The Real Anna Karenina

Kiera Knightley as Anna

A new version of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina is in theaters now, starring the stunning Keira Knightley in the title role. According to NPR, this  story has been adapted for the large and small screens at least 25 times. Although a succession of beautiful actresses have played the role of Anna, including Greta Garbo (1935), Vivien Leigh (1948) and Jaqueline Bisset (1997), just who was the real Anna Karenina?

The Portland Center Stage Blog says:

Many believe that the character Anna Karenina was inspired, at least in part, by Maria Gartung (1832 – 1919), the eldest daughter of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin...Apparently Tolstoy was transfixed by Maria, instantly taken with her beauty and intelligence, as well as her…elbows. Soon after meeting her, Tolstoy returned home and, out of curiosity, began reading some of Alexander Pushkin’s writings. While reading he slipped into a daydream, in which he saw a fleeting image of "a bare exquisite aristocratic elbow.” This ultimately proved to be the first intimation of Anna's character.

Greta Garbo as Anna

More fascinating information is found here at a site specifically about Maria Gartung. It's translated from Russian, but perhaps not by a professional translator, so it's a bit difficult to follow.  I've included some highlights below and tried to fix the translation.

All who met Maria Alexandrovna noted the unusual delicacy of her manners, her wit and her excellent knowledge of the Russian and French languages.

She was very friendly and easy to know, and also very beautiful.  She was said to possess the rare beauty of her mother and the exotic look of her father.  Her face, though a bit large for a woman, was striking.  She had a perpetual peace about her, as well as an unusual attachment to her mother, who expressed touching and affectionate care for her daughter.

At a provincial ball in 1861 Maria met the writer Leo Tolstoy.  Maria attracted his attention immediately as soon as she entered the ballroom. When he was told who she was, he said admiringly, "Yes, now I understand where she gets her pedigree, those curls at the back!" (A reference to Pushkin's African ancestry.)

Tolstoy wanted to be immediately introduced to the daughter of the Russian poet. They talked animatedly all evening. At Tolstoy's request, Maria told him about her father (probably from her mother's words, since he died when she was five) and shared her impressions of literature and art.

Maria Gartung, Anna's inspiration

Tolstoy genuinely admired the subtlety of her taste, her uniqueness, and the boldness of her opinion.  He later said that Maria not only resembled her father externally, but was probably similar to him internally as well. The poet's daughter so struck Tolstoy's imagination, that she became the inspiration of his famous heroine, Anna Karenina.

I'm looking forward to seeing the new movie; unfortunately I've never seen any of the older versions, and I haven't read the book.

Have you seen the new movie or any of the older versions? If so, who's your favorite Anna Karenina? Have you read the book? Had you ever heard of Maria Gartung?

Thanks for visiting, and have a great week!

Alexander Pushkin: Little Known Facts

Portrait of A. Pushkin by Konstantin Somov

I posted a little about Alexander Pushkin's African ancestry last week, and promised more today.  I've learned quite a bit about this fascinating man, and although he lived a short life, it was one of great accomplishment!

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 –1837) was a Russian author of the Romantic era, and is considered the greatest Russian poet and founder of modern Russian literature.  Pushkin was born into the Russian nobility in Moscow and published his first poem at age fifteen.  He was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time he graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.

On June 6, 1999, Russia celebrated the 200th anniversary of Pushkin's birth. A London Times headline read, "Pushkin Mania rages: Russians cash in on bicentenary of their poet's birth". Reporting from Moscow, Anna Blundy noted: "Russia has been swept by Puskhinmania in preparation for tomorrow's bicentenary of the poet's birth...Russians all know long tracts of Pushkin's work by heart, and Sunday's festival is the dominant theme of most television, and radio broadcasts, newspaper articles and advertising campaigns."

In Russia, Pushkin seems to be a combination of Shakespeare and Mozart rolled into one. As Shakespeare is to the English language, Pushkin is to Russian literature.  

But, regardless of Pushkin's greatness, according to Selwyn Cudjoe, "at the beginning of the 19th century, Pushkin's Africanness was an issue. Throughout his life, his pronounced African features-thick lips, dark skin and kinky hair-remained an issue and Pushkin was acutely aware of them. Yet, he always took pride in his African ancestry."

Pushkin's great-grandfather was Abram Petrovich Gannibal (1696–1781), a Black African page raised by Peter the Great (see more on him in last week's post, or check out the link that follows). This information is from Cudjoe's article Pushkin: Russian African Genius:

...Pushkin suffered from a sense of his own "ugliness" and the taunts of his classmates. At the lycee where he studied when he was 12, he was nicknamed "monkey". However some of his school friends called him "the Frenchman" because they thought he was a "mixture of a monkey and a tiger".

This "stain" of his blackness remained with him. In 1827, he returned to his family mansion in Mikhaylovskoe where he began his unfinished novel, The Negro of Peter the Great, based on the life of his great grandfather. In this highly fictionalized account of his ancestor Grannibal, Pushkin centered his story on "a Negro's wife, who is unfaithful to her husband, gives birth to a white child and is punished by being shut up in a convent". Even as he tells this gripping story, the sexual prowess of the black man in a white world assumes much importance.

Perhaps, it is wise that Pushkin did not finish telling this story. It would have had to come up against the scurrilous attacks of those who preferred to believe that he came from a slave background. In fact, he was forced to defend Abram's honor against the calumny of Fruddy Bulgarin, a crusading journalist. Putting the question in verse, Pushkin said: "Filyarin says he understands/That my black granddad, Gannibal/ Bought for a bottle of rum, once fell/Into a drunk sea captain's hands." To this, he responded: "My grandfather, so cheaply bought,/ The Tsar himself treated with trust/And gave him welcome at his court./ Black, but never again a slave."

Pushkin died young.  Notorious about defending his honor, he fought a total of twenty-nine duels.  Though rumored to be a womanizer, when it was reported that his wife's brother-in-law, Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès had made attempts to seduce Pushkin's wife, Pushkin challenged d'Anthès to a duel.  Pushkin died two days later, having been shot through the spleen.  He was 37.

Are any of these facts new to you? Also, have you read any Pushkin? Thanks for visiting and have a great week! 

Pushkin and Stroganoff

Today I thought it was about time to post another recipe. What follows is a very easy and delicious beef stroganoff for the slow cooker. However, since I'm posting a Russian recipe, I thought it fitting to share a little something about Alexander Pushkin, the great Russian poet and founder of modern Russian literature.

The first installment (Escape) of my trilogy, Unchained, is now available. It's a family saga that involves an average white guy learning of his African-American ancestry.  Near death, his one hundred year old grandmother reveals the secret that her grandmother was a black woman, born a slave.

Now what does Alexander Pushkin have to do with any of this?  Seems he was in a similar situation, though his ancestry wasn't a secret. Here's some interesting information from the blog Race and History posted by Selwyn Cudjoe.

...Abram Petrovich Gannibal, Pushkin's great-grandfather, born in Northern Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in the 1690s, was of royal stock. Pushkin claimed that his great grandfather was a prince who lived a luxurious life. He was abducted from Ethiopia when he was eight years old by a "Frenchman collecting animals and other curiosities for Louis XIV" of France. Shipped to Istanbul, he was placed in the Sultan's seraglio where the Russian ambassador found him and sent him back to Russia as a present to Peter the Great.

In the Russian court, Abram became a great favourite of Peter the Great. The Tsar became so attached to this precocious and intelligent child that he had him baptised into the Orthodox Church at Vilno where the Tsar himself became his godfather and the queen of Poland his godmother.

As he grew up, Pushkin took great pride in his great-grandfather and his Africanness which he  openly embraced and celebrated in Eugene Onegin.

Pushkin led a fascinating life, so I'll post more on him next week, but now on to stroganoff! This recipe is from Mabel Hoffman's Crockery Cookery, one of my favorite cookbooks! Hope you enjoy it.

Beef Stroganoff

2 lbs round steak

1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 onion sliced

1/4 t garlic salt

1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 t paprika
1 (10 1/2-oz.) can condensed beef broth
1 T ketchup
2 T dry red wine
1/4 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 T cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 cup sour cream
Cooked rice or noodles

Cut steak into 1/4 inch strips.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place steak and onion in slow cooker.  Mix garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, broth and ketchup in a bowl.  Pour mixture over steak. cover and cook on LOW 6 to 7 hours or until steak is tender.  Turn control to HIGH.  Add wine and mushrooms.  Dissolve cornstarch in water in a small bowl.  Add to meat mixture, stirring until blended.  Cover and cook on HIGH 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Stir in sour cream; turn off heat. Serve with rice or noodles.

Happy eating! Do you have a favorite version of beef stroganoff? Thanks for visiting and have a great week!