Soviet literary critic Pavel Petrovich Bazhov was a very versatile person. He wrote scientific works in the field of literary criticism, enriched the Russian language with a huge collection of folklore of peoples from different parts of the USSR, which he personally collected. He was also engaged in journalistic and political activities. Pavel Bazhov is an interesting person in the history of Russian folklore, so it will be useful for everyone to get acquainted with his biography and literary heritage.
Early life
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov, whose biography is logically subdivided for readability into several sections, was born on January 15 (27), 1879 in the small mining town of Sysert (Ural). His father was a simple worker at a metallurgical plant, and his mother was engaged in needlework. The family of Pavel Petrovich often moved, his father worked at one factory, then at another. Frequent trips to the metallurgical towns of the Urals made a great impression on the future writers. Perhaps it was because of childhood memories and impressions that the writer later began to collect folklore, love it and try to convey the Ural tales to other parts of immense Russia. Later, Pavel Petrovich Bazhov recalled these childhood moments with love. At the age of seven, the boy's parents sent him to a three-year school in Zemstvo. The future writer loved to learn and learn something new, so he easily graduated from elementary school. What further did Pavel Bazhov do? His biography does not end there.
Education
After graduating from the Zemstvo school, Pavel Bazhov expressed a desire to continue studying, but because of the impossibility of entering the gymnasium, the future writer had to go to a theological school. First, Pavel Bazhov studied at the Yekaterinburg Theological School, but later decided to continue his studies at the Perm Theological Seminary. In 1899 P.P. Bazhov graduated from a theological seminary, and he was offered to continue his studies in order to teach the dignity of the church. But Bazhov’s dream was by no means a priest, he wanted to go to university. Due to lack of money, Bazhov decided to work as a school teacher of the Russian language. Few people know how to passionately go to their dreams like Bazhov. The biography of this writer proves that he was a strong and purposeful person. Later, Bazhov was invited to work at the Yekaterinburg Theological School. The writer’s dream to enter Tomsk State University was never realized because of his low social status.
Social work
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov, whose biography reveals all aspects of the writer’s life, was not only an excellent literary critic and publicist, he also actively participated in the country's public life. The writer was a member of the October Revolution, which occurred in 1917. Having sided with the revolutionaries, Pavel Petrovich Bazhov aimed to rid the population of social inequality. He valued freedom Bazhov P.P., his biography confirms this.
During the Civil War in Russia, the writer expresses a desire to join the Red Army. In the army, he not only served as secretary, but was also one of the editors of the military newspaper Okopnaya Pravda. Unfortunately, during the battle for Perm, the writer was captured, but was able to successfully get out of enemy captivity. A few months after the development of the disease, it was decided to demobilize Bazhov. “To the calculation”, “Formation on the go” - all these are books written by Bazhov about the history of the Russian revolution and the Civil War.
Personal life
Was Pavel Petrovich Bazhov in love? Biography reveals this moment in the life of the writer. After Pavel Petrovich Bazhov got a job as a teacher of the Russian language at a religious school, he also worked at the Ekaterinburg diocesan school for girls. There he met his first and only love for life. The writer was carried away by a student of the last class V. Ivanitskaya. After completing her studies, it was decided to get married.
Children
Shortly after his marriage, the writer gave birth to two pretty girls. A little later, the couple had another baby, and in the difficult times of World War I, the writer and his wife moved to her parents, in a small town called Kamyshlov. There, his wife gave Bazhov the fourth and last child - the son of Alexei.
last years of life
How did Bazhov spend his last days? The biography says that in 1949 the writer celebrated his seventieth birthday. On this solemn day a huge number of people gathered. There were not only close friends and relatives of the writer, but also strangers who highly appreciated the literary work of Pavel Petrovich Bazhov. The anniversary of the writer took place in the Sverdlovsk State Philharmonic. Bazhov was extremely surprised and moved by such reverence of people for his work. He sincerely rejoiced, accepted congratulations and gifts of all who came to congratulate him on this solemn day. But unfortunately, next year the writer was gone. Bazhov died on December 3, 1950 in Moscow. He was buried in Sverdlovsk. His grave is located on the top of the mountain, which offers a beautiful view of the Ural nature: forests, rivers, mountains - all that the writer loved and appreciated during his lifetime.
Bazhov as a folklorist
The writer began his activity as a collector of folklore, while still a teacher at the Yekaterinburg Theological School. Pavel Bazhov, whose biography is interesting to all fans of oral folk art, traveled to his homeland, the Urals, every summer in order to record folk tales and songs, describe the rites of ordinary Ural workers. He also liked to photograph locals in national ritual costumes. The biography of Pavel Bazhov for children is also very useful, because they must be imbued with the traditions and legends of their people, as the great folklorist once did.
No one was previously interested in the folk art of ordinary Russian people, so Bazhov made a breakthrough in Soviet folklore. He recorded and systematized a huge number of tales, small fairy tales about the lives of workers that existed among miners in the middle of the 18th century. The folklorist was interested in the life of ordinary people: masons, gunsmiths, ore miners.
Bazhov later became interested not only in the folklore of the Ural inhabitants, but also in the folk tales of other parts of Russia. It is impossible to overestimate the role of this great man in the formation of national folklore, because he tried to understand the soul of a simple worker, convey the imagery that is clearly represented in folklore, and convey folk tales to our days.
List of the most significant works
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov was remembered by compatriots not only as a folklorist and collector of folk tales, he was also a wonderful writer who could work miracles by the power of words. Beautiful stories were written by Bazhov. A biography for children who love fairy tales will also be interesting. The following is a list of the most significant works that have come from the pen of this remarkable writer:
- "Green Filly" (1939) - the book has an autobiographical character. The writer tells the reader about his youth, childhood impressions, which were carried by the author throughout his life.
- “Detachment of days” - the book is a kind of diary of the writer’s life. It contains the thoughts of Bazhov about the events taking place in his life and letters sent to him by close friends. It is good that I was engaged in maintaining the diary of Bazhov, whose biography can be gleaned from this book.
- "Ural were" (1924) - a book in which the writer tried to characterize the folklore of ordinary workers in the Urals. These are Bazhov's first essays on folklore.
- “Formation on the go” (1937) - in this book, the writer tried to reveal the nature of the October Revolution and the Civil War in Russia. This work has a scandalous past, because it was because of it that it was decided to exclude Pavel Petrovich from the party.
- The Malachite Box (1939) is the most famous book of Pavel Petrovich Bazhov, which brought him popular recognition. Here, the beauty and heterogeneity of the Ural traditions and folk beliefs are fully shown.
Some folk tales
Bazhov, whose biography is described in the article, collected a huge number of tales:
- "Vasina Gora";
- "The living light";
- Golden Dykes;
- "Key of the earth";
- "Cat's ears";
- "Malachite Box";
- "Fragile twig";
- "Broad shoulder";
- "Mountain master";
- "Stone Flower";
- "Golden hair";
- "Not that heron";
- "Silver hoof".
The great man was Pavel Bazhov, whose brief biography will be very useful to those who are interested in folklore.