Centuries have passed since the day when the great Russian poet, national genius Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was killed at Mount Mashuk. The new book about him, perhaps for the first time in 200 years, tells about the mystical roots of the poet coming from his ancient ancestors, and contains so much intriguing that it will certainly interest both venerable writers and the widest reader. Research by the famous critic and publicist Vladimir Bondarenko, in contrast to numerous fictionalized family biographies, it touches on the most important problems of existence and reveals the basis of Lermontov’s life position, which sternly opposes secular, spiritual, and normative-everyday power. Did the authorities need such a free poet? Why did the poet’s contemporaries consider the duel a murder, while other modern Lermontov scholars justify Martynov? Why did the silence about the reasons for Lermontov’s death last for 30 years? Vasily Rozanov wrote about the “eternally sad duel”, Vladimir Bondarenko - about the “eternally criminal”... The author sharply opposes all hoaxes and gossip about the poet, for him Lermontov, in all his contradictions, with all the complexity of his character, is, first of all, the greatest national Russian genius , who realized his tragic mission very early.