In the literary and near-literary world, the name Teffi is not an empty phrase. Everyone who loves to read and is familiar with the works of Russian writers also knows the stories of Taffy, this beautiful writer with sharp humor and kind heart. What is her biography, what kind of life did this talented person live?
Taffy's childhood
The fact that the Lokhvitsky family living in St. Petersburg was replenished, relatives and friends learned in 1872 - then, in fact, this very happy event happened. However, now with a precise date a hitch comes out today - it is impossible to reliably name it. According to various sources, it can be both April and May. Be that as it may, in the spring of 1872 Alexander and Varvara Lokhvitsky had a baby - the girl was named Nadia. This was far from the first child of the couple - after the eldest son Nikolai (in the future he will become the closest ally of Kolchak) and the middle daughters of Barbara and Maria (Masha would later prefer to be called Mirra - under that name and will become famous as a poetess).
Not much is known about Nadia’s childhood. Although it’s still possible to draw something - for example, from her own stories, where the girl acts as the main character - well, she’s such a shefty, spilled Nadia in her childhood. Autobiographical features are undoubtedly present in many works of the writer. Shotgun - this is the name of such children, which could include little Nadenka.
Nadia’s father was a well-known lawyer, author of many scientific works, professor, publisher of his own journal. Mother’s maiden name was Goyer, she belonged to the Russified French family and was well versed in literature. In the Lokhvitsky family, in general, everyone was very fond of reading, and including Nadia was by no means an exception. For many years, Leo Tolstoy remained the girl’s favorite writer, and Taffy’s very bright story is widely known - the recollection of an already adult Nadezhda - about how she went to the estate of the great writer.
Young years. Sister
With her sister Maria (later known as Mirra Lokhvitskaya, poet), Nadia was always friendly. There was a difference of three years between them (Masha is older), but this did not prevent the good relations between the two sisters. That is why in their youth both girls who loved literature, had a penchant for writing and wanted to take their place on the literary Olympus agreed: there should not be competition between them, this is once, but two - for this purpose, you need to start your career not at the same time, but take turns. And the first stage is the Machine, it is more fair, because it is older. Looking ahead, I must say that the sisters' plan, in general, was a success, but not quite in the way they came up with ...
Marriage
According to the original plan of the sisters, Masha was the first to enter the pedestal of literary honor, bask in the rays of glory, and then give way to Nadia, ending her career. However, they did not assume that the poems of the beginning poetess Mirra Lokhvitskaya (Masha decided that the name Mirra is more suitable for a creative person) will so resonate in the hearts of readers. Maria gained instant and overwhelming popularity. The first collection of her poems scattered at the speed of light, and she herself at the end of the nineteenth century was undoubtedly one of the most widely read authors.
But what about Nadia? With such a success of the sister, there was no question of any completion of her career. But if Nadia tried to "break through", it is very likely that the shadow of the popular older sister would cover her. Hope understood this perfectly, and therefore did not hurry to declare herself. But she hastened to get married: barely having graduated from a female gymnasium, in 1890 she jumped out of the Pole Vladislav Buchinsky, a lawyer by profession. He worked as a judge, but having married Nadya, he left the service, and the family left for his estate near Mogilev (Belarus today). Nadia was at that time only eighteen years old.
However, it cannot be said that the couple’s family life was successful and happy. What was this marriage - love or reckoning, a cold decision to arrange family life while the sister arranges her own - literary, in order to later be able to devote herself to her career? .. There is no answer to this question. Be that as it may, by the time when the family of Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya already had three children (daughters Valery and Elena and son Yanek), her marriage with Vladislav was bursting at the seams. By the beginning of the new millennium, the couple divorced. In 1900, twenty-eight-year-old Nadezhda reappeared in Petersburg with the firm intention to settle in literary circles.
First publications
The first thing, published by Nadezhda even under her own surname (she returned it back after breaking up with Vladislav), small poems, caused a wave of criticism, on the one hand, and went unnoticed by readers - on the other. Perhaps these verses were attributed to Mirra, published under the same surname, but in any case they did not make a splash. As for the criticism, for example, the future colleague of Nadezhda’s pen Valery Bryusov extremely abused them, believing that they had too much tinsel, empty, fake. However, poems were only the first experience of the writer, she became famous not because of poetry, but because of prose: Taffy's stories brought her well-deserved fame.
Alias ​​appearance
After the first experiment with poems, Nadia realized: for one Petersburg two writers of the Lokhvitsky are too much. A different name was needed. After an earnest search, it was found: Teffi. But why Taffy? Where did the pseudonym of Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya come from?
There are many versions on this score. The most common says that Lokhvitskaya borrowed this name from Kipling (he has such a girlish character). Others believe that this is from Edith Nesbit, only slightly modified (she has a heroine named Effie). The very same Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya in her own story "Alias" told the following story: she wanted to find a pseudonym not male and not female, something average. It occurred to me to borrow the name of some "fool", because fools are always happy. The only acquaintance of the fool was Stepan's parental servant, whose name was Staffy in the house. And so the name came about, thanks to which Nadezhda was able to gain a foothold on the literary Olympus. As far as this version is true, it is impossible to say for sure: the writer, whose humor and satirical stories became the path, loved to joke and confuse others, so the true secret of her pseudonym Taffy took with her to the grave.
Becoming
Poems were temporarily over (but not forever - the writer returned to them in 1910, publishing a collection of poems, again, however, unsuccessful). The very first satirical experiments that prompted Nadezhda that she was moving in the right direction and subsequently gave life to Taffy's stories appeared in 1904. Then Lokhvitskaya began to collaborate with the newspaper Birzhevye Vedomosti, in which she released feuilletons scourging the vices of various representatives of the "top of power." It was then that about Taffy - these feuilleton were already signed by a pseudonym - they first started talking. And three years later, the writer published a small one-act play entitled "The Women's Question" (some believe that the pseudonym Hope arose for the first time with this work), which was later even staged at the Maly Theater of St. Petersburg.
Fans of humor stories and Taffy's stories, despite the fact that they often ridiculed power, were among these authorities. First, Nicholas II laughed at them, then they delighted Lenin and Lunacharsky. In those years, Teffi could be read a lot where: she collaborated with various representatives of the periodical press. Taffy’s works were published in the journal Satyricon, in the newspaper Birzhevye Vedomosti (which was already mentioned earlier), in the journal New Satyricon, in the newspaper New Life, which was published by the Bolsheviks, and so on. But Teffi's true glory was still ahead ...
Woke up famous
That is what they say when an event occurs that suddenly makes a person a "star", a megapopular and recognizable person. A similar thing happened with Teffi - after the publication of her first collection of humorous stories with the same name. The second collection, published shortly after the first, not only repeated its success, but also surpassed it. Teffi, like her older sister, was one of the most beloved, read and successful authors in the country.
Until 1917, Nadezhda published nine more books, one or even two a year (the first collection of stories appeared in 1910 at the same time as the collection of poems mentioned earlier). All brought her success. Taffy's stories were still in demand by the general public.
Emigration
The year 1917 came, the year of revolution, the year of a radical change in the lives of people. Many writers who did not accept such dramatic changes left the country. But what about Taffy? And Taffy was at first delighted - and then terrified. The consequences of October left a heavy mark in her soul, which was reflected in the work of the writer. She writes new feuilletons, addressing them to Lenin's comrades, she does not hide her pain for her native country. She publishes all this, at her own peril and risk (she really risked - both freedom and life) in the journal New Satyricon. But in the autumn of 1918 it was closed, and then Taffy understands: it is time to leave.
First, Nadezhda moved to Kiev, then, after some time, to Odessa, to several other cities - and, finally, she got to Paris. She settled there. She did not intend to initially leave her homeland, and being forced to do so, did not leave hope for a speedy return. It did not happen - until the end of her life, Taffy and lived in Paris.
In exile, Taffy's work did not die out, on the contrary, flourished with renewed vigor. Her books were published with enviable regularity both in Paris and in Berlin, they recognized her, talked about her. In general, everything would be fine - but just not at home ... But "at home" about Taffy was forgotten for many years - until the mid-sixties, when the writer was finally again allowed to publish works.
Screen version of the works of Teffi
After the death of the writer in the Union, several of her stories were filmed. This happened in the years 1967-1980. The stories by which telenovelas were shot are called "The Painter", "Happy Love" and "Agility of Hands".
A little bit about love
After her first not too successful marriage (except for the birth of children), Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya’s personal life did not improve for a long time. As soon as she left for Paris, she met there “her” man - Pavel Tickston, also an emigrant from Russia. With him in a happy, albeit in a civil, marriage, Taffy lived for about ten years - until his death.
last years of life
Towards the end of her life, having survived the occupation during World War II, and hunger, and poverty, and separation from children, Nadezhda Aleksandrovna lost her humorous outlook on life a little. Taffy's short stories, published in her last book (in 1951 in New York), are riddled with sadness, lyricism and more autobiographical. In addition, the writer worked on her memoirs in the final years of her life.
Teffy died in 1952. She is buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois in Paris. Next to her is the grave of her colleague and fellow emigrant Ivan Bunin. You can come to the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois at any time and pay tribute to both Taffy and many other once-famous talented personalities.
Interesting Facts
- The elder sister of Nadezhda, Maria, rested quite young - at thirty-five years old. She had a sore heart.
- During World War I, Teffi worked as a sister of mercy.
- Taffy always hid her true age, decreasing herself from a dozen years. In addition, she carefully monitored herself in order to comply with the declared years.
- She loved cats all her life.
- In everyday life was a very absent-minded person.
Such is the life and fate of Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya - Teffi.