Gogol's grave at the Novodevichy cemetery. The mystery of Gogol's grave. Nikolai Gogol: Life after death and the mystery of the skull Gogol's coffin was opened

Ending.

RIG website The fear of the Last Judgment no longer haunted the sufferer, because he did everything according to God’s command - he lived, worked, and died with prayer...

And he always believed so much in his heavenly patron Nicholas the Wonderworker!

Exhumation of Gogol's grave

On February 21 at eight o'clock in the morning Gogol died. They say that the night before, waking up from a deep sleep, Nikolai Vasilyevich exclaimed: “Get the stairs, quickly give us the stairs!” These were his last words, the meaning of which is now impossible to imagine. Most likely, the agony began, and Gogol, in his delirium, demanded some kind of incomprehensible staircase. And most importantly, where was he going to climb it...

Gogol was buried on the territory of the St. Danilov Monastery. There is a legend that Gogol was first buried behind the fence of the Danilov Monastery, where suicides were buried. But perhaps this is a geographical inaccuracy, since the cemetery grew and the fence was moved to expand the territory. But this fits into the version that Gogol’s grave was opened twice. There is a legend that when Gogol’s ashes were transferred from the fenced part to the cemetery territory, the famous millionaire collector A. Bakhrushin persuaded the monks to open the grave and pull Gogol’s skull out of the coffin. By the way, this museum still exists in Moscow, and it actually houses two human skulls, unknown to whom they belong. In general, myths and legends shrouded the name of Nikolai Vasilyevich even after death, probably even to a greater extent than during life. Because history does its job, and people have always been inclined to mystify and supplement with guesses those facts that they could not explain rationally.

In 1931, it was decided to transfer the Danilov Monastery to the state as an orphanage for street children, and the remains of famous personalities resting in this cemetery would be reburied at the Novodevichy Cemetery. The grave of N.V. Gogol was also among them. The exhumation took place in the presence of about 20-30 people, among whom were two pathologists, a member of the Writers' Union Vladimir Lidin, writers Alexander Malyshkin, Yuri Olesha, and a state museum employee Maria Baranovskaya. The grave turned out to be very deep, they dug for a long time, then they could not find the entrance to the grave crypt, in general, the coffin was opened at dusk. Perhaps this explains some of the “oddities” that occurred after the removal of the upper coffin board.

Firstly, the act on the exhumation of Gogol’s grave was drawn up in a completely ridiculous way: only the composition of the exhumation commission and the date were listed there. There was no evidence from the pathologist or what was seen by others during the exhumation. But it is the lack of information that gives rise to rumors. This is where this factor played a role.

Subsequently, Baranovskaya, for example, testified that when the lid of Gogol’s coffin was removed, his arms were extended along his body, which should not have been the case when laying the corpse in the coffin. The same Baranovskaya reported after some time that she had made a mistake with her hands, that she did not see the writer’s head in the coffin. Archaeologist A.P. Smirnov, who was also present at the exhumation, testified to the same blatant fact. Apparently, this “evidence” marked the beginning of the rumor about the disappearance of Gogol’s head. V. Lidin wrote that Gogol’s head was turned to the side. But this detail seems to me the most plausible, because there is a more or less acceptable explanation for this. The fact is that over time, the top lid of the coffin, experiencing strong pressure from the earth, begins to sag, thereby deforming the most “prominent” part of the human body - the head. This fact is evidenced by people whose presence during exhumation is mandatory. So, it is quite possible that this happened to Gogol’s coffin. And his will and fear of lethargic sleep did the rest. And if we continue to list all the absurd “evidence” that the great writer was buried alive, we will become increasingly surprised and indignant. For example, pathologist S. Soloviev would later state that there was no corpse at all! That is, we see that there was no unity of conclusions during the exhumation of Gogol. Either they did not see the corpse at all, or the body was without a head, or a change in the location of the limbs was “observed.” In my opinion, the spread of such rumors was an attempt to attract attention to oneself, at least for a short time by any means, to remain in the shadow of the glory of the genius of Russian literature! This is PR. The literary heritage of V. Lidin is small and, of course, not as significant as the work of Gogol, and his name has come to us only because he was present at the reburial of the brilliant writer. At the same time, he writes that Gogol was wearing a frock coat, which was well preserved, and through the remains of which underwear was visible (!). How can a rag survive seventy years?!

And one more absurdity. An absurdity, but quite persistently existing as a terrifying detail of the post-funeral period of the writer’s “life”. Allegedly, when the coffin was opened, the interior lining was scratched, and Gogol’s body was in a twisted state. How can you curl up in a coffin?! You can't even lift your knees there. And in order to stretch your arms along your body, you need to straighten your shoulders. Naturally, this is impossible to do in a coffin. And then, again, the upholstery could not be preserved... Well, and one more conclusion made in our time. Everyone knows that a death mask was made from Nikolai Vasilyevich, but not everyone knows the technology of this process. First, you need to fill your face with hot wax, and then only after the wax has hardened, use the plaster mixture. Even a deeply sleeping organism must react to the molten mass spreading over the face, which clogs the airways... So the lethargic sleep of the great writer is also another myth...

Nikolai Vasilyevich suffered so much in real life! He suffered from his genius, from religious imbalance, from alienation, from the lack of full and forgiving love, in the end he suffered from the fact that he did not fulfill his creative mission, he could not fully become a prophet, because he could not cope with the genius sent to him The Creator... His whole life was filled with struggle, and mostly with himself. And this is most often an unequal battle... So why won’t they leave him alone after his death? Why don’t people already give him the peace he has suffered and deserved?! This is what I don’t understand.

There were rumors that half of Gogol's remains were dismantled for souvenirs (!). Allegedly, Lidin himself tore off a piece of the frock coat in which Gogol was buried in order to tie a volume of Dead Souls with it, and Malyshkin almost tore out an entire rib. Sadly…

Posthumous mysticism. Heritage

After the reburial, the monument created by the architect Andreev in 1909 to mark the centenary of the writer’s birth was moved from Gogol’s grave. It was moved to Nikitsky Boulevard, where Gogol lived before his death. They also removed a huge stone reminiscent of Golgotha, which was originally placed at the burial site instead of any sculptures and marble slabs, as the writer wanted. In 1959, another monument was erected to Gogol with the pompous inscription “From the Soviet Government”; the stone, brought from Jerusalem by Nikolai Vasilyevich’s friends, disappeared. They say that when the “Soviet” monument to Gogol was unveiled, they could not throw off the veil that wrapped him from head to toe. It’s as if Nikolai Vasilyevich himself was outraged by the violation of his posthumous will... And they also say that after the plunder of the writer’s grave, Gogol came to all “collectors” in a dream demanding that everything be returned to its place. Frightened propagandists of the “cultural” heritage of the great classic collected everything that had been taken away and buried it next to the writer’s new grave.

And the last thing I would like to say. The wonderful Russian writer M. Bulgakov said throughout his life that Gogol was his favorite writer; he believed that Nikolai Vasilyevich’s work influenced his development as a writer to a greater extent than anything else. If we look at Woland, we will notice that traces of Gogol’s Chichikov can be traced here - in the devilish image of Bulgakov’s hero, the features of Chichikov are noticeable - an allegorical devil, tempting and achieving results by acting on the weakest sides of a person. Many figurative and situational variations are associated in M. Bulgakov’s mythical novel with “Dead Souls”. And with the circumstances of the life and death of the great Gogol too. Probably, in some of the parallel worlds, Gogol and Bulgakov collided, and Gogol became not just Bulgakov’s literary teacher, since not only their work, but also their posthumous fate turned out to be intertwined.

After the death of M. Bulgakov in 1940, his wife Elena Andreevna could not decide which monument to erect to her husband. Quite by accident, in one of the ritual workshops of the Novodevichy cemetery, she discovered a large stone that was very reminiscent of Golgotha, where Yeshua was executed from the novel “The Master and Margarita.” He seemed to the writer’s wife to be the personification of Mikhail Afanasyevich’s life and creative path, full of suffering, bitterness, misunderstanding and lack of recognition. It was decided that there could be no better way to perpetuate the memory of a writer who had not submitted to the regime. What a surprise it was when it turned out that this was exactly the stone that had disappeared from Gogol’s grave! The hand of providence united two great Russian writers, Gogol and Bulgakov, after death many decades later... Probably not by chance.

And what's strange. Both V. Lidin and A. Malyshkin, who participated in the plunder of the writer’s grave, rest peacefully at the Novodevichy cemetery next to Nikolai Vasilyevich, as if under his vigilant eye... History always puts everything in its place. Comprehending the events of long-gone years, I note, impartial comprehension, helps us get rid of stereotypes, sweep away unnecessary speculation, discard the unimportant and superficial, and ultimately see the grain of common sense, which is so necessary for all of us.

P.S

The icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker truly performed a miracle. It was wonderful to see a man appear on this earth, whose whole life was filled with spiritual, higher meaning. Perhaps the meaning has not yet been comprehended by us... Just re-read at least one story, and you will fill these unique Gogol images, which have not yet lost their attractiveness and ambiguity, with a new sound. Re-read “Taras Bulba”, and you will understand what the brilliant thinker wanted to say, and you will also understand what he wanted to remain silent about... Alexander Kalyagin, who played the role of Chichikov in the film of the same name, said that the more he reflects on the essence of his hero, the more The more confused he is at the scale of what is planned, the more he plunges into a state of enthusiasm and anxiety at the same time. Where and why is anxiety? Reasonably, probably...

Yuri AKSAMENTOV

In world practice, there are many times when doctors have established the false death of a person. It is good if such a patient recovers from the state of imaginary death before his own funeral, but, apparently, sometimes living people end up in the graves... For example, during the reburial of one old English cemetery, when many coffins were opened, skeletons were discovered in four of them lying in unnatural positions in which their relatives could not see them off on their last journey.

It is known that Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who suffered from attacks of lethargic sleep, was afraid of being buried alive. Considering that it can be very difficult to distinguish lethargy from death. Gogol ordered his acquaintances to bury him only when obvious signs of decomposition of the body appeared. However, in May 1931, when the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, where the great writer was buried, was destroyed in Moscow, during the exhumation those present were horrified to discover that Gogol’s skull was turned to one side.

Nevertheless, there was no lethargic sleep at the time of death, which I found documentary evidence of when collecting material for this article in the historical section of the http://www.forum-orion.com/viewforum.php?f=451 forum library. Why then, during the reburial, was a skeleton with the skull turned to one side found in the coffin?

This fact prompted Andrei Voznesensky to write a poem:
Open the coffin and freeze in the snow. Gogol, curled up, lies on his side. An ingrown toenail tore the lining of the boot.
But what was it really like? In May 1931, in connection with the liquidation of part of the necropolis at the Danilov Monastery, the reburial of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol took place. Many writers were present at the ceremony: Vsevolod Ivanov, Yuri Olesha, Mikhail Svetlov and others. When they opened the coffin, everyone was struck by the unusual pose for the deceased.

But it turned out that there was nothing surprising in that. As experts explained, the side boards of the coffin are usually the first to rot. They are the narrowest and most fragile. The lid begins to fall under the weight of the soil, pressing on the head of the buried person, and it turns to one side on the so-called Atlas vertebra. Exhumation professionals claim that they see this position of the dead quite often. However, the well-known suspiciousness of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, his belief in the afterlife mysteries covered not only his death with a touch of mystery, but also the burning of the manuscript of the second volume of “Dead Souls”. In the last years of his life, Gogol greatly lost heart: he did not receive acquaintances, remained alone at night, spent a lot of time in prayer, cried, fasted, thought about death, tried to stay in his chair, believing that the bed would be his deathbed.

Associate Professor of the Perm Medical Academy M. I. Davidov, whom our readers know from publications about the wounds of A. S. Pushkin and M. Yu. Lermontov, analyzed 439 documents while studying Gogol’s disease.

Mikhail Ivanovich, even during the writer’s lifetime there were rumors in Moscow that he was suffering from “madness.” Did he have schizophrenia, as some researchers claim?

No, Nikolai Vasilyevich did not have schizophrenia. But during the last 20 years of his life he suffered, in the language of modern medicine, manic-depressive psychosis. At the same time, he was never examined by a psychiatrist, and doctors had no idea that he had a mental illness, although close friends suspected it. The writer had periods of unusually cheerful mood, so-called hypomania. They were replaced by attacks of severe melancholy and apathy - depression.

Mental illness proceeded masquerading as various somatic (physical) illnesses. The patient was examined by leading medical luminaries of Russia and Europe: F. I. Inozemtsev, I. E. Dyadkovsky, P. Krukenberg, I. G. Kopp, K. G. Karus, I. L. Shenlein and others. Mythical diagnoses were made: “spastic colitis”, “catarrh of the intestines”, “damage to the nerves of the gastric region”, “nervous disease” and so on. Naturally, the treatment of these imaginary diseases had no effect.

To this day, many people think that Gogol died truly horribly. He allegedly fell into a lethargic sleep, which was mistaken by those around him for death. And he was buried alive. And then he died from lack of oxygen in the grave.

These are nothing more than rumors that have nothing to do with reality. But they regularly appear on the pages of newspapers and magazines. Nikolai Vasilyevich himself is partly to blame for the emergence of these rumors. During his lifetime, he suffered from taphephobia - the fear of being buried alive, since since 1839, after suffering from malarial encephalitis, he was prone to fainting followed by prolonged sleep. And he was pathologically afraid that during such a state he might be mistaken for dead.

For more than 10 years he did not go to bed. At night he dozed off, sitting or reclining in a chair or on the sofa. It is no coincidence that in “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” he wrote: “I bequeath my body not to be buried until obvious signs of decomposition appear.”

Gogol was buried on February 24, 1852 in the graveyard of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, and on May 31, 1931, the writer’s ashes were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery.

In the periodical press there are statements that during the exhumation it seemed to be discovered that the lining of the coffin seemed to be all scratched and torn. The writer's body is unnaturally twisted. This is the basis for the version that Gogol died already in the coffin.
- To understand its inconsistency, it is enough to think about the following fact. The exhumation took place almost 80 years after the burial. At such a time, only bone structures that are not connected to each other remain from the body. And the coffin and upholstery change so much that it is completely impossible to determine any “scratching from the inside.”
- There is such a point of view. Gogol committed suicide by taking mercury poison shortly before his death...
- Yes, indeed, some literary scholars believe that approximately two weeks before his death Nikolai Vasilyevich took a calomel pill. And since the writer was starving, it was not removed from the stomach and acted like a strong mercury poison, causing fatal poisoning.

But for an Orthodox, deeply religious person like Gogol, any attempt at suicide was a terrible sin. In addition, one pill of calomel, a common mercury-containing medicine of that time, could not cause harm. The assumption that in a fasting person drugs remain in the stomach for a long time is erroneous. Even during fasting, drugs, under the influence of contraction of the walls of the stomach and intestines, move through the digestive canal, changing under the influence of gastric and intestinal juices. Finally, the patient had no symptoms of mercury poisoning.

Journalist Belysheva put forward a hypothesis that the writer died from the abdominal type, an outbreak of which occurred in 1852 in Moscow. It was from typhus that Ekaterina Khomyakova died, whom Gogol visited several times during her illness.
- The possibility of typhoid fever in Gogol was discussed at a council held on February 20 with the participation of six famous Moscow doctors: professors A. I. Over, A. E. Evenius, I. V. Varvinsky, S. I. Klimenkov, doctors K. I. Sokologorsky and A. T. Tarasenkova. The diagnosis was categorically rejected, because Nikolai Vasilyevich really had no signs of this disease.
- What conclusion did the council come to?
- The writer’s attending physician A.I. Over and Professor S.I. Klimenkov insisted on the diagnosis of “meningitis” (inflammation of the meninges). This opinion was joined by other participants in the consultation, with the exception of the late Varvinsky, who diagnosed “gastroenteritis due to exhaustion.” However, the writer had no objective symptoms of meningitis: no fever, no vomiting, no tension in the neck muscles... The conclusion of the consultation turned out to be erroneous.
By that time, the writer’s condition was already serious. The pronounced exhaustion and dehydration of the body was striking. He was in a state of so-called depressive stupor. He was lying on the bed in his robe and boots. Turning his face to the wall, not talking to anyone, immersed in himself, silently waiting for death. With sunken cheeks, sunken eyes, dull gaze, weak, accelerated pulse...
- What was the reason for such a serious condition?
- Exacerbation of his mental illness. A psychotraumatic situation - the sudden death of Khomyakova at the end of January - caused another depression. The most severe melancholy and despondency took possession of Gogol. An acute reluctance to live arose, characteristic of this mental illness. Gogol had something similar in 1840, 1843, 1845. But then he was lucky. The state of depression spontaneously passed.
From the beginning of February 1852, Nikolai Vasilyevich almost completely deprived himself of food. Severely limited sleep. Refused to take medications. I burned the almost finished second volume of Dead Souls. He began to retire, wishing and at the same time fearfully expecting death. He firmly believed in the afterlife. Therefore, in order not to end up in hell, he exhausted himself all night long with prayers, kneeling in front of the images. Lent began 10 days earlier than expected according to the church calendar. Essentially, it was not fasting, but complete hunger, which lasted three weeks until the writer’s death.
- Science says that you can survive for 40 days without food.
- This period is hardly unconditionally fair for healthy, strong people. Gogol was a physically weak, sick man. After previously suffering from malarial encephalitis, he suffered from bulimia - a pathologically increased appetite. I ate a lot, mostly hearty meat dishes, but due to metabolic disorders in the body I did not gain any weight. Until 1852, he practically did not observe fasts. And here, in addition to fasting, I sharply limited myself in liquids. Which, together with food deprivation, led to the development of severe nutritional dystrophy.
- How was Gogol treated?
- According to an incorrect diagnosis. Immediately after the end of the consultation, from 15:00 on February 20, Doctor Klimenkov began treating “meningitis” with those imperfect methods that were used in the 19th century. The patient was forcibly placed in a hot bath, and ice water was poured over his head. After this procedure, the writer felt chills, but he was kept without clothes. They performed bloodletting and placed 8 leeches on the patient’s nose to increase nosebleeds. The treatment of the patient was cruel. They shouted at him rudely. Gogol tried to resist the procedures, but his hands were wringed forcefully, causing pain...
The patient's condition not only did not improve, but became critical. At night he fell into unconsciousness. And at 8 o’clock in the morning on February 21, in his sleep, the writer’s breathing and blood circulation stopped. There were no medical workers nearby. There was a nurse on duty.
The participants of the consultation that took place the day before began to gather at 10 o’clock and instead of the patient they found the body of the writer, from whose face the sculptor Ramazanov was removing the death mask. The doctors clearly did not expect death to occur so quickly.
- What caused it?
- Acute cardiovascular failure caused by bloodletting and shock temperature effects on a patient suffering from severe nutritional dystrophy. (Such patients tolerate bleeding very poorly, often not at all. A sharp change in heat and cold also weakens cardiac activity). Dystrophy arose due to prolonged starvation. And it was caused by the depressive phase of manic-depressive psychosis. This creates a whole chain of factors.
- Did the doctors openly cause harm?
“They made a mistake in good faith, making an incorrect diagnosis and prescribing irrational treatment that weakened the patient.
- Could the writer be saved?
- Force-feeding highly nutritious foods, drinking plenty of fluids, and subcutaneous infusions of saline solutions. If this had been done, his life would certainly have been spared. By the way, the youngest participant in the consultation, Dr. A. T. Tarasenkov, was convinced of the need for force feeding. But for some reason he did not insist on this and only passively observed the incorrect actions of Klimenkov and Over, later cruelly condemning them in his memoirs.
Now such patients are necessarily hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital. Force-fed highly nutritious formulas through a gastric tube. Saline solutions are injected subcutaneously. They also prescribe antidepressants, which did not yet exist in Gogol’s time.

The tragedy of Nikolai Vasilyevich was that his mental illness was never recognized during his lifetime.
Letter from Nikolai Ramazanov about the death of Gogol

“I bow to Nestor Vasilyevich and convey extremely sad news...
This afternoon, after lunch, I lay down on the sofa to read, when suddenly the bell rang and my servant Terenty announced that Mr. Aksakov and someone else had arrived and were asking to take off Gogol’s mask. This accident struck me so much that for a long time I could not come to my senses. Although Ostrovsky was with me yesterday and said that Gogol was seriously ill, no one expected such a denouement. At that moment I got ready, taking with me my molder Baranov, and went to Talyzin’s house, on Nikitsky Boulevard, where Nikolai Vasilyevich lived with Count Tolstoy. The first thing I encountered was a coffin roof of crimson velvet /.../ In the room on the lower floor I found the remains of someone taken by death so early.
In a minute the samovar boiled, the alabaster was diluted and Gogol’s face was covered with it. When I felt the crust of the alabaster with my palm to see if it was warm enough and strong enough, I involuntarily remembered the will (in letters to friends), where Gogol says not to bury his body until all signs of decomposition appear in the body. After removing the mask, one could be completely convinced that Gogol’s fears were in vain; he will not come to life, this is not lethargy, but an eternal sleepless dream /.../
While leaving Gogol's body, I came across two legless beggars at the porch who were standing on crutches in the snow. I gave it to them and thought: these legless poor things live, but Gogol is no longer there!”
(Nikolai Ramazanov to Nestor Kukolnik, February 22, 1852).

Well-known literary critic, editor-in-chief of the academic complete works N.V. Gogol, RSUH professor Yuri MANN commented on this document.
- When and under what circumstances did this letter become known?
- It was first published in the collection of M.G. Danilevsky, published in 1893 in Kharkov. The letter was not given in full, without indicating the addressee, and therefore turned out to be outside the attention of researchers who studied the circumstances of Gogol’s death. About two years ago I worked in the manuscript department of the Russian National Library (formerly the Saltykov-Shchedrin library), fund 236, storage unit 195, sheets 1-2, where I collected materials for the second volume of Gogol’s biography. (The first volume - "Through the Laughter Visible to the World..." The Life of N.V. Gogol. 1809-1835." - was published in 1994.) Among others, I discovered this document.
- Why were you silent for so long?
- All this time I have been working on a book where the letter will be published in full. I was forced to provide fragments of the letter for publication by the fact that by a recent sad date, the version that Gogol was buried alive again began to circulate on the pages of newspapers.
- What exactly in this letter indicates that Gogol was not buried alive?
- Let's start with the facts. Gogol was treated by the best doctors of that time. Even if, from the point of view of modern medicine, not everything was done as it should be, after all, these were not charlatans, not idiots, and, of course, they could distinguish the dead from the living. In addition, Gogol himself warned the doctors accordingly, or rather, his will, which said: “Being in the full presence of memory and common sense, I express here my last will. I bequeath my body not to be buried until obvious signs of decomposition appear "
- But there is nothing in the letter about these signs...
- And it couldn’t be. Gogol died at 8 o'clock in the morning, Ramazanov appeared immediately after lunch. He was a wonderful sculptor, knew Gogol personally and, of course, paid all attention to the task assigned to him. Removing a mask from a living person is impossible. Ramazanov became convinced that Gogol’s fears were in vain, and with the greatest regret stated that this was an eternal dream. The reliability of his conclusion is increased by the fact that attention was directed accordingly, that is, Gogol’s testament. Hence the categorical conclusion.
- Why did Gogol’s head turn out to be turned?
- It happens that the lid of a coffin shifts under pressure. At the same time, she touches the skull and it turns.
- And yet the version that Gogol was buried alive is circulating...
- The reason for this is life circumstances, character, psychological appearance. Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov said that Gogol’s nerves were upside down. Everything could be expected from him. We must also take into account that two secrets were involuntarily combined: “Dead Souls” was supposed to reveal the secret of Russian life, the purpose of the Russian people. When Gogol died, Turgenev said that some secret was hidden in this death. As often happens, the high mystery of Gogol’s life and work was relegated to the level of cheap fiction and melodramatic effect, which always suits mass culture.

Academician Ivan Pavlov described a certain Kachalkin, who slept for 20 years from 1898 to 1918. His heart, instead of the usual 70-80 beats per minute, made only 2-3 barely perceptible beats. Instead of 16-18 breaths, he took 1-2 unnoticeable breaths per minute. That is, all functions of the human body slowed down approximately 20-30 times. At the same time, there are no signs of life, no reflexes, the body temperature is slightly warmer than the air temperature. For many days, patients do not drink or eat, and the excretion of urine and feces stops. As relatives often note, people who have slept for 2-3 decades appear to age only by a year during this period. But after awakening, apparently, natural processes in the body take their toll, and those who awaken over the next 3-4 years “gain” their “passport” age.
Lethargy - from the Greek "lethe" (oblivion) ​​and "argy" (inaction). The Great Medical Encyclopedia (3rd edition, 1980) defines lethargy as “a state of pathological sleep with a more or less pronounced decrease in metabolism and a weakening or absence of reaction to sound, tactile and painful stimuli. The causes of lethargy have not been established.”
There are cases where lethargic sleep occurred periodically. One English priest slept six days a week, and on Sunday he got up to eat and serve prayer. Clear statistics on lethargic “falling asleep” have never been kept by anyone, but it is known that most people suffer from this illness in adulthood. It was often mentioned that after a lethargic sleep, awakened people acquire paranormal abilities for some time - they begin to speak foreign languages, read people's thoughts, and heal ailments. The Interfax TIME correspondent managed to visit the young woman-phenomenon Nazira Rustemova, who fell asleep at the age of four and slept through a lethargic sleep for 16 years!!! Nazira kindly agreed to answer some questions about her unusual fate.
- Nazira, how old are you? How did it happen that you fell asleep?
- I fell asleep when I was four years old. I don’t remember how it was, because I was very young.
I will soon be 36 years old, but I slept through 16 of them. I was born in a small mountain village near the city of Turkestan, South Kazakhstan region. From my mother’s stories, I know that since childhood I suffered from severe headaches, then one day I fell into a state of delirium, and I was taken to the regional hospital, where I stayed for about a week. The doctors decided that I died, since I showed no signs of life, and my parents buried me. But the night after that, my grandfather and dad heard a Voice in a dream, which told them that they had committed a grave sin, since they buried me alive.
- How did you not suffocate?
- According to our customs, people are not buried in coffins or buried in the ground. The human body is wrapped in a shroud and left in a special underground burial house with a special configuration. Apparently, there was air access there, despite the fact that the entrance to the burial ground is closed with bricks. My parents waited until the second night and went to “rescue me.” According to dad, the shroud was even torn in some places, and this convinced them that I was really alive. I was first taken to the regional center, but then transported to a research institute in Tashkent, where I lay under a special cap until I woke up.
- When you were sleeping, did you see anything? Did you have any dreams?
- These were not dreams, I LIVED there. I talked with my ancestor, to whom I am the fourteenth generation granddaughter.
He was the greatest mystic, scientist, spiritual healer and Sufi poet of the 12th century.
His name is Ahmed Yassawi, and a large temple was built in his honor in Turkestan. I talked with him, walked through the gardens and lakes. It was very good there.
- What was your “second birth” like? What did you wake up from?
- I woke up on August 29, 1985 from a phone call. He called long and persistently. I realized that no one but me would answer the phone and I needed to get up and pick it up. I went to answer the call and heard the radio, on which Valery Leontiev sang: “Joy emerges through the fog and like in a dream...” It turns out that the phone was ringing in the next room. One of the institute's staff was sitting there, and when they saw me, they were probably shocked.
- At the age of four, did you know what a telephone was? And in general, do you remember anything before sleep?
- Practically nothing, because I was very little. All that remains in my memory is my grandfather and how he taught me prayers. Of course, at that time I could not write, read, or speak Russian. Naturally, there was never a telephone in the village, and I had never heard Leontyev’s song. But at the moment of waking up, I clearly knew everything about phones and knew the song I heard by heart.
- That is, after waking up, you began to have some knowledge and capabilities unusual for an ordinary person...
- Yes. The doctors almost fainted when they saw me standing in front of them, because the pressure chamber in which I was lying was closed, and no one opened it. She remained safe and sound. But I came out of it, or rather, I went through it, just as I went through the walls to get into the next room, where the phone was ringing. After what they saw, Tashkent specialists called Moscow and reported that their patient had woken up from a 16-year hibernation and began to do incredible things. Upon arrival in Moscow, many psychologists and parapsychologists worked with me, studied my abilities, and examined me. I was taken from one place to another, to different countries, and was shown on the TV show “The Third Eye.” At that time, the whole new world was completely unusual and amazing for me. When I was “introduced” to my mom and dad, I didn’t know why I needed them. In addition, everyone was terribly afraid of me, and my mother even suggested putting me in a mental hospital. And dad said that it was useless to do anything with me, since you can’t tie me up, you can’t lock me up - I’ll still go through the walls.
- What else could you do and how can you explain the emergence of such abilities?
- I could levitate - lift off the ground and fly in the literal sense of the word. I knew the language of nature, the language of animals, all existing languages, and could communicate telepathically. The latter has survived to this day.
Only if before I only had to look at a person, I knew his thoughts and he understood that I was answering him, now it has become more difficult. I have to tune in and concentrate. In the first years after awakening, I could even materialize money if I needed it. This ability has been closed to me for over a year now.
To my own surprise, I discovered that I could teleport - move in space. Let my friend Sergei tell us about this case better.
- Physically it happened like this. Nazira and I were traveling on the bus, I got off at the stop, and she continued on to the metro. I ran across the road and quickly walked to one office. There was a sign at the entrance: “Lunch.” Then I turned around and saw Nazira standing opposite me. But how could she be here when I saw how she remained on the bus, how its doors closed and it moved off? I waved at her again! How did you do it, Nazira?
- And I got to the metro, started going down the stairs and suddenly remembered that Sergei had my documents, money, tokens. I don’t know how I did it, I had one strong desire - to return my purse. Besides, I didn’t know where Sergei was at that moment, but I needed to find him. And so I found myself in front of him. That is, it was as if I disappeared from one point in space and appeared in another. But, unfortunately, my ability to teleport disappeared three years ago. Apparently, at that time there was practically nothing material in me; I was in a spiritual body. It was then that they fed me meat and bread, and I began to “enter” more and more into the physical body.
- Nazira, you fell asleep as a small child and woke up as a mature woman?
- No, despite the fact that by the time I woke up I should have turned 20 years old, I woke up as a child. True, during 16 years of sleep I grew by 28 centimeters. Then I formed quite quickly, as if in accelerated time, and, as you can see, now I look my age, if you count from the day I was born. But I kind of missed my childhood years and still feel like a child.
- After 16 years of sleep, have you forgotten how to move on your feet?
- I know that if a person lies even for several months without moving, the muscles of his body will atrophy and he must learn to walk again. But not a single muscle went numb, and I went without hesitation.
- Nazira, did you go to school or college?
- No, of course, and there is no need for that. If I have a question, then the answer comes to me from above, from some information field. I can't explain it otherwise. At first, as I already said, I knew almost all languages ​​and writing. Now, however, I began to forget a lot, probably due to the fact that practice was necessary. Currently I write and speak only Russian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik and Arabic. I can still write in English, but I can no longer read and understand what I wrote. Many people say that it is possible to return all my former knowledge and unusual abilities, and I really hope so...

This extraordinary woman Nazira Rustemova now lives in Moscow. She recently realized that her physical body is not afraid of either heat or cold, and since then, both in summer and winter, the woman walks only barefoot and in a light dress. The guardians of the capital's order repeatedly showed special attention to her, and Nazira had to serve a couple of stints in the police station.

Not only is the young woman’s destiny and abilities unusual, her appearance is also amazing. Dark, deep eyes glow with genuine sincerity, kindness and love. On the one hand, Nazira is a wise woman, on the other hand, she is an open, spontaneous child. By the way, let us remember what Jesus taught: “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, art. 3). In addition, in almost all esoteric teachings, the process of self-improvement of an individual presupposes the growth and development of the human essence. But already in a five-year-old child, this essence ceases to develop and “grows into a thick shell” of instilled manners of behavior, decency and other frameworks that limit freedom.

According to some authoritative metaphysicians, when a person is in a state of lethargic sleep, his soul resides in a more subtle world than the physical - in the astral. In this world, where all life processes occur at the level of thought, Nazira apparently spent 16 earthly years, and from there she received all her extraordinary knowledge and abilities. For Nazira, the line between the astral and physical world remained blurred. Living here on Earth for an increasingly longer time, the woman involuntarily “drew into” the coarse world and began to lose touch with the subtle. As a result of this, her paranormal abilities began to be lost, which Nazira is very concerned about. However, the woman refuses the help of some rather intrusive “gurus” of various esoteric schools and believes that she can, without their tutelage, return the abilities of a person of the future.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol died on March 3, 1852. On March 6, 1852, he was interred in the cemetery at the Danilov Monastery. According to the will, no monument was erected to him - Golgotha ​​rose above the grave.

But 79 years later, the writer’s ashes were removed from the grave: by the Soviet government, the Danilov Monastery was transformed into a colony for juvenile delinquents, and the necropolis was subject to liquidation. It was decided to move only a few burials to the old cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent. Among these “lucky ones”, along with Yazykov, Aksakovs and Khomyakovs, was Gogol...

The entire color of the Soviet intelligentsia was present at the reburial. Among them was the writer V. Lidin. It is to him that Gogol owes the emergence of numerous legends about himself. One of the myths concerned the lethargic sleep of the writer. According to Lidin, when the coffin was pulled out of the ground and opened, those present were filled with bewilderment. In the coffin lay a skeleton with its skull turned to one side. No one found an explanation for this.

I remembered the stories that Gogol was afraid of being buried alive in a state of lethargic sleep and seven years before his death he bequeathed: “My body should not be buried until obvious signs of decomposition appear. I mention this because even during the illness itself, moments of vital numbness came over me, my heart and pulse stopped beating.” What they saw shocked those present. Did Gogol really have to endure the horror of such a death?

It is worth noting that this story was later subject to criticism. The sculptor N. Ramazanov, who removed Gogol’s death mask, recalled: “I did not suddenly decide to take off the mask, but the prepared coffin... finally, the constantly arriving crowd of those who wanted to say goodbye to the dear deceased forced me and my old man, who pointed out the traces of destruction, to hurry...” explanation for the rotation of the skull: the side boards of the coffin were the first to rot, the lid lowers under the weight of the soil, presses on the dead man’s head, and it turns to one side on the so-called “Atlas” vertebra.

However, Lidin’s wild imagination was not limited to this episode. A more terrible story followed - it turns out that when the coffin was opened, the skeleton did not have a skull at all. Where could he have gone? This new invention of Lidin gave rise to new hypotheses. They remembered that in 1908, when a heavy stone was installed on the grave, it was necessary to build a brick crypt over the coffin to strengthen the base. It was suggested that it was then that the writer’s skull could have been stolen. It was suggested that he was stolen at the request of a fanatic of the Russian theater, merchant Alexei Alexandrovich Bakhrushin. It was rumored that he already had the skull of the great Russian actor Shchepkin.

The strangest and most mysterious figure in Russian literature is Nikolai Gogol. There are many rumors about his life and death. It is not possible to confirm or refute them today. What information from the biography of the great Russian writer is the most reliable? How did the classic spend the last days of his life? Where is Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol buried? And finally, what gave rise to the incredible rumors about his mysterious death?

Today, foreign tourists are milling around in large numbers where Nikolai Gogol is buried. Not surprising. This place has long become one of the main attractions of the Russian capital. But we’ll talk about the cemetery where Gogol is buried later. First, it is worth telling about what happened eighty years after his death.

Liquidation of the cemetery

In May 1931, construction work began on the territory of the St. Danilov Monastery in Moscow. The monastery was liquidated, and in its place a colony for juvenile delinquents was to be located. The old monastery cemetery, where Gogol and many other famous people in Russia were buried, was also to be destroyed. Only a few graves were allowed by the authorities to be moved to a new location. Among them was the grave of the writer.

Exhumation

Today, the place where Gogol was buried in 1852 remains the only green island, fenced with an openwork metal fence. In May 1931, a representative commission came here, which, by decision of the Soviet government, was supposed to open the grave and rebury the writer’s ashes.

What was discovered in the grave amazed everyone present. The results of the exhumation were so unexpected that the work had to be stopped until NKVD investigators arrived at the place where Gogol was buried.

Top secret

For a number of reasons, the investigation began only seven years later. Then the case was entrusted to an experienced government employee. It was called "On the death and reburial of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol." Everyone in Moscow knew where the writer was buried. It was also known to many that he was a man not without quirks. And already at that time there were legends about the terrible death of the writer. Many of them, according to sensible people, were just fiction and rumors. However, the results of the exhumation would amaze even the most notorious skeptic.

However, few in the city knew what was discovered where Gogol was buried. The folder with the case was stamped: “Top Secret.” The story that happened in 1931 miraculously became known even to those who did not live in Moscow at that time. In the circles of the creative intelligentsia, there have long been unwanted rumors about the strange death of the writer. And the NKVD employees did not like these rumors. After all, fantastic stories about the burial of a writer can easily be used by enemies of the people in their counter-revolutionary activities.

It would seem, what could Gogol’s death have to do with the fight against Soviet power? But in reality, it's not that simple. In 1939, they were going to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the great writer. And then suddenly a scandalous story happened in the cemetery where N.V. Gogol is buried.

Unsightly information could, again not without the help of enemies of the people, penetrate into the West. And there they would add very dark features to the already unsympathetic portrait of Stalin the tyrant. Vandalism, disrespect for classical art - the capitalist public would certainly attribute all this to the leader of the Soviet people. The Kremlin really had reason to worry.

Buried alive

So what happened at the cemetery where Nikolai Gogol is buried in 1831? The specialists who carried out the exhumation experienced a real shock. They had never seen anything like this before. The lid of the coffin, which contained the writer’s ashes, was moved. As if he wanted to throw her off and get free. The walls of the coffin were scratched with nails. On this basis, they concluded: the writer was buried at a time when he was in a state of lethargic sleep.

The history of Gogol's burial was subsequently supplemented with new details. Later they began to say that his grave had been plundered. There were rumors that even the author's skull was missing "Dead Souls". Of course, there was no reliable information about the condition of the area where Gogol was buried. Of course, no photographs were taken during the exhumation. But if people are kept in the dark, they begin to create legends and myths. Every year, the dark story that happened in 1931 acquired incredible details.

Witness testimony

Seven years after the exhumation, not a single member of the commission could tell what he actually saw in the coffin. Witnesses referred to the fact that at the time the burial was opened it was dusk and it was supposedly difficult to see anything.

They were intimidated by the NKVD officers - this is what later researchers decided and began to build new versions of Gogol’s terrible death. Then the assumption that the writer was buried alive already acquired some scientific justification. And in order to strengthen the version of Gogol’s terrible death, it was necessary to compare some facts from his biography with the events of the early thirties. That's what scientists did.

Poor but great writer

Nikolai Gogol would have turned 43 in March. Already written "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka","The Inspector General", "Marriage" and the first volume of "Dead Souls", which will be included in the Golden Fund of Russian Literature. Gogol was at the peak of his literary fame, but his personal life was not going well. The writer's distinctive appearance has always attracted attention. Short in stature, strong build, with a long nose and long blond hair - this is the portrait of the classic.

Despite his innate unattractiveness, the writer took great care of his appearance. From abroad he brought ultra-fashionable suits, which were talked about a lot in Moscow. Nikolai Vasilyevich clearly sought to stand out among those around him. True, he chronically lacked money to satisfy such ambitions. The famous writer had no stable income, no home, no family. In 1848, returning from a trip abroad, he accepted the invitation of Count Tolstoy and settled in his mansion located in the center of Moscow.

The hospitable owner gave Gogol two rooms on the first floor. The windows were splashed with dirt or covered with a thick layer of dust at any time of the year. One of them overlooked a pond, from where frogs singing was constantly heard. But the guest was happy about this home and even told one of his friends in a letter: “I got the apartment and the table completely free of charge.” After the death of the writer, the owners of the mansion converted these rooms into a Swiss room.

In the winter of 1852, Nikolai Gogol worked on the second volume of Dead Souls. Many people know what happened with the continuation of the great poem. Still, let's remember this story. Perhaps it will lift the veil of mystery about the last days of the writer’s life.

Depression

So, in the house of Count Tolstoy, Gogol worked on the second part of Dead Souls. At the beginning of January, nothing foreshadowed the tragic events that unfolded a month later. However, almost everyone who saw Gogol in the last days of his life accurately named the date when he no longer wanted to live - January 26, 1852. On this day, at the age of 35, Ekaterina Khomyakova, the sister of a close friend of the writer, died. The death of this woman struck Gogol. For the first time, he doubted the fair structure of the world and the meaning of his own existence.

Gogol's friends began to notice strange changes in him. He spent most of his nights in prayer without sleep. At the beginning of February, he was still trying to work on new works, but one day he felt such apathy and loss of strength that he could not even read. The writer probably suffered from a fairly common disease today - depression. Modern doctors take this disease very seriously. In the nineteenth century, treatments for depression were unknown.

Manuscripts are burning

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol always observed fasting. But in 1852 he no longer fasted. He was starving. In mid-February, his body was so exhausted that it was already difficult for him to leave the room. One day, at three o'clock in the morning, the writer woke up the servant and ordered him to follow him. Gogol ordered him to open chimney, and in the meantime he took a bunch of his manuscripts, put them in the oven and lit them with a candle.

Mikhail Bulgakov was wrong. Manuscripts are burning. Yes, it took a long time to set the paper on fire - apparently it was damp. But Gogol set fire to the manuscripts again and again, until they burned to the ground. When the papers turned to ashes, Gogol crossed himself and cried bitterly. That night the writer burned the second part of “Dead Souls” and his other works.

Will

Having analyzed the events of the last days of Nikolai Gogol’s life, we can conclude that he consciously walked towards his death. After he burned the manuscripts, he hardly got up and ate nothing. I drank only red wine diluted with warm water. But where did the legend come from that the writer was terrified of being buried alive?

In one of the letters addressed to a friend, Gogol expressed his last will. Even his contemporaries perceived what he wrote in this message as obscurantism. Gogol bequeathed not to bury him until obvious signs of decomposition appeared on the body. Perhaps it was the writer’s terrible will that gave rise to the legend that he was placed in a coffin while he was still alive. One way or another, Gogol’s request was not fulfilled.

Version about insanity

Psychiatrists claim that in recent weeks, a severe mental illness has completely changed the personality of the prose writer. He allegedly did not realize what he was doing. A simple example is given as evidence. Gogol's handwriting changed in the last month of his life. From a small beaded one, it turned into a large student one.

Hours of prayer, refusal to eat, fears of being buried alive - all this fits into the version of insanity. As for the burning of “Dead Souls,” Gogol allegedly confessed to Count Tolstoy the next day - none other than the Devil himself pushed him to this act.

Death and funeral

When Pushkin was dying, Zhukovsky regularly posted notes about the poet’s health on the door of his house. In the last days of Gogol's life, nothing like this happened. A crowd of admirers of the great Russian writer was gathering near the mansion of Count Tolstoy. But the doctors leaving Gogol did not provide any information. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the writer was treated with traditional methods at that time: leeches, mustard plasters. In addition, they covered them with hot bread and forced them to eat. All this brought the patient, according to the memoirs of Dr. Tarasenkov, unbearable suffering. Gogol died March 4, at eight o'clock. There is a version that he became a victim of medical errors.

Gogol's body was transferred to the church of the martyr Tatiana. His fans came here for two days. Then the coffin with the writer’s body was carried in their arms seven miles to the Danilovsky cemetery. According to the official version, the writer died of a cold. Few believed this version.

Versions

In 1938, NKVD investigator Anokhin tried to establish the cause of the writer’s death. He was not able to interrogate all the members of the commission present during the exhumation. Many had been shot by that time. But what did those who were lucky enough to survive say?

One of the witnesses claimed to have seen strange pipes in Gogol's grave. In 1938 this man was interrogated. It turned out that he actually saw the tubes that may have been installed in the coffin so that the writer, upon unexpected awakening, could breathe and call for help. As for Gogol’s body, he did not have time to examine it. Another witness insisted that nothing happened at all. No pipes, no remains. The coffin was empty...

When the exhumation case was suspended in 1931, each member of the commission was warned not to talk about what they saw. Perhaps that is why, years later, each of them came up with their own version.

As you can see, there are many hypotheses about the burial of Nikolai Gogol. Let's give one last one. The monument, which was erected in the 50s of the 19th century at the writer’s grave, was brought by his friends from abroad. Some researchers believe that it was installed incorrectly. That is, over the ashes of another person. Did Gogol really die a terrible death, being buried alive? There is no exact information on this matter.

Where is Gogol buried?

We have already said in which city the writer’s grave is located. In Moscow. At the cemetery near the Danilov Monastery, a bronze cross was installed, which stood on a black tombstone. In 1931, most of the graves were destroyed.

Where is Gogol buried? Which cemetery? The grave of the great Russian writer is located where many people who influenced the history and culture of our country are buried. Namely at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Everyone who has visited the necropolis, which has become a real open-air museum, knows where Gogol is buried. Finding his grave is not difficult. It is located in the old part of the cemetery. From the central alley you need to turn right and go under the arch. The grave is located in plot No. 2, in the 12th row.