I just read Alexander Pushkin's fictionalized account of part of the life of his African great-grandfather Ibrahim, The Negro of Peter the Great. It is really underead in the Western universe, like Pushkin in general, so I post a link to an English translation here: http://www.uncg.edu/gar/courses/ahern/moor.htm
(Note to self: If you ever become an 18th-century African and wind up getting sold to Europeans, make sure it is to Russians. That way you will wind up becoming the tsar's godson and seducing French countesses instead of toiling in the American or Haitian fields! Pushkin did look pretty Black by the way, despite being an "octoroon," likely because there were marriages between Ibrahim's descendents: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Aleksander_Puszkin.jpg , the following being a portrait of Ibrahim himself: http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/Demo/images/pushkin/pushkin1.jpg)
Alexander Pushkin The Negro of Peter the Great
By the iron will of Peter Was Russia transformed.
-YAZIKOV
Originally prepared for: RUS 493 - "African-American Literary Ties to Russian Intellectual Thought"
Chapter One I am in Paris; I have begun to live, not merely to breathe.
-DMITRIEV Among those young men sent abroad by Peter the Great for the acquisition of knowledge essential to a country in the process of reorganization was his godson, the Moor Ibrahim. He was educated at the military academy in Paris, passed out as an Artillery Captain, distinguished himself in the Spanish War, and after being severely wounded he returned to Paris. In the midst of his vast labours, the Tsar never ceased to inquire after his favourite, and always received flattering reports of his progress and conduct. Peter was extremely pleased with him and more than once summoned him back to Russia; but Ibrahim was in no hurry. He used various pretexts to postpone his departure: now his wound, now a wish to improve his knowledge, now a shortage of money; and Peter indulgently acceded to his requests, besought him to take care of his health, thanked him for his enthusiasm in the quest for knowledge, and although extremely frugal in his own personal expenditure, he did not spare his exchequer where it concerned Ibrahim, adding fatherly advice and words of caution to the ducats which he sent him. According to the evidence of all historical records, nothing could compare with the sheer giddiness, the folly and the luxury of the French at that time. The last years of the reign of Louis XIV, noted for the strict piety, the solemnity and the decorum of the Court, had left no traces behind them. The Duke of Orleans, combining many brilliant qualities with vices of every sort, unfortunately possessed not the slightest degree of hypocrisy. The orgies which took place at the Palais Royal were no secret to Paris; the example was contagious. It was at this time that Law appeared. Greed for money was united to a thirst for enjoyment and dissipation. Estates vanished; morals went by the board; Frenchmen laughed and calculated, and the state fell to pieces to the skittish music of the satirical vaudevilles.
At the same time, society presented a most diverting picture. Culture and the longing for amusement drew together all manner of men. Wealth, courtesy, fame, talent, eccentricity even - everything that provided food for curiosity or gave promise of entertainment was received with the same indulgence. Writers, scholars and philosophers abandoned the quiet of their studies and appeared in the circles of the haut-monde, to pay tribute to fashion and to lead it. Women reigned, but no longer demanded adoration. Superficial good manners took the place of profound respect. The exploits of the Duke of Richelieu, the Alcibiades of modern Athens, belong to history and give an indication of the morals of the period.
Temps fortuni, marquipar la license, O~ la folie, agitant son grelot, D'un pied liger parcourt toute la France, Ou' nul moriel ne daigne itre divot, Ou' l'on fait tout excepti penitence. The appearance of Ibrahim, his outward aspect, his culture and his native intelligence gave rise to general attention in Paris. All the ladies wanted to see le ne'gre du Czar at their houses, and they vied with one another to catch him. The Regent more than once invited him to his gay evening parties. He attended suppers livened by the youth of Arouet, the old age of Chaulieu, and the conversations of Montesquieu and Fontenelle. He did not miss a single ball, fete or first night, and gave himself over to the general whirl with all the ardour of his years and his nature. But the thought of exchanging these distractions, these brilliant amusements for the dry simplicity of the Petersburg Court was not the only thing that bound Ibrahim to Paris; he had other, more pressing ties. The young African was in love.
Etc.
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