Like a chord from the past..
A. Chekhov
History repeats itself in a double -- helical spiral way, similar to that famous staircase designed and built by Leonardo Da Vinci for the Chambord Castle in France- his last achievement. The people going up the stairs cannot see the ones going down. Otherwise maybe Chris Stevens from the Y2012 could see Alexander Griboedov from the Y1829 and would not go to fateful Benghazi.
In the Y1829 Alexander Griboedov was barely 34 years old and a bright rising star on the sky of Russian imperial politics. He was appointed as a first Russian full ambassador to the recently defeated Iran with the rank of a civil general to exercise articles of the peace treaty between the victorious Russia and humiliated Iran. He was a famous Russian literati, a recognized genius of literature and musical composition, a highly educated man (he knew Persian, French, English and German languages), highly decorated by then Emperor Nicholas I and had just happily married a young stunning beauty Nina Chavchavadze, a Georgian princess, all relatives of whom loved Alexander dearly and sincerely.
The duty of the Russian embassy was to monitor the exercising of the Turkmenchay peace treaty conditions and those were rather tough on Iran. Besides a huge monetary contribution the treaty stipulated that every Russian citizen, man or woman forcefully brought to Iran against his/her will got a right of free return to Russia, also that the former Russian soldiers who for whatever reason defected to Iran were subjects to extradition. Russian troops in the Northern Iran were there to make sure those conditions were followed to the letter. Griboedov was confident and persistent: he established a rapport with the highest Iranian officials and developed a process which was supposed to make sure the conditions are fulfilled without an overwhelming burden on the Persian people and /or violation of the Moslem family laws which was especially tough when women, former Russian citizens, abducted and sold to harems were claiming the right of return. Griboedov established his own research and processing process to verify claims and discuss all the options. He worked very diligently and was on the way to fulfill all the conditions so that the Russian military could leave Iran and join the troops fighting in the war with Turkey at that time.
But something went wrong. On February 1829 Russian embassy in Tehran was suddenly attacked by a crowd of fanatics. There were about 10000 or more. For some strange reason all the high military commanders in the city left the city to rest a day before, also the regiment of the Persian infantry in charge of guarding the embassy left without warning. The same took place with the main foreign missions. Alexander Griboedov was in the embassy alone; his young wife was at that time in the British consulate in Tabriz where she was going through her pregnancy.
Russian guards, the embassy staff, Griboedov himself and even valets and servants defended the embassy to the last man. All but one were slaughtered. The bodies were mutilated, chopped to pieces and hastily buried. When after some time the Russian government requested the Griboedov's body for the proper burial, only pieces were delivered, the most close one being his hand with a ring people knew about. The remains were buried with higher honors at the sacred Mtatzminda cemetery on the David's Hill in Tbilisi, Georgia. His wife gave birth to a dead child. When she died she was buried near him. She insisted that the following words were carved on his tombstone:
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