“To uphold Katya’s honor, her brother intervened in the matter” – Kommersant FM

Kommersant FM columnist Pyotr Voronkov talks about the love of the grandson of Count Vladimir Orlov for the general’s daughter.

Today the Vyborg district of St. Petersburg, the park of the Forestry Academy. It is over 200 years old. Seedlings of unique trees appeared in 1811, when the Forestry Institute was transferred here from Tsarskoe Selo. A duel took place here, which shook the whole of St. Petersburg. There is even an obelisk erected in memory of this fight…

The aide-de-camp of Alexander I, the grandson of Count Vladimir Grigorievich Orlov, Vladimir Novosiltsev, fell in love with a charming girl, Ekaterina, the daughter of General Pakhom Chernov. And everything would be fine, but Novosiltsev’s mother was categorically against this marriage.

“Can I agree for my son to marry some Chernova, and besides Pakhomovna – this will never happen. I don’t want to have Chernova Pakhomovna as my daughter-in-law—what a shame!” she said. The woman was immensely proud of her origins (Catherine’s second goddaughter!) and believed that her only son was worthy of the best match. At some point, she pretended that she agreed to the wedding, but behind her son’s back she was weaving intrigues and the event was constantly being pushed back.

Here, in order to defend Katya’s honor, her brother Konstantin intervened in the matter. The duel almost took place immediately, but Novosiltsev assured that he would certainly marry, and his mother even sent a letter to Catherine’s parents, in which she announced her full consent to the marriage.

At the same time, through her superiors, she ensured that her son was refused by the general himself, the father of the bride. And the matter received new impetus and even political overtones. Mr. Ryleev, the future Decembrist and friend of Chernov, joined him. Either he or Kuchelbecker later composed a verse:

The duel took place. The opponents fired simultaneously. Chernov was wounded in the temple, Novosiltsev’s liver was punctured. Both died a little later… Novosiltsev’s mother couldn’t find a place for herself for the rest of her life, trying to atone for her sin. It is known that turning to the Metropolitan in the Church of St. Philaret, she asked: “I am the murderer of my son; Pray, Vladyka, that I die soon.”