Nikolai Rodionovich Sudovschikov (1770 or 1771 - December 3, 1812) - Russian playwright , college adviser .
| Nikolai Rodionovich Shipbuilders | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1770 |
| Date of death | December 3, 1812 |
| Citizenship |  Russian empire |
| Profession | playwright |
| Years of activity | 1790s - 1810s |
| Performances | "Unheard of wonder, or Honest Secretary"; "Experience of art" |
| Awards |  |
After the premiere on April 24, 1809, on the metropolitan stage of his first comedy “Unheard of Marvel, or Honest Secretary”, he gained some fame and was appointed an official in the Directorate of Imperial Spectacles and Music, to the key post of writer (1810); this position made it possible to have extensive connections and some influence in the literary and theatrical environment; however, he did not hold this post for long, due to premature death (1812).
His sharply satirical play, “Unheard of Marvel, or Honest Secretary”, as very successful, was staged for another twenty-five years, on a par with Kapnist’s Yaboda, but information about its author, unlike information about the author of Yabed, rather scarce [1] .
Biography
The son of artillery major general Rodion Artemyevich Sudovshchikov, who died in the position of chief commandant of Yekaterinburg in December 1789 [2] .
In 1785, the Bombardier Regiment was recorded as a sergeant in the 1st artillery.
In 1790, with the rank of ensign, he was an adjutant to his father’s colleague, Lieutenant General P.I. Melissino , who was first present at the office of the Main Artillery and Fortification.
In 1793, the Kanonirsky regiment was appointed auditor in the 2nd artillery.
Obviously, his father’s connections and an easy and sociable character quickly promoted the young officer through the ranks. The ship’s life was led by the life of the capital’s cuteness and hang, as a result of which this “merry fellow, witty interlocutor, pouring rhyming phrases in the conversation, compiler of caustic epigrams, rowdy and prankster” came across the deanery administration every now and then; he was repeatedly saved from imminent troubles by the lords of the Empress, who loved him for wit, Empress Ober-Stalmeister L. A. Naryshkin and Prosecutor General A. A. Vyazemsky [3] , in whose house he lived [4] .
It seems that once the Shipbuilders went too far, and in 1794 the lieutenant regiment was transferred to lieutenant in Sumy . In other words, deported from the capital.
Having a lot of talents, with the exception of military talents, in 1796, the Shipbuilders took advantage of the change of power, resigned, in the rank of a second major , and returned to Petersburg. Having renewed some of his former connections, he became especially close with his former friend, writer N. F. Emin , who at that time was teaching at the Academy of Sciences, and through him, with his educated surroundings. At the same time, he sought himself in the public service: first in the Commission of the new Code; then at the Manufactory College ; until, finally, he settled on the modest post of adviser to the Kazan expedition of the Departments Department (1801-1809).
In 1802, the manuscript of the play “Unheard of Marvel, or Honest Secretary” was handed over to the Censorship Committee - for some reason, it was signed by A. M. Chenyhaev , because of which later doubts were expressed about N.'s undeniable, in general, authorship R. Sudovshchikova [4] . In the same year the play was published in Moscow, however, it was allowed to the stage only in 1809, at the benefit of the common favorite of the capital comedian Rykalov . With some condemnation “for crude naturalism”, the play was nevertheless accepted by the public “for the amusement of scenes and characters” and, under the name “Generous Secretary”, remained on the stage of the capital’s theater until the 1820s, and in the provinces until later, until the first half 1830s.
Sudovshchikov's career steeply went up. Soon after the premiere, he moved to the post of the Director of Writing in the Directorate of Imperial Spectacles and Music. The directorate was then headed by the son of his former patron, Ober-Stalmeister Lev Naryshkin, - Ober-chamberlain Alexander Lvovich Naryshkin , whose right hand was an old friend of the already mentioned N.F. Emin - the outstanding playwright Prince A. A. Shakhovskaya .
The following year, the Shipbuilders, as an employee member, already participates in the solemnly opened by G. R. Derzhavin on March 14, 1811, the literary society “ Conversations of Lovers of the Russian Word ”. In the papers of the company, he was recorded in the 3rd category [5] , the Trustee of which was, for example, I. I. Dmitriev , the Chairman was D. I. Khvostov , and among the full members of the category were Prince A. A. Shakhovskaya and Prince B V. Golitsin .
A month and a half after the first meeting of Conversations, on May 3, 1811, N. R. Sudovshchikov became a holder of the Order of St. Vladimir of the IV degree.
Inspired by success, Sudovschikov writes the following play - “Experience of Art”, which describes in verse the arrangement of a certain experienced actor to work in the theater, and representing the director of the theater in turn a teacher, a German, a clerk, a matchmaker, a soldier and a hunter. Then the war began, at the end of which, in December 1812, N.R. Sudovshchikov, at the age of about 40 years old, unexpectedly died. The play remained in the manuscript and was published only in 1849 [6] .
For a long time, N. R. Sudovshchikova was considered the author of yet another play - “Do not know, don’t be jealous, but you know, be so silent” [3] , but it was proved that the play belongs to the pen of Sudovshchikov’s friend, writer N. F. Emin [4] .
Notes
- ↑ N. R. Sudovshchikov Unheard of wonder, or an honest secretary // Poetic comedy of the late XVIII - early XI century. / Introductory article, preparation of the text and notes by M.O. Yankovsky. - Second edition. - M.-L: Soviet writer, 1964. - ("The poet's library").
- ↑ Devikov E.I. History of the Yekaterinburg Kremlin // Evening Yekaterinburg: Newspaper.
- ↑ 1 2 Shipbuilders, Nikolai Rodionovich // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. , 1912. - T. 20: Suvorova - Tkachev. - S. 104-105.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Shipbuilders Nikolai Rodionovich // Dictionary of Russian writers of the 18th century. Issue 3. (P-Ya) / Panchenko A.M .. - 2010 .-- S. 181. - 471 p. - ISBN 978-5-02-025203-5 (Issue 3).
- ↑ The categories in the Conversation were introduced only to maintain order in the Readings; otherwise, the categories remained equal to each other. See: Conversation of lovers of Russian literature // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ Shipbuilders N.R. Experience of art. Comedy in one act, in verse // Works of Sudovshchikova / Smirdin. - St. Petersburg .: The Printing House of the Imperial Academy of Sciences., 1849.