During the Silver Age, the world saw many great poets, actors and artists who literally revived culture in the country. One of such prominent people of his time was Volkonsky Sergey Mikhailovich - art critic, memoirist and theater figure, as well as a zealous connoisseur of beauty. His surname at birth condemned him to universal recognition, although, as often happens, after death.
Genes
Sergey Volkonsky’s biography is difficult to squeeze to the size of one sheet, since the life of this outstanding person is significant and his contribution to the development of culture in Russia is truly huge. He was born on May 16 (old style) in 1860 in a family of hereditary princes, leading their own family from the 13th century. His mother - Elizaveta Grigoryevna - was the first woman in the history of the lands of Russian women who was globally keen on issues of theology, professing Catholicism, which subsequently influenced her son: Prince Sergey accepted the same faith as an adult.
His father - the son of the famous Decembrist Volkonsky Sergey Grigoryevich and his great wife Maria Raevskaya - served as Privy Councilor, and since 1882 - Minister of Education. Such outstanding parents could only have a comprehensively developed child, as Sergei Mikhailovich grew up: he was deeply interested in culture in all its manifestations.
Soul calling
From a young age, having received the necessary education at home, he enters the Larino Gymnasium in St. Petersburg, where for the first time he gets to know the theater and Ernesto Rossi, who has been touring in Russia since 1877. It was this actor who formed the first ideas of Sergei Volkonsky that the play of actors is no less important than the repertoire. An enthusiastic guy actively attends acting, voice and gesturing lessons.
In 1880, he successfully graduated from the Lyceum and entered the university, at the Faculty of History and Philology, continuing to earnestly engage in theater, arranging theater performances at home with his brothers, and later participating in amateur court productions.
On May 2, 1892, Prince Volkonsky addressed a large audience with a lecture on the topic of art, which became his springboard in his career: he was invited to various creative events, Sergei Mikhailovich himself began to actively write articles in various publishing houses, while traveling around the world.
Career and reform
At the end of July 1899, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky was appointed to the post of director of all the imperial theaters of Russia, which causes a great split of opinions in society. The prince had his own views and tastes, which often ran counter to the outdated stereotypes of actors of the old school, therefore, discord and condemnation erupted periodically.
Moreover, on the side of Volkonsky there were such luminaries as Mikhail Fokin, Diaghilev, A. Benois, Alexander Gorsky was appointed chief choreographer, and Vasnetsov, Korovin and Serov were invited to cooperate with the theater - prominent artists who later became classics of Russian fine art. On the stage of the theaters were staged:
- The operas Tristan and Isolde, as well as Valkyrie, were first seen by the elite on the stage of Russian theaters. The opera Eugene Onegin was updated, on which Benoit worked hard.
- The plays “Othello”, “Snegurochka” and “Biron” in the modern interpretation appealed to the public, critics noted the quality of the costumes and the play of the actors, which has become many times more professional.
- The ballets Seasons, Harlequinade, Camargo.
Volkonsky is scrupulous in everything regarding the productions; scandals are flaring up more and more on this basis, as he does not tolerate negligence in work, as well as inconsistencies in the image and the actor’s play. On this basis, in 1901, a series of irreconcilable disagreements took place with Diaghilev and the leading primates of the theater, who were looking for support from senior lovers, and the prince resigned in despair.
On June 7, 1901, his resignation was finally accepted, and Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky devotes himself to writing, shifting his thoughts, ideas and ideas to paper. The government’s attempts in 1917 to return to his post did not lead to anything, because the prince was known as a man of firm principles and did not want to make concessions. In December 1920, he migrates to Europe, shocked by the attitude of Russians to their own land and history. Also, his idea of creating a museum of the Decembrists in memory of his ancestors failed, so nothing holds him anymore.
Volkonsky's legacy
Often published on the pages of the Apollon magazine, Sergei Mikhailovich publishes such works:
- "The man on stage."
- "Conversations."
- "Artistic feedback."
- "Expressive word."
- "The laws of speech."
- “On the Decembrists” - memories of an outstanding uncle and his wife.
His numerous lectures, reports and significant articles are in great demand, so the prince practically does not have time for himself. In one of his travels in 1910, he became acquainted with the Dalcroze method - rhythmic gymnastics, which was the progenitor of modern aerobics. The idea of developing coordination to music and a sense of rhythm, tact and grace of movement captivates Volkonsky so much that in 1912 rhythmic gymnastics courses were opened in St. Petersburg, and a journal with the same name was published in parallel.
A family
Due to the widespread employment and enthusiasm for art, personal life for Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky was of little interest, and only after the migration, when in 1936 he gave a number of lectures in London, he met the American Mary Fern French, the daughter of a diplomat. The engagement was announced that summer, and a wedding was soon played. The newlyweds left for America, and in the fall of the same year, the prince fell ill and died on October 25. He was buried in the same city - Hot Springs. The couple did not have time to have children.
What do contemporaries say about the prince?
His close friends were Marina Tsvetaeva and Alexander Benois, who speak of him as a person of a subtle soul, who was a true specialist in his field, which was what he demanded from the rest. He played beautifully on several musical instruments, ideally possessed mastery of rhetoric and acting. Everyone who knew him noted impeccable manners, honed to perfection: his whole image seemed to have descended from the pages of the novel.
The voice was melodious, beautifully set phrases, but without pathos. Many noted his lively coal-black eyes, the dark skin and black mustache, which were too expressive on his face. At the same time, Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky was distinguished by incredible thinness, especially in the last years of his life, which indicated a difficult life and high nervous tension that constantly haunted him, which was explained by outstanding genes: his grandfather, the Decembrist, was also an addicted person of honor and his word.
Outstanding relatives of Volkonsky
The family tree of Volkonsky Sergey Mikhailovich is replete with famous people who are known to many:
- His great-grandfather was Alexander Benkendorf, who was a secret confidant of Nicholas II and the head of his gendarmerie.
- Maternal grandfather - Grigory Volkonsky belonged to the first musical community in Russia - a circle of the Vielgorsky brothers. He possessed the rarest bass, which did not prevent him from simultaneously serving as the clerk of the court.
And his paternal grandfather, the Decembrist Sergey Grigoryevich Volkonsky, became a general at the age of 24. After the uprising, he was sentenced to hard labor in Siberia. Some mistakenly rank Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky as the Decembrists, confusing him with his grandfather, apparently due to insufficient knowledge of history.