The historic village of Bolshoye Boldino in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is home to the ancestral estate of the famous Russian writer and poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin.

The historical area is a cultural monument of federal significance. Bolshoye Boldino and the adjacent lands belonged to the Pushkin family for four centuries. It is the only estate of the famous family that has survived through revolutions and wars.

Bolshoye Boldino was first mentioned in historical documents dating back to 1585. It was recorded that the village of Bolshoye Boldino in Arzamas Uyezd was owned by Yevstafiy Pushkin. He was a voivode and participated in the defense of Smolensk against the Lithuanian invasion in 1580. He also negotiated with Stephen Báthory, King of Poland. As a reward for his service, Ivan the Terrible granted him ownership of the village.

This territory became widely known thanks to Alexander Pushkin. In September 1830, before his wedding to Natalya Nikolayevna Goncharova, Pushkin went to Boldino to solve some financial issues. He planned to stay there for a short time, but the cholera outbreak forced him to remain in the village for three months. During this time, from August 31 to December 5, 1830, Pushkin created around 30 poems. These include “Devils”, “Elegy”, the final chapter of “Eugene Onegin”, the series “The Little Tragedies” and “The Belkin Tales”, and two series of critical essays.

During the second Boldino Autumn, in 1833, Alexander Pushkin returned to Boldino and wrote “The Bronze Horseman”, “Angelo”, “The Tale of the Fisherman and Fish”, “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights”, “The Queen of Spades”, and several poems. He also completed work on his historical monograph “The History of Pugachev”.

The Orenburg sculptor Nadezhda Gavrilovna Petina created monuments and busts of Alexander Pushkin throughout several decades.

The displayed bust reflects the poet’s stay in 1830, during his first Boldino Autumn.

After leaving the estate, Pushkin wrote to a friend,