(real name and surname - Lotarev Igor Vasilievich)

(1887-1941) Russian poet, essayist, translator

The popularity of Igor Severyanin is viewed differently. Some say that he was nothing more than a talented rhymer of “restaurant-boudoir themes,” while others, on the contrary, consider him a very gifted poet. What remains indisputable is that he devoted his entire life to poetry and lived it, submitting to his once chosen destiny. Even in the difficult pre-war years, Igor Severyanin refused to enter public service, preferring to be considered only a writer.

Much in a person’s actions, in his attitude to life values, is explained by the upbringing he received in childhood. The poet's mother, Natalya Semyonovna Shenshina, belonged to an old noble family, one of the branches of which went back to the historian N. Karamzin. My father was a military engineer and came from Vladimir burghers.

The boy received an excellent education at home and joined the theater early. But then his parents separated, and he lived either with his father or with his mother. At one time he studied at the Cherepovets Real School. Not far from the city there was the estate of his paternal uncle, where Igor Severyanin spent his holidays. When his father retired and received a position as a commercial agent, the boy went with him to the Far East to Manchuria. He was simply captivated by exotic beauties and retained his love for the sea until the end of his life. But in his soul he still remained a supporter of the northern regions, so he soon returned from Manchuria to his mother in Gatchina. Even when choosing a pseudonym, the future poet sought to emphasize the connection of his work with northern nature. True, the spelling of the pseudonym he invented - Igor Severyanin - was never established in the press.

In 1904-1905, Igor Severyanin, using his uncle’s money, published several small poetic brochures with patriotic content. They included the poems “The Death of “Rurik””, “The Feat of “Novik””, “The Capture of “Resolute””, inspired by the events of the Russian-Japanese War.

The poet himself dates the beginning of his literary activity to 1905, when his poem “The Death of Rurik” was published in the magazine for soldiers “Leisure and Business”. Severyanin’s first collection of poetry, Lightning Poems, was published in 1908.

The early poems of the young writer were written under the obvious influence of the then famous poets M. Lokhvitskaya and K. Fofanov. He simply idolized Mirra Lokhvitskaya, reproducing after her the movements of his own soul and dreaming of the unattainable. Konstantin Fofanov attracted him with his ability to convey his own moods through landscape sketches. At the same time, both poets paid tribute to love feelings.

The beginning of the 20th century was a rather unstable time; there was a craving for rapid change and at the same time a desire to do something extraordinary and extravagant. In 1911, Igor Severyanin led the movement of egofuturism, which included young poets R. Ivnev, I. Ignatiev, K. Olimpov. He reflects his feelings as an egotistic poet (universal poet) in the poem “Epilogue” (1912):

I, the genius Igor-Severyanin,

Intoxicated with his victory:

I'm completely screened!

Over time, Igor Severyanin also had his own admirers. These were mainly high school students, students of the Bestuzhev courses, medical students, and exalted young ladies. For them, the poet invented a special form of presenting his poems: he did not read them, but practically performed them to music. “My creativity began to develop on two main principles: classical banality and melodic musicality,” Severyanin later wrote in his autobiography “Exemplary Fundamentals.”

His fans went crazy over lines like this:

It was by the sea, where the lacy foam

Where a city crew is rarely found...

The Queen played - in the castle tower - Chopin,

And, listening to Chopin, her page fell in love.

A very precise definition of Igor Severyanin’s poems was later given by the critic G. Adamovich, noting their “rubber-light elegance.” But still, he, following the first critics, confirmed the originality of the poet’s style.

Real fame came to Igor Severyanin after the publication of the collection “The Thunder-Boiling Cup” (1913), which went through seven reprints in two years. However, the poet’s popularity was rather scandalous in nature, which was greatly facilitated by famous cultural figures. Thus, after reading one of Severyanin’s early poems, “Habanera II,” L. Tolstoy called him immoral. These words were immediately published by all the newspapers, and readers, naturally, themselves wanted to get acquainted with the work of the poet, who was awarded such a categorical assessment. What exactly Tolstoy meant was no longer important; the main thing is that the “wall of silence” of criticism around Igor Severyanin has collapsed once and for all.

However, he was supported by V. Bryusov, who at that time was already a leading critic and master of poetry. He noted that Severyanin tried to update the poetic language by introducing argot, neologisms and unusually bold metaphors. Although, according to Bryusov, he did not always succeed, he hoped that “over time, his muddy splash could turn into a clear and strong stream.” A correspondence began between them, and Bryusov was one of the first to welcome Igor Severyanin as the head of the new poetic school.

The third connoisseur of his poetry was F. Sologub. Although he criticized the egofuturism program, soon after the meeting they read their works together for the first time at an evening and even went on a joint tour. Friendly relations arose between the two poets, and subsequently it was Severyanin who persuaded Sologub to leave the country, as if foreseeing his future personal tragedy.

The strength of Igor Severyanin’s lyrical talent was also noted by A. Blok, N. Gumilyov, and M. Gorky. Like many other poets of that time, Severyanin was constantly engaged in word formation. He created a whole series of neologisms - “zoom”, “mediocrity”, “stun”, “rogue eye”, “flaxjet”; was fond of creating words with the prefix “without” - without remorse, hopelessness, without question; formed verbs from nouns - wing, thunder, wind, nurse. His metaphors are also interesting: “dreams of claret”, “lilies of liqueurs”, “champagne polonaise”. You can’t ignore his “lilac ice cream” or “pineapples in champagne”...

Step by step, Igor Severyanin created his image of an outstanding poet, who enjoyed incredible success with women and the love of the public. He didn’t even call his lovers by their names, but came up with his own poetic name for each.

Igor Severyanin always numbered his poems, calling even small books “volumes.” However, everything in the world comes to an end, and fame began to gradually leave him. Over time, his futurist friends left him, and he joined the Cubo-Futurists. Publishers also gradually lost interest in his poems, and the poet had to print them with his own money.

However, Severyanin was not going to give up, and 1918 became the year of his triumph. He gains the upper hand in the creative rivalry with Mayakovsky and becomes the king of poets. But at this time, the living Russian classic is already forced to live in exile, in Estonia.

The subsequent years of the poet's life were uneventful. He even continued to publish, sometimes he was invited to give readings of his works. But now he mostly just had to fight for survival. Igor Severyanin never served, so his main source of income was his literary activity. In exile, he published thirteen books, almost the same number as he had previously published in Russia.

Literary income, of course, was not enough, and Igor Severyanin lived by fishing or what he collected in the forest. The poet settled in the village of Toila, where he found family happiness by marrying the Estonian F. Kruut. For the sake of their common well-being, he accepts Estonian citizenship. In 1922, Severyanin had a son, whom the happy father named...Bacchus, in honor of the ancient god. But the poet also sang his wife as Ariadne the Emerald.

The Estonian period of Northerner’s work is somewhat different: the poet pays more attention to landscape lyrics, sometimes even responding to contemporary events, although one should not look for overtly political poems in his poetry. The pinnacle of Igor Severyanin’s lyrics of this time was the collection “Classical Roses” (1931), and the main theme of his poetry was the great and spiritually rich Russia. Until the end of his days, the poet did not lose hope of returning here.

Severyanin’s later poems retain the spontaneity inherent in his work, but at the same time they become more traditional in form and manner of presentation.

With the help of his wife, Northerner, who does not speak written Estonian, carries out an unprecedented publication - he compiles an anthology of his own translations, “Poets of Estonia” (1928), for which he receives a financial subsidy from the Estonian Ministry of Education. Together they also translate several prose works - the books by M. Under “Prosperity” and A. Rankit “In the Window Binding”.

However, twenty years later came the end of Severyanin’s happy family life. He became interested in another woman, V. Korendi, and separated from his wife. Their creative union also fell apart. Now the only source of livelihood for the poet is subsidies from the Cultural Capital fund, which are allocated to him by the Estonian government.

After Estonia joined the USSR, Igor Severyanin strives with all his heart to return to his homeland. At this time, he publishes practically nothing and does not even write down his poems, not seeing the point. However, World War II soon began, and his departure was postponed indefinitely. In addition, life's difficulties aggravated the poet's painful condition. In December 1941, Severyanin died in Tallinn from a heart attack.

The popularity of Igor Severyanin is easily explained. He always addressed himself directly to his listener, without separating himself from him at any distance.

Igor Severyanin (pseudonym of Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev) (1887-- 1941) was born in St. Petersburg, the son of an officer. He studied at the Cherepovets Real School. He began publishing in 1905 in provincial newspapers. His first collection of poems, Lightnings of Thought, was published in 1908. Since 1911, he was the head of the ego-futurists who published the newspaper Petersburg Herald. Northerner's books of poetry: "The Thunderboiling Cup" (1913) went through seven editions in two years), "Zlatolira" (1914), "Pineapples in Champagne" (1915), "Victoria Regia" (1915), "Poesoentr'act" (l915). At an evening at the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow, he was hailed by the public as the “King of Poets.” The second was Mayakovsky. In March of the same year he left for Estonia and soon found himself cut off from his homeland. He never returned to Russia, although he missed it. Despite his ardent desire, he was unable to escape to his homeland in June 1941, when Estonia was captured by Nazi troops. He died in Tallinn.

The northerner (Igor Vasilievich Lotarev) was proud of his relationship with two famous people in the history of Russian literature.

The poet’s friend, priest Sergius Polozhensky, brought the Shenshin family out of the depths of the 15th century, calling it the ancestor of Samuel “Shenshu”. In this glorious noble family we find Major Boris Shenshin in the 18th century. His grandson Sergiy Leontyevich Shenshin had the rank of collegiate assessor and served as the chief of police of the Shchigrovsky district of the Kursk province, and his son Stepan Sergeevich is known to us as the leader of the district nobility. He was married to Olga Kozminichna Deberina. The marriage was successful. Six children were born: sons - Joseph (lieutenant), Nikolai (hussar), Mikhail (died hunting in his youth), daughters - Alexandra, Elizabeth and Natalia.

A wealthy landowner, captain Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, while in Germany, married the widow Charlotte Feth, née Becker. Afanasy Afanasyevich, the future poet, was born from his marriage to Charlotte. Until the age of 14, Afanasy was written by Shenshin, but suddenly it turned out that the Lutheran blessing for marriage in Russia did not have legal force, and the Orthodox wedding of his parents took place after his birth. From that moment on, he began to bear his mother's surname.

But let’s return to Natalya Stepanovna Shenshina, whose first marriage was to Lieutenant General, engineer Georgy Ivanovich Domontovich, from whom she had a daughter, Zoya, who died in her youth. It was Zoya who was the link that connected Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev with the Domontovich family. Through his relationship with Zoya, the poet was related (not by blood relationship through marriage) to several famous people in the history of the Russian state. Here are some of them - the brothers of Georgy Domontovich: the member of the St. Petersburg Duma Ivan Ivanovich Domontovich, Senator Konstantin Ivanovich Domontovich, General Mikhail Alekseevich Domontovich (cousin). Igor Severyanin. Poems. M. Russia, 2007. Intro. article by V.P. Koshelev, page 7

Senator Konstantin Domontovich was married to Adelaide Konstantinovna Muravinskaya, whose sister Evgenia Konstantinovna Muravinskaya became famous throughout Russia as a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater (coloratura soprano). Her stage name was Mravina, and her roles were Manon Lescaut in “Manon” by J. Massenet, Gilda in “Rigoletto” and Violetta in “La Traviata” by G. Verdi, Mimi in “La Bohème” by D. Puccini. One of the most brilliant beauties of St. Petersburg, Evgenia Mravina, died in Crimea after a serious and long illness in October 1914. Igor-Severyanin dedicated the essay “The Tragic Nightingale” to Mravina. By the way, in the note “Relatives and “-chki”” the poet persistently calls her Muravinskaya, although, according to the widow of conductor Evgeniy Mravinsky A.M. Vavilina-Mravinskaya, writing the family surname “Mravinsky” in the form “Muravinsky” is an obvious mistake, which for the poet can only be explained by incorrect listening perception.

The daughter of Mikhail Alekseevich Domontovich's cousin was Shurochka, known to us as Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai. Cousin Shurochka became famous for her progressive views on sex and marriage, took part in the revolutionary movement and was the first woman in the world to receive the rank of ambassador. In the 20s, among the Russian emigration there were rumors about her that she outshone the royalty with her outfits, furs and diamonds. Alexandra Mikhailovna remains perhaps the most mysterious woman in Soviet Russia. They say that until she was very old, she drove men crazy. However, for us this has absolutely no meaning, because it is dear to us only because of the memory of the poet, in which he appears to us as “a boy with a white collar and not childishly sad eyes.”

The paternal line seems to us less extensive, although here there are names worthy of mention. Vasily Petrovich Lotarev rose to the rank of staff captain. After retiring, he tried to engage in commerce in his homeland, but was extremely unsuccessful and who knows how he ended up in China. At that time, the Russian army was establishing itself in the ports of Dalny (Dalyan) and Port Arthur (Lushun). Vasily Petrovich, obviously, participated in some army supplies, but not for long - illness interfered. He died of consumption in Yalta on June 10, 1904.

My father's family included merchants, engineers, chemists and lawyers. Of interest to us is the cousin of the future poet Viktor Aleksandrovich Zhurov, the son of Elisaveta Petrovna Lotareva and the Moscow merchant Alexander Irodionovich Zhurov, a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. Zhurov is better known as baritone Vittorio Andoga. Tradition says that he even became a director at the famous Milan theater La Scala. The cousin was married to Odessa native Natalia Fesenko, known to us as the opera singer Aida Marcella.

This was written almost a quarter of a century later, but how incredibly good and still fresh are “the eyes that melt ecstasies at their bottom.” Without any doubt, Elizabeth always made a strong impression on her cousin. It is enough to find in the “Thunderboiling Goblet” the poem “Excesser,” in which the poet admits: “I have not seen a cousin in a cousin and it is hardly my fault.”

Igor the Severyanin did not leave us his biography, but his childhood poem “The Dew of the Orange Hour” contains many interesting details. The text of the poem is now available, which eliminates the need to retell them, so I will mention only those that directly relate to the poet’s parents.

The poet says about his father that he was originally from the Vladimir bourgeoisie. Vasily Lotarev, together with his brother Mikhail, spent his childhood and adolescence in one of the German boarding houses in Revel. He studied in St. Petersburg at the Engineering School (Mikhailovsky or Engineering Castle). Having received an engineering specialty - a sapper and an officer rank, he was accepted into service in the 1st railway battalion (later a regiment). My father was well-read, knew several languages, and loved the theater. Among officer's entertainments, he preferred orgies and revelries, and had an increased weakness for the female sex.

The mother, according to the poet, had no idea what a kitchen was until she was twenty-two. In her youth, the future Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Boris Sturmer, wooed her, but she married Lieutenant General Georgy Domontovich, who was much older than her. The husband took part in the construction of the Admiralty in St. Petersburg and the Trinity Bridge across the Neva. His family, however, had nothing to do with Hetman Dovmont, as Igor-Severyanin believed. The acquaintance of the general's widow, Domontovich, and adjutant Vasily Lotarev took place in the Gorna cafe in Mayorengof. Their son Igor was born on May 4 (old style) 1887 in St. Petersburg, in a house on Gorokhovaya Street.

Severyanin’s work also reflected such episodes from his childhood as his mother’s stories about his first husband’s friends. The poem contains a story about how Lieutenant General Domontovich played weekly screw with four admirals von Behrents, Krone, Duhamel and Puzino. All four characters are undoubtedly real historical figures. For example, the name of Rear Admiral Orest Polikarpovich Puzino is often found in Russian maritime literature, and two capes were named after Alexander Egorovich Krone at the end of the 19th century: the first on the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of ​​Japan, the second in the Bering Sea in Providence Bay.

A reference to the poems of the poetess Maria (Mirra) Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya, who died at the age of 36, will help to better understand the origin of these “dreams.” “She died in August 1905, and the poet never knew her personally, but he chose her as his Beautiful Lady, he worshiped her, glorified her in poetry” Pinaev S.M. Over a bottomless pit into eternity...Russian poetry of the Silver Age. M.: Unicum-Center, Pomatur, 2001

In the poetry of the “Silver Age” it is difficult to find a more striking example of the worship of one poet by another than the worship of Igor the Severyanin Mirra Lokhvitskaya. He dedicated many poems to Lokhvitskaya, and used her motifs many times in his poems. Igor the Severyanin, however, never thought about the fact that Maria Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya, so dear to his heart, was possessed by demonomania, and in a severe form. He simply followed her, obeying her call: “Follow me, tired of the oppression of doubts! You, drinking greedily from the muddy wave.”

The poet began to openly bow to Mirra Lokhvitskaya only almost five years later, although he later claimed that the beginning was made in August 1905 immediately after her death: “Your voice, which I have not absorbed, is familiar to me”; “And truthful, and innocent, and beautiful!.. She died, hurting us...” He brought flowers to her grave, swore his love, celebrated her birthday in November, came to the cemetery in May on his birthday, asked her for advice, took her lines as epigraphs to his poems.

But despite the abundance of poems dedicated to Mirra Lokhvitskaya, the poet did not leave us with an exact indication of the specific reasons for his prayerful attitude towards her: “Only to the poet is she dear, only to the poet does she shine like a star!”* Perhaps the above-mentioned Beautiful Lady, who is not at all, explains something must definitely be endowed with real talents and unearthly beauty in life. But the case of the worship of Mirra Lokhvitskaya somehow does not fit into the standard beautiful lady dimensions:

I put Lokhvitskaya above everyone else:

And Byron, and Pushkin, and Dante.

I myself shine in the rays of her talent.

Before talking about the poet’s work, it is necessary to talk about his unusual literary pseudonym. The form of the literary pseudonym chosen by Igor Lotarev, even for Russian literature, which is rich in all sorts of delights, seems rather unusual. I always adhere to the rule of writing it with a hyphen, without dividing it like a first and last name for the simple reason that he came up with it himself. It’s wild to read literary articles and journalism in which the poet is called Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin.

Pre-revolutionary criticism and journalism, together with publishers, could not come to terms with the hyphen in a pseudonym and stubbornly reproduced the pseudonym in the form of a first and last name. “The first 15 brochures and two separate poems, published by the poet at his own expense, are signed by his civil name - Igor Lotarev” Website information http://severyanin.narod.ru/

Another 20 small collections of poems were published under the pseudonym “Igor-Severyanin”. The first major publisher of Igor Lotarev's poems, Sergei Krechetov - "Grif" * categorically opposed writing a hyphenated pseudonym. “The Thundering Cup”, “Zlatolira” in the publication by Grif, as well as the subsequent collections “Pineapples in Champagne” and “Victoria Regia” in the publishing house “Our Days” were published without a hyphen. The famous publisher Vikentiy Pashukanis, who published the collected works of the poet, did not consider it possible to reproduce the hyphen. However, in Pashukanisov’s “Thunderboiling Cup” there was a photograph of the author with a reproduced autograph “Igor the Northerner”.

There is inconsistency in the publications of the Estonian era. Thus, in the early Estonian editions of “Creme des Violettes”, “Vervain”, “The Dew of the Orange Hour”, “The Bells of the Cathedral of the Senses” the pseudonym is reproduced in the author’s writing, and in the Berlin editions of the same period and in later Estonian editions the hyphen in it disappears again .

Manuscript of the unpublished collection "Lyrics" with poems from 1918-1928 - the pseudonym on the cover is written with a hyphen. The same picture is in the manuscripts “Tuning the Lyre”, “Timpani of the Sun”, “Medallions”. The prefaces to both books by Rannit are signed with the pseudonym “Igor the Severyanin”. All known autographs of the poet, with the exception of the one referred to by V. Ilyashevich*, contain a hyphen in the spelling of the pseudonym. On books given to his wife* and in letters to her, in letters to Georgy Shengeli, in letters to Irina Borman* you can see the abbreviated form of the pseudonym “Igor. -” Now I open two most important documents - two wills, one of which is dated March 9, 1940 year, and another on October 20 of the same year. In both documents we find a signature in the form of a full pseudonym with the addition of the poet’s civil name: “Igor-Severyanin. (Lotarev).” This is the “late Northerner without a hyphen.”

He became the founder of egofuturism, in addition to simple futurism, proclaiming the cult of individualism, rising above the faceless crowd of ordinary people. But this pleasantly tickled the pride of the inhabitants themselves. With the futurism of Mayakovsky, Northerner was united by shocking mischief, contempt for militaristic patriotism and mockery of the musty artificial world of mortally boring classicists. However, the bourgeoisie, whom Northerner teased and mockingly teased with ridicule, became his main admirer. At a poetry evening at the Polytechnic Museum, Severyanin was elected King of Poets, despite the presence of Blok and Mayakovsky. The northerner enjoyed introducing into poetry such then-new words as “cinema”, “auto”, and invented a bunch of salon-technical neologisms. His bizarre grandiloquence sometimes resembled self-parody. He was never ashamed to call himself a genius, but in everyday life he was very simple. Young Antokolsky was shocked when Severyanin, in his presence, ordered in a restaurant not “pineapples in champagne”, not “lilac ice cream”, but a shot of vodka and a pickled cucumber. For all his “dreaming” nature, Severyanin is a very Russian, provincial-theatrical phenomenon. But he has one quality of a real poet - you can never confuse his poems with anyone else. When Severyanin emigrated, emigrant writers, not as famous as he, took pleasure in taking revenge on him for his fame with their arrogance, lordly disdain, which Severyanin himself never had. Crossed out of the list of “real poets,” Northerner found himself completely alone in Estonia, and after its annexation he wrote an ode welcoming, in the style of his early neologisms, the “Sixteen-Republic Union.” It was not a political poem, but rather a nostalgic one. Before his death, the northerner was happy to receive a letter from his admirers from somewhere in Altai. He had no idea that his name was surrounded by legends in the Stalinist USSR, and his poems were copied by hand. But he foresaw this in his bitter paraphrase of Myatlev: “How good, how fresh will be the roses my country threw into my coffin!” A flirtatious talent, in a sense artificial. But his flirtatiousness is irresistibly charming, and his artificiality is the most natural. As the famous expression goes, many tragedies end in farce. In the case of Severyanin, the farce turned into a tragedy.

Moving directly to the analysis of the work of the ego-futurist, it should be noted that Igor-Severyanin’s favorite poetic forms were sonnet and rondo, although he also invented forms that were unknown to the art of versification before him: mignonette, diesel, kenzel, sexta, rondolet, roll, overflow , splash, quintine, square of squares.

He often named his poems after the names of musical genres and forms: “Overture”, “Rondo”, “Intermezzo”, “Sonata”, “Introduction”, “Prelude”, “Ballad”, “Fantasy”, “Romance”, “Improvisation” ", "Leitmotiv", "Canon", "Dithyramb", "Hymn", "Elegy", "Symphony", "Duet of Souls", "Quartet" M. Petrov. A glass of forgiveness.//http://www.hot.ee/interjer/bocal/bocal-0.html. Konstantin Fofanov has several nocturnes, but Igor-Severyanin has more of them - 9 pieces in the first five collections of poems. The poet’s favorite musical form is the song: “Song”, “Chanson russe”, “Chanson coquette”, “Chancenet of the Maid”, “Brindisi” (Italian drinking song), “Epithalama” (wedding song), “Serenade”. There are also lullabies - "Berceus of lilac", "Crimson berceus", "Berceus of languor". Igor-Severyanin paid tribute to the dance: “Champagne Polonaise”, “Habanera”, “Cadrillon” (from quadrille - a pair dance), “Waltz”, “May Dance”, “Foxtrot”. By the way, he didn’t like the foxtrot and called it a vertical bed.

The thirty years between his literary debut (1905) and emigration (1918) were years of storm and stress for Severyanin. Before the release of “The Thundering Cup” (1913) - his first book - I. Severyanin published 35 brochures with poems, created the “academy of egopoetry” and the literary direction of egofuturism, performed numerous “poetry concerts” in all corners of the Russian Empire, caused ridicule and abuse from critics and the delight of the crowded audience. Self-promotion, posturing, triviality veiled by irony - neither these nor other qualities could, however, influence the judgments of serious criticism. V. Bryusov saw in I. Severyanin “a true poet who deeply experiences life.” Gumilev, who was skeptical about ego-futuristic innovation, admitted: “Of all those who dare... the most interesting, perhaps, is Igor Severyanin: he dares the most.” Pinaev S.M. Over a bottomless pit into eternity...Russian poetry of the Silver Age. M.: Unicum-Center, Pomatur, 2001

From the beginning of 1918, the poet settled in the quiet Estonian village of Toila. Beginning in 1921, he resumed his “poetry concerts” and performed poetry readings in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany, France, and Finland. In total, he appeared in front of audiences even more than during the time of his “roaring” success in Russia. The “poetry concerts” did not bring any significant funds. In one of his letters from the emigrant era we read: “Everything I earn goes to pay off the debt. We literally do not allow ourselves anything...” The trips, however, were sporadic. “So, I’m sitting in the wilderness, completely detached from “cultural” temptations, among nature and love,” Severyanin wrote about his everyday life.

The myth about I. Severyanin’s exclusion from emigration was repeated more than once. But his numerous speeches before emigrant audiences indicate otherwise. In exile, the poet works tirelessly. His poems are published in many Russian newspapers - in Harbin, Paris, Tallinn, Riga, Kovno, Berlin. More than 20 of his books were published in exile, including collections of translations. A significant number of poems have not yet been published.

Igor Severyanin, real name Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev, (1887-1941) is a Russian poet whose work dates back to the Silver Age.

Childhood and adolescence

Igor was born in the city of St. Petersburg on May 16, 1887. The family lived on Gorokhovaya Street in house number 66. His father, Vasily Petrovich Lotarev, was a captain of the railway regiment. Mother - Lotareva Natalya Stepanovna - daughter of the noble leader from the Kursk province Stepan Sergeevich Shenshin. The mother was already married once; her first husband, Lieutenant General Domontovich, died. On his mother's side, Igor had family ties with the historian Karamzin and the poet Fet.

The early childhood years of the future poet were spent in St. Petersburg. His family was cultured; his mother and father loved literature and music, especially opera.

In 1896, the parents separated, his father had retired by that time, and Igor went with him to Cherepovets. There he was mostly on the estates of Aunt Elizaveta Petrovna or Uncle Mikhail Petrovich (these are his father’s brother and sister), because Vasily Petrovich Lotarev himself went to the Far East, he was offered a job there as a commercial agent.

In Cherepovets, Igor finished 4th grade at a real school. And at the age of 16 he went to Manchuria, where my father lived in the city of Dalny. The North left a deep imprint on the young man’s soul; he was captivated by its beauty and severity, inspired to create, and later even took his own pseudonym - Northerner. Before the Russo-Japanese War began, his father died suddenly, and Igor returned to his mother in St. Petersburg.

Creation

Igor wrote his first poems when he was 8 years old. In his youth, he was inspired to write poetic works by Zhenechka Gutsan, he was madly in love with her, and the poetry of this period was mainly lyrical. During the Russian-Japanese War, military-patriotic notes appeared in his poems.

Returning to St. Petersburg in 1904, Igor began regularly sending his works to periodicals, but they were always returned to him.

Until, in 1905, one poem, “The Death of Rurik,” was published. Then little by little his other poems began to be published. At first, he always signed with different pseudonyms:

• Count Evgraf d'Axangraf;
• Needle;
• Mimosa.

And only then settled on the pseudonym Severyanin.

In 1907, he received his first recognition from the poet Fofanov; in 1911, Bryusov welcomed the appearance of Igor Severyanin in the world of Russian poetry.

From 1905 to 1912, 35 collections of Igor’s poetry were published, the publications were mainly provincial.

In 1913, his collection “The Thundering Cup” was published, which brought fame to the poet. Igor began to travel around the country with poetry evenings, which were incredibly successful, because, in addition to talent, he also had an unsurpassed performing gift. Boris Pasternak recalled that in those days on the stage only two poets could compete with each other in reciting poetry - Mayakovsky and Severyanin.

Igor traveled half of Russia - Minsk and Kutais, Vilna and Tiflis, Kharkov and Baku, Ekaterinoslav and Rostov-on-Don, Odessa, Ekaterinodar and Simferopol. He took part in 48 national poetry concerts, and gave 87 more personally.

"King of Poets"

In 1912, Igor visited the Estonian village of Toila for the first time, he really liked it there, and then he spent almost every summer there. In 1918, the poet’s mother became seriously ill, and he moved her to Toila. His common-law wife Maria Volnyanskaya (Dombrovskaya) left with the poet.

But a month later, Igor was forced to go to Moscow for the election of the “King of Poets.” Many people gathered in the huge auditorium of the Polytechnic Institute. Mayakovsky and Severyanin read their poems themselves, and a small fight even broke out between their fans. Some of the poets did not appear; their works were performed by artists. Severyanin was elected “King of Poets”; he beat his closest rival, Mayakovsky, by 30-40 votes.

Emigration

The winner among all Russian poets, he returned to Estonia to his wife and mother. But soon the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was concluded, and the small Baltic village of Toila was occupied by the Germans, Severyanin found himself cut off from Russia.

Thus began his forced emigration; he was never able to visit his homeland again. The poet lived in Toila without a break and continued to write.

He liked it in this small village, it was quiet and cozy, he was very fond of fishing. Igor himself never considered himself an emigrant; he said about himself: “I have been a summer resident since 1918”. He really was sure that Estonia and his residence in it were all temporary: revolutions and wars would end, he could calmly return to St. Petersburg.

Over time, he accepted his fate, began translating Estonian poetry into Russian, and began to actively tour Europe.

Personal life

Igor’s first crazy love was his cousin Liza Lotareva, she was 5 years older than the boy. They spent every summer together at the estate in Cherepovets, were happy, played, talked, and argued. At the age of 17, Elizabeth got married, and Igor was so traumatized by this event that he even felt ill in the church at the wedding ceremony.

The real, already adult feeling came to him at the age of 18, when Igor met Gutsan Zhenechka. A beautiful, slender girl with golden curls drove the poet crazy. He came up with a new name for her - Zlata - and gave her poetry every day. They were not destined to get married, but from this relationship Zhenechka gave birth to a daughter, Tamara, whom the poet himself first saw only 16 years later.

Severyanin had too many fleeting romances, as well as common-law wives. With one of them, Maria Volnyanskaya, the relationship was long-term, she went with him to Estonia, and at first the family even existed there on her fees (Maria performed gypsy romances). In 1921, their common-law family broke up, Igor officially married Felissa Krutt, who for his sake changed her faith from Lutheran to Orthodox. In their marriage they had a son.

However, even an official marriage did not become a reason for the Northerner to stop having mistresses. His wife knew perfectly well that each of his tours ended in another whirlwind romance. Felissa endured it until 1935 and eventually kicked Igor out of the house.

The last woman with whom the poet lived was schoolteacher Vera Borisovna Korendi. Every year Igor became more and more ill; he had tuberculosis. The poet died on December 20, 1941; his grave is located in Tallinn.

My ambiguous glory

My unambiguous talent...
I. Severyanin

Childhood of Igor Vasilievich

In fact, Northerner is a literary pseudonym. In one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev was born in St. Petersburg into the family of a retired staff captain, a cultured family that loved literature and music, especially opera (“I heard Sobinov alone at least forty times”). Igor's mother came from a noble family of the Shenshin family. A. Fet and N. Karamzin belonged to this famous family. Parents separated. And all subsequent years, Igor Vasilyevich lived in the Novgorod province in the Cherepovets district. The future poet lived on the estate of his father's sister.

Traveling around your native country and the beginning of creativity

Then Igor Severyanin travels with his father throughout Russia. Then he goes to the Far East, where he remains for several years. And in nineteen hundred and four he returns to his mother. It was there that he would meet many future famous poets, writers, and cultural figures. Severyanin himself will call his early publications brochures. The young poet sent his poetic experiments to various editorial offices, which were regularly returned. However, in 1905 the poem “The Death of Rurik” was published, then a number of separate poems.

The appearance of a pseudonym or big name

A new era has begun in Russian literature and poetry. Lotarev, or the future Igor Severyanin, whose biography developed in such a way that he appeared as a poet at the same time, will become truly famous much later. But it was at this time that his literary pseudonym appeared. At first it was Igor the Severyanin, that is, with a hyphen, and a little later this sign will disappear and a big name will remain.

Interesting facts about the poet’s work

The first poet to welcome the appearance of “Severyanin in poetry” was K. Fofanov (1907), the second was V. Bryusov (1911). From 1905 to 1912, Severyanin published 35 poetry collections (mainly in provincial publications).

One of the poems, which begins: “Plunge the corkscrew into the elasticity of the cork...” was read in Tolstoy’s house in Yasnaya Polyana. It was an ordinary noble life - reading books aloud. The entire Severyanin brochure caused an unusual stir, but this work created a real sensation. Everyone laughed at the unusual moves of the author's new poetry. But suddenly Lev Nikolaevich got angry and said: “There are gallows, murders, funerals all around, and they have a corkscrew in a traffic jam.” Soon these words were replicated in many newspapers. This is how Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin gained fame. His biography and work became popular literally the next morning.

The true popularity of the creator and the most famous book

But real fame came after the publication of the book “The Thundering Cup.” This was followed by other collections of Northerner’s poems - “Zlatolira” (1914), “Pineapples in Champagne” (1915), etc., which were reprinted many times. The name of Northerner was associated with a new direction in literature - futurism. In nineteen hundred and twelve, the direction of egofuturism emerged, and Severyanin stood at its head. Then he will move away from his brothers.

Searching for a creative circle

There was a lot of new things in Igor Vasilyevich’s poems. It is no coincidence that he declared himself as a poet who changed the course of Russian literature and poetry. He was an innovator in the field of poetic language, was engaged in word creation, and introduced many new words into Russian literature. The Northerner was so multifaceted.

King of Poets

The northerner spoke at the Polytechnic Museum at a poetry evening. It was February 27, 1918. Evenings were regularly held there where poets from various schools of thought performed. Previously, posters were posted, where everyone was invited to a competition for the title of “King of Poetry.”
The stage was as crowded as a tram. Severyanin’s reading style had a hypnotic effect on the audience.
The election of the “king” was accompanied by a playful crowning with a mantle and a crown, but it is known that the poet himself took this very seriously. In May, the almanac "Poesoconcert" was published with a portrait of Igor the Severyanin on the cover indicating his new title.

From the memoirs of Gergiy Ivanov - “St. Petersburg Winters”:
“Then Northerner was at the zenith of his fame. Triumphant trips around Russia. The huge hall of the City Duma, which could not accommodate everyone who wanted to attend his “poetry evenings”. Thousands of fans, flowers, cars, champagne. It was real, somewhat actorly, perhaps, glory ".

From the memories of Sun. Rozhdestvensky about poetry evenings:

“The poet appeared on stage in a long frock coat, narrow at the waist. He held himself straight, looked slightly down at the audience, occasionally shaking his black, curled curls hanging over his forehead.

Putting his hand behind his back or crossing them on his chest near the lush orchid in his buttonhole, he began in a deathly voice, more and more sing-song, with a special cadence inherent only to him with fading, rising and an abrupt break in the poetic line...

The mournfully intoxicating melody of half-chanting and half-chanting powerfully and hypnotically captured the listeners..."

last years of life

In 1920, Severyanov went on vacation to the Estonian seaside village of Toila, and in 1920, Estonia separated from Russia. The poet found himself in forced emigration.
He lived with Felissa Krut for 16 years. She protected him from all everyday problems. Before his death, he admitted that breaking up with her in 1935 was a tragic mistake.
And there, cut off from Russia, Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin will continue to create and create a kind of epic lyrics that will reflect human life, suffering and ideas about happiness.
While in exile, he published collections of poems “Vervena” (1920), “Minstrel” (1921), a novel in verse “Falling Rapids”, etc. He published an anthology of Estonian classical poetry.
In recent years, his life in Estonia was very bad.

"I have a blue boat,
My wife is a poetess."

He was starving. He spent whole days fishing from his blue boat and began to lose his sight from the sparkling ripples of the water.

The annexation of Estonia to the Soviet Union in 1940 aroused his hopes for the publication of his poems and the possibility of traveling around the country. The illness prevented the implementation of not only these plans, but even his departure from Estonia when the war began.
On December 22, 1941, the Northerner died in Nazi-occupied Tallinn.
A northerner once prophetically wrote: “How good, how fresh the roses will be, / My country threw me into my coffin!”

Brief biography from the book: Russian writers and poets. Brief biographical dictionary. Moscow, 2000.

Life and work of Igor Severyanin

Done:

student of 11th grade "B"

Serkov Fedor

Nickname and real name

Igor Severyanin(pseudonym; the author preferred to write most of his literary activities Igor-Severyanin, real name and surname Igor Vasilyevich Lotarev) (May 4 (May 16, n.st.) 1887, St. Petersburg - December 20, 1941, Tallinn) - Russian poet of the “Silver Age”.

Beginning of the biography

Born in St. Petersburg in the family of a military engineer (distant relative of N. M. Karamzin and A. A. Fet on his mother’s side, second cousin of A. M. Kollontai). After graduating from four classes of a real school, in 1904 he left with his father for the Far East. Then he went back to St. Petersburg to visit his mother.

Early creativity

The first publications appeared in 1904 (at his own expense), then for nine years Severyanin published thin brochures with poems, which for a long time brought only scandalous fame (for example, Leo Tolstoy’s indignant review of one of his poems was replicated in early 1910) . Of the poets of the older generation, only Konstantin Fofanov initially paid attention to the young Severyanin (later Severyanin declared him and Mirra Lokhvitskaya to be teachers and forerunners of egofuturism).

At the peak of popularity

Success came to the poet after the release of the collection “The Thundering Cup” (1913, the foreword to which was written by F. Sologub). During 1913-1914 The northerner performed at many evenings (“poetry concerts”) in Moscow and St. Petersburg, meeting with enormous popularity among the public and sympathetic reviews from critics of various orientations, including those who were skeptical of futurism. His lyrics are characterized by a bold (to the point of parody) aestheticization of the images of the salon, the modern city (“airplanes”, “chauffeurs”) and a play on romantic individualism and “egoism”, conventional romantic fairy-tale images, which was bold for the taste of that time (to the point of parody). Severyanin’s verse is musical (in many ways he continues the traditions of Balmont), the poet often uses long lines, solid forms (some invented by him), alliteration, and dissonant rhymes.

Northerner was the founder of the literary movement of ego-futurism (beginning of 1912), however, having quarreled with Konstantin Olimpov (son of Fofanov), who claimed leadership in the movement, he left the “Academy of Ego-Poetry” in the fall of 1912 (he announced his departure from the movement with the famous “poetry” beginning “ I, the genius Igor-Severyanin..."). Subsequently, he went on a tour of Russia in 1914 with the Cubo-Futurists (Mayakovsky, Kruchenykh, Khlebnikov).

Collections published after “The Thundering Cup” were published in 1914-1915. (“Victoria regia”, “Zlatolira”, “Pineapples in champagne”) were perceived cooler by critics than “The Cup”: Severyanin included in them a large number of early, immature “poets”, and new texts from these books largely exploited imagery "Cup" without adding anything new. In 1915-1917 Northerner supported (joint performances, tours, collections) a number of young authors, most of whom did not leave any trace in literature; Northerner's most notable student of this period was Georgy Shengeli.

The northerner was elected by the public as the “King of Poets” at a performance at the Moscow Polytechnic Museum in 1918.

Estonia

Also in 1918, Northerner moved to Estonia, where in 1921 he married Felissa Kruut (his only registered marriage). Later he traveled with performances to France and Yugoslavia.

Severyanin's later lyrics depart in many ways from his style of the 1910s. His most notable works of this period are several well-known poems (“Nightingales of the Monastery Garden”, “Classical Roses”), autobiographical novels in verse “Bells of the Cathedral of the Senses”, “The Dew of the Orange Hour”, “Falling Rapids” and a collection of sonnets “Medallions” "(portraits of writers, artists, composers, both classics and Severyanin’s contemporaries). He translated poems by A. Mickiewicz, P. Verlaine, C. Baudelaire, Estonian and Yugoslav poets.

After Estonia joined the USSR, he resumed his creative activity, trying to publish in the Soviet press. He died in German-occupied Tallinn from a heart attack, in the presence of his younger sister Vera Korendi (Estonized surname, actually Korenova), his last partner. He was buried at the Alexander Nevsky Cemetery in Tallinn.

Works

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