Portrait of actress Maria Fedorovna Andreeva. Biography of Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev Leonid Andreev artist of the painting

From the ZhZL book about Serov:

That summer, in Ino, Serov met with the writer Leonid Andreev. He became close to him during preparations for the publication of the satirical magazine “Zhupel” and even then was convinced that their views on what was happening in Russia largely coincided.
A year ago, the publisher of the magazine “Golden Fleece” N.P. Ryabushinsky ordered Serov to paint a portrait of Leonid Andreev for the magazine and at the same time conveyed in a letter the condition set by the writer: Andreev wants Serov to paint his portrait. But circumstances separated them, and only two months later Serov received a letter from Andreev from Berlin. Having silently mentioned his sudden disappearance “out of reach,” the writer admitted: most of all he regrets that “I won’t have to be written by you.”
In the same letter, Andreev transparently hinted at his participation in the July uprising of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in Sveaborg, after which he was forced to hide from arrest in Norway. And he further mentioned that he met his family, who also left Russia, in Stockholm. They decided to settle in Berlin.
And so new meeting, and Serov is amazed at the change that has happened to the writer. Two years ago, at Gorky’s dacha in Kuokkala, when plans for creating “The Bogeyman” were discussed, Andreev looked completely different, his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, his whole appearance exuded energy. Like Serov, he was excited by the idea of ​​challenging authority. Now his gaze has faded, deep wrinkles are noticeable on his face - a mark of internal torment, as if he had survived a serious illness.
In the conversation, the reasons for these changes were revealed: the death in Berlin, in November, of his wife, Alexandra Mikhailovna, at the birth of her second son, Daniel. After her death, he could no longer stay in Berlin; he went to Capri, to Gorky. Gorky convinced - salvation lies in work. Overcoming himself, he began to write again, finished the story in gospel story- about Christ and Judas.
“And here we are again,” Andreev finished wearily, “and, by the way, I bought a plot next door for building a dacha, six miles from here, on the Chernaya River.”

Leonid Andreev's life sentence was given an offensively short sentence. Only 48 years old. And there were no calm ones among them, only swings, up and down. Instant literary fame after the debut collection of stories in 1901, recognition by L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov, M. Gorky - and almost complete oblivion under the reign of Soviet power. Suicide attempts due to unhappy love - and two happy marriage(his first wife died in childbirth), who gave him five talented children. Enthusiastic greeting of the first Russian revolution (he managed to serve time in prison for its ideals) - and complete rejection of the ideas of Bolshevism.

And, like everyone very talented person, he is talented in many ways. He was an excellent navigator (his own fleet of yachts in the Baltic), an artist (Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov praised him)...

He was in a hurry to do everything.

When a group of tourists from England once came on an excursion, they were already delighted from the doorway: oh, we know, we know, Andreev, famous photographer! - smiles Tatyana Polushina, head of the Leonid Andreev House-Museum in Orel. - He was one of the first in Russia to take color photos using the autochrome technique*. This, simply put, is an image on pieces of glass.

- And how do the British know about this?

The fact is that the director of the Russian Archive in Leeds, philologist Richard Davis, was a big fan of Russian literature from his youth (he himself studied in Leningrad) and was very fond of Andreev’s work. It so happened that most of the writer’s archive after the death of Leonid Nikolaevich in 1919 ended up in Argentina. His son Savva lived there and died in 1970. The widow Juanita was ready to sell the archive to Russia for a nominal fee, but bureaucratic delays delayed the matter, and then Richard Davis went to Argentina...

- Intercepted?

Rather, he did a good deed. It was then that the world learned that Leonid Nikolaevich was not only a writer of the first magnitude, but also a master of color photography. Now there are about 400 photographs of Andreev in Leeds, 56 are stored in Orel, in our funds, about a dozen in Pushkin House in St. Petersburg, there is something in the Hoover Archives... By the way, other children of Leonid Andreev shared their collections with Davis.

We must give Davis his due; he did a great job of advertising Andreev the photographer: he published a luxurious photo album (in four languages, unfortunately, Russian is not among them), produced sets of postcards, and used Andreev’s works in the making of posters. Davis came to Orel several times and visited our museum. And in the 90s, I even took our “autochromes” to England for restoration, since no one in Russia would undertake to work with them. And he restored it for free.

- Is it known who taught Leonid Nikolaevich the art of photography?

Nobody. He learned everything on his own. Starting from 1903, he took black and white photographs, and when color photography came to Russia - this is 1907 - he began to engage in “autochrome”. He filmed with a Kodak - an expensive pleasure for that time, but Andreev’s fame as a writer brought huge fees. His granddaughter Irina, who helped us a lot in the development of the museum, recalled that he was the only prose writer who was paid line by line, like poets. The fees were higher than Gorky's...

I can’t help but brag: just recently, Andreeva’s great-niece, academician Russian Academy education Ksenia Aleksandrovna Abulkhanova gave us the Andreev stereoscope - a device that made it possible to obtain three-dimensional image when viewing. And several black and white photographs taken by Leonid Nikolaevich. It was with them that he began as a photographer.

QUESTION ON THE ESSENTIAL

*What is "autochrome"?

The mechanism for obtaining a color image on raster plates is quite simple. High-quality potato starch is carefully sifted and divided into three equal piles. Each is painted in its own color: orange-red, purple and green. The piles are then dried and mixed. An adhesive layer is applied to the glass plate, and powder is spread over it with a brush, which is dusted with soot on top. The soot was pressed and rolled onto a plate, and in a dark room the top was covered with photographic emulsion. Then the plate was inserted into the equipment and removed, obtaining a color photograph.

In fact, a combined (three-color) light filter appeared between the photosensitive layer and the base (glass), which resulted in a very high-quality image.

A COLLEAGUES' VIEW

"I couldn't believe it was a photograph..."

Writer Korney Chukovsky:

“It seemed that not one person, but some kind of factory, working non-stop, in several shifts, produced all these innumerable piles of large and small photographic photographs that were dumped in his office, stored in special chests and boxes, hanging on the windows , the tables were cluttered. There was no corner in his dacha that he did not take several times. Some photographs were excellent for him - for example, spring landscapes. I couldn’t believe that this was a photograph - there was so much Levitan’s elegiac music in them.

Over the course of a month, he took thousands of photographs, as if fulfilling some colossal order, and when you came to him, he forced you to look at all these thousands, innocently confident that for you they were a source of bliss. He could not imagine that there were people for whom these pieces of glass were uninteresting. He touchingly begged everyone to take up color photography.

At night, walking around his huge office, he spoke monologues about the great Lumiere, the inventor of color photography, about sulfuric acid and potash... You sat on the sofa and listened."

(From memories of Leonid Andreev)

The editors thank the Oryol United State Literary Museum of I.S. Turgenev for their assistance in preparing this publication.

You can see this gallery of stereo photographs in the same way as Leonid Andreev’s contemporaries viewed it. To do this you will need a smartphone and virtual reality glasses. The simplest ones, made from Google Cardboard VR cardboard, can be purchased for 100-200 rubles or made yourself according to instructions fromGoogle . Open the gallery on your smartphone - insert it into the glasses and enjoy a three-dimensional color picture from the 1910s.

"Andreev lived on Kamennoostrovsky, in a terribly gloomy house: A huge room - corner, with a lantern, and the windows of this lantern are located in the direction of the islands and Finland. You approach the window - and the lanterns of Kamennoostrovsky run away in a chain into the wet distance. Leonid Andreev, who lived in the writer Leonida Nikolaevich, was infinitely lonely, unrecognized and always facing the gap of a black window. The last guest in a black mask came to him through such a window - death.

Alexander Blok. In memory of Leonid Andreev

Andreev, Leonid Nikolaevich was born on August 9 (21) in Orel in 1871 on 2nd Pushkarnaya Street. His father, Nikolai Ivanovich, son by blood of the leader of the nobility and a serf girl; mother, Anastasia Nikolaevna, is from the family of a bankrupt Polish landowner. They had just gotten out of poverty: land surveyor Andreev got a job in a bank, bought a house and began to set up a household. Nikolai Ivanovich was a notable figure: “gunners, broken heads”, they respected him for his extraordinary physical strength and a sense of justice that did not betray him even in his famous drunken antics and regular fights. Leonid Andreev later explained the strength of his character (as well as his craving for alcohol) by heredity on his father’s side, while his Creative skills attributed entirely to the maternal line. Anastasia Nikolaevna, née Patskovskaya, although she is believed to have come from a Russified and impoverished Polish noble family, was a simple and poorly educated woman. Its main advantage was selfless love to the children, and especially to the first-born Lenusha; and she also had a passion for fiction: in her stories no one could separate fact from fable.

Leonid remembers his childhood as “clear, carefree.” At the age of six he learned to read “and read extremely a lot, everything that came to hand.”

He studied at the Oryol classical gymnasium (1882-91) and, according to his own instructions in a short autobiography, " studied poorly, in seventh grade whole year bore the title of last student and received no more than four, and sometimes three, for his behavior". Opened at the gymnasiumat Andreev'sand a gift for words: copying problems from friends, he wrote essays for them in return, enthusiastically varying his manners. The penchant for stylization later manifested itself in literary experiments, when, analyzing the works of famous writers, he tried to imitate "like Chekhov", "like Garshin", "like Tolstoy". But during his high school years, Andreev did not think about writing and was seriously engaged only in... drawing. And since there were no opportunities to study painting in Orel, then " the whole matter was limited to fruitless amateurism"And more than once later I lamented famous writer about his undeveloped talent as an artist, a talent that every now and then forced him to drop his pen and take up a brush or pencil. I read a lot, mainly fiction. Made a huge impression on him " What is my faith" Tolstoy .

"Been biting" he is also into Hartmann and Schopenhauer; studied the latter very thoroughly, making extensive extracts from it and compiling lengthy notes, and “The World as Will and Representation” long years remained one of his favorite books and noticeable influence on his work.

Under these influences, from the age of 15 - 16, he began to be tormented by “damned questions” to such an extent that, wanting to test “fate,” he lay down on the rails. “Fate” turned out to be favorable. This time the locomotive had a high firebox, and the train rushing over the young man did not harm him.

At the age of seventeen, Andreev made a significant entry in his diary, known in the retelling of V.V. Brusyanin. The future fiction writer promised himself that " with his writings he will destroy both morality and established human relationships, destroy love and religion and end his life in the destruction of everything".

In the senior classes of the gymnasium, Andreev’s love interests began. However, the word “passion” does not give an idea of ​​the fatal force that he had from his youth until his very last day felt in myself and around me. He felt love, like death, subtly and acutely, to the point of pain. " Just as some people need words, just as others need work or struggle, so love is necessary for me,- L. Andreev wrote in his diary.- Like air, like food, like sleep - love is necessary condition my human existence".

After graduating from high school, Andreev entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. By this time, the family's financial conditions had deteriorated extremely. My father died, and I had to be in great need, even starve. The first story was written on this topic - " about a hungry student. I cried when I wrote it, and the editors laughed when they returned the manuscript to me.". Literary debut - the story "In Cold and Gold".

In 1893, expelled from St. Petersburg University for non-payment, he transferred to the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, where “material life was better”: his comrades and the committee helped." But " in other respects" He " I remember St. Petersburg University with great pleasure." At the same time, according to the rules, he undertakes “not to take part in any communities, such as, for example, fraternities and the like, and also not to join even legally permitted societies, without permission from each special case nearest superiors."

In the summer of 1894, during the holidays in Orel, the most difficult and lasting of the heart dramas Andreev experienced began. "July 22, 1894 is my second birthday,"- he wrote in his diary; but the reciprocity was short-lived. His beloved refuses Andreev's proposal to marry him, and again he tries to commit suicide.In 1894, he “shot unsuccessfully; the consequence of the unsuccessful shot was church repentance and heart disease, not dangerous, but stubborn and annoying.”

Leonid Andreev's brother recalls: " I was a boy, but even then I understood and felt what a great grief, what great melancholy he carried within himself."

In 1895, his widowed mother and Andreev’s 5 younger brothers and sisters also moved to Moscow, and a period of poverty and wandering from apartment to apartment began: August 1895 - Prechistensky Boulevard, 25 (the house has not survived); from January 1896 - Malaya Nikitskaya street, 2; spring 1896 - Spiridonyevskaya street, 2 (the house has not survived); autumn 1896 - Malaya Nikitskaya street, semi-basement floor no. 20; January 1897 - Granatny Lane, 20, apt. 5; December 1897 and January 1898 - corner of Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya street and Malaya Nikitskaya street, 136/41 (mezzanine above the warehouse).Andreev the student gave lessons, compiled advertisements about the work of Moscow museums for the newspaper " Russian word". Tendencies to political activity Andreev did not show it; He maintained relations with the Oryol community (for which he came under police surveillance): together with other “old men” who came to general secret meetings, he ridiculed the “reformists” who studied and propagated Marx. "Golden pastime"Oryol "old men"opposed to political self-education, described by Andreev in the plays “Days of Our Lives” and “Gaudeamus” (“Old Student”). The characters and events were almost never imagined.

Reading, in particular philosophical reading, further removed Andreev from the topic of the day. According to his brother, Leonid spent whole nights poring over the works of Nietzsche, whose death in 1900 he perceived almost as a personal loss.

Attempts to get into print still failed; But my painting classes went well. He “drew portraits to order for 3 and 5 rubles each. Having improved, he began to receive 10 and even 12 rubles for a portrait.”

In May 1897, Leonid Andreev unexpectedly successfully passed state exams at the university; and, although his diploma turned out to be only the second degree and gave the title not of “candidate”, but of “full student”, this was quite enough to start a lawyer’s career: he soon signed up as an assistant sworn attorney with the Moscow lawyer of the Moscow Judicial District. Livenson, acted as a defense attorney in court and took this activity very seriously.

“Contact with the printing press” initially consisted in the fact that Andreev supplied cheap materials in a few lines to the “Inquiry Department” of the newspaper “Russkoe Slovo”: “The Chamber of the Romanov Boyars is open on such and such days...”

Having unexpectedly received an offer from a lawyer friend for a position as a court reporter in the Moskovsky Vestnik newspaper to write essays “From the Courtroom,”AndreevA few days later he brings his first judicial report to the editorial office. "It was written well literary language, very lively... There was no template introduction about what a meeting was taking place at that time, but the indictment, presented in the form of a story, began directly“- recalled an employee of Moskovsky Vestnik.Andreevdefense in courtcombinedwith anonymous publication in the journal. HTwo months later he moved to give reports to the newly founded Moscow newspaper, the Kurier newspaper.There he begins to publish feuilletons, which he signs "James Lynch" and "L.-ev" and stories.Later, toWhen Andreev achieved fame, some publications, in order to at least give something from the worktions of a fashionable writer, James Lynch's feuilletons began to be reprinted.

For the Easter issue of 1898 at the request of the editors Adreev "influenced by Dickens", which I loved very much, re-read "ten times"; wrote the story "Bergamot and Garaska". It was he who decided Andreev’s fate, since Gorky drew attention to him. The young writers became close and, together with the aspiring writers Skitalets, Bunin, Teleshov, and the singer Chaliapin, formed a close literary and artistic community. Gorky helped Andreev with advice and deeds, and introduced him to the publishing partnership “Knowledge,” founded by a group of young writers with the goal of maintaining and developing the social-realistic traditions of Russian literature of the 19th century.

Since 1900, Andreev led the cycles of feuilletons “Impressions” and the every Sunday essay “Moscow. Little things in life” in “Courier”.Attention big audience Andreev attracted attention in “Life” in 1901 with the story “Once Upon a Time.” In the same year, in September, the first volume of stories was published in the St. Petersburg publishing house "Znanie" at the expense of Gorky, which included Little Angel, Grand slam, Lies, Silence and Once upon a time.

February 101902Andreev’s wedding took place in the Church of St. Nicholas Yavlensky on Arbat StreetAlexandra MikhailovnaWeligOrskaya - grandniece of T. G. Shevchenko.The Andreevs rented an apartment on Srednyaya Presnya (now Zamorenova Street, 34), in which literary “Mondays” were held.

Leonid Andreev with his wife, 1903

Since December 1902, Andreev has been editor of the fiction department of the Courier; with the help of Gorky, he attracts Serafimovich to cooperation, publishes the first works of Remizov, Zaitsev, Chulkov...

After marriage beganthe calmest and happiest period in Andreev’s life. However,it continuednot for long. In January 1903 he was elected a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature at Moscow University. Andreev continued literary activity, and rebellious motives appeared in his work. After publicationin January 1904story “No Forgiveness,” which was directed against agents of the Tsarist secret police, the newspaper"Courier"closed.

An important event - not only literary, but also social - was Andreev’s anti-war story “Red Laughter”. The writer enthusiastically welcomes the first Russian revolution, tries to actively promote it: he works for the Bolshevik newspaper Borba, participates in secret meeting Finnish Red Guard. INFebruary 1905he gets into conflict againic with the authorities, advocating for the provision of an apartment for meetings of the Central Committee of the RSDLP. After which he is placed in solitary confinement. Only thanks to the bail provided by Savva Morozov, he manages to get out of prison.

Despite everything, Andreev does not stop revolutionary activity: in July 1905, he and Gorky perform at a literary and musical evening, the proceeds of which go to the benefit of the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP and the families of the striking workers of the Putilov plant. From persecution by the authorities, he now had to hide abroad: at the end of 1905, the writer went to Germany.

In Germany, Leonid Andreev experienced one of the most terrible tragedies of his life - the death of his beloved wifeduring the birth of his second son Daniel. At this time, he was working on the play “The Life of a Man,” about which he later wrote to Vera Figner: “Thank you for your review of “The Life of a Man.” This thing is very dear to me; and now I see that they won’t understand her. And it hurts a lotpresses me, not as an author (I have no pride), but as a “Man”. After all, this thing was the last thought, the last feeling and pride of my wife - and when they take it apart coldly, scold it, then I feelThere is some kind of huge insult in this.Of course, why do critics care that “the man’s wife” died, but it hurts me. Yesterday and today the play is being staged in St. Petersburg, and it makes me sick to think about it.” In December 1907, Andreev met with Gorky in Capri, and in May 1908, having somehow recovered from grief, he returned to Russia.

Leonid Andreev continues to promote the revolution: he supports the illegal foundation of prisoners of the Shlisselburg Fortress, and hides revolutionaries in his house.The writer works as an editor in the anthology “Rosehip” and the collection “Knowledge”. He invites Alexander Blok to Znanie, whom he highly values. Blok, in turn, speaks of Andreev like this: “They find something in common with Edgar Allan Poe. This is true to a certain extent, but the huge difference is that in Mr. Andreev’s stories there is nothing “extraordinary,” “strange,” “fantastic,” or “mysterious.” All simple everyday incidents.”

However, the writer had to leavefrom "Knowledge": Gorky resolutely rebelled against the publications of Blok and Sologub. Andreev also broke up with Rosehipafter he rejected the printednovels by Savinov and Sologub.

Anna Andreeva, the writer’s second wife, Marseille, 1910. The photograph was taken by Andreev.

Perhaps the most significant work of this period was “Judas Iscariot”, in which Andreev reinterprets the famous biblical story. The disciples of Christ appear as cowardly ordinary people, and Judas appears as a mediator between Christ and people. The image of Judas is dual: formally a traitor, but in essence the only person devoted to Christ. He betrays Christ in order to find out whether any of his followers are capable of sacrificing themselves to save their teacher. He brings weapons to the apostles, warns them of the danger threatening Christ, and after the death of the Teacher follows him. The author puts a very deep ethical postulate into the mouth of Judas: “Sacrifice is suffering for one and shame for all. You took on all the sin. You will soon kiss the cross on which you crucified Christ!.. Did he forbid you to die? Why are you alive when he is dead?.. What is truth itself in the mouths of traitors? Doesn’t it become a lie?” Andreev described this work as “something on the psychology, ethics and practice of betrayal.”

A photo that is listed as a self-portrait. Leonid Andreev in front of his own copy of a drawing by Francisco Goya. 1912, Vammelsuu

Leonid Andreev is constantly busy searching for style. He develops techniques and principles of expressive rather than figurative writing. At this time, such works as “The Tale of the Seven Hanged Men” (1908), which tells about government repressions, the plays “Days of Our Lives” (1908), “Anatema” (1910), “Ekaterina Ivanovna” (1913), and the novel “ Sashka Zhegulev" (1911).

After 1905 Andreev performsmainly in the genre of drama. His first play To the Stars appeared in 1905 and until 1917 he published at least one play a year.

Veresaev and L. Andreev, 1912

First world war L. Andreev welcomed as “the struggle of democracy throughout the world against Caesarism and despotism, of which Germany is a representative.” He expected the same from all figures of Russian culture. At the beginning of 1914, the writer even went to Gorky in Capri to convince him to abandon his “defeatist” position and at the same time restore shaken friendly relations. Returning to Russia, he began working for the newspaper Morning of Russia, the organ of the liberal bourgeoisie, and in 1916 became editor of the newspaper Russkaya Volya.

Andreev and the February Revolution enthusiastically welcomed him. He even tolerated violence if it was used to achieve “lofty goals” and served the public good and the triumph of freedom.

However, his euphoria waned as the Bolsheviks strengthened their positions. Already in September 1917, he wrote that “the conqueror Lenin” was walking “on puddles of blood.” An opponent of any dictatorship, he could not come to terms with the Bolshevik dictatorship. In October 1917, he left for Finland, which was actually the beginning of emigration (in fact, thanks to a sad curiosity: when the border between Soviet Russia and Finland, Andreev and his family lived in the country and, willy-nilly, ended up “abroad”).

On March 22, 1919, his article “S.O.S!” was published in the Parisian newspaper “Common Cause!”, in which aboutn turned to “noble” citizens for help and called on them to unite in order to save Russia from the “savages of Europe who rebelled against herculture, laws and morality”, which turned it “into ashes, fire, murder, destructionchurch, cemetery, dungeons and insane asylums.”

Andreev exhibited in St. Petersburg in 1913 at the “Exhibition of Independents” and received the approval of Repin and Roerich.

Andreev. Artist Repin.

Troubled state of mind the writer also affected his physical well-being. On December 9, Leonid Andreev died of cardiac paralysis in the village of Neivala in Finland at the dacha of a friend, writer Valkovsky. His body was temporarily buried in a local church.

This is TVthe “rebel” period lasted until 1956, when his ashes were reburied in Leningrad on the Literary Bridge of the Volkov Cemetery.

leonidandreev.ru

“When thousands kill one, it means that one has won.”

“And what kind of great liar is he who only knows how to deceive others? Lie to yourself enough to believe it - that’s art.”

“But do pious people know how to distinguish the fake from the real? Only scammers can do this.”

“The wisdom of words is needed only by the poor in spirit, but the rich are speechless. s".

In 1930, the last collection of stories by Leonid Andreev was published, and for many yearss defaults.

The second “discovery” of Andreev’s work, as part of the pre-revolutionevolutionary literature, occurred in our country in 1956, with the release of the collection “Stories”. This discovery has been going on for more than thirty years, but the currentthis estimous collection of works is only a stage in understanding this wonderful writer.

At the “Moscow Premiere” they will present a film adaptation of Leonid Andreev’s story. The film “Judas” by the young director Andrei Bogatyrev based on the story “Judas Iscariot” by Leonid Andreev was included in main program festival "Moscow Premiere" - " The Magnificent Seven"MK". A little earlier I participated in the Moscow international film festival, where Alexey Shevchenkov, who played Judas, was awarded the “Silver George” for best performance male role.

This is the second Russian film adaptation of Leonid Andreev’s work after “The Desert” by Mikhail Katz, filmed in 1991 with the participation of actors Sergei Russkin and Nikolai Pastukhov.

The Silver Age gave Russian literature many bright names. One of the founders of Russian expressionism, Leonid Andreev, with his unique style, rightfully takes his place in the galaxy of talents at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

Childhood and youth

On August 9, 1871, a boy was born into the family of land surveyor Nikolai Ivanovich and the daughter of a Polish landowner Anastasia Nikolaevna, nee Patskovskaya. The baby was named Leonid, and it was he who was destined to write works in the future that still touch hearts and touch hidden strings human soul.

The Andreevs lived in the city of Orel on 2nd Pushkarnaya Street - the one on which the writer later settled the characters of one of his first stories, “Bargamot and Garaska.” By the time the child was born, the land surveyor's family had finally gained at least some kind of financial stability.

Leonid's father was respected by his neighbors for his strong character and love of justice. Unfortunately, Nikolai Ivanovich loved to drink, and when he drank, he loved to fight. Leonid Andreev later said that he inherited his craving for alcohol and his character from his father. And from the mother, albeit poorly educated, but with a rich imagination - a creative gift.

At the Oryol classical gymnasium, the future prose writer studied carelessly and even stayed for the second year. What he was good at was essays, which he often wrote for his classmates. Then Leonid showed a talent for imitation - he could easily “fake” a style, for example, or.

IN school years Leonid was fond of drawing. Alas, in hometown there were no opportunities to gain fundamental knowledge of painting, which the writer later regretted more than once. And from time to time he still took up the brush - Leonid Andreev himself created illustrations for some of his own works.

Writing grew out of a passion for reading. Leonid read a lot: Tolstoy, Hartmann, . The latter had a great influence on the writer’s work, especially the book “The World as Will and Representation,” one of Andreev’s favorite books. Under the influence of his favorite authors, at the age of 15-16, the young man began to suffer from “damned questions.”

Then Andreev promised himself to destroy own works love, morality, religion and “end your life in destruction.” This phrase became known to descendants thanks to the Russian writer, Andreev’s contemporary Vasily Brusyanin.

Andreev did not know how to live in peace; his biography contains many sharp corners– suicide attempts, long binges, endless love interests. In general, the word “hobby” cannot fully characterize the painful and subtle feelings of a writer. Love for him was a driving force, a natural necessity.

While a student at the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University, Leonid was forced to drop out of his studies due to a failed suicide due to non-reciprocal feelings. Another reason for leaving the university was the death of his father. The family’s financial situation has sharply deteriorated, and, as a result, the opportunity to pay for studies has disappeared. Then Andreev began to drink - and write. The first story about a hungry student appeared then, but the editors did not accept it.

The writer continued his studies at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. Leonid earned a living for himself and his orphaned family by teaching. He also painted portraits to order. As a student, the young man was not interested in politics, unlike the youth of those years, but was imbued with philosophy.

Especially close to him were the ideas of the meaninglessness of life and the value of the individual in itself. While at home on vacation in 1894, Leonid fell in love again, and again unsuccessfully. Another suicide attempt followed. After this, Andreev received a chronic disease (heart disease), which ultimately killed him.

Having successfully graduated from the university in 1897, the writer practiced law until 1902. At the same time, Andreev worked as a journalist in Moscow publications - “Courier” and “Moskovsky Vestnik”.

Literature

In 1898, Andreev’s story “Bargamot and Garaska” was first published in Courier. And fame came to the writer in 1901, after the publication of the story “Once Upon a Time” in the magazine “Life”. Soon Leonid Andreev left the legal profession and became closely involved in literature.

Visited literary evenings, made acquaintance with , and other writers, absorbed criticism and advice like a sponge. He noted the writer’s creativity and helped him publish the first collection of stories, and in large quantities. It was reprinted four times due to its popularity.

“Once upon a time,” “Angel,” “Valya,” “Kusaka” are simple and at the same time vivid sketches of the surrounding reality, inspiring compassion, written in living language. The heroes of the stories live nearby - yes, on the same 2nd Pushkarnaya in Orel.

The stories, published in 1902, caused heated debate. The author spoke about what is customary to remain silent about - about dark side human soul, about fear, about instincts that are in stressful situation easily dominate the human mind, as, for example, in the story “The Abyss”.

The famous “Red Laughter” by Andreev, depicting events Russo-Japanese War 1904, is especially scary. The writer himself did not fight, but there were enough newspaper reports and eyewitness accounts for the rich imagination of the writer and artist to generate scary pictures madness of war.

At the next stage creative life Andreev created voluminous works - plays, novels, stories: “The Diary of Satan”, “The One Who Gets Slapped”, “Judas Iscariot”, etc. “Judas Iscariot” caused a lot of controversy and discontent among believers, because in this story the apostles - ordinary people, not alien to vices, but an unhappy person. The story was published in German, English and French, and went through several film adaptations.

A peculiarity of Leonid Andreev’s work from the point of view of literary scholars is the impossibility of attributing the writer’s works to a certain direction in literature. The ones used by the writer vary too much artistic methods, the style is too unusual.

Personal life

In 1902, Andreev married Alexandra Veligorskaya, a great-niece, and in the same year the couple had their first child, Vadim. In 1906, a son was born, and Alexandra died of postpartum fever.

In 1908, Leonid Andreev married for the second time - to Anna Ilyinichna Denisevich (Karnitskaya). From his second marriage, sons Savva (1909) and Valentin (1912) and daughter Vera (1910) were born. All five children, like their father, were creative people.

Not many people know interesting fact from the life of the writer: Leonid Andreev was seriously interested in color photography. He is still considered one of the the best masters in the world who worked using the autochrome technique. This technique was invented, and until 1935 it was the only affordable way get color photos.

Death

The writer did not accept the October Revolution of 1917; the Bolsheviks evoked a sharply negative attitude in him. In the year that Finland gained independence, Leonid Andreev lived in this country and thus found himself in forced emigration. There, in the town of Mustamaki, on September 12, 1919, Leonid Andreev died. Reason sudden death became a heart defect. The writer was buried nearby, in Marioki.

In 1956, Andreev’s ashes were reburied in Leningrad at the Volkov cemetery. The writer, undeservedly forgotten in his homeland, was remembered, and since 1956 he selected works often reprinted. The legacy that the writer left includes 89 stories, 20 plays, 8 novellas and novels. Thoughts put by the author into the mouths of the characters or written in the first person were divided into quotes. Since 1991, the Leonid Andreev House Museum has been operating in Orel.

Bibliography

Plays

• 1906 - To the stars
• 1907 - Life of a Man
• 1907 - Savva
• 1908 - Tsar Hunger
• 1908 - Black masks
• 1909 - Anathema
• 1909 - Days of Our Lives
• 1910 - Anfisa
• 1910 - Gaudeamus
• 1911 - Ocean
• 1912 - Ekaterina Ivanovna
• 1912 - Professor Storitsyn
• 1913 - Beautiful Sabine Women
• 1913 - Thou shalt not kill
• 1914 - Thought
• 1914 - Samson in chains
• 1915 - The one who gets slapped
• 1915 - Requiem
• 1917 - Lovely Ghosts
• 1922 - Dog Waltz

Novels and stories

• 1903 - Life of Vasily Fiveysky
• 1904 - Red Laughter
• 1907 - Judas Iscariot
• 1908 - My notes
• 1908 - The Story of the Seven Hanged Men
• 1911 - Sashka Zhegulev
• 1916 - Yoke of War
• 1919 - Satan's Diary

Painting by Russian artists
Painting by Ilya Efimovich Repin “Portrait of actress Maria Fedorovna Andreeva.” Oil on canvas, 134 × 85 cm. For seventy years, Maria Andreeva was called Gorky’s friend-wife, a fiery revolutionary and a fellow phenomenon. As if there were no other words in Soviet historiography for this woman. Her fate was painfully reminiscent of the typical Soviet model of success: she lived a long time - she worked constantly - she fought passionately - she died in honor. That's all. It’s as if there was no dizzying professional career, no frantic jealousy of dozens of fans, no happy, but very bitter love. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Andreeva was “dazzlingly beautiful”...

Maria Andreevna began her stage activity in 1886 on the Kazan stage in Medvedev's enterprise. Having married a high-ranking official A. A. Zhelyabuzhsky, she interrupted her professional artistic career, but did not leave the stage. She performed as an amateur actress - first in Tiflis in the Artistic Circle (she played Larisa in Ostrovsky's Dowry, Marytsa in Averkiev's Kashirskaya Antiquity, etc.), then in Moscow in the Society of Art and Literature, where she became K. S. Stanislavsky's partner and one of the most valued they name actresses to play the roles of “heroines”. Exceptional talents (rare beauty, grace, musicality) were combined in her with efficiency and dedication to the stage. Since December 1894, Andreeva played Olya Vasilkova in Stanislavsky's productions in Shining, Let It Not Warm, Judith in Uriel Acosta, Larisa in The Dowry, Rautendelein in The Sunken Bell, etc. In total, she played 11 roles on the stage of the Society.

There was the press, the love of the public, success. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna herself painted her portrait. It seemed that only glory and laurels lay ahead. But Andreeva suddenly became interested in... "Capital" and other Marxist literature. joined the ranks of the RSDLP - secretly from her husband, secretly from the theater, and from her colleagues. At the same time she managed to start whirlwind romance with Savva Morozov. As you know, you cannot embrace the immensity, and when Maxim Gorky appeared in her life, her artistic career, which had begun so successfully, gradually faded away. The most that Andreeva could count on was small supporting roles.

It was the revolution, and not the theater, that she gave all her energy, her temperament and organizational talent. A married socialite, a famous actress, is an excellent screen for a revolutionary underground organization. The tasks multiplied: from helping to prepare the escape of the Bolsheviks from the Tagansk prison to storing cartridge belts in the desk. By that time, State Councilor Zhelyabuzhsky ceased to interest Andreeva completely. The children are placed with their sister. All strength can be “given to the fight”...

After October 1917, a new countdown began. Those who invested strength, health and money in the revolution instantly wanted to receive compensation: new posts and “portfolios”. Andreeva is not forgotten either: she becomes the commissar of theaters and shows of the union of communes of the Northern region, that is, Petrograd and all its environs. In the diaries of Korney Chukovsky there is an entry dated April 18, 1919, how commissar Maria Fedorovna Andreeva, perfectly dressed, in a hat, flew into Chaliapin’s office - “Yes, yes, I will give orders, they will serve you now!..” She gave orders, singled out, punished and If she herself needed support, she immediately appealed to Lenin. She turned to Blok “directly and unceremoniously” to head the Bolshoi. Theatre of Drama, but he wisely refused.

In the early 20s, significant changes occurred in the writer’s life. The place of Maria Andreeva was taken by another person who became the writer’s irreplaceable secretary and warm friend - Maria Ignatievna Budberg - the “iron woman” about whom Berberova wrote a whole book. Gorky, having parted with Maria Fedorovna, maintained an even relationship with her.

In the winter of 1931, Andreeva received her last appointment– became the director of the House of Scientists in Moscow. She invested all her temperament and energy, which was not completely spent, into a new business. The House of Scientists for many years became one of the most interesting places of communication for the capital's intelligentsia. Maria Feodorovna invited many prominent people there, and often spoke with her memoirs. Its main themes: Lenin and Gorky. At that time, the most popular and winning themes. The polished unctuous texts went off with a bang.

Maria Fedorovna Andreeva died on December 8, 1953 at the age of 85. It would seem that, by all canonical Bolshevik standards, she lived wonderful life, brought great benefit to the cause of the revolution, was a comrade-in-arms of Lenin and Gorky, her name is inscribed in the history of the Art Theater, she loved and was loved... But, according to eyewitnesses, there was a mask of suffering on her face in the coffin. And no peace and quiet...