Maxim Rylsky - Ukrainian poet of the Soviet era

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

The first half of the 20th century was known not only for large-scale wars, but also for the flourishing of literature. Despite all the death and devastation, writers, artists, composers and poets of that period tried to awaken wonderful feelings in hardened human souls. Among them was the Ukrainian poet Maxim Rylsky. He happened to survive two world wars, a revolution, a civil war and suffer from repression. Despite this, he remained not only a worthy person, but also a wonderful poet.

Maxim Rylsky: biography of early years

Maxim Fadeyevich Rylsky (Maxim Tadeyovich Rilsky) was born in the village of Romanovka in 1895, as evidenced by an entry in the parish register. His father's ancestors were Polish nobles. Despite such a glorious pedigree, Fadey Rylsky married an ordinary peasant girl, Melania.

According to the memoirs of the poet himself, his mother, having barely mastered the letter, withshe was carried away by incredible passion for reading, she especially loved the works of L. N. Tolstoy. At the same time, Melania Rylskaya did not forget her roots, so an atmosphere of love and reverence for Ukrainian culture reigned in their house. Fadey Rylsky's comrades were well-known cultural figures of the 19th century - the composer Nikolai Lysenko, the theater figure Afanasy Saksagansky and many other folklorists, historians and ethnographers.

Thanks to a highly cultured environment, the poet from childhood was fascinated by Ukrainian culture, language, and even more nature. Being the son of a landowner, he did not know about the everyday difficulties of the peasants, so for him Romanovka was a paradise. He was in love with the nature of his native land and began to write poetry at an early age.

Primary education Maxim Rylsky received at home (in Romanovka). When the guy turned thirteen, he was sent to Kyiv to study at a private gymnasium.

At first, the young man lived with a close friend of his father - Nikolai Lysenko, after his death - with the ethnographer Alexander Rusov.

During this period, he actively wrote poetry, and already in 1910, when the guy was fifteen, his first collection of lyric poetry "On the White Islands" was published. This book marked the emergence of a new star of the poetic word.

Rylsky-neoclassic

The First World War, fortunately, bypassed the young man, and after graduating from high school in 1915, Maxim Rylsky became a student at the medical faculty of the University of Kyiv. However, after two years of study, the young man is transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology.

Unfortunately, the revolution and the civil war prevented me from completing my studies. In 1917, Maxim Rylsky left the university and, having left Kyiv, returned to his native Romanovka, where he got a job as a teacher. Despite the incomplete higher education, the poet continues to actively engage in self-education. It is known that he independently studied more than a dozen languages, which allowed him to translate works by foreign authors.

Despite the difficulties, the poet does not stop writing poetry. So, in 1918, another collection of his poems was published - “Under the Autumn Dawns.”

At the very beginning of the twenties, the poet becomes a member of the literary association of neoclassics. Neoclassicists gravitated towards classicism, admiring the past centuries, and tried to abstract in their work from pressing problems. They argued that a creative person should not depend on the political situation, but create according to the dictates of the heart. That is why, by the end of the twenties, neoclassicists began to be actively “poisoned” in the press. Soon many of them were arrested and shot.

This cup did not pass and Maxim Rylsky, who by that time had already lived and taught in Kyiv for several years, and also managed to publish several more poetry collections: "Blue Far Away", "Crisis Storm and Snow", "Thirteenth Spring”, “Gomin i vіdgomin” and others. Also during this period, he was actively engaged in translations into Ukrainian of the works of Russian, Polish and French writers. For example, in 1927 he translated Adam Mickiewicz's poem "Pan Tadeusz" from Polish.

In 1931, Rylsky was accused of detaching his poetry from politicsand arrested.

Poetry after imprisonment

The poet had to spend almost six months in prison. During this time he had to go through a lot. He was forced to sign false certificates about his participation in various conspiracies. Ultimately, the poet was released, considering that a person of such talent would still be useful to the party.

After his release, Maxim Rylsky changed forever: he was broken, which could not but affect his work. To help the poet "acclimatize" to life, after the destruction of many of his friends, Ostap Vishnya took him away from Kyiv to live with him for a while.

Friendly care helped a poet named Maxim Rylsky recover and return to literary activity.

Poems of the poet soon began to appear on the pages of various publications. However, Rylsky could no longer create freely, as before. To survive, with the help of his talent, he had to ex alt the "native" party, its leaders and their achievements. And although Maxim Rylsky sometimes managed to push his poems “for the soul” into print, they no longer had that “spark”, but felt tired and disappointed.

The Great Patriotic War and the last years of the poet

When World War II broke out, Rylsky was already forty-one. They didn't send him to fight. However, all the years of the war, he voluntarily spoke at the front in front of the soldiers, reading poetry and trying to morally support them. In addition, the poet donated personal funds to the defense fund.

After the victory, Maxim Rylsky actively participated inrestoration of Kyiv.

Thanks to his activities, Rylsky was awarded prizes and titles. He became the owner of the Stalin, Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR. In addition, from the end of 1944 until his death, the poet headed the Institute of Art History, Folklore and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (later this educational institution began to bear the name of the poet). In addition, since 1946, Maxim Rylsky was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In 1964, after a long struggle with the disease (Rylsky had cancer), the poet died. He was buried at the legendary Baikove cemetery in Kyiv.

Throughout his life, Rylsky published thirty-five collections of poetry, not counting publications in the press and translations. After his death, several books and brochures about his work and biography were published. Among them is the book of his son Bohdan "Mandrivka in the youth of the father." At the same time, collected works of the poet began to be published. A bilingual (Ukrainian and English) book “Create Chosen” by Maxim Rylsky was also published.

M. Rylsky: personal life

Being a calm and peaceful person, Maxim Rylsky knew how to show strength of character. So, having fallen in love with the wife of a fellow villager Ekaterina, the poet was able to "recapture" her. Neither the fact that the beloved was older, nor the fact that she already had a son stopped him. The poet in love married her, adopted her six-year-old son and raised her as his own. Later, the couple had a son, Bogdan.

Maxim and Ekaterina Rylsky lived a long and difficult life together. After the death of his beloved in 1958, Rylsky grieved greatly and died six years later himself.

2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of this poet. Many years have passed, and what was written by him “at the behest” eventually lost its relevance and was forgotten. However, those poems that Maxim Rylsky wrote at the behest of his heart still remain favorite readers.