Full name a and kuprin. Russian writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin: life and work, interesting facts

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat, Penza province. From nobles. Kuprin's father is a collegiate registrar; mother - from an ancient family of Tatar princes Kulunchakov.

He lost his father early; was brought up in the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school for orphans. In 1888. A. Kuprin graduated from the cadet corps, in 1890- Alexander Military School (both in Moscow); served as an infantry officer. After retirement with the rank of lieutenant in 1894 changed a number of professions: he worked as a land surveyor, a forest ranger, an estate manager, a prompter in a provincial acting troupe, etc. For many years he collaborated in newspapers in Kyiv, Rostov-on-Don, Odessa, Zhitomir.

The first publication is the story "The Last Debut" ( 1889 ). The story "Inquiry" 1894 ) opened a series of military stories and novels by Kuprin (“The Lilac Bush”, 1894 ; "Overnight", 1895 ; "Army Ensign", "Breguet", both - 1897 ; etc.), reflecting the writer's impressions of military service. Kuprin's trips around southern Ukraine were the material for the story "Moloch" ( 1896 ), in the center of which is the theme of industrial civilization, depersonalizing a person; the juxtaposition of the melting furnace with a pagan deity requiring human sacrifice is intended to warn of the dangers of worshiping technological progress. Literary fame was brought to A. Kuprin by the story "Olesya" ( 1898 ) - about the dramatic love of a savage girl who grew up in the wilderness and an aspiring writer who came from the city. The hero of Kuprin's early works is a man with a fine mental organization, who cannot withstand a collision with the social reality of the 1890s and a test of great feeling. Among other works of this period: "Polesye stories" "In the wilderness" ( 1898 ), "On the capercaillie" ( 1899 ), "Werewolf" ( 1901 ). In 1897. Kuprin's first book, Miniatures, was published. In the same year, Kuprin met I. Bunin, in 1900- with A. Chekhov; since 1901 participated in Teleshovskie "environments" - a Moscow literary circle that united writers of a realistic direction. In 1901 A. Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg; collaborated in the influential magazines "Russian wealth" and "World of God". In 1902 met M. Gorky; was published in the series of collections of the book publishing partnership "Knowledge" initiated by him, here in 1903 The first volume of Kuprin's stories was published. Wide popularity Kuprin brought the story "Duel" ( 1905 ), where an unsightly picture of army life with drill and semi-conscious cruelty reigning in it is accompanied by reflections on the absurdity of the existing world order. The publication of the story coincided with the defeat of the Russian fleet in the Russo-Japanese War. 1904-1905., which contributed to its public outcry. The story was translated into foreign languages ​​and opened the name of the writer to the European reader.

In the 1900s - the first half of the 1910s. the most significant works of A. Kuprin were published: the stories “At the Turn (Cadets)” ( 1900 ), "Pit" ( 1909-1915 ); stories "Swamp", "In the circus" (both 1902 ), "Coward", "Horse thieves" (both 1903 ), "Peaceful Life", "White Poodle" (both 1904 ), "Headquarters Captain Rybnikov", "River of Life" (both 1906 ), "Gambrinus", "Emerald" ( 1907 ), "Anathema" ( 1913 ); a cycle of essays about the fishermen of Balaklava - "Listrigons" ( 1907-1911 ). Admiration for strength and heroism, a keen sense of the beauty and joy of life encourage Kuprin to search for a new image - a whole and creative nature. The theme of love is devoted to the story "Shulamith" ( 1908 ; based on the biblical Song of Songs) and "Garnet Bracelet" ( 1911 ) is a touching story about the unrequited and selfless love of a small telegraph operator for the wife of a high-ranking official. Kuprin tried himself in science fiction: the hero of the story "Liquid Sun" ( 1913 ) is a brilliant scientist who gained access to a source of super-powerful energy, but hides his invention for fear that it will be used to create a deadly weapon.

In 1911 Kuprin moved to Gatchina. In 1912 and 1914 traveled to France and Italy. With the outbreak of the First World War, he returned to the army, but the following year he was demobilized for health reasons. After the February Revolution 1917 edited the Socialist-Revolutionary newspaper Free Russia, collaborated for several months with the publishing house World Literature. After the October Revolution 1917, which he did not accept, returned to journalism. In one of the articles, Kuprin spoke out against the execution of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, for which he was arrested and briefly imprisoned ( 1918 ). The writer's attempts to cooperate with the new government did not give the desired results. Having joined in October 1919 to the troops of N.N. Yudenich, Kuprin reached Yamburg (since 1922 Kingisepp), from there through Finland to Paris (1920 ). In exile were created: the autobiographical story "The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia" ( 1928 ), the story “Janeta. Princess of Four Streets" ( 1932 ; separate edition - 1934 ), a series of nostalgic stories about pre-revolutionary Russia ("One-armed comedian", 1923 ; "Emperor's Shadow" 1928 ; "Tsar's guest from Narovchat", 1933 ), etc. The works of the emigrant period are characterized by idealistic images of monarchical Russia, patriarchal Moscow. Among other works: the story "The Star of Solomon" ( 1917 ), the story "The Golden Rooster" ( 1923 ), cycles of essays "Kyiv types" ( 1895-1898 ), “Blessed South”, “House Paris” (both - 1927 ), literary portraits, stories for children, feuilletons. In 1937 Kuprin returned to the USSR.

In the work of Kuprin, a broad panorama of Russian life is given, covering almost all sectors of society. 1890-1910s.; the traditions of everyday writing prose of the second half of the 19th century are combined with elements of symbolism. In a number of works, the writer's attraction to romantic plots and heroic images was embodied. A. Kuprin's prose is distinguished by its pictorial character, authenticity in the depiction of characters, saturation with everyday details, colorful language, including argotism.

The work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was formed during the years of the revolutionary upsurge. All his life he was close to the theme of the insight of a simple Russian man who eagerly sought the truth of life. Kuprin devoted all his work to the development of this complex psychological topic. His art, according to contemporaries, was characterized by a special vigilance in seeing the world, concreteness, and a constant desire for knowledge. The cognitive pathos of Kuprin's creativity was combined with a passionate personal interest in the victory of good over all evil. Therefore, most of his works are characterized by dynamics, drama, excitement.

Kuprin's biography is similar to an adventure novel. In terms of the abundance of meetings with people and life observations, it was reminiscent of Gorky's biography. Kuprin traveled a lot, did various jobs: he served in a factory, worked as a loader, played on stage, sang in a church choir.

At an early stage of his work, Kuprin was strongly influenced by Dostoevsky. It manifested itself in the stories "In the Dark", "Moonlight Night", "Madness". He writes about fatal moments, the role of chance in a person's life, analyzes the psychology of human passions. Some stories of that period say that the human will is helpless in the face of elemental chance, that the mind cannot know the mysterious laws that govern a person. A decisive role in overcoming the literary cliches coming from Dostoevsky was played by direct acquaintance with the life of people, with real Russian reality.

He starts writing essays. Their peculiarity is that the writer usually had a leisurely conversation with the reader. They clearly showed clear storylines, a simple and detailed depiction of reality. G. Uspensky had the greatest influence on Kuprin the essayist.

The first creative searches of Kuprin ended with the largest thing that reflected reality. It was the story "Moloch". In it, the writer shows the contradictions between capital and human forced labor. He was able to capture the social characteristics of the latest forms of capitalist production. An angry protest against the monstrous violence against man, on which the industrial flourishing in the world of “Moloch” is based, a satirical demonstration of the new masters of life, the exposure of the shameless predation in the country of foreign capital - all this cast doubt on the theory of bourgeois progress. After essays and stories, the story was an important stage in the writer's work.

In search of moral and spiritual ideals of life, which the writer opposed to the ugliness of modern human relations, Kuprin turns to the life of vagabonds, beggars, drunken artists, starving unrecognized artists, children of the poor urban population. It is a world of nameless people who form the mass of society. Among them, Kuprin tried to find his positive heroes. He writes the stories “Lidochka”, “Lokon”, “Kindergarten”, “In the Circus” - in these works the heroes of Kuprin are free from the influence of bourgeois civilization.

In 1898 Kuprin wrote the story "Olesya". The scheme of the story is traditional: an intellectual, an ordinary and urban person, in a remote corner of Polissya meets a girl who grew up outside of society and civilization. Olesya is distinguished by spontaneity, integrity of nature, spiritual wealth. Poetizing life, unlimited by modern social cultural framework. Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of the “natural man”, in whom he saw the spiritual qualities lost in a civilized society.

In 1901, Kuprin came to St. Petersburg, where he became close to many writers. During this period, his story “The Night Shift” appears, where the main character is a simple soldier. The hero is not a detached person, not a forest Olesya, but a very real person. Threads stretch from the image of this soldier to other heroes. It was at this time that a new genre appeared in his work: the short story.

In 1902, Kuprin conceived the story "Duel". In this work, he shattered one of the main foundations of autocracy - the military caste, in the lines of decay and moral decline of which he showed signs of the decomposition of the entire social system. The story reflects the progressive aspects of Kuprin's work. The basis of the plot is the fate of an honest Russian officer, whom the conditions of army barracks life made him feel the illegality of people's social relations. Again, Kuprin is not talking about an outstanding personality, but about a simple Russian officer Romashov. The regimental atmosphere torments him, he does not want to be in the army garrison. He became disillusioned with the army. He begins to fight for himself and his love. And the death of Romashov is a protest against the social and moral inhumanity of the environment.

With the onset of reaction and the aggravation of public life in society, Kuprin's creative concepts also change. During these years, his interest in the world of ancient legends, history, and antiquity intensified. In creativity, an interesting fusion of poetry and prose, the real and the legendary, the real and the romance of feelings, arises. Kuprin gravitates toward the exotic, developing fantastic plots. He returns to the themes of his early novel. The motives of the inevitability of chance in the fate of a person sound again.

In 1909, the story "The Pit" was published from the pen of Kuprin. Here Kuprin pays tribute to naturalism. He shows the inhabitants of the brothel. The whole story consists of scenes, portraits and clearly breaks up into separate details of everyday life.

However, in a number of stories written in the same years, Kuprin tried to point out the real signs of high spiritual and moral values ​​in reality itself. “Garnet Bracelet” is a story about love. This is how Paustovsky spoke about him: this is one of the most “fragrant” stories about love.

In 1919 Kuprin emigrated. In exile, he writes the novel "Janet". This is a work about the tragic loneliness of a man who lost his homeland. This is a story about the touching attachment of an old professor, who ended up in exile, to a little Parisian girl - the daughter of a street newspaper woman.

The emigrant period of Kuprin is characterized by withdrawal into himself. A major autobiographical work of that period is the novel "Junker".

In exile, the writer Kuprin did not lose faith in the future of his homeland. At the end of his life, he still returns to Russia. And his work rightfully belongs to Russian art, the Russian people.

Military career

Born in the family of a petty official who died when his son was in his second year. A mother from a Tatar princely family, after the death of her husband, was in poverty and was forced to send her son to an orphanage for minors (1876), then a military gymnasium, later transformed into a cadet corps, from which he graduated in 1888. In 1890 he graduated from the Alexander Military School. Then he served in the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment, preparing for a military career. Not enrolling in the Academy of the General Staff (this was prevented by a scandal associated with the violent, especially drunk, disposition of the cadet who threw a policeman into the water), Lieutenant Kuprin resigned in 1894.

Life style

The figure of Kuprin was extremely colorful. Greedy for impressions, he led a wandering life, trying different professions - from a loader to a dentist. Autobiographical life material formed the basis of many of his works.

Legends circulated about his turbulent life. Possessing remarkable physical strength and explosive temperament, Kuprin greedily rushed towards any new life experience: he went down under water in a diving suit, flew an airplane (this flight ended in a disaster that almost cost Kuprin his life), organized an athletic society ... During the First World war in his Gatchina house was arranged by him and his wife a private infirmary.

The writer was interested in people of various professions: engineers, organ grinders, fishermen, card sharpers, beggars, monks, merchants, spies ... In order to more reliably know the person who interested him, to feel the air that he breathes, he was ready, not sparing himself, the wildest adventure. According to his contemporaries, he approached life like a true researcher, seeking the fullest and most detailed knowledge possible.

Kuprin was willingly engaged in journalism, publishing articles and reports in various newspapers, traveled a lot, living either in Moscow, or near Ryazan, or in Balaklava, or in Gatchina.

Writer and revolution

Dissatisfaction with the existing social order attracted the writer to revolution, so Kuprin, like many other writers of his contemporaries, paid tribute to revolutionary sentiments. However, he reacted sharply negatively to the Bolshevik coup and to the power of the Bolsheviks. At first, he nevertheless tried to cooperate with the Bolshevik authorities and even planned to publish the peasant newspaper Zemlya, for which he met with Lenin.

But soon he unexpectedly went over to the side of the White movement, and after its defeat, he left first for Finland, and then for France, where he settled in Paris (until 1937). There he actively participated in the anti-Bolshevik press, continued his literary activity (the novels The Wheel of Time, 1929; Junkers, 1928-32; Janet, 1932-33; articles and stories). But living in exile, the writer was terribly poor, suffering both from lack of demand and isolation from his native soil, and shortly before his death, believing in Soviet propaganda, in May 1937 he returned with his wife to Russia. By this time he was already seriously ill.

Sympathy for the common man

Almost all of Kuprin's work is imbued with the pathos of sympathy, traditional for Russian literature, for the "little" person, doomed to drag out a miserable lot in a stagnant, miserable environment. In Kuprin, this sympathy was expressed not only in the depiction of the "bottom" of society (the novel about the life of prostitutes "The Pit", 1909-15, etc.), but also in the images of his intelligent, suffering heroes. Kuprin was inclined precisely to such reflective, nervous to the point of hysteria, characters not devoid of sentimentality. Engineer Bobrov (the story "Moloch", 1896), endowed with a quivering soul responsive to someone else's pain, worries about the workers who waste their lives in overworking factory labor, while the rich live on ill-gotten money. Even characters from the military environment like Romashov or Nazansky (the story "Duel", 1905) have a very high pain threshold and a small margin of mental strength to withstand the vulgarity and cynicism of their environment. Romashov is tormented by the stupidity of military service, the debauchery of the officers, the downtroddenness of the soldiers. Perhaps none of the writers threw such a passionate accusation against the army environment as Kuprin. True, in the depiction of ordinary people, Kuprin differed from the populist writers prone to popular worship (although he received the approval of the venerable populist critic N. Mikhailovsky). His democratism was not limited to a tearful demonstration of their "humiliation and insult." A simple man in Kuprin turned out to be not only weak, but also able to stand up for himself, possessing an enviable inner strength. Folk life appeared in his works in its free, spontaneous, natural course, with its own circle of ordinary concerns - not only sorrows, but also joys and consolations (Listrigons, 1908-11).

At the same time, the writer saw not only its bright sides and healthy beginnings, but also outbursts of aggressiveness and cruelty, easily directed by dark instincts (the famous description of the Jewish pogrom in the story Gambrinus, 1907).

The Joy of Being In many of Kuprin's works, the presence of an ideal, romantic beginning is clearly felt: it is both in his craving for heroic plots and in his desire to see the highest manifestations of the human spirit - in love, creativity, kindness ... It is no coincidence that he often chose heroes that fell out, breaking out of the habitual rut of life, seeking the truth and seeking some other, more complete and living being, freedom, beauty, grace ... but who in the literature of that time, so poetically, like Kuprin, wrote about love, tried to restore her humanity and romance. "Garnet Bracelet" (1911) has become for many readers just such a work, where pure, disinterested, ideal feeling is sung.

A brilliant depicter of the mores of the most diverse strata of society, Kuprin described the environment, life in relief, with special intentness (for which he got criticized more than once). There was also a naturalistic tendency in his work.

At the same time, the writer, like no one else, knew how to feel the course of natural, natural life from the inside - his stories "Barbos and Zhulka" (1897), "Emerald" (1907) were included in the golden fund of works about animals. The ideal of natural life (the story "Olesya", 1898) is very important for Kuprin as a kind of desired norm, he often highlights modern life with it, finding sad deviations from this ideal in it.

For many critics, it was precisely this natural, organic perception of Kuprin's life, the healthy joy of being, that was the main distinguishing quality of his prose with its harmonious fusion of lyrics and romance, plot-compositional proportionality, dramatic action and accuracy in descriptions.

Literary skill Kuprin is an excellent master not only of the literary landscape and everything connected with the external, visual and olfactory perception of life (Bunin and Kuprin competed who would more accurately determine the smell of a particular phenomenon), but also of a literary nature: portrait, psychology, speech - everything is worked out to the smallest nuances. Even the animals that Kuprin liked to write about reveal complexity and depth in him.

The narration in Kuprin's works, as a rule, is very spectacular and is often turned - unobtrusively and without false speculation - precisely to existential problems. He reflects on love, hatred, the will to live, despair, the strength and weakness of man, recreates the complex spiritual world of man at the turn of epochs.

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat (Penza province) in a poor family of a petty official.

1871 was a difficult year in Kuprin's biography - his father died, and the impoverished family moved to Moscow.

Education and the beginning of a creative path

At the age of six, Kuprin was sent to the class of the Moscow Orphan School, from which he left in 1880. After that, Alexander Ivanovich studied at the military academy, the Alexander Military School. The training time is described in such works by Kuprin as: “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”, “Junkers”. "The Last Debut" - the first published story of Kuprin (1889).

Since 1890 he was a second lieutenant in an infantry regiment. During the service, many essays, stories, novels were published: "Inquiry", "Moonlight Night", "In the Dark".

The heyday of creativity

Four years later, Kuprin retired. After that, the writer travels a lot around Russia, trying himself in different professions. During this time Alexander Ivanovich met Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky.

Kuprin builds his stories of those times on life impressions gleaned during his travels.

Kuprin's short stories cover many topics: military, social, love. The story "Duel" (1905) brought Alexander Ivanovich real success. Love in Kuprin's work is most vividly described in the story "Olesya" (1898), which was the first major and one of his most beloved works, and the story of unrequited love - "Garnet Bracelet" (1910).

Alexander Kuprin also liked to write stories for children. For children's reading, he wrote the works "Elephant", "Starlings", "White Poodle" and many others.

Emigration and the last years of life

For Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, life and work are inseparable. Not accepting the policy of war communism, the writer emigrates to France. Even after emigration in the biography of Alexander Kuprin, the writer's ardor does not subside, he writes novels, short stories, many articles and essays. Despite this, Kuprin lives in material need and yearns for his homeland. Only 17 years later he returns to Russia. At the same time, the last essay of the writer is published - the work "Moscow dear".

After a serious illness, Kuprin died on August 25, 1938. The writer was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in Leningrad, next to the grave

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin survived many diverse events, whose life and work are filled with the drama of events that have taken place in the world. His works are always popular with both ordinary readers and professionals. Many of Kuprin's stories are the standard of the literary genre, for example, "Staff Captain Rybnikov". Such pearls from the treasury of Russian literature as "Garnet Bracelet", "Shulamith", "Olesya", "Listrigons," Junkers "- all will remain popular for all time. And how do modern children read such stories as Alexander Kuprin in our country has a truly national recognition.

Childhood and youth

The future writer was born in August 1880 in a small town in the Penza province. His father, a petty official, died when his son was barely a year old. The mother could not raise little Alexander to his feet, because there were not enough funds, and she sent the boy to an orphanage.

The Alexander School in Moscow left not only bleak memories. Here adolescence and youth passed, the first youthful hobbies, literary experiments appeared, and the main thing that Alexander Kuprin acquired at the school was friends.

Moscow was beautiful with its patriarchal customs, its own myths, filled with small-town pride (the infringed capital!), with its local celebrities, eccentrics. The appearance of the city was integral and unlike any other.

Beginning of writing

Studying gave Kuprin a fairly complete education: languages ​​​​- Russian, French, German. Physics, mathematics, history, geography and literature (literature). Here the latter became for him a refuge for life. Here, at the school, his first story was written - "The Last Debut", published piping hot in the "Russian satirical messenger".

Kuprin was incredibly happy, although he served time in a punishment cell for this act (publications without the knowledge of the head of the school were prohibited, but young Kuprin did not know this, and he was punished for ignorance of the internal service).

Finally, the novice writer was released from the school in the first category and assigned to serve on the southwestern border of Russia, remote provincial towns of this kind were brilliantly described by him in the story "Duel" and the story "Wedding".

Service at the borders of the country

Service on the border became the material for excellent works, worked to the end, such as "Inquiry", "Overnight" and others. However, the writer seriously thought about professional literary activity. It was necessary to acquire sufficient experience for this, so it was published in provincial newspapers, and the story "In the Dark" was accepted into the journal "Russian Wealth".

In 1890, Kuprin, whose life and work seemed to be covered with moss in the outback, suddenly met Chekhov and Gorky. Both masters played a huge role in the fate of Kuprin. Naturally, Alexander valued them extremely highly, and even more - their opinion, and almost idolized Chekhov.

main topic

Not even one of the main, but the main theme that the writer Alexander Kuprin used throughout his life is love. The characters from the pages of his prose directly shine with this feeling, revealing themselves in their best manifestations, always light, always tragic, with very rare exceptions (for example, "The Lilac Bush" - this amazingly beautiful story is equal in terms of the power of impression to "The Gifts of the Magi" by O. Henry, everything ends well there, except for the feeling of shame of the hero-officer for his little deceit). For all real writers, like Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, a biography helps to create.

"Olesya"

The first fairly large and very significant work appears in 1898. This is the story "Olesya" - sad, without the slightest melodrama, bright, romantic. The world of nature of the heroine is spiritual harmony as opposed to a person from a big and cruel city. Naturalness, inner freedom, Olesya's simplicity attracted the main character faster than a magnet a piece of metal.

Cowardly kindness turned out to be stronger than spiritual wealth, almost destroying a pure and strong girl. The framework of social and cultural life is capable of changing even such a natural person as Olesya, but Kuprin did not allow this. Even a high feeling of love cannot revive those spiritual qualities that civilization has destroyed. Therefore, the meaning of this excellent story is high, because the life of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin taught to see everywhere both the light and the shadow that obscures it.

"Garnet bracelet"

In the most everyday reality, the writer seeks and finds such people, whose obsession with high feeling is able to rise above the prose of life, even in dreams. Referring to the description of the "little man", Alexander Kuprin, whose books are read avidly, truly works wonders. It turns out that Kuprin's "little" person is characterized by a refined, all-encompassing love, hopeless and touching. It's a miracle, a wonderful gift. Even when dying, love revives to life, conquering death. And music, music that regenerates the soul. It sounds in every line, moving from cold contemplation to a quivering feeling of the world.

Truly unavoidably tragic. The chastity of heroes has a creative creative power. This is how heroes appear before readers, as Kuprin saw, whose life and work depict them to us in a cruel world trying to break a fragile soul. At the same time, there is almost always a certain underestimation by the hero of himself, disbelief in the right to possess the woman that his whole essence lusts for. Nevertheless, the complexity of the situations and the drama at the end do not leave the reader feeling despondent, the characters that Alexander Kuprin brought to the reader, his entire books are the very love of life, the very optimism. A bright feeling after reading for a long time does not leave the reader.

"White Poodle"

This story, published in 1903, about an elderly organ grinder, the boy Seryozha and their faithful dog, the poodle Arto, was named by the writer - "White Poodle". Alexander Kuprin, as often happened, copied the plot from nature. Guests often came to his dacha - artists, just passers-by, pilgrims, and the Kuprins family welcomed everyone, fed them lunch and gave them tea. Among the guests once appeared an old man with a hurdy-gurdy, a little acrobat and a white scientific dog. So they told the writer about what happened to them.

The rich lady insisted on selling the poodle for her little, spoiled and capricious son, the artists, of course, refused. The lady got angry and hired a man to steal the dog. And Seryozha risked his life, freeing his beloved Artoshka. Kuprin found this story interesting because the story easily included two of his favorite themes - social inequality and disinterested friendship, love for animals, caring for them. So often, instead of a writer, he works, as Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin himself said, a biography.

"Duel"

While serving as a lieutenant in the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment, Alexander Kuprin conceived and suffered through "Duel". The city of Proskurov, where the service was held, is easily recognizable in this story. After retiring, the writer began to systematize his disparate records. When the story was ready, Maxim Gorky highly appreciated it, calling it magnificent and should make an indelible impression on all thinking and honest officers.

Also, A. V. Lunacharsky devoted an article to "Duel" in the journal "Pravda" in the fall of 1905, where he welcomed such topics and such a style of writing in every possible way, saying about the beautiful pages of Kuprin's story, which are an eloquent appeal to the army, and every officer will certainly hear your own voice of unmistakable honor.

Paustovsky called some scenes of the "Duel" the best in Russian literature. But there were also opposite opinions. Not all army men agreed with the reality that Alexander Kuprin revealed (life and work clearly say that he did not write a word of lies). However, Lieutenant General Geisman accused the writer of slander, hatred of the army, and even an attempt on the state system.

This is one of the most significant works of Kuprin about the history of the conflict between the young lieutenant Romashov and a senior officer. The morals, the drill, the vulgarity of the officer society - Kuprin pushed the whole background of the life of a provincial regiment with a young romantic worldview and - again! - real, all-forgiving and all-encompassing, sacrificial love.

The first edition of the story came out with a dedication to Maxim Gorky, since all the most violent and most daring in the story determined his influence. But Chekhov did not like the story, and her romantic mood - especially, which Kuprin was very puzzled and upset about.

In the autumn of this year, the writer spent in Balaklava, in the Crimea, where he read Nazansky's monologue from "Duel" at a charity evening. Balaklava is a city of military men, and there were a lot of them in the hall at that moment. A huge scandal broke out, which helped to extinguish the sailor, Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt, who headed the writer a month later. The writer saw with his own eyes the ruthless reprisal of government troops against the rebels and described these events by sending correspondence to St. Petersburg, to the New Life newspaper. For this, Kuprin was expelled from Balaklava at forty-eight hours. But the writer managed to save several sailors from the Ochakov from persecution. Beautiful stories were later written about this uprising: "The Caterpillar", "Giants", the most wonderful "Gambrinus".

Writer's family

Kuprin's first wife was Maria Karlovna Davydova, whom he married in 1902 and divorced in 1909. She was a highly educated lady, the daughter of a famous cellist and magazine publisher. By her next marriage, she became the wife of a prominent statesman Nikolai Jordansky-Negorev. Maria Karlovna left a book of memoirs about Kuprin - "The Years of Youth".

They also had a joint daughter, Lidia Alexandrovna Kuprina, who died early, in 1924, giving the writer a grandson Alexei. Alexander Ivanovich and his grandson did not leave other offspring, the Kuprins family was interrupted.

The second wife, his muse and guardian angel, is Elizaveta Moritsevna Heinrich, who married the writer in 1909. She was the daughter of a photographer and the sister of an actress. Elizaveta Moritsevna worked all her life, which was not typical for that time, she was a sister of mercy. Could not survive the blockade of Leningrad.

They had a daughter, Ksenia Alexandrovna, a beauty and a clever girl, a favorite not only of the whole family, but also of people who had at least a little contact with her. She worked at the Fashion House of Paul Poiret, famous in those days, was a model and actress. In 1958 she returned from France to the USSR. She also wrote memoirs "Kuprin is my father." She played in the Moscow theater named after Pushkin. One-year-old Xenia had a sister, Zinaida, but in 1912 she died of pneumonia.

Pre-war, war and post-war years

Throughout 1909, Kuprin worked hard - he wrote a story that was risky for our times as well. The writer decided to show from the inside the life of a brothel somewhere in the province. He called the story "The Pit". She wrote for a long time. In the same year, he was awarded the Pushkin Prize, as well as Ivan Bunin. This was already an official recognition from the Academy of Sciences.

In 1911, Kuprin had to sell the publishing rights to the Complete Works. Having received one hundred thousand rubles of royalties from the publisher, already in 1915 the writer wrote that he was mired in debt. Then the story "Garnet Bracelet" was published, which Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich wrote so reverently, the stories "Telegraph Operator" and "Holy Lies" - works are subtle, lyrical, sad. They clearly showed that the author's soul was not mired in wealth, that he was still ready to sympathize, love and sympathize.

In 1914, Kuprin volunteered for the war, again as a lieutenant. He served in Finland, but not for long: he was declared unfit for service due to health reasons. He returned home, and at home - the infirmary: Elizaveta Moritsevna and daughter Ksenia nursed the wounded ... So the war years passed. The revolution of 1917 Kuprin did not understand and did not accept. Lenin did not like. After the defeat of the white movement in 1920, the Kuprins left Russia.

Twenty years of Kuprin's life in France showed how difficult it is for a Russian person to adapt abroad. There were no earnings. The most famous works of the writer were translated into French, but new ones were not written. Business ventures didn't work out all the more. The main thing is that longing ate the soul. Youth, health, strength, hopes are gone ... This nostalgia is permeated through and through the only major work written by Alexander Ivanovich far from Russia - the novel "Junker". It turned out to be almost documentary memories of a military school, warm, sad, but with the same kind and gentle Kuprin humor. He really, really wanted to return to his homeland.

Home!

Too late, Kuprin's dream of returning to Russia came true. The terminally ill writer returned home to die. The meeting was incredibly warm - he was loved so much that almost all of Moscow decided to see him. Alexander Ivanovich's joy was immeasurable. Eyewitnesses testify that he often cried, he was touched by everything: the children, and the very smell of the homeland, and especially the attention and love of those around him. The writer, despite his illness, published: an essay about the capital "Moscow dear", then memoirs about Gorky (with huge omissions, since in exile Kuprin did not complain about Gorky for supporting and aiding the "regime of horror and slavery").

On the eve of the new year 1937, the Kuprins moved to Leningrad and settled there, surrounded by care and attention. In June 1938, they visited their dear Gatchina, where lilacs once bloomed so magnificently. They gave up both their old dacha and seventy thousand compensation for it, settled with a familiar widow of a famous architect. Kuprin walked in the beautiful garden, enjoying peace and quiet joy.

Nevertheless, the disease intensified, the diagnosis was terrible - cancer of the esophagus. In Leningrad, after returning from Gatchina, the council decided to operate on Kuprin. Temporarily he felt better, but the doctors warned that, in principle, there was nothing to hope for. Kuprin died. In recent days, he had everything that was possible - the best doctors, excellent care. But even such an extension of life cannot be forever.

Life eternal

Literary scholars, critics, memoirists have written a vivid portrait of a remarkable, truly Russian writer who continued the best classical traditions of a brilliant follower of Leo Tolstoy. Alexander Kuprin, whose quotes have been around for a century, wrote more than a hundred works of various genres. He was truthful, sincere, with a large share of life specifics in each of his words, he wrote only about what he himself experienced, saw, felt.

Kuprin addressed the widest audience, his reader does not depend on gender and age, everyone will find his own, cherished in his lines. Humanism, persistent love of life, plastic, vivid descriptions, exceptionally rich language help Kuprin's works to remain one of the most widely read to this day. His works have been filmed, staged and translated into many languages ​​of the world.

Russian writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin (1870-1938) was born in the city of Narovchat, Penza province. A man of difficult fate, a professional military man, then a journalist, an emigrant and a "returner" Kuprin is known as the author of works included in the golden collection of Russian literature.

Stages of life and creativity

Kuprin was born into a poor noble family on August 26, 1870. His father worked as a secretary in the regional court, his mother came from a noble family of the Tatar princes Kulunchakovs. In addition to Alexander, two daughters grew up in the family.

The life of the family changed dramatically when, a year after the birth of his son, the head of the family died of cholera. Mother, a native Muscovite, began to look for an opportunity to return to the capital and somehow arrange the life of the family. She managed to find a place with a boarding house in the Kudrinsky widow's house in Moscow. Three years of little Alexander's life passed here, after which, at the age of six, he was sent to an orphanage. The atmosphere of the widow's house is conveyed by the story "The Holy Lie" (1914), written by a mature writer.

The boy was accepted to study at the Razumovsky orphanage, then, after graduation, he continued his studies at the Second Moscow Cadet Corps. Fate, it seems, ordered him to be a military man. And in the early work of Kuprin, the theme of army everyday life, relationships among the military rises in two stories: "Army Ensign" (1897), "At the Turn (Cadets)" (1900). At the peak of his literary talent, Kuprin wrote the story "Duel" (1905). The image of her hero, Lieutenant Romashov, according to the writer, was written off from himself. The publication of the story caused a great discussion in society. In the military environment, the work was perceived negatively. The story shows the aimlessness, petty-bourgeois limitations of the life of the military class. A kind of completion of the dilogy "The Cadets" and "Duel" was the autobiographical story "Junker", written by Kuprin already in exile, in 1928-32.

Prone to rebellious Kuprin, army life was completely alien. Resignation from military service took place in 1894. By this time, the first stories of the writer, not yet noticed by the general public, began to appear in magazines. After leaving military service, wanderings began in search of earnings and life experiences. Kuprin tried to find himself in many professions, but the experience of journalism acquired in Kyiv became useful for starting professional literary work. The next five years were marked by the appearance of the best works of the author: the stories "The Lilac Bush" (1894), "The Picture" (1895), "The Overnight" (1895), "The Watchdog and Zhulka" (1897), "The Wonderful Doctor" (1897), " Breguet" (1897), the story "Olesya" (1898).

The capitalism that Russia is entering has depersonalized the working man. Anxiety in the face of this process leads to a wave of workers' revolts, which are supported by the intelligentsia. In 1896, Kuprin wrote the story "Moloch" - a work of great artistic power. In the story, the soulless power of the machine is associated with an ancient deity who demands and receives human lives as a sacrifice.

"Moloch" was written by Kuprin already on his return to Moscow. Here, after wandering, the writer finds a home, enters the circle of writers, gets acquainted and closely converges with Bunin, Chekhov, Gorky. Kuprin marries and in 1901 moves with his family to St. Petersburg. His stories "Swamp" (1902), "White Poodle" (1903), "Horse Thieves" (1903) are published in magazines. At this time, the writer is actively engaged in public life, he is a candidate for deputies of the State Duma of the 1st convocation. Since 1911 he has been living in Gatchina with his family.

Kuprin's work between the two revolutions was marked by the creation of the love stories Shulamith (1908) and The Garnet Bracelet (1911), which differ in their light mood from the works of literature of those years by other authors.

During the period of two revolutions and a civil war, Kuprin was looking for an opportunity to be useful to society, collaborating either with the Bolsheviks or with the Socialist-Revolutionaries. 1918 was a turning point in the life of the writer. He emigrates with his family, lives in France and continues to work actively. Here, in addition to the novel "Junker", the story "Yu-yu" (1927), the fairy tale "The Blue Star" (1927), the story "Olga Sur" (1929), more than twenty works were written.

In 1937, after an entry permit approved by Stalin, the already very ill writer returned to Russia and settled in Moscow, where Alexander Ivanovich died a year after returning from exile. Kuprin was buried in Leningrad at the Volkovsky cemetery.