The biography of Andrei Bely, for all its inconsistency, is an undoubted reflection of that crucial era, which accounted for a significant part of the life of this extraordinary thinker and versatile gifted person. Russian literature of the early twentieth century, and especially poetry, can not be imagined without it. Andrei Bely, whose brief biography can give only a very superficial impression of his place and significance in the general cultural context of the era, was constantly in the center of the turbulent twists of Russian public life. And at the beginning of the twentieth century, Russia had a premonition of big changes. Today, no one denies the well-known fact that the whole Russian culture of this period is to one degree or another permeated with a foreboding of future wars and revolutions.
Andrey Bely. Biography. What determined her
It is not so rare to encounter the fact that creative pseudonyms grow so tightly to their carriers that no one even remembers that these names are fictitious. That's about the poet Andrei Bely heard if not all, then very many. But the fact that this is only his pseudonym, few people come to mind. Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev - such are his real name, patronymic and last name - was born on October 26, 1880 in the family of a professor at Moscow University. It will not be an exaggeration to say that this circumstance in many respects predetermined the future life of the future famous writer. Biography of Andrei Bely began in the center of Moscow. The apartment on Arbat, where he was destined to live for about a quarter of a century, today has a memorial status.
University of Moscow
The status of this educational institution was never questioned; in the Russian Empire it was the first in every sense. Boris Bugaev studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, but the more natural sciences were interested in his questions of culture, literature, aesthetics, philosophy, mysticism and occultism. Therefore, after the successful completion of the course, he entered the historical and philological faculty of the same Moscow University. It was in his student years that the path to great literature began for him. The intellectual environment in which a person has to develop is often crucial and determines his entire future life. And the circle of future poetic themes was designated precisely in these years.
Alexander Blok
Perhaps it would not be a great exaggeration to say that the literary biography of Andrei Bely began with meeting and correspondence with the great Russian poet and symbolist. That is, even before meeting with the Bloc, he was included in the circles of the highest artistic bohemia of both capitals of the Russian Empire. Even the pseudonym that later became famous helped him come up with the famous Russian philosopher M.S. Solovyov. But only Alexander Blok managed to discern and feel in Andrei Bely an equal interlocutor and in many ways a competitor. Then their bizarre friendship-enmity relations linked them for many years. Andrei Bely (poet) was in constant rivalry with the genius of Russian poetry. And with a great man you can compete only on equal terms. But the biography of Andrei Bely will be incomplete, if not to mention his relationship with the wife of Alexander Blok, Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva. More than just an acquaintance connected them. And this love triangle greatly complicated the relationship of the two poets. But, of course, reflected in their work.
Abroad
Departure from Russia was an attempt by the poet to break out of the established circle of contacts and discover new horizons of creativity. And of course, to put an end to the protracted ambiguous relationship with Alexander Blok and his wife. A trip to Europe took more than two years. This period in the poet's work was very fruitful. Poems were often devoted and addressed to the circle of communication left in Russia, including Blok with Mendeleev. After returning from Europe, the poet married A. Turgeneva (they will officially formalize the marriage only five years later) and went abroad again. This time in a different direction - through Sicily to Palestine, Egypt and Tunisia. He will return to Russia only at the height of the war, shortly before the revolution.
The change of historical eras
Andrei Bely, whose biography and work is pretty far from everyday life and even more so from politics, could not but reflect in his poetic works and critical articles the growing turbulence of public life and the cataclysm approaching Russia. The poet cannot do otherwise, even if he pretends that nothing of what is happening around him has anything to do with it. And he was not alone. The theme of the impending catastrophe was one of the dominant in Russian art. The range of her perception fits between the horror and delight. Some greeted the revolution as the end of the world, while others perceived it as the beginning of a new world. Both of them were right in their own way. Andrei Bely entered the history of Russian literature as one of the most prominent representatives of symbolism. His early poetry collections “Gold in Azure”, “Ashes”, “Urn” and the novel “Silver Dove” became classics. At the forefront of the controversy, his essays on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky were actually perceived. His novel "Petersburg" was very popular among the educated public. Andrei Bely has many journalistic articles from the period of the First World War.
After the revolution
In the history of twentieth-century Russia, a moment came when the inevitable catastrophe became a fait accompli. Perceived by Symbolist poets, one of the brightest representatives of which was Andrei Bely, as impending inevitability, the revolution became a legitimate everyday life. Together with the social system, the whole paradigm of the worldview of the Russian intelligentsia has changed. Many “knife to the throat” faced the question of whether it is even possible to live in that country, which had not so long ago been called the Russian Empire? Andrei Bely’s biography of this post-revolutionary period is chaotic and contradictory. The poet rushes about in different directions for a long time, even manages to travel abroad, which in those days was very difficult. It lasts quite a while. But he ends his days in the Soviet Union. He died on January 8, 1934 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. It is impossible to call the fruitful Soviet period of the work of Andrei Bely even with great desire. Symbolism, like many other poetic schools and phenomena, remained on the other side of the revolution. During these years, the poet has been trying to work, and much has been successful. But several of his novels and many literary works no longer had their former success. For Soviet literature, Andrei Bely remained nothing more than a fragment of a bygone era.