Ertel, Alexander Ivanovich

Grandfather A. I. Ertel, Ludwig Ertel, came from a Berlin burgher family, the young man was taken into the army of Napoleon and was captured near Smolensk, and then taken away by one of the Russian officers to the Voronezh village ^[2] . He converted to Orthodoxy, married a serf girl, assigned to the Voronezh bourgeoisie, and all his subsequent life lived as a manager in the estates of the Voronezh and Tambov provinces. The same position was inherited by his father, who also married a serf (her name was Avdotya Petrovna). A. Ertel spent his childhood in the village of Aleksandrovka-Savelievka on the Plavitsa River, where his father Ivan Ludwigovich was the manager of the estate of the landowners Savelyev. In 1863, his father left with his family in the Havsko-Pokrovsky volost in Voronezh district, where he rented a farm in Gryaznush. However, his savings soon ran out, and he again enters the estate manager Kryazhev (Bobrov district). In 1867 he returned to Plavica to work as a manager in the Filippova estate.

Since 1873, A. I. Ertel took up the position of clerk on the estate of a large landowner M. O. Okhotnikov (Usman district of the Tambov province). In 1875, he married M.I. Fedotova, daughter of a wealthy merchant and book-bibliophile I.V. Fedotov , in whose house the cultural community of Usmani gathered, writers.

A new acquaintance with a new eccentric merchant who, “in the midst of the filth and vulgarity of the merchant people” was obsessed with a true passion for this “progress” and for reading; acquaintance with his daughter, who undertook to lead the development of the young "savage" and with whom a "book novel" soon ended, ending in a wedding; then an attempt to start my own farm in an imenice rented for a penny by the wife and the collapse of this attempt, “I, who was considered a sensible master in someone else's rich estate, turned out to be worthless in my little one.”

- Memories

Thanks to his acquaintance with the writer P.V. Zasodimsky , who had somehow stopped by Usman, his writing life began among the most "advanced" representatives of the literature of that time, with such enthusiasm for "advanced" ideas that he even had to sit in the Peter and Paul Fortress (1884), and then live in exile in Tver (arrested for membership in political circles).

“At Fedotov, I once met a young man who had come from a farm for books. This young man - a blonde, tall, thin, handsome, with a gentle caressing look of kind, thoughtful eyes - was Alexander Ivanovich Ertel ... He was a man richly gifted with mental powers, skillfully and widely used the means of self-education, active, energetic, generous person, always, whenever possible, providing assistance to relatives, doing good - but without noise, without advertising, a person with a tender, sensitive, responsive soul. ”

- [Zasodimsky P.V. From the memories. Printing house T-va I.D. Sytina. 1908 - 451 pp.]

In 1878-1880 He lived in St. Petersburg, where he headed the populist library of P.V. Zasodimsky at Nevsky 80 . He was associated with the People’s Will . In the aforementioned library, meetings of the People’s Volunteers were held, as well as a meeting of party leaders with N.K. Mikhailovsky ^[3] .

Ertel appeared in the literary field in 1878, drawing the attention of critics and the public to the essay “Two Landowners”. In the Petersburg newspaper Russkoye Obozreniye (1878, No. 3-4), Ertel’s first story, “Migrants,” was published, followed by the essay “Letters from the Usman County” (Slovo, 1879, No. 2).

In the Petersburg period of his life, Ertel became close friends with the writers V. M. Garshin, N. N. Zlatovratsky, N. F. Bazhin, N. I. Naumov, G. I. Uspensky. In 1880, G. Uspensky introduced A. Ertel to I. S. Turgenev. The letters of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin to Ertel have been preserved. The first meeting of L.N. Tolstoy and A.I. Ertel took place in March 1885 in Moscow. Correspondence is established between them. Ertel visited Yasnaya Polyana, read some passages from the works of L. Tolstoy in the manuscript. In 1885, he married (second marriage) to M.V. Ogarkova.

In 1889, A. I. Ertel returned to the Voronezh province. On Voronezh land he wrote the stories "Notes of the steppe", published in the Bulletin of Europe (1880-1882), Russian Wealth (1881, "Zemets"), Dele (1879-1882) and other publications. In Russian thought , Ertel’s large novel, Gardeninas, Their Yard, Adherents and Enemies, is published (1889 and a separate edition, 1890). The novel takes place on Voronezh land. The book is full of local toponyms: Don, Bityug, Voronezh, Horseradish, etc.

The inimitable, never seen anywhere dignity of this Gardeninina novel is a folk language amazing in fidelity, beauty, diversity and strength. You cannot find such a language among new or old writers.

- Leo Tolstoy , 1908

Gardeninas is one of the best Russian novels written after the era of the great novelists.

- D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky , 1926.

In the spring of 1890 Ertel lives in Crimea. On his return, he rented the Empelevo estate in the Voronezh province (now the village of Trudovoe, Novousmansky District, Voronezh Region), where he lived for six years. In 1894 he travels abroad. He gets acquainted with the life of London, Paris and other cities. In October 1895, A. I. Ertel met with I. Bunin in Moscow. Friendship is established between them. Already being abroad (1929) I. Bunin wrote memoirs about Ertel.

“He is now almost forgotten, and for the majority, he is completely unknown. His life was amazing; surprisingly this is oblivion. Who forgot his friends and contemporaries - Garshin, Uspensky, Korolenko, Chekhov? But in general, he was no less than them, with the exception, of course, of Chekhov, and in some respects even more. ”

- Memoirs of I. Bunin

At the initiative of A. I. Ertel, a number of charity events were carried out, among which it should be noted in 1892 the opening of an elementary school in the village of Makarye (money for the school was donated to Alexander Ivanovich by V. A. Morozov and father of Z. S. Sokolova ) and the organization of guardianship to help victims of hunger in 1891-1892.

In the mid-90s Ertel departed from literature and until the end of his life worked as a manager of landowner estates. Since 1896 he served on the Khludov estate - the village of Aleksandrovka of the Morshansky district of the Tambov province. In Aleksandrovka he built a school (1898), where his wife M.V. Ertel began to teach. Since 1900, Ertel also managed the estate of Lukutin, since 1901 - the estates of E.I. Chertkova , since 1903 - the estates of the Pashkovs. In December 1906, Ertel settled in Moscow. He was buried near the grave of A.P. Chekhov at the Novodevichy cemetery .

In Voronezh, in the historical part of the city between the streets of Stepan Razin and the 20th anniversary of the Komsomol, Ertel Street is located, and nearby is Ertel Lane.

The first wife is Maria Ivanovna Fedotova , daughter of a wealthy merchant and book-bibliophile I.V. Fedotov , founder of the Ottoman public library.

The second wife, Maria Vasilievna Ogarkova (1861-1919), was born in the city of Usman, Tambov province (now Lipetsk region) in the family of the owner of a small tannery, a merchant of the second guild V.F. Ogarkov. Sister of the writer and poet V.V. Ogarkov . She graduated from 3 classes of the Ottoman gymnasium. Then, the full course of the Mariinsky Voronezh Gymnasium (1876-1881), was awarded a silver medal, the title of home tutor in mathematics. In 1891, it was part of the Makaryevsky guardianship organized by A. I. Ertel in the village of Makarye. She taught at a school in the village of Aleksandrovka, Morshansky district, Tambov province. In marriage, had daughters:

• Elena Alexandrovna (1889-1974, London). She graduated from the Moscow Higher Women's Pedagogical Courses. Since 1918, married to Tupikov D.F., lived with her mother in Ertelevka. After the revolution, she headed the local library (from 1919 named after A. I. Ertel), into which she transferred many books from the family library. In 1930, she left for her sister in England, transferring to the state a manor with a house and all extensions.
• Natalya Alexandrovna (1886, Tver - 1972, London). Education - Alferovsky Gymnasium in Moscow and Stoyuninskaya in St. Petersburg. At the end of the gymnasium in 1905, she applied for the Higher Women's (Bestuzhev) courses. In 1906 she entered the University of London (1911 - Master of Philosophy). Husband pastor D.N. Daddington (1865-1958), later curator of art galleries in Whitechapel. Known as a translator of Pushkin, Goncharov, Turgenev, Saltykov-Shchedrin and other Russian writers into English. Children - Alexander, Anna (son - Sevastyan Garrett, philologist).

Ertelevka

At the end of 1912, the widow of Ertel Maria Vasilyevna acquired not far from the station. Grafskaya of the Southeastern Railway (Voronezh district of the Voronezh province), the estate named Ertelevo (Ertelevka) - the twelfth part of the dacha of the village of Bolshaya Privalovka, the property of I. I. Karganov - husband L. S. Alekseev, sister K. S. Stanislavsky and Z. S. Sokolova . By a decision of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of May 23, 1923, E. A. Ertel could use the garden and the estate with outbuildings.

In 1940, by order of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR (June 26, 1940), the estate of writer A. I. Ertel was transferred to the Voronezh branch of the Union of Soviet Writers. In Ertelevka is located the House of Writers. In 1944-1949 The house of creativity was rented by the USSR Literary Fund. Since 1958, the district library, a pioneer camp was located here, and later - the dispensary of the Verkhnekhava district hospital. Now the museum of A. I. Ertel. The estate is included in the list of monuments of history, architecture and archeology of the Voronezh region, taken under state protection.

Member of the Society of lovers of Russian literature (since April 19, 1885) ^[4]

• Letters of A. I. Ertel / ed. M.O. Gershenzon. - M.: Type. T-va I. D. Sytin, 1909.- XXIV, 409 p.
• Ertel A. I. Collected Works: in 7 volumes / A. I. Ertel; critical biogr. Art. F. D. Batyushkova. - M.: Mosk. book publishing house, 1909.

Foreword by L. N. Tolstoy to the novel Gardeninins, their Yard, Adherents and Enemies: T. 5.

• Ertel A.I. Gardeninas, their court, adherents and enemies: novel / A.I. Ertel; author entry Art. B. Bessonov. - M.: Hudozh. lit., 1980 .-- 616 p. : Portr., 50,000 copies.
• Ertel A.I. Gardeninas, their court, adherents and enemies. - M., Fiction, 1987. - 368 p., 850,000 copies.
• Ertel A. I. Stories. Essays. Story. Letters / A.I. Ertel; artist S. S. Kosenkov; author entry Art. V.I. Kuznetsov. - Voronezh: Center.-Chernozem. Prince Publishing House, 1984. - 319 p.
• Ertel A.I. Favorites / A.I. Ertel; author entry Art. V. Kuznetsov; author after N. Timofeev. - Voronezh: Center for Spiritual Revival Chernozem. Krai, 2006 .-- 352 p.
• Ertel A. “... Life cannot be led into shafts”: [letters of Alexander Ertel] / ed. vst Art. and comp. S. Sergeev // Moscow. - 2008. - No. 2. - S. 203–225.

• Akinshin A. The tradesman Ertel is wanted // Voronezh. courier.– 1998.– July 30.– (Voronezh Telegraph; No. 45).
• Alexander Ivanovich Ertel / VONB them. I. S. Nikitina; NB VSU; comp. V.P. Sergeev; under the editorship of T. G. Yevlakova. - Voronezh, 1982.- 76 p. - (Voronezh writers and literary critics; Issue 7.)
• Antyukhin G.V. Guest of the village Empelevo / Antyukhin G.V. Literary past: Book of essays on the literary past and memorable places of the Voronezh region. - Voronezh: Publishing house of the University of Voronezh, 1987. - p. 182
• Baboreko A. Bunin and Ertel // Russian literature. - No. 4. - 1961. - S. 150–151.
• Bykov P.V. ,. Ertel, Alexander Ivanovich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Bunin I.A. Ertel // Memoirs / I.A. Bunin. - M.: Zakharov, 2003. - S. 137–145.
• Voronezh Historical and Cultural Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. O. G. Lasunsky. - Ed. 2nd, add. - Voronezh, 2009. - S. 630-631.
• Zinaida Sokolova. Our life in Nikolsky. Village notes. / Comp., Preparation of the manuscript for publication and comments S.N. Sukochevoy. - Center for the spiritual revival of the Black Earth region. Voronezh, 2004.
• Zlatovratsky N. N. From the memories of A. I. Ertel // Memoirs / N. N. Zlatovratsky. - M., 1956. - S. 328–339.
• Ignatov I.I. A.I. Ertel // Essays on the Literary Life of the Voronezh Region. XIX - beginning of XX century / ed.-comp .: V.A. Tonkov, O.G. Lasunsky. - Voronezh, 1970 .-- S. 247–269.
• Kostin G.A. Alexander Ivanovich Ertel: life and work: to the 100th anniversary of the birth / G. A. Kostin. - Voronezh: Voronezh. Prince Publishing House, 1955. - 124 p.
• Kroychik L.A. Chekhov and A.I. Ertel / Interlocutor: Portraits. Etudes. Historical narratives. Essays. - Voronezh; Center.-Chernozemn. book Publishing House, 1973.
• Kuznetsov V. Light at dusk. Introductory article // Ertel A.I. Notes of the steppe / Entry. Art. IN AND. Kuznetsova; Comm. G.V. Ermakova-Bitner; Fig. AND I. Lyashenko. - M.: True, 1989.
• Lasunsky O. G. Literary walk in Voronezh / O. G. Lasunsky. - 3rd ed., Revised. and add. - Voronezh: Spirit Center. Black Earth revival. Krai, 2006. - 357, [3] p. : ill. - Decree. names: s. 355.
• Lasunsky O.G. Correspondence with daughter A.I. Ertel / Lasunsky O.G. Literary excavations: Short stories of a literary critic. - Voronezh: Center.-Chernozemn. book Publishing House, 1972.
• Nikiforov V.V. Creativity of A.I. Ertel (1855–1908) [(to the revision of the historical literary value)]: special. 01/10/01 - Russian lit. : author. dis. ... cand. filol. Sciences / V.V. Nikiforov; Mosk. state un-t them. M.V. Lomonosov. - M.: [b. and.], 1983. - 13, [1] p. - (As a manuscript).
• Razuvaeva L. Dry lines: documents from the fund of A. I. Ertel // Rise. - 2003. - No. 12.– S. 194–202.
• Ertel Alexander Ivanovich // Russian writers. XIX century: biobibliogr. vocabulary. At 2 hours / under. ed. P.A. Nikolaeva. - 2nd ed., Dorab. - M., 1996. - Part 2. M – Ya. - S. 434-436.

• A. I. Ertel and Russian writers
• I. A. Bunin Memoirs
• Love letters of the great classics
• Page on the site "Russian Biographical Dictionary"
• Works (Lib.Ru/Classic)
• Ertel A.I.
• Ertel. Website (portal) "Big Russian Album"