Sonya golden pen life story. Sonya the Golden Handle - biography, facts from life, photos, background information. What was she like

23.06.2020

L the legendary Sonya - the Golden Pen a hundred years ago was famous in the underworld.
Her full name and surname is Sofia Ivanovna (Sheindlya-Sura Leibovna) Bluvshtein (nee Solomoniak). She was born far from the Neva coast, but the first "glory" came to her in our city.

Her biography is extremely confused, since she largely falsified her own biography.
According to official court documents, Sonya was born in the town of Powazki, Warsaw province, in 1846. However, when she was baptized according to the Orthodox rite in 1899, she indicated the city of Warsaw, 1851, as the place and date of birth.

She received an education (according to other sources, she did not receive it at all and learned everything herself), she knew several foreign languages. She had the gift of artistry and theatrical transformation.

Having escaped from her stepmother at the age of twelve, the smart and pretty Sonya fell into the service of the famous actress Yulia Pastrana. At the same time, her childhood years were spent among merchants and buyers of stolen goods - usurers, speculators and smugglers. At a young age, she "bombed" trains.

Among the surnames she used throughout her life were Rosenbad, Rubinstein, Shkolnik and Briner (or Brener) - the surnames of her husbands. She was married several times, the last official husband was the card cheat Mikhail (Mikhel) Yakovlevich Bluvshtein, from whom she had two daughters.

She was involved in the organization of large-scale thefts, gaining fame in the criminal world due to her adventurous component, her penchant for mystification, theatrical change of appearance and the talent to get "dry" out of the most "wet" situations. Even abroad, she was repeatedly detained, but always released and often with apologies.

According to contemporaries, she was a charming woman, but at the same time she did not shine with beauty. She had an extraordinary inner charm that was impossible to resist.

The aristocrats not only of the Russian Empire, but also of many countries of Europe, without the slightest hesitation, mistook her for a lady of their circle. That is why she could freely travel abroad, where she presented herself either as a viscountess, or a baroness, or even a countess. At the same time, no one doubted her belonging to high society.

A prison photo of the real Sonya, the Golden Pen, has been preserved, as well as police orientations, according to which they were looking for a criminal. They described a woman who had a height of 1m 53 cm, 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 mobile eyes looked out. She usually spoke boldly and arrogantly. Sonya never started a new scam without considering the possible development of the situation in advance.

In St. Petersburg, the Golden Pen invented a new method of hotel theft, which later became very popular. It was called as a radio program - "Good morning!" and consisted of the following: elegantly dressed Sonya stayed in one of the best hotels, carefully studied the plans of the rooms, looked at the guests, and then in the early morning, putting on soft slippers, entered the victim’s room and took money and jewelry.

If the guest suddenly woke up, he found in his chambers a smartly dressed lady in expensive jewelry. She, pretending not to notice anyone, began to slowly undress. At the same time, the owner had the impression that the woman mistakenly took his apartment for hers. In the end, the thief masterfully portrayed horror, shame and embarrassment and blushed sweetly apologetically, and easily charmed the rich dupe. She sold the stolen jewelry to a friend, the jeweler Mikhailovsky, who remade and sold them.

Sonya acted brazenly, successfully, with ruthless professionalism, but she was not alien to compassion. Entering one day at dawn into someone else's hotel room, Golden Hand was surprised to see a young man sleeping right in his clothes, next to whom lay a revolver and a letter to his mother. The young man wrote that he had spent the state 300 rubles and asked no one to blame for his death. According to legend, touched by Sonya, she took out a 500-ruble banknote from her reticule, put it next to the revolver and quietly left.

One day, she accidentally learned from a newspaper article that the woman she had robbed turned out to be a poor widow of a petty employee. As it turned out, the victim after the death of her husband received an allowance 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 the poor woman a larger amount than was stolen. In addition, she accompanied her transfer with a letter in which she apologized for her act and advised her to better hide the money.

In 1880, in Odessa for a major fraud, Sonya was arrested and transferred to Moscow. After a trial in the Moscow district court on December 10-19 of the same year, she was exiled to a settlement in the most remote places of Siberia. The deaf village of Luzhki in the Irkutsk province was determined as the place of exile. In the summer of 1881, she escaped from her place of exile.

Prior to her arrest in 1885, she committed a number of major property crimes in the provincial cities of Russia. In 1885, in Smolensk, she was captured by the police. For major theft and fraud, she was sentenced to 3 years of hard labor (hard labor was served at the discretion of the court in hard labor prisons in the European part of the Russian Empire until 1893) and 50 lashes. On June 30, 1886, she escaped from the Smolensk prison, using the services of a warden in love with her.

They say she had very beautiful eyes - wonderful, infinitely pretty, velvety, which "spoke" in such a way that they could lie perfectly well.

After four months of “freedom”, she was arrested in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, and now she was again convicted for escaping from hard labor and new crimes, and sent in 1888 from Odessa by steamboat to hard labor in the post of Aleksandrovsky Tymovsky district on Sakhalin Island (now Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, Sakhalin Region), where, after two escape attempts, she was shackled.

Shackling "Sonya the Golden Hand" into shackles, 1888

In total, she made three attempts to escape from Sakhalin penal servitude, for which she was subjected to corporal punishment by the decision of the prison administration.

In 1890, Anton Chekhov met her, who left a description of the convict Sofya Blyuvshtein in the book "Sakhalin Island":
“This is a small, thin, already graying woman with a wrinkled, old woman's face. 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 clothes and 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 her expression is mouse-like. Looking at her, one cannot believe that until recently she was beautiful to such an extent that she charmed her jailers ... "

But the famous "old woman"-convict at that time was only 40 years old.

Sonya's Golden Pen signature.

After her release in 1898, Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka remained in a settlement in the city of Iman (now the city of Dalnerechensk) in the Primorsky Territory. But already in 1899 she left for Khabarovsk, and then returned to Sakhalin Island to the Alexandrovsky post.

In July 1899, she was baptized according to the Orthodox rite, named Maria. Priest Alexei Kukolnikov performed the rite of the sacrament over Sonya.

About 5 million rubles - about the same amount the famous adventurer earned on her frauds (known to the police). But in real life, of course, much more.

At the beginning of the 20th century, versions were circulated about her successful escape and about a figurehead who served hard labor for her. Already in Soviet times, the aged Sonya the Golden Hand was allegedly seen either in Odessa or in Moscow.

It is known about three daughters of Sophia Blueshtein:

Sura-Rivka Isaakovna (nee Rosenbad) (born 1865) - abandoned by her mother, remained in the care of her father, Isaac Rosenbad, in the town of Powazki, Warsaw province, fate is unknown.
Tabba Mikhailovna (née Bluvshtein) (born 1875) is an operetta actress in Moscow.
Mikhelina Mikhailovna (née Bluvshtein) (born 1879) is an operetta actress in Moscow.

Sofya Blyuvshtein died of a cold in 1902, as evidenced by a message from the prison authorities, and was buried at the local cemetery in the Aleksandrovsky post. Initially, the monument looked like this: a thin female figure carved from white marble stands under tall forged palm trees. In 2015, only the statue survived from the entire composition, and even that one with a broken head. 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 dotted with inscriptions of a criminal nature. There is a strange belief that even after death Sonya helps and brings thieves' luck to those who ask for it...

Quotes by Sophia Blyuvshtein:

"My dear mommy ... I'm so lonely, it's so hard without you. Dad lives with a rude and uncouth Evdokia, who doesn't understand where it came from on our heads. For this redneck, the main thing is that dad steals more."

"I think He rewarded me ... I take risks. But this is the kind of life that drags me forward with such force that my head is spinning all the time."

"- What did you steal? - Gold, or what? - Not only, more diamonds. - This is not theft. Pampering. - What is theft? - Theft is when souls are stolen."

Recently in Russia there was a series about her. The portrait resemblance of the actress playing the main role is simply amazing.

The thieves' name Sonya the Golden Hand in the 20th century went to another criminal - Olga von Stein. In popular rumor, the crimes of these two thieves merged together. And the legendary collective image turned out ...

The basis of information and photos (C) SYL.ru, http://fb.ru/article, etc. The first photos (according to the owner) belong to Sonya and (most likely) to one of her husbands. (C) Sergeyich.

In the biography of this famous adventurer, truth, lies, secrets and falsifications are so intertwined that it is now difficult to figure out where is the truth, where is fiction, and where is a beautiful legend. There are several versions of the fate of Sonya the Golden Handle, and each of them is fascinating, like an adventurous novel.

Sonya Golden Hand in the form of a noble lady

No wonder the name of the swindler and the story of her life are immortalized in books, films, TV shows and crime stories. The queen of the underworld of the 19th century became famous not by the number of scams, but by the fact that she elevated the ordinary theft to the rank of thieves' art, which, as you know, always balances on the verge of vice and nobility.

Childhood and youth

Sheindlya-Sura Leibovna Solomoniak - this is the name of Sonya, received at birth. The future star of the underworld was born into a Jewish family in 1846 in the village of Powazki (Warsaw province, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire). This is confirmed by official court documents. But then the facts already alternate with myths.

Parents - petty merchants, traded either in smuggling or buying up stolen goods, which is quite reasonable, given the innate criminal talents of children. It is known that the sister of Sheindli-Sura - Feiga - was also a noble thief.

The girl announced her thieving abilities early: at the age of 13-14 she already committed petty thefts. And at the age of 18, calling herself Sofya Ivanovna, the girl flies out of her native nest in search of a better life.

crimes

In 1864, in Warsaw, Sonia charms the grocer Isaac Rosenbad, who became her first husband. Soon the young woman gave birth to a daughter, Sura-Rivka. It would seem that it's time to become the mother of the family, but the newlywed had the wrong character - she was drawn to wealth, adventures and revels. In a word, after a year and a half, the girl, having taken 500 rubles. from her husband's shop and leaving the baby in his care, she ran away.

According to one version, the fugitive was accompanied by a certain recruit Rubinstein. The couple went to Russia, where they began a criminal business, wandering around Russian cities and Europe.

The first detention of Sonya, indicated in the sources, refers to 1866. The woman was detained in the city of Klin for stealing a suitcase. The criminal got out, repenting that she had taken the thing by mistake, and she was released.

Then Sonya "lit up" already in the capital. In St. Petersburg, together with her lover Mikhail Brenner, she cleaned the dachas of aristocrats, and then put into play the talent of a born actress, which miraculously sprouted on criminal soil.

Sony's know-how has become a new type of hotel theft called "Guten Morgen". The principle is as follows: Sonya checked into a hotel under the guise of a rich lady, looked closely at the guests, planning victims in advance. In the morning, still dark, the thief sneaked into the room, deftly cleaned the sleeping person and retreated. If the “victim” woke up, Sonya began to make excuses: they say she mixed up the number in the dark. And those who were too distrustful had to be appeased with the help of female charms. The main thing for Sonya was not to leave without a trophy.

The end of the 60s and 70s became literally golden for the young criminal. By this time, Sonya already had a signature style and a thieves' creed. First of all, she never took on small things. Only a premonition of a big jackpot evoked in her eyes those same demonic lights - true harbingers of success.

Sonya prepared for a large-scale scam for a long time, carefully thinking through the details. An integral part of her plans was the "theatrical" component: disguise, wigs, makeup, special attributes, hired "artists" and even trained animals were used.

So, to rob jewelry stores, Sonya came up with special shoes with hiding places built into the heels to hide the booty. The thief herself walked with grown nails, under which she cleverly hid precious stones. Sonia taught larger pebbles to swallow a pet monkey, and at home she gave an enema to the “comrade”.

For some time, the woman was operating in first-class trains. Realizing that this vehicle was simply filled to the top with "money bags", Sonya, as a passenger, sat down in the compartment with the gentlemen and used female charm, and sometimes a couple of drops of sleeping pills. By morning, the victim found an empty compartment and an equally empty wallet lying on the floor.

Trains, hotels, jewelry stores were the main "field of activity" of the swindler. And each time the woman managed to elude the clutches of the police. Success turned Sonya's head: in the early 70s, she decides to go to Europe: take a break and explore new horizons.

Here the swindler pretends to be a Russian aristocrat, which is beyond doubt due to her manners. Phenomenally, but Sonya, who did not receive proper upbringing and education, spoke several languages perfectly, had good manners, refined taste and competent speech. In a word, the best houses of the Old World were at her disposal, and the thief managed to take advantage of this.

Leipzig, Vienna, Warsaw, Krakow, Odessa. In these cities, the adventurer was repeatedly detained by the police. However, each time she left right from under the noses of the gendarmes or got off with a meager term. For 10 years of criminal "tours" Sonya became an honorary member of the criminal club "Jacks of Hearts" and the uncrowned queen of the thieves' world Sonya Golden Hand. The woman adored her nickname, considered it more important than titles and awards.

The people have also heard about Sonya's tricks: newspapers enthusiastically describe her scams and publish photographs. Such popularity was not in favor of the criminal. Her thieving enterprises became rarer, her beauty began to fade. In a word, in 1880 Sonya's star was already waning.

In this fateful year, Sonya found herself in the dock for the first time and, after a high-profile trial, was sent to hard labor in Siberia - the village of Luzhki in the Irkutsk region. A year later, the woman escaped and was captured only in 1885 in Smolensk, having managed to commit a number of thefts. Sonya escaped from the Smolensk prison, having fallen in love with the warden. But this time, she was not free for long. In 1888, she was transferred from Odessa to Sakhalin Island, from where the woman never returned, although she made attempts to escape.

Personal life

The turbulent personal life of the famous criminal was an integral part of her criminal existence. Sonya had many cohabitants from the criminal environment, who became faithful accomplices of her scams. At the same time, the woman had an ordinary appearance. Here is how contemporaries described Sonya:

“small (153 cm), thin, pockmarked face, a wart on her cheek, but lively intelligent eyes and charming manners.”

It is known about three marriages of a swindler: with a grocer Isaac Rosenbad, a wealthy Jew from Dinaburg Shelom Shkolnik, a card sharper and a thief Mikhail Blyuvshtein, in a marriage with whom Sonya gave birth to two more daughters - Tabba and Mikhelina.

However, all marriages meant nothing to Sony compared to the only love of her life - Wolf Bromberg, nicknamed Volodya Kochubchik. The 20-year-old lover turned out to be a fatal man for Sonya and became her “swan song”.

The Odessa cheater and raider turned out to be a burned-out gigolo: he carelessly spent and lost all the money of an elderly mistress. Sonya could not cope with her destructive passion and again gave her beloved diamonds, pulled them out of gambling houses.

To get rid of an annoying girlfriend, Kochubchik turned her in, and in a very extravagant way. He presented Sonya with a luxurious gift - a velvet with a blue diamond, which he bought from the jeweler under the "fake mortgage" of the mansion. A day later, Kochubchik returned the diamond to the jeweler, demanding that the deal be cancelled. Having carefully examined the brought stone, the jeweler was horrified to find a fake. The cheater “honestly” told the police who came to the police that he acted on orders from Sonya. So the woman began to wander through hard labor.

Death

It is not known how she met death and where the legendary thief is buried. The main version says that Sonya died of a cold on Sakhalin after an escape attempt in 1902 and was buried in the local cemetery in the Aleksandrovsky post.

According to another, Sonya lived out her last days with her daughters and grandchildren in Moscow. This legend is probably believed by those who visit the grave and monument at the Vagankovsky cemetery, which allegedly belong to Sonya. The dilapidated memorial is dotted with inscriptions-requests: young thieves ask Sonya for good luck in "business".

Sonya loved to live in luxury: her favorite vacation spots are the Crimea, Pyatigorsk and the foreign resort of Marienbad (today the Czech city of Marianske Lazne).
Before her death in 1899, she converted to Orthodoxy, after baptism she was named Maria.
Description of the convict Sophia Blueshtein is in the book "Sakhalin Island": the writer personally met with the criminal in 1890.

It is also known about the noble deeds of a thief. So, operating in a hotel, Sonya found a sleeping young man, next to whom lay a pistol and a suicide note in which the young man repented that he had spent government money in favor of medicines for his sick sister. Sonya, without thinking twice, left a large sum on the table and left. Another time, Sonya, having learned that she had robbed a widow with two daughters, returned the money.

Memory

1914 - silent film "Sonka - Golden Pen" (actress Nina Hoffman)
2007 - the series "Sonka - Golden Pen" (actress)
2010 - the series "Sonka. Continuation of the legend "(actress Anastasia Mikulchina)
2013 - TV series "Time Loop" (actress Liana Ermakova)

Passion ruled her life. Once upon a time, a 17-year-old unfortunate girl Sonya ran away with a young Greek from her evil stepmother. Later she married the Odessa cheater Bluvshtein, and when he was in prison, left alone, she herself headed the “family business” in order to feed the children. And she also went to prison because of passion - she took the blame of a young lover.

Sofia Blueshtein or Sonya the Golden Pen. Oh, how many stories and legends were told about her dexterous fingers. And even more - about the charm and charm that the deceiver so cleverly used. This girl had brilliant ingenuity and talent. She was easily given to her robberies of jewelry houses and wealthy bankers. Luck went hand in hand. Sonya's main trump card was artistry and the ability to transform, trying on the life and image of other people. The public adored her. Each scam became a sensation in society. The thief lived with passion and excitement. Another success, the desire for profit and power kindled real flames in her soul, turning passion into the meaning of life. But, probably, the main scam of her life was her love for a young gambler named Kochubchik.

fatal meeting

Sonya the Golden Pen is a legend of the criminal world.

It was truly a fatal visit to Odessa. Sonya fell in love with this city, and also, unexpectedly for herself, was imbued with a strong, burning feeling for a young, thin sharper. Previously not knowing such a strong feeling, Sonya was ready for anything to keep her young lover. And he, in turn, taking advantage of such a gift of fate, did not know the limitations either in money or in revelry. Kochubchik lost a lot and constantly demanded more. Volodya saw in the famous thief an opportunity to live in grand style.

One of the few lifetime portraits of Sophia Blueshtein.

At first, he even called Sonya mom, and not lover, as the young lady herself wanted. Almost every night, the sharper took the stolen treasures and went to play cards. Sonya rushed after him, hoping to reason with her beloved. Kochubchik quickly got tired of such guardianship, the thief annoyed him and caused aggression. The gambler raised his hand to the girl and did not spare bad words, drove her out of the gambling houses. And she justified his behavior with another loss, believed that her love would be enough for them for two.

Photo of Sofya Blyuvshtein from the police archives.

The girl was full of hopes to melt the heart of the sharper, endured all the humiliations and showered her lover with diamonds. And he didn't have enough. Living in such tension, Sonya became careless, was forced to take more and more risks. The gambler quickly got tired of both Sonya herself and dependence on her. He spent all her money and jewelry, he no longer needed her. The thief was left completely beggar, no money, no jewelry. Moreover, her tail is followed everywhere. She knew perfectly well that the only way out was to run.

Road to Sakhalin

But how to run? When the only meaning of her life will remain in this city. It's easier to die than not to see him. And she stayed, knowing that she was going to certain death. She was looking for a loved one everywhere, walking on the heels. And Volodya was so disgusted with the already poor, old aunt Sonya, that he dreamed of getting rid of her in any way. Volodya betrayed his patroness without hesitation in order to recklessly embark on the world of excitement and young ladies. Sonya ended up in the dock, and then was exiled to hard labor on Sakhalin Island. And Volodya Kochubchik, having taken the money of a thief into his hands, settled himself perfectly, having bought himself an estate with these funds.

Sonya-Golden pen in hard labor.

Sonya tried to escape from hard labor three times. And not in order to live in freedom or continue their glorious activities. The only purpose of the escape was to see his beloved, at least once to look Volodya Kochubchik in the eyes. She forgave him a long time ago and was ready to forgive all his antics and betrayals for the rest of her life. Only she did not have freedom and life without her beloved gambler. Imprisonment on the island was not hard labor for Sonya. Hard labor was in her heart. In the impossibility of existing without winning the favor of a young lover.

Inscriptions-requests on the monument to Sonya the Golden Pen.

The history of Sonya the Golden Pen is shrouded in riddles, secrets and, of course, deceit. Her whole life is a legend that the deceiver created with her own hands. To this day, many secrets around the life and death of the great swindler. However, there is no doubt that only Volodya Kochubchik saw the true face of Sonya. For his sake, the thief tore off all her masks, trampled on her pride and laid her life and freedom at his feet.

A marble sculpture of a woman without arms and a head is a monument to the legendary swindler Sonya the Golden Hand.

According to official court documents, the famous adventurer was born in the town of Powazki, Warsaw province, in 1846. But she herself, having decided to be baptized according to the Orthodox rite in 1899, indicated the city of Warsaw, 1851, as the place and date of birth. It is known for certain about Sophia only that she received an excellent education and was fluent in several foreign languages. She also had an incredible artistic gift, which saved her. And then he lost.

At the age of 17, Sonya ran away from home with a young Greek, fleeing from the attacks of her evil stepmother. History is silent about what happened to Sophia's first lover. But it is known that in 1864 in Warsaw she married Isaac Rosenbad and gave birth to a daughter, Sura-Rivka, from him. Sonya did not like married life and motherhood: pretty soon she fled to Russia with a certain recruit Rubinstein, leaving her daughter to her husband and not forgetting to finally rob her missus. The role of a pious married lady and mother frankly did not suit Sonya, and therefore, two years later, she was first arrested for stealing a suitcase from the cadet Gorozhansky, whom she met on the train. Then Sophia managed to convince the court that she took the suitcase by mistake. A certain Rubinstein, apparently, too. Because soon Sonya settled in St. Petersburg and began to rob aristocrats in a pair with a new man - a thief and cheater Mikhail Brener.

It was there, in St. Petersburg, that she invented her own method of robbery and received the nickname Golden Pen: Sophia rented a hotel room, put on soft shoes and made her way to the rooms of rich guests in search of money and jewelry. If the owner of the room woke up, Sophia pretended to have the wrong number and was very embarrassed. Sometimes she even had sex with her victim, and she did it in the highest degree artistically: it never occurred to anyone that the jewelry “left” from the room under the negligee of a charming neighbor.

Popular

However, the investigators soon suspected whose hands these robberies were, and then Sonya left the capital for a while: she married the old rich Jew Shelom Shkolnik, but, without waiting for the inheritance, left him and went on an “international tour”. She changed cities and countries and eventually became the leader of her own gang of thieves and a member of the prestigious criminal club in Moscow, Jacks of Hearts.

In 1871, Sophia married the famous railway thief Mikhel Bluvshtein and bore him two daughters, Tabba and Mikhalina. However, no one knows for sure who actually was the father of Sonya's daughters, because she changed her lovers like gloves. As a result, the marriage of the famous swindler broke up, because Bluvshtein felt insulted: it is one thing when your wife cheats on you with a rich thief, and another when with a poor officer, from whom there is nothing to take but footcloths. Mikhel could not stand it and broke up with his wife, but Sophia did not seem to lose heart: she was not at all interested in long-term relationships with men, and the more lovers there were, the better for her.

Exactly until Sophia really fell in love. For real.

The rather aged Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka moved to Odessa and there she met 18-year-old card sharper Volodya Kochubchik (aka Wolf Bromberg). Kochubchik began his career as a thief as a child, at the age of 8, and managed not only to cheat gullible citizens in the bazaars, but also to steal from famous thieves. In addition, Kochubchik's character was not at all a match for the biography: he behaved like a beloved and utterly spoiled sissy. Actually, he called Sophia herself for a long time mother, which she categorically did not like.

Almost every night Kochubchik swept clean what Sonya had managed to plunder and went to play cards. The woman tried to stop her beloved, but in vain: he did not hesitate to scandalize with her in public, or even raise his hand to her. Sophia herself, who had previously changed men like gloves, for some reason could not part with her young lover and justified all his antics. Moreover, she tried to steal as much as possible in order to please Kochubchik with another gift.

Meanwhile, Kochubchik himself began to get tired of both Sophia herself and his dependence on her. In addition, relations with Sonya became dangerous: in an effort to steal as much as possible for her beloved, Sonya almost got caught several times and a “tail” grew behind her. So she had to run away, but how to leave her beloved?

Kochubchik himself made the decision for her: he calmly handed over to the police his already old and completely impoverished (through his efforts) mistress. Sonya was exiled to Sakhalin, and Kochubchik discovered her secret savings, pocketed them and bought himself an estate.

Sonya Golden Hand tried to escape from hard labor in order to meet her young lover again, but she failed. She died of a common cold in 1902 and was buried in the local cemetery.

Sonya the Golden Hand (Sofya Ivanovna Bluvshtein)

Sofia Ivanovna Bluvshtein (nee Sheindla-Sura Leibovna Solomoniak). Born April 1, 1846 in the village. Powazki in the suburbs of Warsaw - died in 1902 at the post of Aleksandrovsky (now Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky) on Sakhalin Island. The famous Russian criminal, swindler. Gained fame under the nickname Sonya the Golden Hand.

Sophia Solomoniak, who became widely known as Sonya the Golden Hand, was born on April 1, 1846 (the real date of birth is sometimes questioned) in the village of Powazki in the suburbs of Warsaw (since 1916 - a city microdistrict in Warsaw).

It’s worth mentioning right away that there is absolutely no exact information about the time or place of her birth. The information is based on the data that Sonya herself provided when she was arrested by the police. However, she herself was prone to misleading others (and even more so the police). Therefore, almost all researchers of her biography indicate that the information she provides about her origin can be falsified. For example, some court documents indicate that she was born in 1846. But during the baptism according to the Orthodox rite (which took place shortly before her death, in 1899), she indicated the date of her birth in 1951, and the place - Warsaw.

Born from the second marriage of her mother Rivka-Leya, she was recorded in her father's surname as Sheindla-Sura Leibovna Solomoniak.

She received a good education, knew six languages, played music well, had a good voice. In addition, she had an innate acting talent and the gift of reincarnation. She had good taste and was trained in social manners.

Regarding the origin of the nickname Sonya the Golden Hand, then, according to her own stories, she came from childhood. The music teacher, with whom young Sophia studied, constantly praised her, saying: "You, girl, have golden hands." Later, when she took up the criminal trade, she herself was already proud of her dexterous hands, which brought her a considerable income and truly became "golden" for her. This was also recognized in the criminal community.

The growth of Sophia Blueshtein (Sonka the Golden Handle): 153 centimeters.

Personal life of Sophia Blyuvshtein (Sonya the Golden Handle):

She was married several times.

In one of her first marriages with Isaac Rosenbad in 1865 she gave birth to a daughter - Sura-Rivka Isaakovna Rosenbad. She left the girl in the care of her father in Powazki, Warsaw province. Her fate is unknown.

In police reports, she was known by the names Rubinstein, Shkolnik, Brenner - perhaps they (or some of them also belonged to her husbands).

Her last official husband is known - Mikhail (Mikhel) Yakovlevich Bluvshtein, a card sharper. Two daughters were born in the marriage: Tabba Mikhailovna Bluvshtein (born 1875) and Mikhelina Mikhailovna Bluvshtein (born 1879), both became operetta artists and performed in Moscow theaters.

The appearance of Sophia Blyuvshtein (Sonka the Golden Handle):

Contemporaries described Sonya in different ways - some as a beauty, others as an ordinary woman who did not have a particularly spectacular appearance. However, everyone noted that she had a certain charm, in addition, she masterfully knew how to use makeup, wigs, false eyelashes, etc.

This is how the police described her: “Height is 1 m 53 cm, pockmarked face, moderate nose with wide nostrils, a wart on her right cheek, brunette, curly hair on her forehead, mobile eyes, bold and talkative.”

According to one version, at the age of 17, having taken her father's money, she fled abroad with a young handsome Greek. But then the money ran out, and the passion cooled down. He returned home. Sonya took up criminal business.

She was involved in the organization of large-scale scams and thefts, which gained fame due to the adventurous component and the penchant for mystification.

In the 1860s and 70s, she was engaged in criminal activities in large Russian cities and in Europe. Repeatedly detained by the police of different states, but without serious consequences.

The first time Sonya was detained for theft in Klin on April 14, 1866, but was released. Then 5 times tried in Warsaw.

In 1871, the Leipzig police interrupted the foreign voyage of an already experienced thief and returned her to her homeland - under the supervision of the Russian police. At the same time, a whole chest of jewelry was confiscated from Sonya.

Then she formed a family gang of thieves, which included her ex-husbands, and even a certain subject of Sweden and Norway. She has always worked big. So, at the Nizhny Novgorod fair, she stole 213,000 rubles from General Frolov.

Each of her cases looked like a well-directed performance. Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka invented an original way to steal from hotels on Guten Morgen (thieves still use this method). Entering the rooms early in the morning, she cleaned the wallets of the guests, and if they accidentally woke up, she immediately began to undress and was terribly embarrassed, pretending to have the wrong number. In the same way, she worked in first and second class carriages on trains.

For thefts in jewelry stores, she sewed a special bag dress that could hold kilograms of booty. She also hid especially precious stones under her well-groomed, specially grown nails. Sometimes she went to work with a trained monkey. While the hostess was bargaining, the monkey quietly grabbed the stones and hid them behind her cheek or swallowed them. At home, Sonya gave her friend an enema.

In 1880, in Odessa, she was arrested for major fraud and transferred to Moscow. After a trial in the Moscow district court on December 10-19 of the same year, she was exiled to a settlement in the most remote places of Siberia. The deaf village of Luzhki in the Irkutsk province was determined as the place of exile.

Prior to her arrest in 1885, she committed a number of major property crimes in the provincial cities of Russia. In 1885, in Smolensk, she was captured by the police.

From a criminal case filed in 1885: "Sofya Eduardovna Buksgevden, Baroness, arrived in Moscow from Courland. Accompanied by Father Eduard Karlovich, a female infant and mother, she visited Khlebnikov's jewelry store in order to buy diamond jewelry. Store manager T. recommended the collection , which consisted of jewelry in the amount of 22 thousand 300 rubles.When the jewelry was packed and the paper was given to this lady for calculation, the latter, referring to the forgotten money on the fireplace portal, took a package with diamonds, and left for cash, leaving the above-mentioned persons as collateral. Two hours later it was reported to the police station. regiment of Mr. Ch.".

For major theft and fraud, she was sentenced to three years of hard labor (hard labor was served at the discretion of the court in hard labor prisons in the European part of the Russian Empire until 1893) and fifty lashes. On June 30, 1886, she escaped from the Smolensk prison, using the services of a warden in love with her.

Four months later, “volya” was arrested in Nizhny Novgorod, and now for escaping from hard labor and new crimes she was again convicted and sent in 1888 from Odessa by steamboat to hard labor in the post of Aleksandrovsky, Tymovsky District, on Sakhalin Island (now Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, Sakhalin Region). ), where, after two escape attempts, she was shackled. In total, she made three attempts to escape from Sakhalin penal servitude. Subjected to corporal punishment by the decision of the prison administration.

In 1890, the famous writer met her, who left a description of the convict Sofya Blyuvshtein in his book “Sakhalin Island”: “This is a small, thin, already graying woman with a wrinkled, old woman’s face. 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 clothes and 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 her expression is mouse-like. Looking at her, one cannot believe that until recently she was beautiful to such an extent that she charmed her jailers.

After her release in 1898, Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka remained in a settlement in Iman (now Dalnerechensk) in the Primorsky Territory. But already in 1899 she left for Khabarovsk, and then returned to Sakhalin Island to the Alexandrovsky post.

In July 1899, she was baptized according to the Orthodox rite, named Maria.

According to some reports, shortly before her death, Sophia met and cohabited with a certain Nikolai Bogdanov, who also previously served sentences for various crimes, they claimed that he severely beat her and she tried to run away from him into the forest.

Sofya Blyuvshtein died of a cold in 1902, as evidenced by a message from the prison authorities, and was buried at the local cemetery in the Aleksandrovsky post.

At the same time, a number of researchers are inclined to believe that she died in the 1920s in Moscow, where she lived after hard labor with her daughters, who in every possible way concealed who their mother was.

In Moscow, there is a grave attributed to Sonya the Golden Hand, every year different people, mostly criminals, bring flowers and coins to it, trying in this way to show respect for the famous thief and get her intercession and patronage. There are many inscriptions on the monument with a request to Sonya to help in the thieves' trade, protect them from arrest, etc.

The guides say that either an Italian dancer who died of tuberculosis, or the Russian wife of the Italian ambassador, rests on this place.

In Odessa, there is a version that Sonya the Golden Hand, after hard labor under an assumed name, returned to Odessa, where she died only in 1947.

Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka became one of the most famous figures in the domestic criminal world, turned into a legend in which it became difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.

The image of Sonya Golden Handle in the movie:

1915 - "The Adventures of the famous adventurer Sofia Blueshtein" - a silent film directed by Vladimir Kasyanov and Yuri Yuryevsky. Of the 8 episodes, 4 have been preserved. The negative is stored in the State Film Fund of Russia. The role of Sonya the Golden Handle was played by Nina Hoffman;
2007 - Sonya - Golden Pen - series. The role of Sonya the Golden Handle was played;
2010 - Sonya. Continuation of the legend - the continuation of the series directed by Viktor Merezhko. The role of Sonya the Golden Handle was played by Anastasia Mikulchina;
2013 - Loop of time - series directed by Georgy Ilyin.

In 1908, Roman Antropov's story "The Golden Pen" was written about Sonya (from the series "The Genius of the Russian Detective I. D. Putilin").

The image is used in the detective novel "Jack of Spades".

The singer performs a song called "Sonka" to the words of Viktor Merezhko and the music of Dmitry Smirnov.