I. Pushin (1798-1859)

Ivan Pushin arrived in Yalutorovsk for settlement in 1843. Pushin originated from a noble family – he was a grandson of an admiral and a son of a senator. When studying in the Tsarskoselski lyceum together with Pushkin, he was a close friend of the poet. He retired from a military service and joined a Criminal Department so that to get involved in public life of the country. Pushin was an active member of the Decembrists Societies in St.-Petersburg and Moscow, and directed the rebellion on the Senate Square. He was condemned under the 1st grade and sentenced to death that was changed for a penalty servitude in Chita. In Yalutorovsk Pushin together with Obolenski rented a house of a merchant Bronnikov. The house soon became a favorite meeting place among the Decembrists. Being a lawyer Pushin would often help local residents in complicated suits. In exile Pushin maintained substantial correspondence. He kept over 1500 letters, among them were the letters and poems of Pushkin, Ryleev, and Kukhelbecker. His house often became a shelter for families of exiles. In 1840 a first harpsichord appeared in Yalutorovsk ordered by Pushin from Moscow. In 1856 Pushin left Yalutorovsk. Soon he married a widow of the Decembrist Fonvisin Natalia. The couple settled in Fonvisin’s estate in the village Marjino near Moscow. But Pushin’s health had got seriously aggravated during the exile. In 1859 he died. In his last years Pushin wrote some memoirs, among which the most precious were ‘Reminiscences about Pushkin’.