Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev came up with the nickname "Kharms" in his school years. Even then, he believed that an unchanging name would not make him happy. The pseudonym was an attempt to get away from the troubles of life. The new name was derived from the French charme (charm) and from the English harm (harm). This combination perfectly conveys Kharms' attitude to creativity.
From the biography of Daniil Kharms
Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev was born in December 1905. St. Petersburg became his birthplace. Kharms's father was a naval officer and Narodnaya Volya. For his activities, he was once exiled to Sakhalin. There, Daniel's father became interested in religious philosophy. He knew Tolstoy, Chekhov, Voloshin.
Daniel was educated at the prestigious St. Petersburg German school. Already in 1924 he decided to enter the Leningrad Electrotechnical College. But soon he was forced to leave it. In 1925, Yuvachev got down to writing. Daniel very quickly gained popularity in literary circles, defeating everyone with his pseudonym, invented at the age of 17.
The creative path of Kharms
And in 1927 Kharms was admitted to the All-Russian Union of Poets. By that time, Daniel had managed to publish several collections of poetry. Kharms makes an attempt to unite the forces of the "left" writers of Leningrad. Since 1927, Marshak introduced Daniel to work on children's literature.
Throughout his life, Kharms almost the only source of livelihood for him was literary activity. He did not officially work in any organizations, and, if necessary, borrowed money. Sometimes he never returned the borrowed amounts.
Since 1928 Kharms has been collaborating with the children's magazine "Chizh". Daniel wrote a relatively small number of children's poems. But he managed to become a famous author, a true classic of poetry for children.
Subsequently, Kharms became one of the founders of the avant-garde group of poets and artists "The Association of Real Art". After some time, the fruits of the activities of this society were declared to be the intrigues of the class enemy.
Repression
In December 1931, together with several other "avant-gardeists", Kharms was arrested. He was accused of anti-Soviet activities and in March 1932 he was sentenced to three years in labor camps.
However, the correctional camps were soon replaced by deportations. The poet is forced to go to Kursk. He stayed there from July to November 1932, after which he returned to Leningrad. Kharms is intensively engaged in literary activity, writes several books for children. But after one questionable publication, Kharms simply stopped printing. Having lost his only source of livelihood, Daniel faced the prospect of starvation.
In 1941, after the start of the war with the Nazis, Kharms was arrested a second time - now for defeatism. The arrest took place on the denunciation of an NKVD agent. The reason for the persecution was the thoughts expressed aloud that the USSR lost the war on the very first day.
Kharms was threatened with execution. To avoid such a fate, he feigns insanity. By the decision of the military tribunal, Kharms was placed in a psychiatric clinic, where he died during the blockade of the city on the Neva.
In 1956, Daniil Kharms was posthumously rehabilitated. And yet, for a long time after this, the writings of the writer and poet were not reprinted in the country, although many of the fruits of his work were distributed in handwritten form.
