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Nikolai Gumilyov poet. Along the line of greatest resistance. Excerpt from the book “Bread and Matzo”

Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich was born in 1886 in Kronstadt. His father was a naval doctor. Nikolai Gumilev, whose photo will be presented below, spent his entire childhood in Tsarskoye Selo. He received his education in gymnasiums in Tiflis and St. Petersburg. The poet Gumilyov Nikolai wrote his first poems at the age of twelve. His work was first published in the publication "Tiflis Leaflet" when the boy was 16 years old.

Nikolay Gumilyov. Biography

By the fall of 1903, the family returned to Tsarskoye Selo. There, the future poet finishes his studies at the gymnasium, whose director was Annensky. The turning point in Kolya’s life was his acquaintance with the works of the Symbolists and In the same 1903, the future poet met the high school student Gorenko (later Akhmatova). After graduating from high school in 1906, Nikolai, whose subsequent years would be very eventful, left for Paris. In France, he attends lectures and meets representatives of the literary and artistic community.

Life after graduating from high school

The collection “The Path of the Conquistadors” was the first printed collection published by Nikolai Gumilyov. The poet's work on early stages was in some way a "collection early experiences", in which, however, his own intonation had already been found, the image of a courageous, lyrical hero, a lonely conqueror could be traced. Subsequently being in France, he makes an attempt to publish the Sirius magazine. In the first three issues, the poet is published under a pseudonym Anatoly Grant and under his own name - Nikolai Gumilev. The biography of the poet in subsequent years is of particular interest. It should be said that, while in Paris, he sent correspondence to various publications: the newspapers "Rus", "Early Morning", the magazine "Scales".

Mature period

In 1908, his second collection was published, the works in which were dedicated to Gorenko (“Romantic Poems”). It was with him that the mature period in the poet’s work began. Bryusov, who praised the author, stated, not without pleasure, that he was not mistaken in his forecasts. "Romantic poems" became more interesting in their form, beautiful and elegant. By the spring of 1908, Gumilev returned to his homeland. In Russia, he makes acquaintances with representatives of the literary world of St. Petersburg, and begins to act as a regular critic in the newspaper publication Rech. Later, Gumilyov began publishing his works there.

After a trip to the East

The first trip to Egypt took place in the fall of 1908. After this, Gumilev entered the Faculty of Law at the capital’s university, and subsequently transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology. Since 1909 he begins active work as one of the organizers of the Apollo magazine. In this publication, until 1917, the poet would publish translations and poems, as well as write one of the columns. Gumilyov covers the first decade of the 20th century quite clearly in his reviews. At the end of 1909, he left for Abyssinia for several months, and upon returning from there he published the book “Pearls.”

Life since 1911

In the fall of 1911, the “Workshop of Poets” was formed, which manifested its own autonomy from symbolism, creating its own aesthetic program. " Prodigal son"Gumilev was considered the first acmeistic poem. It was included in the 1912 collection "Alien Sky". By that time, the writer had already firmly established the reputation of a "syndic", "master", one of the most significant of In 1913, Gumilyov went to Africa for six months At the beginning of World War I, the poet volunteered for the front. In 1915, “Notes of a Cavalryman” and the collection “Quiver” were published. During the same period, his printed works “Gondla” and “Child of Allah” were published. However, his patriotic impulses soon faded, and in one of his private letters he admits that for him art is higher than both Africa and war.In 1918, Gumilyov sought to be sent as part of a hussar regiment to the expeditionary force, but was delayed in London and Paris until the spring. same year in Russia, the writer begins work as a translator, preparing the epic of Gilgamesh, English poems and for “World Literature.” The book “Pillar of Fire” was the last one published by Nikolai Gumilyov. The poet's biography ended with arrest and execution in 1921.

Brief description of the works

Gumilyov entered domestic literature as a student of the symbolist poet Valery Bryusov. However, it should be noted that his actual teacher was This poet was, among other things, the director of one of the gymnasiums (in Tsarskoe Selo) in which Gumilyov studied. The main theme of his works was the idea of courageous overcoming. Hero of Gumilyov - strong-willed, a brave man. Over time, however, there is less exoticism in his poetry. At the same time, the author’s passion for the unusual and strong personality remains. Gumilyov believes that this kind of people are not intended for everyday, everyday life. And he considers himself the same. Thinking quite a lot and often about his own death, the author invariably presents it in the aura of heroism:

And I won't die in bed
With a notary and a doctor,
And in some wild crevice,
Drowned in thick ivy.

Love and philosophy in later poems

Gumilyov devoted quite a lot of his works to feelings. His heroine in love lyrics takes on completely different forms. She could be a princess from a fairy tale, the legendary lover of the famous Dante, a fantastic Egyptian queen. A separate line runs through his work in poems to Akhmatova. Quite uneven, complex relationships were associated with her, worthy in themselves of a novel plot ("She", "From the Lair of the Serpent", "Beast Tamer", etc.). Gumilyov's late poetry reflects the author's passion for philosophical topics. At that time, living in terrible and hungry Petrograd, the poet was active in creating studios for young authors, being in some way an idol and teacher for them. During that period, some of his best works came from Gumilyov’s pen, permeated with discussions about the fate of Russia, human life, purpose ("The Lost Tram", "The Sixth Sense", "Memory", "My Readers" and others).

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov
Born: April 3, 1886
Died: August 26, 1921

Biography

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov was born in Kronstadt. Father is a naval doctor. He spent his childhood in Tsarskoe Selo and studied at the gymnasium in St. Petersburg and Tiflis. He wrote poetry from the age of 12, his first published appearance was at the age of 16 - a poem in the newspaper “Tiflis Leaflet”.

In the fall of 1903, the family returned to Tsarskoe Selo, and Gumilyov graduated from the gymnasium there, the director of which was In. Annensky (was a poor student, passed his final exams at the age of 20). The turning point is acquaintance with the philosophy of F. Nietzsche and the poems of the Symbolists.

In 1903 he met high school student A. Gorenko (the future Anna Akhmatova). In 1905, the author published the first collection of poems - “The Way of the Conquistadors”, a naive book of early experiences, which, nevertheless, had already found its own energetic intonation and appeared the image of a lyrical hero, a courageous, lonely conqueror.

In 1906, after graduating from high school, Gumilev leaves for Paris, where he listens to lectures at the Sorbonne and makes acquaintances in the literary and artistic community. Makes an attempt to publish the magazine “Sirius”, in the three published issues of which he is published under his own name and under a pseudonym Anatoly Grant. Sends correspondence to the magazine “Libra”, the newspapers “Rus” and “Early Morning”. A second collection of poems was published in Paris, also published by the author. Gumilyov- “Romantic Poems” (1908), dedicated to A. A. Gorenko.

This book marks the beginning of a period of mature creativity. N. Gumileva. V. Bryusov, who praised his first book in advance, states with satisfaction that he was not mistaken in his predictions: now the poems are “beautiful, elegant and, for the most part, interesting in form.” In the spring of 1908 Gumilev returns to Russia, makes acquaintance with the St. Petersburg literary world (Vyacheslav Ivanov), acts as a regular critic in the newspaper “Rech” (later he also begins to publish poems and stories in this publication).

In the fall he makes his first trip to the East - to Egypt. He enters the Faculty of Law of the capital's university, and is soon transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1909, he took an active part in organizing a new publication - the Apollo magazine, in which later, until 1917, he published poems and translations and maintained a permanent column “Letters on Russian Poetry.”

Reviews collected in a separate book (Pg., 1923) Gumilyov give a clear idea of literary process 1910s. At the end of 1909 Gumilev goes to Abyssinia for several months, and upon returning, publishes new book- “Pearls.”

April 25, 1910 Nikolay Gumilyov marries Anna Gorenko (their relationship broke down in 1914). In the fall of 1911, the “Workshop of Poets” was created, which demonstrated its autonomy from symbolism and the creation of its own aesthetic program (article Gumilyov“The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism,” published in 1913 in Apollo). The poem was considered the first acmeistic work in the Workshop of Poets Gumilyov“Prodigal Son” (1911), included in his collection “Alien Sky” (1912). At this time for Gumilev The reputation of the “master”, “syndic” (leader) of the Workshop of Poets, one of the most significant modern poets, was firmly strengthened.

In the spring of 1913 as head of an expedition from the Academy of Sciences Gumilev goes to Africa for six months (to replenish the collection of the ethnographic museum), keeps a travel diary (excerpts from the “African Diary” were published in 1916, more full text saw the light recently).

At the beginning of the First World War N. Gumilev, a man of action, volunteers to join the Uhlan regiment and deserves two St. George's Crosses for his bravery. His “Notes of a Cavalryman” were published in the “Birzhevye Vedomosti” in 1915.

At the end of 1915, the collection “Quiver” was published, his dramatic works were published in magazines - “Child of Allah” (in “Apollo”) and “Gondla” (in “Russian Thought”). The patriotic impulse and intoxication with danger soon pass, and he writes in a private letter: “Art is dearer to me than both war and Africa.”

Gumilev transfers to the hussar regiment and seeks to be sent to the Russian Expeditionary Force on the Thessaloniki Front, but along the way he lingers in Paris and London until the spring of 1918. A cycle of his love poems dates back to this period, which comprised the posthumously published book “To the Kenyan Star” (Berlin, 1923).

In 1918 upon returning to Russia Gumilev Works intensively as a translator, preparing the epic of Gilgamesh and poems by French and English poets for the World Literature publishing house. He writes several plays, publishes books of poetry “The Bonfire” (1918), “The Porcelain Pavilion” (1918) and others. Published in 1921 last book Gumilyov, according to many researchers, is the best of all that he created - “Pillar of Fire”.

August 3, 1921 Gumilev arrested by the Cheka in the case of the so-called "Tagantsevo conspiracy" and on August 24 sentenced to death.

His name was one of the most odious in the history of official Russian literature throughout the Soviet period.

Creation

Main features of poetry

The main themes of Gumilyov's lyrics are love, art, death, and there are also military and “geographical” poems. Unlike most poets, there is practically no political and patriotic lyrics.

Although the sizes of the poems Gumilyov extremely varied, he himself believed that he was best at making anapests. Gumilyov rarely used free verse and believed that although he had won “the right to citizenship in the poetry of all countries. Nevertheless, it is quite obvious that free verse should be used extremely rarely.” The most famous free verse Gumilyov- “My readers.”

Main works

Collections of poems

1901 - Mountains and gorges (Tiflis, handwritten)
1905 - The Path of the Conquistadors
1908 - Romantic Flowers (Paris)
1910 - Pearls
1912 - Alien Sky
1916 - Quiver
1918 - Bonfire
1918 - Porcelain Pavilion
1921 - Tent
1921 - Pillar of Fire

Plays

1912 - Don Juan in Egypt
1913 - The Game (published 1916)
1913 - Actaeon
1917 - Gondla
1918 - Child of Allah
1918 - The Poisoned Tunic (published 1952)
1918 - The Tree of Transformations (published 1989)
1920 - The Rhinoceros Hunt (published 1987)

Dramatic scenes and fragments

1908 - Achilles and Odysseus
Green tulip
1919 - The Beauty of Morni (published 1984)

Prose

Notes of a cavalryman (1914-1915)
The Black General (1917)
Merry brothers
African diary
Up the Nile
Cards
Deucalion
Shadow of a Palm Tree (1909-1916)

Poems

1918 - Mick
1921 - Poem of the Beginning

Translations

1914 - Théophile Gautier “Enamels and Cameos”
1914 - Robert Browning "Pippa Passes"
Albert Samen "Polyphemus"
1921 - William Shakespeare "Falstaff"

Criticism

1923 - Articles and notes about Russian poetry

Editions

Gumilyov N. S. Poems and poems. - L.: Sov. writer, 1988. - 632 p. (The Poet's Library. Large series. Third edition.)
Gumilyov N. S. Favorites. - M.: Sov. Russia, 1989. - 469 p.
Gumilyov N. S. Letters about Russian poetry / Comp. G. M. Friedlander (with the participation of R. D. Timenchik); Prepare text and comment. R. D. Timenchik. - M.: Sovremennik, 1990. - 383 p.

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev was born on April 3 (15), 1886 in Kronstadt, in the family of a ship’s doctor. The future writer spent his childhood first in Tsarskoe Selo, and then in the city of Tiflis. In 1902, Gumilyov’s first poem “I fled to the forest from the cities...” was published.

In 1903, Nikolai Stepanovich entered the 7th grade of the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium. In the same year, the writer met his future wife, Anna Gorenko (Akhmatova).

In 1905 short biography Gumilyov happened most important event– the poet’s first collection, “The Path of the Conquistadors,” was published.

Mature creativity. Trips

After graduating from high school in 1906, Gumilyov went to Paris and entered the Sorbonne. While in France, Nikolai Stepanovich tried to publish the magazine “Sirius” (1907), an exquisite magazine for those times. In 1908, the writer’s second collection, “Romantic Flowers,” dedicated to Anna Akhmatova, was published. This book marked the beginning of Gumilyov's mature work.

Nikolai Stepanovich returns to Russia, but soon leaves again. The writer visits Sinop, Istanbul, Greece, Egypt, and African countries with expeditions.

In 1909, Gumilyov entered St. Petersburg University, first to the Faculty of Law, but then transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology. The writer takes an active part in the creation of the Apollo magazine. In 1910, the collection “Pearls” was published, which received positive reviews V. Ivanov, I. Annensky, V. Bryusov. The book includes the famous work of the writer “Captains”.

In April 1910, Gumilev married Anna Akhmatova.

“The Workshop of Poets” and Acmeism. First World War

In 1911, with the participation of Gumilev, the poetic association “Workshop of Poets” was created, which included O. Mandelstam, S. Gorodetsky, V. Narbut, M. Zenkevich, E. Kuzmina-Karavaeva. In 1912, Nikolai Stepanovich announced the emergence of a new artistic movement, Acmeism, and soon the magazine “Hyperborea” was created, and Gumilyov’s collection “Alien Sky” was published. In 1913, the writer again went to the East.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Gumilev, whose biography was already full of extraordinary events, voluntarily went to the front and was awarded two St. George's Crosses for his bravery. While serving in Paris in 1917, the poet fell in love with Helene du Boucher and dedicated a collection of poems, To the Blue Star, to her.

Post-war years. Death

In 1918, Gumilyov returned to Russia. In August of the same year, the writer divorced Akhmatova.

In 1919–1920, the poet worked at the World Literature publishing house, taught, and translated from English and French. In 1919 he married Anna Engelhardt, daughter of N. Engelhardt. Gumilyov's poems from the collection “Pillar of Fire” (1921) are dedicated to his second wife.

In August 1921, Nikolai Gumilev was arrested on charges of participation in the anti-government “Tagantsev conspiracy.” Three weeks later he was sentenced to death, executed the very next day. Exact date The execution and burial place of Gumilyov Nikolai Stepanovich are unknown.

Chronological table

Other biography options

In 1909, Gumilev took part in an absurd duel with M. Voloshin because Nikolai Stepanovich spoke unflatteringly about the poetess Elizaveta Dmitrieva. Both poets did not want to shoot themselves, Gumilev fired into the air, Voloshin’s pistol misfired.
In 1916, Gumilyov was enlisted in the special Fifth Alexandria Hussar Regiment, whose soldiers took part in the most fierce battles near Dvinsk.
Anna Akhmatova always criticized Gumilyov's poetry. This often led to the poet burning his works.
For a long time, Gumilyov's works were not published. The poet was rehabilitated only in 1992.
Two films were made about Gumilyov’s life documentaries– “Testament” (2011) and “ A new version. Gumilyov against dictatorship" (2009).

Nikolay Gumilyov

Russian poet Silver Age, creator of the school of Acmeism, prose writer, translator and literary critic

short biography

Childhood and youth

Born into the noble family of the Kronstadt ship doctor Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilyov (1836-1910). Mother - Anna Ivanovna, née Lvova (1854-1942).

As a child, Nikolai Gumilyov was a weak and sickly child: he was constantly tormented by headaches and could not tolerate noise well. According to Anna Akhmatova (“The Works and Days of N. Gumilyov,” vol. II), the future poet wrote his first quatrain about the beautiful Niagara at the age of six.

He entered the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium in the fall of 1894, however, after studying for only a few months, due to illness he switched to home schooling.

In the fall of 1895, the Gumilyovs moved from Tsarskoye Selo to St. Petersburg, rented an apartment in the house of merchant N.V. Shalin on the corner of Degtyarnaya and 3rd Rozhdestvenskaya streets, and the next year Nikolai Gumilyov began studying at the Gurevich gymnasium. In 1900, the elder brother Dmitry (1884-1922) was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the Gumilyovs left for the Caucasus, to Tiflis. In connection with the move, Nikolai entered the fourth grade for the second time, the 2nd Tiflis Gymnasium, but six months later, on January 5, 1901, he was transferred to the 1st Tiflis Men's Gymnasium. Here, in the “Tiflis Leaflet” of 1902, the poem was first published N. Gumilyov “I fled to the forest from the cities...”.

In 1903, the Gumilyovs returned to Tsarskoye Selo and Nikolai Gumilyov in 1903 again entered the Tsarskoye Selo gymnasium (in VII class). He studied poorly and once was even on the verge of expulsion, but the director of the gymnasium, I.F. Annensky, insisted on leaving the student for the second year: “All this is true, but he writes poetry”. In the spring of 1906, Nikolai Gumilyov nevertheless passed the final exams and on May 30 received a certificate of maturity No. 544, which included a single “A” - according to logic.

A year before graduating from high school, the first book of his poems, “The Path of the Conquistadors,” was published at the expense of his parents. This collection was given a separate review by Valery Bryusov, one of the most authoritative poets of that time. Although the review was not laudatory, the master concluded it with the words “Let us assume that it [the book] is only the “path” of the new conquistador and that his victories and conquests are ahead”, it was after this that correspondence began between Bryusov and Gumilev. For a long time, Gumilyov considered Bryusov his teacher; Bryusov’s motifs can be traced in many of his poems (the most famous of them is “The Violin,” however, dedicated to Bryusov). The master patronized the young poet for a long time and treated him, unlike most of his students, kindly, almost in a fatherly way.

After graduating from high school, Gumilev went to study at the Sorbonne.

Abroad

Photo from 1906

Since 1906, Nikolai Gumilyov lived in Paris: he attended lectures on French literature at the Sorbonne, studied painting and traveled a lot. Visited Italy and France. While in Paris, he published the literary magazine Sirius (in which Anna Akhmatova made her debut), but only 3 issues of the magazine were published. He visited exhibitions, met French and Russian writers, and was in intensive correspondence with Bryusov, to whom he sent his poems, articles, and stories. At the Sorbonne, Gumilyov met the young poetess Elizaveta Dmitrieva. This fleeting meeting played a fatal role in the poet’s fate a few years later.

Photo of Maximilian Voloshin, Gumilyov N.S. in Paris, 1906.

In Paris, Bryusov recommended Gumilev to such famous poets as Merezhkovsky, Gippius, Bely and others, but the masters treated the young talent carelessly. In 1908, the poet “revenged” the insult by anonymously sending them the poem “Androgyne.” It received extremely favorable reviews. Merezhkovsky and Gippius expressed a desire to meet the author.

In 1907, in April, Gumilyov returned to Russia to go through the draft board. In Russia, the young poet met his teacher, Bryusov, and his lover, Anna Gorenko. In July, he set off from Sevastopol on his first trip to the Levant and returned to Paris at the end of July. There is no information about how the trip went, except for letters to Bryusov.

after our meeting, I was in the Ryazan province, in St. Petersburg, lived for two weeks in the Crimea, a week in Constantinople, in Smyrna, had a fleeting affair with some Greek woman, fought with the Apaches in Marseilles and only yesterday, I don’t know how, I don’t know why , found myself in Paris.

There is a version that it was then that Gumilyov first visited Africa, this is also evidenced by the poem “Ezbekiye,” written in 1917 (How strange - exactly ten years have passed // Since I saw Ezbekiye). However, chronologically this is unlikely.

In 1908, Gumilyov published the collection “Romantic Flowers”. Sergei Makovsky wrote about him: “The poems seemed to me rather weak even for an early book. However, with the exception of one thing - “Ballad”; it struck me with a tragic tone.”

With the money received for the collection, as well as with the funds accumulated by his parents, he goes on a second journey. Arrived in Sinop, where I had to quarantine for 4 days, and from there to Istanbul. After Turkey, Gumilev visited Greece, then went to Egypt, where he visited Ezbikiye. In Cairo, the traveler suddenly ran out of money and was forced to go back. On November 29 he was again in St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Gumilyov is not only a poet, but also one of the largest researchers in Africa. He made several expeditions to East and North-East Africa and brought a rich collection to the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) in St. Petersburg.

First expedition to Abyssinia

Africa attracted Gumilyov since childhood; he was inspired by the exploits of Russian volunteer officers in Abyssinia (later he would even repeat the route of Alexander Bulatovich and partly the routes of Nikolai Leontyev). Despite this, the decision to go there came suddenly, and on September 25 he went to Odessa, from there to Djibouti, then to Abyssinia. The details of this journey are unknown. It is only known that he visited Addis Ababa for a ceremonial reception at the Negus. The friendly relations of mutual sympathy that arose between the young Gumilyov and the experienced Menelik II can be considered proven. In the article “Is Menelik Dead?” the poet both described the unrest that took place under the throne and revealed his personal attitude to what was happening.

Between trips

The three years between expeditions were very eventful in the poet’s life.

Gumilyov and Akhmatova with their son

Gumilyov visits the famous “Tower” of Vyacheslav Ivanov and the Society of Zealots artistic word, where he makes many new literary acquaintances.

In 1909, together with Sergei Makovsky, Gumilyov organized an illustrated magazine on issues visual arts, music, theater and literature "Apollo", in which he begins to head the literary-critical department, publishes his famous "Letters on Russian Poetry".

In the spring of the same year, Gumilev meets Elizaveta Dmitrieva again, and they begin an affair. Gumilyov even invites the poetess to marry him. But Dmitrieva prefers another poet and his colleague on the Apollo editorial board, Maximilian Voloshin, to Gumilyov. In the fall, when the personality of Cherubina de Gabriac, a literary hoax of Voloshin and Dmitrieva, is scandalously exposed, Gumilyov allows himself to speak unflatteringly about the poetess, Voloshin publicly insults him and receives a challenge. The duel took place on November 22, 1909, and news about it appeared in many metropolitan magazines and newspapers. Both poets remained alive: Voloshin fired, it misfired, again, it misfired again, Gumilyov shot upward.

In 1910, the collection “Pearls” was published, in which “Romantic Flowers” was included as one of the parts. "Pearls" includes the poem "Captains", one of famous works Nikolai Gumilyov. The collection received laudatory reviews from V. Bryusov, V. Ivanov, I. Annensky and other critics, although she was called “still a student’s book”.

April 25, 1910, after three years hesitation, he finally got married: in the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Nikolskaya Slobodka, on the outskirts of the city of Kyiv, Gumilev married Anna Andreevna Gorenko (Akhmatova).

In 1911, under active participation Gumilyov, the “Workshop of Poets” was founded, which, in addition to Gumilyov, included Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Vladimir Narbut, Sergei Gorodetsky, Elizaveta Kuzmina-Karavaeva (the future “Mother Maria”), Zenkevich and others.

At this time, symbolism was experiencing a crisis, which young poets sought to overcome. They declared poetry to be a craft, and all poets were divided into masters and apprentices. In the “Workshop” Gorodetsky and Gumilyov were considered masters, or “syndics”. Initially, “The Workshop” did not have a clear literary orientation. At the first meeting, which took place at Gorodetsky’s apartment, there were Piast, Blok and his wife, Akhmatova and others. Blok wrote about this meeting:

A carefree and sweet evening. The youth. Anna Akhmatova. Conversation with N.S. Gumilyov and his good poems. It was fun and simple. You get better with young people.

In 1912, Gumilyov announced the emergence of a new artistic movement - Acmeism, which included members of the “Workshop of Poets”. Acmeism proclaimed materiality, objectivity of themes and images, and precision of words. The emergence of a new trend caused a stormy reaction, mostly negative. In the same year, Acmeists opened their own publishing house “Hyperborea” and a magazine of the same name.

Gumilev enters the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, where he studies Old French poetry.

In the same year, the poetry collection “Alien Sky” was published, in which, in particular, the first, second and third cantos of the poem “The Discovery of America” were published.

Second expedition to Abyssinia

The second expedition took place in 1913. It was better organized and coordinated with the Academy of Sciences. At first, Gumilyov wanted to cross the Danakil Desert, study little-known tribes and try to civilize them, but the Academy rejected this route as expensive, and the poet was forced to propose a new route:

I had to go to the port of Djibouti from there by railway to Harrar, then, forming a caravan, to the south, to the area between the Somali Peninsula and lakes Rudolph, Margaret, Zwai; cover as large a study area as possible.

His nephew Nikolai Sverchkov went to Africa with Gumilyov as a photographer.

First, Gumilyov went to Odessa, then to Istanbul. In Turkey, the poet showed sympathy and sympathy for the Turks, unlike most Russians. There, Gumilyov met the Turkish consul Mozar Bey, who was traveling to Harar; they continued their journey together. From Istanbul they headed to Egypt, and from there to Djibouti. The travelers were supposed to go inland by rail, but after 260 kilometers the train stopped due to the fact that the rains washed out the path. Most of the passengers returned, but Gumilyov, Sverchkov and Mozar Bey begged the workers for a handcar and drove 80 kilometers of damaged track on it. Arriving in Dire Dawa, the poet hired a translator and set off in a caravan to Harar.

Haile Selassie I

In Harar, Gumilyov bought mules, not without complications, and there he met Ras Tefari (then governor of Harar, later Emperor Haile Selassie I; adherents of Rastafarianism consider him the incarnation of the Lord Jah). The poet gave the future emperor a box of vermouth and photographed him, his wife and sister. In Harare, Gumilyov began collecting his collection.

Aba Muda

From Harar the path lay through the little-explored Galla lands to the village of Sheikh Hussein. On the way, we had to cross the fast-water Uabi River, where Nikolai Sverchkov was almost dragged away by a crocodile. Soon problems with provisions began. Gumilyov was forced to hunt for food. When the goal was achieved, the leader and spiritual mentor of Sheikh Hussein Aba-Muda sent provisions to the expedition and warmly received it. This is how Gumilyov described it:

A fat black man sat on Persian carpets
In a darkened, untidy room,
Like an idol, in bracelets, earrings and rings,
Only his eyes sparkled wonderfully.

- "Galla"

There Gumilyov was shown the tomb of Saint Sheikh Hussein, after whom the city was named. There was a cave there, from which, according to legend, a sinner could not get out:

I had to undress and crawl between the stones into a very narrow passage. If anyone got stuck, he died in terrible agony: no one dared to extend a hand to him, no one dared to give him a piece of bread or a cup of water...

Gumilyov climbed there and returned safely.

Having written down the life of Sheikh Hussein, the expedition moved to the city of Ginir. Having replenished the collection and collected water in Ginir, the travelers went west, on a difficult journey to the village of Matakua.

The further fate of the expedition is unknown; Gumilyov’s African diary is interrupted at the word “Road...” on July 26. According to some reports, on August 11, the exhausted expedition reached the Dera Valley, where Gumilev stayed in the house of the parents of a certain Kh. Mariam. He treated his mistress for malaria, freed a punished slave, and his parents named their son after him. However, there are chronological inaccuracies in the Abyssinian's story. Be that as it may, Gumilyov safely reached Harar and in mid-August was already in Djibouti, but due to financial difficulties he was stuck there for three weeks. He returned to Russia on September 1.

World War I

The beginning of 1914 was difficult for the poet: the workshop ceased to exist, difficulties arose in his relationship with Akhmatova, and he became bored with the bohemian life he led after returning from Africa.

After the outbreak of the First World War in early August 1914, Gumilev volunteered for the army. Together with Nikolai, his brother Dmitry Gumilyov, who was shell-shocked in battle and died in 1922, went to war (by conscription).

It is noteworthy that although almost all the famous poets of that time composed either patriotic or military poems, only two took part in the hostilities as volunteers: Gumilyov and Benedikt Livshits.

Gumilyov was enlisted as a volunteer in the Life Guards Ulan Regiment of Her Majesty. In September and October 1914, exercises and training took place. Already in November the regiment was transferred to Southern Poland. On November 19, the first battle took place. For night reconnaissance before the battle, by Order of the Guards Cavalry Corps of December 24, 1914 No. 30, he was awarded the Cross of St. George, 4th degree No. 134060 and promoted to the rank of corporal. The cross was awarded to him on January 13, 1915, and on January 15 he was promoted to non-commissioned officer.

At the end of February, as a result of continuous hostilities and travel, Gumilyov fell ill with a cold:

We advanced, knocked the Germans out of villages, went on trips, I also did all this, but as in a dream, now shivering with chills, now burning in the heat. Finally, after one night, during which I made at least twenty rounds and fifteen escapes from captivity without leaving the hut, I decided to take my temperature. The thermometer showed 38.7.

The poet was treated for a month in Petrograd, then was returned to the front again.

In 1915, from April to June, although there were no active hostilities, Gumilyov participated in reconnaissance trips almost every day.

In 1915, Nikolai Gumilyov fought in Volyn. Here he went through the most difficult military trials and received the 2nd Cross of St. George, of which he was very proud. Anna Akhmatova responded to this somewhat skeptically:

News rarely arrives
To our porch.
Gave me a white cross
To your father.

So she wrote to her little son Lev.

On July 6, a large-scale enemy attack began. The task was set to hold positions until the infantry approached, the operation was carried out successfully, and several machine guns were saved, one of which was carried by Gumilyov. For this, by Order of the Guards Cavalry Corps of December 5, 1915 No. 1486, he was awarded the insignia of the Military Order St. George's Cross 3rd degree No. 108868.

In September, the poet returned to Russia as a hero, and on March 28, 1916, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front No. 3332, he was promoted to ensign and transferred to the 5th Hussar Regiment of Alexandria. Using this respite, Gumilyov was active in literary activity.

In April 1916, the poet arrived in the hussar regiment stationed near Dvinsk. In May, Gumilev was again evacuated to Petrograd. The night jump in the heat described in “Notes of a Cavalryman” cost him pneumonia. When the treatment was almost over, Gumilyov went out into the cold without permission, as a result of which the disease worsened again. Doctors recommended that he undergo treatment in the south. Gumilev left for Yalta. However, the poet’s military life did not end there. On July 8, 1916, he again went to the front, again for a short time. On August 17, by order of regiment No. 240, Gumilev was sent to the Nikolaev Cavalry School, then again transferred to the front and remained in the trenches until January 1917.

In 1916, a collection of poems, “Quiver,” was published, which included poems on a military theme.

In 1917, Gumilev decided to transfer to the Thessaloniki Front and went to the Russian expeditionary force in Paris. He went to France by a northern route - through Sweden, Norway and England. Gumilyov stayed in London for a month, where he met the poet William Butler Yeats and the writer Gilbert Chesterton. Gumilyov left England for in a great mood: paper and printing costs turned out to be much cheaper there, and he could print “Hyperboreas” there.

Arriving in Paris, he served as an adjutant to the commissar of the Provisional Government, where he became friends with artists M.F. Larionov and N.S. Goncharova.

In Paris, the poet fell in love with the half-Russian, half-French Elena Karolovna du Boucher, the daughter of a famous surgeon. He dedicated the collection of poems “To the Blue Star” to her. Soon Gumilyov moved to the 3rd brigade. However, the decay of the army was felt there too. Soon the 1st and 2nd brigades mutinied. He was suppressed, and Gumilyov personally took part in the suppression; many soldiers were deported to Petrograd, the rest were united into one special brigade.

On January 22, 1918, Anrep got him a job in the encryption department of the Russian Government Committee. Gumilyov worked there for two months. However, bureaucratic work did not suit him, and on April 10, 1918, the poet left for Russia.

In 1918, the collection “Bonfire” was published, as well as the African poem “Mick”. The prototype of Louis, the monkey king, was Lev Gumilyov. The timing of the fairy-tale poem's release was unfortunate, and it was received coolly. His passion for the Malay pantun dates back to this period; part of the play “Child of Allah” (1918) was written in the form of a stitched pantun.

On August 5, 1918, a divorce from Anna Akhmatova took place. Relations between the poets went wrong a long time ago, but it was impossible to divorce with the right to remarry before the revolution.

In 1919, he married Anna Nikolaevna Engelgardt, the daughter of the historian and literary critic N.A. Engelgardt.

In 1918-1920, Gumilev lectured on poetic creativity at the Institute of Living Word.

In 1920, the Petrograd department of the All-Russian Union of Poets was established, and Gumilyov also joined it. Formally, the Blok was elected head of the Union, but in fact the Union was governed by "more than pro-Bolshevik" a determined group of poets led by Pavlovich. Under the pretext that a quorum was not reached in the election of the chairman, re-elections were called. The Pavlovich camp, believing that this was a simple formality, agreed, but at the re-election Gumilyov was unexpectedly nominated, who won by one vote.

Gorky took a close part in the affairs of the department. When Gorky’s plan “The History of Culture in Pictures” for the publishing house “World Literature” arose, Gumilyov supported these endeavors. His “Poisoned Tunic” could not have come at a better time. In addition, Gumilyov gave sections of the play “Gondla”, “Hunting the Rhinoceros” and “The Beauty of Morni”. The fate of the latter is sad: its full text has not survived.

In 1921, Gumilyov published two collections of poems. The first is “The Tent,” written based on impressions from traveling in Africa. “The Tent” was supposed to be the first part of a grandiose “geography textbook in verse.” In it, Gumilyov planned to describe the entire inhabited land in rhyme. The second collection is “Pillar of Fire”, which includes such significant works, like “The Word”, “The Sixth Sense”, “My Readers”. Many believe that “Pillar of Fire” is the poet’s pinnacle collection.

Since the spring of 1921, Gumilyov headed the Sounding Shell studio, where he shared his experience and knowledge with young poets and gave lectures on poetics.

Living in Soviet Russia, Gumilev did not hide his religious and political views- he openly baptized himself in churches and declared his views. So, at one of the poetry evenings, in response to a question from the audience, “what are your political beliefs?” answered- “I am a convinced monarchist”.

Arrest and execution

Nikolay Gumilyov. Photo from the investigation case. 1921

On August 3, 1921, Gumilyov was arrested on suspicion of participation in the conspiracy of the “Petrograd Combat Organization of V.N. Tagantsev.” For several days, Mikhail Lozinsky and Nikolai Otsup tried to help their friend out, but despite this, the poet was soon executed.

Monument to Nikolai Gumilyov in Koktebel

On August 24, the Petrograd GubChK issued a decree on the execution of participants in the “Tagantsevsky conspiracy” (61 people in total), published on September 1, indicating that the sentence had already been carried out. Gumilyov and 56 other convicts, as established in 2014, were shot on the night of August 26. The place of execution and burial is still unknown; this is not indicated in the newly discovered documents. The following versions are common:

Bernhardovka (Valley of the Lubya River) in Vsevolozhsk. Bridge over the Lubya River, a memorial cross is installed on the bank.
The Fox Nose pier area, behind the gunpowder warehouses. A remote area near the Razdelnaya railway station (now Lisiy Nos) was previously used as a place for executions following sentences of military courts.
Anna Akhmatova believed that the place of execution was on the outskirts of the city towards the Porokhovs.
Kovalevsky forest, in the area of the arsenal of the Rzhevsky training ground, at the bend of the Lubya River.

Cross cenotaph at the probable location of Gumilyov’s execution. Berngardovka (Lubya River valley)

The pier in Lisiy Nos is a traditional place of executions in St. Petersburg and a possible place of execution of Gumilyov

Only in 1992 was Gumilyov rehabilitated.

Versions of events of 1921

There are three versions about Gumilyov’s involvement in V.N. Tagantsev’s conspiracy:

Gumilyov participated in the conspiracy - the official Soviet version of 1921-1987, supported by some emigrants who knew the poet and a number of biographers, for example, V. Shubinsky.
Gumilyov did not participate in the conspiracy, but only knew about it and did not report it - a version of the 1960s, widespread in the USSR during perestroika (1987-1991) and today.
The conspiracy did not exist at all, it was completely fabricated by the Cheka in connection with the Kronstadt uprising - one of the modern versions.

Addresses in St. Petersburg - Petrograd

1886, April - Kronstadt, Grigorieva’s house at 7 Ekaterininskaya Street;
1886, June - Tsarskoye Selo, Moskovskaya street, 42, opposite Torgovy lane;
1890 - The Gumilyovs bought an estate along the Nikolaev railway - Popovka;
1893, autumn - St. Petersburg, rented apartment 8 on 3rd Rozhdestvenskaya Street, 32 (in the house of merchant N.V. Shalin on the corner of Degtyarnaya);
1903, summer - Tsarskoe Selo, rented apartment on the corner of Orangereinaya and Srednyaya streets, in Poluboyarinov’s house;
1909-1911 - 5th line of Vasilyevsky Island, 10;
1911-1916 - Tsarskoe Selo, Malaya street, building 63;
1912-1914 - Tuchkova embankment, 20, apt. 29;
1918-1919 - Ivanovskaya street, 25, apt. 15;
1919-1920 - apartment building - Preobrazhenskaya street, 5 (now Radishcheva);
1920 - August 3, 1921 - DISK - 25th October Avenue, 15.

Family

Parents:

father Stepan Yakovlevich Gumilyov (July 28, 1836 - February 6, 1910).
mother Anna Ivanovna, née Lvova (June 4, 1854 - December 24, 1942). From her brother, Rear Admiral Lev Ivanovich Lvov, together with her older sister Varvara, she inherited the family estate Slepnevo in the Bezhetsky district of the Tver province, where she raised her grandson Lev.
- Nikolay Gumilyov
- 1st wife: Anna Andreevna Gorenko (Akhmatova) (June 11 (23), 1889 - March 5, 1966).
  - their son Lev Gumilyov (October 1, 1912 - June 15, 1992). Have no children.
- 2nd wife: Anna Nikolaevna Engelhardt (1895 - April 1942).
  - their daughter Elena Gumileva (April 14, 1919, Petrograd - July 25, 1942, Leningrad). Anna Engelhardt and Elena Gumilyova died of starvation in besieged Leningrad. Have no children.
- Beloved: Olga Nikolaevna Vysotskaya (December 18, 1885, Moscow - January 18, 1966, Tiraspol).
  - their son Orest Nikolaevich Vysotsky (October 26, 1913, Moscow - September 1, 1992). His 2 daughters and 1 son Nikolai are the only descendants of the poet. Alive as of 2008:
    - eldest daughter Iya Sazonova, she has a daughter and granddaughter,
      - 3 daughters of Larisa Vysotskaya, her younger sister, who died in 1999.

Creation

Main features of poetry

The main themes of Gumilyov’s lyrics are love, art, life and death; there are also military and “geographical” poems. Unlike most poets, there is practically no political theme in Gumilyov’s work.

Although the sizes of Gumilyov’s poems are extremely varied, he himself believed that his best works were anapests. Gumilyov rarely used free verse and believed that although he had conquered “the right to citizenship in the poetry of all countries, however, it is quite obvious that free verse should be used extremely rarely”. Gumilyov’s most famous free verse is “My Readers.”