Among the famous and significant Soviet poets, a special place is occupied by Anatoly Vladimirovich Zhigulin. A brief biography of this literary figure includes quite a few sad and tragic events, but his literary heritage is worthy of study and recognition.
Poet's family
Anatoly was born in January 1930 in the village of Podgornoye (Voronezh region). His father was a postal servant named Vladimir, a native of peasants. For a long time he was tormented by neglected consumption (an open form of tuberculosis). For this reason, the future poet Anatoly Zhigulin, like his brother and sister, more often spoke with his mother Evgenia Mitrofanovna. Pursuing her three children and independently doing almost all the housework, she took the time to sing songs, read poetry and instill in children a love of poetry.
Being an educated woman with noble roots, Evgenia Mitrofanovna managed to instill in the future poet respect for the truth, love for the motherland, and she also taught to understand beauty, see the diversity of the Russian language. The great-grandfather of Anatoly's mother was a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, the Decembrist poet Vladimir Fedoseevich Raevsky (he was a member of the radical wing of Ryleev).
early years
When Anatoly was seven years old, his family moved to the estate of his grandfather. This house housed the surviving family library. Its composition included very valuable family albums, which were filled by several generations of Raevsky. However, during the Second World War, during the bombing, the house still burned down. Despite the fact that all family members survived, they were waiting for the separation and hardships of the war.
Eight months Voronezh was within the front zone. Anatoly Zhigulin, whose brief biography describes this period as extremely difficult for the whole family, was exhausted by hunger, deprivation, and was forced to survive in a dilapidated city. Under the influence of the impressions received, the poet later wrote more than one poem.
Life under a totalitarian regime
Growing Anatolia was accompanied by growing Stalinist terror. Members of another branch of the Raevsky (Rostov) clan fell under extermination or imprisonment in the dungeons of the Cheka. For this reason Anatoly Zhigulin for a long time did not know about his noble origin and freedom-loving ancestors. Despite the caution and secrecy of his parents, the boy found out the truth by studying the glorious deeds of his relatives from family albums from his home library.
Zhigulin Anatoly Vladimirovich (short biography): youth
Anatoly's literary talent manifested itself already during his visit to high school. Starting from writing school essays in poetic form, by the spring of 1949 Anatoly Zhigulin is gaining momentum and published in the newspaper. At that time he was only 19 years old, and after graduation, the young man planned to study at the forestry institute. The choice of educational institution was made for several reasons. First of all, Anatoly needed to stay at home and look after his younger brother and sister. Secondly, the young man was not alien to the love of technology and nature.
Beginning of underground activities
At the same time, active political activity begins, which Anatoly Zhigulin launched in the ranks of the Communist Party of Youth. The poet's biography includes his acquaintance with the founder of the party, Boris Batuev.
As the son of an official of the Voronezh Regional Party Committee, Boris once experienced a huge shock at the sight of peasants and collective farmers living in rural areas. The hunger and unbearable living conditions of these people did not fit into the picture of the world that the propagandists in the city painted. Deciding on an independent search for the truth, Boris set about studying the history of the revolution and, together with several close friends, realized how distorted and perverted Leninism was in the hands of Stalin. The creation of the KPM in 1947 was the first step of Boris on the path to the return of the Leninist party. The basic principle of their activity was the use of peaceful methods. However, the KPM program contained a secret clause providing for the possibility of eliminating Stalin with violence.
Zhigulin Anatoly was among the sixty members of this conspiratorial organization, when in 1949 the first arrests of participants in the movement were made. Despite the fact that a multi-stage scheme was used to attract new members, students, more recently, schoolchildren, were exposed.
Condemnation and hard labor
Throughout the nine months that the investigative process was ongoing, those arrested were subjected to numerous lengthy interrogations. Often they lasted many hours and were accompanied by violence.
Not all participants in the movement were put in jail; conspiracy measures protected almost half of their party, but the rest were severely punished for their beliefs. Among them was Anatoly Zhigulin, whose biography was “decorated” with a sentence of ten years in maximum security camps. During the time spent in the cell before the court’s sentence, then on the territory of the Taishet camp and in the Kolyma, the writer and poet collected a wealth of material that served as the basis for many of his works. The most famous story is Black Stones, which describes the life and experiences of a political prisoner. Many poems also, one way or another, narrate about those difficult times for Anatoly.
At the time of his imprisonment, Anatoly did hard work at logging and hard labor. It was during his stay in Kolyma that the “Bitch War” ended and Stalin died.
Liberation and literary activity
Fortunately, Anatoly Zhigulin did not remain in custody for ten years - four years after his arrest he was released under amnesty, and two years later he was completely rehabilitated.
Anatoly returns to interrupted studies and by 1960 graduates from the forestry institute. In parallel with his studies, he manages to publish a small collection of poems in Voronezh, entitled “Lights of my city” (1956). The next book was published in Moscow in 1963, it was called "Rails" and also included exclusively poetry. Then Anatoly became a student of Higher Literary Courses and subsequently permanently settled in Moscow.
A year later, in 1964, in Voronezh in a small edition (three thousand copies), the book of poems again written by Anatoly Zhigulin is again published. A short biography for children describes this publication as extremely successful, as it was enthusiastically received by the public and the press.
Deserved popularity
In the course of his literary work, the poet often communicated with prominent figures of that time. A significant impact on his work had a meeting with the poet A. Twardowski in 1961. Together with the works of Koltsov, Yesenin and Klyuev, it played an important role in the formation of the poetic language and literary style of Zhigulin.
For several years, Twardowski has been helping young Anatoly in publishing poetry collections and has made considerable efforts to popularize his books.
During this period, such books of poetry in Voronezh and Moscow, as "Memory", "Selected Lyrics", "Polar Flowers", were released. At the peak of popularity, the poet publishes one collection after another, and in the late 1980s a cycle of poems called the poet “Burned Notebook” came out.
Having become famous, the poet joins the Union of Writers of the USSR, and the Literary Institute . Gorky in Moscow for many years trusted him to conduct poetry seminars.
Features of the personality of Anatoly Zhigulin
Life in the camps left an indelible mark in the soul of the good nature of the poet. Emotional injuries did not turn him into a cynic, however, they affected mental balance. Living outside the camp walls, Anatoly Zhigulin (a biography for children says this only in passing) was forced to be treated in psychiatric institutions.
The seal of a political prisoner also fell on many of the poet's works. In some poems, Anatoly describes in detail the injustice and horrors of his imprisonment. Anatoly Zhigulin, whose photo is located above, not only did not try to avoid the camp theme, but also insisted on its development. In his firm conviction, a sincere story about everything he saw and experienced was his main task. The poet's position was so firm that he did not recognize compromises even in stagnant times.
Autobiographical novel "Black Stones"
This work became a description of the life story of Anatoly Zhigulin. It was published in 1988 in the magazine “Banner” and gained great popularity, causing considerable resonance in society.
In the book, the poet spoke about his childhood and youth, as well as about family members and friends. The plot focuses on the history of the creation of the Communist Party of Youth, its short political activity, ideas and aspirations of the participants in the movement and their tragic fate.
Without excessive exaggeration or deliberate thickening of colors, Zhigulin describes the period of his imprisonment, hard labor, and the long-awaited release. The story is supplemented by the poems of the poet, which were written at that time.
Conclusion
Despite the difficult fate of the poet and the acute theme of most works, there are a huge number of wonderful lyric poems written by Anatoly Vladimirovich Zhigulin. A biography for children compares Zhigulin's love lyrics with Yesenin's works, as she has the same melancholic charm. Several wonderful poems have been turned into romantic songs that have become quite famous.
The poet passed away at the age of 70. This happened in his native Moscow on August 6, 2000. A month before his death, Anatoly Zhigulin finished compiling the next, as it turned out, last, collection of "Poems." This book was published in a very small edition when the poet was no longer there.
The legacy of the poet
In memory of the life and work of the poet, library No. 9 in Voronezh was named after him, and a memorial plate was placed on the wall of his house. In addition, in honor of Anatoly Zhigulin, 2010 in his hometown was dedicated to the poet. This event was initiated by the Department of Culture of the city administration, as well as representatives of the literary community.