Years of life of Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich. Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky, brief biography

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was born on April 12 (March 31, old style) 1823 in Moscow.

As a child, Alexander received a good education at home - he studied ancient Greek, Latin, French, German, and later English, Italian, and Spanish.

In 1835-1840, Alexander Ostrovsky studied at the First Moscow Gymnasium.

In 1840 he entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law, but in 1843, due to a collision with one of the professors, he left his studies.

In 1943-1945 he served in the Moscow Conscientious Court (a provincial court that considered civil cases through the conciliation procedure and some criminal ones).

1845-1851 - worked in the office of the Moscow Commercial Court, resigning with the rank of provincial secretary.

In 1847, Ostrovsky published in the newspaper "Moscow City Listok" the first draft of the future comedy "Our People - Let's Count Together" entitled "The Insolvent Debtor", then the comedy "Picture of Family Happiness" (later " Family picture") and an essay in prose "Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky resident."

Ostrovsky received recognition from the comedy “Our People - We Will Be Numbered” (original title “Bankrupt”), which was completed at the end of 1849. Before publication, the play received favorable reviews from writers Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Goncharov, and historian Timofey Granovsky. The comedy was published in 1950 in the magazine "Moskvityanin". The censors, who saw the work as an insult to the merchant class, did not allow its production on stage - the play was first staged in 1861.

Since 1847, Ostrovsky collaborated as an editor and critic with the magazine "Moskvityanin", publishing his plays in it: "Morning young man", "An Unexpected Case" (1850), the comedy "Poor Bride" (1851), "Don't Get in Your Own Sleigh" (1852), "Poverty is not a Vice" (1853), "Don't Live the Way You Want" (1854 ).

After the publication of "Moskvityanin" ceased, Ostrovsky in 1856 moved to "Russian Messenger", where his comedy "A Hangover at Someone Else's Feast" was published in the second book of that year. But he did not work for this magazine for long.

Since 1856, Ostrovsky has been a permanent contributor to the Sovremennik magazine. In 1857 he wrote plays " Plum" and "Holiday sleep before lunch", in 1858 - "Didn't agree on characters", in 1859 - "Nurse" and "Thunderstorm".

In the 1860s, Alexander Ostrovsky turned to historical drama, considering such plays necessary in the theater repertoire. He created a cycle of historical plays: "Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk" (1861), "The Voevoda" (1864), "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky" (1866), "Tushino" (1866), the psychological drama "Vasilisa Melentyeva" (1868 ).

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

playwright, whose work became the most important stage in the development of Russian national theater

Alexander Ostrovsky

short biography

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky April 12, 1823 in Moscow on Malaya Ordynka. His father, Nikolai Fedorovich, was the son of a priest, he himself graduated from the Kostroma Seminary, then the Moscow Theological Academy, but began to practice as a lawyer, dealing with property and commercial matters; rose to the rank of collegiate assessor, and in 1839 received the nobility. His mother, Lyubov Ivanovna Savvina, the daughter of a sexton and a breadmaker, died when Alexander was not yet nine years old. The family had four children (four more died in infancy). Younger brother - statesman M. N. Ostrovsky. Thanks to Nikolai Fedorovich’s position, the family lived in prosperity, was given great attention education of children receiving home education. Five years after the death of Alexander's mother, his father married Baroness Emilie Andreevna von Tessin, the daughter of a Swedish nobleman. The children were lucky with their stepmother: she surrounded them with care and continued to educate them.

Ostrovsky spent his childhood and part of his youth in the center of Zamoskvorechye. Thanks to big library With his father, he became acquainted with Russian literature early and felt an inclination towards writing, but his father wanted to make him a lawyer. In 1835, Ostrovsky entered the third grade of the 1st Moscow Provincial Gymnasium, after which in 1840 he became a student at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. He failed to complete the university course: without passing the exam in Roman law, Ostrovsky wrote a letter of resignation (he studied until 1843). At the request of his father, Ostrovsky entered the service as a clerk in the Conscientious Court and served in the Moscow courts until 1850; his first salary was 4 rubles a month, after some time it increased to 16 rubles (transferred to the Commercial Court in 1845).

By 1846, Ostrovsky had already written many scenes from the life of a merchant and conceived the comedy “The Insolvent Debtor” (later - “Our People - We Will Be Numbered!”). The first publication was a small play “Painting family life"and the essay "Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident" - they were published in one of the issues of "Moscow City List" in 1847. Professor of Moscow University S.P. Shevyrev, after Ostrovsky read the play at his home on February 14, 1847, solemnly congratulated those gathered on the “appearance of a new dramatic luminary in Russian literature.”

A. N. Ostrovsky.

Ostrovsky’s literary fame was brought to him by the comedy “Our People – Let’s Be Numbered!”, published in 1850 in the journal of university professor M.P. Pogodin “Moskvityanin”. Under the text it read: “A. ABOUT." (Alexander Ostrovsky) and “D. G.". Under the second initials was Dmitry Gorev-Tarasenkov, a provincial actor who offered Ostrovsky cooperation. This collaboration did not go beyond one scene, and subsequently served as a source of great trouble for Ostrovsky, since it gave his ill-wishers a reason to accuse him of plagiarism (1856). However, the play evoked approving responses from N. V. Gogol and I. A. Goncharov. The influential Moscow merchants, offended for their class, complained to the “boss”; as a result, the comedy was banned from production, and the author was dismissed from service and placed under police supervision by personal order of Nicholas I. Supervision was lifted after the accession of Alexander II, and the play was allowed to be staged only in 1861.

The first play by Ostrovsky that was able to get on theatrical stage, was “Don’t Get in Your Own Sleigh,” written in 1852 and staged for the first time in Moscow on the stage of the Maly Theater on January 14, 1853.

For more than thirty years, starting from 1853, new plays by Ostrovsky appeared almost every season at the Moscow Maly and St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky theaters. Since 1856, Ostrovsky has become a permanent contributor to the Sovremennik magazine. In the same year, in accordance with the wishes of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, a business trip of outstanding writers took place to study and describe various areas of Russia in industrial and domestic relations. Ostrovsky took upon himself the study of the Volga from the upper reaches to Nizhny Novgorod.

A. N. Ostrovsky, 1856

In 1859, with the assistance of Count G. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko, the first collected works of Ostrovsky were published in two volumes. Thanks to this publication, Ostrovsky received a brilliant assessment from N. A. Dobrolyubov, which secured his fame as an artist “ dark kingdom" In 1860, “The Thunderstorm” appeared in print, to which Dobrolyubov dedicated the article “A Ray of Light in dark kingdom" From the second half of the 1860s, Ostrovsky took up the history of the Time of Troubles and entered into correspondence with Kostomarov. The fruit of the work was five “historical chronicles in verse”: “Kuzma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk”, “Vasilisa Melentyeva”, “Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky”, etc.

In 1863, Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize (for the play “The Thunderstorm”) and was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1866 (according to other sources - in 1865) Ostrovsky founded the Artistic Circle, which subsequently gave many talented figures to the Moscow stage. I. A. Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, I. S. Turgenev, A. F. Pisemsky, F. M. Dostoevsky, I. E. Turchaninov, P. M. Sadovsky, L. P. visited Ostrovsky’s house. Kositskaya-Nikulina, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy, P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. N. Ermolova, G. N. Fedotova.

In 1874, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers was formed and opera composers, whose permanent chairman Ostrovsky remained until his death. Working on the commission “to revise regulations on all parts of theatrical management,” established in 1881 under the directorate of the Imperial Theaters, he achieved many changes that significantly improved the situation of artists. In 1885, Ostrovsky was appointed head of the repertory department of Moscow theaters and head of the theater school.

Despite the fact that his plays did well at the box office and that in 1883 the Emperor Alexander III granted him an annual pension of 3 thousand rubles, financial problems did not leave Ostrovsky until last days his life. His health did not meet the plans he had set for himself. The intense work exhausted the body.

On June 2 (14), 1886, on Spiritual Day, Ostrovsky died in his Kostroma estate Shchelykovo. His last work was the translation of “Antony and Cleopatra” by William Shakespeare, Alexander Nikolaevich’s favorite playwright. The writer was buried next to his father in the church cemetery near the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province. Alexander III donated 3,000 rubles from the cabinet funds for the funeral; the widow, inseparably with 2 children, was given a pension of 3,000 rubles, and for raising three sons and daughters - 2400 rubles per year. Subsequently, the widow of the writer M. V. Ostrovskaya, an actress of the Maly Theater, and the daughter of M. A. Chatelain were buried in the family necropolis.

After the death of the playwright, the Moscow Duma established a reading room named after A. N. Ostrovsky in Moscow.

Family

The younger brother is the statesman M. N. Ostrovsky.

Alexander Nikolaevich had a deep passion for the actress Lyubov Kositskaya, but both of them had a family. However, even after becoming a widow in 1862, Kositskaya continued to reject Ostrovsky’s feelings, and soon she began a close relationship with the son of a wealthy merchant, who eventually squandered her entire fortune; She wrote to Ostrovsky: “...I don’t want to take your love away from anyone.”

The playwright lived in cohabitation with the commoner Agafya Ivanovna, but all their children died in early age. Having no education, but being an intelligent woman with a subtle, easily vulnerable soul, she understood the playwright and was the very first reader and critic of his works. Ostrovsky lived with Agafya Ivanovna for about twenty years, and in 1869, two years after her death, he married actress Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva, who bore him four sons and two daughters.

Creation

"Columbus of Zamoskvorechye"

The play “Poverty is not a vice” (1853) was first staged on January 15, 1869 at the Maly Theater for a benefit performance by Prov Mikhailovich Sadovsky.

Ostrovsky Theater

Russian theater in its modern sense begins with A. N. Ostrovsky: the playwright created drama school and a holistic concept of theatrical production.

The essence of Ostrovsky's theater lies in the absence of extreme situations and opposition to the actor's gut. Alexander Nikolaevich's plays depict ordinary situations with ordinary people, whose dramas go into everyday life and human psychology.

The main ideas of theater reform:

the theater must be built on conventions (there is a 4th wall separating the audience from the actors);
constancy of attitude towards language: mastery speech characteristics, expressing almost everything about the heroes;
the bet is not on one actor;

“A good play will please the public and will be successful, but it will not last long in the repertoire if it is poorly performed: the public goes to the theater to watch good performances of good plays, and not the play itself; you can read the play. "Othello" is without a doubt good play; but the public did not want to watch it when Charsky played the role of Othello. The interest of a performance is a complex matter: it involves equally both the play and the performance. When both are good, the performance is interesting; when one thing is bad, the performance loses its interest.”
- “Note on the draft “Rules on the prizes of imperial theaters for dramatic works””

Ostrovsky's theater required a new stage aesthetics, new actors. In accordance with this, Ostrovsky creates an acting ensemble, which includes such actors as Martynov, Sergei Vasiliev, Evgeniy Samoilov, Prov Sadovsky.

Naturally, innovations met opponents. He was, for example, Shchepkin. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy required the actor to detach himself from his personality, which M. S. Shchepkin did not do. For example, he left the dress rehearsal of “The Thunderstorm”, being very dissatisfied with the author of the play.

Ostrovsky's ideas were brought to their logical conclusion by K. S. Stanislavsky and M. A. Bulgakov.

Folk myths and national history in Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy

On stage in 1881 Mariinsky Theater the successful premiere of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Snow Maiden” took place, which the composer called his best work. A. N. Ostrovsky himself appreciated Rimsky-Korsakov’s creation:

“The music for my “Snow Maiden” is amazing, I could never imagine anything more suitable for it and so vividly expressing all the poetry of the Russian pagan cult and this first snow-cold, and then uncontrollably passionate heroine of the fairy tale.”

The appearance of Ostrovsky’s poetic play “The Snow Maiden,” created on the basis of fairy tales, songs and ritual songs of Russian poetry, was caused by a random circumstance. In 1873, the Maly Theater was closed for major renovation, and his troupe moved into the building Bolshoi Theater. The management commission of the Imperial Moscow Theaters decided to stage an extravaganza performance in which all three troupes would participate: drama, opera and ballet. A. N. Ostrovsky was approached with a proposal to write such a play in a very short time, who readily agreed to this, deciding to use the plot from folk tale"Girl-Snow Maiden". The music for the play, at Ostrovsky's request, was commissioned from the young P. I. Tchaikovsky. Both the playwright and the composer worked on the play with great passion, very quickly, in close creative contact. On March 31, on his fiftieth birthday, Ostrovsky finished The Snow Maiden. The first performance took place on May 11, 1873 on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater.

While working on “The Snow Maiden,” Ostrovsky carefully looked for the dimensions of the poems, consulted with historians, archaeologists, and experts ancient life, addressed to a large number historical and folklore material, including “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” He himself highly valued this play of his, and wrote, “I<…>in this work I go to new road"; He spoke with delight about Tchaikovsky’s music: “Tchaikovsky’s music for The Snow Maiden is charming.” I. S. Turgenev was “captivated by the beauty and lightness of the language of The Snow Maiden.” P. I. Tchaikovsky, while working on “The Snow Maiden,” wrote: “I have been sitting at work without getting up for about a month; I’m writing music for Ostrovsky’s magical play “The Snow Maiden,” he considered the dramatic work itself to be the pearl of Ostrovsky’s creations, and said about his music for it: “This is one of my favorite creations. It was a wonderful spring, I felt good in my soul... I liked Ostrovsky’s play, and in three weeks, without any effort, I wrote the music.”

Later, in 1880, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote an opera on the same plot. M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov writes in his memoirs: “With some special warmth, Alexander Nikolaevich spoke about Tchaikovsky’s music for The Snow Maiden, which, obviously, greatly prevented him from admiring Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden. Undoubtedly... Tchaikovsky's sincere music... was closer to the soul Ostrovsky, and he did not hide the fact that she was dearer to him, as a populist.”

This is how K. S. Stanislavsky spoke about “The Snow Maiden”: ““The Snow Maiden” is a fairy tale, a dream, a national legend, written and told in Ostrovsky’s magnificent sonorous verses. One might think that this playwright, the so-called realist and everyday writer, never wrote anything except wonderful poetry, and was not interested in anything else except pure poetry and romance.”

Criticism

Ostrovsky's work became the subject of fierce debate among critics of both the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century, Dobrolyubov (articles “The Dark Kingdom” and “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”) and Apollo Grigoriev wrote about him from opposite positions. In the 20th century - Mikhail Lobanov (in the book “Ostrovsky”, published in the “ZhZL” series), M. A. Bulgakov and V. Ya. Lakshin.

Memory

Central Library named after A. N. Ostrovsky (Rzhev, Tver region).
Moscow regional Theatre of Drama named after A. N. Ostrovsky.
Kostroma State Drama Theater named after A. N. Ostrovsky.
Ural Regional Drama Theater named after A. N. Ostrovsky.
Irbit Drama Theater named after A. N. Ostrovsky (Irbit, Sverdlovsk region).
Kineshma Drama Theater named after A. N. Ostrovsky (Ivanovo region).
Tashkent State Theater and Art Institute named after A. N. Ostrovsky.
Streets in a number of cities of the former USSR.
On May 27, 1929, a monument to Ostrovsky was unveiled in front of the Maly Theater (sculptor N. A. Andreev, architect I. P. Mashkov) (the jury gave it preference over the monument to Ostrovsky, submitted to the competition by A. S. Golubkina, who depicted the great playwright at the moment a creative impulse that captivates the viewer).
In 1984 in Zamoskvorechye, in the house where he was born great playwright- a cultural monument of the early 20s of the 19th century, a branch of the Theater Museum named after. A. A. Bakhrushin - House-Museum of A. N. Ostrovsky.
Nowadays in Shchelykovo (Kostroma region) there is a memorial and natural museum-reserve of the playwright.
Once every five years, since 1973, the All-Russian stage lights up theater festival“Ostrovsky Days in Kostroma”, which is supervised by the Ministry of Culture Russian Federation and the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation (All-Russian Theater Society).
A memorial plaque in Tver, on Sovetskaya Street (formerly Millionnaya), building 7, informs that the playwright lived in this house, Barsukov’s hotel, in the spring and summer of 1856, during his trip to the Upper Volga region.
Every two years, since 1993, the Maly Theater hosts the festival “Ostrovsky in the Ostrovsky House,” to which theaters from all over Russia bring their performances based on the playwright’s plays to Moscow.
Ostrovsky's plays never leave the stage. Many of his works have been filmed or served as the basis for the creation of film and television scripts.
Among the film adaptations that are most popular in Russia is Konstantin Voinov’s comedy “Balzaminov’s Marriage” (1964, in leading role- G. Vitsin).
The film " Cruel romance", filmed by Eldar Ryazanov based on "Dowry" (1984).
In 2005, director Evgeny Ginzburg received Grand Prize (The Grand Prix " Garnet bracelet» ) Eleventh Russian Festival “Literature and Cinema” (Gatchina) “ for an incredibly amazing interpretation great play A. N. Ostrovsky “Guilty Without Guilt” in the film “Anna”"(2005, script by G. Danelia and Rustam Ibragimbekov; starring - Opera singer Lyubov Kazarnovskaya).

In philately

Postage stamps of the USSR

Portrait of A. N. Ostrovsky - USSR postage stamp. 1948

Portrait of A. N. Ostrovsky based on a painting by V. Perov (1871, Tretyakov Gallery) Postage Stamp THE USSR. 1948

USSR postage stamp, 1959.

Playwright A. N. Ostrovsky (1823-1886), actors M. N. Ermolova (1853-1928), P. S. Mochalov (1800-1848), M. S. Shchepkin (1788-1863) and P. M. Sadovsky (1818-1872). USSR postage stamp 1949.

Plays

"Family Picture" (1847)
“Our people - we will be numbered” (1849)
"An Unexpected Case" (1850)
"The Morning of a Young Man" (1850)
"Poor Bride" (1851)
“Don’t get into your own sleigh” (1852)
"Poverty is no vice" (1853)
“Don’t live as you want” (1854)
“In someone else’s feast there is a hangover” (1856) text. The play was first staged on the theater stage on January 9, 1856 at the Maly Theater for a benefit performance by Prov Mikhailovich Sadovsky, and then, on January 18, in St. Petersburg on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater for a benefit performance by Vladimirova.
“Profitable Place” (1856) text The play was first staged on the theater stage on September 27, 1863 in Alexandrinsky Theater at Levkeeva's benefit performance. First staged at the Maly Theater on October 14 of the same year at a benefit performance by E. N. Vasilyeva.
"A Festive Sleep Before Dinner" (1857)
"Did not get along!" (1858)
"Nurse" (1859)
"Thunderstorm" (1859)
"An old friend is better than two new ones" (1860)
“Your own dogs squabble, don’t bother someone else’s” (1861)
"The Marriage of Balzaminov" (1861)
“Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk” (1861, 2nd edition 1866)
"Hard Days" (1863)
“Sin and misfortune do not live on anyone” (1863)
"Voevoda" (1864; 2nd edition 1885)
"The Joker" (1864)
"On a Lively Place" (1865)
"The Deep" (1866)
"Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky" (1866)
"Tushino" (1866)
“Vasilisa Melentyeva” (co-authored with S. A. Gedeonov) (1867)
“Simplicity is enough for every wise man” (1868)
"Warm Heart" (1869)
"Mad Money" (1870)
"Forest" (1870)
“It’s not all Maslenitsa for the cat” (1871)
“There wasn’t a penny, but suddenly it was Altyn” (1872) text On December 10, 1872, the first performance of the comedy took place at the Maly Theater during Musil’s benefit performance.
"Comedian XVII century"(1873)
“The Snow Maiden” (1873) text. In 1881, the premiere of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera took place on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater
“Late Love” (1874) text On November 22, 1874, the first performance of the comedy took place at the Maly Theater during Musil’s benefit performance.
“Labor Bread” (1874) text On November 28, 1874, the first performance of the comedy took place at the Maly Theater during Musil’s benefit performance.
"Wolves and Sheep" (1875)
“Rich Brides” (1876) text On November 30, 1876, the first performance of the comedy took place at the Maly Theater during Musil’s benefit performance.
“Truth is good, but happiness is better” (1877) text On November 18, 1877, the first performance of the comedy took place at the Maly Theater during Musil’s benefit performance.
“The Marriage of Belugin” (1877), together with Nikolai Solovyov
“The Last Victim” (1878) text On November 8, 1878, the first performance of the comedy took place at the Maly Theater during Musil’s benefit performance
“Dowry” (1878) text On November 10, 1878, the first performance of the drama took place at the Maly Theater during Musil’s benefit performance.
"Good Master" (1879)
“Savage” (1879), together with Nikolai Solovyov
"The Heart Is Not a Stone" (1880)
"Slave Girls" (1881)
“It shines, but does not warm” (1881), text together with Nikolai Solovyov. Premiere on November 14, 1881 in St. Petersburg, at the Alexandrinsky Theater, at a benefit performance by F. A. Burdin.
“Guilty Without Guilt” (1881-1883)
"Talents and Admirers" (1882)
"Handsome Man" (1883)
"Not of this world" (1885)

Film adaptations of works

1911 - Vasilisa Melentyeva
1911 - On a busy place (film, 1911)
1916 - Guilty without guilt
1916 - On a busy place (film, 1916, Chardynin)
1916 - On a lively place (film, 1916, Sabinsky) (Another title On the high road)
1933 - Thunderstorm
1936 - Dowryless
1945 - Guilty without guilt
1951 - Truth is good, but happiness is better (film-play)
1952 - Wolves and Sheep (television play)
1952 - Simplicity is enough for every wise man (television play)
1952 - Snow Maiden (cartoon)
1953 - Warm Heart (film-play)
1955 - On a busy place (film-play)
1955 - Talents and Fans (film-play)
1958 - Abyss (television film, film adaptation of Leningradsky’s play academic theater dramas named after

Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich- Russian playwright, whose work became the most important stage in the development of the Russian national theater, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, author of the works " Storm», « Snow Maiden», « Poor bride"and others.

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was born March 31 (April 12), 1823 on Malaya Ordynka in Moscow in noble family. Father, Nikolai Fedorovich Ostrovsky, was the son of a priest, graduated from the Kostroma Seminary, the Moscow Theological Academy, but began to practice as a lawyer, dealing with property and commercial matters. Nikolai Fedorovich rose to the rank of titular councilor, and in 1839 received the nobility. His mother, Lyubov Ivanovna Savvina, the daughter of a sexton, died when Alexander was only seven years old. The family had four children. The Ostrovskys lived in prosperity; great attention was paid to the education of children who received home education. Five years after the death of his mother, his father married Baroness Emilia Andreevna von Tessin, the daughter of a Russified Swedish nobleman. She surrounded the children with care and continued to educate them.

Ostrovsky spent his childhood and youth in the center of Zamoskvorechye. The family had a large library and he became acquainted with Russian literature early and felt an inclination towards writing, but his father wanted to make him a lawyer.

In 1835, Alexander Ostrovsky entered the 1st Moscow Gymnasium.

In 1840 A. N. Ostrovsky became a student at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, but he failed to complete the course due to a quarrel with one of the teachers. Fulfilling the will of his father, Ostrovsky entered the service as a scribe in court, where he worked until 1851.

By 1846 Ostrovsky many scenes from merchant life were written and the comedy “The Insolvent Debtor” was conceived, later called “Our people - we will be numbered!”. This comedy, published in 1850, brought Ostrovsky literary fame.

Comedy “Our people - we will be numbered!” was banned from production, and A. N. Ostrovsky was dismissed from service and placed under police supervision by personal order of Nicholas I.

In the summer of 1849, Alexander Ostrovsky, against the will of his father and without a church wedding, he married a simple bourgeois Agafya Ivanovna. The angry Nikolai Fedorovich refused his son further financial support. All children from this marriage died at an early age. Ostrovsky lived with Agafya Ivanovna for about twenty years.

In 1850 Ostrovsky becomes a member of the so-called “young editorial staff” of the Slavophile magazine “Moskvityanin”.

Since 1856 Ostrovsky becomes a permanent contributor to the Sovremennik magazine.

In the same year, Ostrovsky took part in a business trip of prominent writers to study and describe various localities in Russia and took upon himself the study of the Volga from the upper reaches to Nizhny Novgorod.

In 1859 The first collected works of Ostrovsky were published in two volumes.

In 1860 appeared in print "Storm".

In 1863, Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize and elected corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Two years after the death of his wife, in 1869, Ostrovsky married the artist Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva, who bore him four sons and two daughters.

A. N. Ostrovsky had a deep personal relationship with actress L. Kositskaya, but both had families.

In 1874 The Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was formed, of which Ostrovsky remained chairman until his death.

In 1885 Ostrovsky was appointed head of the repertory department of Moscow theaters and head of the theater school.

A. N. Ostrovsky created a whole repertoire - fifty-four plays. “Written all over Russian life” - from prehistoric, fairy-tale times "Snow Maiden", and events of the past chronicle "Kozma Zakharyich Minin, Sukhoruk" to current reality "Talents and Fans" And "Guilty without guilt".

June 2 (14), 1886 Ostrovsky died in his Kostroma estate Shchelykovo. The writer was buried next to his father, in the church cemetery near the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province. After the death of the writer, the Moscow Duma established a reading room named after A. N. Ostrovsky in Moscow.

Born on March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow, he grew up in a merchant environment. His mother died when he was 8 years old. And the father married again. There were four children in the family.

Ostrovsky was educated at home. His father had a large library where little Alexander I began to read Russian literature for the first time. However, the father wanted to give his son a legal education. In 1835, Ostrovsky began his studies at the gymnasium, and then entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. Due to his interests in theater and literature, he never completed his studies at the university (1843), after which he worked as a scribe in court at the insistence of his father. Ostrovsky served in the courts until 1851.

Ostrovsky's creativity

In 1849, Ostrovsky’s work “Our People – Let’s Be Numbered!” was written, which brought him literary fame; he was highly appreciated by Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Goncharov. Then, despite censorship, many of his plays and books were published. For Ostrovsky, writings are a way to truthfully depict the life of the people. The plays “The Thunderstorm”, “Dowry”, “Forest” are among his most important works. Ostrovsky's play "Dowry", like other psychological dramas, describes characters in a non-standard way, inner world, the torment of heroes.

Since 1856, the writer has been participating in the publication of the Sovremennik magazine.

Ostrovsky Theater

In the biography of Alexander Ostrovsky place of honor occupies the theater business.
Ostrovsky founded the Artistic Circle in 1866, thanks to which many talented people in the theater circle.

Together with the Artistic Circle, he significantly reformed and developed the Russian theater.

Ostrovsky's house was often visited famous people, including I. A. Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, Ivan Turgenev, A. F. Pisemsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, P. M. Sadovsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Leo Tolstoy, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, M. N. Ermolova and other.

In a brief biography of Ostrovsky, it is worth mentioning the emergence in 1874 of the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers, where Ostrovsky was chairman. With his innovations, he achieved improvement in the lives of theater actors. Since 1885, Ostrovsky headed drama school and was the head of the repertoire of Moscow theaters.

Writer's personal life

It cannot be said that Ostrovsky’s personal life was successful. The playwright lived with a woman from a simple family, Agafya, who had no education, but was the first to read his works. She supported him in everything. All their children died at an early age. Ostrovsky lived with her for about twenty years. And in 1869 he married the artist Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva, who bore him six children.

last years of life

Until the end of his life, Ostrovsky experienced financial difficulties. Hard work greatly depleted the body, and the writer’s health increasingly failed. Ostrovsky dreamed of reviving a theater school in which professional acting could be taught, but the death of the writer prevented the implementation of his long-conceived plans.

Ostrovsky died on June 2(14), 1886 on his estate. The writer was buried next to his father, in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province.

Chronological table

Other biography options

Ostrovsky knew Greek, German and French languages, and in more late age I also learned English, Spanish and Italian. All his life he translated plays into different languages Thus, he increased his skills and knowledge.
The writer's creative path spans 40 years successful work over literary and dramatic works. His activities influenced an entire era of theater in Russia. For his works, the writer was awarded the Uvarov Prize in 1863.
Ostrovsky is the founder of modern theatrical arts, whose followers were such prominent figures like Konstantin Stanislavsky and Mikhail Bulgakov.
see all

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky is one of the most outstanding Russian playwrights, whose work has become important stage in development Russian literature and the national theatre. We can safely say that it was Ostrovsky’s works that laid the foundation for the Russian repertoire in the theater.

Ostrovsky's plays are known to many generations Russian viewers and readers and are loved by them. Based on them art films, the questions that Ostrovsky raises in his works are still relevant today.

Childhood and youth

The Russian playwright was born on March 13, 1823 in Moscow, in the family of a court official. The future playwright's mother died early; the family had six children. Ostrovsky's father really wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. After graduating from the Moscow Gymnasium, Alexander entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. Ostrovsky never finished it.

In 1843, Ostrovsky was hired as a court scribe and worked in various Moscow courts until 1851. This period of his life greatly helped Ostrovsky in his future work. While working in the courts, he perfectly studied the world of the Russian merchants and the philistine class, which he later brilliantly described in his works. Many characters and personalities were taken by the playwright from his real life.

First plays

In 1847, Ostrovsky’s essays entitled “Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident” were published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Gorodnogo Leaflet”. However, the playwright gained wide popularity after the publication of the play “Our People – Let’s Be Numbered.” This work, written in the comedy genre, was enthusiastically received by the public and received excellent reviews from critics. Gogol and Goncharov spoke approvingly of this play.

However, representatives of the merchant class did not like the work very much and after their complaint to the authorities, the play was banned from being staged, and its author was fired from his job. “We Will Be Numbered Our Own People” was allowed to be staged only after the death of Emperor Nicholas, in 1861. With the second play, Alexander Nikolaevich was much more fortunate. “Don’t Sit in Your Own Sleigh” was written by him in 1852 and already in 1853 appeared on the stage of theaters. Since 1856, Ostrovsky has been constantly working for the Sovremennik magazine.

Since 1853, every year Moscow and St. Petersburg theaters staged new plays by the playwright, and all of them were favorably received by both the public and domestic critics.

At the peak of popularity

In 1856, Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky went to the Volga region to study the way of life of the inhabitants of the region. It was after this trip that Ostrovsky wrote one of his most striking plays - “The Thunderstorm”. In 1859, the first collected works of Ostrovsky were published, which were enthusiastically received by critics. In the 1860s, Ostrovsky began to study Russian history, he was especially interested in the period of the Time of Troubles.

In 1863 he was awarded the Uvarov Prize and became a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In the 60s, the playwright founded the Artistic Circle, which gave a start in life to many future stars of the Russian stage. In 1874, on the initiative of Ostrovsky, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was founded. In 1885, Alexander Nikolaevich became the head of the repertoire of all Moscow theaters.

All his life Ostrovsky worked extremely hard, this seriously undermined his health. In June 1886, he died on his estate in the Kostroma province. Emperor Alexander III granted a large sum for the playwright's funeral, and also awarded a pension to his widow and allocated funds for the education of his children.

Ostrovsky's plays show life and everyday life ordinary people, his works are very realistic, but at the same time pose deep and eternal problems to the viewer.

Ostrovsky can be called the founder Russian theater, he created a new theater school and a new concept of acting.