Who is M.A. Bulgakov, life and work short biography

Bulgakov Mikhail - the beginning of the Path

In 1909, Mikhail Bulgakov graduated from the First Kyiv

The choice of becoming a doctor was explained by the fact that both mother’s brothers, Nikolai and Mikhail Pokrovsky, were doctors, one in Moscow, the other in Warsaw, both earned good money. Mikhail, a therapist, was Patriarch Tikhon’s doctor, Nikolai, a gynecologist, had an excellent practice in Moscow.

Bulgakov studied at the university for 7 years - having been exempted for health reasons (kidney failure), he submitted a report to serve as a doctor in the navy and, after the refusal of the medical commission, asked to be sent as a Red Cross volunteer to the hospital.

October 31, 1916 - received a diploma confirming “the degree of doctor with honors with all the rights and benefits, laws Russian Empire awarded this degree."

A photograph that the family called “Misha the Doctor.” 1912

After the outbreak of World War I, M. Bulgakov worked as a doctor in the front-line zone for several months. Then he was sent to work in the village of Nikolskoye, Smolensk province, after which he worked as a doctor in Vyazma.

Since 1917, M. A. Bulgakov began to use morphine, first in order to alleviate allergic reactions to the anti-diphtheria drug, which he took out of fear of diphtheria after the operation. Then the morphine intake became regular.

In December 1917, M. A. Bulgakov came to Moscow for the first time. He stayed with his uncle, the famous Moscow gynecologist N. M. Pokrovsky, who became the prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky from the story “ dog's heart».

In the spring of 1918, M. A. Bulgakov returned to Kyiv, where he began private practice as a venereologist - at this time he stopped using morphine.

During the Civil War, in February 1919, M. Bulgakov was mobilized as a military doctor into the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Then, judging by his memoirs, he was mobilized into the white Armed Forces of the South of Russia and was appointed military doctor of the 3rd Terek Cossack Regiment. In the same year, he managed to work as a doctor for the Red Cross, and then again in the white Armed Forces of the South of Russia. As part of the 3rd Terek Cossack Regiment he was in the North Caucasus. Published in newspapers (article “Future Prospects”). During the retreat Volunteer Army at the beginning of 1920 he was sick with typhus and therefore was forced not to leave the country

Bulgakov Mikhail - three beloved women in life.

“Find Tasya, I must apologize to her,” whispered a terminally ill man into the ear of his sister bending over him. The wife stood in the corner of the room, trying her best to hold back the tears that were coming.

Mikhail Bulgakov died hard. It was hard to believe that this exhausted man was once a slender, blue-eyed young man who later became a great writer. A lot happened in Bulgakov’s life - there were dizzying ups and times of lack of money, dazzling beauties loved him, he knew many outstanding people of that time. But before his death, he remembered only his first love - about the woman with whom he treated him badly. in the best possible way and the guilt before which he wanted to atone - about Tatyana Nikolaevna Lappa.

Family test

...SUMMER in Kyiv. Walking along the embankment beautiful couples, carved chestnut leaves are swaying, the air is filled with some unknown, but very pleasant aromas, and after provincial Saratov it seems that you have found yourself at a fairy-tale ball. This is exactly how 16-year-old Tatyana Lappa remembered her visit to her Kyiv aunt in 1908. “I’ll introduce you to the boy, he’ll show you the city,” the aunt said to her young niece.

Tanya and Mikhail were ideal for each other - they were the same age, both from good families(Tatiana’s father was the manager of the Saratov Treasury Chamber, and Mikhail was from the family of a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy), so it is not surprising that tender feelings quickly flared up between the young people.

When the holidays ended and Tanya went back to Saratov, the lovers continued to correspond and maintain a relationship, much to the displeasure of their families. The parents could be understood - Bulgakov’s mother was alarmed that her son had abandoned his studies at the university, and Tatyana’s parents did not really like the telegram sent by Bulgakov’s friend. “Telegraph the arrival by deception. Misha is shooting himself,” read the telegram that arrived at Lapp’s house after Tatiana’s parents did not let Tatyana go to Kyiv for the holidays.

But, as usual, obstacles only fueled the feelings of the lovers, and already in 1911 Bulgakov went to Saratov to meet his future father-in-law and mother-in-law. In 1913, the parents finally came to terms with the wishes of their children (by that time Tatyana had already become pregnant and had an abortion) and gave their consent to the marriage.

They stood in front of the altar, beautiful and happy. And neither of them could penetrate the seriousness of the moment - both were constantly tempted to laugh. “How they suit each other in their careless nature!” - Bulgakov’s sister Vera once said about the young lovers, and I must say that at that moment it was true truth. However, over time, not a trace remained of the former carelessness.

Trial by war

Test of Glory

For the sake of Lyubov Belozerskaya, Bulgakov destroyed his marriage with Tatyana Lappa

In the fall of 1921, the couple moved to Moscow. A severe struggle for survival began. Bulgakov wrote “The White Guard” at night, Tatyana sat nearby, regularly serving her husband basins with hot water to warm icy hands. The efforts were not in vain - after a few years, Bulgakov the writer became fashionable. But family life has cracked. Tatyana was not too interested in her husband’s literary research and, as a writer’s wife, seemed too inconspicuous. Although Bulgakov assured Tatyana that he would never leave her, he warned: “If you meet me on the street with a lady, I will pretend that I don’t know you.” At that time, Bulgakov actively flirted with fans.

But Bulgakov never kept his promise to never leave Tatyana. 11 years after the wedding, he offered her a divorce. The role of the homewrecker was played by Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya, a 29-year-old lady with a rich biography, who recently arrived from abroad. She had just separated from one husband and was planning to marry another, but it didn’t work out. So the affair with Bulgakov came in very handy. And Bulgakov liked her sophistication, love of literature, sharp tongue and secular gloss. At first, Mikhail offered Tatyana the three of them to live in their apartment (the third, of course, was supposed to be Belozerskaya), but, having met a stubborn refusal, he packed his things and left.

About selling your soul

It is known that Bulgakov often went to Grand Theatre to listen to "Faust". This opera always lifted his spirits. The image of Faust himself was especially close to him.

But one day Bulgakov returned from the theater gloomy, in a state of severe depression. This was connected with a work on which the writer recently began working - the play "Batum". Bulgakov, who agreed to write a play about Stalin, recognized himself in the image of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil.

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Missing Character

In 1937, on the anniversary of the death of A.S. Pushkin, several authors presented plays dedicated to the poet. Among them was M. A. Bulgakov’s play “Alexander Pushkin,” which was distinguished from the works of other authors by the absence of one character. Bulgakov believed that the appearance of this actor on stage it will be vulgar and tasteless. The missing character was Alexander Sergeevich himself.

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Treasure of Mikhail Bulgakov

As is known, in the novel " White Guard"Bulgakov quite accurately described the house in which he lived in Kyiv. And the owners of this house for one detail of the description very strongly disliked the writer, since it caused direct damage to the structure. The fact is that the owners broke all the walls, trying to find the treasure described in the novel, and, of course, they found nothing.

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Few people know that the novel "Master and Margarita" was dedicated to the writer’s beloved Elena Sergeevna Nuremberg.

It was his last love and the strongest, she brought a lot of suffering and happiness to both. By the time they met, they already had families that had to be destroyed in order to forever unite their destinies by marriage.

Bulgakov began writing “The Master and Margarita” in 1929, and seven years earlier he was given Alexander Chayanov’s book “Venediktov, or Memorable Events of My Life.”

Its main characters were Satan and a student named Bulgakov, who fights with him for the soul of the woman he loves, and in the end the lovers are united. According to the writer’s wife Lyubov Belozerskaya, Chayanov’s story served as a creative impetus for writing the novel “The Master and Margarita.”

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Woland's story

Bulgakov's Woland received his name from Goethe's Mephistopheles. In the poem "Faust" it sounds

only one

times when Mephistopheles asks evil spirits step aside and give him way: “Nobleman Woland is coming!” In the ancient German literature The devil was called by another name - Faland. It also appears in “The Master and Margarita”, when the variety show employees cannot remember the name of the magician: “...Perhaps Faland?”

The first edition of the work contained a detailed description (15 handwritten pages) of Woland’s signs when he first appears under the guise of a “stranger.” This description is now almost completely lost. In addition, in the early edition Woland's name was Astaroth (one of the highest-ranking demons of hell, according to Western demonology). Later Bulgakov replaced it, apparently because this image could not be identical to Satan.

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"Heart of a Dog" and the Russian Revolution

Traditionally, the story “Heart of a Dog” is interpreted in only one political key: Sharikov is an allegory of the lumpen proletariat, which unexpectedly received many rights and freedoms, but quickly discovered selfishness and a desire to destroy its own kind. However, there is another interpretation, as if this story was a political satire on the leadership of the state in the mid-1920s.

In particular, that Sharikov-Chugunkin is Stalin (both have an “iron” second name), prof. Preobrazhensky is Lenin (who transformed the country), his assistant Doctor Bormental, constantly in conflict with Sharikov, is Trotsky (Bronstein), Shvonder is Kamenev, assistant Zina is Zinoviev, Daria is Dzerzhinsky, etc.

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Behemoth prototype

The famous assistant Woland had real prototype, only in life he was not a cat at all, but a dog - Mikhail Afanasyevich’s black dog named Behemoth. This dog was very smart. One day, when Bulgakov was celebrating with his wife New Year, after the chimes, his dog barked 12 times, although no one taught it this.

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Bulgakov Mikhail - family and childhood.

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov - world literary genius, was also a great doctor, a master of his craft. He never cheated and was true to his humanistic ideals.

Mikhail Bulgakov was born on May 3 (15), 1891 in the family of associate professor (since 1902 - professor) of the Kiev Theological Academy Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov (1859-1907) and his wife Varvara Mikhailovna (nee Pokrovskaya) (1869-1922) on Vozdvizhenskaya Street , 28 in Kyiv.

The writer's father, Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov, was indeed a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy. But he received the title of ordinary professor in 1906, shortly before his early death. And then, in the year of the birth of his first son, he was a young associate professor at the academy, a man of very great talent and equally great ability to work.

He knew languages ​​- both ancient and new. He spoke English, which was not included in the programs of theological seminaries and theological academies. He had a lively, light style, and he wrote a lot and with enthusiasm.

An associate professor and later professor of the history of Western faiths, he was particularly interested in Anglicanism, perhaps because Anglicanism, with its historical opposition to Catholicism, was considered akin to Orthodoxy. This gave A.I. Bulgakov the opportunity not to denounce, but to study the history of the English church. One of his articles was translated in England and met with friendly responses there; he was proud of it.

In the obituaries of his death, his colleagues at the theological academy did not forget to mention that the deceased was a man of “strong faith.” He was a decent man and very demanding of himself and, since he served in the theological academy, he was, of course, a believer. But spiritual education I chose not according to the dictates of my heart. He, who came from a provincial and large family of a priest, and also a priest of one of the poorest in Russia, the Oryol province, had no other paths to education, like his brothers.

Children of the clergy could receive spiritual education for free. Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov graduated from the Theological Seminary in Orel brilliantly, was not recommended, but “intended” for further study at the Theological Academy, and therefore signed the following mandatory document:

“I, the undersigned, a student of the Oryol Theological Seminary Afanasy Bulgakov, intended by the board of the seminary to be sent to the Kiev Theological Academy, gave this signature to the board of the said seminary that upon arrival at the academy I undertake not to refuse admission to it, and upon completion of the course - from entering the ecclesiastical school service.” After which he received all the necessary “passing allowances and daily allowances for travel, as well as for the provision of linen and shoes.”

He also graduated brilliantly from the Theological Academy in Kyiv. On the back of his diploma is the following text - partly typographical, partly handwritten: “The student named in this document from August 15, 1881 to August 15, 1885 was in the academy on government pay, for which he ... is obliged to serve in the spiritual and educational department for six years ... and in case of leaving this department ... he must return the amount used for his maintenance...” - a three-digit amount is entered.

He brilliantly defended his master's thesis (“Essays on the History of Methodism,” Kyiv, 1886), receiving the title of associate professor.

The career of a teacher at the Theological Academy - associate professor, extraordinary, then ordinary professor - was honorable. But he did not want this career for his sons and firmly sought to give his children a secular education.

In 1890, A.I. Bulgakov married a young teacher of the Karachevskaya gymnasium, the daughter of an archpriest, Varvara Mikhailovna Pokrovskaya.

It is difficult to say whether her father, the writer’s other grandfather, Archpriest of the Kazan Church in the city of Karachev (the same Oryol province) Mikhail Vasilyevich Pokrovsky, had more money, or whether he was simply more educated, younger, more promising - he gave his children a secular education.

Judging by the fact that Varvara Mikhailovna, at the age of twenty, was a “teacher and matron” of a girls’ gymnasium (which position was proudly noted in her marriage certificate by the archpriest who personally married his daughter to an associate professor at the Kiev Academy), most likely she graduated from the gymnasium and, perhaps, perhaps the eighth, additional, “pedagogical” class, which gave the title of teacher. For her generation and for her environment, she was an exceptionally educated woman. Her two brothers - Mikhail and Nikolai - studied at the university and became doctors.

The Bulgakovs' children - seven, almost the same age - grew up one after another, strong boys and beautiful, confident girls: Mikhail (1891-1940), Vera (1892-1972), Nadezhda (1893-1971), Varvara (1895-1954), Nikolai (1898-1966), Ivan (1900-1969) and Elena (1902-1954).

The Bulgakov family at the dacha. Sitting from left to right: Vanya, D.I. Bogdazhevsky, V.M. Bulgakova, A.I. Bulgakov, Lelya. Standing: Vera, Unknown, Varya, Misha, Nadya. Bucha, 1906

At the end of the 20s, Mikhail Bulgakov told P.S. Popov: “...The image of a lamp with a green lampshade. This is a very important image for me. It arose from childhood impressions - the image of my father writing at the table.” I think the lamp under the green lampshade on my father’s desk often burned past midnight...

The world of the Bulgakov family was strong and joyful. And friends loved to visit this house, and relatives loved to visit. The mother made the family atmosphere joyful, even festive.

“Mom, bright queen,” the eldest son called her. Blonde, with very light (like her son’s) eyes, pleasantly plump after seven births and at the same time very active, lively (according to her daughter Nadezhda, Varvara Mikhailovna, already widowed, willingly played tennis with her almost adult children), she ruled her small kingdom well, a supportive, adored, kind queen with a soft smile and an unusually strong, even domineering character.

For many, Mikhail Bulgakov is their favorite writer. His biography is interpreted by people various directions differently. The reason is how certain researchers relate his name to the occult. For those interested in this particular aspect, we can recommend reading the article by Pavel Globa. However, in any case, its presentation should begin from childhood, which is what we will do.

The writer's parents, brothers and sisters

Mikhail Afanasyevich was born in Kiev in the family of a theology professor Afanasy Ivanovich, who taught at the Theological Academy. His mother, Varvara Mikhailovna Pokrovskaya, also taught at the Karachay gymnasium. Both parents were hereditary bell nobles; their priest grandfathers served in the Oryol province.

Misha himself was the eldest child in the family; he had two brothers: Nikolai, Ivan and four sisters: Vera, Nadezhda, Varvara, Elena.

The future writer was thin, graceful, artistic with expressive blue eyes.

Education and character of Mikhail

In his hometown Bulgakov was educated. His biography contains information about graduating from the First Kyiv Gymnasium at the age of eighteen and from the medical faculty of Kyiv University at the age of twenty-five. What influenced the formation of the future writer? The untimely death of his 48-year-old father, the stupid suicide of his best comrade Boris Bogdanov because of love for Varya Bulgakova, the sister of Mikhail Afanasyevich - all these circumstances determined the character of Bulgakov: suspicious, prone to neuroses.

First wife

At twenty two future writer married his first wife, Tatyana Lappa, a year younger than him. Judging by the memoirs of Tatyana Nikolaevna (she lived until 1982), a film could be made about this short marriage. The newlyweds managed to waste the money sent by their parents on a veil and wedding dress. For some reason they laughed at the wedding. Of the flowers given to the newlyweds, the majority were daffodils. The bride was wearing a linen skirt, and her mother, who arrived and was horrified, managed to buy her a blouse for the wedding. Bulgakov's biography by date, thus, culminated in the wedding date of April 26, 1913. However, the happiness of the lovers was destined to be short-lived: in Europe at that time there was already a smell of war. According to Tatyana’s recollections, Mikhail did not like to save, he was not distinguished by prudence in spending Money. For him, for example, it was in the order of things to order a taxi with his last money. Valuable items were often pawned in pawn shops. Although Tatiana’s father helped the young couple with money, the funds constantly disappeared.

Medical practice

Fate rather cruelly prevented him from becoming a doctor, even though Bulgakov had talent and professional flair. The biography mentions that he had the misfortune of contracting dangerous diseases while practicing professional activity. Mikhail Afanasyevich, wanting to realize himself as a specialist, was active as a doctor. Over the course of a year, Dr. Bulgakov saw 15,361 patients at outpatient appointments (forty people a day!). 211 people were treated in his hospital. However, as you can see, Fate itself prevented him from becoming a doctor. In 1917, having become infected with diphtheria, Mikhail Afanasyevich took a serum against it. The result was a severe allergy. He relieved her painful symptoms with morphine, but then became addicted to this drug.

Bulgakov's recovery

His admirers owe the healing of Mikhail Bulgakov to Tatyana Lappa, who deliberately limited his dose. When he asked for an injection of a dose of the drug, his loving wife injected him with distilled water. At the same time, she stoically endured her husband’s hysterics, although he once threw a burning Primus stove at her and even threatened her with a pistol. At the same time, his loving wife was sure that he did not want to shoot, he just felt very bad...

Bulgakov's short biography contains the fact of high love and sacrifice. In 1918, it was thanks to Tatyana Lappa that he stopped being a morphine addict. From December 1917 to March 1918, Bulgakov lived and practiced in Moscow with his uncle on his mother’s side, the successful gynecologist N. M. Pokrovsky (later the prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky from “The Heart of a Dog”).

Then he returned to Kyiv, where he again began working as a venereologist. The practice was interrupted by the war. He never returned to medical practice...

World War I and Civil War

The First World War marked moves for Bulgakov: at first he worked as a doctor near the front line, then he was sent to work in the Smolensk province, and then to Vyazma. During the Civil War from 1919 to 1921, he was mobilized twice as a doctor. First - to the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, then - to the White Guard Armed Forces of the South of Russia. This period of his life later found its literary reflection in the cycle of stories “Notes of a Young Doctor” (1925-1927). One of the stories it contains is called "Morphine".

In 1919, on November 26, for the first time in his life, he published an article in the Grozny newspaper, which, in fact, presented the gloomy forebodings of a White Guard officer. The Red Army at Yegorlytskaya station in 1921 defeated the advanced forces of the White Guards - the Cossack cavalry... His comrades are riding beyond the cordon. However, fate prevents Mikhail Afanasyevich from emigrating: he falls ill with typhus. In Vladikavkaz, Bulgakov is being treated for a fatal illness and is recovering. His biography records the reorientation of life goals, creativity takes over.

Playwright

Mikhail Afanasyevich, emaciated, in the uniform of a white officer, but with torn shoulder straps, in Tersky Narobraz works in the theater section of the arts department, in the Russian theater. During this period, a severe crisis occurred in Bulgakov’s life. There is no money at all. She and Tatyana Lappa live by selling the severed parts of a miraculously surviving gold chain. Bulgakov made a difficult decision for himself - never to return to medical practice. With a tormented heart, in 1920 Mikhail Bulgakov wrote the most talented play “Days of the Turbins”. The writer’s biography testifies to the first repressions against him: in the same 1920, the Bolshevik commission expelled him from work as a “former”. Bulgakov is trampled, broken. Then the writer decides to flee the country: first to Turkey, then to France, he moves from Vladikavkaz to Tiflis via Baku. In order to survive, he betrays himself, Truth, and Conscience and in 1921 writes the conformist play “Sons of the Mullah,” which the Bolshevik theaters of Vladikavkaz willingly include in their repertoire. At the end of May 1921, while in Batumi, Mikhail Bulgakov summoned his wife. His biography contains information about the gravest crisis in the writer’s life. Fate cruelly takes revenge on him for betraying his conscience and talent (meaning the above-mentioned play, for which he received a fee of 200,000 rubles (33 pieces of silver). This situation will repeat again in his life).

Bulgakovs in Moscow

The spouses still do not emigrate. In August 1921, Tatyana Lappa left alone for Moscow through Odessa and Kyiv.

Soon, following his wife, Mikhail Afanasyevich also returned to Moscow (it was during this period that N. Gumilyov was shot and A. Blok died). Their life in the capital is accompanied by moving, instability... Bulgakov’s biography is not easy. Summary her subsequent period - desperate attempts talented person realize yourself. Mikhail and Tatyana live in the apartment (described in the novel “The Master and Margarita” - house number 10 on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street (Pigit’s house), number 302 bis, which was kindly provided to them by their brother-in-law, philologist A.M. Zemsky, who left for Kyiv to his wife). The house was inhabited by rowdy and drinking proletarians. The couple felt uncomfortable, hungry, and penniless. This is where their breakup occurred...

In 1922, Mikhail Afanasyevich suffered a personal blow - his mother died. He feverishly begins to work as a journalist, putting his sarcasm into feuilletons.

Literary activity. “Days of the Turbins” - Stalin’s favorite play

Lived life experience and thoughts, born of a remarkable intellect, were simply torn onto paper. A short biography of Bulgakov records his work as a feuilletonist in Moscow newspapers ("Worker") and magazines ("Renaissance", "Russia", "Medical Worker").

Life, distorted by the war, begins to improve. Since 1923, Bulgakov was accepted as a member of the Writers' Union.

In 1923, Bulgakov began working on the novel The White Guard. He creates his famous works:

• "Diaboliad";
• "Fatal Eggs";
• "Dog's heart".

• "Adam and Eve";
• "Alexander Pushkin";
• "Crimson Island";
• "Run";
• "Bliss";
• “Zoyka’s apartment”;
• "Ivan Vasilievich."

And in 1925 he married Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya.

He also became successful as a playwright. Even then, a paradoxical perception was evident Soviet state classic creativity. Even Joseph Stalin was contradictory and inconsistent in relation to him. He watched the Moscow Art Theater production "Days of the Turbins" 14 times. Then he declared that “Bulgakov is not ours.” However, in 1932, he ordered its return, and in the only theater in the USSR - the Moscow Art Theater, noting that after all, “the impression of the play on the communists” was positive.

Moreover, Joseph Stalin subsequently, in his historical address to the people on July 3, 1941, uses the phraseology of Alexei Turbin’s words: “I am addressing you, my friends...”

In the period from 1923 to 1926, the writer’s creativity flourished. In the fall of 1924, in literary circles in Moscow, Bulgakov was considered the No. 1 active writer. The biography and work of the writer are inseparably linked. It's working out for him literary career, becoming the main business of his life.

The writer's short and fragile second marriage

The first wife, Tatyana Lappa, recalls that, while married to her, Mikhail Afanasyevich repeated more than once that he should marry three times. He repeated this after the writer Alexei Tolstoy, who believed that family life the key to a writer's fame. There is a saying: the first wife is from God, the second is from people, the third is from the devil. Was Bulgakov’s biography artificially formed according to this far-fetched scenario? Interesting Facts and mysteries are not uncommon in it! However, Bulgakov’s second wife, Belozerskaya, a socialite, actually married a wealthy, promising writer.

However, the writer lived in perfect harmony with his new wife for only three years. Until in 1928, the writer’s third wife, Elena Sergeevna Shilovskaya, “appeared on the horizon.” Bulgakov was still in his second official marriage when this began whirlwind romance. The writer described his feelings for his third wife with great artistic force in The Master and Margarita. Mikhail Afanasyevich’s affection for the new woman with whom he felt a spiritual connection is evidenced by the fact that on 10/03/1932 the registry office dissolved his marriage with Belozerskaya, and on 10/04/1932 an alliance was concluded with Shilovskaya. It was the third marriage that became the main thing in his life for the writer.

Bulgakov and Stalin: the writer’s lost game

In 1928, inspired by his acquaintance with “his Margarita” - Elena Sergeevna Shilovskaya, Mikhail Bulgakov began creating his novel “The Master and Margarita”. A short biography of the writer, however, testifies to the beginning creative crisis. He needs space for creativity, which does not exist in the USSR. Moreover, there was a ban on the publication and production of Bulgakov. Despite his fame, his plays were not staged in theaters.

Joseph Vissarionovich, an excellent psychologist, knew very well weak sides Personality of this talented author: suspiciousness, tendency to depression. He played with the writer like a cat plays with a mouse, having an indisputable dossier against him. On 05/07/1926, the only search of all time was carried out at the Bulgakovs’ apartment. They fell into the hands of Stalin personal diaries Mikhail Afanasyevich, seditious story “Heart of a Dog”. In Stalin's game against the writer, a trump card was obtained that fatally led to the disaster of the writer Bulgakov. Here's the answer to your question: " Interesting biography Is it Bulgakov?" Not at all. Until he was thirty years old adulthood was filled with plenty of suffering from poverty and instability, what really followed was six years of more or less measured prosperous life, but it was followed by a violent break in Bulgakov’s personality, illness and death.

Refusal to leave the USSR. The leader's fatal call

In July 1929, the writer addressed a Letter to Joseph Stalin, asking to leave the USSR, and on March 28, 1930, he addressed Soviet government with the same request. Permission was not given.

Bulgakov suffered, he understood that his grown talent was being ruined. Contemporaries remembered the phrase he uttered after yet another failure to receive permission to leave: “I was blinded!”

However, this was not the final blow. And he was expected... Everything changed with Stalin’s call on April 18, 1930. At that moment, Mikhail Bulgakov and his third wife, Elena Sergeevna, were laughing as they drove to Batum (where Bulgakov was going to write a play about Stalin’s young years). At the Serpukhov station, a woman who entered their carriage announced: “Telegram for the accountant!”

The writer, uttering an involuntary exclamation, turned pale, and then corrected her: “Not to the accountant, but to Bulgakov.” He expected... Stalin scheduled a telephone conversation for the same date - 04/18/1930.

The day before, Mayakovsky was buried. Obviously, the leader’s call could equally be called a kind of prevention (he respected Bulgakov, but still put gentle pressure) and a trick: in a confidential conversation, extract an unfavorable promise from the interlocutor.

In it, Bulgakov voluntarily refused to go abroad, which he could not forgive himself for the rest of his life. This was his tragic loss.

A very complex knot of relationships connects Stalin and Bulgakov. We can say that seminarian Dzhdugashvili outplayed and broke both the will and life of the great writer.

Last years of creativity

Subsequently, the author concentrated all his talent, all his skill on the novel “The Master and Margarita,” which he wrote for the table, without any hope of publication.

The play “Batum” created about Stalin was rejected by the secretariat of Joseph Vissarionovich, pointing out the methodological error of the writer - the transformation of the leader into a romantic hero.

In fact, Joseph Vissarionovich was jealous, so to speak, of the writer of his own charisma. From then on, Bulgakov was allowed to work only as a theater director.

By the way, Mikhail Afanasyevich is considered one of the best directors in the history of Russian theater, Gogol and Saltykov-Shchedrin (his favorite classics).

Everything he wrote, unspoken and biased, was “impossible.” Stalin consistently destroyed him as a writer.

Bulgakov nevertheless wrote, he responded to the blow, as a real classic could do... A novel about Pontius Pilate. About an all-powerful autocrat who is secretly afraid.

Moreover, the first version of this novel was burned by the author. It was called differently - “Devil's Hoof”. In Moscow, after writing it, there were rumors that Bulgakov wrote about Stalin (Iosif Vissarionovich was born with two fused toes. People call this the hoof of Satan). Panicking, the author burned the first version of the novel. This is where the phrase “Manuscripts don’t burn!” was subsequently born.

Instead of a conclusion

In 1939, the final version of The Master and Margarita was written and read to friends. This book was destined to be published for the first time in an abridged version only after 33 years... The terminally ill Bulgakov, suffering from kidney failure, did not have long to live...

In the fall of 1939, his vision deteriorated critically: he was practically blind. On March 10, 1940, the writer passed away. Mikhail Bulgakov was buried on March 12, 1940. Novodevichy Cemetery.

Full biography Bulgakov is still a subject of controversy. The reason is that the Soviet, emasculated version presents the reader with an embellished picture of the author’s loyalty to Soviet power. Therefore, if you are interested in the life of a writer, you should critically analyze several sources.

Mikhail Bulgakov was born on May 3 (15), 1891 in Kyiv in the family of Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov, a teacher at the Theological Academy. Since 1901, the future writer received his primary education at the First Kyiv Gymnasium. In 1909 he entered the Faculty of Medicine at Kiev University. In his second year, in 1913, Mikhail Afanasyevich married Tatyana Lappa.

Medical practice

After graduating from university in 1916, Bulgakov got a job in one of the Kyiv hospitals. In the summer of 1916 he was sent to the village of Nikolskoye, Smolensk province. In a short biography of Bulgakov, one cannot fail to mention that during this period the writer became addicted to morphine, but thanks to the efforts of his wife, he was able to overcome the addiction.

During civil war in 1919, Bulgakov was mobilized as a military doctor in the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, and then in the army of Southern Russia. In 1920, Mikhail Afanasyevich fell ill with typhus, so he could not leave the country with the Volunteer Army.

Moscow. The beginning of a creative journey

In 1921, Bulgakov moved to Moscow. He is actively involved literary activity, begins to collaborate with many periodicals in Moscow - “Gudok”, “Worker”, etc., takes part in meetings literary circles. In 1923, Mikhail Afanasyevich joined the All-Russian Writers Union, which also included A. Volynsky, F. Sologub, Nikolai Gumilev, Korney Chukovsky, Alexander Blok.

In 1924, Bulgakov divorced his first wife, and a year later, in 1925, he married Lyubov Belozerskaya.

Mature creativity

In 1924 - 1928, Bulgakov created his most famous works - “The Diaboliad”, “Heart of a Dog”, “Blizzard”, “Fatal Eggs”, the novel “The White Guard” (1925), “Zoykina’s Apartment”, the play “Days of the Turbins” ( 1926), “Crimson Island” (1927), “Running” (1928). In 1926, the Moscow Art Theater premiered the play “Days of the Turbins” - the work was staged on the personal instructions of Stalin.

In 1929, Bulgakov visited Leningrad, where he met E. Zamyatin and Anna Akhmatova. Due to his sharp criticism of the revolution in his works (in particular, in the novel “Days of the Turbins”), Mikhail Afanasyevich was summoned several times for interrogation by the OGPU. Bulgakov is no longer published; his plays are prohibited from being staged in theaters.

Last years

In 1930, Mikhail Afanasyevich personally wrote a letter to I. Stalin asking for the right to leave the USSR or to be allowed to earn a living. After this, the writer was able to get a job as an assistant director at the Moscow Art Theater. In 1934 Bulgakov was accepted into Soviet Union writers, whose chairmen are different time there were Maxim Gorky, Alexey Tolstoy, A. Fadeev.

In 1931, Bulgakov broke up with L. Belozerskaya, and in 1932 he married Elena Shilovskaya, whom he had known for several years.

Mikhail Bulgakov, whose biography was full of events of different nature, last years I was very sick. The writer was diagnosed with hypertensive nephrosclerosis (kidney disease). On March 10, 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich died. Bulgakov was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Master and Margarita

“The Master and Margarita” is the most important work of Mikhail Bulgakov, which he dedicated to his last wife Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, and worked on it for more than ten years until his death. The novel is the most discussed and important work in the biography and work of the writer. During the writer's lifetime, The Master and Margarita was not published due to censorship bans. The novel was first published in 1967.

Other biography options

• There were seven children in the Bulgakov family - three sons and four daughters. Mikhail Afanasyevich was the eldest child.
• Bulgakov’s first work was the story “The Adventures of Svetlana,” which Mikhail Afanasyevich wrote at the age of seven.
• Bulgakov with early years He had an exceptional memory and read a lot. One of the most large books, which the future writer read when he was eight years old, was V. Hugo’s novel “Notre Dame de Paris.”
• Bulgakov’s choice of becoming a doctor was influenced by the fact that most of his relatives were engaged in medicine.
• The prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky from the story “Heart of a Dog” was Bulgakov’s uncle, gynecologist N. M. Pokrovsky.

Michael Bulgakov - great writer and hoaxer, author of classic prose and dramatic works Russian literature, became famous throughout the world for his works. The life and love story of the writer cannot leave anyone indifferent, and literary works captivate readers around the world to this day.

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Given introductory fragment books Michael Bulgakov. Secret life Masters (Leonid Garin, 2015) provided by our book partner - the company liters.

© Garin, L., 2015

© AB Publishing, 2015

Creative Job LLC, 2015

Chapter first. Childhood and youth

1.1 Bulgakov family

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born into the family of a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy. His father Afanasy Ivanovich was very educated person, read a lot, owned several foreign languages. He even tried his hand at writing, although he wrote “on the table.” Probably, Bulgakov Jr. inherited his writing talent from his father. Despite the fact that Afanasy Ivanovich was a deeply religious man, he sought to give freedom to his children in matters of religion and sent them to secular schools.

Bulgakov's mother Varvara Mikhailovna was a teacher at the gymnasium. She came from a priest's family, at the same time had a broad outlook and received a more than decent education in her time. Thanks to inexhaustible energy Mother's family was able to survive with dignity both the premature death of her father and the First World War. There were only seven children in the Bulgakov family. Although they were not rich, they had enough to live on. The parents managed to give all the children a good education and arrange their future lives.

Mikhail spent his entire childhood in the company of his sisters and brothers, only the one who behaved more separately younger sister– Elena, whom the family affectionately called Lelya. Due to the age difference of 11 years, she could not take full part in the games of her elders, although she also found herself a companion - the daughter of the owner of the house where the Bulgakovs lived. From Elena’s memories, recorded by her daughter, however, no discomfort was noticeable due to the current situation with her relatives; the atmosphere in the family was equally warm for everyone, so even being lonelier than her sisters and brothers, Lelya felt comfortable.

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born on May 3, 1891 in Kyiv, where he spent almost his entire childhood. It is this city that will also become an endless source of inspiration for him and will set the atmosphere for even his latest works. The intelligent family in which Bulgakov grew up could not help but leave a mark on his subsequent fate. The atmosphere of a friendly family hearth will often appear in his works. Just as often, Kyiv will appear in Bulgakov’s works, which in many novels and plays will become not just the place where events unfold, but a symbol of the intimacy of the family circle and homeland.

Among the features of the Bulgakov family, it is worth noting the ownership of an extensive library, which became the first discovery for little Mikhail. It was thanks to his excellent collection of books that he met his literary idols at a fairly early age. Also, the family of the future writer was very fond of opera, especially Faust, which Bulgakov later staged with his own hands in the theater. WITH early childhood the future writer was instilled with a love of music, literature, theater and architecture. He loved visiting Kyiv theaters, and also studied drawings and ancient inscriptions in the churches of Kyiv.

Cultural environment and the intelligent environment of Mikhail Bulgakov from an early age raised in him a man who valued honor above all else, and also possessed all the qualities necessary for a successful writer.

1.2 The adolescence of Mikhail Bulgakov

Preschool education Mikhail Afanasyevich received houses with the support of his mother and father, who skillfully helped his son in his search for knowledge. Their childhood was very important for the writer home library, the vastness of which allowed young Bulgakov to get acquainted with the great classics and literary contemporaries. Works read in early age, had a significant influence on the receptive soul of the young writer; it was probably the introduction to literature from early childhood that became the root cause of Mikhail Afanasyevich’s love and craving for writing.

Home education laid a decent foundation for entering school, and on August 18, 1900, Bulgakov entered the Second Gymnasium of the city of Kyiv. However, it was just preparatory class. A year later, on August 22, he was enrolled in the First Alexander Gymnasium, where he received a complete secondary education. The most prestigious at that time high school Kyiv will subsequently take its rightful place in the writer’s work: it will be mentioned in the play “Days of the Turbins”, as well as in key episodes of the novel “The White Guard”.

Studying was easy for Bulgakov. The reason for this is believed to be the special family atmosphere and the instillation of a thirst for knowledge from an early age. It was Mikhail Afanasyevich’s parents who, with their unique upbringing, gave the world the literary genius he would later become. It is known, however, that the writer was not too fond of the exact sciences, preferring the humanities, which is not surprising. At the same time, at a more mature age, he will again turn to mathematics, but in his own way. In the textbook on mathematics Florensky found in Mikhail Afanasyevich’s library, the writer’s notes will be present only at the end of the book, where the author will make room for philosophical discussions on the theory of relativity, which, in his opinion, gives completely new readings of space as such.

School years proceeded smoothly until grief struck the Bulgakov family: the writer’s father died of kidney disease in the spring of 1907, leaving seven children in the care of their mother. Being the eldest son, and therefore the only support for his mother, Bulgakov tried to help her as best he could.

On June 8, 1909, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov received a certificate of maturity, which marked the end of his school years.

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born on May 3 (15), 1891 in Kyiv. His father, Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov, was a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy, a specialist in Western religions. With his conferment of the rank of actual state councilor, the Bulgakovs received the right to hereditary nobility. Mikhail, the first-born in big family, there were two more brothers and four sisters. Father and mother - Varvara Mikhailovna, nee Pokrovskaya, a teacher by profession - were able to give their children an excellent education at home. Mikhail knew French, German, English, Greek and Latin languages.
Days of adolescence and youth spent in Kyiv, in parental home, forever remained shrouded in a poetic haze for M. Bulgakov, and seemed to be a model of normal human life, family comfort.
Mikhail realized early on that he was an adult. After graduating from high school, he entered the medical faculty of Kyiv University, from which he graduated with honors. In his student years in Kyiv, as throughout the country, political passions were raging, but they had little impact on the future doctor, who

was not interested in politics.
Bulgakov’s sister, Nadezhda Afanasyevna, recalled that in their house during Mikhail Afanasyevich’s student days they argued about Darwin and Nietzsche. His favorite writers were Gogol and Saltykov-Shchedrin, who fed the mockery and “freethinking” of the young Bulgakov. Bulgakov began to compose early and even without planning to publish. These were short stories, dramatic scenes, satirical poems. Even then, he was noted to have an ironic mindset. He was fond of theater and dreamed of becoming opera singer, knew the operas “Aida” and “Faust” by heart, wrote plays for home theater.
In 1913, M. A. Bulgakov married Tatyana Nikolaevna Lappa, the daughter of the manager of the Saratov treasury chamber. It seemed that his future was predetermined. However, the beginning of the First World War interrupted a good life. During the war years, he worked as a doctor in hospitals on the Southwestern Front, then in hospitals in the village of Nikolskoye, Smolensk province, in Vyazma. The impressions of the village doctor were reflected in the autobiographical “Notes of a Young Doctor.” It was incredibly hard work that did not stop around the clock.

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