Yaroslav Smelyakov (January 8, 1913 - November 27, 1972). The life and work of the Soviet poet

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Smelyakov Yaroslav Vasilyevich was born on January 8, 1913 (December 26, 1912 according to the old style) in the city of Lutsk, Volyn region of Ukraine.

His father worked as a weigher on the railroad. Mother was a housewife and was engaged in raising children (there were three of them in the family).

Childhood and youth

When Yaroslav was about a year old, the First World War began. In this regard, the family was forced to move to relatives in the village. There they did not stay long. Some time later, the family settled in Voronezh, where they remained until the beginning of the next decade.

Smelyakov's father passed away early, when Yaroslav was only eleven years old.

At the same time, the future poet enters a seven-year school in Moscow, where he lives with his older brother and sister.

By the beginning of the thirties, Yaroslav graduated from school and, through the labor exchange, received a referral to the PFZSH ("Printing Factory School") named after Lenin.

It was she who played a huge role in shaping the future talent. Smelyakova was fascinated by the bustling life of the printing house.

Being a typesetterthe poet was very proud that his favorite activities - work and creativity - are related to each other.

The beginning of the creative path

The publication of the first work took place thanks to his friend - Vsevolod Iordansky. It was he who motivated Smelyakov to submit his works to Rost magazine.

However, having entered the publishing house, Yaroslav Smelyakov confused the doors of the offices and mistakenly submitted poems for consideration to the more respected and serious "October", which at that time was popular among young people.

The fruits of his work were approved by the editorial committee and published in the magazine.

In 1932-1933, Yaroslav Smelyakov released his first collections: "Work and Love" and "Poems"

However, after some time, he, as well as a number of other poets (Pavel Vasilyev, Boris Kornilov), become the victim of a false denunciation, which, as is typical for that time, became the reason for immediate arrest without trial or investigation. Yaroslav Smelyakov was able to throw off the charges from his shoulders only in 1937. Then he was released early.

Until the war, the poet worked in the editorial offices of various publishing houses, was engaged in reporting activities, wrote feuilletons and notes.

During this period, he wrote the Crimean Poetry cycle, repeatedly published in well-known publications: Litgazeta, Young Guard, Krasnaya Nov, etc.

The Great Patriotic War

The beginning of the war Yaroslav Smelyakov met as a private of the Second Light Infantry Brigade on the Northern and Karelian fronts.

In November 1941, being surrounded, he,like many soldiers of his unit, he is captured in Finland, where for the next three years he works hard for a merciless master.

It is noteworthy that, being in such a position, Smelyakov skillfully concealed the creative status of the already famous Russian poet at that time.

The poet was able to return to his homeland only in 1944, when, as a result of a truce with Finland, an exchange of prisoners of war was made.

Smelyakov was expected by the fate of almost all released Soviet prisoners of war - he was sent to the camp for "filtration".

There are several versions about where Smelyakov was during this period. It is known for sure that he worked in a coal mine near Moscow, but there is information about his arrival in the industrial town of Stalinogorsk (now Novomoskovsk) in the Tula region.

Post-war years

After several years of imprisonment, the poet comes to the rescue of his good friend Konstantin Simonov, who literally pulls his brother out of oblivion.

In 1948, Smelyakov's first post-war collection "Kremlin Fir" was published, which included poems from the war years.

However, the freedom of the poet does not stay long. Already in 1951, an unknown person wrote a denunciation about a table conversation that took place in Smelyakov's house.

The poet was stigmatized by Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the USSR, according to which he had to be punished in the form of twenty-five years in the camps.

Thus, Smelyakov was able to get acquainted with the Arctic. Camp life is detrimental to the he alth of the poet.

BIn 1956, the “exposure of the cult of Stalin” took place, according to which amnesty was granted to many prisoners. Yaroslav Smelyakov was also released. Until the end of his life, the poet will remember the days “in a government cap, in a camp jacket.”

He devotes all subsequent years of his life to literary creativity.

During this time, the poet was awarded three orders, as well as the State Prize of the USSR in 1967 and 1968.

Smelyakov died on November 27, 1972. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Private life

The first novel of the poet happened in the 30s. It is associated with the name of the poetess Margarita Aliger (her photograph below was taken in the mid-70s), who, together with Smelyakov, attended a literary club.

An interesting place in this novel is occupied by the ring donated by Smelyakov to the poetess.

According to Aliger, when something bad happened to the poet, the ring was lost. So, for example, it happened when Smelyakov was captured by the Finnish.

He met Evdokia Vasilievna in the post-war years. She became the first woman with whom Yaroslav Smelyakov was married. The poet and Evdokia lived together for only two years: Smelyakov divorced his wife in order to protect her from the repressions that consumed him. From this marriage, the poet had a son.

The second family created by Smelyakov turned out to be happier. This time the poet's chosen one was the translator Tatyana Streshneva.

The poet Yaroslav Smelyakov, whose biography was presented in this article, is trulya talented poet, "a master of symbolic lists", who fell to the lot of truly difficult and terrible episodes in the history of our country.