World history knows many adventurers who proclaimed themselves to be spiritual mentors and teachers of mankind, who are heirs to royal thrones, and who are actually kings or emperors. In modern times, many of them were actively manifested in the countries, as they would now say, of the "third world", which were distinguished by the weakness of the state system or none at all and were a tasty morsel for all sorts of adventures and political experiments.
By the way, not all adventurers cared only about the maintenance of their own wallet or the implementation of political ambitions and the complex of the ruler. Some were obsessed with quite respectable ideas of social justice, tried to create "ideal states", for which they can be characterized not so much as adventurers, but as social experimenters - albeit unlucky, with a certain degree of pretense.
On July 17, 1785, a certain Moritz Benevsky proclaimed himself Emperor of Madagascar. You never know weirdos in the world - but this thirty-nine-year-old nobleman of Slovak origin still had certain reasons for this, and not insignificant ones. We are also interested in this person because a significant part of his life path was, in one way or another, connected with Russia. Although for a long time the very name of this person in the Russian Empire was banned - and there were some reasons for that.
One of the first in Russian literature to popularize this interesting historical figure was Nikolai Grigorievich Smirnov, a good Russian writer and playwright of the first third of the twentieth century, who in 1928 published the historical novel State of the Sun, read in one breath. Moritz Benevsky is shown in it as August Bespoisk, but his image is already perfectly guessed under an assumed name.
Austro-Hungarian hussar and Polish rebel
Moritz, or Maurycy, Benevsky, was born in the Slovak city of Vrbov in the family of Colonel of the Austro-Hungarian army Samuel Benevsky back in 1746. As was customary at that time in the noble environment, Moritz began military service early enough. At least at the age of 17, he was already a hussar captain and participated in the Seven Years' War. However, after returning from military service, Moritz plunged into hereditary litigation with his relatives. The latter achieved the intercession of the highest authorities of Austria-Hungary and the young officer was forced to flee to Poland, fleeing possible criminal prosecution.
In Poland, at that time torn apart by political contradictions, Benevsky joined the Bar Confederation, a rebel organization created by the Polish gentry at the initiative of the Krakow bishop and opposed the partition of Poland and the subordination of its part to the Russian Empire. The ideology of the Confederates was based on a deep hatred of the Russian state, Orthodoxy and even the Greek Catholics, based on the concept of “Sarmatism” widespread in Poland at that time - the origin of the Polish gentry from the free-loving Sarmatians and its superiority over the “hereditary slaves”.
The lordly confederation raised an uprising against the Russian Empire, and Russian troops were moved against it. By the way, Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov received the rank of major general precisely for the defeat of the Polish rebels. However, in many respects it is the Bar confederation that we "owe" the fact that the lands of Galicia, during the partition of Poland, were cut off from the rest of the Russian world and came under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian crown. The division of Poland into several parts was also largely due to the insurrectionary war. The Russian troops managed to inflict a defeat on the Bar confederation, capturing a significant number of Polish gentry and European volunteers and mercenaries who fought on their side.
Among the captured Confederates was the Slovak Moritz Benevsky. He was 22 years old. The Russian authorities, taking pity on the young officer, released him on the promise of returning home and no longer taking part in the uprising. However, Benevsky preferred to return to the ranks of the Confederates, was taken prisoner again and without any condescension was convoyed - first to Kiev, then to Kazan. From Kazan Benevsky, together with another confederate - the Swedish major Adolf Vinblan - fled and soon ended up in St. Petersburg, where he decided to board a Dutch ship and leave hospitable Russia. However, the captain of the Dutch ship was not touched by Benevsky's promises to pay the fare after arriving at any European port, and he safely handed over the stowaways to the Russian military authorities.
Kamchatka escape
From the Peter and Paul Fortress on December 4, 1769 Benevsky and his "accomplice" Vinblana were sent on a sleigh … to the most distant "Siberia" - to Kamchatka. In the second half of the 18th century, Kamchatka was a place of exile for the politically unreliable. In fact, it was the land of forts, where a few soldiers and officers of the imperial army served and prisoners were housed. In 1770, Moritz Benevsky was taken to the Bolsheretsky prison in Kamchatka and released from custody. There was no sense in keeping the prisoner under guard - it was virtually impossible to escape from the peninsula at that time: only forts and hills, to try to escape is more expensive for yourself than to lead a more or less tolerable existence in exile.
By that time, Kamchatka was just beginning to be settled by Russian colonists. The Bolsheretsky prison, where Benevsky was placed, in particular, was founded in 1703 - some 67 years before the hero of our article was transferred there. By 1773, according to travelers, there were 41 dwelling houses, a church, several state institutions and the actual fortifications in the Bolsheretsk prison. The fortress was simple - = an earthen rampart with a dug-in palisade. In principle, there was no one to defend against here - except from the poorly armed and small natives of Kamchatka - the Itelmens, who, however, in 1707 had already made an attempt to destroy the prison.
Exiled Moritz Benevsky was placed with the same exiled Pyotr Khrushchev. This former lieutenant of the Izmailovsky Life Guards regiment was accused of insulting the imperial majesty and had been "dragging out a term" in Kamchatka for nine years. Of course, Khrushchev did not want to live on in Kamchatka, and therefore had long been preparing a plan to escape from the peninsula. Since the only possible escape route remained the sea route, Khrushchov planned to hijack a ship that could dock at the local bay.
Benevsky, who became friends with the retired lieutenant, corrected his plan very ingeniously. He came to the conclusion that simply to hijack the ship would be madness, since there would be an immediate pursuit - most likely successful, followed by the execution of the fugitives. Therefore, Benevsky proposed to first raise an uprising in the prison, neutralize the garrison guarding it, and only then calmly prepare the ship for sailing. This seemed much more reasonable, especially considering that radio communication did not exist at that time and it would not have been possible to report an uprising of exiles from distant Kamchatka quickly.
Having thus developed an escape plan, the conspirators began to select a team of like-minded people. At the same time, they looked closely at the other inhabitants of the prison. Captain Nilov, who served as commandant and was responsible for the protection of prisoners, was an alcoholic and paid little attention to the security problems of the prison. Benevsky spread rumors that he and Khrushchov were in favor of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich, for which they were placed in prison. This affected the inhabitants of the fortress and the number of conspirators increased to fifty people. Priest Ustyuzhaninov and his son, Chancellor Sudeikin, Cossack Ryumin, navigator Maxim Churin and other interesting people joined Benevsky and Khrushchov.
Naturally, the no less remarkable convict Joasaph Baturin was on Benevsky's side. Back in 1748, this dragoon second lieutenant made an attempt to overthrow Elizabeth Petrovna with the aim of establishing Peter Fedorovich, the future emperor Peter III, on the throne. However, twenty years after the unsuccessful coup in the Shlisselburg fortress did not "reason" the second lieutenant and Baturin wrote a letter to the new Empress Catherine, in which he reminded that it was Catherine who was guilty of the murder of Peter III. For this, the elderly rebel ended up in Kamchatka.
Captain Ippolit Stepanov wrote a letter to Catherine, in which he demanded a nationwide discussion of the new legislation, after which he continued to "discuss" it in the Kamchatka prison. Alexander Turchaninov was once a chamber-lackey, but had the courage to doubt the rights of Elizabeth Petrovna to the imperial throne, calling her the illegitimate daughter of Peter I and the rootless Martha Skavronskaya. With his tongue cut off and nostrils torn out, the former chamberlaine found himself in Kamchatka, holding his grudge to the death of the Russian throne.
The "fighting force" of the conspiracy was thirty-three sailors - St. John's wort, who settled in the prison after their ship crashed on the rocks, and the owner ordered them to go out to sea again. Apparently, these "sea wolves" are also tired of work for a penny and exploitation of the owner that they, being free people, joined the convicts - conspirators.
Meanwhile, unknown well-wishers nevertheless reported to Captain Nilov that his charges were preparing an escape. However, the latter were already on the alert and, having disarmed the soldiers sent by the commandant, killed Nilov. The office and the commandant's office were seized, after which Moritz Benevsky was proclaimed the ruler of Kamchatka. The escape of Benevsky was the first and only mass escape of exiles from Siberian prisons in the entire history of tsarist penal servitude.
By the way, before sailing from the Kamchatka harbor, Ippolit Stepanov, who already had, as we remember, the experience of writing political letters to the Empress, drew up and sent an "Announcement" to the Russian Senate, which, among other things, said: they have the right to make people unhappy, but they have no right to help a poor person. The Russian people endure a single tyranny."
Odyssey of the Slovak master
Preparations for sailing began. At the same time, practically none of the rebels was aware of the true plans of the self-proclaimed "chief of Kamchatka." On April 12, 1771, 11 ferries were built, on which they loaded food, weapons, tools, money, after which the rebels sailed to Chekavinskaya harbor, from where they went to sea on the captured St. Peter's galiot on May 12. The voyage lasted almost all summer, with a month-long stop on one of the islands of the Ryukyu archipelago, where the local natives greeted the travelers quite hospitably, not denying them the supply of water and food.
On August 16, the ship arrived in Taiwan (then the island was called Formosa and was inhabited by indigenous tribes of Indonesian origin). Initially Benevsky even thought about settling on its shore - at least he sent a group of his associates to the shore in search of water and food. The sailors came across a village that turned out to be a trading post for Chinese pirates. The latter attacked the exiles and killed three people, including Lieutenant Panov, sailor Popov and hunter Loginov. In response, Captain Benevsky, as a sign of revenge, demolished the coastal village from the cannons, and the ship sailed further, mooring on September 23, 1771 in the port of Macau.
Since 1553, the Portuguese settled in Macau, who erected their trading post here, which gradually grew into one of the most important outposts of the Portuguese empire in the eastern seas. By the time of Benevsky's voyage, the headquarters of the Portuguese governor was located in Macau; a significant number of merchant ships from various European and Asian states were constantly located in the port.
Using his natural adventurous inclinations, Benevsky made a visit to the governor of Macau, posing as a Polish scientist making a scientific voyage and paying for a long sea voyage at their own expense. The Governor believed and gave the ship's crew a worthy welcome, promising every possible assistance. Meanwhile, the ship's crew, being in the dark about Benevsky's future plans, began to resent the long stop in the port of Macau. The satellites of Benevsky were especially worried about the tropical climate, which they could hardly endure and which cost the lives of fifteen Russians who died of various diseases during the stop of "St. Peter" in this Portuguese trading post.
Benevsky's plans to make concessions to the crew were not included. With the help of the governor, the captain arrested two particularly active "rioters", among whom was his old friend Vin Blanc, after which he sold the ship "Saint Peter" and with a loyal part of the crew reached Canton, where two pre-ordered French ships were waiting. By the way, France at that historical period was in rather tense relations with the Russian Empire, so Benevsky did not have to worry about possible problems with him as a political fugitive. On July 7, 1772, the Kamchatka fugitives reached the coast of France and went ashore in the city of Port Louis. If 70 people fled from the Kamchatka prison, then only 37 men and 3 women were able to get to France. The rest of them died and died on the road, some remained in Macau.
The French authorities received Benevsky with great honors, admiring his courage and offered him to enter the French naval service. Moreover, France needed brave navigators, intending to intensify the conquest of overseas territories. A political refugee from faraway Russia began to often visit the reception rooms of French political and military leaders, and contacted the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of the Navy.
Benevsky was asked to lead an expedition to the island of Madagascar, from which the former Austro-Hungarian captain, and now the French naval commander, of course, did not refuse. Of the Kamchatka exiles who arrived with him in France, only 11 people agreed to go on a long journey with their captain - the clerk Chuloshnikov, the sailors Potolov and Andreyanov, Andreyanov's wife, seven prison workers and the priest's son Ivan Ustyuzhaninov. Apart from them, of course, the French government provided Benevsky with an impressive crew of French sailors and naval officers. Other Russian companions of Benevsky partly went home, partly settled in France, entering the French military service.
King of Madagascar
In February 1774 Benevsky's crew of 21 officers and 237 sailors landed on the Madagascar coast. It should be noted that the arrival of the European colonialists made a significant impression on the natives. A note should be made that Madagascar is inhabited by Malgash tribes, linguistically and genetically related in the bulk to the population of Indonesia, Malaysia and other island territories of Southeast Asia. Their culture and way of life are very different from the lifestyle of the Negroid tribes of the African continent, including the fact that there is a certain respect for the sea and those who come to the island by sea - after all, in the myths and legends of the islanders, the historical memory of their overseas origin is preserved.
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The Slovak nobleman managed to convince the native leaders that he was a descendant of one of the Malgash queens, miraculously resurrected and arrived on the island to “reign and rule” by his “tribesmen”. Apparently, the story of the former hussar officer was so convincing that the native elders were not impressed even by the obvious racial differences between Moritz Benevsky and the average resident of Madagascar. Or the natives, who, most likely, simply sought to streamline their own lives and saw the appearance of a white stranger with knowledge and valuable goods as a "sign of fate." By the way, after a certain time after Benevsky's travel, the Madagascar natives of the Merina tribe, who lived in the interior of the island, still managed to create a fairly centralized kingdom of Imerina, which for a long time resisted the attempts of France to finally conquer this blessed island.
Benevsky was elected the supreme ruler - ampansacabe, and the French began laying the city of Louisburg as the future capital of the French possession in Madagascar. At the same time Benevsky began to create his own armed forces from among the representatives of the indigenous tribes. Benevsky's European companions began training local soldiers in the basics of modern martial art.
Nevertheless, tropical diseases seriously reduced the number of Europeans arriving from Benevsky, in addition to everything, denunciations were sent to Paris from the French colonies of Mauritius and Reunion, who envied the unexpected success of Benevsky governors' offices. Benevsky was accused of being too ambitious, recalling to him that he preferred to call himself the king of Madagascar, and not just the governor of the French colony. This behavior did not suit the French, and they stopped funding the new colony and its leader. As a result, Benevsky was forced to return to Paris, where, however, he was greeted with honors, received the title of count and the military rank of brigadier general.
During the War of the Bavarian Succession, Benevsky returned to Austria-Hungary, making peace with the Viennese throne that had previously pursued him, and actively showed himself on the battlefield. He also suggested that the Austro-Hungarian emperor colonize Madagascar, but did not find understanding. In 1779 Benevsky returned to France, where he met Benjamin Franklin and decided to side with the American fighters for independence. Moreover, he was imbued with personal sympathy for Benjamin Franklin, including on the basis of a joint interest in chess (Benevsky was an avid chess player). Benevsky's plans were to form an "American Legion" from among the volunteers recruited in Europe - Poles, Austrians, Hungarians, French, whom he intended to deliver to the North American coast to participate in the national liberation struggle against British rule.
Ultimately, the former Madagascar king-governor even gathered three hundred Austrian and Polish hussars ready to fight for American independence, but the ship with volunteers was deployed by the British in Portsmouth. However, Benevsky himself nevertheless made his way to the United States, where he established contacts with American independence fighters.
He managed to visit America, then return to Europe again. After proclaiming himself Emperor of Madagascar, Benevsky decided to enlist the support of new American friends and make a second attempt to conquer power on the island. Benevsky's American sponsors, in turn, pursued slightly different goals - they strove for the commercial development of Madagascar and planned to gradually recapture the island from the French crown, which had laid eyes on it.
On October 25, 1785 Benevsky went to sea on an American ship and after a certain time reached Madagascar. As you can see, the desire to become the sole ruler of this distant tropical island did not leave the Slovak wanderer and seduced him more than a possible military or political career in France, Austria-Hungary or the young United States. In Madagascar, Benevsky founded the city of Maurizia (or Mauritania), named, as one would expect, in honor of the self-proclaimed king himself, and created a detachment of natives, instructing him to expel the French colonial authorities from the island. The latter, in turn, sent an armed detachment of colonial troops against yesterday's ally, and now the self-styled emperor and rival. On May 23, 1786, Moritz Benevsky died in a battle with a French punitive detachment. Ironically, he was the only one of his associates who died in this battle, and at the very beginning of the battle. So, at the age of forty, the life of this amazing man ended, more like an adventure novel.
However, it should be noted that Ivan Ustyuzhaninov managed to escape miraculously. This priest's son, who accompanied Benevsky from the very beginning of his wanderings, was considered by the Malgash the "crown prince" of the Madagascar throne, and after the defeat of the uprising he was arrested by the French authorities, exiled to Russia, where he asked for Kamchatka, but was exiled to Irkutsk. In Zerentui, Ustyuzhaninov was lucky to live to a ripe old age and already at an old age pass on his notebook with memories of wanderings to the exiled Decembrist Alexander Lutsky, through whose descendants some details of Benevsky's adventurous journey and his comrades-in-arms came to a later time - from the Kamchatka prison to the Madagascar coast.
State of the Sun
Presumably, Moritz Benevsky was drawn to Madagascar not only by the lust for power and the desire to realize his ambitions. Influenced by the then popular socio-utopian works, Benevsky was convinced that on a distant southern island he would be able to create an ideal society, reminiscent of the utopia of Thomas More or Tommaso Campanella. Indeed, in Madagascar, it seemed, there were all the necessary conditions for this, including the amazing nature, which, as it seemed, is magical and completely unlike even the nature of other tropical islands seen by European sailors.
It should be noted here that Madagascar has long attracted the attention of not only European monarchs who heard about the wealth of the island, but also all kinds of "seekers of happiness" who were inspired by the idea of building an ideal society on a distant island. The climate of Madagascar, the "unspoiledness" of the civilization of the natives living on it, the convenient geographical location, the remoteness of the aggressive European powers - all, it would seem, testified in favor of the creation of an "island utopia" on its territory.
The last concept is as old as the world - even the ancient Greeks wrote about a certain Taprobana island, where the "golden age" reigns. Why an island? Most likely, isolation from the rest of the world by sea borders was seen as the most reliable guarantee of the existence of a society of social justice, free from the influence of the materialistic and rigid "big world". In any case, Benevsky was far from alone in thinking about the search for an island living in the "golden age".
In modern times, social-utopian ideas became especially widespread, including in France. According to some reports, it was in Madagascar at the end of the 17th century that French filibusters Captain Misson and Lieutenant Carracioli created the legendary "Republic of Libertalia", which existed on the basis of the principles of social equality and united filibusters of various nationalities and religions - from the French and Portuguese to the Arabs. … Libertalia was a unique experiment in creating a pirate society of social equality, the story itself is so amazing that it raises doubts about its plausibility. It is likely that Benevsky heard a lot about Libertalia and was eager to more successfully repeat the social experiment of his French predecessors. But the "State of the Sun" of the Slovak adventurer did not manage to exist for any long time on the Madagascar land.
