In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
Today's Gospel reading (Luke 21:8-19) is addressed to the memory of the new martyrs, to the memory of those whose council today is remembered by our church as one of the most important pages in our history of holiness. The troparion and kontakion have already sounded, very expressively testifying to us how the church tradition remembers them.
The Gospel reading that was read is quite familiar to all of us. And one cannot help but see how consonant its content is with the persecution of the first Christians, and with those persecutions that took place in the recent past in our country, and with those persecutions that will probably still be, for the same reason that The Gospel warns us. I will not say what I said many times in different churches on different occasions about the new martyrs.
First of all, I can say only one thing. In my opinion, the veneration of the new martyrs in our church has not developed. In fact, we are only now beginning to recognize this as a very complex and contradictory aspect of church life. Yes, we paid and continue to pay, unfortunately, tribute to the usual stereotypes, including those of the Soviet consciousness: we need heroes. The new martyrs do not fit into this familiar stereotype. How they didn’t die heroically! I can say this definitely, bearing in mind the huge amount of materials that we studied in the Synodal Commission for Canonization. I mean both the period of the civil war, and the period of repressions of the early 1920s, and the period of collectivization and the bloodiest repressions of 1937.
But we, constantly listing their names, seem to be saying: “Here it is, the best part of our people, which gives us the right not to repent of the sin committed by the same believing people of ours towards them. This is that part of our people, whose work we continue, and we are the best Christians who remember. We are their successors, which means that in their place we would act as they did.” This is a great temptation. None of us should even dare to think that he would have acted properly in this situation. We don't know this.
What was surprising to me during the canonization process was that, in particular, at the anniversary council in 2000, the true face of the church was revealed. At this point, we, the members of the Synodal Commission for Canonization, managed to achieve a very important, in my opinion, result in our work: thanks largely to the position of Metropolitan Juvenaly, who defended the views of our commission in the Synod, we achieved the canonization of some outstanding opponents of Metropolitan Sergius, those who really did not lose spiritual sobriety and showed true courage. I mean first of all the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitans Kirill, Agafangel and Peter.
And for me it was a miracle of the appearance of the church, when the anniversary council, which also consisted of people to whom this topic was completely alien, nevertheless glorified the new martyrs.
And today I would like to highlight another page of the holiness of the new martyrs. Fortunately, something happened that really makes us think in many ways about the mystery of the martyrs of the twentieth century.
You all know that the other day, physician Evgeny Botkin was glorified as a passion-bearer. Strictly speaking, the feat of the servants of the royal family was no less, if not more remarkable, than its members themselves. For, unlike members of the imperial family, they had a choice, which repeatedly confronted them in captivity: to stay with the royal family and die or not. And they chose death.
And now the decision has been made to canonize Evgeniy Botkin - not all the servants of the royal family, but only him alone. Yes, indeed, he stands out from the general background: not a footman, not a cook, not a maid, but a doctor. And this gives us reason to think about the mystery of human holiness, the mystery of human virtue. After all, strictly speaking, against the backdrop of the maid Demidova and the cook Kharitonov, Botkin seems to be the person least suitable for stereotypical ideas about churchliness.
Before us, first of all, is one hundred percent Russian doctor at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He did not come from a priest's family, like many doctors. His father was an equally famous doctor - Sergei Petrovich Botkin, also a physician, who was even much more famous than his son. The atmosphere in which the future passion-bearer was formed could not be called churchly. He grew up in the house of his father, the son of a merchant and a successful doctor. In order not to talk too much about this family, I will give a textbook example. When the dying Saltykov-Shchedrin’s relatives finally convinced him to call Father John of Kronstadt - maybe he would help after all (you see how everything is recognizable, nothing changes), and the great wit agreed - he only asked for one thing: that in no way Sergei Petrovich Botkin (who treated him) did not recognize the case. Because after that he won’t be able to look him in the eye. Naturally, everything turned out in our Russian style. When the prayer service was already completed, Father John of Kronstadt drank tea. And I must say that after the prayer service, Father John kissed Mikhail Evgrafovich on the mouth. This meant that he already understood everything. He always did this after a prayer service for those who were doomed. Many, however, on the contrary, saw this as an encouraging moment. And so, the softened Mikhail Evgrafovich sits, Father John, tired after the prayer service, drinks tea, a crowd of St. John, the spiritual children of Father John, stands at the entrance of this house. And Botkin, as luck would have it, drives by, sees the crowd and in horror decides that Saltykov-Shchedrin has died and these are admirers of his talent. He breaks into Saltykov-Shchedrin’s apartment and sees a “disgusting picture”: the writer, his patient, is sitting with the priest healer! This is what the Botkin family was like.
Evgeny Botkin was clearly looking for himself - he completed almost the entire course of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics before moving to the Medical-Surgical Academy. And then we see a typical Russian doctor. He worked in a hospital for the poor, then did an internship abroad and then had a successful career, which led him in 1910 to become a physician at the request of the Empress. Of course, before us is a man for whom his duty as a doctor was not associated with any church blessings. Moreover, one can imagine that the neophyte enthusiasm that inexorably accompanied the empress in her spiritual life irritated him. But for Dr. Botkin, these were his patients who entrusted their lives to him, and one of them was doomed from childhood to terrible torment and quick death.
And what happens happens. He stays with them until the end. He, of course, believed in God, but he was hardly a deeply church-going person.
But he, I think, better than everyone else, realized before the emperor that they would all be shot. And so he accepts death. And now it is he who is glorified as a passion-bearer. And here an interesting question arises about many other new martyrs who have not yet been glorified. In the activities of our commission, of course, a very definite imbalance has arisen; look at the Cathedral of the New Martyrs - clergy dominate it. Then we began to think about the laity. And oddly enough, we purely statistically discovered that mothers gave confessions of gratitude much less often than priests. Then we switched to mothers, then to lay people in general, and so on.
And now we are faced with the question: should we continue to expand the circle of those who can still be glorified? Who died not in connection with some church affairs, about whom we do not know the extent of their church involvement and who at the same time behaved with dignity, in a Christian way?
And the last thing I would like to say. I have already told you about this more than once. The essence of Christianity is freedom and love. And having created man free, the Lord endowed everyone with a special secret of his inner life, which turns out to be impossible to know. Yes, we can still evaluate his actions, but it is very difficult to understand his internal motives. This is what any hagiography, as a rule, stumbles over. An attempt to reproduce the inner world of a saint always led to some kind of profanation.
Who then is holy before the Lord? We just have to be as less categorical as possible in this regard. And not only do not divide the dead into saints and ordinary ones, but first of all, in relation to those around our neighbors, be more restrained, leaving behind each of us the right given to us by God to be free in the choice of our actions, our internal decisions. Then we will truly perceive everything in this world and in this life in a more Christian way. And let the passion-bearer Eugene be an example of the fact that in Russia there has always been a category of people who could be Orthodox, Catholics, Lutherans, but who, more than others, exemplified Christian service in life.
Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich Bot-kin was born on May 27, 1865 in Tsarskoe Se-le of the St. Petersburg province in the village my from-west-no-go Russian-go-go-cha-te-ra-pev-ta, pro-fes-so-ra Me-di-ko-hi-rur-gi-che-skoy aka-de -mii Ser-gay Pet-ro-vi-cha Bot-ki-na. He came from the merchant's di-na-stia of the Bot-ki-nykhs, who were introduced to them from the depths of their Because of the right-glorious faith and good-creativeness, the Right-glorious Church not only helps -and-my means, but also my own labor. Bla-go-da-rya ra-zum-but or-ga-ni-zo-van-noy si-ste-me re-pi-ta-niya in the family and wise-roy care-ke ro-di- te-ley in the heart of Ev-ge-niy, already from childhood, there were many good-de-de-te-li, including great co-spirit, modesty and non-self-tie na-si-lia. His brother Pyotr Ser-ge-e-vich recalled: “He was infinitely kind. One could say that he came into the world for the sake of people and in order to sacrifice himself.”
Ev-ge-niy received a basic machine-made equipment, which was given to him in 1878 -I'm going to go straight to the fifth grade of the 2nd St. Petersburg classical gymnasium. In 1882, Ev-geniy graduated from the gymnasium and became a student of physics-co-ma-te-ma-ti-che-go fa-kul-te-ta St. -Petersburg University. However, the very next year, having passed the exams for the first year of the university, he started to graduate from -de-le-nie of the-opening-of-the-go-to-vis-tel-no-go course im-per-ra-tor-skaya Vo-en-no-me-di- Qing Academy of Sciences. His choice of medical profession is very well-known and purposeful. -ter. Peter Bot-kin wrote about Ev-ge-niy: “He chose me-di-tsi-nu for his pro-fes-si-ey. This corresponds to his calling: to help, to support in difficult times, to ease the pain , heal without end.” In 1889, Ev-geniy successfully graduated from the Academy of Sciences, receiving the title of le-kar-rya with ot-li-chi-em, and with yan-va- In 1890, he began his work at the Ma-ri-in hospital for the poor.
At the age of 25, Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich Bot-kin entered into marriage with his daughter-in-law of Ol-ga Vla-di- worldly Ma-nui-lo-voy. Four children grew up in the Bot-ki-nyh family: Dmitry (1894-1914), Ge-or-giy (1895-1941), Ta-tya-na (1898 -1986), Gleb (1900-1969).
One day with work in the hospital E. S. Bot-kin for-no-small-sya, his in-te-re-so-va- whether in-pro-sy im-mu-no-logia, the essence of the process-sa lei-ko-tsi-to-za. In 1893, E. S. Botkin brilliantly defended his dissertation for the degree of doctor of medicine. After 2 years, Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich was ko-man-di-ro-van abroad, where he did practical training in medical Qing institutions of Gey-del-ber-ga and Ber-li-na. In 1897, E. S. Botkin was awarded the title of Pri-vat-do-tsen-ta for internal diseases with a clinic. At his first lecture, he told the students about the most important thing in a doctor’s job: “Let’s all sing with love.” I’m looking to a sick person so that we can learn together how to be helpful to him.” The service of the medical service Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich considered it to be an authentic Christian de-la-ni-m, he had re-li -a gi-oz-ny look at the pain, saw their connection with the soul-spirit of the person. In one of his letters to his son Georgy, he expressed his attitude towards the profession of medicine as a medium the knowledge of God's pre-wisdom: “The main delight is the trade that you use in our business... The conclusion is that for this we must delve deeper and deeper into the details and secrets of creation. God, and it’s impossible not to enjoy their purpose and harmony and His highest wisdom growth."
Since 1897, E. S. Botkin began his medical practice in the communities of nurses of the Mil-lo-Ser-Diya of Russia. of the Red Cross Society. On November 19, 1897, he became a doctor in the Holy Trinity Community of Sister Milo-Ser-Diya, and from January 1, 1899 Yes, he also became the chief physician of the St. Petersburg community of Sister Milo-Ser-Diya in honor of St. George. The main pa-tsi-en-ta-mi communities of St. George were people from the poorest strata of society. tions, one-to-one doctors and service personnel were working in it with especial care. Some women of the highest rank worked there as nurses on common grounds. yah and consider it even for yourself. Among the co-workings of the tsa-ri-lo there is such an inspiration, such a-la-ness to help suffering people, that Ge-or-gi-ev-tsev compare-n-va-y-o-gda with the first-in-Christian-society. The fact that Ev-ge-niya Ser-ge-e-vi-cha decided to work in this “institution” is evidence -stvo-val not only about his growing av-to-ri-te-te as a doctor, but also about his Christian-an-good-de-te-ly and a good life. The position of the chief doctor of the community could be up-to-ve-re-on only with high-moral and religious another person.
In 1904, the Russian-Japanese war began, and Ev-geniy Ser-ge-e-vich, leaving his wife and four children behind - some children (the eldest was ten years old at the time, the youngest - what years old), welcome from the great -looks towards the Far East. February 2, 1904, according to the establishment of the Main Directorate of the Russian Society of the Red Crescent hundred, he was appointed as the most powerful Chief of Staff under the current medical ar-mi-s skaya part. For this high-ranking administrative position, Dr. Botkin often went to work re-do-vyh po-zi-tsi-yah. During the war, Ev-geniy Ser-ge-e-vich not only showed himself to be a wonderful doctor, but also showed personal bravery growth and courage. He wrote a lot of letters from the front, from which a whole book was compiled - “The Light and Those of the Russian-Japanese "war of 1904-1905" This book was soon published, and many, having read it, opened wings for the St. Petersburg doctor's own new quarters: his Christian, loving, borderless but co-passionate a giving heart and incredible faith in God. Im-pe-ra-three-tsa Alek-sandra Fe-o-do-rov-na, pro-reading the book of Bot-ki-na, so-la-la, so that Ev-geniy Ser-ge-e-vich became the personal doctor of the Royal family. On Easter Sunday, April 13, 1908, im-pe-ra-tor Niko-lay II signed a decree on the sign -nii doctor-ra Bot-ki-na label-me-di-com You-from-the-tea-she-go-yard.
Now, after the new knowledge, Ev-geniy Ser-ge-e-vich had to go with im-per-ra-to-re and members of his family, his service at the royal court was pro-te-ka-la without days off and holidays . Your position and closeness to the Royal Family is not due to E. S. Bot-ki-na’s har-rak-te-ra. He remained the same kind and attentive to his neighbors as he had been before.
When the First World War began, Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich made a request to the go-su-da- Ryu send him to the front for re-or-ga-ni-za-tion of sa-ni-tar-no service. One day, the im-per-ra-tor instructed him to stay with the go-su-da-ryn and the children in Tsarskoe Se-le, where there were many of them -I started to open the la-za-re-you. At his home in Tsarskoe Se-le, Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich also arranged a la-za-ret for the easily wounded, someone -ryy-s-scha-la im-ne-ra-three with do-che-rya-mi.
In February 1917, a revolution took place in Russia. March 2nd of the Lord under-pi-sal Ma-ni-fest about ot-re-che-nii from the pre-sto-la. The royal family was arrested and taken into custody in the Alek-san-Drovsky palace. Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich did not leave his royal pa-tsi-en-tov: he voluntarily decided to go with them, despite the fact that his position was abolished, and he stopped paying pity. At this time, Botkin became more than a friend for the royal prisoners: he took upon himself the responsibility of mediating between do with their family and ko-mis-sa-ra-mi, taking care of all their needs.
When the Tsar's family was decided to be transported to To-bolsk, Doctor Bot-kin found himself among the few near wives, who are kindly free, but follow-up for go-su-da-rem into exile. Letters from Doctor Bot-ki-na from To-bol-ska in their own way : not a word of resentment, condemnation, dissatisfaction or resentment, but good-spirit and even joy. Because of this good-heartedness there was firm faith in the all-good Providence of God: “It only supports -the prayer and ardent limitless trust in the mercy of God, invariably our Heavenly Father for us from -li-va-e-muyu.” At this time, he continued to fulfill his responsibilities: he treated not only members of the Royal Family, but also ordinary people -jean A scientist who has spent many years communicating with the scientific, medical, and administrative elite of Russia, he is humble -but he served, as a zemstvo or city doctor, to simple peasants, soldiers, workers.
In April 1918, Doctor Bot-kin volunteered to co-lead the royal party in Eka-terin-burg, leaving To-bol -ske his own children, whom he loved dearly and tenderly. In Eka-te-rin-bur-ge, more-she-vi-ki again offered the servants to leave the are-hundred-van-nyh, but everything was due to -lis. Che-kist I. Ro-dzin-sky reported: “In general, one time after the transfer to Eka-terin-burg there was a thought get away from them all, in particular even before leaving. But everyone left. Bot-ki-well pre-la-ha-li. He stated that he wanted to change the fate of his family. And from-ka-hall-sya.”
On the night of July 16-17, 1918, the Tsar's family and their close wives, including Dr. Botkin, were shot in the sub-va-le house of Ipa-tye-va.
A few years before his death, Ev-ge-niy Ser-ge-e-vich received the title of a hereditary nobility. For his coat of arms, he chose the motto: “By faith, fidelity, labor.” In these words, all the life’s ideas and aspirations of Doctor Bot-kin seemed to be condensed. Deep inner goodness, my most important thing - sacrificial service to one's neighbor, not to-be-may devotion to the Royal Family and loyalty to God and His commandments in all circumstances, loyalty to death. The Lord accepts such faithfulness as a pure sacrifice and gives for it the highest, heavenly reward: Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life ().
Prayers
Prayer to the righteous Evgeniy Botkin, passion-bearer
Holy, glorious confessor and passion-bearer Eugene! We believe and trust that through your suffering and godly life, having acquired great mercy and boldness from the Lord God, you have not forgotten the property of your earthly, our fatherland, in it We, your admirer, are overwhelmed by many adversities of the enemy and the passions of life. We also ask you: with your prayers and intercession, beg our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from all troubles and evil circumstances, from all illnesses and illnesses and from all enemies, we see s and invisible. Oh, great servant of God! Breathe for us, sinners, to the Lord of all, may He forgive us all our sins and send down upon us the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, so that all filthiness may cease, the rest of our life in every way Let us live in piety and purity and, having thus pleased the Lord, we will be worthy of an ever-blessed life, singing and chanting the great mercy of God and your merciful intercession for us at the Throne of God forever and ever. Amen.
Second prayer to righteous Evgeniy Botkin, passion-bearer
Oh, glorious passion-bearer Eugene, great servant of God, bring our tearful prayer to the Lord our God, appease Him towards us sinners, may the righteous take away His anger and mind saves our long-suffering country; may he establish prosperity and peace, may he bestow upon us an abundance of earthly fruits, and may he forbid our enemies from causing offense to the orphaned and helpless. Moreover, falling to your icon, we remember with faith your suffering for Christ, and we pray to you: do not leave us and ask the Lord for good things, temporary and eternal, so that we may glorify you The same God forever. Amen.
Third prayer to righteous Evgeniy Botkin, passion-bearer
Oh, all-glorious passion-bearer, worthy saint of Christ, champion of the Orthodox Church, new martyr and healer Saint Eugene! On bended knee we pray to you: look upon us, sinners, who have resorted to your intercession, hear this little prayer of ours and with your warm intercession beseech the All-Merciful God, to Him we are stand with the Angels and all the saints, may he preserve us in the unity of the Orthodox Church and confirm us in our hearts our living spirit of right faith and piety, and will deliver us from all temptation and the deception of demons. According to the greatness of your love, which you have loved your neighbor, ask the Almighty God for your Fatherland (and ours too), peace and improvement; To all of us, the unworthy, who diligently resort to you, a godly and serene life and a good Christian death, participation in the mysteries of God. Oh, our holy intercessor, do not leave us, weak and helpless, we pray for us to the Lord and Our Savior Jesus Christ, may He, the All-Generous and Most Merciful Lord, grant us all, I useful and necessary for temporary and eternal benefit; may he not repay us according to our deeds, but out of his indescribable love for mankind may he forgive us our sins and transgressions, may he deliver us from all need and sorrow, sorrow and illness; may He grant us good intentions and the strength to strive to correct our lives, and in the future may He grant us grace to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and glorify together with you the All-Holy Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Canons and Akathists
Akathist to the holy new martyr doctor Evgeniy Botkin
Kontakion 1
Ikos 1
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 2
Seeing Christ God your soul, O all-glorious Eugene, preprepared to receive the word of God, enlightening you with His grace, for you followed the Path, Truth and Life invariably until your death as a martyr; now having kept the faith, as a faithful warrior of Christ, rejoicing in the Heavenly Fatherland, singing to the Lord: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 2
With your mind, honest Eugene, from the days of your youth, following the image of your father’s service, you grew in the art of healing, working diligently in the universal school, and more than this, you shone with love for the suffering people, medically healing the poor and giving everything to yourself according to the apostolic covenant. . We pray to you: transform our souls with merciful love, so that we too may be able to bear the burdens of our neighbors and serve them without hypocrisy, and return in the grace of God, calling to you:
Rejoice, eminent parents and blessed children;
Rejoice, you who have blossomed with a fruit-bearing branch on the tree of your family;
Rejoice, multiplying the gifted talent;
Rejoice, thou who always seekest righteousness and truth;
Rejoice, imitating St. Agapit in firm trust in the Lord;
Rejoice, like Seraphim, you have acquired spiritual joy;
Rejoice, thou who bringest forth from the depths of unbelief;
Rejoice, you who enlighten many in their understanding;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 3
The Power of the Most High and the Protection of the Queen of Heaven fell upon you, good-natured Eugene, in the time of battle with pagan Japan, when burning with love for the suffering warriors, you served them with medical art, imitating Panteleimon the Healer, regardless of dangers and hardships, constantly singing a song to God in your heart : "Hallelujah!"
Ikos 3
Having the gift of speech, given to you by God, most praised Eugene, while healing the bodies of the suffering, you did not forget about their souls, comforting, admonishing, instructing and healing from lack of faith, despondency and despair of evil. Remembering this now, we ask you: make a prayer for us to the Physician of souls and bodies, and through your intercession we, too, will deliver you from temporary and eternal sorrows, leading you as a vigilant helper, crying out to you with emotion:
Rejoice, loving One Christ with all your heart;
Rejoice, as a merciful Samaritan, serving your neighbors;
Rejoice, you who brought undoubted hope into their souls;
Rejoice, you who free our minds from the vanity of our manifolds;
Rejoice, you who turn us to the knowledge of God’s good providence;
Rejoice, you who attract us to the creation of prayer without laziness;
Rejoice, thou who fillest our souls with fruitfulness;
Rejoice, strengthener of those exhausted by the sorrows of life;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 4
Having safely passed through the storm of thoughts and passions, Saint Eugene, for you have found the quiet refuge of Christ, for whom you have labored tirelessly in much long-suffering; We pray to you: fill our souls with the peace of the Lord, illuminate our minds with good thoughts, so that we may move away from the filth of sin and be able to follow the covenant of the Savior, singing to Him about you: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 4
The blessed Queen Alexandra heard about you, as, most praised Eugene, you were superior to others in your knowledge of healing, as with zeal and love you served the soldiers suffering on the battlefield, calling you to serve in your palace; Tsar Nicholas is almost the rank of physician. Glorifying God, who exalts the humble of heart and crowns them with mercy and bounty, we cry to you:
Rejoice, healer of severe and incurable bodily ailments;
Rejoice, healer of spiritual infirmities and passions;
Rejoice, for all who come to you receive abundant blessings from the giver;
Rejoice, you who adorn our souls with patience and courage;
Rejoice, you who satisfy us who hunger and thirst for righteousness;
Rejoice, purifying our hearts through the grace of God given to you;
Rejoice, thou who sharpest our spiritual eyes to see God;
Rejoice, you who pacify our enmities and quarrels;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 5
The holy martyr Eugene truly appeared to the godly star, showing the way to Christ, for all the days of your earthly life you were a disciple, friend and enemy, and moreover, you showed to your neighbors the image of a virtuous life, now, remembering your labors, we joyfully sing To Christ, the almighty Physician of souls and bodies, who strengthened your neck with His grace, singing thanksgiving: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 5
Seeing the suffering of the soldiers during the days of the war with Germany, we strive together with Tsarina Alexandra for love and you created a glorious hospital in Tsarskoe Selo, where many suffering people found spiritual and physical healing. We, who now remember all this, ask you, Saint Eugene, with your prayer, heal us sinners, and we cry out to you in gratitude:
Rejoice, you who put good thoughts in your hearts for doctors;
Rejoice, who constantly strengthens them in serving their neighbors;
Rejoice, you who strengthen the sick in meekness and patience;
Rejoice, you who show us all the paths of healing;
Rejoice, you who raised up those abandoned by doctors from their sick beds;
Rejoice, thou who illumines the inner darkness of our souls with the light of Christ;
Rejoice, you who return those who have retreated from the right faith to the path of salvation;
Rejoice, thou who wisely nourishes those wandering on the sea of this life;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 6
The Lord reveal you as a preacher of piety in the city of Petrov and Selo Tsarskoe, and more than these in the borders of Siberia, Saint Eugene: who would not be moved by remembering your great virtues: wisdom and love, meekness and patience, prayer and mercy, as if not only honest and noble You shone with your life, but you also served your neighbor freely, and you confessed the faith of Christ in the face of the power of the God-fighting authorities: in the same way, glorifying God, we sing wondrously in our saints: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 6
You shone with the light of undoubted faith in the time of the cruel trial, the most praised Eugene, when people who were pious to God raised a battle against Our Almighty God and His Anointed One, in the days of slaughter the blood of the martyr and passion-bearers flowed like water, for Christ and His righteousness they were killed. You, servant of God, suffered exile from the city of Petrov to Tobolsk together with Tsar Nicholas; Remembering this now, we ask you: renew our faith and revive our hope, so that we call to you:
Rejoice, you have laid aside the fear of death and suffering through great faith in the Risen God;
Rejoice, you have inspired many around you to achieve spiritual feats;
Rejoice, thou who washest our souls from the smoldering coals of hatred;
Rejoice, you who enrich us with the gift of heavenly goodness;
Rejoice, you who protect our lips from slander and condemnation;
Rejoice, you who teach us to serve our neighbors with good words;
Rejoice, to see in every person the image of God that promotes him;
Rejoice, you who resurrect merciful love in hearts;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 7
Although you followed Christ, imitated Him with all zeal, having accepted His yoke, learned from Him meekness and humility, you desired with all your heart, Blessed Eugene, to work for the only Lord, you counted it on yourself as nothing, applying labor to labor in a spirit of meekness and humility , you have acquired boldness in prayer, calling on your neighbors to faithfully glorify God, the One in the Trinity, and to sing to Him: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 7
The Lord has given a new lamp to the Russian Church - Eugene, a well-skilled doctor and an all-glorious new martyr, for you, servant of God, are now in the highest, but you do not abandon us, the lower ones, with your prayers and intercession with Christ - the King of glory and the Lord our God. For this reason, bewildered to praise you according to your inheritance, with tenderness of heart, from the depths of the soul, we appeal to you:
Rejoice, you who graciously sanctify all who come to you with faith;
Rejoice, you who diligently help those who call upon you;
Rejoice, thou who with thy light disperses our sinful darkness;
Rejoice, you who warm our cold hearts with the warmth of your love;
Rejoice, thou who destroyest the machinations of the enemy through thy intercession;
Rejoice, thou who revealest to us the treasure of the spiritual world;
Rejoice, you who guide those who are lost to the light of Christ;
Rejoice, you who teach the faithful Christian hope;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 8
Imitating the strange and ineffable humility of the incarnate God of the Word, the most glorious passion-bearer, you yourself were filled with great humility and gentleness, even towards the enemy of your people and your King. We now pray to you, servant of God, by your heavenly representation, ask for these God-loving virtues for us, so that we may not be enslaved by sinful passions, but be filled with the spirit of love and meekness towards our neighbors and piously sing to Our Savior: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 8
Full of the love of Christ, blessed Eugene, you did not leave your crowned family in captivity, and with great love you served as a good and wise doctor, as a prayer leader and faithful confidant, as a reverent friend, as a Christian, to the Anointed One of God. We desire to follow your love and fidelity, and we offer you such praises with hope:
Rejoice, having endured the languor of imprisonment from the wicked apostates;
Rejoice, you who neglected earthly sorrows and found heavenly joy;
Rejoice, thou who hast striven from earthly darkness to Heavenly light;
Rejoice, you who teach us right faith and piety;
Rejoice, you who give us the hope we know;
Rejoice, you who kindle unfeigned love in us;
Rejoice, you who strengthen us in enduring trials and persecutions;
Rejoice, thou who enlightenest our souls, darkened by sins, with the light of the Gospel;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 9
With all your life, merciful service and many different virtues, you have attracted to yourself the great grace of martyrdom, blessed boyar Evgeniy. For you have learned from your youth to cleave to God with your heart, most wonderful passion-bearer. Teach us, unworthy ones, to seek above all else the Kingdom of God, and to despise the transitory and corruptible, singing in the tenderness of the Lord: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 9
The prophets of many things will not be able, according to their heritage, to utter the most wonderful glorification of your memory, most praised passion-bearer Eugene; We, moved by you to repentance, wanting to imitate your kindness, ask you: strengthen us in the faith of the truth to stand firmly, turn our hearts away from the lies of the false prophets of the earthly paradise, establish ourselves in the truth of the Gospel, shake and destroy the power of human malice with your holy prayers, holy one new martyr, transform withered souls with kindness and love for mankind, and accept this greatness with much mercy:
Rejoice, you who raised your mind to Him who was crucified on the Cross for our sake;
Rejoice, who through your suffering death preached the gentleness of the Lamb of God;
Rejoice, you who bring the light of Christ to the people;
Rejoice, you who give the grace-filled power of healing to those who ask;
Rejoice, thou who deliverest us from sinful leprosy;
Rejoice, you who send good consolation into hearts;
Rejoice, you who graciously inspire hope in God’s mercy;
Rejoice, forsaking sins and giving us strength in a virtuous life;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 10
In accomplishing your saving feat, Eugene is worthy of praise, you rejected the words of the atheists who forced you Emperor Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra and their children to leave and accept other service, for you, having followed the duty of a doctor and honor of the nobility, remained in glory with the God-crowned Tsar and in sorrow You appeared to him as a faithful servant, placing your trust in the Lord Eternal, you betrayed your children to His providence, for you gained Abraham’s hope and through faith you became like the long-suffering Job. Now, with all the righteous, who from time immemorial have gone into the valley of eternal joy, magnify the Heavenly Father with the all-victorious singing: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 10
A strong wall, not overcome by the tricks of the devil, you remained to the end, the martyr of Christ Eugene, imprisoned in the house of Hypatia with the royal martyrs, looking at the head of faith and the finisher of Jesus, for you followed Him even to the death of the cross, knowing for Christ by His death trampled upon, and those killed for Him will reign with Him forever in the abodes of the Heavenly Father. Honoring your holy death, we worship the unsearchable Providence of the Almighty, who has made you a partaker of His ineffable glory in Heavenly Jerusalem; from here incline your ear to our voice crying out to you:
Rejoice, poor in spirit, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven;
Rejoice, you who grieve and weep, for the Lord has comforted you;
Rejoice, meek sufferer, as glorified by God;
Rejoice, you who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you have been filled;
Rejoice, merciful to those who suffer, for you have been merciful by God;
Rejoice, pure in heart, for now you see God directly;
Rejoice, peacemaker, called the son of God;
Rejoice, persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for now the Kingdom of Heaven is yours;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 11
The incessant singing of the Sweetest Jesus and His Most Pure Mother is exalting, the all-glorious Eugene, blessing his murderers and begging for their forgiveness, as if they do not know whose evil will they are doing, thereby teaching us to bless our enemies, and not to curse, singing the god-red song: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 11
Filled with the luminous lamp, the oil of pure prayer, and the flame of faith shining brightly, the Lord, holy New Martyr Eugene, has raised you up to all pious Christians who reverently honor your memory. We, with the eyes of faith, see you in the Trinity Light in the host of saints, who have whitened their robe in the blood of the Lamb, taking away the peace and prosperity of the one who abides for us. For this reason, with hope we sing to you:
Rejoice, ever triumphant with the bright angels;
Rejoice, having magnified Christ in your life and sufferings;
Rejoice, having ascended to the Kingdom of Heaven along a narrow path;
Rejoice, in the host of the new martyrs eternal peace and bliss have been acquired;
Rejoice, gloriously freeing us from passions and spiritual burdens;
Rejoice, instiller of good thoughts and feelings in bewilderment of beings;
Rejoice, thou who turns us away from soul-destroying evil;
Rejoice, thou who bestowest warmth of soul upon Christians;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 12
Marveling at the grace that dwells in you, we magnify you, boyar Eugene: we believe that having accomplished the works of God on earth, and having endured great suffering, you now rest with the Lord in His abodes, looking down on us from the heights of heaven, and inclining towards us the highest mercy. Hoping for your intercession and trusting in your gracious help, we glorify God in our saints: “Hallelujah!”
Ikos 12
Singing your wondrous and righteous life, your deeds of mercy, your service to your neighbors, all your deeds that you accomplished through faith, fidelity and great labor for the glory of God, we praise, we honor your confession, we honor your martyrdom, most praised Eugene, we ask and pray to you , help us, holy intercessor, in those who fall into various temptations, struggles and misfortunes. Above all, strengthen and teach us, so that we may become imitators of your holy life and gratefully praise you:
Rejoice, rule of faith and piety, all-perfect image;
Rejoice, flame kindled by the grace of the Divine Spirit;
Rejoice, triumphant with the seven new Russian martyrs;
Rejoice, celebrate eternal Easter with Tsar Nicholas;
Rejoice, with Queen Alexandra you magnify the Heavenly Father;
Rejoice, praising the Mother of God with the holy princesses;
Rejoice, you who with Tsarevich Alexy incline God’s mercy to us;
Rejoice, quick obedient to all who call upon you with faith;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 13
Oh, our wonderful and glorious intercessor, the worthy new martyr Eugene! Accept now this little prayer of ours, offered to you in the tenderness of our hearts, and beg our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from all the misfortunes of the enemy, and to grant us, in unceasing prayer and repentance, to preserve the faith of Christ to the end and to improve the good things that are to come in Heaven, singing to God : "Hallelujah!"
This kontakion is read three times.
Ikos 1
You were an earthly angel and a heavenly man, Saint Eugene, from your youth until your very death as a martyr you worked tirelessly for the Lord, adding labor to labor and ascending from strength to strength, so that Christ may be glorified in you, Healing our souls and bodies, for whose sake you labored You have loved Him, You have longed for Him alone, You have endured much for His suffering, You are brightly adorned by His grace. For this sake, you, glorified in heaven and on earth with a cry:
Rejoice, kind teacher of vigor and sobriety;
Rejoice, known persecutor of negligence and idleness;
Rejoice, diligence, affirmation of every good, diligent;
Rejoice, quick obedience to the trustee of the God-fearing laity;
Rejoice, praise of doctors and adornment of new martyrs;
Rejoice, you who suffered innocently from the lawless love for Christ;
Rejoice, you who listen to our prayers, even those who are weak, with love;
Rejoice, you who fulfill our petitions with all your soul and heart;
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
Kontakion 1
Chosen saint and passion-bearer of Christ, the most glorious Eugene, kindled by the flame of Christ’s love, you flourished on the rock of faith; You meekly endured many sorrows and a cruel death from the royal passion-bearers from the God-fighters, you laid down your soul for faith and truth. Now we celebrate your all-honorable memory and bring you songs of praise. But you, who have boldness towards the Lady of heaven and earth, free us from all troubles, who are now calling to you:
Rejoice, holy New Martyr Eugene, good and merciful physician!
First prayer
Holy, glorious confessor and passion-bearer Eugene! We believe and hope that through your suffering and God-pleasing life, having acquired great mercy and boldness from the Lord God, you have not forgotten the property of your earthly, our fatherland, in which we, your admirers, are overwhelmed by many enemy adversities and worldly passions. We also ask you: with your prayers and intercession, beg our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from all troubles and evil situations, from all illnesses and diseases and from all enemies, visible and invisible. O great servant of God! Breathe for us, sinners, to the Lady of all, may we forgive all our sins and may the grace of the All-Holy Spirit descend upon us, so that, having ceased from all filthiness, we may live the rest of our lives in all piety and purity and, having thus pleased the Lord, we will be worthy of an ever-blessed life, singing and chanting the great mercy of God and your merciful intercession for us at the Throne of God forever and ever. Amen.
Second prayer
Oh, glorious passion-bearer Eugene, great servant of God, bring our tearful prayer to the Lord our God, propitiate Him towards us sinners, so that the righteous will take away his wrath and pacify our long-suffering country; may he establish prosperity and peace, may he bestow upon us an abundance of earthly fruits, and may he forbid our enemies from causing offense to the orphaned and helpless. In the same way, falling to your icon, we remember with faith your suffering, endured for Christ, and we pray to you: do not leave us and ask the Lord for good things, temporary and eternal, so that we may glorify the God who has glorified you forever. Amen.
Prayer three
Oh, all-glorious passion-bearer, praiseworthy servant of Christ, champion of the Orthodox Church, new martyr and healer Saint Eugene! On bended knee we pray to you: look upon us sinners who have come running to your intercession, hear this little prayer of ours and with your warm intercession implore the All-Merciful God, to whom you now stand with the Angels and all the saints, may he preserve us in the unity of the Orthodox Church and establish us in our hearts our living spirit of right faith and piety, and will deliver us from all temptation and the deception of demons. According to your great love, with which you have loved your neighbor, ask the all-generous God for your Fatherland (and ours as well) for peace and prosperity; to all of us, the unworthy, who diligently resort to you, a godly and serene life and a good Christian death, a participant in the mysteries of God. Oh, our holy intercessor, do not leave us, weak and helpless, we pray for us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that He, our All-Bounteous and Most Merciful Lord, may grant us everything that is useful and necessary for temporal and eternal benefit; may he not reward us according to our deeds, but out of his indescribable love for mankind may he forgive us our sins and transgressions, may he deliver us from all need and sorrow, sorrow and illness; May he bestow upon us good intentions and the strength to struggle to correct our lives, and in the future may he grant us the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and glorify with you the All-Holy Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
“I finished him off with a shot to the head,” Yurovsky later wrote. He posed openly and bragged about the murder. When they tried to find the remains of Dr. Botkin in August 1918, they found only pince-nez with broken glass. Their fragments mixed with others - from medallions and icons, vials and bottles that belonged to the family of the last Russian Tsar.
On February 3, 2016, Evgeniy Sergeevich Botkin was canonized by the Russian Church. Orthodox doctors, of course, advocated for his glorification. Many appreciated the feat of the doctor who remained faithful to his patients. But not only that. His faith was conscious, hard-won, despite the temptations of time. Evgeniy Sergeevich went from unbelief to holiness, like a good doctor goes to a patient, depriving himself of the right to choose whether to go or not. It was forbidden to talk about him for many decades. At that time he was lying in an unmarked grave - as an enemy of the people, executed without trial. At the same time, one of the most famous clinics in the country was named after his father, Sergei Petrovich Botkin - he was glorified as a great doctor.
The first doctor of the empire
And this glory was completely deserved. After the death of Dr. Pirogov, Sergei Botkin became the most respected doctor in the Russian Empire.
But until the age of nine he was considered mentally retarded. His father, a wealthy St. Petersburg tea merchant Pyotr Botkin, even promised to give Seryozha a soldier, when it suddenly turned out that the boy could not distinguish letters due to severe astigmatism. Having corrected Sergei’s vision, we discovered that he had a great interest in mathematics. He was going to follow this path, but suddenly Emperor Nicholas I forbade the admission of persons of non-noble origin to any faculties except medicine. The sovereign’s idea was far from reality and did not last long, but it had the happiest impact on the fate of Sergei Botkin.
The beginning of his fame was laid in the Crimean War, which Sergei Petrovich spent in Sevastopol in the medical detachment of Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov. At the age of 29 he became a professor. Before reaching forty, he founded the Epidemiological Society. He was the personal physician of Emperor Alexander the Liberator, and then treated his son, Alexander the Peacemaker, combining this with work in free outpatient clinics and “infectious barracks.” Sometimes up to fifty patients were crowded into his living room, from whom the doctor did not charge a penny for an appointment.
Sergei Petrovich Botkin
In 1878, Sergei Petrovich was elected chairman of the Society of Russian Doctors, which he led until his death. He died in 1889. They say that in his entire life, Sergei Petrovich made only one incorrect diagnosis - to himself. He was sure that he suffered from liver colic, but died from heart disease. “Death took away its most implacable enemy from this world,” the newspapers wrote.
“If faith is added to the doctor’s deeds...”
Evgeniy was the fourth child in the family. Survived the death of his mother when he was ten years old. She was a rare woman worthy of a husband: she played many instruments and had a keen understanding of music and literature, and was fluent in several languages. The couple organized the famous Botkin Saturdays together. Relatives gathered, including the poet Afanasy Fet, philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov, and friends, including the founder of Russian physiology Ivan Sechenov, writer Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, composers Alexander Borodin and Mily Balakirev. All together at the large oval table they formed a highly peculiar gathering.
Evgeniy spent his early childhood in this wonderful atmosphere. Brother Peter said: “Inwardly kind, with an extraordinary soul, he was terrified of any fight or fight. We other boys used to fight furiously. He, as usual, did not participate in our fights, but when a fist fight became dangerous, he, at the risk of injury, stopped the fighters...”
Here one can see the image of a future military doctor. Evgeniy Sergeevich had the opportunity to bandage the wounded on the front line, when shells exploded so close that he was covered with earth. At his mother’s request, Evgeniy was educated at home, and after her death he immediately entered the fifth grade of the gymnasium. Like his father, he initially chose mathematics and even studied for a year at the university, but then he still preferred medicine. He graduated from the Military Medical Academy with honors. His father managed to be happy for him, but that same year Sergei Petrovich passed away. Pyotr Botkin recalled how hard Evgeny experienced this loss: “I came to my father’s grave and suddenly heard sobs in a deserted cemetery. Coming closer, I saw my brother lying in the snow. “Oh, it’s you, Petya, you came to talk to dad,” and again the sobs. And an hour later, during the reception of patients, it could not have occurred to anyone that this calm, self-confident and powerful man could cry like a child.”
Having lost the support of his parent, Evgeniy achieved everything on his own. He became a doctor at the Court Chapel. He trained in the best German clinics, studying childhood diseases, epidemiology, practical obstetrics, surgery, nervous diseases and blood diseases, on which he defended his dissertation. At that time, there were still too few doctors to afford a narrow specialization.
Evgeniy Petrovich married 18-year-old noblewoman Olga Vladimirovna Manuilova at the age of twenty-five. The marriage was amazing at first. Olga was orphaned early, and her husband became everything to her. Only her husband’s extreme busyness upset Olga Vladimirovna - he worked in three or more places, following the example of his father and many other doctors of that era. From the Court Chapel he hurried to the Mariinsky Hospital, and from there to the Military Medical Academy, where he taught. And this doesn't include business trips.
Olga was religious, and Evgeniy Sergeevich was skeptical about faith at first, but later completely changed. “There were few believers among us,” he wrote about the academy graduates shortly before his execution, in the summer of 1918, “but the principles professed by everyone were close to Christian. If faith is added to the actions of a doctor, then this is due to the special mercy of God towards him. I turned out to be one of these lucky ones - through a difficult ordeal, the loss of my first-born, six-month-old son Seryozha.
"Light and Shadows of the Russo-Japanese War"
This is what he called his memories of the front, where he headed the St. George Hospital of the Red Cross. The Russo-Japanese War was the first in Botkin's life. The result of this protracted business trip was two military orders, experience in helping the wounded and enormous fatigue. However, his book “Light and Shadows of the Russo-Japanese War” began with the words: “We are traveling cheerfully and comfortably.” But that was on the road. The following entries are completely different: “They came, these unfortunate ones, but they did not bring any groans, no complaints, or horrors with them. They came, largely on foot, even wounded in the legs (so as not to have to travel in a gig along these terrible roads), patient Russian people, now ready to go into battle again.”
Once, during a night round of the Georgievsky hospital, Evgeniy Sergeevich saw a soldier wounded in the chest named Sampson hugging a delirious orderly. When Botkin felt his pulse and stroked it, the wounded man pulled both his hands to his lips and began to kiss them, imagining that it was his mother who had come. Then he began to call his aunts and kissed his hand again. It was amazing that none of the sufferers “complain, no one asks: “Why, why am I suffering?” - how people in our circle grumble when God sends them trials,” wrote Botkin.
He himself did not complain about the difficulties. On the contrary, he said that before it was much more difficult for doctors. I remembered one hero-doctor from the time of the Russian-Turkish war. He once came to the hospital in an overcoat on his naked body and in torn soldier's footwear, despite the severe frost. It turned out that he met a wounded man, but there was nothing to bandage him with, and the doctor tore his linen into bandages and a bandage, and dressed the soldier in the rest.
Most likely, Botkin would have done the same. His first feat, described rather sparingly, dates back to mid-June. While traveling to the front line, Evgeniy Sergeevich came under artillery fire. The first shrapnel exploded in the distance, but then the shells began to land closer and closer, so that the stones they knocked out flew into people and horses. Botkin was about to leave the dangerous place when a soldier wounded in the leg approached. “It was the finger of God that decided my day,” Botkin recalled. “Go calmly,” he said to the wounded man, “I will stay for you.” I took a medical bag and went to the artillerymen. The guns fired continuously, and the ground, covered with flowers, shook underfoot, and where Japanese shells fell, it literally groaned. At first it seemed to Evgeniy Sergeevich that a wounded man was groaning, but then he became convinced that it was the ground. It was scary. However, Botkin was not afraid for himself: “Never before have I felt the strength of my faith to such an extent. I was completely convinced that, no matter how great the risk to which I was exposed, I would not be killed if God did not wish it; and if He wishes, that is His holy will.”
When the call came from above: “Stretcher!” - He ran there with the orderlies to see if there were anyone bleeding. Having provided assistance, he sat down to rest for a while.
“One of the battery orderlies, a handsome guy named Kimerov, looked at me, looked, and finally crawled out and sat down next to me. Whether he felt sorry to see me alone, whether he was ashamed that they left me, or whether my place seemed enchanted to him - I don’t know. He, like the rest of the battery, however, was in battle for the first time, and we started talking about the will of God... Above us and around us it was vomiting - it seemed that the Japanese had chosen your slope as their target, but while working you don’t notice the fire .
- Excuse me! – Kimerov suddenly screamed and fell backwards. I unbuttoned it and saw that his lower abdomen was pierced, the front bone was broken off and all the intestines came out. He quickly began to die. I sat over him, helplessly holding his intestines with gauze, and when he died, I closed his head, folded his hands and laid him more comfortably ... "
What captivates us in Evgeniy Sergeevich’s notes is the absence of cynicism, on the one hand, and pathos, on the other. He walked surprisingly smoothly all his life between extremes: lively, joyful and at the same time deeply worried about people. Greedy for everything new and alien to revolution. Not only his book, his life is the story, first of all, of a Russian Christian, creating, suffering, open to God and all the best that is in the world.
“There is still no fight, and I continue to write. We should follow the example of the soldiers. I ask one wounded man whom I found writing a letter:
- What, friend, are you writing home?
“Home,” he says.
- Well, are you describing how you were wounded and how well you fought?
- No, I’m writing that I’m alive and well, otherwise the old people would start taking out insurance.
This is the greatness and delicacy of the simple Russian soul!”
August 1, 1904. Retreat. Everything that could be dispensed with was sent to Liaoyang, including the iconostasis and the tent in which the church was built. But the service continued anyway. Along the ditch that surrounded the field church, they stuck pine trees, made the Royal Doors out of them, placed one pine tree behind the altar, the other in front of the lectern prepared for the prayer service. They hung the image on the last two pine trees. And the result was a church that seemed even closer than all others to God because it stood directly under His heavenly cover. Before the prayer service, the priest, who in battle under heavy fire gave communion to the dying, said a few simple and heartfelt words on the topic that prayer is for God, and the service is not lost for the Tsar. His loud voice echoed clearly over the nearby mountain in the direction of Liaoyang. And it seemed that these sounds from our eerie distance would continue to jump from mountain to mountain to relatives and friends standing in prayer, to their poor, dear homeland.
“- Stop, people! - God's anger seemed to say: - Wake up! Is this what I teach you, unfortunate ones! How dare you, unworthy ones, destroy what you cannot create?! Stop, you crazy people!
Botkin recalled how he met an officer who, as the father of a young boy, was trying to be placed away from the front line. But he was eager to join the regiment and finally achieved his goal. What happened next? After the first battle, this unfortunate man, who until recently longed for war and glory, presented to the regiment commander the rest of his company, about twenty-five people. “Where is the company?” - they asked him. The young officer’s throat was constricted, and he could barely say that she was all there!
“Yes, I’m tired,” Botkin admitted, “I’m inexpressibly tired, but I’m tired only in my soul. She seems to have gotten all sick with me. Drop by drop, my heart was bleeding out, and soon I will not have it: I will indifferently pass by my crippled, wounded, hungry, frozen brothers, as if I were passing by an eyesore on a kaoliang; I will consider as habitual and correct what just yesterday turned my whole soul upside down. I feel how she is gradually dying inside me..."
“We were drinking afternoon tea in a large dining tent, in the pleasant silence of a happy home environment, when K. rode up to our tent on horseback and, without getting off his horse, shouted to us in a voice in which we could hear that everything was lost and there was no salvation:
- Peace, peace!
Completely killed, entering the tent, he threw his cap on the ground.
- World! - he repeated, sitting down on the bench..."
The wife and children have been waiting for Evgeniy Sergeevich for a long time. And there was also someone waiting for him, about whom he had not thought during the war, who was still lying in the cradle. Tsarevich Alexei, an unfortunate child born with a severe hereditary disease - hemophilia. Blood diseases were the subject of Evgeniy Sergeevich’s doctoral dissertation. This predetermined the choice of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna who would become the new physician of the Royal Family.
Life physician of the emperor
After the death of the Royal Family's personal physician, Dr. Hirsch, the Empress was asked who should take his place. She answered:
- Botkin.
- Which of them? - they asked her.
The fact is that Evgeniy Sergeevich’s brother, Sergei, was also well known as a doctor.
“The one who was in the war,” explained the Queen.
They did not tell her that both Botkins took part in the hostilities. Evgeniy Sergeevich was known throughout Russia as a military doctor.
Alas, Tsarevich Alexei was seriously ill, and the Empress’s health left much to be desired. Due to swelling, the Empress wore special shoes and could not walk for a long time. Attacks of palpitations and headaches confined her to bed for a long time. A lot of other responsibilities also piled up, which Botkin attracted like a magnet. For example, he continued to be involved in the affairs of the Red Cross.
Tatyana Botkina with her brother Yuri
The relationship with his wife, although they had previously loved each other, began to rapidly deteriorate. “Life at court was not very fun, and nothing brought variety to its monotony,” recalled daughter Tatyana. “Mom missed me terribly.” She felt abandoned, almost betrayed. For Christmas 1909, the doctor gave his wife an amazing pendant ordered from Faberge. When Olga Vladimirovna opened the box, the children gasped: the opal, trimmed with diamonds, was so beautiful. But their mother only said displeasedly: “You know that I can’t stand disgrace! They bring misfortune! I was about to return the gift back, but Evgeniy Sergeevich patiently said: “If you don’t like it, you can always exchange it.” She exchanged the pendant for another one, with an aquamarine, but there was no increase in happiness.
Already middle-aged, but still a beautiful woman, Olga Vladimirovna was languishing, it began to seem to her that life was passing by. She fell in love with her sons' teacher, the Baltic German Friedrich Lichinger, who was almost half her age, and soon began to live openly with him, demanding a divorce from her husband. Not only the sons, but also the younger children - Tatyana and mother's favorite Gleb - decided to stay with their father. “If you had left her,” Gleb told his father, “I would have stayed with her. But when she leaves you, I stay with you! During Lent, Olga Vladimirovna decided to take communion, but on the way to church she injured her leg and decided that even God had turned away from her. But my husband doesn’t. The spouses were one step away from reconciliation, but... all the courtiers in Tsarskoe Selo, all former acquaintances looked through her, as if she were an empty place. This hurt Evgeny Sergeevich no less than his wife. He was angry, but even the children saw her as a stranger. And Olga Vladimirovna suddenly realized that it wouldn’t be the same as before. Then there was Easter, the most joyless of their lives.
“A few days later, we were relieved to learn,” Tatyana wrote, “that she was leaving again “for treatment.” The farewell was difficult, but short. The reconciliation proposed by the father did not take place. This time we felt that the separation would be long, but we already understood that it could not be otherwise. We never mentioned our mother's name again."
At this time, Doctor Botkin became very close to the Tsarevich, who was suffering terribly. Evgeniy Sergeevich spent whole nights at his bedside, and the boy once confessed to him: “I love you with all my little heart.” Evgeny Sergeevich smiled. Rarely did he have to smile when talking about this royal child.
“The pain became unbearable. The boy’s screams and cries were heard in the palace, recalled the head of the palace guard, Alexander Spiridovich. – The temperature rose quickly. Botkin never left the child’s side for a minute.” “I am deeply surprised by their energy and dedication,” wrote the teacher of Alexei and the Grand Duchesses, Pierre Gilliard, about doctors Vladimir Derevenko and Evgeniy Botkin. “I remember how, after long night shifts, they were glad that their little patient was safe again. But the improvement of the heir was attributed not to them, but to... Rasputin.”
Evgeniy Sergeevich did not like Rasputin, believing that he was playing at being an old man, without actually being one. He even refused to accept this man into his home as a patient. However, being a doctor, he could not refuse help at all and personally went to the patient. Fortunately, they saw each other only a few times in their lives, which did not prevent the emergence of rumors that Evgeniy Sergeevich was a fan of Rasputin. This was, of course, slander, but it had its own background. Infinitely more than Gregory, Botkin despised those who organized the persecution of this man. He was convinced that Rasputin was just an excuse. “If there had been no Rasputin,” he once said, “then the opponents of the Royal Family and the preparers of the revolution would have created him with their conversations from Vyrubova; if there had been no Vyrubova, from me, from whomever you want.”
"Dear Old Well"
Doctor Botkin gives the crown princesses Maria and Anastasia a ride
For the attitude of Yevgeny Vasilyevich Botkin to the Royal Family, you can choose only one word - love. And the more he got to know these people, the stronger this feeling became. The family lived more modestly than many aristocrats or merchants. The Red Army soldiers in the Ipatiev House were later surprised that the Emperor wore mended clothes and worn-out boots. The valet told them that before the revolution his master wore the same thing and the same shoes. The Tsarevich wore the old nightgowns of the Grand Duchesses. The girls did not have separate rooms in the palace; they lived in twos.
Sleepless nights and hard work undermined Evgeniy Vasilyevich’s health. He was so tired that he fell asleep in the bath, and only when the water cooled down did he struggle to get to bed. My leg hurt more and more, I had to use a crutch. At times he felt very bad. And then he changed roles with Anastasia, becoming her “patient”. The princess became so attached to Botkin that she was eager to serve him soap in the bathroom, kept watch at his feet, perched on the sofa, never missing a chance to make him laugh. For example, when a cannon was supposed to fire at sunset, the girl always pretended to be terribly afraid and hid in the farthest corner, covering her ears and peeking out with big, feignedly frightened eyes.
Botkin was very friendly with Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. She had a kind heart. When, at the age of twenty, she began to receive small pocket money, the first thing she did was volunteer to pay for the treatment of a crippled boy, whom she often saw while walking, hobbling on crutches.
“When I listen to you,” she once told Dr. Botkin, “it seems to me that I see clean water in the depths of the old well.” The younger crown princesses laughed and from then on sometimes in a friendly manner called Dr. Botkin “dear old well.”
In 1913, the Royal Family almost lost him. It all started with the fact that Grand Duchess Tatiana, during celebrations in honor of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, drank water from the first tap she came across and fell ill with typhus. Evgeniy Sergeevich left his patient, while becoming infected himself. His situation turned out to be much worse, since duty at the princess’s bedside brought Botkin to complete exhaustion and severe heart failure. He was treated by his brother Alexander Botkin, a tireless traveler and inventor who built a submarine during the Russo-Japanese War. He was not only a doctor of science in medicine, but also a captain of the second rank.
Another brother, Pyotr Sergeevich, a diplomat, having learned from a telegram that Evgeny was completely unwell, rushed to Russia from Lisbon, changing from express to express. Meanwhile, Evgeniy Sergeevich felt better. “When he saw me,” wrote Peter, “he smiled with a smile that was so familiar to his loved ones, almost tender, very Russian.” “He scared us,” said the Emperor to Peter Sergeevich. – When you were notified by telegram, I was in great alarm... He was so weak, so overworked... Well, now that’s behind me, God took him under his protection once again. Your brother is more than a friend to me... He takes everything that happens to us to heart. He even shares our illness.”
Great War
Shortly before the war, Evgeniy Sergeevich wrote to children from Crimea: “Support and take care of each other, my dear ones, and remember that every three of you must replace me on the fourth. The Lord is with you, my beloved ones.” Soon they met, happy - they were one soul.
When the war began, there was hope that it would not last long, that joyful days would return, but these dreams melted away every day.
“My brother visited me in St. Petersburg with his two sons,” recalled Pyotr Botkin. “They are both going to the front today,” Evgeniy simply told me, as if he had said: “They are going to the opera.” I couldn’t look him in the face because I was afraid to read in his eyes what he hid so carefully: the pain of my heart at the sight of these two young lives leaving him for the first time, and maybe forever ... "
“I was appointed to intelligence,” said son Dmitry when parting.
“But you haven’t been appointed yet!” Evgeniy Sergeevich corrected him.
- Oh, it will be soon, it doesn’t matter.
He was actually assigned to intelligence. Then there was a telegram:
“Your son Dmitry was ambushed during the offensive. Considered missing. We hope to find him alive."
Not found. The reconnaissance patrol came under fire from German infantry. Dmitry ordered his men to retreat and remained last, covering the retreat. He was the son and grandson of doctors; fighting for other people's lives was something completely natural for him. His horse returned with a shot through the saddle, and the captured Germans reported that Dmitry had died, giving them his last battle. He was twenty years old.
On that terrible evening, when it became known that there was no more hope, Evgeniy Sergeevich did not show any emotions. When talking to a friend, his face remained motionless, his voice was completely calm. Only when he was left alone with Tatyana and Gleb did he quietly say: “It’s all over. He’s dead,” and cried bitterly. Evgeniy Sergeevich never recovered from this blow.
Only work saved him, and not just him. The Empress and Grand Duchesses spent a lot of time in hospitals. The poet Sergei Yesenin saw the princesses there and wrote:
...Where are pale shadows and sorrowful torments,
They are for the one who went to suffer for us,
Regal hands stretch out,
Blessing them for the hereafter hour.
On a white bed, in a bright glare of light,
The one whose life they want to return is crying...
And the walls of the infirmary tremble
From pity that their chest tightens.
Pulls them closer and closer with an irresistible hand
Where grief puts sadness on the forehead.
Oh, pray, Saint Magdalene,
For their fate.
In Tsarskoe Selo alone, Botkin opened 30 infirmaries. As always, I worked to the limit of human strength. One nurse recalled that he was not just a doctor, but a great doctor. One day, Evgeniy Sergeevich approached the bed of a soldier who came from a peasant background. Due to his severe wound, he did not recover, he only lost weight and was in a depressed state of mind. Things could have ended very badly.
“Darling, what would you like to eat?” – Botkin unexpectedly asked the soldier. “I, your honor, would eat fried pork ears,” he replied. One of the sisters was immediately sent to the market. After the patient ate what he ordered, he began to recover. “Just imagine that your patient is alone,” taught Evgeniy Sergeevich. – Or maybe he is deprived of air, light, nutrition necessary for health? Pamper him."
The secret of a real doctor is humanity. This is what Dr. Botkin once said to his students:
“Once the trust you have acquired in patients turns into sincere affection for you, when they are convinced of your unfailingly cordial attitude towards them. When you enter the room, you are greeted by a joyful and welcoming mood - a precious and powerful medicine, which will often help you much more than with mixtures and powders... Only a heart is needed for this, only sincere heartfelt sympathy for the sick person. So don’t be stingy, learn to give it with a broad hand to those who need it.”
“You need to treat not the disease, but the patient,” his father Sergei Petrovich liked to repeat. It meant that people are different, they cannot be treated the same. For Evgeniy Sergeevich, this idea received another dimension: you need to remember the patient’s soul, this means a lot for healing.
We could tell a lot more about that war, but we won’t linger. Time to talk about the latest feat of Dr. Evgeniy Sergeevich Botkin.
The day before
The breath of revolution, increasingly foul, drove many crazy. People did not become more responsible; on the contrary, willingly talking about saving Russia, they energetically pushed it towards destruction. One of these enthusiasts was Lieutenant Sergei Sukhotin, his man in high society circles. Shortly after Christmas '16, he dropped in to see the Botkins. On the same day, Evgeniy Sergeevich invited a front-line soldier, whom he was treating for wounds, to visit - an officer of the Siberian riflemen, Konstantin Melnik. Those who knew him said: “Give him ten men, and he will do the work of hundreds with minimal losses. He appears in the most dangerous places without bowing to bullets. His people say he's under a spell, and they're right."
Sukhotin, with gloating, began to retell yet another gossip about Rasputin - an orgy with young ladies from society, about the officer husbands of these women who brazenly burst into Grigory with sabers, but the police prevented them from finishing him off. The lieutenant did not limit himself to this bullshit, declaring that Rasputin and the Empress’s maid of honor Anna Vyrubova were German spies.
“Forgive me,” the Miller suddenly said, “what you are asserting here is a very serious accusation.” If Vyrubova is a spy, you must prove it.
Sukhotin was stunned, then contemptuously and stupidly began to talk about some kind of intrigue.
– What intrigues? – Konstantin tried to clarify. – If you have evidence, give it to the police. And spreading rumors is pointless and dangerous, especially if it harms Their Majesties.
“I am of the same opinion as Melnik,” Evgeniy Sergeevich intervened, wanting to put an end to this conversation. – Such things cannot be stated without evidence. In any case, we must trust our Sovereign under all circumstances.
Less than a year later, Sukhotin will take part in the murder of Grigory Rasputin. Then he would settle well under the Bolsheviks, marry Leo Tolstoy’s granddaughter Sophia, but he would not live to see forty, crippled by paralysis.
Less than three years after the conversation, Tatyana Botkina will become the wife of Konstantin Melnik. Botkin will have already been shot by this time. “Trust our Sovereign under any circumstances.” This was an extremely accurate and intelligent recommendation given by a doctor to a seriously ill country. But the time was such that people believed liars most of all.
“Basically, I’m already dead.”
On March 2, 1917, Botkin went to visit the children who lived nearby under the supervision of their landlady Ustinya Alexandrovna Tevyashova. She was a 75-year-old stately old lady - the widow of the Governor General. A few minutes after Evgeniy Sergeevich entered the house, a crowd of soldiers with rifles burst in.
“You have General Botkin,” an ensign in a hat and a red bow approached Ustinya Alexandrovna.
- Not a general, but a doctor, who came to treat a patient.
It was true, Evgeniy Sergeevich really treated the owner’s brother.
– It’s all the same, we were ordered to arrest all the generals.
“I also don’t care who you should arrest, but I think that when talking to me, the widow of the adjutant general, you, firstly, should take off your hats, and secondly, you can get out of here.”
The taken aback soldiers, led by their leader, took off their hats and left.
Unfortunately, there are not too many people like Ustinya Alexandrovna left in the empire.
The sovereign with his family and that part of his entourage that did not betray them found themselves under arrest. It was only possible to go out into the garden, where an insolent crowd eagerly watched the Tsar through the bars. Sometimes she showered Nikolai Alexandrovich with ridicule. Only a few looked at him with pain in their eyes.
At this time, revolutionary Petrograd, according to the memoirs of Tatyana Botkina, was preparing for a holiday - the funeral of the victims of the revolution. Since they decided not to call priests, the relatives of the victims stole most of the already few bodies. We had to recruit from the dead some Chinese who died of typhus and unknown dead. They were buried very solemnly in red coffins on the Champ de Mars. A similar event was held in Tsarskoye Selo. There were very few victims of the revolution there - six soldiers who died drunk in the basement of a store. They were joined by a cook who died in the hospital and a rifleman who died while quelling a riot in Petrograd. They decided to bury them under the windows of the Tsar’s office in order to insult him. The weather was beautiful, the buds on the trees were green, but as soon as the red coffins were carried into the park fence to the sounds of “you fell a victim in the fatal struggle,” the sun became clouded and wet snow began to fall in thick flakes, obscuring the insane spectacle from the eyes of the Royal Family.
At the end of May, Evgeniy Sergeevich was temporarily released from custody. The daughter-in-law, the wife of the deceased Dmitry, fell ill. The doctor was told that she was dying, but the young widow managed to get out. Returning back to arrest turned out to be much more difficult; I had to personally meet with Kerensky. He, apparently, tried to dissuade Yevgeny Sergeevich, explaining that soon the Royal Family would have to go into exile, but Botkin was adamant. The place of exile was Tobolsk, where the atmosphere was sharply different from the capital. The Tsar continued to be revered here and was seen as a passion-bearer. They sent sweets, sugar, cakes, smoked fish, not to mention money. Botkin tried to repay this handsomely - a world-famous doctor, he treated for free everyone who asked for help, and took on the completely hopeless. Tatyana and Gleb lived with their father.
Evgeniy Sergeevich’s children remained in Tobolsk - he guessed that going with him to Yekaterinburg was too dangerous. Personally, I was not at all afraid for myself.
As one of the guards recalled, “this Botkin was a giant. On his face, framed by a beard, piercing eyes sparkled from behind thick glasses. He always wore the uniform that the sovereign granted him. But at the time when the Tsar allowed himself to remove his shoulder straps, Botkin opposed this. It seemed that he did not want to admit that he was a prisoner.”
This was seen as stubbornness, but the reasons for Evgeniy Sergeevich’s perseverance lay elsewhere. You understand them by reading his last letter, which was never sent to his brother Alexander.
“In essence, I died, I died for my children, for my friends, for my cause,” he writes. And then he tells how he found faith, which is natural for a doctor - there is too much Christian in his work. He says how important it has become for him to also take care of the Lord. The story is common for an Orthodox person, but suddenly you realize the full value of his words:
“I am supported by the conviction that “he who endures to the end will be saved.” This justifies my last decision, when I did not hesitate to leave my children as orphans in order to fulfill my medical duty to the end. How Abraham did not hesitate at God’s demand to sacrifice his only son to Him. And I firmly believe that just as God saved Isaac then, He will now save my children, and He Himself will be their father.”
He, of course, did not reveal all this to the children in his messages from Ipatiev’s house. He wrote something completely different:
“Sleep peacefully, my beloved, precious ones, may God protect and bless you, and I kiss and caress you endlessly, as I love you. Your dad...” “He was infinitely kind,” Pyotr Sergeevich Botkin recalled about his brother. “One could say that he came into the world for the sake of people and in order to sacrifice himself.”
The first to die
They were killed gradually. First, the sailors who were looking after the royal children, Klimenty Nagorny and Ivan Sednev, were taken out of the Ipatiev mansion. The Red Guards hated and feared them. They hated them because they allegedly dishonored the honor of sailors. They were afraid because Nagorny - powerful, decisive, the son of a peasant - openly promised to beat them in the face for theft and abuse of royal prisoners. Sednev was silent for the most part, but he was silent so that goosebumps began to run down the backs of the guards. The friends were executed a few days later in the forest along with other “enemies of the people.” On the way, Nagorny encouraged the suicide bombers, but Sednev remained silent. When the Reds were driven out of Yekaterinburg, the sailors were found in the forest, pecked by birds, and reburied. Many people remember their grave strewn with white flowers.
After their removal from Ipatiev’s mansion, the Red Army soldiers were no longer ashamed of anything. They sang obscene songs, wrote obscene words on the walls, and painted vile images. Not all guards liked this. One later spoke with bitterness about the Grand Duchesses: “They humiliated and offended the girls, they spied on the slightest movement. I often felt sorry for them. When they played dance music on the piano, they smiled, but tears flowed from their eyes onto the keys.”
Then, on May 25, General Ilya Tatishchev was executed. Before going into exile, the Emperor offered to accompany him to Count Benckendorff. He refused, citing his wife’s illness. Then the Tsar turned to his childhood friend Nyryshkin. He asked for 24 hours to think about it, to which the Emperor said that he no longer needed Naryshkin’s services. Tatishchev immediately agreed. A very witty and kind person, he greatly brightened up the life of the Royal Family in Tobolsk. But one day he quietly admitted in a conversation with the teacher of the royal children, Pierre Gilliard: “I know that I will not come out of this alive. But I pray for only one thing: that they not separate me from the Emperor and let me die with him.”
They were separated after all - here on earth...
The complete opposite of Tatishchev was General Vasily Dolgorukov - boring, always grumbling. But at the decisive hour he did not turn away, did not chicken out. He was shot on July 10.
There were 52 of them - those who voluntarily went into exile with the Royal Family to share their fate. We named only a few names.
Execution
“I don’t indulge myself in hope, I don’t lull myself into illusions and I look the unvarnished reality straight in the eye,” wrote Evgeniy Sergeevich shortly before his death. Hardly any of them, prepared for death, thought otherwise. The task was simple - to remain ourselves, to remain people in the eyes of God. All prisoners, except the Royal Family, could have bought life and even freedom at any moment, but they did not want to do this.
Here is what the regicide Yurovsky wrote about Yevgeny Sergeevich: “Doctor Botkin was a faithful friend of the family. In all cases, for one or another family need, he acted as an intercessor. He was devoted body and soul to his family and, together with the Romanov family, experienced the severity of their life.”
And Yurovsky’s assistant, executioner Nikulin, once grimaced, undertook to retell the contents of one of Yevgeny Sergeevich’s letters. He remembered the following words there: “...And I must tell you that when the Tsar-Sovereign was in glory, I was with him. And now that he is in misfortune, I also consider it my duty to be with him.”
But these non-humans understood that they were dealing with a saint!
He continued to treat, helping everyone, although he himself was seriously ill. Suffering from cold and kidney colic, back in Tobolsk he gave his fur-lined overcoat to Grand Duchess Maria and the Tsarina. They then wrapped themselves in it together. However, all the doomed supported each other as best they could. The Empress and her daughters looked after their doctor and injected him with medicine. “Suffers very much...” – the Empress wrote in her diary. Another time she told how the Tsar read the 12th chapter of the Gospel, and then he and Dr. Botkin discussed it. We are obviously talking about the chapter where the Pharisees demand a sign from Christ and hear in response that there will be no other sign than the sign of the prophet Jonah: “For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart earth for three days and three nights." This is about His death and Resurrection.
For people preparing for death, these words mean a lot.
At half past two on the night of July 17, 1918, the arrested were awakened by Commandant Yurovsky, who ordered them to go down to the basement. He warned everyone through Botkin that there was no need to take things, but the women collected some small change, pillows, handbags and, it seems, a small dog, as if they could keep them in this world.
They began to arrange the doomed in the basement as if they were going to be photographed. “There aren’t even chairs here,” said the Empress. The chairs were brought. Everyone - both the executioners and the victims - pretended not to understand what was happening. But the Emperor, who at first held Alyosha in his arms, suddenly put him behind his back, covering him with himself. “That means we won’t be taken anywhere,” Botkin said after the verdict was read out. It was not a question; the doctor's voice was devoid of any emotion.
Nobody wanted to kill people who, even from the point of view of “proletarian legality,” were innocent. As if by agreement, but in fact, on the contrary, without coordinating their actions, the killers began to shoot at one person - the Tsar. It was only by chance that two bullets hit Evgeniy Sergeevich, then the third hit both knees. He stepped towards the Emperor and Alyosha, fell to the floor and froze in some strange position, as if he was lying down to rest. Yurovsky finished him off with a shot to the head. Realizing their mistake, the executioners opened fire on the other condemned prisoners, but for some reason they always missed, especially on the Grand Duchesses. Then the Bolshevik Ermakov used a bayonet and then began shooting the girls in the heads.
Suddenly, from the right corner of the room, where the pillow was moving, a woman’s joyful cry was heard: “Thank God! God saved me!” Staggering, the maid Anna Demidova - Nyuta - rose from the floor. Two Latvians, who had run out of ammunition, rushed to her and bayoneted her. Alyosha woke up from Anna’s scream, moving in agony and covering his chest with his hands. His mouth was full of blood, but he still tried to say: “Mom.” Yakov Yurovsky started shooting again.
Having said goodbye to the Royal Family and her father in Tobolsk, Tatyana Botkina could not sleep for a long time. “Every time, closing my eyelids,” she recalled, “I saw before my eyes pictures of that terrible night: my father’s face and his last blessing; the tired smile of the Emperor, politely listening to the speeches of the security officer; the Empress’s gaze clouded with sadness, directed, it seemed, into God knows what silent eternity. Plucking up the courage to get up, I opened the window and sat on the windowsill to be warmed by the sun. This April, spring really radiated warmth, and the air was unusually clean...”
She wrote these lines sixty years later, perhaps trying to say something very important about those she loved. About the fact that after night comes morning - and as soon as you open the window, Heaven comes into its own.
Evgeniy Sergeevich Botkin was born on May 27, 1865 in Tsarskoe Selo, St. Petersburg province. He was the fourth child born from the first marriage of his father Sergei Petrovich to Anastasia Alexandrovna Krylova. (Dr. S.P. Botkin was a world-famous luminary of the Russian therapeutic school.)
Both the spiritual and everyday atmosphere in this family was unique. And the financial well-being of the Botkin family, based on the entrepreneurial activity of his grandfather Pyotr Kononovich Botkin, a famous tea supplier in Russia, allowed all his heirs to lead a comfortable existence on interest from it. And maybe that’s why there were so many creative personalities in this family - doctors, artists and writers. But along with this, the Botkins were also related to such famous figures of Russian culture as the poet A.A. Fet and philanthropist P.M. Tretyakov. Evgeny Botkin himself was a passionate fan of music from early childhood, calling music classes a “refreshing bath.”
The Botkin family played a lot of music. Sergei Petrovich himself played the cello to the accompaniment of his wife, taking private lessons from the professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory I.I. Seifert. Thus, from early childhood E.S. Botkin received a thorough musical education and acquired a keen ear for music.
In addition to playing music, the Botkin family also lived a busy social life. The capital’s elite gathered for the now famous “Botkin Saturdays”: professors of the IMPERIAL Military Medical Academy, writers and musicians, collectors and artists, among whom were such outstanding personalities as I.M. Sechenov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A.P. Borodin, V.V. Stasov and others.
Since childhood, E.S. Botkin began to exhibit such character traits as modesty, a kind attitude towards others and rejection of violence.
So in his book “My Brother” Pyotr Sergeevich Botkin wrote: “From a very tender age, his beautiful and noble nature was full of perfection. He was never like other children. Always sensitive, out of delicacy, internally kind, with an extraordinary soul, he was terrified of any fight or fight. We other boys used to fight furiously. As usual, he did not participate in our fights, but when a fist fight became dangerous, he stopped the fighters, risking injury. He was very diligent and smart in his studies."
Primary home education allowed E.S. Botkin in 1878 immediately entered the 5th grade of the 2nd St. Petersburg Classical Gymnasium, where his brilliant abilities in the field of natural sciences almost immediately emerged. Therefore, after graduating from this educational institution in 1882, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the IMPERIAL St. Petersburg University. However, the example of his father, a doctor, and his love for medicine turned out to be stronger, and the very next year (having passed the exams for the first year of the university) he entered the junior department of the newly opened Preparatory Course of the IMPERIAL Military Medical Academy.
In 1889, Evgeniy Sergeevich’s father dies and almost at the same time he successfully graduates from IWMA third in the class, receiving the title of Doctor with honors and the personal Paltsev Prize, which was awarded to “the third highest score in his course...”
His path as a practicing aesculapian E.S. Botkin began in January 1890 as an assistant physician at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor, and in December of the same year he was sent to Germany, where he interned with leading doctors and became familiar with the arrangement of hospitals and hospital business.
Upon completion of medical practice in May 1892, Evgeniy Sergeevich began work as a Doctor of the IMPERIAL Court Singing Chapel, and from January 1894 he returned to work at the Mariinsky Hospital as a supernumerary Ordinator.
Simultaneously with clinical practice E.S. Botkin is engaged in scientific research, the main directions of which were work in the field of immunology, the essence of the process of leukocytosis, the protective properties of blood cells, etc.
In 1893 E.S. Botkin marries Olga Vladimirovna Manuilova, and the next year the first-born son Dmitry is born into their family. /Looking ahead a little, it must be said that there were four children in the family of Evgeniy Sergeevich: sons - Dmitry (1894-1914), Yuri (1896-1941), Gleb (1900-1969) and daughter - Tatyana (1899-1986) /
May 8, 1893 E.S. Botkin brilliantly defended his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine on the topic “On the influence of albumin and peptones on some functions of the animal body,” which he dedicated to his father. And his official opponent in this defense was our outstanding compatriot and physiologist I.P. Pavlov.
In 1895 E.S. Botkin is again sent to Germany, where for two years he improves his qualifications by practicing in medical institutions in Heidelberg and Berlin, and also attends lectures by German professors G. Munch, B. Frenkel, P. Ernst and others.
In May 1897, E.S. Botkin is elected Privat-Associate Professor at IVMA.
On October 18, 1897, he gave his inaugural lecture to students, which is quite remarkable in that it very clearly shows his attitude towards the sick:
“Once the trust you have acquired in patients turns into sincere affection for you, when they are convinced of your invariably cordial attitude towards them. When you enter the room, you are greeted by a joyful and welcoming mood - a precious and powerful medicine that will often help you much more than with potions and powders. (...) Only the heart is needed for this, only sincere heartfelt sympathy for the sick person. So don’t be stingy, learn to give it with a wide hand to those who need it. So, let’s go with love to a sick person, so that we can learn together how to be useful to him.”
With the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 - 1905, E.S. Botkin volunteers for the Active Army, in which he is appointed Head of the Medical Unit of the Russian Red Cross Society (ROSC) in the Manchurian Army.
However, occupying this fairly high administrative position, he nevertheless prefers to be in advanced positions most of the time.
They say that one day a wounded Company Paramedic was taken to the Field Infirmary. Having provided him with first aid, E.S. Botkin took his medical bag and went to the front line in his place.
His attitude towards participation in this war, Dr. E.S. Botkin describes in some detail in his book “The Light and Shadows of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 - 5.” (From letters to his wife)", published in St. Petersburg in 1908, some excerpts from which are given below:
“I was not afraid for myself: never before have I felt the strength of my Faith to such an extent. I was absolutely convinced that no matter how great the risk I was exposed to, I would not be killed if God did not wish it, I did not tease fate, did not stand at the guns so as not to interfere with the shooters, but I realized that I was needed, and this consciousness made my situation pleasant.”
“I am more and more depressed by the course of our war, and therefore it hurts that we are losing so much and losing so much, but almost more because the whole mass of our troubles is only the result of people’s lack of spirituality, a sense of duty, that petty calculations become beyond comprehension about the Fatherland, above God." (Laoyang, May 16, 1904),
“I just read all the latest telegrams about the fall of Mukden and our terrible retreat to Telnik. I can’t convey to you my feelings. (...) Despair and hopelessness grip the soul. Will we have something in Russia? Poor, poor homeland." (Chita, March 1, 1905).
The military work of Dr. E.S. Botkin in his post did not go unnoticed by his immediate superiors, and at the end of this war, “For the distinction rendered in cases against the Japanese,” he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir II and III degrees with swords and bow.
But outwardly calm, strong-willed and always friendly, Doctor E.S. Botkin was in fact a very sentimental person, as P.S. directly points out to us. Botkin in the already mentioned book “My Brother”:
“….I arrived at my father’s grave and suddenly I heard sobs in the deserted cemetery. Coming closer, I saw my brother (Evgeniy) lying in the snow. “Oh, it’s you, Petya, you came to talk to dad,” and more sobs. And an hour later, during the reception of patients, it could not have occurred to anyone that this calm, self-confident and powerful man could cry like a child.”
On May 6, 1905, Dr. E.S. Botkin is appointed Honorary Life-Medicine of the Imperial Family, which he learns about while still in the Active Army.
In the fall of 1905, he returned to St. Petersburg and began teaching at the IVMA, and in 1907 he was appointed Chief Doctor of the Georgievsk Community of the Sisters of Charity of the Red Cross, the medical part of which had been headed by his late father since 1870.
After the death of Life Medic Gustav Ivanovich Hirsch, which followed in 1907, the Royal Family was left without one of them, the vacant position of which required urgent filling. The candidacy of the new court doctor was named by the Empress herself, who, when asked who she would like to see in his place, answered: “Botkina.” And when asked which one of them exactly (at that time there were two Botkins in St. Petersburg), she said: “The one who fought.” (Although E.S. Botkin’s brother, Sergei Sergeevich, was also a participant in the last Russo-Japanese War.)
Thus, starting on April 13, 1908, Evgeniy Sergeevich Botkin became the Honorary Life-Medicine of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II Alexandrovich and His Family, exactly repeating the career path of his father, who was the Life-Medicine of two previous Emperors - Alexander II and Alexander III.
It must be said that by that time all the Medical ranks (as the doctors at the Highest Court were officially called) serving the Royal Family were on the staff of the Ministry of the IMPERIAL COURT and DEPARTMENTS, representing a rather significant group in terms of quantitative composition of the best titled specialists in many medical specialties: general practitioner , surgeon, ophthalmologist, obstetrician, pediatrician, dentist, etc.
His love for the sick, E.S. Botkin also transferred this to the August patients, since his immediate responsibilities included medical supervision and treatment of all members of the Royal Family: from the terminally ill Heir Tsarevich to the Sovereign.
The Emperor himself directly related to E.S. Botkin with undisguised sympathy and trust, patiently enduring all diagnostic and treatment procedures.
But if the Emperor’s health was, one might say, excellent (except for poor dental heredity and periodic hemorrhoidal pain), then the most difficult patients for Dr. E.S. Botkin were the Empress and the Heir.
Even in early childhood, Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt suffered from diphtheria, complications from which over the years resulted in quite frequent attacks of rheumatism, periodic pain and swelling in the legs, as well as cardiac dysfunction and arrhythmia. And, in addition, the development of such was greatly facilitated by the five births she endured, which completely undermined Her already weak body.
Because of these constant ailments, eternal fears for the life of Her endlessly ill Son and other internal experiences, the outwardly majestic, but essentially very sick and early aged Empress, was forced to give up long walks, soon after his birth. In addition, due to the constant swelling of her feet, She had to wear special shoes, the size of which was sometimes joked about by evil tongues. Pain in the legs was often accompanied by constant palpitations, and the headache attacks that accompanied them deprived the Empress of rest and sleep for weeks, which is why She was forced to stay in bed for a long time, and if she went out into the air, it was only in a special stroller .
But even more trouble for Dr. E.S. Botkin was delivered by the Heir Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, whose congenital and fatal illness required his increased medical attention. And it so happened that he spent days and nights at his bedside, providing him not only with medical care, but also treating him with a medicine that is no less important for any patient - human sympathy for the grief of the patient, giving this unfortunate creature all the warmth of his heart.
And such participation could not help but find a mutual response in the soul of his little patient, who would one day write to his beloved doctor: “I love you with all my little heart.”
In turn, Evgeniy Sergeevich also became attached with all his soul to the Heir and all the other Members of the Royal Family, more than once telling his household that: “With their kindness They made me a slave until the end of my days.”
However, the relationship between Life Physician E.S. Botkin and the Royal Family were not always so rosy. And the reason for this is his attitude towards G.E. Rasputin, which served as the very “black cat” that ran between him and the Empress. Like the majority of loyal subjects, who knew about Elder Gregory only from the words of people who had never communicated with him, and therefore, due to their thoughtlessness, in every possible way exaggerated and inflated the dirtiest rumors about him, which began with the personal enemies of the Empress in the person of the so-called “blacks”. (This is what the Empress called her enemies who united around the Court of the Montenegrin Princesses - Stana Nikolaevna and Militsa Nikolaevna, who became the wives of the Grand Dukes Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. and his brother Peter Nikolaevich.) And oddly enough, not only people far from the Highest believed in them Dvor, but also persons close to him, like E.S. himself. Botkin. For he, having fallen under the influence of these rumors and gossip on a universal scale, sincerely believed in them, and therefore, like many, he considered G.E. Rasputin is the “evil genius” of the Royal Family.
But as a man of exceptional honesty, who never betrayed his principles and never compromised if it contradicted his personal convictions, E.S. Botkin once refused even the Empress’s request to receive G.E. at his home. Rasputin. “It is my duty to provide medical assistance to anyone,” said Evgeniy Sergeevich. But I won’t accept such a person at home.”
In turn, this statement could not help but cool the relationship between the Empress and Her beloved Life-Medician for some time. Therefore, after one of the illness crises that happened to the Heir to the Tsarevich in the fall of 1912, when Professor E.S. Botkin and S.P. Fedorov, as well as Honorary Life Surgeon V.N. Derevenko admitted that they were powerless in the face of it, the Empress began to trust G.E. even more. Rasputin. For the latter, possessing God's Gift of healing, unknown to the mentioned luminaries. And therefore, by the power of prayer and conspiracies, he was able to stop in time the internal bleeding that had opened in the Heir, which with a high degree of probability could have ended in death for him.
As a doctor and a person of exceptional morality, E.S. Botkin never talked about the health of his August patients. Thus, the Head of the Chancellery of the Ministry of the IMPERIAL COURT, Lieutenant General A.A. Mosolov in his memoirs “At the Court of the Last Russian Emperor” mentioned that: “Botkin was known for his restraint. None of the retinue managed to find out from him what the Empress was sick with and what treatment the Tsarina and the Heir followed. He was certainly a servant devoted to Their Majesties.”
Occupying such a high position and being a very close person to the Emperor, E.S. Botkin, however, was very far from any “interference in Russian state policy.” However, as a citizen, he simply could not help but see the destructiveness of public sentiment, which he considered the main reasons for the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 - 1905. He also well understood that the hatred fomented by the enemies of the Throne and the Fatherland against the Royal Family and the entire House of Romanov was beneficial only to the enemies of Russia - that Russia which his ancestors served for many years and for which he fought on the battlefields.
Having subsequently reconsidered my attitude towards G.E. Rasputin, he began to despise those people who composed or repeated various fables about the Royal Family and Her personal life. And he spoke about such people as follows: “If there had been no Rasputin, then the opponents of the Royal Family and the preparers of the revolution would have created him with their conversations from Vyrubova, if there had been no Vyrubova, from me, from whomever you want.”
And further: “I don’t understand how people who consider themselves monarchists and talk about the adoration of His Majesty can so easily believe all the rumors being spread, can spread them themselves, erecting all sorts of fables about the Empress, and do not understand that by insulting Her, they are thereby insulting Her August Husband, who is supposedly adored.”
By this time, not everything was going well and Evgeniy Sergeevich’s personal life.
In 1910, leaving the children in his care, his wife left him, carried away by the revolutionary ideas that were fashionable at that time, and with them a young student of the Riga Polytechnic Institute, old enough to be her son, who was 20 years younger than her. After her departure, E.S. Botkin was left with three younger children - Yuri, Tatyana and Gleb, since his eldest son, Dmitry, was already living independently by that time. Internally deeply worried about his wife’s departure, Evgeniy Sergeevich began to give the warmth of his soul to the children remaining in his care with even greater energy. And, it must be said, those who adored their father paid him full reciprocity, always waiting for him from work and worrying whenever he was late.
Enjoying undoubted influence and authority at the Highest Court, E.S. Botkin, however, never used it for personal purposes. So, for example, his inner convictions did not allow him to put in a word in order to get a “warm place” even for his own son Dmitry - the Cornet of the Life Guards Cossack Regiment, who went to the front with the beginning of the First World War and died on December 3, 1914. (The bitterness of this loss became an unhealed bleeding wound in my father’s heart, the pain from which remained in him until the very last days of his life.)
And a few years later, new times came in Russia, which turned into a political disaster for it. At the end of February 1917, a great turmoil began, started by a handful of traitors, which already at the beginning of March led to the abdication of the Sovereign from the Throne.
Subjected to house arrest and held in custody in the Tsarskoe Selo Alexander Palace, the Tsar and His Family practically found themselves hostage to future events. Limited by freedom and isolated from the outside world, they stayed there only with their closest people, including E.S. Botkin, who did not want to leave the Royal Family, which became even more dear to him with the beginning of the trials that befell Her. (Only for a very short time did he leave the August Family to help the widow of his deceased son Dmitry, who was sick with typhus, and when her condition no longer caused him concern, Evgeniy Sergeevich, without any requests or coercion, returned back to the August Prisoners.)
At the end of July 1917, Minister-Chairman of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky announced to the Emperor and His Family that all of them, instead of going to Crimea, would be sent to one of the Siberian cities.
True to his duty, E.S. Botkin, without a moment’s hesitation, decides to share Their fate and go to this Siberian exile with his children. And to the Sovereign’s question to whom he would leave his youngest children, Tatyana and Gleb, he replied that there was nothing higher for him than caring for Their Majesties.
Arriving in Tobolsk, E.S. Botkin, together with all the former servants. Tsar, lived in the house of the fishing merchant Kornilov, located near the Governor’s House, where the Tsar’s Family was settled.
In the house of E.S. Kornilov Botkin occupied two rooms where, in accordance with the permission received, he could receive soldiers of the Consolidated Guards Detachment to protect the former Tsar and the local population, and where his children Tatyana and Gleb arrived on September 14, 1917.
About these last days of medical practice in his life, about the attitude of the soldiers, Tobolsk residents and simply the local population who came to him from afar, E.S. Botkin wrote in his last letter addressed to “friend Sasha”: “Their trust especially touched me, and I was pleased by their confidence, which never deceived them, that I would receive them with the same attention and affection as any other patient and not only as an equal, but also as a patient who has all the rights for all my concerns and services.”
The life of the family of Dr. E.S. Botkin in Tobolsk is described in detail in the book of memoirs of his daughter Tatyana, “Memories of the Royal Family and Her Life Before and After the Revolution.” So, in particular, she mentions that, despite the fact that her father’s personal correspondence was censored, he himself, unlike other prisoners, could move freely around the city, his apartment was never searched, and an appointment with him Anyone who wished could attend.
But the relatively serene life in Tobolsk ended with the arrival of the Extraordinary Commissioner of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee V.V. on April 20, 1918. Yakovlev with a detachment of militants, who announced to the Royal Family that, by order of the Soviet government, he would have to take Her out of the city in the very near future, according to the route known only to him.
And again, even in this situation, full of anxiety and uncertainty, Life Medic E.S. Botkin, faithful to his medical and moral duty, sets off together with the Sovereign, the Empress, Their Daughter Maria and others to meet his death.
On the night of April 25-26, 1918, they leave Tobolsk and follow on carts towards Tyumen. But what is characteristic! Suffering from endless road shaking, cold and renal colic along the way, Dr. E.S. Botkin remains a doctor even in this unbearably painful situation for him, having given his fur coat to Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, who, having gone on this long journey, did not take really warm things with her.
On April 27, the August Prisoners and their accompanying persons reached Tyumen, and on April 30, after several days of road ordeals and adventures, they were taken to Yekaterinburg, where E.S. Botkin was placed under arrest in the DON as a prisoner.
While in Ipatiev’s house, E.S. Botkin, faithful to his medical duty, did everything in order to somehow alleviate the fate of his Crowned patients.
Remembering this years later, former Commandant of the House of Special Purpose Ya.M. Yurovsky wrote:
“Doctor Botkin was a faithful family friend. In all cases, for one or another family need, he acted as an intercessor. He was devoted body and soul to his family and, together with the Romanov family, experienced the hardship of their life.”
Almost the same thing, more than forty years later, his former assistant G.P. recalled. Nikulin:
“As a rule, we always intercede in all kinds of cases, which means there have always been cases, here, Doctor Botkin. That means he addressed..."
And in this they were both absolutely right, since all the requests of the arrested were transferred either directly to the Commandants of the Don Don (A.D. Avdeev or Y.M. Yurovsky, who replaced him), or to the duty members of the Ural Regional Council (these were appointed in the first month of the stay of the Royal Family in DON, where they were on daily duty).
After arriving in Yekaterinburg and placing the August Children transported from Tobolsk in Ipatiev’s house, Dr. E.S. Botkin understands that he "fading forces" there is clearly not enough to care for the sick Heir Tsarevich.
Therefore, the very next day he writes to A.G. Beloborodov’s note with the following content:
"Ekaterinburg.
In the [Ekaterinburg] Regional Executive Committee
Mr. Chairman.
As a doctor who has been monitoring the health of the Romanov family for ten years,currently under the jurisdiction of the Regional Executive Committeein general and in particular Alexei Nikolaevich, I address you, Mr. Chairman, with the following most earnest request. Alexey Nikolaevich, whose treatmentconducted by Dr. Vl.[adimir] Nik.[olaevich] Derevenko, is subject to joint suffering under the influence of bruises, which are completely inevitable in a boy of his age, accompanied by the sweating of fluid into them and severe pain as a result. Day and night in suchcases, the boy suffers so unspeakably that none of his closest relativesnot to mention his chronically heart-ill mother, who does not spare herself for him, is unable to withstand caring for him for long. My fading strength is also lacking. Klim Grigoryevich Nagorny, who is with him, after several sleepless and torment-filled nights, is knocked off his feet and would not be able to stand it at all if Alexei Nikolaevich’s teachers, Mr. Gibbs, and especially his teacher Mr. Gilliard. Calm and balanced, they, replacing one another, by reading and changing impressions, distract the patient from his suffering during the day, alleviating it for him and, in the meantime, giving his relatives and Nagorny the opportunity to sleep and gather strength to relieve them in turn. G. Gilliard, to whom Alexey Nikolaevich has become especially accustomed and attached to during the seven years that he has been with him constantly, sometimes spends whole nights near him during his illness, letting the exhausted Nagorny go to sleep. Both teachers, especially, I repeat, Mr. Gilliard, are completely irreplaceable for Alexei Nikolaevich, and I, as a doctor, must admit that they often bring more relief to the patient than the medical supplies that are stocked for such cases of self-medication are extremely limited.
In view of all of the above, I decide, in addition to the request of my parents,nogo, bother the Regional Executive Committee with the most zealous petitionallow g.g. Gilliard and Gibbs to continue their dedicated service underAlexei Nikolaevich Romanov, and in view of the fact that the boy is right now in one of the most acute attacks of his suffering, which is especially difficult for him to bear due to overwork from the journey, he cannot refuse to allow them - at least one Mr. Gilliard - to see him tomorrow.
Doctor Ev.[genius] Botkin
Passing this note to the addressee, Commandant A.D. Avdeev could not resist imposing his own resolution on her, which perfectly expressed his attitude, not only to the sick child and doctor E.S. Botkin, but also to the entire Royal Family as a whole:
“Having looked at Doctor Botkin’s real request, I believe that of these servants one is superfluous, i.e. The children are all royal and can look after the sick, and therefore I propose to the Chairman of the Regional Council to immediately confront these presumptuous gentlemen with their position. Commandant Avdeev."
Currently, among many researchers of the royal theme, who in their works place a certain emphasis on the so-called “eyewitness memories” of J. Meyer. (Former prisoner of war of the Austro-Hungarian army Johann Ludwig Mayer, who published them in 1956 in the German magazine “Seven Days” under the title “How the Royal Family Died.”) So, according to this “source”, a version appeared that, after the visit DON, the political leadership of the Urals had the idea to talk with Dr. E.S. Botkin, calling him to the premises of the “Revolutionary Headquarters”.
« (…) Moebius, Maklavansky and Doctor Milyutin were sitting in the room of the Revolutionary Headquarters when Doctor Botkin entered. This Botkin was a giant.(…)
Then Maklavansky began to say:
“Listen, doctor,” he said in his pleasant, always sincere voice, “the Revolutionary headquarters has decided to release you.” You are a doctor and want to help suffering people. We have enough opportunities for this. You can take over the management of a hospital in Moscow or open your own practice. We will even give you recommendations, so that no one can have anything against you.
Doctor Botkin was silent. He looked at the people sitting in front of him and, it seemed, could not overcome a certain distrust of them. It seemed that he sensed a trap. Maklavansky must have sensed this, as he continued convincingly:
- Please understand us correctly. The future of the Romanovs looks a little bleak.
It seemed that the doctor was slowly beginning to understand. His gaze moved from one to the other. Slowly, almost stuttering, he decided to answer:
- It seems to me that I understood you correctly, gentlemen. But, you see, I gave the king my word of honor to remain with him as long as he lives. For a person in my position, it is impossible not to keep such a word. I also cannot leave an heir alone. How can I reconcile this with my conscience? You still have to understand this...
Maklavansky glanced briefly at his comrades. After this, he turned to the doctor again:
- Of course, we understand this, doctor, but you see, my son is incurable, you know that better than us. Why are you sacrificing yourself for... well, let's say, for a lost cause... For what, doctor?
- Lost cause? - Botkin asked slowly. His eyes began to shine.
- Well, if Russia dies, I might die too. But under no circumstances will I leave the king!
- Russia will not die! - Mobius said sharply.
- We'll take care of it. A large people will not die...
- Do you want to separate me by force from the king? - Botkin asked with a cold expression on his face.
- I still won’t believe this, gentlemen!
Moebius looked closely at the doctor. But now Doctor Milyutin has entered.
“You bear no responsibility in a lost war, Doctor,” he said in a sweet voice.
- We cannot reproach you with anything, we only consider it our duty to warn you about your personal death...
Doctor Botkin sat in silence for several minutes. His gaze was fixed on the floor. The commissioners already believed that he would change his mind. But suddenly the doctor’s appearance changed. He stood up and said:
- I am glad that there are still people who are concerned about my personal fate. I thank you for meeting me halfway... But help this unfortunate family! You will do a good job. There in the house bloom the great souls of Russia, who are covered in mud by politicians. I thank you, gentlemen, but I will stay with the king! - Botkin said and stood up. His height exceeded everyone's.
“We're sorry, doctor,” Mobius said.
- In that case, go back again. You can think about it some more.”
Of course, this conversation is pure fiction, as are the personalities of Maklavansky and Dr. Milyutin.
And, nevertheless, not everything in J. Meyer’s “memoirs” turned out to be the fruit of his unbridled imagination. Thus, the “Revolutionary Headquarters” he mentioned actually existed. (Until May 1918, it was called the Headquarters of the Revolutionary Western Front for the fight against counter-revolution, after which its employees were enrolled in the staff of the Central Siberian District Commissariat for Military Affairs in which J. Meyer began to occupy a very modest position as a copyist of the Propaganda Department).
Like all prisoners of the Ipatiev house, Doctor E.S. Botkin wrote letters and received answers to them from distant Tobolsk, where his daughter Tatyana and youngest son Gleb remained. (Currently, the RF Civil Code contains several letters from T.E. Botkina, which she wrote to her father in Yekaterinburg.)
Here is an excerpt from one of them, dated May 4 (April 23), 1918, into which she pours all her daughterly love:
« (…) My precious, golden darling daddy!
Yesterday we were terribly delighted by your first letter, which came from Yekaterinburg for a whole week; nevertheless, this was the most recent news about you, because Matveev, who arrived yesterday and with whom Gleb spoke, could not tell us anything except that you had renal colic<неразб.>I was terribly afraid of this, but judging by the fact that you have already<неразб.>I wrote that I was healthy, I hope that this colic was not severe.(…)
I can't imagine when we'll see each other, because... I have no hope for<неразб.>leave with everyone, but I will try to come closer to you. sit here without you<неразб.>very boring and pointless. Do you want something to do, but don’t know what to do, and how long will you have to live here? During this time there was only one letter from Yura, and that was an old one dated March 17, and nothing more.
While I'm cumming, my dear. I don’t know if my letter will reach you. And if it comes, then when. And who will read before you?(this phrase is written between the lines in small handwriting. - Yu.Zh.)
I kiss you, my precious one, many, many and deeply - as I love you.
Goodbye, my dear, my golden, my beloved. Hope to see you soon. I kiss you many more times.
Your Tanya".
« (…)I am writing to you from our new rooms and I hope that this letter will reach you, because... he is being driven by Commissar Khokhryakov. He also said that he could deliver you a chest of things, in which I put everything that we had of your things, i.e. several photographs, boots, underwear, a dress, cigarettes, a blanket and an autumn coat. I also handed over the pharmacies to the commissioner as family property, I don’t know if you will receive our letter. I hug you very tightly, my beloved, for your such good and affectionate letters.”
Evgeniy Sergeevich also wrote letters from the Ipatiev house. He wrote to his younger children - Tatyana and Gleb in Tobolsk, his son Yuri, as well as his younger brother Alexander Sergeevich Botkin. To date, at least four of his messages to the last two persons are known. The first three, dated April 25 (May 8), April 26 (May 9) and May 2 (15), were addressed to Yuri, and the fourth, written on June 26 (July 9), to Alexander...
Their content is also very interesting. So, for example, in his first letter he talked about the weather and unusually short walks:
“...Especially after being outdoors, in the kindergarten, where I sit most of the time. And this time, due to the cold and unpleasant weather, was very short: only the first time, when we were released, and yesterday we walked for 55 minutes, and then 30, 20 and even 15. After all, the third day we had another 5 degrees below zero, and this morning it was still snowing, but now, however, it’s already over 4 degrees.”
The second letter mentioned above was more extensive. However, what is noteworthy is that in it he not only does not complain about fate, but even pities his persecutors in a Christian way:
“... While we are still in our temporary, as we were told, premises, which I do not regret at all, as because it is quite good, and because in a “constant” withoutthe rest of the family and their entourage would probably be very empty if, as one hopes, it was at least the same size as the house in Tobolsk. True, the garden here is very small, but so far the weather has not made me particularly regret it. However, I must make a reservation that this is purely my personal opinion, because with our general submission to fate and the people to whom it has handed us, we do not even ask the question “what the coming day has in store for us,” because we know that “ his evil prevails over the day”... and we only dream that this self-sufficient evil of the day would not be truly evil.
...And we’ve had to see a lot of new people here: the commandants change, or rather, they are replaced often, and some commission came to inspect our premises, and they came to interrogate us about money, with an offer of excess (which, by the way, I have , as usual, it didn’t turn out) to transfer for storage, etc. In short, we cause them a lot of trouble, but, really, we didn’t impose ourselves on anyone and didn’t ask for anything. I wanted to add that we are not asking for anything, but I remembered that this would be wrong, since we are constantly forced to bother our poor commandants and ask for something: then the denatured alcohol is out and there is nothing to warm food with or cook rice for vegetarians, then we ask for boiling water, then the water supply is clogged, then the laundry needs to be washed, then we need to get newspapers, etc., etc. It’s just shameful, but it’s impossible otherwise, and that’s why it’s especially dear and comforting every kind smile. And now I went to ask permission to take a little walk in the morning: although it was a little fresh, the sun was shining friendly, and for the first time an attempt was made to take a walk in the morning... And it was also kindly allowed.
... I finish with a pencil, because... Due to the holidays, I have not yet been able to obtain either a separate pen or ink, and I still use someone else’s, and even then more than anyone else.”
In his third letter, E.S. Botkin also told his son about the new events that took place in the place of their new imprisonment:
“... Since yesterday, our weather has sharply turned towards warmth, the piece of sky visible from my window, which has not yet been painted over with lime, is exactly a gray-blue color, indicating cloudlessness, but from all the caresses of nature we are destined to see a little, because . we are allowed only an hour a day to walk in one or two doses...
... Today I am updating my notepaper, which was kindly delivered to me yesterday, and I am writing with my new pen and ink, which I updated yesterday in a letter to the children. All this, by the way, is very ripe, because... taking possession of someone else's pen and inkwell, I constantly prevented someone from using them, and I had long worn out the gray paper that Tanyusha laid out for me and wrote on pieces of writing pad; I took out all the small envelopes except one.
...Well, we walked for exactly an hour. The weather turned out to be very pleasant - better than one might have expected behind the smeared windows. I like this innovation: I no longer see a wooden wall in front of me, but sit as if in a comfortable winter apartment; you know, when the furniture is covered, like ours now, and the windows are white. True, the light, of course, is much less and it turns out to be so diffused that it hurts weak eyes, but it’s heading towards summer, which here can be very sunny, and we, Petrograd residents, are not spoiled by the sun.”
E.S.’s last birthday in his life. Botkin Evgeniy Sergeevich also met Ipatiev at the house: on May 27 (14) he turned 53 years old. But, despite such a relatively small age, Evgeniy Sergeevich already felt the approach of death, which he wrote about in his last letter to his younger brother Alexander, in which he recalls the past days, pouring out all the pain of his soul... (His rather voluminous text , is hardly worth citing, since it has been published more than once in various publications. See. Tatiana Melnik (nee Botkina) " Life of the Royal Family before and after the revolution", M., Ankor company, 1993; "Tsar's Life-Medic" THOSE. Botkin, edited by K.K. Melnik and E.K. Miller. St. Petersburg, ANO Publishing House “Tsarskoye Delo”, 2010, etc.)
This letter remained unsent (it is currently stored in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), which was later recalled by the already mentioned G.P. Nikulin:
“Botkin, that means... I repeat that he always interceded for them. He asked me to do something for them: call a priest, you know, here..., take them out for a walk, or fix their watch, or something else, some little things.
Well, one day I checked Botkin’s letter. He wrote it and addressed it to his son (younger brother - Yu.Zh.) in the Caucasus. So he writes something like this:
“Here, my dear (I forgot what his name was there: Serge or not Serge, it doesn’t matter which), here I am there. Moreover, I must tell you that when the Tsar-Sovereign was in glory, I was with him. And now that he is in misfortune, I also consider it my duty to be with him. We live this way and that way (he writes “this way” in a veiled way). Moreover, I don’t dwell on the details because I don’t want to bother... I don’t want to bother the people whose responsibilities include reading [and] checking our letters.”
Well, this was the only letter I had... He didn’t write any more. The letter [this], of course, was not sent anywhere.”
And his last hour E.S. Botkin met with the Royal Family.
July 17, 1918, at approximately 1 o'clock. 30 min. midnight Evgeniy Sergeevich was awakened by Commandant Ya.M. Yurovsky, who informed him that in view of the alleged attack on the house by a detachment of anarchists, all those arrested should go down to the basement, from where they might be transported to a safer place.
After Dr. E.S. Botkin woke up everyone else, all the prisoners gathered in the dining room, from where they proceeded through the kitchen and the adjacent room to the landing of the upper floor. Along the 19-step staircase there, they, accompanied by Ya.M. Yurovsky, G.P. Nikulina, M.A. Medvedeva (Kudrina), P.Z. Ermakov and two Latvians with rifles from among the internal guards went down it to the lower floor and through the door there went out into the courtyard. Once on the street, they all walked a few meters along the yard, after which they entered the house again and, passing through a suite of rooms on the lower floor, found themselves in the very room where they suffered martyrdom.
It makes no sense to describe the entire course of further events, since this has been written about many times. However, after Ya.M. Yurovsky announced to the prisoners that they were “forced to be shot,” Yevgeny Sergeevich could only say in a voice slightly hoarse with excitement: “So they won’t take us anywhere?”
After, through considerable effort, Ya.M. Yurovsky finally stopped the shooting, which had become disorderly, and many of the victims were still alive...
"But when I finally managed to stop(shooting. - Yu.Zh.), - he later wrote in his memoirs, - I saw that many were still alive. For example, Doctor Botkin was lying, leaning on the elbow of his right hand, as if in a resting position, with a revolver shot[I] I'm done with him..."
That is, Ya.M. Yurovsky directly admits that he personally shot and killed former Life Medic E.S. Botkin and almost proud of it...
Well, time has put everything in its place. And now those who considered themselves “heroes of October” have moved into the category of mediocre murderers and persecutors of the Russian People.
And the Christian feat of Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin, as the successor of a glorious medical dynasty and a man of duty and honor, even decades later did not go unnoticed. At the Local Council of the ROCOR, held on November 1, 1981, he was canonized as the Holy New Martyrs of Russia, victims of the godless power, under the name of the Holy New Martyr Evgeniy Botkin.
On July 17, 1998, the remains of E.S. Botkin were solemnly buried along with the remains of Members of the Royal Family in the Catherine Chapel of the Cathedral of Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg.
Among the decisions of the recently held Council of Bishops was the decision to canonize Dr. Evgeniy Botkin, who accompanied the Royal Family in Yekaterinburg and was killed in 1918 along with the Royal Passion-Bearers.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk
I think this is a long-desired decision, because he is one of those saints who are revered not only in the Russian Church Abroad, but also in many dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as in the medical community, like the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon, who is revered as a healer , now Dr. Evgeniy Botkin will be revered as a saint.
With regard to other royal servants, as well as those persons who were killed along with Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna in Alapaevsk, the study of their lives and the circumstances of their death will continue, the DECR chairman said.
The Romanov family's own doctor, Evgeny Botkin, was canonized by the Russian Church Abroad in 1981 together with the royal servants - cook Ivan Kharitonov, footman Aloysius Trupp and maid Anna Demidova.
Participants in the V All-Russian Congress of Orthodox Medical Workers, which was held from October 1 to October 3 of the previous year in the northern capital, decided to petition the Russian Orthodox Church about the possibility of canonizing medical worker Evgeny Botkin.
How right it is to finally canonize the doctor of the royal family, Evgeniy Sergeevich Botkin.
He didn’t have to go to Yekaterinburg; he volunteered himself. He could freely leave the Ipatiev House, no one would say a word. His feat did not even consist of martyrdom by gunshot, but in this absolutely medical, calm, very everyday sacrifice. This is such a great dignity - devoid of pride, arrogance and crown-seeking. The same thing - do what you must and be what your heart and God commands.
Why does this happen to people? Rare and precious. From absolute unalloyed love and kindness, probably.
With the king to the end
Despite the fact that the Botkin dynasty faithfully served two Russian emperors at once - Alexander II and Alexander III, Evgeny Botkin received the position of life physician (court physician) not because of the achievements of his eminent ancestors (his father was the famous doctor Sergei Petrovich Botkin, in whose honor one of the central hospitals in Moscow is named). When the position of chief physician of the imperial family became vacant in 1907, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna said that she wanted to see Botkin in this capacity. When she was told that there were two doctors in St. Petersburg with that last name, she added: “The one who was in the war!”
Botkin went to war as a volunteer. By that time, he had achieved good success in his medical career, was married, and had four children. During the Russo-Japanese War, he coordinated the work of medical units under the Russian army. The position is administrative, but Botkin, despite this, preferred to spend more time on the front line and was not afraid, if necessary, to play the role of a company paramedic, helping soldiers directly on the battlefield.
For his efforts, he was awarded officer military orders, and after the end of the war he wrote the book “The Light and Shadows of the Russo-Japanese War.” This book led Botkin to the position of physician of the imperial family. After reading it, Alexandra Fedorovna did not want to see anyone but him as the imperial doctor.
The Empress chose Yevgeny Botkin for another reason - the illness of Tsarevich Alexei. As a doctor, Botkin studied immunology, as well as the properties of blood. Monitoring the health of the young crown prince, who had hemophilia, became one of his main duties at the imperial court.
There was a downside to being able to hold such a high position. Now Botkin had to constantly be close to the imperial family, working without days off or vacations. Botkin's wife, having become infatuated with a young revolutionary 20 years younger than her, left Evgeniy Sergeevich with a broken heart. Botkin was saved only by the love and support of his children, and also that over time the imperial family became no stranger to him. Botkin treated his august patients with sincere love and attention; he could not leave the sick prince’s bedside at night. To which young Alexey will subsequently write to him in a letter: “I love you with all my little heart.”
“Botkin was known for his restraint. None of the retinue managed to find out from him what the empress was sick with and what treatment the queen and heir followed. He was, of course, a servant devoted to their majesties,” General Mosolov, head of the chancellery of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, said about Botkin.
Last way
When the revolution happened and the imperial family was arrested, all the servants and assistants of the sovereign had a choice: to stay or leave. The Tsar was betrayed by many, but Botkin did not abandon his patients even when it was decided to send Nicholas II and his entire family to Tobolsk, and then to Yekaterinburg.
Even just before the execution, Yevgeny Botkin had the opportunity to leave and choose a new place of work. But he did not leave those to whom he had become attached with all his soul. After the last offer made to him to leave the emperor, he already knew that the king would soon be killed.
“You see, I gave the king my word of honor to remain with him as long as he lives. For a person in my position it is impossible not to keep such a word. I also cannot leave an heir alone. How can I reconcile this with my conscience? You all must understand this,” Johann Meyer, a former captured Austrian soldier who went over to the side of the Bolsheviks, quotes him in his memoirs.
In his letters, Botkin wrote: “In general, if “faith without works is dead,” then “works” without faith can exist, and if one of us adds faith to works, then this is only due to the special mercy of God towards him. This justifies my last decision, when I did not hesitate to leave my children as orphans in order to fulfill my medical duty to the end, just as Abraham did not hesitate at God’s demand to sacrifice his only son to him.”
In the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, the Bolsheviks read out the decision of the executive committee of the Ural Regional Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies to the emperor and his entire family. The sentence was carried out immediately - along with the royal family, the life doctor Botkin, the life cook Kharitonov, the valet and the room girl were also shot.
The first shots were fired at Nicholas II. With two bullets that flew past the main target, Botkin was wounded in the stomach. After the assassination of the Tsar, the Bolsheviks finished off their victims. Commandant Yurovsky, who oversaw the execution, later indicated that Botkin was still alive for some time. “I finished him off with a shot to the head,” Yurovsky later wrote. The remains of the doctor of the last Russian emperor were subsequently never found - only his pince-nez was found among other material evidence in a pit in the vicinity of Yekaterinburg, where the bodies of the dead were dumped.
The turmoil that swept through Russia after the 1917 revolution did not just lead to the fall of the monarchy and the destruction of the empire. In Russia, all state institutions collapsed overnight, and all the moral principles of the individual for each individual person seemed to cease to function. Evgeny Botkin was one of the few evidences that even in an era of general insanity, revelry and permissiveness, one can remain a person true to his word, honor and duty.
Pray to God for us, Saint Doctor Eugene!
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