Nikolai Berg is a Russian poet, journalist, historian and translator. He became famous after the publication of the essays "Notes on the Siege of Sevastopol" and "Notes on Polish conspiracies and uprisings of 1831-1862".
Nikolai Vasilievich Berg was born on April 5 in 1823. In a Moscow family, he would be a favorite child. Alexander Lavrentievich Vitberg, a famous architect, became his godfather.
Destination search time
The father of the future poet Vasily Vladimirovich did not go unnoticed in the history of the country. He became the treasurer of the commission for the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, designed by Vitberg. Berg Sr. became famous as a man of amazing honesty. The hardworking Vasily Vladimirovich had to constantly replace the governor Kovalevsky, who lived in Tomsk, and in Barnaul.
His son studied at the capital's gymnasium. After the completion of the construction of the temple, the father was sent to Bronnitsy. Then in 1830 he was transferred to Siberia as chairman of the Tomsk provincial government. Nikolai entered the capital's university, but never completed his education. Despite being busy, the father tried to spend a lot of time with his son. He awakened in Nicholas a love for Russian literature.
Berg Sr. preferred Derzhavin's work. His father knew his best odes by heart, constantly reading excerpts from them. He knew many works of Krylov, Lomonos and Dmitriev. At the same time, he considered it unimportant to know Pushkin's creations for Zhukovsky, as his son later recalled with humor.
The first poetic experiments of Nikolai Vasilyevich strongly resembled those of Derzhavin in style. The novice author also tried to imitate Krylov, mixing the dawn with iambic. Later, in the gymnasium, the poet was well versed in poetic scales and was fluent in everything.
In 1931 the boy began to study at the Tomsk district school. It was replaced by a gymnasium in 1934. After four years, knowledge has not increased. The father decided to assign the son to the First Moscow Gymnasium, one of the best in the country. The institution received the right to graduate from the last class at the university without exams. Under the leadership of Shevyrev and Pogodin, Berg Jr.'s literary preferences were determined there.
Nikolai Vasilievich met with the capital's writers. Most of all he liked the young edition of "Moskovityanin" in the person of Apollo Grigoriev, Ostrovsky and Edelson. There, the first translations and poems of the novice author were published in 1845.
Literature and journalism
Nikolai Berg was distinguished by an amazing lightness. He was very fond of traveling, he did not sit still. He managed to travel half of the world. He visited both Europe and Asia as a correspondent.
Berg knew Gogol, left memories of him, visited the salon of Countess Rostopchina, Karolina Pavlova, and was friends with her husband. Berg became the translator of the Kraledvor manuscript. He created the Collection of Ancient Bohemian Epic and Lyric Songs and the collections Songs of Different Nations in 1846 and 1854. His poems have been translated into almost thirty languages.
The author took great pleasure in translating Mickiewicz's works. For many years Berg worked on his poem "Pan Tadeusz". The full publication took place in 1875. Until that time, the author read excerpts in literary circles in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Nikolai Vasilievich was always sensitive to all changes. He willingly exchanged a quiet office for events foreshadowing changes.
As a talented journalist, Berg was instantly involved in a changeable life as an eyewitness. For the first time, literary activity was interrupted by the Crimean War. At the end of the summer of 1854, the poet went to the army. He became an interpreter at the headquarters of the Southern Army, took part in the defense of Sevastopol. Then he began to keep notes. However, the composition disappeared during a fire on one of the Black Sea ships.
After the conclusion of peace, Berg returned to the capital. He proceeded to restore the records, giving a true picture of the hostilities. He constantly received additional information from participants in direct actions. This is how the Notes on the Siege of Sevastopol were created.
Family and history
The journalist did not deal with the past for long. In 1859 he moved to France as a correspondent for the Russian Bulletin. The departure, unusual for those times, became a topic for discussion in all literary circles. In Italy, he not only described all the events associated with Garibaldi, and accompanied them with instant sketches from nature.
Berg was a very good draftsman. His works were distinguished by the accuracy of the look and characteristic details. Nikolai Vasilyevich's reports contain a lot of soft humor and lively ease. He grasped the most characteristic in psychology.
The journalist went to Garibaldi's headquarters and personally met the legendary general. Berg returned to Russia for a short time. The editor of Our Time, Pavlov, offered him a trip to the East. He visited Turkey, Palestine, Syria and Egypt. The writer compared everything he saw with the usual at home. Having received news of the uprising that had begun in Poland, the journalist hurried home.
He immediately went to Poland as a correspondent for St. Petersburg Vedomosti. Berg stayed there. At first, he took up the post of an official with the regional governor. From 1868 he began to give a lecture course on the history of Russian literature at the University of Warsaw. In 1964, Berg was asked to compile historical notes on recent Polish events. It took ten years to create the book. It included all the excitement throughout the thirty years.
The publication of "Notes on Polish conspiracies and uprisings of 1831-1862" took place in 18973. Berg did not fit either the category of fashionable authors or the criterion of significance. He was sure that any testimonies and unique life experiences of everyone are important in life. His translations of Lithuanian songs were published in a separate edition in Vilna in 1921. Berg married the ballerina Rosa Kalinovskaya in Warsaw. The family has two sons. The first child, Nikolai, was born in 1879. In 1882 his brother Vasily was born. Berg died in 1884 on June 16 (28).
