Who was Vladimir Mayakovsky? A genius or a simple poet? A lot is known about this great poet of the Silver Age , but at the same time, practically nothing can be clearly said about him. He was and will remain a mystery even to the most sincere admirers of his work. As for his biography, there are practically no empty places in it, but the spiritual warehouse, the personality of the poet are covered in mystery. In order to at least a little understand the views and feelings of this great artist of the word, you need to find out some interesting facts from the life of Mayakovsky.
short biography
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was born on July 7, 1893 in the Kutaisi province, the village of Baghdadi. Both parents were direct descendants of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. The father of the great poet - Vladimir Konstantinovich - was a hereditary nobleman, and worked as a forester. Mother, Pavlenko A.A., was engaged in raising children, in addition to Vladimir, there were two more children in the family.
Study
In the period from 1902 to 1906, the future poet studied at the Kutaisi gymnasium, where, probably, he managed to get acquainted with the liberal democratic intelligentsia. In 1905, he even took part in a major demonstration of Russian and Georgian youth.
Interesting facts from Mayakovsky’s life confirm that his father actually died from a needle injection, which resulted in blood poisoning. After the death of the head of the family, the Mayakovsky family moved to Moscow in 1906.
The financial condition was rather difficult, therefore, in 1908, Vladimir Mayakovsky was expelled from the Moscow gymnasium, since his mother did not have funds for further tuition. Nevertheless, thanks to his talent for fine art, he was accepted to study at the Stroganov School. But here, the study of the future poet did not go smoothly because of his political views.
Jail time
In 1908, many facts from Mayakovsky’s life regarding his political convictions led to his imprisonment. The arrest of the poet was caused by revolutionary agitation, which he conducted among the representatives of the working class. But this was not the last time, later Mayakovsky was imprisoned twice more. After the next conclusion, held in the Butyrka prison, ended, Mayakovsky stopped taking an active part in the work of the party.
Despite the complexity of the then position of Mayakovsky, it was during this period that his political views finally developed , and he mastered the positions of Marxism and the Bolsheviks about the class struggle. Most likely, the young poet’s views were partly romantic, and he did not fully understand everything that was happening on the political scene at that time, but at that time he decided to try on the mask of the “leader”. And then there were some interesting facts from Mayakovsky’s life, because it was here that he began to write his first poems, which were then selected by prison officers.
Lilya Brik in the life of a poet
In Mayakovsky’s life, Lilya Brik occupied a special place. She was his muse, his lover, his icon. Like any creator, the poet and his mastermind had a very complex relationship.
The love triangle of Mayakovsky and Brikov was nonsense even in Moscow of the 1920s, which at that time could hardly boast of the purity of personal relations. Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik did not hide their feelings at all, and what is most surprising, Osip Brik, Lily's legal spouse, was also not against this state of affairs.
The muse helped Mayakovsky in creating new works, because it was she who managed to understand what the poet needed in order to create, and he needed suffering and sadness. It cannot be said that Brick was absolutely sincere in her feelings for the poet, but the fact that she influenced his work cannot be ignored.
Tatyana Yakovleva
An important role in the life of Mayakovsky was played by another woman, it was a Russian immigrant Tatyana Yakovleva, who lived in Paris. Despite the fact that she rejected the great poet, he committed an incredibly romantic act. Mayakovsky deposited an impressive amount on the flower shop’s account with one condition so that Yakovleva would bring flowers “from Mayakovsky” several times a week.
Even after the poet's death, flowers continued to come to his muse, which during the war saved her from starvation. Although the fact that the poet and Yakovlev had a romantic relationship was not proved, he still dedicated more than one poem to her.
Interesting facts from the life of Mayakovsky
- Few people know, but the great poet was extremely generous and often handed out money to older people. He himself found the elderly and financially supported them, wanting to remain anonymous.
- Mayakovsky worked diligently to find the most suitable, ideal rhyme that would fit into the poems in all respects. He could walk 15-20 km until he found exactly what he needed.
- Remarkable is the story that connected the poet with the famous artist Repin. During their first meeting, the painter was quite surprised by Mayakovsky’s chestnut curls and suggested painting his portrait. When Mayakovsky again appeared at Repin, he was incredibly surprised, because as soon as the poet took off his headdress, the painter saw that now the chestnut curls were shaved “to zero”.
- Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik, whose relations were difficult to the limit, in essence, were an excellent tandem of the creator and the muse. The Swedish Brik family with Mayakovsky created favorable conditions not only for communication with Lily. Osip Brik personally took part in the life of the poet. He corrected the punctuation and spelling of verses by a brilliant creator. Such strange relationships connected these three people.
- It was Mayakovsky who became the creator of the famous "ladder". From the side of the writer, this was an obvious trick, because at that time the poets were paid for the number of lines in the written verses, and the "ladder" led to the fact that he received 2-3 times more than his colleagues in the workshop.
So many years have passed since the death of the great poet, and they are still remembered about him, he is still studied in schools, his poems are quoted by loving young men to his ladies' hearts, he still remains alive in the souls of his fans. Creativity that calls for vigorous activity, creativity in which you want to dissolve - this is the poetry created by a brilliant poet who will be remembered for centuries.