HISTORY PAGES. THE DEATH OF TSAREVICH DIMITRY: AN ACCIDENT OR A PREMEDIATED MURDER?

Abstract

Over a period of several centuries historians and ordinary Russian citizens have been thrilled by a mysterious story of the death of an 8-year-old tsarevich (prince) Dimitry, the younger son of Ivan the Terrible. This trag edy took place on May 15,1591, in a small town of Uglich. The circumstances of the tsarevich’s death were investigated by a committee sent by Boris Godunov. The unique “search (investigation) case» of this death has survived. According to the overwhelming majority of the case files, the tsarevich was an accident victim and stabbed himself with a knife during an epileptic seizure. However, the case files have also kept certain remains of a different version - that the tsarevich was murdered by people sent by Godunov. The opinions of historians have divided; the opinion of N.M. Karamzin who believed that Dimitry had been murdered was shared by A.S. Pushkin in his famous drama “Boris Godunov». In fact, this point of view has become canonical. However, the management of the Moscow Kremlin Museums has tried to challenge this version and rehabilitate Godunov within the framework of a specially organized exhibition. The author of this article aims at disproving this version based on the analysis of the “search case» and some other files.