Chirikov, Evgeny Nikolaevich

Born on July 24 ( August 5 ), 1864 in a poor noble family. In connection with the official movements of the father, the family often changed places of residence in Kazan and Simbirsk provinces . He studied at the University of Kazan at the Faculty of Law, then moved to the Faculty of Mathematics. For participation in the riots in 1887 he was expelled (along with Lenin ) and exiled to Nizhny Novgorod . He was influenced by populist and social democratic views. He was arrested twice, lived under police supervision in Tsaritsyn , Astrakhan , Kazan , Samara , Minsk ( 1887-1902 ). I tried various earnings - the keeper of the kerosene station, the accountant on the railway, the auditor in the steamboat company and others.

A student began writing in provincial newspapers. After the first literary successes he moved to Moscow , then from 1907 he lived in St. Petersburg , had a dacha in Kelomyaki (Komarovo).

In 1918, together with his wife Valentina Georgievna Grigorieva (1875–1966) ^[1] - an actress who performed under the stage name Iolshina, left for Rostov-on-Don , worked in the literary department of OSVAG . In 1920 , after leaving Sevastopol , arrived in Constantinople . In early 1921 he moved to Sofia , and from 1922 settled in Prague . He lectured in Prague and Belgrade , participated in the activities of Russian organizations, collaborated in Russian and Czech periodicals.

Died January 18, 1932 in Prague . The funeral was attended by representatives of Russian and Czech organizations, including Karel Kramarzh . He was buried in the Olshansky cemetery .

Collaborated in the provincial newspapers Astrakhansky Vestnik , Astrakhansky Leaf, Kazan Volzhsky Vestnik, Samara Vestnik. He printed a cycle of poems in the Collection of the Volzhsky Vestnik ( 1885 ). The first story "Red" was published in the newspaper "Volzhsky Vestnik" ( 1886 ). From 1893 he began to cooperate in the metropolitan magazines "Peace of God", "Russian Wealth" , "Northern Messenger", " Life ".

From 1900 he wrote plays (“Ivan Mironych”, 1904 ; “Outside in the Wing”, 1902 ; “Men”, 1905 and many others), which were staged in metropolitan and provincial theaters. The play “Jews” ( 1904 ), staged in the same year in Russian in Berlin , and in 1905 in German in Vienna, caused a great resonance. In 1905, his satirical poem “In Prison” (From the Songs of the “Free Citizen”) attracted the attention.

He was a shareholder of the publishing association "Knowledge" , which released his collected works in 8 volumes ( 1903 - 1909 ). Collaborated in the almanac of the publishing house "Rosehip" and the collection "Earth". The heads of the autobiographical trilogy "Life of Tarkhanov" were published in the journal " Vestnik Evropy ". He published collections of stories "Flowers of Memories" ( 1912 ), "Early Shoots" ( 1913 ), "Volga Tales" ( 1916 ), recreating the atmosphere of the 1880s. He wrote “plays for the screen”, in fact, screenplays, “The love of the State Counselor” ( 1915 ) and “The Virgin Mountains” ( 1918 ).

In exile, he participated in the Prague Russian editions, collaborated with the Riga newspaper Segodnya and Kovensky Echo. He published a pamphlet “Smerdykov of the Russian Revolution (The Role of Gorky in the Russian Revolution)” ( 1921 ), a story about the revolutionary “Devastated Soul” ( 1922 ), a novel about the revolution “The Beast from the Abyss” ( 1923 ), the end of the autobiographical trilogy “The Life of Tarkhanov” “ Family "( 1925 ), also" My novel. Notes of a Refugee ”( 1926 ), a five-volume autobiographical novel“ Father's House ”( 1929 - 1931 ), published a book of stories about the civil war“ The Red Clown ”( 1928 ), a book of stories“ Maiden's Tears ”,“ Between Heaven and Earth ”( 1927 ) , "Evening Bells" ( 1932 ). He wrote plays (some were staged in Czech and German), scripts for cinema.

Talent Chirikov always remained in the shadow of Chekhov , but his work shows sympathy, a soft melancholy in relation to people and circumstances. ^[2]

There were five children in the Chirikov family: Novella (1894–1978) - in marriage Retivova, Lyudmila (1896–1995) - in marriage Shnitnikov, Valentina (1897–1988) - in marriage Ulyanischeva, Eugene (1899–1970) and Georgy (1901 —1993).

On February 7–8, 2007, a cultural reading was held in the cultural center “ House Museum of Marina Tsvetaeva ” “Return to the reader. On the 120th anniversary of the literary activity of E. N. Chirikov ” ^[3] .

September 22, 2014 in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the writer in the “ House of Russian Abroad named after Alexander Solzhenitsyn ” an evening was held and an exhibition of autographs, preserved by his descendants, opened ^[4] .

• Essays and stories. 1st edition, circulation −3000, 1899, SPB, S. Dorovatovsky and A. Charushnikov publishing house.
• Essays and stories. The second book. 1st edition, circulation −4200, 1900, St. Petersburg, S. Dorovatovsky and A. Charushnikov ".
• Essays and stories. Edition 2, 1900, St. Petersburg, publishing house O. N. Popova.
• Collected Works. T. 1-17. Moscow, 1910-1916.
• Stories and stories / Preparation of the text, introductory article and commentary E. Sakharova. Moscow, 1961.
• Ivan Mironych. Men: Pictures of village life. - Drama "Knowledge": Playbook. Moscow, 1964.
• In the sugar kingdom: (Concerning the Deaf. Process) / [Eug. Chirikov]. Moscow: The Rock, 1907 ^[5]

• M. Yu. Lyubimov. Chirikov. - Russian writers, XX century. Bio-bibliographic dictionary. In 2 hours. Part 2: M - I / Ed. N. N. Skatova. Moscow: Enlightenment, 1998. ISBN 5-09-006995-6 (2), ISBN 5-09-006994-8 (general). Pp. 553—441.
• Evgeny Chirikov: a return to the reader. Creative and biographical materials from personal collections of the writer's descendants (Nizhny Novgorod, Minsk). Catalog - Moscow: Marina Tsvetaeva House Museum, 2007. - 88 p.

• Evgeny Chirikov in the Baltic Archive
• Works by Chirikov on the site Lib.ru: Classic
• Alex Tarn: "Chirikov incident - The Best People of Russia"