“Crime in Kazan” and 30 mistresses of Pushkin. Funny mistakes in essays on the Unified State Examtranslated

July 13, 2026 · 1 min read

We analyze the pearls of high school students with a literature teacher

Source: Православие и мир (Pravmir) · Read the full story →

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Daniel Baker

That bit about Pushkin having 30 mistresses had me laughing out loud. My Year 10 son once wrote that “Crime and Punishment” was set in Kazan because the title sounded like “Преступление на Казани”. Kids still crack me up with this stuff every year.

Ксения Соловьёва

I also had such a “masterpiece” a couple of years ago: a girl wrote that Pushkin “had 30 mistresses and therefore died of a venereal disease.” I almost choked on my tea while checking. And about “Crime on Kazan” - it’s just a classic, Daniel is right, children come up with something new every year.

Наталья Макарова

Last year I also had a similar pearl: a boy wrote that Pushkin “died in a duel because of jealousy towards 30 mistresses at once.” I smiled and thought that Dantes would probably be very tired. And then you and that girl figured out where she got the idea about the disease?

Анастасия Попова

I also had a similar case when a student wrote that Pushkin “died of a cold after swimming in the Neva.” We sorted it out later - he was simply confused with Lermontov. But with that girl we never got to the source; she said “she read it somewhere.” Did your boy even understand why the phrase came out funny?

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