Yakov Gordin is a well-known Russian historian and publicist. His career achievements surprise everyone.
Gordin's biography
Gordin Yakov Arkadevich, whose biography is full of bright moments, was born on December 23, 1935, in the cultural capital - St. Petersburg (at that time - the city of Leningrad).
His father was a literary critic, and his mother a writer. Grandfather Jacob was originally from the city of Rezhitsa and was considered a successful merchant of the first Pskov guild. Despite the high position of relatives, Uncle Jacob was an activist in the political movement within the RCP in the 1920s, whose representatives were Trotsky and Preobrazhensky. He was soon arrested as a political offender. An uncle on the other sibling side was also arrested for participating in the left opposition, and subsequently shot.
However, one of the relatives held a high position in the People's Commissar of Finance of the USSR, taking the place of deputy and making a career in this field.
Education
After graduating from school, Gordin Yakov entered the Faculty of Philology at Leningrad University. Despite his abilities in this scientific field, he never finished university.
Jacob Gordin decided to build his career in a completely different field - a bad start in the linguistic sciences gave an impetus in a completely different direction. Yakov graduated from the technical and geophysical courses at the Arctic Research Institute of Geology, after which he worked in this field for five years. Yakov even managed to participate in an expedition to Northern Yakutia.
The beginning of a literary career
Only in 1963, Yakov Gordin began publishing his poems in the periodicals of Leningrad. Then he began work on the publication of historical and critical articles and plays.
One of the first plays was The Rebellion of the Unarmed, it was written in 1964. The play told about the life, fate and difficulties of the Decembrists.
Development in the literary path
Already in 1967, the play “Your Head, Emperor!” Was released, which was immediately staged at the Leningrad Theater for Young Spectators.
Jacob Gordin was seriously interested in publishing and writing literary works. Inspired by his success, in 1972, Gordin published the first collection of poems, "Space."
In 1973, Gordin's prose work , December 14th Day, was published. After the publication of this book, Yakov Gordin begins to develop his literary talent in writing works in historical subjects.
From the moment he chose the genre of writing his works, Gordin is considered a fiction writer working in the historical genre, his books are based on a solid foundation of history. In addition, Jacob Gordin is also a historical esthete.
TV writer
In 2004, Jacob decided to try his hand at creating a television program. He begins work on the documentary cycle, on the channel "Culture" appears the historical television series "There is rapture in battle", which details the significance of the noble fights in Russia and consists of twelve episodes.
Jacob Gordin became not only the creator of this television series, but also its host. The series was a success among the audience, because Gordin wrote the script understandable to everyone who does not have such a deep knowledge in historical science.
Jacob Gordin: writer’s books
The main genre, as mentioned earlier, for Gordin was historical prose. That is why all of his books, one way or another, describe the historical events of various eras.
The most famous works, the author of which was Jacob Gordin (writer), are considered a book about duelists, a work-exposure of the personality of Nicholas I and a documentary story about the life of Ermolov.
“Duels and duelists: Panorama of metropolitan life"
Jacob's book about duelists and their lifestyle tells about the duel tradition, which was a great success in the circles of the Russian nobility. The writer tells in detail about the history of the Petersburg era. Based on historical documents, Yakov Gordin compiles a general picture of duels, the significance of which was very high in the 18th-19th centuries in the Russian Empire.
Ermolov
Everyone knows that Alexey Ermolov is an extremely mysterious historical figure whose significance is not fully understood and appreciated. However, also on the basis of archival documents and memoirs, Yakov Gordin was able to prove the true value of Yermolov in Russian history. The book fully reveals the character of Yermolov, showing how much he wanted the glory that Macedonian or Caesar had. How much effort Yermolov made for his self-education, standing out in his environment as a special ambition. The book of Jacob Gordin is dedicated to this historical character.
"Nicholas the First without retouching"
The book contains a large number of historical documents, correspondence and diaries, which enable the reader to look at the personality of Nicholas I from all angles. Fragments of the memoirs of other significant figures in the history of the Russian Empire can change the opinion of one of the rulers, showing his real essence and thoughts that the emperor actually had.
Other books of the writer: classic poets in Russian history
Yakov Gordin has books in which he independently compiles the history of Russia and the work of some poets together, drawing conclusions that also have a strong historical foundation. These books consist, to a greater extent, of literary studies, writings and essays of the writer. Of all the works of this type, two works of Gordin can be distinguished - a book in two volumes, “Pushkin. Brodsky. Empire and Fate ”and“ Knight and Death, or Life as a Design ”.
“Pushkin. Brodsky. Empire and Fate
The first volume of “The Drama of a Great Country” constantly mentions the life and work of Pushkin, which, one way or another, influenced the course of historical events. The key in the first book is the fact that Pushkin’s work seemed to “look into the future through the ages”. During his lifetime, Alexander Sergeevich described events and problems that were relevant in his time, only slightly affecting the themes of the future. However, the poet's freedom-loving poetry became even more relevant after almost a hundred years from the moment of writing the first works.
Pushkin wrote about how much the Russian people lack freedom in life, and his works were constantly quoted by people from the time of the October Revolution until the very moment of perestroika. The fate of the heroes of the work of Gordin is inextricably linked with the fate of the whole empire.
The second volume, "Those on the Other Side of the River," already tells the story of the life of significant figures of the twentieth century - about Joseph Brodsky, Yuri Davydov and Nathan Aidelman. Each of these famous people perceived in their own way the development and collapse of the Russian Empire, but each had a close relationship with the personality of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. The book tells how each hero comprehended the fate of such a magnificent state as the Russian Empire.
“Knight and death, or Life as a design”
The book tells about the life of Joseph Brodsky, about all the difficulties that the poet had to endure in order to finally live in peace. The book tells about all those terrible events that occurred with Brodsky: arrest, after the trial, and then the link. The story begins from the moment of personal acquaintance of Joseph Brodsky and Jacob Gordin. It should be noted that this book was approved by Joseph himself, and then published in 1989.