The work of Mikhail Weller in modern society evokes different opinions. The bibliography of the philosopher and writer includes dozens of works. His book "Fire and Agony", published in 2018, revolutionized Russian literature. The author criticized the heroes of the school curriculum, on whose images more than one generation of students was brought up. In his opinion, Pechorin, Onegin and Karenina will not teach young people a happy life.
Childhood and youth
Mikhail's biography began in 1948. The boy's childhood took place in the ancient Ukrainian city of Kamenets-Podolsky, then the family moved to Transbaikalia. His parents, like several previous generations of Wellers, were doctors. His father served as a military doctor, so transfers were not uncommon. As a teenager, Misha changed several schools in Siberia and the Far East.
After receiving a certificate of secondary education in 1966, the young man entered the Leningrad University at the Faculty of Philology. He always took an active position, became a Komsomol organizer and became a member of the university Komsomol bureau. After the third year, he committed an act, which was then discussed for a long time by fellow students: without money, alone he overcame the path from the Northern capital to Kamchatka. Then he took academic leave and spent six months in Central Asia. Then he unexpectedly moved to Kaliningrad and went to sea on a fishing boat. So, probably, he got to know the country and the people inhabiting it, in order to later become a real "Russian writer". In 1971, Weller returned to his studies and published in the university's wall newspaper.
The beginning of the way
After serving in the army, he was assigned as a teacher of the Russian language in a small rural school in the Leningrad region. But he did not work there for long. The young specialist quit his job and started looking for his place in life again. He worked as a concrete worker, excavator, felling forest, traveled around the coast of the White Sea.
In 1974 he returned to Leningrad and got a job at the Kazan Cathedral. Then he joined the staff of correspondents of the newspaper of the association "Skorokhod". The factory edition willingly printed the works of a novice writer.
And again, Weller went on a journey: he climbed the peaks of the Altai mountains, got acquainted with the traders of Taimyr and conducted excavations of ancient Olbia. During his life, Mikhail tried more than thirty professions, and on all trips he was invariably accompanied by a pencil and a notebook, where he wrote down his observations and impressions.
But the metropolitan editorial offices refused to publish Weller's works. His humorous stories appeared in Leningrad newspapers only occasionally, and the Neva magazine published his reviews. Travels in the Baltic and Transcaucasia gave rise to the creation of new stories, published in the magazines "Tallinn", "Literary Armenia" and "Ural".
Literature
In 1981, the writer created the story "The Reference Line", which was based on the philosophical ideas of the author. Soon the collection “I want to be a janitor” appeared. The book received great success in the country and abroad. This is how Mikhail Weller's literary career began, he was recommended to the Writers' Union.
This period of creativity became very fruitful for the writer. The novel "The Test of Happiness", the books "Heartbreaker" and "Technology of Storytelling" appeared. Parts from the collection "Rendezvous with a Celebrity" in 1990 were published in several editions at once, and a film was made based on the story "But those shish". A year later, the author's first major work, the novel "The Adventures of Major Zvyagin", was released. Literary critics characterized the protagonist as a humanist and cynic, "packed with recommendations of a cosmic scale and cosmic nonsense." Then came a collection of short stories "urban folklore" entitled "Legends of Nevsky Prospect" and a new novel "Samovar". After visiting America in 1999, the writer presented to the readers a new collection “Monument to Dantes” and the novel “Messenger from Pisa. The book "Legends of the Arbat" was dedicated to famous figures of culture and politics, and the collection "Love and Passion" was devoted to the analysis of literary masterpieces about love.
The writer did not forget about his Jewish roots. In 1990, he founded and headed the Jewish cultural magazine Jericho. There was a period in Weller's life when he lived with his family in Israel, published his works there and lectured to university students.
Philosophy
In addition to his literary activities, Weller became famous for his philosophical views. For the first time he presented them in his stories of the late 80s. Later they were collected into a single doctrine called energy evolutionism. It is based on the idea that human activity is inextricably linked with the general evolution of the cosmos, and the energy processes taking place in the Universe. The philosopher identified the fundamental concepts of "feeling" and "significance", with their help he explains the categories of morality, justice and happiness, and also explains such human properties as kindness and envy. Its goal is humane relations in Russia and the international community. Many believe that the authorship of the phrase "dashing 90s" belongs to Weller, his works have long been "dismantled into quotes."
In various years, Mikhail Iosifovich participated in many international forums and conferences of philosophers, made reports and lectured.
How he lives now
Mikhail never discusses his personal life with representatives of the press. It is known that his wife Anna Agriomati is a journalist and a graduate of Moscow State University. In 1987, the couple had a daughter, Valentina.
Estonian citizen Mikhail Weller spends a lot of time in Russia. He has been working with television and radio stations for a long time. In the spring of 2017, two scandalous stories occurred when the guest lost control of himself and showed incontinence. In the first case, he threw a glass of water at the TVC journalist, and in the second, on the Echo of Moscow radio, he tore the microphone and left the studio.
Weller does not remain aloof from the country's political life. He has long been a supporter of the Communist Party, considering it the only one free from oligarchs. He often defends his position in political talk shows and television debates.
