The creative range of Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov is very wide. He wrote odes, satires, fables, eclogues, songs, but the main thing with which he enriched the genre composition of Russian classicism is tragedy and comedy. Sumarokov's worldview was formed under the influence of the ideas of the time of Peter the Great. But unlike Lomonosov, he focused on the role and duties of the nobility. A hereditary nobleman, a pupil of the gentry corps, Sumarokov did not doubt the legitimacy of noble privileges, but believed that a high position and possession of serfs must be confirmed by education and service useful to society. A nobleman must not humiliate human dignity peasant, burden him with unbearable requisitions. He sharply criticized the ignorance and greed of many members of the nobility in his satires, fables and comedies.

Sumarokov considered the best form of government to be a monarchy. But the high position of the monarch obliges him to be just, generous, to be able to suppress bad passions in himself. In his tragedies, the poet depicted the disastrous consequences resulting from the forgetfulness of the monarchs of their civic duty.

In his philosophical views, Sumarokov was a rationalist and looked at his work as a kind of school of civic virtues. Therefore, they put forward moralistic functions in the first place.

This article is devoted to the study of the work of this outstanding Russian writer and publicist. course work.

1. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY AND EARLY WORK OF SUMAROKOV

1.1 Brief biography of the writer

Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov was born on November 14 (25), 1717 in St. Petersburg into a noble family. Sumarokov's father was a major military officer and official under Peter I and Catherine II. Sumarokov received a good education at home, his teacher was the teacher of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Paul II. In 1732 he was sent to a special educational institution for the children of the higher nobility - the land gentry corps, which was called the "Knight's Academy". By the time the building was completed (1740), two Odes of Sumarokov were printed, in which the poet sang of the Empress Anna Ioannovna. The students of the Land Gentry Corps received a superficial education, but a brilliant career was provided to them. Sumarokov was no exception, who was released from the corps as an adjutant to Vice-Chancellor Count M. Golovkin, and in 1741, after the accession of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, he became adjutant to her favorite, Count A. Razumovsky.

During this period, Sumarokov called himself a poet of “tender passion”: he composed fashionable love and pastoral songs (“Nowhere, in a small forest”, etc., about 150 in total), which were a great success, he also wrote shepherd idylls (7 in total) and eclogues (total 65). Describing Sumarokov's eclogues, VG Belinsky wrote that the author "did not think to be seductive or indecent, but, on the contrary, he was busy with morality." The critic based himself on the dedication written by Sumarokov to the collection of eclogues, in which the author wrote: “In my eclogues, tenderness and fidelity are proclaimed, and not malicious voluptuousness, and there are no such speeches that would be repugnant to hearing.”

Work in the eclogue genre contributed to the fact that the poet developed a light, musical verse, close to the spoken language of that time. The main meter used by Sumarokov in his eclogues, elegies, satires, epistles and tragedies was iambic six-foot, a Russian variety of Alexandrian verse.

In the odes written in the 1740s, Sumarokov was guided by the models given in this genre by M.V. Lomonosov. This did not prevent him from arguing with the teacher on literary and theoretical issues. Lomonosov and Sumarokov represented two currents of Russian classicism. Unlike Lomonosov, Sumarokov considered the main tasks of poetry not to raise national problems, but to serve the ideals of the nobility. Poetry, in his opinion, should not be majestic in the first place, but “pleasant”. In the 1750s, Sumarokov performed parodies of Lomonosov's odes in a genre that he himself called "absurd odes." These comic odes were in to some extent and autoparody.

Sumarokov tried his hand at all genres of classicism, wrote safic, Horatian, Anacreontic and other odes, stanzas, sonnets, etc. In addition, he opened the genre of poetic tragedy for Russian literature. Sumarokov began to write tragedies in the second half of the 1740s, creating 9 works of this genre: Khorev (1747), Sinav and Truvor (1750), Dimitry the Pretender (1771) and others. In tragedies written in accordance with the canons of classicism, in full least manifested Political Views Sumarokov. So, tragic ending Khoreva stemmed from the fact that main character, the "ideal monarch", indulged his own passions - suspicion and incredulity. "Tyrant on the throne" causes suffering for many people - such is the main idea tragedy Demetrius the Pretender.

The creation of dramatic works was not least facilitated by the fact that in 1756 Sumarokov was appointed the first director Russian theater In Petersburg. The theater existed largely thanks to his energy.

During the reign of Catherine II, Sumarokov paid great attention to the creation of parables, satires, epigrams and pamphlet comedies in prose (Tresotinius, 1750, Guardian, 1765, Cuckold by imagination, 1772, etc.).

According to his philosophical convictions, Sumarokov was a rationalist, formulated his views on the device human life as follows: “What is based on nature and truth can never change, but what has other foundations is boasted, blasphemed, introduced and withdrawn at the will of each and without any reason.” His ideal was enlightened noble patriotism, opposed to uncultured provincialism, metropolitan gallomania and bureaucratic venality.

Simultaneously with the first tragedies, Sumarokov began to write literary and theoretical poetic works - epistles. In 1774 he published two of them - Epistol about the Russian language and About poetry in one book Instruction for those who want to be writers. One of the most important ideas of epistle Sumarokov was the idea of ​​the greatness of the Russian language. In the Epistle about the Russian language, he wrote: "Our beautiful language is capable of everything." Sumarokov's language is much closer to the spoken language of enlightened nobles than the language of his contemporaries Lomonosov and Trediakovsky.

What was important for him was not the reproduction of the color of the era, but political didactics, which he allowed to carry out to the masses. historical plot. The difference also consisted in the fact that in French tragedies the monarchical and republican forms of government were compared (in Corneille's "Zinn", in Voltaire's "Brutus" and "Julius Caesar"), in Sumarokov's tragedies there is no republican theme. As a convinced monarchist, he could only oppose tyranny with enlightened absolutism.

Sumarokov's tragedies are a kind of school of civic virtues, designed not only for ordinary nobles, but also for monarchs. This is one of the reasons for the unfriendly attitude towards the playwright Catherine II. Without encroaching on the political foundations of the monarchical state, Sumarokov touches upon its moral values ​​in his plays. A conflict of duty and passion is born. Duty commands the heroes to strictly fulfill their civic duties, passions - love, suspicion, jealousy, despotic inclinations - prevent their implementation. In this regard, two types of heroes are presented in Sumarokov's tragedies. The first of them, entering into a duel with a passion that has seized them, eventually overcome their hesitation and honorably fulfill their civic duty. These include Horev (the play "Horev"), Hamlet (a character from the play of the same name, which is a free adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy), Truvor (the tragedy "Sinav and Truvor") and a number of others.

The problem of curbing, overcoming the personal “passionate” beginning is accentuated in the replicas of the characters. “Overcome yourself and ascend more,” the Novgorod boyar Gostomysl teaches Truvor,

During the life of Sumarokov, the complete collection of his works was not published, although many poetry collections were published, compiled according to genre.

Sumarokov died in Moscow, aged 59, and was buried in the Donskoy Monastery.

After the poet's death, Novikov twice published the Complete Collection of All Sumarokov's Works (1781, 1787).

1.2 Sumarokov as the founder of the tragic genre

Literary fame was brought to Sumarokov by tragedies. He was the first to introduce this genre into Russian literature. Admiring contemporaries called him "Northern Racine." In total, he wrote nine tragedies. Six - from 1747 to 1758: “Khorev” (1747), “Hamlet” (1748), “Sinav and Truvor” (1750), “Artiston” (1750), “Semira” (1751), “Yaropolk and Demiza ” (1758). Then, after a ten-year break, three more:

“Vysheslav” (1768), “Dmitry the Pretender” (1771) and “Mstislav” (1774).

Sumarokov widely used experience in his tragedies French playwrights XVI-XVIII centuries. - Corneille, Racine, Voltaire. But for all that, there were distinctive features in Sumarokov's tragedies. In the tragedies of Corneille and Racine, along with political ones, there were also purely psychological plays (“Sid” by Corneille, “Phaedra” by Racine). All the tragedies of Sumarokov have a pronounced political coloring. The authors French tragedies wrote plays on ancient, Spanish and "oriental" subjects. Most of Sumarokov's tragedies are based on domestic themes. In this case, an interesting pattern is observed. The playwright turned to the most distant eras of Russian history, of a legendary or semi-legendary nature, that “Take your love and master yourself” (Ch (3. P. 136), his daughter Ilmena echoes Gostomysl.

Sumarokov decisively reworks one of Shakespeare's best tragedies, Hamlet, specifically emphasizing his disagreement with the author. “My Hamlet,” Sumarokov wrote, “is hardly like Shakespeare’s tragedy” (10. p. 117). Indeed, in Sumarokov’s play, Hamlet’s father is killed not by Claudius, but by Polonius. Carrying out retribution, Hamlet must become the killer of the father of his beloved In this regard, Hamlet's famous monologue, which begins with Shakespeare's words "To be or not to be?", changes beyond recognition:

What should I do now?

Don't know what to start? Is it easy to lose Ophelia forever!

Father! Mistress! About other names...

Before whom will I transgress? You are equally kind to me (3. S. 94 - 95).

The second type includes characters in whom passion triumphs over public debt. First of all, these are persons vested with supreme power - princes, monarchs, i.e. those who, according to Sumarokov, should fulfill their duties especially zealously:

The monarch needs a lot of insight,

If he wants to wear a crown without censure.

And if he wants to be firm in glory,

Must be righteous and strict and merciful (3. p. 47).

But, unfortunately, power often blinds the rulers, and it is easier than their subjects to become slaves of their feelings, which most sadly affects the fate of people dependent on them. So, the victims of the suspiciousness of Prince Kyi are his brother and his brother's fiancee - Osnelda ("Khorev"). Blinded by love passion, Prince Sinav of Novgorod drives Truvor and his beloved Ilmena to suicide (“Sinav and Truvor”). The punishment for unreasonable rulers is most often repentance, pangs of conscience that come after a belated insight. However, in some cases, Sumarokov allows even more formidable forms of retribution.

The most daring in this regard was the tragedy "Dmitry the Pretender" - the only one of Sumarokov's plays based on reliable historical events. This is the first tyrannical tragedy in Russia. In it, Sumarokov showed a ruler convinced of his right to be a despot and absolutely incapable of repentance. The Pretender declares his tyrannical inclinations so frankly that it even harms the psychological credibility of the image: “I am used to horror, furious with villainy, // Filled with barbarism and stained with blood” (4. p. 74).

Sumarokov shares the enlightenment idea of ​​the right of the people to overthrow the tyrant monarch. Of course, the people are not meant to be commoners, but nobles. In the play, this idea is realized in the form open speech warriors against the Pretender, who, in the face of imminent death, stabs himself with a dagger. It should be noted that the illegitimacy of the reign of False Dmitry is motivated in the play not by imposture, but by the tyrannical rule of the hero: “If you didn’t reign in Russia maliciously, // Dimitry or not, this is equal to the people” (4. p. 76).

The merit of Sumarokov before Russian drama is that he created a special type of tragedies, which turned out to be extremely stable throughout the entire 18th century. The unchanging hero of Sumarokov's tragedies is a ruler who has succumbed to some kind of pernicious passion - suspicion, ambition, jealousy - and because of this, causing suffering to his subjects.

In order for the tyranny of the monarch to be revealed in the plot of the play, two lovers are introduced into it, whose happiness is hindered by the despotic will of the ruler. The behavior of lovers is determined by the struggle in their souls of duty and passion. However, in the plays, where the despotism of the monarch takes on destructive dimensions, the struggle between duty and the passion of lovers gives way to the struggle with the tyrant ruler. The denouement of tragedies can be not only sad, but also happy, as in "Dmitry the Pretender". This testifies to Sumarokov's confidence in the possibility of curbing despotism.

The heroes of Sumarokov's plays are little individualized and correlate with the social role assigned to them in the play: an unjust monarch, a cunning nobleman, a selfless military leader, etc. Lengthy monologues attract attention. The high structure of the tragedy corresponds to the Alexandrian verses (iambic six-footed with a paired rhyme and a caesura in the middle of the verse). Each tragedy consists of five acts. The unity of place, time and action is observed.

1.3 Comedies and satires

Sumarokov owns twelve comedies. According to the experience of French literature, the “correct” classical comedy should be written in verse and consist of five acts. But Sumarokov, in his early experiments, relied on another tradition - on interludes and on the commedia dell'arte, familiar to the Russian audience from the performances of visiting Italian artists. The plots of the plays are traditional: the matchmaking of several rivals for the heroine, which gives the author the opportunity to demonstrate their funny sides. The intrigue is usually complicated by the goodwill of the bride's parents to the most unworthy of the applicants, which, however, does not interfere with a successful denouement. The first three comedies by Sumarokov “Tresotinius”, “Empty Quarrel” and “Monsters”, which consisted of one action, appeared in 1750. Their heroes repeat the actors of the del’arte commedia: a boastful warrior, a clever servant, a learned pedant, an avid judge. comic effect was achieved by primitive farcical methods: fights, verbal skirmishes, dressing up.

So, in the comedy Tresotinius, the scientist Tresotinius and the boastful officer Bramarbas woo the daughter of Mr. Orontes - Clarice, Mr. Orontes - on the side of Tresotinius. Clarice herself loves Dorant. She feigningly agrees to obey her father's will, but secretly from him enters not Tresotinius, but Dorant into the marriage contract. Orontes is forced to come to terms with what has happened. The comedy "Tresotinius", as we see, is still very much connected with foreign models, characters, the conclusion of a marriage contract - all this is taken from Italian plays. Russian reality is represented by a satire on a specific person. In the image of Tresotinius, the poet Trediakovsky is bred. In the play, many arrows are directed at Trediakovsky, up to a parody of his love songs.

The next six comedies - “Dowry by deceit”, “Guardian”, “Likhoimets”, “Three brothers together”, “Poisonous”, “Narcissus” - were written in the period from 1764 to 1768. These are the so-called comedies of characters. The main character in them is given close-up. His "vice" - narcissism ("Narcissus"), malice ("Poisonous"), stinginess ("Likhoimets") - becomes the object of satirical ridicule.

The plot of some comedies of Sumarokov's characters was influenced by the “philistine” tearful drama; it usually depicted virtuous heroes who were materially dependent on “vicious” characters. The motif of recognition, the appearance of unexpected witnesses, and the intervention of representatives of the law played an important role in the denouement of tearful dramas. The play The Guardian (1765) is most typical for comedies of characters. Her character is Outsider, a type of miser. But unlike the comic versions of this character, the miser of Sumarok is terrible and disgusting. Being the guardian of several orphans, he appropriates their fortune. Some of them - Nisa, Pasquin - he keeps in the position of servants. Sostrata prevents her from marrying a loved one. At the end of the play, Outlander's machinations are exposed and he must stand trial.

By 1772, “everyday” comedies include: “Mother is a daughter’s partner-in-law”, “Squat” and “Cuckold by imagination”. The last of them was influenced by Fonvizin's play "The Brigadier". In The Cuckold, two types of nobles are opposed to each other: the educated, endowed with subtle feelings Floriza and Count Cassander - and the ignorant, rude, primitive landowner Vikul and his wife Khavronya. This couple eats a lot, sleeps a lot, plays cards out of boredom.

One of the scenes picturesquely conveys the features of the life of these landowners. On the occasion of the arrival of Count Cassandra, Khavronya orders a festive dinner for the butler.

This is done enthusiastically, with inspiration, with knowledge of the matter. An extensive list of dishes colorfully characterizes the uterine interests of rural gourmets. Here - pork legs with sour cream and horseradish, a stomach with stuffing, pies with salted milk mushrooms, “frucas” from pork with prunes and “slurry” porridge in a “gritted” pot, which, for the sake of a distinguished guest, was ordered to be covered with “Venice” (Venetian) plate.

The story of Khavronya about her visit to the St. Petersburg theater, where she watched Sumarokov's tragedy "Khorev", is amusing. She took everything she saw on stage as a genuine incident, and after Khoreva's suicide, she decided to leave the theater as soon as possible. “A Cuckold by Imagination” is a step forward in Sumarokov's dramaturgy. Unlike previous plays, the writer here avoids too straightforward condemnation of the characters. In essence, Vikul and Khavronya are not bad people. They are good-natured, hospitable, touchingly attached to each other. Their trouble is that they have not received proper upbringing and education.

Sumarokov owns ten satyrs. The best of them - "On Nobility" - is close in content to Cantemir's satire "Filaret and Eugene", but differs from it in laconism and civic passion. The theme of the work is true and imaginary nobility. The nobleman Sumarokov is hurt and ashamed of his brothers in class, who, taking advantage of their position, forgot about their duties. Genuine nobility is in deeds useful to society:

The antiquity of the family, from the point of view of the poet, is a very dubious advantage, since the ancestor of all mankind, according to the Bible, was Adam. Only enlightenment gives the right to high positions. A nobleman of revezhda, a loafer nobleman cannot claim nobility:

And if I am not fit for any position, -

My ancestor is a nobleman, but I am not noble (4.S. 191).

In his other satires, Sumarokov ridicules mediocre but ambitious writers (“On the Bad Rhymers”), ignorant and greedy judicial officials (“On the Bad Judges”), gallomaniac nobles who disfigure Russian speech (“On the French Language”). Most of Sumarokov's satires are written in Alexandrian verse in the form of a monologue, full of rhetorical questions, appeals, and exclamations.

A special place among Sumarokov's satirical works is occupied by "Chorus to the Perverted Light". The word "perverse" here means "other", "other", "opposite". "Chorus" was commissioned to Sumarokov in 1762 for the public masquerade "Triumphant Minerva" on the occasion of the coronation of Catherine II in Moscow. According to the plan of the organizers of the masquerade, it was supposed to ridicule the vices of the previous reign. But Sumarokov violated the boundaries offered to him and spoke about the general shortcomings of Russian society. “Chorus” begins with the story of the “titmouse”, who flew in from behind the “midnight” sea, about the ideal orders that she saw in a foreign (“perverse”) kingdom and which are sharply different from everything that she meets in her homeland. The “perverse” kingdom itself has a utopian, speculative character in Sumarokov. But this purely satirical device helps him to denounce bribery, the injustice of clerks, the noblemen's disregard for science, and their passion for everything “foreign”. The verses about the fate of the peasants looked the most daring: “They don’t skin the peasants there, // They don’t put villages on the cards there, // They don’t trade people across the sea” (6. p. 280).

2. POETRY AND PUBLICISM OF A.P. SUMAROKOVA

2.1 Poetic creativity

Sumarokov's poetic work is extremely diverse. He wrote odes, satires, eclogues, elegies, epistles, epigrams. Among his contemporaries, his parables and love songs were especially popular.

With this word, denoting a short edifying story, the writer called his fables. Sumarokov can be considered the founder of the fable genre in Russian literature. He turned to him throughout his creative life and created 374 fables. Contemporaries spoke highly of them. “His parables are revered as the treasures of the Russian Parnassus,” N. I. Novikov pointed out in his “Experience historical dictionary about Russian writers". Sumarokov's parables reflect the most diverse aspects of Russian life of that time. Thematically, they can be divided into three main groups.

Sumarokov was the first in Russian literature to introduce a diverse verse into the fable genre and thereby sharply increase it. expressive possibilities. Not content with allegorical images from the animal and flora, the poet often turned to specific everyday material and, on its basis, created expressive genre scenes (“The Solicitor”, “Naughty”, “The Man and the Klyacha”, “Kiselnik”). In his parables, belonging, according to the poetic gradation of the classicists, to low genres, Sumarokov focused on Russian folklore - on a fairy tale, proverb, anecdote with their rude humor and picturesque colloquial language. In Sumarokov, one can find such expressions as “and she ate molasses” (“Beetles and Bees”), “his grumbling in her ear tickled her” (“Legless Soldier”), “neither milk, nor wool” (“Bobblehead”), “ and spat in the eyes” (“The Disputer”), “what nonsense you are spinning” (“Naughty”). Sumarokov coarsens the language of his fables. In the very selection of vulgar words, he sees one of the means to humiliate, ridicule the phenomena of private and public life he rejects. This feature sharply distinguishes the parables of Sumarokov from the gallant, refined fables of La Fontaine. In the realm of fables, Sumarokov is one of Krylov's predecessors.

Love poetry in the work of Sumarokov is represented by eclogues and songs. His eclogues, as a rule, were created according to the same plan. First, a landscape picture appears: a meadow, a grove, a stream or a river; heroes and heroines are idyllic shepherds and shepherds with ancient names Damon, Clarice, etc. Their love languor, complaints, confessions are depicted. The eclogues end with a happy denouement of an erotic, sometimes quite frank, character.

Sumarokov's songs, especially love ones, enjoyed great success among his contemporaries. In total, he wrote over 150 songs. The feelings expressed in them are extremely diverse, but most often they convey suffering, the torments of love. Here is the bitterness of unrequited passion, and jealousy, and longing caused by separation from a loved one. Sumarokov's love lyrics are completely freed from all sorts of realities. We do not know either the names of the heroes, or their social status, or the place where they live, or the reasons that caused their separation. Feelings, detached from everyday life and social relations of the characters, express universal human experiences. This is one of the features of the "classicism" of Sumarokov's poetry.

Some of the songs are stylized in the spirit of folklore poetry. These include: “The girls walked in the grove” with a characteristic chorus “Is it my viburnum, is it my raspberry”; “Wherever I walk or walk” with a description of folk festivals. This category should include songs of military and satirical content: “Oh you, strong, strong Bendergrad” and “Savushka is sinful”. Sumarokov's songs are distinguished by exceptional rhythmic richness. He wrote them in two-syllable and three-syllable sizes and even dolniks. Their strophic pattern is just as varied. The popularity of Sumarokov's songs is evidenced by the inclusion of many of them in printed and handwritten songbooks of the 18th century, often without the name of the author.

Sumarokov wrote the first elegies in Russian literature. This genre was known in ancient poetry, and later became a pan-European property. The content of elegies was usually sad reflections caused by unhappy love: separation from a loved one, betrayal, etc. Later, especially in the 19th century, elegies were filled with philosophical and civic topics. In the XVIII century. elegies, as a rule, were written in Alexandrian verse.

In the work of Sumarokov, the use of this genre to a certain extent was prepared by his own tragedies, where the monologues of the heroes often represented a kind of small elegy. The most traditional in Sumarokov's poetry are elegies with love themes, such as “Playing and laughter have already left us”, “Another sad verse gives rise to poetry”.

A peculiar cycle is formed by elegies connected with the theatrical activity of the author. Two of them (“On the death of F. G. Volkov” and “On the death of Tatyana Mikhailovna Troepolskaya”) were caused by the premature death of the leading artists of the St. Petersburg court theater - best performers tragic roles in Sumarokov's plays. In two other elegies - “Suffer, unfortunate spirit, my chest is tormented” and “All measures are now surpassed by my annoyance” - reflected dramatic episodes theatrical activity of the poet himself. In the first of them, he complains about the intrigues of enemies who have deprived him of his director's position. The second is due to gross copyright infringement. Sumarokov categorically objected to the performance of the role of Ilmena in his play "Sinav and Truvor" by the mediocre actress Ivanova, who was sympathetic to the Moscow commander-in-chief Saltykov.

The author complained about the arbitrariness of Saltykov to the Empress, but received in response a mocking insulting letter. The works of Sumarokov significantly expanded the genre composition of Russian classic literature. “... He was the first of the Russians,” wrote N. I. Novikov, “he began to write tragedies according to all the rules theatrical art, but managed so much in them that he deserved the name “northern Racine”. (8. P. 36)

2.1 Journalism and dramaturgy

Sumarokov was also an outstanding journalist, he keenly felt the purely artistic tasks that faced Russian literature. He outlined his thoughts on these issues in two epistles: “On the Russian language” and “On poetry”. Subsequently, he combined them in one work called “Instruction to those who want to be writers” (1774). Boileau's treatise The Art of Poetry served as a model for the Instruction, but in Sumarokov's work one can feel an independent position dictated by the urgent needs of Russian literature. Boileau's treatise does not raise the question of creating a national language, since in France XVII in. this issue has already been resolved. Sumarokov, however, begins his “Instruction” with this: “We need such a language as the Greeks had, // What the Romans had, And following them in that // As Italy and Rome now say” (1. p. 360) .

The main place in the “Instruction” is given to the characteristics of genres new to Russian literature: idylls, odes, poems, tragedies, comedies, satires, fables. Most of the recommendations are related to the choice of style for each of them: “In poetry, know the difference in gender // And what you start, look for decent words” (1. P. 365). But Boileau and Sumarokov's attitudes to individual genres do not always coincide. Boileau speaks very highly of the poem. He puts it even above tragedy. Sumarokov says less about her, being content only with a description of her style. He never wrote a single poem in his entire life. His talent was revealed in tragedy and comedy, Boileau is quite tolerant of small genres - the ballad, rondo, madrigal. Sumarokov in the epistle "On poetry" calls them "trinkets", and in the "Instruction" he bypasses complete silence.

At the end of the reign of Empress Elizabeth, Sumarokov spoke out against the established form of government. He was outraged that the nobles did not correspond to the ideal image of the “sons of the fatherland”, that bribery flourished. In 1759, he began publishing the journal Hardworking Bee, dedicated to the wife of the heir to the throne, the future Empress Catherine II, with whom he linked his hopes for arranging life according to truly moral principles. The magazine contained attacks on nobles and scoundrels, which is why it was closed a year after its foundation.

Sumarokov's opposition was not least based on his difficult, irritable character. Everyday and literary conflicts - in particular, the conflict with Lomonosov - are also partly explained by this circumstance. The coming of Catherine II to power disappointed Sumarokov with the fact that a handful of her favorites, first of all, took up not serving the common good, but satisfying their personal needs.

The extremely proud and obstinate nature of Sumarokov served as a source of endless quarrels and clashes, even with his closest relatives. To undermine the literary authority of Sumarokov is not for his enemies.

succeeded, but in the attitude towards him of many persons from the highest and literary circles there was a lot of unfairness. The nobles teased him and made fun of his rage; Lomonosov and Tretyakovsky pestered him with ridicule and epigrams. They brutally attacked I.P. Elagin, when he, in his "satire on petimeter and coquettes," addressed Sumarokov in such terms:

Bualov's confidante, our Russian Racine,

Defender of truth, persecutor, scourge of vices. (5. p. 34)

Sumarokov, for his part, did not remain in debt: in his absurd odes, he parodied the grandiloquent stanzas of Lomonosov, and Tredyakovsky was portrayed in Tressotinius, in the person of a stupid pedant, now reading clumsy and ridiculous verses, from which everyone flees, then talking about about which "firmly" correct - whether about three legs or about one. Emin and Lukin were also Sumarokov's opponents in the literary field, but Kheraskov, Maikov, Knyaznin, Ablesimov bowed to his authority and were his friends.

Sumarokov waged a constant struggle with censorship. In most cases, Sumarokov's intransigence was due to his relentless pursuit of the truth as he understood it. With the strongest nobles of his time, Sumarokov argued and got excited in the same way as with his fellow writers, and he could no longer be a jester with them or a flatterer in his own right; nature. Sumarokov's relationship with I. I. Shuvalov was imbued with sincere and deep respect.

Sumarokov did not manage the theater for a very long time: due to some exactly unknown clashes with the artists and misunderstandings, or rather intrigues, Sumarokov was, in 1761, dismissed from the title of director of the theater. Although this did not cool his passion for writing, he was very upset and met with particular joy the accession of Catherine II. AT commendation, written on this occasion, he attacked in strong terms ignorance, strengthened by predilection and force, as the source of untruth in life; he begged the Empress to fulfill what death prevented Peter the Great from fulfilling - to create "a magnificent temple of inviolable justice." Empress Catherine knew and appreciated Sumarokov and, despite the need to sometimes make suggestions to this "hot head", did not deprive him of her favor. All his writings were printed at the expense of the Cabinet.

It is curious both for characterizing time and customs, and for determining mutual relations Sumarokov and the Empress, he dealt with the owner of the Moscow theater Belmonti, whom he forbade to play his works. Belmonti turned to the Commander-in-Chief of Moscow, Field Marshal Count. P.S. Saltykov, and he, without delving into the matter properly, allowed him to play the works of Sumarokov.

CONCLUSION

The work of Sumarokov had a great influence on contemporary Russian literature. Enlightener N. Novikov took epigraphs to his anti-Catherine satirical magazines from Sumarokov’s parables: “They work, and you eat their work”, “Strict instruction is dangerous, / Where there is a lot of atrocities and madness”, etc. Radishchev called Sumarokov a great husband. Pushkin considered his main merit that "Sumarokov demanded respect for poetry at a time of neglect of literature."

Racine and Voltaire served as a model for Sumarokov. His tragedies are distinguished by all the external properties of pseudo-classical French tragedy - its conventionality, lack of live action, one-sided depiction of characters, etc. Sumarokov not only reworked, but directly borrowed from French tragedies the plan, ideas, character, even entire scenes and monologues. His Sinavas and Truvors, Rostislavs and Mstislavs were only pale copies of the Hippolytes, Britannics and Brutes of French tragedies.

Contemporaries of Sumarokov's tragedy liked the idealization of characters and passions, the solemnity of monologues, external effects, the striking contrast between virtuous and vicious persons; they established the pseudo-classical repertoire on the Russian stage for a long time. Being devoid of national and historical flavor, the tragedies of Sumarokov had educational value for the public in the sense that the lofty ideas of honor, duty, love for the fatherland that dominated at that time in European literature were put into the mouths of the characters and the images of passions were clothed in an ennobled and refined form.

Sumarokov's comedies were less successful than tragedies. And they are, for the most part, alterations and imitations of foreign models; but in them there is much more of a satirical element addressed to Russian reality. In this respect, Sumarokov's comedies, of which the best is The Guardian, together with satyrs, fables and some eclogues, provide rich material for studying the spirit of the era and society. The purpose of the comedy Sumarokov.

In difficult moments, Sumarokov's soul was seized by a religious feeling, and he sought consolation from sorrows in the psalms; he translated the psalter into verse and wrote spiritual works, but they contain as little poetry as his spiritual odes. His critical articles and reasonings in prose have at present only historical meaning.

REFERENCES

1. Aldanov, M.S. Russian literature in the era of classicism. / M.S. Aldanov. M., 1992. 468 p.

2. Arend, X.V. The formation of Russian classical literature./ H.V. Rent. M., 1996. 539s.

3. Bulich, N.P. Sumarokov and contemporary criticism. / N.P. Bulich. SPb., 1954. 351s.

4. Gardzhiev K.S. Introduction to Literary Studies. -M.: Logos Publishing Corporation, 1997.

5. Mekarevich E. Legal revolution/UDialog.1999. - No. 10-12.

6. Sumarokov A.P. Poly. coll. all Op. Part 4

7. Novikov N.I. Selected works M., L., 1951.

8. Pushkin, A.S. Collected works./ A.S. Pushkin. M., 1987. 639s.

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Biography

Fame brought him published in 1747 and played at the court of his first tragedy "Khorev". His plays were played at the court by the troupe of F. G. Volkov, ordered from Yaroslavl. When a permanent theater was established in 1756, Sumarokov was appointed director of this theater and for a long time he remained the main "supplier" of the repertoire, for which he is rightfully called the "father of the Russian theater". Chorev was followed by eight tragedies, twelve comedies and three operatic librettos.

In parallel, Sumarokov, who worked extremely quickly, developed in other areas of literature. In 1755-1758 he was an active contributor to the academic journal Monthly Works, in 1759 he published his own satirical-moralizing journal The Hardworking Bee (the first private journal in Russia). In 1762-1769, collections of his fables were published, from 1769 to 1774 - a number of collections of his poems.

Despite the proximity to the court, the patronage of nobles, the praise of admirers, Sumarokov did not feel appreciated according to his merits and constantly complained about the lack of attention, the nitpicking of censorship and the ignorance of the public. In 1761 he lost control of the theatre. Later, in 1769, he moved to Moscow. Here, abandoned by his patrons and ruined, he died on October 1 (12), 1777. He was buried at the Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow.

Creation

Creativity Sumarokov develops within the framework of classicism, in the form that he adopted in France XVII - early. 18th century Modern admirers, therefore, more than once proclaimed Sumarokov " Boileau's confidante", "Northern Racine", "Molière", "Russian La Fontaine".

Sumarokov's literary activity is distinguished by its external diversity. He tried all genres: odes (solemn, spiritual, philosophical, anacreontic), epistles (messages), satires, elegies, songs, epigrams, madrigals, epitaphs; In his poetic technique, he used all the meters that existed at that time, made experiments in the field of rhyme, and applied a variety of strophic constructions.

However, Sumarokov's classicism is different, for example, from the classicism of his older contemporary Lomonosov. Sumarokov "reduces" classical poetics. "Decrease" is expressed in the striving for a less "high" theme, in the introduction of motives of a personal, intimate order into poetry, in the preference for "medium" and "low" genres over the "high" genres. Sumarokov creates a large number of lyrical works in the genre of love songs, works of many satirical genres - fables, comedies, satires, epigrams.

Sumarokov sets a didactic task for satire - “to correct temper with a mockery, to make her laugh and use her direct charter”: Sumarokov ridicules empty estate swagger (“not in title, in action should be a nobleman”), warns against abuse of landowner power (see in particular “ Chorus to the perverted world, where the “titmouse” says that “overseas they don’t trade people, they don’t put villages on the map, they don’t rip off the skin of the peasants”).

Sumarokov is one of the initiators of Russian parody, a cycle of "Wonderful Odes" ridiculing Lomonosov's "frantic" odic style.

Notes

Categories:

• Personalities in alphabetical order
• Writers alphabetically
• November 25
• Born in 1717
• Born in Moscow
• Deceased October 12
• Deceased in 1777
• Deceased in Moscow
• Writers in the public domain
• Sumarokovs
• Graduates of the First Cadet Corps
• Writers of Russia of the 18th century
• Russian writers of the 18th century
• 18th century poets
• Poets of Russia
• Russian poets
• Russian playwrights
• fabulists
• Parodists
• Buried at Donskoy Cemetery

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Famous writer, born in 1718, died on October 1, 1777 in Moscow. About the place of his birth, S. speaks in verse to the Duke of Braganz: Where is Wilmanstrand, I was born there in the vicinity, As the Golitsyn region of Finland was defeated. From the ancestors of S. known ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Sumarokov, Alexander Petrovich- Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov. SUMAROKOV Alexander Petrovich (1717-1777), Russian writer, representative of classicism. In the tragedies Horev (1747), Sinav and Truvor (1750), Demetrius the Pretender (1771) combined love themes with social and philosophical ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Sumarokov (Alexander Petrovich) famous writer. Born in 1718, in Finland, near Vilmanstrand. His father, Pyotr Pankratievich, the godson of Peter the Great, was an educated man for that time, especially in terms of literature, and ... ... Biographical Dictionary

Russian writer. He came from an old noble family. In 1732 40 he studied at the land gentry corps, where he began to write poetry. The popularity of the poet was brought by love songs, ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1717 77) Russian writer, one of the prominent representatives of classicism. In the tragedies Horev (1747), Sinav and Truvor (1750) posed the problem of civic duty. Comedies, fables, lyrical songs... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1717 1777), Russian writer, one of the prominent representatives of classicism. In the tragedies "Khorev" (1747), "Sinav and Truvor" (1750) posed the problem of civic duty. Comedies, fables, lyrical songs. * * * SUMAROKOV Alexander Petrovich SUMAROKOV ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1717, Moscow 1777, ibid), poet and playwright, one of the leading representatives of Russian classicism, real state councilor. Born in a mansion that belonged to his grandfather in Bolshoi Chernyshevsky Lane, 6 (now). In 173240… … Moscow (encyclopedia)

Famous writer. Genus. in 1718, in Finland, near Wilmanstrand. His father, Pyotr Pankratievich, the godson of Peter Vel., was an educated person for that time, especially in terms of literature, and belonged to sincere supporters ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

The writer was born on 14(25).XI.1717 in an old noble family, died on 1(12).X.1777 in Moscow.

His father, Pyotr Pankratievich, was a military man of the time of Peter the Great and rose to the rank of colonel. In 1737, Pyotr Pankratievich entered the civil service with the rank of state councilor, in 1760 he received the rank of privy councilor, and upon his resignation in 1762 - a real privy councilor.

Alexander Petrovich received a good education at home under the guidance of his father (“I owe my father for the first foundations in Russian”) and foreign tutors, among whom is the name of I. A. Zeikan, who taught at the same time the future Peter II.

On May 30, 1732, Sumarokov was admitted to the newly established Land Gentry Cadet Corps (the "knight's academy", as it was still called then) - the first secular educational institution of an increased type, which prepared its pupils for "officers and officials". Teaching in the corps was rather superficial: cadets were taught, first of all, good manners, dancing and fencing, but the interest in poetry and theater, which was widespread among the pupils of the "knight's academy", turned out to be useful for the future poet. Cadets participated in court festivities (performed in ballet divertissements, dramatic performances), brought congratulatory odes to the empress of their composition (at first without the name of the authors - from the entire "Shlyakhetskaya Academy of Sciences of Youth", and then verses signed by Mikhail Sobakin began to be added to them).

In 1740, the first literary experience in print took place, two congratulatory odes to Anna Ioannovna are known “on the first day of the new year in 1740, composed by the cadet corps through Alexander Sumarokov.

In April 1740, Alexander Petrovich was released from the gentry corps and appointed to the post of adjutant to the Vice-Chancellor Count. M. G. Golovkin, and soon after the arrest of the latter he became the adjutant of gr. A. G. Razumovsky - the favorite of the new Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The post of adjutant general of major rank gave him access to the palace.

In 1756, already in the rank of foreman, he was appointed director of the newly opened permanent Russian theater. Almost all the worries about the theater fell on the shoulders of Sumarokov: he was a director and teacher acting skills, selected the repertoire, dealt with economic issues, even compiled posters and newspaper ads. For five years he worked tirelessly in the theater, but as a result of a number of complications and repeated clashes with K. Sievers, who was in charge of the court office, who had the theater under his control since 1759, he was forced to resign in 1761.

From 1761, the writer did not serve anywhere else, devoting himself entirely to literary activity.

In 1769 he moved to Moscow, where, with rare trips to St. Petersburg, he lived until the end of his days.

The socio-political views of Alexander Petrovich were of a clearly expressed noble character: he was a supporter of the monarchy and the preservation of serfdom in Russia. But the demands that he made on both monarchs and nobles were very high. The monarch must be enlightened, for him the “good” of his subjects is above all, he must strictly observe the laws and not succumb to his passions; the nobility must also justify its privileges by zealous service to society (“not in title - in action it must be a nobleman”), education (“and if the mind of the master’s peasant is not clearer, then I can’t distinguish any”), humane attitude to the serfs (“Ah! Should cattle have people? Isn’t it a pity? Can a bull sell people to a bull?”). But, since over time the reigning empress and the nobility surrounding the writer less and less corresponded to the ideal created by Sumarokov, his work took on a sharper satirical and accusatory orientation. Being mainly a rationalist in his philosophical and aesthetic views, he was no stranger to sensationalism.

“He works in vain,

Who with his mind only infects the mind:

Not a poet yet

Who only depicts a thought,

Having cold blood;

But the poet is the one who infects the heart

And the feeling depicts

Having hot blood ”(“ Image Deficiency ”).

Like most poets of the XVIII century, Alexander Petrovich began his creative way With love lyrics.

The love poems (songs, eclogues, idylls, elegies) that he wrote throughout his entire literary career were still quite conventional, but in the best of them the poet managed to express sincere emotional experiences, immediacy of feelings

"O beings, the composition without an image is mixed,"

"In vain do I hide the hearts of grief, fierce,"

"Don't cry so much, dear" and others.

In some of his songs he used elements of folk poetry

"The girls were walking in the grove",

"Oh, you are strong, strong Bendergrad",

“Wherever I walk, wherever I walk” and others.

The love works of the writer gained great popularity among secular society, causing many imitators, they also penetrated into the democratic environment (in handwritten songbooks). Diverse in terms of stanza, rich in rhythm, simple in form, his songs favorably differed from the previous love lyrics and played a positive role in the development of Russian poetry. Sumarokov won the greatest fame among his contemporaries as a playwright, and primarily as an author of tragedies. He wrote nine tragedies:

"Khorev" (1747),

"Hamlet" (1748),

"Sinav and Truvor" (1750),

"Aristona" (1750),

Semira (1751),

"Demiza" (1758, later remade into "Yaropolk and Demiza"),

"Vysheslav" (1768),

"Demetrius the Pretender" (1771),

"Mstislav" (1774).

Sumarokov’s tragedies are sustained in the strict rules of the poetics of classicism, which he himself formulated for Russian literature in the “epistole” on poetry (in the brochure “Two Epistles”. The first suggests about the Russian language, and the second about poetry, St. Petersburg, 1748).

In the tragedies of the writer, the unity of action, place and time is observed; sharply carried out the division of characters into positive and negative; the characters are static, and each of them was the bearer of any one "passion"; a well-proportioned five-act composition and a small number of characters helped the plot to develop economically and in the direction of revealing the main idea. The author's desire to convey his thoughts to the viewer was served by a relatively simple and clear language; The “Alexandrian” verse (iambic six-foot with paired rhyming), with which all tragedies are written, sometimes acquired an aphoristic sound.

In tragedies, persons were removed from the aristocratic environment; the plots for most of them the playwright took from national history. Although the historicism of the writer's tragedies was very conditional and was limited mainly to the use of historical names, nevertheless, the historical and national theme was hallmark Russian classicism: Western European classic tragedy It was built mainly on the material of ancient history. The main conflict in the tragedies of Sumarokov A.P. usually consisted in the struggle of "reason" with "passion", public duty with personal feelings, and the social principle won in this struggle.

Such a conflict and its resolution were intended to educate the civic feelings of the noble spectator, to inspire him with the idea that state interests should be above all else. In addition, the public sound of Sumarokov's tragedies was further aggravated by the fact that they began to acquire a political orientation more and more, the tyrant autocrats were more and more sharply exposed in them (“Is it a nobleman, or a leader, a victorious, tsar Without virtue, a contemptuous creature”), and in “Dimitrii Pretender" the playwright demanded to overthrow the tyrant tsar from the throne: he is "Moscow, Russia, an enemy and torturer of subjects." At the same time, it is characteristic that the “people”, who first appeared here on the Russian stage, had to overthrow the villainous ruler.

Transferring the action of the tragedy to the relatively recent past of the Russian state, the author filled "Demetrius the Pretender" with burning questions of his contemporaneity - about the character political power in the country.

Of course, Sumarokov could not openly declare the reign of Catherine II despotic, but with many topical and fairly transparent hints he quite definitely expressed his negative attitude to Catherine's regime. However, the pronounced tyrannical orientation of this tragedy should not be taken as S.'s condemnation of the very monarchical principle of government: even in the most pathetic places in Demetrius the Pretender, it was about replacing the tyrant king with a "virtuous" monarch.

But the objective impact of the tragedy could be much wider than the subjective, class-limited intent of the playwright. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the interpretation that was given to its translation into French, published in Paris in 1800 (“its plot, almost revolutionary, is obviously in direct conflict with the morals and political system this country..."). "Dimitri the Pretender" marked the beginning of the Russian political tragedy.

The merits of Sumarokov, the tragic artist, should also include the creation by him of a whole gallery of various, attractive female images. Tender and meek, courageous and strong-willed, they were distinguished by high moral principles.

In addition to tragedies, Alexander Petrovich in different time 12 comedies were written, the drama The Hermit (1757), the opera Cephalus and Procris (1755) and Alceste (1758).

His comedies were less successful than tragedies, as they touched on less significant aspects of social life and served as an addition to the main part of the performance. Nevertheless, in the process of the formation of Russian national dramaturgy, his comedies took a certain place. Like tragedy, comedy, according to Sumarokov, pursued educational goals, satirically ridiculed personal and social shortcomings.

Her characters were most often faces taken from environment("originals"). Hence the pamphlet character of most of Sumarokov's comedies:

"Tresotinius"

"The Tribunal"

"Quarrel between husband and wife"

"Guardian",

"Likhoimets" and others. The playwright himself pointed out the connection of his comedies with living reality: “It is very easy for me to compose prosaic comedies ... seeing stupidities and delusions everyday in ignoramuses.” In the comedy work of the Sumarokov, ignorant nobles, gallomantic dandies and dandies, bribe-takers-officials, misers, litigants, pedants-“Latinschiks” were ridiculed. This was already the world of an ordinary, ordinary person, sharply different from the world of the heroes of the tragedy.

Among the best achievements in the creative heritage Sumarokova A.P. his fables (“parables”) should also be attributed. He created 378 fables, most of which were published during his lifetime (2 parts of the "parables" were published in 1762, part 3 - in 1769). Filled with topical satirical content, written in a simple (with the inclusion of "low" words), living language, close to colloquial, Sumarokov's fables earned high praise from his contemporaries: “His parables are revered as the treasure of Russian Parnassus; and in this kind of poem he far surpasses Phaedrus and de la Fontaine, the most glorious in this kind ”(N. I. Novikov). Sumarokov's parables greatly facilitated the path of Krylov the fabulist.

Of his other works, the satire “On Nobility” and “Chorus to the Perverted Light” should be noted.

"Chorus to the Perverted Light" - perhaps the sharpest satirical work Sumarokov. In it, the writer condemned many aspects of social reality.

Writer-educator, poet-satirist, who fought against social evil and human injustice all his life, enjoyed well-deserved respect from both N. I. Novikov and A. N. Radishchev, Sumarokov in the history of Russian literature XVIII in. occupies a prominent position. Later, many Russian writers denied the writer a literary talent, but still V. G. Belinsky was right when he said that “Sumarokov had great success with his contemporaries, and without talent, your will, you cannot have any success at any time.”

The personal life of the writer was unsuccessful.

With his first wife, Johanna Khristianovna (camer-jungfer then still Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna), he divorced, the subsequent marriage with the serf girl Vera Prokhorovna led to a scandal and a final break with noble relatives. Shortly before his death, the writer married a third time, and also to the serf girl Ekaterina Gavrilovna.

Alexander Petrovich spent the last years of his life in poverty, the house and all his property were sold to pay off debts.

Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (1717-1777) - Russian poet, writer and playwright of the 18th century.

Born into a noble family on November 14 (25), 1717 in St. Petersburg. He studied at home, continued his education in the land gentry corps, where he began to study literary work, rewriting psalms in verse, composing on behalf of the cadets "congratulatory odes" to Empress Anna, songs - modeled on French poets and V. K. Trediakovsky (Tredyakovsky). After graduating from the corps in 1740, he was enrolled first in the military field office of Count Munnich, then as an adjutant at Count A. G. Razumovsky.

Verbosity is characteristic of human stupidity.

Sumarokov Alexander Petrovich

Fame brought him published in 1747 and played at the court of his first tragedy "Khorev". His plays were played at the court by the troupe of F. G. Volkov, ordered from Yaroslavl.

When a permanent theater was established in 1756, Sumarokov was appointed director of this theater and for a long time he remained the main "supplier" of the repertoire. Chorev was followed by eight tragedies, twelve comedies and three operatic librettos.

In parallel, Sumarokov, who worked extremely quickly, developed in other areas of literature. In 1755-1758, he was an active contributor to the academic journal "Monthly Works", in 1759 he published his own journal of a satirical and moral tone "Hardworking Bee" (the first private journal in Russia). In 1762-1769, collections of his fables were published, from 1769 to 1774, a number of collections of his poems.

Despite the proximity to the court, the patronage of nobles, the praise of admirers, Sumarokov did not feel appreciated according to his merits and constantly complained about the lack of attention, the nitpicking of censorship and the ignorance of the public. In 1761 he lost control of the theatre. Later, in 1769, he moved to Moscow. Here, abandoned by his patrons, ruined and drunk, he died on October 1 (12), 1777. He was buried at the Donskoy cemetery in Moscow.

Creativity Sumarokov develops within the framework of classicism, in the form that he adopted in France XVII - early. 18th century Modern admirers, therefore, more than once proclaimed Sumarokov "the confidant of Boileau", "northern Racine", "Moliere", "Russian Lafontaine".

The literary activity of Sumarokov stops attention with its external diversity. He tried all genres: odes (solemn, spiritual, philosophical, anacreontic), epistles (messages), satires, elegies, songs, epigrams, madrigals, epitaphs; In his poetic technique, he used all the meters that existed at that time, made experiments in the field of rhyme, and applied a variety of strophic constructions.

Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, whose biography is inextricably linked with the development of the national culture XVIII century, is rightfully considered the "father of the Russian theater". He served him as a playwright and librettist. His contribution to Russian literature is also invaluable, which, thanks to his poetic works, rose to a new height for those times. His name has entered the history of Russia forever.

Young heir to an old noble name

On November 25, 1717, in Moscow, a son was born in the family of ensign Peter Sumarokov, who was named Alexander. Like many children from ancient noble families, namely, the Sumarokov family belonged to their number, the boy received his initial education and upbringing at home under the guidance of teachers and tutors hired by his parents.

In those years, many young nobles preferred military career. Alexander Sumarokov was no exception. The biography of his independent life begins when, at the age of fifteen, he enters the Land Open in St. Petersburg at the behest of Empress Anna Ioannovna. Within its walls, he spends eight years and here for the first time begins to engage in literature.

Cadet Corps and upcoming career

During the period of study in the cadet corps, the novice writer writes poetry and lyrics, taking as a model the works of French authors and his compatriot. His first poetic experiments are poetic transcriptions of psalms. In addition, he fulfills the orders of his comrades - on their behalf he writes congratulatory odes to the Empress Anna Ioannovna, who ruled in those years, which was in great fashion.

In 1740, Alexander Sumarokov was among the young graduate officers of the corps. The biography says that his life in those years was the best possible. At twenty-three, he was enrolled in the office of Count Minich, and soon became the personal secretary, first of Count Golovin, and then of the all-powerful Alexei Razumovsky. But, despite the career that opened before him, he devotes himself to literature. His idol of those years was Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, whose famous odes became for Sumarokov a model of harmony and a guideline in search of a creative path.

First deserved glory

However, no real artist can be satisfied with just imitation of what was created by someone else, he is always looking for his own style. That is exactly what Sumarokov did. The biography of his creative life really begins when lists of his love songs appear in the salons of the educated St. Petersburg aristocracy. This genre was chosen by the author not by chance. It was he who, to the greatest extent, allowed the state of mind of Alexander to be revealed - a young brilliant officer, full of romantic experiences typical of his age.

But the real glory was brought to him by the staging of his poetic drama “Khorev”, which took place at the court in 1747. Then it went out of print, becoming the property of the general public, which made his name popularly known. After that, also at court, several plays are performed, the author of which was Sumarokov. The biography of his work goes from that time to a new level - he becomes a professional writer.

The rich creative life of Sumarokov

In 1752 a significant event took place. By her decree, the Empress summoned F. G. Volkov, an outstanding theatrical figure of those years, from Yaroslavl and entrusted him with the organization of the first permanent theater in Russia, of which Sumarokov was appointed director.

short biography it only in in general terms can give an idea of ​​the invaluable contribution that this man made to the formation of Russian stage life, but in the memory of future generations he was preserved as the “father of the Russian theater”, and this, you see, is more eloquent than any words.

His creative heritage is unusually wide. Suffice it to recall eight tragedies that came out from under his pen, twenty comedies and three opera librettos. In addition, Sumarokov left a significant mark on other literary fields. His works are published on the pages of the academic journal Monthly Writings, and in 1759 he begins to publish his own journal, The Hardworking Bee. In subsequent years, numerous collections of his poems and fables were published.

The end of the poet's life and the memory of descendants

Sumarokov managed the theater until 1761. After that, he lived in the capital for some time, and then in 1769 moved to Moscow. Here he has serious conflict with Commander-in-Chief P. Saltykov, whose side is taken by the Empress. This inflicts mental trauma on the poet and entails serious material problems. But, despite the hardships, in the seventies, according to researchers, he writes his the best works, such as "Dmitry the Pretender", "Scumbag" and many others. He died on October 12, 1777 and was buried on

Descendants fully appreciated the merits of this man to the Fatherland. On the famous monument"The Millennium of Russia" among the outstanding historical figures of the state is represented by Alexander Sumarokov (the reader can see a photo of this object on the page). Entire generations of poets grew up on his works, who made up the glory and pride of our culture, and his theatrical compositions became a textbook for future playwrights.