Difficult in pre-revolutionary Russia find a female writer more popular than Nadezhda Teffi. Her funny stories from life ordinary people conquered the hearts of all segments of the population and generations. She wrote about what was close. About love, betrayal, affairs, awkward situations between friends and acquaintances, theater, advertising, family quarrels and much, much more. Readers who recognized themselves, their relatives and friends in Teffi’s characters laughed heartily at simple stories and looked forward to new creations by the talented humorist.

Born into the family of a successful lawyer, Nadezhda could not worry about the future, but simply expect have a good marriage, to raise children. But there was something special in her family. The two daughters grew up very restless and talented. Most likely, a love of literature was instilled in her daughters by her mother, Varvara Alexandrovna, whose maiden name was Goyer, who had French roots.

Nadezhda Tefiya’s first attempts at writing dates back to adolescence. Having started creating while still a high school student, she gradually made writing her life’s work. Teffi's biography is full of unexpected turns and incredible events, you can read it with the same interest as any of Nadezhda Alexandrovna’s stories. Here are some interesting facts from her life:

1. Nadezhda Teffi's real name is Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya. The writer herself presented the story of its origin in different ways. Either she said that this or something similar was the name of the local fool, then she correlated it with the name of a mythical robber. I had to take a pseudonym, because by the time Nadezhda began to storm the literary Olympus, her last name was already very well known in the country.
2. The famous poetess Mirra Lokhvitskaya is Teffi’s dear (elder) sister. Mirra became famous early on as the author of sensual poems. She was called the forerunner of Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva. A woman aged 35 died. She had a bad heart. Surprisingly, researchers were unable to establish the exact number of children in the Lokhvitsky family. Presumably Teffi had one brother and four sisters.
3. Nadezhda Tefiya started her professional career literary career after divorcing her husband, being a mature woman with two, and according to some reports, three children.
4. During the First World War, Nadezhda Teffi worked as a nurse and was at the front. Several front-line photographs of the writer have survived, where she poses in uniform and even with a rifle in her hands.
5. In 1919 she emigrated to Paris. She had to do big way through Kyiv and Odessa, and then Turkey. Apparently, the writer quickly gets used to the new environment. Her first French publications date back to the beginning of 1920.
6. She always retouched her own photographs, hid her age and said that she felt like thirteen years old. Researchers found out that when Nadezhda Aleksandrovna emigrated, filling out documents, she reduced herself to fifteen years. There is every reason to believe that no one managed to find out this before her death. Thanks to the fact that Nadezhda Aleksandrovna always dressed tastefully, took very good care of herself, skillfully used cosmetics and tinted her hair, no one doubted her “reduced” age, which was comfortable for her.
7. Nadezhda Alexandrovna lived 80 years and died in Paris on September 30, 1952. Just a week after my own name day. She was buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.
8. Throughout her life, Nadezhda Aleksandrovna wrote poetry, but became famous thanks to her short humorous stories. Teffi herself said that she loves poetry very much, but she is fed by a comedian.
9. Teffi loved cats very much and even dedicated poems to them. The writer said that she always treats people who don’t like cats with suspicion.
10. Teffi was very absent-minded in everyday life. Relatives recalled that she could light the stove and put the kettle on the next burnt burner, sending money to relatives to write her own address on the envelope, and then rejoice at the unexpected receipt of a large sum.
11. In the last years of her life, Nadezhda Alexandrovna’s health deteriorated greatly. She suffered from neuritis of her left arm; only morphine injections allowed her to relieve the pain and fall asleep. Nadezhda Teffi was also prone to angina attacks and was afraid of dying during one of them.
12. Teffi dreamed of writing a story or several works about minor characters famous books. She especially wanted to describe the adventures of Sancho Panza.

Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Teffi had a wide circle of friends and many friends, even after she left her homeland. She never boasted of her status as a famous writer and had among her friends and acquaintances both famous writers (Bunin, Kuprin) and aspiring journalists and neighbors. She knew how to find nice words for everyone and had the habit of giving each guest something. It could be a trinket, a book or money.

With all this, Teffi herself considered her second husband, Pavel Andreevich Thixton, to be the kindest person of all whom she knew. The marriage was not officially registered. Theakston was delighted with his beautiful and talented companion and happily remained in the shadows, providing her with a happy, comfortable existence. Unfortunately, Pavel Andreevich died quite early, unable to bear the loss of his fortune as a result of the economic crisis of the 19030s. After his death, Nadezhda Alexandrovna did not remarry and even made attempts to leave literature.

Teffi faced the Second World War already in old age, with poor health. She had to live very hard in occupied Paris, but thanks to her friends and family she managed to cope with this.

The whole life of this talented woman is 80 years of intrigue, secrets and coquetry. Many aspects concerning her are still unknown. personal life. Teffi herself constantly “fed” different versions to fans and journalists. Like the retouched photographs that Teffi loved so much, her official life appears smooth and bright, but once you look behind the beautiful cover and look closely, you can see many trials, grief and even personal tragedies.

Teffi's creative features and short biography of the famous Russian writer and poet are presented in this article.

Teffi short biography and interesting facts

Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya was born in the spring of 1872 in northern capital Russian Empire in a noble family, which instilled in her a love of literature. Therefore, it is not strange that from an early age the girl began to write stories and poems. In 1901, her ascent to literary Olympus began with an ordinary poem, which was published in the magazine “North”. Already in 1907, she took the pseudonym Teffi to attract good luck. Real glory attacked Nadezhda Alexandrovna with the publication of 2 volumes “ Humorous stories" Russian Emperor Nicholas II was proud of it, considering it a nugget of the empire.

Why does Teffi have such a nickname?

The history of taking the pseudonym “Taffy” is unknown. Nadezhda herself indicated that she took it on behalf of the household nickname of the Lokhvitsky servant Stepan-Steffi. The writer said that she did not want to sign the texts male names how they did it modern women writers. Also, according to another version, Nadezhda Aleksandrovna took a pseudonym because she was already known by her last name Native sister- poetess Mirra Lokhvitskaya, who by that time was called the “Russian Sappho.” And the pseudonym Teffi was the result of a game of words and familiarity that the poetess loved to play.

From 1908 to 1918, the bright fruits of the humorist writer began to appear in the magazines “Satyricon” and “New Satyricon”. After October revolution Teffi tried to adapt to the new way of life of the Bolshevik regime, but her life was cut in two. With the beginning of the wave of emigration in 1920, she ended up in Paris. In France, the poetess began to communicate with talented compatriots - Gippius, Bunin, Merezhkovsky. Nadezhda Alexandrovna turned out to be in great demand abroad. It was published in prestigious publications in Rome, Berlin and Paris. In her creations she wrote about domestic animals, emigrants, nature, and her distant homeland. The poetess was engaged in compiling literary portraits of Russian celebrities whom she met: Rasputin, Kuprin, Bunin, Gippius, Sologub.

In 1946, Teffi was offered to return to Russia, but she preferred Paris. Her last book, “Earthly Rainbow,” was published in the USA in 1952, in which Nadezhda Alexandrovna failed life outcome. The poetess lived to be 80 years old and died on October 6, 1952, leaving behind many stories, poems, and plays.

Teffi: personal life

Little is known about the writer’s personal life. She was married twice. Buchinsky became Nadezhda Alexandrovna’s first husband. The marriage produced three children, but the couple separated. The second husband, however, was a civilian, the banker Thixton. Nothing more is known about her personal life.

Teffi: interesting facts

During the First World War, Teffi worked as a nurse at the front. Several photographs of the writer have even been preserved, in which she poses in uniform and with a rifle in her hands.

Teffi always retouched photographs and hid her age. Scientists have found that when the poetess emigrated, when filling out the documents she reduced her age by 15. Nadezhda Aleksandrovna always dressed with taste, took care of herself, dyed her hair and skillfully used cosmetics in order to look at her reduced age.

The woman adored cats and dedicated poems to them. She was always wary of people who claimed that they didn’t like cats.

Teffi was very absent-minded. So, she could light the stove and put the kettle on a burner that wasn’t working, or write her address on the envelope when sending money, and then sincerely rejoice at the money she received.

She was called the Russian queen of humor.

We hope that the report on the topic Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Teffi helped you prepare for the lesson, and you learned a lot useful information about this famous writer. A short story You can add information about Teffi using the comment form below.

TEFFY, NADEZHDA ALEXANDROVNA(real name - Lokhvitskaya, married name - Buchinskaya) (1872–1952), Russian writer. Born on May 9 (21), according to other sources - April 27 (May 9), 1872 in St. Petersburg (according to other sources - in Volyn province). Daughter of criminology professor, publisher of the journal “Court Bulletin” A.V. Lokhvitsky, sister of the poetess Mirra (Maria) Lokhvitskaya (“Russian Sappho”). The first humorous stories and a play were signed with the pseudonym Teffi Women's question(1907). The poems with which Lokhvitskaya made her debut in 1901 were published under her maiden name.

The origin of the pseudonym Teffi remains unclear. As indicated by herself, it goes back to the home nickname of the Lokhvitsky servant Stepan (Steffi), but also to the poems of R. Kipling “Taffy was a walesman / Taffy was a thief.” The stories and skits that appeared behind this signature were so popular in pre-revolutionary Russia that there was even “Taffy” perfume and candy.

As a regular author of the magazines “Satyricon” and “New Satyricon” (Taffy was published in them from the first issue, published in April 1908, until the ban on this publication in August 1918) and as the author of a two-volume collection Humorous stories(1910), followed by several more collections ( Carousel, Smoke without fire, both 1914, Unliving beast, 1916), Teffi gained a reputation as a witty, observant and good-natured writer. It was believed that she was distinguished by a subtle understanding human weaknesses, kindness and compassion for his hapless characters.

Teffi's favorite genre is a miniature, based on a description of an insignificant comic incident. She prefaced her two-volume work with an epigraph from Ethics B. Spinoza, who accurately determines the tone of many of her works: “For laughter is joy, and therefore in itself is good.” A brief period of revolutionary sentiments, which in 1905 prompted the aspiring Teffi to collaborate in the Bolshevik newspaper " New life", did not leave a noticeable mark on her work. Attempts to write social feuilletons with topical issues, which the editors of the newspaper expected from Teffi, also did not bring significant creative results. Russian word", where it was published starting in 1910. The head of the newspaper, the "king of feuilletons" V. Doroshevich, taking into account the uniqueness of Teffi's talent, noted that "you cannot carry water on an Arabian horse."

At the end of 1918, together with the popular satirical writer A. Averchenko, Teffi left for Kyiv, where they were supposed to make public appearances, and after wandering around the south of Russia (Odessa, Novorossiysk, Yekaterinodar) for a year and a half, she reached Paris through Constantinople. In the book Memories(1931), which is not a memoir but rather autobiographical story, Teffi recreates the route of her wanderings and writes that she was not given up by the hope of a quick return to Moscow, although she determined her attitude towards the October Revolution from the very beginning of the events: “Of course, I was not afraid of death. I was afraid of angry mugs with a flashlight pointed straight at my face, of stupid idiotic anger. Cold, hunger, darkness, the sound of rifle butts on the parquet, screams, crying, gunshots and the death of others. I'm so tired of all this. I didn't want this anymore. I couldn't take it anymore."

In the first issue of the newspaper " Last news"(April 27, 1920) Teffi's story was published Ke-fer, and the phrase of his hero, the old general, who, looking around the Parisian square in confusion, mutters: “All this is good... but que faire? Fer-to-ke?” became a kind of password for those who found themselves in exile. Published in almost all prominent periodicals of Dispersion (newspapers “Common Deal”, “Vozrozhdenie”, “Rul”, “Segodnya”, magazines “Zveno”, “Modern Notes”, “Firebird”), Teffi published a number of books of stories ( Lynx, 1923, Book June, 1931, About tenderness. 1938), which showed new facets of her talent, as did the plays of this period ( moment of fate, 1937, written for the Russian Theater in Paris, Nothing like this, 1939, staged by N. Evreinov), and the only experience of the novel is Adventure novel (1931).

In Teffi’s prose and drama after emigration, sad, even tragic motives noticeably intensify. “They were afraid of the Bolshevik death - and died here,” says one of her first Parisian miniatures Nostalgia(1920). -... We only think about what is there now. We are only interested in what comes from there.” The tone of Teffi's story increasingly combines harsh and reconciled notes. In the writer’s view, the difficult time that her generation is going through still has not changed the eternal law that says that “life itself... laughs as much as it cries”: sometimes it is impossible to distinguish fleeting joys from sorrows that have become familiar.

In a world where many ideals that seemed unconditional until historical catastrophe struck have been compromised or lost, true values for Teffi, childish inexperience and a natural commitment to moral truth remain - this theme prevails in many of the stories compiled Book June and collection About tenderness, – as well as selfless love. All about love(1946) is the title of one of Teffi’s last collections, which not only conveys the most whimsical shades of this feeling, but says a lot about Christian love, about the ethics of Orthodoxy, which has withstood the difficult tests that Russian history of the 20th century had in store for it. At the end of his creative path– collection earthly rainbow(1952) she did not have time to prepare for publication herself - Teffi completely abandoned sarcasm and satirical intonations, which were quite frequent both in her early prose and in the works of the 1920s. Enlightenment and humility before fate, which did not deprive Teffi’s characters of the gift of love, empathy and emotional responsiveness, determine the main note of her latest stories.

Second world war and Teffi survived the occupation without leaving Paris. From time to time she agreed to give a reading of her works to the emigrant public, which became fewer and fewer every year. In the post-war years, Teffi was busy with memoirs about her contemporaries - from Kuprin and Balmont to G. Rasputin.

Teffi (real name Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya, married Buchinskaya; May 9 (21), 1872, St. Petersburg - October 6, 1952, Paris) - Russian writer and poetess, memoirist, translator, author of such famous stories as “The Demonic Woman” " and "Kefer". After the revolution she emigrated. Sister of the poetess Mirra Lokhvitskaya and military leader Nikolai Alexandrovich Lokhvitsky.

Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya was born on May 9 (21), 1872 in St. Petersburg (according to other sources in the Volyn province) in the family of lawyer Alexander Vladimirovich Lokhvitsky (1830-1884). She studied at the gymnasium on Liteiny Prospekt.

French indecency is piquant, but Russian is offensive to the ear.

Teffi Nadezhda Alexandrovna

In 1892, after the birth of her first daughter, she settled with her first husband, Vladislav Buchinsky, on his estate near Mogilev. In 1900, after the birth of her second daughter Elena and son Janek, she separated from her husband and moved to St. Petersburg, where she began her literary career.

Published since 1901. In 1910, the first book of poems, “Seven Lights,” and the collection “Humorous Stories” were published by the publishing house “Rosehipnik.”

She was known for her satirical poems and feuilletons, and was a member of the permanent staff of the Satyricon magazine. Teffi's satire was often very original; Thus, the poem “From Mickiewicz” of 1905 is based on the parallel between Adam Mickiewicz’s well-known ballad “The Voevoda” and a specific, recent topical event. Teffi’s stories were systematically published in such authoritative Parisian newspapers and magazines as “The Coming Russia”, “Link”, “Russian Notes”, “Modern Notes”. Nicholas II was a fan of Teffi, and sweets were named after Teffi. At Lenin’s suggestion, stories from the 1920s, which described the negative aspects of emigrant life, were published in the USSR in the form of pirated collections until the writer made a public accusation.

After the closure of the newspaper “Russian Word” in 1918, where she worked, Teffi went to Kyiv and Odessa with literary performances. This trip brought her to Novorossiysk, from where in the summer of 1919 she went to Turkey. In the fall of 1919 she was already in Paris, and in February 1920 two of her poems appeared in a Parisian literary magazine, and in April she organized a literary salon. In 1922-1923 she lived in Germany.

From the mid-1920s she lived in a de facto marriage with Pavel Andreevich Thixton (d. 1935).

She died on October 6, 1952 in Paris, two days later she was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris and buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.

Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya (1872-1952) appeared in print under the pseudonym “Taffy”. Father is a famous St. Petersburg lawyer, publicist, and author of works on jurisprudence. Mother is a literature connoisseur; sisters - Maria (poet Mirra Lokhvitskaya), Varvara and Elena (wrote prose), younger brother - all were literary gifted people.

Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya began writing as a child, but her literary debut took place only at the age of thirty, according to a family agreement to enter literature “one by one.” Marriage, the birth of three children, and moving from St. Petersburg to the provinces also did not contribute to literary studies.

In 1900 she separated from her husband and returned to the capital. She first appeared in print with the poem “I Dreamed a Dream...” in 1902 in the magazine “North” (No. 3), followed by stories in the supplement to the magazine “Niva” (1905).

During the years of the Russian Revolution (1905-1907) he composed topical poems for satirical magazines (parodies, feuilletons, epigrams). At the same time, the main genre of Teffi’s work was determined - a humorous story. First in the newspaper “Rech”, then in “Birzhevye Novosti” regularly - almost weekly, in every Sunday issue - Teffi’s literary feuilletons are published, which soon brought her not only fame, but also all-Russian love.

Teffi had the talent to speak on any topic easily and gracefully, with inimitable humor, and knew “the secret of laughing words.” M. Addanov admitted that “people from all walks of life agree on their admiration for Teffi’s talent.” political views and literary tastes."

In 1910, at the peak of his fame, a two-volume collection of Teffi’s stories and the first collection of poems, “Seven Lights,” were published. If the two-volume work was reprinted more than 10 times before 1917, the modest book of poetry went almost unnoticed against the backdrop of the resounding success of the prose.

Teffi’s poems were criticized by V. Bryusov for being “literary”, but N. Gumilyov praised them for this. “The poetess speaks not about herself and not about what she loves, but about what she could be and what she could love. Hence the mask that she wears with solemn grace and, it seems, irony,” wrote Gumilyov.

Teffi’s languid, somewhat theatrical poems seem designed for melodic recitation or created for romance performance, and indeed, A. Vertinsky used several texts for his songs, and Teffi herself sang them with a guitar.

Teffi had a great sense of the nature of stage conventions, she loved the theater, worked for it (wrote one-act and then multi-act plays - sometimes in collaboration with L. Munstein). Finding herself in exile after 1918, Teffi most regretted the loss of the Russian theater: “Of all that fate deprived me of when it deprived me of my Motherland, my greatest loss is the Theater.”

Teffi's books continued to be published in Berlin and Paris, and exceptional success accompanied her until the end of her long life. In exile, she published about twenty books of prose and only two collections of poetry: “Shamram” (Berlin, 1923), “Passiflora” (Berlin, 1923).