exiles; on 24 April 1848 he was promoted to collegiate registrar; from 14 March 1849 he was appointed an assessor to the Tobolsk board for exiles, and from 18 April 1851 — to the board of public welfare. For distinguished service he was promoted to collegiate secretary on 25 December 1854.
Nizhny Novgorod
Under the amnesty of 26 August 1856, Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov was restored in his rights, and received the rank of titular counselor (1 January 1857).
The Annenkovs were forbidden to live in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and they decided to settle in Nizhny Novgorod, not far from which lay the greater part of their ancestral estate (most of it was returned to them in 1859). In 1857 I. A. Annenkov was appointed to serve, over and above the regular staff, on special assignments to the Nizhny Novgorod governor A. N. Muravyov, founder of the very first Decembrist organization. In 1861 he was elected Nizhny Novgorod Uyezd marshal of the nobility, held the post for several three-year terms, and took an active part in the preparation and implementation of the Peasant Reform. He was especially proud that he had come to fulfill the very task the Decembrists had once set for themselves.
In 1865–1868 I. A. Annenkov headed the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo administration. In 1860 Ivan Alexandrovich, together with Praskovya Yegorovna, went abroad for four months. In Paris she met her brother, whom she had not seen since 1823. The Annenkovs' unusual fate, and their ever-benevolent and dignified attitude toward people, aroused interest in society and a desire to become better acquainted with them. Those who met the couple, including the Ukrainian poet T. G. Shevchenko and the well-known historian and publisher of the journal "Russkaya Starina," M. I. Semevsky, spoke of both spouses with sincere admiration.
Passing through Nizhny Novgorod during his journey across Russia, Alexandre Dumas was introduced to the prototypes of the heroes of his novel "The Fencing Master." They welcomed the writer quite warmly, although in 1841, after reading the novel, the heroine had even planned to "publish in Paris a response to the book," since the couple were displeased with the work.
P. Ye. Annenkova left behind a book of memoirs about her life, which she dictated to her daughter Olga. Olga Ivanovna translated them from French and published them in 1888 in "Russkaya Starina."
On 14 September 1876 Praskovya Yegorovna, who had long been seriously ill, died. Ivan Alexandrovich survived his wife by only a little over a year; on 27 January 1878 he too was gone. The couple were originally buried at the Convent of the Exaltation of the Cross in Nizhny Novgorod; in 1953, when the necropolis was cleared for the creation of Lyadov Square, their remains were transferred to Bugrovsky Cemetery.
Awards
- Silver medal "For Labors in the Liberation of the Peasants" — April 1861.
Children
- Alexandra Ivanovna (1826–1880), married name Teplova.
- Anna Ivanovna (1829–1833)
- Olga Ivanovna (1830–1891), married name Ivanova
- Vladimir Ivanovich (1831–1897)
- Ivan Ivanovich (1835–1886)
- Nikolai Ivanovich (1838–1873)
- Natalya Ivanovna (1842–1894 )