Russian poet. Subtle lyricist, singer of peasant Russia. He was a member of the Imagist circle (1919 ... 1923). Author of the cycles "Mares' ships" (1920), "Moscow tavern" (1924), "Black man" (1925), "Anna Snegina" (1925), the dramatic poem "Pugachev" (1921).
Sergei Yesenin was born into a peasant family in 1895. From 1904 to 1912 he studied at the Konstantinovsky Zemstvo School and at the Spas-Klepikovsky School. During this time he wrote more than 30 poems, compiled a handwritten collection "Sick Thoughts" (1912), which he tried to publish in Ryazan. Since 1912, Yesenin and his father lived in Moscow and worked in Krylov's store. In March 1913, Sergei got a job at the printing house of the I. Sytin Association as a sub-reader, that is, an assistant to the proofreader. Proofreader Anna Izryadnova soon became his wife.
She recalled him like this: “I had just arrived from the village, but I didn’t look like a country boy - he was wearing a brown suit, a high starched collar and a green tie. With golden curls, he was puppetly handsome ... he is a poet, no one wants to understand him, the editorial offices do not accept him for publication, his father scolds ... He spent all his salary on books, magazines, did not think at all how to live ... "The marriage with Anna from the first days of family life seemed to Yesenin a mistake. Most of all he was concerned about the poetic success. In 1914, finally, his poems were published in the newspaper Nov ', in the magazines Zarya, Parus, etc., but these were not his best poems. In 1915, despite the birth of a son, Yesenin left Anna with a small child, deciding to try his luck in the magazines of the northern capital.
He came to Petrograd for glory and immediately went to look for Blok. Alexander Blok called him "a talented peasant poet-nugget", and his poems - "fresh, clean, vociferous", which largely determined the success of Yesenin in the northern capital. Sergei appeared before the Petersburg creative intelligentsia in the form of a naive and simple-minded village boy. Although from the very beginning there was neither naivety nor innocence in him, as his close friend Anatoly Mariengof believed. He recalled how Yesenin explained to him his success in Petrograd: “It’s not a trail to go to Russian literature from a flounder bay. Skillful game must be played and subtle politics.
It’s not harmful to pretend to be a fool. We love the fool a lot ... Everyone needs to please ... Let, I think, everyone thinks: I introduced him to Russian literature. They are pleased, but I do not care. "The correct tactic worked: in a few weeks Yesenin won fame in the most influential and refined Petrograd literary circles, he became a fashionable poet, a favorite of magazines and drawing rooms. M. Gorky recalled:" I saw Yesenin at the very beginning of his acquaintance with the city: small in stature, gracefully built, with light curls, dressed like Vanya from "A Life for the Tsar", blue-eyed and clean, like Lohengrin - that was what he was. The city greeted him with the same admiration as a glutton meets strawberries in January. They began to praise his poems excessively and insincerely, as hypocrites and envious people can praise. "
Obviously, during Yesenin's conquest of fashionable literary salons, Zinaida Reich appeared in his life.
This lively, lively girl worked in the Left SR editorial office. Together with the Vologda poet Alexei Ganin, they went on a journey to the North - to Solovki and further to Murmansk. Near Vologda, Yesenin and Zinaida Reich got married in the church of Kirik and Iulita. Sergei did not live with her permanently, although she gave birth to two children from him - Tatiana (1918) and Konstantin (1920).
In 1918, Yesenin returned to Moscow and, after a short friendship with the poets of Proletkult, joined the Imagists. Together with Mariengof, they acquired a bookstore on Bolshaya Nikitskaya, and then "Pegasus' Stable" on Tverskaya. Marienhof in "Novel without lies" mentioned Zinaida Reich:
"Yesenin's wife, Zinaida Nikolaevna Raikh, came from Orel. She brought her daughter with her: she had to show her to her father. Tanya was not yet a year old.
And our bosom friend Mikhail Molabukh showed up from Penza ... And in addition - Tanyushka, as they wrote in old books, "she was alive, she did not leave the living chair"; from nanny's knees - to Zinaida Nikolaevna, from her - to Molabukh, from that - to me. Only her father's "living chair" in any she did not recognize. And they embarked on cunning, and on flattery, and on bribery, and on severity - all in vain. "
And then, as Mariengof said, Yesenin asked a friend to help him send Zinaida back to Oryol. "... I can't live with Zinaida ... I told her - she doesn't want to understand ... It won't go away, and everything ... will never go away ... I hammered into my head:" You love me, Sergun, I know that and I don’t want to know anything else ... "Tell her, Tolya, that I have another woman." Tolya said as Yesenin ordered, and Zinaida Reich and her daughter left for Oryol.
And Mariengof also talked about how Yesenin "met" his son, whom Zinaida Reich gave birth to.
"I forgot to tell you.
By chance, on the platform of the Rostov station, I ran into Zinaida Nikolaevna Reich. She went to Kislovodsk.
In winter, Zinaida Nikolaevna gave birth to a boy. Yesenin asked by phone: "What to call?"
Yesenin thought and thought, choosing a non-literary name, and said: "Constantine."
After the baptism, he remembered: "Damn it, but Balmont is called Constant."
My son did not go to watch.
Noticing me on the Rostov platform, talking with Reich, Yesenin described a semicircle on his heels and, jumping on the rail, went in the opposite direction ...
Zinaida Nikolaevna asked: "Tell Seryozha that I am going with Kostya. He did not see him. Let him come in and take a look. If he does not want to meet with me, I can leave the compartment."
Yesenin nevertheless went into the compartment to look at his son. Looking at the boy, he said that he was black, and Yesenins were never black. "
Later, someone also recalled that Z. Reich, already living with Meyerhold, demanded money from Yesenin to educate their daughter. Galina Serebryakova remembered about the children of Yesenin and Reich, who stood at his coffin:
“It was not a good idea that his children, son and daughter, alternately read their father’s poems over the grave. Obviously, out of good feelings, Meyerhold, their stepfather, invented this performance, but it turned out to be pretended, painful.
And somehow Mariengof mentioned that Yesenin hated Zinaida Reich more than all his women. And that means, he believed, Sergei more than all the others loved her - the only one - truly loved. And hatred out of love arose because before marrying Yesenin, she told him that he was her first man, but this turned out to be untrue. And this Yesenin - a man by blood - never forgave her. Every time he remembered Zinaida, his face cramped, his eyes turned purple, his hands clenched into fists: "Why did you lie, you bastard!" And she had no other love. Perhaps this is true. After the final break with Zinaida, Reich Yesenin was comfortable with casual meetings, enjoyed drinking and scandalized in taverns ... He was homeless and homeless when Isadora Duncan, a famous American dancer, who came to red Russia to open a studio, burst into his life dance for Russian girls.
There are several versions of their first meeting. But all agree on one thing: Isadora and Sergei immediately liked each other. Marienhof claimed that Duncan saw Yesenin at a feast in Yakulov's studio. She was wearing a red tunic, flowing in soft folds. Her hair was red with a sheen of copper, and despite her large body, she walked lightly and softly.
"Don't look at her wrists
And from her shoulders flowing silk.
I was looking for happiness in this woman,
And by accident I found death. "
She saw Yesenin and smiled at him. Then Duncan lay down on the sofa, and Sergei Yesenin sat down at her feet. Isadora dipped her hand into his curls and kissed him on the lips.
"As a boy, kissing cows in the face, I just trembled with tenderness ... And now, when I like a woman, it seems to me that she has cow's eyes. So big, thoughtless, sad. That's like Isadora's," Yesenin said. She was talented, generous and spontaneous like a child, internally liberated. She was captivated by the tremulous tenderness, childishness, insecurity of the poet's soul. Yesenin reminded her of her long-dead son, and she gave him not only female, but also mother's love. She was 18 years older than him. He spoke only Russian, while she spoke English, French and German. But they understood each other.
After a while, the Soviet government stopped subsidizing Duncan's school and she decided to travel to Europe to find money. Wanting to speed up the processing of a visa for Yesenin, they decided to officially register their marriage. Yesenin and Europe did not like each other.
The poet wrote to Marienhof: "In Berlin, of course, I caused a lot of scandal and commotion. My top hat and a coat made by a Berlin tailor made everyone mad. Everyone thinks that I came with the money of the Bolsheviks, as a security officer or as an agitator ... Firstly My God, such disgusting, monotony, such spiritual poverty that I want to throw up. The heart beats, beats with the most desperate hatred ... "About Yesenin and Duncan, there are many testimonies of contemporaries. This couple amazed, aroused curiosity, interest, gave rise to a lot of gossip and gossip. Natalia Krandievskaya-Tolstaya recalled seeing them in Berlin: "Yesenin was wearing a tuxedo, a top hat, a chrysanthemum in his buttonhole ... Big and magnificent Isadora Duncan, with theatrical make-up on her face, walked alongside, dragging a brocade hem on the asphalt ... "Then Krandievskaya-Tolstaya invited Duncan and Yesenin to breakfast with Gorky. "Yesenin read well ... Gorky liked the poetry, I saw it. They started talking ... Isadora wished to dance. She threw off a good half of her scarves, left two on her chest, one on her stomach ... Yesenin lowered his head, as if he was wearing something. something to blame ... "
The same meeting was described by Maxim Gorky: “From the curly, toy boy, only very clear eyes remained, and they seemed to have burned out in some too bright sun. uncertainly, embarrassed and distrustful ... Elderly, heavy, with a red, ugly face, wrapped in a brick-colored dress, she whirled, wriggled in a cramped room, clutching a bouquet of crumpled, withered flowers to her chest ..
This famous woman, glorified by thousands of European aesthetes, subtle connoisseurs of plastic arts, next to a small, like a teenager, an amazing Ryazan poet, was an amazing personification of everything that he did not need. "
Then they left for America, where they became the center of media attention. Isadora had a contract to dance in a number of eastern and central states. After the performance, she took Yesenin onto the stage, introducing him to the public as "the second Pushkin". At the evening with the poet Mani-Leib, Yesenin read chapters from the book "The Country of Scoundrels". The evening ended in a scandal. Isadora Duncan's performances in the United States became impossible. "Mr. Dollar is in terrible fashion here. Let us be poor, even if we have hunger, cold, but we have a soul, which was rented here as unnecessary for Smerdyakovism," Yesenin shared his impressions of the foreign countries.
Sergei and Isadora returned to Russia in August 1923. Arriving in Moscow, they found the school in a miserable state. Fortunately, Isadora had American Express checks for about 70,000 francs. The dancer's friend Mary Desti wrote in her book The Untold Story: “Isadora spent everything she had on school. , as well as shoes, shirts, etc., not to mention Isadora's toilets, which she constantly thought about in Paris and believed that the maids had stolen them.
He and Sergei stayed in Moscow for only a few days, when he disappeared for several weeks. Isadora was alarmed and thought something had happened to him. Gossip reached her endlessly, as if he had been seen in restaurants at night, usually with a woman. This went on for several months. He returned only to extort money from him, with which it was possible to arrange fights.
What a sad, thankless task for a woman with a fine soul to try to save an unbridled drunkard! But Isadora never felt the slightest anger towards him. When he returned, it was enough for him to throw himself at her feet, as in front of Madonna, and she pressed his golden-haired head to her chest and soothed him. "Finally, Sergei and Isadora parted.
After Isadora Duncan, two more women selflessly tried to save the dying poet. One loved him, the other was his wife. Returning from abroad, Yesenin and his sisters settled with Galina Benislavskaya, who became Yesenin's close person, friend and helper. "With unprecedented dedication, with rare self-sacrifice, she devoted herself to him ... Tirelessly, without a murmur, forgetting about herself, as if performing a duty, she carried a heavy burden of worries about Yesenin." In 1924 - 1925, Benislavskaya, during Yesenin's departures from Moscow, conducted all of his literary affairs. "Always yours and always love you," she finished all letters to Yesenin. But he, burdening her with endless errands, assured her only of tender friendship, which was "much more and better than I feel for women. You are so close to me in my life without this that it is impossible to express."
At that time, Yesenin's wife was Sophia Tolstaya, the granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy, of which he was very proud. Her love for Yesenin was not easy. Sophia Tolstaya was the true granddaughter of her grandfather. Even in appearance she resembled him: all in his grandfather's rude "peasant face, this woman of rare mind and wide heart brought light and tranquility to Sergei Yesenin's anxious nomadic life. But, apparently, it was already too late. At the end of December, Yesenin fled from Moscow to Leningrad, not having said not a word to either his wife or friends. ”Sophia Tolstaya’s mother, Olga Konstantinovna Tolstaya, wrote to her friend Sophia Tolstoy’s mother, Olga Konstantinovna Tolstaya, about what Sofya Tolstaya experienced while living with Yesenin in his dark, terrible last years:
"... There are no words to describe to you what I experienced during these days for the unfortunate Sonya. This whole autumn, since their return from Baku, it was a complete nightmare. And how Sonya could endure it, how could she continue to love him - this is simply incomprehensible and, probably, is explained only by secret love. And she loved him, apparently, immensely ... His actions ... insane, insulting jealousy - she explained everything with illness and endured meekly, silently, never complaining to anyone ... At the end of November or the beginning of December, he himself decided to start treatment and was placed in the clinic, but soon got bored ... I came home on December 21, already completely drunk with a bottle in his hands ... On the evening of the 23rd, Sonya calls me and says : "He left ..." And for the first time in Sonya's voice I felt tired, annoyed, insulted. Then I decided to say: "I hope he will not come back."
Two days later Olga Konstantinovna Tolstaya, Sonya's mother, came to her. "I found Sonia terribly gloomy, completely lifeless: for days she lay on the couch, not saying a word, did not eat, did not drink ..."
"Who am I? What am I? Only a dreamer,
Lost the blue of the eyes in the darkness,
And I loved you only by the way,
Along with others on earth, "
Yesenin wrote these days, saying goodbye to Sonya and asking her forgiveness.
And on the last day of his life, December 27, 1925, Sergei handed over to his friend, the poet V. Ehrlich, poems and asked him to read them at home, left alone. But Ehrlich forgot about Yesenin's poems. In the morning I learned about the murder of the poet, took out a sheet and read:
"Goodbye, my friend, goodbye.
My dear, you are in my chest.
The intended parting
Promises to meet ahead.
Goodbye my friend, without a hand or a word,
Do not be sad and not sadness of eyebrows, -
In this life, dying is nothing new
But living, of course, is not new. "
When Sophia Tolstoy was informed about Yesenin's death, she screamed terribly, did not want to believe, she was like crazy.
At the Vagankovskoye cemetery, his wives and lovers gathered at the grave of Sergei Yesenin: Anna Izryadnova, Zinaida Reich, Galina Benislavskaya, Sofya Tolstaya ... Isadora Duncan sent a telegram. "... His audacious spirit strove for the unattainable ... I mourn his death with pain and despair."
A year later, Galina Benislavskaya shot herself at the grave of Sergei Yesenin. Isadora Duncan died in Nice in 1927.
Sophia Tolstaya remained faithful to him and diligently took care of everything that was connected with the poet's life, dismantled his archive, prepared his works for publication. Next to the wedding ring, she wore a copper ring all her life, which the poet jokingly gave her. It was very wide and she squeezed it so she could wear it.
Muromov I.A. "100 Great Lovers".
Share with your friends:Contemporaries knew him not only as one of the first poets of Russia, but also as a noble brawler. The fame of his antics often went ahead of his poetic recognition.
One of the most problematic topics in Yesenin's perception is his attitude towards Jews. The poet has been accused of anti-Semitism more than once. During Yesenin's life in Moscow, 13 criminal cases were instituted against him. In most cases, in addition to brawls and fights, the poet's impartial statements about Jews appeared. On the "Jewish question" over the poet and his three friends Ganin, Oreshin and Klychkov, even a "comradely trial" took place. They were accused of insulting a stranger while talking in a pub about the publication of a magazine, calling him a "Jew's face".
The case was resolved by public censure. Yesenin denied his anti-Semitism. He said to Ehrlich: “What are they in agreement, or what? An anti-Semite is an anti-Semite! You are a witness! Yes, my children are Jews! .. ".
All cases of Yesenin's anti-Semitism were provoked. Often, getting involved in a fight, he did not even know that his offender was a Jew, but in the end the case was presented in the key of anti-Semitism.
Provocations followed one after another. Yesenin more than once expressed critical remarks about Trotsky and even introduced him into the play "The Country of Scoundrels" under the pseudonym of Chekists. The persecution of Yesenin came at the suggestion of Trotsky, who clearly understood that Yesenin was becoming dangerous. Its unpredictability and its stubborn intractability.
Yesenin's relationship with other poets could not be called simple. So, Yesenin did not accept Pasternak's poems. Rejection of poetry has more than once developed into open confrontation. The poets even fought.
There are Kataev's recollections of this. Yesenin in them is a prince, Pasternak is a mulatto.
“The prince, in a very rustic way, was holding an intelligent mulatto by the breasts with one hand, and with the other he tried to hit him in the ear, while the mulatto, in the popular expression of those years, looked like both an Arab and his horse with a flaming face, in a fluttering jacket with the buttons torn off, with intelligent ineptitude, he dodged to poke the prince's fist in the cheekbone, which he could not manage. "
Yesenin's first wife, Zinaida Reich, was an actress. The second husband of Yesenin's first wife is Meyerhold. Augusta Miklashevskaya was also an actress.
Bohemian life, in which Yesenin was involved, somehow revolved around the theater ... and in the theater.
So, Yesenin, during one of the performances of the Maly Theater, got behind the stage and in one of the dressing rooms he began to drink wine with Vsevolod Ivanov. When the actress returned to the dressing room, she did not manage to send the poets out on her own, she had to call the police. Seeing the policeman, Yesenin ran. He fought twice on the way, but was twisted and brought to the administration office, where they began to draw up a protocol. Having drawn up a protocol, the policeman took the poet out of the theater.
Yesenin had the most acute relationship with Mayakovsky. Two talented poets shared the literary pedestal, constantly engaged in controversy. At the same time, the significance of each other was soberly assessed. Mayakovsky said more than once that of all the Imagists, Yesenin alone will remain in history. Yesenin singled out Mayakovsky from the LEF members and envied his "political acumen".
It was a duel of equals. Yesenin argued that he did not want to share Russia with the likes of Mayakovsky, Mayakovsky wittily replied, “Take it for yourself. Eat it with bread. " Poets argued both in poetry and in life. Mayakovsky convinced Yesenin:
Throw your Oreshins and Klychkovs! Why are you dragging this clay on your feet? "
- I am clay, and you are cast iron and iron! Man is made of clay, but what is made of cast iron?
- And monuments made of cast iron!
Yesenin did not like the police. Even more - he was afraid of her. In this he confessed more than once to the same Ganin. At the same time, Yesenin was a regular in her Moscow branches. In Moscow, the poet was under special control. In the cafes he usually visited, there was always a plainclothes employee.
The poet's scandals, which became the logical ending of drinking alcohol, invariably led Yesenin to the already familiar departments. However, Yesenin's cases did not reach the court. The poet's fame and useful acquaintances helped out.
Yesenin also distinguished himself with a scandal in America. At the evening hosted by Mani Leib, Yesenin read "The Country of Scoundrels" and read "Jew" instead of a Jew, which angered the kosher audience. Despite Isadora Duncan's attempts to hush up the scandal, the case ended in a scandalous and already habitual accusation of Esenin of anti-Semitism.
Few people understood that Yesenin used a crude form of address in relation to Trotsky, whom he did not like, who once remarked: “We only need the Russian people as a kind of firewood to kindle the world revolution. Let it burn, but what kind of fire will it take ... ”. After the incident, Yesenin apologized more than once, but, as they say, the residue remained.
Yesenin's scandalous fame haunts the poet even after his death. The last scandal was associated with the release of the film "Yesenin", in which the poet is presented one-sidedly: a brawler and a brawler, an alcoholic and a troublemaker.
It is not clear from the film when the poet had time to write poetry. The public, as they say, was outraged, but this only added to the popularity of the series, as once the scandals of the poet Yesenin made him PR among the creative public of the two capitals.
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin is a great Russian poet and lyricist. Most of his works are new peasant poetry and lyrics. Later, creativity belongs to Izhimanism, since many of the images and metaphors used are traced in it.
The date of birth of the literary genius is September 21, 1895. He comes from the Ryazan province, the village of Konstantinovka (Kuzminskaya volost). Therefore, many works are dedicated to the love of Russia, there are many new peasant lyrics. The financial condition of the family of the future poet could not even be called bearable, since his parents were quite poor.
All of them belonged to the peasant family, and therefore were forced to work hard as physical labor. Sergei's father, Alexander Nikitich, has also come a long way. As a child, he was fond of singing in the church choir, had good vocal skills. When he grew up, he went to work in a meat shop.
The chance helped him find a good position in Moscow. It was there that he became a salesman, and the family's income became higher. But this did not serve as a joy for his wife, Yesenin's mother. She saw her husband less and less, which could not but affect their relationship.
Sergei Yesenin with his parents and sisters Another reason for discord in the family was that after his father moved to Moscow, the boy began to live with his own grandfather, the Old Believer, his mother's father. It was there that he received a male upbringing, which his three uncles were engaged in in their own way. Since they did not have time to start their own families, they tried to give the boy a lot of attention.
All the uncles were the unmarried sons of Yesenin's grandmother, who were distinguished by a cheerful disposition and partly still youthful mischief. They taught the boy to ride a horse in a very unusual way: they put him on a horse, which ran at a gallop. Also, learning to swim in the river took place, when little Yesenin was simply thrown naked from a boat directly into the water.
As for the poet's mother, she was influenced by the separation from her husband, when he was on a long service in Moscow. She got a job in Ryazan, where she fell in love with Ivan Razgulyaev. The woman left Alexander Nikitich and even gave birth to a second child from a new roommate. Stepbrother Sergei was named Alexander. Later, the parents nevertheless got back together, Sergei had two sisters: Katya and Alexandra.
After such a home upbringing, the family decided to send Serezha to study at the Konstantinovskaya zemstvo school. He studied there from nine to fourteen years old and was distinguished not only by his abilities, but also by bad behavior. Therefore, in one year of study, by the decision of the school manager, he was left for the second year. Still, the graduation grades were exceptionally high.
At this time, the parents of the future genius decided to live together again. The boy began to come to his home more often on vacation. Here he went to the local priest, who had an impressive library with books by various authors. He carefully studied many volumes, which could not but affect his creative development.
After graduating from the zemstvo school, he moved to the parish school, located in the village of Spas-Klepki. Already in 1909, after five years of study, Yesenin graduated from the Zemsky School in Konstantinovka. His family's dream was for his grandson to become a teacher. He was able to realize it after training at Spas-Klepiki.
It was there that he graduated from the second-class teacher's school. She also worked in the parish of the church, as was the custom in those days. Now there is a museum dedicated to the work of this great poet. But after receiving a teaching education, Yesenin decided to go to Moscow.
In crowded Moscow, he had to work both in a butcher's shop and in a printing house. His own father arranged for him in the shop, since the young man had to ask for help in finding employment from him. Then he got him into an office, in which Yesenin quickly became tired of the monotonous work.
When he served as an assistant proofreader in the printing house, he quickly became friends with the poets who belonged to the Surikov literary and musical circle. Perhaps this influenced the fact that in 1913 he did not enter, but instead became a free listener of the Moscow City People's University. There he attended lectures of the Faculty of History and Philosophy.
The craving for writing poetry was born to Yesenin back in Spas-Klepiki, where he studied at the teacher's parish school. Naturally, the works had a spiritual orientation, were not yet imbued with notes of lyrics. These works include: "Stars", "My Life". When the poet was in Moscow (1912-1915), it was there that he began his more confident attempts at writing.
It is also very important that during this period in his works:
The first published work was the poem "Birch". Historians note that when writing it, Yesenin was inspired by the works of A. Fet. Then he took the pseudonym Ariston for himself, not daring to send the poem to print under his own name. It was published in 1914 by the Mirok magazine.
The first book "Radunitsa" was published in 1916. Russian modernism was also traced in it, since the young man moved to Petrograd and began to communicate with famous writers and poets:
In "Radunitsa" there are notes of dialectism, and numerous parallels drawn between the natural and the spiritual, since the title of the book is the day when the dead are honored. At the same time, the arrival of spring occurs, in honor of which the peasants sing traditional songs. This is the connection with nature, its renewal and reverence for those who have left.
The poet's style also changes, as he begins to dress a little fabulously and more elegantly. This could be influenced by his guardian Klyuev, who supervised him from 1915 to 1917. The poems of the young genius were then listened to with attention and S.M. Gorodetsky, and the great Alexander Blok.
In 1915, the poem "Bird cherry" was written, in which he endows nature and this tree with human qualities. The bird cherry seems to come to life and show its feelings. After being drafted to war in 1916, Sergei began to communicate with a group of new peasant poets.
Because of the published collection, including "Radunitsa", Yesenin became more widely known. She also reached the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna herself. She often called Yesenin to Tsarskoe Selo so that he could read his works to her and her daughters.
In 1917, a revolution took place, which was reflected in the works of the genius. He received a "second wind" and, inspired, decided to publish a 1917 poem called "Transfiguration". It caused great resonance and even criticism, since it contained many slogans of the International. They were all served in a completely different way, in the style of the Old Testament.
The perception of the world and commitment to the church also changed. The poet even stated this openly in one of his poems. Then he began to focus on Andrei Bely, began to communicate with the poetic group "Scythians". The works of the late twenties include:
The period of Imagism began in 1919. It means the use of a large number of images, metaphors. Sergey enlists the support of V.G. Shershenevich and founds his own group, which also absorbed the traditions of futurism and style. An important difference was the fact that the works were of a variety art character, presupposing an open reading in front of the audience.
This gave the group a lot of prominence amid the flamboyant performances with the application. Then it was written:
It is also known that in the early twenties, Sergei began to sell books, rented a shop for the sale of printed publications. She was on Bolshaya Nikitskaya. This occupation brought him income and distracted him a little from creativity.
After communication and exchange of views, stylistic techniques with A. Mariengof Yesenin were written:
Sergey Yesenin on the beach in Europe After that, the poet began to travel frequently. His travel geography was not limited to Orenburg and the Urals, he even visited Central Asia, Tashkent and even Samarkand. In Urdy, he often went to local establishments (teahouse), traveled around the old city, made new acquaintances. He was also inspired by Uzbek poetry, oriental music, as well as the architecture of local streets.
After the marriage, numerous trips to Europe followed: Italy, France, Germany and other countries. Yesenin even lived in America for several months (1922-1923), after which notes were made with his impressions of living in this country. They were published in Izvestia and named Zhelezny Mirgorod.
Sergei Yesenin (center) in the Caucasus In the mid-twenties, a trip to the Caucasus was also made. There is an assumption that it was in this area that the collection "Red East" was created. It was published in print in the Caucasus, after which in 1925 the poem "A Message to Evangelist Demyan" was published. The period of imagism lasted until the moment when the genius fell out with A.B. Mariengof.
Yesenin was also considered a critic and a well-known opponent. But at the same time, they did not show hostility in public, although they were often pushed their heads together. Everything was treated with criticism and even respect for each other's work.
After Sergei decided to break with Imagism, he began to give frequent reasons for criticizing his behavior. For example, after 1924, various incriminating articles began to appear on a regular basis stating that he was seen drunk or that he was making fights, scandals in institutions.
But this behavior was just hooliganism. Due to denunciations of ill-wishers, several criminal cases were immediately opened, which were later closed. The loudest of these is the Case of the Four Poets, which included accusations of anti-Semitism. At this time, the health of the literary genius also deteriorated.
As for the attitude of the Soviet authorities, they were worried about the state of the poet. There are letters indicating that Dzerzhinsky is asked to help and save Yesenin. They say that an employee of the GPU was assigned to Sergei, who would not let him sleep. Dzerzhinsky responded to the request and attracted his subordinate, who could not find Sergey.
Yesenin's common-law wife was Anna Izryadnova. He met her when he worked as an assistant proofreader in a printing house. The result of this marriage was the birth of a son, Yuri. But the marriage did not last long, since already in 1917 Sergei married Zinaida Reich. During this time, they had two children at once - Konstantin and Tatiana. This union also turned out to be fleeting.
The poet entered into an official marriage with Isadora Duncan, who was a professional dancer. This love story was remembered by many, as their relationship was beautiful, romantic and partly public. The woman was a famous dancer in America, which fueled public interest in this marriage.
At the same time, Isadora was older than her husband, but the age difference did not prevent them.
Sergey met Duncan in a private workshop in 1921. Then they began to travel together throughout Europe, and also lived for four months in America - the dancer's homeland. But after returning from abroad, the marriage was terminated. The next wife was Sophia Tolstaya, who was a relative of the famous classic, the union also broke up less than a year later.
Yesenin's life was also associated with other women. For example, Galina Benislavskaya was his personal secretary. She was always by his side, partly devoting her life to this man.
Yesenin had problems with alcohol, which not only his acquaintances knew about, but also Dzerzhinsky himself. In 1925, the great genius was hospitalized in a paid clinic in Moscow, specializing in neuropsychiatric disorders. But on December 21, the treatment was completed or, possibly, interrupted at the request of Sergei himself.
He decided to temporarily move to live in Leningrad. Before that, he interrupted work with Gosizdat and withdrew all his funds that were in state accounts. In Leningrad, he lived in a hotel and often communicated with various writers: V. I. Erlikh, G. F. Ustinov, N. N. Nikitin.
Death overtook this great poet unexpectedly on December 28, 1928. The circumstances under which Yesenin passed away, as well as the cause of death itself, have not yet been clarified. It happened on December 28, 1925, and the funeral itself took place in Moscow, where the grave of the genius is still located.
On the night of December 28, an almost prophetic farewell poem was written. Therefore, some historians suggest that the genius committed suicide, but this is not a proven fact.
In 2005, the Russian film "Yesenin" was shot, in which he played the main role. Also before that, he shot the TV series "The Poet". Both works are dedicated to the great Russian genius and received positive reviews.
Sergei A. Esenin (September 21 / October 3 ( 18951003 ) , village Konstantinovo, Ryazan province - December 28, Leningrad) - Russian poet, one of the most popular and famous Russian poets of the XX century.
Born in the village of Konstantinovo, Ryazan province, into a peasant family, father - Alexander Nikitich Yesenin (1875-1967), mother - Tatyana Fedorovna Titova (1875-1955). In 1904, Yesenin went to the Konstantinovsky Zemstvo School, then began his studies at a closed church teacher's school.
In 1915-1917 Yesenin maintained friendly relations with the poet Leonid Kannegiser, who later killed the chairman of the Petrograd Cheka, Uritsky.
In 1917 he met and on July 4 of the same year married Zinaida Nikolaevna Reich, a Russian actress, the future wife of an outstanding director V.E. Meyerhold. At the end of 1919 (or in 1920) Yesenin left his family, and his one and a half-year-old daughter Tatyana remained in the arms of a pregnant son (Constantine) Zinaida Reich. On February 19, 1921, the poet filed for divorce, in which he undertook to provide them financially (the divorce was officially formalized in October 1921). Subsequently, Sergei Yesenin repeatedly visited his children, adopted by Meyerhold.
By 1918 - early 1920s, Yesenin got acquainted with Anatoly Mariengof and his active participation in the Moscow group of Imagists.
Posthumous photo of Yesenin
According to the official version, Yesenin, in a state of depression (a month after treatment in a neuropsychiatric hospital), committed suicide (hanged himself). Neither the contemporaries of the event, nor in the next few decades after the death of the poet, other versions of the event were expressed. In the 1970-1980s, mainly in nationalist circles, there were also versions about the murder of the poet with the subsequent staging of his suicide: on the basis of jealousy, selfish motives, murder by the OGPU officers.
Buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.
