A Russian lawmaker has called on police investigators to reopen the case of celebrated writer Mikhail Lermontov’s death in a duel nearly two centuries ago, state media reported Wednesday.
Lermontov, renowned for works like “Death of the Poet” and the novel “A Hero of Our Time,” was fatally shot by his military classmate during a duel in July 1841 at the age of 26. Thousands of admirers attended his funeral, cementing his legacy as one of Russia’s literary greats.
Actor, director and State Duma member Nikolai Burlyayev has urged Russia’s Investigative Committee to reexamine the case, citing previous research that questioned the unusual trajectory of the bullet that killed Lermontov, according to the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
Burlyayev claimed that Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, had taken personal control of the case. However, neither Bastrykin nor the committee, which probes major crimes, has publicly commented on Burlyayev’s request.
Burlyayev, who directed and starred in the 1986 biopic “Lermontov,” has a long-standing connection to the poet’s legacy.
The film, which featured his wife and other family members, was reportedly blocked by Soviet authorities from distribution. When it finally premiered last fall, Burlyayev alleged that a Masonic conspiracy had kept the movie hidden for nearly 40 years.
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