The great Russian poet N.A. Nekrasov was born on November 28 (December 10), 1821 in the village of Sinki, not far from the town of Nemirov, Podolsk province (now Ukraine, Vinnitsa region), where at that time the regiment in which his father served, Alexey Sergeevich Nekrasov (1788-1862), was stationed. - Lieutenant of the Jaeger Regiment. Nekrasov spent his childhood on the family estate, in the village of Greshnevo (now Nekrasovo) in the Yaroslavl province, where his father, having retired (in 1824), moved.
In 1832, Nekrasov entered the Yaroslavl gymnasium, where he reached the 5th grade. He studied poorly, and since his father always dreamed of a military career for his son, in 1838 16-year-old Nikolai Nekrasov went to St. Petersburg to be assigned to a noble regiment, but instead entered the philological faculty of the University as a volunteer.
From 1839 to 1841 Nekrasov spent time at the university, but almost all of his time was spent searching for income. Nekrasov suffered terrible poverty; not every day he had the opportunity to have lunch for 15 kopecks. To earn money, he began giving lessons, wrote articles in the “Literary Supplement to the Russian Invalid” and in the “Literary Newspaper”, composed alphabets and fairy tales in verse for popular print publishers, staged vaudevilles on the Alexandrinsky stage (under the name of Perepelsky). His savings began to appear, and he decided to publish a collection of his poems, which were published in 1840, with the initials N.N., under the title “Dreams and Sounds.”
In the early 1840s N.A. Nekrasov becomes an employee of Otechestvennye Zapiski, first in the bibliographic department. In 1843-1846 he published a number of poetry collections. Nekrasov’s publishing business went so well that at the end of 1846 he, together with I.I. Panaev, purchased Sovremennik from Pletnev. Many employees of Otechestvennye Zapiski left Kraevsky and joined Nekrasov; Belinsky also moved to Sovremennik and handed over to Nekrasov part of the material that he had collected for the collection Leviathan he had started. This ensured the success of the new enterprise. In 1847-1866, Nekrasov published and edited Sovremennik. He manages to rally the best literary forces of the 1840-1860s around the magazine. I.S. Turgenev publishes here "Notes of a Hunter", A.I. Goncharov - novel "An Ordinary Story", D.V. Grigorovich - story "Anton the Miserable", V.G. Belinsky - late critical articles, L.N. Tolstoy - “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth”, and “Sevastopol Stories”, A.I. Herzen - stories "The Thieving Magpie" and "Doctor Krupov". A happy period also began in Nekrasov’s work, which brought him to the forefront of literature. He now found himself in a circle of people of high moral order: Chernyshevsky and became the main figures of Sovremennik. However, in 1862, by order of the government, the magazine was suspended for seven months (June-December), and in June 1866, Sovremennik was banned forever.
Sovremennik was closed, but Nekrasov became friends with his old enemy Kraevsky and rented from him in 1868 Otechestvennye Zapiski, which he placed at the same height as Sovremennik. Editor of "Domestic Notes" N.A. Nekrasov remained until the end of his life. During these same years, the poet worked on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (1866-1876), which remained unfinished, and created a poem about the Decembrists and their wives (“Grandfather”, 1870, “Russian Women” 1871-1872), etc.
At the beginning of 1875, Nekrasov became seriously ill, and soon his life turned into a slow agony. It was in vain that the famous surgeon Billroth was discharged from Vienna; The painful operation led to nothing. News of the poet's fatal illness brought his popularity to the highest tension. Letters, telegrams, greetings, and addresses poured in from all over Russia. They brought great joy to the patient in his terrible torment. The “Last Songs” written during this time, due to the sincerity of the feeling, focused almost exclusively on memories of childhood, about the mother and about the mistakes made, belong to the best creations of his muse. In the soul of the dying poet, the consciousness of his significance in the history of the Russian word clearly emerged.
Nekrasov died on December 27, 1877 (January 8, 1878) in St. Petersburg. Despite the severe frost, a crowd of thousands escorted the poet’s body from his house on Liteiny Prospekt to his eternal resting place in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent.
Nekrasov's funeral on January 11, 1878, which took place on its own without any organization, was the first time a nation paid its last respects to the writer. Already at Nekrasov’s funeral, a fruitless dispute began, or rather continued, about the relationship between him and the two greatest representatives of Russian poetry - Pushkin and Lermontov. , who said a few words at Nekrasov’s open grave, put (with certain reservations) these names side by side, but several young voices interrupted him with shouts: “Nekrasov is higher than Pushkin and Lermontov.”
In 1881, at the grave of N.A. A monument was erected to Nekrasov (sculptor N.A. Chizhov, architect P.P. Schreiber).
Russian poet, literary figure.
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was born on November 28 (December 10), 1821 in the town of Nemirov, Vinnitsa district, Podolsk province (now in Ukraine), where at that time the regiment of his father, Major Alexei Sergeevich Nekrasov (1788-1862), was quartered.
N.A. Nekrasov's childhood years were spent on his father's estate - a village in the Yaroslavl district of the Yaroslavl province (now in). In 1832-1838 he studied at the Yaroslavl gymnasium.
In 1838, N.A. Nekrasov was sent to military service, but against the will of his father, in 1839 he decided to enter St. Petersburg University. Having failed the entrance exams, in 1839-1840 he was registered as a volunteer student and attended lectures at the Faculty of Philology. Deprived of his father’s financial support, N.A. Nekrasov led the life of a semi-homeless metropolitan poor man.
The first poetic experiments of N. A. Nekrasov appeared in print in 1838. In 1840, he published a collection of still immature poems, Dreams and Sounds, which was met with harsh reviews. The author bought out most of the book's circulation and destroyed it.
In the 1840s, N. A. Nekrasov began energetic literary and journal activities. He wrote stories, novels, plays, theatrical reviews, feuilletons. The vaudevilles he wrote under the pseudonym “Perepelsky” were staged on the stage of the Alexandria Theater.
Since 1841, N. A. Nekrasov began collaborating with Literaturnaya Gazeta and Otechestvennye Zapiski. In 1842-1843 he became close to his circle.
In 1843-1846, N. A. Nekrasov published a number of collections: “Articles in verse without pictures”, “Physiology”, “April 1”, “Petersburg collection”. The last one was particularly successful, in which the novel “Poor People” by F. M. Dostoevsky was published.
N. A. Nekrasov’s publishing business went so well that at the end of 1846 he, together with I. I. Panaev, purchased the Sovremennik magazine from the publisher P. A. Pletnev. In this magazine, N. A. Nekrasov managed to unite the best literary forces of his time. During the years of leadership of Sovremennik (1846-1866), his talent as an editor and organizer of literary forces was most fully revealed.
In the mid-1850s, N. A. Nekrasov became seriously ill and was intensively and quite successfully treated in Italy. His recovery and return to Russia coincided with the beginning of the era of reforms, which was marked by an unprecedented flowering of Russian public life. A period began in the work of N. A. Nekrasov that brought him to the forefront of literature: he became a poet-citizen par excellence, his poems were filled with social content. The main figures of Nekrasov's Sovremennik at this time were N. G. Chernyshevsky and N. A. Dobrolyubov.
At the turn of the 1860s, N. A. Nekrasov’s talent as a people’s poet and satirist, an exposer of the “tops” and a defender of the oppressed, unfolded. During these years, such works as “The Poet and the Citizen”, “Reflections at the Main Entrance”, “Song to Eremushka”, “About the Weather”, “The Cry of Children” came out from his pen. In 1856, a collection by N. A. Nekrasov was published
“Poems” was perceived by the reading public as a manifesto of advanced Russian literature, openly calling for civic activity.
In the years 1859-1861, the theme of the village deepens in the poetry of N. A. Nekrasov. His poems “Duma”, “Funeral”, “Kalistrat” and the poems “Peasant Children” (1861), “Peddlers” (1861), “Frost, Red Nose” (1863) enriched Russian literature not only with a number of things that are striking in their cruel truthfulness paintings of rural poverty and grief, but also a series of bright paintings from the life of the peasantry, a gallery of large, courageous folk characters.
In 1866, Sovremennik was closed. Since 1868, N. A. Nekrasov acquired from A. A. Kraevsky the right to publish the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, which he placed at the same height as Sovremennik. The last ten years of the poet’s life were associated with its publication. During these years, he worked on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (1866-1876), wrote poems about the Decembrists and their wives “Grandfather” (1870) and “Russian Women” (1872-1873). N. A. Nekrasov also created a series of satirical works, the pinnacle of which was the poem “Contemporaries” (1875-1876).
The last years of N. A. Nekrasov’s life, spent in intense creative work, caring for the magazine, and in social activities, were overshadowed by a serious illness (cancer). At this time, he created a cycle of poems, “Last Songs,” in which he summed up his life with extraordinary poetic power.
N. A. Nekrasov died on December 27, 1877 (January 8, 1878). His funeral at the cemetery of the St. Petersburg Novodevichy Convent took on the character of a spontaneous popular demonstration. They became the first precedent in history of a nationwide giving of last honors to a writer.
At the beginning of 1875, Nekrasov became seriously ill and soon his life turned into a slow agony.
Diagnostically spoke out at first various assumptions puzzled me for quite a long time, but over time it became more and more obvious that we were talking about a cancerous tumor of the colon or rectum.
At the beginning of December 1876, the patient was advised by a professor who was then working at the Medical-Surgical Academy Nikolay Sklifosovsky, who, during a digital examination of the rectum, clearly identified a neoplasm - “... in the circumference of the upper part of the rectum there is a tumor the size of an apple, which surrounds the entire periphery of the intestine and, probably, causes its growth to the sacral bone, which is why this part of the intestine is motionless; accordingly at the site of this tumor there is a very significant narrowing of the intestine, the narrowing of the intestine is very significant so that the tip of the finger barely penetrates it"
In general terms, Nikolai Alekseevich was familiar with his illness and realized that we were talking about a serious illness. His mood worsened. Doctors began to increase the dose of opium, but N.A. Nekrasov had a very negative attitude towards this, because he was afraid that it would affect his mental abilities, and he used the slightest opportunity for literary work - he continued to write poems.
The following lines date back to this time:
O Muse! our song is sung.
Come close your poet's eyes
To the eternal sleep of non-existence,
Sister of the people - and mine!
The treatments used turned out to be less and less effective. The patient suffered greatly. On January 18, 1877, the surgeon Prof. was invited to Nekrasov. E.I. Bogdanovsky. The sick poet himself turned to him.
On April 4, 1877, surgeons N.I. Bogdanovsky, S.P. Botkin and N.A. Belogolovy suggested N.A. Nekrasov to perform an operation and scheduled it for April 6. The operation was entrusted to E.I. Bogdanovsky.
Nekrasov's funeral. Drawing by A. Baldinger
When the question of surgery first arose, the poet’s sister A.A. Butkevich turned through a friend in Vienna to the famous surgeon Professor Theodor Billroth with a request to come to St. Petersburg and perform an operation on my brother. On April 5, T. Billroth’s consent came; he asked for 15 thousand Prussian marks for the arrival and operation. Preparing for the possible arrival of a Viennese surgeon, N.A. Nekrasov writes to his brother Fedor: " ...the money came immediately, except for 14 thousand on bills, you get 1 thousand interest. All yours Nick. Nekrasov" (March 12, 1877).
The doctors who treated the patient, including E.I. Bogdanovsky, had to agree with the decision and wait for T. Billroth’s arrival, although they clearly understood the urgent need to unload the intestines in an alternative way. Professor T. Billroth arrived in St. Petersburg on the evening of April 11, 1877 and was briefed on the history of the disease. On April 12, he examined the patient and talked with E.I. Bogdanovsky about some preparations for the operation and about the time of intervention, which they agreed upon at 13:00.
It was in vain that Billroth was discharged from Vienna; The painful operation led to nothing.
News of the poet's fatal illness brought his popularity to the highest tension. Letters, telegrams, greetings, and addresses poured in from all over Russia. They brought great joy to the patient in his terrible torment. The “Last Songs” written during this time, due to the sincerity of the feeling, focused almost exclusively on memories of childhood, about the mother and about the mistakes made, belong to the best creations of his muse.
In December, the patient's condition began to deteriorate quite quickly, although the colostomy functioned without any complications, with only occasional slight prolapse of the mucous membrane. At the same time, along with increased general weakness and emaciation, constant and increasing pain appeared in the gluteal region on the left, swelling and crepitus on the back of the thigh to the knee area, and swelling in the legs. Chills occurred periodically. Foul-smelling pus began to ooze from the rectum.
On December 14, N.A. Belogolovy, who observed the patient, determined, as he wrote, “complete paralysis of the right half of the body.” The patient was examined by S.P. Botkin. Consciousness and speech were still preserved. Every day the condition progressively worsened, and symptoms of approaching death appeared. The patient suffered greatly.
On December 26, Nikolai Alekseevich one by one called his wife, sister and nurse to him. To each of them he said a barely audible goodbye. Soon consciousness left him, and a day later, on the evening of December 27 (January 8, 1878 according to the new style), Nekrasov died.
On December 30, despite the severe frost, a crowd of thousands escorted the poet’s body from his house on Liteiny Prospekt to his eternal resting place in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent.
Nekrasov’s funeral, which took place on its own without any organization, was the first time a nation paid its last respects to the writer.
Already at Nekrasov’s funeral, a fruitless dispute began, or rather continued, about the relationship between him and the two greatest representatives of Russian poetry - Pushkin and Lermontov. F.M. Dostoevsky, who said a few words at Nekrasov’s open grave, placed ( with certain reservations) these names are nearby, but several young voices interrupted him with shouts: “Nekrasov is higher than Pushkin and Lermontov”...
Nikolai Nekrasov is the progenitor of a new literary speech, which his contemporaries successfully recreated and improved at the beginning of the 20th century.
Nikolai Alekseevich’s revolution proceeded in two directions at once: content (the writer touched on topics in his works that were not customary to talk about even in prose) and metric (poetry, squeezed into iambic and trochee, thanks to him received a rich arsenal of trimeters).
Russian literature, like Russian social life, developed within the framework of a dichotomy until the end of the 60s. Nekrasov in his work pushed the boundaries of consciousness, explaining to people that there are at least three points of view on the same question.
Childhood and youth
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was born on November 28, 1821 in the Podolsk province, where the 36th Jaeger Infantry Regiment, in which his father served as a captain, was stationed.
The head of the family, Alexei Sergeevich, was a despot who was proud of his noble origins. The avid gambler was not interested in either poetry or prose. The mentally unstable man was good at only two things - hunting and assault. Despite the fact that intellectual demands were alien to Alexei, it was in his father’s library that young Nekrasov read the ode “Liberty,” which was prohibited at that time.
Mother Elena Alekseevna was the complete opposite of her husband. A gentle young lady with a fine spiritual organization, she played music and read all the time. In the illusory world of books, she escaped from the harsh everyday realities. Subsequently, Nekrasov will dedicate the poem “Mother” and “Knight for an Hour” to this “holy” woman.
Nekrasov was not the only child. In the difficult atmosphere of his father’s brutal reprisals against peasants, Alexei Sergeevich’s stormy orgies with his serf mistresses and cruel treatment of his “recluse” wife, 13 more children grew up.
In 1832, Nekrasov entered the Yaroslavl gymnasium, where he reached only the 5th grade. The father always wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and become a military man. In 1838, 17-year-old Nikolai went to St. Petersburg to be assigned to a noble regiment.
In the cultural capital, the young man met his fellow countryman, Andrei Glushitsky, who told the poet about the delights of studying at a higher educational institution. Inspired, Nekrasov, contrary to his father’s instructions, decides to enter the philological faculty of St. Petersburg University. However, the ambitious guy fails the entrance exam and earns the status of a volunteer (1831-1841).
As a student, Nikolai Nekrasov suffered terrible poverty. Left without material support, he spent the night in gateways and basements, and only saw a full meal in his dreams. Terrible hardships not only prepared the future writer for adult life, but also strengthened his character.
Literature
The first collection of poems by young Nekrasov was “Dreams and Sounds”. The book was prepared in 1839, but Nekrasov was in no hurry to publish his “brainchild.” The writer doubted the poetic maturity of his poems and was looking for a strict adviser.
Having the proofs in hand, the aspiring writer asked the founder of romanticism to familiarize himself with it. Vasily Andreevich advised not to publish the book under his own name, explaining that in the future Nekrasov would write great works, and Nikolai Alekseevich would be ashamed of this “unprofessionalism”.
As a result, the collection was published under the pseudonym N.N. This collection was not successful with the public, and after criticism by Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky in the literary magazine Otechestvennye zapiski it was destroyed personally by Nekrasov.
Together with the writer Ivan Ivanovich Panaev, using borrowed money, in the winter of 1846, the poet rented Sovremennik. The publication published leading writers and all those who hated serfdom. In January 1847, the first issue of the updated Sovremennik took place. In 1862, the government suspended the work of the magazine, which was objectionable to the highest ranks, and in 1866 closed it altogether.
In 1868, Nikolai Alekseevich bought the rights to “Notes of the Fatherland”. There the classic was published throughout the subsequent years of its short life.
Among the great variety of works by the writer, the poems “Russian Women” (1873), “Frost, Red Nose” (1863), “Peasant Children” (1861), “On the Volga” (1860) and the poem “Grandfather Mazai” especially stood out. and Hares" (1870), "A Little Man with a Marigold" (1861), "Green Noise" (1862-1863), "Hearing the Horrors of War" (1855).
Personal life
Despite his successful literary policy and the fantastic amount of information that the writer issued monthly (more than 40 printed sheets of proofs) and processed, Nekrasov was an extremely unhappy person.
Sudden attacks of apathy, when the poet did not contact anyone for weeks, and multi-night “card battles” made the arrangement of his personal life almost impossible.
In 1842, at a poetry evening, Nikolai Alekseevich met the wife of the writer Ivan Panaev, Avdotya. The woman was beautiful, had an extraordinary mind and excellent oratorical abilities. As the owner of a literary salon, she constantly “gathered” eminent literary figures (Chernyshevsky, Belinsky) around her.
Despite the fact that Ivan Panaev was an inveterate rake, and any woman would be glad to get rid of such a would-be husband, Nekrasov had to make considerable efforts in order to earn the favor of the charming young lady. It is reliably known that he was in love with the beauty and, however, he failed to achieve reciprocity.
At first, the wayward woman rejected the advances of 26-year-old Nekrasov, which is why he almost committed suicide. But during a joint trip to the Kazan province, the charming brunette and the budding writer nevertheless confessed their feelings to each other. Upon their return, they and Avdotya’s legal husband began to live in a civil marriage in the Panayevs’ apartment.
The Triple Alliance lasted 16 years. All this action caused censure from the public - they said about Nekrasov that he lives in someone else’s house, loves someone else’s wife and at the same time makes scenes of jealousy for his legal husband.
Despite the slander and misunderstanding, Nekrasov and Panaeva were happy. In tandem, the lovers write a cycle of poetry, calling it “Panaevsky”. Biographical elements and dialogue, sometimes with the heart, sometimes with the mind, contrary to popular belief, make the works in this collection absolutely different from the Denisyev Cycle.
In 1849, the famous poet’s muse gave birth to his son. However, the “heir to the talents” of the writer lived only a couple of hours. Six years later, the young lady again gives birth to a boy. The child was extremely weak and died after four months. Due to the impossibility of having children in the couple of Nekrasov and Panayeva, quarrels begin. The once harmonious couple can no longer find “common points of contact.”
In 1862, Avdotya’s legal husband, Ivan Panaev, dies. Soon the woman realizes that Nikolai Alekseevich is not the hero of her novel, and leaves the poet. It is reliably known that in the writer’s will there is a mention of “the love of his life.”
On a trip abroad in 1864, Nekrasov lived for 3 months in an apartment with his companions - his sister Anna Alekseevna and the Frenchwoman Selina Lefren, whom he met back in St. Petersburg in 1863.
Selina was an actress of a French troupe performing at the Mikhailovsky Theater, and because of her easy disposition, she did not take her relationship with the poet seriously. Lefren spent the summer of 1866 in Karabikha, and in the spring of 1867 she again went abroad with Nekrasov. However, this time the fatal beauty never returned to Russia. This did not interrupt their relationship - in 1869 the couple met in Paris and spent the whole of August by the sea in Dieppe. The writer also mentioned her in his dying will.
At the age of 48, Nekrasov met a simple-minded 19-year-old village girl, Fekla Anisimovna Viktorova. And although the young lady did not have outstanding external characteristics and was extremely modest, the master of the literary word immediately liked her. For Thekla, the poet became the man of her life. He not only revealed to a woman the vicissitudes of love, but also showed the world.
Nekrasov and his young girlfriend lived together for five happy years. Their love story was reminiscent of the plot of the play Pygmalion. Lessons in French, Russian grammar, vocals and playing the piano transformed the writer’s common-law wife so much that instead of an overly common name, the poet began to call her Zinaida Nikolaevna, giving her a patronymic in his own name.
The poet had the most tender feelings for Thekla, but throughout his life he yearned for both the carefree Frenchwoman Selina Lefren, with whom he had an affair abroad, and for the obstinate Avdotya Yakovlevna.
Death
The last years of the great writer’s life were filled with agony. The publicist purchased a “one-way ticket” at the beginning of 1875, when he became seriously ill.
The classic man, who did not particularly care about his health, consulted a doctor only in December 1876 after his affairs became very bad. The examination was carried out by Professor Nikolai Sklifosovsky, who then worked at the Medical-Surgical Academy. During a digital examination of the rectum, he clearly identified a tumor the size of an apple. The eminent surgeon immediately informed both Nekrasov and his assistants about the tumor in order to collectively decide what to do next.
Although Nikolai Alekseevich understood that he was seriously ill, he refused to increase the dose of opium until the very end. The already middle-aged writer was afraid of losing his ability to work and becoming a burden to his family. It is reliably known that during the days of remission, Nekrasov continued to write poems and completed the fourth part of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” On the Internet to this day you can find photographs where the classic “enslaved by disease” lies on the bed with a piece of paper and thoughtfully looks into the distance.
The treatment used was losing effectiveness, and in 1877 the desperate poet turned to surgeon E.I. for help. Bogdanovsky. The writer’s sister, having learned about the surgical intervention, wrote a letter to Vienna. In it, the woman tearfully asked the eminent professor Theodor Billroth to come to St. Petersburg and operate on his beloved brother. On April 5, agreement came. A close friend of Johannes Brahms asked for 15 thousand Prussian marks for the work. Preparing for the arrival of the surgeon, N.A. Nekrasov borrowed the required amount of money from his brother Fedor.
The attending doctors had to agree with the decision and wait for their colleague to arrive. Professor T. Billroth arrived in St. Petersburg on April 11, 1877. The medical luminary was immediately acquainted with the classic’s medical history. On April 12, Theodor examined Nekrasov and scheduled an operation for the evening of the same day. The hopes of family and friends were not justified: the painful operation led to nothing.
The news of the poet's fatal illness spread across the country in an instant. People from all over Russia sent letters and telegrams to Nikolai Alekseevich. Despite the terrible torment, the eminent literary figure continued to correspond with concerned citizens until he became completely paralyzed.
In the book “Last Songs” written during this time, the literary figure summed up the results, drawing an invisible line between life and creativity. The works included in the collection are a literary confession of a man who anticipates his imminent death.
In December, the publicist’s condition worsened sharply: along with increasing general weakness and emaciation, constantly increasing pain in the gluteal area, chills, swelling on the back of the thigh and swelling in the legs appeared. Among other things, foul-smelling pus began to come out of the rectum.
Before his death, Nekrasov decided to legitimize his relationship with Zinaida. The patient did not have the strength to go to church, and the wedding took place at home. On December 14, who observed the patient N.A. Belogolovy determined complete paralysis of the right half of the body and warned his relatives that the condition would progressively worsen every day.
On December 26, Nikolai Alekseevich one by one called his wife, sister and nurse to him. He said a barely audible “goodbye” to each of them. Soon consciousness left him, and on the evening of December 27 (January 8, 1878, new style), the eminent publicist died.
On December 30, despite the severe frost, a crowd of thousands accompanied the poet “on his last day” from his house on Liteiny Prospekt to his eternal resting place - the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent.
In his farewell speech, Dostoevsky awarded Nekrasov third place in Russian poetry after Pushkin and. The crowd interrupted the writer with shouts of “Yes, higher, higher than Pushkin!”
Immediately after the funeral, Zinaida Nikolaevna turned to the abbess of the monastery with a request to sell her a place next to her husband’s grave for her future burial.
Bibliography
- "Actor" (play, 1841)
- "Rejected" (play, 1859)
- "The Official" (play, 1844)
- “Theoklist Onufrich Bob, or The Husband Is Out of Place” (play, 1841)
- “Lomonosov’s Youth” (dramatic fantasy in verse in one act with an epilogue, 1840)
- “Contemporaries” (poem, 1875)
- “Silence” (poem, 1857)
- “Grandfather” (poem, 1870)
- “Cabinet of Wax Figures” (poem, 1956)
- “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (poem, 1863-1876)
- “Peddlers” (poem, 1861)
- “Recent Time” (poem, 1871)
The name of one of the brightest writers of the 19th century is familiar to everyone. Works such as “Who Lives Well in Rus'” and “Grandfather Mazai and the Hares” are part of the school curriculum of every modern student. Nekrasov’s biography includes information known to all admirers of his work.
For example, he is considered not only a poet, but also a publicist. He is a revolutionary democrat, director and editor of the magazines Otechestvennye zapiski and Sovremennik. Lover of card games and hunting. Nekrasov's biography contains many other interesting facts. Our article is dedicated to them.
Who is he?
The hometown of the future poet was the Ukrainian Nemirov, where he was born in 1821. Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich was born into the family of a military man and the well-bred daughter of a wealthy tenant. According to the poet’s recollections, the parents’ marriage was not happy. The mother always presented herself as a sufferer, experiencing her share as a woman. The writer dedicated many works to her. Perhaps her image is the only positive hero of Nekrasov’s world, which he will carry through all his work. The father will also become a prototype of individual heroes, but more despotic ones.
Growing up and becoming
After his father retired, Alexey Sergeevich became a police officer - that’s what the head of the police used to be called. Little Nikolai often went with him on business. During this time he saw a lot of death and poverty. Subsequently, the writer Nekrasov reflected the complexities of the peasant people in his poems.
He will study at the Yaroslavl gymnasium until the 5th grade. The first poems will be written in a specially prepared notebook. Most of the poet's early works are full of sad images and impressions. When he turns 17, his father, who dreamed of a military career, will send his son to a noble regiment.
Nekrasov’s first independent decision was the desire to enter St. Petersburg University. This was facilitated by meeting students who became good friends. He failed the exam, enrolling in the Faculty of Philology as a volunteer student. For two years, Nekrasov attended lectures and did not give up looking for work - the angry Nekrasov Sr. refused to help him financially. During this period, the poet experiences terrible suffering, left homeless, and even hungry. In a shelter for 15 kopecks, he wrote a petition for someone. This was the first episode of his life when his future profession brought money.
Finding your direction
The hardships were not in vain for the writer. He realized for himself what the hardships of life are. Nekrasov's life soon improved. “Literary Gazette” published his works, and he himself worked diligently in all directions: he wrote vaudeville, alphabet books, poetry and prose.
Nekrasov published his first collection of poems, “Dreams and Sounds,” with his own savings. Criticism about the book was divided equally - some considered it commendable, others were unflattering. Like Gogol, the disgruntled Nekrasov bought and then destroyed almost all of its copies. Nowadays, “Dreams and Sounds” has acquired the status of a literary rarity, which is extremely difficult to find.
Failure Follows Recognition
The fact that the poems were not sold out made the writer think and study the reason for his defeat. Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov discovered a new genre for himself - prose. It came easier. In it, the author reflects life experience, impressions of the city, where he strives to show all its classes. These are peddlers, officials, deceived women, money lenders and the poor. Not stopping there, Nekrasov introduces a humorous subtext, which became the basis of several subsequent works.
The writer's creative upsurge comes with the release of his own almanacs. Nekrasov’s life cannot be imagined without publishing, which he associates with the rental of Sovremennik in 1847. Many talented poets joined the magazine, including Belinsky, who was always the first to become acquainted with Nekrasov’s new works and give his reviews. Those for whom Sovremennik became a launching pad included: Turgenev, Ogarev, Ostrovsky, Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov, Saltykov-Shchedrin and others. Everyone contributed something of their own, making Sovremennik the best literary publication. Nekrasov himself publishes in it, remaining its director.
Satire is a way to laugh at society
The creative path of a writer is invariably connected not only with the search for oneself, but also for other directions in which one can work. Nekrasov’s biography cannot ignore his love for satire, which he discovered in his later years of creativity. A number of satirical works were published. In this genre, the writer exposes social foundations, delicately describes topical issues, and uses methods of sincere intonations and vaudeville components. In short, he deftly uses the richness of the Russian language, using grotesque, sarcasm, farce and irony.
At this time, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is born. The peasant-themed poem touches on the main idea - feeling freedom, do the Russian people experience happiness? In 1875, the poet fell ill. He receives telegrams and letters from readers, which provides new inspiration for his latest works. A huge number of people came to the funeral at the Novodevichy cemetery. Among them was Dostoevsky, who called Nekrasov the third writer after Pushkin and Lermontov. Dates of Nekrasov's life: November 28, 1821 (born) - December 27, 1877 (died).
Personal happiness
What can you say about a person who felt and saw with his own eyes all the misfortunes of the peasants and working class, to whom he devoted so much work? Was he himself happy?
Of course, Nekrasov’s biography provides information that the poet loved Avdotya Panaeva, the wife of the writer Ivan Panaev. Their relationship remained in history as one of the strangest. And although Ivan Panaev was known as a reveler, his wife remained a decent woman. At first she rejected both Nekrasov and Dostoevsky, who was also in love with her. And soon she admitted reciprocal feelings for the first one. Nekrasov moved into her house, forming a love triangle of Nekrasov-Panaev-Panaev. They lived like this for 16 years. The death of Panaev is associated with the birth of Nekrasov’s son and his imminent death. The poet falls into depression, which caused a break in relations on Avdotya’s initiative.
The writer's new chosen one was the village girl Fekla Viktorova. The age difference was 25 years. He gave the uneducated woman the name Zinaida. He takes her to theaters and tries to educate her in every possible way.
Place in literature
Every writer leaves his mark. Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich was one of the brightest authors of the 19th century, who left a legacy of many works endowed with depth and philosophy. Libraries, museums and other cultural institutions bear his name. The central streets of many Russian cities are named after the writer. Monuments and postage stamps are dedicated to him. According to many writers, his work was not fully appreciated during his lifetime. However, this loss is being made up in our time.
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