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| The name "Susanin" has become an ironical ] in the ] for a person who leads somewhere claiming to know the way, but eventually proves that doesn't. | The name "Susanin" has become an ironical ] in the ] for a person who leads somewhere claiming to know the way, but eventually proves that doesn't. | ||
| There is a small museum dedicated to him at ]. He is also considered by some from ] to be a ]. | |||
| == External links == | == External links == | ||
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Revision as of 22:36, 17 November 2005
Ivan Susanin (Иван Сусанин) (died in 1613) was a Russian folk hero and martyr of the early 17th century's Time of Troubles.
Between 1610 and 1612, Muscovy, the predecessor state of Russia, was ruled by Polish kings. After a Russian army led by Dmitri Pozharski defeated the Polish occupation force and liberated Moscow, the Russian leaders decided to gather a Zemsky Sobor to elect a new tsar. The Sobor delibrated for months, but on 21 February, 1613, 16-year-old Michael Romanov, the son of Patriarch Filaret, of the Russian Orthodox Church, was elected. A party with news was sent to Ipatiev Monastery, near Kostroma, where Michael then lived with his mother.
The forces of Polish king Sigismund III Vasa, who refused to accept defeat and still laid claim to the Russian throne, discovered the news and sent troops to Kostroma to find and kill the young tsar. It is said that they did not know the road to the monastery very well, so they started to ask the locals for directions. Ivan Susanin, then a logger who lived in a village close to Kostroma, promised to take them via a "shortcut" through a forest directly to the monastery, so that they could beat the Russian Sobor's party there. The Poles force followed him and was never heard from again. It is presumed that Susanin led them so deep into the forest that they could not find a way out, and they perished in the bitter cold February night.
Susanin's grandson, who Susanin secretly sent ahead via a different route, warned Michael Romanov, and the monastery hid him from further Polish raids. He was crowned tsar and ruled Russia for 32 years, founding the Romanov dynasty.
One of the Romanov tsars ordered a monument built to Susanin in Kostroma, but this was destroyed by the Bolseviks, who were offended by the tsar's statue which the monument incorporated. Later they erected another monument to the hero, this time executed in ponderous Soviet style (see the photo).
The first Russian opera, A Life for the Tsar ("Zhizn za tsarya"), was written by Mikhail Glinka on the subject of Susanin's deeds. In the Soviet Union the opera was officially known as Ivan Susanin, and the emphasis of Susanin's deed was placed on the demise of the Poles, rather on the saving of Tsar. The name was reverted after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The name "Susanin" has become an ironical cliche in the Russian language for a person who leads somewhere claiming to know the way, but eventually proves that doesn't.
There is a small museum dedicated to him at Susanino. He is also considered by some from Russian Orthodox Church to be a saint.