Life and work of Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich. Brief biography of Turgenev I N


The famous Russian writer and poet, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, the great classic of Russian literature of the 19th century, was born in the glorious city of Orel. It happened on a cool October day in 1818. His family belonged to a noble family. Little Ivan's father, Sergei Nikolaevich, served as a hussar officer, and his mother, Varvara Petrovna, was the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Lutinov.

Turgenev's childhood passed in the Spassky-Lutovinovo estate. Educated nannies, teachers and governesses looked after the boy. The first knowledge of foreign languages ​​was obtained by the future writer from experienced tutors who taught French and German to the son of a noble family.

In 1827, the Turgenev family moved permanently to Moscow. Here, nine-year-old Ivan continued his studies in a private boarding school. In 1833 he entered the Moscow University, from where he soon transferred to the St. Petersburg University, to the Faculty of Philosophy. In this educational institution, Ivan Sergeevich met Granovsky, who in the future gained worldwide fame as a talented historian.

Already in these years, Ivan Sergeevich thought about a creative career. Initially, Turgenev wanted to devote his life to poetry. He wrote his first verse poem in 1834. To assess his creative abilities, the young poet took the created work to his teacher Pletnev. The professor noted good progress with the novice author, which allowed Turgenev to gain faith in his own abilities in the creative field.

He continued to compose poems and short poems, and his first publication took place already in 1936, when the young poet was barely 18 years old. By the next year, in the collection of a magnificent and rather talented author, there were already about a hundred poems. The most debut poetic works were "To the Venus of Medicine" and the rather intriguing verse "Evening".

Goddess of beauty, love and pleasure!
Long gone days, another generation
Captivating covenant!
Hellas fiery favorite creature,
What negligence, what charm
Your bright myth is dressed!
You are not our child! No, to the fiery children of the South
One is given to drink the love sickness
Burning wine!
Creation to express to the soul a native feeling
In the beautiful fullness of fine art
Fate has given them!

(excerpt).

Life abroad

After graduating from the university, which took place in 1836, Turgenev set out to get a Ph.D., and he succeeded! He successfully passed the final exams and received a long-awaited diploma.

Two years later, Ivan Sergeevich went to Germany, where he continued his studies and the development of his creative abilities. He entered the University of Berlin, where he diligently engaged himself in the study of Greek and Roman literature in the earliest stages of its development. After classes, a literate student continued to acquire knowledge on his own, studying Latin and ancient Greek. Soon, he easily read the literature of ancient authors, without translation.

In this country, Turgenev met many young writers and poets. In 1837, Ivan Sergeyevich met with Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. In the same period, he makes acquaintance with Koltsov, Lermontov, Zhukovsky and other famous authors of our country. From these talented people, he adopts precious experience, which later helped the young writer to gain a wide circle of admirers and worldwide fame.

In the spring of 1939, Ivan Turgenev returned to his homeland, but a year later, he again went abroad. During this period, the author visited several European cities, in one of which he met a beautiful girl who aroused admiration and a lot of impressionable feelings in the young poet. This meeting provoked Ivan Sergeevich's desire to write an intriguing story, which was published under the title "Spring Waters".

Two years later, Turgenev returned to Russia again. In his native country, he is trying to get a master's degree, which he succeeded in passing the exam in Greek and Latin philology. Soon, Ivan Sergeevich writes a dissertation, but understands that scientific activity is no longer of interest. He refused to defend the finished work, after which he made an important decision for himself - to devote his life to creativity.

In 1843, the writer met Belinsky, who was entrusted with the study of the new poem Parasha in order to get a real assessment from a well-known critic. After that, a strong friendship began between them, which lasted for all subsequent years of life.

In the autumn of 1843, the poet writes a brilliant poem "On the Road". Later, this rhythmic work of the magnificent author of the 19th century was taken as the basis for the creation of excellent musical compositions by several composers.

"On the road"

Foggy morning, gray morning
Fields are sad, covered with snow...
Reluctantly remember the time of the past,
Remember faces long forgotten.

Remember abundant, passionate speeches,
Glances, so greedily and tenderly caught,
First meetings, last meetings,
Quiet voice favorite sounds.

Remember separation with a strange smile,
You will remember much dear, distant,
Listening to the tireless murmur of the wheels
Looking thoughtfully at the wide sky.

A famous poem called "Pop", written in 1844, also attracted great public interest. And two years later, several more literary masterpieces were presented to the public.

The creative dawn of Ivan Turgenev

The beginning of the creative dawn in the author's career of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev falls on 1847. During this period, the writer became a member of the famous Sovremennik, where he met and became friends with Annenkov and Nekrasov. In this journal, his first publications took place:

✔ "Notes of the hunter";
✔ "Modern notes";
✔ "Khor and Kalinich".

The author received great success and recognition thanks to the stories "Notes of a Hunter", it was these works that prompted the author to continue writing stories in a similar style. The main plot is to fight against serfdom, the author considered him a fierce enemy, for the destruction of which, you need to use any means. Because of such contradictions, Turgenev again had to leave Russia. The writer justified his decision in this way: “having moved away from my enemy, I can gain strength for a subsequent attack on him.”

In the same year, Ivan Sergeevich, together with a good friend Belinsky, emigrated to Paris. A year later, terrible revolutionary events take place on this earth, which the Russian poet was able to observe. He witnessed many terrible crimes, after which Turgenev forever hated the revolutionary processes.

In 1852, Ivan Sergeevich wrote his most famous story, Mumu. He continued to write works for the collection "Notes of a Hunter", regularly replenishing it with new creations, most of which were written away from Russia. In 1854, the first publication collection of this work came out, which happened in Paris.

A year later, the writer meets Leo Tolstoy. A strong friendship developed between the two talented authors. Soon, Tolstoy's story dedicated to Turgenev was published in the Sovremennik magazine.

In the 1970s, the writer writes many new works, some of which are subject to serious criticism. The author did not hide his political convictions, boldly criticized the authorities and all the processes taking place in the country, which he hated so much. The condemnation of many critics, and even the public masses, forced the writer to often travel outside the country, where he continued his creative path.

In Turgenev's company there were many famous personalities, famous and recognized writers and poets. They closely communicated in the circles of the Sovremennik magazine, published new works and continued to build their careers in authorship. There were some conflicts in his relationship with famous people. So, for example, Ivan Sergeevich did not hide his contempt for Dostoevsky. He, in turn, also criticized Turgenev and even exposed him as a noisy and mediocre writer in his novel "Demons".

Dramatic love story of Turgenev and Pauline Viardot

In addition to a creative career, Ivan Turgenev had to know the real feelings of love. This romantic and rather dramatic story began with an acquaintance with Pauline Viardot, which happened back in 1843, when the young writer was 25 years old. His chosen one was a singer who arrived on tour with the Italian Opera. Despite the relative unattractiveness, Viardot gained great appreciation throughout Europe, which was justified by the great talent of a talented performer.

Turgenev fell in love with Polina at first sight, but the girl's feelings were not very fiery. She did not notice anything remarkable in Ivan Sergeevich, but, despite the coldness towards him, the couple developed a love relationship that lasted almost 40 years.

At the time of their acquaintance, the opera singer had a legal husband, Louis, with whom Turgenev became very friends later on. Polina's husband was not jealous, he had long been accustomed to the playful and temperamental behavior of his wife. Ivan Sergeevich could not separate the family, but he also did not want to leave the woman he loved without attention. As a result, a strong relationship arose between Viardot and Turgenev, many even say that Polina's son was not born from a legal spouse, but from a young lover.

Many times, he tried to get away from Polina, start his life without her, but, with an unknown magnet, this girl attracted a talented writer, which left indelible pain in the soul of a lonely man. This story of love and forbidden relationships became dramatic in the fate of Turgenev.

The author often sang his love in his written works, dedicated poems and stories to her, where he presented his chosen one as the main character. She was his muse and inspiration. He presented all the written works to her, and only after Polina's approval did they get into print. The girl was proud of this, she respected the attitude of the Russian writer towards her person, but she could not moderate her temperamental ardor, which made not only her lover, but also her lawful husband suffer.

Turgenev spent many years of his life with this woman, until his death. In 1883, he died of cancer, and even this event happened in the hands of an already aged lover. Who knows, maybe it was this woman who made a talented poet and writer happy, because despite the success in her creative career, every living person wants real love and understanding ...


Role and place in literature

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is a famous Russian poet, playwright, publicist, whose contribution to the development of literature in the second half of the 19th century is difficult to overestimate. Turgenev's innovative artistic system influenced the poetics of both Russian and Western European novels. Working in the direction of realism, he was the first to draw attention to a new type of person of the sixties.

Origin and early years

The future great literary figure was born on November 9, 1818 in the Russian Empire (the city of Orel). His family belonged to the old family of the Tula noblemen Turgenevs.

Father - Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev, a nobleman. He was a member of the cavalry regiment. The young handsome man led a carefree life and quickly went bankrupt. To improve the situation, he had to enter into a marriage of convenience.

Mother - Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva (nee Lutovinova), a wealthy noblewoman. Despite her good social position, her youth could hardly be called happy. The marriage was not successful either. She combined the features of an imperious serf-owner and an educated woman.

Little Turgenev grew up in a difficult family: a despotic mother, a windy father. In 1830, Sergei Nikolaevich left his wife and three sons to live independently.

As a child, Turgenev lived in the Spasskoe-Lutovinovo estate, located near the city of Mtsensk. At the age of 9, he moved to Moscow with his family and settled in a house on Samoteka.

Ivan was considered a beloved son, but he also sometimes suffered beatings from a despotic mother. But, despite the difficult nature, she gave a good upbringing to children.

Education

Having received an initial home education, Turgenev continued his studies in Moscow boarding schools.

In 1833, Ivan entered the Faculty of Literature at Moscow University. Because of his older brother, he has to transfer to a university in St. Petersburg. Here he studies at the Faculty of Philosophy. At this time, Turgenev was very interested in scientific activities and after graduating from the university wrote a dissertation, but did not defend it. Interest in science was forever supplanted by a real passion for literature.

Creation

Turgenev grew up in a creative family: his mother was an educated, well-read woman, she spoke and read French; the father brought up love for his culture in his children, asked them to write letters to him only in Russian. In addition to Sergei Nikolaevich, one serf valet instilled in Ivan a love for Russian literature.

Being in the third year of university, Ivan Sergeevich creates his first poem "Steno". He gave the essay to the teacher to get his opinion. Professor Pletnev analyzed the poem in front of the students at the lecture, without disclosing the authorship of Turgenev. The verdict was harsh, the novice writer still had work to do, but the teacher noted that there was a prospect. Turgenev took the words of approval with a share of criticism positively and was inspired to create new compositions. And in 1838, the professor published several of his poems in the Sovremennik magazine.

In the period from 1830 to 1850, Turgenev met many famous writers. The stylistics of Lermontov's poetry had a tangible influence on Turgenev's work. This was most evident in the poem "Confession", which is reminiscent of Lermontov's "Duma".

Important for Ivan Sergeevich was his acquaintance with the literary critic Belinsky. Friendship with him influenced the creation of such works: Parasha, Breter, Three Portraits.

In 1847, Turgenev's "Modern Notes" and "Notes of a Hunter" began to be published in the Sovremennik magazine. These works bring fame to the author.

Since the end of the 40s, Ivan Sergeevich has been actively learning the basics of dramaturgy, trying himself in this area. He considered the dramaturgy of the brilliant Gogol to be the standard.

Major works

In 1861, the writer writes a novel that will be destined to become a symbol of the era - "Fathers and Sons". It truly describes the problem of two generations.

The main works also include: the novels "Smoke", "Nov"; stories and novels "The Diary of a Superfluous Man", "Bezhin Meadow", "Spring Waters". A special place in the writer's work belongs to the story "Asya". This is not an ordinary love story, but a conflict of different characters and classes. Asya is an original person, capable of high feelings and actions. Girls like her began to be called Turgenev's, thanks to the author. And the main character is a liberal nobleman who only thinks that he does not live by the rules of his society, but actually adheres to a stereotypical way of thinking.

Last years

In 1863 Ivan Sergeevich left for Germany. There he makes acquaintances with many famous Western European writers. Learning new things, Turgenev does not forget to glorify Russian literature. Soon he becomes famous in Europe.

In 1879 Turgenev received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

Since 1882, the writer begins to suffer from various diseases. And in 1883 he died in Bougival.

Chronological table (by dates)

Interesting facts from the writer's life

  • In his youth, Ivan Turgenev often thoughtlessly spent his parents' money on entertainment. To teach her son a lesson, Varvara Petrovna once sent him bricks in a parcel instead of money.
  • There were many romantic relationships in Turgenev's life, but he never entered into marriage. Perhaps the reason for this was the love for a married woman - opera singer Pauline Viardot.
  • Turgenev was known for his cleanliness. He could not begin to create until there was an ideal order.

Museum of Ivan Turgenev

In Moscow, on Ostozhenka Street, there is a museum of I.S. Turgenev, which is also known as the House of Mumu. It was founded in 2007.


Biography of Turgenev

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818 - 1883) - the famous Russian writer and poet, essayist and playwright, classic of Russian literature of the 19th century. Turgenev's work includes six novels, many stories, novellas, articles, and plays.

early years


Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born on October 28 (November 9), 1818 in the city of Orel. His family, both maternal and paternal, belonged to the noble class.

The first education in Turgenev's biography was received at the Spassky-Lutovinovo estate. The boy was taught to read and write by German and French teachers. Since 1827 the family moved to Moscow. Then Turgenev's training took place in private boarding schools in Moscow, after which - at Moscow University. Without graduating from it, Turgenev transferred to the philosophical faculty of St. Petersburg University. He also studied abroad, after which he traveled around Europe.

The beginning of the literary path


Studying in the third year of the institute, in 1834 Turgenev wrote his first poem called "The Wall". And in 1838, his first two poems were published: "Evening" and "To the Venus of Medicius."

In 1841, having returned to Russia, he was engaged in scientific activities, wrote a dissertation and received a master's degree in philology. Then, when the craving for science cooled down, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev served as an official in the Ministry of the Interior until 1844.
See also: Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich biography

In 1843, Turgenev met Belinsky, they struck up friendly relations. Under the influence of Belinsky, new poems by Turgenev, poems, stories are created, printed, among which are: Parasha, Pop, Breter and Three Portraits.

The heyday of creativity


Since 1847, at the invitation of Nekrasov, his Modern Notes and the first chapters of the Hunter's Notes (Khor and Kalinich) have been published in the transformed Sovremennik magazine, which brought the author a huge success, and he began work on the rest of the stories about hunting .

Work in Sovremennik brought Turgenev many interesting acquaintances; Dostoevsky, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Fet and other famous writers were also published in the magazine.

In 1847, together with his friend Belinsky, he went abroad, where he witnessed the February Revolution in France.

In the late 40s and early 50s, he was actively involved in dramaturgy, writing the plays “Where it is thin, it breaks there” and “The Freeloader” (both 1848), “The Bachelor” (1849), “A Month in the Country” (1850) , "Provincial" (1851), which are staged on theater stages and are a success with the public.

Turgenev translated the works of Byron and Shakespeare into Russian, from them he learned the skill of mastering literary techniques.

In August 1852, one of Turgenev's most important books, Notes of a Hunter, was published.

After Gogol's death, Turgenev wrote an obituary, for which Ivan Sergeevich was sent into exile for two years in his native village. There is an opinion that the real reason for the exile was the writer's radical views, as well as the sympathetic attitude towards the serfs, which he expressed in his work.

During his exile, Turgenev wrote the story "Mumu" (1852). Then, after the death of Nicholas I, the most famous works of Turgenev appeared in print: Rudin (1856), The Noble Nest (1859), On the Eve (1860) and Fathers and Sons (1862).

Other famous works of the writer include: the novels "Smoke" (1867) and "Nov" (1877), novels and stories "The Diary of a Superfluous Man" (1849), "Bezhin Meadow" (1851), "Asya" (1858), "Spring Waters" (1872) and many others.

In the autumn of 1855, Turgenev met Leo Tolstoy, who soon published the story "Cutting the Forest" with a dedication to I. S. Turgenev.

Last years


Since 1863, he left for Germany, where he met with outstanding writers of Western Europe, promoted Russian literature. He works as an editor and consultant, he is engaged in translations from Russian into German and French and vice versa. He becomes the most popular and read Russian writer in Europe. And in 1879 he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University.

It was thanks to the efforts of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev that the best works of Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy were translated.

It is worth noting briefly that in the biography of Ivan Turgenev in the late 1870s and early 1880s, his popularity rapidly increased, both at home and abroad. And critics began to rank him among the best writers of the century.

Since 1882, the writer began to be overcome by diseases: gout, angina pectoris, neuralgia. As a result of a painful illness (sarcoma), he dies on August 22 (September 3), 1883 in Bougival (a suburb of Paris). His body was brought to St. Petersburg and buried at the Volkovsky cemetery.

Chronological table
If you need a biography of Turgenev by date, we advise you to look at the Turgenev chronological table page.

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Interesting facts about Turgenev

  • In his youth, Turgenev was frivolous, spending a lot of his parents' money on entertainment. For this, his mother once taught a lesson, sending bricks instead of money in a parcel.
  • The personal life of the writer was not very successful. He had many novels, but none of them ended in marriage. The greatest love in his life was the opera singer Pauline Viardot. For 38 years Turgenev knew her and her husband Louis. For their family, he traveled all over the world, lived with them in different countries. Louis Viardot and Ivan Turgenev died in the same year.
  • Turgenev was a clean man, neatly dressed. The writer liked to work in cleanliness and order - without this he never began to create.
  • see all

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev - famous Russian writer, poet, translator, member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1860).

Orel city

Lithography. 1850s

“On October 28, 1818, on Monday, the son Ivan was born, 12 inches tall, in Orel, in his house, at 12 o’clock in the morning,” Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva made such an entry in her memorial book.
Ivan Sergeevich was her second son. The first - Nikolai - was born two years earlier, and in 1821 another boy appeared in the Turgenev family - Sergey.

Parents
It is difficult to imagine more dissimilar people than the parents of the future writer.
Mother - Varvara Petrovna, nee Lutovinova - a domineering, intelligent and sufficiently educated woman, did not shine with beauty. She was small, squat, with a broad face, spoiled by smallpox. And only the eyes were good: large, dark and shiny.
Varvara Petrovna was already thirty years old when she met the young officer Sergei Nikolaevich Turgenev. He came from an old noble family, which, however, had already become impoverished by that time. From the former wealth, only a small estate remained. Sergei Nikolaevich was handsome, graceful, smart. And it is not surprising that he made an irresistible impression on Varvara Petrovna, and she made it clear that if Sergei Nikolayevich wooed, then there would be no refusal.
The young officer thought for a moment. And although the bride was six years older than him and did not differ in attractiveness, however, the vast lands and thousands of serf souls that she owned determined the decision of Sergei Nikolayevich.
At the beginning of 1816, the marriage took place, and the young people settled in Orel.
Varvara Petrovna idolized and feared her husband. She gave him complete freedom and did not restrict anything. Sergei Nikolaevich lived the way he wanted, not burdening himself with worries about his family and household. In 1821, he retired and moved with his family to the estate of his wife, Spasskoe-Lutovinovo, seventy miles from Orel.

The childhood of the future writer passed in Spassky-Lutovinovo near the city of Mtsensk, Oryol province. With this family estate of his mother Varvara Petrovna, a stern and domineering woman, much is connected in the work of Turgenev. In the estates and estates described by him, the features of his native "nest" are invariably visible. Turgenev considered himself indebted to the Oryol region, its nature and inhabitants.

The Turgenev estate Spasskoe-Lutovinovo was located in a birch grove on a gentle hill. Around a spacious two-story manor house with columns, which was adjoined by semicircular galleries, a huge park was laid out with linden alleys, orchards and flower beds.

Years of study
Varvara Petrovna was mainly engaged in the upbringing of children at an early age. Outbursts of solicitude, attention and tenderness gave way to attacks of bitterness and petty tyranny. On her orders, children were punished for the slightest misconduct, and sometimes for no reason. “I have nothing to remember my childhood,” Turgenev said many years later. “Not a single bright memory. I was afraid of my mother like fire. I was punished for every trifle - in a word, they drilled me like a recruit.
There was a fairly large library in the Turgenevs' house. Huge cabinets kept the works of ancient writers and poets, the works of French encyclopedists: Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, novels by V. Scott, de Stael, Chateaubriand; works of Russian writers: Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Karamzin, Dmitriev, Zhukovsky, as well as books on history, natural science, botany. Soon the library became for Turgenev the most favorite place in the house, where he sometimes spent whole days. To a large extent, the boy's interest in literature was supported by his mother, who read quite a lot and knew French literature and Russian poetry of the late 18th and early 19th centuries well.
At the beginning of 1827, the Turgenev family moved to Moscow: it was time to prepare children for entering educational institutions. First, Nikolai and Ivan were placed in the private Winterkeller boarding house, and then in the Krause boarding house, later called the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages. Here the brothers did not study for long - only a few months.
Their further education was entrusted to home teachers. With them they studied Russian literature, history, geography, mathematics, foreign languages ​​- German, French, English - drawing. Russian history was taught by the poet I. P. Klyushnikov, and the Russian language was taught by D. N. Dubensky, a well-known researcher of The Tale of Igor's Campaign.

University years. 1833-1837.
Turgenev was not yet fifteen years old when, having successfully passed the entrance exams, he became a student of the verbal department of Moscow University.
Moscow University at that time was the main center of progressive Russian thought. Among the young people who came to the university in the late 1820s and early 1830s, the memory of the Decembrists, who opposed the autocracy with weapons in their hands, was sacredly kept. Students closely followed the events taking place then in Russia and in Europe. Turgenev later said that it was during these years that “very free, almost republican convictions” began to take shape in him.
Of course, Turgenev had not yet developed a coherent and consistent worldview in those years. He was barely sixteen years old. It was a period of growth, a period of search and doubt.
Turgenev studied at Moscow University for only one year. After his older brother Nikolai entered the guards artillery stationed in St. Petersburg, his father decided that the brothers should not be separated, and therefore, in the summer of 1834, Turgenev applied for a transfer to the philological department of the philosophical faculty of St. Petersburg University.
No sooner had the Turgenev family settled in the capital than Sergei Nikolaevich suddenly died. The death of his father deeply shocked Turgenev and made him think for the first time seriously about life and death, about the place of man in the eternal movement of nature. The thoughts and experiences of the young man were reflected in a number of lyrical poems, as well as in the dramatic poem "Steno" (1834). Turgenev's first literary experiments were created under the strong influence of the then dominant romanticism in literature, and above all Byron's poetry. The hero of Turgenev is an ardent, passionate, full of enthusiastic aspirations man who does not want to put up with the world of evil around him, but cannot find application for his powers and eventually dies tragically. Later, Turgenev was very skeptical about this poem, calling it "an absurd work in which, with childish ineptitude, a slavish imitation of Byron's Manfred was expressed."
However, it should be noted that the poem "Steno" reflected the thoughts of the young poet about the meaning of life and the purpose of a person in it, that is, questions that many great poets of that time tried to resolve: Goethe, Schiller, Byron.
After the Moscow Metropolitan University, Turgenev seemed colorless. Here everything was different: there was no atmosphere of friendship and comradeship to which he was accustomed, there was no desire for lively communication and disputes, few people were interested in issues of public life. And the composition of the students was different. Among them were many young men from aristocratic families who had little interest in science.
Teaching at St. Petersburg University was carried out according to a rather broad program. But students did not receive serious knowledge. There were no interesting teachers. Only the professor of Russian literature Pyotr Aleksandrovich Pletnev turned out to be closer to Turgenev than others.
During his studies at the university, Turgenev showed a deep interest in music and theater. He often visited concerts, opera and drama theaters.
After graduating from university, Turgenev decided to continue his education and in May 1838 went to Berlin.

Studying abroad. 1838-1940.
After St. Petersburg, Berlin seemed to Turgenev a prim and a little boring city. “What do you want to say about the city,” he wrote, “where they get up at six o’clock in the morning, have dinner at two and go to bed before chickens, about the city where at ten o’clock in the evening only melancholy watchmen laden with beer roam the deserted streets ...”
But the university classrooms at the University of Berlin were always crowded. The lecture was attended not only by students, but also by volunteers - officers, officials, who aspired to join science.
Already the first classes at the University of Berlin revealed gaps in Turgenev's education. Later he wrote: “I studied philosophy, ancient languages, history and studied Hegel with particular zeal ... and at home I was forced to cram Latin grammar and Greek, which I knew poorly. And I wasn't one of the worst candidates."
Turgenev diligently comprehended the wisdom of German philosophy, and in his spare time he attended theaters and concerts. Music and theater became a true need for him. He listened to the operas of Mozart and Gluck, the symphonies of Beethoven, watched the dramas of Shakespeare and Schiller.
Living abroad, Turgenev did not stop thinking about his homeland, about his people, about their present and future.
Even then, in 1840, Turgenev believed in the great destiny of his people, in their strength and steadfastness.
Finally, the course of lectures at the University of Berlin ended, and in May 1841 Turgenev returned to Russia and in the most serious way began to prepare himself for scientific activity. He dreamed of becoming a professor of philosophy.

Return to Russia. Service.
Passion for philosophical sciences is one of the characteristic features of the social movement in Russia in the late 1830s and early 1840s. The progressive people of that time tried with the help of abstract philosophical categories to explain the world around them and the contradictions of Russian reality, to find answers to the burning questions of the present that worried them.
However, Turgenev's plans changed. He became disillusioned with idealistic philosophy and gave up hope with its help to solve the questions that worried him. In addition, Turgenev came to the conclusion that science was not his vocation.
At the beginning of 1842, Ivan Sergeevich filed a petition addressed to the Minister of the Interior to enroll him in the service and was soon accepted as an official for special assignments in the office under the command of V. I. Dahl, a famous writer and ethnographer. However, Turgenev did not serve long, and in May 1845 he retired.
Being in the public service gave him the opportunity to collect a lot of vital material, connected primarily with the tragic situation of the peasants and with the destructive power of serfdom, since in the office where Turgenev served, cases of punishment of serfs, all kinds of abuses of officials, etc. n. It was at this time that Turgenev developed a sharply negative attitude towards the bureaucratic orders prevailing in state institutions, towards the callousness and selfishness of St. Petersburg officials. In general, Petersburg life made a depressing impression on Turgenev.

Creativity I. S. Turgenev.
The first work I. S. Turgenev can be considered the dramatic poem "Steno" (1834), which he wrote in iambic pentameter as a student, and in 1836 showed it to his university teacher P. A. Pletnev.
The first publication in print was a small review of the book by A. N. Muravyov "Journey to Russian Holy Places" (1836). Many years later, Turgenev explained the appearance of this first printed work in this way: “I had just passed seventeen years then, I was a student at St. Petersburg University; my relatives, in order to ensure my future career, introduced me to Serbinovich, the then publisher of the Journal of the Ministry of Education. Serbinovich, whom I saw only once, probably wanting to test my abilities, handed me ... Muravyov's book so that I could take it apart; I wrote something about it - and now, almost forty years later, I find out that this "something" has been embossed.
His first works were poetic. His poems, beginning in the late 1830s, began to appear in the journals Sovremennik and Otechestvennye Zapiski. They clearly heard the motifs of the then dominant romantic trend, echoes of the poetry of Zhukovsky, Kozlov, Benediktov. Most of the poems are elegiac reflections about love, about a wasted youth. They, as a rule, were permeated with motives of sadness, sadness, longing. Turgenev himself was later very skeptical about his poems and poems written at this time, and never included them in collected works. “I feel a positive, almost physical antipathy to my poems...,” he wrote in 1874, “I would give dearly if they didn’t exist at all.”
Turgenev was unfair when he spoke so harshly about his poetic experiments. Among them you can find many talentedly written poems, many of which were highly appreciated by readers and critics: "Ballad", "One Again, One...", "Spring Evening", "Misty Morning, Gray Morning..." and others . Some of them were later set to music and became popular romances.
The beginning of his literary activity Turgenev considered 1843 the year when his poem Parasha appeared in print, opening a whole series of works dedicated to the debunking of the romantic hero. Parasha met with a very sympathetic review from Belinsky, who saw in the young author "an extraordinary poetic talent", "true observation, deep thought", "a son of our time, carrying all his sorrows and questions in his chest."
First prose work I. S. Turgenev - essay "Khor and Kalinych" (1847), published in the journal "Sovremennik" and opened a whole cycle of works under the general title "Notes of a Hunter" (1847-1852). "Notes of a Hunter" were created by Turgenev at the turn of the forties and early fifties and appeared in print in the form of separate stories and essays. In 1852, they were combined by the writer into a book that became a major event in Russian social and literary life. According to M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, “Notes of a Hunter” “laid the foundation of a whole literature that has as its object the people and their needs.”
"Hunter's Notes"- This is a book about people's life in the era of serfdom. The images of peasants, distinguished by a sharp practical mind, a deep understanding of life, a sober look at the world around them, capable of feeling and understanding the beautiful, responding to someone else's grief and suffering, rise up alive from the pages of the Hunter's Notes. Before Turgenev, no one portrayed a people like this in Russian literature. And it is no coincidence that after reading the first essay from the Hunter's Notes - "Khor and Kalinich", "Belinsky noticed that Turgenev "came to the people from such a side, from which no one had come before him."
Turgenev wrote most of the "Notes of a Hunter" in France.

Works by I. S. Turgenev
Stories: a collection of short stories "Notes of a Hunter" (1847-1852), "Mumu" (1852), "The Story of Father Alexei" (1877), etc.;
Tales:"Asya" (1858), "First Love" (1860), "Spring Waters" (1872) and others;
Novels: Rudin (1856), Noble Nest (1859), On the Eve (1860), Fathers and Sons (1862), Smoke (1867), New (1877);
Plays:"Breakfast at the leader" (1846), "Where it is thin, there it breaks" (1847), "Bachelor" (1849), "Provincial" (1850), "A month in the country" (1854) and others;
Poetry: the dramatic poem "The Wall" (1834), poems (1834-1849), the poem "Parasha" (1843) and others, the literary and philosophical "Poems in Prose" (1882);
Translations Byron D., Goethe I., Whitman W., Flaubert G.
As well as criticism, journalism, memoirs and correspondence.

Love through life
Turgenev met the famous French singer Polina Viardot back in 1843, in St. Petersburg, where she came on tour. The singer performed a lot and successfully, Turgenev attended all her performances, told everyone about her, praised her everywhere, and quickly separated from the crowd of her countless fans. Their relationship developed and soon reached a climax. The summer of 1848 (like the previous one, like the next one) he spent in Courtavenel, on the estate of Pauline.
Love for Polina Viardot remained both happiness and torment for Turgenev until his last days: Viardot was married, she was not going to divorce her husband, but Turgenev was not driven either. He felt tied. but he was powerless to break the thread. For more than thirty years, the writer, in fact, has become a member of the Viardot family. Pauline's husband (a man, apparently, of angelic patience), Louis Viardot, he survived by only three months.

Sovremennik magazine
Belinsky and his like-minded people have long dreamed of having their own printed organ. This dream came true only in 1846, when Nekrasov and Panaev managed to rent the Sovremennik magazine, founded at one time by A. S. Pushkin and published by P. A. Pletnev after his death. Turgenev took a direct part in the organization of the new journal. According to P. V. Annenkov, Turgenev was “the soul of the whole plan, its organizer ... Nekrasov consulted with him every day; The journal was filled with his works.
In January 1847, the first issue of the updated Sovremennik was published. Turgenev published several works in it: a cycle of poems, a review of the tragedy by N.V. Kukolnik "Lieutenant General Patkul ...", "Modern Notes" (together with Nekrasov). But the real decoration of the first book of the magazine was the essay “Khor and Kalinich”, which opened a whole cycle of works under the general title “Notes of a Hunter”.

Recognition in the West
Beginning in the 60s, the name of Turgenev became widely known in the West. Turgenev maintained close friendly relations with many Western European writers. He was well acquainted with P. Mérimée, J. Sand, G. Flaubert, E. Zola, A. Daudet, Guy de Maupassant, and knew many figures of English and German culture closely. All of them considered Turgenev an outstanding realist artist and not only highly appreciated his works, but also learned from him. Addressing Turgenev, J. Sand said: “Teacher! “We all have to go through your school!”
Turgenev spent almost his entire life in Europe, only occasionally visiting Russia. He was a prominent figure in the literary life of the West. He closely communicated with many French writers, and in 1878 he even chaired (together with Victor Hugo) the International Literary Congress in Paris. It is no coincidence that it was with Turgenev that the worldwide recognition of Russian literature began.
The greatest merit of Turgenev was that he was an active propagandist of Russian literature and culture in the West: he himself translated the works of Russian writers into French and German, edited the translations of Russian authors, in every possible way contributed to the publication of the works of his compatriots in various countries of Western Europe, introduced the Western European public to works of Russian composers and artists. About this side of his activity, Turgenev, not without pride, said: “I consider it a great happiness of my life that I brought my fatherland somewhat closer to the perception of the European public.”

Connection with Russia
Almost every spring or summer, Turgenev came to Russia. Each of his visits became a whole event. The writer was a welcome guest everywhere. He was invited to speak at all kinds of literary and charity evenings, at friendly meetings.
At the same time, Ivan Sergeevich retained the "lordly" habits of a native Russian nobleman until the end of his life. The appearance itself betrayed its origin to the inhabitants of European resorts, despite the impeccable command of foreign languages. In the best pages of his prose, there is much from the silence of the estate life of landlord Russia. Hardly any of the writers - contemporaries of Turgenev's Russian language is so pure and correct, capable, as he himself used to say, "perform miracles in capable hands." Turgenev often wrote his novels "on the topic of the day."
The last time Turgenev visited his homeland was in May 1881. To his friends, he repeatedly "expressed his determination to return to Russia and settle there." However, this dream did not come true. In early 1882, Turgenev fell seriously ill, and there was no question of moving. But all his thoughts were at home, in Russia. He thought about her, bedridden by a serious illness, about her future, about the glory of Russian literature.
Shortly before his death, he expressed a wish to be buried in St. Petersburg, at the Volkov cemetery, next to Belinsky.
The last will of the writer was carried out

"Poems in Prose".
"Poems in prose" are rightly considered the final chord of the writer's literary activity. They reflected almost all the themes and motives of his work, as if re-felt by Turgenev in his declining years. He himself considered "Poems in Prose" only sketches of his future works.
Turgenev called his lyrical miniatures "Selenia" ("Old Man"), but the editor of "Bulletin of Europe" Stasyulevich replaced it with another one that remained forever - "Poems in Prose". In his letters, Turgenev sometimes called them "Zigzags", thereby emphasizing the contrast of themes and motives, images and intonations, and the unusual nature of the genre. The writer was afraid that "the river of time in its course" "will carry away these light sheets." But "Poems in Prose" met with the most cordial reception and forever entered the golden fund of our literature. No wonder P. V. Annenkov called them "a fabric of the sun, rainbows and diamonds, women's tears and the nobility of men's thought", expressing the general opinion of the reading public.
"Poems in Prose" is an amazing fusion of poetry and prose into a kind of unity that allows you to fit the "whole world" into the grain of small reflections, called by the author "the last breaths ... of an old man." But these "sighs" have conveyed to our days the inexhaustibility of the writer's vital energy.

Monuments to I. S. Turgenev

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Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883)

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev came from a wealthy noble family. He was born on October 28, 1818 in the city of Orel. The writer's father was a guards officer, an educated and kind man. After retirement, he lived in the countryside, but died young in 1834.

Mother, Varvara Petrovna, was the owner of huge estates not only in Oryol, but also in neighboring provinces. She was descended from the ancient family of the Lutovinovs and, like her ancestors, was distinguished by cruelty towards the serfs.

Little Ivan spent his childhood in his mother's family estate, in the village of Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, Oryol province. The wayward and despotic treatment of the mother with the serfs, the arbitrariness of the landowner, the boy had to observe daily. This left a deep imprint in the soul, and in the future, much of what he saw was reflected in his works. Serf nannies and uncles were the first educators of the future writer, later they were replaced by foreign tutors.

In 1827 the Turgenevs moved to Moscow. The education of children was continued in a private boarding school, but later they were taught at home with the involvement of the best teachers. Such attention to the education of children led to the fact that at the age of 15 Turgenev was ready to enter a higher educational institution. In 1833, he successfully passed the exams at the Moscow University in the verbal department.

A year later, the family moved to St. Petersburg, and Ivan, having successfully completed his first year, transferred to the philological department of the philosophical faculty of St. Petersburg University. Turgenev's favorite teacher was Pushkin's friend Professor P.A. Pletnev, whom the young student, in his own words, revered as a demigod.

Turgenev's creative activity began in his student years. His first works (the lyrical poems "Evening", "Ballad", etc., the dramatic poem "The Wall") were distinguished by romanticism and at the same time immaturity. They clearly traced the influence of the poems of Pushkin and Byron, the romantic writings of popular Russian writers of the 1830s. However, the true talent of the young writer was already noticeable here, and in 1838 some of his youthful poems were published in the Sovremennik magazine.

Turgenev graduated from the University in the fall of 1837, after which he left to study philosophy in Germany. He returned to Russia in the spring of 1841, living alternately in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and spent the summer in Spassky.

He actively prepared for scientific activity, but gradually literature became more and more significant for him. For some time Turgenev served as an official for special assignments in the Ministry of the Interior, but in 1845 he retired.

Works written and published in 1842-1846 (poems Parasha, Landowner, stories Andrey Kolosov, Breter, Three Portraits) testify that the writer began to move away from romanticism and more and more established himself on the positions of realism.

In the spring of 1843, Turgenev met Belinsky, and their friendship began. They became especially close in the summer of 1847, while in Salzburg, where the critic was being treated. Turgenev lived abroad since the spring of 1847 in the family of the French singer Pauline Viardot, who was a friend of the writer until his death. In Paris, he witnessed the French Revolution

1848. His impressions of this event are reflected in the essays "Our sent!" and "The Man with Gray Glasses".

In the autumn of 1850, the writer's mother died, and he received a substantial inheritance. Turgenev wrote: “... I immediately released the courtyards to freedom; he transferred the peasants who wished for quitrent, contributed in every possible way to the success of the general liberation, at the ransom he gave up a fifth part everywhere ... ”In 1852, Gogol died.

The shocked Turgenev wrote a note about his death for the St. Turgenev asked friends to publish a note in Moskovskie Vedomosti, and before the ban came, it appeared in print.

The result was the arrest of Turgenev, after which the exile followed: “Send him to live in his homeland, under supervision.” However, the main reason for the arrest and exile was the dissatisfaction of officials with the Hunter's Notes.

The writer was in exile for about a year and a half. At the end of 1853 he was allowed to leave the village, but he still remained under police surveillance. Returning to St. Petersburg, Turgenev began to work actively, in the editorial office of Sovremennik. In the 1850s, such works as "The Nest of Nobles", "Rudin", "On the Eve" were created, and in early August 1860.

Turgenev began writing the novel Fathers and Sons, which he completed in July 1861. Turgenev spent the last fifteen years of his life mainly in Paris.

3.8 / 5. 13

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