Biography of Nekrasov's works. Biography of Nekrasov: the life and work of the great national poet
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was born on November 28 (December 10), 1821 in the city of Nemirov, Podolsk province, into a wealthy landowner family. The writer spent his childhood years in the Yaroslavl province, the village of Greshnevo, on a family estate. The family was large - the future poet had 13 sisters and brothers.
At the age of 11, he entered the gymnasium, where he studied until the 5th grade. Young Nekrasov’s studies were not going well. It was during this period that Nekrasov began to write his first satirical poems and write them down in a notebook.
Education and the beginning of a creative path
The poet's father was cruel and despotic. He deprived Nekrasov of financial assistance when he did not want to enroll in military service. In 1838, Nekrasov’s biography included a move to St. Petersburg, where he entered the university’s Faculty of Philology as a volunteer student. In order not to die of hunger, experiencing a great need for money, he finds part-time work, gives lessons and writes poetry to order.
During this period, he met the critic Belinsky, who would later have a strong ideological influence on the writer. At the age of 26, Nekrasov, together with the writer Panaev, bought the Sovremennik magazine. The magazine quickly became popular and had significant influence in society. In 1862, the government banned its publication.
Literary activity
Having accumulated enough funds, Nekrasov published his debut collection of poems, “Dreams and Sounds” (1840), which failed. Vasily Zhukovsky advised that most of the poems in this collection should be published without the name of the author. After this, Nikolai Nekrasov decides to move away from poetry and take up prose, writing novellas and short stories. The writer is also engaged in the publication of some almanacs, in one of which Fyodor Dostoevsky made his debut. The most successful almanac was the “Petersburg Collection” (1846).
From 1847 to 1866 he was the publisher and editor of the Sovremennik magazine, which employed the best writers of that time. The magazine was a hotbed of revolutionary democracy. While working at Sovremennik, Nekrasov published several collections of his poems. His works “Peasant Children” and “Peddlers” brought him wide fame.
On the pages of the Sovremennik magazine, such talents as Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov, Alexander Herzen, Dmitry Grigorovich and others were discovered. The already famous Alexander Ostrovsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Gleb Uspensky were published in it. Thanks to Nikolai Nekrasov and his magazine, Russian literature learned the names of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy.
In the 1840s, Nekrasov collaborated with the magazine Otechestvennye zapiski, and in 1868, after the closure of the Sovremennik magazine, he rented it from the publisher Kraevsky. The last ten years of the writer’s life were associated with this magazine. At this time, Nekrasov wrote the epic poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (1866-1876), as well as “Russian Women” (1871-1872), “Grandfather” (1870) - poems about the Decembrists and their wives, and some other satirical works , the pinnacle of which was the poem “Contemporaries” (1875).
Nekrasov wrote about the suffering and grief of the Russian people, about the difficult life of the peasantry. He also introduced a lot of new things into Russian literature, in particular, he used simple Russian in his works. colloquial speech. This undoubtedly showed the richness of the Russian language, which came from the people. In his poems, he first began to combine satire, lyricism and elegiac motifs. Briefly speaking, the poet’s work made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian classical poetry and literature in general.
Personal life
The poet had several love affairs in his life: with the owner of the literary salon Avdotya Panaeva, the Frenchwoman Selina Lefren, and the village girl Fyokla Viktorova.
One of the most beautiful women in St. Petersburg and the wife of the writer Ivan Panaev, Avdotya Panaeva, was liked by many men, and the young Nekrasov had to make a lot of effort to win her attention. Finally, they confess their love to each other and begin to live together. After the early death of their common son, Avdotya leaves Nekrasov. And he leaves for Paris with the French theater actress Selina Lefren, whom he had known since 1863. She remains in Paris, and Nekrasov returns to Russia. However, their romance continues at a distance. Later, he meets a simple and uneducated girl from the village, Fyokla (Nekrasov gives her the name Zina), with whom they later got married.
Nekrasov had many affairs, but the main woman in Nikolai Nekrasov’s biography was not his legal wife, but Avdotya Yakovlevna Panaeva, whom he loved all his life.
last years of life
In 1875, the poet was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. In the painful years before his death, he wrote “Last Songs” - a cycle of poems that the poet dedicated to his wife and last love, Zinaida Nikolaevna Nekrasova. The writer died on December 27, 1877 (January 8, 1878) and was buried in St. Petersburg at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Chronological table
- The writer did not like some of his own works, and he asked not to include them in collections. But friends and publishers urged Nekrasov not to exclude any of them. Perhaps this is why the attitude towards his work among critics is very contradictory - not everyone considered his works to be brilliant.
- Nekrasov was fond of playing cards, and quite often he was lucky in this matter. Once, while playing for money with A. Chuzhbinsky, Nikolai Alekseevich lost a large sum of money to him. As it turned out later, the cards were marked with the enemy's long fingernail. After this incident, Nekrasov decided to no longer play with people who have long nails.
- Another passionate hobby of the writer was hunting. Nekrasov loved to go bear hunting and hunt game. This hobby found a response in some of his works (“Peddlers”, “Dog Hunt”, etc.) One day, Nekrasov’s wife, Zina, accidentally shot his beloved dog during a hunt. At the same time, Nikolai Alekseevich’s passion for hunting came to an end.
- At Nekrasov's funeral people gathered great amount people. In his speech, Dostoevsky awarded Nekrasov third place in Russian poetry after
“Nekrasov retains immortality, which he well deserves.” F.M. Dostoevsky “Nekrasov’s personality is still a stumbling block for everyone who is in the habit of judging with stereotyped ideas.”
A.M.Skobichevsky
ON THE. Nekrasov
Before Nekrasov, in the Russian literary tradition there was a view of poetry as a way of expressing feelings, and prose as a way of expressing thoughts. The 1850-60s are the time of the next “great turning point” in the history of Russia. Society did not just demand economic, social and political changes. A great emotional explosion was brewing, an era of revaluation of values, which ultimately resulted in fruitless flirtations of the intelligentsia with the popular element, fanning the revolutionary fire and a complete departure from the traditions of romanticism in Russian literature. Responding to the demands of his difficult times, Nekrasov decided to prepare a kind of “salad” of folk poetry and accusatory journalistic prose, which was very much to the taste of his contemporaries. The main theme of such “adapted” poetry is man as a product of a certain social environment, and sadness about this person (according to Nekrasov) is the main task of the best citizens of his time Russian society.
The journalistic essays of the “sorrowful man” Nekrasov, dressed in an emotional and lyrical package, have long been a model of civil poetry for democratic writers of the second half XIX - early XX centuries. And although the sensible minority of Russian society did not at all consider the rhymed feuilletons and proclamations of Mr. Nekrasov to be high poetry, already during the author’s lifetime some of them were included in school curricula, and Nekrasov himself acquired the status of “truly national poet" True, only among the “repentant” noble-raznochin intelligentsia in every way. The people themselves did not even suspect the existence of the poet Nekrasov (as well as Pushkin and Lermontov).
Publisher of one of the most widely read magazines, successful businessman from literature, N.A. Nekrasov fit perfectly into his difficult era. Long years he managed to manipulate the literary tastes of his contemporaries, sensitively responding to all the demands of the political, economic, literary market of the second half of the 19th century. Nekrasov’s “Contemporary” became the focus and center of attraction for a wide variety of literary and political movements: from the very moderate liberalism of Turgenev and Tolstoy to the democratic revolutionaries (Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky).
In his poetic stylizations, Nekrasov raised the most painful, most actual problems pre-reform and post-reform Russia of the 19th century. Many of his plot sketches were subsequently reflected in the works of recognized classics of Russian literature. Thus, the entire philosophy and even the “poetics” of suffering in F.M. Dostoevsky's ideas were largely formed under the direct and strong influence of Nekrasov.
It is to Nekrasov that we owe many “catchphrases” and aphorisms that have forever entered our everyday speech. (“Sow what is reasonable, good, eternal”, “The happy are deaf to good”, “There have been worse times, but it wasn’t mean”, etc.)
Family and ancestors
ON THE. Nekrasov twice seriously tried to inform the public of the main milestones of his interesting biography, but each time he tried to do this at the most critical moments for himself. In 1855, the writer believed that he was terminally ill, and was not going to write the story of his life because he had recovered. And twenty years later, in 1877, being truly terminally ill, he simply did not have time.
However, it is unlikely that descendants would be able to glean any reliable information or facts from these author’s stories. Nekrasov needed an autobiography solely for self-confession, aimed at teaching and edifying literary descendants.
“It occurred to me to write for the press, but not during my lifetime, my biography, that is, something like confessions or notes about my life - in a fairly extensive size. Tell me: isn’t this too - so to speak - proud?” - he asked in one of his letters to I.S. Turgenev, on which he then tested almost everything. And Turgenev answered:
“I completely approve your intention write your biography; your life is precisely one of those that, putting all pride aside, must be told - because it represents a lot of things that more than one Russian soul will deeply respond to.”
Neither an autobiography nor a recording of N.A. Nekrasov’s literary memoirs ever took place. Therefore, everything we know today about early years“the sad man of the Russian land” was drawn by biographers exclusively from the literary works of Nekrasov and the memories of people close to him.
As evidenced by several options for the beginning of Nekrasov’s “autobiography,” Nikolai Alekseevich himself could not really decide on the year, day, or place of his birth:
“I was born in 1822 in the Yaroslavl province. My father, the old adjutant of Prince Wittgenstein, was a retired captain...”
“I was born in 1821 on November 22 in the Podolsk province in the Vinnitsa district in some Jewish town, where my father was then stationed with his regiment...”
In fact, N.A. Nekrasov was born on November 28 (December 10), 1821 in the Ukrainian town of Nemirov. One of the modern researchers also believes that his place of birth was the village of Sinki in the current Kirovograd region.
No one has written the history of the Nekrasov family either. The noble family of the Nekrasovs was quite ancient and purely Great Russian, but due to their lack of documents, it was not included in that part of the genealogical book of the nobles of the Yaroslavl province, where the pillar nobility was placed, and the official count goes in the second part from 1810 - according to the first officer rank of Alexei Sergeevich Nekrasov (father of the future poet). The coat of arms of the Nekrasovs, approved by Emperor Nicholas II in April 1916, was also recently found.
Once upon a time the family was very rich, but starting from their great-grandfather, the Nekrasovs’ affairs went from bad to worse, thanks to their addiction to card games. Alexey Sergeevich, telling his glorious pedigree to his sons, summarized: “Our ancestors were rich. Your great-great-grandfather lost seven thousand souls, your great-grandfather - two, your grandfather (my father) - one, I - nothing, because there was nothing to lose, but I also like to play cards.”
His son Nikolai Alekseevich was the first to change his fate. No, he did not curb his destructive passion for cards, he did not stop playing, but he stopped losing. All his ancestors lost - he was the only one who won back. And he played a lot. The count was, if not millions, then hundreds of thousands. His card partners included large landowners, important government dignitaries, and very rich people in Russia. According to Nekrasov himself, the future Minister of Finance Abaza alone lost about a million francs to the poet (at the then exchange rate - half a million Russian rubles).
However, success and financial well-being did not come to N.A. Nekrasov right away. If we talk about his childhood and youth, they were indeed full of deprivation and humiliation, which subsequently affected the character and worldview of the writer.
N.A. Nekrasov spent his childhood on the Yaroslavl estate of his father Greshnevo. The relationship between the parents of the future poet left much to be desired.
In an unknown wilderness, in a semi-wild village, I grew up among violent savages, And fate, by great mercy, gave me the leadership of hounds.
By “dogkeeper” we should here understand the father - a man of unbridled passions, a limited domestic tyrant and tyrant. He devoted his entire life to litigation with relatives on estate matters, and when he won the main case for the ownership of a thousand serf souls, the Manifesto of 1861 was published. The old man could not survive the “liberation” and died. Before this, Nekrasov’s parents had only about forty serfs and thirteen children. What kind of family idyll could we be talking about in such conditions?
The mature Nekrasov subsequently abandoned many of his incriminating characteristics against his serf-owning parent. The poet admitted that his father was no worse and no better than other people in his circle. Yes, he loved hunting, kept dogs, a whole staff of hounds, and actively involved his older sons in hunting activities. But the traditional autumn hunt for the small nobleman was not just fun. Given the general limitation of funds, hunting prey is a serious help in the economy. It made it possible to feed a large family and servants. Young Nekrasov understood this perfectly.
By the writer’s own admission, his early works (“Motherland”) were influenced by youthful maximalism and a tribute to the notorious “Oedipus complex” - filial jealousy, resentment against a parent for betraying his beloved mother.
Nekrasov carried the bright image of his mother, as the only positive memory of his childhood, throughout his life, embodying it in his poetry. To this day, Nekrasov’s biographers do not know anything real about the poet’s mother. She remains one of the most mysterious images associated with Russian literature. There were no images (if there were any), no objects, no written documentary materials. From the words of Nekrasov himself, it is known that Elena Andreevna was the daughter of a rich Little Russian landowner, a well-educated, beautiful woman, who for some unknown reason married a poor, unremarkable officer and went with him to the Yaroslavl province. Elena Andreevna died quite young - in 1841, when the future poet was not even 20 years old. Immediately after the death of his wife, the father brought his serf mistress into the house as a mistress. “You saved the living soul in me,” the son will write in poetry about his mother. Her romantic image will be the main leitmotif through all subsequent work of N.A. Nekrasova.
At the age of 11, Nikolai, together with his older brother Andrei, went to study at a gymnasium in Yaroslavl. The brothers studied poorly, reaching only 5th grade without being certified in a number of subjects. According to the memoirs of A.Ya. Panaeva, Nekrasov said that the “in-law” high school students lived in the city, in a rented apartment under the supervision of only one drinking “guy” from their father’s serfs. The Nekrasovs were left to their own devices, walked the streets all day long, played billiards and did not bother themselves too much with reading books or going to the gymnasium:
At the age of fifteen, I was fully educated, as my father’s ideal demanded: The hand is steady, the eye is true, the spirit is tested, But I knew very little about reading and writing.
Nevertheless, by the age of 13-14, Nikolai knew “literate”, and quite well. For a year and a half, Nekrasov’s father held the position of police officer - district police chief. The teenager acted as his secretary and traveled with his parent, observing with his own eyes the criminal life of the county in all its unsightly light.
So, as we see, there was no trace of anything similar to the excellent home education of Pushkin or Lermontov behind the shoulders of the future poet Nekrasov. On the contrary, he could be considered a poorly educated person. Until the end of his life, Nekrasov never learned a single foreign language; The young man's reading experience also left much to be desired. And although Nikolai began writing poetry at the age of six or seven, by the age of fifteen his poetic creations were no different from the “test of the pen” of most of the noble minors of his circle. But the young man had excellent hunting skills, rode excellently, shot accurately, was physically strong and resilient.
It is not surprising that the father insisted on military career- several generations of Nekrasov nobles served the Tsar and the Fatherland quite successfully. But the son, who had never been known for his love of science, suddenly wanted to go to university. There was a serious disagreement in the family.
“Mother wanted,” Chernyshevsky recalled from Nekrasov’s words, “for him to be an educated person, and told him that he should go to university, because education is acquired at a university, and not in special schools. But the father did not want to hear about it: he agreed to let Nekrasov go no other way than to enter the cadet corps. It was useless to argue, his mother fell silent... But he was traveling with the intention of entering not the cadet corps, but the university...”
Young Nekrasov went to the capital in order to deceive his father, but he himself was deceived. Lacking sufficient preparation, he failed the university exams and flatly refused to enter the cadet corps. The angry Alexey Sergeevich left his sixteen-year-old son without any means of subsistence, leaving him to arrange his own destiny.
Literary tramp
It is safe to say that not a single Russian writer had anything even close to the life and everyday experience that young Nekrasov went through in his first years in St. Petersburg. He later called one of his stories (an excerpt from the novel) “Petersburg Corners.” He could only have written some kind of “Petersburg Bottom” based on personal memories, which Gorky himself had not visited.
In the 1839-1840s, Nekrasov tried to enter Russian literature as a lyric poet. Several of his poems were published in magazines (“Son of the Fatherland”, “Library for Reading”). He also had a conversation with V.A. Zhukovsky, the Tsarevich’s tutor and mentor to all young poets. Zhukovsky advised the young talent to publish his poems without a signature, because then he would be ashamed.
In 1840, Nekrasov published a poetry collection “Dreams and Sounds”, signing the initials “N.N.” The book was not a success, and the reviews from critics (including V.G. Belinsky) were simply devastating. It ended with the author himself buying up the entire circulation and destroying it.
However, the then still very young Nekrasov was not disappointed in chosen path. He did not assume the pose of an offended genius, nor did he descend into vulgar drunkenness and fruitless regrets. On the contrary, the young poet showed the greatest sobriety of mind, complete self-criticism that never betrayed him in the future.
Nekrasov later recalled:
“I stopped writing serious poetry and began to write selfishly,” in other words - to earn money, for money, sometimes just so as not to die of hunger.
With “serious poetry,” as with the university, the matter ended in failure. After the first failure, Nekrasov made repeated attempts to prepare and pass the test again. entrance exams, but received only units. For some time he was listed as a volunteer student at the Faculty of Philosophy. I listened to lectures for free, since my father obtained a certificate from the Yaroslavl leader of the nobility about his “insufficient condition.”
Nekrasov’s financial situation during this period can be characterized in one word – “hunger.” He wandered around St. Petersburg almost homeless, always hungry, poorly dressed. According to later acquaintances, in those years even the poor felt sorry for Nekrasov. One day he spent the night in a shelter, where he wrote a certificate to a poor old woman and received 15 kopecks from her. On Sennaya Square, he earned extra money by writing letters and petitions to illiterate peasants. Actress A.I. Schubert recalled that she and her mother nicknamed Nekrasov “unfortunate” and fed him, like a stray dog, with the remains of their lunch.
At the same time, Nekrasov was a man of passionate, proud and independent character. This was precisely confirmed by the whole story of the break with his father, and his entire subsequent fate. Initially, pride and independence manifested themselves precisely in relations with their father. Nekrasov never complained about anything and never asked for anything from either his father or his brothers. In this regard, he owes his fate only to himself - both bad and good. in a good way. In St. Petersburg, his pride and dignity were constantly tested, he suffered insults and humiliation. It was then, apparently, on one of the bitterest days, that the poet promised himself to fulfill one oath. It must be said that oaths were in fashion at that time: Herzen and Ogarev swore on Vorobyovy Gory, Turgenev swore an “Annibal oath” to himself, and L. Tolstoy swore in his diaries. But neither Turgenev, nor Tolstoy, much less Ogarev and Herzen, were ever threatened with starvation or cold death. Nekrasov, like Scarlett O'Hara, the heroine of M. Mitchell's novel, vowed to himself only one thing: not to die in the attic.
Perhaps only Dostoevsky fully understood the final meaning, unconditional value such an oath by Nekrasov and the almost demonic rigor of its fulfillment:
“A million - that’s Nekrasov’s demon! Well, did he love gold, luxury, pleasures so much and, in order to have them, indulged in “practicalities”? No, rather it was a demon of a different nature, it was the darkest and most humiliating demon. It was a demon of pride, the thirst for self-sufficiency, the need to protect yourself from people with a solid wall and independently, calmly look at their threats. I think this demon latched onto the heart of a child, a child of fifteen years old, who found himself on the St. Petersburg pavement, almost running away from his father... It was a thirst for gloomy, gloomy, isolated self-sufficiency, so as not to depend on anyone. I think that I am not mistaken, I remember something from my very first acquaintance with him. At least that’s how it seemed to me all my life. But this demon was still a low demon...”
Lucky case
Almost all of Nekrasov’s biographers note that no matter how the fate of the “great sad man of the Russian land” turned out, he would sooner or later be able to get out of the St. Petersburg bottom. At any cost, he would have built his life as he saw fit, and would have been able to achieve success, if not in literature, then in any other field. One way or another, Nekrasov’s “low demon” would be satisfied.
I.I. Panaev
However, it is no secret to anyone that to firmly enter the literary environment and embody all his talents - as a writer, journalist, publicist and publisher - N.A. Nekrasov was helped by that “happy occasion” that happens once in a lifetime. Namely, a fateful meeting with the Panayev family.
Ivan Ivanovich Panaev, Derzhavin’s grandnephew, a rich darling of fortune, a dandy and rake known throughout St. Petersburg, also dabbled in literature. In his living room there was one of the most famous literary salons in Russia at that time. Here, at times, one could simultaneously meet the entire flower of Russian literature: Turgenev, L. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Goncharov, Belinsky, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Ostrovsky, Pisemsky and many, many others. The hostess of the hospitable house of the Panayevs was Avdotya Yakovlevna (nee Bryanskaya), the daughter of a famous actor of the imperial theaters. Despite an extremely superficial education and blatant illiteracy (until the end of her life she made spelling mistakes in the most in simple words), Avdotya Yakovlevna became famous as one of the very first Russian writers, albeit under the male pseudonym N. Stanitsky.
Her husband Ivan Panaev not only wrote stories, novels and stories, but also loved to act as a patron of the arts and benefactor for poor writers. So, in the fall of 1842, rumors spread throughout St. Petersburg about another “good deed” by Panaev. Having learned that his colleague in the literary workshop was in poverty, Panaev came to Nekrasov in his smart carriage, fed him and lent him money. Saved, in general, from starvation.
In fact, Nekrasov did not even think about dying. During that period, he supplemented himself with occasional literary work: he wrote custom poems, vulgar vaudeville acts for theaters, made posters, and even gave lessons. Four years of wandering life only strengthened him. True to his oath, he waited for the moment when the door to fame and money would open before him.
This door turned out to be the door to the Panayevs’ apartment.
Nekrasov and Panaev.
Caricature by N.A. Stepanova, “Illustrated Almanac”, 1848
At first, writers only invited the young poet to their evenings, and when he left, they kindly laughed at his simple poems, poor clothes, and uncertain manners. Sometimes they simply felt sorry as human beings, just as they feel sorry for homeless animals and sick children. However, Nekrasov, who was never overly shy, with surprising speed took his place in the literary circle of young St. Petersburg writers united around V.G. Belinsky. Belinsky, as if repenting for his review of “Dreams and Sounds,” took literary patronage over Nekrasov, introduced him to the editorial office of “Otechestvennye Zapiski,” and allowed him to write serious critical articles. They also began publishing an adventure novel by a young author, “The Life and Adventures of Tikhon Trostnikov.”
The Panaevs also developed a feeling of sincere friendship for the talkative, witty Nekrasov. The young poet, when he wanted, could be an interesting conversationalist and knew how to win people over. Of course, Nekrasov immediately fell in love with the beautiful Avdotya Yakovlevna. The hostess behaved quite freely with the guests, but was equally sweet and even with everyone. If her husband’s love affairs often became known to the whole world, then Mrs. Panaeva tried to maintain external decency. Nekrasov, despite his youth, had another remarkable quality - patience.
In 1844, Panaev rented a new spacious apartment on the Fontanka. He made another broad gesture - he invited family friend Nekrasov to leave his miserable corner with bedbugs and move to live with him on Fontanka. Nekrasov occupied two small cozy rooms in Ivan Ivanovich’s house. Absolutely free. In addition, he received as a gift from the Panayevs a silk muffler, a tailcoat and everything that a decent socialite should have.
"Contemporary"
Meanwhile, there was a serious ideological division in society. Westerners rang the “Bell”, calling to be equal to the liberal West. Slavophiles called to the roots, plunging headlong into the still completely unexplored historical past. The guards wanted to leave everything as it was. In St. Petersburg, writers were grouped “by interests” around magazines. Belinsky’s circle was then warmed up by A. Kraevsky in Otechestvennye zapiski. But under conditions of strict government censorship, the not-too-brave Kraevsky devoted most of the magazine space to proven and safe historical novels. The youth were cramped within these narrow confines. In Belinsky's circle, conversations began about opening a new, their own magazine. However, fellow writers were not distinguished by either their practical acumen or their ability to get things done. There were voices that it would be possible to hire a smart manager, but to what extent would he share their beliefs?
And then in their midst there was such a person - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. It turned out that he knows something about publishing. Back in 1843-46, he published the almanacs “Articles in Poems”, “Physiology of St. Petersburg”, “First of April”, “Petersburg Collection”. In the latter, by the way, “Poor People” by F.M. were first published. Dostoevsky.
Nekrasov himself later recalled:
“I was the only practical person among the idealists, and when we started the magazine, the idealists told me this directly and entrusted me with a kind of mission to create a magazine.”
Meanwhile, in addition to desire and skill, to create a magazine you also need the necessary funds. Neither Belinsky nor any of the writers, except Ivan Panaev, had enough money at that time.
Nekrasov said that it would be cheaper to buy or lease an existing magazine than to create something new. I found such a magazine very quickly.
Sovremennik, as you know, was founded by Pushkin in 1836. The poet managed to release only four issues. After Pushkin’s death, Sovremennik passed to his friend, poet and professor at St. Petersburg University P.A. Pletnev.
Pletnev had neither the time nor the energy to engage in publishing work. The magazine eked out a miserable existence, did not bring in any income, and Pletnev did not abandon it only out of loyalty to the memory of his deceased friend. He quickly agreed to lease Sovremennik with subsequent sale in installments.
Nekrasov needed 50 thousand rubles for the initial payment, bribes to censors, fees and first expenses. Panaev volunteered to give 25 thousand. It was decided to ask for the remaining half from Panaev’s old friend, the richest landowner G.M. Tolstoy, who held very radical views, was friends with Bakunin, Proudhon, and was friends with Marx and Engels.
In 1846, the Panaev couple, together with Nekrasov, went to Tolstoy in Kazan, where one of the estates of the supposed philanthropist was located. From a business perspective, the trip turned out to be pointless. Tolstoy at first willingly agreed to give money for the magazine, but then refused, and Nekrasov had to collect the remaining amount bit by bit: Herzen’s wife gave five thousand, the tea merchant V. Botkin donated about ten thousand, Avdotya Yakovlevna Panaeva allocated something from her personal capital. Nekrasov himself obtained the rest with the help of loans.
Nevertheless, on this long and tiring trip to Kazan, a spiritual rapprochement between Nikolai Alekseevich and Panaeva took place. Nekrasov used a win-win trump card - he told Avdotya Yakovlevna in every detail about his unhappy childhood and poverty-stricken years in St. Petersburg. Panaeva took pity on the unfortunate unfortunate man, and such a woman was only one step from pity to love.
Already on January 1, 1847, the first book of the new, already Nekrasov’s Sovremennik was brought from the printing house. The first issue immediately attracted the attention of readers. Today it seems strange that things that had long since become textbooks were once published for the first time, and almost no one knew the authors. The first issue of the magazine published “Khor and Kalinich” by I.S. Turgenev, “A Novel in Nine Letters” by F.M. Dostoevsky, “Troika” by N.A. Nekrasov, poems by Ogarev and Fet, and the story “Relatives” by I. Panaev. The critical section was decorated with three reviews by Belinsky and his famous article “A Look at Russian Literature of 1846.”
The publication of the first issue was also crowned by a large gala dinner, which opened, as Pushkin would say, “a long row of dinners” - a long-standing tradition: this is how the release of each magazine book was celebrated. Subsequently, Nekrasov's rich drunken feasts came not so much from lordly hospitality, but from sober political and psychological calculations. The success of the magazine's literary affairs was ensured not only by written tables, but also by feast tables. Nekrasov knew very well that “when drunk” Russian affairs are accomplished more successfully. Another agreement over a glass may turn out to be stronger and more reliable than an impeccable legal deal.
Publisher Nekrasov
From the very beginning of his work at Sovremennik, Nekrasov proved himself to be a brilliant businessman and organizer. In the first year, the magazine's circulation increased from two hundred copies to four thousand (!). Nekrasov was one of the first to realize the importance of advertising for increasing subscriptions and increasing the financial well-being of the magazine. He cared little about the ethical standards of publishing that were accepted at that time. There were no clearly defined laws. And what is not prohibited is permitted. Nekrasov ordered the printing of a huge number of color Sovremennik advertising posters, which were posted all over St. Petersburg and sent to other cities. He advertised subscriptions to the magazine in all St. Petersburg and Moscow newspapers.
In the 1840s and 50s, translated novels were especially popular. Often the same novel was published in several Russian magazines. To get them, you didn't have to buy publishing rights. It was enough to buy a cheap brochure and print it in parts, without waiting for the entire novel to be translated. It’s even easier to get several issues of foreign newspapers, where modern fiction was published in the “basements.” Nekrasov kept a whole staff of travelers who, when visiting Europe, brought newspapers from there, and sometimes stole fresh proofs directly from the desks in the editorial offices. Sometimes typesetters or copyists (typists) were bribed to copy out the authors' scribbles. It often happened that a novel in Russian translation was published in Sovremennik faster than it was published entirely in its native language.
Numerous book supplements also helped to increase the magazine's circulation - for subscribers at a reduced price. To attract a female audience, a paid application was released with beautiful color pictures of the latest Parisian fashions and detailed explanations by Avdotya Yakovlevna on this issue. Panayeva’s materials were sent from Paris by her friend, Maria Lvovna Ogareva.
In the very first year, the talented manager Nekrasov ensured that the number of Sovremennik subscribers reached 2,000 people. Next year – 3100.
Needless to say, none of the fellow writers around him had either such practical acumen or (most importantly) the desire to engage in financial affairs and “promote” the magazine. Belinsky, admiring the extraordinary abilities of his recent mentee, did not even advise any of his friends to meddle in the business affairs of the publishing house: “You and I have nothing to teach Nekrasov; Well, what do we know!..”
There is nothing surprising in the fact that the efficient publisher very quickly removed his co-owner Panaev from any business at Sovremennik. At first, Nekrasov tried to divert his companion’s attention to writing, and when he realized that Ivan Ivanovich was not very capable of this, he simply wrote him off, both in business and personal terms.
“You and I are stupid people...”
Some contemporaries, and subsequently biographers of N.A. Nekrasov, more than once spoke about the mental imbalance and even ill health of Nikolai Alekseevich. He gave the impression of a man who had sold his soul to the devil. It was as if two different entities existed in his bodily shell: a prudent businessman who knows the value of everything in the world, a born organizer, a successful gambler and at the same time a depressed melancholic, sentimental, sensitive to the suffering of others, a very conscientious and demanding person. At times he could work tirelessly, single-handedly carry the entire burden of publishing, editorial, and financial affairs, showing extraordinary business activity, and at times he fell into impotent apathy and moped for weeks alone with himself, idle, without leaving the house. During such periods, Nekrasov was obsessed with thoughts of suicide, held a loaded pistol in his hands for a long time, looked for a strong hook on the ceiling, or got involved in dueling disputes with the most dangerous rules. Of course, the character, worldview, and attitude towards the world around the mature Nekrasov were affected by years of deprivation, humiliation, and struggle for his own existence. In the earliest period of his life, when the generally prosperous young nobleman had to endure several serious disasters, Nekrasov may have consciously abandoned his real self. Instinctively, he still felt that he was created for something else, but the “low demon” conquered more and more space for himself every year, and the synthesis of folk stylizations and social problems took the poet further and further away from his true purpose.
There is nothing surprising. Reading, and even more so composing such “poems” as “I’m Driving Down a Dark Street at Night” or “Reflections at the Front Entrance”, you will involuntarily fall into depression, develop mental illness, and become disgusted with yourself...
The substitution of concepts not only in literature, but also in life played a fatal, irreversible role in the personal fate of the poet Nekrasov.
1848 turned out to be the most unlucky year for Sovremennik. Belinsky died. A wave of revolutions swept across Europe. Censorship was rampant in Russia, banning everything from moderately liberal statements by domestic authors to translations foreign literature, especially French. Due to censorship terror, the next issue of Sovremennik was under threat. No bribes, no lavish meals, no deliberate losses at cards." to the right people"were unable to radically change the situation. If one bribed official allowed something, then another immediately prohibited it.
AND I. Panaeva
But the inventive Nekrasov found a way out of this vicious circle. To fill the pages of the magazine, he invites Avdotya Panayeva to urgently write an exciting, adventure and absolutely apolitical novel with a sequel. So that it does not look like “women’s handicraft,” Nekrasov becomes a co-author of his beautiful lady, who initially wrote under the male pseudonym N. Stanitsky. The novels “Three Countries of the World” (1849) and “Dead Lake” (1851) are the product of joint creativity, which allowed Sovremennik as a commercial enterprise to stay afloat during the years of pre-reform strengthening of the regime, which historians later called the “dark seven years” (1848-1855) .
Co-authorship brought Panaeva and Nekrasov so close that Avdotya Yakovlevna finally put an end to her imaginary marriage. In 1848, she became pregnant by Nekrasov, then they had a child desired by both parents, but he died a few weeks later. Nekrasov was very upset by this loss, and the unfortunate mother seemed petrified with grief.
In 1855, Nekrasov and Panaev buried their second, perhaps even more desired and expected son. This almost became the reason for the final break in relations, but Nekrasov became seriously ill, and Avdotya Yakovlevna could not leave him.
It just so happened that the fruit of the great love of two far from ordinary people remained only two commercial novels and truly lyrical poems, which were included in literature under the name “Panaevsky cycle”.
The true love story of Nekrasov and Panaeva, as well as love lyrics the “sorrowful” poet, the poet-citizen, destroyed all hitherto familiar ideas about the relationship between men and women and their reflection in Russian literature.
For fifteen years, the Panaevs and Nekrasovs lived together, practically in the same apartment. Ivan Ivanovich did not interfere in any way with the relationship of his legal wife with “family friend” Nekrasov. But the relationship between Nikolai Alekseevich and Avdotya Yakovlevna was never smooth and cloudless. The lovers either wrote novels together, then ran away from each other in different cities and countries of Europe, then parted forever, then met again in the Panayevs’ St. Petersburg apartment, so that after some time they could run away and look for a new meeting.
Such relationships can be characterized by the proverb “together it’s crowded, but apart it’s boring.”
In the memoirs of contemporaries who observed Nekrasov and Panaeva at different periods of their lives, judgments are often found that these “stupid people” could never form a normal married couple. Nekrasov by nature was a fighter, hunter, and adventurer. He was not attracted by quiet family joys. During “quiet periods” he fell into depression, which at its climax often led to thoughts of suicide. Avdotya Yakovlevna was simply forced to take active actions (run away, sneak away, threaten to break up, make her suffer) in order to bring her loved one back to life. In Panaeva, Nekrasov - willingly or unwillingly - found the main nerve that for many years held all nervous basis his creativity, his worldview and almost his very existence - suffering. The suffering that he received from her in full and which he fully endowed with her.
A tragic, perhaps defining imprint on their relationship was the suffering due to failed motherhood and fatherhood.
Modern researcher N. Skatov in his monograph on Nekrasov attaches decisive importance to this fact. He believes that only happy fatherhood could perhaps lead Nekrasov out of his spiritual impasse and establish normal family relationships. It is no coincidence that Nekrasov wrote so much about children and for children. In addition, the image of his beloved woman for him was always inextricably linked with the image of his mother.
For many years, Panaeva divided her failed maternal feelings between Nekrasov and her “unfortunate”, degraded husband, forcing the entire capital’s elite to practice barbs about this unusual “triple alliance.”
In Nekrasov's poems, the feeling of love appears in all its complexity, inconsistency, unpredictability and at the same time - everyday life. Nekrasov even poeticized the “prose of love” with its quarrels, disagreements, conflicts, separation, reconciliation...
You and I are stupid people: Any minute, the flash is ready! Relief from an agitated chest, An unreasonable, harsh word. Speak when you are angry, Everything that excites and torments your soul! Let us, my friend, be openly angry: The world is easier, and sooner it will get boring. If prose in love is inevitable, then let’s take a share of happiness from it: After a quarrel, the return of love and participation is so complete, so tender... 1851
For the first time, not one, but two characters are revealed in his intimate lyrics. It’s as if he is “playing” not only for himself, but also for his chosen one. Intellectual lyrics replace love ones. Before us is the love of two people busy with business. Their interests, as often happens in life, converge and diverge. Severe realism invades the sphere of intimate feelings. He forces both heroes to accept, albeit incorrect, but independent decisions, often dictated not only by the heart, but also by the mind:
A difficult year - illness broke me, Trouble overtook me, - happiness changed, - And neither enemy nor friend spares me, And even you did not spare! Tormented, embittered by the struggle With her blood enemies, Sufferer! you stand before me, a beautiful ghost with crazy eyes! Hair has fallen to the shoulders, Lips are burning, cheeks are blushing, And unbridled speech Merges into terrible reproaches, Cruel, wrong... Wait! It was not I who doomed your youth to a life without happiness and freedom, I am a friend, I am not your destroyer! But you don't listen...
In 1862, I.I. Panaev died. All friends believed that now Nekrasov and Avdotya Yakovlevna should finally get married. But this did not happen. In 1863, Panaeva moved out of Nekrasov’s apartment on Liteiny and very quickly married Sovremennik secretary A.F. Golovachev. This was a deteriorated copy of Panaev - a cheerful, good-natured rake, an absolutely empty person who helped Avdotya Yakovlevna quickly lose all her considerable fortune. But Panaeva became a mother for the first time, at the age of over forty, and became completely immersed in raising her daughter. Her daughter Evdokia Apollonovna Nagrodskaya (Golovacheva) would also become a writer - albeit after 1917 - in the Russian diaspora.
Split in Sovremennik
Already in the mid-1850s, Sovremennik contained all the best that Russian literature of the 19th century had and would have in the future: Turgenev, Tolstoy, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Fet, Grigorovich, Annenkov, Botkin, Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov. And it was Nekrasov who collected them all into one magazine. It still remains a mystery how, besides high fees, the publisher of Sovremennik could keep such diverse authors together?
“Old” edition of the magazine “Sovremennik”: Goncharov I.A., Tolstoy L.N., Turgenev I.S., Grigorovich D.V., Druzhinin A.V., Ostrovsky A.N.
It is known that in 1856 Nekrasov concluded a kind of “binding agreement” with the leading authors of the magazine. The agreement obligated writers to submit their new works only to Sovremennik for four years in a row. Naturally, nothing came of this in practice. Already in 1858, I.S. Turgenev terminated this agreement unilaterally. In order not to completely lose the author, Nekrasov was then forced to agree with his decision. Many researchers regard this step by Turgenev as the beginning of a conflict in the editorial office.
In the acute political struggle of the post-reform period, two directly opposite positions of the main authors of the magazine became even more pronounced. Some (Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov) actively called Rus' “to the axe,” foreshadowing a peasant revolution. Others (mostly noble writers) took more moderate positions. It is believed that the culmination of the split within Sovremennik was the publication by N. A. Nekrasov, despite the protest of I. S. Turgenev, of an article by N. A. Dobrolyubova about the novel “On the Eve”. The article was titled “When Will the Real Day Come?” (1860. No. 3). Turgenev had a very low opinion of Dobrolyubov’s criticism, openly disliked him as a person and believed that he had a harmful influence on Nekrasov in matters of selecting materials for Sovremennik. Turgenev did not like Dobrolyubov’s article, and the author directly told the publisher: “Choose, either I or Dobrolyubov.” And Nekrasov, as Soviet researchers believed, decided to sacrifice his long-standing friendship with the leading novelist for the sake of his political views.
In fact, there is every reason to believe that Nekrasov did not share either one or the other views. The publisher relied solely on business qualities their employees. He understood that the magazine was made by common journalists (the Dobrolyubovs and Chernyshevskys), and with the Turgenevs and Tolstoys it would simply go down the drain. It is significant that Turgenev seriously suggested that Nekrasov take Apollo Grigoriev as the leading critic of the magazine. As a literary critic, Grigoriev stood two or three orders of magnitude higher than Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky combined, and his “brilliant insights” even then largely anticipated his time, which was later unanimously recognized by his distant descendants. But businessman Nekrasov wanted to make a magazine here and now. He needed disciplined employees, not disorganized geniuses suffering from depressive alcoholism. IN in this case What turned out to be more valuable to Nekrasov was not old friendship, or even dubious truth, but the fate of his beloved business.
It must be said that the official version of the “split of Sovremennik”, presented in Soviet literary criticism, is based solely on the memoirs of A.Ya. Panaeva is a person directly interested in considering the “split” in the magazine not just a personal conflict between Dobrolyubov (read Nekrasov) and Turgenev, but giving it an ideological and political character.
At the end of the 1850s, the so-called “Ogarevsky case” - a dark story with the appropriation of A.Ya. - received wide publicity among writers. Panaeva money from the sale of the estate of N.P. Ogarev. Panaeva volunteered to be a mediator between her close friend Maria Lvovna Ogareva and her ex-husband. As a “compensation” for N.P.’s divorce. Ogarev offered Maria Lvovna the Uruchye estate in the Oryol province. The ex-wife did not want to deal with the sale of the estate, and trusted Panaev in this matter. As a result, M.L. Ogareva died in Paris in terrible poverty, and where the 300 thousand banknotes proceeds from the sale of Uruchye went remains unknown. The question of how involved Nekrasov was in this case still causes controversy among literary scholars and biographers of the writer. Meanwhile, the inner circle of Nekrasov and Panaeva were sure that the lovers together embezzled other people’s money. It is known that Herzen (a close friend of Ogarev) called Nekrasov nothing more than a “sharp,” “thief,” “scoundrel,” and resolutely refused to meet when the poet came to him in England to explain himself. Turgenev, who initially tried to defend Nekrasov in this story, having learned about all the circumstances of the case, also began to condemn him.
In 1918, after the opening of the archives III department A fragment of a illustrated letter from Nekrasov to Panaeva, dated 1857, was accidentally found. The letter concerns the “Ogarev case”, and in it Nekrasov openly reproaches Panaeva for her dishonest act in relation to Ogareva. The poet writes that he still “covers up” Avdotya Yakovlevna in front of his friends, sacrificing his reputation and good name. It turns out that Nekrasov is not directly to blame, but his complicity in a crime or its concealment is an indisputable fact.
It is possible that it was the “Ogarev” story that served as the main reason for the cooling of relations between Turgenev and the editors of Sovremennik already in 1858-59, and Dobrolyubov’s article about “On the Eve” was only the immediate reason for the “schism” in 1860.
Following the leading novelist and oldest employee Turgenev, L. Tolstoy, Grigorovich, Dostoevsky, Goncharov, Druzhinin and other “moderate liberals” left the magazine forever. Perhaps the above-mentioned “aristocrats” might also have found it unpleasant to deal with a dishonest publisher.
In a letter to Herzen, Turgenev will write: “I abandoned Nekrasov as a dishonest man...”
It was he who “abandoned” him, just as people are abandoned who have once betrayed their trust, are caught cheating in a card game, or have committed a dishonest, immoral act. It is still possible to have a dialogue, an argument, or defend one’s own position with an ideological opponent, but a decent person has nothing to talk about with a “dishonest” person.
At the first moment, Nekrasov himself perceived the break with Turgenev only as personal and far from final. Evidence of this is the poems of 1860, later explained by the phrase “inspired by the discord with Turgenev,” and the last letters to a former friend, where repentance and a call for reconciliation are clearly visible. Only by the summer of 1861 did Nekrasov realize that there would be no reconciliation, finally accepted Panayeva’s “ideological” version and dotted all the i’s:
We went out together... At random I walked in the darkness of the night, And you... your mind was already bright and your eyes were sharp. You knew that the night, the dead of night, would last our whole lives, And you did not leave the field, And you began to fight honestly. You, like a day laborer, went to work before light. You spoke the truth to the Mighty Despot. You did not let me sleep in lies, branding and cursing, and boldly tore off the mask from the jester and scoundrel. And well, the ray barely flashed the Doubtful light, Rumor says that you blew out Your torch... waiting for the dawn!
"Contemporary" in 1860-1866
After a number of leading authors left Sovremennik, N.G. became the ideological leader and most published author of the magazine. Chernyshevsky. His sharp, polemical articles attracted readers, maintaining the competitiveness of the publication in the changed conditions of the post-reform market. During these years, Sovremennik acquired the authority of the main organ of revolutionary democracy, significantly expanded its audience, and its circulation continuously grew, bringing considerable profits to the editors.
However, Nekrasov's bet on young radicals, which looked very promising in 1860, ultimately led to the death of the magazine. Sovremennik acquired the status of an opposition political magazine, and in June 1862 it was suspended by the government for eight months. At the same time, he also lost his main ideologist N.G. Chernyshevsky, who was arrested on suspicion of drawing up a revolutionary proclamation. Dobrolyubov died in the fall of 1861.
Nekrasov, with all his revolutionary poetic proclamations (“Song to Eremushka”, etc.) again remained on the sidelines.
Lenin once wrote words that for many years determined the attitude towards Nekrasov in Soviet literary criticism: “Nekrasov, being personally weak, hesitated between Chernyshevsky and the liberals...”
It is impossible to come up with anything more stupid than this “classic formula”. Nekrasov never didn't hesitate and did not concede in any principled position or on any significant issue - neither to the “liberals” nor to Chernyshevsky.
Praised by Lenin, Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky were boys who looked up to Nekrasov and admired his confidence and strength.
Nekrasov could have been in a state of weakness, but, as Belinsky used to say about the famous Danish prince, a strong man in his very fall is stronger than a weak man in his very uprising.
It was Nekrasov, with his outstanding organizational skills, financial capabilities, unique social flair and aesthetic sense, who should have taken the role center, combiner, collision absorber. Any hesitation in such a situation would be fatal to the cause and suicidal for the one who hesitates. Fortunately, being personally strong, Nekrasov avoided both the unreasonable “leftism” of Chernyshevsky and the unpopular attacks of moderate liberals, taking in all cases a completely independent position.
He became “a friend among strangers and a stranger among his own.” Still, the old editors of Sovremennik, with which Nekrasov was connected by ties of long-standing friendship, turned out to be more “at home” with him than the young and zealous commoners. Neither Chernyshevsky nor Dobrolyubov, unlike Turgenev or Druzhinin, ever claimed friendship or personal relations with the publisher. They remained only employees.
In the last period of its existence, from 1863, the new editors of Sovremennik (Nekrasov, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Eliseev, Antonovich, Pypin and Zhukovsky) continued the magazine, maintaining the direction of Chernyshevsky. At that time, the literary and artistic department of the magazine published works by Saltykov-Shchedrin, Nekrasov, Gleb Uspensky, Sleptsov, Reshetnikov, Pomyalovsky, Yakushkin, Ostrovsky, and others. In the journalistic department, not the most talented publicists came to the forefront - Antonovich and Pypin. But this was not at all the same Sovremennik. Nekrasov intended to leave him.
In 1865, Sovremennik received two warnings; in the middle of 1866, after the publication of five books in the magazine, its publication was discontinued at the insistence of a special commission organized after Karakozov’s assassination attempt on Alexander II.
Nekrasov was one of the first to learn that the magazine was doomed. But he did not want to give up without a fight and decided to use his last chance. The story about “Muravyov’s ode” is connected with this. On April 16, 1866, in an informal setting of the English Club, Nekrasov approached the main pacifier of the Polish uprising of 1863, Count M.N. Muravyov, with whom he was personally acquainted. The poet read patriotic poems dedicated to Muravyov. There were eyewitnesses to this action, but the text of the poem itself has not survived. Witnesses subsequently claimed that Nekrasov’s “sycophancy” was unsuccessful, Muravyov treated the “ode” rather coldly, and the magazine was banned. This act dealt a serious blow to Nekrasov’s authority in revolutionary democratic circles.
In this situation, the surprising thing is not that the magazine was eventually banned, but how long it was not banned. Sovremennik owes its “delay” of at least 3-4 years exclusively to N.A.’s extensive connections. Nekrasov in the bureaucratic and government-court environment. Nekrasov was able to enter any door and could resolve almost any issue in half an hour. For example, he had the opportunity to “influence” S. A. Gedeonov, the director of the imperial theaters, a kind of minister, or his constant card partner A. V. Adlerberg, already then, without five minutes, the minister of the imperial court, a friend of the emperor himself. Most of his high-ranking friends did not care what the publisher wrote or published in his opposition magazine. The main thing is that he was a man of their circle, rich and well-connected. It never occurred to the ministers to doubt his trustworthiness.
But the closest employees of Sovremennik did not trust their publisher and editor at all. Immediately after the unsuccessful action with Muravyov and the closure of the magazine, the “second generation” of young radicals - Eliseev, Antonovich, Sleptsov, Zhukovsky - went to the accounting office of Sovremennik in order to obtain a full financial report. The “revision” by the employees of their publisher’s box office said only one thing: they considered Nekrasov a thief.
Truly “one of our own among strangers”...
Last years
After the closure of Sovremennik, N.A. Nekrasov remained a “free artist” with a fairly large capital. In 1863, he acquired the large Karabikha estate, becoming also a wealthy landowner, and in 1871 he acquired the Chudovskaya Luka estate (near Novgorod the Great), converting it specifically for his hunting dacha.
One must think that wealth did not bring Nekrasov much happiness. At one time, Belinsky absolutely accurately predicted that Nekrasov would have capital, but Nekrasov would not be a capitalist. Money and its acquisition have never been an end in itself, nor a way of existence for Nikolai Alekseevich. He loved luxury, comfort, hunting, beautiful women, but for full realization he always needed some kind of business - publishing a magazine, creativity, which the poet Nekrasov, it seems, also treated as a business or an important mission for the education of humanity.
In 1868, Nekrasov undertook a journalistic restart: he rented his magazine “Domestic Notes” from A. Kraevsky. Many would like to see a continuation of Sovremennik in this magazine, but it will be a completely different magazine. Nekrasov will take into account the bitter lessons that Sovremennik has gone through in recent years, descending to vulgarity and direct degradation. Nekrasov refused to cooperate with Antonovich and Zhukovsky, inviting only Eliseev and Saltykov-Shchedrin from the previous editorial office.
L. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Ostrovsky, faithful to the memory of the “old” editors of Sovremennik, will perceive Nekrasov’s “Notes of the Fatherland” precisely as an attempt to return to the past, and will respond to the call for cooperation. Dostoevsky will give his novel “Teenager” to Otechestvennye Zapiski, Ostrovsky will give his play “The Forest,” Tolstoy will write several articles and will negotiate the publication of “Anna Karenina.” True, Saltykov-Shchedrin did not like the novel, and Tolstoy gave it to Russky Vestnik on more favorable terms.
In 1869, the “Prologue” and the first chapters of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” were published in Otechestvennye Zapiski. Then the central place is occupied by Nekrasov’s poems “Russian Women”, “Grandfather”, and the satirical and journalistic works of Saltykov-Shchedrin.
F. Viktorova - Z.N. Nekrasova
At the end of his life, Nekrasov remained deeply lonely. As the famous song goes, “friends don’t grow in gardens; you can’t buy or sell friends.” His friends had long ago turned their backs on him, his employees, for the most part, betrayed him or were ready to betray him, there were no children. Relatives (brothers and sisters) scattered in all directions after the death of their father. Only the prospect of receiving a rich inheritance in the form of Karabikha could bring them together.
Nekrasov also preferred to buy off his mistresses, kept women, and fleeting love interests with money.
In 1864, 1867 and 1869, he traveled abroad in the company of his new passion, the Frenchwoman Sedina Lefren. Having received a large sum of money from Nekrasov for services rendered, the Frenchwoman safely remained in Paris.
In the spring of 1870, Nekrasov met a young girl, Fyokla Anisimovna Viktorova. She was 23 years old, he was already 48. She was of the simplest origin: the daughter of a soldier or a military clerk. No education.
Later, there were also dark hints about the establishment from which Nekrasov allegedly extracted her. V. M. Lazarevsky, who was quite close to the poet at that time, noted in his diary that Nekrasov took her away from “some merchant Lytkin.” In any case, a situation has developed that is close to that once proclaimed in Nekrasov’s poems:
When from the darkness of delusion, with a hot word of conviction, I brought out a fallen soul, And all full of deep torment, You cursed, wringing your hands, the vice that entangled You...
Initially, apparently, Feklusha was destined for the fate of an ordinary kept woman: with accommodation in a separate apartment. But soon she, if not yet full, then after all mistress enters the apartment on Liteiny, occupying its Panaevsky half.
It is difficult to say in what role Nekrasov himself saw himself next to this woman. Either he imagined himself as Pygmalion, capable of creating his own Galatea from a piece of soulless marble, or with age, the complex of unrealized fatherhood began to speak more and more powerfully in him, or he was simply tired of the salon dryness of unpredictable intellectuals and wanted simple human affection...
Soon Feklusha Viktorova was renamed Zinaida Nikolaevna. Nekrasov found a convenient name and added a patronymic to it, as if he had become her father. This was followed by classes in Russian grammar, an invitation to teachers of music, vocals and French. Soon, under the name of Zinaida Nikolaevna, Fyokla appeared in society and met Nekrasov’s relatives. The latter strongly disapproved of his choice.
Of course, Nekrasov failed to turn a soldier’s daughter into a high-society lady and salon owner. But he found true love. The devotion of this simple woman to her benefactor bordered on selflessness. The middle-aged, experienced Nekrasov, it seemed, also sincerely became attached to her. It was no longer love-suffering or love-struggle. Rather, the grateful indulgence of an elder towards a younger, the affection of a parent for a beloved child.
Once, while hunting in Chudovskaya Luka, Zinaida Nikolaevna accidentally shot and mortally wounded Nekrasov’s favorite dog, the pointer Kado. The dog was dying on the poet’s lap. Zinaida, in hopeless horror, asked Nekrasov for forgiveness. He was always, as they say, a crazy dog lover, and would not forgive anyone for such a mistake. But he forgave Zinaida, as he would have forgiven not just another kept woman, but his beloved wife or his own daughter.
During two years of Nekrasova’s fatal illness, Zinaida Nikolaevna was with him, cared for, consoled, brightened up last days. When from the last painful fight with fatal disease he passed on to the next world, she remained in this world, as they say, an old woman:
For two hundred days, two hundred nights, my torment continues; Night and day My groans echo in your heart. Two hundred days, two hundred nights! Dark winter days, Clear winter nights... Zina! Close your tired eyes! Zina! Go to sleep!
Before his death, Nekrasov, wanting to ensure the future life of his last girlfriend, insisted on getting married and entering into an official marriage. The wedding took place in a military military church-tent, pitched in the hall of Nekrasov’s apartment. The ceremony was performed by a military priest. They were already leading Nekrasov around the lectern by the arms: he could not move on his own.
Nekrasov died for a long time, surrounded by doctors, nurses, and a caring wife. Almost all former friends, acquaintances, employees managed to say goodbye to him in absentia (Chernyshevsky) or in person (Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Saltykov-Shchedrin).
Crowds of thousands accompanied Nekrasov's coffin. They carried him in their arms to the Novodevichy Convent. Speeches were made at the cemetery. The famous populist Zasodimsky and the unknown worker-proletarian, the later famous Marxist theorist Georgy Plekhanov and the already great writer-soilist Fyodor Dostoevsky spoke...
Nekrasov's widow voluntarily gave up almost the entire considerable fortune left to her. She transferred her share of the estate to the poet’s brother Konstantin, and the rights to publish works to Nekrasov’s sister Anna Butkevich. Forgotten by everyone, Zinaida Nikolaevna Nekrasova lived in St. Petersburg, Odessa, Kyiv, where, it seems, only once she loudly and publicly shouted out her name - “I am Nekrasov’s widow,” stopping the Jewish pogrom. And the crowd stopped. She died in 1915, in Saratov, stripped to the skin by some Baptist sect.
Contemporaries highly valued Nekrasov. Many noted that with his departure the great center the attraction of all Russian literature: there is no one to look up to, no one to set an example of great service, no one to show the “right” path.
Even such a consistent defender of the theory of “art for art’s sake” as A.V. Druzhinin argued: “... we see and will constantly see in Nekrasov true poet, rich in future and has done enough for future readers."
F.M. Dostoevsky, delivering a farewell speech at the poet’s grave, said that Nekrasov took such a prominent and memorable place in our literature that in the glorious ranks of Russian poets he “is worthy to stand right next to Pushkin and Lermontov.” And from the crowd of the poet’s fans shouts were heard: “Higher, higher!”
Perhaps Russian society of the 1870s lacked its own negative emotions, thrills and suffering, that’s why it so gratefully shouldered the depressive outbursts of poetic graphomaniacs?..
However, the closest descendants, capable of soberly assessing the artistic merits and shortcomings of Nekrasov’s works, rendered the opposite verdict: “singer of the people’s suffering”, “exposer of public ills”, “brave tribune”, “conscientious citizen”, able to correctly write down rhymed lines - this is not yet poet.
“An artist does not have the right to torture his reader with impunity and senselessly,” said M. Voloshin regarding L. Andreev’s story “Eliazar.” At the same time, it was no coincidence that he contrasted Andreev’s “anatomical theater” with Nekrasov’s poem, written upon his return from Dobrolyubov’s funeral...
If not in this, then in many of his other works N.A. For many years, Nekrasov allowed himself to torture the reader with impunity with pictures of inhuman suffering and his own depression. Moreover, he allowed himself to raise a whole generation of magazine critics and followers of the poetics of “people's suffering” who did not notice in these “tortures” anything anti-artistic, aggressive, or contrary to the feelings of a normal person.
Nekrasov sincerely believed that he was writing for the people, but the people did not hear him, did not believe in the simple peasant truth stylized by the master poet. Man is designed in such a way that he is interested in learning only the new, unfamiliar, unknown. But for the common people, there was nothing new or interesting in the revelations of the “people's saddener”. It was theirs everyday life. For the intelligentsia it is the opposite. She believed Nekrasov, heard the bloody revolutionary alarm bell, got up and went to save the great Russian people. Ultimately, she died, falling victim to her own delusions.
It is no coincidence that none of the poems of “the most popular Russian poet” Nekrasov (except for “Peddlers” in various options and “folk” treatment) never became a folk song. From “Troika” (its first part) they made a salon romance, omitting, in fact, what the poem was written for. Nekrasov’s “suffering” poems were sung exclusively by the populist intelligentsia - in living rooms, in exile, in prisons. For her it was a form of protest. But the people did not know that they also needed to protest, and therefore they sang apolitical ditties and the naive “Kalinka”.
Soviet art criticism, which denied decadent abstruseness, like all the artistic achievements of the Russian " silver age", again raised Nekrasov to unattainable heights, again crowned him with the laurels of a truly national poet. But it’s no secret that during this period people liked S. Yesenin more - without his early modernist twists and “folk” stylizations.
It is also significant that Soviet ideologists did not like Yesenin’s clear and clear voice. Only with the example of the “sufferer” Nekrasov could it be clearly demonstrated: before the revolution, before the rivers of shed blood, before the horrors Civil War and Stalinist repressions, the Russian people constantly groaned. This largely justified what was done to the country in 1920-30, justified the need for the most severe terror, violence, and physical extermination of entire generations of Russian people. And what’s interesting: in Soviet years only Nekrasov was recognized as having the right to hopeless pessimism and exaltation of the theme of death in his lyrics. Soviet poets were persecuted at party meetings for such themes and were already considered “non-Soviet.”
In the few works of today's literary philologists, the activities of Nekrasov as a publisher, publicist, and businessman are often distinguished from literature and his poetic creativity. This is true. It's time to get rid of the textbook cliches that we inherited from the populist terrorists and their followers.
Nekrasov was, first of all, a man of action. And Russian XIX literature century was incredibly lucky in that it was N.A. Nekrasov who chose her as the “work” of his whole life. For many years, Nekrasov and his Sovremennik constituted a unifying center, acting as a breadwinner, protector, benefactor, assistant, mentor, warm friend, and often a caring father for the people who made up the truly great edifice of Russian literature. Honor and praise to him for this both from his deceased contemporaries and from his grateful descendants!
Only merciless time has long ago put everything in its place.
Today, placing the poet Nekrasov above Pushkin, or at least on a par with him, would not occur to even the most loyal admirers of his work.
The experience of many years of school study of Nekrasov's poems and poems (in complete isolation from the study of the history of Russia, the personality of the author himself and the time context that should explain many things to the reader) led to the fact that Nekrasov had practically no fans left. To our contemporaries, people of the 20th-21st centuries, the “school” Nekrasov did not give anything except an almost physical disgust for the unknown why rhymed lines of satirical feuilletons and social essays “in spite” of that long-ago day.
Guided by the current legislation prohibiting the promotion of violence, works of art Nekrasov either needs to be completely excluded from school curriculum(for depicting scenes of human and animal suffering, calls for violence and suicide), or carefully select them, providing accessible comments and links to the general historical context of the era.
Application
What feelings, besides depression, can such a poem evoke:
MORNING You are sad, your soul is suffering: I believe that it is difficult not to suffer here. Here nature itself is at one with the poverty that surrounds us. Infinitely sad and pitiful, These pastures, fields, meadows, These wet, sleepy jackdaws, That sit on top of the haystack; This nag with a drunken peasant, galloping through the force into the distance, hidden by the blue fog, this muddy sky... At least cry! But the rich city is no more beautiful: The same clouds are running across the sky; It's terrible for the nerves - with an iron shovel There they are now scraping the pavement. Work begins everywhere; The fire was announced from the tower; They brought someone to the shameful square - the executioners are already waiting there. The prostitute goes home at dawn Hastens, leaving the bed; Officers in a hired carriage are galloping out of town: there will be a duel. The traders wake up together and rush to sit behind the counters: They need to measure all day long, so that they can have a hearty meal in the evening. Chu! Cannons fired from the fortress! Flooding threatens the capital... Someone has died: Anna is lying on a red pillow of the First Degree. The janitor beats the thief - got caught! They drive a flock of geese to slaughter; Somewhere on the top floor a Shot was heard - someone had committed suicide. 1874Or this:
* * * Today I am in such a sad mood, So tired of painful thoughts, So deeply, deeply calm My mind, tormented by torture, - That the illness that oppresses my heart, somehow cheers me bitterly, - Meeting death, threatening, coming, I went myself would... But the dream will refresh - Tomorrow I will get up and run out greedily to meet the first ray of the sun: My whole soul will stir joyfully, And I will want to live painfully! And the illness, crushing strength, Will also torment tomorrow And about the proximity of the dark grave It is also clear to the soul to speak... April 1854
But this poem, if desired, can be brought under the law prohibiting the promotion of violence against animals:
Under the cruel hand of man, barely alive, ugly skinny, the crippled horse is straining, carrying an unbearable burden. So she staggered and stood. "Well!" - the driver grabbed the log (It seemed like the whip was not enough for him) - And he beat her, beat her, beat her! Its legs somehow spread wide, all smoking, settling back, the horse just sighed deeply and looked... (as people look, submitting to wrongful attacks). He again: along the back, on the sides, And running forward, over the shoulder blades And over the crying, meek eyes! All in vain. The nag stood, striped all over from the whip, only responding to each blow with a uniform movement of its tail. This made the idle passers-by laugh, Everyone put in a word of their own, I was angry - and thought sadly: “Shouldn’t I stand up for her? In our time, it’s fashionable to sympathize, We wouldn’t mind helping you, Unrequited sacrifice of the people, - But we don’t know how to help ourselves! " And it was not for nothing that the driver worked hard - Finally, he got the job done! But the last scene was more outrageous to look at than the first: The horse suddenly tensed up - and walked somehow sideways, nervously quickly, And the driver at each jump, in gratitude for these efforts, gave her wings with blows And he himself ran lightly next to him.
It was these poems by Nekrasov that inspired F.M. Dostoevsky to depict the same monstrous scene of violence in prose (the novel “Crime and Punishment”).
Nekrasov’s attitude towards his own work was also not entirely unambiguous:
The celebration of life - the years of youth - I killed under the weight of labor And I was never a poet, the darling of freedom, A friend of laziness. If long-restrained torment boils up and approaches my heart, I write: rhyming sounds Disturb my usual work. Still, they are no worse than flat prose And they excite soft hearts, Like tears suddenly gushing from a saddened face. But I’m not flattered that any of them survives in people’s memory... There is no free poetry in you, My harsh, clumsy verse! There is no creative art in you... But living blood boils in you, A vengeful feeling triumphs, Burning love glows, - That love that glorifies the good, That brands the villain and the fool And bestows a crown of thorns on the Defenseless singer... Spring 1855
Elena Shirokova
Based on materials:
Zhdanov V.V. Life of Nekrasov. – M.: Mysl, 1981.
Kuzmenko P.V. The most scandalous triangles in Russian history. – M.: Astrel, 2012.
Muratov A.B. N.A. Dobrolyubov and I.S. Turgenev’s break with the magazine “Sovremennik” // In the world of Dobrolyubov. Digest of articles. – M., “Soviet Writer”, 1989
Nikolai Nekrasov was born in 1821 in the city of Nemirov (Podolsk province). The family was wealthy and large. The father was a landowner. Nicholas had thirteen brothers and sisters. The writer's childhood was spent in the "family nest", p. Greshnevo.
At the age of eleven, Nekrasov began his studies at the gymnasium, and passed five classes there, although his studies were not very successful. At that time, the young poet had already begun to compose his first poems with a satirical slant, which he wrote down in notebooks.
The beginning of creativity
Nikolai Nekrasov’s father was a despot and often showed cruelty in his treatment of others, which also affected the future biography of Nikolai Nekrasov. When Nikolai refused to serve in the army, his father announced that he would no longer help his son financially. In 1838, the poet went to study at St. Petersburg University, where he began studying at the Faculty of Philology. However, material difficulties consumed Nikolai, he lived from hand to mouth, and there was nowhere to get a livelihood, so Nekrasov found a part-time job - sometimes he gave lessons and composed to order.
At that time, Nikolai made acquaintance with Belinsky, who was a critic, and in subsequent years had a significant influence on the poet. When Nekrasov was 26 years old, he and the writer Panaev jointly bought Sovremennik, which soon gained great popularity and was a success in society. However, in 1826 the government banned the publishing house.
What Nikolai Nekrasov wrote about
Speaking about the biography of Nikolai Nekrasov, it is worth noting that mainly in Nekrasov’s works the line of difficult peasant life and the suffering of the Russian people can be traced. The writer’s language is very rich, although one can often find simple colloquial expressions, which again indicates the richness of Russian speech that came from the people. He is one of the first to combine different genres in poetic form, such as satire, lyricism, and elegiac notes. We can safely say that Nikolai Nekrasov made an invaluable contribution to Russian poetry and literature.
In 1840, when the writer had saved enough money to publish a book, his first collection, “Dreams and Sounds,” was published, although the debut did not bring success. V. Zhukovsky recommended publishing most of this work without indicating the author. Then Nikolai Nekrasov decided to temporarily leave poetry and switched to prose, devoting all his time to novels and short stories. In addition, he publishes almanacs, in one of which Dostoevsky was first published (read a short biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky). It is believed that one of the most successful almanacs was the Petersburg Collection, which was published in 1846.
Women in the biography of Nikolai Nekrasov
Nikolai had many novels in his life. His women were: Avdotya Panaeva - the owner of a literary salon, the Frenchwoman Selina Lefren, a simple village girl Fyokla Viktorova.
Nekrasov developed a special relationship with Avdotya Panaeva. She was a very beautiful woman, and many men of society in St. Petersburg knew her and sought her favor. Avdotya’s legal husband was the writer Ivan Panaev, but thanks to numerous efforts, Nikolai nevertheless won her attention. Nekrasov and Panaeva confessed their mutual feelings to each other and began to live together. Soon they had a son, who died at an early age, which prompted Avdotya to leave Nekrasov. Nikolai, in turn, became friends with Selina Lefren, who played in the theater, and they went to Paris together, although Nekrasov returned after a while. The romance between the Frenchwoman and the writer continued despite the distance until Nikolai met Thekla, a simple village girl. The poet married her and began to call her in his own way - Zina.
Many agree that throughout his life Nikolai Nekrasov loved Avdotya Panaeva, and not his legal wife, and it was Avdotya Panaeva who influenced the creative biography of Nikolai Nekrasov to a greater extent.
Last years
The Russian poet and writer died in St. Petersburg in 1877 from a serious illness of intestinal cancer, which was diagnosed two years earlier. Nikolai Nekrasov managed to write his last collection of poems, “Last Songs,” dedicated to his wife Zinaida Nekrasova.
If you have already read the short biography of Nikolai Nekrasov, you can rate the poet at the top of the page. In addition, we recommend that you visit the Biographies section to read about other popular authors.
Creative path of N.A. Nekrasov (1821 - 1878) began with his arrival in 1838 in St. Petersburg. Contrary to the will of his father, he did not join the Noble Regiment - military school, but decided to take university exams. However, his intentions were not crowned with success, and he entered the historical and philological department as a volunteer student.
As punishment for disobedience, the father deprived Nekrasov of financial support. From this time on, the period of “St. Petersburg ordeals” began for the future poet, which lasted for three years. By the way, my father, also thanks to the works of N. A. Nekrasov, firmly established the reputation of a cruel landowner-tyrant - a characteristic that is far from indisputable, as N. A. Nekrasov himself later wrote about in his autobiography of 1877.
The poet's first book was a collection of poems, Dreams and Sounds, published in 1840. The poems included in it were weak and imitative. “Dreams and Sounds” was subjected to devastating criticism by V.G. Belinsky, after which Nekrasov bought the remaining copies and burned them.
After an unsuccessful debut, Nikolai Alekseevich writes articles, a play in verse “Lomonosov’s Youth”, children’s vaudevilles, and fairy tales. In 1841, he began collaborating with the Literary Newspaper, which published his poems, stories, plays, feuilletons, and reviews.
Since 1847, Nekrasov has been editor of the Sovremennik magazine. In 1852, the first printed work of L.N. appeared on the pages of this publication. Tolstoy's story "Childhood". Sovremennik has established a lasting reputation as one of the best magazine publications in Russia. In 1853, N. A. Nekrasov met N. G. Chernyshevsky, who becomes a leading employee of the magazine.
An amazing team of talented writers is forming around Sovremennik, which includes I.S. Turgenev. L.N. Tolstoy, D.V. Grigorovich. V.G. Belinsky, N.A. Dobrolyubov. The editorial board is headed by I. I. Panaev and N.A. Nekrasov.
The mid-1850s were a particularly productive time for Nikolai Alekseevich. This was a period of rising social movement in Russia, marked by passionate discussions about the need to abolish serfdom and ways to emancipate the peasantry. Literary works began to be widely used as a means of political polemics and struggle, journalism flourished with its sharp journalistic materials. During these years, Nekrasov wrote especially a lot. In a letter to I.S. He reported with satisfaction to Turgenev on June 30, 1855: “This spring I wrote more poetry than ever before...”
Nekrasov's civic position, sounded in his poems, journalism, reflected in his editorial activities, makes him not just famous. The writer, according to contemporaries, becomes “a real idol, a god, a poet higher than Pushkin; they worship him..."
This fame is enhanced by the publication on October 19, 1856 of the first edition of Nekrasov’s Poems. The poems “Poet and Citizen” and “Forgotten Village” published in the book received the greatest public response. But not only public admiration awaited N.A. Nekrasova. After the publication of “Poems”, helpful dignitaries reported to Alexander II about revolutionary sentiments poet, which threatened not only Nekrasov, but also the Sovremennik magazine with censorship persecution.
In 1857, Nikolai Alekseevich became close to the young revolutionary-minded poet and literary critic N.A. Dobrolyubov, who becomes one of Sovremennik’s regular employees and a member of the magazine’s editorial board. Views of N.A. Dobrolyubov, no less radical than N.A. himself. Nekrasov, were not shared by all Sovremennik authors. A conflict is brewing, which reached its climax after the appearance of an article by N.A. in the third issue of the journal. Dobrolyubov’s “New Tale of Mr. Turgenev”, later published under the title “When will the real day come?” It was a review of the novel by I.S. Turgenev "On the Eve".
Turgenev got acquainted with the article even before publication in proof and insisted on its removal from the magazine for ideological reasons. He categorically disagreed with Dobrolyubov’s interpretation of the novel. If Dobrolyubov’s material was published, Turgenev promised to resign from the magazine. For Nekrasov, the departure of Turgenev, with whom he was friendly, would have been a big blow. I had to choose between friendship, the desire to keep a talented writer as part of Sovremennik, and ideology.
Nekrasov chooses the latter and decides to publish Dobrolyubov’s article. Turgenev breaks off all relations with Nekrasov and leaves the magazine. The experiences of the break with Turgenev were subsequently reflected in the 1860 poem “...lonely, lost...”.
In the same year, Nekrasov’s poem “Reflections at the Front Entrance” was published in Herzen’s magazine “The Bell,” published in London, with the following comment from the publisher: “We very rarely publish poems, but there is no way not to publish this kind of poem.”
The most significant event XIX century for Russia was the abolition of serfdom, announced in the Tsar’s manifesto on March 5, 1861. Nekrasov and his like-minded people were not satisfied with the reform. They saw its half-hearted nature and believed that the manifesto did not bring actual liberation to the peasants - they remained dependent, because they did not receive the most desired thing - land. Nekrasov said to Chernyshevsky, who visited him that day: “Is this real will! No, this is pure deception, a mockery of the peasants.” Then this position was repeatedly manifested in his numerous poems: “Freedom”, “Every day, the strength decreases...”, most acutely sounded in the lines “The people are liberated, but are the people happy?..” (“Elegy”, 1874) and in the text of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (1877).
Feeling like a national poet, N.A. Nekrasov strove to ensure that his works could reach ordinary people. He begins to publish "Red Books" - cheap editions intended for peasants. However, after the second edition in 1863, due to censorship obstacles, their publication ceased.
The position of Nekrasov and his magazine, where sharp materials were published that criticized the reform of 1861, met with increasing rejection from the authorities and, as a result, censorship persecution. On May 28, 1866, Sovremennik was banned. November 29, 1867 N.A. Nekrasov enters into a lease agreement for the magazine Otechestvennye zapiski, which, continuing the traditions of Sovremennik, becomes a platform for adherents of revolutionary democratic ideas.
In the late 60s and early 70s, Nikolai Alekseevich worked hard to create the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” which is published in separate parts in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. The poem immediately attracts the attention of readers and becomes the object of persecution by the authorities, subject to continuous censorship bans. In 1873, the fifth edition of “Poems” by N.A. was published. Nekrasov, where, along with the chapters of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” written by that time, the poems “Grandfather” and “Russian Women” were also published. The poet's poems are firmly entrenched in the popular consciousness. folk song became the first 24 lines from the poem “Peddlers”. Nekrasov's works attract the attention of Russian composers. In 1875 P.I. Tchaikovsky creates a cantata based on the poet's poems.
By the end of the 70s, the health of I.A. Nekrasova's condition is deteriorating sharply. Published in April 1877 last book poet "Last Songs". Nikolai Alekseevich feels that his muse is weakening.
December 27, 1877 at 8:50 pm N.A. Nekrasov died. About four thousand people followed the poet’s coffin on December 30.
Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich, (1821-1877) Russian poet
Born in the town of Nemirovo (Podolsk province) in the family of a small nobleman. My childhood years were spent in the village of Greshnev on the family estate of my father, an extremely despotic man. At the age of 10 he was sent to the Yaroslavl gymnasium.
At the age of 17 he moved to St. Petersburg, but, refusing to devote himself to a military career, as his father insisted, he was deprived of material support. In order not to die of hunger, he began to write poetry commissioned by booksellers. During this time he met V. Belinsky.
In 1847, Nekrasov and Panaev acquired the Sovremennik magazine, founded by A.S. Pushkin. The influence of the magazine grew every year, until in 1862 the government suspended its publication and then completely banned the magazine.
While working on Sovremennik, Nekrasov published several collections of poems, including “Peddlers” (1856) and “Peasant Children” (1856), which brought him fame as a poet.
In 1869, Nekrasov acquired the right to publish the journal Otechestvennye zapiski and published it. During his work at Otechestvennye zapiski, he created the poems “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (1866-1876), “Grandfather” (1870), “Russian Women” (1871-1872), wrote a series of satirical works, the pinnacle of which was the poem “ Contemporaries" (1875).
At the beginning of 1875, Nekrasov became seriously ill; neither the famous surgeon nor the operation could stop the rapidly developing rectal cancer. At this time, he began work on the cycle “Last Songs” (1877), a kind of poetic testament dedicated to Fekla Anisimovna Viktorova (in Nekrasov’s work Zinaida), the poet’s last love. Nekrasov died at the age of 56.