Afanasy fet. Message "The Life and Work of A.A. Fet" Did Fet have any children?

Brief biography of the poet, basic facts of life and work:

AFANASY AFANASIEVICH FET (1820-1892)

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (Shenshin) was born on November 23 (December 5), 1820 in the village of Novoselki near Mtsensk.

The story of his birth is so complicated that it is unlikely that anyone will have a chance to understand it, and the problem itself is extremely important for Russian literature, since it was it that predetermined the life, fate and work of one of the greatest poets of Russia.

The facts are as follows. The boy's mother, Charlotte Elisabeth Becker, came from an old East German noble family. On May 18, 1818, she married Johann Peter Karl Wilhelm Vöth, the Great German district assessor from Darmstadt. They said that Fet was an illegitimate child of one of the sons of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt. On July 17, 1819, the Fetov couple had a daughter. At the beginning of 1820, the well-born but impoverished landowner of the Oryol province of the Mtsensk district, Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, came to Darmstadt for treatment. A participant in the War of 1812, ugly, aged (well over forty years old). He fell passionately in love with Charlotte Föt, kidnapped her and took her to Russia. The woman was twenty-two years old at the time. Why she agreed to escape is unknown. The fugitive was pregnant. All biographers agree that Shenshin was not the father of the great poet. However, later Johann Föt did not recognize the boy as his son in his will.

Afanasy Afanasyevich himself publicly claimed that his father was Shenshin. But Fet’s letter to his bride has survived, in which he revealed the secret of his birth. On the envelope of the letter, which Fet asked to be burned immediately after reading, Fet’s handwriting read: “Read to yourself” - and in the hand of his wife M. Botkina it was written: “Place with me in the coffin.” “My mother,” Fet wrote, “was married to my father, the Darmstadt scientist and lawyer Fet, gave birth to a daughter, Caroline, and was pregnant with me. At that time, my stepfather Shenshin arrived and lived in Darmstadt, who took my mother away from Fet, and when Shenshin arrived in the village, a few months later my mother gave birth to me... This is the story of my birth.”

Afanasy Afanasyevich was born - according to some documents - on October 29, 1820, according to others - on November 29. The poet himself celebrated his birthday on November 23.

The baby was baptized according to the Orthodox rite and entered into the church register as the son of Afanasy Shenshin. However, at that time Johann Vöth was still considered the husband of Charlotte Becker; the marriage was dissolved in Darmstadt only on December 8, 1821. And only on September 4, 1822, when Charlotte converted to Orthodoxy and received the Orthodox name Elizaveta Petrovna, the Shenshins’ wedding took place.

It is known that in 1830 Shenshin did not include the name of Afanasy in the petition to be included in the noble genealogy book. Even during Fet’s lifetime, a gossip that is very popular today began to spread that A. N. Shenshin, passing through Konigsberg, allegedly “bought” his pregnant wife from a local Jewish innkeeper and brought the concubine to his estate...

Until the age of fourteen, Afanasy Shenshin Jr. grew up like an ordinary Russian barchuk. At the end of 1834 his life changed dramatically. His father unexpectedly took Afanasy to Moscow, then to St. Petersburg. Next, after consulting with influential friends, he sent the boy to the remote Livonian town of Verro (now Võru in Estonia), where Afanasy was assigned to study at a “private pedagogical institution” of a certain Krümmer. Everything suggests that Shenshin had strong enemies who decided to strike at his most vulnerable spot - the diocesan authorities were informed that Shenshin’s son was an illegitimate child. Officials immediately needed to “restore justice.” If Shenshin was a rich, powerful nobleman, there would be no problems. At the beginning of 1835, the Oryol spiritual consistory decided to consider the father of the boy not Shenshin, but the already deceased Johann Fet.

For the sake of the further well-being of the family, Afanasy Neofitovich was forced to sacrifice his eldest son. Fet recalled: “One day my father, without further explanation, wrote to me that from now on I should bear the surname Fet... In the boarding house, this news caused a noise: - What is this? do you have a double surname? why isn't there another? Where are you from? what kind of person are you? etc. etc. All such exclamations and inexplicable questions further strengthened my determination to remain silent on this score, without demanding explanations from anyone at home.” Afanasy Afanasyevich bore the surname Fet for almost forty years.

At the same time as his surname, the young man lost his rights to the noble nobility, to his father’s estate, to his Russian affiliation - from now on he was considered a Hesse-Darmstadt subject, a foreigner, an alien and a commoner... Afanasy was obliged to sign: “The foreigner Fet had a hand in this.” When the poet was later asked what was the most painful thing in his life, he answered that all his tears and pain were concentrated in one word - “Fet.”

In 1837, now Afanasy Fet came to Moscow and entered the university’s Faculty of Philosophy. He was listed as a foreign student; he studied not for the required four years, but for six whole years. As Fet himself later admitted, his poetic gift suddenly awakened, and instead of going to lectures, he wrote poetry all day long. In 1840, the first collection of his poems, “Lyrical Pantheon,” was published, signed “A. F."

In the period 1842-1843, a total of 85 poems by Fet were published in Otechestvennye zapiski and Moskvityanin. The talent of the aspiring poet was noted by N.V. Gogol.

But in 1844, the life of Afanasy Afanasyevich once again changed dramatically. At the beginning of the year, her seriously ill mother died, and in the fall her uncle Pyotr Neofitovich Shenshin passed away. When Afanasy was deprived of inheritance rights, the lonely uncle promised to leave his estate to his nephew. But Pyotr Neofitovich died in Pyatigorsk, where he was being treated at the waters, and the estate left without his supervision was plundered, and the money from the bank mysteriously disappeared. Afanasy Afanasyevich was left without a livelihood. He had only one choice - to serve in the army.

Fet accepted Russian citizenship (does this remind you of the authorities’ current bullying of our compatriots?) and a month later was promoted to cornet. He was seconded to the headquarters of the corps of the Order Cuirassier Regiment in the Kherson province.

A year later, the poet received the rank of officer, the first in a long series of seniority to acquire nobility over time.

In the summer of 1848, Fet had a number of acquaintances that played almost a decisive role in his future fate. The regiment in which Fet served was stationed in the village of Krasnoselye. Here the young man was invited to a ball by a local wealthy landowner, the district leader of the nobility Alexei Fedorovich Brzhesky. At the ball, the poet met the owner's wife, Alexandra Lvovna Brzheskaya, with whom he remained in friendly correspondence for more than fifty years - until the end of his life.

Not far from the Brzhesky estate was Fedorovka, the estate of Alexei Fedorovich’s sister, Elizaveta Fedorovna Petkovich, where the nieces of the owner, the Lazic sisters, often visited. As a good friend of the Brzeskikhs, Fet often visited the Petkovichs.

The young man fell in love with Elena Lazic. This is a generally accepted version, but it must be remembered that Fet himself never named his beloved, and Lazic was identified by literary scholars in the 1920s. In the family of relatives, the girl enjoyed well-deserved sympathy. Elena's father, a retired major general, a widower, was a decent man, but poor.

The affair lasted more than a year. Unexpectedly, Fet decided that he would never marry Elena, thereby dooming himself to lifelong spiritual loneliness. He explained the reasons for this decision as follows: “I clearly understand that marrying an officer who receives 300 rubles, without a home, to a girl without a fortune means thoughtlessly and dishonestly taking on an oath that he is not able to fulfill.”

Soon Fet had to leave for a while due to official needs. When he returned, terrible news awaited him: Elena Lazic was no longer alive. Fet himself wrote about the tragedy that happened: “... for the last time she lay down in a white muslin dress and, having lit a cigarette, threw, concentrating on the book, a match on the floor, which she considered extinguished. But the match, which continued to burn, ignited the dress that had fallen to the floor, and the girl only noticed that it was burning when the entire right side was on fire. Confused in the complete desertion, with the exception of her sister’s helpless little girl... the unfortunate woman, instead of falling to the floor and trying to at least extinguish the fire with her own body, rushed through the rooms to the balcony door of the living room, and the burning pieces of the dress, breaking off, fell onto the parquet floor, leaving there are traces of fatal burning on it. Thinking of finding relief in the clean air, the girl ran out onto the balcony. But at the first appearance in the air, the flame rose above her head, and she... rushed down the steps into the garden... People came running to her sister’s screams and carried her to the bedroom. Any medical assistance turned out to be unnecessary.”

Fet later admitted, being sure that he was to blame for Elena’s death: “I was waiting for a woman who would understand me, and I waited for her. She, burning, shouted: “Au nom du ciel sauvez les lettres.” (“For the sake of all that is holy, save the letters.” - Franz.) and died with the words: “It’s not his fault, it’s mine.” After that there’s no point in talking.”

Since this terrible year, Fet has gained the nickname “singer of sadness.”

In 1853, Fet was transferred to the Uhlan Guards Regiment, which was stationed in Krasnoe Selo, near the capital, during summer training. This gave the poet the opportunity to meet I. S. Turgenev, and through him, the publishers and authors of Sovremennik: Nekrasov, Panaev, Goncharov, Druzhinin, Grigorovich, Annenkov, Botkin, and later Leo Tolstoy. Soon Fet became an insider at Sovremennik, but they treated him with condescension, as a person of small intelligence. They said about the poet with a smile: “Round eyes, round mouth, senseless amazement on his face.” With the help of Sovremennik, Fet published a collection of poems in 1856, which was a huge success.

In 1857, a decree was issued by the new Emperor Alexander II, according to which the title of hereditary nobleman was given only by the rank of colonel. Shocked, Fet realized that military service would give him nobility only at the end of his life, he retired and moved to live in Moscow.

In the spring of 1857, the poet proposed to Maria Petrovna Botkina, the daughter of a famous tea merchant and sister of Vasily Petrovich Botkin, a famous writer, critic, close friend of Belinsky, friend and connoisseur of Fet. Maria Petrovna did not expect the proposal, she was delighted and immediately agreed. The groom was thirty-seven years old, the bride was thirty. Botkina was attractive for her good nature and simplicity, but had an illegitimate child. A “union of lonely souls” arose, in which there was a lot of true love. From then on, Maria Petrovna became inseparable from Fet for the rest of her life. As a dowry, the poet received 35 thousand rubles in silver - a huge sum at that time...

In 1860, Fet bought the steppe farm of Stepanovka in the Mtsensk district of the Oryol province, which, under his businesslike management, quickly transformed into a rich estate with a regular park and fertile agricultural land.

Fet soon turned into a passionate hoarder, occupied primarily with thoughts of increasing his already considerable fortune. His fame grew as an outstanding land manager, an excellent business manager, who allowed both the peasant and himself to get rich. It is curious that on the eve of the reform of 1861, Fet became famous throughout the country as a fierce defender of the old order.

Over time, the poet bought Vorobyovka (for more than 100 thousand rubles!) - a remarkably beautiful manorial estate, which he called “our microscopic Switzerland.” Then the Olkhovatku estate in the Shchigrovsky district of the Kursk province, then the Gravoronku estate in the Zemlyansky district of the Voronezh province, with this estate the poet got a second stud farm, since the stud farm was already in Vorobyovka.

Among the neighboring landowners, Fet became an increasingly respected person. An expression of this was his selection in 1867 to the position of justice of the peace established by the judicial reform of 1864 and then considered a very honorable one, in which he remained for 17 years.

In Moscow, the Fets bought a spacious house in the city center on Plyushchikha (now house number 36).

The fame of the poet Fet grew. In the 1860s, there was a fierce struggle between the revolutionary democrats and the liberals who were literary closest to Fet. The poet took a special position - anti-revolutionary and anti-liberal. Contrary to Nekrasov, he stated that a poet does not have to be a citizen! Since the Chernyshevsky-Dobrolyubov line was finally established in Sovremennik, Fet refused to cooperate with the magazine.

In 1863, the poet released a new collection of his poems in two parts, which the new democratic generation did not accept - the small edition of the book, following a tip from Pisarev, was not sold out until the end of Fet's life - almost thirty years! This attitude of the reading public plunged the poet into a long creative crisis. He fell silent for many years and stopped publishing his poems.

In 1873, on December 26, the Senate Decree was issued on the accession of A. A. Fet to the Shenshin family. It was a victory. But, strangely enough, the poet, who so passionately yearned to change his name, continued to publish poems under his former surname. He gave an explanation in the following lines:

I am among the crying Shenshin,

And I am Fet only among the singers.

A friend and admirer of Afanasy Afanasyevich was Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov, a well-known poet in Russian literature, published under the pseudonym K.R. Through his efforts in 1889, on the fiftieth literary anniversary of the poet, the new Emperor Alexander III granted Fet the pre-court title of senior rank - chamberlain.

By the end of his life, the poet became a stern conservative. They said that when he was in Moscow and driving past the university in a cab, he would always lower the window of the carriage and spit with hatred in the direction of the establishment. The coachman, accustomed to this, stopped every time without additional instructions.

Only in 1881 Fet unexpectedly returned to literature. First as a translator. He published a translation of Schopenhauer's main work, The World as Will and Representation. This was followed by: in 1882 - a translation of the first part of “Faust” by J. V. Goethe; in 1883 - a poetic translation of all the works of Horace; in 1888 - the second part of Faust. During the last seven years of the poet’s life, translations were published: “Satires” by Juvenal, “Poems” by Catullus, “Elegies” by Tibullus, “Metamorphosis” and “Sorrows” by Ovid, “Elegies” by Propertius, “Aeneid” by Virgil, “Satires” by Persia, “ The Pot" by Plautus, "Epigrams" by Martial, "Hermann and Dorothea" by Goethe, "Semele" by Schiller, "Dupont and Durand" by Musset, many poems by Heine.

After a long break, Fet again began to create original poems. They were published in editions called “Evening Lights” (issue I - 1883; issue II - 1885; issue III - 1888; issue IV - 1891).

In 1890, two volumes of memoirs “My Memoirs” were published; the third volume, The Early Years of My Life, was published posthumously in 1893.

In the year of his death, Fet prepared the final edition of his works. This allowed N.N. Strakhov and K.R. to release a two-volume collection of Fet’s works in 1894.

Like his birth, Fet's death is shrouded in mystery. The testimonies of the poet’s relatives are as follows. Half an hour before his death, Fet insistently wanted to drink champagne. The wife was afraid to give the patient alcohol, and the poet sent her to the doctor for permission. Left alone with his secretary, Afanasy Afanasyevich dictated a note to her with strange content: “I don’t understand the deliberate increase in inevitable suffering, I voluntarily go towards the inevitable.” Under this he himself signed: “November 21st Fet (Shenshin).” Then he grabbed the steel stiletto that was lying on his paper cutting table. The secretary rushed to snatch the weapon and injured her hand. Then Fet ran through several rooms to the dining room to the buffet, obviously for another knife, and suddenly, breathing rapidly, fell onto a chair. That was the end. Formally, suicide did not take place. But by the nature of everything that happened, it was, of course, a premeditated and decided suicide.

It was officially announced that the poet died from a long-standing “chest illness” complicated by bronchitis.

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (1820-1892)

For almost a hundred years - half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th - there were serious battles around the work of Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet. If some saw him as a great lyricist and were surprised, like Leo Tolstoy: “And where does this... officer get such incomprehensible lyrical audacity, the property of great poets...”, then others, like, for example, Saltykov-Shchedrin, saw Fet’s poetic world as “cramped.” , monotonous and limited,” Mikhail Evgrafovich even wrote that “the weak presence of consciousness is a distinctive feature of this half-childish worldview.”

The democrats of the 19th century and the Bolsheviks of the 20th counted Fet among the minor poets, because, they say, he is not a socially significant poet, he does not have songs of protest and a revolutionary spirit. Responding to such attacks, Dostoevsky once wrote the famous article “Mr. Bov and the Question of Art.” He responded to N.A. Dobrolyubov, who at that time headed the criticism and ideology of the Sovremennik magazine and called art like Fet’s poetry “useless.”

Dostoevsky gives the following example: “Let us assume that we are transported to the eighteenth century, precisely on the day of the Lisbon earthquake. Half the inhabitants of Lisbon die; houses fall apart and collapse; property is destroyed; Each of the survivors lost something - either property or family. Residents are pushing through the streets in despair, amazed, maddened with horror. A famous Portuguese poet was living in Lisbon at this time. The next morning, an issue of the Lisbon “Mercury” comes out (at that time everything was published in “Mercury”). The issue of a magazine that appeared at such a moment even arouses some curiosity in the unfortunate Lisbon residents, despite the fact that they have no time for magazines at that moment; They hope that the number was published on purpose, to give some information, to convey some news about the dead, about the missing, and so on. and so on. And suddenly, in the most visible place on the sheet, something like the following catches everyone’s eye:

Whisper, timid breathing,

The trill of a nightingale,

Silver and sway

Sleepy stream,

Night light, night shadows,

Shadows without end.

A series of magical changes

Sweet face.

There are purple roses in the smoky clouds,

The reflection of amber

And kisses and tears,

And dawn, dawn!..

And not only that: right there, in the form of an afterword to the poem, the well-known poetic rule is attached in prose that he is not a poet who is not able to jump upside down from the fourth floor (for what reasons? - I still don’t understand this ; but let it be absolutely necessary to be a poet; I don’t want to argue). I don’t know for sure how the people of Lisbon would have received their “Mercury,” but it seems to me that they would have immediately executed publicly, in the square, their famous poet, and not at all because he wrote a poem without a verb, but because instead of trills the nightingale the day before, such trills were heard underground, and the swaying of the stream appeared at the moment of such swaying of the whole city that the poor Lisbonians not only had no desire to watch -

Purple roses in smoky clouds

The reflection of amber

But even the poet’s act, singing such funny things at such a moment in their lives, seemed too offensive and unbrotherly. Of course, having executed their poet (also very unbrotherly), they... in thirty, fifty years would have erected a monument to him in the square for his amazing poetry in general, and at the same time for the “purple of the rose” in particular.”

Fet has always been, as they say now, an iconic figure. Therefore, to express his thoughts, Dostoevsky took Fet’s lyrical poem, proving that art is valuable in itself, without any applied meaning, that the “benefit” lies in the fact that it is real art.

Such disputes have reached our time, but Fet’s poetry now seems to stand unshakably at the very top of the poetic Olympus. The last wave of underestimation of the merits of this poet came in the 1970s, when several major contemporary poets (Vladimir Sokolov, Nikolai Rubtsov, Anatoly Peredreev and others) clearly stated that they relied on the traditions of Fet’s poetic culture. Then, in response to this, Yevtushenko called them all “fetyats.” But that didn't mean anything anymore. Everyone already understood what Fet was and what Yevtushenko was.

And Fet is, let us also quote Dostoevsky, “poems full of such passionate vitality, such melancholy, such meaning that we do not know anything stronger, more vital in all our Russian poetry.” I will quote a poem that entered my soul many years ago, and I repeat it in the most difficult moments of my life. Here’s to the question of “pure art”, “benefits and the like.”

Learn from them - from the oak, from the birch.

It's winter all around. Cruel time!

In vain their tears froze,

And the bark cracked, shrinking.

The blizzard is getting angrier and every minute

Angrily tears up the last sheets,

And a fierce cold grabs your heart;

They stand, silent; shut up too!

But trust in spring. A genius will rush past her,

Breathing warmth and life again.

For clear days, for new revelations

The grieving soul will get over it.

There is so much vitality in this poem, how fresh and musical it is.

It must be said that the main distinguishing feature of Fet’s poetic culture is precisely its musicality. The poet himself wrote about his work: “Tchaikovsky is right a thousand times, since I was always drawn from a certain area of ​​words into an indefinite area of ​​music, into which I went as far as my strength was sufficient.” Therefore, composers wrote romances for many of his poems, and “Don’t wake her up at dawn...” became simply a folk song.

Fet said: “What cannot be expressed in words, / Bring sound into the soul...” Let’s give a short poem in which the poetic state is inspired. Eight lines, but behind them all of Russia is visible:

Wonderful picture

How dear you are to me:

White plain,

Full moon.

The light of the high heavens,

And shining snow

And distant sleighs

Lonely running.

Fet was reproached for moving away from civil and patriotic themes “into the world of intimate emotional experiences.” The reproaches were unreasonable. This poem, of course, refers to patriotic lyrics in its highest expression. Fet was generally a passionate patriot. And his restrained but powerful patriotic element is palpable in the poems “I walk my road into the distance...”, “Lonely Oak”, “The warm wind blows quietly...”, “Under the sky of France”, “Answer to Turgenev”, “Ducky”...

Afanasy Afanasyevich was born on the Novoselki estate in the Mtsensk district of the Oryol province. He was the illegitimate son of the landowner Shenshin, and received his surname from his mother Charlotte Fet, at the same time losing his rights to the nobility. For many years later he will strive for a hereditary noble title, through military service, and will achieve and receive the noble surname Shenshin. But in literature he will forever remain as Fet.

He studied at the Faculty of Literature at Moscow University, where he became close with the future poet and critic Apollon Grigoriev. While still a student, Afanasy published his first book, “The Lyrical Pantheon.” He served in the army from 1845 to 1858, serving in the cavalry troops, in the heavy artillery regiment, and in the Uhlan Guards regiment. After his service, he acquired a lot of land and became a landowner.

In 1857 Fet got married. But this was preceded by tragic love, which left a mark in the poet’s heart for the rest of his life. During his army service in Ukraine, the poet met Maria Lazic. She was a highly educated girl, a talented musician, whose playing aroused the admiration of Franz Liszt, who was then touring in Ukraine. She was a passionate fan of Fet's poetry and fell in love with him selflessly. But Fet did not dare to marry this girl, because then he did not have the opportunity to support his family. And it so happened that Maria Lazic died tragically at that moment - her dress caught fire from a falling candle... She died in terrible agony. There was talk of suicide because of Fet’s “calculation.” Whether this is true or not is not known for sure, but Fet then returned to the image of this girl throughout his life in poetry. Read, for example, “For a long time I dreamed of the cries of your sobs...”

Fet married seven years after this tragedy the sister of his friend, the prominent critic and writer Vasily Botkin.

After getting married, Fet devoted himself entirely to farming and even, it must be said, was an exemplary landowner. The profit on his farm was growing all the time. He lived almost forever in Mtsensk Stepanovka. Less than 100 kilometers away was Yasnaya Polyana. Fet was Leo Tolstoy's closest friend, they visited each other, became family friends, and corresponded.

He wrote poetry until his very old age. In 1880 he published a series of small collections of poems - almost exclusively new ones - called "Evening Lights". These books were published in a circulation of only a few hundred copies and yet were not sold out. Nadson was then the idol of poetry lovers; his books were in great demand. But decades passed, and “Evening Lights” began to be reprinted in our time in millions of copies, but where is Nadson, who is seriously interested in him? These are the zigzags in poetic destinies.

In his old age, Fet often said to his wife: “You will never see me die.” On November 21 (December 3), 1892, he found an excuse to send his wife away from home, called his secretary and dictated: “I don’t understand the deliberate increase in inevitable suffering. I voluntarily go towards the inevitable.” Having signed this note, Fet grabbed a steel stiletto, which was used for cutting papers... The secretary, having injured her hand, pulled out the stiletto. Then Fet ran to the dining room, grabbed the door of the drawer where the knives were kept, but fell and died... his death seemed to be and was not a suicide. It has something in common with the death of Maria Lazic: did it happen or didn’t it happen?..

As a poet, Fet, of course, will pass easily from century to century - the beauty and depth of his poetry are inexhaustible. Sometimes he is also a seer. In 1999, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin. Fet wrote a sonnet for the opening of the monument to Pushkin in Moscow. Let's read it and be surprised how much it contains about our time.

To the Pushkin monument (Sonnet)

Your prophetic word has come true,

Our old shame looked at your bronze face,

And we breathe easier, and we dare again

Shout out to the world: you are a genius, you are great!

But, spectator of the angels, the voice of the pure, the holy,

Freedom and love are a life-giving spring,

Hearing our speech, our Babylonian cry,

What would you find cherished and dear in them?

In this market place, where there is din and crowdedness,

Where common Russian sense fell silent, like an orphan,

Everyone's loud thief, murderer and atheist,

For whom the chamber pot is the limit of all thoughts,

Who spits on the altar where your fire burned,

Dare to push your unshakable tripod!

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Copyright: biographies of the lives of great poets

Many people know this surname. But what Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet really was like - his biography may help shed light on this.

His fate was not easy, but he took his rightful place in classical Russian literature. The article will contain a detailed account of the main moments of his life.

Brief biography of A. Fet

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet was born into the family of retired captain Shenshin and Charlotte Fet. They were married according to the Lutheran rite, which was not recognized in Russia.

The years of the poet's life and death (1820 - 1892) include many events.

The first collection of poetry was published in 1840. The main direction of Afanasy Afanasyevich's poetry was a lyrical interpretation of beauty and nature.

In 1837 he went to Moscow, to the Pogodin Boarding House. The following year, 1838, he entered Moscow University, from which he graduated in 1844. The next year he entered military service.

In 1850 and 1856, the second and third collections of the poet’s works were published.

1860 - the farm of Stepanovka, which was located in Mtsensk district, was purchased. From that time on, he lived constantly, doing housework. In 1877 the farm was sold and Afanasy Afanasyevich bought a house in Moscow.

1884 - he was awarded the A.S. Pushkin Prize.

Briefly about the most important thing from the biography of A. Fet

Having entered the university to major in law, Afanasy soon transferred to the philological department.

During my student years I wrote a lot of poetry. One day he showed the notebook to Pogodin, who gave it to Gogol.

The classic said that Fet is an undoubted talent. Such high praise supported the young man’s growing talent.

In 1844 Afanasy Afanasyevich entered service in the Cuirassier Regiment, which was located in the Kherson province. 1860 buys the Stepanovka farm and leaves there for many years.

In 1873, his nobility was restored and the right to the surname Shenshin was returned. After 1883, the last four collections of the poet’s works were published.

When and where was A. Fet born?

The poet was born in the Oryol province in 1820. His birthplace is the village of Novoselki, which is located in Mtsensk district. The date of birth according to the new style falls on December 5 (November 23 according to the old style).

Parents of A. Fet

His mother was born Charlotte Elizabeth Becker. She left Germany in 1820.

The poet was adopted. His adoptive father was the nobleman Shenshin.

Subsequently, an error was discovered in the birth documents, which did not allow Afanasy Afanasyevich to retain his noble title. This happened after he had lived for fourteen years.

As a result of the forgery that was revealed, he was deprived not only of his surname, but also of his inheritance, as well as his citizenship. Afanasy Afanasyevich devoted his entire life to clearing his honest name.

Real name A. Feta

Retired captain, nobleman Afanasy Shenshin was the poet’s adoptive father and tried to pass on to him not only his surname, but also his nobility.

However, due to an error that was made in the documents in the records of his birth, fourteen years later the son was deprived of both the Shenshin surname and the nobility.

It is interesting to note that at the time of the baby’s birth, his mother was not officially married to Shenshin. The previous marriage had not yet been dissolved at this time. The surname of Charlotte-Elizabeth Becker's husband was Föt.

It is believed that when registering the baby under the surname Shenshin, the priest was given a bribe so that he would not put the mother’s real surname on the document.

This was done in order to hide the fact that the baby was actually illegitimate.

When in 1873 the poet received not only nobility, but also a surname, he wrote to his wife and asked that the surname “Fet” no longer be pronounced in the family.

Childhood of Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet

The poet's father was not rich. Perhaps that is why his childhood was painted mainly in strict, gloomy tones.

The mother had a timid character and showed complete submissiveness towards her husband.

She practically did not participate in household chores; she was mainly involved in raising her son. In addition to Afanasy, they had other children.

In Afanasy’s childhood, the peasant way of life that surrounded him played a big role, under the influence of which his personality was formed.

For his education, his parents hired teachers. At this time, Fet became acquainted with Pushkin’s work and fell in love with his fairy tales.

In 1834, the young man was sent to the Krümmer Pension in Verreaux to receive an education.

Periodization of creativity

The poet wrote his first poems in his youth. They were published in 1840 in the first collection called “Lyrical Pantheon”. From that moment on, he published his poems constantly.

He wrote lyrical poems, loved and endlessly admired nature and beauty. At the same time, I did not choose practical topics. Not even a thousand of his books were sold in his entire life.

The first collection was dominated by ballads, and the imitation of Byron was strongly felt.

When the second book of his poems was published, it already contained masterpieces of his lyrics. The poet prepared the publication, occasionally visiting Moscow.

The third collection is a kind of result of the creative friendship of Fet and Turgenev.

In 1863, a new edition of poems was published. By this time, Fet turns into a strong and economical landowner. He publishes works written precisely from this position (“Free-hired labor” and others).

Subsequently, the poet retreats from literary life for some time.

The main theme of recent collections was time and the memory of events that were experienced in youth.

Where did A. Fet study?

He graduated from the Kümmer private boarding school, which was located in the city of Verro (now located in Estonia). The following year he began his studies at Moscow University at the Faculty of Philosophy.

During all this time, he did not give up his passion for literature. 1844 was the year of graduation from the university.

Personal life of A. Fet

The poet experienced a passionate, but tragic and short-lived love for Maria Lazic. The feeling was mutual, but fate did not allow them to unite.

At this time, Fet lived poorly, and there was almost no dowry for the girl. If they had gotten married, there would have been a poor and unsettled life ahead. They didn't decide to do it.

Maria died early. An unextinguished match fell on her dress and it caught fire. Fet blamed himself for her death all his life.

The poet remembered Maria all his life and dedicated a number of poems and the poem “Talisman” to her. Here are some of them: “Old letters”, “You suffered, I still suffer”, “No, I haven’t changed. Until deep old age...”

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet married Maria Botkina in 1857. She was in good condition and older than him. There is information that the marriage turned out to be happy. A year later he retired.

Unfortunately, Afanasy Afanasyevich was never able to achieve the return of the previously lost noble title. After that, he bought a plot of land and planned to devote himself to farming.

How A. Fet died

In 1873, Afanasy Afanasyevich managed to fulfill his long-standing desire - his noble title was restored. At the same time, the surname of his adoptive father, Shenshin, was returned to him.

In his last years, the poet was actively involved in charity work.

From 1883 to 1891 he was published in the collections “Evening Lights”. In poetry at this time, his main subjects are love and nature.

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet passed away on November 21, 1892. This happened in his own house in Moscow on Plyushchikha. The cause of death was a severe heart attack.

Researchers have an assumption that shortly before his death, Afanasy Fet attempted suicide.

Where is A. Fet buried?

The poet died in Moscow, in his own home. He was buried in his family village, in his homeland, at the end of the nineteenth century.

Where is Fet's grave?

His grave is located in the family village of Shenshino, which he inherited from his father, Afanasy Shenshin, in the Oryol region.

Interesting facts about Fet's life and work

Fet for many years sought to regain his noble title. This is one of the reasons that he went to serve as a non-commissioned officer.

In 1853, the guards regiment became his place of service.

During his service, Afanasy did not stop writing poetry. In 1850, a second collection of works was published. The third came out in 1856.

From 1862 to 1871 he continued to publish his creative works. In particular, they included the cycles “From the Village” and “Notes on Freelance Labor”.

The collections include essays, stories and short stories. Here Afanasy proved himself not only as a poet, but also as a writer.

One of the characteristic features of Fet’s work is the distinction between genres. He believes that the subject of poetry is the romantic direction, and for prose - the realistic.

Throughout his life, Fet was interested in translation. In particular, he wrote translations of “Faust” (the first and second parts), as well as some works of Arthur Schopenhauer. Fet planned to translate Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, but subsequently abandoned it.

When the first collection of poems was published in 1840, a typo was made in the author's surname: Fet was written instead of Fet.

Afanasy Fet - books worth reading

The bulk of his works are collections of lyrical poetry.

Some contemporaries criticized them for being somewhat abstract and personal.

The poet's best poems became widely known. Here is a list of several: “I came to you with greetings”, “Don’t wake her up at dawn”, “Wonderful picture” and many others.

Conclusion

The poet has had a difficult life. At the same time, he was devoted to poetry and beauty all his life. Although not even a thousand of his books were sold during his life, everything he wrote, taking into account the periodization of his work, took a strong place in classical Russian poetry.

The great Russian lyricist A. Fet was born on December 5, 1820. But biographers doubt not only the exact date of his birth. The mysterious facts of their true origin tormented Fet until the end of his life. In addition to the absence of a father as such, the situation with the real surname was also unclear. All this shrouds Fet’s life and work in a certain mystery.

Fet's parents

According to the official version, the Russian nobleman Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, while undergoing treatment in the German city of Darmstadt, settled in the house of Oberkrieg Commissioner Karl Becker. After some time, a retired army officer becomes interested in the owner's daughter, Charlotte. However, Charlotte at that time was no longer free and was married to a petty German official, Karl Feth, who also lived in Becker’s house.

Despite these circumstances and even the fact that Charlotte has a daughter from Fet, a whirlwind romance begins. The lovers' feelings were so strong that Charlotte decided to escape with Shenshin to Russia. In the fall of 1820, Charlotte, leaving her husband and daughter, left Germany.

Mother's protracted divorce

An outline of Fet's life and work is impossible without a story about the relationship of his parents. Already in Russia, Charlotte dreams of an official divorce from Karl Fet. But divorce in those days was a rather lengthy process. Some biographers claim that because of this, the wedding ceremony between Shenshin and Charlotte took place two years after the birth of little Afanasy, their common son. According to one version, Shenshin allegedly bribed the priest in order to give the boy his last name.

Probably, it was this fact that influenced the poet’s entire life. Violations of this kind were treated quite strictly in the Russian Empire. However, all sources confirm the fact of the wedding of Shenshin and Charlotte, who later took the name Shenshin.

From nobles to paupers

Getting acquainted with the biography of the lyricist, you involuntarily ask yourself the question of what influenced Fet’s life and work. It is difficult to find out all the details down to the smallest detail. But the main milestones are quite accessible to us. Until the age of 14, little Afanasy considered himself a hereditary Russian nobleman. But then, thanks to the hard work of judicial officials, the secret of the child’s origin was revealed. In 1834, an investigation was launched into this case, as a result of which, by a decree of the Oryol provincial government, the future poet was deprived of the right to be called Shenshin.

It is clear that the ridicule of his recent comrades immediately began, which the boy experienced quite painfully. In part, this was what contributed to the development of Fet’s mental illness, which haunted him until his death. However, what was much more important was that in this situation he not only did not have the right to inheritance, but in general, judging by the documents presented from the archives of that time, he was a person of no confirmed nationality. At one point, a hereditary Russian nobleman with a rich inheritance turned into a beggar, a person of no use to anyone except his mother, without a surname, and the loss was so great that Fet himself considered this event to have disfigured his life to the point of his deathbed.

Foreigner Fet

One can imagine what the poet’s mother went through, begging the court’s tricksters for at least some kind of certificate about the origin of her son. But it was all in vain. The woman took a different route.

Remembering her German roots, she appealed to the pity of her former German husband. History is silent about how Elena Petrovna achieved the desired result. But he was. Relatives sent official confirmation that Afanasy is the son of Fetu.

So the poet at least got a last name, Fet’s life and work received a new impetus in development. However, in all the circulars he still continued to be called “foreigner Fet.” The natural conclusion from this was complete disinheritance. After all, now the foreigner had nothing in common with the nobleman Shenshin. It was at this moment that he was overcome by the idea of ​​regaining his lost Russian name and title by any means possible.

First steps in poetry

Afanasy enters the Faculty of Literature at Moscow University and is still referred to in the university forms as “foreigner Fet.” There he meets the future poet and critic. Historians believe that Fet’s life and work changed at this very moment: it is believed that Grigoriev discovered Afanasy’s poetic gift.

Soon Feta comes out - “Lyrical Pantheon”. The poet wrote it while still a university student. Readers highly appreciated the young man's gift - they did not care what class the author belonged to. And even the harsh critic Belinsky repeatedly emphasized the poetic gift of the young lyricist in his articles. Belinsky's reviews, in fact, served Fet as a kind of passport into the world of Russian poetry.

Afanasy began to publish in various publications and within a few years he prepared a new lyric collection.

Military service

However, the joy of creativity could not cure Fet’s sick soul. The thought of his true origin haunted the young man. He was ready to do anything to prove it. In the name of a great goal, Fet immediately after graduating from university enlists in military service, hoping to earn nobility in the army. He ends up serving in one of the provincial regiments located in the Kherson province. And immediately the first success - Fet officially receives Russian citizenship.

But his poetic activity does not end; he still continues to write and publish a lot. After some time, the army life of the provincial unit makes itself felt: Fet’s life and work (he writes poetry less and less) become more and more gloomy and uninteresting. The craving for poetry is weakening.

Fet, in personal correspondence, begins to complain to friends about the hardships of his current existence. In addition, judging by some letters, he is experiencing financial difficulties. The poet is even ready to do anything just to get rid of the current oppressive physically and morally deplorable situation.

Transfer to St. Petersburg

Fet's life and work were quite gloomy. Briefly summarizing the main events, we note that the poet pulled the soldier's burden for eight long years. And just before receiving the first officer rank in his life, Fet learns about a special decree that raised the length of service and the level of army rank for receiving the rank of nobility. In other words, nobility was now granted only to a person who received a higher officer rank than Fet had. This news completely demoralized the poet. He understood that he was unlikely to reach this rank. Fet's life and work were again reshaped by someone else's grace.

A woman with whom he could connect his life for convenience was also not on the horizon. Fet continued to serve, falling more and more into a depressed state.

However, luck finally smiled on the poet: he managed to transfer to the Guards Life Lancer Regiment, which was stationed not far from St. Petersburg. This event happened in 1853 and surprisingly coincided with a change in society's attitude towards poetry. Some decline in interest in literature, which emerged in the mid-1840s, passed.

Now, when Nekrasov became the editor-in-chief of the Sovremennik magazine and gathered the elite of Russian literature under his wing, the times clearly contributed to the development of any creative thought. Finally, the second collection of Fet’s poems, written long ago, was published, which the poet himself had forgotten about.

Poetic confession

The poems published in the collection made an impression on poetry connoisseurs. And soon such well-known literary critics of the time as V.P. Botkin and A.V. Druzhinin left rather flattering reviews of the works. Moreover, under pressure from Turgenev, they helped Fet release a new book.

In essence, these were all the same previously written poems from 1850. In 1856, after the release of a new collection, Fet’s life and work changed again. Briefly speaking, Nekrasov himself drew attention to the poet. Many flattering words addressed to Afanasy Fet were written by the master of Russian literature. Inspired by such high praise, the poet develops vigorous activity. He is published in almost all literary magazines, which undoubtedly contributed to some improvement in his financial situation.

Romantic interest

Fet's life and work gradually filled with light. His most important desire - obtaining a noble title - was soon to come true. But the next imperial decree again raised the bar for obtaining hereditary nobility. Now, in order to gain the coveted rank, it was necessary to rise to the rank of colonel. The poet realized that it was simply useless to continue to pull the hated burden of military service.

But as often happens, a person cannot help but be lucky in absolutely everything. While still in Ukraine, Fet was invited to a reception with his friends Brzhevsky and on a neighboring estate he met a girl who would not leave his mind for a long time. This was the gifted musician Elena Lazich, whose talent amazed even the famous composer who was then touring Ukraine.

As it turned out, Elena was a passionate fan of Fet’s poetry, and he, in turn, was amazed by the girl’s musical abilities. Of course, it is impossible to imagine Fet’s life and work without romance. The summary of his romance with Lazic fits into one phrase: the young people had tender feelings for each other. However, Fet is very burdened by his dire financial situation and does not dare to take a serious turn of events. The poet tries to explain his problems to Lazic, but she, like all girls in such a situation, does not understand his torment well. Fet directly tells Elena that there will be no wedding.

Tragic death of a loved one

After that, he tries not to see the girl. Leaving for St. Petersburg, Afanasy understands that he is doomed to eternal spiritual loneliness. According to some historians studying his life and work, Afanasy Fet wrote too pragmatically to his friends about marriage, about love and about Elena Lazich. Most likely, the romantic Fet was simply carried away by Elena, not intending to burden himself with a more serious relationship.

In 1850, while visiting the same Brzhevskys, he did not dare to go to the neighboring estate to dot all the i’s. Later Fet very much regretted this. The fact is that Elena soon died tragically. History is silent whether her terrible death was a suicide or not. But the fact remains: the girl burned alive on the estate.

Fet himself found out about this when he once again visited his friends. This shocked him so much that until the end of his life the poet blamed himself for Elena’s death. He was tormented by the fact that he could not find the right words to calm the girl down and explain his behavior to her. After Lazic’s death, there were many rumors, but no one ever proved Fet’s involvement in this sad event.

Marriage of convenience

Fairly judging that in the army service he is unlikely to achieve his goal - a noble title, Fet takes a long leave. Taking with him all the accumulated fees, the poet sets off on a trip to Europe. In 1857, in Paris, he unexpectedly married Maria Petrovna Botkina, the daughter of a wealthy tea merchant, who, among other things, was the sister of the literary critic V.P. Botkin. Apparently, this was the same arranged marriage that the poet had dreamed about for so long. Contemporaries very often asked Fet about the reasons for his marriage, to which he responded with eloquent silence.

In 1858, Fet arrived in Moscow. He is again overcome by thoughts about the scarcity of finances. Apparently, his wife's dowry does not fully satisfy his requirements. The poet writes a lot and is published a lot. Often the quantity of works does not correspond to their quality. This is noticed by both close friends and literary critics. The public also seriously cooled towards Fet’s work.

landowner

Around the same time, Leo Tolstoy left the bustle of the capital. Having settled in Yasnaya Polyana, he tries to regain inspiration. Fet probably decided to follow his example and settle on his estate in Stepanovka. Sometimes they say that Fet’s life and work ended here. Interesting facts, however, were also found in this period. Unlike Tolstoy, who really found a second wind in the provinces, Fet increasingly abandons literature. He is now passionate about the estate and farming.

It should be noted that as a landowner he really found himself. After some time, Fet increases his holdings by purchasing several more neighboring estates.

Afanasy Shenshin

In 1863, the poet published a small lyric collection. Even despite the small circulation, it remained unsold. But the neighboring landowners assessed Fet in a completely different capacity. For about 11 years he held the elected position of justice of the peace.

The life and work of Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet were subordinated to the only goal towards which he moved with amazing tenacity - the restoration of his noble rights. In 1873, a royal decree was issued that put an end to the poet’s forty-year ordeal. He was fully restored to his rights and legitimized as a nobleman with the surname Shenshin. Afanasy Afanasyevich admits to his wife that he does not even want to say out loud the surname Fet, which he hates.

Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet(1820-1892), Russian poet, born in Oryol province.

Formation of a creative path

At the age of 15, he entered a German private boarding school, where he actively began to take an interest in Russian literature. Later he studied at Moscow University at the Faculty of Philology. It was here that his first poems were published under the auspices of the magazine “Moskvityanin”: this can be considered the beginning of the poet’s creative path. The first collection of his poems is “Lyrical Pantheon”. Later, already in the 50s, after Fet served in the army, he became close to the influential Russian magazine Sovremennik, where his “Poems” were published.

In Paris, in 1857, Fet got married, after which, having received the Stepanovka estate, he was actively involved in agriculture there. At the same time, the poet publishes a number of essays criticizing social transformations in Russia. The second volume of Poems, published in 1863, was received coldly by the public. However, the latest books, on the contrary, attracted readers: after the sale of the estate (Fet decided to take a break from household chores and therefore sold the estate), the collection “Evening Lights”, memoirs “My Memories” and other works were published. It is known that Fet wrote prose texts (the stories “The First Hare”, “Cactus”), as well as a number of translations significant for Russian literature (in particular, Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, Goethe’s “Faust”).

Features of creativity

Afanasy Fet is called a representative of “pure art,” a direction that emerged in literature in the second half of the 19th century and had a number of characteristic features. Thus, the themes of nature and love were sung, while other themes were considered unworthy of poetry. Often the poems lacked a clear plot, and the texts themselves never touched on the affairs of the “poor world”: the poets of “pure art” did not touch upon the topics of social injustice, peasant life and others. Fet can be considered a prominent representative of this direction, since his work is marked by all these features.

Fet's lyrical world is always a world filled with the endless beauty of nature and its harmony. A. A. Fet is often called the “singer of the moment”: the poet knew how to capture the fleeting passage of time, as if using strokes from phrases to paint a poem (remember the famous works “Whisper. Light Breathing...”, “The night was shining. The garden was full of the moon...”).

At the end of his life, philosophical themes gained significance in Fet’s work. The poet talks about life and death, about love and love’s sacrifice, about the transience of a person’s life path.

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Fet Afanasy Afanasyevich (November 23, 1820 – November 21, 1892), great Russian lyric poet, memoirist, translator.

Biography

Video about Fet

Childhood

Afanasy Fet was born in Novoselki, a small estate located in the Mtsensk district of the Oryol province. His father is Johann Peter Wilhelm Feth, assessor of the city court in Darmstadt, and his mother is Charlotte Elisabeth Becker. Being seven months pregnant, she left her husband and secretly left for Russia with 45-year-old Afanasy Shenshin. When the boy was born, he was baptized according to the Orthodox rite and named Athanasius. He was recorded as the son of Shenshin. In 1822, Charlotte Elizabeth Fet converted to Orthodoxy and married Afanasy Shenshin.

Education

Afanasy received an excellent education. The talented boy found it easy to study. In 1837, he graduated from a private German boarding school in the city of Verro, in Estonia. Even then, Fet began to write poetry and showed interest in literature and classical philology. After school, in order to prepare for entering the university, he studied at the boarding house of Professor Pogodin, a writer, historian and journalist. In 1838, Afanasy Fet entered the law department, and then the philosophy department of Moscow University, where he studied in the historical and philological (verbal) department.

At the university, Afanasy became close to one of the students, Apollon Grigoriev, who was also interested in poetry. Together they began to attend a circle of students who were intensively studying philosophy and literature. With the participation of Grigoriev, Fet released his first collection of poems, “Lyrical Pantheon.” The young student’s creativity earned Belinsky’s approval. And Gogol spoke of him as “an undoubted talent.” This became a kind of “blessing” and inspired Afanasy Fet to further work. In 1842, his poems were published in many publications, including the popular magazines Otechestvennye zapiski and Moskvityanin. In 1844, Fet graduated from the university.

Military service

In 1845, Fet left Moscow and joined a provincial cuirassier regiment in southern Russia. Afanasy believed that military service would help him regain his lost noble title. A year after the start of his service, Fet received the rank of officer. In 1853 he was transferred to a guards regiment, which was stationed near St. Petersburg. He often visited the capital, met with Turgenev, Goncharov, Nekrasov, and became close to the editors of the popular magazine Sovremennik. In general, the poet’s military career was not very successful. In 1858, Fet retired, having risen to the rank of headquarters captain.

Love

During his years of service, the poet experienced a tragic love, which influenced all of his further work. The poet's beloved, Maria Lazic, was from a good but poor family, which served as an obstacle to their marriage. They broke up, and after some time the girl tragically died in a fire. The poet kept the memory of his unhappy love until his death.

Family life

At the age of 37, Afanasy Fet married Maria Botkina, the daughter of a wealthy tea merchant. His wife was not particularly young or beautiful. It was a marriage of convenience. Before the wedding, the poet revealed to the bride the truth about his origins, as well as about a certain “family curse” that could become a serious obstacle to their marriage. But Maria Botkina was not afraid of these confessions, and in 1857 they got married. A year later, Fet retired. He settled in Moscow and devoted himself to literary work. His family life was quite prosperous. Fet increased the fortune that Maria Botkina brought him. True, they did not have children. In 1867, Afanasy Fet was elected justice of the peace. He lived on his estate and led the lifestyle of a real landowner. Only after the return of his stepfather's surname and all the privileges that a hereditary nobleman could enjoy did the poet begin to work with renewed vigor.

Creation

Afanasy Fet left a significant mark on Russian literature. He published his first collection of poems, “Lyrical Pantheon,” while he was studying at the university. Fet's first poems were an attempt to escape reality. He sang the beauty of nature and wrote a lot about love. Even then, a characteristic feature appeared in his work - he spoke about important and eternal concepts with hints, was able to convey the subtlest shades of moods, awakening pure and bright emotions in readers.

After the tragic death of Maria Lazic, Fet's work took on a new direction. He dedicated the poem “Talisman” to his beloved. It is assumed that all subsequent poems by Fet about love are dedicated to it. In 1850, a second collection of his poems was published. It aroused the interest of critics, who did not skimp on positive reviews. At the same time, Fet was recognized as one of the best modern poets.

Afanasy Fet was a representative of “pure art”; he did not touch upon pressing social issues in his works and remained a convinced conservative and monarchist until the end of his life. In 1856, Fet published his third collection of poems. He praised beauty, considering this the only goal of his work.

The heavy blows of fate did not pass without a trace for the poet. He became bitter, broke off relations with friends, and almost stopped writing. In 1863, the poet published a two-volume collection of his poems, and then there was a twenty-year break in his work.

Only after the poet’s stepfather’s surname and the privileges of a hereditary nobleman were returned to him, he took up creativity with renewed vigor. Towards the end of his life, Afanasy Fet's poems became more and more philosophical, they contained metaphysical idealism. The poet wrote about the unity of man and the Universe, about the highest reality, about eternity. Between 1883 and 1891, Fet wrote more than three hundred poems, which were included in the collection “Evening Lights.” The poet published four editions of the collection, and the fifth was published after his death.

Death

Afanasy Fet died of a heart attack. Researchers of the poet's life and work are convinced that before his death he tried to commit suicide.

Main achievements

• Afanasy Fet left behind a great creative legacy. Fet was recognized by his contemporaries, his poems were admired by Gogol, Belinsky, Turgenev, Nekrasov. In the fifties of his century, he was the most significant representative of poets who promoted “pure art” and sang “eternal values” and “absolute beauty.” The work of Afanasy Fet marked the completion of the poetry of new classicism. Fet is still considered one of the most brilliant poets of his time.
• The translations of Afanasy Fet are also of great importance for Russian literature. He translated Goethe's entire Faust, as well as the works of a number of Latin poets: Horace, Juvenal, Catullus, Ovid, Virgil, Persius and others.

Important dates in life

• 1820, November 23 - born in the Novoselki estate, Oryol province
• 1834 - was deprived of all privileges of a hereditary nobleman, the Shenshin surname and Russian citizenship
• 1835-1837 – studied at a private German boarding school in the city of Verro
• 1838-1844 – studied at the university
• 1840 – the first collection of poems “Lyrical Pantheon” was published
• 1845 - entered the provincial cuirassier regiment in southern Russia
• 1846 - received the rank of officer
• 1850 - the second collection of poems “Poems” was published
• 1853 - joined the guards regiment
• 1856 - the third collection of poems was published
• 1857 - married Maria Botkina
• 1858 - retired
• 1863 - a two-volume collection of poems was published
• 1867 - elected justice of the peace
• 1873 - returned noble privileges and the surname Shenshin
• 1883 – 1891 – worked on the five-volume “Evening Lights”
• 1892, November 21 - died in Moscow from a heart attack

• In 1834, when the boy was 14 years old, it turned out that legally he was not the son of the Russian landowner Shenshin, and the recording was made illegally. The reason for the proceedings was an anonymous denunciation, the author of which remained unknown. The decision of the spiritual consistory sounded like a sentence: from now on Afanasy had to bear his mother’s surname and was deprived of all the privileges of a hereditary nobleman and Russian citizenship. From a wealthy heir, he suddenly became a “man with no name,” an illegitimate child of dubious origin. Fet perceived this event as a shame, and the return of his lost position became a goal for him, an obsession that largely determined the poet’s future life path. Only in 1873, when Afanasy Fet was 53 years old, his lifelong dream came true. By decree of the tsar, the noble privileges and the surname Shenshin were returned to the poet. Nevertheless, he continued to sign his literary works with the surname Fet.
• In 1847, during his military service, on the small estate of Fedorovka, the poet met Maria Lazich. This relationship began with light, non-binding flirting, which gradually grew into a deep feeling. But Maria, a beautiful, well-educated girl from a good family, still could not become a good match for a man who hoped to regain his noble title. Realizing that he truly loved this girl, Fet, however, decided that he would never marry her. Maria took this calmly, but after some time she decided to break off relations with Afanasy. And after some time, Fet was informed about the tragedy that occurred in Fedorovka. A fire broke out in Maria's room and her clothes caught fire. Trying to escape, the girl ran out onto the balcony, then into the garden. But the wind only fanned the flames. Maria Lazic was dying for several days. Her last words were about Athanasius. The poet suffered this loss hard. Until the end of his life, he regretted that he did not marry the girl, because there was no more true love in his life. His soul was empty.
• The poet carried a heavy burden. The fact is that there were crazy people in his family. His two brothers, already adults, lost their minds. At the end of her life, Afanasy Fet’s mother also suffered from madness and begged to take her life. Shortly before Fet's marriage to Maria Botkina, his sister Nadya also ended up in a psychiatric clinic. Her brother visited her there, but she did not recognize him. The poet often noticed attacks of severe melancholy. Fet was always afraid that in the end he would suffer the same fate.