Peter 1 man iron mask. A criminal wanted by history: generalized evidence of the imposture of Emperor “Peter the Great”

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich, whose biography is rather contradictory and confusing, was born in 1914, on June 15. It is also known that, Andropov, real name whom Flekshtein was born in Stavropol. He quite successfully completed the factory school course in 1931 (7 years) and later, in 1931, the Rybinsk River Technical School. He continued his education by entering the Karelo-Finnish State University. university and High school at the Central Committee (in absentia).

In 1930, Andropov joined the Komsomol. During the Great Patriotic War, Andropov became a participant partisan movement. Until 1944, he served as Secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Karelia. Later he received the post of second secretary of the Petrozavodsk city party committee. Since 1951, he has worked in the apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee.

While at party work, from 1954 to 1957, he served as ambassador to Hungary. It should be noted that Andropov is known as a supporter of entering Hungary Soviet troops. He also became one of key figures in suppressing the uprising in Hungary aimed at overthrowing communism. (Subsequently, he will play a significant role in the decision to send troops to Czechoslovakia, and will turn out to be a supporter of sending troops to Afghanistan.)

In the future, until 1967, Yuri Andropov will head the department socialist countries Central Committee of the CPSU. After this he will become head of the KGB. While in this post, Andropov was able to seriously expand the powers of his subordinates. A fight was launched against human rights activists and dissidents. The initiative to expel dissidents also belongs to Yuri Andropov. The most notorious was the expulsion of A.I. Solzhenitsyn. and deprivation of his citizenship. In 1974, Andropov was awarded the title of Hero of Socialism. Labor. In 1976 he became Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Andropov's reign will begin on November 12, 1982. A course for serious socio-economic transformations will be immediately proclaimed. However, very soon Andropov’s reforms will be reduced to exclusively administrative measures, exposing corrupt officials in the ranks of the party. Andropov, whose reign was characterized by increased ideological control, will also play a role in increasing tensions in international relations.

Wanting to strengthen power, Andropov has been combining two senior positions - Secretary General party and chairman of the Presidium Supreme Council. But already on February 9, 1984 he will die. Death of Andropov official version, caused by kidney failure. However, to this day there are many other versions. Andropov's funeral took place on February 14. The funeral ceremony was attended by many heads of state, including Margaret Thatcher and Bush Sr.

On November 12, 1982, the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, urgently convened in connection with the death of Leonid Brezhnev, elected Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of the Central Committee. On June 16, 1983, he completely equaled his predecessor, adding to the party the highest state post of chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Council. Of the eight Soviet leaders who succeeded each other over 74 years, Andropov is the most mysterious. History gave him little time. He achieved supreme power at the age of 68, being terminally ill, and remained in the top post for about 15 months, of which he actually worked for less than ten. Some Russians are sure that Andropov would become the Soviet Deng Xiaoping, others - what’s new. Informed researchers, relying on the memories of people close to Andropov and analysis of facts and documents, are inclined to believe that he was neither one nor the other.

HONEST MAN OF THE SYSTEM

The rapidly aging composition of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee became one of the main topics of behind-the-scenes discussions in Soviet society and in various circles of Western countries in the first half of the 1980s. Against the background of the funerals of prominent party figures, rumors appeared several times in the USSR and abroad that L.I. himself was dying. Brezhnev. His health, indeed, was rapidly deteriorating. He died on November 10, 1982, just three days after the traditional parade and demonstration on Red Square dedicated to the next anniversary October Revolution. Despite my health and bad weather, Brezhnev was among the Kremlin leadership on the podium of Lenin's mausoleum until the end of the parade.

Foreign “voices” put forward various assumptions who will now occupy the highest post in the Soviet Union. Among the possible candidates were K.U. Chernenko and Yu.V. Andropov. Both had extensive experience in party and government agencies, both were middle-aged and seriously ill. But behind Yu.V. Andropov had experience leading the KGB. In 1967, he was appointed chairman of the KGB and held this post until 1982. In 1973, he was added to the Politburo, becoming L.I.’s closest ally and assistant. Brezhnev. His name is associated with successful operations security officers against foreign intelligence organizations, and repressive measures against Soviet dissidents. The influence of the KGB under Andropov was enormous. His previous post apparently did not work last role when choosing a new party leader. Andropov became General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on November 12, 1982. However serious illness kidneys did not allow him to carry out his planned reforms. Andropov was often in the hospital and tried to direct the work of the government from there. It became increasingly difficult to do this, the disease progressed and left him no chance. Just over a year after coming to power, Andropov died on February 9, 1984.

Andropov sensibly believed that many things were ripe in the USSR economic reforms, and they must be carried out immediately. Without seeking to reform the system as a whole, Andropov tried to solve existing problems through administrative and bureaucratic restructuring. On his initiative, strict measures were taken to strengthen labor discipline; V working hours raids were organized in stores and cinemas in order to identify people who were not at work; citizens were severely punished for being a minute late. They actively fought against drunkenness at work, but did not conduct widespread anti-alcohol campaigns. There was even a variety of cheap vodka released, which was popularly called “Andropovka.” Andropov’s attempts to combat theft, bribery, and corruption were positively received by the mass consciousness. He cleansed the party and Soviet apparatus, replaced large number high-ranking officials, dismissed “for mistakes in work” the Minister of Internal Affairs N.A. Shchelokov (who later shot himself) and the first secretary of the Krasnodar regional committee S. Medunov.

In foreign policy Andropov adhered to a hard line. During the new European missile crisis of 1983, he strongly advocated the need to keep Soviet missiles in the countries Eastern Europe as opposed to NATO missiles. In the same year, in the area of. Sakhalin, a Soviet fighter-interceptor shot down a South Korean Boeing 747 passenger plane, violating USSR airspace. Western countries immediately accused Moscow of violating norms international law, the Soviet leadership defended its right to defend the borders of the state, emphasizing that Boeing did not respond or react to all the warnings made to it. All the reasons for the violation of Soviet airspace by a passenger plane and the forces behind it have not yet been clarified. The Boeing incident further escalated the confrontation between the Soviet and Western blocs.

An honest man and convinced that he was right, Andropov only managed to “tighten the screws” of the system he led. There is still a debate among researchers whether his actions could lead to real changes in the economy, give alternative option development of the country without destroying the system? The fact remains, however, that he never raised the question of any political changes in the country. The situation could be brought under tighter control, leaving the fundamentals of the system unchanged. Andropov died fifteen months after coming to power, having accomplished little.

FROM A BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE

1914 , June 15. Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was born into the family of a railway worker at the Nagutskaya station in the Stavropol province.

1930 . Joining the Komsomol. Works as a worker in Mozdok in North Ossetia.

1932 . Enters the Rybinsk Technical School to study water transport. At the same time he works as a sailor, helmsman, and assistant captain at the Volga Shipping Company.

193 6. Elected as the released secretary of the Komsomol organization of the Rybinsk Technical School of Water Transport. Becomes Komsomol organizer of the Komsomol Central Committee of the Volodarsky shipyard in Rybinsk.

1937 . Appointed head of department of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the Komsomol.

1938 . Elected first secretary of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the Komsomol.

1939 . Joins the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

194 0. Elected first secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Karelia.

1941-1944 . Participates in the partisan movement. Engaged in organizing the Komsomol underground in the occupied Soviet territory, carrying out reconnaissance and combat operations behind enemy lines.

1944 . Elected second secretary of the Petrozavodsk city committee of the CPSU(b).

1947 . Elected second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.

1951 . By decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he was transferred to the apparatus of the Central Committee of the party, where he worked first as an inspector and then as head of a subdepartment of the Central Committee.

1953 . He is sent to diplomatic work at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1954 . Appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Hungarian People's Republic.

1956 , October-November. Acts as one of the organizers of the suppression of the anti-communist uprising in Hungary.

1957 . Approved by the head of the department of the CPSU Central Committee for relations with the ruling communist parties.

1961 , October. At the XXII Party Congress he was elected a member of the CPSU Central Committee for the first time.

1962 . Elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

1967 , May. Appointed by the Chairman of the Committee state security under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. June. Elected as a candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

1968 , August. Supports the introduction of troops Warsaw Pact to Czechoslovakia.

1973 , April. Elected as a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

1974 , June. Receives the title of Hero Socialist Labor in connection with the 60th anniversary.

1979 , December. Acts as one of the initiators of the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan.

1982 , May. Elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. July. Begins to chair meetings of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee. November 12. At an extraordinary Plenum of the Party Central Committee, he is elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

1983 , June 16. At the eighth session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 10th convocation, he was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. September 1st. Last time presides over a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. September 30. A sharp exacerbation of the disease.

1984 , February 9. Death of Yu.V. Andropova. February 14. Funeral in Moscow on Red Square.

"ELISEEVSKAYA CASE"

A talented organizer of Soviet trade, director of the most famous Moscow grocery store “Eliseevsky”, Yuri Sokolov, built his exemplary economy on the use of “scarcity”. Thanks to his connections, he received caviar, fresh meat, smoked meats, red fish, expensive wines, foreign alcohol, cigarettes from warehouses... They shopped at Eliseevsky the right people from the party elite, the Soviet leadership, law enforcement agencies, scientists, cultural figures, etc. They thanked through especially trusted intermediaries according to the laws of barter transactions or “black cash”. The head of the Moscow Trade Department, N. Tregubov, provided cover.

In addition to the Eliseevsky store, the criminal system included 7 branches. Branch directors came to Sokolov’s office with reports on Fridays. The director hid the envelopes with the money raised from the shortage in the safe in which he kept his personal weapons. The tribute was collected by ordinary sellers through deception, shortchanges, underweight, re-grading, sale of unaccounted for food products, and so on. The entire system was closed to the trade and planning departments of the Moscow City Executive Committee and the Moscow City Council and personally to Comrade. Tregubova. He was on friendly terms with the Minister of Internal Affairs N. Shchelokov and for 30 years was friends with the instructor of the trade department of the CPSU Central Committee Kusakin. He informed in advance about personnel movements and warned the “traders” about impending troubles. Even member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU V. Grishin was spoiled.

There were no people willing to encroach on this “pyramid”. Mainly due to the “internal security system” organized by Sokolov at different levels state hierarchy. Signals about the criminal acts of Sokolov and his henchmen, received by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB, were immediately extinguished. It was hopeless to compete with Sokolov’s “roof”, which included V. Grishin and the 2nd Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU R. Dementyeva, Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs N. Shchelokov, Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR N. Tregubov, as well as members of the L. Brezhnev family Galina Leonidovna and her husband is Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Yu. Churbanov. As a result, “acute” intelligence reports settled in the “observation” case of the Moscow KGB without movement. Yuri Sokolov felt out of reach for people from Lubyanka and Petrovka.

In May 1982, Yu. Andropov left the KGB and became Secretary of the Central Committee. V. Fedorchuk was appointed instead, who was guided in his actions exclusively by the letter of the law. Meanwhile, in November 1982, L.I. died in Moscow at the age of 75. Brezhnev. Yu. Andropov was unanimously elected Secretary General. Immediately changes began in the life of the KGB. The range of internal political tasks of counterintelligence was significantly expanded, the functions of which were transferred to the fight against crimes at industrial facilities. And in December 1982, 71-year-old N. Shchelokov was removed from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs. V. Fedorchuk was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs to restore order in Petrovka. He was replaced as chairman of the KGB by front-line soldier V. Chebrikov. Andropov declared his firm intention to fight corruption. The Central Committee of the CPSU began meetings on strengthening labor discipline. This freed the hands of the “gubchek” in the Eliseevsky store case. A special group of Alexander K was formed. It included the most experienced detectives of the department. They brought in employees from Moscow regional departments. Choosing the moment when Sokolov was abroad, his office was equipped with audio and video surveillance. To do this, they “set up a short circuit” in the entire store, turned off the elevators and called “repairmen.” Specialists in “wiretapping” and installing optics did their job without involving special attention grocery store administration. The operational technology confirmed all available signals. The investigation department was involved. Soon the long-awaited guiding “I agree” appeared on the summary document with the proposal for a plan to complete the operation.

It was very difficult game. The KGB worked especially carefully. Andropov needed to eliminate one of his competitors for the post of Secretary General - Grishin. Therefore, investigators tried to obtain evidence that he also had income from trade. On Day X, 7 external surveillance groups were assigned to monitor the branch directors. After they handed over the envelopes with money to Sokolov, they were arrested and removed from the route. Four immediately confessed. Only after this did General Alidin agree to arrest Sokolov. Alexander K was assigned to carry out the operation. He knew that a security alarm button was hidden in Sokolov’s desktop. Therefore, Alexander, entering Sokolov’s office, decided to shake hands with the director. Sokolov extended his hand in response, and it ended up in the grip of the officer’s palm. Without letting go of Sokolov's hand, he took the director out from behind the table, making it impossible to use the panic button. They presented him with an arrest warrant and began a search. Sokolov could not clearly explain the purpose of the discovered envelopes with money. He didn't even know what amounts were inside. At the same time, searches were carried out in all branches. We found several hastily constructed caches of scarce products. The arrested Sokolov, who threatened sanctions from higher authorities for “lawlessness,” was transferred to the investigative department. Soon he too gave testimony, and it was also too detailed. Perhaps he was offended because no one began to rescue him from the hands of the KGB.

Sokolov, who gave incriminating evidence on the party elite, was shot. His boss, the head of Moscow trade N. Tregubov, who “behaved correctly” and did not give any evidence, was sentenced to 15 years. His numerous accomplices also received long sentences - 174 people in total.

It is unknown how this matter would have ended if its implementation had been delayed for two or three months...

Today the “Sokolov case” seems like child’s play.

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov is a famous Soviet state and politician, who led the country from 1982 to 1984, and before that made a name for himself during his many years as Chairman of the State Security Committee. The biography of Yuri Andropov is one of the most confusing among all members of the Politburo. According to official data, he was born in 1914 into the family of railway worker Vladimir Andropov and his wife Evgenia Karlovna Fleckenstein, a music teacher at a girls’ gymnasium.

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov | Out of town

In his short biography Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich wrote that my mother was a foster child in the house of rich Jews and received her surname from them. Also, the future general secretary claimed that he and his mother moved to the city of Mozdok after the death of his father from typhus. However, according to other people who knew Andropov’s family closely, he was born a year later, and his mother divorced her husband literally a month after the birth of her son and left for the Tver region. In fact, she got married solely for the sake of changing her last name, fearing the increasing frequency of Jewish pogroms.

By the way, there is a lot of documentary evidence that Evgenia Karlovna was the real daughter of a wealthy Moscow jeweler, Karl Frantsevich Fleckenstein. Later, Yuri Vladimirovich’s mother remarried, so the boy was raised by his stepfather. But in any case, Yuri Andropov has a real surname, which was entered into his birth certificate. Yuri studied well at school at the railway factory in the town of Mozdok, which is located in North Ossetia. Then there were the Rybinsk River Technical School and the correspondence Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee.

Yuri Andropov briefly studied at the university at the Faculty of History and Philology, but he had to quit classes due to moving to Moscow. Labor activity the future head of the KGB began as a simple telegraph worker, then was an assistant projectionist, a Komsomol organizer at the Rybinsk shipyard, and in just two years he worked his way up to long way to the first secretary of the Yaroslavl regional committee of the Komsomol organization.

Policy

Having shown himself in Yaroslavl as the head of the local Komsomol cell, Yuri Vladimirovich attracted the attention of the Moscow leadership. It was he who was entrusted responsible work– organize in the newly formed after Soviet-Finnish war Karelo-Finnish Republic Komsomol Youth Union. Andropov spent about ten years in this territory, was awarded with orders for great job, but in the fighting during the Great Patriotic War he did not take part.

The career of Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov developed brilliantly. In the early 50s, he was transferred to Moscow to the position of inspector of the Central Committee, and was soon sent Soviet ambassador to Hungary. It was Andropov who sent an urgent telegram to the capital of the USSR demanding that troops be sent to Budapest, since local population made an attempt to escape from socialist camp. In November 1956, an impressive number of tanks crossed the Soviet-Hungarian border and the rebellion was crushed.

KGB

In the spring of 1967, the State Security Committee received a new chairman. The KGB was headed by Yuri Andropov. Yuri Vladimirovich remained in this position for 15 years, longer than any other colleague in Soviet era. It was under him that the KGB began to have enormous influence in the country. Andropov created the so-called Fifth Directorate, which controlled the intelligentsia and prevented any dissent. In fact, no one could take place without the approval of the State Security Committee. important appointment in all spheres - from ministry to industry, from art to sports.

The advantages of Andropov’s work include a tough fight against corruption. Yuri Vladimirovich’s subordinates had huge salaries for those times, but if he found out about bribery, the consequences immediately fell on the culprit. Also under his leadership were created special units"Alpha" and "Vympel", whose task was to destroy terrorists and free hostages. The main disadvantage of the work of the head of the KGB is called the unleashing Afghan war, for which the public blamed Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov and KGB Chairman Andropov.

Secretary General

After his death in 1982, Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was appointed General Secretary. First of all, he began to impose labor discipline. For example, during daytime screenings in cinemas, police raids were carried out to identify parasites and truants. Trials against associates and relatives of the previous ruler also became more frequent, and the number of people convicted of criminal offenses increased. A large-scale anti-alcohol campaign and the fight against speculators began. The population gladly supported the initiative of the Secretary General. After the period of Brezhnev's stagnation, residents rejoiced at the “firm hand.”

But in foreign policy, Andropov failed to achieve significant success. The war in Afghanistan and difficult relationships with the United States were not allowed to change the current state of affairs and reduce the mistrust of foreigners in Soviet Union. However, although Yuri Vladimirovich served as General Secretary for only a little over a year, he managed to be remembered as Soviet citizens, and to heads of foreign states.

Personal life

IN personal life Yuri Andropov's wife first appeared in 1935, when he was still living in Yaroslavl. He met Nina Engalycheva while studying at a technical school. The girl was the daughter of the manager of the Cherepovets branch of the State Bank, and it was the first father-in-law that many attribute to the quick career growth Yuri Andropov in the Komsomol organization. The couple had two children, a son, Vladimir, and a daughter, Evgenia, that is, both received names in honor of Andropov’s parents.

When Yuri Vladimirovich was transferred from Yaroslavl to Karelia, his wife refused to go with him, and as a result the marriage was destroyed. With the first family statesman did not support the relationship, since the son of Yuri Andropov was related to criminal elements, was convicted twice, and this, even without meeting with him, spoiled the impression of the impeccability of the head of the KGB. Andropov did not even come to the hospital or to the funeral of his son, who passed away at the age of 35.

In Petrozavodsk, Yuri Vladimirovich met his second wife, Tatyana Lebedeva. She also gave her husband a son and a daughter. These children of Yuri Andropov are better known to the public: son Igor became a diplomat, and daughter Irina was the first wife of actor Mikhail Filippov, who later became her husband. There is a rumor that after the Hungarian uprising, Tatyana Lebedeva began to be afraid of large crowds of people, so she practically did not leave the room.

Death

In recent years, the Secretary General's health has deteriorated greatly. Most of time he spent in country house, often could not get out of bed, and doctors urged him to take care, since the elderly man’s immune system was very depleted. Andropov “held” some Politburo meetings in the hospital ward. In the fall of 1983, Yuri Vladimirovich went to a sanatorium in Crimea, but he caught a cold there, and as a result he developed purulent inflammation of the tissue. An urgent operation was required, which was successful, but the postoperative suture did not heal.

Due to weakness, the body stopped fighting. The death of Yuri Andropov occurred on February 9, 1984, actually due to kidney failure, but in general due to many years of illness. Yuri Vladimirovich was buried at Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow, and the heads of most world states, including English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and American President-senior.

On September 18, 1698, a mysterious prisoner known as the "Iron Mask" arrived at the Bastille.

Summer 1669 François-Michel Letellier, Marquis de Louvois, King's Minister of War Louis XIV , sent a letter to Benin Dauvern de Saint-Mars, the head of the Pignerol prison. The letter informed him of the prisoner's imminent arrival. The head of the prison was instructed to prepare a cell for the arrival of the prisoner, which had several doors that closed one after another - this was supposed to separate the prisoner from the jailers and other prisoners, even at the sound level. The Minister ordered that Saint-Mars visit the new prisoner once a day in order to fulfill his requests related to various issues everyday life, but do not discuss other topics with him.

Masked Prisoner

According to the letter, the prisoner's name was "Estan Doge". However, researchers note that this name was entered into the document in a different handwriting. It seems very likely that “Estan Doge” is nothing more than a fictitious name for the mysterious prisoner.

The Pignerol prison at that time was a place where state criminals were kept. For example, by the time Estana Doge arrived, the former superintendent of finance of France had already been in Pignerol for five years Nicolas Fouquet, sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement of public funds.

The difference between "Doge" and other prisoners was that he wore velvet mask, which was supposed to ensure his complete anonymity. And so it happened - no one managed to find out who exactly was hiding under the mask.

Bénigne Dauvern de Saint-Mars remained the jailer of the Doge until the death of the prisoner. Saint-Mars was transferred from one duty station to another, and the mysterious prisoner followed him.

In 1698, Saint-Mars became warden of the Bastille, and the prisoner was placed in the third cell of the Berthaudiere Tower.

The prisoner died on November 19, 1703 and was buried under the name "Marchioly". All his belongings and, in general, everything connected with him were destroyed after his death.

Birth of a legend

Seven decades later, a philosopher fueled interest in the prisoner Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire. In his opinion, the unfortunate man wore an iron mask, which immediately added additional drama and mystery to this story.

Finally turned "Iron Mask" into a cult character Alexandre Dumas the father, who made the prisoner’s story one of the central lines of the novel “The Vicomte de Bragelonne, or Ten Years After.”

Subsequent novels, and then film adaptations, led many to think that Iron Mask was a fictional character. But, as already mentioned, its existence is documented.

The second half of the 17th century was a time not distinguished by particular humanism. Two decades before the appearance of the mysterious prisoner in Pignerol in England, the king lost his head on the scaffold Charles I. And the heads of persons of lesser rank, convicted of crimes or simply falling out of favor, flew from under the executioner’s ax throughout Europe.

The French authorities undoubtedly considered the “Iron Mask” extremely dangerous. But, despite this, they did not execute him, preferring to keep him in prison for many years, hiding his face. Who could the prisoner be?

“Nameless Prisoner”: Russian analogue of “Iron Mask”

In December 1741, daughter Petra I Elizaveta Petrovna dethroned the emperor John VI. The monarch was not even one and a half years old at that time.

Elizaveta Petrovna did not take the sin of murdering a royal person into her soul. Young John was taken into custody, and in the country it was forbidden to even mention the name of the little king.

From 1756, John VI was kept in solitary confinement in Shlisselburg fortress. His name was not mentioned; in the documents he appeared as an “unnamed prisoner” or “a well-known prisoner.”

A secret order ordered the jailers assigned to John to kill him if he attempted to be released. This is what happened in 1764, during the reign of Catherine II during unsuccessful attempt coup undertaken by the second lieutenant Vasily Mirovich.

If we put a virtual mask on John VI for a second, we will get almost one hundred percent similarity with the French events.

This is probably why the most common version is the one according to which the “Iron Mask” belonged to the royal family.

Illegitimate brother of King Louis XIV

Of course, she did not give birth to her husband’s children during the first 23 years of marriage! The future Louis XIV was born when Anne of Austria was 37 years old. By the standards of that era, this is not just late, but very late.

Voltaire assumed that before Louis XIV, Anne became pregnant and did not give birth to the king. The child was raised in secret proxies. When Louis XIV became an adult, he considered his brother a threat to the throne and ordered him to be imprisoned in a fortress, keeping his identity a secret.

Real father of Louis XIV

The starting point of this hypothesis is again the fact of the late birth of a child from Queen Anne of Austria. But supporters of this version believe that the “Sun King” Louis XIV himself was the illegitimate child.

Researchers believe that King Louis XIII suffered from infertility. The absence of an heir threatened the stability of France. As a result, with the knowledge Louis XIII someone was found, possibly having distant family ties With royal family. From this “donor” Anna of Austria conceived an heir.

Later, they decided to imprison the real father of the new king in order to ensure that the secret was not revealed.

Twin brother of Louis XIV

A favorite plot of writers and filmmakers, starting with Alexandre Dumas. So, the queen gives birth to her legitimate husband, but not one, but two boys are born. The twin princes immediately turn into big problem, in the future threatening turmoil and civil war. It was decided to get rid of the extra contender for the throne, but no one dares to kill a person of royal blood. The unfortunate boy faces life imprisonment and a mask to hide him striking resemblance with the brother who is to be king.

Son of Louis XIV and Henrietta of England

This hypothesis takes us to the youth of the “Sun King”, when in his inner circle there was Henrietta of England, youngest daughter executed English king Charles I.

Louis XIV Henrietta had to cousin, which did not prevent her from being considered at one time as a bride for the king.

The marriage did not take place, but at court they claimed that an affair between the young people took place. Henrietta became a wife younger brother Louis, Philippe d'Orléans, however, the daughter she gave birth to was considered the child of the king.

According to supporters of this hypothesis, Henrietta also had a son from Louis XIV. Despite the fact that he was illegitimate, his origin made it possible to lay claim to both the English and French crowns. Therefore, in order to avoid political complications, when the young men reached adulthood, he was imprisoned in a fortress, forever covering his face with a mask.

Peter I

Oddly enough, the Russian reformer Tsar was also among those who were included in the list of candidates for the role of the “Iron Mask”.

In 1697, Peter I went to Europe as part of the “Great Embassy”. At the same time, the tsar followed incognito, under the name of a sergeant of the Preobrazhensky regiment Petra Mikhailov.

Soon rumors began to circulate in Russia that the tsar was killed or kidnapped abroad, and his place was taken by a double sent by the Europeans. Opponents of Peter I, spreading these rumors, argued that the reforms begun by the tsar were in fact the machinations of foreign enemies.

Supporters of the version point out that the period of the end of the “Great Embassy” (1698) coincides with the time of the appearance of the “Iron Mask” in the Bastille.

But this hypothesis is absolutely untenable, since, as is known from documents, a masked prisoner appeared in Pignerol back in 1669 - three years before the birth of Pyotr Alekseevich.

Many candidates, no answer

In total, there are at least fifty characters that are proposed for the role of the “Iron Mask” - from the rather banal, such as a certain criminal who committed a particularly serious crime, to the completely exotic, like the black son of the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire Maria Theresa, born by her from a black page.

It is possible that it will never be possible to reliably establish the identity of the mysterious prisoner. But people will not stop guessing and guessing. As well as making more and more films about the “Iron Mask”.

Man in iron mask- the most mysterious prisoner of the reign of Louis XIV, whose mystery has not been fully solved to this day. The only reliable information about him is the number under which he was kept in captivity - 64489001. This man was born approximately in the 1640s, and died in 1698. He was also kept in Pignerol, Eskil, on the island of Saint-Marguerite and Bastille, where he ended his days.

Historical data

The mysterious prisoner actually wore a mask, but not made of iron, but of black velvet. Its purpose was not to cause pain, but solely to hide the identity of this person from outsiders. Information about the prisoner was so classified that even the guards themselves did not know who he was. The only exception may have been Benigne Dauvern de Saint-Mars, who was the head of all the prisons where the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisoned. The incredible mystery and secrecy surrounding this prisoner gave rise to many speculations, legends, versions and theories. However, the Sedition portal cannot fully vouch for the consistency and reliability of any of them.

For the first time, information about a certain prisoner in an iron mask appeared in 1745 in a book called “Secret Notes on the History of the Persian Court,” which was published in Amsterdam. In it, the author wrote that he languished in captivity under number 64489001 illegitimate son King and Duchess de La Valliere, who bore the title of Count of Vermandois. He was allegedly arrested for slapping his brother, the Grand Dauphin.

This version does not stand up to criticism, since the Count of Vermandois was born in 1667 and lived only 16 years, while the mysterious prisoner was taken into custody in 1669, when the mentioned Count was only two years old, and outlived him by two whole decades.

King's brother

Francois Voltaire suggested that behind the Iron Man mask was the blood brother of Louis XIV, whom the king sent to prison in order to get rid of rivals for the throne. It was the personality of the prisoner that determined the mystery with which he was surrounded throughout his entire stay in the dungeons.

Louis XIV's mother, Anne of Austria, for a long time could not get pregnant, but then she still had a son from extramarital affairs. Subsequently, she gave birth to the rightful heir to the throne. When Louis found out that he had an older brother, he decided to get rid of him, but still did not commit murder, but simply sent him to prison, ordering him to put that same mask on him to hide his face from those around him.

There was a version that the prisoner was actually the twin brother of Louis XIV. Birth in royal family twin boys led to the emergence of a question regarding succession to the throne. It is assumed that one of the sons of the royal couple was raised in secret from society, and Louis, when he grew up and learned about his existence, decided to send his brother to prison.

Ercole Mattioli

One theory says that the mask hid the face of the Italian Hercule Antonio Mattioli, who agreed with the king that he would convince his overlord to give the Casale fortress to the French. However, Mattioli decided to deceive Louis by telling several countries about this agreement, receiving financial rewards for this. Naturally, the king could not leave such an act unpunished, and threw the Italian into prison for life imprisonment.

General Bulond

Secret notes French king gave rise to yet another speculation as to who the Man in the Iron Mask really was. Among the legacy of Louis XVI were encrypted diaries, the contents of which were revealed several centuries after they were written by the cryptographer Etienne Bazerie. The data obtained as a result of decoding gave reason to assume that the face of General Vivien de Bulonde, who was responsible for the defeat in one of the battles of the Nine Years' War, could be hidden behind the mask.

True Peter the Great

There is an assumption that the famous prisoner number 64489001 is actually Peter the Great. Some researchers believe that it was in 1698, when the Man in the Iron Mask appeared in the Bastille, that the Russian Tsar was replaced. It was at this moment that Peter the Great diplomatic mission in Europe. Contemporaries noted that an Orthodox tsar went abroad, honoring the centuries-old traditions that had developed in Russia, and some disguised European returned back, bringing a lot of completely unimaginable innovations. Such dramatic changes and gave rise to rumors that the king in Europe had been replaced. Later, this substitution was associated with the mystical Iron Mask.