Ehrlich Wolf Iosifovich - Soviet poet: biography, creativity

His name is not so loud, but it casts so much warmth and sadness ... An ardent admirer of Armenia, a gifted poet and a good man, a friend of Sergei Esenin, tragically and untimely gone, crushed by a wave of repression, but not forgotten - Erlich Wolf. He is the author of amazing poems, children's books and serious works that have become classics of Soviet literature.

Wolf Eroslich, biography

Wolf Iosifovich was born June 7, 1902 in the town of Simbirsk, in the family of the Volga Germans. His father is a pharmacist, Ehrlich Joseph Lazarevich. Mother - Anna Moiseevna, sister - Tolkacheva Mirra Iosifovna.

Wolf Ehrlich began to write poetry and the first stories while studying at Simbirsk Gymnasium. After graduating, he entered Kazan University. First he studied at the medical faculty, then transferred to the historical and philological. In 1920 he served in the 1st territorial Kazan regiment. In the civil war he was a Red Army soldier, secretary of the GPU Education Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Wolf Erlich arrived in Petrograd in 1921. At first he studied at the city university at the Literary and Art Faculty, but, unfortunately, was expelled for inadequate academic performance. He was an active participant in political and literary debates, joined the popular "Order of Imagists" at that time. In addition to Erlich, it included some Leningrad poets: Semyon Polotsky, Nikolai Grigorov, Ivan Afanasyev-Soloviev, Grigory Shmerlson. In 1925, Wolf Ehrlich served as a responsible duty officer at the First House of the Leningrad Soviet.

The First Poems

Erlich Wolf released his first collection of poems called "Wolf's Sun" in 1928. Next came the "Book of Memories", and then "Arsenal." Next were The Book of Verses, a collection published in 1934, followed by The Battle Order (1935). In 1929 Erlich wrote a poem about Sophia Perovskaya, a famous revolutionary, the organizer of the murder of Emperor Alexander II. In the 1930s he worked in the Leningrad magazine as a member of the editorial board, then in the newspaper The Offensive. In 1932 he left for the construction of state importance - the White Sea-Baltic Canal. All 1935 spent in the Far East, together with other writers creating "Volochaevskie days."

When the fame came

"Book of Poems" by Erlich Wolf is simple and short, easy to read, like all his poetry and prose. All his works are full of deep meaning, they make you think. In 1937, a member of the Union of Soviet Writers, Wolf Iosifovich, published two children's collections of poems and a book "Unusual Adventures of Friends." Works by Ehrlich Wolf were published in such well-known newspapers and magazines as "Literary Contemporary", "Red Night", "Star". In addition to his own literary works, Erlich Wolff was engaged in translations from Armenian. Among them are the poems of Mkrtich Adjemyan, Mkrtich Nagash.

"Memories of Yesenin"

For the first time, confronted with the works of Yesenin, Wolf Iosifovich was impressed by the genuine sincerity, the depth of his poems. They met in Leningrad in 1924, later their acquaintance grew into a strong friendship that lasted until the last day of Sergei Yesenin's life.

At that time Erlich was already known, his poems were published in Leningrad newspapers and magazines. Like other writers, he participated in poetry evenings. In 1924, Erlich Wolf and Sergei Esenin actively performed with their poems in Leningrad and the suburbs, including in the village of Kinder. There they made a memorable photo with the students of the Institute of Agriculture. Sergei Esenin always shared with Erlich his creative ideas, evaluated himself and his environment, which indicates their utmost confidence in each other. Years after Esenin's death, many people will blame Erlich for involvement in his murder, but it's worth remembering about their relationship, their quivering warm friendship, and it becomes clear that all these rumors are a lie.

Once, on a visit to Anna Abramovna Berzin Yesenin read the poem, just written, his "Song of the Great Campaign". Berzin suggested publishing it in the magazine. Wolf Iosifovich immediately from memory wrote down the entire poem, Sergei Yesenin made only minor amendments and signed. After their departure Anna Abramovna took the manuscript to the editorial office of the journal "October".

The only book of Erlich's memoir prose was "The Right to Song," written in 1930. In the preface the author compares the poet to the tin soldiers who dreamed him, which he later bought in reality. He wonders where Sergei Yesenin ends, who died, and where does Yesenin, whom he saw in his dream, begin? He seems to talk about different images of one person, present and invented by him, idealized. In these memoirs he described only the most reliable facts known to him, but still he lived at such a time that he feared that he could not help lying.

In this book, Wolf Iosifovich talks about his friendship with Yesenin, about the last two years of the life of the great poet. In it he mentions Yesenin's last poem, which he handed to Ehrlich before his death.

Good-bye, friend

On the tragic morning of December 28, 1925, Erlich Wolf was one of the first to discover Yesenin's body at the Angleterre Hotel. Severely shaken by the death of his best friend, he still found the strength to take part in the ceremonial parting, which took place on December 29 at the Leningrad Writers' House on the Fontanka River embankment. Further Erlich and Sophia Andreevna Tolstaya-Esenina, the widow of the poet, escorted the coffin to Moscow. On December 31, 1925, Sergei Yesenin was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

Armenia

At the end of the 1920s, Wolf Iosifovich and his friend Nikolay Tikhonov set off on their first trip to Armenia. There they visited Arghatz, climbed volcanic mountains over Sevan, overcame the Geghama Range, visited the monastery, which the local called Ayrivank. The impression made by this country on Wolf Iosifovich could not but reflect on the poet's work. So there were "Alagazian stories" and "Armenia".

Not only the majestic nature conquered Ehrlich, but also the people. He told his friend Nikolai Tikhonov: "... I've already seen a lot of people, but I want to see even more ...". And he really returned to Armenia more than once. In the Ararat valley he communicated with wine growers, on Arakash made friends with the border guards, was admired by the intellectuals of Armenia, very closely accepted all the hardships of the repatriates. Armenia completely absorbed Ehrlich's heart. Unfortunately, this love became fatal for him.

Interrupted

In 1937, while on a trip to Armenia, he wanted to write a script about repatriates, but this was not to be realized. In the summer of July 19 he was arrested in Yerevan and sent to Leningrad under escort. In the autumn of November 19 of the same year Erlich was sentenced to death for being a member of the terrorist organization of the Trotskyites, which in fact did not exist. The sentence was carried out on November 24, 1937. Only after 19 years, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court, Erlich Wolf was rehabilitated for lack of corpus delicti in his actions.