Ezhen de Monfor Tutor A.S. Pushkin Country: France

Biography of Eugène de Monfort

Eugène-Charles-Amori de Monfort, the governess of A.S. Pushkin, did not regret anything when he came to a foreign country. He did not publicize his origins, but did not hide them either. He behaved with modest dignity and gained favor in the Pushkin household.
Time passes relentlessly, often leaving people with the feeling that it slips through their fingers like golden sand. Time is like a deep lake, a whirlpool in which all traces of life, even significant and eventful ones, disappear without a trace. What is Life in front of it, the eternal vortex of Time? A drop. A speck of dust. A moment. All that remains of a life lived are vague shades, fragments, snippets of phrases, a breeze of memories. Even a silhouette (*a portrait made of black paper, cut with scissors, so fashionable in the 19th century) cannot be cut out of these pale shades, from this barely sketched watercolor of years gone by! Everything gets lost, disappears forever. But sometimes time seems to slow down, stop, and give you a rare gift.
The life of someone else appears before you on the pages of a book, a document, a notebook, like a bright light of a thin candle in the darkness. And its burning, though brief, illuminates something previously unknown, unsolved, unrecognized. You suddenly realize that time simply does not exist. It is an obvious truth that requires no proof. But as an axiom, I reread the pages of this just written sketch... The de Monfort family lineage is so ancient and illustrious in France that... it has been blissfully forgotten!
There are now few hunters (in Europe or elsewhere) who would leaf through the dusty "red" and "pink" books of baronial, ducal, and comital families, establish birth and death dates, the presence or absence of descendants, delve into the marital contracts, chronicles of extinct families, decipher ancient heraldic patterns and puzzles of family mottoes on shields. Few now know why there was a bloody war between the Albigensians and the French, and few understand why rivers of blood were needed to make rebellious and freedom-loving Provence only a part of Catholic France.
But it is reliably known from medieval historical chronicles that on June 25, 1218, during the assault of Toulouse by the French, adherents of the Catholic faith, a bloody battle took place. Thousands of people, divided by religious prejudices, died. Among them was the brave knight, the Catholic commander, Simon-Amori, Count de Monfort, who led a fanatical army. Under the pressure of the Catholics, the Albigensians wavered and fled.
Monfort pursued them to the very walls of the fortress of Toulouse. The people led by him were already preparing for the triumph of victory, but... a stone fell on the head of Count Simon de Monfort and pierced his skull. The earthly path of the man who, by his order alone in Beziers, had exterminated sixty thousand townspeople who were not Catholics, ended instantly.
When Monsieur Simon's younger brother, Gui de Monfort, rushed to his aid, it was too late. Only a lifeless, powerful body fell into the hands of Count Gui.
After the tragic death of Simon de Monfort, there were brothers, sons, and nephews left in the noble family. The family continued. And for a while, fortune favored the family: the title of Count de Monfort was known at the courts of all the Kings of France! Honors and glory did not leave the Monforts, composing a worthy page in the long chronicle of chivalry, as it should be.
The Monforts' wealth multiplied countless times, and members of many families considered it an honor to be related to the offspring of their brave knightly family.
The magnificent family estate of the Monforts-Rambouillet was located just a few leagues from the capital of the kingdom - Paris. The beautiful park with deer and roe deer, artificial ponds filled with wild geese and ducks, grouse currents, and hare runs had served as a place for lush royal hunts.
It seemed like it would be forever... But time has its own special account. Its whirlwind, in an instant, ruthlessly swept away the luxurious monarchical decorations from the stage of history, exposing their pitiful and tragic facade, scattering the remnants of ambitious aristocratic families to different ends of the earth.
Those who survived, miraculously escaping the guillotine and the straw hat in the Conciergerie prison, tried to forget the past like a terrible dream. They quickly became model citizens - republicans, followers and admirers of the first Consul of the Republic, General Bonaparte, throwing away titles and coats of arms from their memory like old scarves or handkerchiefs, hurriedly leaving for the remote province, hoping that they would be forgotten there, and then they would peacefully end their century under the shade of ruined nests, no longer aspiring to anything!
Others were luckier, and they started their career anew. Some were forgotten, and they faded away quietly, meekly brushing off the mockery of the proud nouveau riche: coopers - winemakers, meat or pate traders!
How could one be offended or object to anything to the thick, self-satisfied bourgeois, who had become rich from selling provisions to the quartermasters of the all-powerful Consul? God forbid, they might accidentally become marquises and counts themselves, or buy from their own poor titled neighbors their ancient diplomas, coats of arms, and lands for a handful of gold coins!
Others with titles, desperate, left their native homeland forever, sincerely hoping to start a new life in foreign lands. They sailed away, they left. They became outcasts.
It so happened that there were a lot of French refugees - aristocrats for some reason in Russia.
Perhaps they, the unfortunate, believed that in the northern snow of this vast whimsical country, monarchy was also as unshakable and solid as the granite shores of the magnificent Nevsky capital, founded by Peter I, and as blinding as the icy glaze that freezes this river at the first blows of the November frost? Who knows? Count Eugène-Charles-Amori de Monfort, who was educated in an aristocratic Jesuit college near Paris, a talented artist and musician, with a solid knowledge of literature and grammar, well-versed in historical chronicles and heraldry of his ancestors, left France by sea through England and arrived in distant Russia. He took on the recommendation of his old acquaintance (or teacher - a Freemason?), Count Xavier de Maistre, as a tutor to the children of Sergei Lvovich Pushkin, a well-known Moscow bon vivant and salon wit, a lazy member of a lazy Masonic lodge, and an ardent ladies' man.
Recommended by an aristocratic tutor, Eugène gained favor with his former pupil and became the private tutor of his eldest son, Alexander, a curly-haired, pensive boy who attentively listened to the conversations and speeches of adults.
Eugène de Monfort did not regret anything when he came to a foreign country. He did not publicize his origins, but did not hide them either. He behaved with modest dignity and gained favor in the Pushkin household.
The little ward of the poor knight listened with fascination to his evening stories about knightly tournaments and battles, about Count Simon Leicester, the founder of the British House of Commons, the victor of the English King Henry III at Lewes, killed in the Battle of Evesham on August 4, 1265.
The unpretentious "ordinariness" of the teacher's appearance did not match his passionate and inspired stories, awakening the imagination of the boy, who knew how to listen attentively and not just memorize but absorb, as if "cultivating" in himself.
The child absorbed everything, and the teacher's stories soon began to bear fruit. Briefly, let me remind those who may have forgotten.
Pushkin was nicknamed "Frenchman" in the Lyceum - for his excellent knowledge of the language and literature of the country he had never been to, but on whose dialect he composed magnificent poetic charades and letters. Even a natural Frenchman could hardly surpass their brilliance! Pushkin mastered the language of his tutor so well that even now professors of French literature, familiar with his letters written in this language, strongly recommend studying their style and diction to modern students to master all the nuances of vocabulary and style.
This is undoubtedly the merit of Monfort, who taught his ward the language of Voltaire and Diderot through games, charades, and riddles.
In particular, Monfort often composed charades even from his own name and surname, but the little Alexander, as if in jest, solved them in a matter of minutes, already coming up with and composing new and new puzzles - cryptograms from familiar letters. Monfort, De-forge, De Montador, De Montalon, De Montandon. The child played and, while playing, absorbed. Jokingly, he memorized. And having memorized, he created. Years later. After all, time did not exist for him at all! Here is an example - a guess as to what will occur to anyone who reads the works and letters of the Poet with attention.
Pushkin was a brilliant and strict historian. In 1833, while taking a break from writing the "History of Peter," he suddenly began to write dramatic "Scenes from Knightly Times," which unfortunately remained unfinished. But the suddenness and distraction here are apparent.
Undoubtedly, Monfort's long-forgotten stories played a role in this plan, as did the letter with which the count-governess addressed his former ward, the famous Poet of Russia, under the name of the researcher of Crimean lands, Montandon, the author of the manuscript "Traveler's Guide to Crimea" (published in 1834 in Odessa, with a dedication to Count M.S. Vorontsov - the author).
Count de Monfort, having long parted ways with his ward already in the second half of 1807, continued to closely follow his creative work. In his guidebook, he extensively used poetic stanzas by Alexander Pushkin from the poem "The Bakhchisarai Fountain" and belatedly informed the author of this, without revealing his true name. He wanted Pushkin to remember him on his own. Or was he somewhat embarrassed?
So, an unknown, modest researcher of Taurida, K. Montandon, wrote in a letter to the Poet, sending him the still unpublished, rewritten manuscript of the guidebook:
"Your Excellency!
I humbly ask you to accept this book as compensation for the theft I committed with premeditated intent.
I gladly take this opportunity to express my utmost respect, and remain, sir, your most diligent servant.
K. Montandon. Odessa. April 1, 1833."
Pushkin, of course, immediately remembered who Montandon was! The genius's memory did not allow for any gaps, even small ones! But there is no record of his reply, unfortunately! (Or the researchers were too negligent?)
Only echoes of a bright memory remain, shining like lightning: "Scenes from Knightly Times" and the episode from the program "Autobiographical Notes" of the Poet, the first chapters of "Eugene Onegin"...
The fate of the unknown governess-emigrant was unknown. His name remained in the history of literature. Forever. The life of the ancient aristocrat, geographer, and educator did not go brilliantly at all!
In 1816, Count de Monfort learned that his family had been declared extinct, and the surname, by the decree of the returned Bourbon dynasty, was forever passed on to Napoleon's brother, Duke Jérôme. The children of this influential person, Eugène and Mathilde, received the title of Count and Countess de Monfort, along with the estate and ancestral lands.
Perhaps the Jesuit priest Monfort, who had been living in the colony of German settlers called "Zulz" on the south coast of Odessa, where, under his guidance, the construction of a large settlement of colonists and a church building was successful, simply smiled slightly upon learning all this.
After all, he had a great sense of humor and wit. He knew perfectly well that everything is transient in the world, everything is not eternal! Titles were no longer so necessary to him. He did not argue with anyone or try to repeal the unjust edict. And was there any point?
In 1820, he left the Jesuit Order, forbidden to him by Emperor Alexander I, once and for all, but remained in Russia, already forever, taking the pseudonym "Montandon," which had already been used in various literary works, as his surname. Yes, Eugène-Charles-Amori de Monfort-Montandon desperately tried to start his life anew. He had the courage for that, after all, he was a descendant of the Templar knights! He wrote, published, and taught. He bought a house in Alupka. He got married and started a family. He engaged in various commercial and stock market affairs. Thus, in 1825, he founded the "company for the production and export of flour" in Odessa. Although the business did not develop well, Monfort-Montandon established himself quite well, and in 1834, through the patronage of the governor of the region, Count M.S. Vorontsov, found himself in Simferopol, in a position under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Education. The exact position he held is unknown, alas!
In 1837, the patron and younger representative of the Demidov family, a philanthropist who mostly lived abroad, Anatoly Nikolaevich Demidov, gathered a group of French scientists and embarked on a journey to southern Russia. The result was a book that Montfort-Montandon helped edit and compile. Anatoly N. Demidov highly appreciated his work and called him "the best expert on the south of Crimea at that time."
But after the successful publication of Demidov's "atlas-diary," the traces of Monfort and his descendants were lost for a long time.
Almost thirty years pass before his granddaughter, Eugenia Monfort, appears in the highest circles of Petersburg society as a maid of honor to Empress Maria Alexandrovna in 1865. The branch descending from the lady-in-waiting Eugenia Monfort firmly settled in St. Petersburg. Some traces of the continuation of the family were found in directories and necropolises. The son of the count-governess's granddaughter, Eugeny Orestovich Monfort, was born in 1874. He became a military officer. In 1904, he graduated from the General Staff Academy. He served in various positions in the Irkutsk military district.
Before the events of October 1917, Eugeny O. Monfort, a military man by profession, became the head of the Odessa police under the Provisional Government.
The fate of the Monfort family ended tragically in the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. The exact details of their lives and whether any descendants of Eugène-Charles-Amori de Monfort survived remains unknown.