Russian poet and talented teacher. Read a short biography of Innokenty Annensky.

Innokenty Annensky short biography

Poet and playwright Innokenty Annensky born August 20, 1855 in Omsk, in the family of an official. The poet's childhood was unremarkable until the family moved to St. Petersburg in 1860. The creative atmosphere, which is literally saturated with the city, has brought up another talented artist.

The first education of I. Annensky

As a boy, Innokenty was frail and sickly, so he received his basic education at a private school, where the future poet could be properly taken care of. After graduation from gymnasium No. 2 in St. Petersburg entered the university with the light hand of a famous older brother - Nicholas Annensky, encyclopedist. He received his first education at the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, and, having graduated with honors in 1879, he tried himself as a teacher, first in public, then in private schools.

Sphere of interests of I. Annensky as a teacher:

• Russian literature;
• Languages ​​of antiquity;
• Story;

Colleagues characterized I. Annensky as an erudite person - it was clear from an early age that he was a man of classicism. A subtle spiritual organization, apparently, combined with the classical school and the tradition of antiquity, pushed the poet onto a creative path.

Since 1896 he taught in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv. He managed to work as a director of a gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo. Annensky did not last long at the helm - the playwright was too outstanding a person. The students, which we learn from the works of biographers, considered Annensky an eccentric and admired, which cannot be said about the leadership of the gymnasium, which quickly replaced the wonderful teacher.

Creativity I. Annensky

Innokenty Annensky changed his teaching activity, first to the work of a district inspector. In a new position, a talented and educated young man was required to do translations. He easily worked with the originals of Euripides, read and presented the work of Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Verlaine. Poets inspired Annensky to create his own works - he prints articles, poems.

Creativity I. Annensky in the literary field found a greater response than teaching attempts. Contemporaries appreciated the new author, considering him not only the best connoisseur of Russian literature, but also a master of the word. I. Annensky gradually won authority in literary circles, became the soul of the company and meeting centers.

Creativity I. Annensky:

• "King Ixion" 1902.
• "Quiet Songs" 1904.
• "Cypress Casket" 190.
• "Posthumous Poems" 1923.

These are just a few of the achievements of the famous Russian poet and playwright, who was able to crystallize the creative word so much that he became one of the spiritual teachers of the Acmeist movement, and the poet's followers strove to achieve at least a fraction of that clarity of beauty in the style that the poet managed to achieve.

“I prayed to her, lilac haze:

Stay, stay with me in my corner

Do not dispel my ancient longing,

Innokenty Annensky died on September 30, 1909 from a heart attack. Buried in Tsarskoye Selo.

I. Annensky - quotes, sayings:

• "I am burning - and the road is bright at night."
• "Dirt and baseness - only flour."
• “I love everything that in this world has no consonance or echo.”

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Innokenty Annensky (1855-1909)

Innokenty Fedorovich Annensky was born on August 20 (September 1), 1855 in the city of Omsk in the family of an official Fedor Nikolaevich Annensky, who at that time held the post of head of the department of the Main Directorate of Western Siberia. Soon the Annenskys moved to Tomsk (his father was appointed to the post of chairman of the Provincial Administration), and in 1860 they returned to St. Petersburg. Initially, life in the capital was going well, except for the severe illness of the five-year-old Innokenty, as a result of which Annensky had a complication that affected his heart. Fedor Nikolayevich took the post of an official for special assignments in the Ministry of the Interior, but this was the end of his career. Wanting to get rich, he allowed himself to be drawn into dubious financial enterprises, but failed: Fedor Nikolayevich went bankrupt, was dismissed in 1874, and soon he had an apoplexy. Need came to the family of the bankrupt official. Apparently, it was poverty that was the reason that Innokenty Fedorovich was forced to interrupt his studies at the gymnasium. In 1875, Annensky passed the matriculation exams. In these difficult years for the family, Innokenty was taken care of by his elder brother. Nikolai Fedorovich Annensky, a Russian intellectual - publicist, scientist, public figure, and his wife Alexandra Nikitichna, a teacher and children's writer, professed the ideals of populism of the "generation of the sixties"; the same ideals were to some extent adopted by the younger Annensky. According to Innokenty Fedorovich himself, he was “totally obliged to them (to his elder brother and his wife) for his intelligent life.” Annensky entered the history and philology department of St. sons from the first marriage.

Already while studying at the university, Annensky began to write poetry, but an unusually strict exactingness in relation to his own work led to many years of "silence" of this extremely gifted poet. Only in the forty-eighth year of his life Annensky decided to bring his poetic works to the judgment of readers, and even then he took refuge under a pseudonym mask and, like Odysseus once in the cave of Polyphemus, called himself Nobody. Collection of poems "Quiet Songs" was published in 1904. By this time, Annensky was well known in Russian literary circles as a teacher, critic and translator.

After graduating from the university, Annensky taught ancient languages, ancient literature, Russian, as well as the theory of literature in gymnasiums and at the Higher Women's Courses. In 1896 he was appointed director of the Nicholas Gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo. He worked in the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium until 1906, when he was dismissed from the post of director in connection with intercession for high school students who were participants in the political uprisings of 1905. Annensky was transferred to the post of inspector of the St. Petersburg educational district. Among his new duties was the regular inspection of educational institutions located in the county towns of the St. Petersburg province. Frequent and tedious trips for Annensky, then already a middle-aged man with a sick heart, had an unfavorable effect on his already poor health. In the autumn of 1908, Annensky was able to return to teaching: he was invited to lecture on the history of ancient Greek literature at the Higher Historical and Literary Courses of N. P. Raev. Now Annensky constantly traveled from Tsarskoye Selo, which he did not want to part with, to Petersburg. Finally, in October 1909, Annensky resigned, which was accepted on November 20. But on the evening of November 30, 1909, at the railway station (Vitebsky railway station in St. Petersburg), Annensky died suddenly (paralysis of the heart). His funeral took place on December 4 in Tsarskoye Selo. Many of his followers in literature, students and friends came to the last journey of the teacher and poet. Young Nikolai Gumilyov took the death of Annensky as a personal grief.

A connoisseur of ancient and Western European poetry of the 18th-19th centuries, Annensky in the 1880s-1890s. often acted with critical reviews and articles, many of them rather resembled original impressionistic sketches or essays (“The Book of Reflections”, Vol. 1-2, 1906-1909). At the same time, he translated the tragedies of Euripides, German and French poets: Goethe, Heine, Verlaine, Baudelaire, Leconte de Lisle.

In the early 1900s Annensky's own poems appear in print for the first time. In addition to Quiet Songs, he publishes plays: tragedies based on the subjects of ancient mythology - Melanippa the Philosopher (1901), King Ixion (1902) and Laodamia (1906); the fourth - "Famira-kifared" - was published posthumously in 1913. and 1916 placed on stage. In Annensky's biography, much happened "posthumously": the publication of his poems was posthumous, and his recognition as a poet was posthumous.

All the work of Annensky, according to A. A. Blok, lay "the stamp of fragile subtlety and real poetic flair." In his poetic works, Annensky tried to capture and show the nature of the internal discord of the personality, the possibility of the collapse of human consciousness under the pressure of "incomprehensible" and "comprehensible" (the real city at the turn of the era) reality. A master of impressionistic sketches, portraits, landscapes, Annensky was able to create in poetry artistic images close to Gogol and Dostoevsky - realistic and phantasmagoric at the same time, sometimes somewhat reminiscent of either the delirium of a madman or a nightmare. But the restrained tone accompanying the event, the simple and clear, sometimes everyday style of the verse, the absence of false pathos gave Annensky's poetry an amazing authenticity, "an incredible closeness of experiences." Trying to characterize the distinctive features of Annensky's poetic gift, Nikolai Gumilyov, who repeatedly turned to the creative heritage of his teacher and older friend, wrote: “ I. Annensky ... mighty with power not so much of a Man as of a Human. For him, it is not a feeling that gives rise to a thought, as is generally the case with poets, but the thought itself becomes so strong that it becomes a feeling, even painfully alive.».

Biography

The fate of Innokenty Fedorovich Annensky, a poet, is unique in its own way: at the age of forty-nine, he published the first (and only during his lifetime) collection of poetry under the pseudonym Nick. That. At first, the poet was going to title it “From the Cave of Polyphemus” and take the pseudonym Utis, which means “no one” in Greek (this is how Odysseus called himself Cyclops Polyphemus). Later the collection was called "Quiet Songs". To Blok, who did not know who the author was, such anonymity seemed doubtful. “I would like the poet’s face to be revealed, which he seems to be burying from himself, and not under a naive pseudonym, but under a heavier mask that made him get lost among hundreds of books ... Isn’t there an overly painful anguish in this modest lostness?” he wrote.

I. F. Annensky was born in Omsk, soon the family moved to St. Petersburg. In his autobiography, the future poet reported that he grew up "in an environment where bureaucratic and landowner elements combined." “Since childhood, he loved to study history and literature and felt antipathy for everything elementary and banal-clear.” Annensky began to write poetry quite early. Since in the 1870s the concept of "symbolism" was not yet known to him, he called himself a mystic and "raved about the religious genre" of the Spanish artist of the 16th century. B. E. Murillo, who "tried to" formalize with words "". Following the advice of his older brother, the well-known economist and publicist N. F. Annensky, who believed that one should not publish before the age of thirty, the young poet did not intend his poetic experiments for publication. During the university years, the study of ancient languages ​​and antiquity supplanted poetry for a while; according to the poet, he did not write anything except dissertations. After the university, "pedagogical and administrative" activities began, which, in the opinion of his colleagues in antiquity, distracted Annensky from "strictly scientific studies", and, according to those who sympathized with his poetry, interfered with creativity. In print, Annensky made his debut as a critic. In the 1880s - 1890s he published a number of articles, mainly on Russian literature of the 19th century. In 1906, the first, and in 1909, the second of the "Books of Reflections" was published - a collection of criticism, distinguished by Wilde's subjectivism, impressionistic perception and associative-figurative moods. The author himself emphasized that he was "not a critic at all", but only a "reader". Annensky the poet considered his forerunners to be the French symbolists, "Parnassians and the damned," whom he translated a lot and willingly. Their merit, "besides enriching the language", he saw in "increasing our aesthetic sensitivity and increasing the scale of our artistic sensations." Translations of French poets formed a significant section of his first collection of poems. Of the Russian symbolist poets, Annensky is closest to K. D. Balmont, who evoked “reverence” in the author of Quiet Songs. He highly appreciated the "new flexibility and musicality" of Balmont's poetic language. Annensky led a rather “solitary” literary life: he did not defend the right of the “new” art to exist during the period of “storm and stress”, did not participate in subsequent intra-symbolist battles. His first publications on the pages of the symbolist press date back to 1906 (magazine "Pass"), Annensky's entry into the symbolist environment actually took place in the last year of his life. The poet and critic lectures at the Poetry Academy, is a member of the Society of Zealots of the Artistic Word under the new St. Petersburg magazine Apollo, and publishes his program article “On Modern Lyricism” on its pages. The sudden death of the poet at the Tsarskoselsky railway station caused a wide resonance in symbolist circles. Among the young poets of acmeist orientation close to Apollo, who reproached the Symbolists for having "overlooked" Annensky, a posthumous cult of the poet began to take shape. The second collection of poems came out four months after his death. The preparation of the "Cypress Casket" (Annensky's manuscripts were kept in a cypress box) was completed by his son, V.I. Annensky-Krivich, the poet's biographer, his editor and commentator. There is reason to believe that Krivich did not always punctually follow the author's will of his father. With the "Cypress Casket" Annensky finally came to belated glory. “I’m looking through the book now,” Blok wrote to the poet’s son. - Through all the fatigue and emptiness of this spring - it penetrates deep into the heart. Incredible closeness of experiences, explaining to me a lot about myself. Bryusov, who had previously paid attention to the “freshness” of epithets, comparisons, turns, and even simply chosen words in the collection “Quiet Songs”, now, as an undoubted advantage, noted the impossibility of “guessing” Annensky “from the first two verses of the stanzas of the next two and from the beginning of the poem its end." In 1923, Krivich published the remaining texts of the poet in the collection Posthumous Poems of John. Annensky". The lyrical hero of Annensky is a man who solves the "hateful rebus of being." The poet subjects to close analysis “the content of our self”, “which would like to become the whole world, dissolve, spill into it, I, tortured by the consciousness of my hopeless loneliness, inevitable end and aimless existence; I am in a nightmare of returns, under the burden of heredity, I am in the midst of nature, where, mutely and invisibly reproaching him, the same I live, I am in the midst of nature, mystically close to him and somehow painfully and aimlessly linked to his existence. Comparing Annensky's lyrics with the poems of the symbolists of the "younger" generation, S.K. Makovsky saw the roots of the poet's deeply tragic worldview "in disbelief in the transcendental meaning of the Universe," ultimately denying "categorically and unconditionally" "the meaning of personal existence." The unique originality of Annensky's poems is given by "light irony", which, according to Bryusov, has become the "second face" of the poet, and "is inseparable from his spiritual appearance." The writing style of the author of "Quiet Songs" and "Cypress Casket" is "sharply impressionistic", Vyach. Ivanov called it "associative symbolism". Poetry, according to Annensky, does not depict, but hints at what is inaccessible to expression, "we praise the poet not for what he said, but for the fact that he made us feel the unspeakable."

Innokenty Fedorovich Annensky was born in Omsk on August 20, 1855. Annensky's father was a government official in Siberia. But after he was five years old, the family came to St. Petersburg, which they left before he was born. Annensky was a sickly child from childhood. Due to his health condition, he studied at a private school. And after moving to St. Petersburg in the 2nd gymnasium, later in the private Berens gymnasium.

Before the start of the entrance exams at the university in 1875, he temporarily moved to live with his older brother. His brother helped him prepare for the entrance exams. And later on the life of the writer, the brother will have no small influence. And during his studies at the university, he did not write poetry. What helped to better study antiquity and ancient languages. As the poet himself admitted in his autobiography, during his studies he wrote only dissertations.

For the first time in print, I. F. Annensky appeared as a critic of Russian literature of the 19th century, and wrote in this direction from 1880 to 1890. Also in his articles, the poet called for the study of fiction of school-age children. Annensky published the first literary-critical book in 1906, the second was published a few years later in 1909. These books contain almost all the articles published by him earlier.

If you think about the fate of the poet, then it will be unique in its kind. He began to write poetry at a fairly young age, writing for himself, not for publication. The elder brother of Innokenty Fedorovich once told him: “It’s only worth taking the essays to print after you are 30 years old.” So the first and only lifetime collection was published under the pseudonym “Nick. T-o”, when the poet was almost 50 years old. Immediately he was going to call the collection "From the Cave of Polyphemus" and publish it under the pseudonym Utis, but later he took the abbreviation of his name and surname. And the collection came out of print with the title "Quiet Songs".

The poet died suddenly on November 30, 1909 at the Tsarskoselsky railway station in St. Petersburg. The poet was buried at the Kazan cemetery of Tsarskoye Selo. The poet had a son who, after his death, published in 1910 "Cypress Casket", and in 1923 "Posthumous Poems".

“It is almost impossible to tell the topic of the Silver Age in 45 minutes, since it takes about five years for a philology student to begin to understand it very approximately,” said publicist and literary critic Dmitry Bykov.

One cannot but agree with this statement, because at the turn of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so many undeniable talents and literary movements appeared that it is really difficult to tell about them all. This is both a representative of acmeism, and an adherent of cubo-futurism, and it should also be noted that other famous personalities. But from this list, one should single out the Symbolist Innokenty Annensky, who stood at the origins of the formation of trends in Russian poetry.

Childhood and youth

Innokenty Annensky was born on August 20 (September 1), 1855 in Omsk, which is rich in sights and cultural values ​​(it is not for nothing that Omsk is called the “theater city”). The future poet grew up in an average and exemplary family. Innokenty's parents were not one iota close to creativity: his mother Natalia Petrovna ran the household, and his father Fyodor Nikolaevich held a high government post.

The main breadwinner in the house received the post of chairman of the Provincial Administration, so the parents and their son moved to the city of universities and scientists - Tomsk.

But in this place, about which he spoke impartially at one time, Innokenty did not stay long: already in 1860, because of the work of his father, the Annenskys again packed their bags and left harsh Siberia - the road lay to St. Petersburg. It is known that Fedor Nikolaevich soon became interested in a scam, so he went bankrupt, left with nothing.

As a child, Annensky was in poor health, but the boy did not remain at home schooling and went to a general education private school, and later became a student of the 2nd St. Petersburg progymnasium. Since 1869, Innokenty was on the bench of the private gymnasium of V. I. Berens, while preparing for admission to the university. In 1875, Annensky was visiting his older brother Nikolai Fedorovich, who was a journalist, economist and populist publicist.

Nikolai Fedorovich, an educated and intelligent person, influenced Innokenty and helped him in preparing for the exams. Thus, Annensky easily became a student of the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, from which he graduated in 1879. It is noteworthy that in all subjects the poet had solid "five", while in philosophy and theology there were marks one ball lower.

Further, before the ink had dried on Annensky's diploma, he began to lecture on ancient languages ​​and Russian literature at the Gurevich gymnasium and was known among the students as the strongest teacher. Among other things, Innokenty Fedorovich served as director of the Galagan College, the eighth St. Petersburg gymnasium and the gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo, where he once studied.

Literature

Innokenty Fedorovich began writing from an early age. But then the poet did not know what symbolism was, therefore he considered himself a mystic. By the way, symbolism is the largest trend in literature and art, characterized by mystery, mystery, the use of allusions and metaphorical expressions. But, according to critics, the work of the genius of literature does not fit into the framework of "symbolism", but represents "pre-symbolism".

In addition, Innokenty Fedorovich tried to follow the "religious genre" of the Spanish painter of the "golden age" Bartolome Esteban Murillo. True, the writer tried to convey the expression of virgin purity, meekness and prayer tenderness with the help of words, and not brushes and paints.

It is noteworthy that Innokenty Fedorovich did not seek to show his early creative efforts to eminent writers and magazine owners. The fact is that Nikolai Fedorovich advised his younger brother to start publishing at a mature age, having established himself on the path of life and understanding his vocation.

Therefore, the book "Quiet Songs" was published only in 1904, when Innokenty Annensky was known as a brilliant teacher and respected person. Also, the symbolist began to engage in dramaturgy, from his pen came out plays: "Melanippa the Philosopher" (1901), "King Ixion" (1902), "Laodamia" (1906) and "Famira-kifared" (1913-posthumously) in which the poet tried to imitate his favorite ancient Greek writers, and, the geniuses of ancient mythology.

In his manuscripts, Annensky adhered to impressionism: he described things not as he knew, for all phenomena and objects were inherent in the poet's vision at the moment. The main motives in the works of Innokenty Fedorovich are melancholy, melancholy, sadness and loneliness, which is why he so often describes cold, twilight and sunsets without excessive pretentiousness and exaltation. This trend can be seen in the poems "Snow", "Bow and Strings", "Two Loves", "Tormenting Sonnet" and other remarkable works.

Among other things, Innokenty Fedorovich added to his creative biography by translating the manuscripts of his foreign colleagues. Thanks to him, Russian-speaking readers got acquainted with the famous tragedies of Euripides, as well as with poems by Hans Muller, Christian Heine and other literary geniuses.

Annensky made a huge contribution to the world of intricate lines. For example, his poem "Bells" can be correlated with the first work in a futuristic style. The second poetic collection of Innokenty Fedorovich "Cypress Casket" brought recognition and fame to the poet, however, posthumously. It included poems "Among the Worlds", "Oreanda", "Silver Noon", "Ice Prison", "October Myth" and other works.

Personal life

Contemporaries of Innokenty Fedorovich used to say that he was a loyal and kind person. But sometimes excessive softness played a cruel joke. For example, he lost his position as director of the gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo.

There is little information about the poet's personal life, because even in his works the writer rarely shared his emotional experiences and what remained under the veil of secrecy. It is known that fate brought the sophomore Annensky with the eccentric 36-year-old widow Nadezhda (Dina) Valentinovna, who came from a well-born class. The lovers immortalized their relationship by marriage, and soon a son, Valentine, was born.

Death

Innokenty Fedorovich died unexpectedly. Of course, he was in poor health, but on that fateful day, November 30 (December 13), 1909, nothing foreshadowed trouble. Annensky died of a heart attack at the age of 54, right on the steps of the Tsarskoselsky railway station (St. Petersburg).

• Once, when Innokenty Annensky was in a bad mood and was burdened with thoughts, his wife came up to him and said: “Kenechka! Why are you sitting sad? Open your mouth, I'll give you an orange!". Dina also liked to arrange dinners with her girlfriends, although Annensky shunned people and adhered to the policy of an outsider. What the poet thought about his marriage is not known for certain.
• Annensky began to publish at the age of 48, not striving for recognition and fame: the poet hid his true face, published under the pseudonym "Nik.-T-o".

• In the years of Annensky's youth, his sisters found the first attempts of the little creator. But instead of praise, the boy received a vociferous laugh, because the girls were amused by the line from the poem: "God sends her a sweet figure from heaven." This gave rise to many jokes, so Innokenty Fedorovich hid his drafts in a secluded place, afraid to present them to the public.
• The poetic collection "Cypress Casket" was named so for a reason: Innokenty had a box made of cypress wood, where the poet kept notebooks and drafts.

Quotes

“... I love it when there are children in the house
And when they cry at night

“Love is not peace, it must have a moral result, first of all for those who love.”

“But ... there are such moments,
When it's scary and empty in the chest ...
I am heavy - and dumb and bent ...
I want to be alone… go away!”

“Oh, give me eternity, and I will give eternity
For indifference to insults and years.

"There is love like smoke:
If it's tight for her, she's intoxicating,
Give her free rein and she won't be...
To be like smoke - but forever young.

Bibliography

Tragedies:

• 1901 - "Melanippa the Philosopher"
• 1902 - "King Ixion"
• 1906 - "Laodamia"
• 1906 - "Famira-kifared"

Collections of poems:

• 1904 - Quiet Songs
• 1910 - "Cypress Casket"

Innokenty Annensky is a famous poet and playwright of the Silver Age. At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, he became famous as a translator and critic. Innokenty Fedorovich stood at the origins of the emergence of symbolism in Russian poetry.

Childhood

The famous symbolist poet Innokenty Annensky was born in early September 1855 in the city of Omsk, which is rich in cultural values ​​and sights. It is known that Omsk is also called a theater city. And this significantly affected the upbringing and formation of the future poet.

The family in which the future symbolist poet was born was considered exemplary. The parents of the famous poet of the Silver Age did not have any special merits. Parents had nothing to do with poetry either. So, the poet's mother, Natalia Petrovna, was engaged only in raising children and housekeeping. Father, Fedor Nikolaevich, held a responsible and high government post.

When the father of the future symbolist poet received a new position in Tomsk, the whole family moved there for permanent residence. Fedor Nikolaevich was offered the post of chairman of the Provincial Administration. He couldn't refuse such a promotion. But even in the city of scientists and universities, the Annensky family did not stay long.

It so happened that in 1860 the Annensky family moved to St. Petersburg. It is known that the father of the future poet was a gambler and, carried away by some regular scam, he went bankrupt, leaving his son no fortune.

Education

In childhood, Innokenty Annensky, whose biography is full of events, was a boy with poor health. He was often sick, but his parents still decided not to leave him homeschooled, but sent him to a private comprehensive school. After moving to St. Petersburg, he immediately entered the Second St. Petersburg Progymnasium.

But already in 1869, Innokenty Annensky studied at the private gymnasium of V. I. Berens. At the same time, he is preparing for the exams for entering the university. In 1875 he settled with his older brother, who was a journalist and economist. He had a great influence on the views of the future symbolist poet. Brother helped Innocent to prepare for the exams.

Therefore, Innokenty Fedorovich easily and successfully passed the entrance exams to the St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1879, he already graduated from it, having only “five” in almost all subjects. Were and "four", but only in two subjects: theology and philosophy.

Teaching activity

Innokenty Annensky immediately after a successful graduation from the university begins to work. He chooses a career as a teacher and gets a job at the Gurevich Gymnasium, where he gives excellent lectures on Russian literature and ancient languages. His knowledge and erudition surprised both students and teachers. Innokenty Fedorovich was considered by all students to be the strongest teacher.

But the symbolist poet not only lectured at the gymnasium. So, he soon took the post of director of the Galagan College, and then also became the director of the eighth gymnasium in St. Petersburg. The young and successful teacher Annensky was soon invited to take the post of director of the famous gymnasium in Tsarskoe Selo, where the famous Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin once studied.

Poetic activity

Annensky Innokenty Fedorovich began to write his poetic works at an early age. He believed that all his poems are mystical. But he did not know that in literature and art there is such a direction as symbolism. And yet, his literary works belong to symbolism, since everything in them is surrounded by mystery and mystery, many lines contain metaphors or even hints that should be unraveled and understood.

But still, literary critics are inclined to believe that Annensky's work goes beyond symbolism. They argue that this is most likely pre-symbolism.

Innokenty Annensky in some of his works also tried to follow the religious genre, choosing as his idols the Spanish artist of the Golden Age, Bartolome Esteban Murillo. In his works, the symbolist poet tried to convey virgin purity and meekness, tenderness and peace. But he did not use brushes and paints for this, like his idol, but words.

Following the advice of his older brother, Innokenty Annensky, whose brief biography helps to understand his work, did not seek to print his works. He did not even seek to show his poems to famous writers in order to hear their opinion. Nikolai Fedorovich, the poet's brother, advised him to first establish himself a little in life, and only then, when he understands what his vocation is, it will be possible to engage in poetry and print his poems.

That is why the first book of the poet Annensky was published only in 1904, when he was already a brilliant teacher and he was respected in society. But his collection "Quiet Songs" was received enthusiastically.

The main motives of all the works of the famous symbolist poet are loneliness, melancholy, sadness and melancholy. That is why in many of his poetic and dramatic works one can find a description of either twilight, or cold, or sunset.

The poet talks about this in such poems as "Two Loves", "Bow and Strings" and others. Innokenty Annensky described reality mysteriously and sadly. "Snow" is one of the works of the symbolist poet, which is unusual and interesting in its plot, where the poet's favorite season is adjacent to death. A clean and beautiful winter helps to see poverty and poverty.

The famous poet and translator made a huge contribution to the development of literature. So, the poem by Innokenty Annensky "The Bells" can be attributed to the first futuristic works. The fame and popularity of the talented poet was brought by his poetry collection "Cypress Casket", which was published after his death.

Annensky - playwright

The symbolist poet wrote not only poems, but also engaged in dramaturgy. In his plays, he tried to imitate the writers of Ancient Egypt, whom he studied well and fell in love with. The works of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus caused him a special thrill.

The first play was written by Innokenty Fedorovich in 1901. The following year, Melanippa the Philosopher was followed by the play King Ixion. In 1906, the symbolist poet wrote the play "Laodamia", but the work "Famira-kafared" was published after the death of the poet, in 1913.

In all his works, Innokenty Annensky, whose work is diverse and interesting, tried to adhere to impressionism. Everything that he saw around, the poet tried to describe the real, the way he saw and remembered everything.

Translation activities

Innokenty Annensky, whose poems are mysterious and enigmatic, was also engaged in translation. So, he translated the famous tragedies of Euripides, as well as poems by such foreign poets as Johann Goethe, Christian Gein, Horace, Hans Müller, and others.

Personal life

Little is known about the personal life of the famous poet. Contemporaries described him as a gentle and kind person. But these character traits did not help him, but only hindered him. Out of his kindness, he lost the excellent position of director of the gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo. The poet never talked about his personal life in his works.

But it is known that in the second year of university he met Nadezhda Valentinovna. She was already a widow, and even older than the poet. But this did not prevent the lovers from getting married soon. It is known that at that time Nadezhda was already full 36 years old, she came from a well-born class. In this marriage, a son, Valentine, was born.

Death of poet

From early childhood, the poet's health was poor. But he died unexpectedly. It happened in December 1909 when he was walking up the stairs. On one of the steps of the Tsarskoye Selo station, he became ill.

The poet died quickly. Doctors determined death from a heart attack. He was 54 years old at that time.

It is known that Annensky's wife loved to arrange dinners and often invited her friends to visit. Innokenty Fedorovich was usually always in a bad mood at such moments, since he loved loneliness and shunned people.

The symbolist poet began to print his works late. When his first poetry collection came out of print, Annensky was already 48 years old. But he did not strive for fame and popularity, so he published his works under the pseudonym "Nobody".

The first readers in the early childhood of the poet were his sisters, who found a notebook with his first poems and began to laugh and tease Innokenty. After that, the boy tried to hide his drafts in such a secluded place that no one would find them. After the jokes that his sisters generously bestowed, he was afraid to show anyone else his first poetic works.

It was this story with the sisters that led to the fact that the last collection of his poems, which was published after the death of the poet, is called "Cypress Casket". It is known that Innokenty Fedorovich had a beautiful box made of cypress wood. It was in it that he kept all his drafts and notebooks, where he wrote down his poems.