Andreev, Leonid Nikolaevich

Childhood

Born in Orel in the family of land surveyor-taxiator Nikolai Ivanovich Andreev (1847–1889) and Anastasia Nikolaevna Andreeva (nee Patskovskaya) (d. 1920) - the daughter of a Polish landowner . Already in childhood showed interest in reading. He studied at the Oryol classical gymnasium (1882-1891). He was fond of the work of Schopenhauer and Hartmann .

Youth

His youthful sensibility and developed imagination prompted him several times to reckless actions: at the age of 17 he decided to test willpower and lay between the rails in front of an approaching steam locomotive , but remained unharmed.

After graduating from high school, Andreev entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University ; after the death of his father, the financial situation of his family worsened, and Andreev himself began to abuse alcohol . At one time Andreev even had to go hungry. In St. Petersburg I tried to write my first stories, but from the editorial office, as Andreev recalls in his memoirs, they were returned with a laugh. Dedicated for non-payment, he entered the law faculty of Moscow University . In Moscow, according to Andreev himself: “life was better financially: comrades and the committee helped” ^[3] .

In 1894, after a love failure, Andreev tried to commit suicide. The consequence of the unsuccessful shot was church repentance and a heart defect , which subsequently caused the death of the writer ^[4] . After this incident, Leonid Andreev was again forced into poverty: now he needed to feed his mother, his sisters and brothers, who moved to Moscow. Interrupted by casual work, teaching and painting portraits to order. He did not participate in political activities.

In 1897 he successfully passed the final exams at the university , which opened the way for him to the bar , which he worked until 1902. In the same year he began his journalistic activities in the newspapers Moskovsky Vestnik and Courier . He signed his feuilletons with the pseudonym James Lynch . In 1898, his first story was printed in The Courier: Bargamot and Garaska. According to Andreev, the story was an imitation of Dickens , however, the young author was noticed by Maxim Gorky , who invited Andreev to the book publishing partnership “Knowledge” , uniting many young writers.

The First Russian Revolution and the Pre-War Years

Real fame came to Andreev after the publication in 1901 of his story "Once upon a time" in the magazine "Life" .

In 1902, Andreev married A.M. Veligorskaya, the granddaughter of Taras Shevchenko . A few days before the wedding, Andreev gave the bride the first collection of his stories, writing in it:

“My life was a desert and a tavern, and I was alone, and I did not have a friend in myself. There were days, bright and empty, like someone else's holiday, and there were nights, dark, creepy, and at night I thought about life and death, and was afraid of life and death, and did not know what I wanted more - life or death. The world was infinitely great, and I was alone - a sick, longing heart, a troubled mind, and an evil, powerless will. <...> And I cringed with the horror of life, lonely in the middle of the night and people, and in myself having no friend. My life was sad, and I was scared to live. I have always loved the sun, but its light is terrible for the lonely, like the light of a lantern over the abyss. The brighter the lantern, the deeper the abyss, and my loneliness in front of the bright sun was terrible. <...> My death was already close. And I know, I know with my whole body trembling from memories that the hand that now leads with the pen would be in the grave - if your love hadn’t come, which I had been waiting for so long, about which I dreamed so much and cried so bitterly his hopeless loneliness ... ".

- Andreev Vadim. Childhood, p. 156-159

In the same year he became editor of Courier, was forced to give a written undertaking not to leave the house because of his connection with the revolutionary-minded student body. Thanks to the help of Maxim Gorky, the first volume of his works was published in a large print run. In these years, the orientation of creativity and its literary style was indicated.

In 1905 he welcomed the First Russian Revolution ; he hid members of the RSDLP in hiding at home, on February 9, a member of the Central Committee of the RSDLP , Schekoldin F.I. , arrived at his apartment to take part in the congress of district representatives, where he was arrested with Andreev. On February 10, he was sent to Tagansk prison because the secret meeting of the Central Committee was held at his apartment the day before (on February 25, he was released on bail made by Savva Morozov ). In the same year he will write the story “Governor”, ​​which became a response to the February 17 assassination by Social Revolutionary I. Kalyaev of the Moscow Governor-General of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich .

In 1906, the writer was forced to leave for Germany, where he gave birth to a second son, Daniel , who would later become a writer (he wrote the treatise The Rose of the World ). In December of the same year, his wife dies of postpartum fever (she was buried in Moscow at the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent).

Andreev leaves for Capri ( Italy ), where he lives at Gorky (from December 1906 - until the spring of 1907). After the beginning of the reaction in 1907, Andreev became disappointed in the revolution itself. He is moving away from the revolutionary-minded writers of Gorky.

In 1908, Andreev married Anna Ilyinichna Denisevich (Karnitskaya) and moved to his own house in Wammelsu . In the villa “Advance” (the name was chosen due to the fact that the house was built in advance from the publisher) Leonid Andreev writes his first dramatic works.

Since 1909, he has been actively collaborating with the modernist almanacs of the Rosehip publishing house. From a note in Moskovskaya Gazeta, 1912: “Leonid Andreev is leaving the other day for a trip to Africa. The journey will continue for about two months. The talented writer feels healthy and cheerful and is now busy studying various guides and books about Africa. ”

World War I, 1917 Revolution, and the Death of a Writer

The beginning of World War I Leonid Andreev met with enthusiasm:

“It is necessary to defeat Germany - this is a matter of life and death, not only for Russia - the greatest Slavic state, all of which is ahead, but also for European states. <...> The defeat of Germany will be the defeat of the pan-European reaction and the beginning of a new cycle of European revolutions. "

- Interview with the New York Times , September 1914 ^[5]

During the war, Andreev publishes a drama about military events in Belgium (“King, Law and Freedom”). In 1914, the drama was filmed by A. Khanzhonkov Joint-Stock Company ^[6] . However, the writer's works at that time were mainly devoted not to war, but to the philistine way of life, the theme of “ little man ”.

After the February Revolution of 1917, he served on the editorial board of the reactionary newspaper Russkaya Volya .

October revolution did not accept. After the separation of Finland from Russia, he ended up in exile. The last writings of the writer are imbued with pessimism and hatred of the Bolshevik authorities ("Diary of Satan", "SOS") ^[7] .

On September 12, 1919, Leonid Andreev suddenly died of a heart defect in the town of Mustamyaki, at the cottage of his friend, doctor and writer F.N. Falkovsky . He was buried in Marioki . In 1956, he was reburied in Leningrad on the Literary bridges at the Volkov Cemetery ^{[8] [9]} .

Since 1956, his selected works were often reprinted in the USSR. In 1991, in Orel, in the writer's homeland, the Leonid Andreyev House-Museum was opened ^[10] . Since 2015, the website of the house museum has been operating.

The first works of Leonid Andreev, largely influenced by the dire conditions in which the writer was then, are imbued with a critical analysis of the modern world (“Bargamot and Garaska”, “City”). However, even in the early period of the writer's work, his main motives showed up: extreme skepticism , disbelief in the human mind (“The Wall”, “Life of Basil of Thebes”), a fascination with spiritualism and religion (“Judas Iscariot”) arises. The stories “Governor”, ​​“Ivan Ivanovich” and the play “To the Stars” reflect the writer's sympathy for the revolution. However, after the start of the reaction in 1907, Leonid Andreev abandoned all revolutionary views, believing that the riot of the masses could only lead to great sacrifices and great suffering (see " The Story of the Seven Hanged Men "). In his story " Red Laughter " Andreev painted a picture of the horrors of modern warfare (reaction to the Russo-Japanese War ). The discontent of his heroes with the surrounding world and orders invariably translates into passivity or anarchist rebellion. The dying writings of the writer are imbued with depression, the idea of ​​the triumph of irrational forces. In particular, in the unfinished novel "The Diary of Satan," Andreev holds the idea that modern man has become meaner and more cunning than the devil himself. Poor Satan at Andreev was deceived by the people whom he met in Rome, and turned out to be a weak loser.

Despite the pathetic mood of the works, Andreev's literary language, assertive and expressive, with emphasized symbolism , met a wide response in the artistic and intellectual environment of pre-revolutionary Russia. Positive feedback about Andreev was left by Maxim Gorky, Roerich , Repin , Blok , Chekhov and many others. Andreev’s works are distinguished by sharp contrasts, unexpected plot twists, combined with the schematic simplicity of the syllable. Leonid Andreev is recognized as a brilliant writer of the Silver Age of Russian literature.

Stories

Pieces

• 1906 - To the Stars
• 1907 - Human life
• 1907 - Savva
• 1908 - King Hunger
• 1908 - Black Masks
• 1909 - Anatema
• 1909 - Days of our life
• 1910 - Anfisa
• 1910 - Gaudeamus
• 1911 - Ocean
• 1912 - Ekaterina Ivanovna
• 1912 - Professor Storitsyn
• 1913 - The Beautiful Sabine Women
• 1913 - Do Not Kill
• 1914 - Thought
• 1914 - Samson in fetters
• 1915 - One who receives a slap in the face
• 1915 - Requiem
• 1917 - Lovely Ghosts
• 1922 - Dog Waltz

Novels and novels

• 1903 - The Life of Vasily of Thebes
• 1904 - Red Laughter
• 1907 - Judas Iscariot
• 1908 - My Notes
• 1908 - A Tale of the Seven Hanged
• 1911 - Sasha Zhegulev
• 1916 - Yoke of war
• 1919 - The Diary of Satan

• Vadim Leonidovich (1902-1976) - poet, public figure.
• Daniil Leonidovich (1906-1959) - poet, prose writer, mystic philosopher.
• Savva Leonidovich (1909-1970) - artist, ballet dancer.
• Vera Leonidovna (1910-1986) - prose writer, memoirist.
• Valentin Leonidovich (1912-1988) - artist, choreographer, writer, translator.

• 1871 - 1891 - the ancestral home of the Andreev family - 2nd Pushkarnaya St., 41 ^[10] ;

• 1907−1908 - K. Kh. Geldal's apartment building, 13 Kamennoostrovsky Avenue .
• after 1907, the White Night suburban cottage (Villa Avans) in the village of Wamelsu , on the shore of Wamemeljoki (Black River) . Built according to the project of the architect Andrei Oly according to the writer's own sketches, in 1924 it was sold for demolition along with a piece of land ^[11] .
• 1914−1917 - apartment building K.I. Rosenstein , Bolshoy Prospect, Petrograd Side , 75.
• 1917 - Adamini House , Nab. Moika River , 1.
• until 1918 - a house in the village of Vohnal .

• 1912 - Anfisa (Andreev was also the author of the script for the film)
• 1914 - “Days of our life”
• 1915 - “Ekaterina Ivanovna”
• 1916 - The Thought
• 1916 - “The One Who Gets Slapped” (Russian Empire)
• 1919 - The Savva
• 1920 - " The Story of the Seven Hanged Men " (the film is not preserved)
• 1921 - The Hunger
• 1924 - “The One Who Gets Slapped” (USA)
• 1928 - "The White Eagle " (according to the story "Governor")
• 1968 - "The Ballad of the Seven Hanged"
• 1987 - The Christians
• 1988 - “Love for the neighbor” (based on the stories “Monument” and “Love for the neighbor”)
• 1988 - “ In a Familiar Street ... ” (based on the story “Ivan Ivanovich”)
• 1989 - " The Beast of Jubilation " (short, based on the story " Abyss ")
• 1990 - Purification
• 1991 - “The Desert” (based on the stories “Judas Iscariot” and “Eleazar”) (USSR)
• 1991 - The Governor
• 1992 - " Darkness "
• 1992 - “The Night of Sinners ” (based on the story “Darkness”) (also under the name “The Highest Truth of the Bomber Alexei”)
• 1995 - The Abyss
• 1997 - “Ah, why is this night ...” (Russia, USA)
• 2008 - "Angel" (Russia)
• 2009 - Abyss (Russia)
• 2009 - The Abyss (Russia, short)
• 2013 - “ Judah ” (Russia, full-length, based on the novel “Judas Iscariot”)
• 2016 - “Governor” (based on the story of the same name, Russia, the performance of Andrei Moguchy in the BDT ) ^[12]

• In Orel: the name of Leonid Andreyev is street; On August 21, 1991, on the day of the writer’s 120th birthday, a writer’s museum was opened at No. 41 on 2nd Pushkarnaya Street; branch number 5 of the centralized library system of the city of Orel is named after Leonid Andreev ^[13] ; a monument to Leonid Andreyev was erected.
• The name of Leonid Andreev is in Kaliningrad .
• In 2014, the Moscow Theater named after Leonid Andreev .
• The plaque on the house in St. Petersburg, where Leonid Andreev lived in 1907-1908, was installed in 2003 (Kamennoostrovsky Ave., 13 / Divenskaya St. , 2)

• L. Andreev. Stories in 2 vols. - St. Petersburg: Knowledge, 1906
• Leonid Andreev. Complete Works., Vols. I — VIII. SPb, ed. A.F. Marx, 1913.
• Andreev L.N. Collected Works in 17 vols .-- St. Petersburg, Enlightenment, 1911-1917
• Andreev L. N. Tales and short stories. - M .: GIHL, 1956 (other editions of 1957, 1959)
• Leonid Andreev. Tales and stories in two volumes. - M., IHL, 1971. (T.1: 1898-1906; T.2: 1907-1919)
• Andreev L.N. Dramatic works in 2 volumes - L .: Art, 1989. (T. 1 .: To the stars, Savva, Human life, Tsar Hunger, Anatema, Ocean; T. 2 .: Days of our life, Catherine Ivanovna, Cainova Seal, Thought, Samson in fetters, Dog Waltz, He who receives slaps in the face, Requiem)
• Andreev L. N. Collected works in 6 volumes. - M.: Fiction, 1990-1996
• Andreev L.N. SOS: Diary (1914-1919). Letters (1917-1919). Art. and interviews (1919). Memoirs of contemporaries (1918-1919). M .; St. Petersburg: Phoenix, 1994 .-- 598 p. - ISBN 5-85042-042-8
• Andreev L. N. Articles about literature and art // Collected works: In 6 vols. M.: Fiction, 1996. T. 6. / Comp. and preparation. текста В. А. Александровой и В. Н. Чувакова, коммент. Ю. Н. Чирвы и В. Н. Чувакова. С. 389—714.
• Андреев Л. Н. Иуда Искариот и другие / Илл. А. Зыкиной. - SPb. : Вита Нова, 2009. — 592 с. — ISBN 978-5-93898-216-1 .
• Андреев Л. Н. Собрание сочинений: В 6 т. — М.: Книжный клуб Книговек, 2012.

• Андреев В. Л. Детство. — М.: Советский писатель, 1966. — 276 с.
• Андреев, Леонид Николаевич // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Жизнь Леонида Андреева, рассказанная им самим и его современниками / Людмила Кен, Леонид Рогов. — Санкт-Петербург: Изд.-полиграфическая компания «КОСТА», 2010. — 432 с.
• Cossack V. Lexicon of Russian literature of the XX century = Lexikon der russischen Literatur ab 1917 / [trans. with him.]. - M .: RIC "Culture", 1996. - XVIII, 491, [1] p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-8334-0019-8 .
• Леонид Андреев. Далёкие. Близкие. Сборник: [к 140-летию со дня рождения Л. Н. Андреева / составитель, авт. entry Art. and comment. И. Г. Андреева] Москва: Минувшее, 2011. — 476 с. — ISBN 978-5-902073-86-4
• Леонид Андреев и традиции русского реализма / В. Беззубов. — Таллин: Ээсти раамат, 1984. — 335 с.
• Леонид Андреев: материалы и исследования: [Сборник] / Рос. Acad. sciences. Institute of World Lite. them. A. M. Gorky; [Ред. В. А. Келдыш, М. В. Козьменко] — М.: Наследие, 2000. — 415 с. — ISBN 5-9208-0006-2
• Молодые годы Леонида Андреева / Николай Николаевич Фатов; [предисл. and preparation. текста О. В. Вологиной]. — Орёл: Изд. Александр Воробьёв: Дом-Музей Леонида Андреева, 2010. — 271 c. (переиздание книги 1924 г. ). ISBN 978-5-91468-059-3
• Нечаенко Д. А. Речевой самописец интеллигентской смуты» («чёрный ящик» снов Леонида Андреева) // История литературных сновидений XIX—XX веков: Фольклорные, мифологические и библейские архетипы в литературных сновидениях XIX-начала XX вв. — М. : Университетская книга, 2011. — С. 732—743. — ISBN 978-5-91304-151-7 .
• О смысле жизни: Фёдор Сологуб, Леонид Андреев, Лев Шестов / Иванов-Разумник. — Санкт-Петербург: тип. М. М. Стасюлевича, 1908. — 312 с.
• Патологическое творчество: (Леонид Андреев) / Д-р Ткачёв Т. Я. — Харьков: тип. «Мирный труд», 1913. — 32 с.
• Рерих Н. К. Леонид Андреев // Художники жизни. — М. : Международный Центр Рерихов, 1993. — 88 с.
• Сумерки русской литературы: Максим Горький. Леонид Андреев. Чириков. Юшкевич : Очерки / Бэн (Б. Назаревский). — Москва: т-во скоропечатни А. А. Левенсон, 1912. — 103 с.
• Троцкий Л. О Леониде Андрееве / Проблемы культуры. Культура старого мира // Сочинения. Т. 20. — М.-Л., 1926

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