Krylov and his family. Personal life I

The years of Krylov’s life and biography in a number of articles have gaps when it is unknown what the playwright, journalist, and fabulist did. During his lifetime, he himself refused to edit his biography in a very harsh form: “I read it; there is neither time nor desire to correct, nor to straighten.” Is this why, despite all his publicity, both the fabulist himself and the years of Krylov’s life are partly mysterious.

Early childhood

In the family of the modest lieutenant Krylov, a son, Ivan, was born in Moscow at the beginning of February 1769. During Pugachev revolt four-year-old Vanyusha lived with his mother in besieged Orenburg, and his father at that time was defending the Yaitsky town and worried about the family. Pugachev promised to destroy not only the captain, but also his family. During these years of Krylov’s life, still just a baby, there were fires and alarm bells. When she began to decline, the brave Maria Alekseevna went with her son to Yaik, to her beloved husband. The years of Krylov’s life in the Yaitsk fortress were spent riding sleds in winter, watching adult Cossacks engage in underwater fishing for sturgeon and sterlet. In the evenings, the father, who had a chest of books, read entertaining novels and instructive stories to his family.

In Tver

In 1775, Ivan Krylov’s father retired and went with his family to his mother. Having no money, Krylov himself taught his son to read and write, and he read a lot and willingly. The boy walked a lot around the city, observing the life of the townspeople and attending debates at the seminary. There he first became acquainted with the performances that seminarians staged on stage. These sketches ridiculed bribery, red tape, and chicanery. Here Ivan saw it with his own eyes for the first time. On the streets he independently learned to speak a little Italian (there were many foreigners in Tver) and play the violin. And in the house of the landowner Lvov, he was allowed to study with teachers. And he began to study arithmetic, geometry and French. This is how the years of Krylov’s life passed. And my father was very ill, there was almost no money. In addition, another son was born - Levushka. Krylov the father did not rise and soon died, leaving the family almost in poverty.

Saint Petersburg

The mother and her two sons had to go to the capital to ask for a pension. In 1783, the teenager began to serve in the government service. And at the age of 16, his literary talent first manifested itself: he wrote the libretto for the opera “The Coffee House.” A year later, the drama “Cleopatra” appeared, and later the tragedy “Philomela”. At the same time, Ivan Krylov wrote the comic opera “The Mad Family” and the comedy “The Writer in the Hallway,” whose years of life can be described as prolific. But the young man is looking for himself. 90s of Krylov’s life and personal life marked by a sad event - his mother dies, and his younger brother Levushka remains in the care of Ivan Andreevich. They treat each other with tenderness.

Satirical magazine

Its publication was preceded by the comedy “Pranksters”, in which the leading playwright of the country at that time, Ya. B. Knyazhnin, recognized himself and his family. not distinguished by complacency, greatly angered Yakov Borisovich and the theater management. However, Krylov does not lose heart, but begins to publish the magazine “Mail of Spirits”. Here talent gradually manifests itself, marked by the sharp eye of a satirist. But the magazine has to be closed - there are too few subscribers.

Unlucky Groom

In 1791, after the massacre of Radishchev, Krylov was oppressed by St. Petersburg, and when one of his acquaintances invited him to go to he happily agreed. There, while visiting various estates, the young 22-year-old metropolitan poet met a young girl, Anna Alekseevna Konstantinova. He became seriously interested, simply fell in love and proposed, but was refused because he was too lowly born and poor.

Publisher and journalist

Then he returned home and plunged headlong into the publishing business, which he opened on shares together with Klushin and Plavilshchikov. Krylov’s articles, which became more demanding of his style, in the magazine “Spectator” sparkled with wit. He wrote oriental fairy tale“Kaib”, which is all permeated with satire. Under the oriental robes of the viziers, one can discern the nobles and dignitaries of Russia. The St. Petersburg fairy tale “Night” also greatly affected the court aristocrats, serf owners and odopists. The “spectator” laughed at the craze for Western novels and sentimentalism. Strict surveillance was established over the magazine, and for the time being Krylov withdrew from literature and journalism.

Voluntary link

The young and previously cheerful writer began to feel burdened by inactivity and the ensuing lack of money. But one day a deck of cards fell into his hands. He got up from the gambling table with his pockets weighed down. Gambling captivated him, but at the gambling table he observed a different, unfamiliar life. There was a change of places: Yaroslavl, Tver, Tambov, Tula. Nizhny Novgorod... Being an old man, Krylov recalled that he was carried away not by winnings, but by strong sensations. And the memory accumulated plots, images, epithets, comparisons. This is how the years of Ivan Andreevich Krylov’s life passed. He thought about himself and those who surrounded him - people who wasted time and energy on trifles and nonsense.

Return to St. Petersburg

It took place after the death of Catherine II, hated by Krylov, who in last years its reign stifled every living thought. By chance, on the street, Krylov ran into Pavel I, who mistook him for someone else and invited him to come in without hesitation. Krylov took advantage of the invitation, and the empress accepted him. Witty and lively, moderately respectful, Maria Fedorovna liked him. But from the suffocating capital, Krylov again left for the provinces. Occasionally he published his articles and translations from Italian, French and German, which by this time he had seriously studied.

Fabulist

By 1805, many changes had occurred in Krylov's life. He was a teacher for the children of Prince Golitsyn, served, wrote comedies, and in Moscow showed translations of La Fontaine's fables. Finally, the 36-year-old writer found himself. And yet he continues to write plays. They were successful, and he became a famous playwright, but he did not abandon the fables. This is how the years of the life of Krylov the fabulist passed. He is treated kindly by the authorities and is not financially offended. The government pays him high pensions, constantly increasing them. For his literary merits, he was already approved as an academician under Nicholas I. If at the beginning of his work he relied on the stories of La Fontaine and Aesop, now the author begins to find topical, poignant Russian stories, such as “The Swan, the Crayfish and the Pike,” for example. And gradually he becomes a popular writer, whom everyone quotes. His popularity is great. The young Belinsky put him in the same row as Pushkin, Griboyedov and Lermontov.

The biography and years of life of Ivan Andreevich Krylov are concluded in quite long span time - 75 years. We appreciate this man for his mind, in which slyness and mockery are mixed, for his lively and clear Russian style. He knew how to subtly, sharply and evilly make fun of Krylov’s shortcomings. The years of life and death (1769 - 1844) were a time of stagnation in society, then enthusiasm, and then again government pressure on a thinking person.

Biography for children

Ivan Andreevich Krylov has had a long journey life path. He was born in poor family. His father served for thirty years to obtain the nobility and pass it on to his children. Ivan Andreevich saw neither tutors nor schools. He received his first knowledge from his father, and then the years of Ivan Andreevich Krylov’s life are an example of constant self-education for children. He read a lot and became one of the most versatile personalities of his time. He taught himself as a child Italian language, and as an adult - German. He also knew French, since it was accepted colloquial society of that time. Krylov wrote better and better every year, increasing his demands on himself. Ivan Andreevich lived during the reign of three emperors, who treated him with both distrust and respect.

His services to Russian literature are unusually high - it is not without reason that every educated Russian person knows the lines from his fables. For the last thirty years of his life he served in the Public Library, while also studying literary work. His funeral in 1844 was solemn. The second most important person in the state - Count Orlov - carried his coffin. I. A. Krylov was buried in St. Petersburg.

The famous Russian fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov was born on February 2, 1768 (according to other sources - 1769) in Moscow. Krylov's father, a poor army officer, in 1772 with rare courage defended the Yaitsky town from the attack of the Pugachevites, and after the pacification of the Pugachev rebellion, bypassed by awards, he transferred to the civil service, moved to Tver, where he died in 1778, leaving a widow with two young sons without any means of support. The future fabulist early had to become acquainted with the difficult side of life. Immediately after the death of his father, Ivan Krylov was assigned as a sub-clerk to the Tver provincial magistrate, and in 1783 he went to serve in St. Petersburg, in the treasury chamber as a “commanded servant.” Krylov did not receive any systematic education and owed his development mainly to his extraordinary talent. By the way, he was a good musician. At the age of 15, he wrote a comic opera, that is, a comedy with verses for singing - “The Coffee House”, published after his death. In this work, which, according to Professor Kirpichnikov, was an extraordinary phenomenon for that time, the language, replete with folk expressions and sayings, is especially remarkable. According to legend, since childhood Krylov loved to jostle among common people and got to know his life and character well.

Portrait of Ivan Andreevich Krylov. Artist K. Bryullov, 1839

Krylov's arrival in St. Petersburg coincides with the opening of a public theater there. Krylov met Dmitrevsky and other actors and for several years lived primarily in the interests of the theater. An 18-year-old boy, at an age when others are just starting career, Ivan Andreevich Krylov resigns and surrenders literary activity, at first not very successful. His pseudo-classical tragedy “Philomela” is interesting only for some glimpses of the author’s free-thinking, but in literary terms it is extremely weak. His comedies (“Mad Family,” “The Writer in the Hallway,” “The Pranksters,” “The Americans”) have also not yet revealed his talents. Krylov's first fables were published (some without signature) in Rachmaninov's journal " Morning hours"in 1788 and went unnoticed (“The Shy Gambler”, “The Fate of the Gamblers”, “The Newly Granted Donkey”, etc.); they are significantly inferior to the later ones. Perhaps we find more causticity, strength and sarcasm in Krylov’s letters and pamphlets, directed against important people who hurt his pride: famous writer Knyazhnin and Soimonov, who headed the management of the theater. These are supposedly exculpatory letters, from a formal point of view it is almost impossible to find fault with them, but they breathe irony, which borders on mockery; the very placement of words is intended to offend. For example, in a letter to Soimonov, Krylov writes: “And the last scoundrel that can be, Your Excellency, would be upset,” etc.

In 1789, Krylov, together with Rachmaninov, took on the publication of “Mail of Spirits,” a magazine that tried to revive the serious satire of Novikov’s magazines. Krylov was more successful in the narrative form than the dramatic one; There is a lot of enthusiasm and sarcasm in Krylov’s magazine articles, but the magazine was still not successful and ceased to exist in August of the same year. In 1792, Krylov and a group of people published another magazine, “The Spectator,” and in 1793 (together with Klushin) “St. Petersburg Mercury.” The Spectator contained the strongest and most profound public meaning from the prose articles of Ivan Andreevich Krylov: the story “Kaib” and “Eulogy to my grandfather,” an unusually bold for that time (the article appeared two years after the Radishchev case) denunciation of landowner tyranny.

Fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov

Whether Krylov was discouraged by the failure of his magazines in the public or whether oppression from the government began, as some suggest, it was only around the middle of 1793 that Krylov stopped all literary activity for several years and disappeared from the capital until 1806. Little accurate information has reached us about how and where he spent this time. He lived with various nobles, most of all with Golitsyn, on his estates (in the Saratov and Kyiv provinces) and in Riga. At one time, Krylov traveled to fairs, indulging in card games. His joke-tragedy “Trumph” dates back to 1800, staged at Prince Golitsyn’s home performance. The comedy of the same period “Lazy Man”, where the prototype is given, has not reached us in its entirety. Oblomov, judging by the surviving excerpts, perhaps the best of all his comedies.

In 1806, the fables “The Oak and the Cane”, “The Picky Bride”, “The Old Man and the Three Young”, translated by Krylov from Lafontaine, appeared in Shalikov’s magazine “Moscow Spectator” with the recommendation of I. I. Dmitriev. In the same year, Krylov returned to St. Petersburg, staged here the comedies “Fashionable Shop” (1806) and “Lesson for Daughters” (1807), directed against Frenchmania and had great success, as they fell in tune with the mood of the society affected by the With Napoleonic wars, national feeling. In 1809, Ivan Andreevich Krylov published the first edition of his fables (23 in number), immediately became a celebrity, and since then, apart from fables, he has not written anything else. Interrupted by him long years the service is also resumed and goes very successfully, first in the Coinage Department (1808 - 1810), then (1812 - 1841) in the Imperial Public Library. During this period, Krylov gives the impression of a man who has calmed down: not a trace remains of youthful incontinence, restless ambition and enterprise; What characterizes him now is a reluctance to quarrel with people, complacent irony, imperturbable calm and laziness that has increased over the years. Since 1836 he no longer wrote fables. In 1838, the 50th anniversary of his literary activity was solemnly celebrated. Krylov died on November 9, 1844.

Monument to Ivan Andreevich Krylov. Sculptor P. Klodt. St. Petersburg, Summer Garden

In total, Krylov wrote more than 200 fables. The most famous of them are “Quartet”, “Crow and Fox”, “Dragonfly and Ant”, “Casket”, “Wolf in the kennel”, “Wolf and Crane”, “Cat and Cook”, “Swan, Pike and Cancer” , “Pig under the Oak”, “Elephant and Moska”, “The Picky Bride”, etc. Most of Krylov’s fables expose universal human shortcomings, others have in mind Russian life (fables about upbringing, about bad administration, historical ones); some (“The Tripartite”, “The Knight”) have neither allegory nor moral teaching and are, in essence, just anecdotes.

The main advantages of Krylov’s fables are their nationality and artistry. Krylov is an excellent depictor of animals; in his depiction of Russian men, he happily avoided caricature. He seems to be an unattainable master in conveying all kinds of movements; to this must be added the mastery of dialogue, comedy, unusually rich in shades, and finally, moral teachings, often aptly reminiscent of proverbs. A lot of Krylov’s expressions have entered our colloquial language.

Sometimes the opinion was expressed that Krylov’s fables, preaching supposedly dry egoism (“you sang everything - that’s the point: so come and dance!”), a distrustful, suspicious attitude towards people (“The Grove and the Fire”), pointing out the dangers often associated with freedom of thought and opinion (“Divers”, “The Writer and the Robber”) and political freedom (“Horse and Rider”), are base in their morality. This opinion is based on a misunderstanding. Ivan Andreevich Krylov also has fables, which in their ideas are quite bold for that time (“Worldly Gathering”, “Leaves and Roots”); some of them caused censorship difficulties (“Fish Dances” - in the first edition; “Nobleman”). A man of enormous size natural mind, Krylov could never become a preacher of mental laziness and stagnation (“Pond and River”). He, it seems, has no great enemies in the world, like stupidity, ignorance and self-righteous insignificance (“Musicians”, “Razors”, “Elephant in the Voivodeship”, etc.); He pursues both excessive philosophizing (“Larchik”) and fruitless theorizing (“Gardener and Philosopher”), because he sees disguised stupidity here too. Sometimes the morality of Krylov’s fables is compared with the morality of proverbs, but we should not forget that Krylov is completely alien to the cynicism and rudeness that are often found in Russian proverbs (“If you don’t deceive, you won’t sell,” “Beat a woman with a hammer,” etc.). Krylov also has fables with sublime morals (“The Fallow Deer and the Dervish,” “The Eagle and the Bee”), and it is no coincidence that these fables are among the weakest. To demand necessarily sublime morality from fables means to completely misunderstand the very essence of this literary type. Brought up by the 18th century, which since the time of Cantemir fell in love with the ideal of the “golden mean,” Krylov is in fables an opponent of all kinds of extremes, and his morality, while not satisfying the highest demands of a developed and sensitive conscience, for all its simplicity, is always valuable.

It is hardly possible to point out another writer in Russian literature who would be as universally understandable and publicly accessible as Ivan Andreevich Krylov. His fables sold almost 80 thousand copies during the author’s lifetime—a phenomenon completely unprecedented in the literature of that time. Krylov, undoubtedly, was more popular than all his contemporaries, not even excluding

9.11.1844 (22.11). - Fabulist Ivan Andreevich Krylov died

"Grandfather Krylov"

Portrait by K.P. Bryullov

Ivan Andreevich Krylov (2.2.1768–9.11.1844) - famous fabulist and translator, playwright, journalist. He was born in Moscow into a poor family of an army officer, who was soon transferred to Orenburg, where the family lived until the boy was 8 years old. In 1775, the father retired, and the family settled in Tver. He studied with the children of the landowner, for whom he served, and mastered French, German, Italian and other languages. After the death of his father (1778), he moved with his mother to St. Petersburg in 1782, served as a scribe in the treasury chamber, and met a man who patronized the young writer. Krylov began his literary career as a playwright, but, disappointed in the hope of seeing his plays on stage, in 1789 he began publishing the magazine “Mail of Spirits”, in which he acted as a continuer of the satirical traditions of N.I. Novikov and .

Since 1795 he periodically lived in different cities, including in Moscow, where he began translating La Fontaine’s fables; in 1809, 23 fables he translated, decorated with Russian flavor, were published as a separate publication, after which his fame began to grow rapidly. He wrote several comedies, in particular those that satirized the aristocratic Francomania and were also successful. In addition to translated fables, or rather, adaptations, Krylov began to compose his own stories, for example, about the war of 1812 - “The Wolf in the Kennel”, “The Crow and the Hen”, etc. Ease and accuracy vernacular made Krylov "truly national poet"(in expression). Krylov's lines became proverbs, catchphrases. He became the hero of numerous jokes and legends and, nicknamed “Grandfather Krylov,” merged in the minds of his contemporaries with his fables, which he described as “ poetry lessons wisdom."

In 1838, Krylov was the first of the Russian writers, and not of noble origin, to receive a solemn celebration of his 50th anniversary. writing activity. By order, a special medal was issued in his honor. All these years (1812–1841) the already famous Krylov served in the Public Library, doing a lot to organize its Russian department.

Ivan Andreevich Krylov is a Russian writer, fabulist, and playwright. Krylov's biography will be described in this article. We will talk not only about the writer’s life, but also about his work. You will learn that Ivan Andreevich Krylov is not only the creator of fables. He also wrote other works. Read more about this below.

The childhood years of the future writer

Krylov's biography begins in the following way. The future writer was born in Moscow. Of course, readers would also be interested to know about the time of birth of such a person as Ivan Krylov. "When was he born?" - you ask. We answer: Ivan Andreevich was born in 1769, February 2 (13).

The future writer studied unsystematically and little. When Andrei Prokhorovich, his father, who served as a minor official in Tver, died, Ivan Andreevich was ten years old. Ivan’s parent “didn’t study science,” but he loved to read and instilled his love in his son. The boy's father himself taught him to write and read, and also left a chest of books as an inheritance to his son. See the portrait of Ivan Andreevich Krylov below.

Life with Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov

Krylov received further education under the patronage of Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov, a writer who became acquainted with poetry young poet. In his childhood, the author we are interested in spent a lot of time in Lvov’s house, located in the same city where Ivan Andreevich Krylov was born (that is, in Moscow). He studied with this man’s children and also listened to the conversations of artists and writers who visited Nikolai Alexandrovich. Subsequently, the shortcomings of such fragmentary education affected. Krylov, for example, was always weak in spelling, but over the years acquired a rather broad outlook and solid knowledge, learned to speak Italian and play the violin.

Service of Ivan Andreevich

Ivan Andreevich was enrolled in the lower zemstvo court for service, although this was only a formality. Krylov never or almost never went to the presence, and did not receive money. At the age of 14, he moved to St. Petersburg, where Ivan Andreevich Krylov lived for some time after his mother went there to seek a pension. The future writer transferred to the St. Petersburg State Chamber to serve. But he was not very interested in his official affairs.

Krylov's first plays

Among Ivan Andreevich’s hobbies, literary studies and visiting the theater came first. These passions did not change even after he lost his mother at the age of 17 and was forced to take care of his younger brother. Krylov wrote a lot for the theater in the 80s. He created librettos for such comic operas as “The Mad Family” and “The Coffee House,” as well as tragedies “Philomela” and “Cleopatra,” and a comedy called “The Writer in the Hallway.” These works did not bring fame or money to the young author, but they helped him enter the circle of writers in St. Petersburg. Krylov was patronized by Ya. B. Knyazhnin, a famous playwright, but a proud young man, deciding that he was being mocked in the “master’s” house, broke up with his friend. He wrote a comedy called "The Pranksters" - a work in which the main characters, Tarator and Rhymerstealer, strongly resembled the Prince and his wife. This was already a more mature creation than the previous plays, but the production of this comedy was prohibited. Ivan Andreevich's relationship with the theater management, which decided the fate of dramatic works, deteriorated.

Activities of Ivan Andreevich in the field of journalism

Since the late 80s, this author’s main activity has been in the field of journalism. For 8 months in 1789, Ivan Andreevich published a magazine called "Mail of Spirits." Appeared already in early work The satirical focus here has been preserved, but has been somewhat transformed. Krylov painted a cartoon depicting modern society. He framed his story in the form of correspondence between the wizard Malikulmulk and the dwarves. This publication was closed because the magazine had very few subscribers - only 80. Judging by the fact that Spirit Mail was republished in 1802, its appearance did not go unnoticed by the reading public.

Magazine "Spectator"

In 1790, Krylov’s biography was marked by the fact that Ivan Andreevich retired, deciding to focus on literary activity. The writer acquired a printing house in January 1792 and, together with Klushin, his friend, also a writer, began publishing a magazine called “The Spectator,” which was already enjoying some popularity.

The greatest success for the “spectator” was brought to him by the works written by Krylov himself: “Kaib”, “Thoughts of a Philosopher on Fashion”, “Speech Spoken by a Rake in a Assembly of Fools”, “Equipmentary Speech in Memory of My Grandfather”. The number of subscribers grew.

"Mercury"

The magazine was renamed "Mercury" in 1793. His publishers by that time focused on ironic attacks against Karamzin and his supporters. The reformist work of this writer was alien to “Mercury”; it seemed overly subject to Western influences and artificial. One of the favorite themes of Krylov’s work in his youth, as well as the object of depiction in many comedies written by him, is admiration for the West. Karamzinists, in addition, repelled Ivan Andreevich with their disdain for the classicist tradition of versification; this writer was outraged by Karamzin’s “common people,” overly uncomplicated style.

The publication of Mercury ceased in 1793, and Krylov left St. Petersburg for several years.

The life and work of the writer in the period from 1795 to 1801

For the period 1795-1801. Only fragmentary information about his life has survived. Krylov's biography of that time is presented very briefly. It is known that he traveled around the province, visiting the estates of his comrades. In 1797, the writer went to S.F. Golitsyn and lived with him as a children's teacher and secretary.

The play entitled "Trumph, or Podschipa" was written in 1799-1800 for Golitsyn's home performance. Tsar Paul I could be seen in the evil, arrogant, stupid warrior Trumf. The irony was so caustic that this play was first published in Russia only in 1871.

First fables

After the death of this tsar, Prince Golitsyn was appointed governor-general in Riga, and Ivan Andreevich Krylov was here for 2 years as his secretary. He retired again in 1803 and traveled around the country playing cards. It was at this time, about which little is known, that Ivan Andreevich Krylov began to create fables.

In 1805, the writer showed in Moscow to I. I. Dmitriev, a famous fabulist and poet, his translation of two of La Fontaine’s fables - “The Picky Bride” and “The Oak and the Cane.” Dmitriev highly appreciated the work done by Krylov and was the first to note that the author had finally found his calling. Ivan Andreevich, however, did not immediately understand this himself. In 1806, he published only 3 fables, and then returned again to drama.

Three famous plays in 1807

The writer released three plays in 1807, which became very popular and were successfully staged. These are “Ilya Bogatyr”, “Lesson for Daughters” and “Fashion Shop”. Greatest success were used by the last two, ridiculing the predilection of representatives of the nobility for French, morals, fashion, etc. A “fashion shop” was even set up at court.

Krylov Ivan Andreevich, despite the long-awaited success in the theatrical field, decided to take a different path. This playwright stopped creating plays. Ivan Andreevich Krylov decided to write fables, the creation of which he devoted everything more attention from year to year.

Krylov continues to create fables

In 1809, the first collection was released, which immediately made a real famous Krylov. In total, he wrote more than 200 different fables, combined into 9 books. Ivan Andreevich worked until his last days: the writer’s acquaintances and friends received his last lifetime edition in 1844, along with a message about the writer’s death.

Krylov’s work was first dominated by adaptations and translations of La Fontaine’s fables (“The Wolf and the Lamb,” “Dragonfly and the Ant”), after which this author gradually began to find independent plots related to topical events of reality. For example, the fables “Wolf in the Kennel”, “Swan, Pike and Cancer”, “Quartet” are a reaction to political events. "The Hermit and the Bear", "The Curious" and others were based on more abstract plots. But the fables created “on the topic of the day” very soon began to be perceived as generalized.

At one time, Ivan Krylov, who laughed at Karamzin’s style for his predilection for common expressions, began to create works that everyone could understand. He turned into a truly people's writer.

Popularity of Ivan Andreevich Krylov

A short biography of Krylov would be incomplete without mentioning that this author became a classic during his lifetime. In 1835, in an article entitled “Literary Dreams” in Russian literature, Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky found only four classics, including Krylov, whom he put on a par with Griboyedov, Pushkin and Derzhavin.

In 1838, the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the work of this fabulist became a national celebration. Since then, over the past almost two centuries, not a single generation in our country has passed by Krylov’s fables. Young people are educated on them to this day.

One of the attributes of the enormous popularity of this author was the many semi-legendary stories about his alleged gluttony, sloppiness, and laziness. Ivan Andreevich lived a long time and never changed his habits. There was talk that he was completely immersed in gourmetism and laziness. This one is smart and not quite a kind person He eventually settled into the role of an eccentric, good-natured, absurd glutton. The image he had invented came to court, and in his declining years he could allow his soul anything. Ivan Andreevich was not shy about being lazy, slobish and gluttonous. Everyone believed that this writer died from volvulus due to overeating, although in fact he died from pneumonia.

Death of Ivan Andreevich

Ivan Krylov died in St. Petersburg in 1844. Ivan Andreevich's funeral was magnificent. The second man in the Russian state, Count Orlov, removed the student who was carrying the coffin and himself carried him to the road. Krylov's contemporaries believed that Sasha, the daughter of his cook, was born from him. This is confirmed by the fact that the writer sent the girl to a boarding school, and after the death of the cook, he raised her as a daughter, in addition, he gave a rich dowry for her. Before his death, Ivan Andreevich bequeathed all his property, as well as all rights to his works, to Sasha’s husband.

This is how our story ends short biography Krylova. Now you know that this man created not only fables. In addition, you may not be aware that A. G. Rubinstein set to music such fables as “Quartet”, “Dragonfly and Ant”, “Donkey and Nightingale”, “Cuckoo and Eagle”. And Yu. M. Kasyanik also created a vocal cycle for piano and bass, “Krylov’s Fables,” which includes the works “The Crow and the Fox,” “The Donkey and the Nightingale,” “Pedestrians and Dogs,” and “The Threesome.” All these creations are very interesting.

Biography and episodes of life Ivan Krylov. When born and died Ivan Krylov, memorable places and dates important events his life. Quotes from the fabulist, images and videos.

Years of life of Ivan Krylov:

born 13 February 1769, died 21 November 1844

Epitaph

“With a kind smile, with a friendly look,
He, as if with an senile slowness of speech,
He tells us from his high chairs,
About the strange customs and stupidity of animals,
And everyone laughs around him and he himself is quietly cheerful.”
From a poem by Ivan Maykov, dedicated to memory Krylova

“The rank alone was flattering to me,
Which I wear in nature, -
The rank of a person; - just to be in it
I put it as a position..."
From a poem by Ivan Andreevich Krylov

Biography

When Emelyan Pugachev led the assault on the city fortress of Yaitsk, officer Don Cossacks Andrei Prokhorovich Krylov was among the soldiers loyal to the government who managed to protect the town from the onslaught. Pugachev vowed to deal with Krylov personally, as well as his entire family. The officer's wife, Maria Alekseevna, in fear, took their young son out of the city, having previously hidden him in a clay vessel. This is how the life of Ivan Andreevich Krylov, an outstanding Russian fabulist, was saved.

As a child, Ivan Krylov never managed to get a decent education. His father died quite early, and his mother, left with two young sons in her arms, could hardly make ends meet. But in memory of his father, Ivan has a whole chest of books - an excellent start for self-development. Subsequently, Ivan Andreevich will go down in history as one of the most educated people of its time.

Before turning to literary activity, Ivan Krylov served as a sub-clerk in the Kalyazinsky court, and then in the Tver magistrate. Financial position He remained very tense and especially worsened after the death of his mother, since he had to take custody of his little brother. However, with the move to St. Petersburg, good prospects opened up for Krylov’s work. Krylov enthusiastically takes up writing plays, but never achieves success in the field of drama.


However, his talent was fully revealed in fables. Ivan Turgenev perfectly characterized Krylov’s work, noting that “his writings were truly Russian.” “...It can be said without any exaggeration that a foreigner who has thoroughly studied Krylov’s fables will have a clearer idea of ​​the Russian national character than if he reads many works treating this subject,” wrote Turgenev. During his lifetime, Ivan Krylov created and published several hundred fables, collected in nine collections. The author also has more than a dozen stories, comedies and tragedies.

By the end of his life, Ivan Krylov had gained an excellent reputation in the literary community, and also acquired connections in high circles. In particular, the fabulist was highly revered in royal family, and at Krylov’s funeral Count Orlov himself - the second person in the state - volunteered to carry the coffin. Before his death, Ivan Krylov bequeathed all his property and rights to his works to the husband of his adopted daughter Sasha, in whose company the writer spent last days life. The great fabulist died at the age of seventy-five. The cause of Krylov's death was bilateral pneumonia. Krylov's funeral took place at the Tikhvin cemetery in St. Petersburg in the presence of high-ranking officials. In memory of the legendary talent, majestic monuments have been erected in many Russian cities.

Life line

February 13, 1769 Date of birth of Ivan Andreevich Krylov.
1774 The Krylov family moves to Tver.
1777 Little Krylov gets a job as a sub-clerk at the Kalyazin Lower Zemstvo Court.
1783 Ivan Andreevich writes the first comic opera, “The Coffee House.”
1789 Krylov publishes the magazine “Mail of Spirits”.
1809 The first book of Krylov's fables has been published.
1812 The writer was hired by Public library St. Petersburg.
1823 Krylov experiences two strokes.
1841 The writer retires and settles with the family of his adopted goddaughter Sasha.
November 21, 1844 Date of death of Krylov.
November 25, 1844 Date of funeral of Ivan Krylov.

Memorable places

1. The city of Moscow, where Ivan Andreevich Krylov was born and spent his childhood.
2. The city of Tver, where the Krylov family moved due to a change in their father’s place of work.
3. The city of St. Petersburg, where the Krylov family moved after the death of their father.
4. The city of Riga, where Ivan Krylov moved, accompanying Prince Golitsyn.
5. The city of Serpukhovo, where for a long time Ivan Andreevich was visiting his younger brother Leo.
6. Tikhvin Cemetery in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where Krylov is buried.
7. Monument to Krylov in Summer Garden, Saint Petersburg.
8. Monument to Krylov on the Patriarchal Lakes, Moscow.
9. Monument to Krylov in Tver.

Episodes of life

Ivan Andreevich Krylov was a distinguished eater. Whenever a new dish was served at the table, he put as much food on his plate as could fit on it. After the meal, Ivan Andreevich stood up, prayed to the image and said: “How much does a person need?” Eyewitnesses always laughed at this phrase, knowing how much Krylov needed.

One day, while re-reading La Fontaine, Ivan Andreevich suddenly felt an uncontrollable desire to reproduce some of his fables in Russian for his people. The writer eagerly set to work and soon came with the results to the famous fabulist Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev. He, although he noticed a competitor in Krylov, still highly appreciated his talent: “This is your true family, you have finally found it.”

Covenant

“Highness is good in breed and rank,
But what profit is there in it when the soul is low?

“As they often say in business: I still have time.
But we must admit that
What do they say when they ask not wisely,
And with your laziness.”

Documentary film “Ivan Krylov: The Merry Cunning of the Mind”

Condolences

“...Krylov left so little information about himself that his every word acquires interest for posterity.”
Vladislav Kenevich, writer

“... He was able to overcome difficulties. It is in vain to imagine that his light poems flowed from the pen themselves.”
Pyotr Pletnev, poet

“Our regret is that these last, solemn, touching days of the transition from life to death took place unknown to us...”
Pyotr Vyazemsky, poet

“He surpassed all the fabulists we know.”
Alexander Pushkin, poet