In literature, the name of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is associated with an important transitional stage at the turn of two centuries. Not the least role in this was played by the historical breakdown in the political and social life of Russia. This factor undoubtedly had the strongest influence on the writer’s work. A.I. Kuprin is a man of unusual destiny and strong character. Almost all of his works are based on real events. An ardent fighter for justice, he sharply, boldly and at the same time lyrically created his masterpieces, which were included in the golden fund of Russian literature.
Kuprin was born in 1870 in the town of Narovchat, Penza province. His father, a small landowner, died suddenly when the future writer was only a year old. Left with his mother and two sisters, he grew up enduring hunger and all kinds of hardships. Experiencing serious financial difficulties associated with the death of her husband, the mother placed her daughters in a government boarding school, and together with little Sasha moved to Moscow.
Kuprin’s mother, Lyubov Alekseevna, was a proud woman, as she was a descendant of a noble Tatar family, as well as a native Muscovite. But she had to make a difficult decision for herself - to send her son to be raised in an orphan school.
Kuprin's childhood years, spent within the boarding house, were joyless, and his inner state always seemed depressed. He felt out of place, felt bitterness from the constant oppression of his personality. After all, taking into account his mother’s origins, of which the boy was always very proud, the future writer, as he grew older and became an emotional, active and charismatic person.
Youth and education
After graduating from the orphan school, Kuprin entered a military gymnasium, which was later transformed into a cadet corps.
This event largely influenced the future fate of Alexander Ivanovich and, first of all, his work. After all, it was from the beginning of his studies at the gymnasium that he first discovered his interest in writing, and the image of Second Lieutenant Romashov from the famous story “The Duel” is the prototype of the author himself.
Service in an infantry regiment allowed Kuprin to visit many remote cities and provinces of Russia, study military affairs, the basics of army discipline and drill. The theme of officer everyday life took a strong position in many of the author’s works of art, which subsequently caused controversial debates in society.
It would seem that a military career is the destiny of Alexander Ivanovich. But his rebellious nature did not allow this to happen. By the way, service was completely alien to him. There is a version that Kuprin, while under the influence of alcohol, threw a police officer from the bridge into the water. In connection with this incident, he soon resigned and left military affairs forever.
History of success
After leaving the service, Kuprin experienced an urgent need to obtain comprehensive knowledge. Therefore, he began to actively travel around Russia, meet people, and learn a lot of new and useful things from communicating with them. At the same time, Alexander Ivanovich sought to try his hand at different professions. He gained experience in the field of surveyors, circus performers, fishermen, even pilots. However, one of the flights almost ended in tragedy: as a result of the plane crash, Kuprin almost died.
He also worked with interest as a journalist in various printed publications, wrote notes, essays, and articles. The spirit of an adventurer allowed him to successfully develop everything he started. He was open to everything new and absorbed what was happening around him like a sponge. Kuprin was a researcher by nature: he eagerly studied human nature, wanted to experience all the facets of interpersonal communication for himself. Therefore, during his military service, faced with obvious officer licentiousness, hazing and humiliation of human dignity, the creator in a damning manner formed the basis for writing his most famous works, such as “The Duel”, “Junkers”, “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”.
The writer built the plots of all his works based solely on personal experience and memories gained during his service and travels in Russia. Openness, simplicity, sincerity in the presentation of thoughts, as well as the reliability of the description of characters’ images became the key to the author’s success in the literary path.
Creation
Kuprin longed for his people with all his soul, and his explosive and honest character, due to his mother’s Tatar origin, would not allow him to distort in writing those facts about the lives of people that he personally witnessed.
However, Alexander Ivanovich did not condemn all of his characters, even bringing their dark sides to the surface. Being a humanist and a desperate fighter for justice, Kuprin figuratively demonstrated this feature of his in the work “The Pit”. It tells about the life of brothel dwellers. But the writer does not focus on the heroines as fallen women; on the contrary, he invites readers to understand the prerequisites for their fall, the torment of their hearts and souls, and invites them to discern in each libertine, first of all, a person.
More than one of Kuprin’s works is imbued with the theme of love. The most striking of them is the story ““. In it, as in “The Pit,” there is the image of a narrator, an explicit or implicit participant in the events described. But the narrator in Oles is one of the two main characters. This is a story about noble love, partly the heroine considers herself unworthy of it, whom everyone takes for a witch. However, the girl has nothing in common with her. On the contrary, her image embodies all possible feminine virtues. The ending of the story cannot be called happy, because the heroes are not reunited in their sincere impulse, but are forced to lose each other. But happiness for them lies in the fact that in their lives they had the opportunity to experience the power of all-consuming mutual love.
Of course, the story “The Duel” deserves special attention as a reflection of all the horrors of army morals that reigned in tsarist Russia at that time. This is a clear confirmation of the features of realism in Kuprin’s work. Perhaps this is why the story caused a flurry of negative reviews from critics and the public. Romashov's hero, in the same rank of second lieutenant as Kuprin himself, who once retired, like the author, appears before readers in the light of an extraordinary personality, whose psychological growth we have the opportunity to observe from page to page. This book brought wide fame to its creator and rightfully occupies one of the central places in his bibliography.
Kuprin did not support the revolution in Russia, even though at first he met Lenin quite often. Ultimately, the writer emigrated to France, where he continued his literary work. In particular, Alexander Ivanovich loved to write for children. Some of his stories (“White Poodle”, ““, “Starlings”) undoubtedly deserve the attention of the target audience.
Personal life
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was married twice. The writer's first wife was Maria Davydova, the daughter of a famous cellist. The marriage produced a daughter, Lydia, who later died during childbirth. Kuprin's only grandson, who was born, died from wounds received during the Second World War.
The second time the writer married Elizaveta Heinrich, with whom he lived until the end of his days. The marriage produced two daughters, Zinaida and Ksenia. But the first died in early childhood from pneumonia, and the second became a famous actress. However, there was no continuation of the Kuprin family, and today he has no direct descendants.
Kuprin's second wife survived him by only four years and, unable to withstand the ordeal of hunger during the siege of Leningrad, committed suicide.
- Kuprin was proud of his Tatar origin, so he often put on a national caftan and skullcap, going out to people in such attire and going to visit people.
- Partly thanks to his acquaintance with I. A. Bunin, Kuprin became a writer. Bunin once approached him with a request to write a note on a topic that interested him, which marked the beginning of Alexander Ivanovich’s literary activity.
- The author was famous for his sense of smell. Once, while visiting Fyodor Chaliapin, he shocked everyone present, eclipsing the invited perfumer with his unique flair, unmistakably recognizing all the components of the new fragrance. Sometimes, when meeting new people, Alexander Ivanovich sniffed them, thereby putting everyone in an awkward position. They said that this helped him better understand the essence of the person in front of him.
- Throughout his life, Kuprin changed about twenty professions.
- After meeting A.P. Chekhov in Odessa, the writer went at his invitation to St. Petersburg to work in a famous magazine. Since then, the author acquired a reputation as a rowdy and drunkard, as he often took part in entertainment events in a new environment.
- The first wife, Maria Davydova, tried to eradicate some of the disorganization inherent in Alexander Ivanovich. If he fell asleep while working, she deprived him of breakfast, or forbade him to enter the house unless new chapters of the work he was working on at that time were ready.
- The first monument to A.I. Kuprin was erected only in 2009 in Balaklava in Crimea. This is due to the fact that in 1905, during the Ochakov uprising of sailors, the writer helped them hide, thereby saving their lives.
- There were legends about the writer's drunkenness. In particular, wits repeated the well-known saying: “If truth is in wine, how many truths are there in Kuprin?”
Death
The writer returned from emigration to the USSR in 1937, but with poor health. He had hopes that a second wind would open in his homeland, he would improve his condition and be able to write again. At that time, Kuprin's vision was rapidly deteriorating.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is a wonderful Russian writer, whose work, unfortunately, has not been properly appreciated for a long time. Master of the short story and short story, subtle psychologist, Kuprin He had a brilliant writing talent, and all his works are imbued with endless love - for the Motherland, nature, people, and the entire world around him. Even after reading the story, filled with sadness and tragedy, a bright feeling remains in the soul, as always happens at moments of introduction to the world of high art.
It is difficult today to explain why in previous years he was always in the shadow of Chekhov, Gorky and other Russian writers, and his works were included only in the list of additional school literature. But, nevertheless, the writer was always remembered in Russia, loved, read and re-read, and the best directors made films based on his wonderful stories.
Romance and love of life
The fate of most Russian writers is dramatic, and Alexander Kuprin is no exception. But years of disasters, hardships and wanderings helped him to better know and understand the Russian people, his character, hopes and aspirations. Despite the difficult life and sometimes miserable existence, the writer concludes that “man came into the world for immense freedom of creativity and happiness.” His focus is on representatives of different classes, people poor and rich, talented and untalented, generous and selfish. Their relationships, dreams, aspirations to change their lives or plunge into complete despair cannot leave any of the readers indifferent.
Reflection of social problems in the works of Kuprin
It’s difficult to read “The White Poodle” or “” without tears, but it is compassion that makes a person better, purer and kinder. It should be noted that Kuprin is the first Russian writer to deeply touch on the problems of the army and people leading an antisocial lifestyle. In “The Duel” we learn about the meaningless everyday life of the officers, their spiritual emptiness, and lack of faith in the future. Endless monotonous evenings, drunkenness, hopeless poverty, debts - this is how the author sees the army, and this causes him moral suffering. A continuation of the theme is the story “The Pit” - the first sincere work about corrupt love and people rejected by society. The famous “Garnet Bracelet” is a return to the theme of unrequited love, which elevates a person, makes him strong and selfless.
From romance to realism
In addition to these works, which are most often offered for study and analysis, Kuprin has many equally significant and interesting sketches about love and nature. The description of urban and rural landscapes evokes admiration for the virtuoso light style - the reader seems to be transported to the gloomy thickets of Polesie, or to the streets of a southern seaside city, the streets of which are filled in the evenings with the spicy aroma of white acacia. Being a romantic and a lover of life by nature, the writer deeply experiences the events taking place in Russia. The story "" truthfully shows the life of workers, their powerless situation, the indifference of the intelligentsia to the people, its isolation from real life.
Getting to know Kuprin the site will be useful to everyone who wants to get acquainted with the writer’s work within the school and extracurricular programs.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat (Penza province) into a poor family of a minor official.
1871 was a difficult year in Kuprin’s biography - his father died, and the poor family moved to Moscow.
Training and the beginning of a creative path
At the age of six, Kuprin was sent to a class at the Moscow Orphan School, from which he left in 1880. After this, Alexander Ivanovich studied at the military academy, the Alexander Military School. The time of training is described in such works by Kuprin as: “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”, “Junkers”. “The Last Debut” is Kuprin’s first published story (1889).
From 1890 he was a second lieutenant in an infantry regiment. During the service, many essays, short stories, and novellas were published: “Inquiry,” “On a Moonlit Night,” “In the Dark.”
Creativity flourishes
Four years later, Kuprin retired. After this, the writer travels a lot around Russia, trying himself in different professions. At this time, Alexander Ivanovich met Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky.
Kuprin builds his stories of those times on life impressions gleaned during his travels.
Kuprin's short stories cover many topics: military, social, love. The story “The Duel” (1905) brought real success to Alexander Ivanovich. Love in Kuprin’s work is most vividly described in the story “Olesya” (1898), which was his first major and one of his most beloved works, and the story of unrequited love, “The Garnet Bracelet” (1910).
Alexander Kuprin also loved to write stories for children. For children's reading, he wrote the works “Elephant”, “Starlings”, “White Poodle” and many others.
Emigration and last years of life
For Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, life and creativity are inseparable. Not accepting the policy of war communism, the writer emigrated to France. Even after emigration, in the biography of Alexander Kuprin, the writer’s fervor does not subside; he writes novellas, short stories, many articles and essays. Despite this, Kuprin lives in material need and yearns for his homeland. Only 17 years later he returns to Russia. At the same time, the writer’s last essay was published - the work “Native Moscow”.
After a serious illness, Kuprin died on August 25, 1938. The writer was buried at the Volkovsky cemetery in Leningrad, next to the grave
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is a famous writer, a classic of Russian literature, whose most significant works are “The Junkers”, “The Duel”, “The Pit”, “The Garnet Bracelet” and “The White Poodle”. Kuprin’s short stories about Russian life, emigration, and animals are also considered high art.
Alexander was born in the district town of Narovchat, which is located in the Penza region. But the writer spent his childhood and youth in Moscow. The fact is that Kuprin’s father, hereditary nobleman Ivan Ivanovich, died a year after his birth. Lyubov Alekseevna’s mother, who also came from a noble family, had to move to a large city, where it was much easier for her to give her son upbringing and education.
Already at the age of 6, Kuprin was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school, which operated on the principle of an orphanage. After 4 years, Alexander was transferred to the Second Moscow Cadet Corps, after which the young man entered the Alexander Military School. Kuprin graduated with the rank of second lieutenant and served for exactly 4 years in the Dnieper Infantry Regiment.
After his resignation, the 24-year-old young man leaves for Kyiv, then to Odessa, Sevastopol and other cities of the Russian Empire. The problem was that Alexander did not have any civilian specialty. Only after meeting him does he manage to find a permanent job: Kuprin goes to St. Petersburg and gets a job at the “Magazine for Everyone.” Later he would settle in Gatchina, where during the First World War he would maintain a military hospital at his own expense.
Alexander Kuprin enthusiastically accepted the abdication of the Tsar's power. After the arrival of the Bolsheviks, he even personally approached with a proposal to publish a special newspaper for the village “Zemlya”. But soon, seeing that the new government was imposing a dictatorship on the country, he became completely disillusioned with it.
It was Kuprin who came up with the derogatory name for the Soviet Union - “Sovdepiya”, which will become firmly established in the jargon. During the Civil War, he volunteered to join the White Army, and after a major defeat he went abroad - first to Finland and then to France.
By the early 30s, Kuprin was mired in debt and could not provide his family with even the most necessary things. In addition, the writer did not find anything better than to look for a way out of a difficult situation in a bottle. As a result, the only solution was to return to his homeland, which he personally supported in 1937.
Books
Alexander Kuprin began writing in his final years in the cadet corps, and his first attempts at writing were in the poetic genre. Unfortunately, the writer never published his poetry. And his first published story was “The Last Debut.” Later, his story “In the Dark” and a number of stories on military topics were published in magazines.
In general, Kuprin devotes a lot of space to the theme of the army, especially in his early works. Suffice it to recall his famous autobiographical novel “Junkers” and the story that preceded it “At the Turning Point”, also published as “Cadets”.
The dawn of Alexander Ivanovich as a writer came at the beginning of the 20th century. He published the story “The White Poodle,” which later became a classic of children’s literature, his memoirs about his trip to Odessa, “Gambrinus,” and, probably, his most popular work, the story “The Duel.” At the same time, such creations as “Liquid Sun”, “Garnet Bracelet”, and stories about animals were released.
Separately, it is necessary to say about one of the most scandalous works of Russian literature of that period - the story “The Pit” about the life and destinies of Russian prostitutes. The book was mercilessly criticized, paradoxically, for “excessive naturalism and realism.” The first edition of "The Pit" was withdrawn from publication as pornographic.
In exile, Alexander Kuprin wrote a lot, almost all of his works were popular with readers. In France, he created four major works - “The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia”, “The Wheel of Time”, “Junker” and “Zhaneta”, as well as a large number of short stories, including the philosophical parable about beauty “The Blue Star”.
Personal life
The first wife of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was young Maria Davydova, the daughter of the famous cellist Karl Davydov. The marriage lasted only five years, but during this time the couple had a daughter, Lydia. The fate of this girl was tragic - she died shortly after giving birth to her son at the age of 21.
The writer married his second wife Elizaveta Moritsovna in 1909, although they had been living together for two years by that time. They had two daughters - Ksenia, who later became an actress and model, and Zinaida, who died at three years old from a complex form of pneumonia. The wife outlived Alexander Ivanovich by 4 years. She committed suicide during the siege of Leningrad, unable to withstand the constant bombing and endless hunger.
Since Kuprin’s only grandson, Alexei Egorov, died due to injuries received during World War II, the line of the famous writer was interrupted, and today his direct descendants do not exist.
Death
Alexander Kuprin returned to Russia with his health already in poor health. He was addicted to alcohol, plus the elderly man was quickly losing his sight. The writer hoped that he would be able to return to work in his homeland, but his health did not allow this.
A year later, while watching a military parade on Red Square, Alexander Ivanovich contracted pneumonia, which was also aggravated by esophageal cancer. On August 25, 1938, the famous writer’s heart stopped forever.
Kuprin’s grave is located on the Literary Bridge of the Volkovsky Cemetery, not far from the burial place of another Russian classic -.
Bibliography
- 1892 - “In the Dark”
- 1898 - “Olesya”
- 1900 - “At the Turning Point” (“Cadets”)
- 1905 - “Duel”
- 1907 - "Gambrinus"
- 1910 - “Garnet Bracelet”
- 1913 - “Liquid Sun”
- 1915 - “The Pit”
- 1928 - “Junkers”
- 1933 - “Zhaneta”
Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich (1870 - 1938)
“We must be grateful to Kuprin for everything - for his deep humanity, for his subtle talent, for his love for his country, for his unshakable faith in the happiness of his people and, finally, for the ability that never died in him to light up from the most insignificant contact with poetry and free and leHow to write about this."
K. G. Paustovsky
Kuprin Alexander Ivanovichwas bornOn September 7, in the city of Narovchat, Penza province, in the family of a minor official who died a year after the birth of his son. After the death of her husband, his mother (from the ancient family of Tatar princes Kulanchakov) moved to Moscow, where the future writer spent his childhood and youth. At the age of six, the boy was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school (orphanage), from where he left in 1880. The same year he entered the Moscow Military Academy, transformed into the Cadet Corps, p.After graduating, he continued his military education at the Alexander Junker School (1888 - 90). “Military youth” is described in the stories “At the Turning Point (Cadets)” and in the novel “Junkers”. Even then he dreamed of becoming “a poet or novelist.”Kuprin's first literary experience was the remaining unpublished poems. FirstThe story "The Last Debut" was published in 1889.
In 1890, after graduating from military school, Kuprin, with the rank of second lieutenant, was enlisted in an infantry regiment stationed in the Podolsk province. The life of an officer, which he led for four years, provided rich material for his future works. In 1893 - 1894, his story “In the Dark” and the stories “On a Moonlit Night” and “Inquiry” were published in the St. Petersburg magazine “Russian Wealth”. A series of stories are dedicated to the life of the Russian army: “Overnight” (1897), “Night Shift” (1899), “Hike”. In 1894, Kuprin retired and moved to Kyiv, without any civilian profession and with little life experience. He wandered around Russia a lot, tried many professions, greedily absorbed life impressions, which formed the basis for future works.
In the 1890s, he published the essay "Yuzovsky Plant" and the story "Moloch", the stories "Wilderness", "Werewolf", the stories "Olesya" and "Kat" ("Army Ensign").During these years, Kuprin met Bunin, Chekhov and Gorky. In 1901 he moved to St. Petersburg, began working as a secretary of the “Magazine for Everyone,” married M. Davydova, and had a daughter, Lydia.
Kuprin's stories appeared in St. Petersburg magazines: "Swamp" (1902); "Horse Thieves" (1903); "White Poodle" (1904). In 1905, his most significant work was published - the story "The Duel", which was a great success. The writer’s performances reading individual chapters of “The Duel” became an event in the cultural life of the capital. His works of this time were very well-behaved: the essay “Events in Sevastopol” (1905), the stories “Staff Captain Rybnikov” (1906), “River of Life”, “Gambrinus” (1907). In 1907, he married his second wife, sister of mercy E. Heinrich, and had a daughter, Ksenia.
Kuprin's work in the years between the two revolutions resisted the decadent mood of those years: the cycle of essays "Listrigons" (1907 - 11), stories about animals, the stories "Shulamith", "Garnet Bracelet" (1911). His prose became a notable phenomenon of Russian literature at the beginning of the century.
After the October Revolution, the writer did not accept the policy of military communism, the “Red Terror”; he feared for the fate of Russian culture. In 1918 he came to Lenin with a proposal to publish a newspaper for the village - "Earth". At one time he worked at the World Literature publishing house, founded by Gorky.
In the fall of 1919, while in Gatchina, cut off from Petrograd by Yudenich's troops, he emigrated abroad. The seventeen years that the writer spent in Paris were an unproductive period. Constant material need and homesickness led him to the decision to return to Russia.
In the spring of 1937, the seriously ill Kuprin returned to his homeland, warmly received by his admirers. Published the essay "Native Moscow". However, the new creative plans were not destined to come true.
It is quite difficult and at the same time easy to write about Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. It’s easy because I’ve known his works since childhood. And who among us doesn’t know them? A capricious, sick girl demanding an elephant to visit her, a wonderful doctor who fed two frozen boys on a cold night and saved an entire family from death; a knight immortally in love with a princess from the fairy tale “Blue Star”...
Or the poodle Artaud, performing incredible cubrets in the air, to the sonorous commands of the boy Seryozha; cat Yu-yu, gracefully sleeping under the newspaper. How memorable, from childhood and from childhood itself, all this, with what skill, how concisely - easily written! As if on the fly! Childlike - direct, lively, bright. And even in tragic moments, bright notes of love of life and hope are heard in these simple-minded stories.
Something childish, surprised, always, almost until the very end, until death, lived in this large and overweight man with clearly defined oriental cheekbones and a slightly cunning squinting of his eyes.
Svetlana Makorenko
On September 6 and 7, the XXVIII Kuprin Literary Festival and the summing up of the results of the XII creative competition “Garnet Bracelet” will be held in Penza and Narovchat.
COMMANDMENTSKUPRINA
"1. If you want to depict something... first imagine it absolutely clearly: color, smell, taste, position of a figure, facial expression... Find figurative, unworn words, best of all unexpected ones. Give a juicy perception of what you have seen, and if you don’t know how to see for yourself, put down your pen...
6. Don't be afraid of old stories, but approach them in a completely new, unexpected way. Show people and things in your own way, you are a writer. Don’t be afraid of your real self, be sincere, don’t invent anything, but present it as you hear and see.
9. Know what you actually want to say, what you love and what you hate. Bring the plot to yourself, get used to it... Go and look, get used to it, listen, take part yourself. Never write from your head.
10. Work! Don’t be sorry to cross out, work hard. Be careful with your writing, criticize mercilessly, do not read unfinished work to friends, be afraid of their praise, do not consult with anyone. And most importantly, work while living... I’ve stopped worrying, pick up my pen and then again don’t give yourself rest until you achieve what you need. Achieve persistently, mercilessly.”
The “Commandments,” according to V.N. Afanasyev, were expressed by Kuprin during a meeting with one young author, and years later, reproduced by this author in the “Women’s Journal” for 1927.
But, perhaps, the main commandment Kuprin left to his descendants is love for life, for what is interesting and beautiful in it: for sunsets and sunrises, for the smells of meadow grass and forest prairie, for a child and an old man, for a horse and a dog. , to pure feeling and a good joke, to birch forests and pine groves, to birds and fish, to snow, rain and hurricanes, to the ringing of bells and a hot air balloon, to freedom from attachment to perishable treasures. And complete rejection of everything that disfigures and stains a person.