Poet Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin: biography, best works and interesting facts

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

Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin is a famous Russian poet, whose poems were very popular both in the pre-revolutionary years and in the days of the USSR. He lived a long life, most of which he devoted to literary creativity. The biography of Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin is summarized in this article.

Origin, years of study

He was born on December 6, 1848 in the Tver province (the village of Nizovka). This region was very fond of Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin. His homeland is sung in many of his works. The village of Nizovka would later become a source of inspiration for the poet for many years to come. Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin dedicated, in particular, his famous verse "Motherland" to her.

The parents of the future poet were serfs. Spiridon Dmitrievich received the basics of education from his grandfather, Stepan Stepanovich Drozhzhin, who taught him to read the alphabet and, of course, the hour book.

In 1858, Spiridon was sent to school to a local deacon. Here, the future poet studied counting and writing for two years. Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin recalled those days with gratitude. They are dedicated to his poem of 1905 "At school atDeacon". On this, the training of Spiridon Dmitrievich was completed - in the winter of 1860, the future poet went to St. Petersburg to work.

Wandering around the country, self-education

The next 36 years of his life were marked by painful wanderings around the country. Spiridon Dmitrievich changed many professions. He was a tavern servant, assistant barman, clerk in bookshops and tobacconists, salesman, messenger, footman, laborer, agent of the steamboat company "Airplane", entrusted with the delivery of firewood for the railway. Fate threw the future poet to Tver and Moscow, Kharkov and Yaroslavl, Tashkent and Kyiv.

The initial years of wanderings, Petersburg (1860-1871), is a time marked not only by a half-starved beggarly existence, but also by Drozhzhin's active self-education. The first four years spent in the capital, he worked in the "Caucasus" tavern as a sex worker. At this time, Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin eagerly, albeit haphazardly, read literature, often of poor quality: magazines such as "Reading for Soldiers" and "Mirsky Messenger", popular novels, etc. However, after some time, Spiridon Dmitrievich got acquainted with the works of I. S. Nikitina, A. V. Koltsov and N. A. Nekrasov. He enthusiastically read the Iskra magazine. Spiridon Dmitrievich began to regularly visit the Public Library in 1866.

Own library and first poem

On his ideological and aestheticorientation and artistic tastes were positively influenced by Drozhzhin's acquaintance with the capital's students and representatives of the diverse democratic youth. Saving in clothes and food, Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin collected his library. It includes works created by his favorite authors: M. Yu. Lermontov and A. S. Pushkin, Nikitin and Koltsov, P.-Zh. Beranger and G. Heine, G. I. Uspensky and L. N. Tolstoy, N. P. Ogarev and F. Schiller and others. Drozhzhin was also interested in "forbidden" literature. At the age of 17 he wrote his first poem. Since that time, Spiridon Drozhzhin did not stop writing poetry. The first entries in his diary appeared on May 10, 1867. He led him to the end of his life.

First publication

By 1870, Drozhzhin's first attempt to publish his works dates back. He sent the 5 best, in his opinion, poems to the "Illustrated Gazette", but they were rejected. In 1873, the long-awaited literary debut of the poet took place. It was then that Drozhzhin's poem "Song about the grief of a good fellow" was published in the magazine "Literacy". Since that time, Spiridon Dmitrievich began to actively publish in many magazines ("Russian we alth", "Family Evenings", "Delo", "Slovo", etc.), as well as in children's publications ("Young Russia", "Lark", " Children's reading", "Childhood", etc.).

Fame, homecoming

Fame Drozhzhinas a poet in the late 1870s - 1880s. grew rapidly. FROM. Surikov showed interest in the young self-taught author. This is evidenced by their correspondence dating back to 1879.

In St. Petersburg in 1889 the first collection of S. D. Drozhzhin ("Poems of 1866-1888 with the author's notes about his life"). In 1894 and 1907, this book was reprinted, each time significantly replenished. Nevertheless, the poet continued to live in misery. In early 1886, Drozhzhin finally returned to his native village of Nizovka. Here he devoted himself entirely to literature, as well as agricultural work. L. N. Tolstoy supported the decision taken by Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin. The motherland, as he believed, could inspire the poet to new achievements.

Meeting with Leo Tolstoy and R. M. Rilke

Drozhzhin met Lev Nikolaevich twice, in 1892 and 1897. For the poet in the village, the police established an unspoken supervision, which did not prevent him from creating. The poet Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin gradually became more and more popular. His biography was marked by an important event in 1900: R. M. Rilke, the great Austrian poet, arrived in Nizovka. He translated 4 poems by Spiridon Dmitrievich into German.

New books, financial improvement

One after another in the first decade of the 20th century, the following books by Drozhzhin were published: in 1904 - "New Poems", in 1906 - "The Year of the Peasant", in 1907 - "Cherished Songs", in 1909 - "New Russian Songs and Bayan. The circle of "Writers from the people" in December 1903 held an eveningin Moscow, dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of Drozhzhin's creative activity. In the same year, he was granted a pension (180 rubles a year, for life).

In 1904, Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin wrote his famous poem "Motherland". The author always had a special feeling for the land on which he was born. Many of his works are devoted to this.

In 1905, Drozhzhin became a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature organized at Moscow University. And in 1910, on December 29, he received the prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its size was 500 rubles. It was presented to Drozhzhin for collections of 1907-09. On October 19, 1915, another book by Spiridon Dmitrievich, "Songs of the Old Plowman" (published in 1913), was awarded by the Academy of Sciences. Drozhzhin was awarded an honorary "Pushkin" review.

Condemnation of the imperialist war and support for the October Revolution

Living in the village, Spiridon Dmitrievich followed important events in the life of society. He became one of the few Russian writers who categorically condemned the imperialist war. In 1916, Drozhzhin's poem "Down with the war!" appeared. Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin called her bloody events in 1914 "a relic of gross barbarism" in his diary.

His biography is marked by the adoption of the October Revolution, which the 69-year-old poet met with joy. He immediately began to participate in social work. Drozhzhin was a member of the volost executive committee, he traveled all over the country, reading his works to the locals. Poetin 1919 he became chairman of the congress of proletarian writers in the Tver province. The poems of Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin continued to be published in print.

Songs of Labor and Struggle

In 1923, his collection en titled "Songs of Labor and Struggle" appeared. It marked two anniversaries of the poet at once - the 75th anniversary of his birth and the 50th anniversary of his creative activity. On the occasion of these dates, Spiridon Dmitrievich was elected an honorary member of the All-Russian Union of Poets that was active at that time. In addition, the library-reading room named after Drozhzhin appeared in Tver. Five years later, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, Spiridon Dmitrievich received congratulations from the USSR Academy of Sciences. It was signed by A. P. Karpinsky, its president.

Last years of life

Drozhzhin September 28, 1928 met with Maxim Gorky in Moscow. In the last years of his life, Spiridon Dmitrievich worked on the following collections: "Songs" (published in 1928), "Ways and Roads" and "Songs of a Peasant" (both - 1929). "Songs of a Peasant" became the last book of the poet, published during his lifetime. Drozhzhin also prepared the four-volume "Complete Works" for publication. In addition, he brought "Notes on Life and Poetry" to 1930.

The poet died in his native Nizovka at the age of 82. This concludes the biography of Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin. Now let's briefly talk about his creative legacy.

Features and significance of Drozhzhin's creativity

Ashes and house, inwhere the poet lived most of his life, in 1938 they were moved to the village of Zavidovo (Kalinin region). Here is the memorial museum of the poet, where to this day many admirers of his talent come.

The creative path of Spiridon Dmitrievich was very long, more than 60 years. He was also extraordinarily productive. Drozhzhin published 32 collections during his lifetime, 20 of which were published before 1917. It should be noted that the poems of Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin are, on the whole, artistically unequal. Nevertheless, in the best part of the legacy of this author, skill and original talent are found. In the work of Drozhzhin, the influence of such poets as Nekrasov, Nikitin and Koltsov is noticeable. In several of his works dating back to the 80-90s, echoes of the poetry of S. Ya. Nadson are heard. Sincerity, spontaneity, sincerity and simplicity are the main qualities that mark the poems of Spiridon Dmitrievich Drozhzhin. He can be called a singer of peasant life. This is how he defined the essence of his vocation from the first steps in literature ("My Muse", 1875).

A number of works by this poet entered the folklore ("Songs of workers", "Song of a soldier"). Many of his poems were set to music by such composers as V. Ziering, S. Evseev, A. Chernyavsky, N. Potolovsky, F. Lashek and others. F. I. Chaliapin performed two songs to the verses of such a poet as Drozhzhin Spiridon Dmitrievich.

Biography for children and adults,presented in this article, gives only superficial ideas about his work. It is best to turn directly to the poems in order to understand the meaning and features of the poetry of Spiridon Dmitrievich.