escritores soviÉticos

8/10/2019 ESCRITORES SOVITICOS

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Tsvetaeva, Marina Ivanovna.

Born 8 October 1892 in Moscow into a comfortable life. Her father was a professor of

art history at the University of Moscow, and her mother a pianist. Marina had a half

sister and halfbrother from her father!s first marria"e, and a f#ll sister, $nastasia. %hen

Marina was fo#r years old, her mother noted the child!s ability to rhyme words ands#""ested that she mi"ht become a poet. $s a child, &svetaeva!s family traveled

e'tensively abroad, and she attended schools in (taly, )wit*erland, and +ermany. )he

was an indifferent st#dent in mathematics and science, b#t e'celled in history, literat#re,

and lan"#a"es. $t a"e 1, she be"an st#dies at the )orbonne in -aris.

Her first collection of poetry, /venin" $lb#m, dealin" with themes of her childhood

and yo#th, appeared in 1910. He wor attracted the attention of poet and critic

Ma'imillian oloshin, who befriended her.

)he married )er"ei /fron in 1912, and they had two da#"hters, $riadna 3$lya4 and

(rina. )he was illdisposed to the 5#ssian 5evol#tion of 1916not s#rprisin", perhaps,beca#se her h#sband served as an officer in the %hite $rmy, while she remained in

Moscow. Her antiBolshevi sentiments are e'pressed in &he )wans! 7amp, a lyrical

chronicle of the 7ivil %ar as viewed by the wife of a %hite $rmy officer. &he )wans

of the title refer to the vol#nteers in the %hite $rmy. )he s#ffered terribly in Moscow

#nder the famine conditions of the 7ivil %ar time. (rina died in 1920 of starvation. (n

1922 &svetaeva emi"rated to Berlin and -ra#"e, settlin" event#ally in -aris in 192. Her

son, +eor"i, was born in 192.

)he p#blished the collections erses to Blo in 1922 and $fter 5#ssia in 1928. )he

addressed tra"ical classical themes in $riadne in 192 and -haedra in 1926.

&svetaeva was a passionate woman who had many affairs. )he often said that her main

passion was to comm#nicate with people, that se'#al relationships were necessary

beca#se that was the only way to penetrate a person!s so#l.

(n -aris, she was her family!s sole so#rce of income. )he had a mea"er pension from

7*echoslovaia, and made some other money by her writin"s. )he increasin"ly t#rned

to prose, which paid better.

(n the 19:0s, she felt increasin"ly alienated from emi"re society and was severely

critici*ed for writin" an admirin" letter to Mayaovsy. $fter this, at least one emi"repaper ref#sed to p#blish any more of her wor. &svetaeva developed a nostal"ia for

5#ssia, as e'pressed in the poems Homesic for the Motherland 319:4 and

Motherland 319:4. Meanwhile, her h#sband and da#"hter developed )oviet

sympathies. /fron act#ally be"an to wor for the ;


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family.4 $s part of the evac#ation of Moscow d#rin" %orld %ar ((, &svetaeva and her

son were relocated to the remote town of /lab#"a in the &atar $#tonomo#s 5ep#blic.

On :1 $#"#st 191, for"otten and with only eno#"h money left for one loaf of bread,

&svetaeva committed s#icide by han"in" herself.

Of her own poems, &svetaeva once said they are little devils, b#rstin" into the sanct#mof dreams and incense.

-asterna wrote> &he "reatest reco"nition and reeval#ation of all awaits &svetaeva, the

o#tstandin" poet of the twentieth cent#ry.


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Ehrenburg, Ilya Grigorevich.

Born on 2 ?an#ary 31 ?an, Old )tyle4 1891 in


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lampoon.

Civin" on an allowance sent by his father, /hrenb#r" spent most of his time readin" and

writin" in the cafes. He developed a fascination for 7atholicism and considered

convertin" and enterin" a Benedictine monastery.

;ear the end of 1909, /hrenb#r" met and fell in love with

"mong our young poets, Ehrenburg is second only to #umilev in his ability to constructverses and derive effect from rhyme and the combination of sounds.

+#milev, however, was #nimpressed, statin" that all he fo#nd in /hrenb#r"!s wor was

#n"rammatical and #npleasant snobbism.

/hrenb#r"!s second vol#me of poetry was p#blished in 1911. (t a"ain contained 7atholic

poems, b#t also &o the ?ewish -eople, a poem voicin" despair over the historical

pli"ht of the ?ews. &his vol#me was more to +#milev!s liin", and he wrote>

I. Ehrenburg has made great progress from the time of his first book$s appearance. . . .

He has passed from the ranks of imitators into the ranks of apprentices and, even,sometimes, steps forth on the path of independent creativity.

=#rin" this time, /hrenb#r" spent most of his time at the cafe 5otonde, whose clientel

also incl#ded -icasso, $pollinaire, =ie"o 5ivera, ?#an +ris, ?ean 7octea#, Modi"liani,

and Marc 7ha"all.

(n 1912, /hrenb#r", an official f#"itive from 5#ssian A#stice, applied for a comm#tation

of his sentence, nowin" that the &sar was liely to "rant a broad amnesty in connection

with the 100th anniversary of 5omanov r#le. &he re#est was denied.

(n 191:, /hrenb#r" helped edit two iss#es of the Ao#rnal EHeliosF, in which he wrote

"lowin"ly abo#t the verse of Marina &svetaeva.(n 191, he p#blished an antholo"y of

his own translations of Drench poets, incl#din" erlaine, 5imba#d, and $pollinaire.

%hen %orld %ar ( broe o#t, /hrenb#r" tried to enlist in the Drench army, b#t he was

reAected as bein" too "a#nt. (nstead, /hrenb#r" wo#nd #p worin" as a war

correspondent for the 5#ssian papers EUtro 5ossiiF and EBir*hoviye edomostiF. His

reportin" was intelli"ent, septical, and fair. His covera"e of the Drench army!s

shameless #se of bewildered )ene"alese troops in the most e'posed positions so

inf#riated the Drench "overnment, that /hrenb#r" was almost e'pelled from the co#ntry.

&he war too a toll on /hrenb#r", and he s#ffered a nervo#s breadown. He be"an to

yearn for his homeland, and after the Debr#ary 5evol#tion, he set bac for 5#ssia. He
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arrived in -etro"rad A#st after the ?#ly days. His political leanin"s at the time were in

favor of


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a #est to disr#pt /#rope, #nderminin" its myths and complacent ass#mptions abo#t

reli"ion, politics, love, marria"e, art, socialism, and the r#les of war. &he -ope is

lampooned, as it the eternal internal bicerin" amon" socialist factions. /erily, the ;a*i

Dinal )ol#tion is presa"ed as ?#lio sends o#t invitations to the e'termination of the

?ewish tribe. (n Moscow, ?#renito meets with a Bolshevi leader obvio#sly meant to

represent Cenin. &his fictional Cenin shows himself to be r#thless, vowin" toe'terminate all enemies.

?#lio ?#renito created an immediate sensation, winnin" #niversal praise, even from

-ravda. B#harin wrote an introd#ction to the )oviet edition of the novel, callin" it a

most fascinatin" satire that e'posed a n#mber of comic and repl#sive sides to life

#nder all re"imesF. /v"eny Gamyatianoted in partic#lar /hrenb#r"!s #se of irony,

callin" it a /#ropean weapon seldom #sed by 5#ssians. He appla#ded /hrenb#r" for

ridic#lin" all tar"ets e#ally, and readily accepted /hrenb#r" into the brotherhood of

heretics. Of /hrenb#r", Gamyatin wrote> EHe is, of co#rse, a real heretic 3and

thereforea revol#tionary4. $ "en#ine heretic has the same virt#e as dynamite> the

e'plosion 3creative4 taes the line of most resistanceF.

(n October 1921, /hrenb#r" moved to Berlin, where the tempo of his literary o#tp#t

increased. By 192: he had prod#ced three more novels. (n &rust, ).E., $merican

millionaires finance a plan to destroy /#rope with vir#ses and poison "as. &he Love of

(eanne *eyis the story of a love affair between a yo#n", respectable Drench bo#r"eois

woman and a 5#ssian 7omm#nist, who is sent to Drance on a s#bversive mission. He is

arrested on a m#rder char"e and the only way to prove his innocence to to reveal his

tr#e mission. He remains heroically silent and is sentenced to death. ?eanne sacrifices

her honor in a vain attempt to save her lover.

&he Life and )eath of *ikolai +urbov3Ghi*n i +ibel ;iolaya


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Ca*ia 5oitshvantsa4. &he hero of this novel is a simple, "oodnat#red ?ew from

Belor#ssia who wanders to Moscow, %arsaw, +ermany, Drance, /n"land and -alestine,

s#fferin" beatin"s, Aailin"s, and indi"nities of all sorts wherever he "oes. Official

Moscow was not pleased with this boo, and even /hrenb#r"!s friend B#harin called it

onesided literary vomit.

(n 1928, he p#blished -onspiracy of E1uals3Ga"ovor 5avnyh4, a historical novel

concernin" the Babe#f movement in 5evol#tionary Drance, which reAected terror and

advocated an e"alitarian democracy. )talin did not lie this wor, dismissin" it as p#lp

literat#re s#itable for a real bo#r"eois chamber theater.

(n the face of the increasin" criticism from Moscow, /hrenb#r" "rad#ally be"an to shift

his writin"s into a more openly pro)oviet direction. He wrote abo#t /#ropean peasants,

blasted -oland!s a#thoritarian r#le and Drance!s racist colonialism. He #ndertoo a series

of stories and novels e'posin" the "reed of noted wealthy entreprene#rs. &he Life of the

"utomobile foc#sed on $ndre 7itroen, -ierpont Mor"an, and Henry Dord. &he hoe

+ing attaced &omas Bata, a 7*ech footwear capitalist.2actory of )reamstaes onHollywood, +eor"e /astman, and the


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comparin" western capitalist society is to a lavatory in a fifthrate -aris hotel.

(n 19:, /hrenb#r" convinced Drench writer $ndre Malra#' to accompany him bac to

the )oviet Union to attend the first )oviet %riters! 7on"ress. /hrenb#r" was on the

presidi#m of the 7on"ress and chaired several of its sessions. (n his main speech to the

7on"ress, he defended the need for boos that appealed only to the intelli"entsia andan elite amon" the worers and may not be #nderstandable to the broad masses. He

spoe in praise of (saa Babeland Boris -asterna and added his voice to the pleas for

"reater tolerance of artistic literat#re.

(n 19: /hrenb#r" also completed the novel ithout &aking 4reath3;e -erevodya

=ihaniya4, which centers on heroic efforts to develop a modern timber ind#stry in the

far north. &he novel also describes the wholesale destr#ction of wooden ch#rches from

the 16th and 18th cent#ries and the ne"lect of tradtional 5#ssian lacemain" in the

re"ion.

/hrenb#r" was a participant and one of the principal or"ani*ers of the (nternational%riters! 7on"ress in =efense of 7#lt#re, which be"an its wor on 21 ?#ne 19:. &he

"oal of the con"ress was to or"ani*e a broad antifascist coalition of writers from a wide

ran"e of perspectivesliberal, socialist, comm#nist, 7hristian, and )#rrealist.

(n fall of 19:, /hrenb#r" made a #ic trip bac to Moscow. %hile there, he "ave

speeches and wrote articles in praise of -asterna, Babel, Meyerhold, =ov*heno, and

the independence of art. &his res#lted in some criticism of /hrenb#r". era (nber, for

e'ample, reb#ed him for implyin" that only -asterna had a conscience amon" )oviet

poets.

%hen the )panish 7ivil %ar broe o#t in s#mmer 19:, /hrenb#r" immediately dashed

to )pain to report on the war, disobeyin" instr#ctions from (*vestiya, which wanted him

to stay p#t in -aris. His reportin" was intelli"ent and passionate, maintainin" a constant

dr#mbeat of antiDascism. %hile in )pain, /hrenb#r" also "ot to meet yet another

literary l#minary/rnest Hemin"way. By 19:6, he p#t to"ether a boo of setches on

the war entitled hat " 3an *eeds.

(n =ecember 19:6, /hrenb#r" had a really st#pid idea> he went to Moscow for a short

vacation at the hei"ht of the terror campai"n. His friends bac in Moscow co#ldn!t

believe how foolhardy he was to ret#rn at a time when writers were bein" arrested ri"ht

and left. He e'pected to ret#rn to )pain after two wees, b#t a#thorities told him thiswo#ld not be possible. On the orders of )talin, he was "iven a ticet to attend the trial of

his old friend ;iolai B#harin. (*vestia wanted him to write an article on the trial, b#t

/hrenb#r" adamately ref#sed. Unnown to /hrenb#r" at the time,


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he s#ffered a severe shoc in $#"#st 19:9 with the anno#ncement of the Hitler)talin

pact. He was so shaen that for ei"ht months he co#ld only tae in li#ids and chew on

herbs and ve"etables. He lost 0 po#nds. (n Moscow, /hrenb#r"!s rep#tation s#ffered.

H(s dacha in -eredelino was handed over to alentin


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)talin intervened, sayin" &here is no need to edit /hrenb#r". Cet him write as he

pleases.

$ tr#e /#ropean snob, /hrenb#r" was completely dismissive of the $merican war

effort. $ccordin" to Harrison )alib#ry, /hrenb#r" tho#"ht $mericans were a naive,

i"norant, #ned#cated colonial people who had no appreciation for /#ropean c#lt#re.$merican reporter Henry )hapiro wrote that /hrenb#r" claimed the only contrib#tions

$mericans ever made to civili*ation where Hemin"way and 7hesterfield ci"arettes,

which /hrenb#r" was constantly tryin" to b#m.

$ tr#e )oviet man in his writin", /hrenb#r" nonetheless ref#sed to wear )oviet

#nderwear and insisted that he wife eep mendin" his old Drench nicers instead.

=#rin" the war, /hrenb#r" and fellow writer asily +rossman #ndertoo a proAect that

was to be called &he 4lack 4ook.Under their direction, over twenty writers wored to

doc#ment the horrors s#ffered by )oviet ?ewry at the hands of the ;a*is. $t first, the

proAect was endorsed by the official ?ewish $ntiDascist 7ommittee. Cater, however,offical policy toward the ?ews chan"ed. &he boo was critici*ed for "ivin" attention to

traitors and collaborators amon" the Urainians and Cith#anians and p#blication

became impossible.

$s the war approached its concl#sion, /hrenb#r" noted and spoe o#t a"ainst e'cesses

of lootin" and rape committed by )oviet troops. )talin was informed of these remars,

and on 1 $pril 19 a severe reb#e of /hrenb#r" appeared in -ravda. /hrenb#r" was

acc#sed of simplifyin" the political sit#ation and of callin" for the e'termination of

the +erman people. /hrenb#r" wrote to )talin, A#stifyin" himself and pointin" o#t the

misinterpretations in the -ravda article, b#t he never received a reply.

$fter the war, /hrenb#r" too a tri#mphal to#r of /#rope. &hen, in 19 he visited the

United )tates alon" with Marc 7ha"all, Ce 7orb#sier, ?ohn )teinbec,

-a#l 5obeson, $lbert /instein. He "r#d"in"ly came to admire $merica!s technolo"y,

privately admittin" to a friend that /#rope was two h#ndred years behind the United

)tates. B#t his impression of $mericans as crass and boorish remained.

Once bac in Moscow, /hrenb#r" #icly A#mped into the cold war propa"anda battle.

He deno#nced the United )tates! oice of $merica broadcasts in an article entitled

Dalse oice. (n a small vol#me namedIn "mericahe attaced the racial problems inthe U.). $nd in 198 he wrote a play,Lion in the 1uare3Cev na -loshchadi4, a

blisterin", vicio#s attac on the behavior of $mericans in postwar /#rope. (n 199 he

prepared a rather hysterical piece of anti$merican propa"anda named*ights of

"merica. %hile consistent with )oviet attit#des at the time, it was, for some #nnown

reason, never p#blished.

(n 198, /hrenb#r" prod#ced the novel torm 0B#rya4 abo#t %orld %ar (( with action

set both in the )oviet Union and in Drance. (t described the enormo#s efforts of the 5ed

$rmy to defeat ;a*i +ermany. %hile it contained descriptions of the massacres of ?ews

at Babi @ar, portrayed a shocin" liaison between a 5#ssian and a Drench actress

3marria"es with forei"ners were ille"al at the time4, and made an obli#e Aibe at theHitler)talin pact, it nonetheless won the )talin -ri*e.


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/hrenb#r" contrib#ted to the c#lt of the personality, heapin" praise on )talin when and

where appropriate. B#t occasionally he made small b#t noticeable "est#res of a different

nat#re. (n 196, despite $hmatova!sofficial stat#s as an o#tcast, /hrenb#r" went to

visit her in Cenin"rad. %hen $ndrei Ghdanov died in 198, a trib#te to him appeared in

Citerat#rnaya +a*eta above the si"nat#res of several prominent writers. /hrenb#r"!sname, however, was missin". (n 199 he hired a secretary whose father was in a labor

camp.

(n 199, /hrenb#r" came close to e'tinction a"ain as )talin #nleashed an anti?ewish

campai"n. His wor stopped appearin", and his name was removed from other articles.

-erhaps somewhat premat#rely, a Moscow party activist anno#nced to a meetin" that

cosmopolitan n#mber one /hrenb#r"I had been e'posed and arrested. /hrenb#r"

wrote an appeal to )talin. $s a res#lt, he received a reass#rin" phone call from

Malenov, and his wors were a"ain p#blished.

/hrenb#r" was then dispatched as a )oviet dele"ate to the %orld -eace 7on"ress in-aris. $lso in 199, he was elected to the 7on"ress of ;ationalities by a district in 5i"a,

Catvia. He was to remain a dep#ty #ntil his death.

(n 190 /hrenb#r" went on a propo"anda A#net to western /#rope. Dor the first time,

by his own admission, /hrenb#r" was made to sweat by the hardhittin" #estions of

western Ao#rnalists, partic#larly on #estions relatin" to the ?ewish sit#ation. He tried to

answer with ambi"#ities and "eneralities witho#t havin" to resort to o#tri"ht lies. B#t in

this, he was not always s#ccessf#l.

/hrenb#r"!s ne't novel was*inth ave31914, a cr#de propa"anda novel abo#t the

-eace Movement and the 7old %ar. Cater it was reno#nced by /hrenb#r", who ref#sed

to have it incl#ded in his 7ollected %ors.

$nti?ewish hysteria reached a new hi"h in ?an#ary 19: with the anno#ncement of the

socalled =octors! -lot. (n midDebr#ary, /hrenb#r" and many other prominent ?ews

were ased to si"n an open letter to )talin acnowled"in" the passions aro#sed by the

=octors! -lot and asin" )talin to ro#nd #p all the ?ews and send them to )iberia for

their own safety. =o*ens of ?ewish writers, artists and m#sicians, incl#din" asily

+rossman and Mar"aritat $li"erall terrifiedsi"ned the letter. /hrenb#r" ref#sed three

times. He then wrote a letter to )talin ar"#in" not the morality of the idea, b#t worryin"

that shippin" all the ?ews off to )iberia wo#ld be a p#blic relations disaster for the)oviet Union in the eyes of the %est. Dort#nately for everyone, )talin s#ddenly died and

the whole idea was for"otten.

)hortly after )talin!s f#neral, /hrenb#r" #icly chan"ed his t#ne. (nstead of callin" for

orthodo'y, he wrote an article 3On the 5ole of the %riter4 defendin" an artist!s ri"ht to

create accordin" to his or her own inner voice, not accordin" to some plan or directive.

&hen, in 19, he p#blished a novel that was to "ive its name to an entire era of )oviet

history> &he &haw3Ottepel!4. &here is not m#ch action in &he &haw, consistin" mainly

of interior monolo"#es of a wide ran"e of characters most of whomwillin"ly or

#nwillin"lyare livin" inner personal lives at odds with their o#ter, p#blic lives. &he

wife of an #nima"inative b#t s#ccessf#l factory director str#""les with her "rowin"alienation from her h#sband. Others str#""le to eep love o#t of their so#ls beca#se it
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conflicts with their d#ties to the factory and to the -arty. $ talented artist who

s#andered his talent and became a hac for the sae of s#ccess str#""les to maintain

his cynical o#tloo so he won!t have to face his own spirit#al banr#ptcy. B#t as the

cold winter passes and the sprin" thaw comes, a chan"e is be"innin"loves and

childlie e'#berances with all their #ne'plainable contradictions are blossomin" o#t

into the open, with no re"ard to poltical correctness. )talin and his passin" are nowherereferred to in the wor, b#t the time frame of the action is clear to the readers. /'plosive

for its time as well were passin" references to the inA#stices of the terror and the abs#rd

=octors! -lot.

7onservatives did not lie &he &haw.


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that inA#stices were bein" committed, his silence was immoral and his praise of )talin

maes him a downri"ht dirty liar. &hat was the ar"#ment, b#t nobody believed it. /ven

)holohov, always hostile to /hrenb#r", dismissed it.

%ith each new chapter of his memoirs, p#blication became more and more diffic#lt.

/hrenb#r" was forced to mae many chan"es and deletions. /'plicit references toB#harin were forbidden. $t one point, f#rther p#blication seemed impossible when

/hrenb#r" was s#bAected to fierce criticism from both -arty ideolo"ist Ceonid (lichev

and boss

E(f within a lifetime a man chan"es his sin an infinite n#mber of times, almost as often

as his s#its, he still does not chan"e his heartJ he has b#t oneF.

)o#rces> 5#benstein, ?osh#a. &an"le Coyalties> &he Cife and &imes oD (lya

/hrenb#r". Basic Boos. 199. +oldber", $natol. (lya /hrenb#r", 5evol#tionary,

;ovelist, -oet, %ar 7orrespondent, -ropa"andist> &he /'traordinary /pic of a 5#ssian

)#rvivor. iin" -ress. 198

Mayakovsky, Vladimir Vladimirovich..


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Born 19 ?#ly 36 ?#ly, Old )tyle4 189: in Ba"dadi, +eor"ia 3which was later named

Mayaovsy in his honor4. His father, ladimir


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at this moment, Mayaovsy claims, he decided to p#rs#e only poetry.

(n =ecember 1912, Mayaovsy, B#rli#, ladimir Mayaovsy> $ &ra"edy. &he play was sta"ed in

=ecember 191: withyo# "#essed itladimir Mayaovsy in the title role. Basically,

the play is a series of ima"eladen monolo"#es concernin" the poet and his perceptions.

(n it, the -oet is both ideali*ed and deb#ned. $dorin" women brin" him their tears as

"ifts, be""in" him to accept themJ and yet he sleeps on a bed of d#n", waitin" for the

wheels of the train to come and slice off his head. (n the -rolo"#e, Mayaovsy

declares>

( will reveal to yo# with words that are simple, lie lowin", o#r new so#ls, "lowin" lie

the arcs of streetli"hts. (!ll li"htly to#ch yo#r heads with my fin"ers, and yo# will "row

lips for enormo#s isses and a ton"#e, to all nations native. $nd (, hobblin" on my mean

so#l, will depart for my throne with starry holes h#n" across the tattered va#lt. (!ll lie

down, bri"ht, in my clothes of sloth, on a soft bed of bona fide d#n", and #iet, issin"

railroadtie nees, the steam en"ine wheel will "rab my nec and s#ee*e.

itor )hlovsy described the play th#sly>

&he poet has spread himself o#t on the sta"e, holdin" himself in hand as a card player

holds his cards. Here!s Mayaovsy the de#ce, the three, the Aac, the in". &he "ame is

staed on love. &he "ame is lost.

&he main reaction of the p#blic to the play was derision.

%orld %ar ( broe o#t in 191, b#t as the only son of a widow, Mayaovsy was at first


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e'empt from the draft. He was event#ally drafted b#t never really performed any

military d#ty.

His first maAor lon" poem, Oblao v )hanah 3$ 7lo#d in &ro#sers4 appeared in 191.

(t is a tale of love and poetry in bold, novel, Aarrin" ima"es, #sin" a depoetisi*ed

lan"#a"e of the streets. (n it, Mayaovsy scorns the lofty ima"e of the poetJ he ref#sesto be sweet. ;ot a man, b#t a clo#d in tro#sers. (nstead, the a#thor says he is merely a

h#man, spit from the filthy ni"ht on the palm of a be""ar. -oetry does not come easy.

5ather, writin" poetry, comin" from the silly fish of ima"ination, ca#ses blisters on

the brain. He describes the poets! wor>

&hen after they clear the rhymes

while boilin" a so#p with birds and flowers

the ton"#e d#mb on the d#sty road is dra""ed

Beca#se it has no way to spea, sho#t

Mayaovsy also brin"s revol#tion into the wor>

&ae yo#r hands off the pocets pedestriansK

"rab stones, bombs, nifes, whatever yo# can find

and those of yo# who have no hands

hit with the forehead.

March yo# o h#n"ry ones

crooed,

sinny dirty, f#ll of parasites

marchK

(n the s#mmer of 191, Mayaovsy met the "reat love of his lifeCilya Bir. Her

h#sband, Osip, apparently did not obAect to the affair, and in fact soon became

Mayaovsy!s p#blisher and literary collaborator. &he poem Dleytapo*vonochi 3&heBacbone Dl#te4 31914, was dedicated to Cilya. He finished o#t the pre5evol#tionary

years with oina i Mir 3%ar and the %orld4, a reaction to the horrors of war, and

7helove 3Man4, to#chin" on cosmic an"#ish ca#sed by fr#strated love. &his latter

wor is set first on present day earth, then in heaven, and then bac on the earth of the

f#t#re, where the "reedy philistine still r#les.

Mayaovsy entered the 5evol#tion as he wo#ld enter his own home, )hlovsy

noted. He went to the )molny in -etro"rad and was an eyewitness to the Bolshevi

co#p. 5ed sailors marched on the %inter -alace chantin" one of Mayaovsy!s slo"ans>

@esh ananasy, ryabchii *h#i=yeh tvoi posledni prihodit, b#r*h#iK

3/at pineapples, chew on #ail

@o#r last day is comin", bo#r"eoisK4

%hile Mayaovsy prod#ced a vol#mino#s amo#nt of slo"ans, posters and placards on

political and #tilitarian topics for the 5evol#tionary "overnment, he still insisted that the

new times demanded new artistic forms. Hence, he had little #se for -role#lt poets and

their conventional style. He dismissed them as those who p#t patches on -#shin!s

faded dresscoat.


17/21

&o honor the first anniversary of the Bolshevi 5evol#tion, le"endary director sevolod

Meyerhold presented Mayaovsy!s ne't play, Mysteriya B#ff 3Mystery Bo#ffe4, a

portrayal of the tri#mph of the Unclean 3proletarians4 over the 7lean 3Bo#r"eoise4.

Mayaovsy himself played a maAor role in the prod#ction. )#bse#ent prod#ctions of

the play in 1920 and 1921 were filled with acrobatics and circ#s trics and #sed #p to

:0 actors and dancers. Mayaovsy also prod#ced poems of a obvio#sly political bents#ch as Oda 5evol#tsii 3Ode to the 5evol#tion4 319184 and Cevy Marsh 3Ceft

March4 319194.

(n 1918, Mayaovsy be"an a brief pl#n"e into film. He wrote the scenario for and

starred in ;e =lya =ene" 5odivshisya 3;ot Dor Money Born4, based on ?ac

Condon!s novel Martin /den. &he film was pop#lar with the )oviet p#blic, as was his

second film Baryshnya i


18/21

Mayaovsy too two more trips to -arisin October 192 and May 192. On the latter

Ao#rney, he attended the openin" of the )oviet pavilion at the /'hibition of (nd#strial

$rts, where his own advertisin" posters received the )ilver Medal. He then sailed across

the $tlantic for his own discovery of $merica. He landed first in 7#ba, where U.).

domination led him to write Blac $nd %hite, in s#pport of the str#""le a"ainst racism.He then moved on to Me'ico where he met fellow moderninst and comm#nist =ie"o

5ivera. &hen, in ?#ly 192, after bein" p#t behind bars for ei"ht ho#rs by U.).

a#thorities in &e'as, Mayaovsy finally entered the United )tates. He visited ;ew

@or, 7hica"o, =etroit, -hiladelphia, -ittsb#r"h and 7leveland, "ivin" readin"s and

lect#res and Aoinin" in the worers! str#""le. 3He once spent a whole day on the picet

line with ;ew @or "arment worers.4 &he res#lt of the trip was Mayaovsy!s cycle

)tihi ob $merii 3-oems of $merica4, incl#din" Br#linsi Most 3&he Broolyn

Brid"e4, as well as a rather ca#stic prose travelo"#e, Moyo Otrytiye $merii 3My

=iscovery of $mericaJ 1924.

(n 192 Mayaovsy also made one of his few forays into the sphere of #topian sciencefiction with his poem Cetai#shchi -roletarii 3&he Dlyin" -roletarian4. $s described by

ictor &arras in his bio"raphy of Mayaovsy, &he Dlyin" -roletarian was>

...set in the year 212 and feat#res a "iant air battle, with death rays and s#ch, between

the )oviet proletarian and the $merican bo#r"eois air forces. &he latter prevails #ntil an

#prisin" of ;ew @or worers a"ainst their "overnment t#rns the tide. Mayaovsy!s

comm#nist f#t#re is all comfort and electric ease> electric ra*ors, electric toothbr#shes,

everybody with his own private airplane 3Moscow no lon"er has any streets, A#st

airports4. Cabor is wholly mechani*ed, so that a worer merely operates a eyboard.

$lto"ether, Mayaovsy!s #topia is written from the viewpoint of a laborer who is tired

of bacbreain", dirty wor. . . . &here are no itchens, no ho#sewor. -eople eat inaerocafeterias and am#se themselves with cosmic cinemas, cosmic dances, and s#chall

nonalcoholic 3alcohol is served by prescription only4. &he sport of the f#t#re is avio

polofootball has lon" since been abandoned as cr#de and borin".

On a m#ch more serio#s note, followin" the s#icide of poet )er"ei /seninon 26

=ecember 192, Mayaovsy set himself the tas of ne#trali*in" the effect of /senin!s

s#cide notepoem and of main" /senin!s end seem #ninspirin". He wanted to p#t

forward another ind of bea#ty in place of the easy bea#ty of death. Mayaovsy had

never been a bi" fan of /senin and his more conventional style, b#t he did reco"ni*e

/senin as a Ao#rneyman of the 5#ssian word. /senin had concl#ded his s#icide poem

with the lines> (n this life, dyin" is nothin" new. B#t livin", of co#rse, isn!t any newer.

(n response, Mayaovsy ended his poem )er"ei# /senin# 3&o )er"ei /senin4 with

this variation>

(n this life, to die is not so diffic#lt,

to mae life is considerably more diffic#lt.

$s the )oviet Union prepared to mar its tenth anniversary in 1926, Mayaovsy was

main" his contrib#tion with


19/21

fire and waitin" for the arrival of ?es#s 7hrist, a reference to the end of Blo!s poem &he

&welve.

$lso, in ?an#ary 1926, Mayaovsy revived Cef, this time #nder the name ;ovy Cef

3;ew Cef4. (n the premerie iss#e, Mayaovsy entered into a p#blic disp#te with

Masim +ory, who was livin" abroad in (taly at the time. (t came in the form of anopen letterpoem to +ory, callin" on him to ret#rn to the )oviet Union. Mayaovsy

also too the opport#nity to ins#lt another writer and prote"e of +ory, Dyodor

+ladov, a#thor of the pop#lar novel 7ement. Mayaovsy saw the realism of +ladov

and others lie him as the mere adaptability and fawnin" of licspittles.

(t comes as no s#rprise, then, that Mayaovsy fell into disfavor with certain writers,

especially those of the -ereval and 5$-- "ro#ps. &hey attaced Mayaovsy as a

bombastic hac writer, lacin" in discipline and class conscio#sness and b#rdened with

a harmf#l, m#ddled ideolo"y.

&he first Dive @ear -lan be"an in 1928 and the p#sh for collectivi*ation in 1929.Mayaovsy r#shed aro#nd visitin" b#ildin" sites and new factories and prod#cin"

poems addressin" specific iss#es of c#rrent p#blic interest> the Aoy of a new apartment

with hot and cold r#nnin" waterJ the p#rchase of ind#striali*ation bondsJ and the

promise of a#tomobile factories to prod#ce affordable a#tomobiles which will be

available on the installment plan. B#t Mayaovsy didn!t wait for these a#to factories to

"et his own car. 5ather, while in -aris in 1928, he p#rchased a new 5ena#lt.

=#rin" that same trip to -aris, Mayaovsy had been commissioned by 7omrade


20/21

e'plosive as a bomb, as pricly as a hed"eho", and as dan"ero#s as a ra*or.

Mayaovsy had abandoned ;ovy Cef in 1928, and in 1929 he tried to establish a new

or"ani*ation, 5ef 35evol#tionary Dront4, intended as a worshop, a school for the

st#dy of the technolo"y of writin", that wo#ld cooperate with 5$--. B#t 5ef never

really "ot off the "ro#nd, and in Debr#ary 19:0 Mayaovsy anno#nced his intention ofapplyin" for membership in 5$--. &he literary establishment in 5$-- was ready to

accept Mayaovsy, b#t not e'actly with open arms. $lesandr Dadeevnoted>

Mayaovsy is s#itable material for 5$--. $s for his political views, he has

demonstrated his affinity with the proletariate. &his does not mean, tho#"h, that

Mayaovsy is bein" admitted with all his theoretical bac"ro#nd. He will be admitted

accordin" to the e'tent in which he rids himself of that bac"ro#nd. %e shall help him

in this.

Mayaovsy!s play Banya 3&he Bathho#se4a fierce attac on b#rea#cratic st#pidity

had its premiere in Cenin"rad on :0 ?an#ary 19:0. (t was a disaster. ;o la#"hs or no

appla#se after the first two acts. &he play opened in Moscow in Meyerhold!s theatre on1 March 19:0, where it did somewhat betterJ b#t still, critical and p#blic reaction was,

in "eneral, ne"ative.

$ better reception was "iven to a reprospective e'hibition of Mayaovsy!s wor which

was presented in Moscow and then Cenin"rad in Debr#ary and March 19:0. Most of the

representatives of 5$--, however, did not attend. $t the openin" of the e'hibition,

Mayaovsy read o es +olos 3$t &he &op of My oice4, a type of s#mmin" #p of

his career.

(n his final days, Mayaovsy ept active as #s#al. He was b#sy preparin" for the

openin" of his ne't play, Mosva +orit 3Moscow on Dire4. 7ontainin" styli*ed scenesfrom the 5evol#tion of 190, it was Mayaovsy!s most avant "arde dramatic piece yet.

-lot and historical veracity are abandonedJ clowns crac AoesJ the /mperor, worried

abo#t a pants shorta"e, chan"es his tro#sers every min#teJ a "iant worer on stilts

dwarfs the factory ownersJ bombs and firewors e'plode, and %estern leaders are

lampooned.

On $pril 19:0, Mayaovsy bo#"ht a share in a ho#sin" cooperative. On 11 $pril, he

missed a p#blic appearance at Moscow University, beca#se of illness. 12 $pril and 1:

$pril were b#siness as #s#ally. He had n#mero#s appointments for personal

appearances on 1 $pril and 1 $pril. B#t, at 10>1 $.M. on 1 $pril 19:0,

Mayaovsy shot and illed himself in his Moscow office. He left a s#icide note, dated

12 $pril, which read in part>

$s they say,

the incident is closed.

&he love boat

wreced by daily life.

(!m all even with life

and nothin" wo#ld be "ained by listin"

m#t#al h#rts,

tro#bles,and ins#lts.
http://www.sovlit.com/bios/fadeev.htmlhttp://www.sovlit.com/bios/fadeev.html


21/21

. . . .

=on!t thin (!m a coward. )erio#sly, it co#ld not be helped.

Mayaovsy!s body lay in state for three days and was viewed by 10,000 mo#rners. He

was creamated on 16 $pril 19:0.

Moscow on Dire premiered on 21 $pril 19:0 as sched#led.

-rincipal )o#rce>

ladimir Mayaovsy by ictor &erras. &wayne -#blishers. Boston. 198:.

escritores soviÉticos

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