T averchenko biography. Literary and historical notes of a young technician

After the revolution, many remarkable poets and prose writers left Russia. One of them was Arkady Averchenko. The biography of this writer is rather sad, as is the life of many Russian emigrants who are forced to live out their lives away from their homeland.

Childhood

Their early years the satirist reflected in the work "Autobiography" created in a unique style. Since childhood, Arkady Averchenko, whose biography, like life, ended quite early, due to a severe congenital disease, had poor eyesight. He was born in Sevastopol in 1881. The father of the future writer was a middle-class merchant. But Averchenko failed to get a decent education. The reason for this was all the same ailment. In a sense, the son of a Sevastopol merchant can be called a nugget. After all, he was able to fill the gaps in education thanks to natural abilities, perseverance and the desire for knowledge.

adolescence

However, Averchenko did not have much time for training in his youth. His biography says that the life of this man developed in such a way that already at the age of fifteen the teenager had to earn his own bread. First, he entered as a scribe in the Sevastopol transport office. Then there was a service at one of the mines in the Donbass. First work experience in early work reflected Arkady Averchenko. The biography of this person is known to everyone who is familiar with the works of the satirist. The stories "Autobiography" and "About steamship whistles" are written in a light humorous style. Averchenko's works, although they do not have great literary value, are created with subtle satire, which the author has always been able to direct not only in relation to others, but also to himself.

Donbas mine

At the Bryansk mine future writer appeared at the age of sixteen. Here he worked for four years. And definitely life experience and communication with employees in the mining office could not help but serve as material for writing the following stories. In the works "Lightning" and "In the Evening" the young writer Averchenko reflected his life at the mine. The biography of this person, as already mentioned, is rather short. But at the same time, it is very intense. In just twenty years, he changed several cities, both Russian and foreign.

Kharkiv

In Averchenko leaves Donbass. He goes to Kharkov, where he begins his creative way. In one of the local newspapers at the beginning of the century, his first story appears. The work was called "How I insured my life." But this story was not considered by Averchenko to be his literary debut. short biography writer, written by himself, says that in the Kharkov period he completely abandoned the service and devoted a lot of time to literary creativity. And it was during these years that the story "The Righteous" was written.

Journal work

For about a year, the hero of our story worked in Kharkov satirical magazines. According to the recollections of friends and relatives, Arkady Averchenko was an extremely unlucky person. The (short) biography of this writer is not accidentally set out in the book by Alexander Vek “Great Losers”.

In the magazines "Bayonet" and "Sword" Averchenko regularly published his small works, which were popular with readers. But for some reason, a year later, the young writer was fired with the words: “You are no good for hell, although good man". And he left Kharkov without paying the money debts that he had in a strange way appeared in a very short time.

Petersburg

In the capital, Arkady Averchenko at first worked mainly in third-rate publications. But here he finally received recognition. In Petersburg, luck smiled at him. The employees of the Dragonfly magazine, which at that time was losing its subscribers, decided one day to organize a new periodicals. Among the organizers was Arkady Averchenko.

This magazine was called "Satyricon". And Averchenko himself became the editor-in-chief. The biography and work of the writer is closely connected with the magazine. It was here that the most famous stories. "Satyricon" became extremely popular, primarily due to the works of Averchenko. While working in this journal, the writer was able to find own style. However, in the stories that were published in the Satyricon, there was a political orientation. Averchenko has been subjected to litigation more than once. However, this affected the popularity of his literary creations in the most favorable way.

In 1911, Averchenko traveled to European cities. He organizes the trip together with his colleagues. Traveling around Europe inspires him to write a satirical essay. The writer combined work in the journal with reviewing high-profile theatrical productions. But their critical articles he used to sign with various pseudonyms.

October Revolution

After the coup d'état, everything changed. The Satyricon was closed by the Bolsheviks. The new government did not like the staff of the magazine. Which, however, was mutual. Suddenly, from a prominent literary figure into a fugitive and political criminal, his biography after the revolutionary events turned into a rather rich one. He published stories, published books. However, the intense creative upsurge that was characteristic of the St. Petersburg period was no longer in his life.

In order to get to his native city, the writer had to make his way through Ukrainian cities occupied by German troops for a long time. In Sevastopol, he worked for a short time in a local magazine. When the Bolsheviks entered the city, he miraculously managed to get on the last steamer bound for Constantinople.

Emigration

The first years abroad for Averchenko were fruitful. There were many Russians in Constantinople at that time. And in Paris, where Averchenko went a few months after emigration, he found like-minded people. In France, no one restricted his freedom. The publication of anti-Bolshevik literature was then in vogue. And Averchenko wrote several satirical pamphlets on the new Soviet power. These works were collected in one edition. And even Lenin himself drew attention to them, calling the book "talented", and its author - "an embittered White Guard."

Czech

In 1922 Averchenko moved to Bulgaria, then to Belgrade. After that, he lived for several months in Prague. In the Czech Republic, he instantly gained popularity. However, far from his homeland, his life became more and more difficult. In the last late period he wrote several works dedicated to nostalgia for Russia. One of them is the story "The Tragedy of the Russian Writer".

In 1925, the writer's health deteriorated sharply. He underwent surgery, which gave a complication to the heart. In the same year, Arkady Averchenko passed away. The Russian satirist is buried in the Prague cemetery. His last work was the novel "The Patron's Joke". This work was written two years before the death of the author, but published in 1925.

Biography

Russian writer-humorist, playwright, theater critic

Born on March 15 (27 n.s.) in Sevastopol in the family of a merchant. Received a home education, as due to poor eyesight and poor health could not study at the gymnasium. I read a lot and indiscriminately.

At the age of fifteen, he went to work as a junior scribe in a transport office. A year later, he left Sevastopol and began working as a clerk at the Bryansk coal mine, where he served for three years. In 1900 he moved to Kharkov.

In 1903 in the Kharkov newspaper "South End" first story published Averchenko "How I had to insure my life" in which his literary style is already felt. In 1906 he became editor of a satirical magazine. "Bayonet", almost entirely represented by his materials. After the closure of this magazine, the following one is headed - "Sword", - also soon closed.

In 1907 he moved to St. Petersburg and collaborated in a satirical magazine "Dragonfly", later converted to "Satyricon". Then he becomes the permanent editor of this popular publication.

In 1910, three books by Averchenko were published, which made him famous throughout reading Russia: "Funny Oysters", "Stories (humorous)", book 1, "Bunnies on the Wall", book II. "...their author is destined to become a Russian Twain...", - astutely remarked V. Polonsky.

Books published in 1912 "Circles on the Water" and "Recovery Stories" approved the title of the author "king of laughter".

Averchenko met the February revolution enthusiastically, but he did not accept the October revolution. In the autumn of 1918 he leaves for the south, collaborates in newspapers "Priazovsky Krai" and "South", speaks with the reading of his stories, manages the literary part in "House of the Artist". At the same time writing plays "The Cure for Stupidity" and "Playing with Death", and in April 1920 organizes his own theater "Nest of Migratory Birds". Six months later, he emigrates through Constantinople abroad; since June 1922 he lives in Prague, briefly leaving for Germany, Poland, Romania, the Baltic states. His book is published "A dozen knives in the back of the revolution", storybook: "Children", "Funny in the terrible", humorous novel "Joke of a Patron" and etc.

In 1924, he undergoes an operation to remove an eye, after which he cannot recover for a long time; heart disease soon progresses sharply.

He died in the Prague City Hospital on January 22 (March 3, n.s.), 1925. He was buried in Prague at the Olshansky cemetery.

Works

Averchenko Arkady Timofeevich (1881-1925), writer-humorist.
Born March 27, 1881 in Sevastopol.

A witty accountant, who had been poring over the papers of the mining offices of Donbass since 1897, Averchenko decided one day to try his hand at writing. The first stories (1903-1904) had a "local" success, so in 1905 he decided to apply his abilities to the world of the press. A test of strength in Kharkov publications showed that he did it better than endless arithmetic calculations. The service in the office was abandoned; on the eve of 1908, Averchenko went to conquer the capital (“I want glory, like a drunkard of vodka!”).

He became the editor of the new magazine "Satyricon", which brought together the best satirists and humorists. Stories, feuilletons, reviews, miniatures signed either own name, or a pseudonym like Foma Opiskin or Aue, appeared in almost every issue. Averchenko's style was compared with the style of the young A.P. Chekhov, and even more often with M. Twain and O. Henry.

“Mother-in-law and Octobrist, telephone and State Duma, tram and toothache, gramophone and enhanced security, holiday visits and the death penalty"- everything could become a target for laughter with Averchenko. His humor was called "healing", "red-cheeked", based on common sense. The left-wing press talked about Averchenko's "full laughter". Since 1910, collections of the writer's stories were published in large editions. Some were reprinted up to 20 times (for example, "Funny Oysters").

Since 1912, they began to call him the king of Russian laughter. During the years of his highest success, Averchenko began publishing his own journal, The New Satyricon (1913-1918). His stories were read, loved, quoted by the townsfolk, and the deputies of the Duma, and "at the very top" - in the royal family.

February 1917, with the proclamation of freedoms and the abolition of censorship, Averchenko accepted with enthusiasm. The writer compared the October Revolution with the plague epidemic. Petersburg, he left in the fall of 1918 under the threat of arrest. In the years civil war the king of Russian laughter is on the side white movement. He contributed to the newspapers Yug and Yug Rossii. The evil pamphlets, which later made up the satirical collection A Dozen Knives in the Back of the Revolution, even evoked a special response from V. I. Lenin, who recognized the great talent of the author.

At the end of October 1920, during the flight of P. Wrangel's troops, Averchenko left the Crimea - one of the last, in the hold of a steamer, on coal bags. With the theater "Nest" migratory birds"The writer spoke in Constantinople (1920-1922), Sofia, Belgrade (1922).

In 1922-1924. his own tours were successfully held in Romania, Germany, Poland, the Baltic countries. However, since July 1922, the writer chose Prague as the place of his permanent residence (he died in this city on March 12, 1925). Averchenko learned the Czech language and achieved new wave popularity - such that he was known literally in every Czech house. Even the first collected works of the writer came out on Czech. The newspapers wrote: “Soft Russian laughter sounded in Prague and carried away and amused not only Russians, but also Czechs, made gloomy, preoccupied faces brighten, forget everything sad in the current sad life step aside from everyday life.

Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko (1881 - 1925) - Russian writer, playwright, satirist, editor.

Family, childhood, youth

Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko was born on March 27 (old style - 15) March 1881. in Sevastopol, then - provinces, outback. Father, Timofey Petrovich Averchenko, an impoverished merchant of the second guild. Mother, Susanna Pavlovna, daughter of a retired soldier.

The family was not rich, the boy, due to poor eyesight, did not study in primary school. However, this was later made up for by the erudition and natural mind of the writer.

Already at the age of 15, Averchenko began working as a junior scribe in transport company Sevastopol. He did not work here for long (1896-1897), then putting the impressions he received into the basis of the story "On Steamboat Whistles".

In 1897 Averchenko gets a job as a clerk at the Bryansk mine in the Donbas. Here he stayed for 4 years, and the experience gained also formed the basis of the stories "Lightning", "In the Evening", etc.

The beginning of the literary path

The beginning of the 1900s was marked in the biography of Arkady Averchenko by a working move to Kharkov. here in 1903. in the newspaper "Southern Territory" his first story "How I had to insure my life" is published. The satirist said that he made his debut with the story "The Righteous" in 1904.

After 2-3 years, the writer gets an eye injury. Moreover, as a result of damage, a complication arises - damage to the second eye, which in the future will become one of the causes of the death of the satirist.

1906-1907 became for Averchenko the time of editing in the magazine "Sword", where he leads almost all sections under more than 40 pseudonyms. However, being engaged in creativity, A. Averchenko completely abandons the affairs of service in the board of mines, for which he was soon removed from his post.

In 1908 Arkady Timofeevich goes to St. Petersburg, where he works in the Dragonfly magazine, which is living out its life. In the same year, the youth of the magazine unite to create their own edition. It was called "Satyricon", and Averchenko was elected to the post of editor.

The years of work in the "Satyricon", and then the "New Satyricon" - this is the period creative development Averchenko, fruitful cooperation with such writers as Sasha Cherny, Teffi, Remizov, Osip Dymov. The works of the satirist are actively printed and staged. In addition to creative satisfaction, Averchenko receives a good income. Even the prosecution in connection with the political nature of certain of his creations does not disturb the satirist.

In 1910, the collections “Stories (humorous)” were published. Book One, Bunnies on the Wall. Stories (humorous). Book Two, Merry Oysters. Thanks to them, Averchenko gains fame, standing out among other comedians of the era.

In 1911-1912. satyricon travel around Europe, the impressions received are used when writing the "Expedition of the satyricon in Western Europe"(1912).

Contemporary critics compare the literary traditions of Arkady Averchenko with creative method Mark Twain, A.P. Chekhov, noting his ability to draw narrow-minded inhabitants, stupidity, vulgarity of existence.

Mature years, revolution, emigration

A new round of the writer's biography falls on 1918, when the Bolsheviks, who seized power, closed the magazine. Averchenko, like his satirical colleagues, did not accept Soviet power and decided to return to his native Sevastopol, which still belonged to the whites. This path turned out to be full of dangers and troubles, but Averchenko still managed to get to the Crimea. Here since July 1919. he works in the newspaper "South", and in November 1920, after the capture of the Crimea by the Reds, he leaves Russia, emigrating to Rome.

In June 1922, A. Averchenko moved to Prague, where he remained to live until the end of his days. Torn from his homeland, he feels longing, misses mother tongue. This mood is imbued with his stories, including The Tragedy of the Russian Writer.

In Prague, an expat works for Prager Presse, a well-known newspaper, and also collects poetry evenings. In the Czech Republic, Averchenko is popular, his stories are published in translation. In 1921 the collection "A Dozen Knives in the Back of the Revolution" is published, one of the most odious anti-Soviet works.

From now on, the satirist's work is almost absent humorous stories, his works are devoted to the fate of Russia - before and after the revolution. The post-revolutionary period is seen by him as a deception of a working person, deprived of books, art, and the opportunity to develop.

The last years of his life were overshadowed by an operation to remove the left (injured) eye. The right one began to quickly go blind. In addition, the writer complained of shortness of breath and chest pains. Probably, Averchenko, who led an epicurean lifestyle, developed diabetes mellitus. The life of the satirist ended at the age of 44 on March 12, 1925. The death of the writer was due to heart failure. Arkady Averchenko was buried at the Olshansky cemetery (Prague).

Averchenko Arkady Timofeevich

Russian humorist, playwright, theater critic

Born on March 15 (27 N. S.) in Sevastopol in the family of a merchant. He was brought up at home, because due to poor eyesight and poor health he could not study at the gymnasium. I read a lot and indiscriminately.

At the age of fifteen, he went to work as a junior scribe in a transport office. A year later, he left Sevastopol and began working as a clerk at the Bryansk coal mine, where he served for three years. In 1900 he moved to Kharkov.

In 1903, Averchenko's first story, How I Had to Insure Life, was published in the Kharkov newspaper Yuzhny Krai, in which his literary style is already felt. In 1906 he became the editor of the satirical magazine "Bayonet", almost completely represented by his materials. After the closure of this magazine, he heads the next one - "The Sword", - also soon closed.

In 1907 he moved to St. Petersburg and collaborated in the satirical magazine Dragonfly, later transformed into Satyricon. Then he becomes the permanent editor of this popular publication.

In 1910, three books by Averchenko were published, which made him famous throughout reading Russia: "Funny Oysters", "Stories (humorous)", book 1, "Hares on the Wall", book II. “…their author is destined to become a Russian Twain…”, V. Polonsky perceptively remarked.

The books “Circles on the Water” and “Stories for the Recovering” published in 1912 approved the title of the “king of laughter” for the author.

Averchenko met the February Revolution with enthusiasm, but he did not accept the October Revolution. In the autumn of 1918 he left for the south, collaborated in the newspapers "Priazovsky Krai" and "South", performed with the reading of his stories, and was in charge of the literary part in the "Artist's House". At the same time, he wrote the plays “A Cure for Stupidity” and “Playing with Death”, and in April 1920 organized his own theater “The Nest of Migratory Birds”. Six months later, he emigrates through Constantinople abroad; since June 1922 he lives in Prague, briefly leaving for Germany, Poland, Romania, the Baltic states. His book “A Dozen of Knives in the Back of the Revolution”, a collection of short stories: “Children”, “Funny in the Terrible”, a humorous novel “A Patron's Joke”, etc. are published.

In 1924, he undergoes an operation to remove an eye, after which he cannot recover for a long time; heart disease soon progresses sharply.

He died in the Prague City Hospital on January 22 (March 3, NS), 1925. He was buried in Prague at the Olshansky cemetery.

He was like a whirlwind. In love with life and the sun

Healthy in body, strong, young,

He drunk us, bursting into our window,

And blinded, shining between us like a star.

Burning in the fire of immeasurable success

Charmingly fooling around and shalya,

He laughed, and the whole country, like,

Rejoicing, echoed the fun of the king.