The biography of Velimir Khlebnikov is amazing and surprising, because how one person could literally change history in his short life. Now they talk about this poet and writer, write books, and make films. And only a small fraction of people are familiar with true biography Velimir Khlebnikov. Let's find out why the Russian figure deserved such close attention and recognition from his admirers.
The beginning of the journey (childhood)
The biography of Velimir Khlebnikov contains a lot amazing facts, and one of them is his name. In fact, the poet’s name was Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov, but the figure often used the well-known pseudonym Velimir. The prose writer also wrote under the name “E. Luneva”.
The biography of Velimir Khlebnikov began in 1885 (November 9), when the future great poet born into a family of scientists. His father was an ornithologist, and his mother studied and taught history. Maloderbetovsky ulus is considered its homeland; now these lands are included in the territory of Kalmykia.
This is surprising, but the future prose writer and poet initially graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, but at the same time Velimir created short plays. So, as a 19-year-old student, he sent one of his works for publication to a publishing house that was supervised under the auspices of Maxim Gorky. However, the first attempt was unsuccessful. The creative biography of Velimir Khlebnikov did not end there, but, on the contrary, began to gain an unusual turn.
Student years
It is almost impossible to compile a short biography of Velimir Khlebnikov, because this is really outstanding man. He always seemed to want to succeed, but he always chose the wrong path. So, in 1904, the figure continued his studies at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, and four years later he decided to become a philologist and historian rolled into one. However, he was unable to continue his studies and after three courses he resigned.
During his studies, Viktor Vladimirovich was interested in ornithology, like his father, Vladimir Alekseevich. In 1903, the figure was able to visit Dagestan, and two years later he would go to the Northern Urals. Perhaps regular expeditions and his father’s upbringing developed the poet’s passion for writing, because even before his first plays, he made many notes that touched not only on birds, but also on psychology, biology, philosophy, and ethics. We can say that the first publications in the biography of Velimir Khlebnikov were articles on ornithology.
Symbolism as the beginning of a creative path
If you tell a short biography of Velimir Khlebnikov, you will notice that the poet had a complex and difficult fate. As a 22-year-old guy, the future prose writer joined the circle of symbolists. Symbolism is a direction in art, where certain symbolism is often used, giving a certain mystery to literature or painting.
Viktor Vladimirovich was fond of paganism and Russian culture, which is why he often used descriptions or details in his works. The young activist managed to meet both Alexander Blok. We can say that the prose writer was inspired by symbolism as a special direction in art, which is why he created works that often mentioned fictitious pagan deities that never existed in the original.
Creativity plays a significant role in the biography of Velimir Khlebnikov, because the prose writer clearly mentions in his works Slavic mythology. This is evidenced by his works, such as “Appeal of the Slavic Students.” But if symbolism was not eradicated in the Russian Empire, then Pan-Slavism, which called on people to take military action in Time of Troubles, could be punishable in relation to the poet. This ideology, which affected the biography and work of Velimir Khlebnikov, called for the forced unification of all Slavs in Eastern Europe.
Love and craving for symbolism never left the Russian figure, only sometimes his interest switched to Eastern religion. Subsequently it played big role and after a number of popular works, such as "The Menagerie", Viktor Vladimirovich began to study Sanskrit ( ancient language India) and entered the faculty oriental languages.
Creative path
A striking event in the biography of Velimir Khlebnikov was a trip to Vyacheslav Ivanov’s apartment, where an event took place that literally made the figure’s pseudonym. At that time, Viktor Vladimirovich visited the famous “Tower” in St. Petersburg, where the poet V. Ivanov lived. In that historical place unique personalities gathered, such as Alexander Blok, Nikolai Gumilyov, Sergei Gorodetsky, Anna Akhmatova, Asya Turgeneva. It was in this apartment that all future poets and writers, circus performers and artists, musicians and scientists dubbed Victor with the pseudonym famous throughout Russia - Velimir.
It was communication with outstanding personalities that began to create an unusual creative biography poet Velimir Khlebnikov. In the "Tower" the activist met Mayakovsky and Burliuk, and subsequently, together with them, published a collection of poems, "The Fishing Tank of Judges." Unlike the poets, Viktor Vladimirovich could not get used to the idea that he was dubbed a futurist, so he created a new word - “Budetlyane”, which translated from the poet’s personal language meant “future”.
Another unusual fact in the short biography of Velimir Khlebnikov: the figure was seriously interested in creating new words, and some of them reached a new generation in the 21st century. For example, the word “airplane” belongs to Viktor Vladimirovich.
Hard times
Interesting fact from the biography of Velimir Khlebnikov: the Russian poet and prose writer was a real rebel, which affected his lifestyle. Even in its heyday creative career the man was forced to wander through cold rooms, eating cheap cereals and stale bread. He lived only on the money he received from his parents. Sometimes Khlebnikov gave history lessons or published his works in magazines, but this income was not even enough to somehow improve his life and live like everyone else. These difficult periods are often reflected in Viktor Vladimirovich’s poems and articles.
Despite this, judging by the short biography of Velimir Khlebnikov, we can say that the man was always true to his interests and did not succumb to the influence of others. For this he could thank his rebellion and desire to constantly develop and experiment. His life is partly reminiscent of the fate of the hero Jack London in the book “Martin Eden”, only Velimir’s desire was caused by the love of creating new words, of philosophical reflection, but not of a woman.
Unusual facts and events
Interesting facts from the biography and life of Velimir Khlebnikov will help the reader learn the character of the Russian figure and his way of life. For example, due to the fact that the poet often moved from one living space to another, many manuscripts were lost during the move. Despite the craving for creativity and love for recordings, Viktor Vladimirovich did not take care of his works, which is why it is still unknown how many poems and plays were actually created.
The leader’s friends spoke about absent-mindedness and carelessness, recalling one incident from his life: during another expedition, Velimir had to light a fire in the steppe on a cold night where there was not a single tree or bush. In order not to freeze, the writer calmly began to burn his works.
Other interesting facts:
- Viktor Vladimirovich was out of this world. If his craving for mysticism and myths could be understood, then how to explain the nicknames that the poet gave himself? He often called himself a Martian, and later, when he began to study Sanskrit, he called him a yogi.
- This is truly a unique person, of whom there are very few in Russia. The activist’s horizons are so broad that he included such disciplines as chemistry, biology and mathematics. At the same time, Khlebnikov became interested in the Japanese language, studied in detail the works of Plato and Spinoza, and tried to become a musician.
- If we talk briefly about the biography and work of Velimir Khlebnikov, then this man had an unburnable craving for adventure and travel. He was attracted to the Caucasus, Baku, and Northern Iran. The writer has laid a path across the Caspian steppes and Persia behind him.
Strange behavior of the figure
There is still controversy over mental health Khlebnikov. Some argued that the young prose writer was obsessed with his own interests, which justified his strange, eccentric behavior. Someone, on the contrary, said that this man was simply unique, which is why he managed to create truly masterpiece works.
The figure was described as follows: “He was impractical, but at the same time he was burning with creativity. He was ready to sacrifice the last pants for the sake of creating new job"And indeed, many noted that they were stunned sudden appearance the poet in burlap instead of pants, and sometimes in nothing at all underwear. He had practically no money for new clothes, so there were frayed holes in everything, and the fabric looked like it had been used to wash the floors. Some people were so surprised by this that, out of pity, they sewed things for the writer from old curtains. This was done by Rita Wright, who could not observe Khlebnikov’s difficult life.
Steel character
The biography of Velimir Khlebnikov (photos of the writer are presented in the article) shows that he had extraordinary thinking abilities, as well as a rebellious spirit and absolute indifference to any moral principles. This man was always self-absorbed and in constant thought. Sometimes he spoke in such a way that you had to come close to Velimir in order to hear at least something of his speech.
Despite all the oddities, Viktor Vladimirovich created such talented and eloquent lines that many experienced poets and prose writers could envy. Nobody knew what worried the Russian leader. Perhaps his failed work or inability to know the truth. Unfortunately, all creative path Velimira fell on Civil War, which led to even greater chaos in the state.
All his life, even despite poverty, the writer, ornithologist, philologist and historian in one person tried to create a new discipline that would combine mathematics with history, linguistics with poetry. At first glance, such a task is impossible to accomplish, but Velimir Khlebnikov believed in his dream, and therefore always tried to travel at the first opportunity, communicate with unique and interesting people, study the history of your state and make predictions for the future.
Farewell to the author
IN last years Viktor Vladimirovich traveled a lot throughout his life. He managed to visit both Persia and Baku. At the same time, the activist created manuscripts, preparing one of the major books in his life, “Boards of Fate.” Ultimately, it was supposed to be a philosophical treatise, or a book with the thoughts of the author. In just two years, Velimir released such famous poems, such as “Chairman of the Cheki” and “Night before the Soviets”, articles on the topic of radio and obituaries dedicated to Gumilyov and Blok.
At the end of 1921, the writer went to Moscow, and then went back to St. Petersburg. He did not live there for long and after six months, for unknown reasons, he moved to live in Santalovo (village). His friends noted that already during this period appearance The author has changed a lot: he has become haggard, thinner, and has become pale, like a shadow. When Velimir Khlebnikov reached the village, his condition was already unstable. Those around him thought that the figure was suffering from consumption, because he had no appetite at all, but had a constant strong cough. A few weeks later, my legs began to fail, and the doctor decided that the nerves of the lower extremities were affected.
Subsequently, Viktor Vladimirovich began psychical deviations, and the symptoms resembled classic dementia: memory gaps were filled with false memories, confusion and hallucinations began to arise. But what kind of dementia appears in young people who are barely 36 years old? The writer raged that all his friends wanted to steal his manuscripts of poems, thoughts and plays. No one in the village was able to provide full treatment, so over time, the activist’s limbs began to swell and bedsores began to appear. The author did not make it to the end of June and died on the 22nd in 1922.
Summing up
Those who were familiar with Velimir Khlebnikov claim that this is unusual person and there are very few of them in the world. He dreamed of his desire to write, which is why he created hundreds of poems, which he then burned. This was a man under whose pen masterpieces were born, although Velimir himself sometimes had no idea about it. An interesting fact, but the writer always kept his most valuable works in a pillow, because when moving, he always had to take it with him. However, Viktor Vladimirovich managed to lose his manuscripts.
His unusual behavior was studied by metropolitan and St. Petersburg psychiatrists, because it was believed that the Russian leader only deviated from military service in such an unusual way. It was repeatedly recognized that Khlebnikov was mentally ill and was subject to research, but was never subjected to serious treatment.
(1885—1922)
Velimir (Victor) Vladimirovich Khlebnikov was born in Astrakhan province, in the family of a naturalist scientist. Khleb-nikov First entered Kazan University, then from 1908 continued his studies at St. Petersburg University, but never completed the course.
Khlebnikov is one of the leading participants in the futurist movement in Russia. He signed all their manifestos, it was he who came up with and Russian name futurists - " there will be people" Futurists declared Khlebnikov “a genius - a great poet of our time.” Velimir Khlebnikov made his debut in print in 1908. Two years later he appeared on the pages of the first collection of futurists, “The Fishing Tank of Judges” (1910).
Khlebnikov's extraordinary personality attracted everyone's attention. Representing a strange figure in the literary world, he led a truly bohemian, unsettled, semi-vagrant life. Friends called him “the most honest knight of poetry.” According to Mayakovsky, his “lack of silver took on the character of real asceticism, martyrdom for a poetic idea.” He himself called himself a der-vish, a yogi, a Martian. Khlebnikov created selflessly, not paying attention to adversity, deprivation and unsettled personal life. Always immersed in fantastic conclusions (attempts to find numerical patterns of history, to create a “star” or “world” language - a hieroglyphic language of concepts, an “alphabet of the mind”), he rarely completed literary works and cared little about their safety, carrying papers in bags and pillowcases on his half-starved wanderings. His poems were usually prepared and submitted for publication by friends. However, in his lifestyle and creativity, the pose “ unrecognized genius", the soothsayer-mystic, component essential aspect aesthetics of avant-gardeism.
In their early works Khlebnikov asserted the pantheistic unity and equality of all living things on earth (poem “Menagerie” 1909). One of the persistent ideas in his work is the utopian desire to transform the world on the basis of harmonious relationships between people, animals and nature, which supposedly existed in the primitive era. The pagan world of the Slavs and Ancient Rus' is widely represented in Khlebnikov’s poems.
In April 1916, during the First World War, he was drafted into the army and served as a private in a reserve infantry regiment. The poem “War in a Mousetrap”, composed of poems written during the war, is dedicated to the anti-war theme. Khlebnikov traveled a lot, and was especially attracted to the Caucasus and the Caspian steppes. After October, in 1921, he spent several months in Northern Iran, where he arrived from Baku with units of the Red Army.
Among the futurists, Khlebnikov became one of the most daring experimenters in the field of word creation and ethical form. Mayakovsky called him “Columbus of new poetic continents.” In the eyes of many, he still remains “a poet for poets.” Endowed with a keen sense of nature, freshness of perception, and a special flair for words, Khlebnikov based his work on his own theories and wrote in a very original way, most often using free intonational verse with unexpected rhythmic and semantic shifts. Delving into the roots of words, into the initial sounds of the roots, he strove to comprehend the ancient meaning of sound and words, in order to thus penetrate into the memory of mankind. Studying nests of related words, he substantiated the possibility and necessity of the emergence of new words and created them himself. The words he invented (“smekhachi”, “smeevo” from the root sme, for example) are found in his poems next to archaisms; innovation is combined with a passionate attachment to ancient Russian subjects, to ancient syntax. The unevenness and “tatteredness” of his poems seem to contrast with the brilliantly expressive lines, with beautiful images and definitions.
A number of his works have serious social content, which fundamentally contradicted the Futurist manifestos (the poem “Crane”). During the years of war and revolution, Khlebnikov’s poems came noticeably closer to living social life (
Velimir (born Victor) Vladimirovich Khlebnikov (1885-1922) - Soviet and Russian poet, public figure, the founder of futurism. His work influenced many famous personalities, including Vladimir Mayakovsky. Like-minded people considered the poet a genius and innovator, but he had very few readers. Due to a total misunderstanding, Khlebnikov faced various difficulties; his biography is filled with pain and difficult experiences. Only long after his death were people able to appreciate the talent of Viktor Vladimirovich.
Childhood and education
The future poet was born on November 9 (October 28, old style) 1885 in the village of Malye Derbety in Kalmykia. At that time, his native village was part of the Astrakhan province of Russia. The Khlebnikovs were descendants of an old merchant family. Victor had two brothers and two sisters, one of whom later became an artist. Vera Khlebnikova was the closest person to the writer; until the end of his days he never managed to start a family.
From childhood, parents taught their offspring to art and science. Mother, Ekaterina Nikolaevna Verbitskaya, was from rich family, among the woman’s ancestors were Zaporozhye Cossacks. Ekaterina graduated Smolny Institute, she helped her five children get excellent education, instilled a love of literature and history. Already at the age of four, Velimir brilliantly read French and Russian and was engaged in drawing.
The father was an ornithologist, and the children often went to the steppe with him. There they admired the sky and clouds, listened to birdsong for hours, and took notes. Subsequently, Vladimir Alekseevich founded the first reserve on the territory of the USSR. The family moved often; in 1898 they went to Kazan with their children. There, Velimir studies at the gymnasium, experiencing special awe while studying mathematics and biology. Already in the last grades he begins to compose poems.
In 1903, Victor became a student at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Kazan University. A year later, he decided to transfer to the natural sciences department, so he submitted his resignation. In 1908, the young man entered the natural sciences department of St. Petersburg University. Shortly after this, it was translated into historical and philological. In 1911, Khlebnikov was expelled due to the fact that he could not pay for his studies.
In 1903, the futurist went on an expedition to Dagestan; two years later he repeated this experience in the Northern Urals. In 1906, the student was accepted into the Society of Naturalists, but shortly after that he finally stopped paying attention to ornithology.
First poems
Since childhood, the poet began to keep fenitological and ornithological records during hikes with his father. In his notebooks, biology and psychology were intricately combined with reflections on philosophy and ethics, and even sketches of an autobiography. At student age, the young man publishes several scientific articles. Since the age of 11 he has been writing short poems.
Several times in 1904, Victor sent his poems and stories to A.M. Gorky in the hope of being published in his publishing house. However, the writer never received an answer. WITH youth Until 1906, he wrote the autobiographical story “Enya Voeikov,” which remained unfinished.
In 1908, the young man met Vyacheslav Ivanov, a Crimean poet. For some time they communicate, the futurist even enters the circle of the Academy of Poetry, but then the paths of the writers diverge. At this time, he also crossed paths with Gumilev and Kuzmin, the latter the poet calls his teacher.
It was after meeting Ivanov that the poet first published his poem in the magazine “Spring”, signing Velimir. The debut was a work called “The Temptation of a Sinner.” Readers were not too enthusiastic about his work; fame came to Victor a little later. In 1909, he published the poems "Bobeobi", "The Spell of Laughter" and "The Menagerie", which were highly appreciated by the magazine's subscribers.
Adjacent to the “Budetlyans”
In 1910, the poet became a member of the Gileya group together with Vasily Kamensky and David Burliuk. Later, Vladimir Mayakovsky and Benedikt Livshits joined this association. Despite close contacts with symbolists, acmeists and artists, Velimir even then began to adhere to his own style.
In 1910, the futuristic collection “The Fishing Tank of Judges” was published, which included some of Khlebnikov’s works. At the same time, his books “Roar!”, “Creations 1906-1908” and others were published. In 1912, the collection “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” was published; most of the poems in it were written by the poet. On last pages the poet inserted a table with the dates of the falls of great states. He added the phrase “Someone 1917” to the calculations. Later, similar information was published in the book “Teacher and Student.”
Since 1915, the poet has been developing the theory of the Government of the Globe, consisting of 317 chairmen. He dreamed of peace on the planet, an equal and healthy society where everyone respects each other. At this time, all organizations to which Velimir was related collapsed. Mayakovsky claims that futurism is “dead as a special group.”
Modern scientists attribute his work to cubo-futurism, while Khlebnikov called himself a “Budetlyanin”. The writer took the language extremely seriously, protecting it from foreign borrowings. Instead, he came up with many new words, but they did not take root.
Futurist worldview
Khlebnikov was always on the side of justice, so he often had conflicts with the authorities. While still studying at the university, the young man participated in a student demonstration, after which he spent a month in prison. According to some sources, this was precisely the reason for his expulsion from the Faculty of Mathematics in November 1903.
Unlike many futurists, Velimir was never arrogant and daring. On the contrary, he behaved extremely absentmindedly and did not take care of his writings. Sometimes he even used them for heating while spending the night in the steppe. The young man rebelled against bourgeois life, devoted all his time to science and creativity, because of this he lived extremely poorly. Most often, the poet wandered around the apartments of friends in different cities and countries, sometimes he rented small rooms.
Victor attracted the people around him due to his unusual personality. He remained true to his principles and views, despite pressure from outside. The poet had a lot various hobbies and interests. He studied the Japanese language, the philosophy of Plato and Spinoza, and studied crystallography and painting. The poet also tried himself in music, and he devoted a lot of time to science.
Khlebnikov set ambitious goals for himself that no one else could achieve. Some of them were on the border between reality and fantasy, but the futurist believed in everything he did. He wanted to get to know his country by scientific analysis, studied the language for a long time and zealously, and was interested in history. The writer did all this for the sake of the future, he was sure that with a certain level knowledge can predict many events.
After the Battle of Tsushima, which took place during the Russo-Japanese War, Victor began to search for the “law of time.” He hoped that this would help justify all the historical deaths. Subsequently, Khlebnikov was able to accurately predict the date of the October Revolution, and he also foresaw the First world war.
War and disease
In April 1916, the poet was drafted into the army, until May 1917 he remained in the reserve regiment in Tsaritsyn. These years became the most difficult for Khlebnikov; he wrote a huge number of letters to his acquaintances. According to him, during these months Velimir went through “the whole hell of transformation into a mindless animal.” He wrote many anti-war poems, later published in the collection War in the Mousetrap.
In 1917, psychiatrist N. Kulbin helps the poet return from mobilization. He appoints him a commission, first in Tsaritsyn, then in Kazan, subsequently the man hides in Ukraine, on the territory of Kharkov psychiatric hospital. Even before this, he tries to be in the thick of the events of the October Revolution, so he changes his place of residence several times. He supported the people, hoping that the revolution could change everything for the better.
In 1921, the poet went to Pyatigorsk, where he worked as a night watchman in Terskaya ROSTA. After this, he returns to Moscow for a short time, finishing unfinished poems there. In December 1921, the writer’s “super-story” entitled “Zangezi” was published. Also during this period, he released the works “Night Search”, “Hot Field”, “Slave Coast” and “Chairman of the Checks”.
In May 1922, Khlebnikov and the artist P. Miturich went to the village of Santalovo, Novgorod province, where he fell ill. Velimir died on June 28, 1922 in the remote village of Santalovo from malnutrition and paralysis of his legs. In 1960, the poet’s ashes were transported to Moscow. He is buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, the inscription on the tombstone reads “Chairman of the Globe.”
Velimir (real name Viktor Vladimirovich) Khlebnikov was born on November 9 (October 28, old style) 1885 at the headquarters of the Maloderbetovsky ulus of the Astrakhan province of Russia (now the village of Malye Derbety, Kalmykia) in the family of an ornithologist and forester, later the founder of the first nature reserve in the USSR. WITH early childhood Khlebnikov accompanied his father on trips and kept phenological and ornithological records.
In 1903, Khlebnikov entered the mathematics department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kazan University. In 1904, after submitting his resignation, he entered the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.
In 1903, Khlebnikov was on an expedition in Dagestan, in 1905 - in the Northern Urals.
In 1908 he entered St. Petersburg University - first at the Faculty of Science, then at the Faculty of History and Philology, but left his studies in 1911.
His first creative experiences included not only poetry, which he composed from the age of 11, but also “snapshots” - recordings of phenological and ornithological observations, interspersed with reflections on topics of biology, psychology, philosophy, ethics and sketches of autobiographical prose (“Enya Voeikov”). As a student, Khlebnikov published several articles on ornithology.
In 1908, in Crimea, he met the symbolist poet Vyacheslav Ivanov and entered the circle of his Academy of Poems, but their paths quickly diverged.
Khlebnikov's literary debut was the publication in 1908 of the poem "The Temptation of a Sinner" in the magazine "Spring".
Khlebnikov's fame as an innovator began with the poems "The Menagerie", "The Spell of Laughter", "Bobeobi" (1908-1909). In 1910, he joined the Gileya group, which included the poets Vasily Kamensky, David Burliuk, and later included Vladimir Mayakovsky and Benedikt Livshits.
Soon Khlebnikov became the main theoretician of futurism, which he called “Budetlyanism.” His poems were included in the futuristic collection "The Fishing Tank of Judges" (1910), which announced a new literary movement. In the same year, the poet’s books “Roar!”, “Creations 1906-1908” and others were published.
In 1912, the subsequently famous collection of futurists “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste” was published, half consisting of poems by Velimir Khlebnikov. The rhythmic and sound structure of these poems, as well as the plays “Marquis Dezes” (1909-1911) and the poem “Crane” (1909) written by that time, were aimed at colloquial speech. In “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste,” a table compiled by Khlebnikov, “A Look at 1917,” was published, in which he, according to his calculations of the laws of time, predicted the “fall of the state.”
In 1912, Velimir Khlebnikov’s book “Teacher and Student” was also published, where he outlined the foundations of “budetlyanism” as a new art. His poetic-linguistic research formed the basis of the “abstruse language”, developed by him together with the poet Alexei Kruchenykh and embodied in their common poem “The Game in Hell” (1912) and in general collection"The Word as Such" (1913).
Since 1915, Velimir Khlebnikov has been developing the utopian idea of a Government of the Globe consisting of 317 chairmen capable of establishing a fair world order.
During the First World War, the poet was drafted into the army and from April 1916 to May 1917 was in a reserve regiment in Tsaritsyn. During this time, he wrote several poems that were later included in the poem "War in the Mousetrap", published in the late 1920s.
In the spring of 1917, the “Appeal of the Chairmen” was published in a small edition in Kharkov Globe" and the poem "Freedom comes naked..." - responses to the February Revolution of 1917.
Velimir Khlebnikov met the October Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd, describing what he saw in the poem “Night Search” (1921). In 1918, he was in Astrakhan and later embodied his impressions in the poem “The Night Before the Soviets” (1921). In 1919-1920, in Kharkov, Ukraine, Khlebnikov witnessed the defeat of Denikin’s army, which he described in the poems “Night in the Trench” (1920), “The Stone Woman” (1919), and in the story “The Raspberry Checker” (1921). The understanding of the revolution as a universal phenomenon occurs in the poem “Ladomir” (1920), published in Kharkov.
In April 1921, with units of the Red Army, Khlebnikov went to Persia (Iran), during the trip he wrote the poems “Iranian Song”, “Night in Persia”, the poem “The Trumpet of Gul-Mulla” - a kind of diary of his wanderings.
The poem “A Stream with Cold Water...” is dedicated to farewell to Transcaucasia.
Khlebnikov spent October 1921 in Zheleznovodsk, and part of November and December in Pyatigorsk. He worked in various newspapers, in the Baku and Pyatigorsk branches of ROSTA, in the Political Education of the Volga-Caspian Fleet. During this period, the poems “Night Search”, “Chairman of the Cheka”, “Night before the Soviets”, “The Present”, “Hot Field” (“Laundress”), “Slave Coast” were completed.
In December 1921, Velimir Khlebnikov returned to Moscow. In 1922, he completed a “super-story” called “Zangezi”.
In the spring of 1922, being seriously ill, Khlebnikov went to the Novgorod province together with the artist Pyotr Miturich.
Velimir Khlebnikov died in the village of Santalovo, Novgorod province. He was buried in the graveyard of the village of Ruchi, Krestetsky district, Novgorod province. The poet's remains were transferred to Moscow to the Novodevichy cemetery.
The work of Velimir Khlebnikov had a great influence on the poets Vladimir Mayakovsky, Osip Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva, Boris Pasternak, Nikolai Zabolotsky.
The poet’s sister, artist Vera Khlebnikova (1891-1941), after her brother’s death in 1922, wrote her memoirs and illustrated his works in the 1920s. In 1924, she married the artist and teacher Petr Miturich (1887-1956), a witness to the death of Velimir Khlebnikov. Miturich's drawings "Sick Velimir Khlebnikov" and "Velimir Khlebnikov on his deathbed" (1922) became famous.
On June 28, 1986, on the day of memory of the poet, the first Velimir Khlebnikov museum was opened in the village of Ruchi, Novgorod region. Since 1986, Khlebnikov readings have been held in the village of Ruchi.
On October 19, 1993, the Velimir Khlebnikov House Museum was opened in Astrakhan, in the former apartment of the poet’s parents.
In 2010, the All-Russian literary prize"Listen!" named after Velimir Khlebnikov, which is awarded annually on the poet’s birthday on November 9.
In Kalmykia, near the village of Tundutovo, a monument to Velimir Khlebnikov by sculptor Stepan Botiev was erected.
At the poet’s burial site in the village of Ruchyi, Novgorod region, a monument to Khlebnikov was erected by the famous Moscow sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Velimir Khlebnikov (in a number of lifetime publications - Velemіr, Velemir, Velimir; real name Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov). Born October 28 (November 9), 1885 - died June 28, 1922. Russian poet and prose writer, one of the largest figures of the Russian avant-garde. He was one of the founders of Russian futurism, a reformer poetic language, experimenter in the field of word creation and nerds, “chairman of the globe.”
Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov was born on October 28 (November 9), 1885 in the main headquarters of the Maloderbetovsky ulus of the Astrakhan province (now the village of Malye Derbety, Kalmykia).
Father - Vladimir Alekseevich Khlebnikov - natural scientist and ornithologist, mother - Ekaterina Nikolaevna Khlebnikova (nee Verbitskaya), a historian by training. Victor was the third child in the family (later his parents had two more children, one of whom was the artist Vera Khlebnikova).
Khlebnikov wrote about his birthplace: "Born... in the camp of the Mongolian Buddha-professing nomads... in the steppe - the dry bottom of the disappearing Caspian Sea".
On his father's side, the poet came from an old merchant family - his great-grandfather Ivan Matveevich Khlebnikov was a merchant of the first guild and a hereditary honorary citizen Astrakhan. He also has Armenian roots (Alabovs).
The Khlebnikov family, in the service of Vladimir Alekseevich, had to often move from place to place: in 1891, the father of the family was transferred to the Volyn province, in 1895 - to Simbirsk. Here, in Simbirsk, Victor begins his studies at the gymnasium.
In 1898, the family moved to Kazan, where Victor entered the 3rd Kazan gymnasium. Five years later he graduated from the gymnasium, and in the fall of 1903 he entered the mathematics department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kazan University. In November of the same year, after participating in a student demonstration, he was arrested and spent a month in prison.
In February 1904, Victor submitted a request for dismissal from among the university students. In the summer of the same year, he applied for admission to the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kazan University, where he continued his studies.
The first known literary experiments Khlebnikov, he is even trying to publish the play "Elena Gordyachkina", sending it to the publishing house “Knowledge”, but to no avail.
In 1904-1907, Khlebnikov was engaged in ornithological research, participated in expeditions to Dagestan and the Northern Urals, and published several articles on ornithology. At the same time, Khlebnikov tried to independently begin studying Japanese language, thinking to find in it special forms expressiveness, and became interested in the work of Russian symbolists, especially Fyodor Sologub.
Russo-Japanese War and what happened during it Battle of Tsushima had a great influence on Khlebnikov and prompted him to begin searching for the “fundamental law of time”, to try to find an excuse for deaths. Khlebnikov subsequently wrote: "We have rushed into the future since 1905".
Admitted in December 1906 to the Society of Naturalists of Kazan University as a member-employee and who published an article about the discovery of a new species of cuckoo during one of the expeditions, after 1906 Khlebnikov practically stopped paying attention to both ornithology and studies at the university, concentrating on literature . Around this time he wrote a large-scale prose work "Enya Voeikov", which remained unfinished, but appeared important stage creative development of Khlebnikov.
In addition, during this period he wrote a large number of poems. The “word-creative” period began in Khlebnikov’s work.
In March 1908, Khlebnikov decided to send his poems to the symbolist poet Vyacheslav Ivanov, whose article “On cheerful craft and smart fun,” published in 1907 in the magazine “Golden Fleece,” made a great impression on him. In the spring of 1908, a personal acquaintance took place in Sudak. Khlebnikov, who came under the influence of Ivanov, wrote about a hundred poems and a play during this period "The Mystery of the Distant", full of allusions to ancient mythology. The influence of symbolism can be seen in these works.
In September 1908, Khlebnikov was enrolled in the third year of the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University and moved to St. Petersburg. The main reason moving there was a desire to seriously engage in literature.
In St. Petersburg, Khlebnikov became close to a circle of young poets and began, in his opinion, in my own words, lead a bohemian life. During this period, Khlebnikov met the symbolists Alexei Remizov and Sergei Gorodetsky and attended poetry evenings. His fascination with pagan Russia and the folk Russian language contributed to a special rapprochement with Remizov.
Applies to this time Khlebnikov's short-term fascination with the idea of militant Pan-Slavism. On October 16 (29), 1908, an anonymous letter was published in the St. Petersburg newspaper “Evening” "Appeal of the Slavic Students", written by Khlebnikov. "Appeal..." called for armed struggle for freedom Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. Its appearance was associated with Bosnian crisis; however, already at the end of November of the same year, Khlebnikov deviated from the principles stated in the “Appeal.”
In September 1908, Khlebnikov met Vasily Kamensky, deputy editor-in-chief of the Vesna magazine, and the next month Klebnikov made his debut in print: a prose poem filled with neologisms appeared in the October issue of Vesna "Temptation of the Sinner".
Most 1909 (until August, from a short break in May) the poet spent in Svyatoshin, a suburb of Kyiv, where his relatives lived - the family of Varvara Nikolaevna Ryabchevskaya (Verbitskaya). Khlebnikov established close relationships with them, and he was in love with Maria Ryabchevskaya, the daughter of Varvara Nikolaevna, for some time and dedicated several poems to her.
In April 1909, the “Academy of Verse” began work on the “tower” of Vyacheslav Ivanov. “Tower” was the name given to Ivanov’s apartment, located on the top floor of building 25 on Tavricheskaya Street, with a round corner room. Khlebnikov also visited her at the end of May 1909 and after returning from Svyatoshin.
In September, Khlebnikov submitted a request to be transferred to the Faculty of Oriental Languages in the category of Sanskrit Literature, but, having changed his mind, changed his choice to the Faculty of History and Philology of the Slavic-Russian Department.
In the spring of 1916, Khlebnikov left for Astrakhan and from there on April 8 he was mobilized for military service, in the 93rd reserve infantry regiment, located in Tsaritsyn. Military service was given to Khlebnikov with great difficulty, as evidenced by his letters to family and friends. During this time he wrote a large number of anti-war poems, which later formed the poem "War in a Mousetrap".
A month after the start of his service, Khlebnikov wrote to his longtime acquaintance N.I. Kulbin, who was a military psychiatrist during the First World War, a letter asking for help. He immediately began to act and stated that Khlebnikov had a “mental state that is in no way recognized by doctors as normal,” after which the poet was appointed a commission, first in Tsaritsyn, then in Kazan; then Kulbin ensured that in August Khlebnikov was sent to another commission in Astrakhan. The poet managed to get a month's leave, and at the end of August he paid a visit to Nikolai Aseev in Kharkov.
Psychiatric commissions continued until the end of the year. Khlebnikov alternately lived in the hospital and in the barracks in Astrakhan and Tsaritsyn. In December he was transferred to Saratov, and in the early spring of 1917, Khlebnikov was granted a five-month leave. He immediately left for Kharkov, and after that he never returned to the army.
Events February Revolution prompted Khlebnikov to go to their center in May, that is, to Petrograd, where he immediately became involved in public and literary life: he participated in the literary curia of the Union of Artists, took part in the Arts Festival on May 25, wrote and published several poems, including those welcoming revolution:
Freedom comes naked
Throwing flowers on your heart,
And we, walking in step with her,
We talk to the sky on a personal basis.
We warriors will strike hard
Hand on harsh shields:
Let the people be sovereign
Always, forever, here and there!
Let the maidens sing at the window,
Between songs about the ancient campaign,
About the loyal subject of the Sun -
Autocratic people.
At this time, Khlebnikov was still fascinated by the idea of the Society of Chairmen of the Globe. He invited several of his new acquaintances there, for example, composer Arthur Lurie.
In the summer, Klebnikov traveled around Russia, visiting Kyiv, Kharkov, Taganrog, Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan, and in early October he returned to Petrograd, where he settled with Dmitry Petrovsky. By that time, his leave from the army had already ended, and the poet had to hide from the commandant’s office.
October 23 (November 5), 1917 was written "Letter to the Mariinsky Palace" on behalf of the “Chairmen of the Globe”: “The Government of the Globe decided: to consider the Provisional Government temporarily non-existent.” Two days later it happened October Revolution; Khlebnikov soon left to observe the development of events in Moscow, and then to Astrakhan.
In 1918, Khlebnikov again traveled around Russia without any particular purpose. In the spring, the poet left for Moscow again. There he lived in the apartment of the doctor A.P. Davydov, which was often visited by representatives of bohemia. Khlebnikov then went to Nizhny Novgorod, where he stayed for quite a short time, but managed to publish several of his works in the almanac “Without Muses,” published by Ivan Rukavishnikov. In August he again found himself in Astrakhan, visiting Kazan along the way.
Despite the fact that the situation in Astrakhan at that time was unstable, Khlebnikov’s life in those five months that he spent with his parents was quite stable, and the poet had, for an unusually long time, permanent job- collaborated in the newspaper “Red Warrior”, the organ of the Astrakhan Military Council. Together with Rurik Ivnev, Khlebnikov at this time participated in literary life Astrakhan and planned to publish a multilingual literary collection in Russian, Kalmyk, Persian and other languages.
Only at the beginning of 1919 did Khlebnikov leave Astrakhan. The poet headed to Moscow, where his book was to be published, which was in the plan proposed by Mayakovsky to the IMO publishing house. The plan was approved by A.V. Lunacharsky, but the collection never appeared, largely due to the fact that Khlebnikov, who had already written the introductory article for this publication, unexpectedly left for Kharkov in the spring. Matters related to the publication of Khlebnikov’s poems in Moscow were mainly handled by Mayakovsky.
Khlebnikov spent the end of summer and autumn of 1919 in a psychiatric hospital known in Kharkov as Saburova Dacha. There the poet escaped conscription into Denikin's army, which occupied the city in June. This period became extremely fruitful for Khlebnikov: he wrote a large number short poems, poems “Forest Melancholy”, “Poet”, etc. After the poet was diagnosed with a condition that allowed him to avoid conscription, Khlebnikov remained in Kharkov, where he soon wrote a utopian poem "Ladomir", one of his most significant works.
Around the same time, at the beginning of 1920, the poem appeared "Razin" with the subtitle “spell of double flow of speech, biconvex speech.”
In the spring of 1920, Imagist poets and Anatoly Mariengof found themselves in Kharkov, with whom Khlebnikov quickly made acquaintance. On Yesenin’s initiative, a public ceremony of “coronation” of Khlebnikov as Chairman of the Globe was held at the Kharkov City Theater. S. Yesenin, A. Mariengof and B. Glubokovsky took part in the ceremony. Soon he published three poems in the collection of imagists “Tavern of Dawns”, published in Kharkov. A year later, Yesenin published in Moscow a separate edition of Khlebnikov’s poem “Night in the Trench,” a major poetic work on the topic of the Civil War.
On August 15, 1920, Khlebnikov performed a reading of poetry on the stage of the Rostov “Basement of Poets.”
In the fall of 1920, Khlebnikov found himself in Baku, where, on the initiative of the Comintern, the First Congress of the Peoples of the East was held (Asia had always interested the poet). After him, the poet decided not to return to Kharkov, but to make his way even further to the east, to Persia. Soon his plan was realized, but before that Khlebnikov managed to go to Rostov-on-Don, where the local theatre studio carried out the production of his play “The Mistake of Death” (where the role of one of Death’s guests was played by Evgeniy Schwartz, a famous playwright in the future), Armavir, as well as in Dagestan, and after that spent several more months in Baku.
In April 1920, an anti-government uprising broke out in northern Iran. On June 5 of the same year, the creation of the Persian Soviet Republic was announced in the province of Gilan.
At the beginning of 1921 Soviet Russia, which supported the rebels, formed the Persian Red Army (Persarmia) in Baku, which was sent to Persia. Khlebnikov was assigned to the army as a lecturer and on April 13, 1921 he went to Anzeli. There Khlebnikov spent some time with the artist Mecheslav Dobrokovsky and made acquaintance with several dervishes, and also became famous among local residents as "Russian dervish".
From Anzeli, the Persarmiya moved to Rasht, and from there (in early July) to Shahsevar, towards Tehran. There Khlebnikov got a job with the local khan as a teacher of his children. He only had the chance to work there for a month - due to the betrayal of one of the commanders-in-chief of the revolutionary troops, the attack on Tehran was suspended, and Khlebnikov returned to Russia in August 1921.
The trip to Iran became very fruitful for Khlebnikov. During this period, he created a large cycle of poems, and also began a poem "The Trumpet of Gulmulla", dedicated to his impressions of Persia, which was completed at the end of 1921.
After returning from Persia, Khlebnikov traveled again, not stopping anywhere for more than a few months.
In December, Khlebnikov remembered his desire to go to Moscow and, unexpectedly for those around him, went to the capital. There he was met by old friends - Kruchenykh and Mayakovsky. They provided him with housing and contributed to Khlebnikov becoming a member of the official Union of Poets (this happened in January 1922), and also arranged several creative evenings at the bohemian cafe known as Domino's.
In the spring, the poet began to suffer from bouts of fever. He wanted to go to Astrakhan again, but for now it was impossible, and new friend and an admirer of Khlebnikov’s talent, the artist Pyotr Miturich (the future husband of Khlebnikov’s sister Vera) offered to spend two or three weeks in May in Santalovo, Krestetsky district, Novgorod province, where Miturich’s wife and two of his children lived. Soon after arriving there, Khlebnikov fell ill, stricken with paralysis.
Distance from major cities made qualified medical care impossible, and a doctor in the village of Kresttsy said that mortal danger no, and there’s no need to rush into a trip to Petrograd. After just two weeks, it was obvious that this was not the case - his legs finally became paralyzed, gangrene developed, and Khlebnikov was discharged from the hospital in Krestsy as a hopeless patient. Miturich transported the almost completely paralyzed poet to Santalovo.
Velimir Khlebnikov was buried in a graveyard in the village of Ruchi. In 1960, the poet’s remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
In the village of Ruchyi, Krestetsky district, Novgorod region, where Khlebnikov was buried in 1922, a museum of the poet was opened in 1986, and annual literary readings are held there.
Named after Khlebnikov minor planet 3112 Velimir, discovered by Soviet astronomer N. S. Chernykh in 1977.
The first serious publication is considered to be the 5-volume “Collected Works” edited by N. L. Stepanov (1928-1933), as well as the volume “Unpublished Works” supplementing this collection, edited by N. I. Khardzhiev (1940).
From 1941 to 1984, only one book by Khlebnikov was published in the USSR - a volume from the Small Series of the “Poet’s Library,” which was published in 1960 during the so-called. "thaw". However, texts by and about Khlebnikov continued to appear in scientific and literary periodicals, in almanacs, and also in samizdat. The number of publications grew steadily and on the occasion of the poet’s 100th anniversary, it was crowned with the publication of the volume “Creations” edited by V. P. Grigoriev and A. E. Parnis (1986).
In 2000-2006, a new 6-volume edition of “Collected Works” (in 7 books) by Khlebnikov was published (edited by E.R. Arenzon and R.V. Duganov).