Severyanin Igor. Severyanin, Igor - short biography Igor Severyanin biography by dates

Igor Severyanin, real name Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev, (1887-1941) - Russian poet, whose work belongs to the Silver Age.

Childhood and youth

Igor was born in the city of St. Petersburg on May 16, 1887. The family lived on Gorokhovaya Street at number 66. His father, Lotarev Vasily Petrovich, was the captain of the railway regiment. Mom - Lotareva Natalya Stepanovna - daughter of the noble leader from the Kursk province Shenshin Stepan Sergeevich. Mother was already married once, her first husband Lieutenant General Domontovich died. On the maternal side, Igor had family ties with the historian Karamzin and the poet Fet.

The early childhood years of the future poet passed in St. Petersburg. His family was cultured, his mother and father loved literature and music, especially opera.

In 1896, the parents broke up, by that time his father had retired, and Igor left with him for Cherepovets. There, he was mostly on the estates of Aunt Elizaveta Petrovna or Uncle Mikhail Petrovich (these are his father's brother and sister), because Vasily Petrovich Lotarev himself left for the Far East, he was offered a job there as a commercial agent.

In Cherepovets, Igor studied 4th grade at a real school. And at the age of 16 he went to Manchuria, where his father lived in the city of Dalniy. The North left a deep mark on the soul of the young man, he was captivated by his beauty and severity, inspired to work, and even then took his pseudonym - Severyanin. Before the Russo-Japanese War began, his father died suddenly, and Igor returned to his mother in St. Petersburg.

Creation

Igor wrote his first poems when he was 8 years old. In his youth, Zhenechka Gutsan inspired him to write poetic works, he was madly in love with her, and the poetry of this period is mostly lyrical. During the Russo-Japanese War, military-patriotic notes appeared in his poems.

Returning to St. Petersburg in 1904, Igor began to regularly send his works to periodicals, but all the time they were returned to him.

Until in 1905, one poem “The Death of Rurik” was still printed. Then, little by little, other of his poems began to be published. At first, he signed all the time with different pseudonyms:

  • Count Evgraf d'Axangraf;
  • Needle;
  • Mimosa.

And only then he settled on the pseudonym Severyanin.

In 1907 he received his first recognition from the poet Fofanov, in 1911 the appearance of Igor Severyanin in the world of Russian poetry was welcomed by Bryusov.

From 1905 to 1912, 35 collections of poetry by Igor were published, the publications were mostly provincial.

In 1913, his collection The Thundering Cup was published, which brought fame to the poet. Igor began to travel around the country with poetry evenings, which enjoyed incredible success, because, in addition to talent, he also had an unsurpassed performing gift. Boris Pasternak recalled that in those days on the stage in the recitation of poetry, only two poets could compete with each other - Mayakovsky and Severyanin.

Igor traveled half of Russia - Minsk and Kutais, Vilna and Tiflis, Kharkov and Baku, Yekaterinoslav and Rostov-on-Don, Odessa, Yekaterinodar and Simferopol. He took part in 48 combined poetry concerts, and gave 87 more in person.

"King of Poets"

In 1912, Igor first visited the Estonian village of Toila, he really liked it there, then he spent almost every summer there. In 1918, the poet's mother fell seriously ill, and he moved her to Toila. His civil wife Maria Volnyanskaya (Dombrovskaya) left with the poet.

But a month later, Igor was forced to go to Moscow for the election of the "king of poets." Many people gathered in the huge auditorium of the Polytechnic Institute. Mayakovsky and Severyanin read their poems themselves, and even a small brawl ensued between their fans. Some of the poets did not appear, their works were performed by artists. Severyanin was elected the "King of Poets", he beat Mayakovsky's closest rival by 30-40 votes.

Emigration

The winner among all Russian poets, he returned to Estonia to his wife and mother. But soon the Brest peace was concluded, and the small Baltic village of Toila was occupied by the Germans, Severyanin was cut off from Russia.

Thus began forced emigration for him, he was never able to visit his homeland again. The poet lived in Toila without a break and continued to write.

He liked this small village, quiet and comfortable, he was very fond of fishing. Igor himself never considered himself an emigrant, he said about himself: “I have been a summer resident since 1918”. He really was sure that Estonia and his residence in it were all temporary: revolutions and wars would end, he could safely return to St. Petersburg.

Over time, he resigned himself to his fate, began translating Estonian poetry into Russian and began to actively tour Europe.

Personal life

Igor's first crazy love was his cousin Liza Lotareva, she was 5 years older than the boy. Every summer they spent together at the estate in Cherepovets, were happy, played, talked, argued. At the age of 17, Elizabeth got married, and Igor was so traumatized by this event that he even became ill in the church at the wedding ceremony.

A real, already adult feeling came to him at the age of 18, when Igor met Gutsan Zhenechka. A beautiful, slender girl with golden curls drove the poet crazy. He came up with a new name for her - Zlata ─ and gave her poems every day. They were not destined to get married, but from this relationship Zhenechka gave birth to a daughter, Tamara, whom the poet himself saw for the first time only 16 years later.

Severyanin had too many fleeting novels, as well as common-law wives. With one of them, Maria Volnyanskaya, the relationship was long, she went with him to Estonia, and at first the family even existed there on her fees (Maria performed gypsy romances). In 1921, their civil family broke up, Igor officially married Felissa Krutt, who changed her faith from Lutheran to Orthodox for his sake. In marriage, they had a son.

However, even an official marriage did not become a reason for the Severyanin to stop having mistresses. His wife knew perfectly well that each of his tours ended with another stormy romance. Felissa endured until 1935 and eventually kicked Igor out of the house.

The last woman with whom the poet lived was the school teacher Vera Borisovna Korendi. Every year Igor got sicker and stronger, he had tuberculosis. The poet died on December 20, 1941, his grave is in Tallinn.

Igor Severyanin (real name Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev) was born May 4 (16), 1887 In Petersburg. Son of an officer. Due to the difficult relationship between his parents, he spent adolescence in Soyvol near the city of Cherepovets, Novgorod province, where his uncle's estate was located.

He studied at the Cherepovets real school, then went to the Far East, where his father got a job as a commercial agent. Life in the Far East during the years of the Russo-Japanese War contributed to the fact that among the love lyrics that Severyanin began to write, poems on patriotic themes appeared. The poem "The Death of Rurik" was published in the journal "Word and Deed" ( 1905 ). The first collection of poems by Severyanin "Zarnitsy thought" was released in 1908. Considering himself to be a follower of the "pure lyrics" of K. Fofanov and M. Lokhvitskaya, Severyanin came up with a number of formal innovations in poetry. Some of the word formations he created were included in Russian speech (for example, mediocrity), were prompted by him to V. Mayakovsky (derived verbs “to round”, “screen”).

The arrival of Igor Severyanin in poetry was welcomed by V. Bryusov. Speaking negatively about the “restaurant-boudoir” theme of Severyanin, M. Gorky appreciated the authenticity of his lyrical talent. In 1911 Severyanin led the course of egofuturism, uniting the poets who published the newspaper "Petersburg Herald" (K. Olympov, R. Ivnev, and others). The program of egofuturists, formulated by Severyanin, provided for the self-affirmation of the personality, the search for a new one without rejecting the old, bold images, epithets, assonances and dissonances, meaningful neologisms, etc. Later he joined the Cubo-Futurists. In 1913 published the collection "The Thundering Cup" (with a preface by F. Sologub), which went through seven editions in two years. After speaking in the Crimea with V. Mayakovsky, D. Burliuk, V. Kamensky, he broke up with the Cubo-Futurists.

Poems of the collections "Zlatolir" ( 1914 ), "Pineapples in champagne" ( 1915 ), "Victoria Regia" ( 1915 ), "Poezoentrakt" ( 1915 ) and others are predominantly decadent in nature, their language is distinguished by pretentiousness, mannerisms, deliberateness, bordering on bad taste. Using a variety of sizes that were almost never used before, Severyanin boldly introduced new ones and, combining them, invented a number of poetic forms: garland, triplets, square of squares, minionette, diesel, etc. Severyanin's poetry in the pre-revolutionary years was a success. Spring 1918 at an evening at the Polytechnic Museum, he was elected "the king of poets."

Igor Severyanin responded to the February Revolution with the poems “Hymn to the Russian Republic”, “To My People”, “And this is reality” (March, 1917 ), which were included in the collection "Mirralia" (Berlin, 1922 ).

Summer 1918 The northerner, who then lived in Estonia, was cut off from his homeland. His collections "Vervain" were published there ( 1920 ). In 1922 Severyanin performed in Berlin together with Mayakovsky and A.N. Tolstoy; here he published the collections "Mirrelia", "Minstrel" ( 1922 ), a novel in verse "Falling rapids" ( 1922 ), in 1923- collections "Nightingale", "Tragedy of Titan". In 1925 an autobiographical novel was published in verse "The Bells of the Cathedral of Feelings" (Yuriev), in 1931- collection "Classic roses" (Belgrade), in 1934 - a collection of sonnets "Medallions" (ibid.), in 1935– “a novel in stanzas” “Royal Leandra” (Bucharest). In poems written abroad, Severyanin sang of his homeland, spoke in tragic tones about the impossibility of returning.

The poetry of the last period is distinguished by lyricism, the rejection of pretentiousness, a variety of sizes, and melodiousness. Poems by Igor Severyanin were set to music by M. Bagrinovsky, A. Vertinsky, N. Golovanov, S. Rakhmaninov (“Daisies”) and others.

Igor Severyanin translated from French (Sh. Baudelaire, P. Verlaine, S. Prudhomme, etc.), German (D. Lilienkron), Polish (A. Mickiewicz), Jewish (L. Stoup), Serbian (J. Ducic), Bulgarian (H. Botev, P. Slaveikov), Romanian (M. Eminescu), Estonian (A. Alle, J. Liiv, F. Tuglas, I. Semper, J. Barbarus, G. Visnapu, M. Under), Lithuanian (S. Neris) languages. In 1928 published in his translations an anthology for 100 years. Severyanin's poems have been translated into almost all European languages.

Severyanin's poems changed the course of Russian poetry: he was an innovator in the field of poetic language, was engaged in word creation, and introduced many new words into Russian literature. Reviving Russian poetry, he wrote a whole cycle of works about Gogol, Lermontov, Tyutchev and Tolstoy.

A rather large place in his work is occupied by the theme of the city and, in particular, Moscow. In nature, he most of all loved the forest and water. Rivers, streams, fjords, lakes and seas have always excited his imagination. The blue ribbon, forever running into the distance, became for him a thread connecting him with the country of his childhood. Many of his poems were set to music and became well-known romances.

The love poems were dedicated to a woman whose separation the poet considered a mistake: the poetess Felisse Kruut. An important place is occupied by the theme of the poet and poetry: the poet's right to write in the way that is characteristic of him, not to depend on the events taking place in the country and society, was asserted.

The best poems of Severyanin were included in the school curriculum. For children, he wrote about war and travel, about winter and autumn.

But the most important thing is that the poet sang about the Motherland and Russia - and thus earned his immortality. He still reminds readers of the most expensive miracle - his native land.

Igor Severyanin, whose poems are known today by many fans of poetry, is a famous Russian poet of the early twentieth century. He has repeatedly declared his genius. This fact was confirmed by many critics. And one of them is Valery Bryusov, the most talented creator, without whose assessment not a single literary fate could take place.

Creativity, to which Igor Severyanin devoted his whole life, the biography of the author and his recognition in literary circles begin long before the appearance of the scandalous poem "I am a genius." But despite the fact that this work was written in 1912, it became the hallmark of the author.

Childhood of Igor Vasilyevich

In fact, Severyanin is a literary pseudonym. In 1887, Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev was born in St. Petersburg. He spent his childhood in this delightful city. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the theme of St. Petersburg will take such a huge place in the poet's work.

Igor's mother came from a noble family, and his father was, as they said then, from the middle class. But there was nothing derogatory about it. Because the boy's dad has achieved great fame. He became a staff captain. But unfortunately, the parents separated. And all subsequent years, Igor Vasilyevich lived in the Novgorod province in the Cherepovets district. The future poet lived on the estate of his father's sister.

Famous relatives of Severyanin-Lotarev

It has not yet been fully studied on a documentary basis, what was the little Severyanin, the biography of his early childhood contains a lot of gaps. But for the poet it was very important that on the maternal side he was connected with the family of the famous Fet and was a distant relative of the famous historian, author of the History of the Russian State, Nikolai Karamzin.

In the Novgorod province, Igor graduated from four classes of the school. And the reader should not be embarrassed by this, since at that time there was a completely different education system. And besides, he, like many children of that historical period, received a wonderful family upbringing at home.

And of course, Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin, whose biography begins with the name Lotarev, was a very educated person. He knew the Russian world culture very well and it was no coincidence that he often relied on his predecessors.

Traveling around the native country and the beginning of creativity

Then Igor Severyanin (a brief biography of that period is little studied, therefore only some facts are known) travels with his father throughout Russia and goes to the Far East, where he stays for several years. And in the year nineteen hundred and four he returns to his mother. It is there that he will meet many future famous poets, writers, cultural figures.

And then a book will appear that will "sound" very loudly. Severyanin himself will call his early editions pamphlets. The writing of the first was facilitated by the events of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. And almost no one noticed the debut of the poet, because this is a kind of pre-creative period. Igor Vasilyevich was often in a hurry with the release of his poems and books.

The appearance of a pseudonym or big name

But it is worth paying attention - it was a year about which Bryusov once wrote that it was a turning point for the fate of Russian symbolism. It's either victory or defeat. A new era began in Russian literature and poetry.

Lotarev, or the future Igor Severyanin, whose biography was such that he appeared as a poet at the same time, will become truly famous much later. But it was at this time that his literary pseudonym appeared. At first it was Igor-Severyanin, that is, through a hyphen, and a little later this sign will disappear and a big name will remain.

Biography of the Northerner. Interesting facts about the poet's work

The most famous book will be The Thundering Cup, but fame came to the poet before this publication. Many Russian symbolists at that time already knew what methods there were in order to achieve fame. And often it was a literary scandal. The same thing happened with Igor Vasilyevich.

One of the poems, which begins like this: "Put the corkscrew into the elasticity of the cork ...", was read in Tolstoy's house in Yasnaya Polyana. It was an ordinary noble life - reading books aloud. The entire pamphlet of Severyanin caused an unusual revival, but this work made a splash. Everyone laughed at the unusual moves of the author's new poetry.

But unexpectedly, Lev Nikolaevich got angry and said: "There are gallows around, murders, funerals, and they have a corkscrew in a traffic jam." Soon these words were replicated in many newspapers. So Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin gained fame. His biography and work became popular the very next morning.

The true popularity of the creator and the most famous book

But the real glory came after the publication of the book "The Thundering Cup". Severyanin's name was associated with a new trend in Russian poetry. Shortly before this, Futurism appeared in Europe, which was associated with Marinetti, an Italian poet and theorist.

And Igor Vasilyevich was the first in Russia to call himself a futurist. In 1912, a direction of ego-futurism developed, and Severyanin was at the head of it. Then he will move away from his brothers.

The search for the creative circle

While Igor Vasilievich was young, he was looking for literary allies, like any aspiring poet. Either he recruits very young boys into a group of futurists, then he goes under the wing of the venerable Fyodor Sologub, and even tries to establish contacts with Gumilyov. But the easiest way was with the Cubo-Futurists. They invited Igor Severyanin to tour with them, and despite the fact that their paths later diverged, the cooperation was very fruitful.

There was a lot of traditional in the poetry of Igor Vasilyevich. No matter how the futurists dreamed of creating their own poetry, nevertheless, in literature, real creativity always intersects with the past. The names of many classical poets have become an important component in the author's work. It is no coincidence that Igor Severyanin, whose biography is such that in his childhood he met many famous people, dedicated so many poems to Pushkin, Fet, Tyutchev.

A cycle of works about the greatest creators

In the twenties, Igor Vasilyevich wrote a whole cycle of works under significant titles. "Lermontov", "Tolstoy", "Tyutchev" and so on. Severyanin uses quotations from Russian classical poetry in his works in order to bring the Russian reader back to them. Revive the traditions of Russian poetry.

But at the same time, Igor Vasilyevich's poems contained a lot of new things. After all, it is no coincidence that he declared himself as a poet who changed the course of Russian literature and poetry. He was an innovator in the field of poetic language, was engaged in word creation, introduced many new words into Russian literature.

The Severyanin was so versatile. The biography is short and not yet fully studied, but undoubtedly this person made a huge contribution to the history of Russian creativity, and his works have become another invaluable source for readers.

Winning the competition or "I am the king"

A fairly large place in the poetry of Severyanin was occupied by the theme of the city. And the search for new poetic forms of Igor Vasilyevich was closely connected with urban realities. He was ahead of his time, strove for unusualness, for something exotic.

Throughout his life, Severyanin released a huge number of books that came out in large numbers, which in the first place meant the recognition of the author. He created his own unusual poetics. It is no coincidence that in one of the poems called "Dream Kingdom" he recreated his poetic world in this way: "I am the king of a country that does not exist ...".

In 1918, Igor Vasilyevich took part in the competition and was even elected the king of poets, beating Mayakovsky and Balmont by the number of votes. Severyanin travels all over Russia and collects huge halls, many readers come to his performances, because the poetry of Igor Severyanin met the needs of his contemporaries.

Quite a few of the author's works were very serious, and Severyanin himself, whose biography is also about the many trials that fell to his lot, together with the people experienced the greatest events and upheavals of the era. And so his fate will turn out that he will not emigrate, but after the conclusion he will be abroad.

Even before the revolution, he settled in a summer cottage in Estonia, which became a new state. And there, cut off from Russia, Igor Vasilievich Severyanin will continue to create and create a kind of epic lyrics that will reflect a person's life, suffering and ideas of happiness. And in Russian poetry, he remained as an author unlike anyone else, and his work became dear to many readers.

Igor Severyanin is a famous Russian poet of the Silver Age, translator. He is one of the founders of egofuturism, which developed at the beginning of the last century.

So in front of you short biography of Severyanin.

Biography of the Severyanin

Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin (real name Lotarev) was born on May 4, 1887 in. He grew up in an educated and wealthy family.

His father, Vasily Petrovich, was the captain of the railway battalion. Mother, Natalya Stepanovna, was the daughter of a nobleman. An interesting fact is that she was a distant relative of the famous.

Childhood and youth

When Igor was little, his parents decided to divorce. After that, the future poet lived in the estate of relatives in the village of Vladimirovka, in the Vologda region.

In one of his autobiographical notes, Severyanin wrote that he received his education at the Cherepovets Real School. In 1904, after graduating from the 4th grade, the young man went to his father in Manchuria.

A few months later, Lotarev Sr. died, as a result of which Igor had to go back to St. Petersburg and live with his mother.

Igor Severyanin in childhood

Creativity Severyanin

Igor Severyanin wrote the first poems in his creative biography at the age of seven. After that, he continued to compose new works, although they were still far from ideal.

When Severyanin was 17 years old, his poems began to be published in various publishing houses. However, few people were interested in the work of the young poet.

It is curious that Igor Vasilyevich published his first works under the name "Count Evgraf d'Axangraf". In 1907 he met the poet Konstantin Fofanov, whom he considered his teacher.

During this period of his biography, he began to publish under the pseudonym Igor Severyanin.

Once a close friend of the poet Ivan Nazhivin came to visit and showed him some of Severyanin's poems. When Tolstoy got acquainted with them, he subjected them to severe criticism.

Over time, Igor Severyanin found out about this, but this did not break him. He continued to hone his writing skills even as he received more and more criticism.

In 1911, a creative community of ego-futurists was formed, in which Severyanin was a key figure. This literary movement promoted ostentatious selfishness and the use of new foreign words.

However, a year later, the poet left this circle and became seriously interested in symbolism.

In 1913, a significant event took place in the biography of Igor Severyanin. This year his first collection of poetry, The Thundering Cup, was published.

The book brought him great popularity and a whole army of fans. It is curious that he came up with the name for his work under the influence of the poem "Spring Thunderstorm" (see).

In his works, Severyanin extolled phenomena, human qualities and his own philosophical views. Having received the first popularity, he traveled a lot, where he read his poems to the public.

After each performance, he heard enthusiastic praise from the audience, and also received many flowers from them.

In 1915, Igor Severyanin published the collection "Roziris", which included his famous poem "Pineapples in Champagne".

There is a version that the poet composed this verse after he saw how he dipped a piece in champagne.

In 1918, Severyanin had to leave. He moved to, where 3 collections were published from his pen:

  • "Nightingale";
  • "Classic roses";
  • "Vervain".

He also wrote several poems and novels in verse. In addition, the poet was engaged in translations of Estonian authors into.

Personal life

There were many women in the biography of Severyanin. He first fell in love at the age of 12. His lover was his cousin Elizabeth, who was 5 years older than him.

For Severyanin, the cousin was a real muse, thanks to which he wrote many lyrical poems. However, a few years later, Elizabeth got married. Biographers of the poet claim that he experienced this event very hard.

When Severyanin turned 18, he met Evgenia Gutsan. For some time he cohabited with her, endowing her with new poems. According to some biographers, their relationship led to the birth of the girl Tamara, although there are no reliable facts about this.

In 1921, Igor Severyanin annulled a fictitious marriage with Maria Volnyanskaya and married Felissa Kruut. Thus, Felissa was the only official wife in the poet's biography.

In this union, they had a boy, Bacchus.

An interesting fact is that for the sake of her future husband, the girl switched from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy. She loved him very much, while he constantly cheated on her with different women.

In the end, when Volnyanskaya saw her husband's love correspondence with a certain Vera Korendi, her patience snapped. She packed the writer's things and kicked him out of the house. If you believe the words of Korendi, then from Severyanin she had a girl, Valeria.

Death

In correspondence with Georgy Shengeli, the Severyanin often described the state of his health. Based on these letters, it was established that the poet suffered from a severe form of tuberculosis.

Shortly before his death, Igor Vasilyevich moved with Vera Korendi to Estonia, where he got a job as a teacher. In the meantime, his health worsened more and more every day.

Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin died of a heart attack on December 20, 1941 at the age of 54. He was buried at the Alexander Nevsky Cemetery.

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