In Ladimir, Mayakovsky did not immediately start writing poetry - at first he was going to become an artist and even studied painting. The poet's fame came to him after meeting avant-garde artists, when David Burliuk greeted the young author's first works with delight. Futurist group, “Today's Lubok”, “Left Front of the Arts”, advertising “Windows of GROWTH” - Vladimir Mayakovsky worked in many creative associations. He also wrote for newspapers, published a magazine, made films, created plays and staged performances based on them.
Vladimir Mayakovsky with his sister Lyudmila. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky with his family. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky in childhood. Photo: rewizor.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky was born in Georgia in 1893. His father served as a forester in the village of Baghdadi, and later the family moved to Kutaisi. Here the future poet studied at the gymnasium and took drawing lessons: the only Kutaisi artist, Sergei Krasnukha, taught him for free. When the wave of the first Russian revolution reached Georgia, Mayakovsky - as a child - participated in rallies for the first time. His sister Lyudmila Mayakovskaya recalled: “The revolutionary struggle of the masses also influenced Volodya and Olya. The Caucasus experienced the revolution especially acutely. There everyone was involved in the struggle, and everyone was divided into those who participated in the revolution, those who definitely sympathized with it and those who were hostile.”.
In 1906, when Vladimir Mayakovsky was 13 years old, his father died from blood poisoning: he injured his finger with a needle while stitching papers. Until the end of his life, the poet was afraid of bacteria: he always carried soap with him, took a collapsible basin with him when traveling, carried cologne with him for rubbing and carefully monitored hygiene.
After the death of the father, the family found itself in a difficult situation. Mayakovsky recalled: “After my father’s funeral, we have 3 rubles. Instinctively, feverishly, we sold out of tables and chairs. We moved to Moscow. For what? There weren’t even any acquaintances”. In a Moscow gymnasium, the young poet wrote his first “incredibly revolutionary and equally ugly” poem and published it in an illegal school magazine. In 1909–1910, Mayakovsky was arrested several times: he joined the Bolshevik Party and worked in an underground printing house. At first, the young revolutionary was given “on bail” to his mother, and for the third time he was sent to prison. Mayakovsky later called confinement in solitary confinement “11 Butyrka months.” He wrote poetry, but the notebook with lyrical experiments - “stilted and tearful,” as the author assessed them - was taken away by the guards.
In conclusion, Mayakovsky read many books. He dreamed of a new art, a new aesthetics that would be radically different from the classical one. Mayakovsky decided to study painting - he changed several teachers and a year later he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here the young artist met David Burliuk, and later Velimir Khlebnikov and Alexei Kruchenykh. Mayakovsky again wrote poetry, which his new comrades were delighted with. Avant-garde authors decided to unite against the “old aesthetics,” and soon a manifesto of a new creative group appeared - “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.”
David has the anger of a master who has surpassed his contemporaries, I have the pathos of a socialist who knows the inevitability of the collapse of old things. Russian futurism was born.
Vladimir Mayakovsky, excerpt from his autobiography “I Myself”
Futurists spoke at meetings - read poems and lectures on new poetry. For public speaking, Vladimir Mayakovsky was expelled from the school. In 1913–1914, a famous futurist tour took place: the creative group toured Russian cities with performances.
Burliuk traveled and promoted futurism. But he loved Mayakovsky, stood at the cradle of his poetry, knew his biography to the smallest detail, knew how to read his things - and therefore, through David Davidovich’s butads, Mayakovsky’s appearance appeared so material that one wanted to touch him with his hands.
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Upon arrival in the city, Burliuk first organized an exhibition of futuristic paintings and manuscripts, and in the evening gave a report.Futurist poet Pyotr Neznamov
Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Rodchenko and Dmitry Shostakovich at the rehearsal of the play “The Bedbug”. 1929. Photo: subscribe.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik in the film “Chained by Film.” 1918. Photo: geometria.by
Vladimir Mayakovsky (third from left) and Vsevolod Meyerhold (second from left) at the rehearsal of the play “Bathhouse”. 1930. Photo: bse.sci-lib.com
Vladimir Mayakovsky was interested not only in poetry and painting. In 1913, he made his debut in the theater: he himself wrote the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky”, staged it on stage and played the main role. In the same year, the poet became interested in cinema - he began writing scripts, and a year later he starred for the first time in the film “Drama in the Futurist Cabaret No. 13” (the picture has not survived). During the First World War, Vladimir Mayakovsky was a member of the avant-garde association “Today's Lubok”. Its participants - Kazimir Malevich, David Burliuk, Ilya Mashkov and others - painted patriotic postcards for the front, inspired by traditional popular print. Simple colorful pictures were created for them and short poems were written in which they ridiculed the enemy.
In 1915, Mayakovsky met Osip and Lilya Brik. The poet later noted this event in his autobiography with the subtitle “the most joyful date.” Lilya Brik became Mayakovsky's lover and muse for many years; he dedicated poems and poems to her, and even after breaking up he continued to declare his love. In 1918, they starred together in the film Chained by Film - both in leading roles.
In November of the same year, the premiere of Mayakovsky’s play “Mystery Bouffe” took place. It was staged at the Musical Drama Theater by Vsevolod Meyerhold, and designed in the best traditions of the avant-garde by Kazimir Malevich. Meyerhold recalled working with the poet: “Mayakovsky was knowledgeable in very subtle theatrical, technological things that we, directors, know, which we usually study for a very long time in different schools, practically in the theater, etc. Mayakovsky always guessed every right and wrong stage decision, precisely as a director.”. The “revolutionary folk performance,” as translator Rita Wright called it, was staged several more times.
A year later, the intense era of “GROWTH Windows” began: artists and poets collected hot topics and produced propaganda posters - they are often called the first Soviet social advertising. The work was intense: both Mayakovsky and his colleagues more than once had to stay late or work at night in order to release the batch on time.
In 1922, Vladimir Mayakovsky headed the literary group “Left Front of the Arts” (later the “left” in the name was replaced by “revolutionary”), and soon the magazine of the creative association of the same name. Its pages published prose and poetry, photographs by avant-garde photographers, bold architectural projects and news of “leftist” art.
In 1925, the poet finally broke up with Lilya Brik. He went on tour to France, then went to Spain, Cuba and the USA. There Mayakovsky met translator Ellie Jones, and a short but stormy romance broke out between them. In the fall, the poet returned to the USSR, and in America he soon had a daughter, Helen-Patricia. After returning from the USA, Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote the cycle “Poems about America” and worked on scripts for Soviet films.
Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: goteatr.com
Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik. Photo: mayakovskij.ru
Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: piter.my
In 1928–1929, Mayakovsky wrote the satirical plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. Both premieres took place at the Meyerhold Theater. The poet was the second director, he oversaw the design of the performance and worked with the actors: he read fragments of the play, creating the necessary intonations and placing semantic accents.
Vladimir Vladimirovich was very interested in all kinds of work. He threw himself into his work. Before the premiere of “Bath” he was completely exhausted. He spent all his time in the theater. He wrote poems and inscriptions for the auditorium for the production of “Bath”. I supervised their hanging myself. Then he joked that he was hired at the Meyerhold Theater not only as an author and director (he worked a lot with the actors on the text), but also as a painter and carpenter, since he himself painted and nailed down something. As a very rare author, he was so passionate and passionate about the performance that he participated in the smallest details of the production, which, of course, was not at all part of his authorial functions.
Actress Veronica Polonskaya
Both plays caused a stir. Some viewers and critics saw the works as a satire on bureaucracy, while others saw them as criticism of the Soviet system. “Bathhouse” was staged only a few times, and then it was banned until 1953.
The loyal attitude of the authorities towards the “main Soviet poet” gave way to coolness. In 1930, he was not allowed to travel abroad for the first time. Official criticism began to fiercely attack the poet. He was reproached for satire in relation to phenomena that were supposedly defeated, for example, the same bureaucracy, and bureaucratic delays. Mayakovsky decided to hold an exhibition “20 years of work” and present the results of his many years of work. He himself selected newspaper articles and drawings, arranged books, and hung posters on the walls. The poet was helped by Lilya Brik, his new beloved actress Veronica Polonskaya and an employee of the State Literary Museum Artemy Bromberg.
On the opening day, the guest hall was packed. However, as Bromberg recalled, no representatives of literary organizations came to the opening. And there were no official congratulations to the poet on his twentieth anniversary of work either.
I will never forget how, in the House of Press, at Vladimir Vladimirovich’s exhibition “Twenty Years of Work,” which for some reason was almost boycotted by “big” writers, we, several people from Smena, literally stood around the stands for days, physically suffering because of how sad and stern A large, tall man walked face down through the empty halls, with his hands behind his back, walking back and forth, as if expecting someone very dear and becoming more and more convinced that this dear person would not come.
Poet Olga Berggolts
The lack of recognition was aggravated by personal drama. Vladimir Mayakovsky, in love with Polonskaya, demanded that she leave her husband, leave the theater and live with him in a new apartment. As the actress recalled, the poet would create scenes, then calm down, then again begin to be jealous and demand an immediate solution. One of these explanations became fatal. After Polonskaya left, Mayakovsky committed suicide. In his suicide letter, he asked “comrade government” not to leave his family: “My family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya. If you give them a tolerable life, thank you.”.
After Mayakovsky's death, the entire archive of the poet went to Brik. Lilya Brik tried to preserve the memory of his work, wanted to create a memorial room, but constantly ran into bureaucratic obstacles. The poet was almost never published. Then Brik wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin. In his resolution, Stalin called Mayakovsky “the best and most talented poet of the Soviet era.” The resolution was published in Pravda, Mayakovsky’s works began to be published in huge editions, and streets and squares of the Soviet Union were named after him.
Vulgarity, without challenging it in life, challenged it in death. But living, excited Moscow, alien to petty literary disputes, stood in line at his coffin, without anyone organizing this line, spontaneously, by itself recognizing the unusualness of this life and this death. And lively, excited Moscow filled the streets on the way to the crematorium. And living, excited Moscow did not believe his death. He still doesn’t believe it.
Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich (1893-1930) - Russian poet, playwright and satirist, screenwriter and editor of several magazines, film director and actor. He is one of the greatest futurist poets of the twentieth century.
Birth and family
Vladimir was born on July 19, 1893 in Georgia in the village of Bagdati. Then it was the Kutaisi province, in Soviet times the village was called Mayakovsky, now Baghdati has become a city in the Imereti region in western Georgia.
Father, Vladimir Konstantinovich Mayakovsky, born in 1857, was from the Erivan province, where he served as a forester and had the third rank in this profession. Having moved to Bagdati in 1889, he got a job in the local forestry department. My father was an agile and tall man with broad shoulders. He had a very expressive and tanned face; jet black beard and hair combed to one side. He had a powerful chest bass, which was completely passed on to his son.
He was an impressionable person, cheerful and very friendly, however, his father’s mood could change sharply and very often. He knew a lot of witticisms and jokes, anecdotes and proverbs, various funny incidents from life; He was fluent in Russian, Tatar, Georgian and Armenian.
Mother, Pavlenko Alexandra Alekseevna, born in 1867, came from Cossacks, was born in the Kuban village of Ternovskaya. Her father, Alexey Ivanovich Pavlenko, was a captain of the Kuban infantry regiment, participated in the Russian-Turkish war, had medals and many military awards. A beautiful woman, serious, with brown eyes and brown hair, always combed back smoothly.
Volodya's son was very similar in face to his mother, and in manners he looked exactly like his father. In total, five children were born into the family, but two boys died young: Sasha in infancy, and Kostya, when he was three years old, from scarlet fever. Vladimir had two older sisters - Lyuda (born in 1884) and Olya (born in 1890).
Childhood years
Volodya recalled picturesque beautiful places from his Georgian childhood. The Khanis-Tskhali river flowed in the village, there was a bridge across it, next to which the Mayakovsky family rented three rooms in the house of local resident Kostya Kuchukhidze. The forestry office was located in one of these rooms.
Mayakovsky remembered how his father subscribed to the magazine Rodina, which had a humorous supplement. In winter, the family gathered in the room, looked at a magazine and laughed.
Already at the age of four, the boy really liked to be told something before going to bed, especially poetry. Mom read Russian poets to him - Nekrasov and Krylov, Pushkin and Lermontov. And when his mother was busy and could not read a book to him, little Volodya began to cry. If he liked a verse, he memorized it and then recited it loudly in a clear, childish voice.
As he grew a little older, the boy discovered that if he climbed into a large clay vessel for wine (in Georgia they were called churiami) and read poetry there, it would become very echoing and loud.
Volodya's birthday coincided with his father's birthday. They always had a lot of guests on July 19th. In 1898, little Mayakovsky specially for this day memorized Lermontov’s poem “Dispute” and read it in front of the guests. Then the parents bought a camera, and the five-year-old boy composed his first poetic lines: “Mom is glad, dad is glad that we bought the device”.
By the age of six, Volodya already knew how to read; he learned on his own, without outside help. True, the boy did not like the first book he read in its entirety, “The Poultry Keeper Agafya,” written by children’s writer Klavdiya Lukashevich. However, she did not discourage him from reading; he did it with gusto.
In the summer, Volodya filled his pockets full of fruit, grabbed something edible for his dog friends, took a book and headed out to the garden. There he sat under a tree, lay on his stomach and could read in this position all day. And next to him, two or three dogs lovingly guarded him. When it got dark, he would roll over on his back and could spend hours looking at the starry sky.
From an early age, in addition to his love of reading, the boy tried to make his first visual sketches, and also showed resourcefulness and wit, which his father greatly encouraged.
Studies
In the summer of 1900, his mother took seven-year-old Mayakovsky to Kutais to prepare him for entering the gymnasium. His mother’s friend studied with him, and the boy studied with great enthusiasm.
In the fall of 1902, he entered the Kutaisi classical gymnasium. While studying, Volodya tried to write his first poems. When they got to his class teacher, he noted the child’s unique style.
But poetry at that time attracted Mayakovsky less than art. He drew everything he saw around him, and he was especially good at illustrations of the works he read and caricatures of family life. Sister Lyuda was just preparing to enter the Stroganov School in Moscow and studied with the only artist in Kutais, S. Krasnukha, who graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. When she asked Rubella to look at her brother’s drawings, he ordered the boy to be brought and began teaching him for free. The Mayakovskys had already assumed that Volodya would become an artist.
And in February 1906, the family suffered a terrible tragedy. At first there was joy, my father was appointed chief forester in Kutais and everyone was happy that now they would live as a family in the same house (after all, Volodya and sister Olenka were studying at the gymnasium there at that time). Dad in Baghdati was preparing to hand over his cases and was filing some documents. He pricked his finger with a needle, but did not pay any attention to this trifle and left for the forestry. My hand began to hurt and break out. My father died quickly and abruptly from blood poisoning; it was no longer possible to save him. A loving family man, a caring father and a good husband are gone.
Dad was 49 years old, he was filled with energy and strength, he had never been sick before, which is why the tragedy was so unexpected and difficult. On top of that, the family had no savings. My father was one year short of retirement. So the Mayakovskys had to sell off their furniture in order to buy food. The eldest daughter Lyudmila, who studied in Moscow, insisted that her mother and the younger ones move in with her. The Mayakovskys borrowed two hundred rubles from good friends for the journey and left their native Kutais forever.
Moscow
This city struck the young Mayakovsky on the spot. The boy, who grew up in the wilderness, was shocked by the size, crowds and noise. He was amazed by the two-story horse cars, the lighting and elevators, the shops and cars.
Mom, with the help of friends, got Volodya into the Fifth Classical Gymnasium. In the evenings and Sundays he attended art courses at the Stroganov School. And the young man was literally sick of cinema; he could go to three shows at once in one evening.
Soon, at the gymnasium, Mayakovsky began to attend a Social Democratic circle. In 1907, members of the circle published the illegal magazine “Proryv”, for which Mayakovsky composed two poetic works.
And already at the beginning of 1908, Volodya confronted his relatives with the fact that he had left the gymnasium and joined the Social Democratic Labor Party of the Bolsheviks.
He became a propagandist; Mayakovsky was arrested three times, but was released because he was a minor. He was placed under police surveillance, and the guards gave him the nickname “Tall.”
While in prison, Vladimir again began to write poetry, and not just a few, but large and many. He wrote a thick notebook, which he later recognized as the beginning of his poetic activity.
At the beginning of 1910, Vladimir was released, he left the party and entered the preparatory course at the Stroganov School. In 1911 he began studying at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here he soon became a member of the poetry club, joining the futurists.
Creation
In 1912, Mayakovsky’s poem “Night” was published in the collection of futuristic poetry “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.”
In the literary and artistic basement “Stray Dog” on November 30, 1912, Mayakovsky made his first public appearance, he recited his poems. And the next year, 1913, was marked by the release of his first collection of poetry entitled “I”.
With members of the Futurist Club, Vladimir went on a tour of Russia, where he read his poems and lectures.
Soon they started talking about Mayakovsky, and there was a reason for this, one after another he created his such different works:
- rebellious poem “Here!”;
- the colorful, touching and empathetic verse “Listen”;
- tragedy "Vladimir Mayakovsky";
- verse-disdain “To you”;
- anti-war “Me and Napoleon”, “Mom and the evening killed by the Germans”.
The poet met the October Revolution at the headquarters of the uprising in Smolny. From the very first days, he began to actively cooperate with the new government:
- In 1918 he became the organizer of the group of communist futurists “Comfut”.
- From 1919 to 1921 he worked as a poet and artist at the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA), and participated in the design of satirical propaganda posters.
- In 1922 he became the organizer of the Moscow Futurist Association (MAF).
- Since 1923, he was the ideological inspirer of the Left Front of the Arts (LEF) group and worked as editor-in-chief of the LEF magazine.
He dedicated many of his works to revolutionary events:
- "Ode to the Revolution";
- "Our March";
- “To the workers of Kursk...”;
- "150,000,000";
- "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin";
- "Mystery-buff."
After the revolution, Vladimir became increasingly attracted to cinema. Only in 1919, three films were made, in which he acted as a screenwriter, actor and director.
From 1922 to 1924, Vladimir traveled abroad, after which he wrote a series of poems based on his impressions of Latvia, France, and Germany.
In 1925, he made an extended American tour, visiting Mexico and Havana and writing the essay “My Discovery of America.”
Returning to his homeland, he traveled throughout the Soviet Union, speaking to various audiences. Collaborated with many newspapers and magazines:
- "News";
- "Krasnaya Niva";
- "Komsomolskaya Pravda";
- "Crocodile";
- "New World";
- "Spark";
- "Young Guard".
In two years (1926-1927), the poet created nine film scripts. Meyerhold staged two satirical plays by Mayakovsky, “Bathhouse” and “The Bedbug.”
Personal life
In 1915, Mayakovsky met Lilya and Osip Brik. He became friends with this family. But soon the relationship grew from friendship into something more serious; Vladimir became so carried away by Lily that for a long time the three of them lived together. After the revolution, such relations did not surprise anyone. Osip was not an opponent of a family of three and, due to health problems, lost his wife to a younger and stronger man. Moreover, Mayakovsky supported the Briks financially after the revolution and almost until his death.
Lilya became his muse, he dedicated every poem to this woman, but she was not the only one.
In 1920, Vladimir met the artist Lilya Lavinskaya; this love relationship ended with the birth of Lavinsky’s son, Gleb-Nikita, who later became a famous Soviet sculptor.
After a short relationship with Russian emigrant Elizaveta Siebert, a girl, Helen-Patricia (Elena Vladimirovna Mayakovskaya), was born. Vladimir saw his daughter only once in Nice in 1928, when she was only two years old. Helen became a famous American writer and philosopher and died in 2016.
Mayakovsky's last love was the beautiful young actress Veronica Polonskaya.
Death
By 1930, many began to say that Mayakovsky had written himself out. None of the state leaders or prominent writers came to his exhibition “20 Years of Work”. He wanted to go abroad, but was denied a visa. Diseases were added to everything. Mayakovsky was depressed and could not stand such a depressing state.
On April 14, 1930, he committed suicide by shooting himself with a revolver. For three days an endless stream of people came to the House of Writers, where farewell to Mayakovsky took place. He was buried at the New Donskoy Cemetery, and in 1952, at the request of his older sister Lyudmila, the ashes were reburied at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky is a truly outstanding personality. A talented poet, playwright, screenwriter and actor. One of the brightest and most odious figures of his time.
Born on July 19, 1893 in the Georgian village of Bagdati. There were five children in the family: two daughters and three sons, but of all the boys, only Vladimir survived. The boy studied at a local gymnasium, and then at a school in Moscow, where he moved with his mother and sister. By that time, my father was no longer alive: he died of blood poisoning.
During the revolution, difficult times came for the family, there was not enough money, and there was nothing to pay for Volodya’s education. He did not finish his studies, and later joined the Social Democratic Party. Mayakovsky was arrested more than once for his political beliefs and participation in mass riots. It was in prison that the first lines of the great poet were born.
In 1911, the young man decided to continue his studies at the art school, however, his teachers did not appreciate his work: they were too original. During his studies, Mayakovsky became close to the futurists, whose work was close to him, and in 1912 he published his first poem, “Night.”
In 1915, one of the most famous poems, “A Cloud in Pants,” was written, which he first read at a reception at Lily Brik’s house. This woman became his main love and his curse. All his life he loved and hated her, they broke up and renewed their relationship countless times. The poem dedicated to her, “Lilichka,” is one of the most powerful and touching declarations of love in modern literature. In addition to Lily, there were many other women in the poet’s life, but not one of them was able to touch those strings of the soul that Lilichka so skillfully played with.
In general, Mayakovsky’s love lyrics were not attractive; his main attention was occupied by politics and satire on topical topics. The poem “The Sitting Ones” is perhaps one of the most striking demonstrations of Mayakovsky’s satirical talent. What is important is that the plot of the poem is relevant to this day. In addition, he writes many scripts for films and stars in them himself. The most famous film that has survived to this day is “The Young Lady and the Hooligan.”
The theme of revolution occupies a huge place in the poet’s creative heritage. The poet was enthusiastic about what was happening, although at that time he was having a very difficult time financially. At this time he wrote “Mystery-bouffe”. Almost until his death, Mayakovsky glorified Soviet power, and on its 10th anniversary he wrote the poem “Good.”
(Painting by Vladimir Mayakovsky "Roulette")
With his works glorifying the revolution and Comrade Lenin, Mayakovsky tours quite a bit throughout Europe and America. He draws satirical and propaganda posters, works for several publishing houses, including ROSTA Satire Windows. In 1923, he and several associates created the creative studio LEF. Two famous plays by the author, “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse,” were published one after another in 1928 and 1929.
Mayakovsky's calling card was the unusual style he invented and the poetic meter in the form of a ladder, as well as many neologisms. He is also credited with the fame of the first advertiser in the USSR, because he was at the origins of this trend, creating masterpiece posters calling for the purchase of this or that product. Each drawing was accompanied by simple but sonorous verses.
(G. Egoshin "V. Mayakovsky")
Children's poems occupy a large place in the poet's lyrics. Big Uncle Mayakovsky, as he called himself, writes surprisingly touching lines for the younger generation and personally speaks with them to young listeners. Every Soviet and then Russian schoolchild knew the poem “Who to Be” or “What is Good and What is Bad” by heart. Many critics noted the author’s amazing artistic style and his ability to simply and clearly express far from childish thoughts in a language accessible to children.
However, like many poets of the 20th century, Mayakovsky did not hide the fact that he was disappointed in his chosen direction. Towards the end of his life he moved away from the circle of futurists. The new government led by Stalin did not inspire his creativity, and he was subjected to increasingly harsh censorship and criticism over and over again. His exhibition “20 Years of Work” was ignored by politicians and even friends and colleagues. This noticeably crippled Mayakovsky, and the subsequent failure of his plays only worsened the situation. Failures on the love front, in creative activity, refusal to travel abroad - all this affected the emotional state of the writer.
On April 14, 1930, the poet shot himself in his room, contrary to the lines he once wrote: “And I won’t go out into the air, and I won’t drink poison, and I won’t be able to pull the trigger above my temple...”
Russian Soviet poet and playwright Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was born on July 19 (July 7, old style) 1893 in the village of Baghdadi, Kutaisi province of Russia (now Georgia) in the family of a forester.
His father came from the Zaporozhye Cossacks, his father's great-grandfather was a regimental captain of the Black Sea troops, which gave him the right to receive the title of nobleman. The poet's mother was the daughter of a captain in the Kuban Infantry Regiment. The Mayakovskys also had two daughters.
Since 1902, Vladimir Mayakovsky studied at a gymnasium in Kutaisi, then in Moscow, where in 1906 after the death of his father he moved with his mother and sisters. Didn't finish the high school course. At the end of 1907 - beginning of 1908, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks).
His first poetic experiments date back to 1910, when the future poet.
In 1913, his first collection "I" was published. In December 1913, at the St. Petersburg Luna Park Theater, with the participation of the author, Mayakovsky's tragedy "Vladimir Mayakovsky" was staged, in which the poet played the main role.
Mayakovsky, together with members of a group of Cubo-Futurists who tried to embody the visual principles of French Cubist artists and the poetic principles of Italian Futurists (rejection of all traditions), actively participated in “futurist tours” around Russia - collective performances with lectures and poetry readings.
In 1915-1917 he was drafted to the Petrograd Military Automobile School, where he served as a draftsman, and in 1917 he was awarded the medal "For Diligence".
During this period, his poems “Cloud in Pants” (1915), “Spine Flute” (1916), and “Man” (1916-1917) were published.
In 1916, his poetry collection “Simple as Mooing” was published, where the poet tried to put together poems published earlier. A year later, the poem "War and Peace" was published.
On the day of the October Revolution of 1917, Mayakovsky was in Smolny, where the headquarters of the uprising was located. He was one of the first cultural and artistic figures who responded to the call of the Soviet government to cooperate with it; participated in the first meetings and gatherings of cultural representatives. At this time, “Our March” and “Ode to the Revolution” were published.
The play "Mystery-Bouffe" was written in 1917-1918 (the second edition - 1921) and staged for the first anniversary of the October Revolution by the author himself (Mayakovsky also participated in the creation of costumes and scenery and played several roles).
In December 1918, during a performance at the Matrossky Theater in Petrograd, his “Left March” was performed for the first time. In 1919, he worked on the poem "150,000,000".
In March 1919, Mayakovsky moved to Moscow, where from October 1919 to February 1922 he actively collaborated with ROSTA (Russian Telegraph Agency) on texts and drawings for Windows of Satire. He made drawings for more than 400 posters and wrote texts for more than 600 posters.
In February 1930, having left the REF (Revolutionary Art Front, into which LEF was reorganized), Mayakovsky joined RAPP (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers). Many of his literary comrades broke ties with the poet. On the same days, the exhibition “20 years of Mayakovsky’s work” opened. She was ignored by both the party leadership and her former colleagues in LEF (REF).
Alienation and public persecution were aggravated by the poet’s personal drama.
On April 14, 1930, in his workroom in Lubyansky Proezd in Moscow, Vladimir Mayakovsky committed suicide.
He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
The poet was not married. In America he has (1926-2016) from translator Ellie Jones (Elizabeth Zilbert). Subsequently, Helen-Patricia Thompson (Elena Vladimirovna Mayakovskaya) became a psychologist in the field of family relations, Ph.D., professor. She wrote a book about her father, “Mayakovsky in Manhattan, a love story.”
Mayakovsky had a long relationship with Lilya Brik (1891-1978), the wife of the critic Osip Brik (1888-1945). In the last years of the life of the poet’s beloved (1908-1994).
In the fall of 2018 in Moscow in Studenetsky Lane, where Vladimir Mayakovsky’s mother and sisters lived.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
