Where did Turgenev serve? Writing poetry, republican ideas

Ivan Turgenev is a famous Russian writer, poet, publicist and translator. He created his own artistic system, which influenced the poetics of the novel in the second half of the 19th century.

She also supported friendly relations with writers and Mikhail Zagoskin. No wonder she wanted to give her sons a good education.

Both boys were taught by some of the best teachers in Europe, on whom she spared no expense.

Turgenev's education

During the winter holidays, he went to Italy, which charmed the future writer with its beauty and unique architecture.

Returning to Russia in 1841, Ivan Sergeevich successfully passed the exams and received a master's degree in philosophy at St. Petersburg University.

After 2 years, he was entrusted with a position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which could completely change his biography.

However, interest in writing took precedence over the benefits of an official position.

Creative biography of Turgenev

When the famous critic Vissarion Belinsky read it, he appreciated the talent of the aspiring writer and even wanted to meet him. As a result, they became good friends.

Later, Ivan Sergeevich had the honor of meeting Nikolai Nekrasov, with whom he also developed a good relationship.

Turgenev's next works were “Andrei Kolosov”, “Three Portraits” and “Breter”.

Returning from Europe to, he decided to try himself as a playwright. He managed to compose quite a few plays, which were successfully staged in theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

When Gogol died in 1852, Turgenev immediately wrote an obituary about him. However, the censor, Alexey Musin-Pushkin, forbade its publication in all publications in St. Petersburg.

And only the newspaper Moskovskie Vedomosti finally decided to publish an obituary. As a result, a real scandal broke out, since the censor had a special disgust for Gogol.

He claimed that his name was not worthy of mention in society, and also called him a “lackey writer.” Musin-Pushkin immediately wrote a report to Tsar Nicholas 1, describing the incident in detail.

Due to his frequent trips abroad, Turgenev was under suspicion, since there he communicated with the disgraced Belinsky and Herzen. And now, because of the obituary, his situation has worsened even more.

It was then that problems began in Turgenev’s biography. He was detained and imprisoned for a month, after which he was under house arrest for another 3 years without the right to travel abroad.

Works of Turgenev

At the end of his imprisonment, he published the book “Notes of a Hunter,” which contained such stories as “Bezhin Meadow,” “Biryuk,” and “Singers.” Censorship saw serfdom in the works, but this did not lead to any serious consequences.

Turgenev wrote for both adults and children. Once, having spent some time in the village, he composed famous story"Mumu", which gained wide popularity in society.

There, from his pen came such novels as “ Noble Nest", "The Eve" and "Fathers and Sons". Last piece caused a real sensation in society, since Ivan Sergeevich was able to masterfully convey the problem of relationships between fathers and children.

At the end of the 50s he visited several European countries, where he continued writing activity. In 1857, he wrote the famous story “Asya,” which was subsequently translated into many languages.

According to some biographers, the prototype main character became his illegitimate daughter Pauline Brewer.

Turgenev's lifestyle drew criticism from many of his colleagues. They condemned him for spending most of his time abroad, while considering himself a patriot of Russia.


Employees of the Sovremennik magazine. Top row L. N. Tolstoy, D. V. Grigorovich; bottom row, I. S. Turgenev, A. V. Druzhinin, . Photo by S. L. Levitsky, February 15, 1856

For example, he was in serious confrontation with, and. Despite this, Ivan Sergeevich’s talent as a novelist was recognized by many famous writers.

Among them were the Goncourt brothers, Emile Zola and Gustave Flaubert, who later became his close friend.

In 1879, 61-year-old Turgenev arrived in St. Petersburg. He was very warmly received by the younger generation, although the authorities still viewed him with suspicion.

That same year, the novelist went to Britain, where he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

When Ivan Sergeevich learned that the opening of a monument to Alexander Pushkin would take place in Moscow, he also attended this solemn event.

Personal life

The only love in Turgenev’s biography was the singer Polina Viardot. The girl did not have beauty, but rather, on the contrary, disgusted many men.

She was stooped and had rough features. Her mouth was disproportionately large, and her eyes were protruding from their sockets. Heinrich Heine even compared it to a landscape that was “at once monstrous and exotic.”


Turgenev and Viardot

But when Viardot began to sing, she immediately captivated the audience. It was in this image that Turgenev saw Polina, and immediately fell in love with her. All the girls with whom he had close relationships before meeting the singer immediately ceased to interest him.

However, there was a problem - the writer’s beloved was married. Nevertheless, Turgenev did not deviate from his goal and did everything possible to see Viardot more often.

As a result, he managed to move into the house where Polina and her husband Louis lived. The singer’s husband turned a blind eye to the relationship between the “guest” and his wife.

A number of biographers believe that the reason for this was the considerable sums that the Russian master left in his mistress’s house. Also, some researchers believe that the real father of Paul, the child of Polina and Louis, is Ivan Turgenev.

The writer's mother was against her son's relationship with Viardot. She hoped that Ivan would leave her and finally find a suitable mate.

It is interesting that in his youth Turgenev had a fleeting affair with a seamstress Avdotya. As a result of their relationship, a daughter, Pelageya, was born, whom he recognized only 15 years later.

Varvara Petrovna (Turgenev's mother) treated her granddaughter very coldly because of her peasant origin. But Ivan Sergeevich himself loved the girl very much, and even agreed to take her into his house, after life together with Viardot.

The love idyll with Polina did not last long. This was largely explained by Turgenev’s three-year house arrest, because of which the lovers could not see each other.

After breaking up, the writer began dating young Olga, who was 18 years younger than him. However, Viardot still did not leave his heart.

Not wanting to ruin the young girl’s life, he confessed to her that he still loved only Polina.

Portrait of Turgenev performed

Ivan Sergeevich’s next hobby was the 30-year-old actress Maria Savina. At that time, Turgenev was 61 years old.

When the couple went to Paris, Savina saw the writer in the house a large number of Viardot's things and guessed that she would never be able to achieve the same love for herself.

As a result, they never got married, although they maintained friendly relations until the writer’s death.

Death

In 1882 Turgenev became seriously ill. After examination, doctors diagnosed him with spinal bone cancer. The disease was very difficult and was accompanied by constant pain.

In 1883, he underwent surgery in Paris, but it did not produce any results. The only joy for him was that in the last days of his life, his beloved woman, Viardot, was next to him.

After his death, she inherited all of Turgenev's property.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev died on August 22, 1883 at the age of 64. His body was transported from Paris to St. Petersburg, where it was buried in the Volkov cemetery.

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Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. Part 2. Personal life

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, 1872

Vasily Perov

Personal life

The first romantic interest of young Turgenev was falling in love with the daughter of Princess Shakhovskaya, Ekaterina (1815-1836), a young poetess. The estates of their parents in the Moscow region bordered, they often exchanged visits. He was 15, she was 19. In letters to her son, Varvara Turgenev called Ekaterina Shakhovskaya a “poet” and a “villain”, since Sergei Nikolaevich himself, Ivan Turgenev’s father, could not resist the charms of the young princess, to whom the girl reciprocated, which broke the heart of the future writer . The episode much later, in 1860, was reflected in the story “First Love,” in which the writer endowed the heroine of the story, Zinaida Zasekina, with some of the traits of Katya Shakhovskaya.

David Borovsky. Illustrations by I.S. Turgenev “First Love”

In 1841, during his return to Lutovinovo, Ivan became interested in the seamstress Dunyasha (Avdotya Ermolaevna Ivanova). A romance began between the young couple, which ended in the girl’s pregnancy. Ivan Sergeevich immediately expressed a desire to marry her. However, his mother made a serious scandal about this, after which he went to St. Petersburg. Turgenev's mother, having learned about Avdotya's pregnancy, hastily sent her to Moscow to her parents, where Pelageya was born on April 26, 1842. Dunyasha was married off, leaving her daughter in an ambiguous position. Turgenev officially recognized the child only in 1857

I.S. Turgenev at the age of 20.

Artist K. Gorbunov. 1838-1839 Watercolor

Spasskoye-Lutovinovo

Soon after the episode with Avdotya Ivanova, Turgenev met Tatyana Bakunina (1815-1871), the sister of the future emigrant revolutionary M.A. Bakunin. Returning to Moscow after his stay in Spassky, he stopped at the Bakunin estate Premukhino. The winter of 1841-1842 was spent in close communication with the circle of Bakunin brothers and sisters. All of Turgenev’s friends—N.V. Stankevich, V.G. Belinsky and V.P. Botkin—were in love with Mikhail Bakunin’s sisters, Lyubov, Varvara and Alexandra.


Watercolor self-portrait of Mikhail Bakunin.


Bakunina Tatyana Alexandrovna

Evdokia Bakunina

Tatyana was three years older than Ivan. Like all young Bakunins, she was carried away German philosophy and perceived her relationships with others through the prism of Fichte’s idealistic concept. She wrote letters to Turgenev on German, full of lengthy reasoning and introspection, despite the fact that the young people lived in the same house, and from Turgenev she also expected an analysis of the motives of her own actions and reciprocal feelings. “A “philosophical” novel,” according to G. A. Byaly, “in the vicissitudes of which everything took a lively part.” younger generation Premukha’s nest lasted several months.” Tatyana was truly in love. Ivan Sergeevich did not remain completely indifferent to the love he awakened. He wrote several poems (the poem “Parasha” was also inspired by communication with Bakunina) and a story dedicated to this sublimely ideal, mostly literary and epistolary hobby. But he could not respond with serious feelings.


Bakunin House in Pryamukhin

Among the writer’s other fleeting hobbies, there were two more that played a certain role in his work. In the 1850s, a fleeting romance broke out with a distant cousin, eighteen-year-old Olga Alexandrovna Turgeneva. The love was mutual, and the writer was thinking about marriage in 1854, the prospect of which at the same time frightened him. Olga later served as the prototype for the image of Tatyana in the novel “Smoke”. Turgenev was also indecisive with Maria Nikolaevna Tolstoy. Ivan Sergeevich wrote about Leo Tolstoy’s sister to P.V. Annenkov: “His sister is one of the most attractive creatures I have ever met. Sweet, smart, simple - I couldn’t take my eyes off her. In my old age (I turned 36 on the fourth day), I almost fell in love.” For the sake of Turgenev, twenty-four-year-old M.N. Tolstaya had already left her husband; she took the writer’s attention to herself as true love. But Turgenev limited himself to a platonic hobby, and Maria Nikolaevna served him as a prototype for Verochka from the story “Faust”

Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya

In the autumn of 1843, Turgenev saw Pauline Viardot on stage for the first time opera house, When great singer came on tour to St. Petersburg. Turgenev was 25 years old, Viardot was 22 years old. Then, while hunting, he met Polina’s husband, the director of the Italian Theater in Paris, a famous critic and art critic, Louis Viardot, and on November 1, 1843, he was introduced to Polina herself.

Portrait of singer Pauline Viardot

Karl Bryullov

Louis Viardot

Among the mass of fans, she did not particularly single out Turgenev, who was better known as an avid hunter rather than a writer. And when her tour ended, Turgenev, together with the Viardot family, left for Paris against the will of his mother, still unknown to Europe and without money. And this despite the fact that everyone considered him a rich man. But this time his extremely cramped financial situation was explained precisely by his disagreement with his mother, one of the richest women in Russia and the owner of a huge agricultural and industrial empire.


Pauline Viardot (1821-1910).

Karl Timoleon von Neff -

For his attachment to the “damned gypsy,” his mother did not give him money for three years. During these years, his lifestyle bore little resemblance to the stereotype of the life of a “rich Russian” that had developed about him. In November 1845, he returned to Russia, and in January 1847, having learned about Viardot’s tour in Germany, he left the country again: he went to Berlin, then to London, Paris, a tour of France and again to St. Petersburg. Without an official marriage, Turgenev lived with the Viardot family “on the edge of someone else’s nest,” as he himself said. Pauline Viardot raised illegitimate daughter Turgenev. In the early 1860s, the Viardot family settled in Baden-Baden, and with them Turgenev (“Villa Tourgueneff”). Thanks to the Viardot family and Ivan Turgenev, their villa became an interesting musical and artistic center. The war of 1870 forced the Viardot family to leave Germany and move to Paris, where the writer also moved

Pauline Viardot

The true nature of the relationship between Pauline Viardot and Turgenev is still a matter of debate. There is an opinion that after Louis Viardot was paralyzed as a result of a stroke, Polina and Turgenev actually entered into marital relations. Louis Viardot was twenty years older than Polina; he died the same year as I. S. Turgenev


Pauline Viardot in Baden-Baden


Paris Salon of Pauline Viardot

Last love writer became actress Alexandrinsky Theater Maria Savina. Their meeting took place in 1879, when the young actress was 25 years old and Turgenev was 61 years old. The actress at that time played the role of Verochka in Turgenev’s play “A Month in the Village.” The role was played so vividly that the writer himself was amazed. After this performance, he went to the actress backstage with a large bouquet of roses and exclaimed: “Did I really write this Verochka?!“Ivan Turgenev fell in love with her, which he openly admitted. The rarity of their meetings was compensated by regular correspondence, which lasted four years. Despite Turgenev's sincere relationship, for Maria he was rather good friend. She was planning to marry someone else, but the marriage never took place. Savina’s marriage to Turgenev was also not destined to come true - the writer died in the circle of the Viardot family




Maria Gavrilovna Savina

"Turgenev girls"

Turgenev's personal life was not entirely successful. Having lived for 38 years in close contact with the Viardot family, the writer felt deeply lonely. Under these conditions, Turgenev’s image of love was formed, but love not entirely characteristic of his melancholic creative manner. There is almost no happy ending in his works, and the last chord is often sad. But nevertheless, almost none of the Russian writers paid so much attention to the depiction of love; no one idealized a woman to such an extent as Ivan Turgenev.

Characters female characters his works of the 1850s - 1880s - images of integrity, pure, selfless, moral strong heroines in total they formed the literary phenomenon of the “Turgenev girl” - a typical heroine of his works. These are Lisa in the story “Diary” extra person", Natalya Lasunskaya in the novel "Rudin", Asya in the story of the same name, Vera in the story "Faust", Elizaveta Kalitina in the novel "The Noble Nest", Elena Stakhova in the novel "On the Eve", Marianna Sinetskaya in the novel "Nov" and others.

Vasily Polenov. "Grandmother's Garden", 1878

Offspring

Turgenev never started his own family. The writer's daughter from the seamstress Avdotya Ermolaevna Ivanova Pelageya Ivanovna Turgeneva, married to Brewer (1842-1919), from the age of eight was raised in the family of Pauline Viardot in France, where Turgenev changed her name from Pelageya to Polina (Polinet, Paulinette), which seemed to him more euphonious. Ivan Sergeevich arrived in France only six years later, when his daughter was already fourteen. Polinette almost forgot the Russian language and spoke exclusively French, which touched her father. At the same time, he was upset that the girl had a difficult relationship with Viardot herself. The girl was hostile to her father's beloved, and soon this led to the fact that the girl was sent to a private boarding school. When Turgenev next came to France, he took his daughter from the boarding school, and they moved in together, and a governess from England, Innis, was invited for Polynet.

Pelageya Turgeneva (married Buer, 1842-1918), daughter of the writer Ivan Turgenev.

At the age of seventeen, Polynette met the young entrepreneur Gaston Brewer (1835-1885), who made a pleasant impression on Ivan Turgenev, and he agreed to his daughter’s marriage. As a dowry, my father gave a considerable amount for those times - 150 thousand francs. The girl married Brewer, who soon went bankrupt, after which Polynette, with the assistance of her father, hid from her husband in Switzerland. Since Turgenev's heir was Polina Viardot, his daughter found herself in a difficult situation after his death. financial situation. She died in 1919 at the age of 76 from cancer. Polynette's children - Georges-Albert and Jeanne - had no descendants. Georges-Albert died in 1924. Zhanna Brewer-Turgeneva never married; She lived by giving private lessons for a living, as she was fluent in five languages. She even tried herself in poetry, writing poems in French. She died in 1952 at the age of 80, and with her the family branch of the Turgenevs along the line of Ivan Sergeevich ended.

08/22/1883 (09/04). – Writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (born 10/28/1818) died near Paris.

I.S. Turgenev

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (28.10.1818–22.8.1883), Russian writer, author of “Notes of a Hunter”, “Fathers and Sons”. Born in Orel in noble family. His father, a retired hussar officer, came from an old noble family; mother is from a wealthy landowner family, the Lutovinovs. Turgenev spent his childhood on the family estate Spassky-Lutovinovo. Turgenev’s mother Varvara Petrovna ruled her “subjects” in the manner of an autocratic empress - with “police” and “ministers” who sat in special “institutions” and ceremoniously came to report to her every morning (about this in the story “The Master’s Own Office”). Her favorite saying was “I want execution, I want sweetheart.” She treated her naturally good-natured and dreamy son harshly, wanting to raise him as a “real Lutovinov,” but in vain. She only wounded the boy’s heart, causing offense to those of her “subjects” to whom he had become attached (later she would become the prototype of the capricious ladies in the story “Mumu”, etc.).

At the same time, Varvara Petrovna was an educated woman and not alien to literary interests. She did not skimp on mentors for her sons (Ivan was the second of three). From an early age, Turgenev was taken abroad; after the family moved to Moscow in 1827, he was taught the best teachers, since childhood he spoke French, German, English languages. In the fall of 1833, before reaching the age of fifteen, he entered the next year transferred to St. Petersburg University, from which he graduated in 1836 in the verbal department of the Faculty of Philosophy.

In May 1837 he went to Berlin to listen to lectures on classical philosophy (how could we live without advanced Europe...). The reason for leaving was hatred for the man who darkened his childhood: “I could not breathe the same air, stay close to what I hated... I needed to move away from my enemy so that from my very distance I could attack him more strongly. In my eyes, this enemy had a certain image, wore famous name: this enemy was - serfdom" In Germany, he became friends with the ardent revolutionary demon M. Bakunin (who partly served as the prototype for Rudin in novel of the same name), meetings with him may have been much more higher value than lectures by Berlin professors. He combined his studies with long travels: he traveled around Germany, visited Holland and France, and lived in Italy for several months. But it seems that he learned little from his four years of experience abroad. The West did not arouse in him the desire to know Russia through comparison.

Returning to Russia in 1841, he settled in Moscow, where he intended to teach philosophy (German, of course) and prepared for master's exams, attended literary clubs and salons: met , . On one of the trips to St. Petersburg - with. The social circle, as we see, includes both Slavophiles and Westerners, but Turgenev rather belonged to the latter not because of his ideological convictions, but because of his mental make-up.

In 1842, he successfully passed his master's exams, hoping to get a professorship at Moscow University, but since the department of philosophy, as an obvious hotbed of Westernism, was abolished, he failed to become a professor.

In 1843 he entered the service as an official of the “special office” of the Minister of the Interior, where he served for two years. In the same year, an acquaintance with Belinsky and his entourage took place. Turgenev's social and literary views during this period were determined mainly by the influence of Belinsky. Turgenev publishes his poems, poems, dramatic works, stories. The Social Democratic critic guided his work with his assessments and friendly advice.

In 1847, Turgenev again went abroad for a long time: love for French singer Pauline Viardot(married), whom he met in 1843 during her tour in St. Petersburg, took him away from Russia. He lived for three years, first in Germany, then in Paris and on the estate of the Viardot family.

Writer's fame came to him even before his departure: the essay "Khor and Kalinich" published in Sovremennik was a success. The following essays from folk life published in the same journal for five years. In 1852 it was published as a separate book under the now famous title “Notes of a Hunter.” Perhaps some nostalgia for his childhood years in the Russian village gave his stories artistic insight. This is how he took his place in Russian literature.

In 1850 he returned to Russia, collaborating as an author and critic in Sovremennik, which became the center of Russian literary life. Impressed by Gogol's death in 1852, he published a daring obituary, prohibited by censorship. For this he is arrested for a month, and then sent to his estate under police supervision without the right to travel outside the Oryol province. In 1853 it was allowed to come to St. Petersburg, but the right to travel abroad was returned only in 1856 (Here it is, all the cruelty of the “unbearable Nicholas despotism”...)

Along with “hunting” stories, Turgenev wrote several plays: “Freeloader” (1848), “Bachelor” (1849), “A Month in the Country” (1850), “Provincial Girl” (1850). During his exile, he wrote the stories "Mumu" (1852) and "The Inn" (1852) on peasant theme. However, he is increasingly occupied by the life of the Russian “intelligentsia”, to whom the stories “The Diary of an Extra Man” (1850) are dedicated; "Yakov Pasynkov" (1855); "Correspondence" (1856). Working on stories naturally led to the genre of the novel. In the summer of 1855, “Rudin” was written in Spassky; in 1859 – “The Noble Nest”; in 1860 - “On the Eve”.

Thus, Turgenev was not only a writer, but also public figure, whom his fellow revolutionaries included in their circle of fighters against the autocracy. At the same time, Turgenev criticized his friends Herzen, Dobrolyubov, Chernyshevsky, Bakunin for nihilism. Thus, in the article “Hamlet and Don Quixote” he wrote: “In denial, like in fire, there is a destroying force - and how to keep this force within boundaries, how to show it exactly where it should stop, when what it should destroy and what it should spare are often merged and inextricably linked ».

Turgenev's conflict with revolutionary democrats influenced the design of his most famous novel, Fathers and Sons (1861). The dispute here is precisely between liberals, such as Turgenev and his closest friends, and revolutionary democrats like Dobrolyubov (who partly served as the prototype for Bazarov). At first glance, Bazarov turns out to be stronger in disputes with his “fathers” and emerges victorious. However, the inconsistency of his nihilism is proven not by his father, but by the entire artistic structure of the novel. Slavophile N.N. Strakhov defined Turgenev’s “mysterious moral teaching” as follows: “Bazarov turns away from nature; ...Turgenev paints nature in all its beauty. Bazarov does not value friendship and renounces romantic love; ... the author depicts Arkady’s friendship for Bazarov himself and his happy love to Katya. Bazarov denies close ties between parents and children; ...the author unfolds the picture before us parental love..." The love rejected by Bazarov chained him to the cold “aristocrat” Odintsova and broke him mental strength. He dies by an absurd accident: a cut on his finger was enough to kill the “giant of free thought.”

The situation in Russia at that time was changing rapidly: the government announced its intention, preparations for reform began, giving rise to numerous plans for the upcoming restructuring. Turgenev takes an active part in this process, becoming an unofficial collaborator of Herzen, sending incriminating material to his emigrant magazine "Bell". Nevertheless, he was far from the revolution.

In the fight against serfdom, writers different directions Only at first they acted as a united front, but then natural and sharp disagreements arose. There was a break between Turgenev and the Sovremennik magazine, the reason for which was Dobrolyubov’s article “When will the real day come?” dedicated to the novel Turgenev's "On the Eve", in which the critic predicted the imminent appearance of the Russian Insarov, the approaching day of the revolution. Turgenev did not accept this interpretation of the novel and asked not to publish this article. Nekrasov took the side of Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky, and Turgenev left Sovremennik. By 1862–1863 refers to his polemic with Herzen on the issue of further paths of development of Russia, which led to a divergence between them. Placing hopes on reforms “from above,” Turgenev considered Herzen’s then-faith in the revolutionary and socialist aspirations of the peasantry unfounded.

Since 1863, the writer was abroad again: he settled with the Viardot family in Baden-Baden. At the same time he began to collaborate with the liberal-bourgeois "Bulletin of Europe", which published all of his subsequent major works, including last novel"Nov" (1876), in which both the revolutionary and liberal-cosmopolitan path of development of Russia are questioned - the writer no longer wants to participate even in the second, preferring to live private life Abroad. Following the Viardot family, he moved to Paris. The writer also takes his daughter to France, who was adopted in her youth from a relationship with a serf peasant woman. The ambiguity of the position of the Russian nobleman, famous writer, “at the beck and call” of a married French singer, amused the French public. In the days (spring 1871) Turgenev went to London, after its collapse he returned to France, where he remained until the end of his life, spending winters in Paris and summer months outside the city, in Bougival, and making short trips to Russia every spring.

Strangely, such a frequent and ultimately long stay in the West (including the experience of the revolutionary Commune), unlike most Russian writers (Gogol, even the revolutionaries Herzen and) did not prompt such a talented Russian writer to spiritually feel the meaning Orthodox Russia. Perhaps because during these years Turgenev received European recognition. Flattery is rarely useful.

Revolutionary movement of the 1870s in Russia, connected with the activities of the populists, Turgenev again met with interest, became close to the leaders of the movement, provided financial assistance in the publication of the collection "Forward". His long-standing interest in folk theme, he returns to “Notes of a Hunter,” supplementing them with new essays, writes the stories “Lunin and Baburin” (1874), “The Clock” (1875), etc.

A “progressive” revival begins among student youth, and a diverse “intelligentsia” (translated into Russian: umniki) is formed. Turgenev's popularity, once shaken by his break with Sovremennik, is now being restored and growing rapidly in these circles. In February 1879, when he arrived in Russia after sixteen years of emigration, these “progressive” circles honored him at literary evenings and gala dinners, strongly inviting them to stay in their homeland. Turgenev was even inclined to stay, but this intention was not realized: Paris became more familiar. In the spring of 1882, the first signs of a serious illness were discovered, which deprived the writer of the ability to move (cancer of the spine).

On August 22, 1883, Turgenev died in Bougival. According to the writer's will, his body was transported to Russia and buried in St. Petersburg.

The writer's funeral showed that the socialist revolutionaries considered him one of their own. In their magazine "Bulletin" Narodnaya Volya“An obituary was published with the following assessment: “The deceased was never a socialist or a revolutionary, but Russian socialist-revolutionaries will not forget that an ardent love for freedom, hatred of the tyranny of the autocracy and the deadening element of official Orthodoxy, humanity and a deep understanding of the beauty of developed human personality constantly animated this talent and further strengthened its significance, as greatest artist and an honest citizen. During universal slavery, Ivan Sergeevich was able to notice and reveal the type of protesting rarity, developed and developed the Russian personality and took place of honor among the spiritual fathers of the liberation movement."

This was, of course, an exaggeration, nevertheless, it contributed to the so-called. Ivan Sergeevich, unfortunately, introduced the “liberation movement”, therefore taking a corresponding place in the Soviet school system education. She, of course, exaggerated the oppositional side of him social activities without proper spiritual analysis of it and to the detriment of its undoubted artistic merits... True, it is difficult to include all the images of the notorious “Turgenev women” among them, some of whom showed the great importance of the Russian woman in her love for her family and homeland, and others in their dedication were far from the Orthodox worldview.

Meanwhile, it is the spiritual analysis of Turgenev’s work that makes it possible to understand both his personal life drama and his place in Russian literature. M.M. wrote well about this. Dunaev in connection with the published letters of Ivan Sergeevich with the words: “I want truth, not salvation, I expect it from my own mind, and not from Grace” (1847); “I’m not a Christian in your sense, and perhaps not in any sense” (1864).

“Turgenev... unambiguously outlined the state of his soul, which he would strive to overcome throughout his life and the struggle with which would become the true, albeit hidden plot of his literary creativity. In this struggle, he will gain insight into the deepest truths, but will also experience severe defeats, learn ups and downs - and will give every reader with a non-lazy soul the precious experience of striving from unbelief to faith (regardless of what the writer’s own conclusion was). life path)" (Dunaev M.M. "Orthodoxy and Russian Literature". Vol. III).

Materials also used:
Russian writers and poets. Brief biographical dictionary. Moscow, 2000.
Ivan and Polina Turgenev and Viardot

Against the background of speculation and biography of the writer described above, one can more accurately evaluate him famous saying about Russian language:

... “I am not a Christian in your sense, and perhaps not in any sense” (1864)...

Contemporary of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninova). But how far they are from each other.

Biography and episodes of life Ivan Turgenev. When born and died Ivan Turgenev, memorable places and dates important events his life. Writer quotes, images and videos.

Years of life of Ivan Turgenev:

born October 28, 1818, died August 22, 1883

Epitaph

“The days are passing. And now it's been ten years
It's been a while since death approached you.
But there is no death for your creatures,
The crowd of your visions, O poet,
Illuminated with immortality forever.”
Konstantin Balmont, from the poem “In Memory of I. S. Turgenev”

Biography

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was not only one of the greatest Russian writers, who literally became classics during his lifetime Russian literature. He also became the most famous Russian writer in Europe. Turgenev was respected and revered by such great people as Maupassant, Zola, Galsworthy; he lived abroad for a long time and was a kind of symbol, the quintessence of the best features that distinguished the Russian nobleman. Moreover, Turgenev’s literary talent placed him on the same level as greatest writers Europe.

Turgenev was the heir to a wealthy noble family (through his mother) and therefore never needed funds. Young Turgenev studied at St. Petersburg University, then went to complete his education in Berlin. Future writer was impressed by the European way of life and upset by the stark contrast with Russian reality. Since then, Turgenev lived abroad for a long time, returning to St. Petersburg only on short visits.

Ivan Sergeevich tried his hand at poetry, which, however, did not seem good enough to his contemporaries. But Russia learned about Turgenev as an excellent writer and a true master of words after fragments of his “Notes of a Hunter” were published in Sovremennik. During this period, Turgenev decided that it was his duty to fight serfdom, and therefore he went abroad again, since he could not “breathe the same air, stay close to what he hated.”

Portrait of I. Turgenev by Repin, 1879


Returning to Russia in 1850, Turgenev wrote an obituary for N. Gogol, which caused extreme discontent from the censorship: the writer was sent to his native village, prohibiting him from living in the capitals for two years. It was during this period, in the village, that the famous story “Mumu” ​​was written.

After complications in relations with the authorities, Turgenev moved to Baden-Baden, where he quickly entered the circle of the intellectual European elite. He communicated with the greatest minds of that time: George Sand, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Victor Hugo, Prosper Merimee, Anatole France. By the end of his life, Turgenev became an undisputed idol both in his homeland and in Europe, where he continued to live permanently.

Ivan Turgenev died in the Paris suburb of Bougival after several years of painful illness. Only after death was the doctor S.P. Botkin discovered the real reason death - myxosarcoma (cancerous tumor of the spine). Before the writer’s funeral, events were held in Paris, attended by more than four hundred people.

Ivan Turgenev, photograph from the 1960s.

Life line

October 28, 1818 Date of birth of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev.
1833 Admission to the Faculty of Literature at Moscow University.
1834 Moving to St. Petersburg and transferring to the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University.
1836 Turgenev's first publication in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education.
1838 Arrival in Berlin and study at the University of Berlin.
1842 Obtaining a master's degree in Greek and Latin philology at St. Petersburg University.
1843 Publication of the first poem “Parasha”, highly appreciated by Belinsky.
1847 Work in the Sovremennik magazine together with Nekrasov and Annenkov. Publication of the story “Khor and Kalinich”. Departure abroad.
1850 Return to Russia. Exile to the native village of Spasskoye-Lutovinovo.
1852 Release of the book “Notes of a Hunter”.
1856“Rudin” is published in Sovremennik.
1859“The Noble Nest” is published in Sovremennik.
1860“On the Eve” is published in the “Russian Bulletin”. Turgenev becomes a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.
1862“Fathers and Sons” are published in “Russian Bulletin”.
1863 Transfer to Baden-Baden.
1879 Turgenev becomes an honorary doctor of Oxford University.
August 22, 1883 Date of death of Ivan Turgenev.
August 27, 1883 Turgenev's body was transported to St. Petersburg and buried at the Volkovsky cemetery.

Memorable places

1. House No. 11 on the street. Turgenev in Orel, the city where Turgenev was born; now it is a museum of the writer.
2. Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, where Turgenev’s ancestral estate was located, is now a house-museum.
3. House No. 37/7, building 1 on the street. Ostozhenka in Moscow, where Turgenev lived with his mother from 1840 to 1850, while visiting Moscow. Nowadays it is the Turgenev house-museum.
4. House No. 38 on the embankment. Fontanka River in St. Petersburg ( apartment building Stepanov), where Turgenev lived in 1854-1856.
5. House No. 13 on Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street in St. Petersburg (Weber apartment building), where Turgenev lived in 1858-1860.
6. House No. 6 on Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg (formerly the France Hotel), where Turgenev lived in 1864-1867.
7. Baden-Baden, where Turgenev lived for a total of about 10 years.
8. House No. 16 on the embankment. Turgenev in Bougival (Paris), where Turgenev lived for many years and died; now it is the writer’s house-museum.
9. Volkovskoe cemetery in St. Petersburg, where Turgenev is buried.

Episodes of life

Turgenev had many hobbies in his life, and they were often reflected in his work. Thus, one of the first ended with the appearance in 1842 of an illegitimate daughter, whom Turgenev officially recognized in 1857. But the most famous (and most dubious) episode in the personal life of Turgenev, who never started his own family, was his relationship with the actress Polina Viardot and his life with the Viardots in Europe for many years.

Ivan Turgenev was one of the most passionate hunters in Russia of his time. When meeting Pauline Viardot, he was recommended to the actress as “a glorious hunter and a bad poet.”

Living abroad, from 1874 Turgenev participated in the so-called bachelor “dinners of five” - monthly meetings with Flaubert, Edmond Goncourt, Daudet and Zola in Parisian restaurants or in the writers’ apartments.

Turgenev became one of the highest paid writers in the country, which aroused rejection and envy among many - in particular F. M. Dostoevsky. The latter considered such high fees unfair given Turgenev’s already magnificent fortune, which he received after the death of his mother.

Testaments

“In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, oh great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language!.. Without you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home . But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!”

“Our life does not depend on us; but we all have one anchor from which, unless you want to, you will never break free: a sense of duty.”

“No matter what a person prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every prayer boils down to the following: “Great God, make sure that two and two do not become four!”

“If you wait for the minute when everything, absolutely everything is ready, you will never have to start.”


Documentary and journalistic film “Turgenev and Viardot. More than love"

Condolences

“And yet it hurts... I owe too much Russian society this man, in order to regard his death with simple objectivity.”
Nikolai Mikhailovsky, critic, literary critic and theorist of populism

“Turgenev was also a native Russian person in spirit. Wasn’t he master of the genius of the Russian language with the impeccable perfection available to him, perhaps only to Pushkin?”
Dmitry Merezhkovsky, writer and critic

“If now the English novel has any manners and grace, then it owes this primarily to Turgenev.”
John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born into a noble family on October 28, 1818. The writer's father served in a cavalry regiment and led a rather wild life. Because of his carelessness, and in order to improve his financial situation, he took Varvara Petrovna Lutovinova as his wife. She was very wealthy and came from the nobility.

Childhood

The future writer had two brothers. He himself was average, but became my mother's favorite.

The father died early and the mother raised his sons. Her character was domineering and despotic. In her childhood, she suffered from beatings from her stepfather and went to live with her uncle, who after his death left her a decent dowry. Despite complex nature Varvara Petrovna constantly took care of her children. To give them a good education, she moved from the Oryol province to Moscow. It was she who taught her sons to art, read the works of her contemporaries, and thanks to good teachers gave the children an education, which was useful to them in the future.

Writer's creativity

At the university, the writer studied literature from the age of 15, but due to his relatives moving from Moscow, he transferred to the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University.

Ivan already With youth saw myself as a writer and planned to connect his life with literature. IN student years he communicated with T.N. Granovsky, a famous historian. He wrote his first poems while studying in his third year, and four years later he was already published in the Sovremennik magazine.

In 1938 Turgenev moves to Germany where he studies the works of the Romans, and then Greek philosophers. It was there that he met the Russian literary genius N.V. Stankevich, whose work had a great influence on Turgenev.

In 1841, Ivan Sergeevich returned to his homeland. At this time, the desire to engage in science cooled down, and creativity began to take up all my time. Two years later, Ivan Sergeevich wrote the poem “Parasha”, positive feedback about which Belinsky left in “ Domestic notes" From that moment it started strong friendship between Turgenev and Belinsky, which lasted for a long time.

Works

The French Revolution produced strong impression on the writer, changing his worldview. The attacks and killings of people prompted the writer to write dramatic works. Turgenev spent a lot of time away from his homeland, but love for Russia always remained in the soul of Ivan Sergeevich and his creations.

  • Bezhin meadow;
  • Noble Nest;
  • Fathers and Sons;
  • Mu Mu.

Personal life

Personal life is replete with novels, but officially Turgenev never married.

The writer's biography includes great amount hobbies, but became the most serious romance with Pauline Viardot. She was famous singer and the wife of a theater director in Paris. After meeting the couple Viardo Turgenev He lived in their villa for a long time and even settled his illegitimate daughter there. Difficult relationships between Ivan and Polina are still not indicated in any way.

With love last days became a writer actress Maria Savina, who very brightly played Verochka in the production of “A Month in the Country”. But on the part of the actress there was sincere friendship, but not love feelings.

last years of life

Turgenev gained particular popularity in the last years of his life. He was a favorite both at home and in Europe. The developing disease gout prevented the writer from working at full capacity. Last years he lived in Paris in the winter, and in the summer at the Viardot estate in Bougival.

The writer had a presentiment of his imminent death and tried with all his might to fight the disease. But on August 22, 1883, the life of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was cut short. The cause was a malignant tumor of the spine. Despite the fact that the writer died in Bougival, he was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovsky cemetery, according to his last will. There were about four hundred people at the farewell funeral service in France alone. In Russia there was also a farewell ceremony for Turgenev, which was also attended by a lot of people.

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