Interesting facts about writers and poets who glorified Russian literature are of interest to everyone who is at least a little passionate about Russian literature. Their books can be found on the shelves of the home library of any educated person in our country, but do we all know about their biography? Sometimes Russian classics simply amazed others with their unexpected and extravagant deeds and antics. You will find the most interesting stories in this article.
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Pushkin is considered the founder of the Russian literary language, but there are enough interesting facts about this writer, although it seems that we know his biography thoroughly.
In fact, many may be surprised that the poet smoked a lot, and the surrounding ladies were often shocked by transparent trousers, under which there was no underwear. Officially, Pushkin had four children, at least one child was illegitimate. This is the son of 19-year-old serf Olga Kalashnikova Pavel, whom the poet seduced in 1824 during his exile to Mikhailovskoye. He sent her to give birth in Boldino to Vyazemsky. The baby was born prematurely. Pushkin was not interested in the fate of his already former lover and her son, only after a few years he learned about the boy’s death. Most likely, he had other illegitimate children, but nothing is known about them for certain.
Here is another interesting fact from the life of a writer. Despite his education, he believed fortune-tellers and was sure that he would die at the hands of a white man or a white horse. In general, Pushkin often thought about death - he himself chose a place for his grave, somehow gave the friend Delvig a skull, he was very worried about the death of the English poet Byron, and even ordered a mass for the repose of the soul of God George.
Education Pushkin received at Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. And he studied very badly, he demonstrated successes only in literature. Throughout almost his entire life, he played a lot of cards, often lost, constantly hanging on his card debts.
Fatal Duel
It is worth recognizing that his rival in the fateful duel in which he was killed was very unusual. Georges Dantes was a relative of Pushkin. He was married to the sister of the poet’s wife Ekaterina Goncharova. Before his death, the poet was very worried that he violated the royal ban on participation in duels, even said that he was waiting for forgiveness from the emperor in order to die calmly.
In one of the last moments of enlightenment before his death, Pushkin asked cloudberries, and finally said goodbye to his most faithful friends who were in the room, these were his books. Here are some interesting facts about literature and writers that Pushkin can discover for you in a new way.
Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Lermontov became famous during the time of Pushkin, although he was much younger than him. If we talk about interesting facts about the writers and poets of Russia, that is, there is something to tell about him. His appearance was frankly ugly: he was broad-shouldered, short in stature, big-headed and stocky. At the same time, he limped on one leg, as some believe, to be like Byron.
Most of all his relatives loved his grandmother, who reciprocated. Like Pushkin, he was an avid duelist. He once participated in a duel with a Frenchman who supplied pistols for the fateful duel between Alexander Sergeyevich and Dantes. For participation in duels he was exiled to the Caucasus, where he proved himself a brave officer. There he began to learn the Azerbaijani language.
He was amorous and volatile. Once he took the bride away from his friend, and when he was tired of the girl, he wrote on himself an anonymous slander. Friends noted that Lermontov was famous for his unpleasant character - he was vindictive, did not forgive people weaknesses, he was arrogant towards everyone.
heads or tails
During his short life (he lived only 26 years) he took part in three duels. He managed to avoid four more only thanks to the efforts of his friends. One of his funs was to upset upcoming marriages. He pretended to be an ardent young man in love with a bride, showed her signs of attention, sent poems and flowers. Sometimes he even got to the point that he promised to commit suicide if she marries another. When the girl succumbed to these courtships, he admitted that it was a rally.
Surprisingly, Lermontov managed to lose in all competitions and games in which he participated. Only the fall of an opponent saved him from death in the very first duel. Returning from exile to the Caucasus, he tossed a coin to determine where to go — to serve or call in Pyatigorsk. As a result, he had to go to Pyatigorsk, where he was killed by a retired cavalryman Martynov. As it turned out later, before this duel he only shot a pistol three times.
Anton Chekhov
You can find many interesting facts in the biography of the writer Chekhov. As a child, he worked in a shop with his father. At home, he lived a manual mongoose named Bastard, which Anton Pavlovich brought from Ceylon.
As a schoolboy, he often changed into a beggar, carefully made up, and begged alms from his own uncle. He most often did not recognize him and gave money. In general, Chekhov had a hooligan character. One day he handed a pickled cucumber wrapped in paper to a city man, saying that it was a bomb.
There are many interesting facts about the books of the writer. For example, his plays and stories made Chekhov one of the most filmed authors in the world. At the moment, directors have shot almost 300 films based on his works.
Antonovka
Everywhere he was followed by a real army of female fans. When Chekhov moved to Yalta in 1898, many of his fans immediately followed to the Crimea. Local journalists wrote that the ladies were guarding the writer on the waterfront, only to once again see their idol, try to somehow attract his attention. Newspapers even dubbed the girls the nickname "Antonovka."
An interesting fact about the writer Chekhov is that he often worked under a pseudonym. In total, he had about 50. For example, Antosha Chekhonte, Man without a spleen, Nut No. 9, Champagne, Akaki Tarantulov and many others.
Chekhov's grandfather was a serf who managed to redeem himself and his family free. The writer himself refused the title of nobility, which was assigned to him by Nicholas II in 1899. Here's how many interesting factors about the biography of a writer whose photo is in this article.
Lev Tolstoy
Often shocked others and Leo Tolstoy. Once he dressed as a beggar and went to his serfs to find out about their problems. Those who recognized him and Orobeli, so without admitting anything. Disappointed to understand the Russian soul, Tolstoy began making boots that he gave to all relatives and friends.
An interesting fact about the Russian writer lies in the fact that Tolstoy was so enthusiastic about religion that some contemporaries even thought that he was crazy. At the same time, the count himself explained his addiction to mowing and plowing by the habit of constantly being in motion. If he had never gone for a walk all day, by the evening he became irritable.
There is such an interesting fact about the writer's books. He had a very illegible handwriting, in addition, in the drafts there was a whole system of additions and signs that only his wife Sofya Andreevna could figure out. The wife manually rewrote his novel War and Peace several times. Surprisingly, when the famous Italian psychiatrist Lombroso saw Tolstoy's handwriting, he stated that only a prostitute with psychopathic inclinations could write like that.
Last journey
It is known that Tolstoy was a vegetarian, which in his time was considered strange and unnatural. At 82, Tolstoy decided to leave wandering, leaving his wife and children on the estate. In a farewell letter to his wife, he admitted that he was no longer able to live in luxury, he wanted to spend the last days in silence. He went to wander for no purpose, accompanied only by his doctor Dusan Makovitsky. Having stopped at Optina deserts, he went to the niece to the south, from where he intended to get to the Caucasus. He failed to complete the journey. Tolstoy caught a cold and died in a small house of the head of the railway station called Astapovo.
Fedor Dostoevsky
Many interesting facts about writers can be learned by studying the biography of Dostoevsky. Fedor Mikhailovich began to show strangeness since childhood. He had a closed character, and vivid imagination only estranged him from his peers. Classmates often called him a "fool", and while studying at an engineering school, he was simply an "idiot."
An interesting fact about the writer is that in adulthood he was prone to seizures and excessive excitability. As it turned out later, he suffered from epilepsy. Specific changes in the psyche were manifested in its excessive pettiness, pedantry, irritability, resentment, numerous fears, bouts of a dreary and even evil mood.
In childhood, the sadistic inclinations of the writer, who loved to whip frogs with nutty whip, were still manifested. Many major psychiatrists were interested in the Russian writer. Galant noted that his psychopathy is most pronounced in the field of psychosexual experiences, and Sigmund Freud argued that striving for perversion could lead to crimes or sadomasochism.
Game obsession
Dostoevsky was obsessed with the game. He lost a lot of money on billiards, often got acquainted with cheaters. Another oddity was alarming suspiciousness. For example, the writer never drank tea, preferring plain warm water, and the color of the tea infused him in horror. Like Gogol, he worried that he could plunge into a lethargic dream and be buried alive. In this regard, he insisted that his funeral be held no earlier than five days after the alleged death.
It is remarkable and surprising that Dostoevsky, who was actively treated for his many diseases, never asked for help because of epilepsy. The writer asked doctors for help because of problems with the intestines, lungs, somatic disorders, and did not consider epilepsy as some kind of disease. At the same time, the seizures were very difficult for them, but he believed that only thanks to these mental disorders his creative potential would not run out.
Ivan Krylov
Telling interesting facts about writers and poets, one must also remember the great fabulist Ivan Krylov. Besides literature, his main passion was food. Despite his obesity, he was the first to head to the dining room as soon as the footman announced that the table was set.
Krylov started dinner with a huge plate of pies, then three plates of fish soup, veal cutlets, fried turkey, cucumbers, plums and cloudberries followed. It stuck it all with apples, and at the end it was taken on a Strasbourg paste, made from butter, goose liver and truffles. Having mastered several plates, drank kvass, and finished dinner with two glasses of coffee with a lot of cream.
Many of his friends recalled that the main bliss in life for Krylov was precisely in food. At the same time, by the way, it is not true that the fabulist died from a gut twisting due to overeating. In fact, death came from extensive pneumonia.
Alexander Kuprin
The prose writer Kuprin also surprised many. For example, few people know that he preferred to work completely naked. At the same time, he was famous for his incredible instinct. His friends even joked that he had more from the beast than from man. And the ladies were often offended when Kuprin began to sniff them persistently. Once, the writer impressed with his instinct a noble French perfumer, telling in detail all the components of the fragrance he made.
It is said that one of his most famous works (the novel "The Duel") was not accidental that the writer cut off so suddenly. Instead of a logical ending, the ending is a short report. The wife demanded that he hand over the manuscript and not let him out of the office. Kuprin really wanted to drink, and therefore finished the work in haste.