Scatter Brained

ALEKSANDR PUSHKIN VERSUS 
GEORGES D’ANTHÈS
In the Red Corner:
 Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837), Russia’s 
poet laureate, who wrote 
Th
  e Bronze Horseman
 and 
Eugene 
Onegin.
 Married to Natalya Goncharova.
In the Blue Corner:
 Georges d’Anthès, a Frenchman sleeping 
with Natalya Goncharova
The Feud:
 Pushkin tolerated gossip that his wife was having an 
aff air with d’Anthès until he received an anonymous note nom-
inating him to “Th
  e Society of Cuckolds.” Already a veteran of 
several duels, Pushkin fi gured, hey, it’s just a Frenchman.
The Fallout:
  D’Anthès  shot  fi rst, mortally wounding Push-
kin in the gut. Pushkin only managed to clip d’Anthès in the 
arm. Russia’s fi nest poet was dead before his 40th birthday, 
while the thoroughly unremarkable d’Anthès lived to the age 
of 83.