In this article we will introduce you to a very interesting author - a representative of Russian literature. We will describe his biography and work. Prishvin Mikhail Mikhailovich (years of life - 1873-1954) was born in 1873, in January. He was born on the estate of Khrushchev, located in the Oryol province. Prishvin’s life and work will be described sequentially, in chronological order.
The family of the future writer comes from merchants. A dreamy and keen father who died early, as well as a mother, poetic, tender, but at the same time hardworking, practical, strong-willed, both parents had a great influence on shaping the character of the future writer.
Revolutionary ideas in the life and work of Prishvin
Mikhail's early childhood passed in the village, where he observed the concerns and needs of the peasants. The writer tells us about studying in the Yelets gymnasium, and then in Tyumen in a real school in the novel "The Kashcheev chain", which is an autobiographical.
From this work we learn about how the student Prishvin was captured by the idea of ​​universal happiness. At this time, he translated various revolutionary literature, and also propagated ideas among workers. After that, Mikhail Prishvin was arrested (1897). Sitting in a Riga prison, in solitary confinement, he made, in order to pass the time, a mental journey to the North Pole. The writer was very sorry that they did not give ink and paper, otherwise he would certainly write a diary for this trip.
Life in Europe
Prishvin, whose pages of life and work are fraught with a lot of curiosity, after exiling to continue his studies he goes abroad in 1900. Life in Europe, of course, could not but influence the formation of its inner world. Mikhail Mikhailovich sensitively perceived the culture of Western Europe. He admired Goethe, loved Wagner's music, and also saw in the books of Nietzsche the merging of philosophy and poetry. Prishvin graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Leipzig (1902). At this time, he completely departed from participation in the political struggle, because he realized that he was incapable of it. The revolution frightened Mikhail Mikhailovich, he was a dreamer, not a fighter at all.
Prishvin's first love
At the same time, one of the most important events in the life of the future writer happened. He met in Paris a student girl from Russia. Prishvin's biography and work reflected the influence of this girl, as we will tell you about now. In the "Kashcheeva chain" the story of love and break with this student, who refused to Prishvin, realizing that he is unable to "penetrate the soul" of another. Mikhail Mikhailovich had to first learn to love, "become a husband", and not just admire the female beauty. That is, you should first spiritually mature. It was this girl who in many ways made Mikhail Mikhailovich a writer, as he himself admitted, saying that all his poetic experiences come from two sources: love and childhood.
Village life, marriage
For several years, having returned to his homeland, Mikhail Prishvin lives in the village, where he works as an agronomist, and is also engaged in scientific work in the field of agriculture. He decided to live the way "all good people" live, abandoning his hopes for personal happiness. Prishvin married the "simple and illiterate" peasant woman, who became his assistant.
The beginning of literary activity
Unexpectedly for himself, at the age of 33, Mikhail Mikhailovich realizes his vocation for literary work. After that, he dramatically changes his lifestyle, becoming a correspondent for the newspaper Russkiye Vedomosti, published in St. Petersburg. Since 1905, he often prints notes and essays about peasant life. The fact that the creative path of this writer began with journalism was of great importance for the writer Prishvin: in his essays and articles he honed his skills, learned to summarize thoughts, and also comprehended the art of expressiveness and accuracy of language.
Mikhail Mikhailovich also wrote fiction, novels and short stories. But only one story called "Sashok" was published in 1906 in the "Spring" - a children's magazine. The rest of the manuscripts were returned from the editions: Prishvin was not given "complex psychological things." The writer was haunted by failure.
Travel North
Then Prishvin decided to take a letter of recommendation from the Geographical Society, with which he went to the North (Norway and Karelia, 1907). He has long beckoned the writer with his secret, and Mikhail Mikhailovich has been exploring this wonderful world for two summers in a row. Prishvin's life and work at that time were very active. He brought from travel recordings of fairy tales and epics, notebooks with travel notes, as well as numerous photographs. In addition, he read a scientific report, after which Prishvin was elected a member of the Russian Geographical Society, and also awarded a silver medal.
Two book essays
The essay books "Behind the Magic Kolobok" and "In the Land of Frightened Birds" were a kind of report on the journeys made. The latter did not seem very successful to the writer; in his opinion, it was too scientific. He considered his first book to be precisely his first book, in which essays on the life of taiga peasants and fishermen, as well as on the harsh northern nature , were placed. However, the work reminded him, moreover, of a fascinating tale. Its beginning corresponded to this genre: “In a certain kingdom ...” But the fairy tale at the same time does not obscure the true description of the miserable life of the people of the North, their ignorance. The writer, however, first of all reveals the beauty in these people, speaks of their proximity to nature, human dignity, and nobility.
Other travels and works written about these trips
The artist writes books and travels every year. Prishvin’s life and work at this time are closely interconnected. So, after he visited the Kerzhensky forests, "Light Lake" came out. The essays "Black Arab" and "Adam and Eve" reflected impressions of a visit to Central Asia. The book "Glorious tambourines" was published after a trip to the Crimea.
The work "Black Arab" the author himself called "festive". Prishvin was not constrained at its creation by a specific assignment of the editorial staff, therefore he was able to turn household material into an oriental tale, building his work on the idea of ​​a fantastic transformation of the traveler and the locality. The image of a traveler is interesting: he posed as a person who had taken a vow of silence. This book is very musical and picturesque. Readers were delighted with her, and M. Gorky even suggested publishing a three-volume collected works of Mikhail Mikhailovich in The Knowledge.
Fame, rapprochement with modernists
The name of Prishvin at the beginning of the First World War became widely known in literary circles. The work of this writer was highly appreciated by many of his contemporaries, such as I. Bunin, A. Blok, A. Remizov, M. Gorky, Z. Gippius, V. Bryusov. Prishvin was especially close to modernist writers. He found support and participation in their midst, published in their publications. He called his teacher Remizov. In modernists, Mikhail Mikhailovich attracted attention to art, creativity, as well as the high demands on the word. It is known that Prishvin had a plan for a novel called "Beginning of the Century", he drew up his plan, separate "pieces" and sketches were preserved in the archive. Unfortunately, this idea was not realized.
Sending to the front line as a correspondent
The writer, after the outbreak of World War I, went to the front line as a newspaper correspondent. His illusions that this war could bring power and people closer together dispersed quickly. Prishvin begins to protest the many countless sacrifices she made. War is inhumane - this is the main idea of ​​all his essays and articles.
Prishvin is a member of the Scythians
The writer, as well as the main part of the advanced intelligentsia of our country at that time, warmly welcomed the February Revolution. He soon joined the Scythians association, which included such writers as E. Zamyatin, A. Remizov, N. Klyuyev, S. Yesenin, A. Bely, V. Bryusov and others who shared a view of the history of the Left Social Revolutionaries. They focused on the Russian village, the peasantry, and not on the proletariat, and also tried to "connect" Christianity with socialism.
Prishvin’s life and work in the first years after October
The revolution is an event that affected the fate of many people, including the author that interests us. A brief chronicle of the life and work of M. M. Prishvin in the first years after October is as follows.
After the revolution, Mikhail Mikhailovich began working with the Socialist Revolutionary newspapers - the newspapers Early Morning, The Will of the People, and The People’s Business — until they were closed as counterrevolutionary.
In the period from 1918 to 1919 in Yelets he worked as a teacher of the Russian language, the organizer of local history. In 1920, he leaves this city with his family to his homeland. In the Smolensk province, the writer worked as a school principal and teacher. He also organized a museum of estate in the former estate of Baryshnikov.
The period from 1922 to 1924 is marked by the following events. Mikhail Mikhailovich moves with his family near Moscow, in Taldomsky district. Here he is working on a book called Sabbaths, and also begins to write an autobiographical work, The Kashcheev Chain, which we have already mentioned. Novels about nature, hunting stories appear.
"Springs of Berendey"
In 1925, the writer moved to Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, engaged in local history work. A book is published entitled "The Springs of Berendey" - one of the most famous works in which the world of nature was fully reflected in the work of Mikhail Prishvin. The book tells about the people with whom the writer worked and lived. In it, Prishvin’s special approach to revealing the themes of nature and man is visible. The author emphasizes kinship with the whole world of people, saying that all elements of the natural world have entered into man. In many ways, this world determines our activities, even the appearance. Trees and animals are prototypes of people. Nature in lyric miniatures is endowed with the characteristics of the human inner world. Without understanding the philosophy of nature of Prishvin, it is impossible to deeply read the works written by him. What distinguishes him from other artists of the word is that he connects with this theme all the main issues raised in books. The essence of human being is revealed through the image of nature.
1930s in the life and work of Prishvin
In 1931, in the spring, Prishvin went on a trip to the Urals on the instructions of the editorial board of the journal Our Achievements, in which he worked at that time. And in the fall of the same year - to the Far East, where the life and work of M. Prishvin continued.
The book "My Essay" appears in 1933 with a foreword by M. Gorky. Essays on the trip to the North were written at the same time and were called "Fathers and Sons." The story "The Root of Life" (another name is "Ginseng") was published in the magazine "Red Nova" in the same year. In this book, contemporaries saw the poetry of transforming life through creativity, which was generally consonant with the pathos of Soviet-era literature. However, if the majority of contemporary writers of Prishvin spoke about collective labor (collective farms, factories, new buildings), Mikhail Mikhailovich wrote about the organization of the deer reserve. His characters are Chinese and Russian. The story describes their work and life, their relationship. The main idea is the unity of people of different nationalities.
Prishvin was reproached for the fact that he deliberately departed from modern reality, did not depict the historical era in the work (at the beginning of the century the action of this story takes place). However, another thing was important to the writer: to express his own thoughts about creativity. The poem written by him is fanned by the romance of the work of the "blessed", kinship between different people, as well as nature and man. Ginseng is a source of youth and health, the root of life, but at the same time it is also a spiritual source that helps determine a person’s life path. For the first time, the author connected with his own biography the story of a fictional man who, during the Russo-Japanese War, came to the Far East. One of the most important motives of the work is also autobiographical - the feeling of ache in the pain that permeates the hero when recalling his first love, as well as newfound joy when the lost happiness is in another woman. All this reflects the biography of Prishvin Mikhail, briefly described by us.
We continue our story. In 1934, a number of important events marked his life and work. Prishvin M. M. goes to study Gorky automobile business, and then goes to the northern forests. Impressions of the nature of these places were reflected in the essays "Berendeyevskaya thicket", as well as in the collection for children "Beast Chipmunk".
In 1939, the writer was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor, and the next year he married VD Lebedeva and spent the summer in the Moscow Region, in the village of Tyazhino. The works "Forest Drops", "Phacelia", as well as a cycle called "Grandfather's Boots" appear.
The life and work of the writer during the Second World War
During World War II, in August 1941, the writer was evacuated from the capital to the Yaroslavl region, the village of Usolye. In 1942, work continued on the third part of the Kashcheev chain. In 1943, "Tales of Leningrad Children" was published. In connection with the 70th anniversary, the writer was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
The chronicle of the life and work of M. M. Prishvin of this period is marked by the following further events. In the summer of 1945 he lived in Pushkin, near Moscow, where the "Pantry of the Sun" was created. The collection "Golden Meadow" appeared in 1948.
In 1952, the writer resumes work on the Kashcheeva Chain, the third part.
January 16, 1954 is the date that completes his life and work. Prishvin M.M. died in Moscow.
Assessments of Prishvin's creativity and personality
Mikhail Mikhailovich is a peculiar writer. Conflicting assessments evoked the life and work of Prishvin among his contemporaries. Bakhtin wrote a lot about him, Prishvin Bokov, Cossacks, Kozhinov were highly appreciated. Dramatically spoke about the work of Mikhail Mikhailovich Twardowski, Sokolov-Mikitov, Platonov. However, the writer believed in the love and understanding of posterity, and today there are really a lot of readers of Prishvin.
Prishvin's diary
Mikhail Mikhailovich sincerely rejoiced when he met with readers' understanding, often said that he writes for a reader friend who is capable of co-creation. Often visited in the last years of his life in both Dudin and Moscow by such admirers of his talent as S. Marshak A. Yashin, V. Shishkov, Vs. Ivanov, K. Fedin. Prishvin saw "his reader" in Paustovsky, the closest writer to the "spirit of creativity." Their lyricism, love of nature, as well as keen attention to the word of art are related. K. Paustovsky enthusiastically responded about the diary, which was kept by M. M. Prishvin for half a century. He believed that two or three lines from it would be enough for a whole book, if expanded.
Many writers are known to have diaries. However, Prishvin considered working on him the main business of life. It was possible to publish part of the records from which "Forget-me-nots", "Eyes of the Earth", "Forest Drops", "Phacelia" were born. However, during life, as well as a long time after death, most of the records could not be published, since they were considered an expression of ideologically incorrect, erroneous views. In the diary, the writer was indignant, reflected, fixed signs of time, conversations with people. From the records you can learn a lot about the peculiarities of the life of our country in the first half of the 20th century.
M.M. Prishvin today
The originality of the work of M. M. Prishvin is now appreciated. Today, the readers of this author are really very many. Much has been written about the life and work of Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin. The outgoing editions of the books of Mikhail Mikhailovich are quickly bought up, they remember and love him in his native Yelets, in Tyumen, where he studied, as well as in Karelia, where he traveled a lot, and in Dunin, where the last years of the writer’s life passed.
Today, the curriculum will certainly include the works of such a writer as Prishvin. Life and work (6th grade, school curriculum in literature) is studied in all schools of our country. Although there are not very many hours devoted to this topic. Only a short biography of M. M. Prishvin is considered. This is enough for children. Perhaps, at a more mature age, there will be a desire to get acquainted in more detail with the life and work of such an interesting author. This article is written just for those who want to know the details of the life and work of Mikhail Mikhailovich, which are not told in high school.