Venevitinov, Dmitry Vladimirovich

Dmitry Venevitinov was born on September 14 (26), 1805 in Moscow in the parish of the now-lost church of Archdeacon Evpl , which was located at the intersection of Myasnitskaya Street and Milyutinsky Lane. His father, a retired ensign of the Semenovsky regiment, Vladimir Petrovich Venevitinov (1777-1814), came from a wealthy Voronezh noble family . Mother, Anna Nikolaevna, came from a princely family of Obolensky-Bely . Through her, Dmitry Venevitinov was in a distant relationship with A.S. Pushkin (he was a fourth cousin).

Venevitinov grew up in a preserved house in Krivokolenny Lane , where he received a classic home education, which was led by his mother. French and Latin languages, as well as classical literature, were taught by Venevitinov, his tutor, D'Horrer, a retired French officer, Greek, by the Greek Beil (Baylo), and painting, by the artist Lapersh. Professor of Moscow University A.F. Merzlyakov taught Russian literature, and music, most likely, I.I. Genishta . He studied Venevitinov well and the German language, apparently, under the guidance of H.I. Gercke, the tutor of his early deceased brother Peter.

In 1822, Dmitry Venevitinov entered Moscow University , where he became interested in German philosophy and romantic poetry . At the university, he attended separate lectures, in particular, the courses of A.F. Merzlyakov , I.I. Davydov , M.G. Pavlov and Loder . In 1823, he successfully passed the university course exam and in 1824 entered the service of the Moscow Archive of the College of Foreign Affairs (“ archival youths ” - ironically called the employees of this archive Pushkin in his novel “Eugene Onegin”). In August - September 1824, together with his younger brother Alexei, he visited his Voronezh estates, which was clearly reflected in his letters.

Venevitinov organized together with Prince V. F. Odoevsky the secret philosophical “ Society of Wisdom ”, which also included I. V. Kireyevsky , A. I. Koshelev , V. P. Titov, N. A. Melgunov and others. Attended the meeting of the circle, formally not being its members, M.P. Pogodin and S.P. Shevyryov . The circle studied German idealistic philosophy - the works of Friedrich Schelling , Immanuel Kant , Fichte , Oaken , Friedrich Schlegel and others. Venevitinov took an active part in the publication of the journal " Moscow Herald ".

In November 1826 , Venevitinov, under the patronage of Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya , moved from Moscow to Petersburg , joining the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the entrance to St. Petersburg, the poet, along with F. S. Khomyakov and the librarian of Count Laval O. Voshe, escorted to Siberia the wife of the Decembrist Prince. S.P. Trubetskoy, Ekaterina Ivanovna (nee Laval), was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the plot of the Decembrists . He spent three days in custody at a guardhouse in St. Petersburg. Interrogated Venevitinov on duty general of the General Staff A.N. Potapov. According to biographers, the arrest and interrogation had a strong effect on Venevitinov. Venevitinov and Khomyakov settled in the Lansky house. Staying away from relatives and friends, away from his native Moscow depressed the poet, although the circle of friends in Petersburg was quite wide: V.F. Odoevsky and A.I. Koshelev already lived here. A frequent guest of Venevitinov was A. Delvig.

Venevitinov caught a severe cold on March 2, running lightly dressed from a ball in Lansky's house into his outbuilding. He died on March 15 (27), 1827 in St. Petersburg, surrounded by friends, apparently from severe pneumonia, before he reached the age of 22. The poet was buried in the Church of St. Nicholas. The body was sent to Moscow. D.V. Venevitinov was buried on April 2, 1827 at the cemetery of the Simonov Monastery in Moscow. At the funeral were A. Pushkin and A. Mickiewicz .

Venevitinov bequeathed to put a ring from Herculaneum on his finger at the hour of his death - a gift from Zinaida Volkonskaya. When he fell into oblivion, A.S. Khomyakov put a ring on his finger. Suddenly Venevitinov woke up and asked: “Are they crowning me?” And he died. In the thirties of the twentieth century, during the demolition of the Simonov Monastery, the ashes of D.V. Venevitinov were exhumed and reburied at the Novodevichy Cemetery , 2 educational sites. 13 row. The ashes of Dmitry’s mother and brother, Alexei Venevitinov, were not reburied. The graves were destroyed. During exhumation, the ring was removed from the poet’s finger by the wife of the architect Peter Baranovsky, Maria Yuryevna, and is now stored in the Literary Museum ^[2] .

In his literary work, Venevitinov showed versatile talents and interests. He was not only a poet, but also a prose writer, wrote literary, programmatic and critical articles (his polemic with N. A. Polev about the first chapter of Pushkin's “Eugene Onegin” is known), translated prose works by German authors, including Goethe and Hoffmann (E. A. Maimin. “Dmitry Venevitinov and his literary heritage.” 1980).

Venevitinov wrote only about 50 poems. Many of them, especially the later ones, are filled with deep philosophical meaning, which is a distinctive feature of the poet's poetry.

The central theme of Venevitinov’s last poems is the fate of the poet. In them, the cult of the romantic poet-chosen one is highly appreciated, highly exalted above the crowd and the ordinary:

... But in a pure thirst for pleasure
Do not trust every harp
Not many true prophets
With the seal of mystery on the brow
With the gifts of lessons
With the verb of heaven on earth.

A number of Venevitinov’s poems of 1826-1827 written several months before the poet’s death (Testament, To my ring, Poet and friend) can rightfully be called prophetic. In them, the author seemed to foresee his early demise:

... Soul told me a long time ago:
You will rush lightning in the world!
You have everything given to feel
But you will not enjoy life.

Venevitinov was also known as a gifted artist, musician, and music critic. When the posthumous publication was being prepared, Vladimir Odoevsky proposed including not only poems, but also drawings and musical works: “I would like to publish them together with the works of my friend, who miraculously combines all three arts.”

• “Works of D.V. V.” (1829),
• The Complete Works of D.V. Venevitinov, edited by A.V. Pyatkovsky. SPb., 1862
• "Poems of Venevitinov" (1884)
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• Venevitinov D. V. "Poems. Prose "M., 1980.

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• Barsukov N., Life and works of Pogodin. - St. Petersburg., 1888-1899 (see the index for the last XXII t.).
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• Sakulin P.N., From the History of Russian Idealism, Prince. V.F. Odoevsky, v. I. - M., 1913.
• Shpitser S., Materials for the biography of Venevitinov // “Voice of the Past”. - No. 1. - 1914.
• Oksman Yu., Censorship materials about Venevitinov // Literary Museum. - I. - P., 1921.
• Straten V.V., Venevitinov and The Moscow Herald, Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences. lang and verbal. R.A.N., vol. XXIX. - L., 1924.
• Mordovchenko N.I. , Russian criticism of the first quarter of the 19th century - M. - L., 1959.
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• Kamensky Z.A. Moscow Circle of Wisdom. - M., 1980 .-- 327 s.
• Novichikhin E. G. “Happy, who lived like him ...”: He will enter. article // Dmitry Venevitinov. The estates of the Venevitinov. The creative heritage of the poet. - Voronezh: Center for the Spiritual Revival of the Black Earth Region, 2010. - S. 5-12.
• Imperial Moscow University: 1755-1917: Encyclopedic Dictionary / A. Yu. Andreev, D. A. Tsygankov. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2010. - S. 117-118. - 894 p. - 2,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8243-1429-8 .

• Boldakov I.M. Venevitinov, Dimitry Vladimirovich // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• The Complete Works of D.V. Venevitinov, edited by A.V. Pyatkovsky. - SPb., 1862. Facsimile reproduction.