Andrey Bely famous works. Andrey Bely - biography

(1880 - 1934)

Bely Andrey is a pseudonym. Real name - Bugaev Boris Nikolaevich, poet.
Born on October 14 (26 NS) in Moscow in the family of a professor at Moscow University. Received an excellent home education. He studied at the gymnasium of the prominent teacher L. Polivanov, where his extraordinary humanitarian talents were revealed, manifested in his studies in literature and philosophy. Among Russian classics, he especially appreciated N. Gogol and F. Dostoevsky. In 1903 he graduated from the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Mathematics of Moscow University. Along with studying the works of Charles Darwin and positivist philosophers, he was interested in theosophy and occultism, religious philosophy and poetry of Vl. Solovyov and the philosophical and poetic works of F. Nietzsche. At the same time, he “took religious issues seriously.”
He belonged to the symbolists of the “younger generation” (together with A. Blok, Vyacheslav Ivanov, S. Solovyov, Ellis). In 1904, the first collection of poems, “Gold in Azure,” was published, supplemented by a special section “Lyrical passages in prose.” A. Bely was one of the theorists of Russian symbolism of the “second wave”, the developer of a new aesthetic worldview. Developing the thesis about music as the dominant form of art and the need to subordinate others to it, he tried to create a literary work according to musical laws: these are his four “symphonies” - “Northern” (1901), “Dramatic”, “Return” (1902), " Cup of Blizzards" (1907), embodying the basic ideas of Russian religious, philosophical, theurgic symbolism. From the “symphonies” begins a direct line to the ornamental style of Bely’s first novel, “Silver Dove,” written a year later.
The revolution of 1905 - 07 forced A. Bely to turn to reality, aroused interest in social problems. In 1909, the collections “Ashes” and then “Urna” were published.
In 1912, together with his wife, the artist A. Turgeneva, he left for Europe, where he became interested in the mystical teachings of R. Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. In 1914 he settled in the anthroposophical center in Switzerland, and together with other followers of Steiner he took part in the construction of St. John's Temple. Here the war finds him, and only in 1916 does he return to Russia.
During these years, prose works occupied the main place in his work. Among them, the most famous is the novel "Petersburg" (1913 - 14, second edition - 1922). A. Bely was not hostile to October Revolution, although he did not become its singer. In the post-revolutionary years, he taught classes on the theory of poetry with young writers at Proletkult, and published the journal “Notes of Dreamers.”
In the 1920s, the stories “Kotik Letaev” (1922), “The Baptized Chinese” (1927), and the historical epic “Moscow” were written.
A. Bely devoted the last years of his life to writing extensive memoirs that are of extremely great interest for history and literary criticism (“At the turn of two centuries,” 1930, “The beginning of the century. Memoirs,” 1933, “Between two revolutions,” 1934). On January 8, 1934 he died in Moscow.

Unlike Blok, who was most attracted by the past with its great romantics, Bely was entirely turned to the future and of the Symbolists was closest to futurists. In particular, his prose had a great influence, which revolutionized the style of Russian writers. Bely is a more complex figure than Blok, and all other symbolists; in this sense he can rival the most complex and disconcerting figures in Russian literature - Gogol and Vladimir Solovyov, who had no small influence on him. On the one hand, Bely is the most extreme and typical expression of symbolist views; no one went further than him in the desire to reduce the world to a system of “correspondences” and no one perceived these “correspondences” more concretely and realistically. But it is precisely this concreteness of his intangible symbols that returns him to realism, which, as a rule, is outside the symbolist way of self-expression. He's so in control the finest shades reality, with the most expressive, significant, suggestive and at the same time elusive details, he is so great and so original in this that a completely unexpected comparison involuntarily arises with the realist of realists - with Tolstoy. And yet, Bely’s world, despite its more than life-like details, is an immaterial world of ideas into which our local reality is only projected as a whirlwind of illusions. This insubstantial world of symbols and abstractions seems to be a spectacle full of color and fire; Despite his completely serious, intense spiritual life, he strikes as a kind of metaphysical “show,” brilliant, funny, but not entirely serious.

Lecture by Nikolai Alexandrov “Poets of the Silver Age: Andrei Bely and Sasha Cherny”

Bely has a strange lack of sense of tragedy, and in this he is again the complete opposite of Blok. His world is the world of the elves, which is beyond good and evil; in it White runs around like Ariel, undisciplined and erratic. Because of this, some see Bely as a seer and prophet, others as a mystic charlatan. Whoever he is, he is strikingly different from all the Symbolists complete absence sacramental solemnity. Sometimes he is involuntarily funny, but in general, with extraordinary audacity, he merged his outward comedy with mysticism and uses this with extraordinary originality in his work. He is a great humorist, probably the greatest in Russia since Gogol, and for the average reader this is his most important and attractive feature. But Bely’s humor is puzzling - it is too unlike anything else. It took the Russian public twelve years to appreciate it. But those who tasted it and got a taste for it will always recognize it as the rarest, most exquisite gift of the gods.

Bely's poetry

Andrei Bely is usually considered primarily a poet, and, in general, this is true; but his poems are smaller both in volume and in meaning than his prose. In poetry he almost always experiments, and no one has done more than him in discovering hitherto unknown possibilities of Russian verse, especially in its traditional forms. His first book is full of ancient Germanic associations (more in plots than in form). On many pages you will meet Nietzsche with his Zarathustra symbols, and Böcklin with his centaurs, but even here the first fruits of his humorous naturalism are visible. Ash, the most realistic of Bely’s poetry collections is a book that is also the most serious, although it contains some of his funniest things ( The priest's daughter And Seminarian). But the dominant note is gloomy and cynical despair. This book contains the most serious and powerful poem Russia (1907):

Enough: don’t wait, don’t hope, -
Scatter, my poor people!
Fall into space and break
Year after year, painful year.

And it ends with the words:

Disappear into space, disappear
Russia, my Russia!

Ten years later, from above second revolution, he rewrote these verses, ending them like this:

Russia! Russia! Russia! –
Messiah of the coming day.

Urn(written after Ashes and published at the same time) is a curious collection of pessimistic and bizarrely ironic reflections on the non-existence of the world of realities discovered by Kant’s philosophy. From that time on, Bely wrote some poetry; his last book of poetry ( After separation, 1922) - frankly speaking, a collection of verbal and rhythmic exercises. But one of his poems - First date(1921) – lovely. Like Three meetings Solovyov, this is a mixture of seriousness and fun, which for Bely are strangely inseparable. Most of it will again seem to the uninitiated an empty verbal and phonetic game. We must accept it as such - with pleasure, because it is incredibly fun. But the realistic part of the poem is something more. There are his best humorous portraits - portraits of the Solovyovs (Vladimir, Mikhail and Sergei), and a description of a large symphony concert in Moscow (1900) - a masterpiece of verbal expressiveness, gentle realism and charming humor. This poem is closely related to Bely’s prose work and is also based on very complex system musical construction, with leitmotifs, “correspondences” and “references” to oneself.

Bely's prose

In the preface to his first prose work ( Dramatic Symphony) Bely says: “This thing has three meanings: a musical meaning, a satirical meaning and, in addition, a philosophical and symbolic meaning.” This can be said about all prose, except to note that the second meaning is not always purely satirical - it would be more correct to call it realistic. The last meaning, philosophical, is probably, according to Bely, the most important. But for the reader who wants to enjoy Bely's prose, it is important not to take his philosophy too seriously and not puzzle over its meaning. This will be useless, especially in relation to his later "anthroposophical" works, the philosophy of which cannot be understood without a previous long initiation in Dornach Rudolf Steiner. Besides, this is not necessary. Bely's prose will lose nothing if its philosophical symbols are perceived simply as an ornament.

His prose is “ornamental prose” - a prosaic text formed according to the principles of poetry, where the plot fades into the background, and metaphors, images, associations, and rhythm come to the fore. "Ornamental" prose is not necessarily marked by elevated poetic language, as in Vyacheslav Ivanov. On the contrary, it can be emphatically realistic, even aggressively rude. The main thing about it is that it draws the reader’s attention to the smallest detail: to the words, to their sound and rhythm. It is directly opposite to the analytical prose of Tolstoy or Stendhal. The greatest Russian ornamentalist was Gogol. Ornamental prose has a distinct tendency to escape the control of a greater magnitude, to destroy the integrity of the work. This trend completely developed among almost all of Bely’s successors. But in Bely’s own work this tendency is balanced by the musical architectonics of the entire work. This musical architectonics is expressed in the name itself. Symphonies, which Bely gave to his works, and is carried out by a thoughtful system of leitmotifs and repetitions-links, “crescendo and diminuendo”, parallel development of independent, but (in their symbolism) interconnected themes. However, the centrifugal tendency of ornamental style usually overcomes the centripetal forces of musical construction and (with the possible exception of Silver dove) Symphonies and Bely’s novels do not present a perfect whole. In this sense, they cannot be compared with the highest unity Twelve Blok. Symphonies(especially the first one, the so-called Second, Dramatic) contain many wonderful pages, especially satirical ones. But I cannot recommend them to an inexperienced beginning reader. It’s better to start reading Bely with Memories of Alexander Blok or from the first novel - Silver Dove, which you can read about in a separate article on our website.

Bely's next novel, Petersburg, as well as Silver Dove The theme is the philosophy of Russian history. Subject Silver dove– confrontation between East and West; topic St. Petersburg– their coincidence. Russian nihilism, in both its forms - the formalism of the St. Petersburg bureaucracy and the rationalism of the revolutionaries, is presented as the intersection point of the devastating Western rationalism and destructive forces"Mongolian" steppes. Both heroes St. Petersburg, bureaucrat father and terrorist son Ableukhova is of Tatar origin. How much Silver Dove comes from Gogol, just as Petersburg comes from Dostoevsky, but not from all of Dostoevsky - only from Double, the most “ornamental” and Gogolian of all “Dostoevsky” things. By style Petersburg is unlike previous things, here the style is not so rich and, as in Double, tuned to the leitmotif of madness. The book is like a nightmare, and it is not always possible to understand what is actually happening. In it great strength obsessions and the narrative is no less fascinating than in Silver dove. The plot revolves around an infernal machine that is set to explode in twenty-four hours, and the reader is kept in suspense the entire time by detailed and varied accounts of these twenty-four hours and the decisions and counter-decisions of the hero.

Kotik Letaev- Bely’s most original and unlike anything else. This is the story of his own infancy and it begins with memories of life before birth - in the mother's womb. It is built on a system parallel lines, one develops into real life child, the other in the “spheres”. This is undoubtedly a work of genius, despite the confusing details and the fact that the anthroposophical explanation of childhood impressions as repetitions of previous racial experiences is not always convincing. Main line narration (if we can talk about narration here) is the gradual formation of a child’s ideas about the outside world. This process is conveyed using two terms: “swarm” and “formation”. This is the crystallization of chaotic endless “swarms” and clearly defined and ordered “formations”. Development is symbolically enhanced by the fact that the child’s father, a famous mathematician, is a master of “building”. But for the anthroposophist Bely, an unlimited “swarm” seems to be a truer and more meaningful reality.

Continuation Kotika Letaeva – The crime of Nikolai Letaev much less abstractly symbolic and can be easily read by the uninitiated. This is Bely's most realistic and funniest work. It unfolds in real world: it is about the rivalry between his parents - a mathematician father and an elegant and frivolous mother - over raising their son. Here Bely is in his best form as a subtle and insightful realist, and his humor (although symbolism is always present) reaches a special charm.

Notes from an eccentric, although they are brilliantly ornamental, it is better for the reader not initiated into the secrets of anthroposophy not to read. But his last work by Andrei Bely - Memories of Alexander Blok(1922) is an easy and simple read. There is no musical construction, and Bely is clearly focused on conveying the facts as they happened. The style is also less ornamental, sometimes even careless (which never happens in his other works). Two or three chapters devoted to the anthroposophical interpretation of Blok’s poetry can be skipped. The remaining chapters are deposits of the most interesting and unexpected information from the history of Russian symbolism, but, above all, this is a delightful read. Despite the fact that he always looked up to Blok, as a higher being, Bely analyzes him with amazing insight and depth. The story of their mystical connection in 1903–1904. unusually lively and convincing. But I think that the best thing about these Memories– portraits of minor characters, which are written with all the inherent wealth of intuition, subtext and humor inherent in White. The figure of Merezhkovsky, for example, is a pure masterpiece. This portrait is already widely known among the reading public and, probably, the slippers with tassels, which Bely introduced as Merezhkovsky’s leitmotif, will forever remain as an immortal symbol of their wearer.

Real name - Bugaev Boris Nikolaevich (born in 1880 - died in 1934). Writer, poet, philologist, philosopher, one of the leading representatives of Russian symbolism, literary theorist.

The birth of a new century has always been perceived by many as an exceptional phenomenon, marking the end of a historical cycle and the beginning of a new era. It was 1900 that became the year of birth of Andrei Bely, a wonderful symbolist poet late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, whose work expressed the feeling of a total crisis of life and the world order. His contemporary, the philosopher F. Stepun, wrote: “Bely’s work is the only embodiment of the non-existence of the “turn of two centuries” in terms of strength and originality; Earlier than in any other soul, the building of the 19th century collapsed in Bely’s soul and the outlines of the 20th century became foggy.”

Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev) was born on October 14 (26), 1880 in Moscow, in a house on the corner of Arbat Street and Denezhny Lane (now Arbat, 55). A significant part of his dramatic and eventful life passed there.

His father, Nikolai Vasilyevich Bugaev, was an outstanding mathematician and Leibnizian philosopher. From 1886 to 1891, Bugaev Sr. served as dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Moscow University. He became the founder of the Moscow mathematical school, which, under his leadership, anticipated many of the ideas of Tsiolkovsky and other Russian theorists space flights. N.V. Bugaev was known to wide European circles for his scientific works, and to Moscow students for his phenomenal absent-mindedness and eccentricities, about which jokes circulated among students. For dozens of years, first-graders studied using an arithmetic textbook compiled by Bugaev Sr. He liked to repeat: “I hope that Borya will look like his mother, and his mind will look like me.” Behind these words spoken in jest was a family drama. The mathematics professor was very ugly. Once one of Andrei Bely’s acquaintances, not knowing his father by sight, said: “Look, what a man! You don’t know who this monkey is?..”

But Boris Bugaev’s mother was unusually pretty. In the painting by K.E. Makovsky's "Boyar Wedding" with Alexandra Dmitrievna painted the bride. The boy's mother was much younger than her famous husband and loved social life. The spouses were not suitable for each other either in intelligence or level of interests. The situation was the most ordinary: a sloppy, ugly husband, always busy with mathematics, and a beautiful, flirtatious wife. It is no wonder that there was discord in their relationship. And the family was rocked day by day by quarrels and scandals over every, even the smallest, occasion. Little Borya more than once witnessed a showdown between his parents. Not only the nerves, but also the boy’s consciousness were forever affected by the “family storms of life,” as he wrote in his novels, becoming famous writer. Consequences family drama left an indelible impression, having a profound influence on the formation of Boris’s character and for his entire future life.

He was afraid of his father and secretly hated him, but he pitied and admired his mother. Later, having matured, the boy felt respect for his father, revealing for himself the depth of his knowledge; and love for the mother coexisted in the wounded soul of the child with an unflattering opinion of her intelligence. Boris learned to combine incompatible things, because everything that was accepted by his mother was not accepted by his father and vice versa. This later brought him notoriety as a two-faced man. According to A. Bely, he was “torn apart” by his parents: his father wanted to make him his successor, and his mother fought against this intention with music and poetry - “I was a bone of contention. I went into myself early.”

Borya grew up in a hothouse “female” atmosphere. Everyone spoiled him: his mother, his aunt, his governess. The boy was nervous and capricious, but he studied well and was drawn to knowledge. He received an excellent education at home: he read poems by Goethe and Heine in the original, loved fairy tales by Andersen and Afanasyev, and listened to the music of Beethoven and Chopin with his mother.

The boy entered the famous private gymnasium L.I. Polivanov, one of the best in Moscow. The director of the gymnasium remained an object of worship for Bori Bugaev throughout his life. Polivanov's lessons awakened a love for languages and literature in the young high school student. Boris became interested in Ibsen and the French and Belgian modernists. Already in the gymnasium, Bugaev’s literary talent clearly manifested itself: the boy began to write for the class magazine.

At the end of 1895 - beginning of 1896, the young man became close to M.S.’s family. Solovyov, his wife and son. In 1901, the young poet read his first poems and “symphonies” (rhythmic poetry) with them. The pen test turned out to be successful. It was decided that a new poet had been born. The young man called Solovyov himself his godfather. It was he who suggested that the aspiring writer take the pseudonym “Andrei Bely” in order to hide his “decadent hobbies” from his loved ones and not upset his father with a “symbolic debut.” The choice of pseudonym was not accidental. The departure of student Boris Bugaev to literary creativity, according to M. Tsvetaeva, was akin to religious asceticism. White- divine, symbol of the second baptism. The name Andrey is also symbolic. It is translated as “courageous”, moreover, this was the name of one of the 12 apostles of Christ.

In 1903, Boris Bugaev brilliantly graduated from the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, the following year he entered the Faculty of History and Philology, but in 1905 his studies were interrupted. A year later, he submitted a request for expulsion in connection with a trip abroad.

Before entering the university, the young man experienced, in his words, a state of “scissors.” He did not choose whether to be a “physicist” or a “lyricist.” The young man came up with his plan for studying subjects: 4 years - Faculty of Science, 4 years - Faculty of Philology, in order to realize the idea of mastering facts in the spirit of a worldview built on 2 pillars - “aesthetics and natural science”.

While studying at the university, A. Bely is interested not only in literature, but also in philosophy. He sits in his father's office reading books on the problems of hypnosis, spiritualism, the occult, and Indian culture. B. Bugaev seriously studies the works of Darwin and positivist philosophers. The encyclopedic “dispersion” of his hobbies amazed and at the same time delighted his contemporaries. I.F. Annensky recalled: “A richly gifted nature. Bely simply does not know which of his muses he should smile at once again. Kant is jealous of his poetry. Poetry goes to music."

In the fall of 1903, Andrei Bely with a group of like-minded people, among whom were A.S. Petrovsky, S.M. Soloviev, V.V. Vladimirov and others formed the “Argonauts” circle. Its members became servants of a special mythology of life-creation, worship of the glorified Vl. Solovyov Eternal Femininity. “Young Symbolists,” as they called themselves, sought to understand the mystical secrets of existence. A. Bely called this time the “dawns” of symbolism, which rose after the twilight of decadent paths, which ended the night of pessimism in the young poet’s worldview.

Following the general desire of the Symbolists to synthesize the arts, Bely created 4 literary works that have no analogues - a symphony, where the prose narrative was built according to the laws of the musical symphonic form. The young poet tried to completely move away from the traditional denouement of the plot and replaced it with crossing and alternating “musical themes,” refrains, and rhythmization of phrases. The most striking work of this genre was the “Northern Symphony”, which, according to Bely, arose from improvisation to the music of E. Grieg. Unfortunately, critics did not appreciate the symphony of the aspiring poet. The duality that permeated them was alien to new literature, but certain stylistic discoveries of the young author had a further impact strong impact to "ornamental prose". By as much as 20 years, A. Bely anticipated the technique of describing the chaos of city life in the novel “Ulysses” by J. Joyce.

After the release of dramatic symphonies, A. Bely, at the suggestion of V. Bryusov, began to prepare a collection of poems for the Scorpio magazine. Soon he met the organizers of St. Petersburg religious and philosophical meetings and the publishers of the magazine “ New way» D.S. Merezhkovsky and Z.N. Gippius. In the same year, a correspondence began between A. Bely and A. Blok, which marked the beginning of a dramatic friendship and enmity between the poets. The young people had known each other in absentia for a very long time. A. Bely admired Blok’s poetry, and he, in turn, decided to enter into controversy with the author of the article “On Forms of Art,” who was Bely. It was the dissimilarity of views on the art of the young Symbolists that was the reason for the first letter. And exactly a year later, in 1904, in his apartment on Arbat B. Bugaev met his pen pal and his wife, Lyubov Dmitrievna.

Everyone who knew both poets noted the sharp differences in their characters. Z.N. Gippius wrote: “It is difficult to imagine two beings more opposite than Borya Bugaev and Blok.” But despite the obvious differences, they had much in common: an attitude to life and literature, an interest in philosophy, broad erudition and, of course, a literary gift manifested in different ways. The Young Symbolists worshiped the cult of the Beautiful Lady and professed love-mystery as the path to eschatological knowledge of the world. Young poets sought to find the embodiment of the Beautiful Lady on earth. And Lyubov Dmitrievna Blok became such a woman. Andrei Bely, unnoticed by himself, fell in love with a friend’s wife, and she reciprocated his feelings. The poet, frightened, retreated, explaining that he had been misunderstood. A loving woman I took these words as an insult. The character of Boris Bugaev complicated their relationship to the extreme. He always followed the same tactics in relationships with women. Bely conquered them with his charm, not allowing even a hint of any sensual relationship. But the poet did not fully fulfill his role and sought in every possible way the object of his adoration, each time becoming furious if he was rejected. If a woman agreed to share his feelings, then Bely felt defiled.

In 1904, Andrei Bely published his first collection of poetry, “Gold in Azure.” Everything ideal, mythical, sublime in the poems included in this collection is indicated by light (sun, dawn) and color (description precious stones and fabrics) symbols. In his poems, the poet for the first time destroyed the traditional syllabonic meter and mixed two- and three-syllable measures of the poem. He arranged the lines according to intonation, anticipating the “columns and ladders” of V. Mayakovsky’s tonic poems. Formalist literary critic V. Shklovsky noted: “Without Bely’s poems, new Russian literature is impossible.”

In January 1905, the poet became close to Merezhkovsky, who accepted him into his “religious community” as the seventh member. Z.N. Gippius gave the young poet pectoral cross, which he defiantly wore over his clothes.

After the revolutionary events of 1905, which swept through Russia like a whirlwind, the famous poet, distinguished by his unstable worldview, again changed his position in life. He became interested in social problems: “This winter. changed me a lot: I once again doubted everything. in art, in God, in Christ. wanted to become Andryukha Krasnorubakhin,” he wrote in a letter to P.A. Florensky. Andrei Bely takes an active part in student rallies, marches in the ranks of demonstrators at the funerals of Trubetskoy and N.E. Bauman. Impressed by the December barricade battles, Bely writes the poem “Here again, in the ranks of the fighters.” The poet gets acquainted with the brochures of social democrats, socialist revolutionaries and even anarchists, reads “Capital” by K. Marx.

A. Bely and L.D. Blok decided to go to Italy, but the trip was not a success. The explanation with A. Blok was difficult, and Lyubov Dmitrievna decided to break off all relations with Bely. The poet recalled this period of his life with pain: “So many days - so many explosions of the heart, ready to jump out, so many crises of tormented consciousness.”

Soon, A. Bely’s second, Ellis, appeared at Blok’s estate with a challenge to a duel, which never took place.

The following year, a disagreement arose again between the rival friends, the cause of which was A. Blok’s collection “ Unexpected joy" A. Bely, without hesitation, denigrated the poems included in it and the play “Balaganchik”: “A fake childish and idiotic. Blok has ceased to be Blok." And Blok answered him in his own way: “I stopped understanding You. That’s the only reason I don’t dedicate this book to You.” Only many years later, after Blok’s death, did Bely admit that his criticism was unfair.

The enmity was also reinforced by controversy related to the work of realist writers, which led to a new challenge to a duel, but Bely sent several conciliatory letters and the conflict was resolved.

Soon Blok arrived in Moscow, and a long and frank conversation took place between friends and enemies. The fragile peace established after reconciliation was disrupted by another quarrel over the collection of poems by S. Solovyov “Flowers and Incense”. The poets separated, but they could not “divide forever.”

A. Bely was again the first to take a step towards reconciliation. Correspondence between them resumed. From that time (1910), their “zigzag relationship,” according to Bely, took on the character of “an even, calm, but somewhat distant friendship.” As in previous years, their letters began with the words: “Dear, close, beloved Sasha!” and “Dear, dear Borya.”

In the autumn of the same year, A. Bely leaves St. Petersburg to rethink his relationship with L.D. Block. At the same time, the poet drew attention to Asya Turgeneva and became close to her and her family. Having concluded civil marriage, at the end of 1910 they went abroad, where they traveled through Italy, Tunisia, and Palestine. The poet remained the same as he was: expansive, impetuous, but something broke in his attitude to life. He tries to heal mental wounds with work, as he writes in a letter to his mother: “Upon returning to Russia, I will take all measures to defend myself from the influx of unnecessary impressions. A plan for future literary works is now ripening before my eyes, which will create completely new uniform literature."

At this time, A. Bely is experiencing a whole series of “hysterics, breakdowns, collapses and abysses.” He is interested in philosophy and shows a serious interest in “exact knowledge.” A. Bely strives to create a “philosophical brick” under the title “Theory of Symbolism.” Since 1909, the poet has been conceiving an epic trilogy about the philosophy of Russian history, “East or West.” The first part of this unrealized plan was the then published novel “Silver Dove,” in which the influence of Gogol’s works is felt. In it, the author tries to answer the traditional question: where should we look for the salvation of Russia - in the West or in the East? - and, despairing of solving this problem, explains that he is lost in fog and chaos.

In the collection “Ashes” (1909), which is dedicated to N.A. Nekrasov, genre poems and works of social themes are included. A. Bely wrote: “The theme of the new book is Russia with its decayed past and unborn future. Analyzing the collection “Ashes”, S.M. Soloviev wrote: “Ashes of what? The former subjective experiences of the poet or objective reality are the ashes of Russia. Both,” he answers firmly. Another collection, Urn, includes poems from the same period as Ashes. A. Bely wrote it as “reflections on the frailty of human nature with its passions and impulses.” The author’s thoughts and feelings are largely inspired by Bely’s “St. Petersburg drama”, his tragic and sublime feelings for L.D. Block. “Ashes is a book of self-immolation and death: but death itself is only a veil that closes the horizons of the distant in order to find them in the near. In the Urn I collect my own ashes so that they do not obscure the light of my living Self.” - the poet wrote in the preface.

In 1910, the Moscow publishing house “Musaget”, which united symbolists of religious and philosophical orientation, published collections of Bely’s critical and theoretical articles “Symbolism” and “Arabesques”. Unfortunately, contemporaries did not appreciate the philosophical works of A. Bely. He was considered a poet, a mystic, a creator of unusual artistic forms, a genius or a madman, a prophet, a clown - but not a philosopher. Symbolists have repeatedly said that “Bely’s attempt to leave the “path of madness” on the strict path of critical thought could not but end in complete failure.” “In theoretical interests I was alone.” - Bely realized sadly.

In the spring of 1911, Bely and his wife returned to Russia. In search of income, he worked part-time in small newspapers and magazines. He has to wander around corners offered by random acquaintances; lack of money leads the vulnerable, restless poet into a dejected state. Driven to complete despair, in mid-November 1911 he wrote to A. Blok: “I must either give up literature and hang around among the front trustees of the district, or demand from society that A. Bely, who can write good things, be provided for by society. In 2 weeks I will roar with good obscenities at all the thresholds of the rich bourgeois bastard: “Give Christ for the sake of A. Bely.” Despite the complicated relationship between the famous poets, A. Blok immediately sent his friend the necessary money. For some time a way out of the situation was found.

At the same time A. White started work on the second part of the trilogy, but realized that direct continuation He won't be able to achieve the Silver Dove. The main theme of the new novel was St. Petersburg. This city in the novel is an inanimate vision, a haze that hides the intersection of two main trends in historical development. Its inhabitants are poisoned by the poison of contradictions, corroded by duality, which also destroyed the life of A. Bely himself. The novel “Petersburg” became the pinnacle of prose of Russian symbolism. This is the first “novel of consciousness” in world literature. Its publication was organized with the support of Blok.

In 1912, the poet and his wife went abroad again. In Germany, A. Bely met the founder of the anthroposophical movement, R. Steiner, and became his faithful follower. Since 1914, the couple moved to Switzerland, where, together with other followers of Steiner's ideas, they participated in the construction of St. John's Temple.

A. Bely became interested in the problem of internal self-knowledge and wrote several autobiographical novels - “Kotik Letaev” (1917), “Baptized Chinese” (1921).

The February Revolution became for Bely an inevitable breakthrough to the salvation of Russia. And he greeted the October Revolution joyfully. For the famous symbolist, it was a symbol of “the saving liberation of creative principles from the inertia of stagnation, the opportunity for Russia to enter a new stage.” spiritual development" The result of A. Bely’s spiritual ascent was the poem “Christ” (1918), where main character is a kind of symbol of the space revolution. From his pen came “Essay”, “Revolution and Culture”, and a collection of poems “Star”.

The famous symbolist gravitated towards the ideas of “spiritual communism”, so it was no coincidence that in the first post-revolutionary years he actively responded to calls to develop cultural and educational activities among the masses. A. Bely acts as a speaker and lecturer, teacher and one of the organizers and creators of the Free Philosophical Organization (Wolfils). He writes many critical and journalistic articles, striving to become “understandable to people,” moving away from the obscure, torn language of previous years. From the end of 1920, the poet lived in Petrograd, dreaming of going abroad. He even thought about escaping, but he told everyone about his plans. Mocking questions from friends about the timing of the escape caused A. Bely to have attacks of wild fear.

In the summer of 1921, A. Bely managed to travel to Europe with the goal of organizing the publication of his books and founding a branch of Wolfila in Berlin. The poet's break with Steiner and his followers was a real blow for him. Berlin witnessed his prolonged hysteria, which was expressed in drunken dancing. Living his life in foxtrots and polkas, Bely sought to trample all the best in himself, falling lower and lower. So he tried to drown out the pain caused to him by the break with L.D. Block. In a half-mad state, retaining the remnants of his cunning, the poet obtained a visa and left for Moscow.

On August 7, 1921, A. Blok died. Bely was grieving the loss. The obituary written by him began with the words: “A.A. has passed away. Blok is the first poet of modern times; the first voice fell silent, the song of songs ended.”

During the years spent abroad, A. Bely published 16 books and the poem “Gossolalia” about the cosmic meanings of the sounds of human speech. Returning to Russia, he married K.N. Vasilyeva and even conducted anthroposophical work for some time. He was almost never published, and the famous poet himself recent years worked on an autobiography consisting of three volumes - “At the turn of two centuries” (1930); "Beginning of the Century" (1933); “Between two revolutions” (1934). The writer's life story is revealed in the trilogy against the backdrop of the cultural life of the era, and she herself becomes the main character.

His plan to create a novel about Moscow was doomed to failure: only two parts of the first volume were written - “Moscow Eccentric” and “Moscow under Attack” and the 2nd volume - “Masks”. The author sought to bring to life a picture of history that had lost its meaning, but this plan became anti-epic.

The most important part of Bely’s legacy was his work on philology, primarily on poetry and poetic stylistics. In them he develops the theory of “rhythmic meaning”, the principles of studying sound recording and the vocabulary of writers. Works “Rhythm as dialectics”, “ Bronze Horseman", "Gogol's Mastery", "Rhythm and Meaning" and others had a largely decisive influence on literary criticism of the 20th century - the formalist and structuralist schools in the USSR, the "new criticism" in the USA, laid the foundations of the modern scientific poem (distinction between meter and rhythm, etc. .).

A. Bely died on January 8, 1934 from the consequences of sunstroke. Before his death, he asked to read his early poems to him:

I believed in the golden glitter.

And he died from solar arrows.

I measured the centuries with the Duma,

But I couldn’t live my life.

Listening to these lines for the last time, it was as if he had lived his rebellious and extravagant life again.

Valentina Sklyarenko

From the book “100 Famous Muscovites”, 2006

Andrey Bely(real name Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev; October 14 (26), 1880, Moscow, Russian Empire - January 8, 1934, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR) - Russian writer, poet, critic, poet ; one of the leading figures in Russiansymbolism.

Born into the family of Professor Nikolai Vasilyevich Bugaev, a famous mathematician and philosopher, and his wife Alexandra Dmitrievna, née Egorova. Until he was twenty-six he lived in the very center of Moscow, on Arbat; In the apartment where he spent his childhood and youth, there is currently a memorial apartment. In 1891-1899. studied at the famous gymnasium of L. I. Polivanov, where in the last grades he became interested in Buddhism and the occult, while simultaneously studying literature. Dostoevsky, Ibsen, and Nietzsche had a special influence on Boris at that time. In 1895, he became close to Sergei Solovyov and his parents, Mikhail Sergeevich and Olga Mikhailovna, and soon with Mikhail Sergeevich’s brother, the philosopher Vladimir Solovyov.

In 1899 he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University (Natural Science Department). IN student years meets the “senior symbolists”. WITH teenage years tried to combine artistic and mystical moods with positivism, with the desire for exact sciences. At the university he works on invertebrate zoology, studies Darwin, chemistry, but does not miss a single issue of the World of Art.

In the fall of 1903, a literary circle called the “Argonauts” was organized around Andrei Bely.

In our circle there was no common, stamped worldview, there were no dogmas: from now on we were united in quests, and not in achievements, and therefore many among us found ourselves in a crisis of our yesterday and in a crisis of a worldview that seemed outdated; we welcomed him in his efforts to give birth to new thoughts and new attitudes,” recalled Andrei Bely.

In 1904, the “Argonauts” gathered in the apartment of Astrov . At one of the meetings of the circle, it was proposed to publish a literary and philosophical collection called “Free Conscience”, and in 1906 two books in this collection were published.

In 1903, Bely entered into correspondence with A. A. Blok, and in 1904 they met personally. Before that, in 1903, he graduated from the university with honors, but in the fall of 1904 he entered the history and philology department of the university, choosing B. A. Fokht as the head; however, in 1905 he stopped attending classes, in 1906 he submitted a request for expulsion and began to collaborate in “Scales” (1904-1909).

Bely lived abroad for more than two years, where he created two collections of poems dedicated to Blok and Mendeleeva. Returning to Russia, in April 1909 the poet became close to Asya Turgeneva (1890-1966) and together with her in 1911 he made a series of trips through Sicily - Tunisia - Egypt - Palestine (described in “Travel Notes”). In 1912 in Berlin, he met Rudolf Steiner, became his student and devoted himself to his apprenticeship and anthroposophy without looking back. In fact, moving away from the previous circle of writers, he worked on prose works. When the war of 1914 broke out, Steiner and his students, including Andrei Bely, moved to Dornach, Switzerland. The construction of John's building, the Goetheanum, began there. This temple was built with my own hands Steiner's students and followers. On March 23, 1914, in the Swiss city of Bern, a civil marriage was concluded between Anna Alekseevna Turgeneva and Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev. In 1916, B. N. Bugaev was called up to military service and arrived in Russia in a roundabout way through France, England, Norway and Sweden. Asya did not follow him.

After the October Revolution, he taught classes on the theory of poetry and prose at the Moscow Proletkult among young proletarian writers. From the end of 1919, Bely was thinking about going abroad to return to his wife in Dornach. But he was released only at the beginning of September 1921. He met with Asya, who invited him to separate forever. Judging by the poems of that time, by his behavior (“Bely’s christian dances,” in the words of Marina Tsvetaeva), one can feel that he took this separation very hard.

Asya decided to leave her husband forever and remained to live in Dornach, devoting herself to serving the cause of Rudolf Steiner. She was called the "anthroposophical nun." Being a talented artist, Asya managed to preserve a special style of illustrations, which were added to all anthroposophical publications. Her “Memories of Andrei Bely”, “Memories of Rudolf Steiner and the construction of the first Goetheanum” reveal to us the details of their acquaintance with anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner and many famous talented people Silver Age. White was left completely alone. He dedicated to Asa large number poems. Her image can be recognized in Katya from The Silver Dove.

In October 1923, Bely returned to Moscow; Asya remains forever in the past. But a woman appeared in his life who was destined to spend his last years with him. Klavdiya Nikolaevna Vasilyeva (nee Alekseeva; 1886-1970) became last girlfriend Bely, for whom he did not have loving feelings, but held on to her as if she were a savior. Quiet, submissive, caring Klodya, as the writer called her, became Bely’s wife on July 18, 1931. Before this, from March 1925 to April 1931, they rented two rooms in Kucine near Moscow. The writer died in her arms from a stroke, which was a consequence sunstroke , January 8, 1934 in Moscow. Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva survived ex-lover for five years.

Literary debut - “Symphony (2nd, dramatic)” (M., 1902). It was followed by “Northern Symphony (1st, heroic)” (1904), “Return” (1905), “Blizzard Cup” (1908) in the individual genre of lyrical rhythmic prose with characteristic mystical motifs and a grotesque perception of reality. Having entered the circle of symbolists, he participated in the magazines “World of Art”, “New Path”, “Scales”, “Golden Fleece”, “Pass”. The early collection of poems “Gold in Azure” (1904) is distinguished by its formal experimentation and characteristic symbolist motifs. After returning from abroad, he published collections of poems “Ashes” (1909; the tragedy of rural Rus'), “Urna” (1909), the novel “Silver Dove” (1909; separate edition 1910), essays “The Tragedy of Creativity. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy" (1911).

The results of his own literary critical activity, partly of symbolism in general, are summed up in collections of articles “Symbolism” (1910; also includes poetry works), “Green Meadow” (1910; includes critical and polemical articles, essays on Russian and foreign writers), “ Arabesques" (1911). In 1914-1915, the first edition of the novel “Petersburg” was published, which is the second part of the trilogy “East or West”. The novel “Petersburg” (1913-1914; revised, shortened version 1922) contains a symbolized and satirical image of Russian statehood. The first in the planned series of autobiographical novels is “Kotik Letaev” (1914-1915, separate edition 1922); the series was continued with the novel “The Baptized Chinese” (1921; separate edition 1927). In 1915 he wrote a study “Rudolf Steiner and Goethe in the worldview of our time” (Moscow, 1917)

The understanding of the First World War as a manifestation of the general crisis of Western civilization is reflected in the cycle “At the Pass” (“I. Crisis of Life”, 1918; “II. Crisis of Thought”, 1918; “III. Crisis of Culture”, 1918). The perception of the life-giving element of revolution as a salutary way out of this crisis is in the essay “Revolution and Culture” (1917), the poem “Christ is Risen” (1918), and the collection of poems “Star” (1922). Also in 1922, in Berlin, he published the “sound poem” “Glossolalia”, where, based on the teachings of R. Steiner and the method of comparative historical linguistics, he developed the theme of creating a universe from sounds. Upon returning to Soviet Russia(1923) creates the novel duology “Moscow” (“Moscow eccentric”, “Moscow under attack”; 1926), the novel “Masks” (1932), writes memoirs - “Memories of Blok” (1922-1923) and a memoir trilogy “At the turn of two centuries” (1930), “The beginning of the century” (1933), “Between two revolutions” (1934), theoretical and literary studies “Rhythm as dialectics and the Bronze Horseman” (1929) and “The Mastery of Gogol” ( 1934).

Novels

"Silver Dove. A Tale in 7 Chapters" (M.: Scorpion, 1910; circulation 1000 copies); ed. Pashukanis, 1917; ed. "Epoch", 1922
“Petersburg” (in the 1st and 2nd collections “Sirin” (St. Petersburg, 1913; circulation - 8100 copies), ending in the 3rd collection “Sirin” (SPb., 1914; circulation 8100 copies) .; separate edition ([Pg.], 1916; edition 6000 copies); revised version in 1922 - parts 1, 2. M.: Nikitin Subbotniks, 1928; circulation 5000 copies.);
“Kitten Letaev” (1915; ed. - St. Petersburg: Epoch, 1922; circulation 5000 copies).)
“The Baptized Chinese” (as “The Crime of Nikolai Letaev” in the 4th issue of the alm. “Notes of Dreamers” (1921); ed., M.: Nikitinskie Subbotniki, 1927; circulation 5000 copies)
“Moscow eccentric” (M.: Krug, 1926; circulation 4000 copies), also 2nd ed. - M.: Nikitin subbotniks, 1927
“Moscow under attack” (M.: Krug, 1926; circulation 4000 copies), also 2nd ed. - M.: Nikitin subbotniks, 1927
“Masks. Novel" (M.; Leningrad: GIHL; 1932; circulation 5000 copies), published in January 1933

Poetry

“Gold in Azure” (M.: Scorpion, 1904), collection of poems
“Ashes. Poems” (St. Petersburg: Rosehip, 1909; circulation 1000 copies; 2nd edition, revised - M.: Nikitinskie Subbotniki, 1929; circulation 3000 copies)
"Urn. Poems" (M.: Grif, 1909; circulation 1200 copies)
"Christ is risen. Poem" (Pb.: Alkonost, 1918; circulation 3000 copies), published in April 1919
“First date. Poem" (1918; separate edition - St. Petersburg: Alkonost, 1921; circulation 3000 copies; Berlin, "Slovo", 1922)
"Star. New poems" (M.: Alcyona, 1919; P., GIZ, 1922)
"The Queen and the Knights. Fairy Tales" (Pb.: Alkonost, 1919)
"Star. New poems" (Pb.: State Publishing House, 1922; circulation 5000 copies).
"After Separation", Berlin, "Epoch", 1922
“Glossolalia. Poem about Sound" (Berlin: Epoch, 1922)
"Poems about Russia" (Berlin: Epoch, 1922)
Poems (Berlin, ed. Grzhebin, 1923)

Documentary prose

« Travel notes"(2 volumes) (1911)

“Ofeira. Travel notes, part 1." (M.: Book Publishing House of Writers in Moscow, 1921; circulation 3000 copies)
“Travel Notes, vol. 1. Sicily and Tunisia” (M.; Berlin: Helikon, 1922)

“Memories of Blok” (Epic. Literary monthly edited by A. Bely. M.; Berlin: Helikon. No. 1 - April, No. 2 - September, No. 3 - December; No. 4 - June 1923)
“At the turn of two centuries” (M.; Leningrad: Land and Factory, 1930; circulation 5000 copies)
“The Beginning of the Century” (M.; L.: GIHL, 1933; circulation 5000 copies).
“Between two revolutions” (L., 1935)

Articles

"Symbolism. Book of Articles" (M.: Musaget, 1910; circulation 1000 copies)
“The meadow is green. Book of Articles" (M.: Alcyona, 1910; circulation 1200 copies)
“Arabesques. Book of Articles" (M.: Musaget, 1911; circulation 1000 copies)
"The tragedy of creativity." M., "Musaget", 1911
"Rudolf Steiner and Goethe in the worldview of modern times" (1915)
“Revolution and Culture” (Moscow: G. A. Leman and S. I. Sakharov Publishing House, 1917), brochure
"Rhythm and Meaning" (1917)
"On the Rhythmic Gesture" (1917)
“At the pass. I. The crisis of life" (Pb.: Alkonost, 1918)
“At the pass. II. Crisis of Thought" (Pb.: Alkonost, 1918), published in January 1919
“At the pass. III. Crisis of culture" (Pb.: Alkonost, 1920)
"Sirin of learned barbarism." Berlin, "Scythians", 1922
“On the meaning of knowledge” (Pb.: Epoch, 1922; circulation 3000 copies)
“Poetry of the Word” (Pb.: Epoch, 1922; circulation 3000 copies)
“Wind from the Caucasus. Impressions" (M.: Federation, Krug, 1928; circulation 4000 copies).
"Rhythm as dialectic and the Bronze Horseman." Research" (Moscow: Federation, 1929; circulation 3000 copies)
"Gogol's mastery. Research" (M.-L.: GIHL, 1934; circulation 5000 copies), published posthumously in April 1934

Miscellaneous

“The tragedy of creativity. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy" (M.: Musaget, 1911; circulation 1000 copies), brochure
"Symphonies"

Northern Symphony (heroic) (1900; published - M.: Scorpion, 1904)
Symphony (dramatic) (M.: Scorpion, 1902)
Return. III Symphony (M.: Grif, 1905. Berlin, "Ogonki", 1922)
Blizzard Cup. The Fourth Symphony" (M.: Scorpion, 1908; circulation 1000 copies).

“One of the abodes of the kingdom of shadows” (L.: State Publishing House, 1924; circulation 5000 copies), essay

Editions

Andrey Bely Petersburg. - Printing house of M. M. Stasyulevich, 1916.
Andrey Bely At the pass. - Alkonost, 1918.
Andrey Bely One of the abodes of the kingdom of shadows. - L.: Leningradsky Gublit, 1925.
Andrey Bely Petersburg. — M.: “ Fiction, 1978.
Andrey Bely Selected Prose. - M.: Sov. Russia, 1988. —
Andrey Bely Moscow / Comp., intro. Art. and note. S.I. Timina. - M.: Sov. Russia, 1990. - 768 p. — 300,000 copies.
Andrey Bely Baptized Chinese. — “Panorama”, 1988. —
Bely A. Symbolism as a worldview. - M.: Republic, 1994. - 528 p.
Andrey Bely Collected works in 6 volumes. - M.: Terra - Book Club, 2003-2005.
Andrey Bely Gogol's mastery. Study. — Book Club Knigovek, 2011. —
Bely A. Poems and poems / Intro. article and comp. T. Yu. Khmelnitskaya; Prepare text and notes N.B. Bank and N.G. Zakharenko. — 2nd edition. - M., L.: Sov. writer, 1966. - 656 p. - (Poet's Library. Large series.). — 25,000 copies.
Bely A. St. Petersburg / Edition prepared by L. K. Dolgopolov; Rep. ed. acad. D. S. Likhachev. - M.: Nauka, 1981. - 696 p. - (Literary monuments).

Andrey Bely short biography outlined in this article.

Andrey Bely biography brief

Andrey Bely(real name Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev- Russian writer; one of the leading figures of Russian symbolism and modernism in general.

Born on October 14, 1880 in Moscow in the family of scientist, mathematician and philosopher Nikolai Bugaev.

In 1891-1899. graduated from the famous Moscow gymnasium of L.I. Polivanov, he developed an interest in poetry.

In 1899, at the insistence of his father, he entered the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. Which he graduated with honors in 1903.

In 1902, Andrei Bely, together with his friends, organized the Argonauts literary circle. And after 4 years, members of the circle published two collections “Free Conscience”.

In 1903, Bely began correspondence with Alexander Blok, and a year later they met personally.

In 1904, Andrei Bely’s first poetry collection, “Gold in Azure,” was published.

In the fall, he re-entered Moscow University at the Faculty of History and Philology, but in 1905 he stopped attending lectures, and in 1906 he submitted a request for expulsion in connection with a trip abroad.

Two years later, Bely returned to Russia. And then he married Asa Turgeneva. He traveled a lot until one day he met Rudolf Steiner and became his student.

In 1909 he became one of the co-founders of the Musaget publishing house. Since 1912, he edited the magazine “Works and Days”.

In 1916, Andrei Bely returned to Russia, but alone, without his wife.

From the end of 1919, Bely thought about returning to his wife in Dornach; he was released abroad only in 1921. In 1921-1923, he lived in Berlin, where he experienced a break with Turgeneva,

In October 1923, Bely unexpectedly returned to Moscow to pick up his friend Claudia Vasilyeva. In March 1925, he rented two rooms in Kuchina near Moscow. The writer died in the arms of his wife Claudia Nikolaevna on January 8, 1934 from a stroke - a consequence of sunstroke that happened to him in Koktebel.