Sonya - Golden Hand: biography, facts from life. The true story of Sonya the Golden Pen Monument dedicated to Sonya the Golden Pen

The grave of Sonya Golden Hand, aka Rubinstein, aka Shkolnik, aka Brenner, aka Blyuvshtein, nee Sheindlya-Sura Solomoniak.

Golden Pen She was mainly involved in thefts in hotels, jewelry stores, and hunted on trains, traveling around Russia and Europe. Smartly dressed, with someone else's passport, she appeared in best hotels Moscow, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Warsaw, carefully studied the location of rooms, entrances, exits, corridors. Sonya invented a method of hotel theft called "guten morgen". She put felt shoes on her shoes and, silently moving along the corridors, entered someone else's room early in the morning. While the owner was fast asleep before dawn, she quietly “cleaned out” his cash. If the owner unexpectedly woke up, an elegant lady in expensive jewelry, as if not noticing the “stranger,” began to undress, as if mistakenly mistaking the room for her own... It all ended in skillfully staged embarrassment and mutual shuffling.
The last years of her life, as the legend says, the Golden Hand lived with her daughters in Moscow. Although they were in every possible way ashamed of their mother’s scandalous popularity. Old age and health undermined by hard labor did not allow him to actively engage in the old profession of thieves. But the Moscow police were faced with strange and mysterious robberies. A small monkey appeared in the city, which in jewelry stores jumped on a visitor who was picking up a ring or diamond, swallowed the valuable item and ran away. Sonya brought this monkey from Odessa.
Legend has it that Sonya the Golden Hand died at an old age. Buried in Moscow on Vagankovskoe cemetery, site No. 1. After her death, legend says, with the money of Odessa, Neapolitan and London scammers, a monument was ordered from Milanese architects and delivered to Russia.
Sakhalin local historians know that S. Bluvshtein died of a “cold” in 1902, as evidenced by a message from the prison authorities, and was buried in the local cemetery at the Aleksandrovsky post (now the city of Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky). After World War II, the grave was lost.
There are several more legends associated with this monument. One - the most romantic - says that a girl, her fiancé and their unborn son are buried there. That’s why there are three palm trees above the grave. Unhappy love, the prohibition of the groom's noble parents from marrying a poor girl from the people, led to the latter's death being tragic, after which the groom also passed away. The father, in memory of his son, bride and unborn baby, erected such a monument on Vagankovo, ordering it in Italy. Although there is a “puncture” here - suicides at that time were not buried in the cemetery, especially 100 meters from the church. Although there is another version: the newlyweds drowned after the wedding while going boating in a storm. But... but legends are legends. Just like the legend about “Sonya the Golden Hand” continues, people go to the cemetery, believe, pray, bring flowers...

On the territory of the Moscow Vagankovskoye cemetery there is a gilded marble tombstone in the form of a figure of a girl without arms and head, located in the shadow of a metal palm tree. The monument was erected to the thief Sonya Zolotoy Ruchka, aka Sofia Ivanovna Blyuvshtein. According to legend, thieves from St. Petersburg and Odessa ordered the statue from a sculptor from Milan.

Sonya's grave is a place of worship for people from the criminal world. The figure of the stone girl is covered from head to toe with requests and appeals to the deceased (more often they pray for wealth and good luck): “Help me repay the debt”, “Give me luck in business”, ““I don’t want to mess around in the zone””, “Sonka, I beg you, let his son’s business be trampled!” And, apparently, something is coming true, as evidenced by the numerous “Thank you” inscriptions. Moreover, the monument is constantly being repainted due to the fact that there is simply no free space left.

Anastasia MIKULCHINA played main role in Victor Merezhko’s series “Sonka. Continuation of the legend"

It is unknown where the famous swindler is actually buried. Most likely, her real grave is on Sakhalin, where she spent several years in prison and died of a cold in 1902. However, people flock to Vagankovskoye to honor the memory of Sonya (it was said for a long time that four years after her death, the thief’s body was transported to Moscow by order of local authorities). Who is actually buried under the statue remains a mystery.

Gave birth to a granddaughter

At the fence of the Church of the Assumption Mother of God, that at the Perm Yegoshikha cemetery, there is an alley. On its edge lies a tombstone made in the form of a mask with empty eye sockets. The round grave is framed by a cast iron snake biting its own tail. On the tombstone there is an inscription: “Perm police officer Develia’s daughter Taisiya, 6 years 11 months old, died in January 1807.”

Local residents dubbed the slab “the grave of the cursed daughter.” And this is the story. Once upon a time there lived a lonely woman with her adult son Develi. They committed the terrible sin of incest. The son, unable to cope with shame, moved forever to the Perm province. And nine months later, the mother died giving birth to her daughter. Only her childless friend knew who the baby’s father was, but she decided to keep it a secret and take the girl with her. Years passed. The bachelor son served as a zemstvo police officer. One day, fate brought him to his hometown, where he fell in love with a young beauty. Develiy took her with him to Perm, where the couple later got married. Soon the couple had a daughter. The police officer's wife, like his mother, died during difficult childbirth.

When Taechka was six years old, Develi received a letter from a woman. "I'm dying. Come urgently - I want to tell you terrible secret", was the message. He arrived and found out that he had married his eldest daughter, whom his mother gave birth to. The man freaked out and chased his daughter and granddaughter out into the street, after cursing her. Less than a year had passed since the girl died. Develiy ordered her to be buried on the road near the church fence, so that everyone who came to the cemetery would trample the grave. And, they say, when the head of the snake biting its own tail is erased, then the curse will be destroyed.

But Perm residents avoid this place. They are convinced that if they look at this snake, trouble will happen in the family. For example, one man just took a photo of a tombstone and a month later his wife left him for no apparent reason, forbidding him to communicate with his son, and he himself became seriously ill.

JUST A FACT

Several years ago, a tombstone with a snake was taken to the regional museum. And a duplicate was placed on the grave. So there is nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Madness Instead of Treasures

There is in Yakutia, a few kilometers from the Alazeya fort, the village of Svatai. It was there that the “white one” was born, or, as the locals called her, the “Russian shaman” - Fekla Berezhnovaya. She had the gift of healing. At the age of 19, Thekla drowned after falling through the ice. If you believe the stories of the Yakuts, Berezhnova’s grave was never overgrown with grass and bushes. Just like fires, frequent in the forest-tundra, always stopped when they reached Thekla’s burial place. And people who came to the grave, asking for the health of their relatives, always received it.

Repeatedly local residents They saw the ghost of a crying shaman wandering along the banks of the Alazei River. In 1975, three visiting covens, having heard enough stories about Thekla, dug up her grave in search of treasures. But they found nothing. There were only a couple of iron amulets in the coffin, and a copper cross hung on the deceased. Having gotten pretty drunk out of frustration, the men threw Thekla’s remains out of the grave. Berezhnova’s revenge was not long in coming: one went crazy after two months, the other two died in terrible agony.

For a reduced sentence, go to a German doctor

One of the most famous tombstones at the Moscow Vvedensky cemetery is the grave of Doctor Fedor Haaza(born Frederich Joseph Haas). He served as the chief prison doctor in Moscow and received large fees. But at the end of his life, all Haaz had left of the estate and his rich crew was a spyglass. The “holy doctor” (as he was popularly called) spent all the money on prisoners and improving their living conditions.

Often Fyodor Petrovich knelt before officials to beg for forgiveness for the arrested person and not to leave the child without a father. Haaz walked thousands of kilometers along the Vladimirsky Highway along with those sentenced to exile. The doctor controlled the attitude of the guards towards the prisoners and did not give them offense. Out of compassion for the prisoners, he even developed a lighter version of the shackles, testing them on himself.

Now relatives of the convicted come to Fyodor Petrovich’s grave to ask for a mitigation of their sentences. They also beg that the prisoner does not have problems in the zone. After their release, the prisoners themselves go to Haaz’s grave to help them start a normal life.

He treated with his gaze

Hundreds of pilgrims come to Rylsk, 120 kilometers from Kursk, every year to venerate the elder’s grave. Hippolyta. Father helps to cope with bad habits, find true love, and get pregnant.

The former rector of the St. Nicholas Monastery, Archimandrite Ippolit, was known among the people as a miracle worker. Locals said that the priest could determine what was troubling a person without asking. And without touching, heal from any ailment. So, one day a woman came to the elder with her son, who had AIDS. The priest crossed the young man with his index finger, looked intently into his eyes and sent him on his way. Upon arrival home, the guy took tests - the diagnosis was not confirmed.

The archimandrite died of a massive heart attack on March 17, 2002. During the funeral, a rainbow shone in the sky. And the oak cross on the grave streamed myrrh several times.

Three times around the chapel

Patroness of St. Petersburg and family ties Ksenia the Blessed can fulfill any wish. You need to write a request on a piece of paper, and then walk around the chapel located above her grave at the Smolensk cemetery three times. Then put this note under the box with candles. Ksenyushka, like Matrona of Moscow, helps to get rid of infertility and connect with your lover, even if it seems almost impossible.

Culinary secrets

In 2008, a tombstone was discovered at the Moscow Vvedensky cemetery Lucien Olivier, the same one who came up with your favorite New Year's salad. A native of Provence, he made an enchanting career in Moscow, surprising the guests of his Hermitage restaurant with exquisite dishes, the unique taste of which was given by spicy sauces (Olivier kept the ingredients in the strictest confidence).

It is believed that if a cook comes to Olivier’s grave, the position of chef will not be long in coming. Restaurateurs also go to the Frenchman. They say that at the dawn of his career he Arkady Novikov I went to Lucien to ask for help in business. And it is already a tradition for students of culinary colleges to visit a famous chef before the session. Luck smiles especially broadly on those of them who come with a gift: a cake or candy - Olivier had a sweet tooth.

An erection will save you from infertility

Buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery French journalist Victor Noir, shot at age 22 by his nephew Napoleon on the eve of the wedding. They say that Victor had no equal in bed. He could turn the head of any lady and had many illegitimate children. According to eyewitnesses, Noir had an erection in the morgue. Word of the miracle spread throughout the world. It is believed that if you rub the bulge in the pants area of ​​Victor's tombstone and kiss him on the lips, Noir's spirit will cure his infertility. And if you saddle the bronze handsome man...

Think about it!

There is a legend that if you independently (without maps or a navigator) find a grave in the Prague Jewish Cemetery Yehuda Liweh Ben Bezalel(he was the chief rabbi of the Czech capital and died at 97 years old), put a pebble on it, make a wish, and it will definitely come true.

Just a fact

They say that kissing the tombstones of the lead singer of The Doors helps in matters of love. Jim Morrison and writer Oscar Wilde.

Real name - Sheindlya-Sura Leibova Solomoniak-Blumstein (1846 - ?). An inventive thief, a swindler, capable of transforming into a society lady, a nun or a simple servant. She was called “the devil in a skirt,” “a demonic beauty whose eyes enchant and hypnotize.”

The journalist Vlas Doroshevich, popular at the end of the 19th century, called the legendary adventuress “all-Russian, almost European famous.” And Chekhov paid attention to her in the book "Sakhalin".

Sofya Bluvshtein, whose maiden name was Sheindlya-Sura Leibova Solomoniak, did not live in freedom for too long - hardly forty years. But when she started as a girl with petty thefts, she didn’t stop until Sakhalin. She has achieved perfection in the game. And talent, beauty, cunning and absolute immorality made this young provincial woman a genius of a scam, a legendary adventurer.

The Golden Hand was mainly involved in thefts in hotels, jewelry stores, and hunted on trains, traveling around Russia and Europe. Smartly dressed, with someone else's passport, she appeared in the best hotels in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Warsaw, carefully studying the location of rooms, entrances, exits, and corridors. Sonya invented a method of hotel theft called "guten morgen". She put felt shoes on her shoes and, silently moving along the corridors, entered someone else's room early in the morning. While the owner was fast asleep before dawn, she quietly “cleaned out” his cash. If the owner unexpectedly woke up, an elegant lady in expensive jewelry, as if not noticing the “outsider,” began to undress, as if mistakenly mistaking the room for her own... It all ended in skillfully staged embarrassment and mutual shuffling. This is how Sonya ended up in a provincial hotel room. Looking around, she noticed a sleeping young man, pale as a sheet, with an exhausted face. She was struck not so much by the expression of extreme suffering as by the amazing resemblance of the young man to Wolf - whose sharp face could never depict anything close to true moral torment.

On the table lay a revolver and a fan of letters. Sonya read one - to her mother. The son wrote about the theft of government money: the loss was discovered, and suicide is the only way to avoid dishonor, the ill-fated Werther informed his mother. Sonya placed five hundred rubles on top of the envelopes, pressed them with her revolver and just as quietly left the room.

Sonya's broad nature was not alien to good deeds - if her whimsical thought at these moments turned to those whom she loved. Who, if not her own distant daughters, stood before her eyes when Sonya learned from the newspapers that she had completely robbed the unfortunate widow, the mother of two girls. These 5,000 stolen rubles were a lump sum benefit for the death of her husband, a minor official. Sonya didn’t think twice: she sent the widow five thousand and a small letter by mail. “Dear Madam! I read in the newspapers about the grief that befell you, which I was the cause of due to my unbridled passion for money, I am sending you your 5,000 rubles and I advise you to hide your money deeper in the future. Once again I ask for your forgiveness, I send my regards to your poor orphans.”

One day the police found her in Sonya’s Odessa apartment. original dress, made specifically for shoplifting. It was, in essence, a bag in which even a small roll of Expensive fabric could be hidden. Sonya demonstrated her special skills in jewelry stores. In the presence of many buyers and with the help of her “agents”, who cleverly distracted the attention of clerks, she quietly hid precious stones under specially grown long nails, replacing the diamond rings with fake ones, hid the stolen goods in a pot of flowers standing on the counter, so that the next day she could come and pick up the stolen goods.

A special page in her life is occupied by thefts on trains - individual first class compartments. Bankers, foreign businessmen, large landowners, even generals became victims of the fraudster - for example, she stole 213,000 rubles from Frolov on the Nizhny Novgorod Railway.

Exquisitely dressed, Sonya sat in the compartment, playing the role of a marquise, countess or rich widow. Having won over her fellow travelers and pretending that she was succumbing to their advances, the impostor marquise talked a lot, laughed and flirted, waiting for the victim to begin to fall asleep. However, captivated by the appearance and sexual appeals of the frivolous aristocrat, the rich gentlemen did not fall asleep for a long time. And then Sonya used sleeping pills - intoxicating perfumes with a special substance, opium in wine or tobacco, bottles of chloroform, etc. From one Siberian merchant, Sonya stole three hundred thousand rubles (huge money at that time).

She loved to go to the famous Nizhny Novgorod fair, but often traveled to Europe, Paris, Nice, preferred German-speaking countries: Germany, Austria-Hungary, rented luxury apartments in Vienna, Budapest, Leipzig, Berlin.

Sonya was not particularly beautiful. She was small in stature, but had an elegant figure and regular facial features; her eyes radiated a sexually hypnotic attraction. Vlas Doroshevich, who talked with the adventuress on Sakhalin, noted that her eyes were “wonderful, infinitely pretty, soft, velvety... and they spoke in such a way that they could even lie perfectly.”

Sonya constantly wore makeup, false eyebrows, wigs, wore expensive Parisian hats, original fur capes, mantillas, and decorated herself with jewelry, for which she had a weakness. She lived on a grand scale. Favorite places Her holidays were Crimea, Pyatigorsk and the foreign resort of Marienbad, where she posed as a titled person, fortunately she had a set of different business cards. She did not count money, did not save for a rainy day. So, having arrived in Vienna in the summer of 1872, she pawned some of the things she had stolen in a pawnshop and, having received 15 thousand rubles as bail, spent it in an instant.

Gradually she got bored of working alone. She put together a gang of relatives, ex-husbands, thief in law Berezin and Swedish-Norwegian citizen Martin Jacobson. Members of the gang unconditionally obeyed the Golden Hand.

Mikhail Osipovich Dinkevich, the father of the family, a respectable gentleman, after 25 years of exemplary service as the director of the men's gymnasium in Saratov, was dismissed. Mikhail Osipovich decided to move to his homeland, Moscow, with his daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren. The Dinkevichs sold the house, added to their savings, and accumulated 125 thousand for a small house in the capital.

While walking around St. Petersburg, the retired director turned into a pastry shop and in the doorway almost knocked over an elegant beauty who had dropped her umbrella in surprise. Dinkevich involuntarily noted that before him was not just a St. Petersburg beauty, but a woman of an exceptionally noble breed, dressed with the simplicity that is achieved only by very expensive tailors. Her hat alone was worth the annual salary of a gymnasium teacher.

Ten minutes later they were drinking coffee with cream at the table, the beauty was pinching a biscuit, Dinkevich had the courage to have a glass of liqueur. When asked about the name, the beautiful stranger answered:

"Exactly".

“Oh, Sofya Ivanovna, if only you knew how drawn I am to Moscow.”

And Mikhail Osipovich, suddenly experiencing a surge of confidence, explained his needs to the countess - about a pension, and about a modest capital, and about a dream about a Moscow mansion, not the most luxurious, but worthy of a good family...

“And you know what, my dear Mikhail Osipovich...” the Countess decided after a moment’s thought, “my husband and I are looking for a reliable buyer. The Count has been appointed to Paris as His Majesty’s Ambassador...”

“But Countess! I can’t even handle your mezzanine! You have a mezzanine, don’t you?”

“We have,” Timrot grinned. “We have a lot of things. But my husband is the chamberlain of the court. Should we bargain? You, I see, are a noble, educated, experienced man. I wouldn’t want any other owner for Bebut’s nest... "

“So your father is General Bebutov, a Caucasian hero?!” - Dinkevich was alarmed.

“Vasily Osipovich is my grandfather,” Sofya Ivanovna modestly corrected and rose from the table. “So when will you deign to look at the house?”

We agreed to meet in five days on the train where Dinkevich would board in Klin.

Sonya remembered this town well, or rather, the small station, since out of the whole city she knew only the police station. Sonya always remembered her first adventure with pleasure. At that time she was not even twenty, and with her small stature and grace, she looked sixteen. It was six years later that they began to call her the Golden Hand, when Sheindlya Solomoniak, the daughter of a small moneylender from the Warsaw district, became famous as the think tank and financial god of “raspberries” of international proportions. And then she had only talent, irresistible charm and the school of the “family nest”, which she was no less proud of than Countess Timrot, the Nest not of a general, but of a thieve, where she grew up among moneylenders, buyers of stolen goods, thieves and smugglers. She was at their beck and call, easily learning their languages: Yiddish, Polish, Russian, German. I watched them. And like a true artistic nature, she was imbued with the spirit of adventure and merciless risk.

Well, then, in 1866, she was a modest thief “in trust” on the railroad. By this time, Sonya had already managed, by the way, to run away from her first husband, the merchant Rosenbad, taking not so much for the trip - five hundred rubles. Somewhere “among people” her little daughter was growing up.

So, approaching Klin, in a third-class carriage, where she was doing small things, Sonya noticed a handsome cadet. She sat down, bowed, flattered him with “colonel” and so innocently looked at his cockade, sparkling boots and suitcase next to them with all her eyes (the power of which she already knew well) that the young military man immediately felt the impulse characteristic of all men encountered on Sonya’s path: to protect and take care of this girl with the face of a fallen angel - if possible, until the end of her days.

At the Klin station it cost her nothing to send a conquered cadet - well, let's say, for lemonade.

This was the first and last time, when Sonya was caught red-handed. But even here she managed to get out. At the police station, she burst into tears, and everyone, including Misha Gorozhansky, who had been duped and had fallen behind the train, believed that the girl had taken her fellow passenger’s suitcase by mistake, confusing it with her own. Moreover, in the protocol there was a statement from “Sima Rubinshtein” about the loss of three hundred rubles from her.

A few years later, Sonya went to the Maly Theater. And in the brilliant Glumov I suddenly recognized my Klin “client”. Mikhail Gorozhansky, in full accordance with his pseudonym - Reshimov - abandoned his military career for the theater and became the leading actor of Maly. Sonya bought a huge bouquet of roses, put a witty note in it: “To a great actor from his first teacher,” and got ready to send it to the premiere. But on the way, I couldn’t resist and added a gold watch from a nearby pocket to the offering. Still young, Mikhail Reshimov never understood who played a prank on him and why the cover of the expensive souvenir was engraved: “General-in-Chief N for special services to the fatherland on his seventieth birthday.”

But let’s return to “Countess” Sophia Timrot. In Moscow, as expected, she was greeted by a chic departure: a coachman all in white, a gig sparkling with patent leather and lush coats of arms, and a classic pair of bay horses. We stopped by the Dinkevich family on the Arbat - and soon the buyers, as if not daring to enter, crowded at the cast-iron gates, behind which stood a palace on a stone plinth with the promised mezzanine.

Holding their breath, the Dinkevichs examined bronze lamps, Pavlovian chairs, mahogany, a priceless library, carpets, oak panels, Venetian windows... The house was sold with furnishings, a garden, outbuildings, a pond - and for only 125 thousand, including mirror carps! Dinkevich's daughter was on the verge of fainting. Mikhail Osipovich himself was ready to kiss the hands not only of the countess, but also of the monumental butler in a powdered wig, as if specially called upon to complete the moral defeat of the provincials.

The maid with a bow handed the countess a telegram on a silver tray, and she, squinting myopically, asked Dinkevich to read it aloud: “In the coming days, presentation to the king, presentation of credentials period, according to the protocol, together with his wife, period, urgently sell the house, leave, period, I’m looking forward to Wednesday, Grigory.”

The "Countess" and the buyer went to the notary's office on Lenivka. When Dinkevich followed Sonya into the darkish reception room, the obliging fat man quickly jumped up to meet them, opening his arms.

This was Itska Rosenbad, Sonya’s first husband and the father of her daughter. Now he was a buyer of stolen goods and specialized in stones and watches. The cheerful Itska adored the clinking breguettes and always had two favorite Bure with him: a gold one, with an engraved hunting scene on the lid, and a platinum one, with a portrait of the Emperor in an enamel medallion. On this watch, Itska once beat an inexperienced Chisinau plucker by almost three hundred rubles. To celebrate, he kept both braces for himself and loved to open them at the same time, checking the time and listening to the gentle discord of the ringing. Rosenbud did not hold a grudge against Sonya; he forgave her five hundred rubles a long time ago, especially since, based on her tips, he had already received a hundred times more. He paid the woman who raised his girl generously and visited her daughter often, unlike Sonya (Although later, having already had two daughters, Sonya became the most tender mother, did not skimp on their upbringing and education - neither in Russia, nor later in France. However, her adult daughters disowned her.)

Having met two years after the young wife’s escape, the former spouses began to “work” together. Itska, with his cheerful disposition and artistic Warsaw chic, often provided Sonya with invaluable help.

So, the notary, aka Itska, losing his glasses, rushed to Sonya. “Countess!” he cried. “What an honor! Such a star in my pitiful establishment!”

Five minutes later, the notary's young assistant drew up a bill of sale in elegant handwriting. The retired Mr. Director handed over to Countess Timrot, née Bebutova, every penny of the savings of his respectable life. 125 thousand rubles. And two weeks later, two tanned gentlemen came to the Dinkevichs, who were stunned with happiness. These were the Artemyev brothers, fashionable architects, who rented out their house while traveling around Italy. Dinke-vich hanged himself in cheap rooms...

Sonya's main assistants in this case were captured a couple of years later. Itska Rosenbad and Mikhel Bluvshtein (butler) went to prison companies, Khunya Goldshtein (coachman) went to prison for three years, and then went abroad “with a ban on returning to the Russian state.” Sonya loved working with her family and ex-husbands. All three were no exceptions: not only the Warsaw resident Itska, but also both “Romanian subjects” were at one time legally married to “mother”.

She came across more than once. Sonya was tried in Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Kharkov, but she always managed to either cleverly escape from the police station or achieve an acquittal. However, the police were hunting for her in many cities Western Europe. Let's say, in Budapest, by order of the Royal Court of Justice, all her belongings were seized; In 1871, the Leipzig police transferred Sonya to the supervision of the Russian Embassy. She escaped this time too, but was soon detained by the Viennese police, who confiscated her chest of stolen items.

Thus began a streak of misfortune; her name often appeared in the press, and photographs of her were posted in police stations. It became increasingly difficult for Sonya to disappear into the crowd and maintain her freedom with the help of bribes.

She shone during the happy times of her stellar career in Europe, but Odessa was the city of luck and love for her...

Wolf Bromberg, a twenty-year-old sharper and raider, nicknamed Vladimir Kochubchik, had an inexplicable power over Sonya. He extorted large sums of money from her. Sonya took unnecessary risks more often than before, became greedy, irritable, and even descended to pickpocketing. Not too handsome, from the category of “pretty” men with a mustache shaved into a thread, narrow in bone, with lively eyes and virtuoso hands - he was the only one who once risked setting Sonya up. On the day of her angel, September 30, Wolf decorated the neck of his mistress with a velvet with a blue diamond , which was taken as bail from an Odessa jeweler. The collateral was a mortgage on part of the house on Lanzheron. The cost of the house was four thousand more than the cost of the stone - and the jeweler paid the difference in cash. A day later, Wolf unexpectedly returned the diamond, announcing that the gift was not to the lady’s taste. Half an hour later, the jeweler discovered the fake, and an hour later he established that there was no house on Lanzheron. When he broke into Bromberg’s rooms on Moldavanka, Wolf “admitted” that Sonya had given him a copy of the stone and that she had concocted the false pledge. The jeweler went to see Sonya not alone, but with a police officer.

Her trial lasted from December 10 to December 19, 1880 in the Moscow District Court. Feigning noble indignation, Sonya desperately fought with the judicial officials, not admitting either the charges or the presented material Evidence. Despite the fact that witnesses identified her from a photograph, Sonya stated that Zolotaya Ruchka was a completely different woman, and she lived on the means of her husband and familiar fans. Sonya was especially outraged by the revolutionary proclamations planted in her apartment by the police. In a word, she behaved in such a way that the jury later attorney A Shmakov, recalling this trial, called her a woman capable of “putting a good hundred men in her belt.”

And yet, according to the court’s decision, she received a harsh sentence: “The Warsaw bourgeois Sheindlya-Sura Leibova Rosenbad, aka Rubinstein, aka Shkolnik, Brenner and Bluvshtein, née Solomoniak, having been deprived of all rights to her fortune, be exiled to a settlement in the most remote places of Siberia.”

The place of exile was the remote village of Luzhki, Irkutsk province, from where in the summer of 1885 Sonya escaped, but five months later she was captured by the police. For escaping from Siberia, she was sentenced to three years of hard labor and 40 lashes. However, even in prison, Sonya did not waste time; she fell in love with the tall prison guard, non-commissioned officer Mikhailov, with a lush mustache. He gave his passion a civilian dress and on the night of June 30, 1886, brought her out. But Sonya only enjoyed four months freedom. After a new arrest, she ended up in the Nizhny Novgorod prison castle. Now she had to serve a hard sentence on Sakhalin.

She couldn’t live without a man, and even at the stage she became friends with a fellow convict, a brave, hardened elderly thief and murderer, Blokha.

On Sakhalin, Sonya, like all women, at first lived as a free resident. Accustomed to expensive “luxuries” of the European class, to fine linen and chilled champagne, Sonya slipped a penny to the guard soldier to let her into the dark barracks entryway, where she met with Blokha . During these short meetings, Sonya and her seasoned roommate developed an escape plan.

I must say that escaping Sakhalin was not such a difficult task. This was not the first time that Blokha had fled and knew that from the taiga, where three dozen people work under the supervision of one soldier, it would cost nothing to get through the hills to the north, to the narrowest place of the Tatar Strait between Capes Pogobi and Lazarev. And there is desolation, you can put together a raft and move to the mainland. But Sonya, who even here had not gotten rid of her passion for theatrical adventures, and was also afraid of days of hunger, came up with her own version. They will follow the well-trodden and lived-in path, but they will not hide, but will play a game of convict assignment: Sonya in a soldier’s dress will “escort Flea.” The recidivist killed the guard, and Sonya changed into his clothes.

The flea was caught first. Sonya, who continued her journey alone, got lost and went to the cordon. But this time she was lucky. The doctors of the Alexander Infirmary insisted on removing corporal punishment from the Golden Hand: she turned out to be pregnant. Bloch received forty lashes and was shackled in hand and leg shackles. When they flogged him, he shouted: “For my cause, your honor, for my cause! That’s what I need!”

Sonya Zolotoy Ruchka's pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Her further imprisonment in Sakhalin resembled a delirious dream. Sonya was accused of fraud; she was involved - as a leader - in the case of the murder of settler-shopkeeper Nikitin.

Finally, in 1891, for the second escape, she was handed over to the terrible Sakhalin executioner Komlev. Stripped naked, surrounded by hundreds of prisoners, under their encouraging hooting, the executioner inflicted fifteen lashes on her. Not a sound was uttered by Sonya. The Golden Hand crawled to her room and fell onto the bunk. For two years and eight months, Sonya wore hand shackles and was kept in a damp solitary confinement cell with a dim, tiny a window covered with a fine lattice.

Chekhov described her this way in the book “Sakhalin”, “a small, thin, already graying woman with a rumpled old woman’s face... She walks around her cell from corner to corner, and it seems that she is constantly sniffing the air, like a mouse in a mousetrap, and her facial expression is mousey." At the time of the events described by Chekhov, that is, in 1891, Sofya Bluvshtein was only forty-five years old...

Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka was visited by writers, journalists, and foreigners. For a fee you were allowed to talk to her. She didn’t like to talk, she lied a lot, and was confused about her memories. Exotic lovers took pictures with her in a composition: a convict woman, a blacksmith, a warden - it was called “Shackling by Hand.” famous Sonya Golden Hand." One of these photographs, sent to Chekhov by Innokenty Ignatievich Pavlovsky, a Sakhalin photographer, is kept in the State Literary Museum.

After serving her sentence, Sonya was supposed to remain on Sakhalin as a free settler. She became the owner of the local "café-chantant", where she brewed kvass, sold vodka under the counter and organized fun evenings with dancing. At the same time, she became friends with the cruel repeat offender Nikolai Bogdanov, but life with him was worse than hard labor. Sick, embittered, she decided to escape again and left Aleksandrovsk. She walked about two miles and, having lost strength, fell. The guards found her. A few days later the Golden Hand died.

And on Sakhalin, legends multiplied one after another. Many believed that the real Sonya escaped along the road, and her “replacement” ended up in hard labor. Anton Chekhov and Vlas Doroshevich, who spoke with Sonya on Sakhalin, noticed the age discrepancy between the legendary Sonya Bluvshtein and the “person in hard labor.” They also talked about the prisoner’s bourgeois mentality. And, as we remember, Sonya was very smart and educated even for high society.

In the 20s, Nepmen used to scare each other with it. But at that time, numerous followers acted under the name Sonya, often acting simply as guides. They were far from Sonya's talents. Yes, and the time was different. Residents of Odessa claim that the Golden Hand lived under a different name in Odessa on Prokhorovskaya Street and died only in 1947.

And in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery there is a monument to Sonya. Female figure in full height made of a piece of white marble walks in the shade of forged palm trees. This sculpture was specially commissioned from a Milanese master and then brought to Russia (they say it was done by Odessa, Neapolitan and London swindlers). There are also many secrets around this grave. There are always fresh flowers and scatterings of coins on it. Inscriptions from “grateful thieves” often appear. True, over the past 20 years, out of three palm trees, only one has remained. And the sculpture is without a head. They say that during a drunken fight, Sonya was dropped and her head was taken away.

This woman had a special criminal talent. She played such brilliant combinations that she easily stole a lot of money literally from under the noses of the rich, and at the same time managed not to leave even the slightest trace. Having no education, she knew 5 languages ​​perfectly. Every man could envy her indestructible fortitude and sharpness of mind.

What was she like?

Sheindlya-Sura Solomoniak, and this was the real name of Sofia Ivanovna Blyuvshtein, or Sonya the Golden Hand, was born in 1846 in the town of Powonzki of the then Warsaw district. Her childhood years were spent among traders and buyers of stolen goods - moneylenders, profiteers and smugglers.

The biography of Sonya - the Golden Hand, the photo of which is posted in this article, was full of many events of a criminal nature. According to contemporaries, she was a charming woman, but she did not shine with beauty. She had an extraordinary inner charm that was impossible to resist.

As you know, Sofya Bluvshtein did not receive an education as a child. However, over time, the life she led turned her into almost the most enlightened woman of that era. Aristocrats not only of the Russian Empire, but also of many European countries, without the slightest hesitation, accepted her as a lady of their circle. That is why she could freely travel abroad, where she presented herself as a viscountess, a baroness, or even a countess. At the same time, her belonging to high society no one had the slightest doubt.

Criminal talent

By the way, a prison photo of the real Sonya, the Golden Hand, has been preserved, as well as police directions used to search for the criminal. They described a woman who was 1.53 cm tall, with a pockmarked face, a wart on her right cheek and a moderate nose with wide nostrils. She was a brunette with curly hair on her forehead, from under which moving eyes looked. She usually spoke impudently and arrogantly.

Sonya Zolotaya - Hand, whose biography was always connected with crime, from the very beginning stood out from the large crowd of scammers, as she had a kind of thief talent. She was a proud, brave and independent adventurer who was not afraid to carry out even the most risky operations. Sonya never started a new scam without calculating the possible development of the situation in advance.

"Career" of a thief

It must be said that Sheindlya-Sura made a name for herself in the criminal field quite early. Future Queen The underworld began her “activity” with petty thefts from third-class carriages when she was approximately 13-14 years old. Along with the rapid construction and development of railway communication, her thieving career was moving uphill. Over time, this talented swindler moved to 1st class compartment carriages.

The story of Sonya the Golden Hand, whose biography is replete with various scams, was written not only on trains. She also engaged in thefts in expensive hotels and luxury jewelry stores not only in Russia, but also in Europe. This always smartly dressed woman, carrying someone else’s passport, settled in best rooms hotels in Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa and carefully studied all the entrances and exits from the building, as well as the location of all corridors and rooms.

Thieves' tricks

Sonya the Golden Hand always acted smartly, prudently and cunningly. Sophia's biography is full of various thieves' "inventions" invented by her. For example, a method called “guten morgen” or “good morning”. This method of hotel theft was carried out in this way: early morning Sonya, wearing soft felt shoes, quietly made her way into one of the rooms, and while its owner was fast asleep, she took all his cash. But if the guest unexpectedly woke up, he would find a smartly dressed lady in expensive jewelry in his chambers. She, pretending not to notice anyone, began to slowly undress. At the same time, the owner had the impression that the woman mistakenly mistook his apartment for her own. In the end, the thief skillfully feigned embarrassment and apologized sweetly.

As for thefts from jewelry stores, Sonya the Golden Hand was able to distinguish herself here too. The thief's biography knows cases of diamond theft right from under the noses of sellers. One day she went into one of the most expensive jewelry stores. Having asked to see a large diamond, she allegedly accidentally dropped it on the floor. While the salesman, frightened to death, crawled on his knees, looking for the stone, the “customer” calmly left the store. The fact is that the heels of her shoes had holes filled with resin. Thus, by stepping on the diamond, which was stuck to the viscous substance, she pulled off this brilliant scam.

The biography of Sonya - the Golden Hand (photo) also knows such facts when she, walking with her trained pet monkey, went into jewelry shops. Allegedly, when choosing precious stones, she quietly gave one of them to the animal. The monkey either tucked it into his cheek or swallowed it. Arriving home, Sonya after a while took this jewel right out of the pot.

Fair thief

Sonya the Golden Hand, whose biography half consists of various scams, tried never to offend those who are already not rich. She believed that it was not a sin to warm your hands at the expense of very wealthy jewelers, large bankers or rogue traders.

There is one known case when Sonya behaved nobly towards a person who suffered from her so-called activities. One day she accidentally learned from a newspaper article that the woman she had robbed turned out to be the poor widow of a small employee. As it turned out, after the death of her spouse, the victim received a benefit in the amount of 5 thousand rubles. As soon as Sophia recognized her victim in her, she immediately went to the post office and sent it to the poor woman a large amount than it was stolen. In addition, she accompanied her transfer with a letter in which she deeply apologized for her actions and advised him to hide the money better.

Family life

Sheindlya-Sura got married for the first time when she was 18 years old. Her husband was the grocer Isaac Rosenband. By the way, the act of their marriage is still kept in Warsaw. But family life quickly ended - less than a year and a half had passed before she took her daughter and ran away, taking her husband’s money with her.

In 1868, Sonya married again, this time to Shelom Shkolnik, a rich old Jew. Soon, having robbed the poor guy, she left him for some card sharper. But he didn’t stay long either. Starting from this year and until 1874, the charming thief changed husbands several times until she met the carriage thief and card sharper Michel Blyuvshtein. By the way, she will bear his last name for the rest of her life.

Children of Sofia Bluvshtein

It can be said that most Sonya the Golden Hand spent her life wandering. The biography, into which the children did not fit at all, was absolutely not suitable for a respectable woman and mother. When she gave birth to a daughter, and later another, Sophia did not give up her craft. After Mikhel Bluvshtein was arrested, convicted and sent to serve his sentence at hard labor, she first thought about her “work.” Sonya finally realized that children were a burden for her.

The girls demanded a lot of love and attention, and she could not give them any of it. After her husband's arrest, she was forced to constantly move from place to place. Therefore, the decision was made: to take the children to an orphanage. While they were little, she constantly sent them money.

Some are inclined to believe that the famous thief had four children: a son and three daughters. There is a version that the oldest was Mordoch Bluvshtein, born in 1861. Further daughters are Rachel-Mary, Sura-Rivka Rosenband and Tabbu Bluvshtein. It must be said that the children of Sonya - the Golden Hand are generally very rarely mentioned in publications about her. But still, most often you can read about the last two daughters. It was about them that Sophia Bluvshtein herself spoke to the writer Doroshevich in 1897, when she was already in hard labor. She admitted that she would like to see her two girls, who, as she admitted, were once operetta actresses. It is believed that the daughters of Sonya - the Golden Hand, whose biography remains unknown to this day, were ashamed of their mother, and when they grew up, they did not want to see her at all.

Most researchers are sure that Sophia had only two daughters, and Mordoch and Rachel-Mary are simply impostors. Judge for yourself, if she gave birth to a son in 1861 (by the way, she was only 15 years old then), then his last name would definitely not be Bluvshtein, since Sonya married Michel much later.

Naturally, it is no longer possible to find Sonya’s children. But there could be grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the queen of the underworld, who, most likely, do not even know who their grandmother was.

Love story of Sonya - Golden Handle

The hitherto very successful thief unexpectedly fell in love with a young swindler nicknamed Volodya Kochubchik. His real name was Wolf Bromberg. He was a thin, handsome twenty-year-old card sharper with virtuoso hands and lively eyes. Surprisingly, he had some kind of inexplicable power over Sonya. He constantly extorted large sums of money from her, and, surprisingly, received them. He spent all the money “earned” by his mistress by losing at cards.

Luck finally turned away from the Golden Hand. Sophia has changed a lot: she has become irritable, greedy and even descended to pickpocketing. She now often took unnecessary risks, making mistake after mistake, and finally got caught. There is another version - Volodya Kochubchik himself framed her and handed her over to the police.

Hard labor

After a sensational trial in Moscow, Sofya Bluvshtein was convicted and exiled to Siberia. But soon the thief managed to escape, and all of Russia started talking about her again. She took up her former profession - robbing rich and careless citizens. After one of the robberies, Sonya was caught again. She was sentenced to hard labor and transported to Sakhalin. She tried to escape three times, but all attempts ended in failure. After the second escape, she was subjected to cruel punishment - fifteen lashes, and then she was shackled for three long years.

On Sakhalin, Sonya was a real celebrity. It was visited from time to time by ubiquitous journalists, curious foreigners and famous writers. For a fee they were allowed to talk with her. It must be said that she did not like to talk about herself, she lied a lot and was often confused in her memories.

It even became fashionable to take pictures with the legendary thief in a composition: blacksmith, warden and convict woman. It was called “Imprisonment of the notorious Sonya - the Golden Hand” in shackles. One of these photographs was sent to Chekhov by his Sakhalin acquaintance I. I. Pavlovsky. By the way, this photo of the real Sonya - the Golden Hand is still kept in the archives of the State Literary Museum.

End of the road

After serving her sentence, Sofya Bluvshtein was supposed to remain on Sakhalin Island as a free settler. It was even rumored that for some time she ran a café, where she sold alcohol and organized various entertainment events. She got along with repeat offender Nikolai Bogdanov, but life with him turned out to be worse than in hard labor. Therefore, being extremely exhausted and sick, Sophia made the last escape attempt in her life. Naturally, she was no longer able to go far, and soon a convoy found her. She lived for a few more days, after which she died.

Where is Sonya buried - Golden Hand

There are many legends about the death of the famous thief. There is a version that she did not die in hard labor, but lived happily to a ripe old age in Odessa and died only in 1947. According to other assumptions, her death overtook her in Moscow, in 1920, and she rests in the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

The last version is unlikely judging by where Sonya the Golden Hand served her sentence. The biography (the monument allegedly installed on her grave is the work of Italian masters) casts doubt on the fact that she rests here. Initially, the monument looked like this: a thin female figure, carved from white marble, stands under tall forged palm trees. Now, of the entire composition, only the statue has survived, and even that one with its head broken off. It is not known for certain who is buried in this grave, but it is always decorated with fresh flowers and strewn with coins. In addition, the entire pedestal of the monument is literally covered with inscriptions of a criminal nature.

Sofya Bluvshtein lived an unusual life. It was as if everything was the other way around: she dreamed of becoming an actress and acting on stage, but instead she staged “performances” in 1st class carriages; there was love, but it did not elevate, but dragged into the pool; constant fear for the future of her daughters, whom she loved, but could not be with them.

Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka (Sheindlya Sura Leibovna Solomoniak, Sofya Ivanovna Bluvshtein) (1847 or 1851 - presumably 1905) - according to other sources (1846-1902) swindler, adventurer, second legend of the Russian underworld half of the 19th century centuries.

Her fate is still shrouded in mystery - after all, throughout her life she was engaged in deceiving “gullible” and rich men, and according to rough estimates, she was able to earn about 6 million rubles from her adventures - an insane amount for the 19th century.

The life of Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka can only be recreated from police archives, newspaper articles and legends, of which there were many built around her name. There are many different versions of her biography and many discrepancies among different authors(including the 19th century journalist Vlas Doroshevich, Anton Chekhov, screenwriter Viktor Merezhko), who ultimately express only their vision of her confused life.

Sonya's exact date of birth is unknown. Even the year of birth is given presumably.

Sonya loved Odessa very much and lived in it for a long time, but, contrary to the assertions of many biographers, she was born not in the “city by the sea”, but in the town of Powonzki, Warsaw district - as indicated in the documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Sheindlya Sura Leibovna called herself a Warsaw bourgeois, although it is very difficult to classify her family as a respectable class. The family was, frankly, a gangster family: dad bought stolen goods, was involved in smuggling and selling counterfeit money, and the older sister Feiga was known as a clever thief, so in their house this or that successful business was discussed without hesitation.

However, the father did not want his youngest daughter to also go down a slippery slope. Therefore, in 1864, he married her to the venerable grocer Isaac Rosenbad, whose business was extremely successful. Sura was able to play the role of an obedient wife for only a year and a half, she even gave birth to a daughter, Riva, but then, unable to bear such a “boring” life, she took the child, grabbed 500 rubles from her husband’s shop and fled with the recruit Rubinstein to Russia, where her adventurous life began. criminal adventures.

Junker Gorozhansky: first failure

The first time the police detained her on charges of stealing a suitcase from the cadet Gorozhansky, whom she met on the train.

So, evening, in a third-class compartment carriage, a charming girl introduced herself: “Sima Rubinstein,” and innocently called the young cadet “Colonel,” opening her beautiful eyes wide, listening to his heroic stories, feigning sincere attention and sympathy...

They chatted all night without a break, and the cadet, completely captivated by his companion, carries two suitcases onto the platform in Klin and waves his hand at his romantic companion for a long time, leaning out of the carriage door... Only after returning to the compartment, the poor cadet noticed that he had taken out... his suitcase, which contained his savings and money given to him by his father.

Sim was quickly captured and taken to the police station. But when she burst into tears, declaring: “As you could only think,” “It’s just an annoying misunderstanding,” “How can you say that,” everyone, including the robbed cadet, believed that it was just an annoying misunderstanding.

Sima was not convicted, but was given bail to the owner of the hotel where she stayed and who was very a short time managed to completely charm. Moreover, in the interrogation protocol there was a handwritten statement from “Sima Rubinshtein” about... the loss of 300 rubles from her!

After the first failure, Sima (or rather Sonya, Sophia - as she soon began to call herself) became extremely cautious.

And this story had an unexpected continuation. Many years later, Sonya was at a performance at the Maly Theater, where they staged “Woe from Wit,” and in one of the main characters she unexpectedly recognized her first client! Young Misha Gorozhansky decided to radically change his own destiny and became an actor, taking the pseudonym Reshimov, and was able to succeed quite well in his new field.

Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka experienced an attack of sentimentality and sent the actor a huge bouquet, enclosing a note: “To the great actor from his first teacher.” But unable to resist the temptation, she attached a gold breguet to the bouquet, which she immediately pulled out from some general’s pocket. Gorozhansky-Reshimov puzzled for a long time over both the note and the expensive gift, on which was engraved in large twisted letters “To Dear Leopold on his sixtieth birthday.”

Operation Huten Morgen

Sonya made her first successes in the criminal field in St. Petersburg. They say it was there that she was able to come up with new way hotel thefts, which she called “guten morgen” - “good morning!”

A beautiful, expensively and elegantly dressed lady checked into the best hotel in the city and took a closer look at the guests, simultaneously studying the layout of the rooms. When Sonya chose a victim, she put on felt slippers, an open sexy peignoir and quietly entered the guest's room. She was looking for money and jewelry, and if a guest suddenly woke up, Sonya, as if not noticing him, yawned and stretched, began to undress, pretending to have the wrong number...

A charming, sophisticated lady in sparkling jewelry - who would even think that she was dealing with a thief. “Noticing” a strange man, she was very embarrassed, began to wrap herself in thin lace, embarrassing the man, everyone mutually apologized and went their separate ways... But if the man was attractive, Sonya easily used her sexual charms, and when her new lover tiredly fell asleep, she she calmly took the money and ran away.

She handed over the stolen jewelry to a “fed” jeweler who knew about her craft.

Perhaps Sonya could not be called a true beauty, but she was charming and unusually attractive, which sometimes has a stronger effect on men than cold beauty. Eyewitnesses said she looked "hypnotically sexy."

By the way, after a wave of “guten morgen” thefts, Sonya began to have followers. In all major cities of Russia, “hipesniki” began to work - thieves who distracted the client with sex. True, the hipsters didn’t have such a flight of fancy as Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka did - they “worked” without a spark, primitively, rudely... The woman began love game and lured the client, and the man pulled out money and jewelry from his clothes left nearby.

If you believe the thieves' legends, the St. Petersburg hipster Marfushka, who hunted in St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, accumulated a capital of 100,000 rubles! Most often, such couples went bankrupt due to the fault of the women - offended by the division of the spoils, they turned their partners over to the police and... went to prison themselves.

Robbery of jeweler Karl von Meil

Sonya put on a whole performance of her robberies - a real performance. Take, for example, the robbery of the richest jeweler Karl von Meil.

A charming thoroughbred woman with refined manners and bottomless black eyes walks into a jewelry store. Real socialite. The owner of the store, von Meil, showers her with pleasantries, anticipating big profits. The young lady introduces herself as the wife of the famous psychiatrist L. and asks the owner, “guided by your exquisite taste, to find me something suitable from the latest French collection of diamonds.”

Oh, how is it possible to refuse a woman with such eyes and manners!.. Von Meil ​​immediately offers the customer a luxurious necklace, several rings and rings and a large sparkling brooch, for a total of 30,000 rubles (do not forget that then 1,000 rubles was a very large sum!).

“But you’re not deceiving me? Did this actually come from Paris?”

The charming madam left her business card and asked the jeweler to come to them tomorrow to make a payment.

The next day, the perfumed and pomaded jeweler stood minute by minute at the door of the mansion. The doctor's charming wife greeted him kindly, asked him to go to her husband's office for the final payment, and she herself asked for a box of jewelry so she could immediately try it on with her evening dress. She led the jeweler into her husband’s office, smiled at both of them and left the men alone.

What are you complaining about? - the doctor asked sternly.

Yes, insomnia sometimes torments me... - von Meil ​​said in confusion. - But excuse me, I didn’t come to you to talk about my health, but to finish buying diamonds.

“I’ve gone completely crazy…” the jeweler decided, and said out loud angrily:

Take the trouble to pay for the diamonds! What kind of show are you putting on here?! Pay me immediately, or I will be forced to take the jewelry from your wife, and immediately. Police!..

Orderlies! - the doctor shouted, and two strapping guys in white coats immediately tied up poor von Meil.

Only a few hours later, hoarse from screams and exhausted from trying to break out of the straitjacket, the jeweler was able to calmly explain his version of what happened to the psychiatrist. In turn, the doctor told him that the lady whom both of them had seen for the first time came to his office and said that her husband, the famous jeweler von Meyl, was completely obsessed with diamonds. She made an appointment for her jeweler husband and paid in advance for two treatment sessions...

When the police visited the jeweler, Sonya was already gone...

Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka generally had a strong passion for jewelry and herself wore them all the time - of course, not stolen jewelry, but “clean” jewelry. Looking at the lady with a ring worth the cost of their annual salary, jewelry store clerks could not even think that they should be particularly vigilant. With the help of assistants, Sonya distracted the attention of the sellers, and she herself hid the stones under long false nails (that’s when the fashion for nail extensions “appeared”) or replaced real stones with specially prepared (and similar) fake glass.

Once, during a search of one of Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka’s apartments, detectives found there a specially tailored dress, the underskirt of which was sewn to the upper dress in such a way that it looked like two huge pockets, where even a small roll of precious velvet or brocade

In the intervals between her adventures, Sonya managed to get married again - to the old rich Jew Shelom Shkolnik, whom she probably left for her new lover Michel Brener. Soon she was almost caught red-handed in St. Petersburg (she ran away from the reception area of ​​the Liteinaya part, leaving behind all the confiscated things and money). Bad luck. Maybe it's time to go on an "international tour"?

She traveled to major European cities, posing as a Russian aristocrat (with her thoroughbred appearance, exquisite taste and ability to speak fluent Yiddish, German, French, Russian, and Polish, this was not at all difficult). She lived in grand style - in one day she could spend 15,000 rubles, for which she received the nickname Golden Hand in thieves' circles.

Sonya carefully prepared for each of her scams - she used wigs, false eyebrows, skillfully used makeup, and to “create an image” she used expensive furs, Parisian dresses and hats and jewelry, for which she had a genuine passion.

But main reason Her luck was, nevertheless, her undoubted acting talent and subtle knowledge of human, or more precisely, male psychology.

Palace - for free

The day was beautiful, and Mikhail Dinkevich, the retired director of the Saratov gymnasium, decided to take a walk around St. Petersburg. He was in a great mood - after 25 years of service, having saved 125,000 for a small mansion, he decided to return to his homeland in Moscow with his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.

Feeling hungry, he decided to go into a pastry shop and at the door almost knocked over a beautiful stranger, who dropped her purse and umbrella.

Dinkevich picked them up and apologized, but noted to himself that the woman was not only beautiful, but also noble. And the apparent simplicity of her clothes, probably made by the best tailors in the capital, only emphasized her charm.

To make amends (but is that the only reason?), he invited the stranger to drink coffee with him, and he himself ordered a glass of cognac. The lady introduced herself as a countess of a famous Moscow family. In a fit of extraordinary trust, Dinkevich told the stranger absolutely everything - about the dream of a house in Moscow, and about the accumulated 125,000. To which the countess, after thinking for a few seconds, said that her husband had been appointed ambassador to Paris, and they had just begun to look for a buyer for your mansion.

Having not completely lost the ability to think soberly, the retired director reasonably noted that his money was unlikely to be enough even for an extension to their mansion. To which the countess gently said that they did not need money, they would only like their family estate to be in good hands. Dinkevich could not resist this argument, supported by a gentle handshake and a look from velvet eyes. They agreed to meet on the train heading to Moscow.

In Moscow, a sparkling gilded carriage with monograms and coats of arms and an important coachman in white robes were waiting for the countess. The Dinkevich family was already in Moscow, so he and the Countess picked them up and then went to her mansion. Behind the lacy cast-iron fence stood a real palace! The provincial family, with their mouths open, looked around the spacious halls with mahogany furniture, cozy boudoirs with gilded chaise longues, lancet windows, bronze candlesticks, a park... a pond with carps... a garden with flower beds - and all for just 125,000!..

Not only his hands, but also his feet, Dinkevich was ready to kiss for such wealth that unexpectedly fell on him from heaven. Just think, he will soon become the owner of all this luxury! A butler in a powdered wig bowed and reported the telegram he had received; the maid brought it in on a silver tray, but the short-sighted countess could not make out the lines:

Please read it.
“Leave urgently, sell the house immediately, dot, there will be a reception with the king in a week, dot.”

The Countess and the Dinkeviches went straight from the mansion to a familiar notary. The nimble fat man seemed to jump out of the dark reception room to meet them:

What an honor, Countess! Do I dare to welcome you into my humble establishment?..

While the notary's assistant completed all the proper paperwork, the notary kept them busy with small talk. All 125,000 were transferred to the countess in the presence of a notary, and the Dinkevichs became the legal owners of the luxurious mansion...

Of course, you already guessed that the countess was played by Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka herself, and the other roles (coachman, butler, maid) were her accomplices. By the way, the “role” of the notary was played by Sonya’s first husband, Isaac Rosenbad, who had long ago forgiven her for the 500 rubles that she stole from him. A couple of years after her escape, he became a buyer of stolen goods, and most of all he loved to deal with expensive watches and precious stones, and on a tip from his ex-wife, with whom he started working together, he has already received a profit 100 times more than her first “debt”.

For two weeks, the Dinkevichs could not recover from happiness and were just counting their fabulous acquisitions, until... until they received a completely unexpected visit. The gates of the mansion opened, and two tanned handsome men appeared before the family. They turned out to be fashionable architects and... the rightful owners of the palace, which they rented out during their long trip to Italy...

This story didn't end funny at all. Realizing that he had left his family without funds, having given all the money to the fraudster with his own hands, Dinkevich soon hanged himself in a cheap hotel room.

In addition to thefts in hotel rooms and large-scale scams, Sonya had another specialization - thefts on trains, comfortable first-class compartments in which wealthy businessmen, bankers, successful lawyers, wealthy landowners, colonels and generals traveled (she was able to simply steal from one industrialist an astronomical amount for those times - 213,000 rubles).

The love for theft on the railways imperceptibly turned into a love for the railway thief Mikhail Blyuvshtein. Mikhail was a Romanian citizen, a resident of Odessa and a successful thief. In this marriage, Sonya gave birth to a second daughter, Tabba (the first was raised by her husband Isaac). But this, third, official marriage of Sonya did not last long because of her flighty disposition - her husband always caught her with the prince, then with the count - and well, it would have been “work”, but no, Sonya had affairs in her free time time…

She carried out compartment thefts according to almost the same scheme. Elegantly and richly dressed, Sonya the Countess occupied the same compartment with a wealthy fellow traveler and subtly flirted with him, hinting at the possibility of a spicy adventure. When the companion relaxed, she added opium or chloroform to his drink.

This is what the materials of one criminal case say about her next crime - the robbery of the banker Dogmarov.

“I met Countess Sofia San Donato at the Franconi cafe. During the conversation, she asked to exchange her rent for 1000 rubles. In a conversation, this lady told me that today she was leaving for Moscow by eight o’clock train. I also departed from Odessa to Moscow on this train. I asked permission to accompany her on the road. The lady agreed. We agreed to meet at the carriage.

At the appointed time, I was waiting for Mrs. San Donato with a box of chocolates. Already in the carriage, the Countess asked me to buy a Benedictine from the buffet. I went out and gave instructions to the employee. My memory retains memories of the moment when I ate several candies. I don’t remember what happened next, because I fell fast asleep. Cash and securities totaling 43,000 rubles were stolen from my travel bag.”

The authority of Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka in the criminal world was so high that she was even offered to join the Russian thieves' union "Knave of Hearts", which, according to rumors, she even headed for several years. But there were also vague rumors that, in fact, Sonya’s elusiveness did not depend at all on “thieves’ luck,” but on the police, with whom she secretly collaborated, at times “ratting out” fellow craftsmen.

With age, Sonya becomes more sentimental. One day, entering a rich hotel room early in the morning, she saw an unsealed letter on the table, in which the young man sleeping on the bed confessed to his mother that he had embezzled government money, and asked her to forgive him for leaving her and his sister alone, since he could not stand the shame and must commit suicide... Next to the letter on the table lay a revolver. Apparently, after writing the letter, the young man became exhausted and fell asleep. He stole 300 rubles. Sonya put 500 rubles on the revolver and slowly left the room...

Another time her conscience awoke when, after one robbery, she learned from the newspapers that she had robbed the widow of an official with two small children, who had recently buried her husband. Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka, despite her craft and long “business trips,” loved her two daughters very much, spoiled them endlessly and paid for an expensive education for them in France. Sympathizing with the poor widow who had been robbed by her, she went to the post office and immediately sent all the stolen money and a telegram: “Dear Madam! I read in the newspaper about the misfortune that befell you. I return your money to you and advise you to hide it better in the future. Once again I ask for your forgiveness. I bow to your poor little ones."

How her luck changed

Perhaps an awakened conscience, or perhaps a new passion for the handsome young man, contributed to the fact that Sonya’s luck began to change. Time after time she made mistakes and walked on the very edge of the razor - her photographs were published in newspapers, she became very popular.

In addition, she, who had played with men as she wanted, suddenly fell in love desperately and selflessly. The hero of her heart was the 18-year-old thief Volodya Kochubchik (Wolf Bromberg), who became famous for starting to steal at the age of 8. Kochubchik, realizing his power over Sonya, stopped stealing himself, but exploited her mercilessly, taking all the money she got and losing at cards. He was capricious, spanked her, reproached her with her age - in general, he behaved like a gigolo. However, Sonya forgave him everything, idolizing his string mustache, thin nimble figure and graceful hands... and went to get money at his first request.

It was Kochubchik who set her up. On Angel's Day, he gave Sonya a pendant with a blue diamond. He didn’t have money for a gift, so he took the pendant from the jeweler as security for the house, and the jeweler also paid him the difference in cash... And a day later, Kochubchik returned the diamond, saying that he didn’t like it anymore. The puzzled jeweler did not fail to carefully examine the precious diamond. It is clear that it turned out to be fake, just like the mortgaged house, which did not exist.

The jeweler took his assistants and found Kochubchik himself. After a little scolding, he said that everything was invented by Sonya, who gave him a fake mortgage on the house, and a fake stone, and even told him where they could find Sonya.

That's how she ended up in prison. It was then, by the way, that a documented description of her appearance appeared: “Height 153 cm, face pockmarked, nose with wide nostrils, thin lips, wart on the right cheek.”

Where is the beauty who drove everyone crazy? Perhaps the police looked at her with the “wrong” eyes?.. Here’s how another eyewitness described Sonya: “... A woman of short stature, about 30 years old. She, if not beautiful now, is only pretty, pretty, still, one must assume , was a pretty piquant woman a few years ago. Rounded face shapes with a slightly upturned, somewhat wide nose, thin even eyebrows, sparkling cheerful eyes of dark color, strands dark hair, lowered onto her smooth, round forehead, involuntarily bribes everyone in her favor (...).

The suit also shows taste and dressing skills (...). She behaves extremely calmly, confidently and courageously. It is clear that she is not at all embarrassed by the court situation, she has already seen the sights and knows it all perfectly. That’s why he speaks smartly, boldly and is not embarrassed at all. The pronunciation is quite clear and full familiarity with the Russian language...”

A snow-white scarf, lace cuffs and kid gloves completed the prisoner’s look. Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka desperately fought for her freedom - she did not admit either the accusations or evidence, denied that she was the Golden Hand and lived on funds from theft - she, they say, existed on funds that her husband sent her and... on gifts lovers.

However, the public outcry was too great, there were too many crimes against her - perhaps the evidence was not enough, but the court decided to deprive her of all rights and exile her to Siberia.

And the handsome Kochubchik “for helping the investigation” received 6 months of forced labor (workhouse). Upon leaving, he gave up stealing, collected all the money that Sonya delivered to him, and soon became a wealthy homeowner.

And Sonya lived for 5 years in a remote village in the Irkutsk province. In the summer of 1885, she decided to escape. True, she didn’t have to be free for long, only 5 months, but she managed to pull off several high-profile scams in her “signature” style.

...The Courland Baroness Sophia Buxhoeveden, accompanied by noble family- a gray-haired father and a French Bonnet with a plump baby in her arms. Having picked up the collection jewelry for 25,000 rubles, the baroness suddenly remembered that “oh, what an annoying mistake” - she forgot the money at home. Taking the jewelry and leaving the baby’s father “hostage,” she hurried to get the cash. And she didn’t return... Three hours later, the jeweler was tearing out his hair - at the police station, the old man and the lady admitted that the lady had hired them through an advertisement in the newspaper.

But Sonya’s luck has now turned away forever. She was captured again and put in prison in Smolensk. For escaping from Siberia, she is sentenced to 3 years of hard labor and 40 lashes. But while the process lasted, Sonya was able to charm all the guards - she entertained them with stories from her own life, sang in French and recited poetry. Non-commissioned officer Mikhailov, a tall handsome man with a lush mustache, could not resist her charms and, secretly handing over a civilian dress, led the prisoner out of prison.

Another four months of freedom, and Sonya again found herself in prison, now in Nizhny Novgorod. She was sentenced to hard labor on Sakhalin Island.

At the stage, she became acquainted with a hardened thief and murderer nicknamed Flea and, meeting him in the barracks hallway, having previously paid money to the guard, she persuaded him to run away.

Blokha already had experience escaping from Sakhalin. He knew that escaping from there was not so difficult: it was necessary to make his way through the hills to the Tatar Strait, where the distance to the mainland was the shortest that could be crossed on a raft.

But Sonya was afraid to walk through the taiga and was afraid of hunger. Therefore, she persuaded Blokha to do differently - to dress up as a guard herself and “escort” Blokha along well-trodden roads. The flea killed the guard, Sonya changed clothes and... the plan failed. The strange guard aroused suspicion, Blokha was quickly recognized and caught, and Sonya, having managed to escape, wandered through the taiga and went straight to the cordon.

The flea was sentenced to shackles and given 40 lashes. When he was being flogged, he shouted loudly: “Get to work! Beat me for the cause, your honor!.. That’s what I need! Baba listened!..”

Sonya Zolotaya Rukka turned out to be pregnant, and the punishment was postponed, but soon she had a miscarriage, and for another escape she was punished with a flogging. The execution was carried out by the terrible Sakhalin executioner, who could break a thin log with a blow of a whip. They gave her 15 lashes, and the prisoners stood around and hooted at the “thieves’ queen.” They put shackles on her hands, which over the course of three years so disfigured her hands that she could no longer steal, and she could hardly hold a pen.

She was kept in solitary confinement, where she was visited by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, who was passing through Sakhalin. This is what he wrote in his “Sakhalin Island”:

“Of those sitting in solitary confinement, the famous Sofya Bluvshtein, the Golden Hand, who was sentenced to three years of hard labor for escaping from Siberia, especially attracts attention. She is a small, thin, already graying woman with a rumpled old woman’s face (she was only about 40!). She has shackles on her hands; on the bunk there is only a fur coat made of gray sheepskin, which serves her both as warm clothing and as a bed. She walks around her cell from corner to corner, and it seems that she is constantly sniffing the air, like a mouse in a mousetrap, and she has a mouse-like expression on her face. Looking at her, I can’t believe that just recently she was beautiful to such an extent that she charmed her jailers, as, for example, in Smolensk, where the warden helped her escape and he himself escaped with her.”

Sonya was visited by many writers and journalists visiting Sakhalin. For a fee it was even possible to take a photo with her. Sonya was very upset by this humiliation. Perhaps more than shackles and flogging.

“They tormented me with these photographs,” she admitted to journalist Doroshevich.

Many, by the way, did not believe that it was Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka who was convicted and serving hard labor; even officials thought that she was a figurehead. Doroshevich met with Sonya and, although he saw her only from photographs taken before the trial, claimed that Sonya was genuine: “Yes, these are the remains of that one. The eyes are still the same. These wonderful, infinitely pretty, velvety eyes.”

After the end of her term, Sonya remained in the settlement and became the owner of a small kvass factory. She dealt in stolen goods, sold vodka under the counter, and even organized for the settlers something like a cafe-chantan with an orchestra, to which they held dances.

But she, who lived in the best hotels in Europe, finds it difficult to come to terms with such a life, and she decided on one last escape...

She was only able to walk a few kilometers. The soldiers found her lying face down on the road leading to freedom.

After a few days of fever, Sonya died.

But faith in fairy tales and legends is so strong in people that such a prosaic death of Sonya the Golden Hand did not suit anyone. And a different fate was invented for her. Sonya allegedly lived in Odessa under a different name (and someone else went to hard labor in her place), and they even pointed out her house on Prokhorovskaya Street. And when her next lover was shot by the security officers, she drove a car along Deribasovskaya and scattered money for the funeral of the soul.

According to the second version, Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka lived out her last years in Moscow with her daughters (who actually abandoned her as soon as they learned from the newspapers that she was a thief). She was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, under an Italian monument depicting a young and beautiful woman. On this unmarked grave you can always find fresh flowers, and the base of the monument is painted with requests and confessions of the modern lads: “Teach me to live!”, “The lads remember and mourn you”, “Give happiness to Zhigan!”...

But this is just a beautiful legend...

V. Pimenova