Why did Pat carry someone else's last name for half his life?
Afanasy Pat was born in 1820 and by the age of fourteen he was considered the son of a rich Oryol landowner Afanasy Shanshin from an old noble family. Then he lost both his family name and his nobility at once.
It turned out that the parents were married in Germany according to the Lutheran rite, and such a marriage had no legal validity in Russia. The Orthodox wedding took place after the birth of his son.
The spiritual consistory annulled the record that he had, and recognized him as the father of his mother's first husband, the German Pat. In the documents, the heir of a noble family began to be registered as a foreigner.
Pat decided to regain what he had lost in the service. After graduating from university, he joined Caesar's regiment and served in the army for more than ten years, hoping to earn his rights as a noble.
Only in 1873, according to the decree of Alexander II, the surname of his father Shenshin was returned to him in all rights. The poet was over fifty years old.