Ilya Grigorievich Erenburg, poet, writer, public figure, journalist, translator, was born in 1891 (January 27 in the new style, January 14 in the old style) in Kiev. His family moved to Moscow in 1895. Here, Ilya's father was a director of a brewery for some time.
Graduation and emigration to Paris
After passing serious exams in 1898 (we note that for Jews there was a three percent qualification), Ilya entered the 1st Moscow gymnasium. As a teenager, he took part in the 1905 revolution. Erenburg erected barricades near Kudrinskaya Square , carried out the instructions of the party. He wrote that he was drawn to the Bolsheviks. In 1907, in the spring, his first article appeared, entitled "Two years of a single party." In the same year, in November, they searched his house, as a result of which Ilya Grigoryevich ended up in prison (he was arrested in January 1908). His father made a bail before the trial, and in the summer, after 5 months, the revolutionary was finally released. However, for revolutionary activity he is expelled from the 6th grade of the gymnasium. Ilya is under police surveillance.
Ehrenburg emigrated to Paris in December 1908. Here he continues his revolutionary activities. In Paris, he meets Lenin, meets with the Bolsheviks. At that time, Ehrenburg's nickname was Ilya Lokhmaty (due to a disheveled hair). Lenin will still remember him under this nickname when he reads his first novel. However, the fascination with Bolshevism turned out to be short-lived, as well as Catholicism. After some time, Ilya decided to engage in literary activity and move away from political life.
The first collections of poems
Ehrenburg began to compose poetry as early as 1909. As he admits, it happened "by accident": Ilya Grigoryevich became interested in a girl who loved poetry. In Paris in 1910 his first collection of poems was published. Then three more appeared: in 1911 - "I live", in 1913 - "Weekdays", in 1914 - "Children's". Ehrenburg writes about knights and lords, the tomb of the Lord and Mary Stuart. Bryusov drew attention to the young poet. “Weekdays,” a collection that appeared in 1913, indicates that the author has no more illusions about the “old society”. At 23, Ilya Grigoryevich is quite famous among the Parisian bohemians as a promising poet.
After the outbreak of World War I, Ilya Grigorievich tried to enlist in the French army as a foreign volunteer, but was found unfit due to health reasons.
Work as a correspondent on the Western Front
In the period from 1914 to 1917 he was a correspondent of Russian newspapers, worked on the Western Front. These military correspondence are the beginning of his journalistic activity. Ilya Erenburg in 1915 and 1916 published essays and articles in the Moscow newspaper "Morning of Russia". Then, in 1916-17., Wrote for the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange.
New Arrests
Ilya Erenburg in July 1917 returned to Russia. However, at first he did not accept the October Revolution. This is reflected in his 1918 book, Prayer for Russia.
After a short arrest in September 1918, he decided to go to Kiev, and then left for Koktebel. Erenburg returned in the fall of 1920 to Moscow. Here he was again arrested, but was soon released. Ilya Erenburg in Moscow worked in the Theater Department of the People's Commissariat for Education as the head of the children's section. The department was headed by Vsevolod Meyerhold at that time.
New collections of poems
In the period from 1918 to 1923. Ehrenburg has created many collections of poems. In 1919, “Fire” appeared, in 1921 - “Eve” and “Meditations”, in 1922 - “Devastating love” and “Foreign meditations”, in 1923 - “Bestial warmth”, etc.
Ehrenburg again abroad
Having received permission from the authorities to go abroad, in March 1921, Ehrenburg and his wife went to Paris, while retaining a Soviet passport. In the French capital, he met and made friends with many cultural figures of France - Picasso, Aragon, Eluard, etc. Since that time, Ehrenburg lived mainly in the West.
He was expelled from France shortly after his arrival (for pro-Soviet propaganda). Erenburg in the summer of 1921 was in Belgium. Here Ilya Ehrenburg wrote the first prose work . "The extraordinary adventures of Julio Jurenito and his students ..." - a novel created in 1922. This work brought Ilya Grigoryevich European fame. Ehrenburg saw himself primarily as a satirist.
It was very difficult for the writer to get ashore on one side — he was not satisfied with either the new society (“inhumane”) or the old order. He did not want to live in Russia, and in Paris he did not have the opportunity to settle down. Therefore, the Erenburgs decided to move to Berlin. Ilya Grigoryevich from 1921 to 1924 mainly lived in the German capital. Here he collaborated in the magazines New Russian Book and Russian Book. Ilya until 1923 continued to compose and publish poetry, after which he decided to completely switch to the creation of prose works.
Life in France, new works
After the “Left Block” came to power in France in 1924, Ilya Grigorievich received permission to settle in this country. Since that time, Ehrenburg mainly lived in Paris.
More than 20 books were created in the 1920s by Ilya Ehrenburg. His books are worthy of attention. Among them we can mention the "Unbelievable Stories" published in 1922; in 1923 - “Thirteen Pipes” (a collection of short stories), “The Life and Death of Nikolai Kurbov” and “Trust D. E. The History of the Death of Europe”; in 1924 - "The Love of Jeanne Ney"; in 1926 - "The Summer of 1925"; in 1927 - "In the Flow lane" and others. In 1928, Ehrenburg created a novel called The Stormy Life of Lazik Roitschwanese, which was published in the USSR in 1989. The United Front appears in 1930.
1930s in the life and work of Ehrenburg
His trips to Germany, Spain and other European countries in the 1930s convince Ilya Grigorievich of the onset of fascism. Erenburg is actively involved in the social life of the USSR. In 1932 he became a Paris correspondent for Izvestia, attending construction sites of the first five-year plans (the novel Day Two, published in 1933, is the result of these visits). “Breathless” is a novel that was created in 1935 after a trip to the north of the country that Erenburg made in 1934.
Most of the time during the Civil War unfolding in Spain (1936-39), Ilya Grigorievich was in this country. He served as a correspondent for Izvestia in the Republican Army. Here he created many essays and articles, as well as “What a Man Needs,” a novel published in 1937.
In addition to journalistic work, Ehrenburg also carried out diplomatic missions. At international congresses held in defense of culture (in 1935 and 1937), he was a representative of our country and acted as a Soviet anti-fascist writer.
After a 15-year hiatus in 1938, Ehrenburg again returned to poetry. He continued to write poetry for the rest of his life.
Return to the USSR, the years of World War II
After the Germans captured France in 1940, he returned completely to the USSR. Here he set about writing a novel called The Fall of Paris. Its first part was published at the beginning of 1941, and the whole novel in 1942. Then this work was awarded the Stalin Prize.
Erenburg Ilya G. served as a war correspondent during the years of World War II . He worked in the newspaper "Red Star". His articles were published not only in this newspaper, but also in others - Izvestia, Pravda, some divisional newspapers and abroad. In total, about 3 thousand of his articles were published in the period from 1941 to 1945. Anti-fascist pamphlets and articles were included in the three-volume journalism called "War" (1942-44).
At the same time, Ilya Grigorievich continued to create and publish poems and poems about the war. The idea of his novel "The Tempest" appeared during the war years. The work was completed in 1947. A year later, Ehrenburg received a State Prize for it. In 1943, "Poems of War" were published.
Post-war years in the life and work of Ehrenburg
Ilya Grigorievich in the postwar period continued his creative activity. In 1951-52 his novel "The Ninth Wave" was published, as well as the novel "The Thaw" (1954-56). The story caused heated debate. Its name began to be used to designate the whole period that our country went through in socio-political development.
Erenburg in the years 1955-57 wrote critical literary essays on French art. Their common name is "French notebooks." Ilya Grigorievich in 1956 achieved the holding of the first Picasso exhibition in the capital of the USSR.
In the late 1950s, Ilya Ehrenburg began to work on the creation of a memoir. The works included in it are united under the name "People. Years. Life." This book was published in the 1960s. Ilya Ehrenburg divided it into six parts. "People. Years. Life" does not include all of his memoirs. Only in 1990 were they published in full.
Social Activities of Ilya Grigorievich
Until the end of his life, Ilya Ehrenburg led an active social activity. In the period from 1942 to 1948, he was a member of the JAC (European Anti-Fascist Committee). And in 1943 he became the head of the JAC commission working on the creation of the Black Book, which described the atrocities that the Nazis committed against the Jews.
This book, however, was banned. It was published later in Israel. Due to a conflict with the leadership in 1945, the writer Ilya Ehrenburg left the commission.
The JAC was liquidated in November 1948. The process began against its leaders, which ended only in 1952. The case file also featured Ilya Ehrenburg. His arrest, however, was not authorized by Stalin.
Ehrenburg in April 1949 was one of the organizers of the First World Congress of Peace Supporters. Also since 1950, Ilya Grigoryevich participated in the activities of the World Peace Council as vice president.
Awards
Ehrenburg was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR several times. Twice he was a laureate of the USSR State Prize (in 1942 and 1948), and in 1952 received the International Lenin Prize. In 1944, Ilya Grigorievich was awarded the Order of Lenin. And the French government made him a knight of the Legion of Honor.
Personal life of Ehrenburg
Ilya Erenburg was twice married. He lived for some time with Catherine Schmidt in a civil marriage. In 1911, the daughter Irina was born (years of life - 1911-1997), who became a translator and writer. The second time, Ilya Grigoryevich married Lyubov Kozintseva, an artist. He lived with her until the end of his days.
The death of Ilya Erenburg
After a long illness, Ilya Ehrenburg died in Moscow on August 31, 1967. He was buried in the Novodevichy cemetery. A monument was erected on the grave a year later. On it, according to the drawing of Pablo Picasso, his friend, the profile of Ilya Grigoryevich is embossed.
We hope you learned something new from this article about a person like Ilya Ehrenburg. His biography, of course, is short, but we tried not to miss the most important points.