Poet Nikolai Gumilyov biography. Love and philosophy in later poems

Biography

Childhood and youth

Born into the noble family of the Kronstadt ship doctor Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilyov (July 28 - February 6). Mother - Gumilyova (Lvova) Anna Ivanovna (June 4 - December 24).

His grandfather - Panov Yakov Fedotovich (-) - was a sexton of the church in the village of Zheludevo, Spassky district, Ryazan province.

As a child, Nikolai Gumilyov was a weak and sickly child: he was constantly tormented by headaches and did not react well to noise. According to Anna Akhmatova (“The Works and Days of N. Gumilyov,” vol. II), the future poet wrote his first quatrain about the beautiful Niagara at the age of six.

In the fall of 1895, the Gumilyovs moved from Tsarskoye Selo to St. Petersburg, rented an apartment in Shamin’s house on the corner of Degtyarnaya and 3rd Rozhdestvenskaya streets, and the following year Nikolai Gumilyov began studying at the Gurevich gymnasium. In 1900, the elder brother Dmitry (1884-1922) was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the Gumilyovs left for the Caucasus, to Tiflis. In connection with the move, Gumilev entered the fourth grade for the second time, the 2nd Tiflis Gymnasium, but six months later, on January 5, 1901, he was transferred to the 1st Tiflis Men's Gymnasium. Here, in the “Tiflis Leaflet” of 1902, N. Gumilyov’s poem “I fled from the cities into the forest...” was first published.

In 1903, the Gumilyovs returned to Tsarskoye Selo and N. Gumilyov again entered the VII class Tsarskoye Selo Gymnasium. He studied poorly and once was even on the verge of expulsion, but the director of the gymnasium, I.F. Annensky, insisted on leaving the student for the second year: “All this is true, but he writes poetry.” In the spring of 1906, Nikolai Gumilyov nevertheless passed the final exams and on May 30 received a certificate of maturity for No. 544, which included the only five in logic.

A year before graduating from high school, the first book of his poems, “The Path of the Conquistadors,” was published at the expense of his parents. This collection received a separate review from Bryusov, who at that time was one of the most authoritative poets. Although the review was not laudatory, the master concluded it with the words “Let us assume that it [the book] is only the “path” of the new conquistador and that his victories and conquests are ahead,” it was after this that correspondence began between Bryusov and Gumilyov. For a long time, Gumilyov considered Bryusov his teacher; Bryusov’s motifs can be traced in many of his poems (the most famous of them is “The Violin,” however, dedicated to Bryusov). Master for a long time patronized the young poet and treated him, unlike most of his students, kindly, almost in a fatherly way.

After graduating from high school, Gumilyov went to study at the Sorbonne.

Abroad

Photo from 1907

In 1907, in April, Gumilyov returned to Russia to go through the draft board. In Russia, the young poet met with his teacher, Bryusov, and his lover, Anna Gorenko. In July, he set off from Sevastopol on his first trip to the Levant and returned to Paris at the end of July. There is no information about how the trip went, except for letters to Bryusov.

after our meeting, I was in the Ryazan province, in St. Petersburg, lived for two weeks in the Crimea, a week in Constantinople, in Smyrna, had a fleeting affair with some Greek woman, fought with the Apaches in Marseilles and only yesterday, I don’t know how, I don’t know why , found myself in Paris.

There is a version that it was then that Gumilyov first visited Africa, this is also evidenced by the poem “Ezbekiye,” written in 1917:

How strange - exactly ten years have passed
Since I saw Ezbekiye,

However, chronologically this is unlikely.

At this time, symbolism was experiencing a crisis, which young poets sought to overcome. They declared poetry to be a craft, and all poets were divided into masters and apprentices. In the “Workshop” Gorodetsky and Gumilyov were considered masters, or “syndics”. Initially, “The Workshop” did not have a clear literary orientation. At the first meeting, which took place at Gorodetsky’s apartment, there were Piast, Blok with his wife, Akhmatova and others. Blok wrote about this meeting:

A carefree and sweet evening.<…>Youth. Anna Akhmatova. Conversation with N. S. Gumilyov and his good poems<…>It was fun and simple. You get better with young people.

Second expedition to Abyssinia

The second expedition took place in 1913. It was better organized and coordinated with the Academy of Sciences. At first, Gumilyov wanted to cross the Danakil desert, study little-known tribes and try to civilize them, but the Academy rejected this route as expensive, and the poet was forced to propose a new route:

His nephew Nikolai Sverchkov went to Africa with Gumilyov as a photographer.

First, Gumilyov went to Odessa, then to Istanbul. In Turkey, the poet showed sympathy and sympathy for the Turks, unlike most Russians. There, Gumilyov met the Turkish consul Mozar Bey, who was traveling to Harar; they continued their journey together. From Istanbul they headed to Egypt, and from there to Djibouti. The travelers had to go inland along railway, but after 260 kilometers the train stopped because the rains washed out the track. Most of the passengers returned, but Gumilyov, Sverchkov and Mozar Bey begged the workers for a handcar and drove 80 kilometers of damaged track on it. Arriving in Dire Dawa, the poet hired a translator and set off in a caravan to Harar.

In Harar, Gumilev bought mules, not without complications, and there he met Ras Tefari (then the governor of Harar, later Emperor Haile Selassie I; adherents of Rastafarianism consider him the incarnation of the Lord - Jah). The poet gave the future emperor a box of vermouth and photographed him, his wife and sister. In Harare, Gumilyov began collecting his collection.

Aba Muda

From Harar the path lay through the little-explored Galla lands to the village of Sheikh Hussein. On the way, we had to cross the fast-water Uabi River, where Nikolai Sverchkov was almost dragged away by a crocodile. Soon problems with provisions began. Gumilyov was forced to hunt for food. When the goal was achieved, the leader and spiritual guide Sheikh Hussein Aba Muda sent provisions to the expedition and warmly received it. This is how Gumilyov described the prophet:

There Gumilyov was shown the tomb of Saint Sheikh Hussein, after whom the city was named. There was a cave there, from which, according to legend, a sinner could not get out:

I should have undressed<…>and crawl between the stones into a very narrow passage. If anyone got stuck, he died in terrible torment: no one dared to extend a hand to him, no one dared to give him a piece of bread or a cup of water...

Gumilyov climbed there and returned safely.

Having written down the life of Sheikh Hussein, the expedition moved to the city of Ginir. Having replenished the collection and collected water in Ginir, the travelers went west, on a difficult journey to the village of Matakua.

The further fate of the expedition is unknown; Gumilyov’s African diary is interrupted at the word “Road...” July 26. According to some reports, on August 11, the exhausted expedition reached the Dera Valley, where Gumilev stayed in the house of the parents of a certain Kh. Mariam. He treated his mistress for malaria, freed a punished slave, and his parents named their son after him. However, there are chronological inaccuracies in the Abyssinian's story. Be that as it may, Gumilyov safely reached Harar and in mid-August was already in Djibouti, but due to financial difficulties he was stuck there for three weeks. He returned to Russia on September 1.

First World War

The beginning of 1914 was difficult for the poet: the workshop ceased to exist, difficulties arose in his relationship with Akhmatova, and he became bored with the bohemian life he led after returning from Africa.

At the end of February, as a result of continuous hostilities and travel, Gumilyov fell ill with a cold:

We advanced, knocked the Germans out of villages, went on trips, I also did all this, but as in a dream, now shivering with chills, now burning in the heat. Finally, after one night, during which I made at least twenty rounds and fifteen escapes from captivity without leaving the hut, I decided to take my temperature. The thermometer showed 38.7.

The poet was treated for a month in Petrograd, then was returned to the front again.

In September, the poet returned to Russia as a hero, and on March 28, 1916, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front No. 3332, he was promoted to ensign and transferred to the 5th Hussar Alexandria Regiment. Using this respite, Gumilyov was active in literary activity.

In April 1916, the poet arrived in the hussar regiment stationed near Dvinsk. In May, Gumilev was again evacuated to Petrograd. The night jump in the heat described in “Notes of a Cavalryman” cost him pneumonia. When the treatment was almost over, Gumilyov went out into the cold without permission, as a result of which the disease worsened again. Doctors recommended that he undergo treatment in the south. Gumilyov left for Yalta. However, on this military life the poet is not finished. On July 8, 1916, he again went to the front, again for a short time. On August 17, by order of regiment No. 240, Gumilev was sent to the Nikolaev Cavalry School, then again transferred to the front and remained in the trenches until January 1917.

In Paris, the poet fell in love with the half-Russian, half-French Elena Karolovna du Boucher, the daughter of a famous surgeon. He dedicated the collection of poems “To the Blue Star” to her, the pinnacle of the poet’s love lyrics. Soon Gumilyov moved to the 3rd brigade. However, the decay of the army was felt there too. Soon the 1st and 2nd brigades mutinied. He was suppressed, many soldiers were deported to Petrograd, the rest were united into one special brigade.

On January 22, 1918, Anrep got him a job in the encryption department of the Russian Government Committee. Gumilev worked there for two months. However, bureaucratic work did not suit him, and soon the poet returned to Russia.

On August 5, 1918, a divorce from Anna Akhmatova took place. Relations between the poets went wrong a long time ago, but it was impossible to divorce with the right to remarry before the revolution.

Since the spring of 1921, Gumilyov headed the Sounding Shell studio, where he shared his experience and knowledge with young poets and gave lectures on poetics.

Living in Soviet Russia Gumilyov did not hide his religious and political views - he openly baptized himself in churches and declared his views. So, at one of the poetry evenings, he answered a question from the audience - “what are your political beliefs?” answered - “I am a convinced monarchist.”

Nikolay Gumilyov- famous Russian poet of the Silver Age, prose writer, translator and literary critic. His biography is full of many sad events, which we will tell you about right now.

At the age of 35, Gumilev was shot on suspicion of participation in a conspiracy. However, for his short life he managed to write many works that became classics of Russian literature.

We present to your attention key points Nikolai Gumilyov.

Biography of Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was born on April 3, 1886 in Kronstadt. He grew up in the noble family of military doctor Stepan Yakovlevich, whose wife was Anna Ivanovna.

Childhood and youth

As a child, Nikolai Gumilyov was constantly sick and was generally a physically weak child. In addition, he could not stand noise and suffered from frequent attacks migraines.

Despite this, already in early age Nikolai began to write poetry, showing remarkable abilities.

Nikolai Gumilyov in Paris, photograph by Maximilian Voloshin, 1906

In 1909, Nikolai Gumilev entered the law department of St. Petersburg University. Together with his like-minded people, he creates the Apollo magazine, in which he continues to publish poetry and maintain one of the columns.

At the end of the same year, the poet goes to Abyssinia, where he spends several months. He will describe his impressions of the trip in the work “Pearls”.

Biography after 1911

Nikolai Gumilyov is the creator of the school of Acmeism. This literary movement opposed symbolism.

Representatives of Acmeism promoted the materiality and precision of the word, avoiding abstract concepts.

The first acmeistic poem in Gumilyov’s biography is “ Prodigal son" Every day his popularity is growing, and he is beginning to be considered one of the most talented poets.

In 1913, Gumilyov again traveled to Africa, where he spent six months. Due to the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918), he had to return home.

Being a patriot of his country, he goes to the front. However, the service did not prevent Nikolai Stepanovich from continuing to engage in writing.

In 1915, “Notes of a Cavalryman” and the collection “Quiver” were published.

After the end of the war, Gumilev begins to work on a translation of the epic of Gilgamesh. In parallel with this, he translates poems by Western poets.

The last collection in Gumilyov’s biography is “Pillar of Fire”. According to many, this book became the pinnacle of his work.

Gumilyov's creativity

In his works, Gumilyov paid great attention. His poetry masterfully intertwined themes of love, mythology and. Many of his poems were dedicated to Anna Akhmatova.

In more late period biographies, Gumilyov increasingly touched upon. He not only talked to the reader, but also forced him to think about the main problems of humanity.

Personal life

Gumilyov's first wife was Anna Akhmatova, with whom they had a son, Lev. They lived together for 8 years, after which they divorced.

Gumilyov and Akhmatova with their son

The poet's second wife was Anna Engelhard, who bore him a girl, Elena. An interesting fact is that Anna and her daughter died in Leningrad during the siege.

After this, Gumilyov had a whirlwind romance with Olga Vysotskaya. Subsequently, their son Orestes was born, but the poet never found out about this due to his death.

Death

On August 3, 1921, Gumilev was arrested by NKVD officers and accused of an anti-Bolshevik conspiracy.

And although many writers tried to save the poet, the authorities did not make any concessions. personally met with, wanting to change the decision on Gumilyov, but this did not produce any results.

Nikolai Gumilyov, photo from the investigation case, 1921

As a result, on August 24, a decree was announced to shoot the poet, as well as 56 of his “accomplices.”

Two days later, on August 26, 1921, Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev was shot at the age of 35.

Thus, Russia lost one of the most talented poets and scientists of his time.

Before going to his death, Nikolai Gumilyov wrote the following lines on the wall of his cell: “Lord, forgive my sins, I am going on my last journey.”

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Biography and episodes of life Nikolai Gumilyov. When born and died Nikolay Gumilyov, memorable places and dates important events his life. Poet quotes, photos and videos.

Years of life of Nikolai Gumilyov:

born April 15, 1886, died August 26, 1921

Epitaph

“He loved three things in the world:
During the evening - singing, white peacocks
And erased maps of America.
I didn't like it when children cried
Didn't like raspberry tea
And female hysteria."
From a poem by Anna Akhmatova dedicated to the memory of Nikolai Gumilyov

Biography

The life of Nikolai Gumilyov, a symbolist poet and one of the largest explorers of Africa, passed in the light of the fires of revolution and war. But he managed to protect his work from disturbing events: in his poems we find only themes of love, travel, art, death, but not politics.

A weak and sickly child who cannot stand noise and suffers from headaches is little Nikolai. Training was not easy for him. Changing gymnasiums and moving due to illness led Gumilyov to be retained for the second year several times. At times I even had to transfer to home schooling.

And yet Gumilyov managed to pass the final exams at the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium - with only an A, and logically. A year before receiving his matriculation certificate, his first poetry book, “The Path of the Conquistadors,” was published. The most authoritative poet of that time, Valery Bryusov, noted Gumilyov’s collection with a separate review.

After graduating from high school, Gumilyov went to study at the Sorbonne. In Paris he attended lectures on painting and French literature. I met Russian and French poets. Then his travels began: Italy, France, Turkey, Greece and, finally, Egypt. Nikolai Gumilev made more than one expedition to East and North-East Africa, from where he brought a rich collection of exhibits for the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera.

Upon returning from distant travels, Gumilyov plunged headlong into the bohemian poetic environment and married Anna Akhmatova. True, their family life did not last long - only eight years. After the revolution, the opportunity arose to dissolve the marriage, and soon the poet married a second time. The poetic circle of the Symbolists began to disintegrate, but Gumilyov managed to keep creative people around him. This is how a new literary movement was created - Acmeism.

Nikolai Gumilev was arrested on August 3, 1921 on suspicion of participation in a conspiracy. It was extremely difficult to imagine the gentle poet, in the past a weak and sickly young man, as a conspirator and intriguer, but Gumilyov remained firm in his political and religious views. Three weeks later, the poet was shot along with other convicts. The place of the execution is still unknown, just as it is unknown where Nikolai Gumilyov is buried.

Life line

April 15, 1886 Date of birth of Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov.
1894 Admission to the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium.
1895 Moving from Tsarskoe Selo to St. Petersburg with the family.
1896 Admission to the Gurevich gymnasium.
1901 Transfer to the 1st Tiflis Men's Gymnasium in the Caucasus.
1902 Publication of Gumilyov’s first poem “I fled to the forest from the cities...”.
1908 Publication of the collection “Romantic Poems”.
1910 Marriage to Anna Akhmatova.
1914 Participation in the fighting of the First World War as part of a volunteer battalion.
August 3, 1921 Gumilyov's arrest on suspicion of conspiracy.
August 26, 1921 Date of death of Nikolai Gumilyov.

Memorable places

1. Gumilyov’s house in St. Petersburg (intersection of Degtyarnaya and 3rd Sovetskaya streets).
2. The city of Bezhetsk in the Tver region, where the house-museum of Gumilyov and Akhmatova and the monument to Gumilyov are located.
3. Pobedino village Kaliningrad region, where a memorial sign was erected in honor of Gumilyov.
4. The city of Koktebel, where the monument to Gumilev is erected.
5. Shilovo village in Ryazan region, where the monument to Gumilyov is erected.
6. House of Arts in Kaliningrad, marked with a memorial plaque in memory of Gumilyov.

Episodes of life

Studying at the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium gave Gumilyov not only knowledge, but also his first love experience. It was here that he met the young poetess Anna Akhmatova, who later became his wife. The love story between Gumilev and Akhmatova unfolded for a long time and emotionally. Nikolai spent three years to finally win the hand of his beloved. However, married life together turned out to be unbearable for them: the family broke up. Gumilyov and Akhmatova had only son Lev, who later became a famous historian and writer.

It is believed that Nikolai Gumilyov introduced a certain “element of courageous romanticism” into poetry. In his work, the poet scrupulously selected artistic media, using only strict pathos for his own style of presentation. “Much more is in the way he speaks than in what he says,” Bryusov wrote about Gumilyov.

Covenant

“Death is true, but life mutters lies...”

“Not for everyday worries,
Not for gain, not for battles,
We were born to inspire
For sweet sounds and prayers..."

Documentary about Nikolai Gumilyov from the series of programs “Geniuses and Villains”

Condolences

“He was surprisingly young at heart, and perhaps also in mind. He always seemed like a child to me. There was something childish in his buzz cut head, in his bearing, more like a gymnasium than a military one.”
Vladislav Khodasevich, poet

“And this poet, the poet-knight, whose soul went into the Fata Morgana of the tropics, who listened from his distance thoughtfully and sensitively to the mysterious calls of the muezzins and the rustle of caravans in the golden sands mysterious deserts, illiterate, stupid and vile people killed him like a stray dog somewhere outside the city, so that his grave cannot be found. A mass grave, where professors, artists, and girls barely out of childhood, who were just as innocent as he, lay with him.”
Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko, writer

“The name of Gumilyov has become famous. His poems are read not only by literary specialists or poets; the “ordinary reader” reads them and learns to love these poems - courageous, intelligent, harmonious, noble, humane - in in the best sense words".
Georgy Adamovich, writer

Gumilev Nikolai Stepanovich (1886-1921) - Russian poet, whose work dates back to the Silver Age, is the founder of the Acmeism movement in poetry, translator, literary critic. He participated in expeditions in the east and northeast of Africa and made a huge contribution to the exploration of this continent. Thanks to his works, the rich collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg has been replenished with rare and significant exhibits.

Childhood

Nikolai Gumilyov was born in Kronstadt on April 15, 1886. His father Stepan Yakovlevich served as a ship's military doctor in the navy, his mother Anna Ivanovna (maiden name Lvova) was related to the nobility and belonged to an old family. There was also an eldest child in the family, also a boy, born in 1884, his name was Dmitry. Nikolai was weak as a child and was often sick; he suffered from constant headaches and could hardly stand noise.

In the fall of 1894, Gumilyov began studying at the Tsarskoe Selo gymnasium. After some time, due to frequent and prolonged illnesses, he was forced to switch to home studies.

In 1895, Nikolai's family left Tsarskoye Selo and moved to St. Petersburg. Here, in a merchant's house, they rented an apartment. The boy entered the gymnasium. In 1900, the elder brother Dmitry fell ill with tuberculosis, and the family was forced to leave for Tiflis. There Kolya began his studies again in the 4th grade of the 2nd Tiflis gymnasium. After a while, he became a student at the 1st Tiflis Men's Gymnasium.

In 1903, the whole family returned to Tsarskoye Selo. Nikolai again went to the local gymnasium, entering the 7th grade. His studies were bad for him, once he was almost expelled, but here his creative, poetic nature played a positive role. The director stood up for Gumilyov, and the young man stayed for a second year.

In 1906, the future poet graduated from high school and received a certificate. There was only one “excellent” mark – in the subject “Logic”.

Outside Russia

In 1906, Gumilev's life abroad began. He lived in Paris, at the Sorbonne. I became interested in studying French literature and attended lectures. He was interested in painting, he began studying it, and attended exhibitions. Nikolai was also always attracted to travel, he traveled a lot around France, and had a chance to visit Italy. In Paris, Gumilyov published three issues of the literary magazine Sirius, made acquaintances with writers and poets from Russia and France.

In the spring of 1907, Gumilyov had to return to his homeland to pass the draft board. In the summer of the same year he went to travel around the Levant, after which he returned to France.

In 1908, Gumilyov received funds for another collection of poems, his parents also helped him with money, and he set off to travel again. Sinop, Istanbul, Greece, Egypt, Ezbikiye, Cairo - the poet’s route this time ran through these cities and countries. At the very end of autumn he returned to St. Petersburg. Nicholas went to Africa for the second time in 1913.

Poetry

Gumilyov composed his first poem when he was six years old. It was a short quatrain about Niagara.

Gumilyov's poetic lines were first published in 1902, when the family lived in the Caucasus. The local newspaper “Tiflis Listok” published the verse “I fled to the forest from the cities...”.

In 1905, the first book with Gumilyov’s poems was published, it was called “The Path of the Conquistadors.” Nikolai’s parents gave money for the publication. Early, slightly naive poems, but, nevertheless, one’s own intonation was already visible.

Bryusov, one of the most authoritative poets of the early 20th century, honored this book with his attention and wrote a separate review. He did not praise Gumilyov’s poems, but he did not particularly criticize him either; he suggested that the young poet’s best would be ahead. From that time on, Gumilyov and Bryusov began to correspond. Nikolai treated Bryusov with great respect and veneration as a teacher. I dedicated my poem “Violin” to him. Some of his poetic works even show Bryusovian motifs. In response, from the master of poetry, young Gumilyov received a patronizing, almost paternal attitude.

In 1908, the next collection of Gumilyov’s poems was published, entitled “Romantic Flowers,” which was almost entirely dedicated to Anna Gorenko. Bryusov noted that this time the poems are already elegant and beautiful.

In 1909, Nikolai Gumilyov and the poet Sergei Makovsky became the organizers of the illustrated magazine "Apollo", which covered issues of painting and theatrical art, music and literature. Nikolai was the head of the literature and criticism department in this magazine, and here he published “Letters on Russian Poetry.”

In 1910, a collection of poems by “Pearls” was published, and although many called Gumilyov’s poetry “still student,” it received very flattering reviews.

In 1911, Nikolai Gumilyov took an active part in the creation of the “Workshop of Poets”.

In 1912, he made a loud statement about the opening of a new direction in poetry - Acmeism:

words are precise;
images and themes are substantive;
poems are material.

The public reaction was intense, mostly negative.

At the same time, Gumilyov studied at the university in St. Petersburg, became a student at the Faculty of History and Philology, and became interested in Old French poets and their work. In the same year, the book of poems “Alien Sky” was published.

In 1918, the African poem “Mick” and the poetry collection “Bonfire” were published.

In 1921, a collection of poems about a trip to Africa, “Tent,” was published; it is even called a “geography textbook in verse.” The second collection, published this year, was called “Pillar of Fire”; it was considered “the pinnacle of the poet’s work.”

Most of all in his work, Gumilyov paid attention to the themes of love, life, death and art. To a lesser extent, military and geographical poems were present. And what’s interesting is that his poems have almost no political themes at all.

Nikolai Gumilyov also wrote in prose and did a lot of translations.

Personal life

In 1903, Nikolai met high school student Anna Gorenko (the future Akhmatova). There was mutual sympathy between the young people.

In the spring of 1909, Gumilyov met his old friend, with whom the first meeting took place at the Sorbonne in 1906, poetess Elizaveta Dmitrieva. They developed a whirlwind romance, and the poet even invited her to become his wife. But Elizabeth chose someone else, moreover, Nikolai’s colleague at Apollo magazine, the poet Maximilian Voloshin.

At the end of 1909, when the idea of a literary hoax of Dmitrieva and Voloshin became public knowledge, followed by the scandalous exposure of Cherubina de Gabriac, Gumilyov allowed himself an unflattering statement about Elizabeth. In response, Maximilian Voloshin insulted Nikolai in front of everyone, for which he was challenged to a duel. This happened in November 1909. The news spread across all Moscow newspapers and magazines. Voloshin fired twice - it misfired. Gumilev fired upward. Both poets remained alive.

In 1910, after much hesitation and deliberation, Nikolai decided to get married. The wedding took place in Nicholas Church on the left bank of the Dnieper, near Kiev, in the village of Nikolskaya Slobodka. On April 25, Gorenko Anna Andreevna (Akhmatova) became his wife.

On October 1, 1912, the couple had a boy; they named him Lev. By 1914, relations had broken down. Nikolai went to war, upon his return from which in 1918 Gumilyov and Akhmatova divorced. Their son was raised by the poet's mother on the family estate in the Bezhetsky district of the Tver province.

In 1919, another marriage of Nikolai Gumilyov with Anna Nikolaevna Engelhardt was registered. The marriage gave birth to a daughter, Elena, who, together with her mother, Leningrad blockade died of hunger.

The poet had another fleeting romance with the literary critic, artist of the Meyerhold Theater Olga Nikolaevna Vysotskaya. She gave birth to a son, Orestes, from Nikolai, who later had three children - the only descendants of Gumilyov.

War years

Returning from the second African expedition, Gumilyov led a bohemian life, which, however, quickly became boring to him.

The year 1914 began with troubles. The “Workshop of Poets” closed, and there was a break in relations with Anna. In early August, Nikolai and his older brother Dmitry went to the front (Nikolai as a volunteer, Dmitry as a conscript). It’s interesting, but among all the poetic personalities who so patriotically wrote poems about the war, only Nikolai Gumilyov and Benedikt Livshits volunteered for the front.

The first two months were spent in training and preparatory classes. At the end of autumn, the regiment where Nikolai served was transferred to Southern Poland.

In 1915, Gumilyov fought in Volyn ( Western Ukraine).

Throughout the war, Nikolai went from a volunteer to a corporal, then from a non-commissioned officer to an ensign. He had an award - the St. George Cross, 3rd degree.

Gumilyov never hid the fact that he was a convinced monarchist. Living in Soviet Russia, he was never afraid to stop in front of a church and cross himself.

Nevertheless, he continued to work here and had no intention of emigrating anywhere. Gumilyov wrote poetry, gave lectures on poetry at the Institute of the Living Word, at the Sounding Shell studio, and was a member of the All-Russian Poetic Union (Petrograd Department).

At the beginning of August 1921, the poet was arrested; he was suspected of conspiracy and participation in Tagantsev’s Petrograd military organization. Nikolai's friends tried to help him out by all means, but nothing worked. Gumilev was shot. Only in 2014 was it established that Nikolai and 56 other convicts were killed on the night of August 26, 1921. To this day, it remains unknown where the poet was shot and buried.

In 1992, Nikolai Gumilyov was rehabilitated.

City	Memorial sign
Bezhetsk, Tver region	Sculptural composition for Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova and their son Lev
Kaliningrad region, Krasnoznamensky district, Pobedino village	Memorial sign in honor of N. Gumilyov
Koktebel	Monument to N. Gumilyov
Ryazan region, Shilovo village	Monument to N. Gumilyov
Kaliningrad	There is a memorial plaque at the House of Arts depicting a bas-relief of the poet.
Tver region, Bezhetsky district, village. Hradnice	There is a memorial plaque in the Gumilev estate.

In 2011, Russian Post issued an envelope depicting N. Gumilyov’s books and a stamp with a portrait of the poet.

Every year in the Kaliningrad region, in Krasnoznamensk, the “Gumilyov Autumn” evenings are held, which bring together poets and famous people from all over Russia.

Astronomer of the Crimean Observatory Lyudmila Karachkina discovered an asteroid in 1987, it was given the name “Gumilyov”.

Nikolay Gumilyov

Russian poet of the Silver Age, creator of the school of Acmeism, prose writer, translator and literary critic

Brief biography

Childhood and youth

Born into the noble family of the Kronstadt ship doctor Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilyov (1836-1910). Mother - Anna Ivanovna, née Lvova (1854-1942).

As a child, Nikolai Gumilyov was a weak and sickly child: he was constantly tormented by headaches and could not tolerate noise well. According to Anna Akhmatova (“The Works and Days of N. Gumilyov,” vol. II), the future poet wrote his first quatrain about the beautiful Niagara at the age of six.

He entered the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium in the fall of 1894, however, after studying for only a few months, due to illness he switched to home schooling.

In the fall of 1895, the Gumilyovs moved from Tsarskoe Selo to St. Petersburg, rented an apartment in the house of merchant N.V. Shalin on the corner of Degtyarnaya and 3rd Rozhdestvenskaya streets, and the following year Nikolai Gumilyov began studying at the Gurevich gymnasium. In 1900, the elder brother Dmitry (1884-1922) was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the Gumilyovs left for the Caucasus, to Tiflis. In connection with the move, Nikolai entered the fourth grade for the second time, the 2nd Tiflis Gymnasium, but six months later, on January 5, 1901, he was transferred to the 1st Tiflis Men's Gymnasium. Here, in the “Tiflis Leaflet” of 1902, the poem was first published N. Gumilyov “I fled to the forest from the cities...”.

In 1903, the Gumilyovs returned to Tsarskoye Selo and Nikolai Gumilyov in 1903 again entered the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium (in the 7th grade). He studied poorly and once was even on the verge of expulsion, but the director of the gymnasium, I.F. Annensky, insisted on leaving the student for the second year: “All this is true, but he writes poetry”. In the spring of 1906, Nikolai Gumilyov nevertheless passed the final exams and on May 30 received a certificate of maturity No. 544, which included a single “A” - according to logic.

A year before graduating from high school, the first book of his poems, “The Path of the Conquistadors,” was published at the expense of his parents. Bryusov, one of the most authoritative poets of that time, honored this collection with a separate review. Although the review was not laudatory, the master concluded it with the words “Let us assume that it [the book] is only the “path” of the new conquistador and that his victories and conquests are ahead”, it was after this that correspondence began between Bryusov and Gumilev. For a long time, Gumilyov considered Bryusov his teacher; Bryusov’s motifs can be traced in many of his poems (the most famous of them is “The Violin,” however, dedicated to Bryusov). The master patronized the young poet for a long time and treated him, unlike most of his students, kindly, almost in a fatherly way.

After graduating from high school, Gumilev went to study at the Sorbonne.

Abroad

Photo from 1906

Since 1906, Nikolai Gumilyov lived in Paris: he attended lectures on French literature at the Sorbonne, studied painting, and traveled a lot. Visited Italy and France. While in Paris, he published the literary magazine Sirius (in which Anna Akhmatova made her debut), but only 3 issues of the magazine were published. He visited exhibitions, met French and Russian writers, and was in intensive correspondence with Bryusov, to whom he sent his poems, articles, and stories. At the Sorbonne, Gumilyov met the young poetess Elizaveta Dmitrieva. This fleeting meeting played a fatal role in the poet’s fate a few years later.

Photo of Maximilian Voloshin, Gumilyov N.S. in Paris, 1906.

In Paris, Bryusov recommended Gumilyov to such famous poets as Merezhkovsky, Gippius, Bely and others, but the masters treated him carelessly young talent. In 1908, the poet “revenged” the insult by anonymously sending them the poem “Androgyne.” It received extremely favorable reviews. Merezhkovsky and Gippius expressed a desire to meet the author.

In 1907, in April, Gumilyov returned to Russia to go through the draft board. In Russia, the young poet met his teacher, Bryusov, and his lover, Anna Gorenko. In July, he set off from Sevastopol on his first trip to the Levant and returned to Paris at the end of July. There is no information about how the trip went, except for letters to Bryusov.

after our meeting, I was in the Ryazan province, in St. Petersburg, lived for two weeks in the Crimea, a week in Constantinople, in Smyrna, had a fleeting affair with some Greek woman, fought with the Apaches in Marseilles and only yesterday, I don’t know how, I don’t know why , found myself in Paris.

There is a version that it was then that Gumilyov first visited Africa, this is also evidenced by the poem “Ezbekiye,” written in 1917 (How strange - exactly ten years have passed // Since I saw Ezbekiye). However, chronologically this is unlikely.

In 1908, Gumilyov published the collection “Romantic Flowers”. Sergei Makovsky wrote about him: “The poems seemed to me rather weak even for an early book. However, with the exception of one thing - “Ballad”; it struck me with a tragic tone.”

With the money received for the collection, as well as with the funds accumulated by his parents, he goes on a second journey. Arrived in Sinop, where I had to quarantine for 4 days, and from there to Istanbul. After Turkey, Gumilev visited Greece, then went to Egypt, where he visited Ezbikiye. In Cairo, the traveler suddenly ran out of money and was forced to go back. On November 29 he was again in St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Gumilyov is not only a poet, but also one of the largest researchers in Africa. He made several expeditions to East and North-East Africa and brought a rich collection to the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) in St. Petersburg.

First expedition to Abyssinia

Africa attracted Gumilyov since childhood; he was inspired by the exploits of Russian volunteer officers in Abyssinia (later he would even repeat the route of Alexander Bulatovich and partly the routes of Nikolai Leontyev). Despite this, the decision to go there came suddenly, and on September 25 he went to Odessa, from there to Djibouti, then to Abyssinia. The details of this trip are unknown. It is only known that he visited Addis Ababa for a ceremonial reception at the Negus. Can be considered proven friendly relations mutual sympathy that arose between the young Gumilev and the experienced Menelik II. In the article “Is Menelik Dead?” the poet both described the unrest that took place under the throne and revealed his personal attitude to what was happening.

Between trips

The three years between expeditions were very eventful in the poet’s life.

Gumilyov and Akhmatova with their son

Gumilyov visits the famous “Tower” of Vyacheslav Ivanov and the Society of Zealots artistic word, where he makes many new literary acquaintances.

In 1909, together with Sergei Makovsky, Gumilyov organized an illustrated magazine on issues fine arts, music, theater and literature "Apollo", in which he begins to head the literary-critical department, publishes his famous "Letters on Russian Poetry".

In the spring of the same year, Gumilev meets Elizaveta Dmitrieva again, and they begin an affair. Gumilyov even invites the poetess to marry him. But Dmitrieva prefers another poet and his colleague on the Apollo editorial board, Maximilian Voloshin, to Gumilyov. In the fall, when the personality of Cherubina de Gabriac, a literary hoax of Voloshin and Dmitrieva, is scandalously exposed, Gumilyov allows himself to speak unflatteringly about the poetess, Voloshin publicly insults him and receives a challenge. The duel took place on November 22, 1909, and news about it appeared in many metropolitan magazines and newspapers. Both poets remained alive: Voloshin shot, it misfired, again, it misfired again, Gumilyov shot upward.

In 1910, the collection “Pearls” was published, in which “Romantic Flowers” was included as one of the parts. "Pearls" includes the poem "Captains", one of famous works Nikolai Gumilyov. The collection received laudatory reviews from V. Bryusov, V. Ivanov, I. Annensky and other critics, although she was called “still a student’s book”.

April 25, 1910, after three years hesitation, he finally got married: in the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Nikolskaya Slobodka, on the outskirts of the city of Kyiv, Gumilev married Anna Andreevna Gorenko (Akhmatova).

In 1911, under active participation Gumilyov, the “Workshop of Poets” was founded, which, in addition to Gumilyov, included Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Vladimir Narbut, Sergei Gorodetsky, Elizaveta Kuzmina-Karavaeva (the future “Mother Maria”), Zenkevich and others.

At this time, symbolism was experiencing a crisis, which young poets sought to overcome. They declared poetry to be a craft, and all poets were divided into masters and apprentices. In the “Workshop” Gorodetsky and Gumilyov were considered masters, or “syndics”. Initially, “The Workshop” did not have a clear literary orientation. At the first meeting, which took place at Gorodetsky’s apartment, there were Piast, Blok and his wife, Akhmatova and others. Blok wrote about this meeting:

A carefree and sweet evening. Youth. Anna Akhmatova. Conversation with N.S. Gumilyov and his good poems. It was fun and simple. You get better with young people.

In 1912, Gumilyov announced the emergence of a new artistic movement - Acmeism, which included members of the “Workshop of Poets”. Acmeism proclaimed materiality, objectivity of themes and images, and precision of words. The emergence of a new trend caused violent reaction, mostly negative. In the same year, Acmeists opened their own publishing house “Hyperborea” and a magazine of the same name.

Gumilev enters the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, where he studies Old French poetry.

In the same year, the poetry collection “Alien Sky” was published, in which, in particular, the first, second and third cantos of the poem “The Discovery of America” were published.

Second expedition to Abyssinia

The second expedition took place in 1913. It was better organized and coordinated with the Academy of Sciences. At first, Gumilyov wanted to cross the Danakil Desert, study little-known tribes and try to civilize them, but the Academy rejected this route as expensive, and the poet was forced to propose a new route:

I had to go to the port of Djibouti from there by rail to Harrar, then, forming a caravan, to the south, to the area between the Somali Peninsula and lakes Rudolph, Margaret, Zwai; cover as large a study area as possible.

His nephew Nikolai Sverchkov went to Africa with Gumilyov as a photographer.

First, Gumilyov went to Odessa, then to Istanbul. In Turkey, the poet showed sympathy and sympathy for the Turks, unlike most Russians. There, Gumilyov met the Turkish consul Mozar Bey, who was traveling to Harar; they continued their journey together. From Istanbul they headed to Egypt, and from there to Djibouti. The travelers were supposed to go inland by rail, but after 260 kilometers the train stopped because the rains washed out the path. Most of the passengers returned, but Gumilyov, Sverchkov and Mozar Bey begged the workers for a handcar and drove 80 kilometers of damaged track on it. Arriving in Dire Dawa, the poet hired a translator and set off in a caravan to Harar.

Haile Selassie I

In Harar, Gumilyov bought mules, not without complications, and there he met Ras Tefari (then governor of Harar, later Emperor Haile Selassie I; adherents of Rastafarianism consider him the incarnation of the Lord Jah). The poet gave the future emperor a box of vermouth and photographed him, his wife and sister. In Harare, Gumilyov began collecting his collection.

Aba Muda

From Harar the path lay through the little-explored Galla lands to the village of Sheikh Hussein. On the way, we had to cross the fast-water Uabi River, where Nikolai Sverchkov was almost dragged away by a crocodile. Soon problems with provisions began. Gumilyov was forced to hunt for food. When the goal was achieved, the leader and spiritual mentor of Sheikh Hussein Aba-Muda sent provisions to the expedition and warmly received it. This is how Gumilyov described it:

A fat black man sat on Persian carpets
In a darkened, untidy room,
Like an idol, in bracelets, earrings and rings,
Only his eyes sparkled wonderfully.

- "Galla"

There Gumilyov was shown the tomb of Saint Sheikh Hussein, after whom the city was named. There was a cave there, from which, according to legend, a sinner could not get out:

I had to undress and crawl between the stones into a very narrow passage. If anyone got stuck, he died in terrible agony: no one dared to extend a hand to him, no one dared to give him a piece of bread or a cup of water...

Gumilyov climbed there and returned safely.

The further fate of the expedition is unknown; Gumilyov’s African diary is interrupted at the word “Road...” on July 26. According to some reports, on August 11, the exhausted expedition reached the Dera Valley, where Gumilev stayed in the house of the parents of a certain Kh. Mariam. He treated his mistress for malaria, freed a punished slave, and his parents named their son after him. However, there are chronological inaccuracies in the Abyssinian's story. Be that as it may, Gumilyov safely reached Harar and in mid-August was already in Djibouti, but due to financial difficulties he was stuck there for three weeks. He returned to Russia on September 1.

First World War

After the outbreak of the First World War in early August 1914, Gumilev volunteered for the army. Together with Nikolai, his brother Dmitry Gumilyov, who was shell-shocked in battle and died in 1922, went to war (by conscription).

It is noteworthy that although almost all the famous poets of that time composed either patriotic or military poems, only two volunteered to take part in hostilities: Gumilyov and Benedict Livshits.

Gumilyov was enlisted as a volunteer in the Life Guards Ulan Regiment of Her Majesty. In September and October 1914, exercises and training took place. Already in November the regiment was transferred to Southern Poland. On November 19, the first battle took place. For night reconnaissance before the battle, by Order No. 30 of the Guards Cavalry Corps dated December 24, 1914, he was awarded the Cross of St. George, 4th degree No. 134060 and promoted to the rank of corporal. The cross was awarded to him on January 13, 1915, and on January 15 he was promoted to non-commissioned officer.

At the end of February, as a result of continuous hostilities and travel, Gumilyov fell ill with a cold:

We advanced, knocked the Germans out of villages, went on trips, I also did all this, but as in a dream, now shivering with chills, now burning in the heat. Finally, after one night, during which I made at least twenty rounds and fifteen escapes from captivity without leaving the hut, I decided to take my temperature. The thermometer showed 38.7.

The poet was treated for a month in Petrograd, then was returned to the front again.

In 1915, from April to June, although there were no active hostilities, Gumilyov participated in reconnaissance trips almost every day.

In 1915, Nikolai Gumilyov fought in Volyn. Here he went through the most difficult military trials and received the 2nd Cross of St. George, of which he was very proud. Anna Akhmatova responded to this somewhat skeptically:

News rarely arrives
To our porch.
Gave me a white cross
To your father.

That's what she wrote little son Leo.

On July 6, a large-scale enemy attack began. The task was set to hold positions until the infantry approached, the operation was carried out successfully, and several machine guns were saved, one of which was carried by Gumilyov. For this, by Order of the Guards Cavalry Corps of December 5, 1915 No. 1486, he was awarded the insignia of the Military Order of the Cross of St. George, 3rd degree No. 108868.

In September, the poet returned to Russia as a hero, and on March 28, 1916, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front No. 3332, he was promoted to ensign and transferred to the 5th Hussar Regiment of Alexandria. Using this respite, Gumilyov was active in literary activity.

In April 1916, the poet arrived in the hussar regiment stationed near Dvinsk. In May, Gumilev was again evacuated to Petrograd. The night jump in the heat described in “Notes of a Cavalryman” cost him pneumonia. When the treatment was almost over, Gumilyov went out into the cold without permission, as a result of which the disease worsened again. Doctors recommended that he undergo treatment in the south. Gumilev left for Yalta. However, the poet’s military life did not end there. On July 8, 1916, he again went to the front, again for a short time. On August 17, by order of regiment No. 240, Gumilev was sent to the Nikolaev Cavalry School, then again transferred to the front and remained in the trenches until January 1917.

In 1916, a collection of poems, “Quiver,” was published, which included poems on a military theme.

In 1917, Gumilev decided to transfer to the Thessaloniki Front and went to the Russian expeditionary force in Paris. He went to France by a northern route - through Sweden, Norway and England. Gumilyov stayed in London for a month, where he met the poet William Butler Yeats and the writer Gilbert Chesterton. Gumilyov left England for in a great mood: paper and printing costs turned out to be much cheaper there, and he could print “Hyperboreas” there.

Arriving in Paris, he served as an adjutant to the commissar of the Provisional Government, where he became friends with artists M.F. Larionov and N.S. Goncharova.

In Paris, the poet fell in love with the half-Russian, half-French Elena Karolovna du Boucher, the daughter of a famous surgeon. He dedicated the collection of poems “To the Blue Star” to her. Soon Gumilyov moved to the 3rd brigade. However, the decay of the army was felt there too. Soon the 1st and 2nd brigades mutinied. He was suppressed, and Gumilyov personally took part in the suppression; many soldiers were deported to Petrograd, the rest were united into one special brigade.

On January 22, 1918, Anrep got him a job in the encryption department of the Russian Government Committee. Gumilyov worked there for two months. However, bureaucratic work did not suit him, and on April 10, 1918, the poet left for Russia.

In 1918, the collection “Bonfire” was published, as well as the African poem “Mick”. The prototype of Louis, the monkey king, was Lev Gumilyov. The timing of the fairy-tale poem's release was unfortunate, and it was received coolly. His passion for the Malay pantun dates back to this period; part of the play “Child of Allah” (1918) was written in the form of a stitched pantun.

On August 5, 1918, a divorce from Anna Akhmatova took place. Relations between the poets went wrong a long time ago, but it was impossible to divorce with the right to remarry before the revolution.

In 1919, he married Anna Nikolaevna Engelgardt, the daughter of the historian and literary critic N.A. Engelgardt.

In 1918-1920, Gumilyov lectured on poetic creativity at the Institute of the Living Word.

In 1920, the Petrograd department of the All-Russian Union of Poets was established, and Gumilyov also joined it. Formally, the Blok was elected head of the Union, but in fact the Union was governed by "more than pro-Bolshevik" tuned group of poets led by Pavlovich. Under the pretext that a quorum was not reached in the election of the chairman, re-elections were called. The Pavlovich camp, believing that this was a simple formality, agreed, but in the re-election Gumilyov was unexpectedly nominated, who won by one vote.

Gorky took a close part in the affairs of the department. When Gorky’s plan “The History of Culture in Pictures” for the publishing house “World Literature” arose, Gumilyov supported these endeavors. His “Poisoned Tunic” could not have come at a better time. In addition, Gumilyov gave sections of the play “Gondla”, “Hunting the Rhinoceros” and “The Beauty of Morni”. The fate of the latter is sad: its full text has not survived.

In 1921, Gumilyov published two collections of poems. The first is “The Tent,” written based on impressions from traveling in Africa. “The Tent” was supposed to be the first part of a grandiose “geography textbook in verse.” In it, Gumilyov planned to describe the entire inhabited land in rhyme. The second collection is “Pillar of Fire,” which includes such significant works as “The Word,” “The Sixth Sense,” and “My Readers.” Many believe that “Pillar of Fire” is the poet’s pinnacle collection.

Since the spring of 1921, Gumilyov headed the Sounding Shell studio, where he shared his experience and knowledge with young poets and gave lectures on poetics.

Living in Soviet Russia, Gumilyov did not hide his religious and political views; he openly baptized himself in churches and declared his views. So, at one of the poetry evenings, in response to a question from the audience, “what are your political beliefs?” answered - “I am a convinced monarchist”.

Arrest and execution

Nikolay Gumilyov. Photo from the investigation case. 1921

On August 3, 1921, Gumilyov was arrested on suspicion of participation in the conspiracy of the “Petrograd Combat Organization of V.N. Tagantsev.” For several days, Mikhail Lozinsky and Nikolai Otsup tried to help their friend out, but despite this, the poet was soon executed.

Monument to Nikolai Gumilyov in Koktebel

On August 24, the Petrograd GubChK issued a decree on the execution of participants in the “Tagantsevsky conspiracy” (61 people in total), published on September 1, indicating that the sentence had already been carried out. Gumilyov and 56 other convicts, as established in 2014, were shot on the night of August 26. The place of execution and burial is still unknown; this is not indicated in the newly discovered documents. The following versions are common:

Bernhardovka (Valley of the Lubya River) in Vsevolozhsk. Bridge over the Lubya River, a memorial cross is installed on the bank.
The Fox Nose pier area, behind the gunpowder warehouses. A remote area near the Razdelnaya railway station (now Lisiy Nos) was previously used as a place for executions following sentences of military courts.
Anna Akhmatova believed that the place of execution was on the outskirts of the city towards the Porokhovs.
Kovalevsky forest, in the area of the arsenal of the Rzhevsky training ground, at the bend of the Lubya River.

Cross cenotaph at the probable location of Gumilyov’s execution. Berngardovka (Lubya River valley)

The pier in Lisiy Nos is a traditional place of executions in St. Petersburg and a possible place of execution of Gumilyov

Only in 1992 was Gumilyov rehabilitated.

Versions of events of 1921

There are three versions about Gumilyov’s involvement in V.N. Tagantsev’s conspiracy:

Gumilyov participated in the conspiracy - the official Soviet version of 1921-1987, supported by some emigrants who knew the poet and a number of biographers, for example, V. Shubinsky.
Gumilyov did not participate in the conspiracy, but only knew about it and did not report it - a version of the 1960s, widespread in the USSR during perestroika (1987-1991) and today.
The conspiracy did not exist at all, it was completely fabricated by the Cheka in connection with the Kronstadt uprising - one of the modern versions.

Addresses in St. Petersburg - Petrograd

1886, April - Kronstadt, Grigorieva’s house at 7 Ekaterininskaya Street;
1886, June - Tsarskoye Selo, Moskovskaya street, 42, opposite Torgovy lane;
1890 - The Gumilyovs bought an estate along the Nikolaev railway - Popovka;
1893, autumn - St. Petersburg, rented apartment 8 on 3rd Rozhdestvenskaya Street, 32 (in the house of merchant N.V. Shalin on the corner of Degtyarnaya);
1903, summer - Tsarskoe Selo, rented apartment on the corner of Orangereinaya and Srednyaya streets, in Poluboyarinov’s house;
1909-1911 - 5th line of Vasilyevsky Island, 10;
1911-1916 - Tsarskoe Selo, Malaya street, building 63;
1912-1914 - Tuchkova embankment, 20, apt. 29;
1918-1919 - Ivanovskaya street, 25, apt. 15;
1919-1920 - apartment building - Preobrazhenskaya street, 5 (now Radishcheva);
1920 - August 3, 1921 - DISK - 25th October Avenue, 15.

Family

Parents:

father Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilyov (July 28, 1836 - February 6, 1910).
mother Anna Ivanovna, née Lvova (June 4, 1854 - December 24, 1942). From her brother, Rear Admiral Lev Ivanovich Lvov, she inherited along with older sister Varvara's family estate Slepnevo in the Bezhetsky district of the Tver province, where she raised her grandson Lev.
- Nikolay Gumilyov
- 1st wife: Anna Andreevna Gorenko (Akhmatova) (June 11 (23), 1889 - March 5, 1966).
  - their son Lev Gumilyov (October 1, 1912 - June 15, 1992). No children.
- 2nd wife: Anna Nikolaevna Engelhardt (1895 - April 1942).
  - their daughter Elena Gumileva (April 14, 1919, Petrograd - July 25, 1942, Leningrad). Anna Engelhardt and Elena Gumilyova died of starvation in besieged Leningrad. No children.
- Beloved: Olga Nikolaevna Vysotskaya (December 18, 1885, Moscow - January 18, 1966, Tiraspol).
  - their son Orest Nikolaevich Vysotsky (October 26, 1913, Moscow - September 1, 1992). His 2 daughters and 1 son Nikolai are the only descendants of the poet. Alive as of 2008:
    - eldest daughter Iya Sazonova, she has a daughter and granddaughter,
      - 3 daughters of Larisa Vysotskaya, her younger sister, who died in 1999.

Creation

Main features of poetry

The main themes of Gumilyov’s lyrics are love, art, life and death; there are also military and “geographical” poems. Unlike most poets, there is practically no political theme in Gumilyov’s work.

Although the sizes of Gumilyov’s poems are extremely varied, he himself believed that his best works were anapests. Gumilyov rarely used free verse and believed that although he had conquered “the right to citizenship in the poetry of all countries, however, it is quite obvious that free verse should be used extremely rarely”. Gumilyov’s most famous free verse is “My Readers.”

Main works

Collections of poems

Mountains and gorges (handwritten) (Tiflis, 1901)
The Path of the Conquistadors (St. Petersburg: typo-lit. R.S. Volpina, 1905)
Romantic Flowers (Paris: Impr. Danzig, 1908) (Romantic Flowers: Poems 1903-1907 - 3rd ed. - St. Petersburg: Prometheus, 1918. - 74 pp.)
Pearls (M.: “Scorpion”, 1910)
Alien Sky (St. Petersburg: Apollo, 1912)
Quiver (Moscow-Petrograd: Alcyone, 1916) (Quiver: 4th book of poems. - 2nd ed. - Berlin: Petropolis, 1923. - 108 pp.)
Bonfire (St. Petersburg: Hyperborey, 1918)
Porcelain pavilion. Chinese poems (St. Petersburg: Hyperborey, 1918)
Tent. Poems 1918 (Sevastopol: Publishing house of poets, 1921) (Tent: poems. - Revel: Bibliophile,)
Pillar of Fire (Petersburg: Petropolis, 1921)

Plays

Don Juan in Egypt (1912)
The Game (1913, published 1916)
Actaeon (1913)
Gondla (1917)
Child of Allah (1918)
The Poisoned Tunic (1918, published 1952)
The Tree of Transformations (1918, published 1989)
The Rhino Hunt (1920, published 1987)

Dramatic scenes and fragments

Achilles and Odysseus (1908)
Green tulip
The Beauty of Morni (1919, published 1984)

Prose

Child of Allah: Arab. fairy tale in 3 cards. (SPb., 1917)
Notes of a cavalryman (1914-1915)
The Black General (1917)
Merry brothers
African diary
Up the Nile
Cards
Deucalion

Poems

Mick. African poem (St. Petersburg: Hyperborey, 1918)
Poem of the Beginning (1921)

Translations

Théophile Gautier “Enamels and Cameos” (St. Petersburg: publishing house b. M.V. Popov, owner M.A. Yasny, 1914)
Robert Browning "Pippa Passes By" (1914)
Albert Samen "Polyphemus"
"Gilgamesh" (1918)
William Shakespeare "Falstaff" (1921)

Criticism

Articles and notes on Russian poetry (1923)

Posthumous editions

Gumilyov N. S. Shadow from a palm tree. Stories.- Petrograd: Thought, 1922
Gumilyov N. S. Poems: Posthumous collection. - 2nd add. ed. - Pg.: Mysl, 1923. - 128 p.
Gumilyov N. S. Letters about Russian poetry. - Petrograd: Thought, 1923. - 223 p.
Gumilyov N. S. To the Blue Star Unpublished poems 1918 - Berlin: Petropolis, 1923
Gumilyov N. S. Posthumous Poems. - Shanghai: Hippocrene, 1935

Influence on literature

Gumilyov’s persistent and inspired work in creating formalized “schools of poetic mastery” (three “Workshops of Poets”, “Studio of the Living Word”, etc.), which many contemporaries were skeptical about, turned out to be very fruitful. His students - Georgy Adamovich, Georgy Ivanov, Irina Odoevtseva, Nikolay Otsup, Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky, Nikolay Tikhonov and others - became notable creative individuals. The Acmeism he created, which attracted such major talents of the era as Anna Akhmatova and Osip Mandelstam, became a completely viable creative method. Gumilev’s influence was significant both on emigrant poetry and (both through Tikhonov and directly) on Soviet poetry (in the latter case, despite the semi-forbidden nature of his name, and largely due to this circumstance). Thus, N.N. Turoverov and S.N. Markov, who did not know him personally, considered themselves Gumilyov’s students.