Poet Mayakovsky name. Brief biography of Mayakovsky
Mayakovsky, more than anyone else, was characteristic of his time and difficult to understand from another era.
The beginning of Mayakovsky's poetic activity coincided with the global ideological crisis of the first decade of the 20th century, with its collapse of ethical ideals and concepts. Of all the modernist movements that arose on this basis, Mayakovsky was attracted to futurism with its anarchic rebellion, the overthrow of old idols and the desire for innovation in form.
Mayakovsky's early work has an anti-bourgeois orientation. The poet is disgusted by humility, satiety, and philistinism. Not accepting the contemporary world, Mayakovsky transfers his feelings to humans. His vision is selective: the future proletarian poet does not pay attention to either the workers or the peasants. For him, the truth is that there is some kind of bourgeois average type - “two arshins of faceless pinkish dough”,
Only the light folds of shiny cheeks falling onto the shoulders sway.
Mayakovsky satirically portrays the average man, who for him is a symbol of the entire old world (“Here!”, “To you!”).
In Mayakovsky's pre-revolutionary poems there is neither sympathy nor compassion for the “little” man. The flabby man in the street has only a big body - a carcass, and everything else: little soul, passions, loves - small. Mayakovsky’s utopian imagination sees only a “new”, “ideal” person in the future. The poet hopes that
He, the free man I’m screaming about, is a man - he will come, believe me, believe me!
This person will re-create a world in which everything will be different: nature, cities, art, morality. Mayakovsky connected the concept of a new world with the image of a titanic man, free from the past.
IN early period Mayakovsky’s creativity is able to express pain and suffering, to convey these, then still living, feelings to others. In the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky” he writes about “himself, my beloved”, therefore the emotion is not declarative, sincerity is not feigned. The image of a suffering person finds poetic completion in the poems “Man” and “Cloud in Pants.” The source of the poet’s suffering is not only the disorder of the world, but also love (“Listen!”, “Spine Flute”, “I Love”):
And only my pain is sharper - I stand, surrounded by fire, on the unburning fire of unimaginable love.
First World War deepened Mayakovsky’s understanding of the failure of the bourgeois world. The motive of human suffering acquires a universal scale, the problem of “man and the Universe” finds concrete expression in the problem of “war and peace” (the poem “War and Peace”).
For Mayakovsky, the revolution became an opportunity to realize all his desires and utopias: the destruction of the bourgeois world, the overthrow of the old art, the old morality:
Citizens! Today the thousand-year-old “Before” is collapsing. Today the basis of the world is being revised. Today, down to the last button on our clothes, we will remake Life again!
Accepting the ideals of the revolution, Mayakovsky saw at the same time its two-facedness and inconsistency (“Ode to the Revolution”), and then a distortion of the ideals of freedom, humanity, and democracy. In his work, two lines begin to develop in parallel: an affirmative-optimistic one, glorifying the revolution and the socialist transformation of life (“Good!”, “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin”, “Komsomolskoe”, “150000000”, “At the top of my voice”), and satirically -accusatory, directed against bureaucracy, Soviet bureaucracy, against Soviet philistinism and philistinism, which turned out to be no better than the bourgeois.
I allow poetry only one form: brevity, precision of mathematical formulas.If we proceed from the axiom that poetry is the voice of the soul, then it is unlikely that the soul speaks in formulas. Mayakovsky remains less and less a poet, more and more turning into a brilliant designer and speaker, who needs intelligence, keen vision, but not necessarily a soul. Mayakovsky is disingenuous when he says that he “stepped on the throat of his own song.” His tragedy was that the Song disappeared, its place was taken by a poster, a slogan, and a public recitation. His desire to keep up with the times resulted in a response to every event in the country (ore mining, cleanup work, construction of a new factory or city).
The poet understood that his personality and his work would still cause controversy decades later, and that it would hardly be possible to unambiguously evaluate everything he wrote:
From the pulpit there will be a big-faced idiot praising something about the devil. The crowd will bow, fawning, vain. You won’t even know - I’m not me: she’ll paint her bald head with horns or radiance.
The result was divine - a huge talent that resulted in brilliant lines. There was also a devilish desire to serve a big, but false idea that deprived these lines of soul.
Didn't find what you were looking for? Use the search
On this page there is material on the following topics:
- Mayakovsky's work is very brief
- The First World War in the works of V. Ayakovsky
- review of Mayakovsky's work
- essay on Mayakovsky's work, revised
- review of Mayakovsky's work
When asked which of the futurist poets of the 20th century took their place in the hearts of millions of readers, many will answer: “Vladimir Mayakovsky.” In addition to poetry, he clearly distinguished himself as a playwright, director, screenwriter, artist and editor of the magazines “LEF” (“Left Front”) and “New LEF”.
His life and work are full of secrets and inexplicable mysteries. Who is he, a genius or a madman? Let's try to figure this out.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was born in Georgia in the village of Bagdati on July 7 (19), 1893 in the family of a forester. His mother belonged to a Cossack family from Kuban. Vladimir had two sisters - Olya and Lyuda, and two brothers - Konstantin and Alexander, who died in childhood.
Mayakovsky said about himself: “I was born in 1894 in the Caucasus. The father was a Cossack, the mother was Ukrainian. The first language is Georgian. So to speak, between three cultures.”
Youth and education
Mayakovsky received his first education at the gymnasium in 1902. He was fluent Georgian language, participated in a revolutionary demonstration.
In 1906, his father suddenly died from blood poisoning. The accident occurred when he pricked his finger with a needle while he was stitching papers. This event shocked Mayakovsky so much that bacteriophobia remained for life.
In the same year, the boy and his family moved to Moscow, where he entered the gymnasium, where he attended classes together with the brother of the poet B. Pasternak, Alexander. But in 1908 he was expelled for non-payment, as the family lived in poverty.
In Moscow, Mayakovsky met revolutionary students and in 1908 joined the RSDLP. He was arrested several times for promoting revolutionary ideas, but he managed to avoid imprisonment. But later he was nevertheless sent to Butyrka prison, since his criticism of the tsarist government did not stop. It is interesting that he wrote his first poems there.
Less than a year later he was released and immediately left the party.
Creative path
In 1911, Vladimir entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. This time turns out to be the most important period in the poet’s life: he gets acquainted with a new direction - futurism. Mayakovsky enters the poetic circle and publishes his first poem, called “Night”. It was included in the futuristic collection “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.”
Later he goes on tour to Russian cities, where he gives lectures and his works.
In 1913, the first collection “I” was published. It was handwritten and consisted of four poems. Mayakovsky openly criticizes the bourgeoisie in them.
As a playwright and actor, he tries himself in the tragic play “Vladimir Mayakovsky”.
As soon as the First World War began, Mayakovsky volunteered for the army, but was refused, fearing any unrest. The offended poet writes “To you,” “A cloud in your pants,” and “War has been declared.”
At the height of the war, Mayakovsky meets the Brik family. Osip helped the young poet realize some of his poems. 2 collections are published: “Simple as a Moo” and “Revolution. Poetochronika".
During the October Revolution, he wrote poems about revolutionary events. At the same time, he draws propaganda posters and works for the publication “Art of the Commune.” Later he becomes editor of the magazine “Left Front” (“LEF”).
Having gained some popularity, he visits several countries of the USSR and the USA.
His work received reviews from both fans and critics. His satirical plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse” took such a blow. Some newspapers were full of headlines “Down with Mayakovism.”
But despite the stream of criticism addressed to him, Mayakovsky organizes the exhibition “20 Years of Work”, in which he summed up his own creative biography.
Personal life
The love of the poet's life was Lilya Brik. Osip Brik, Lily's husband, turned a blind eye to the flaring romance between Vladimir and his wife. Mayakovsky dedicated almost all his poems about love to her (“Lilichka!”, “Man,” “To Everything” and others). They also participated in the filming of the film “Chained by Film” (1918). Moreover, Briki and Vladimir lived together. From every trip abroad, the poet in love brought Lila luxurious gifts (for example, a Renault car).
But in Mayakovsky’s life there were other lovers from whom he had children. In 1921, his son Gleb-Nikita was born from the artist Lily Lavinskaya. In 1926, Emily Jones, an emigrant from Russia, gave him his daughter Elena-Patricia. Vladimir also had fleeting relationships with Sofia Shamardina and Natalya Bryukhanenko.
Parisian love was Tatiana Yakovleva. Due to visa problems, their relationship was doomed to fail.
Married actress Veronica Polonskaya became his last love. The poet demanded that she leave her husband, but she was not ready for serious life changes. Veronica was the last person Vladimir saw before his death and tearfully asked to stay. The actress did not dare to come to the funeral, since many relatives blamed her for the death of the poet.
- He had a large build, weight - about 90 kg, and height - 190 cm.
- Loved canes. The poet's personal collection included more than a dozen copies. My favorite was a cane donated by Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Images of animals and plants were carved on it.
- He was left-handed, although he wrote with his right hand.
- I started smoking early. In one evening he could smoke a pack of cigarettes. Sometimes he had two cigarettes in the right corner of his mouth.
- Loved dogs. IN different years in his house lived Puppy Puppy, a cross between a mongrel and a setter, Bulka, a French bulldog, and Scotch terrier Skotik, bought by Lilya Brik.
Death of poet
In 1930, the poet was sick a lot. He suffered a series of failures that brought him mental pain: criticism of his exhibition, the failure of two plays. The poet’s mental state worsened because everything fell on his shoulders in one period of his life.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!He lived only 36 full years. He lived brightly, created quickly and created a completely new direction in Russian and Soviet poetry. Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky is a poet, playwright, artist and screenwriter. A tragic and extraordinary personality.
Family
The future poet was born into a nobleman's family in the village of Baghdad, Kutaisi province in Georgia on July 19, 1893. Like his father, his mother was from a Cossack family. Vladimir Konstantinovich was a descendant of Zaporozhye Cossacks, his mother was Kuban. He was not the only child in the family. He also had two sisters - Lyudmila and Olga, who far outlived his talented brother, and two brothers - Konstantin and Alexander. They, unfortunately, died in infancy.
From the tragic
His father, Vladimir Konstantinovich, who served almost his entire life as a forester, died of blood poisoning. While stitching papers, he pricked his finger with a needle. Since then, Vladimir Mayakovsky suffered from bacteriophobia. He was afraid of dying like his dad from an injection. Later, hairpins, needles, and pins became dangerous objects for him.
Georgian roots
Volodya was born on Georgian soil and, subsequently, already a famous poet, in one of his poems Mayakovsky called himself a Georgian. He liked to compare himself with the temperamental people, although he had nothing to do with them by blood. But, apparently, his early years spent on Kutaisi soil, among Georgians, affected his character. He became as hot-tempered, temperamental, restless as his fellow countrymen. He spoke excellent Georgian.
Early years
At the age of eight, Mayakovsky entered one of the gymnasiums in Kutaisi, but after the death of his father in 1906, he moved to Moscow with his mother and sisters. There Vladimir entered the fourth grade of the 5th classical gymnasium. Due to lack of funds to pay for training, after a year and a half he was expelled from educational institution. During this period, he met the Marxists, became imbued with their ideas and joined the party, and was persecuted by the tsarist authorities for his revolutionary views. He had to spend eleven months in Butyrka prison, from which he was released for being a juvenile at the beginning of 1910.
Creation
The poet himself dates the beginning of his poetic creativity from the time of his imprisonment. It was behind bars that Vladimir wrote his first works. An entire notebook with poems was confiscated by the guards. Mayakovsky was a talented person in many areas. After his release, he became interested in painting and even entered the Stroganov School. There he studied in preparatory class. In 1911 he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Three years later he was expelled from the school for speaking publicly at gatherings.
He subsequently gained recognition in the artistic field. For his work on advertising posters for the Dobrolet company, the predecessor of Aeroflot, at the Paris exhibition Vladimir Mayakovsky received a silver medal.
Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote several screenplays for films in which he himself starred.
The creator called himself a “working poet.” Before him, no one wrote sweepingly using the so-called ladder. This was his signature style. Readers admired this innovation, but “colleagues” couldn’t stand it. There is an opinion that Mayakovsky invented this ladder for the sake of fees. In those days they paid for every line.
Love
The poet’s personal relationships were not easy. His first great love was Lilya Brik. Mayakovsky met her in July 1915. Life together started in the eighteenth year. He gave her a ring with the engraving “LOVE”, which meant Lilya Yuryevna Brik.
While traveling in France, Tatyana Yakovleva, a Russian emigrant, the poet ordered his second great love to be sent a bouquet of flowers every day. Even after the poet’s death, flowers came to the Russian beauty. During World War II, Tatyana only saved herself from hunger by selling the bouquets that came to her.
Mayakovsky had two children. Son Gleb-Nikita born in 1921 from artist Lily Lavinskaya and daughter Helen-Patricia born in 1926 from Ellie Jones.
Death
After prolonged attacks in the press, which began in 1929, on April 14, 1930, Vladimir Mayakovsky shot himself in his apartment. Thousands of people attended his funeral. The farewell to the poet lasted for three days.
Life milestones:
- July 9, 1983 - birth;
- 1908 - entry into the RSDLP, conclusion;
- 1909 - first poems;
- 1910 - release from prison;
- 1912 - poetic debut;
- 1925 - travel to Germany, Mexico, France, USA;
- 1929 - the beginning of attacks on the poet in newspapers;
- April 14, 1930 - death.
In Ladimir, Mayakovsky did not immediately start writing poetry - at first he was going to become an artist and even studied painting. The poet's fame came to him after meeting avant-garde artists, when David Burliuk greeted the young author's first works with delight. Futurist group, “Today's Lubok”, “Left Front of the Arts”, advertising “Windows of GROWTH” - Vladimir Mayakovsky worked in many creative associations. He also wrote for newspapers, published a magazine, made films, created plays and staged performances based on them.
Vladimir Mayakovsky with his sister Lyudmila. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky with his family. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky in childhood. Photo: rewizor.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky was born in Georgia in 1893. His father served as a forester in the village of Baghdadi, and later the family moved to Kutaisi. Here the future poet studied at the gymnasium and took drawing lessons: the only Kutaisi artist, Sergei Krasnukha, taught him for free. When the wave of the first Russian revolution reached Georgia, Mayakovsky - as a child - participated in rallies for the first time. His sister Lyudmila Mayakovskaya recalled: “The revolutionary struggle of the masses also influenced Volodya and Olya. The Caucasus experienced the revolution especially acutely. There everyone was involved in the struggle, and everyone was divided into those who participated in the revolution, those who definitely sympathized with it and those who were hostile.”.
In 1906, when Vladimir Mayakovsky was 13 years old, his father died from blood poisoning: he injured his finger with a needle while stitching papers. Until the end of his life, the poet was afraid of bacteria: he always carried soap with him, took a collapsible basin with him when traveling, carried cologne with him for rubbing and carefully monitored hygiene.
After the death of the father, the family found itself in a difficult situation. Mayakovsky recalled: “After my father’s funeral, we have 3 rubles. Instinctively, feverishly, we sold out of tables and chairs. We moved to Moscow. For what? There weren’t even any acquaintances”. In a Moscow gymnasium, the young poet wrote his first “incredibly revolutionary and equally ugly” poem and published it in an illegal school magazine. In 1909–1910, Mayakovsky was arrested several times: he joined the Bolshevik Party and worked in an underground printing house. At first, the young revolutionary was given “on bail” to his mother, and for the third time he was sent to prison. Mayakovsky later called confinement in solitary confinement “11 Butyrka months.” He wrote poetry, but the notebook with lyrical experiments - “stilted and tearful,” as the author assessed them - was taken away by the guards.
In conclusion, Mayakovsky read many books. He dreamed of a new art, a new aesthetics that would be radically different from the classical one. Mayakovsky decided to study painting - he changed several teachers and a year later he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here the young artist met David Burliuk, and later Velimir Khlebnikov and Alexei Kruchenykh. Mayakovsky again wrote poetry, which his new comrades were delighted with. Avant-garde authors decided to unite against the “old aesthetics,” and soon a manifesto of a new creative group appeared - “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.”
David has the anger of a master who has surpassed his contemporaries, I have the pathos of a socialist who knows the inevitability of the collapse of old things. Russian futurism was born.
Vladimir Mayakovsky, excerpt from autobiography “I Myself”
Futurists spoke at meetings - read poems and lectures on new poetry. For public speaking, Vladimir Mayakovsky was expelled from the school. The famous Futurist tour took place in 1913–1914: creative Group She toured Russian cities with performances.
Burliuk traveled and promoted futurism. But he loved Mayakovsky, stood at the cradle of his poetry, knew his biography to the smallest detail, knew how to read his things - and therefore, through David Davidovich’s butads, Mayakovsky’s appearance appeared so material that one wanted to touch him with his hands.
<...>
Upon arrival in the city, Burliuk first organized an exhibition of futuristic paintings and manuscripts, and in the evening gave a report.Futurist poet Pyotr Neznamov
Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Rodchenko and Dmitry Shostakovich at the rehearsal of the play “The Bedbug”. 1929. Photo: subscribe.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik in the film “Chained by Film.” 1918. Photo: geometria.by
Vladimir Mayakovsky (third from left) and Vsevolod Meyerhold (second from left) at the rehearsal of the play “Bathhouse”. 1930. Photo: bse.sci-lib.com
Vladimir Mayakovsky was interested not only in poetry and painting. In 1913, he made his debut in the theater: he himself wrote the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky”, he himself staged it on stage and acted main role. In the same year, the poet became interested in cinema - he began writing scripts, and a year later he starred for the first time in the film “Drama in the Futurist Cabaret No. 13” (the picture has not survived). During the First World War, Vladimir Mayakovsky was a member of the avant-garde association “Today's Lubok”. Its participants - Kazimir Malevich, David Burliuk, Ilya Mashkov and others - painted patriotic postcards for the front, inspired by traditional popular print. Simple colorful pictures were created for them and short poems were written in which they ridiculed the enemy.
In 1915, Mayakovsky met Osip and Lilya Brik. The poet later noted this event in his autobiography with the subtitle “the most joyful date.” Lilya Brik became Mayakovsky's lover and muse for many years; he dedicated poems and poems to her, and even after breaking up he continued to declare his love. In 1918, they starred together in the film Chained by Film - both in leading roles.
In November of the same year, the premiere of Mayakovsky’s play “Mystery Bouffe” took place. It was staged at the Musical Drama Theater by Vsevolod Meyerhold, and designed in the best traditions of the avant-garde by Kazimir Malevich. Meyerhold recalled working with the poet: “Mayakovsky was knowledgeable in very subtle theatrical, technological things that we, directors, know, which we usually study for a very long time in different schools, practically in the theater, etc. Mayakovsky always guessed every right and wrong stage decision, precisely as a director.”. The “revolutionary folk play,” as translator Rita Wright called it, was staged several more times.
A year later, the intense era of “GROWTH Windows” began: artists and poets collected hot topics and produced propaganda posters - they are often called the first Soviet social advertising. The work was intense: both Mayakovsky and his colleagues more than once had to stay late or work at night in order to release the batch on time.
In 1922, Vladimir Mayakovsky headed literary group“Left Front of the Arts” (later the “left” in the name was replaced by “revolutionary”), and soon the magazine of the creative association of the same name. Its pages published prose and poetry, photographs by avant-garde photographers, bold architectural projects and news of “leftist” art.
In 1925, the poet finally broke up with Lilya Brik. He went on tour to France, then went to Spain, Cuba and the USA. There Mayakovsky met translator Ellie Jones, and a short but stormy romance broke out between them. In the fall, the poet returned to the USSR, and in America he soon had a daughter, Helen-Patricia. After returning from the USA, Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote the cycle “Poems about America” and worked on scripts for Soviet films.
Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: goteatr.com
Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik. Photo: mayakovskij.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: piter.my
In 1928–1929, Mayakovsky wrote the satirical plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. Both premieres took place at the Meyerhold Theater. The poet was the second director, he oversaw the design of the performance and worked with the actors: he read fragments of the play, creating the necessary intonations and placing semantic accents.
Vladimir Vladimirovich was very interested in all kinds of work. He threw himself into his work. Before the premiere of “Bath” he was completely exhausted. He spent all his time in the theater. Wrote poems and inscriptions for auditorium for the production of "Bath". I supervised their hanging myself. Then he joked that he was hired at the Meyerhold Theater not only as an author and director (he worked a lot with the actors on the text), but also as a painter and carpenter, since he himself painted and nailed down something. As a very rare author, he was so passionate and passionate about the performance that he participated in the smallest details of the production, which, of course, was not at all part of his authorial functions.
Actress Veronica Polonskaya
Both plays caused a stir. Some viewers and critics saw the works as a satire on bureaucracy, while others saw them as criticism of the Soviet system. “Bathhouse” was staged only a few times, and then it was banned until 1953.
The loyal attitude of the authorities towards the “main Soviet poet” gave way to coolness. In 1930, he was not allowed to travel abroad for the first time. She began to violently attack the poet official criticism. He was reproached for satire in relation to phenomena that were supposedly defeated, for example, the same bureaucracy, and bureaucratic delays. Mayakovsky decided to hold an exhibition “20 years of work” and present the results of his many years of work. He himself selected newspaper articles and drawings, arranged books, and hung posters on the walls. The poet was helped by Lilya Brik, his new beloved actress Veronica Polonskaya and an employee of the State Literary Museum Artemy Bromberg.
On the opening day, the guest hall was packed. However, as Bromberg recalled, no representatives of literary organizations came to the opening. And there were no official congratulations to the poet on his twentieth anniversary of work either.
I will never forget how, in the House of Press, at Vladimir Vladimirovich’s exhibition “Twenty Years of Work,” which for some reason was almost boycotted by the “big” writers, we, several people from Smena, literally stood around the stands for days, physically suffering because of how sad and stern A large, tall man walked face down through the empty halls, with his hands behind his back, walking back and forth, as if expecting someone very dear and becoming more and more convinced that this dear person would not come.
Poet Olga Berggolts
The lack of recognition was aggravated by personal drama. Vladimir Mayakovsky, in love with Polonskaya, demanded that she leave her husband, leave the theater and live with him in a new apartment. As the actress recalled, the poet would create scenes, then calm down, then again begin to be jealous and demand an immediate solution. One of these explanations became fatal. After Polonskaya left, Mayakovsky committed suicide. In his suicide letter, he asked “comrade government” not to leave his family: “My family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya. If you give them a tolerable life, thank you.”.
After Mayakovsky's death, the entire archive of the poet went to Brik. Lilya Brik tried to preserve the memory of his work, wanted to create a memorial room, but constantly ran into bureaucratic obstacles. The poet was almost never published. Then Brik wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin. In his resolution, Stalin called Mayakovsky “the best and most talented poet Soviet era" The resolution was published in Pravda, Mayakovsky’s works began to be published in huge editions, and streets and squares of the Soviet Union were named after him.
Vulgarity, without challenging it in life, challenged it in death. But living, excited Moscow, alien to petty literary disputes, stood in line at his coffin, without anyone organizing this line, spontaneously, by itself recognizing the unusualness of this life and this death. And lively, excited Moscow filled the streets on the way to the crematorium. And living, excited Moscow did not believe his death. He still doesn’t believe it.
Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich (1893-1930) - Russian poet, playwright and satirist, screenwriter and editor of several magazines, film director and actor. He is one of the greatest futurist poets of the twentieth century.
Birth and family
Vladimir was born on July 19, 1893 in Georgia in the village of Bagdati. Then it was the Kutaisi province, in Soviet times the village was called Mayakovsky, now Baghdati has become a city in the Imereti region in western Georgia.
Father, Vladimir Konstantinovich Mayakovsky, born in 1857, was from the Erivan province, where he served as a forester and had the third rank in this profession. Having moved to Bagdati in 1889, he got a job in the local forestry department. My father was an agile and tall man with broad shoulders. He had a very expressive and tanned face; jet black beard and hair combed to one side. He had a powerful chest bass, which was completely passed on to his son.
He was an impressionable person, cheerful and very friendly, however, his father’s mood could change sharply and very often. He knew a lot of witticisms and jokes, anecdotes and proverbs, various funny incidents from life; He was fluent in Russian, Tatar, Georgian and Armenian.
Mother, Pavlenko Alexandra Alekseevna, born in 1867, came from Cossacks, was born in the Kuban village of Ternovskaya. Her father, Alexey Ivanovich Pavlenko, was a captain of the Kuban infantry regiment, participated in the Russian-Turkish war, had medals and many military awards. Beautiful woman, serious, with brown eyes and brown hair, always combed smoothly back.
Volodya's son was very similar in face to his mother, and in manners he looked exactly like his father. In total, five children were born into the family, but two boys died young: Sasha in infancy, and Kostya, when he was three years old, from scarlet fever. Vladimir had two older sisters - Lyuda (born in 1884) and Olya (born in 1890).
Childhood
From his Georgian childhood, Volodya recalled picturesque Beautiful places. The Khanis-Tskhali river flowed in the village, there was a bridge across it, next to which the Mayakovsky family rented three rooms in the house of local resident Kostya Kuchukhidze. The forestry office was located in one of these rooms.
Mayakovsky remembered how his father subscribed to the magazine Rodina, which had a humorous supplement. In winter, the family gathered in the room, looked at a magazine and laughed.
Already at the age of four, the boy really liked to be told something before going to bed, especially poetry. Mom read Russian poets to him - Nekrasov and Krylov, Pushkin and Lermontov. And when his mother was busy and could not read a book to him, little Volodya began to cry. If he liked a verse, he memorized it and then recited it loudly in a clear, childish voice.
As he grew a little older, the boy discovered that if he climbed into a large clay vessel for wine (in Georgia they were called churiami) and read poetry there, it would become very echoing and loud.
Volodya's birthday coincided with his father's birthday. They always had a lot of guests on July 19th. In 1898, little Mayakovsky specially for this day memorized Lermontov’s poem “Dispute” and read it in front of the guests. Then the parents bought a camera, and the five-year-old boy composed his first poetic lines: “Mom is glad, dad is glad that we bought the device”.
By the age of six, Volodya already knew how to read; he learned on his own, without outside help. True, the boy did not like the first book he read in its entirety, “The Poultry Keeper Agafya,” written by children’s writer Klavdiya Lukashevich. However, she did not discourage him from reading; he did it with gusto.
In the summer, Volodya filled his pockets full of fruit, grabbed something edible for his dog friends, took a book and headed out to the garden. There he sat under a tree, lay on his stomach and could read in this position all day. And next to him, two or three dogs lovingly guarded him. When it got dark, he would roll over on his back and could spend hours looking at the starry sky.
WITH early years In addition to his love of reading, the boy tried to make the first visual sketches, and also showed resourcefulness and wit, which his father greatly encouraged.
Studies
In the summer of 1900, his mother took seven-year-old Mayakovsky to Kutais to prepare him for entering the gymnasium. His mother’s friend studied with him, and the boy studied with great enthusiasm.
In the fall of 1902, he entered the Kutaisi classical gymnasium. While studying, Volodya tried to write his first poems. When they got to his class teacher, he noted the child’s unique style.
But poetry at that time attracted Mayakovsky less than art. He drew everything he saw around him; he was especially good at illustrations of works he read and caricatures of family life. Sister Lyuda was just preparing to enter the Stroganov School in Moscow and studied with the only artist in Kutais, S. Krasnukha, who graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. When she asked Rubella to look at her brother’s drawings, he ordered the boy to be brought and began teaching him for free. The Mayakovskys had already assumed that Volodya would become an artist.
And in February 1906, the family suffered terrible grief. At first there was joy, my father was appointed chief forester in Kutais and everyone was happy that now they would live as a family in the same house (after all, Volodya and sister Olenka were studying at the gymnasium there at that time). Dad in Baghdati was preparing to hand over his cases and was filing some documents. He pricked his finger with a needle, but did not pay any attention to this trifle and left for the forestry. My hand began to hurt and break out. My father died quickly and abruptly from blood poisoning; it was no longer possible to save him. A loving family man, a caring father and a good husband are gone.
Dad was 49 years old, he was filled with energy and strength, he had never been sick before, which is why the tragedy was so unexpected and difficult. On top of that, the family had no savings. My father was one year short of retirement. So the Mayakovskys had to sell off their furniture in order to buy food. The eldest daughter Lyudmila, who studied in Moscow, insisted that her mother and the younger ones move in with her. The Mayakovskys borrowed two hundred rubles from good friends for the journey and left their native Kutais forever.
Moscow
This city struck the young Mayakovsky on the spot. The boy, who grew up in the wilderness, was shocked by the size, crowds and noise. He was amazed by the two-story horse cars, the lighting and elevators, the shops and cars.
Mom, with the help of friends, got Volodya into the Fifth Classical Gymnasium. In the evenings and Sundays he attended art courses at the Stroganov School. And the young man was literally sick of cinema; he could go to three shows at once in one evening.
Soon, at the gymnasium, Mayakovsky began to attend a Social Democratic circle. In 1907, members of the circle published the illegal magazine “Proryv”, for which Mayakovsky composed two poetic works.
And already at the beginning of 1908, Volodya confronted his relatives with the fact that he had left the gymnasium and joined the Social Democratic Labor Party of the Bolsheviks.
He became a propagandist; Mayakovsky was arrested three times, but was released because he was a minor. He was placed under police surveillance, and the guards gave him the nickname “Tall.”
While in prison, Vladimir again began to write poetry, and not just a few, but large and many. He wrote a thick notebook, which he later recognized as the beginning of his poetic activity.
At the beginning of 1910, Vladimir was released, he left the party and entered the preparatory Course Stroganov School. In 1911 he began studying at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here he soon became a member of the poetry club, joining the futurists.
Creation
In 1912, Mayakovsky’s poem “Night” was published in the collection of futurist poetry “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.”
In the literary and artistic basement “Stray Dog” on November 30, 1912, Mayakovsky made his first public appearance, he recited his poems. And the next year, 1913, was marked by the release of his first collection of poetry entitled “I”.
With members of the Futurist Club, Vladimir went on a tour of Russia, where he read his poems and lectures.
Soon they started talking about Mayakovsky, and there was a reason for this, one after another he created his own various works:
- rebellious poem “Here!”;
- the colorful, touching and empathetic verse “Listen”;
- tragedy "Vladimir Mayakovsky";
- verse-disdain “To you”;
- anti-war “Me and Napoleon”, “Mom and the evening killed by the Germans”.
October Revolution met the poet at the headquarters of the uprising in Smolny. From the very first days, he began to actively cooperate with the new government:
- In 1918 he became the organizer of the group of communist futurists “Comfut”.
- From 1919 to 1921 he worked as a poet and artist at the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA), and participated in the design of satirical propaganda posters.
- In 1922 he became the organizer of the Moscow Futurist Association (MAF).
- Since 1923, he was the ideological inspirer of the Left Front of the Arts (LEF) group and worked as editor-in-chief of the LEF magazine.
He dedicated many of his works to revolutionary events:
- "Ode to the Revolution";
- "Our March";
- “To the workers of Kursk...”;
- "150,000,000";
- "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin";
- "Mystery-buff."
After the revolution, Vladimir became increasingly attracted to cinema. Only in 1919, three films were made, in which he acted as a screenwriter, actor and director.
From 1922 to 1924, Vladimir traveled abroad, after which he wrote a series of poems based on his impressions of Latvia, France, and Germany.
In 1925, he made an extended American tour, visiting Mexico and Havana and writing the essay “My Discovery of America.”
Returning to his homeland, he traveled all over Soviet Union speaking to various audiences. Collaborated with many newspapers and magazines:
- "News";
- "Krasnaya Niva";
- "TVNZ";
- "Crocodile";
- « New world»;
- "Ogonyok";
- "Young guard".
In two years (1926-1927), the poet created nine film scripts. Meyerhold staged two satirical plays by Mayakovsky, “Bathhouse” and “The Bedbug.”
Personal life
In 1915, Mayakovsky met Lilya and Osip Brik. He became friends with this family. But soon the relationship grew from friendship into something more serious; Vladimir became so carried away by Lily that for a long time the three of them lived together. After the revolution, such relations did not surprise anyone. Osip was not an opponent of a family of three and, due to health problems, lost his wife to a younger and stronger man. Moreover, Mayakovsky supported the Briks financially after the revolution and almost until his death.
Lilya became his muse, he dedicated every poem to this woman, but she was not the only one.
In 1920, Vladimir met the artist Lilya Lavinskaya; this love relationship ended with the birth of Lavinsky’s son, Gleb-Nikita, who later became a famous Soviet sculptor.
After a short relationship with Russian emigrant Elizaveta Siebert, a girl, Helen-Patricia (Elena Vladimirovna Mayakovskaya), was born. Vladimir saw his daughter only once in Nice in 1928, when she was only two years old. Helen became a famous American writer and philosopher and died in 2016.
Last love Mayakovsky was a beautiful young actress Veronica Polonskaya.
Death
By 1930, many began to say that Mayakovsky had written himself out. None of the state leaders or prominent writers came to his exhibition “20 Years of Work”. He wanted to go abroad, but was denied a visa. Diseases were added to everything. Mayakovsky was depressed and could not stand such a depressing state.
On April 14, 1930, he committed suicide by shooting himself with a revolver. For three days an endless stream of people came to the House of Writers, where farewell to Mayakovsky took place. He was buried at the New Donskoy Cemetery, and in 1952, at the request of older sister Lyudmila's ashes were reburied at Novodevichy Cemetery.