The life of the classic of Russian poetry Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was extremely eventful and unusual. The literature textbook does not describe how ambiguous the character of this great poet was. He wrote a lot about the plight of the Russian peasantry, although he himself was an avid and very successful player, led a luxurious lifestyle and was a drunken alcoholic.
Biography of Nekrasov
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was born on November 28, 1821 (December 10 in the new style) in the Podolsk province. The father of the future great poet was a very domineering man with a complex character. It is noteworthy that Nekrasov's mother, Elena Zakrevskaya, got married against the will of her parents. She was a refined, well-mannered girl who was turned head by a poor and poorly educated officer.
Still, the parents of Elena Zakrevskaya were right: her family life was deplorable. Nikolai Nekrasov, recalling his childhood, often compared his mother to a martyr. He even dedicated many of his beautiful poems to her. As a child, the classic of Russian poetry was also subjected to the tyranny of his cruel and power-hungry parent.
Nekrasov had 13 brothers and sisters. As a child, Nikolai Nekrasov repeatedly witnessed his father's cruel reprisals against serfs. During his travels to the villages, Alexei Nekrasov often took little Nikolai with him. In front of the boy's eyes, the peasants were beaten to death. These sad pictures of the hard life of the Russian people were deeply embedded in his heart, and were subsequently reflected in his work.
The poet's father dreamed that Nikolai would follow in his footsteps and become a military man and at the age of 17 sent him to the capital of Russia to be assigned to a noble regiment, however, the future classic had an irresistible desire to continue his education. He did not heed his father's threats to deprive him of his maintenance, and entered the philological faculty of St. Petersburg University as a volunteer. Nekrasov remembered the student years. It was a time of poverty and hardship. He didn't even have the money to have a proper lunch. Once Nikolai Alekseevich even lost his home and at the end of November found himself on the street, sick and deprived of a livelihood. On the street, a passer-by took mercy on him and took him to a shelter, where even Nekrasov earned 15 kopecks by writing a petition to someone.
Gradually, life began to improve, and Nekrasov learned to earn his living by writing small articles, composing romantic poems and creating frivolous vaudeville for the Alexandria Theater. He even started to have savings.
In 1840, a collection of poems by Nekrasov "Dreams and Sounds" was published. The well-known critic Belinsky criticized his poems in such a way that Nikolai Alekseevich, in frustrated feelings, rushed to buy and destroy the entire circulation. Now this edition is a bibliographic rarity.
For a long time Nekrasov headed the Sovremennik magazine and under his skillful leadership the publication became very popular among the reading public.
Here, and in my personal life, there have been changes. Back in the 40s, the critic Belinsky brought Nekrasov to visit the famous writer Panayev. His wife Avdotya Panaeva was considered very attractive in literary circles, she had a lot of admirers. At one time, even Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky himself sought her favor, but he was refused. But with Nekrasov they had a relationship. He managed to recapture his wife from Panaev.
Being already quite an adult and a famous writer, Nekrasov became addicted to the game. It is worth noting that his paternal grandfather at one time lost all his fortune at cards. It turns out that the passion for the game was inherited by Nikolai Nekrasov.
In the 50s of the XIX century, he often began to visit the English Club, where the game was held. When Avdotya Panaeva noticed that this gambling addiction can lead to disastrous results. To this, Nikolai Alekseevich told her that he would never lose at cards, because he plays with people who do not have long nails.
There was a curious incident in Nekrasov's life. He was once beaten by a fiction writer Afanasyev-Chuzhbinsky, who was famous for his long, well-groomed nails. By the way, at that time, many men wore long nails. This was a sign of aristocracy and was considered exquisite. So, Nekrasov sat down to play a game of cards "a little bit" with the novelist. While the game was playing at small stakes, the author of the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" won and was glad that Afanasyev-Chuzhbinsky had so well dropped by for dinner. But when they decided to raise the stakes, fortune suddenly turned away from the poet and turned to the fiction writer. As a result, Nekrasov lost a thousand rubles (a very large amount at that time). As it turned out later, Nekrasov was cruelly deceived. Afanasyev-Chuzhbinsky managed to mark the speck of the cards with his beautiful and long nails. It turns out that Nikolai Alekseevich became a victim of an ordinary sharper, and in fact, it would seem, a writer, a cultured person.
Annually Nekrasov set aside about 20,000 rubles for the game - a huge, I must say, money. In the course of the game, he increased this amount several times, and then the game began at very high rates. It is worth noting that over time, the classic himself mastered some of the cheating tricks that helped him out quite well from time to time and made him a very successful player who did not know a loss.
This is how the following picture is presented: a classic comes home after a tense game, where he won many thousands of rubles, sits down at the table and writes:
Late fall. The rooks flew away, the forest was laid bare, the fields were empty, Only one strip is not compressed … She leads a sad thought.
The ears seem to whisper to each other: It's boring for us to listen to the autumn blizzard, It is boring to bow down to the very earth, Fat grains bathing in the dust!
Every night, we are ravaged by the villages of Every passing voracious bird, The hare tramples on us, and the storm hits us … Where is our plowman? what else is waiting for?
Or are we worse than others? Or did they bloom and spike uncommonly?
Not! we are no worse than others - and for a long time the grain has poured and ripened in us.
Not for the same he plowed and sowed So that the autumn wind scattered us?.."
The wind brings them a sad answer: - Your plowman has no mocha.
He knew why he plowed and sowed, But he started the work beyond his strength.
Poor poor man - he does not eat or drink, the worm sucks his sick heart, The hands that brought out these furrows, Dried to pieces, hung like whips.
Eyes dim, and the voice was gone, That sang a mournful song, As if on a plow, leaning on his hand, the Plowman thoughtfully walked in a strip.
Like all gambling people, Nekrasov was a very superstitious person. Once his personal superstitions turned into a real tragedy. Ignatius Piotrovsky, who worked with Nekrasov at the Sovremennik publishing house, turned to Nikolai Alekseevich with a request to lend him a certain amount of money. But, unfortunately, Nekrasov refused him: a major game was planned, and it is considered a very bad omen to lend money to someone before the game. Piotrovsky threatened that if he refused, he would commit suicide, but Nekrasov remained adamant. As a result, the petitioner feigned his threat to life - he put a bullet in his forehead. Nekrasov then recalled this incident for the rest of his life, and was very sorry that he did not come to the aid of a person in difficult times.
Nekrasov's women
There were several women in Nekrasov's life. He loved a luxurious lifestyle and tried not to deny himself anything. For more than 16 years he lived in a civil marriage with Avdotya Panaeva, and together with her legal husband. Such a "triple alliance" lasted until the death of the legal spouse.
It is worth noting that the beautiful Avdotya Panaeva did not immediately respond to the courting of the persistent and ardent Nikolai Alekseevich. Ivan Panaev - her husband, literally after a year of marriage, completely stopped paying attention to her and began to spend time with friends and easily accessible women. The wife turned out to be completely useless to anyone.
Nekrasov courted her for a long time, but could not achieve favor in any way. Avdotya Yakovlevna did not believe in the sincerity of his feelings. Once Nekrasov rolled her along the Neva and threatened her that in case of refusal, he would jump into the river, and he did not know how to swim at all, therefore he would certainly drown. Panaeva only chuckled contemptuously, and Nekrasov did not fail to immediately put his threat into practice. Avdotya Yakovlevna began to scream in horror, the poet was rescued and she finally responded to his courtship.
In 1846, the spouses Panaevs and Nekrasov spent the summer together and upon arrival in St. Petersburg settled together in the same apartment. In 1849, Nekrasov and Avdotya were expecting a child and together wrote the novel "Three parts of the world", unfortunately, the boy was born very weak and soon died.
Nekrasov was a very jealous and passionate person. His fits of rage were replaced by periods of black melancholy and blues. In the end, they broke up. In 1864 Avdotya Yakovlevna married the critic Golovachev and gave birth to a daughter.
Nekrasov converges with the Frenchwoman Selina Lefren. This windy woman helped Nekrasov squander most of his fortune and returned to her homeland, in Paris.
The last woman in the life of a classic of Russian literature was Fekla Anisimovna Viktorova.
By that time, Nekrasov was already very addicted to alcohol. Six months before his death, he married nineteen-year-old Thekla. The girl, whom he called Zinaida, remained with him until his death, which occurred on December 27, 1877. Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov died of rectal cancer.
