Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov is a famous domestic literary critic, memoirist and literary historian. He witnessed a change of generations of Russian writers of the 19th century, so his memoirs are so interesting in which he highlights some significant milestones in the development of Russian literature, creates vivid and extraordinary portraits of important figures for the era - Ivan Turgenev, Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Herzen, Vissarion Belinsky and many others. He is also known for the fact that for a long period of time he was engaged in the study of letters, manuscripts, drawings and drafts of Alexander Pushkin, collected and summarized the memories of the poet. The result of this work was a large-scale work entitled "Materials in the Biography of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin", which was published in 1855. Later, the book "Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in the Alexander era" appeared. Annenkov is also the compiler of the poet’s collected works in seven volumes, the publication of which was completed by 1857.
Biography of a literary critic
Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov was born on July 1, 1813 in Moscow. Little is known about his parents. Father was a representative of the Russian service nobility and married the hero of our article in 1802.
Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov had three brothers - Ivan, Fedor and Alexander. Fedor rose to the rank of major general, was the governor of Nizhny Novgorod, Ivan made acquaintance with Natalia Goncharova and her second husband Peter Lansky, from whom he received numerous manuscripts of Pushkin. And Alexander was known as a gambler, who with his passion endangered the condition of the whole family.
The childhood of the hero of our article was spent in his mother’s Simbirsk estate - in the village of Chirikovo. After he entered the Mining Institute of St. Petersburg, but soon dropped out. In 1833, Pavel Vasilyevich Annenkov began working in the Ministry of Finance, but he also did not stay in this status. Having become a non-serving nobleman, he decided to do literature. As a free listener he attended the historical and philological faculty of St. Petersburg University.
Getting into the literary life of the country
An important role in the biography of Pavel Alekseevich Annenkov was played by acquaintance with the great Russian writers. At the age of 20, he met with Gogol. Since 1832, he is a regular in the evenings arranged by the writer on Malaya Morskaya Street. It is noted that Gogol highly appreciated the analytical abilities and mind of the young man, and therefore accepted him into his circle. He was given the nickname Jules Janin - in honor of the then-popular French critic.
After Gogol's departure abroad, Belinsky actually took custody of Annenkov. It is believed that it was the senior comrade who advised him to gain life experiences during travels and helped to draw up the route. At the end of 1840, Annenkov left to wander with the publicist Mikhail Katkov.
Travels
In telling a brief biography of Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov, it is necessary to mention this period of his life, which had a significant impact on the formation of the personality of a literary critic.
His first trip abroad lasts three years, during which time he manages to visit France, the countries of the German Union, England, Switzerland, Scotland, Denmark and Ireland. He writes about his impressions in a cycle known as Letters from Abroad. They are published in the journal "Patriotic Notes" by Andrei Kraevsky.
Belinsky Circle
He returned to Russia in 1843, faced with the fact that fierce disputes were ongoing in the country between Slavophiles and Westerners. He settles near Moscow in the village of Sokolovo with Herzen and Granovsky, delves into the ideology of Westerners, joins their discussions and becomes a Westerner himself. Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov visits Belinsky on Saturdays, where French utopian socialism was actively discussed at that time.
In 1846, he again left for Europe. From Paris he watches the ongoing revolutionary events, meets with their participants. The result of this trip is a series of publications entitled "Paris Letters", in which Annenkov pays attention not only to the political, but also to the cultural life of France. It is believed that at that time Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov’s work was influenced by his acquaintance with Marx and the subsequent correspondence.
When he learns that Belinsky, on the recommendation of doctors, is sent to Salzbrunn, he is called to be his companion.
"Pushkin" period
Annenkov began exploring Pushkin's work thanks to his younger brother. In 1848, returning to Russia and settling in his Simbirsk estate, he regularly receives letters from Ivan, Natalya Goncharova and Peter Lansky, and they pass on the manuscripts of the poet to him. Soon a contract was concluded under which Annenkov received the right to publish Pushkin's works.
He began to conduct work simultaneously in several directions. To collect memories, he conducted extensive correspondence with people who personally knew Pushkin. Among his respondents were the lyceum’s comrades of the poet, Brother Let, poet Katenin, writer Vladimir Dal, and playwright Vladimir Sollogub.
Often, in order to obtain the necessary information, he had to resort to diplomatic tricks. For example, his letter to Anna Kern has been preserved , in which he asks to participate in drawing up memoirs, being above vulgar and philistine considerations.
Another area of his activity was connected with the study of domestic periodicals of the 1810-1830s. He makes extracts from newspapers and magazines, reproducing quotes from literary discussions and reviews of the time. With their help, he wants to trace what impression of Pushkin’s work was formed in Russian society, how it was formed and transformed.
Study of drafts of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin
The most difficult thing for Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov, whose photo is in this article, is the study of Pushkin's letters and manuscripts. The hero of our article prepares for publication the poet’s workbooks, drafts of future works, autobiographical notes, fragments of articles, drawings. Thanks to this work, Pushkin’s internal creative biography comes to the fore, a picture of his interaction with reality is emerging.
Certain difficulties arise due to the fact that Annenkov constantly has to remember about self-restrictions. It was not only censorship, but also the delicate promises he made to the project initiator, Natalia Goncharova. As a result, the details of family dramas were not covered at all, as well as the situation that led to the poet’s last duel and his death.
In 1855, "Materials for the biography of A. S. Pushkin" was published, and he set aside many manuscripts in order to publish them in the Bulletin of Europe only in 1874. By 1857, Annenkov was preparing a 7-volume collection of poetry.
Literary criticism
In the second half of the 50s of the XIX century, the hero of the article becomes a literary critic. Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov possessed the necessary thinking and talent for this. The publication of materials about Pushkin was well received by the public, the hero of our article gained a reputation as a competent textologist and literary critic. In 1857, he published in the Russian Herald a biography of Stankevich, and then the article "N.V. Gogol in Rome in the Summer of 1841." She goes to the magazine "Library for reading." In these memoirs, he first describes a writer with whom he was personally acquainted. This is a technique that he often uses in the future when writing essays and studies.
Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov had a great influence on the development and understanding of Russian literature. Many of the concepts used in his works were subsequently entrenched in Russian philology. For example, he was the first to use the concept of "realism", he began to call the work of Camille Corot "impressionism". He was always famous for his ability to find exact definitions of certain phenomena, which sometimes led to amazing coincidences. In 1860, still not knowing about the novel Fathers and Sons, which was just being formed by Turgenev, Annenkov called the employees of the journal Sovremennik, who do not recognize authorities, as nihilists. This concept becomes the main characteristic of Evgeny Bazarov.
Personal life
In the early 1860s, significant changes took place in the personal life of the hero of our article. He is the first to start a family at 48.
Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov married 30-year-old Glafira Rakovich, whom Turgenev introduces him. In 1861 they played a wedding.
Three years later, the couple go on a trip to Europe, where they meet with Turgenev. He notes that Annenkov is happy and in love.
In 1867, the Annenkovs had a daughter, Vera, and two years later, their son Pavel.
Memoirs
Family life for some time distracts Annenkov from creativity. In the 1870s, he was constantly in Europe, in his letters of that period the main attention was paid to financial and domestic issues.
At the same time, literature is gradually returning to his life. In 1874, his new work on the biography of Pushkin was published; he was preparing to print articles on draft copies and unrealized projects of the poet. In addition, Annenkov begins work on his own large-scale essay entitled "The Wonderful Decade. 1838-1848." In it, he decides to talk about Belinsky, about his bright acquaintances of that time. The heroes of the essay are Herzen, Bakunin, Granovsky, Gogol, Stankevich. In 1880 he was published in the Bulletin of Europe.
Death
In the 1880s, the hero of our article lives in different European countries. Shortly before her death, she came to Russia to visit the family estate of Chirikovo with her son.
But over the years, moving is given him harder. And in the spring of 1887, Annenkov died in Dresden. He was 73 years old. Here is his grave.
The fate of children
His wife Glafira survived her husband for 12 years, passing away in 1899.
Their daughter Vera Pavlovna Annenkova marries a German officer. She lives abroad until the age of 90. The date of her death is 1956. Her Turgenev letters were kept in her apartment in Dresden for many decades, but when the house was destroyed during the bombing in 1945, the archive was completely lost.
Pavel Annenkov in 1895 became a graduate of Novorossiysk University. He specialized in economics, constantly lived in the village of Chirikovo. He died in 1934. In letters to Turgenev he often conveyed greetings to the "Viardot family", among whom he had his own favorite - the youngest daughter of the writer Marianne.
After the death of Turgenev, information appeared that at the end of his life he suffered from gout, being left alone, in difficult and extremely constrained conditions. Pavel Pavlovich, however, argued the opposite, stating that relatives and friends surrounded him until the very last moment.