Biography of Leonid Andreev, years of life, creativity

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

One of the famous Russian philosophers once said that Leonid Andreev, like no one else, knows how to tear off the fantastic veil from reality and show reality as it really is. Perhaps the writer acquired this ability due to a difficult fate. The biography of Leonid Andreev is a heap of contradictory and strange facts. One can understand what his life was like only by studying his work.

Contradictory information

Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich - a representative of the Silver Age of Russian literature. Korney Chukovsky, who created the most accurate notes about the life of the creators of this period, argued that Andreev had a "sense of the world's emptiness." To understand what is hidden behind these words, one can only read Judas Iscariot. In this and some other works, the author seems to make the reader see the abyss where everything seemed clear and definite for a long time. His characters are complex and ambiguous, just like himself. It is impossible to judge in a stereotyped way either about biblical characters or about real people. And the life of LeonidAndreeva is proof of that.

He got a law degree but became a writer. He showed suicidal tendencies, but gave the impression of a cheerful and cheerful person. He was accused of links with the Bolsheviks, but he hated Vladimir Lenin. He was admired by great contemporaries - Maxim Gorky and Alexander Blok. And there is also a certain inconsistency in this, because these people in real life could not stand each other's spirits.

Family

Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich was born in Orel. Maternal relatives were impoverished nobles. Father's parents are a nobleman and a serf girl. The writer's mother was an uneducated woman, but she had a strong, persistent character. The biography of Leonid Andreev is full of tragic events, in which the ardent disposition inherited from his father played an important role.

Childhood

The biography of Leonid Andreev was formed under the influence of his passionate irrepressible character. Childhood, according to his own recollections, was sunny and carefree. Already at the age of six he read extremely much, and everything that came to his hand. And being a high school student, he discovered in himself a literary gift. The works of Chekhov and Tolstoy had a great influence on his formation as a writer. Leonid showed a penchant for stylization already in his youth, imitating the style of the great creators of the word in his first attempts at writing.

Andreev-artist

The future writer graduated from the Oryol gymnasium, where he did not show outstanding abilities. Most of all, from an early age, he was interested inpainting. And it is worth saying that Ilya Repin and other eminent artists highly appreciated Andreev's artistic gift, but, despite this, his paintings remained unclaimed. It is known that for some period of his life the writer earned a living by painting portraits. He created illustrations for many of his works.

First works

The complex and vivid biography of Leonid Andreev is reflected in his works. His personality still arouses interest today due to its inconsistency and ambiguity. Tolstoy, Chekhov and Korolenko greatly appreciated the literary gift of this writer. Needless to say, Leonid Andreev became a significant figure in the cultural life of the early 20th century. His stories became the subject of controversy and discussion. The performance of plays is an important cultural event.

Andreev's creative path began with newspaper publications under the pseudonym of James Lynch. He entered literature as an unsurpassed master of realism. The genre of critical realism includes his works "At the Window", "The Case", "Christians", "Grand Slam". The general idea of these stories is the denunciation of philistine existence, poor peace of mind, hypocrisy and other vices of the contemporary writer's society. This topic, however, has not lost its relevance today.

Andreev and the October Revolution

Leonid Andreev's attitude to the revolutionary events was also difficult. Showing anti-Soviet sentiments, he sought to understand the essence of the new government. But, living in Finland,disappointed in the white emigrant environment. The essence of the socialist revolution Andreev did not succeed in knowing. He died in 1919 of a heart attack.

According to Maxim Gorky, the most prominent writer among his contemporaries was Leonid Andreev. His works were highly appreciated by the author of the play "At the bottom". Despite the difference in worldview, Andreev and Gorky were allies during the period of preparation for the 1905 revolution. But a few years later they parted ways. A political position hostile to Gorky was taken by Leonid Andreev. His stories were full of the "black secrets" of the human soul, and they contained an image of the horror of death. All this was alien to Gorky's realism. Although the writers continued to appreciate each other, they could no longer follow the same path.

Judas Iscariot

Biblical stories play a significant role in Andreev's work. It is with their help that the reader can understand what the most important moral and universal values are. The story "Judas Iscariot" was created in 1907 on the island of Capri. Initially, it was supposed to be devoted to the theme of betrayal. But, as already mentioned, neither the personality of Andreev, nor his work were unambiguous. Therefore, Judas became his hero rather complex. For Andreev, this biblical character is not just a man who betrayed his teacher for thirty pieces of silver. He is low, deceitful, selfish. But at the same time, he is portrayed as a true fighter against human stupidity and cowardice.

Leonid Andreev in his work did not just retell well-known biblical stories. The interpretation of these storieshim peculiar. And critics interpret it differently. According to one of the opinions, Andreev in his work made a kind of path from atheism to Orthodoxy.

The unique artistic style and philosophical beginning merged together in the work of this writer. His works are able to awaken sympathy for people and satisfy an aesthetic need. Many critics have argued that there is "cosmic pessimism" in the books of this writer. Andreev himself argued that a person’s tears do not at all speak of his pessimism. And, despite the topic of death, which he repeatedly touched upon, according to the recollections of close people, he was a rather cheerful person.