Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius is a famous Russian poetess, writer and literary critic. After reading this article, you will get acquainted with her life, as well as with the creative heritage that Zinaida Gippius left to the descendants.
The poetess's date of birth is November 8, 1869. She was born in the city of Belev, Tula province. Her father - a nobleman, Russified German, at one time was a famous lawyer. By mother, the Russian poetess and writer Zinaida Gippius is the granddaughter of the police chief from Yekaterinburg. Gippius's education was not systematic, despite the fact that from a young age she read a lot.
Z. Gippius and D. Merezhkovsky
In 1889, Zinaida Nikolaevna married the famous poet D.S. Merezhkovsky. She left Tiflis and moved with him to Petersburg. It was in this city a year earlier that she made her debut as a poetess. For 52 years she lived with her husband Zinaida Gippius. An interesting biography of this woman attracts connoisseurs of not only her own work, but also the work of her husband. Not surprisingly, after all, Zinaida Gippius lived a long life with him, according to her, "without separation ... not for a single day."
"The Decadent Madonna"
In the early poems of our heroine, S.Ya. Nadson. However, Zinaida Gippius quickly overcame him. Her biography from an early age was marked by the creation of independent works. At the turn of the century, participants in the literary life of the two capitals of Russia considered the writer's work as the personification of decadence, and her very "decadent Madonna." So it began to be called since 1895, when the Initiation was published. “I love myself as God” - this phrase from him was loved by Zinaida Gippius. The biography of the poetess is very interesting in terms of changing masks, roles. Not only the image of the “decadent Madonna” was skillfully built by Gippius herself and introduced into the minds of poetry connoisseurs. Zinaida Nikolaevna tried on several more roles. We invite you to get to know them.
Change of roles
Zinaida Gippius is a poetess who carefully thought out her literary and social behavior. She periodically changed roles. So, before the revolution of 1905, for about 15 years, the poetess promoted sexual emancipation. At this time, carried the "cross of sensuality" Zinaida Gippius. Creativity and biography of the poetess reflect her position. She wrote about her outlook on life, about the "cross of sensuality" in 1893 in her diary. After that, she became an opponent of the Teaching Church. In her diary in 1901, she wrote that "there is only one sin - self-depreciation." In the period from 1901 to 1904, Gippius was the organizer of religious and philosophical meetings, at which the program of "neo-Christianity" was presented, which corresponded to the views of her husband, Dmitry Merezhkovsky. Zinaida Gippius, whose biography testifies to the versatility of her personality, also considered herself a champion of the spirit revolution, which is being carried out contrary to the opinion of the “herd community”.
Muruzi House, relationship with A.A. Block
The Muruzi House, which was occupied by the Merezhkovsky, became an important center of social and religious-philosophical life of St. Petersburg. His visit was a must for young writers and thinkers gravitating towards symbolism. The authority of Gippius in the association that developed around Merezhkovsky was indisputable. Most of its participants believed that it was Zinaida Nikolaevna who plays the main role in any of his endeavors. However, almost everyone disliked Gippius, since the poetess was intolerant, arrogant, and often experimented with people. The relationship between her and A.A. The block became a special page in the history of Russian symbolism. The first publication of the Block (in the journal "New Way") took place precisely with her assistance. But this did not prevent sharp conflicts between them in the future, which were caused by the fact that they had different approaches to questions about the appointment of the poet and the essence of artistic creation.
Two collections of verses
A book entitled "A Collection of Poems. 1889-1903" was published in 1904 by Zinaida Gippius. The biography of the poetess a few years later was marked by a new collection. In 1910, a second book appeared, in which the works created in the period from 1903 to 1909 were presented. The publication of 1904 was a major event in the life of Russian poetry. I. Annensky, responding to her, wrote that in the work of Zinaida Nikolaevna the whole 15-year history of Russian lyrical modernism is presented. The main theme of her works, according to Annensky, is "the tormenting swing of a pendulum in the heart." V.Ya. Bryusov, a fan of Gippius, especially noted the “invincible truthfulness” with which the poetess captures emotional states and shows the life of her “captive soul”.
Abroad
In 1905, a revolution took place, which helped strengthen the mood that controlled Zinaida Gippius. The Merezhkovsky decided to go abroad. In the period from 1906 to 1908 they were in Paris. Here the couple became close to the revolutionary emigrants, including B.V. Savinkov, whom Zinaida Nikolaevna helped in his literary experiments. In 1908, the Merezhkovskys returned to their homeland. Here they participated in a certain religious and philosophical society, which included Blok, Berdyaev, V.I. Ivanov.
Literary critic
Zinaida Gippius as a critic is known under the pseudonym Anton Krainy. In the early 1900s, she was a preacher of the program of symbolism, as well as the philosophical ideas on the basis of which this program was built. As a literary critic, Gippius was often published in the magazines Russian Wealth and Libra. The writer selected the best articles for the book Literary Diary, created in 1908. It should be said that Zinaida Gippius (whose brief biography and work confirms this) evaluated the state of contemporary Russian art culture as a whole negatively. This situation, in her opinion, was associated with the collapse of social ideals and the crisis of religious foundations that lived in the 19th century. Gippius believed that the artist’s vocation, which modern literature could not recognize, consists in direct and active influence on life, which should be “christianized," since there is no other way out of the spiritual and ideological impasse. These concepts of the poetess are aimed against writers who adjoined the publishing house "Knowledge", led by M. Gorky, as well as against literature, which relied on the traditions of classical realism.
The reflection of the views of Gippius in literary work
The dramaturgy of the heroine of our article contains the same challenge to ideas that are based on an outdated understanding of humanism and faith in liberalism. It should be noted created in 1916, the Green Ring. Also, this position was reflected in her stories collected in 5 collections. In 1911, Zinaida Gippius wrote the novel "Devil's Doll", which describes the failure of beliefs in improving society peacefully and in social progress.
Attitude to the October Revolution and its reflection in creativity
Zinaida Gippius reacted with hostility and implacably to the October Revolution in 1917. A brief biography of the poetess of later years is closely connected with this event. The mood that owned it was reflected in Gippius' book "The Last Poems. 1914-1918", published in 1918, as well as in the Petersburg Diaries, which were partially published in the 1920s in emigrant periodicals, and then published in English (in 1975) and in Russian (in 1982).
In the diary entries of Gippius of this time, and in poetry (published in 1922, the book "Poems. Diary 1911-1921"), and in the literary and critical articles placed in the newspaper "General business", an eschatological note prevails. Zinaida Nikolaevna believed that Russia died forever. She spoke of the advent of the kingdom of Antichrist. The poetess claimed that the atrocities raged on the ruins of a culture that collapsed in 1917. The diaries became a chronicle of the spiritual and bodily dying of the old world. Zinaida Gippius treated them as a literary genre, which has one unique feature - the ability to capture and convey "the very course of life." The letters fix the little things that "disappeared from memory", according to which later descendants will make a reliable picture of events that have become a tragedy in the history of the country.
Breaking up with revolutionaries
The hatred of the revolution at Zinaida Gippius was so strong that the poetess decided to break off relations with all those who accepted her - with Bryusov, Blok, A. Bely. In 1925, the memorial cycle "Living Faces" appeared, the basis of the internal plot of which is the history of this gap, as well as the reconstruction of ideological clashes that led to the events of October 1917. The revolution led to the inevitable confrontation of former allies in the literary field. This revolution itself is described by Zinaida Gippius (contrary to Blok, who saw in it a cleansing hurricane and an explosion of elements) as “terrifying boredom” and a series of monotonous days, their “stifling choking”. However, these weekdays were so monstrous that Zinaida Nikolaevna had a desire to "blind and deaf." "Huge madness" lies at the root of what is happening, as the poetess believed. All the more important, in her opinion, to maintain a “solid memory” and a “sound mind”.
Creativity of the emigrant period
During the period of emigration, the work of Gippius begins to fade. Zinaida Nikolaevna is becoming more and more convinced that the poet cannot work far from his homeland: "heavy cold" reigns in his soul, she is dead, as if "a dead hawk". The latter metaphor is key in the final collection of poems, The Shining, created in 1938. In it, the motives of loneliness are predominant, the poetess sees everything with a look of “walking by” (these words are made in the headings of important verses in the late works of Gippius, published in 1924). The poetess is trying to reconcile with the world before a close farewell to him, however, these attempts are replaced by a position of intransigence with evil and violence. Bunin, speaking of the style of Zinaida Gippius, which does not recognize overt emotionality and is often based on oxymorons, called the poetess's work "electric poems." Reviewing The Shining, Khodasevich wrote that the "poetic soul" of Gippius is fighting in them with a "non-poetic mind."
Green lamp
You have already seen the organizational skills possessed by Zinaida Gippius. Biography, interesting facts and creativity are largely related to her social activities, which lasted almost until the poet's death. On her initiative, a society was founded under the name "Green Lamp", which existed from 1925 to 1940. The purpose of its creation is the unification of various literary circles that ended up in exile, provided that they shared the view on the vocation of Russian culture abroad of Russia that Gippius formulated at the beginning of the activities of this circle. She believed that genuine freedom of speech and opinion should be studied, and this cannot be done if the "covenants" of the outdated liberal-humanist tradition are followed. However, it should be noted that the Green Lamp was not free from ideological intolerance. As a result of this, numerous conflicts arose among its participants.
The book about Merezhkovsky, written by Zinaida Gippius (biography)
Briefly, the work of Zinaida Nikolaevna we examined. It remains only to talk about her last book, which, unfortunately, remained unfinished, as well as about the last years of the poet's life. Dmitry Merezhkovsky died in 1941. The death of her husband was badly experienced by Zinaida Nikolaevna. After his death, she was ostracized, the reason for which is the ambiguous position that she held regarding fascism.
Gippius gave the last years of her life to work on the biography of her husband. It was published in 1951. A significant part of the book dedicated to Dmitry Sergeyevich is about his ideological evolution, as well as the history of the activity of Religious and Philosophical Meetings. On September 9, 1945, Zinaida Gippius died. Her poetry still lives in the hearts of many connoisseurs of her work.