Mikhail Lermontov and Nikolai Martynov

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (October 15, 1814, Moscow - July 15 (27), 1841, Pyatigorsk) - Russian poet, prose writer, playwright, artist.
Childhood. After the early death of his mother, the boy was raised by his grandmother, completely distancing his father. Lermontov lived in her estate Tarkhany, where he received his education, and from childhood he was fluent in French and German. As a child, the future poet often visited the Caucasus with his grandmother, which later reflected in his works. Lermontov studied at a university boarding school in Moscow, and in 1830 he entered Moscow University. In 1832, he left Moscow University and moved to St. Petersburg, hoping to enter the university, but the idea did not work out. Under pressure from his family, Lermontov chose the military career and entered the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers. 3 In 1834, Lermontov was released as a cornet in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. He has a friend and fencing partner, Nikolai Martynov. He is 22 years old.

Nikolai Solomonovich Martynov (October 9, 1815, Nizhny Novgorod - December 25, 1875, Moskovsky Uyezd, Moscow Governorate) - a retired major who killed Mikhail Lermontov in a duel. A representative of the wealthy Martynov family, which owned the Ievlevo-Znamenskoye estate near Moscow (in the village of Ievlevo, now Solnechnogorsk District). The son of State Councilor Solomon Mikhailovich Martynov (d. 1839) and his wife Elizaveta Mikhailovna, née Tarnovskaya. The Martynov family was large, four sons and four daughters. Martynov's cousin is the author of historical novels M. N. Zagoskin. Nikolai Martynov "received an excellent education, was a well-read man and wrote poetry from an early age." Almost at the same time as Lermontov, he entered the cadet school, where he was the poet's usual partner in fencing with espadrons. He is 21 years old