Children of Mayakovsky, their fate

Vladimir Mayakovsky is known not only for his brilliant poetic talent, but also for his powerful charisma, which at one time has broken many women's hearts. A lot of romance novels and hobbies have left a mark in the poems of the poet, and gave life to real people. The children of Mayakovsky are one of the main questions for the researchers of the biography of the poet. Who are they, the heirs of the great futurist genius? How many children do Mayakovsky have, how did their destiny develop?

The personal life of the poet

Vladimir Mayakovsky was a very charming, intelligent and prominent man. Almost no woman could stand before his piercing beating right in the heart. The poet was always surrounded by a crowd of admirers, and he himself easily threw himself into the ocean of love and passion. It is known that a special, hot feeling and affection for him were associated with Lily Brik, but this did not limit him in infatuation with other women. Thus, love affairs with Elizaveta Lavinskaya and Elizabeth Siebert (Ellie Jones) became in many ways fateful for the poet, forever occupying the niche of his memory and heritage.

Heritage issue

The children of Mayakovsky, their fate - this question became especially acute after the death of the poet. Certainly, poems, memoirs of contemporaries, diaries, letters, documentary records are very valuable for the history of Russian literature, but much more important is the issue of posterity and heritage.

The living continuation of the memory and the story of the ingenious futurist, the children of Mayakovsky, are wrapped in secrets, doubts and inaccuracies. Lilia Brick could not have children. However, researchers are 99% sure that the heirs of the poet have at least two. And they appeared from two different women, on different continents. This son of Gleb-Nikita Lavinsky and daughter Patricia Thompson.

For a long time, information about them was not disclosed, and only close people knew the details of their birth stories. Now the children of Mayakovsky (photos and documents of them are kept in museum archives) is an approved fact.

A son

While working in the "Windows of Growth" (1920), Vladimir Mayakovsky met artist Lilia (Elizaveta) Lavinskaya. And although at that time she was a married lady, this did not stop her from getting carried away with a stately and charismatic poet. The fruit of this relationship was their son, who received the double name of Gleb-Nikita. He was born on August 21, 1921 and in the documents was written under the surname of Anton Lavinsky, the official husband of the mother. The boy Gleb-Nikita always knew who his biological father was. Moreover, despite the absence of fatherly attention (the children of Vladimir Mayakovsky did not occupy, he even feared them), he deeply loved the poet and from his early years read his poems.

A life

The life of Nikita-Gleb was not simple. With live parents, a boy up to three years old grew up in an orphanage. For those social views, this was the most suitable place for raising children and teaching them to the collective. About his own father, Gleb Nikita has few memories. Much later, he will tell his youngest daughter Elizabeth about one particular meeting between them, when Mayakovsky took him to his shoulders, went out onto the balcony and read to him his poems.

The son of Mayakovsky had a subtle artistic taste and an absolute musical ear. At the age of 20 Gleb-Nikita was drafted to the front. Throughout the Great Patriotic War he was an ordinary soldier. Then I married for the first time.

After the victory of 1945, the son of Mayakovsky entered the Surikov Institute and became a famous sculptor-monumentalist. His most significant and outstanding work is a monument to Ivan Susanin in Kostroma (1967).

Gleb-Nikita Lavinsky died on June 14, 1986.

Similarity with father

In 1965, the literary critic E. Guskov visited the workshop of the sculptor Gleb-Nikita Lavinsky. He was impressed by the outer similarity of the man with Vladimir Mayakovsky, his deep, low voice, the manner of reading poetry in the same way as the poet himself did.

The son for the non-native father Anton Lavinsky was always a living reminder of the fascination and betrayal of his wife. Perhaps, therefore, the relationship of stepfather and stepson were quite cold. But the friendship with Mayakovsky was, on the contrary, surprisingly warm and strong. The family archive has preserved many photographs of this.

American daughter

In the mid-1920s, in the relations between Mayakovsky and Lilia Brik, a radical change occurred , and even the political situation in Russia was then difficult for the poet-revolutionary. This was the reason for his trip to the US, where he toured extensively, visited a friend of David Burliuk. There he also met Russian emigrant Elli Jones (real name - Elizabeth Siebert). She was a reliable companion, a charming companion and interpreter for him in a foreign country.

This novel became very significant for the poet. He even seriously wanted to get married, to create a calm family harbor. However, the old love (Lilia Brick) did not let him go, all the impulses quickly cooled down. And on June 15, 1926, Ellie Jones gave birth to a poet from her daughter - Patricia Thompson.

At birth, the girl was named Helen-Patricia Jones. The surname came from the husband of the emigrant mother George Jones. It was necessary that the child could be considered legitimate and remain in the US. In addition, the secret of birth saved the girl. The possible children of Mayakovsky could then fall under the persecution of the NKVD and Lilia Brik herself.

Fate

Helen-Patricia learned about who was a real father at the age of nine. But this information remained for a long time a family secret and was not accessible to the public. The girl inherited the creative talent of her father. At the age of 15 she entered the art college, after which she worked as an editor in the magazine Macmillan. There she did reviews of movies and music records, edited westerns, science fiction, detective stories. In addition to publishing, Helen-Patricia worked as a teacher, wrote books.

In 1954, the daughter of Mayakovsky married the American Wayne Thompson, changed her name and left the second part of the double name - Patricia. After 20 years, the couple divorced.

Patricia Thompson (or Elena Vladimirovna Mayakovskaya) died on April 1, 2016.

Meeting with father

When Patricia was three years old, she met her father for the first and only time. The news of the birth of his daughter was very pleased Mayakovsky, but he could not get a visa to the United States. But the permission to go to France was obtained. It was there, in Nice, Ellie Jones and her daughter rested. Patricia called him Volodya, and he constantly repeated "daughter" and "little Ellie." Not realizing yet who in front of her, the girl still retained warm and tender memories of this meeting.

Grandchildren

The children of Mayakovsky, their fate - is a separate chapter in the history of the genius poet. Now they, unfortunately, are no longer alive. But the memory line is continued by grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

It is known for sure that Mayakovsky's son - Gleb-Nikita - was married three times. From these marriages he had four children (two sons and two daughters). The firstborn son is named after his father-poet Vladimir, and the youngest daughter - in honor of the mother - by Elizabeth. The children of Mayakovsky followed in the footsteps of their ancestors and became deserved creative figures (sculptors, artists, teachers). Information about their fate is rather scanty and sketchy. It is only known that the elder grandson of the poet (Vladimir) died in 1996, and the granddaughter holds a children's art workshop. The Mayakovsky family continues the five grandchildren of Gleb Nikita (Ilya, Elizaveta, Mikhail, Alexander and Anastasia). Ilya Lavinsky works as an architect, Elizabeth is an artist of the theater and cinema.

About Patricia Thompson information for the Russian society until the 1990's was closed. However, with the proof of kinship with the famous poet, a reasonable question arose about the continuation of the genus. Are there any children with Mayakovsky's daughter? As it turned out, Patricia Thompson has a son, Roger, he works as a lawyer, married, but has no children of his own.

Interesting Facts

• Mayakovsky's son received a double name because of parental disagreements in choosing a name for the boy. The first part - Gleb - he received from his stepfather, the second part - Nikita - from his mother. Mayakovsky himself did not take part in the upbringing of his son, although he was a frequent guest of the family in the first few years.
• In 2013, the First Channel released the film "The Third Extra", dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the poet's birth. The documentary tape was based on the story of the fatal love of Mayakovsky and Lilia Brik, the possible reasons for the suicide of the poet, and the eternal theme - the children of Mayakovsky (briefly) was also touched upon. It was this film that for the first time openly and demonstratively stated about the heirs of the poet.
• The poet-futurist has always been in the center of female attention. Despite his overwhelming love for Lila Brik, he is credited with many novels. And what happened after, in most cases the story is simply silent. However, Gleb-Nikita Lavinsky once mentioned that Mayakovsky has another son who lives in Mexico. But this information has not received its documentary or any other confirmation.
• Patricia Thompson wrote 15 books in her life. She devoted several of them to her father. So, the book "Mayakovsky in Manhattan, a love story" tells about her parents and their short but gentle relationship. Also, Patricia began the autobiographical book "Daughter", but did not manage to finish it.
• Already at an old age, Patricia got acquainted with the father's archive (the library of St. Petersburg). On one of the pages she recognized her children's drawings (flowers and leaves), which she left during their first and only meeting.
• At the request of Ally Jones herself, the daughter cremated the mother's body after her death and was buried in the grave of Vladimir Mayakovsky at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
• The granddaughter of the poet - Elizaveta Lavinskaya - wrote the book "The Son of Mayakovsky." This book is a memory of her father, the son of a famous poet, his uneasy relationship with his stepfather and selfless love for his father, whom he never managed to get acquainted consciously. After all, Gleb-Nikita was only eight years old when Mayakovsky was gone.
• Pregnant from Mayakovsky was his last love - Veronica Polonskaya. But she was married and did not want to abruptly cut off marital relations for the sake of the poet-heartthrob. Therefore Polonskaya had an abortion.

PS

Did the children have Mayakovsky? Now we know for sure that yes. And although he was never officially married, now that all the prohibitions and dangers of persecution have been lifted, we know that there were at least two heirs to the great revolutionary poet. Moreover, his descendants live even today, following their own creative path. And the memory of such a literary phenomenon as Mayakovsky, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren openly carry through many years later.