Nadezhda Volpin is a poetess and translator who began her career at the dawn of the 20th century. However, the greatest popularity was brought to her not so much by her compositions as by the affair with Sergei Yesenin, which began in 1920. Biographies of this amazing woman and her work will be devoted to this article.
Nadezhda Volpin: biography
The future poetess was born on February 6, 1900 in Mogilev. Her father, David Samuilovich Volpin, was a graduate of Moscow University and became famous for translating the book by J. J. Fraser “Folklore in the Old Testament”, making a living as a lawyer. Nadezhda’s mother, Anna Borisovna Zhislina, was a music teacher largely due to the fact that she had graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory as a girl.
Volpin Nadezhda Davydovna herself did not follow in the footsteps of any of her parents and, having graduated from the so-called Khvostovskaya classical gymnasium in 1917, entered Moscow University at the Department of Physics and Mathematics. However, the foreign languages that she later found so useful in her life and allowed her to become a translator, she mastered right in the gymnasium. In addition, Volpin studied at the University for a little over a year, then quit, realizing that natural physics is not her vocation.
The eventful and vibrant life of Nadezhda Davydovna as a poetess began in 1919, when she joined the imagists and began working in the studio of Andrei Bely, Green Workshop. In the same year, another significant event took place in her life.
First meeting with Yesenin
Sergei Yesenin and Nadezhda Volpin met at the Pegasus Stall cafe, where the second anniversary of the October Revolution was celebrated. On this occasion, a lot of poets gathered in the cafe who read their works from the stage. Yesenin was one of such invited guests, but when it was his turn, he answered the entertainer that he was supposedly "reluctant."
Volpin, who was present at the evening, was a passionate admirer of Yesenin 's work, so, having gathered courage, she went to the poet and asked to read poetry. The poet, known for his weakness for the female sex, could not refuse a pretty girl. In response to her request, he bowed with the words: "For you - with pleasure."
From that moment, their frequent meetings began in this cafe, after which Yesenin accompanied the girl home. On the way, they talked a lot about poetry and literature. Once Yesenin even gave Volpin a book of his poems with the caption "Hope with hope."
Conquest
Nadezhda Volpin, whose memories of Yesenin were not always the most pleasant, wrote about this period of their communication that she constantly had to fend off the poet's confessions. For three years the girl managed to keep Yesenin at a distance, despite her sincere love for him.
This was largely due to the fact that at that time the poet was still officially married to Zinaida Reich, who had two children from him. Yesenin had not lived with this woman for a long time, but the fact of marriage seriously bothered Nadezhda.
Only in 1921, lovers became truly close. However, this did not bring them much joy. They often quarreled, mainly because of the binge life of the poet. Yesenin admitted that he was afraid to get too close to Nadezhda, so he disappears so often.
Yesenina Roman with Isadora Duncan
And in 1922, the poet began a scandalous affair with the famous dancer Isadora Duncan. Volpin, Yesenin's common-law wife, could not interfere with this alliance, and was not about to. For her, it was a blow. The situation was aggravated by the fact that everything happened before her eyes - the circle of communication between them and Yesenin was common.
Nevertheless, when the poet broke up with his next passion and wished to return, Nadezhda Volpin accepted him. Resumed joint trips to acquaintances, visits to cafes, gatherings at home. Gradually, she became the person who delivered the quickly hopped poet home. And Yesenin got drunk more and more often, he began to think that he was being persecuted. He repeatedly told Nadezhda about his fears.
Birth of a child
Soon, Nadezhda Volpin learned that she was pregnant. Hearing about this, Yesenin was not happy, but declared that he already has children and it seems to be enough for him. To this, Volpin replied that she did not need anything from Yesenin, and she was not trying to marry him.
After this unpleasant conversation, Nadezhda leaves for St. Petersburg, deciding to break off all relations with the poet. Their son, Alexander, was born in 1924, May 12, in the same place, in the Northern capital. Nadezhda tried her best to avoid possible meetings with Yesenin. She even settled not in the poet’s friends, whom he asked to shelter her, but in a small, completely uncomfortable little room. Yesenin strongly scolded Hope for this, but she did not back down from her. Volpin always strived for independence and independence.
The boy was very similar to Yesenin. The poet never saw him, but often asked friends who he was. To the answer that he was spilled Sergey in childhood, Yesenin replied: “It should be so, because she loved me very much”.
After the death of Yesenin
Living alone with a small child was difficult, and Nadezhda Volpin began to earn money by translations. These were mainly works by European classics: Walter Scott, Merimee, Cooper, Conan Doyle and others. She managed to reproduce an individual author’s style, and the poet’s experience helped with translations of poems by Goethe, Ovid, and many others.
During World War II, Volpin was evacuated to Turkmenistan, to Ashgabat. Here she quickly mastered the Turkmen language and began translating national folklore and poetry.
During the years of repression, Alexander Volpin-Yesenin was arrested for anti-Soviet activities. For Hope, this was a severe test that ended with the migration of his son to the United States.
The life of the poetess ended in 1998, September 9. In recent years, she was looked after by the ex-wife of Alexander - Victoria Pisak.
Volpin Nadezhda Davydovna: creative path
As noted above, the poet’s career began in the 1920s, although she tried to write poetry while still a gymnasium student. Moscow has opened up new opportunities. In particular, literary cafes “The Pegasus Stall” and “Poets Cafe” were very popular. Here is one of Volpin's poems of this period:
"Songs from the throat are torn,
Bloody sweat on his forehead ...
Your chains, revolution
The holiest of hearts is freedom! ”
However, Volpin is better known as a translator. The volume of her work is truly colossal - it is thousands of text pages. Nadezhda Davydovna was a very educated person with a broad outlook and an excellent memory. She knew many poems by heart. The same phenomenal ability to remember helped her to master a considerable number of foreign languages. Since 1970, Volpin began work on her memoirs, which described in detail the poetic life of the Silver Age. Much attention was paid to the life of Sergei Yesenin. Many of these works are now published.