Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is a famous realist writer, whose works resonated in the hearts of readers. His work was distinguished by the fact that he sought not only to reflect events in fact correctly, but most of all in that Kuprin was interested in the inner world of a person much more than just a reliable description. Below will be described a brief biography of Kuprin: childhood, adolescence, creative activity.
Kuprin's childhood could not be called carefree. The writer was born on August 26, 1870 in the Penza province. Kuprin's parents were: a hereditary nobleman I. I. Kuprin, who held the position of an official, and L. A. Kulunchakova, who came from a family of Tatar princes. The writer was always proud of his mother's origin, and Tatar features were visible in his appearance.
A year later, Alexander Ivanovich's father died, and the writer's mother was left with two daughters and a young son in her arms without any financial support. Then the proud Lyubov Alekseevna had to humiliate herself in front of the highest officials in order to place her daughters in a government boarding school. She herself, taking her son with her, moved to Moscow and got a job at the Widow's House, in which the future writer lived with her for two years.
Later he was enrolled at the state account of the Moscow Board of Trustees in an orphan school. Kuprin's childhood there was bleak, full of grief and thoughts about the fact that in a person they are trying to suppress a sense of his own dignity. After this school, Alexander entered the military gymnasium, later transformed into a cadet corps. These were the prerequisites for the formation of an officer's career.
Kuprin's childhood was not easy, and studying in the cadet corps was also not easy. But it was then that he first had a desire to engage in literature and he began to write the first poems. Of course, the strict living conditions of the cadets, the military drill tempered the character of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, strengthened his will. Later, his memories of childhood and youth will be reflected in the works "Cadets", "Brave Runaways", "Junkers". After all, it was not in vain that the writer always emphasized that his creations are largely autobiographical.
Kuprin's military youth began with his admission to the Moscow Alexander Military School, after which he received the rank of second lieutenant. Then he went to serve in an infantry regiment and visited small provincial towns. Kuprin not only performed his official duties, but also studied all aspects of army life. Constant drill, injustice, cruelty - all this was reflected in his stories, such as, for example, "The Lilac Bush", "The Campaign", the story "The Last Duel", thanks to which he gained all-Russian fame.
His entry into the ranks of writers dates back to 1889, when his story "The Last Debut" was published. Later, Kuprin said that when he left military service, the most difficult thing for him was that he did not have any knowledge. Therefore, Alexander Ivanovich began to thoroughly study life and read books.
The future famous Russian writer Kuprin began to travel all over the country and tried himself in many professions. But he did this, not because he could not decide on a further type of activity, but because he was interested in it. Kuprin wanted to thoroughly study the life and life of people, their characters, in order to reflect these observations in his stories.
In addition to the fact that the writer studied life, he took his first steps in the literary field - he published articles, wrote feuilletons, and essays. A significant event in his life was cooperation with the authoritative magazine "Russian wealth". It was in it that in the period from 1893 to 1895 "In the dark", "Inquiry" were printed. In the same period, Kuprin met I. A. Bunin, A. P. Chekhov and M. Gorky.
In 1896, Kuprin's first book was published - "Kyiv types", a collection of his essays and the story "Moloch" was published. A year later, a collection of short stories "Miniatures" was published, which Kuprin presented to Chekhov.
Kuprin's stories differed in that the central place here was given not to politics, but to the emotional experiences of the characters. But this does not mean that the writer was not concerned about the plight of the common population. The story "Moloch", which brought fame to the young writer, tells about the difficult, even disastrous, working conditions for the workers of a large steel plant.
It is no coincidence that the work received such a name: the writer compares this enterprise with the pagan god, Moloch, who requires constant human sacrifice. The aggravation of the social conflict (the revolt of the workers against the authorities) was not the main thing in the work. Kuprin was more interested in how the modern bourgeoisie can adversely affect a person. Already in this work one can notice the writer's interest in the personality of a person, his experiences, reflections. Kuprin wanted to show the reader what a person who is faced with social injustice feels.
No less works have been written about love. In the work of Kuprin, love occupied a special place. He always wrote about her touchingly, reverently. His heroes are people who are able to experience, to experience sincere feelings. One of these stories is Olesya, written in 1898.
All created images have a poetic character, especially the image of the main character Olesya. The work tells about the tragic love between a girl and the narrator, Ivan Timofeevich, an aspiring writer. He came to the wilderness, to Polissya, to get acquainted with the way of life of the inhabitants unknown to him, their legends and traditions.
Olesya turned out to be a Polesie witch, but she has nothing to do with the usual image of such women. She combines beauty with inner strength, nobility, a little naivety, but at the same time, she feels a strong will and a little dominance. And her fortune-telling is not connected with cards or other forces, but with the fact that she immediately recognizes the character of Ivan Timofeevich.
The love between the characters is sincere, all-consuming, noble. After all, Olesya does not agree to marry him, because she considers herself no match for him. The story ends sadly: Ivan did not manage to see Olesya a second time, and he only had red beads as a memory of her. And all other works on a love theme are distinguished by the same purity, sincerity and nobility.
The work that brought fame to the writer and occupied an important place in the work of Kuprin was "Duel". It was published in May 1905, already at the end of the Russo-Japanese War. A.I. Kuprin wrote the whole truth of army morals using the example of one regiment located in a provincial town. The central theme of the work is the formation of the personality, its spiritual awakening on the example of the hero Romashov.
"Duel" can also be explained as a personal battle between the writer and the stupefying everyday life of the tsarist army, which destroys all that is best in a person. This work has become one of the most famous, despite the fact that the ending is tragic. The ending of the work reflects the realities that existed at that time in the tsarist army.
In the stories, Kuprin appears as a connoisseur of psychological analysis precisely because he always sought to understand what drives a person, what feelings control him. In 1905, the writer went to Balaklava and from there traveled to Sevastopol to take notes on the events that took place on the rebel cruiser Ochakov.
After the publication of his essay "Events in Sevastopol", he was expelled from the city and forbidden to come there. During his stay there, Kuprin creates the story "Listriginov", where the main characters are simple fishermen. The writer describes their hard work, character, which were congenial to the writer himself.
In the story "Staff Captain Rybnikov" the psychological talent of the writer is fully revealed. The journalist is engaged in a covert fight with a secret agent of Japanese intelligence. And not for the purpose of exposing him, but in order to understand what a person feels, what drives him, what kind of internal struggle is going on in him. This story was highly appreciated by readers and critics.
A special place was occupied in the work of writers of works on a love theme. But this feeling was not passionate and all-consuming, rather, he described love, selfless, selfless, faithful. Among the most famous works are "Shulamith" and "Garnet Bracelet".
It is this kind of selfless, perhaps even sacrificial love that is perceived by the heroes as the highest happiness. That is, the spiritual strength of a person lies in the fact that you need to be able to put the happiness of another person above your own well-being. Only such love can bring true joy and interest in life.
A.I. Kuprin was married twice. His first wife was Maria Davydova, the daughter of a famous cellist. But the marriage lasted only 5 years, but during this time their daughter Lydia was born. Kuprin's second wife was Elizaveta Moritsovna-Heinrich, with whom he married in 1909, although before this event they had lived together for two years. They had two girls - Ksenia (in the future - a famous model and artist) and Zinaida (who died at the age of three.) The wife survived Kuprin for 4 years and committed suicide during the blockade of Leningrad.
The writer took part in the war of 1914, but due to illness he had to return to Gatchina, where he made an infirmary for wounded soldiers from his house. Kuprin was waiting for the February Revolution, but, like most, he did not accept the methods that the Bolsheviks used to assert their power.
After the White Army was defeated, the Kuprin family went to Estonia, then to Finland. In 1920 he came to Paris at the invitation of I. A. Bunin. The years spent in exile were fruitful. His works were popular with the public. But, despite this, Kuprin yearned for Russia more and more, and in 1936 the writer decides to return to his homeland.
Just as Kuprin's childhood was not easy, so the last years of his life were not easy. His return to the USSR in 1937 made a lot of noise. On May 31, 1937, he was met by a solemn procession, which included famous writers and admirers of his work. Already at that time, Kuprin had serious health problems, but he hoped that in his homeland he would be able to restore his strength and continue to engage in literary activities. But on August 25, 1938, Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin passed away.
AI Kuprin was not just a writer who told about various events. He studied human nature, sought to know the character of every person he met. Therefore, reading his stories, readers empathize with the characters, sad and rejoice with them. Creativity A.I. Kuprin occupies a special place in Russian literature.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Born August 26 (September 7), 1870 in Narovchat - died August 25, 1938 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Russian writer, translator.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the county town of Narovchat (now the Penza region) in the family of an official, hereditary nobleman Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin (1834-1871), who died a year after the birth of his son.
Mother, Lyubov Alekseevna (1838-1910), nee Kulunchakova, came from a family of Tatar princes (a noblewoman, she did not have a princely title). After the death of her husband, she moved to Moscow, where the future writer spent his childhood and adolescence.
At the age of six, the boy was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school (orphan), from where he left in 1880. In the same year he entered the Second Moscow Cadet Corps.
In 1887 he was released into the Alexander Military School. Subsequently, he will describe his "military youth" in the stories "At the Turning Point (Cadets)" and in the novel "Junkers".
Kuprin's first literary experience was poetry, which remained unpublished. The first work that saw the light was the story "The Last Debut" (1889).
In 1890, Kuprin, with the rank of second lieutenant, was released into the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment, stationed in the Podolsk province (in Proskurov). The life of an officer, which he led for four years, provided rich material for his future works.
In 1893-1894, his story "In the Dark", the stories "Moonlight Night" and "Inquiry" were published in the St. Petersburg magazine "Russian Wealth". On the army theme, Kuprin has several stories: "Overnight" (1897), "Night Shift" (1899), "Campaign".
In 1894, Lieutenant Kuprin retired and moved to Kyiv, having no civilian profession. In the following years, he traveled a lot around Russia, having tried many professions, eagerly absorbing life experiences that became the basis of his future works.
During these years, Kuprin met I. A. Bunin, A. P. Chekhov and M. Gorky. In 1901 he moved to St. Petersburg, began working as a secretary for the Journal for All. Kuprin's stories appeared in St. Petersburg magazines: "Swamp" (1902), "Horse thieves" (1903), "White Poodle" (1903).
In 1905, his most significant work, the story "Duel", was published, which was a great success. The writer's speeches with the reading of individual chapters of the "Duel" became an event in the cultural life of the capital. His other works of this time: the stories "Staff Captain Rybnikov" (1906), "The River of Life", "Gambrinus" (1907), the essay "Events in Sevastopol" (1905). In 1906 he was a candidate for deputies of the State Duma of the 1st convocation from the St. Petersburg province.
Kuprin's work in the years between the two revolutions resisted the decadent moods of those years: the cycle of essays "Listrigons" (1907-1911), stories about animals, the stories "Shulamith" (1908), "Garnet Bracelet" (1911), the fantastic story "Liquid Sun" (1912). His prose became a prominent phenomenon in Russian literature. In 1911 he settled in Gatchina with his family.
After the outbreak of the First World War, he opened a military hospital in his house, and campaigned in the newspapers of citizens to take military loans. In November 1914 he was mobilized into the army and sent to Finland as an infantry company commander. Demobilized in July 1915 for health reasons.
In 1915, Kuprin completed work on the story "The Pit", in which he tells about the life of prostitutes in Russian brothels. The story was condemned for excessive, according to critics, naturalism. Nuravkin's publishing house, which published Kuprin's "Pit" in the German edition, was brought to justice by the prosecutor's office "for the distribution of pornographic publications."
I met the abdication of Nicholas II in Helsingfors, where he was undergoing treatment, and accepted it with enthusiasm. After returning to Gatchina, he was the editor of the newspapers Svobodnaya Rossiya, Volnost, Petrogradsky Leaf, and sympathized with the Social Revolutionaries. After the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, the writer did not accept the policy of war communism and the terror associated with it. In 1918 he went to Lenin with a proposal to publish a newspaper for the village - "Earth". He worked at the publishing house "World Literature", founded. At this time he made a translation of Don Carlos. He was arrested, spent three days in prison, was released and put on the list of hostages.
On October 16, 1919, with the arrival of the Whites in Gatchina, he entered the rank of lieutenant in the North-Western Army, was appointed editor of the army newspaper "Prinevsky Territory", which was headed by General P. N. Krasnov.
After the defeat of the Northwestern Army, he went to Revel, and from there in December 1919 to Helsinki, where he stayed until July 1920, after which he went to Paris.
By 1930, the Kuprin family was impoverished and mired in debt. His literary fees were meager, and alcoholism accompanied all his years in Paris. Since 1932, his eyesight has been steadily deteriorating, and his handwriting has become much worse. Returning to the Soviet Union was the only solution to Kuprin's material and psychological problems. At the end of 1936, he nevertheless decided to apply for a visa. In 1937, at the invitation of the USSR government, he returned to his homeland.
Kuprin's return to the Soviet Union was preceded by an appeal by the Plenipotentiary of the USSR in France, V.P. Potemkin, on August 7, 1936, with a corresponding proposal to I.V. Stalin (who gave a preliminary "go-ahead"), and on October 12, 1936, with a letter to the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs N.I. Ezhov. Yezhov sent Potemkin's note to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which on October 23, 1936 decided: "to allow the writer A. I. Kuprin to enter the USSR" (voted "for" I. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, V. Ya. Chubar and A. A. Andreev; K. E. Voroshilov abstained).
He died on the night of August 25, 1938 from cancer of the esophagus. He was buried in Leningrad on the Literary bridges of the Volkovsky cemetery next to the grave of I. S. Turgenev.
Tales and novels by Alexander Kuprin:
1892 - "In the dark"
1896 - "Moloch"
1897 - "Army Ensign"
1898 - "Olesya"
1900 - "At the turning point" (The Cadets)
1905 - "Duel"
1907 - "Gambrinus"
1908 - Shulamith
1909-1915 - "Pit"
1910 - "Garnet Bracelet"
1913 - "Liquid Sun"
1917 - "Star of Solomon"
1928 - "The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia"
1929 - "The Wheel of Time"
1928-1932 - "Junkers"
1933 - "Janeta"
Alexander Kuprin's stories:
1889 - "Last Debut"
1892 - "Psyche"
1893 - "On a Moonlit Night"
1894 - “Inquiry”, “Slavic Soul”, “Lilac Bush”, “Unspoken Audit”, “To Glory”, “Madness”, “At the Departure”, “Al-Issa”, “Forgotten Kiss”, “About how Professor Leopardi gave me a voice"
1895 - "Sparrow", "Toy", "In the Menagerie", "The Petitioner", "Picture", "Terrible Minute", "Meat", "Untitled", "Overnight", "Millionaire", "Pirate", " Lolly", "Holy Love", "Curl", "Agave", "Life"
1896 - "Strange case", "Bonza", "Horror", "Natalya Davydovna", "Demigod", "Blessed", "Bed", "Fairy Tale", "Nag", "Alien Bread", "Friends", " Marianna", "Dog's Happiness", "On the River"
1897 - “Stronger than death”, “Charm”, “Caprice”, “First-born”, “Narcissus”, “Breguet”, “First comer”, “Confusion”, “Wonderful Doctor”, “Barbos and Zhulka”, “Kindergarten "," Allez!
1898 - "Loneliness", "Wilderness"
1899 - "Night Shift", "Lucky Card", "In the Bowels of the Earth"
1900 - "The Spirit of the Age", "Dead Power", "Taper", "Executioner"
1901 - "Sentimental Romance", "Autumn Flowers", "On Order", "Hiking", "In the Circus", "Silver Wolf"
1902 - "At rest", "Swamp"
1903 - "Coward", "Horse Thieves", "How I Was an Actor", "White Poodle"
1904 - “Evening Guest”, “Peaceful Life”, “Ugar”, “Zhidovka”, “Diamonds”, “Empty Cottages”, “White Nights”, “From the Street”
1905 - "Black Fog", "Priest", "Toast", "Headquarters Captain Rybnikov"
1906 - "Art", "Killer", "River of Life", "Happiness", "Legend", "Demir-Kaya", "Resentment"
1907 - "Delirium", "Emerald", "Small", "Elephant", "Tales", "Mechanical Justice", "Giants"
1908 - "Seasickness", "Wedding", "Last Word"
1910 - "In a family way", "Helen", "In the cage of the beast"
1911 - "Telegrapher", "Traction Manager", "King's Park"
1912 - Grass, Black Lightning
1913 - "Anathema", "Elephant Walk"
1914 - "Holy lies"
1917 - "Sashka and Yashka", "Brave Runaways"
1918 - Piebald Horses
1919 - "The Last of the Bourgeois"
1920 - "Lemon Peel", "Fairy Tale"
1923 - "One-Armed Commandant", "Fate"
1924 - "Slap"
1925 - "Yu-yu"
1926 - "The Daughter of the Great Barnum"
1927 - "Blue Star"
1928 - "Inna"
1929 - "Paganini's Violin", "Olga Sur"
1933 - "Night Violet"
1934 - "The Last Knights", "Ralph"
Essays by Alexander Kuprin:
1897 - "Kyiv types"
1899 - "To the capercaillie"
1895-1897 - a series of essays "Dragoon Student"
"Dneprovsky seafarer"
"Future Patty"
"False Witness"
"Singer"
"Fireman"
"Housekeeper"
"Tramp"
"Thief"
"Painter"
"Arrows"
"Hare"
"Doctor"
"Hanzhushka"
"Beneficiary"
"Card Provider"
1900 - Travel pictures:
From Kyiv to Rostov-on-Don
From Rostov to Novorossiysk. Legend of the Circassians. Tunnels.
1901 - "Tsaritsyno conflagration"
1904 - "In memory of Chekhov"
1905 - "Events in Sevastopol"; "Dreams"
1908 - "A little bit of Finland"
1907-1911 - a cycle of essays "Listrigons"
1909 - "Don't touch our tongue." About Russian-speaking Jewish writers.
1921 - “Lenin. Instant photo»
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 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 writer of the early 20th century, who left a noticeable mark in literature. Throughout his life, he combined literary work with military service and travel, was an excellent observer of human nature and left behind stories, novels and essays made in the genre of realism.
Alexander Ivanovich was born in 1870 to a noble family, but his father died very early, and therefore the boy's growing up was difficult. Together with his mother, the boy moved from the Penza region to Moscow, where he was sent to a military gymnasium. This determined his life - the following years he was somehow connected with military service.
In 1887, he went to study as an officer, three years later he completed his studies and went to an infantry regiment stationed in the Podolsk province as a second lieutenant. A year before, the first story of the novice writer, "The Last Debut", was published in the press. And for four years of service, Alexander Ivanovich sent several more works to print - “In the Dark”, “Inquiry”, “Moonlight Night”.
After retiring, the writer moved to live in Kyiv, and then traveled around Russia for a long time, continuing to collect experience for the following works and periodically publishing stories and novels in literary magazines. In the early 1900s, he became closely acquainted with Chekhov and Bunin and moved to the northern capital. The most famous works of the writer - "Garnet Bracelet", "Pit", "Duel" and others - were published between 1900 and 1915.
At the beginning of the First World War, Kuprin was again called up for service and sent to the northern border, but he was quickly demobilized due to poor health. Alexander Ivanovich took the 1917 revolution ambiguously - he reacted positively to the abdication of the tsar, but was against the Bolshevik government and leaned more towards the ideology of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Therefore, in 1918, like many others, he went into French emigration - but still returned to his homeland a year later to help the strengthened White Guard movement. When the counter-revolution suffered a final defeat, Alexander Ivanovich returned to Paris, where he lived quietly for many years and published new works.
In 1937 he returned to the Union at the invitation of the government, because he was very homesick for his abandoned homeland. However, a year later he died of incurable cancer of the esophagus and was buried in St. Petersburg.
