Russian writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin (1870-1938) was born in the city of Narovchat, Penza province. A man of difficult fate, a professional military man, then a journalist, an emigrant and a "returner" Kuprin is known as the author of works included in the golden collection of Russian literature.
Kuprin was born into a poor noble family on August 26, 1870. His father worked as a secretary in the regional court, his mother came from a noble family of the Tatar princes Kulunchakovs. In addition to Alexander, two daughters grew up in the family.
The life of the family changed dramatically when, a year after the birth of his son, the head of the family died of cholera. Mother, a native Muscovite, began to look for an opportunity to return to the capital and somehow arrange the life of the family. She managed to find a place with a boarding house in the Kudrinsky widow's house in Moscow. Three years of little Alexander's life passed here, after which, at the age of six, he was sent to an orphanage. The atmosphere of the widow's house is conveyed by the story "The Holy Lie" (1914), written by a mature writer.
The boy was accepted to study at the Razumovsky orphanage, then, after graduation, he continued his studies at the Second Moscow Cadet Corps. Fate, it seems, ordered him to be a military man. And in the early work of Kuprin, the theme of army everyday life, relationships among the military rises in two stories: "Army Ensign" (1897), "At the Turn (Cadets)" (1900). At the peak of his literary talent, Kuprin wrote the story "Duel" (1905). The image of her hero, Lieutenant Romashov, according to the writer, was written off from himself. The publication of the story caused a great discussion in society. In the military environment, the work was perceived negatively. The story shows the aimlessness, petty-bourgeois limitations of the life of the military class. A kind of completion of the dilogy "The Cadets" and "Duel" was the autobiographical story "Junker", written by Kuprin already in exile, in 1928-32.
Prone to rebellious Kuprin, army life was completely alien. Resignation from military service took place in 1894. By this time, the first stories of the writer, not yet noticed by the general public, began to appear in magazines. After leaving military service, wanderings began in search of earnings and life experiences. Kuprin tried to find himself in many professions, but the experience of journalism acquired in Kyiv became useful for starting professional literary work. The next five years were marked by the appearance of the best works of the author: the stories "The Lilac Bush" (1894), "The Picture" (1895), "The Overnight" (1895), "The Watchdog and Zhulka" (1897), "The Wonderful Doctor" (1897), " Breguet" (1897), the story "Olesya" (1898).
The capitalism that Russia is entering has depersonalized the working man. Anxiety in the face of this process leads to a wave of workers' revolts, which are supported by the intelligentsia. In 1896, Kuprin wrote the story "Moloch" - a work of great artistic power. In the story, the soulless power of the machine is associated with an ancient deity who demands and receives human lives as a sacrifice.
"Moloch" was written by Kuprin already on his return to Moscow. Here, after wandering, the writer finds a home, enters the circle of writers, gets acquainted and closely converges with Bunin, Chekhov, Gorky. Kuprin marries and in 1901 moves with his family to St. Petersburg. His stories "Swamp" (1902), "White Poodle" (1903), "Horse Thieves" (1903) are published in magazines. At this time, the writer is actively engaged in public life, he is a candidate for deputies of the State Duma of the 1st convocation. Since 1911 he has been living in Gatchina with his family.
Kuprin's work between the two revolutions was marked by the creation of the love stories Shulamith (1908) and The Garnet Bracelet (1911), which differ in their light mood from the works of literature of those years by other authors.
During the period of two revolutions and a civil war, Kuprin was looking for an opportunity to be useful to society, collaborating either with the Bolsheviks or with the Socialist-Revolutionaries. 1918 was a turning point in the life of the writer. He emigrates with his family, lives in France and continues to work actively. Here, in addition to the novel "Junker", the story "Yu-yu" (1927), the fairy tale "The Blue Star" (1927), the story "Olga Sur" (1929), more than twenty works were written.
In 1937, after an entry permit approved by Stalin, the already very ill writer returned to Russia and settled in Moscow, where Alexander Ivanovich died a year after returning from exile. Kuprin was buried in Leningrad at the Volkovsky cemetery.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat (Penza province) in a poor family of a petty official.
1871 was a difficult year in Kuprin's biography - his father died, and the impoverished family moved to Moscow.
At the age of six, Kuprin was sent to the class of the Moscow Orphan School, from which he left in 1880. After that, Alexander Ivanovich studied at the military academy, the Alexander Military School. The training time is described in such works by Kuprin as: “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”, “Junkers”. "The Last Debut" - the first published story of Kuprin (1889).
Since 1890 he was a second lieutenant in an infantry regiment. During the service, many essays, stories, novels were published: "Inquiry", "Moonlight Night", "In the Dark".
Four years later, Kuprin retired. After that, the writer travels a lot around Russia, trying himself in different professions. During this time Alexander Ivanovich met Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky.
Kuprin builds his stories of those times on life impressions gleaned during his travels.
Kuprin's short stories cover many topics: military, social, love. The story "Duel" (1905) brought Alexander Ivanovich real success. Love in Kuprin's work is most vividly described in the story "Olesya" (1898), which was the first major and one of his most beloved works, and the story of unrequited love - "Garnet Bracelet" (1910).
Alexander Kuprin also liked to write stories for children. For children's reading, he wrote the works "Elephant", "Starlings", "White Poodle" and many others.
For Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, life and work are inseparable. Not accepting the policy of war communism, the writer emigrates to France. Even after emigration in the biography of Alexander Kuprin, the writer's ardor does not subside, he writes novels, short stories, many articles and essays. Despite this, Kuprin lives in material need and yearns for his homeland. Only 17 years later he returns to Russia. At the same time, the last essay of the writer is published - the work "Moscow dear".
After a serious illness, Kuprin died on August 25, 1938. The writer was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in Leningrad, next to the grave
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin and Russian literature of the early 20th century are inseparable. This happened because the writer in his own works covered contemporary life, discussed topics and sought answers to questions that are usually classified as eternal. All his work is based on life prototypes. Alexander Ivanovich drew stories from life, he only refracted this or that situation in artistic terms. According to the generally accepted opinion, the work of this author belongs to the literary direction of realism, but there are pages that are written in the style of romanticism.
In 1870, a boy was born in one of the cities of the Penza province. They named him Alexander. Sasha's parents were poor nobles.
The boy's father served as a secretary in court, and his mother was engaged in housekeeping. Fate decreed that after Alexander was one year old, his father died suddenly from an illness.
After this sad event, the widow with children goes to live in Moscow. The further life of Alexander, one way or another, will be connected with Moscow.
Sasha studied at a cadet boarding school. Everything indicated that the fate of the boy would be connected with military affairs. But in reality it turned out to be completely different. The theme of the army has firmly entered the literary work of Kuprin. Military service is devoted to such works as "Army Ensign", "Cadets", "Duel", "Junkers". It is worth noting that the image of the main character of "Duel" is autobiographical. The author admits that he created the image of a second lieutenant, based on the experience of his own service.
The year 1894 was marked for the future prose writer by his resignation from military service. This happened due to his explosive nature. At this time, the future prose writer is looking for himself. He tries to write, and the very first experiments become successful.
Some of the stories written by him are published in magazines. This period until 1901 can be called the fruitful period of Kuprin's literary work. The following works have been written: "Olesya", "Lilac Bush", "Wonderful Doctor" and many others.
In Russia, during this period of time, popular unrest is brewing due to opposition to capitalism. The young author reacts creatively to these processes.
The result was the story "Moloch", where he refers to ancient Russian mythology. Under the guise of a mythological creature, he shows the spiritual power of capitalism.
Important! When "Moloch" saw the light, its author began to communicate closely with the luminaries of Russian literature of that period. These are Bunin, Chekhov, Gorky.
In 1901, Alexander met his only one and tied the knot. After the marriage, the couple moved to St. Petersburg. At this time, the writer is active both in the literary field and in public life. Written works: "White Poodle", "Horse Thieves" and others.
In 1911 the family moved to live in Gatchina. At this time, a new theme appears in creativity - love. He writes "Shulamith".
A. I. Kuprin "Garnet bracelet"
In 1918, the couple emigrated to France. Abroad, the writer continues to work fruitfully. Written over 20 stories. Among them are "Blue Star", "Yu-Yu" and others.
1937 became a landmark in the sense that Alexander Ivanovich was allowed to return to his homeland. The sick writer returns to Russia. He lives in his homeland for only a year. The ashes rest at the Volkovsky cemetery in Leningrad.
The most important thing you need to know about the life and work of this outstanding author is placed in the chronological table:
| the date | Event |
| September 26 (August 7), 1870 | Birth of Kuprin |
| 1874 | Moving with mother and sisters to Moscow |
| 1880–1890 | Education in military schools |
| 1889 | Publication of the first story "The Last Debut" |
| 1890–1894 | Service |
| 1894–1897 | Moving to Kyiv and writing |
| 1898 | "Polesye stories" |
| 1901–1903 | Marriage and moving to St. Petersburg |
| 1904–1906 | Printing of the first collected works |
| 1905 | "Duel" |
| 1907–1908 | Addresses the love theme in creativity |
| 1909–1912 | Received the Pushkin Prize. "Garnet Bracelet" published. |
| 1914 | Military service |
| 1920 | Emigration to France with family |
| 1927–1933 | A fruitful period of creativity abroad |
| 1937 | Return to Russia |
| 1938 | Death in Leningrad |
Briefly, the biography of the writer can be summarized in several key milestones of his life. Alexander Ivanovich comes from an impoverished noble family. It so happened that the boy was left without a father early. For this reason, the formation of personality was quite difficult. After all, as you know, a boy needs a father. The mother, having moved to Moscow, decides to assign her son to study at a military school. Therefore, the army way of life had a strong influence on Alexander Ivanovich, his worldview.
Main stages of life:
The guys get acquainted with the name of Kuprin while studying in elementary school. Below is the biographical information about the writer that students need.
It is important for children of primary school age to know that Alexander Ivanovich turned to the topic of children and childhood for a reason. He writes on the subject simply and naturally. In this cycle, he creates a large number of stories about animals. In general, in the works of this direction, Kuprin expresses a humane attitude towards all living things.
In the stories, the heroes of which are children, the theme of orphanhood is sharply expressed. Perhaps this is due to the fact that their author himself was left without a father early. But it is worth noting that he shows orphanhood as a social problem. The works about children and for children include “The Wonderful Doctor”, “Yu-Yu”, “Taper”, “Elephant”, “White Poodle” and many others.
Important! Undoubtedly, the contribution of this outstanding writer to the development and formation of children's literature is extremely great.
A. I. Kuprin in Gatchina
In Kuprin's childhood, there were many difficulties, and there were no less problems in the last years of his life. In 1937 he was allowed to return to the Soviet Union. He was greeted solemnly. Among those welcoming the famous prose writer were many famous poets and writers of that time. In addition to these people, there were a lot of admirers of Alexander Ivanovich's work.
By this time, Kuprin had been diagnosed with cancer. This disease greatly undermined the resources of the writer's body. Returning to his homeland, the prose writer hoped that staying in his native land would only benefit him. Unfortunately, the hopes of the writer were not destined to come true. A year later, the talented realist was gone.
last years of life
In the modern world of informatization, a lot of biographical information about creative people has been digitized. The TV channel “My Joy” broadcasts a series of programs “My Live Journal” on its air. In this cycle there is a program about the life and work of Alexander Kuprin.
On the TV channel "Russia. Culture” broadcasts a series of lectures about writers. The duration of the video is 25 minutes. Moreover, lectures about Alexander Ivanovich also constitute a cycle. There are those that tell about childhood and youth and about the period of emigration. Their duration is about the same.
On the Internet there are collections of videos about Kuprin. Even a whole virtual page is dedicated to the famous Russian writer. This page also has links to audiobooks. At the very end are reader reviews.
Homecoming
The electronic encyclopedia Wikipedia contains a voluminous informational article about Alexander Ivanovich. It tells in detail about the life path of the prose writer. Detailed descriptions of his main works are given. The information concerning the writer's family is quite fully covered. This text is accompanied by personal photographs of Kuprin.
After the main information, the author's bibliography is presented, and almost all books have electronic links. Anyone who is truly interested in his work can read their interest. There are also links to videos with screened works of Alexander Ivanovich. At the end of the article, memorable places associated with the name of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin are listed, many of which are illustrated with photographs.
70 years have passed since the death of Kuprin. This is a fairly large time span. But, despite this, the popularity of the works of Alexander Ivanovich does not decrease. This is due to the fact that they contain things that are clear to everyone. The works of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin must be read by anyone who wants to better understand the nature of relationships and the motives that drive different people. They are a kind of encyclopedia of moral qualities and deep feelings of any person.
In contact with
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat, Penza province. From nobles. Kuprin's father is a collegiate registrar; mother - from an ancient family of Tatar princes Kulunchakov.
He lost his father early; was brought up in the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school for orphans. In 1888. A. Kuprin graduated from the cadet corps, in 1890- Alexander Military School (both in Moscow); served as an infantry officer. After retirement with the rank of lieutenant in 1894 changed a number of professions: he worked as a land surveyor, a forest ranger, an estate manager, a prompter in a provincial acting troupe, etc. For many years he collaborated in newspapers in Kyiv, Rostov-on-Don, Odessa, Zhitomir.
The first publication is the story "The Last Debut" ( 1889 ). The story "Inquiry" 1894 ) opened a series of military stories and novels by Kuprin (“The Lilac Bush”, 1894 ; "Overnight", 1895 ; "Army Ensign", "Breguet", both - 1897 ; etc.), reflecting the writer's impressions of military service. Kuprin's trips around southern Ukraine were the material for the story "Moloch" ( 1896 ), in the center of which is the theme of industrial civilization, depersonalizing a person; the juxtaposition of the melting furnace with a pagan deity requiring human sacrifice is intended to warn of the dangers of worshiping technological progress. Literary fame was brought to A. Kuprin by the story "Olesya" ( 1898 ) - about the dramatic love of a savage girl who grew up in the wilderness and an aspiring writer who came from the city. The hero of Kuprin's early works is a man with a fine mental organization, who cannot withstand a collision with the social reality of the 1890s and a test of great feeling. Among other works of this period: "Polesye stories" "In the wilderness" ( 1898 ), "On the capercaillie" ( 1899 ), "Werewolf" ( 1901 ). In 1897. Kuprin's first book, Miniatures, was published. In the same year, Kuprin met I. Bunin, in 1900- with A. Chekhov; since 1901 participated in Teleshovskie "environments" - a Moscow literary circle that united writers of a realistic direction. In 1901 A. Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg; collaborated in the influential magazines "Russian wealth" and "World of God". In 1902 met M. Gorky; was published in the series of collections of the book publishing partnership "Knowledge" initiated by him, here in 1903 The first volume of Kuprin's stories was published. Wide popularity Kuprin brought the story "Duel" ( 1905 ), where an unsightly picture of army life with drill and semi-conscious cruelty reigning in it is accompanied by reflections on the absurdity of the existing world order. The publication of the story coincided with the defeat of the Russian fleet in the Russo-Japanese War. 1904-1905., which contributed to its public outcry. The story was translated into foreign languages and opened the name of the writer to the European reader.
In the 1900s - the first half of the 1910s. the most significant works of A. Kuprin were published: the stories “At the Turn (Cadets)” ( 1900 ), "Pit" ( 1909-1915 ); stories "Swamp", "In the circus" (both 1902 ), "Coward", "Horse thieves" (both 1903 ), "Peaceful Life", "White Poodle" (both 1904 ), "Headquarters Captain Rybnikov", "River of Life" (both 1906 ), "Gambrinus", "Emerald" ( 1907 ), "Anathema" ( 1913 ); a cycle of essays about the fishermen of Balaklava - "Listrigons" ( 1907-1911 ). Admiration for strength and heroism, a keen sense of the beauty and joy of life encourage Kuprin to search for a new image - a whole and creative nature. The theme of love is devoted to the story "Shulamith" ( 1908 ; based on the biblical Song of Songs) and "Garnet Bracelet" ( 1911 ) is a touching story about the unrequited and selfless love of a small telegraph operator for the wife of a high-ranking official. Kuprin tried himself in science fiction: the hero of the story "Liquid Sun" ( 1913 ) is a brilliant scientist who gained access to a source of super-powerful energy, but hides his invention for fear that it will be used to create a deadly weapon.
In 1911 Kuprin moved to Gatchina. In 1912 and 1914 traveled to France and Italy. With the outbreak of the First World War, he returned to the army, but the following year he was demobilized for health reasons. After the February Revolution 1917 edited the Socialist-Revolutionary newspaper Free Russia, collaborated for several months with the publishing house World Literature. After the October Revolution 1917, which he did not accept, returned to journalism. In one of the articles, Kuprin spoke out against the execution of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, for which he was arrested and briefly imprisoned ( 1918 ). The writer's attempts to cooperate with the new government did not give the desired results. Having joined in October 1919 to the troops of N.N. Yudenich, Kuprin reached Yamburg (since 1922 Kingisepp), from there through Finland to Paris (1920 ). In exile were created: the autobiographical story "The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia" ( 1928 ), the story “Janeta. Princess of Four Streets" ( 1932 ; separate edition - 1934 ), a series of nostalgic stories about pre-revolutionary Russia ("One-armed comedian", 1923 ; "Emperor's Shadow" 1928 ; "Tsar's guest from Narovchat", 1933 ), etc. The works of the emigrant period are characterized by idealistic images of monarchical Russia, patriarchal Moscow. Among other works: the story "The Star of Solomon" ( 1917 ), the story "The Golden Rooster" ( 1923 ), cycles of essays "Kyiv types" ( 1895-1898 ), “Blessed South”, “House Paris” (both - 1927 ), literary portraits, stories for children, feuilletons. In 1937 Kuprin returned to the USSR.
In the work of Kuprin, a broad panorama of Russian life is given, covering almost all sectors of society. 1890-1910s.; the traditions of everyday writing prose of the second half of the 19th century are combined with elements of symbolism. In a number of works, the writer's attraction to romantic plots and heroic images was embodied. A. Kuprin's prose is distinguished by its pictorial character, authenticity in the depiction of characters, saturation with everyday details, colorful language, including argotism.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, Russian prose writer, author of the short stories and novels Olesya, At the Break (Cadets), Duel, Shulamith, Pit, Garnet Bracelet, Junkers, as well as many stories and essays.
A.I. Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7, n.s.), 1870, in the town of Narovchat, Penza province, into the family of a hereditary nobleman, a petty official.
Alexander Kuprin as a writer, a man and a collection of legends about his turbulent life is a special love of the Russian reader, akin to the first youthful feeling for life.
Ivan Bunin, who was jealous of his generation and rarely gave out praise, no doubt understood the unequal value of everything written by Kuprin, nevertheless he called him a writer by the grace of God.
And yet it seems that, by his nature, Alexander Kuprin should have become not a writer, but rather one of his heroes - a circus strongman, an aviator, the leader of the Balaklava fishermen, a horse thief, or, perhaps, would have pacified his violent temper somewhere in the monastery (by the way, he did such an attempt). The cult of physical strength, a penchant for excitement, risk, violence distinguished the young Kuprin. And later, he loved to measure his strength with life at forty-three years old, he suddenly began to learn stylish swimming from the world record holder Romanenko, together with the first Russian pilot Sergei Utochkin, he rose in a balloon, descended to the seabed in a diving suit, with the famous wrestler and aviator Ivan Zaikin flew on a plane "Farman" ... However, the spark of God, apparently, cannot be extinguished.
Kuprin was born in the town of Narovchatov, Penza province, on August 26 (September 7), 1870. His father, a petty official, died of cholera when the boy was not even two years old. In a family left without funds, besides Alexander, there were two more children. The mother of the future writer Lyubov Alekseevna, nee Princess Kulunchakova, came from Tatar princes, and Kuprin liked to remember his Tatar blood, even, there was a time, he wore a skullcap. In the novel "Junkers" he wrote about his autobiographical hero "... the rabid blood of the Tatar princes, the unstoppable and indomitable of his ancestors on the maternal side, pushing him to drastic and thoughtless actions, singled him out among the dozen junkers."
In 1874, Lyubov Alekseevna, a woman, according to her memoirs, "with a strong, unyielding character and high nobility", decides to move to Moscow. There they settle in the common ward of the Widow's House (described by Kuprin in the story "Holy Lies"). Two years later, due to extreme poverty, she sends her son to the Alexander juvenile orphan school. For six-year-old Sasha, a period of existence in the barracks begins - seventeen years long.
In 1880 he entered the Cadet Corps. Here the boy, longing for home and freedom, approaches the teacher Tsukanov (Trukhanov in the story "At the Turning Point"), a writer who "remarkably artistically" read to the pupils of Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev. Begins to try his hand at literature and teenager Kuprin - of course, as a poet; Who at this age has not once crumpled a piece of paper with the first poem! He is fond of Nadson's then fashionable poetry. At the same time, Cadet Kuprin, already a convinced democrat, the "progressive" ideas of the time seeped even through the walls of the closed military school. He angrily denounces in rhymed form the "conservative publisher" M.N. Katkov and Tsar Alexander III himself, stigmatizes the “vile, terrible deed” of the tsarist trial of Alexander Ulyanov and his accomplices who attempted on the monarch.
At the age of eighteen, Alexander Kuprin enters the Third Alexander Cadet School in Moscow. According to the memoirs of his classmate L.A. Limontov, this was no longer a "nondescript, small, clumsy cadet", but a strong young man, most of all cherishing the honor of his uniform, a clever gymnast, a lover of dancing, falling in love with every pretty partner.
His first appearance in print also belongs to the Junker period - on December 3, 1889, Kuprin's story "The Last Debut" appeared in the magazine "Russian satirical sheet". This story really almost became the first and last literary debut of the Junker. Later, he recalled how, having received a fee of ten rubles for the story (a huge amount for him at that time), he bought his mother “goat shoes” to celebrate, and for the remaining ruble he rushed to the arena to ride a horse (Kuprin was very fond of horses and considered this “ the call of the ancestors). A few days later, a magazine with his story caught the eye of one of the teachers, and the cadet Kuprin was called to the authorities “Kuprin, your story” - “That's right!” - "To the punishment cell!" The future officer was not supposed to do such "frivolous" things. Like any debutant, he, of course, longed for compliments and in the punishment cell read his story to a retired soldier, an old school uncle. He listened attentively and said, “Well written, your honor! But you can't understand anything." The story was really weak.
After the Alexander School, Lieutenant Kuprin was sent to the Dnieper Infantry Regiment, which was stationed in Proskurov, Podolsk province. Four years of life “in the incredible wilderness, in one of the southwestern border towns. Eternal dirt, herds of pigs on the streets, khatenki, smeared with clay and manure ... ”(“ To Glory ”), many hours of drill of soldiers, gloomy officer sprees and vulgar romances with local“ lionesses ”made him think about the future, how he thinks about He is the hero of his famous story "The Duel", Lieutenant Romashov, who dreamed of military glory, but after the savagery of provincial army life, decided to retire.
These years gave Kuprin knowledge of military life, the customs of the shtetl intelligentsia, the customs of the Polissya village, and the reader was later presented with such works of his as "Inquiry", "Overnight", "Night Shift", "Wedding", "Slavic Soul", "Millionaire" , "Zhidovka", "Coward", "Telegraphist", "Olesya" and others.
At the end of 1893, Kuprin submitted his resignation and left for Kyiv. By that time, he was the author of the story "In the Dark" and the story "Moonlight Night" (Russian Wealth magazine), written in the style of a sentimental melodrama. He decides to seriously engage in literature, but this "lady" is not so easy to pick up. According to him, he suddenly found himself in the position of a college student, who was taken at night into the wilds of the Olonets forests and left without clothes, food and a compass; “... I had no knowledge, neither scientific nor worldly,” he writes in his Autobiography. In it, he gives a list of professions that he tried to master, taking off his military uniform, was a reporter for Kyiv newspapers, a manager during the construction of a house, bred tobacco, served in a technical office, was a psalmist, played in the theater of the city of Sumy, studied dentistry, tried to be tonsured as a monk , worked in a forge and a carpentry workshop, unloaded watermelons, taught at a school for the blind, worked at the Yuzovsky steel plant (described in the story "Moloch") ...
This period ended with the publication of a small collection of essays "Kyiv types", which can be considered the first literary "drill" of Kuprin. Over the next five years, he makes a rather serious breakthrough as a writer in 1896 publishes the story Molokh in Russian Wealth, where the rebellious working class was shown for the first time on a large scale, publishes the first collection of short stories Miniatures (1897), which included Dog Happiness "," Centuries", "Breguet", "Allez" and others, then the story "Olesya" (1898), the story "Night Shift" (1899), the story "At the Break" ("The Cadets"; 1900) follow.
In 1901, Kuprin came to St. Petersburg as a fairly well-known writer. He already knew Ivan Bunin, who immediately upon arrival introduced him to the house of Alexandra Arkadyevna Davydova, the publisher of the popular literary magazine The World of God. There were rumors about her in St. Petersburg that she locks writers who ask for an advance from her in her office, gives ink, pen, paper, three bottles of beer and releases it only if the story is ready, immediately giving out a fee. In this house, Kuprin found his first wife - the bright, Spanish-speaking Maria Karlovna Davydova, the adopted daughter of a publisher.
An able student of her mother, she also had a firm hand in dealing with the writing brethren. For at least seven years of their marriage - the time of Kuprin's greatest and most stormy fame - she managed to keep him at his desk for quite long periods (up to the deprivation of breakfasts, after which Alexander Ivanovich fell asleep). Under her, works were written that put forward Kuprin in the first row of Russian writers, the stories "Swamp" (1902), "Horse thieves" (1903), "White Poodle" (1904), the story "Duel" (1905), the stories "Staff Captain Rybnikov ”, “River of Life” (1906).
After the release of "Duel", written under the great ideological influence of the "petrel of the revolution" Gorky, Kuprin becomes an all-Russian celebrity. Attacks on the army, thickening of colors - downtrodden soldiers, ignorant, drunken officers - all this "pleased" the tastes of the revolutionary-minded intelligentsia, which considered the defeat of the Russian fleet in the Russo-Japanese War to be their victory. This story, no doubt, was written by the hand of a great master, but today it is perceived in a slightly different historical dimension.
Kuprin passes the most powerful test - glory. “It was time,” Bunin recalled, “when the publishers of newspapers, magazines and collections of reckless drivers chased him around ... restaurants where he spent days and nights with his occasional and constant drinking companions, and humbly begged him to take a thousand, two thousands of rubles in advance for the mere promise not to forget them in case of his mercy, and he, heavy, big-faced, only squinted, was silent, and suddenly abruptly threw out in such an ominous whisper, “Get out this minute to hell!” - that timid people immediately seemed to fall through the ground. Dirty taverns and expensive restaurants, impoverished vagrants and polished snobs of St. Petersburg bohemia, gypsy singers and runaways, finally, an important general thrown into a pool of sterlet by him ... - the whole set of "Russian recipes" for the treatment of melancholy, which for some reason always noisy glory pours out, he was tried by him (how can one not recall the phrase of Shakespeare's hero “What is the melancholy of a great spirit of a man expressed in that he wants to drink”).
By this time, the marriage with Maria Karlovna, apparently, has exhausted itself, and Kuprin, who cannot live by inertia, falls in love with the tutor of his daughter Lydia, the small, fragile Lisa Heinrich, with youthful ardor. She was an orphan and had already gone through her bitter story, visited the Russian-Japanese war as a sister of mercy and returned from there not only with medals, but also with a broken heart. When Kuprin, without delay, declared his love to her, she immediately left their house, not wanting to be the cause of family discord. Following her, Kuprin also left home, renting a room in the St. Petersburg hotel "Palais Royal".
For several weeks he rushes around the city in search of poor Lisa and, of course, he grows up with a sympathetic company ... When his great friend and admirer of talent, Professor of St. Petersburg University Fedor Dmitrievich Batyushkov realized that there would be no end to these follies, he found Lisa in a small hospital, where she got a job as a nurse. What he talked about with her Maybe that she should save the pride of Russian literature .. It is not known. Only Elizaveta Moritsovna's heart trembled and she agreed to immediately go to Kuprin; however, with one firm condition, Alexander Ivanovich must be treated. In the spring of 1907, the two of them leave for the Finnish sanatorium Helsingfors. This great passion for the little woman was the reason for the creation of the wonderful story Shulamith (1907) - the Russian Song of Songs. In 1908, their daughter Ksenia was born, who would later write the memoirs "Kuprin is my father."
From 1907 to 1914, Kuprin created such significant works as the stories "Gambrinus" (1907), "Garnet Bracelet" (1910), the cycle of stories "Listrigons" (1907-1911), in 1912 he began work on the novel "The Pit". When he came out, the critics saw in him a denunciation of another social evil in Russia - prostitution, while Kuprin considered paid "priestesses of love" victims of public temperament from time immemorial.
By this time, he had already diverged in political views from Gorky, departed from revolutionary democracy.
Kuprin called the war of 1914 fair, liberating, for which he was accused of "official patriotism." A large photograph of him with the caption “A.I. Kuprin, drafted into the active army. However, he did not get to the front - he was sent to Finland to train recruits. In 1915, he was declared unfit for military service for health reasons, and he returned home to Gatchina, where his family lived at that time.
After the seventeenth year, Kuprin, despite several attempts, did not find a common language with the new government (although, under the patronage of Gorky, he even met with Lenin, but he did not see in him a “clear ideological position”) and left Gatchina together with the retreating army of Yudenich. In 1920, the Kuprins ended up in Paris.
After the revolution, about 150 thousand emigrants from Russia settled in France. Paris became the Russian literary capital - Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Zinaida Gippius, Ivan Bunin and Alexei Tolstoy, Ivan Shmelev and Alexei Remizov, Nadezhda Teffi and Sasha Cherny, and many other famous writers lived here. All sorts of Russian societies were formed, newspapers and magazines were published ... There was even such an anecdote that two Russians meet on a Parisian boulevard. "Well, how do you live here" - "Nothing, you can live, one misfortune is too many French."
At first, while the illusion of his homeland was still preserved, Kuprin tried to write, but his gift gradually faded away, like his once mighty health, more and more often he complained that he could not work here, because he was used to "writing off" his heroes from life . “Beautiful people,” Kuprin said about the French, “but they don’t speak Russian, and in the shop and in the pub - everywhere it’s not our way ... So this is what you live, you live, and you stop writing.” His most significant work of the emigrant period is the autobiographical novel "Junkers" (1928-1933). He became more and more quiet, sentimental - unusual for acquaintances. Sometimes, however, Kuprin's hot blood still made itself felt. Once the writer was returning with friends from a country restaurant by taxi, they started talking about literature. The poet Ladinsky called "Duel" his best thing. Kuprin, on the other hand, insisted that the best of everything he wrote - "Garnet Bracelet" there is high, precious feelings of people. Ladinsky called this story implausible. Kuprin became furious "Garnet Bracelet" - a true story! and challenged Ladinsky to a duel. With great difficulty, we managed to dissuade him, rolling around the city all night, as Lidia Arsenyeva recalled (“Far Shores”. M. “Respublika”, 1994).
Apparently, Kuprin really had something very personal connected with the Garnet Bracelet. At the end of his life, he himself began to resemble his hero - the aged Zheltkov. "Seven years of hopeless and polite love" Zheltkov wrote unanswered letters to Princess Vera Nikolaevna. The aged Kuprin was often seen in a Parisian bistro, where he sat alone with a bottle of wine and wrote love letters to a little-known woman. The magazine Ogonyok (1958, No. 6) published a poem by the writer, possibly composed at that time. There are such lines “And no one in the world will know That for years, every hour and moment, A polite, attentive old man languishes and suffers from love.”
Before leaving for Russia in 1937, he hardly recognized anyone, and he was hardly recognized at all. Bunin writes in his “Memoirs” “... I once met him on the street and inwardly gasped and there was no trace of the former Kuprin! He walked with small, miserable steps, trudged along so thin, weak, that it seemed that the first gust of wind would blow him off his feet ... "
When his wife took Kuprin to Soviet Russia, the Russian emigration did not condemn him, realizing that he was going there to die (although such things were painfully perceived in the émigré environment; they said, for example, that Alexei Tolstoy simply fled to Sovdepiya from debts and creditors) . For the Soviet government, this was politics. In the newspaper Pravda dated June 1, 1937, an article appeared: “On May 31, the famous Russian pre-revolutionary writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, who returned from emigration to his homeland, arrived in Moscow. At the Belorussky railway station A.I. Kuprin was met by representatives of the writers' community and the Soviet press.
They settled Kuprin in a rest house for writers near Moscow. On one of the sunny summer days, Baltic sailors came to visit him. Alexander Ivanovich was carried out in an armchair to the lawn, where the sailors sang for him in chorus, approached, shook hands, said that they read his "Duel", thanked ... Kuprin was silent and suddenly burst into tears (from the memoirs of N.D. Teleshov "Notes of a Writer ").
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin died on August 25, 1938 in Leningrad. In his last years as an émigré, he often said that one must die in Russia, at home, like a beast that goes to die in its lair. I would like to think that he passed away calm and reconciled.
Love Kalyuzhnaya,
