Nekrasov, "Contemporary": the life path and work of the great poet

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

The great Russian poet Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was born on November 28 (December 10), 1821 in the town of Nemirov, Vinnitsa district, Podolsk province. Now it is the territory of Ukraine.

His works are familiar to us from childhood and loved, Nekrasov's poems become folk songs.

It is also known that Nekrasov is the editor of Sovremennik.

Poet biography

Nekrasova's mother, Elena Andreevna Zakrevskaya, was one of the most enviable brides - a beautiful and well-educated girl, a Varshavian, from a we althy family.

Father - a young officer of the regiment stationed in this town, a reveler and a gambler, lieutenant Alexei Sergeevich Nekrasov, unrestrained, rude, cruel, and also poorly educated.

Love for cards, a Nekrasov family trait, led the officer to financial difficulties. By the time he met his future wife, he already had a lot of debt. But, despite the shortcomings of character, the lieutenant was a favorite of the female. A beautiful Polish girl fell in love with him, and he decidedtook the chance to marry by convenience.

The girl's parents, of course, were against this marriage, but Elena secretly married her lover. But, alas, the marriage was unhappy for her, as her husband did not love her.

Thirteen children were born in this union, only three of them survived.

Childhood and youth of N. A. Nekrasov

The poet's childhood passed in the Yaroslavl province, in the village of Greshnevo, on the Nekrasov estate.

A large family moved there after the resignation from the army of his father, Alexei Sergeevich Nekrasov (1788-1862). My son Nikolai was 3 at the time.

The neglected estate did not give the opportunity to adequately support the family, and the father got a job as a police officer, that is, the head of the police.

His duties included "bringing obedience to the disobedient, pursuing thieves, robbers, military deserters and fugitives in general, collecting taxes." On his trips, the father often took his son with him. The impressionable and vulnerable Kolya saw a lot of human grief, which influenced his subsequent perception of the world.

In 1832, Nikolai and his older brother Andrey were sent to study in Yaroslavl, at the gymnasium. In their studies, the brothers were not particularly zealous, skipping classes. At the lessons, Nikolai was frankly bored, amusing himself by writing satirical epigrams about teachers and the gymnasium authorities, thereby ruining relations with them. Having somehow completed his studies until the 5th grade, the schoolboy ended up at home, in the village, as his father stopped paying for his studies, not seeing much point in it.

Life in Saint Petersburg

The father wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and become a military man, so when Nicholas reached the age of 16, in 1838, he sent him to St. Petersburg to be assigned to a noble regiment.

But Nikolai turned out to be a wayward son, with his own views on his own future. Having met his gymnasium friend in St. Petersburg and got to know other students, the young poet made a firm decision to study at St. Petersburg University.

The father did not like the decision of his son, and he stopped providing any material support to the 16-year-old boy, leaving him without a livelihood.

Nikolay began to prepare for entering the university, but, unfortunately, he did not pass the entrance exams. He could only become a volunteer at the Faculty of Philology.

From 1839 to 1841, Nekrasov studied at the university, and all this time the question of finding his daily bread was very acute for him, since he simply had nowhere to live and nothing to eat.

“Exactly three years,” he later said, “I felt constantly, every day, hungry. More than once it got to the point that I went to a restaurant on Morskaya Street, where I was allowed to read newspapers, even if I didn’t ask myself anything. You used to take a newspaper for show, and then move a plate of bread over to yourself and eat.”

Terrible poverty tempered the character of the poet, forcing him to find income on his own, but had a negative impact on his he alth. She also adversely affected his character: he became a "practitioner", but, unfortunately, not in the best sense.this word.

The beginning of the literary path

Slowly, his affairs began to improve: he began to print small articles in the "Literary addition to the Russian Invalid", to be published in the "Literary Gazette", to write vaudeville for the Alexandrinsky Theater (under the pseudonym N. A. Perepelsky), to compose fairy tales in verses.

When the poet had his first savings, he decided to publish his poems in a collection called "Dreams and Sounds", signed with the initials N. N. This happened in 1840.

The flurry of criticism that brought down the young poet, in particular, V. G. Belinsky, forced Nekrasov to buy up and destroy almost the entire circulation.

In our time, this collection is a bibliographic rarity, although the first works of the poet collected in it are very immature.

Meeting with Belinsky

The role that VG Belinsky played in the fate of the poet cannot be overestimated. This acquaintance grew into a friendship that lasted until the death of the critic.

In the early 1840s, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov became an employee of the bibliographic department of Otechestvennye Zapiski.

B. G. Belinsky, who headed the critical department in this literary magazine of the 19th century, had the opportunity to get to know Nekrasov better. The critic who once criticized the first poems of the young poet has now changed his opinion of him, loving him and appreciating the virtues of his mind.

He realized, however, that Nekrasov's prose was of no literary interest, but accepted his poetry with delight.

His almanacs were published: in 1843, “Articlesin verse without pictures", in 1845 - "Physiology of Petersburg", in 1846 - "April 1", "Petersburg Collection".

Nekrasov's publications began to appear more and more often.

N. A. Nekrasov - the creator of the new Sovremennik

Success accompanies Nekrasov, the financial situation is getting better, and at the end of 1846 he becomes the owner of the literary and socio-political magazine Sovremennik, founded by A. S. Pushkin.

Literary youth, who worked in the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine and constituted its main backbone, followed Nekrasov to the new magazine.

As the editor of the Sovremennik magazine, N. A. Nekrasov showed his remarkable organizational talent in its entirety.

The best literary forces gathered in this leading magazine of the time, and they were united by their hatred of serfdom.

The "Contemporary" by N. A. Nekrasov and his associates became a bright event in the literary world of that time.

Sovremennik is an organ of revolutionary democracy

For almost twenty years, from 1847 to 1866, N. A. Nekrasov headed the publication, which turned into an organ of revolutionary democracy.

As the publisher of Sovremennik, N. A. Nekrasov propagated the ideology of the revolutionary raznochintsy, acting as a defender of the peasants.

The program of the peasant socialist revolution developed by Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov and their associates was published in the magazine.

Prominent writers of that time worked in the magazine - S altykov-Shchedrin, Grigorovich, Turgenev,Goncharov, Herzen, Tolstoy, Panaev.

Sovremennik by Nekrasov and Panaev has become a magazine that has never existed before.

Talent Discoverer

Belinsky also moved to Sovremennik, handing over for publication his materials, which he collected for his Leviathan collection.

In Nekrasov's Sovremennik magazine, for the first time, writers and poets published their works, who themselves later became widely known, and their creations entered the golden fund of literature of the 19th century.

All this happened thanks to Nekrasov's extraordinary instinct for great works and gifted people.

Thus, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, the organizer and creator of the new Sovremennik, became a successful pioneer in the world of literature of talented poets and writers.

In addition, he published here his poems, adventure novels, written by him in collaboration with his beloved woman A. Ya. Panaeva, who was also the wife of his friend and colleague I. I. Panaev.

The activities of N. A. Nekrasov, of course, were not limited to his own work: in his journal, the poet showed himself as a democratic revolutionary with an active life position.

As the publisher of Sovremennik, N. A. Nekrasov helped Russian society to explore and observe real life, instilled the habit of thinking and not being afraid to say what you think.

In 1859-1861, during the period of revolutionary ferment in society, differences of opinion began among the authors of Sovremennik as well. L. N. Tolstoyand I. S. Turgenev understood that changes were needed in society, deeply sympathizing with the people.

But they did not agree with Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, who called for a peasant uprising.

Ban "Contemporary"

Naturally, the authorities could not ignore the revolutionary calls.

In the period 1848-1855, Nekrasov, editor of the Sovremennik magazine, had a very difficult time: advanced journalism and literature began to be pursued by tsarist censorship. The poet had to show remarkable resourcefulness to save the reputation of the publication.

As an editor and one of the authors of Sovremennik, Nekrasov did a great job. In order to publish one issue of the journal, he had to read more than 12 thousand pages of various manuscripts (you still need to understand someone else's handwriting), edit about 60 printed proof sheets, and this is almost 1000 pages, of which more than half were later destroyed by censorship. He handled all the correspondence with the censors, employees - just a hell of a job.

It is not surprising that Nekrasov fell seriously ill, but, fortunately, he managed to improve his he alth in Italy.

After recovery, the poet begins a happy and fruitful period in his life. Thanks to his remarkably sensitive nature and the ability to quickly capture the mood and views of the environment, he becomes a popularly beloved poet, the spokesman for the aspirations and sufferings of ordinary people.

In 1866, Nekrasov's Sovremennik magazine was nevertheless closed, and two years later the poet rented from his enemy Kraevsky Domesticnotes”, raising this magazine to the same level as Sovremennik.

The poem "Contemporaries" by Nikolai Nekrasov

When the magazine was banned, the poet completely devoted himself to creativity, writing many works on topical issues. One of these works is the poem "Contemporaries".

The poem turned out to be multifaceted, satirically accusatory, where, with the help of irony, grotesque, even farce, the whole truth about the then Russian bourgeoisie is reflected, the revelry of embezzlers, financial magnates who seized the power and economy of Russia is shown.

Modern poet readers easily recognized real officials in each character. The poem amazed readers with its power and truth.

The poet's work

By 1856, Nekrasov, after seventeen years of hard work, publishes his second collection of works.

This time the critics accepted the fruits of the poet's many years of work very favorably - the collection was a huge success.

The collection was deeply thought out, had 4 sections, each of which was devoted to a specific topic: there were serious reflections on the fate of the people, and satirical works, and lyrics.

In 1861, the poem "Peddlers" was published about the life of a simple peasant. The song "Korobushka" from it became an independent work, turning into a folk song.

At the same time, "Peasant Children" are being created, continuing the theme of the peasant's share.

Next comes Knightfor an hour”(1862),“Frost - Red Nose”(1863),“Grandfather”(1870),“Russian Women”(1871-1872),“Contemporaries”(1875),“Whom in Russia to live well”(1866 -1877).

In the last years of his life, Nekrasov was seriously ill, at which time he created The Last Songs (1877). Nekrasov dedicated the best poems of this cycle to his wife, Zinaida Nikolaevna Nekrasova (Z. N. Viktorova).

Memories of contemporaries

In the memoirs of contemporaries, Nekrasov appears as a lively, dynamic, charming person, a talented, creative person.

N. G. Chernyshevsky had boundless love for Nekrasov, considered him a great folk poet and was his staunch follower, trusting him infinitely.

But, for example, I. S. Turgenev spoke unflattering about him. Nekrasov, like his father, was an avid gambler, he did not give mercy to anyone in cards, he was always lucky.

He was a very controversial person, far from ideal. He sometimes did not too good deeds, many were offended by him.

But, despite all his personal shortcomings, he still remains one of the most famous and popularly loved poets. His works are taken for the soul, easy to read and written simply and beautifully, everyone can understand them. This is truly a folk poet.