The biography of Venedikt Erofeev should be familiar to all, without exception, connoisseurs of domestic literature. This is a famous Soviet and Russian writer. He went down in history as the author of a poem entitled "Moscow - Petushki". In this article we will tell about the fate of the creator, his personal life.
Childhood and youth
We will begin to tell the biography of Venedikt Yerofeyev in 1938, when he was born in the village of Niva-2 in the Murmansk region. He was the youngest in a family with five children. My father worked at the railway station, and his mother ran a farm.
When the Great Patriotic War began, the Erofeevs moved to the Khibiny station, they were soon evacuated to the Arkhangelsk region. However, due to the hunger they faced in the new place, they had to return.
In 1941, the grandfather of the future writer was arrested, he died in prison after three months. In 1945, the father was accused of anti-Soviet propaganda and sabotage.
In the biography of Venedikt Erofeev, it was a difficult time. At the same time, he learned to read by the age of six. In 1947, the family was left without a livelihood. In order to raise money for food, her mother went to Moscow to earn money, and handed the children to an orphanage. Venech studied diligently, he was even awarded a trip to a pioneer camp.
Father returned from the colony in 1951, his mother came from the capital, the family reunited. True, not for long. Vasily Vasilievich was arrested again two years later. He spent three years in prison in Olenegorsk due to being late for work. When he was released, his health was finally undermined. In 1956, he died.
The hero of our article graduated from school with a gold medal, without exams he was accepted to the philological faculty of Moscow State University. In the hostel, he met with a literary critic and philologist Vladimir Muravyov, who had a significant influence on his views.
Education and first job
In the biography of Venedikt Erofeev there were several universities, since he could not graduate from Moscow State University. In 1957, he was expelled for poor performance and systematic absenteeism. After that, he went as an auxiliary worker to the construction department "Remstroytrest".
In the hostel at the enterprise, he organized a literary circle in which all comers read their poems, and Venedikt himself excerpts from classical works. The leadership did not like these meetings, he was fired.
Erofeev spent two years in Ukraine. When he returned to the capital, in 1959, he again entered the philological faculty, but now at the Orekhovo-Zuevsky Pedagogical Institute. At the university, he published a literary almanac, but was expelled again a year later.
Over the next few years, the writer changed many professions, never staying anywhere for long. He tried to graduate from the Kolomna and Vladimir pedagogical institutes, but because of problems with discipline, he was constantly expelled.
Creative career
There are very few works in the biography of Venedikt Erofeev. He managed to finish only five works. In his youth, he began to write "Notes of a psychopath." In the format of diary entries, he outlined his own stream of consciousness, in which complete nonsense and base thoughts were combined with sublime ideas. The book was first published only in 2000.
Briefly telling the biography of Venedikt Yerofeyev, it is necessary to mention the story "Good News", on which he worked since 1960. It has not been fully preserved. The work was greatly influenced by Nietzsche, whom Erofeev was studying at that time.
"Moscow - Petushki"
In 1970, the hero of our article graduated from the main work of his life - the poem "Moscow - Petushki". The biography and work of Venedikt Erofeev merged in this book, since much of what is described in it happened to the writer in reality.
The main character is also called Venia, on the train he goes to his mistress and child. He drinks on the road. As a result, it turns out that he was mistaken by the train, left in the opposite direction. Venya returns to the capital, where strangers kill him.
The poem "Moscow - Petushki" by Venedikt Erofeev is composed of chapters whose names correspond to the names of railway stations on the main character's route. The work was instantly sorted into quotes, it became incredibly popular, although it was not officially published.
An interesting fact from the biography of Venedikt Erofeev is due to the fact that the first poem "Moscow - Petushki" was published in 1973 in Israel. Then the book was published in Paris and London. In the USSR, the work was published in the journal "Sobriety and Culture" in an abridged version at the end of the 80s.
Artworks
Other works by the author include the essay “Vasily Rozanov through the eyes of an eccentric” and “Sasha Cherny and others”, the play “Walpurgis Night, or the Steps of the Commander”, a selection of Lenin’s quotes entitled “My Little Leniniana”, and the unfinished play “Dissidents, or Fanny Kaplan” "
Erofeev claimed that he had also written the novel "Shostakovich", which he either lost in the train, or was stolen. Many critics suspect this was one of his hoaxes.
In 1994, information appeared that the novel was found and would soon be published. But only an excerpt appeared in the press, which most consider fake.
Personal life
In the biography of Venedikt Erofeev, personal life played a big role. He met his first love when he lived in a dormitory of Moscow State University. It was Antonina Muzykantskaya, whom they met for about a year.
In the fall, the writer met Julia Runova. She fascinated him, Erofeev persistently courted the girl, offered to go with him to the Kola Peninsula. In 1961, they broke up, but mutual feelings between them remained. The hero of our article repeatedly tried to find Runova, but their meetings resumed only in 1971, when Julia got married and gave birth to a daughter.
It is known that in 1964 he had an affair with Valentina Zimakova, who lived just in the Petushinsky district. In early 1966, their son was born, they signed and settled in the village of Myshlino in the Vladimir region. However, the writer practically did not live with his family. He spent the night with friends and acquaintances, drank a lot. The marriage finally broke up in 1975.
The second official wife of Erofeev was Galina Nosova, whom he married in February 1976. A year later, the couple received an apartment in Moscow. But all this time Venedikt constantly meets with Runova, which greatly complicates his family life.
Alcohol abuse
Erofeev drank a lot. In 1979, when he and his wife were visiting his brother Yuri, he was hospitalized for Christmas with delirium tremens. At that time, according to his diary entries, he drank every day for a long time. In 1982, the writer went to the capital’s clinic to recover from alcoholism.
After discharge, he went sailing with a friend Nikolai Melnikov along the lakes and northern rivers to the White Sea. Throughout the journey, the writer missed Runova greatly, wrote letters to her. At the same time, there were other women in his life, after returning from swimming, the family was on the verge of a divorce.
In 1983, Erofeev was again admitted to the hospital due to alcoholism. In the spring, his wife transferred him to a psychiatric hospital.
Death
It is believed that his predisposition to alcoholism was genetic. His father and brother drank a lot. In his youth, Erofeev did not touch alcohol at all. He claims that it all started suddenly. He saw a bottle of vodka in the window, bought it, drank it, and since then could not stop.
In 1985, Venedict was diagnosed with throat cancer. The tumor was removed, but the writer lost his voice. In Italy, they made a special apparatus for him with a microphone, which had to be applied to the larynx.
A year later, the French doctors promised to restore the voice, but the Soviet government refused to let him out of the country.
In the last year of his life, Erofeev gained popularity after the publication of the poem "Moscow - Petushki". Fans and numerous journalists greatly annoyed the writer.
In addition, his health condition worsened, he began to experience depression. In 1990, doctors discovered that cancer was progressing again. The writer was hospitalized, chemotherapy was prescribed. But they were soon forced to refuse treatment, as the condition was very serious.
On May 11, 1990, Venedikt Erofeev died at the age of 51. He is buried in the Kuntsevo cemetery.