Pavel Antokolsky: biography and creativity

The Soviet poet Pavel Antokolsky, whose biography and work deserve careful study, lived a long and very interesting life. He remembered revolutions, wars, experiments in art, the formation of Soviet literature. Antokolsky's poems are a lively, talented story about the poet's experiences, about the life of the country, about his reflections.

Origin

June 19, 1896 in St. Petersburg was born Antokolsky Pavel Grigorievich. He was the eldest of four children in the family and the only boy. His father, a well-known but not particularly successful lawyer, constantly made plans about how to transform his life for the better. But he worked for the most part as an assistant to a sworn attorney, and in Soviet times as a petty official in various institutions. All the worries about the children lay on the shoulders of the mother. The boy was a grand-nephew of the famous sculptor Mark Antokolsky, from which, to some extent, Paul transferred artistic abilities. Despite the fact that the family had Jewish roots, the nationality played no part in the life of the future poet.

Childhood

Pavel Antonoksky spent his childhood in St. Petersburg, and when he was 8 years old, the family moved to Moscow. The main hobby of childhood, according to the very Antokolsky, was drawing with colored pencils and watercolor. His favorite plot was the image of his head - an illustration of Pushkin's Ruslana and Lyudmila. Later appeared the second favorite story - the image of Ivan the Terrible, which resembled the statue of M. Antokolsky's grandfather. Moving to Moscow, the boy well remembered: after a calm and majestic Petersburg she seemed to him squat, noisy and dirty. But gradually he got used to Moscow and began to consider it his hometown. The revolution of 1905 remained a vivid impression in the memory of the boy, the opposition of the people and power would later become one of the topics of his reflection.

Study

Pavel Antokolsky studied at the Moscow Gymnasium, which he graduated in 1914. The study was given to him easily, but did not cause much enthusiasm. A year after graduating from the gymnasium, Pavel enters the Moscow State University at the Faculty of Law. Already in the first year he saw in the corridors of the Moscow State University building on Mokhovaya an announcement about recruitment to a student drama studio under the direction of the Moscow Art Theater actors, from that moment the other life of Antokolsky began. The times were tumultuous, and somehow Pavel gradually abandoned his studies at the university, first to work in the revolutionary militia, but ultimately for the sake of the studio, which became increasingly important to him.

Theater

The theater studio of the Moscow State University was then run by a little-known director Eugene Vakhtangov, it was to him that Pavel Antonoksky got himself. His biography changed abruptly with the appearance of the theater, first Pavel tries himself in the acting profession, but his talent was not enough. For three years in the studio, which turned into "Theater of the People", Antokolsky tried himself in all possible theatrical professions: from the stage editor to the director and script writer. For the studio, he wrote three plays, including "Doll Infanta" and "Betrothal in a dream." In 1919, he leaves Vakhtangov, but continues to work in Moscow theaters, where until the mid-30's he was acting as director. Later he returns to the theater Vakhtangov, along with him working on the development of the building on the Arbat. After the death of the great theater founder, Antokolsky himself and in collaboration with other directors put on performances. With the theater, Vakhtangov Pavel Grigorevich goes on tour to Sweden, Germany, France. These trips helped him to get to know the world and himself, he even more realized himself as a Soviet man. Later impressions from these trips will be embodied in verses, in particular in the book "West". The theater was forever an important matter of life for Antokolsky, even when he chose a different path.

Poetry

His first poems, Pavel Antokolsky, wrote in his youth, but he did not take it seriously. In 1920, he approached a group of Moscow writers who gathered at the Cafe of Poets on Tverskaya Street. There is a meeting between Antokolsky and V. Bryusov, who liked the poems of the beginning author, and in 1921 he published his first works. V. Bryusov was not only an outstanding poet, but also an excellent organizer, under his leadership was formed a literary poetic organization in Moscow, which proved to be very useful for the young Antokolsky. Here he recruited mastery and believed in his new destiny. The poet's early works were full of romance and fascination with the theater. Thus, the poem "François Villon" and the collection "Actors" convey the dreams and emotions of the theater's man. But gradually the lyricist of Antokolsky acquires a civilian sound. Gradually there is a maturity, the style and own thematic orientation of the author is found.

On the day of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Pavel Antokolsky submits an application for membership in the CPSU, from this moment begins, according to him, a new life. Horrors of war spur the poet's pen, during these years he writes a lot. In addition to poetry, he creates essays, works as a war correspondent, travels along the fronts with a brigade of actors and as a journalist. After the war, Antokolsky continues to write on socially important topics, there are books of poems "The Power of Vietnam", "Poets and Time", "The Tale of Bygone Years", which have become an example of Soviet civil poetry.

Creative heritage

In total for his long creative life, Pavel Antokolsky, whose photo is in any encyclopedia on Soviet literature, wrote nine collections of poems, several poems and published four collections of articles. Each book of the poet is a whole work, imbued with deep feelings and reflections of the author. The most famous creation of Antokolsky is the poem "Son", written about the death of a heroically dead son on the front. The poem brought the poet world fame and the Stalin Prize. Of undoubted interest are works written under the influence of the French revolutionary spirit: a poem about Francois Villon, about the Commune, the poem "Robespierre and the Gorgon", "Sansculot". The last collection of poems "The End of the Century" is published in 1977 and is a kind of summing up the life results.

Translations

Pavel Antokolsky devoted most of his creative biography to translation work. Even in the second half of the 1930s, Antokolsky visited the fraternal republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and is fond of their culture. Then his work begins on translating the national poetry of these countries into Russian. Most of all he deals with translations in the 60's and 70's. In addition to the works of Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian and Azerbaijani poets, he translates a lot of French literature. In his translation there are collections "Civic poetry of France", "From Bernage to Eluard", the fundamental anthology "Two centuries of French poetry".

Personal life

The poet lived a very rich and long life. She had a friendship with such colleagues as M. Tsvetaeva, K. Smionov, E. Dolmatovsky, N. Tikhonov, V. Katayev. Antokolsky was twice married. First wife - Natalia Shcheglova - gave birth to his daughter Natalia and son Vladimir, who died in 1942 at the front. She subsequently became an artist and also married the poet Leon Toom. Grandson of Antokolsky Andrew became a professor of physics, working in Brazil. The second wife - Zoya Konstantinovna Bazhanov - was an artist, but she dedicated her whole life to serving her husband. Pavel Antokolsky, his wives, children, grandchildren have always been associated with the main business of his life - poetry. The house was a real cult of the Master. At the end of life, Antokolsky was left alone, his wife died, friends had a life. He spent most of his time at the dacha. The poet died on October 9, 1978, was buried at Vostryakovskoe cemetery in Moscow.