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The personal life of the writer is very interesting and will reveal inner world this creative person.

Alexander Kuprin personal life

The writer loved two charming beauties in his life - Maria Davydova and her friend Lisa Rotoni. It so happened that the first marriage ended without a "happy ending". Maria Davydovna was reputed to be a secular lioness and dreamed of making her husband a fashionable writer in a suit of curry, but this way of life was alien to Alexander Ivanovich because of his proud disposition and impatience with flattery. They had a daughter, Lydia.

Although, literary career Kuprin - in some part the merit of his first wife Maria. The writer liked to spend time in taverns, but walking along Nevsky Prospekt. But Maria was unhappy with this outcome and drove her husband out of the house to the hotel, demanding not to return until he wrote a new chapter. It was in this way that the work “Duel” was written, which made Kuprin a world writer!

Once, during the illness of her daughter Lyulusha, Maria invited her friend Elizabeth to look after the child for a small fee.
Over time, Kuprin fell passionately in love with Lisa Rotoni, but the woman proudly left her friend's house so as not to destroy the family. Only now Kuprin did not accept such a fate, broke up with Maria and fell into drunkenness.

After some time, Elizabeth still gave up and also confessed her feelings for the writer, so the lovers lived all their lives. They had two daughters, Ksenia and Zinaida.

After the First World War, Kuprin took his family to France with the hope of a brighter future. But abroad, the writer's work was not successful, earnings were negligible, out of desperation, Kuprin more and more often fell into drunkenness. The family returned to Russia only after 20 years, but in home country the writer, emaciated from cancer, could not live even a year, died on August 25, 1938 in Leningrad, and was buried near the grave of Turgenev. Kuprin's wife Elizaveta died during the siege of Leningrad 5 years after the death of the writer.

The mysterious house on the outskirts of Gatchina enjoyed a bad reputation. It was said that here is brothel. Because music until late at night, songs, laughter. And, by the way, F. I. Chaliapin (1873-1938) sang, A. T. Averchenko (1881-1925) and his colleagues from the Satyricon magazine laughed. And Alexander Kuprin, a friend and neighbor of the owner of the house, an extravagant cartoonist P. E. Shcherbov (1866-1938), often visited here.

October 1919

Leaving Gatchina with the retreating Yudenich, Kuprin will run here for a few minutes to ask Shcherbov's wife to take the most valuable things from his house. She will fulfill the request, and, among other things, will capture a framed photo of Kuprin. Shcherbova knew that it was his favorite picture, so she kept it as a relic. She did not even guess what secret the portrait was hiding.

Mystery of the Daguerreotype

And now the photograph of the writer becomes an exhibit of the museum.
When drawing up the act by the museum employees, under the cardboard of the frame, on the back side, a negative of another photograph was found. On it is an image of an unknown woman. Who is this lady, whose image Kuprin, as the inside of his soul, kept, protecting from someone else's gaze.

Biography of Kuprin, interesting facts

Once at a literary banquet, a young poetess ( future wife writer Alexei Tolstoy (1883-1945)) drew attention to a dense man who looked at her point-blank, as it seemed to the poetess with evil, bearish eyes.
“Writer Kuprin,” the table neighbor whispered in her ear. - Don't look in his direction. He is drunk"

This was the only case when retired lieutenant Alexander Kuprin was impolite to a lady. In relation to the ladies, Kuprin has always been a knight. Over the manuscript of the Garnet Bracelet, Kuprin wept and said that he had never written anything more chaste. However, readers' opinions are divided.

Some called " Garnet bracelet the most tiring and fragrant of all love stories. Others considered it to be gilded tinsel.

Failed duel

Already in exile, the writer A. I. Vvedensky (1904-1941) told Kuprin that the plot in The Garnet Bracelet was not believable. After these words, Kuprin challenged his opponent to a duel. He accepted the Vvedensky challenge, but then everyone who was nearby intervened, and the duelists were reconciled. However, Kuprin still stood his ground, arguing that his work was a true story. It was clear that something deeply personal was connected with the "Garnet Bracelet".
It is still unknown who was that lady, the inspirer of the great work of the writer.

In general, Kuprin did not write poems, but he nevertheless published one thing in one of the magazines:
"You're funny with gray hair...
What can I say to that?
That love and death own us?
That their orders cannot be avoided?

In the poem and "Garnet Bracelet", you can see the same tragic leitmotif. Undivided, some kind of exalted and uplifting love for an inaccessible woman. Whether she actually existed, and what her name is, we do not know. Kuprin was a knightly chaste man. He did not let anyone into the secret places of his soul.

Brief love story

In exile in Paris, Kuprin took on the chores of preparing the wedding of I. A. Bunin (1870-1953) and Vera Muromtseva (1981-1961), who lived in a civil marriage for 16 years. Finally, the first wife of Ivan Alekseevich agreed to a divorce, and Kuprin offered to organize the wedding. He was the best man. I negotiated with the priest, sang along to the choir. He really liked all church ceremonies, but this one especially.

In those days, Kuprin wrote about the romantic love of her youth, Olga Sur, a circus rider. Kuprin remembered Olga all his life, and in the hiding place of the writer's portrait, it is quite possible that it was her image.

Parisian period

In Paris, they were anxiously awaiting the decision of the Nobel Committee. Everyone knew that they wanted to give the prize to the Russian writer-exile, and three candidates were being considered: D. S. Merezhkovsky (1865-1941), I. A. Bunin and A. I. Kuprin. Dmitry Merezhkovsky's nerves could not stand it, and he suggested that Bunin conclude an agreement, whichever of the two of them would be given a prize, to divide all the money in half. Bunin refused.

Kuprin did not say a word on the Nobel theme. He already received one for two with Bunin Pushkin Prize. In Odessa, having drunk the last banknote, Kuprin, at the restaurant, slobbered a bill, and stuck it on the forehead of the doorman who was standing next to him.

Acquaintance with I. A. Bunin

I. A. Bunin and A. I. Kuprin met in Odessa. Their friendship was very reminiscent of rivalry. Kuprin called Bunin Richard, Albert, Vasya. Kuprin said: “I hate the way you write. It ripples in the eyes." Bunin, on the other hand, considered Kuprin talented, and loved the writer, but endlessly sought out errors in his language and not only.
Even before the revolution of 1917, he said to Alexander Ivanovich: "Well, you are a nobleman by mother." Kuprin squeezed the silver spoon into a ball and threw it into a corner.

Moving to France

Bunin dragged Kuprin from Finland to France, and picked up an apartment for him in a house on Jacques Offenbach Street, on the same landing with his apartment. And then Kuprin's guests began to annoy him, and endless noisy farewells at the elevator. The cupcakes have moved out.

Acquaintance with Musya

Many years ago, it was Bunin who dragged Kuprin in St. Petersburg to a house on Razyezzhaya Street, 7. He had long been acquainted with Musya, Maria Karlovna Davydova (1881-1960), and began to joke that he had brought Kuprin to marry her. Musya supported the joke, a whole scene was played out. Everyone had a lot of fun.

At that time, Kuprin was in love with the daughter of his friends. He really liked the state of falling in love, and when he was not there, he invented it for himself. Alexander Ivanovich also fell in love with Musya, he began to call her Masha, despite the protests that that was the name of the cooks.
The publisher Davydova raised her as an aristocrat, and few people remembered that the girl was thrown into this house as a baby. Young, pretty Musya was spoiled by laughter, unkind, not young. She could make fun of anyone. There were a lot of people around her. Fans courted, Musya flirted.

The beginning of family life

Having rather friendly feelings for Kuprin, she nevertheless married him. He chose a wedding gift for a long time, and finally bought a beautiful gold watch in an antique store. Musa did not like the gift. Kuprin crushed the watch with his heel.
Musya Davydova loved to tell after receptions who was courting her, she liked how jealous Kuprin was.

This big and wild animal turned out to be completely tame. Holding back his rage, he somehow crushed a heavy silver ashtray into a cake. He broke her portrait in a heavy massive frame, and once set fire to Musa's dress. However, the wife, from childhood, was distinguished by an iron will, and Kuprin experienced this.

A fine line

Not knowing what would come of it, Musya Davydova brought him to visit her beloved. Their apartment was located in the same building. The head of the family, in order to entertain the guests, showed an album in which there were letters from a stranger to his fiancee, and then to his wife Lyudmila Ivanovna. The unknown person sang and blessed every moment of this woman's life, starting from birth.

He kissed her footprints and the ground she walked on, and sent a gift for Easter - a cheap puffy gold bracelet with a few pomegranate stones. Kuprin sat as if struck by thunder. Here it is the same love, he then worked on the “Duel” and, under the impression, wrote the following: “Love has its peaks, accessible only to a few out of millions.”

Unrequited love is an insane bliss that never dulls. Precisely because it is not satisfied with the reciprocal feeling. This is the highest happiness." According to literary experts, this meeting gave rise to the "Garnet Bracelet".

Recognition in society

Kuprin gained particular popularity after the words of Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910): "Of the young, he writes better." A crowd of fans accompanied him from one restaurant to another. And after the release of the story "Duel", A. I. Kuprin became truly famous. The publishers offered him any fees in advance, which could be better. But few people noticed that at that time he suffered a lot. Kuprin coped with his feelings in this way - he simply left for Balaklava, sometimes right from the restaurant.

Crimean period

Here in Balaklava, alone with himself, he wanted to make a decision. The strong will of his wife suppressed his freedom. For the writer, it was like death. He could give everything for the opportunity to be himself, so as not to sit at a desk all day long, but to observe life, to communicate with ordinary people.

In Balaklava, he especially liked to communicate with local fishermen. They even decided to buy their own plot of land to build their own garden and build a house. Generally speaking, he wanted to settle here. Kuprin passed all the tests to join the local fishing artel. He learned to knit nets, tie ropes, tar leaky boats. Artel accepted Kuprin and he went to sea with fishermen.

He liked all those signs that the fishermen observed. You can't whistle on the longboat, only spit overboard, don't mention the devil. Leave in gear, as if by accident, a small fish for further fishing happiness.

Creativity in Yalta

From Balaklava, Alexander Kuprin was very fond of traveling to Yalta to see A.P. Chekhov (1960-1904). He liked talking to him about everything. A.P. Chekhov took an active part in the fate of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Once he helped to move to St. Petersburg, recommended him to publishers. He even offered a room in his Yalta house so that Kuprin could work in peace. A.P. Chekhov introduced Alexander Ivanovich to the winemakers of the Massandra plant.

The writer needed to study the process of making wine for the story "Wine Barrel". A sea of ​​Madeira, Muscat and other Massandra temptations, what could be more beautiful. AI Kuprin drank a little, enjoying the aroma of excellent Crimean wine. This is exactly how Anton Chekhov knew him, knowing perfectly well the reasons for his comrade's spree.
During this period of life, the Kuprins were expecting the birth of a child.

Musya Davydova was pregnant (daughter Lydia was born in 1903). Constant whims and tears several times a day, the fears of a pregnant woman before the upcoming birth, were reasons for family quarrels. Once Musya broke a glass decanter on Kuprin's head. Thus her behavior resolved all his doubts.

Nobel Laureate

On November 9, 1933, the Nobel Committee announced its decision. I. A. Bunin received the prize. He allocated 120 thousand francs from her in favor of distressed writers. Kuprin was given five thousand. He did not want to take money, but there was no means of subsistence. Daughter Ksenia Aleksandrovna Kuprina (1908-1981) acts in films, we need outfits, how much junk can be altered.

Writer's childhood

Alexander Kuprin called his childhood the meanest period of his life and the most beautiful. The district town of Narovchat in the Penza province, in which he was born, Kuprin imagined all his life as the promised land.
The soul was torn there and there were three heroes with whom he performed feats of arms. Sergey, Innokenty, Boris are the three Kuprin brothers who died in infancy. The family already had two daughters, but the boys were dying.

Then the pregnant Lyubov Alekseevna Kuprina (1838-1910) went to the elder for advice. The wise old man taught her when a boy was born, and this would be on the eve of Alexander Nevsky, to call him Alexander and order an icon of this saint in the growth of a baby, and everything would be fine.
Exactly one year later, almost on the birthday of the future writer, his father died - Ivan Kuprin (whose biography is not very remarkable). The proud Tatar princess Kulanchakova (married Kuprin) was left alone with three small children.

Kuprin's father was not an exemplary family man. Frequent sprees and drinking parties with local comrades forced the children and wife to live in constant fear. The wife hid her husband's hobbies from local gossip. After the death of the breadwinner, the house in Narovchat was sold and she went with little Sasha to Moscow to the widow's house.

Moscow life

Kuprin's childhood was spent surrounded by old women. The rare visits of mother's wealthy Penza friends were not a holiday for him. If they began to deliver a sweet holiday cake, then the mother began to assure that Sashenka did not like sweets. That he can only be given a dry edge of the pie.

Sometimes she presented a silver cigarette case to her son's nose and amused the master's children: “This is the nose of my Sashenka. He is a very ugly boy and it is very embarrassing.” Little Sasha decided to pray to God every evening and ask God to make him pretty. When the mother left, so that her son behaved calmly and did not anger the old women, she tied his leg with a rope to a chair or drew a circle with chalk, beyond which it was impossible to go. She loved her son and sincerely believed that she was making him better.

Mother's death

From his first writer's fee, Kuprin bought shoes for his mother and later sent part of all his earnings to her. More than anything, he was afraid of losing her. Kuprin gave his mother a promise that he would not bury her, but she would be the first to bury him.
Mother wrote: "I'm hopeless, but don't come." It was last letter from mother. The son filled his mother's coffin to the top with flowers, and invited the best choristers in Moscow. The death of his mother, Kuprin called the funeral of his youth.

Village period from the life of A. I. Kuprin

That summer (1907) he lived in Danilovsky, on the estate of his friend, the Russian philosopher F. D. Batyushkov (1857-1920). He really liked the color of the local nature and its inhabitants. The peasants greatly respected the writer, calling him Alexandra Ivanovich Kuplenny. The writer liked village customs ordinary residents. Once Batyushkov took him to his neighbor, famous pianist Vera Sipyagina-Lilienfeld (18??-19??).

That evening she played Beethoven's Appassionata, investing in the music the suffering of a hopeless feeling, which she had to hide deeply from everyone. At the age of well over 40, she fell in love with a handsome man who was fit for her sons. It was love without a present and without a future. Tears rolled down her cheeks, the game shocked everyone. There, the writer met the young Elizabeth Heinrich, the niece of another great writer, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak (1852-1912).

F. D. Batyushkov: saving plan

Kuprin confessed to F. D. Batyushkov: “I love Lisa Heinrich. I do not know what to do". That same evening in the garden during a blinding summer thunderstorm, Kuprin told Liza everything. In the morning she disappeared. Lisa likes Kuprin, but he is married to Musa, who is like a sister to her. Batyushkov found Lisa and convinced her that Kuprin's marriage had already broken up, that Alexander Ivanovich would get drunk, and Russian literature would lose a great writer.

Only she, Lisa, can save him. And it was true. Musya wanted to sculpt everything she wanted out of Alexander, and Lisa allowed this element to rage, but without devastating consequences. In other words, be yourself.

Unknown facts from the biography of Kuprin

Newspapers choked on the sensation: "Kuprin as a diver." After free flight with pilot S. I. Utochkin (1876-1916) on hot-air balloon, he, a fan of strong sensations, decided to sink to the bottom of the sea. Kuprin had great respect for extreme situations. And he was drawn to them in every possible way. There was even a case when Alexander Ivanovich and the wrestler I. M. Zaikin (1880-1948) crashed on an airplane.

The plane is shattered, but the pilot and passengers at least have something. “Nikolai Ugodnik saved,” said Kuprin. At this time, Kuprin already had a newborn daughter, Ksenia. From such news, Lisa even lost her milk.

Moving to Gatchina

The arrest was a big surprise for him. The reason was Kuprin's article about the Ochakov cruiser. The writer was evicted from Balaklava without the right to reside. Alexander Kuprin witnessed the rebellious sailors of the cruiser "Ochakov", and wrote about it in the newspaper.
In addition to Balaklava, Kuprin could only live in Gatchina. The family is here and bought a house. A garden and vegetable garden appeared, which Kuprin cultivated with big love, together with her daughter Xenia. Daughter Lidochka also came here.

During the First World War, Kuprin organized a hospital in his house. Lisa and the girls became sisters of mercy.
Lisa allowed him to arrange a real menagerie in the house. Cats, dogs, monkey, goat, bear. Local children ran after him around the city, because he bought ice cream for everyone. The beggars lined up outside the city church because he served to everyone.

Once the whole city ate black caviar with spoons. His friend, wrestler I.M. Zaikin sent him a whole barrel of delicacy. But most importantly, Kuprin was finally able to write at home. He called it the "writing period". When he sat down to write, the whole house froze. Even the dogs stopped barking.

Life in exile

In his desecrated and devastated house in 1919, an obscure village teacher will collect priceless sheets of manuscript burnt, covered with dust, fumes and earth from the floor. Thus, some of the saved manuscripts have survived to this day.
The whole burden of emigration will fall on Lisa's shoulders. Kuprin in everyday life, like all writers, was very helpless. It was during the period of emigration that the writer became very old. The vision got worse. He saw almost nothing. The uneven and intermittent handwriting of the Juncker manuscript was evidence of this. After this work, all the manuscripts for Kuprin were written by his wife, Elizaveta Moritsovna Kuprina (1882-1942).
For several years in a row, Kuprin came to one of the Parisian restaurants and at the table composed messages to an unknown lady. Perhaps the one that was on the negative in the portrait frame of the writer.

Love and death

In May 1937, I. A. Bunin opened a newspaper on the train and read that A. I. Kuprin had returned home. He was shocked not even by the news that he learned, but by the fact that, nevertheless, in some ways Kuprin outran him. Bunin also wanted to go home. They all wanted to die in Russia. Before his death, Kuprin invited a priest and talked to him about something for a long time. Until his last breath, he held Lisa by the hand. So that the bruises on her wrist did not go away for a long time.
On the night of August 25, 1938, A.I. Kuprin died.

Left alone, Liza Kuprina hanged herself in besieged Leningrad. Not from hunger, but from loneliness, from the fact that there was no one nearby whom she loved with the same love that occurs once in a thousand years. That love that stronger than death. They removed the ring from her hand, and read the inscription: “Alexander. August 16, 1909." On this day they got married. She never took this ring off her hand.

Experts gave an unexpected expert opinion. The daguerreotype depicts a young Tatar girl, which in many years will become the mother of the great Russian writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin.

Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich - one of the most prominent figures domestic literature 1st half of the 20th century. He is the author of such famous works, as "Olesya", "Garnet Bracelet", "Moloch", "Duel", "Junkers", "Cadets", etc. Alexander Ivanovich unusual, decent life. Fate was sometimes harsh on him. Both the childhood of Alexander Kuprin and mature years marked by instability in various fields life. He had to fight alone for material independence, fame, recognition and the right to be called a writer. Kuprin went through many hardships. His childhood and youth were especially difficult. We will talk about all this in detail.

The origin of the future writer

Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich was born in 1870. His native city- Narovchat. Today it is located in the House where Kuprin was born, is currently a museum (his photo is presented below). Kuprin's parents were not wealthy. Ivan Ivanovich, the father of the future writer, belonged to the family of impoverished nobles. He served as a minor official and often drank. When Alexander was only in his second year, Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin died of cholera. The childhood of the future writer, thus, passed without a father. His only support was his mother, which is worth talking about separately.

Mother of Alexander Kuprin

Lyubov Alekseevna Kuprina (nee - Kulunchakova), the boy's mother, was forced to settle in the Widow's House of the city of Moscow. It is from here that the first memories that Ivan Kuprin shared with us flow. His childhood is largely connected with the image of his mother. She played the role of a higher being in the boy's life, was the whole world for the future writer. Alexander Ivanovich recalled that this woman was strong-willed, strong, strict, similar to an oriental princess (the Kulunchakovs belonged to an old family of Tatar princes). Even in the squalid conditions of the Widow's House, she remained so. During the day, Lyubov Alekseevna was strict, but in the evening she turned into a mysterious fortune teller and told her son fairy tales, which she altered in her own way. These interesting stories Kuprin listened with pleasure. His childhood, very harsh, was brightened up by tales of distant lands and unknown creatures. While still Ivanovich faced a sad reality. However, the difficulties did not prevent such a writer from being realized as a writer. talented person like Kuprin.

Childhood spent in the Widow's House

Alexander Kuprin's childhood passed away from the comfort of noble estates, dinner parties, his father's libraries, where one could sneak quietly at night, Christmas gifts that are so intoxicating to look for under the tree at dawn. On the other hand, he was well aware of the dullness of the orphan's rooms, the meager gifts given out on holidays, the smell of official clothes, and the slaps from the educators, which they did not skimp on. Undoubtedly, the early childhood of his later years, marked by new difficulties, left an imprint on his personality. We should briefly talk about them.

Kuprin's military drill childhood

For children of his position, there were not many options. further fate. One of them is a military career. Lyubov Alekseevna, taking care of her child, decided to make a military man out of her son. Alexander Ivanovich soon had to part with his mother. A dull military drill period began in his life, which continued Kuprin's childhood. His biography of this time is marked by the fact that he spent several years in state institutions in the city of Moscow. First there was the Razumovsky orphanage, after a while - the Moscow Cadet Corps, and then the Alexander Military School. Kuprin, in his own way, hated each of these temporary shelters. Equally strongly, the future writer was irritated by the stupidity of the authorities, the official situation, spoiled peers, the narrow-mindedness of educators and teachers, the "cult of the fist", the same uniform for everyone and public flogging.

Kuprin's childhood was so difficult. It is important for children to have loved one, and in this sense, Alexander Ivanovich was lucky - he was supported by a loving mother. She died in 1910.

Kuprin goes to Kyiv

Kuprin Alexander, after graduating from college, spent another 4 years on military service. He retired at the first opportunity (in 1894). Lieutenant Kuprin took off his military uniform forever. He decided to move to Kyiv.

The real test for the future writer was Big city. Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich spent his whole life in state institutions, so he was not adapted to independent living. On this occasion, he later ironically said that in Kyiv there was like a "smolyanka institute" who was taken into the jungle of forests at night and left without a compass, food and clothing. It was not easy at that time for such a great writer as Alexander Kuprin. Interesting Facts about him during his stay in Kyiv are also connected with what Alexander had to do in order to earn his living.

How Kuprin made a living

In order to survive, Alexander undertook almost any business. In a short time he tried himself as a seller of shag, a foreman at a construction site, a carpenter, an employee in an office, a factory worker, an assistant to a blacksmith, a psalmist. At one time, Alexander Ivanovich even seriously thought about going to a monastery. The difficult childhood of Kuprin, briefly described above, probably forever left a mark on the soul of the future writer, who, with young years I had to face the harsh reality. Therefore, his desire to retire to the monastery is quite understandable. However, Alexander Ivanovich was destined for a different fate. Soon he found himself in the literary field.

important literary and life experience became a reporter in the newspapers of Kyiv. Alexander Ivanovich wrote about everything - about politics, murders, social problems. He also had to fill in entertaining columns, write cheap melodramatic stories, which, by the way, enjoyed considerable success with the unsophisticated reader.

The first serious works

Little by little, serious works began to come out from under the pen of Kuprin. The story "Inquiry" (its other name is "From the distant past") was published in 1894. Then the collection "Kyiv types" appeared, in which Alexander Kuprin placed his essays. His work of this period is marked by many other works. After some time, a collection of short stories called "Miniatures" was published. The story "Moloch", published in 1996, made a name for the beginning writer. His fame was strengthened by the works "Olesya" and "The Cadets" that followed.

Moving to Petersburg

In this city, a new one began for Alexander Ivanovich, bright life with many meetings, acquaintances, revelry and creative achievements. Contemporaries recalled that Kuprin liked to take a good walk. In particular, Andrey Sedykh, a Russian writer, noted that in his youth he lived violently, was often drunk and at that time became terrible. Alexander Ivanovich could do reckless things and sometimes even cruel ones. And Nadezhda Teffi, a writer, recalls that he was a very complex person, by no means a kind-hearted and simpleton, as it might seem at first glance.

Kuprin explained that creative activity took a lot of energy and strength from him. For every success, as well as for failure, one had to pay with health, nerves, and one's own soul. But gossips they saw only unsightly tinsel, and then invariably there were rumors that Alexander Ivanovich was a reveler, rowdy and drunkard.

New works

No matter how Kuprin splashed out his ardor, he always returned to his desk after another drunkenness. Alexander Ivanovich during the turbulent period of his life in St. Petersburg wrote his cult story "Duel". His stories "Swamp", "Shulamith", "Staff Captain Rybnikov", "River of Life", "Gambrinus" belong to the same period. After some time, already in Odessa, he completed the "Garnet Bracelet", and also set about creating the "Listrigons" cycle.

Kuprin's personal life

In the capital, he met his first wife, Davydova Maria Karlovna. From her, Kuprin had a daughter, Lydia. Maria Davydova gave the world a book called "Years of Youth". After some time, their marriage broke up. Alexander Kuprin married 5 years later Heinrich Elizaveta Moritsovna. He lived with this woman until his death. Kuprin has two daughters from his second marriage. The first is Zinaida, who died early, having contracted pneumonia. The second daughter, Ksenia, became a famous Soviet actress and model.

Moving to Gatchina

Kuprin, tired of the tense metropolitan life, left Petersburg in 1911. He moved to Gatchina (a small town located 8 km from the capital). Here, in his "green" house, he settled with his family. In Gatchina, everything is conducive to creativity - the silence of a summer cottage, a shady garden with poplars, a spacious terrace. This city today is closely connected with the name of Kuprin. There is a library and a street named after him, as well as a monument dedicated to him.

Emigration to Paris

However, the sedate happiness came to an end in 1919. First, Kuprin was drafted into the army on the side of the whites, and a year later the whole family emigrated to Paris. Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin will return to his homeland only after 18 years, already at an advanced age.

AT different time The reasons for the writer's emigration were interpreted differently. According to Soviet biographers, he was almost forcibly taken out by the White Guards and all subsequent long years, until his return, languished in a foreign land. The ill-wishers sought to stab him, exposing him as a traitor who exchanged his homeland and talent for foreign benefits.

Homecoming and death of the writer

If you believe the numerous memoirs, letters, diaries that became available to the public a little later, then Kuprin objectively did not accept the revolution and the established power. He called her familiarly "scoop".

When he returned to his homeland already a broken old man, he was taken through the streets to demonstrate the achievements of the USSR. Alexander Ivanovich said that the Bolsheviks - wonderful people. One thing is not clear - where they have so much money.

Nevertheless, Kuprin did not regret returning to his homeland. For him Paris was beautiful city, but a stranger. Kuprin died on August 25, 1938. He died of cancer of the esophagus. The next day, a crowd of thousands surrounded the House of Writers in St. Petersburg. The famous colleagues of Alexander Ivanovich, as well as loyal admirers of his work, also came. They all gathered in order to send to last way Kuprin.

The childhood of the writer A. I. Kuprin, unlike the young years of many other literary figures of that time, was very difficult. However, in many respects it was thanks to all these experienced difficulties that he found himself in creativity. Kuprin, whose childhood and youth were spent in poverty, acquired and material well-being, and fame. Today we get acquainted with his work in school years.

The article talks about short biography Kuprin - a famous Russian writer, a recognized master of prose.

Biography of Kuprin: early years

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born in 1870 in a small provincial town. His father was a hereditary nobleman, which should have portended successful life. But soon after the birth of Sasha, his father died, and his mother, in search of a livelihood, moved with her children to Moscow, where, after long requests and humiliations, she was able to settle down in a special institution - a widow's house. Sasha learned to read early childhood and devoted all his free time to this occupation.

The boy was early placed in a boarding school, then in the cadet corps and the cadet school. Thus, Kuprin practically did not experience the joys of the hearth and normal family life. Childhood years left their mark on the formation of the personality of the writer, acutely feeling the suffering and humiliation of ordinary people.
Of particular importance for Kuprin were the years spent in the corps and the school. In these establishments, an atmosphere of isolation and severe military discipline reigned. All the time the pupils were subject to a strict routine, severe punishment was due for the slightest violation. Kuprin recalled with particular pain how he was flogged for a minor offense.

At the school, Kuprin wrote his first story "The Last Debut". His publication was the reason for placing the junker in the punishment cell.

After graduation future writer served four years in the regiment. During this time, he studied in detail the everyday life of the tsarist officers, its insignificance and filth. The proclaimed higher ideals turned out to be an illusion, rudeness and all kinds of vices flourished in the army. Kuprin's impressions of military service formed the basis of many subsequent works. The most famous and striking of them is the story "Duel" (1905), where the morals and behavior of the officers of the tsarist army are subjected to sharp criticism.

After his dismissal from the service, Kuprin decides to devote his life to the profession of a writer. At first, this occupation did not bring income, and the writer changed an incredible number of professions from an actor to a pilot, trying his hand at a wide variety of activities. In addition, this gave the writer a wealth of experience in observing various situations and human characters.

Biography of Kuprin: the heyday of creativity

90s proved to be the most fruitful in the work of the writer. At this time, he wrote one of his most famous works - the story "Moloch". In the story, Kuprin portrayed with particular force the depravity and deceitfulness of the new society, whose members are only concerned with personal gain and seek to achieve this by any means. A person's personal feelings will be trampled underfoot if they stand in the way of such aspirations. A special place in the story is occupied by the image of the plant - "Moloch", an all-destroying force, personifying the complete submission and insignificance of an ordinary person.

In the 90s. Kuprin meets outstanding Russian writers who highly appreciated his work. The publication of the stories "Duel", "Pit" and others brought the writer national fame. His work becomes one of the main and inseparable parts of Russian realism.
In his work, Kuprin paid great attention to children, especially those who had a difficult childhood, similar to the fate of the writer. They wrote several beautiful stories about children based on the stories of real people.

Kuprin reacted sharply negatively to the October Revolution and in 1920 left for France. Abroad, the writer practically did not work creative activity. He, like many emigrants, was drawn to his homeland, but there was a danger of being subjected to political repression.
Kuprin lived abroad for a long time, but in the end, love for Russia overcame the possible risk in the writer's soul. In 1937, at the height of Stalin's purges, he returned to his homeland, dreaming of writing many more works.

The dream was not destined to come true, the writer's strength had already been significantly undermined. Kuprin died in 1938, leaving behind a huge literary legacy. The writer's work is included in the golden fund of Russian literature. He is one of the greatest realist writers.

"Writer of Balaklava fishermen,
Friend of silence, comfort, sea, villager,
Shady Gatchina homeowner,
He is sweet to us with the simplicity of his heartfelt words…”
From a poem by Igor Severyanin in memory of Kuprin

"But quiet from heaven
He looks down on us all...
He is with us.
We are together
In Paradise Lost...
From a poem by Tatyana Perova in memory of Kuprin

Biography

The small town of Proskurov in the Podolsk province, where the young lieutenant Alexander Kuprin was serving, was full of melancholy and boredom. In order to somehow embellish dull everyday life, Kuprin goes headlong into cards, revels and love affairs. Nothing and no one can curb his hot temper ... no one, except for his first love - a timid orphan girl, definitely the most charming in the whole province. Kuprin is ready to start a wild life and even get married, but there is one “but”: they agree to give the girl for him only if Alexander graduates from the Academy of the General Staff. Well, the young man packs his bags and goes to St. Petersburg to take exams. True, he fails to reach his destination safely. In Kyiv, Kuprin meets friends and goes with them to a floating restaurant. There, the guys quarrel on such a scale that they attract the attention of a police officer. He makes a remark to a noisy company, for which he is immediately thrown out the window. Such behavior is not in line with the rank of a future officer: Kuprin is forbidden to enter the Academy. Now and about military career, and one can only dream of the hand of the beloved, and life, meanwhile, goes on.

Having no civilian profession, Kuprin wanders around the south of Russia, testing himself in the role of a fisherman, circus wrestler, bailiff, actor, journalist, excavator, psalmist, hunter ... The motto of Kuprin's life actually becomes the words of one of the heroes he created from the story "The Pit" : “By God, I would like to become a horse, a plant or a fish for a few days, or to be a woman and experience childbirth; I would like to live an inner life and see the world through the eyes of every person I meet.” In a word, Alexander knows life in all its manifestations, not forgetting, by the way, about literary activity. True, Kuprin does not stay long at the pen, but works only according to his mood, from time to time. However, the creative vocation of the writer is aggravated with the move to St. Petersburg and acquaintance with the local bohemia - Bunin, Chaliapin, Averchenko.

Here, in St. Petersburg, Kuprin converges with his first wife, Maria Davydova. True, they did not succeed in a happy union: Davydova deeply appreciated her husband's talent, but she could hardly endure his drunken antics, which often went beyond what was permitted. Although creative career Kuprin's marriage only benefited. In particular, his the best story"Duel" without pressure Davydova could hardly see the light of day.

The second marriage of Kuprin was much more successful. FROM new love- Elizabeth Heinrich - Kuprin got together before he got a divorce from Davydova. However, in the person of his second wife, Alexander Ivanovich acquires true love and faithful life partner. Only now does he realize the delights of the quiet family happiness: a cozy house with five rooms, children's laughter, working in the garden in the summer, skiing in the winter ... Kuprin ties up with drinking and brawls, writes a lot and, it would seem, now nothing can prevent his happiness. But a war breaks out in the world, and then the October Revolution, which force the Kuprins to leave their cozy family nest and go in search of happiness to distant Paris.

The Kuprins lived in France for seventeen long years and, in the end, homesickness took its toll. Alexander Ivanovich, already a gray-haired old man and, obviously, anticipating an imminent death, once declared that he was ready to go to Moscow even on foot. In the meantime, his health was seriously deteriorating. “Elizaveta Moritsovna Kuprina took her sick old husband home. She was exhausted, looking for means to save him from hopeless poverty ... Everyone respected, beloved by everyone without exception, the most famous Russian writer could no longer work, because he was very, very sick, and everyone knew about it, ”the Russian poetess Teffi will write later . A year after returning to Russia, the writer died. The cause of Kuprin's death was acute pneumonia caught while watching the parade on Red Square. "Kulunchakovskaya Tatar blood" has cooled down forever. The death of Kuprin was reported by TASS and a number of popular newspapers. The funeral of Alexander Kuprin took place at the Literary bridges of the Volkovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg. Kuprin's grave is located near the resting places of Turgenev, Mamin-Sibiryak and Garin-Mikhailovsky.

life line

September 7, 1870 Date of birth of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin.
1876 Young Alexander is placed in the Moscow Razumovsky orphanage.
1880 Kuprin enters the Second Moscow Cadet Corps.
1887 The young man is enrolled in the Alexander Military School.
1889 The first story of the writer - "The Last Debut" - is born.
1890 Alexander Kuprin, with the rank of second lieutenant, was released into the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment.
1894 Kuprin resigns and moves to Kyiv.
1901 The writer moves to St. Petersburg and gets the position of secretary in the "Journal for All".
1902 Alexander Kuprin marries Maria Davydova.
1905 Output most significant work Kuprin - the story "Duel".
1909 Kuprin receives a divorce from Davydova and marries Elizaveta Heinrich.
1919 The writer and his wife emigrate to Paris.
1937 At the invitation of the USSR government, Kuprin and his wife return to their homeland.
August 25, 1938 Date of Kuprin's death.
August 27, 1938 Date of Kuprin's funeral.

Memorable places

1. The city of Narovchat, where Alexander Kuprin was born.
2. Alexander Military School (now General base Armed Forces of the Russian Federation), where military youth Alexandra.
3. The city of Proskurov (now Khmelnitsky), where Kuprin served his military service.
4. House on Podol in Kyiv, where Alexander Kuprin lived in 1894-1896.
5. Restaurant "Vena" in St. Petersburg (now the mini-hotel "Old Vienna"), where Kuprin liked to spend time.
6. The city of Gatchina, where Alexander Kuprin lived with his wife Elizabeth Heinrich and children.
7. The city of Paris, where the Kuprins lived in 1919-1937.
8. Monument to Kuprin in Balaklava.
9. The house of Kuprin's sister in Kolomna, where Alexander Ivanovich often visited.
10. Literary bridges at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg, where Kuprin is buried.

Episodes of life

In 1905, Alexander Kuprin witnessed the suppression of the Sevastopol uprising. The flaming cruiser "Ochakov" was shot from guns, and sailors fleeing by swimming were mercilessly showered with lead hail. On that mournful day, Kuprin managed to help several sailors who miraculously reached the shore. The writer got them civilian clothes and even diverted the attention of the police so that they could freely get out of the danger zone.

Once, having received a large advance, Alexander Ivanovich began to drink heavily. In a drunken stupor, he dragged a dubious company of drinking companions into the house where his family lived, and, in fact, the fun continued. Kuprin's wife endured revelry for a long time, but a flaming match dropped on her dress was the last straw. In a fit of rage, Davydova broke a decanter of water on her husband's head. The husband did not bear the insult. He left the house, scribbling on a piece of paper: “It's all over between us. We won't see each other again."

Covenant

“Language is the history of a people. Language is the way of civilization and culture. Therefore, the study and preservation of the Russian language is not an idle occupation with nothing to do, but an urgent need.

Documentary film "Kuprin's Ruby Bracelet" from the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company "Culture"

condolences

"Kuprin is a bright, healthy talent."
Maxim Gorky, writer

“By the scope of his talent, by his living language, Kuprin graduated not only from the “literary conservatory”, but also from several literary academies.”
Konstantin Paustovsky, writer

“He was a romantic. He was the captain of youth romances sea ​​bass with a tube-nose warmer in his teeth, a frequenter of port taverns. He felt brave and strong, coarse in appearance and poetically tender in spirit.
Taffy, poetess