Zelinsky, Cornelius Lucianovich

Parents: father - Lucian Teofilovich Zelinsky (1870-1941), engineer, during the First World War he served in the Office of the Kronstadt Fortress , later worked at the OGPU as an engineer, mother - Elizaveta Nikolaevna Kiseleva (1869-1945), a teacher of Russian language and literature , subsequently a housewife. ^[1] The younger brother Vyacheslav (born in 1900) died in 1936, while the younger sister Tamara (1898-1965) lived a longer life, having died at the age of 67.

In 1915, Cornelius Zelinsky graduated from the 6th Moscow gymnasium ^[2] . In the same year he entered Moscow University at the philosophical department of the historical and philological department, which he successfully graduated in 1918. After graduation, he went to his father in Kronstadt , ^[1] where he began to edit and publish in the newspaper Kronstadt Izvestia, and also, as a war correspondent (mainly on the Southern Front), in the newspapers ROSTA (Russian Telegraph Agency) . In 1919-1920 he worked in Ukraine. When attacking Kiev, the Poles moved to Kharkov . At the end of the civil war, he worked in the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR as editor of the secret information department, and then secretary of the Small Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR. ^[1] Two years later he moved to Moscow, where he took an active part in literary life, since 1923 - as a literary critic ^[3] .

His circle of acquaintances included V. Mayakovsky , Sun. Ivanov , L. Leonov , S. Yesenin , I. Selvinsky .

He worked as a correspondent for Izvestia in Paris, as a literary assistant to the Ambassador of the USSR H. Rakovsky (1926).

K. L. Zelinsky - one of the founders (together with I. L. Selvinsky), chief theoretician and literary critic of the constructivist group , which also included B. Agapov , V. Inber , I. A. Aksenov , E. Gabrilovich , V. Lugovskoy , E. Bagritsky , N. Panov (Misty) , A. Kvyatkovsky ^[4] . In the years 1925-1928 K. Zelinsky wrote several theoretical works that performed the function of manifesto and theoretical foundation of constructivism . ^[five]

He understood the phenomenon of constructivism more than just a literary direction . It was interpreted as the mood of the transitional period to socialism. “This is the style of the era, its forming principle, which we will find in all countries of our planet, where there is a human culture, connected in one way or another with the culture of the world” ^[6] . In his opinion, the development of technology changes and subjugates human nature, allowing for a unit of force to produce an ever-increasing effect (“cargoification”). Literary constructivism is called upon to carry out the “cargoification” of culture and, above all, poetry, loading every poetic word with ever greater meaning. Particular importance was attached to the “semantic dominant” - the theme of the work, to which all its components must obey. This understanding of the principles of artistic creation was disclosed in the book “Poetry as a Meaning” (1929), where the logical meaning of a work was interpreted as a formal element (a work as a construction), which brings this view closer to the formalistic approach to literature; in a series of literary and critical portraits, the works of poets V. Inber, E. Bagritsky, V. Lugovsky, I. Selvinsky were considered from the angle of practical embodiment of the ideas of literary constructivism in poetry. With the tightening of ideological control on the part of the party and the dissolution of most literary associations, Zelinsky was forced to criticize this direction (article “The End of Constructivism”, 1930).

KL Zelinsky was one of the participants in a meeting of Soviet writers with members of the government on October 26, 1932 in Moscow at Gorky’s apartment with the participation of Stalin , Molotov , Kaganovich , Voroshilov and Postyshev . Issues related to the creation of a creative union of Soviet writers were discussed. About this he - the only one of the many present - left detailed notes ^[7] .

In the prewar years, Zelinsky contributed to the publication of the posthumous collection of short stories by A. S. Green , for which he wrote a preface. The expression “ Greenland ”, which first appeared there, is still used ^[8] . Zelinsky - one of the authors of the book " Channel named after Stalin " (1934). Starting from this time, for twenty years (1934–1955), he avoided active participation in literary activity, not releasing books and limited himself to reviews and small articles in periodicals. In 1940, among other reviewers, he wrote a critical review for the Goslitizdat publishing house on the book of her poems proposed by M. Tsvetaeva for publication, most of them written in exile, describing it as “formalism”. The book was not printed, which destroyed Tsvetaeva’s hopes to begin to print fully after her return to the USSR. As a result, the poetess was turned off not only from the literary process, but also from the community of writers, which was another step towards her suicide. ^[9]

On the other hand, Cornelius Zelinsky, acting together with Nikolai Tikhonov , unexpectedly started publishing the only for many years a small collection of poems by Anna Akhmatova (he came out with great delays and difficulties in Tashkent only in 1943: “Anna Akhmatova, Favorites, Poems”) . True, the work on the collection did not go smoothly: when Akhmatova compiled her own version of a selection of poems from different years, Zelinsky intervened in the process and began to demand over and over again more and more serious alterations. Lydia Chukovskaya , who participated in the negotiations and helped Anna Akhmatova to select poems, very soon became desperate from Zelinsky's claims. On May 16, 1942, she wrote in her diary: “I do not like this man: he has evil eyes. He said something vague about the book, it is clear that he has no ideas, but more fear . ” And a few days later, Zelinsky brought Akhmatova her revised version of the book, and even with her introduction, which Lidia Chukovskaya identified as “terrifying in ignorance and vulgarity . ” At the request of Akhmatova, she completely rewrote this preface, retaining Zelinsky's signature. Zelinsky somehow reconciled himself to the alteration of his preface, but he categorically did not allow him to strongly change the composition of the verses he proposed, citing the will of some Moscow authorities. ^[ten]

Zelinsky knew A. A. Fadeev and his family closely; in the late forties and early fifties he worked on an unpublished book about him under the title “Soviet Writer”. In truncated form, she came out as "A. A. Fadeev "in 1956. Memories of the events of the last years of Fadeev’s life under the working title “In June 1954” were published only in 1989 ^[11] .

On the recommendation of A. M. Gorky, Zelinsky began to develop national literatures of the peoples that were part of the USSR. In the 1950s, he played a leading role in the scientific study of Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian and other literatures. His literary interests also included Soviet and foreign writers: M. Gorky , A. Tolstoy , M. Shaginyan , P. Vasiliev , R. Rolland , Salvatore Quasimodo , D. Gulia , Dzhambul and others.

Thanks to his many years of efforts and repeated appeals to A. Fadeev, K. Fedin , M. Sholokhov , N. Tikhonov and other influential Soviet writers, as well as to the department of culture of the Central Committee of the CPSU , the twenty-year (since 1934) and extremely rarely violated actual prohibition to publish books by Sergei Yesenin . In 1953, the poet’s poems were published in the Small Series of the poet’s library, since 1955, in large editions with reprints, a two-volume edition (together with P. I. Chagin ). In 1961, a five-volume collected works of the poet was published (circulation of 500,000!) With an introductory article by K. Zelinsky. Under his leadership and active participation, a scientific study and generalization of the poet's work was begun.

In the period 1948-1969 (intermittently) K. L. Zelinsky - Senior Researcher at the Institute of World Literature. A. M. Gorky . He participated in the persecution of Boris Pasternak , speaking sharply critically at the famous meeting of the Writers' Union on October 31, 1958. When asked why he did this, he answered: “I thought that they would plant again, as in 1937” ^[12] .

Zelinsky owns critical reviews and articles on general issues of Soviet literary criticism and aesthetics (On Lyrics, 1946; Kamo Gryady, 1960; The Paradox of Criticism (On Disputes about the Genre), 1961; Literature and the Man of the Future, 1962 ) Long-term (1957-1970) member of the editorial board of the journal Voprosy Literatury .

In 1960, he published the book “At the Turn of the Two Ages. Literary meetings of 1917-1920 ”, then it was continued in the book of memoirs“ In a Changing World ”(1969).

He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals ^[13] .

Cornelius Zelinsky was married four times. The first wife is Evdokia Rafinskaya, married to her in 1923, the son Kai was born. In 1927, he married Elena Moiseevna Wolfeld, who in 1942 (during the most difficult times of the Tashkent evacuation) gave birth to a son, Vladimir . Immediately after the war, in 1946, Zelinsky entered into a third marriage with a dentist Ekaterina Belyaeva, who gave birth in 1949 to the son of Alexander. The last wife of the scientist is actress Lyudmila Zankovskaya .

He lived in Moscow in the “House of Writing Cooperative” ( Kamergersky Lane , 2) and at the dacha in the publishing village of Peredelkino (Dovzhenko Str. 6)

He was buried in the cemetery in Peredelkino .

Books

• Zelinsky K. L. Poetry as a meaning. A book about constructivism. - M .: "Federation", 1929.
• Zelinsky K. L. Critical letters. - M.: Federation, 1932
• Zelinsky K. L. Family Chronicle of the Lartsevs. - Ed. writers in Leningrad, 1933.
• Zelinsky K. L. Critical letters. - M .: Soviet literature, 1934.
• Zelinsky K.L. Dzhambul. - M .: Soviet writer, 1955.
• Zelinsky K.L.A. A. Fadeev. - M .: Soviet writer, 1956.
• Zelinsky K.L. (co-authored with H. Bgajba). Dmitry Gulia. - M. , 1956.
• Zelinsky K. L. Literature of the peoples of the USSR. - M .: Goslitizdat, 1957.
• Zelinsky K. L. At the turn of the two eras. M., 1959.
• Zelinsky K. L. October and national literature. - M .: Fiction, 1967.
• Zelinsky K. L. At the turn of two eras: Literary meetings 1917-1920. - ed. 2nd. - M .: Soviet writer, 1962.
• Zelinsky K.L. Legends of Mayakovsky (brochure) by B. Ogonyok. No. 45, M, True. 1965 63 sec
• Zelinsky K. L. In a changing world. - M .: Soviet writer, 1969. - 424 p., 20,000 copies.
• Zelinsky K. L. Soviet literature: Problems and people (in English) Soviet: Problems and people. - M .: Progress, 1970 .-- 276 p.
• Zelinsky K. L. On the literary road. Essays, memoirs, essays / Comp. and publ. A.K. Zelinsky. - Podolsk: Academy-XXI, 2014 .-- 495 p. - ISBN 978-591428-050-2 .
• Zelinsky K. L. Poetry as a meaning. A book about constructivism. / Comp. and publ. A.K. Zelinsky, foreword D. Davydova .. - M .: OGI, 2016 .-- 528 p. - ISBN 978-5-94282-768-7 .

Articles, Publications

• Zelinsky K. Style and steel. - M .: Izvestia, 1923, June 1.
• Zelinsky K. Constructivism and poetry. - M .: on Sat The Exchange of All, 1924.
• Zelinsky K. Ideology and tasks of Soviet architecture. - M .: Lef No. 3 (7), 1925.
• Zelinsky K. Gosplan of literature. - M-L .: on Saturday. . "State Planning Committee for Literature, Circle, 1925.
• Zelinsky K. NOT art language. - M-L .: on Saturday. . "State Planning Committee for Literature, Circle, 1925.
• Zelinsky K. Constructivism and socialism. - M .: on Sat "Business", State Publishing House, 1929.
• Zelinsky K. The end of constructivism. - M .: journal. “At the literary post”, No. 20, 1930.
• Zelinsky K.L. The process is against those who are sick of the world (“The Life of Klim Samghin”). - M .: published by Dep. Brochure, 1931.
• Zelinsky K. Life and work of A. S. Green. // Green A. S. Fantastic short stories. - M., 1934. - S. 3-35 ^[14]
• Zelinsky K. L. Fighting German aggression in Russian literature (Brochure). - M: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1941.
• Zelinsky K.V.G. Belinsky. (On the centenary of the day of death). Brochure. // Latgosizdat, Riga, 1948, 53 p.
• Zelinsky K.L. Poetry of Sergei Yesenin // Sergey Yesenin. Sobr. Op. in two volumes. - M., 1956.V. 1
• Zelinsky K.L. Kamo Gryadyshi? // Literary newspaper, March 5 and 10, 1960
• Zelinsky K.L. "Thoughts about our century" Zhurn. "New Time", 1961, No. 45
• Zelinsky K.L. The Paradox of Criticism. October. 1961. No12
• Zelinsky K.L. Literature and the man of the future. Questions of literature (M.). - 1962. - No. 2.
• Zelinsky K. L. In Krasnaya Novi in ​​1923 // Memoirs of Sergei Yesenin. - M .: Moscow Worker, 1965.
• Zelinsky K.L. In June 1954 (memories of Fadeev), publ. A. Zelinsky, journal. "Questions of Literature" 1989, No. 6
• Zelinsky K.L. One meeting at M. Gorky, publ. A. Zelinsky, journal. "Questions of literature" 1991, No. 5

• Information note about LCC // Poetry as a meaning, Federation , M., 1929
• Malakhov S. The Theory of Constructivism // " Press and Revolution ", 1929, No. 4, ibid.
• Poetics and methodology of constructivism // "Press and Revolution" 1929, No. 8;
• Gorelov V. The philosophy of constructivism // " Star ", 1929, No. 8
• Rozanov I. N. Russian lyrics, part 1, “ Nikitinsky Subbotniks ”, M., 1929.
• Dychko D.K. Zelinsky. At the turn of two eras // "Star", 1960, No. 3;
• Mikhalevich A. ' 'On the “cold integral” and “warm flesh of poetry”. polemic. notes (on the article "Camo ridge") // " October ", 1961, No. 5
• Sidorina E.V. Russian constructivism: sources, ideas, practice. M., 1995
• Sidorina E. V. [The chapter on constructivism] // Avant-garde in the culture of the XX century (1900-1930 ..): Theory. Story. Poetics: in 2 books. - M .: IMLI RAS, 2010
• Davydov D. M. "The crest of a giant wave" in the book. Poetry as a Meaning - M.: OGI, 2016

• Zelinsky, Cornelius Lutsianovich // Brief Literary Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. A.A. Surkov . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1962-1978.
• Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). Foundation 1604.
• zelinski.org - official site of Cornelia Zelinsky