Dmitry Sergeevich Merezhkovsky is a prominent writer of the Silver Age. He is known as one of the founders of Symbolism in Russia, as a man who developed a rather rare genre in our literature - the historiosophical novel. It is interesting that Merezhkovsky was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize during his lifetime, but he never received it.
The main milestones of the creative path
Merezhkovsky came from the family of a petty official. He became interested in literature quite early. For the first time his poem was published in 1881 (he was about sixteen at that time). It is known, by the way, that the young man showed some of his early verses to Dostoevsky and he criticized them. And in general, Dmitry Sergeevich began to publish his poetry collections at a more mature age - from 1888 to 1904.
Merezhkovsky received an excellent education - he studied at the Faculties of History and Philosophy, first in St. Petersburg, and then in Moscow. And while still studying at the university, he gets acquainted with the works of the philosopher Solovyov and becomes an adherent of symbolism.
In the 1890s, Merezhkovsky was busy making translations of ancient Greek tragedies. From 1896 to 1905, Merezhkovsky wrote his famous work "Christ and the Antichrist", consisting of three parts.
In the spring of 1906, Merezhkovsky and his faithful companion and wife Zinaida Gippius went to Paris and stayed there until 1908. During this period, Gippius and Merezhkovsky wrote a joint book entitled "Tsar and Revolution".
It is worth noting that in Europe, Merezhkovsky's prose works were in great demand, but in their native lands they were subjected to strict censorship. The writer spoke out quite sharply about the autocratic form of government, and this could not fail to attract the attention of the censors. Two years after the October Revolution, the Merezhkovskys left troubled Russia for Warsaw, where they were engaged not only in literary affairs, but also in politics. However, the signing of a peace treaty between Russia and Poland forced them to leave even farther west, to Paris - Dmitry Sergeevich treated the Bolshevik communists with great negativity. In Paris, the Merezhkovskys in 1927 formed the creative philosophical and literary association "Green Lamp". It was well known in emigre circles. It was in Paris that Dmitry Sergeevich spent the rest of his life. He died on December 9, 1941.
Amazing union with Zinaida Gippius
Marriage with the poetess Zinaida Gippius had a tremendous significance in Merezhkovsky's life. They entered into this marriage in 1889 and it lasted for fifty-two years - many works have been written about how this couple lived and what relations were between the spouses. Zinaida was not just his beloved, but also a faithful creative partner. Moreover, contemporaries noted that by temperament, by habits, these people were different.
It should be noted that in parallel, Merezhkovsky had intimate relationships with other women and girls. The most striking example: an affair with Elena Obraztsova. In July 1902, this woman appeared in St. Petersburg and moved into the house of the Merezhkovsky. The reason was the following: discussion of financial support for the publication "New Way". However, the real reason was love for Dmitry Konstantinovich. In the end, Zinaida Gippius decided to cut off the connection between Elena Obraztsova and her husband and put her guest on the street.
And in 1905, a family of writers became close to the publicist Filosofov. They even lived together for some time. Of course, this caused gossip about the personal life of each of the members of this trinity. Many gossiped about the affair between Filosofov and Gippius, which, most likely, did not correspond to the truth. But, despite all the intrigues "on the side", between Zinaida Nikolaevna and Dmitry Sergeevich there was almost always a strong spiritual connection.
