Grigorovich Dmitry Vasilyevich

Born March 19, 1822, Mr.. in Simbirsk, died Dec. 26, 1899
His father was a landlord, a retired hussar, a mother - a Frenchwoman, the daughter who died at the guillotine during the Terror Royalist de Varmona. Grigorovich early lost his father, staged a family in the Kashirskiy county province of Tula, and grew up in the hands of the mother and grandmother, who gave him a purely French education. 8 years, he was taken to Moscow, where he stayed for about 3 years in a French hostel Monigetti, and in the mid 30-ies enrolled at St. Petersburg Engineering College. His friends were here Dostoevsky, Totleben, Radetsky. For exact science, constitute the main subject of teaching, Grigorovich had not the slightest vocation. He was drawn to his art, and, besides drawing, to which he had talent, he was not much involved in school. The case helped him persuade his mother to allow him to leave school, so little of the entire cast of his abilities. Walking down the street again, he noticed a passing Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, and did not give him honor. This entailed a series of tragicomic consequences, very funny stories told in "Memoirs" Grigorovich. Scattered cadet was put on indefinite time in solitary confinement and only transferred the disease at some time in hospital. Alarmed by such rigor, his mother succumbed to Grigorovich after the insistence of his son, and he exchanged the engineering school at the Academy of Arts. But here Grigorovich remained very short time because of serious artistic talent he had no. Besides his strong beginning to attract Literature. Even as a "conductor" engineering school, he was about 1841 g. acquainted with Nekrasov, while emitted a different comic book: "First of April", "Physiology of Petersburg and others. They appeared first attempt at writing a young writer - "Piece canvases" and "organ-Petersburg". In addition, he translated various books for Plouchard, wrote short essays in the Literary Gazette and theatrical satires in Northern Bee ". In late 1846, Mr.. was published (in "Notes of the Fatherland") "Village", immediately gave Grigorovich literary name, but in 1847, Mr.. in the "Contemporary" - the famous "Anton Unfortunate. Was followed by a series of small stories of life in Petersburg - "The conductor Suslikov" (1848), . "The Adventures of Nakatova" (1849), . "Svistulkin", . "The School of Hospitality" and others; novels "country roads" (1852) and "Two general" (1864), . two novels of the people's life - "Fishermen" (1852) and "The Emigrants" (1855) and much more,
. In 1858 - 59 g. Grigorovich, on behalf of the Maritime Ministry, traveled around Europe and described it in a number of essays bearing the general title: "The ship Retvizan". In the early 60-ies literary activity Grigorovich has almost ceased, and he, as Secretary of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, gave himself entirely to Russian art spospeshestvovaniya. Thanks to his energy, . well organized with the Society drawing school, . which received initial art education, many hundreds of students, it is arranged through the efforts of a great art museum in society, . Workshops, . library and, . Finally, . granted the society a former mayor of a house in Bolshaya Morskaya,
. Over the long-standing works on society Grigorovich was granted rank of State Councilor and lifetime pensions. Since the mid 80-ies Grigorovich again takes up his pen and wrote the tale: "Gutaperchevy boy", "Acrobats of charity" and "Memoirs" (1893). In addition to individual works, Collected Works Grigorovich were izdavaemy in 1859, in 1872, in 1890. (H. G. Martynov, at 10 tons) in 1896. given as an annex to the "Cornfield" (12 volumes). Literary activity Grigorovich is amazingly vivid illustration of the almost spontaneous the effects of any major writer during the epoch of formation of his spiritual and moral substance. If we, . indeed, . turn to the "Memoirs" Grigorovich, . in which he is very detailed acquaints us with the spiritual life of the first half of its activity, . we shall not fail to see, . that would be hard to imagine a person less suitable to, . to become the father of Russian "peasant" fiction,
. Polufrantsuz not only by blood but also on education, Grigorovich in early youth so poorly mastered the Russian language, that even a long talk with a French accent. When twenty-three years old he began his first great novel "The Village", it was terribly difficult to cope with the very process of selection of suitable words and expressions. No less curious fact Grigorovich's biography is the fact that he, in fact, very few knew the village and the people. Adolescence and youth he spent in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and assaults in the village were very rare, and very short-lived. But the main thing - all over the warehouse of his tastes and inclinations Grigorovich very little fit for the role of the spokesman of the flame of care for the welfare of the people, which is characterized worldview Belinsky. From the same "Memories" can be seen that all his life he was a typical "aesthetics", a devotee of "pure beauty" and t. d. Reading it was limited exclusively to novels and stories, not fond of it, . like most of his literary peers, . nor Hegel, . or Fourier, . nor French movement, . prepared the 1848, . neither do whatever was theoretical issues,
. But such is the irresistible force of ideas that constitute the essence of the era, that they seemed to hover in the air and absorbed by the young soul almost instinctively. It was enough to Grigorovich come together with a circle of brothers Beketovyh (chemist and botanist), . which gathered a lot of good young, . to feel, . by his own words, . all "frivolity" of his former intelligence failure, . when its "social issues did not occupy",
. It hurt "backwardness", he was seized with an uncontrollable desire to write something serious - and he wrote one after another, "The Village" and "Anton Wretch". These two stories is determined by the position Grigorovich in the history of Russian literature. The value of the first of them - that are "natural school" for the first time sent their works to the image of the people in the narrow sense of the word. Before the literary youth contented excited sympathy for the petty bourgeoisie and the poor bureaucracy. Here it has not yet dropped. Grigorovich, the first devoted an entire story of the daily life of the common people of gray - not the, . speaker jokes but jokes are always the common, . which appears in the novels Dahl, . and not the "people", . which is in the "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" shrouded in a poetic haze of legend and superstitions, . and people throughout the ugliness of his everyday environment,
. The vitality with which the "Village" portrayed people's life, was so unusual for that time that the Slavophiles, who loved the people only in praise of its magnificence, saw in the story Grigorovich humiliation of the people. But if the "Village" is an outstanding value as a first attempt of the new Russian literature arouse interest in real people's life, . it is incomparably greater importance was "Anton Unfortunate, . where the interest came in the warmest affection and where there are so vividly depicted in the painful and powerless position of a serf,
. "After reading this touching story, - said Belinsky, - in the reader's head involuntarily crowded thoughts sad and important". A more or less definitely great critic could not speak, but in those days knew how to read between the lines, . and "important" thoughts of serfdom really crowded in my head every reader "Anton Unfortunate", . Although direct protest it does not and could not be the censorship,
. The author, however, finished the story that the exasperated farmers set fire to the house hated manager and himself thrown into the fire. But the enlightenment from the censors 40-ies, Nikitenko, rewrote the end and utterly incongruous with the overall temperament of the protagonist forced him to stick to a horse thief, and then repent of the world before heading to Siberia. Crumpled and unnatural end of the story in the least, however, did not weaken the general meaning of the story, which produced a deep impression. The historical significance of "Anton Unfortunate, in general, not less than" Notes of a Hunter ". Yielding to them in artistic merits and in the depth of people's psychology, "Anton Unfortunate clearly and directly depicts the horrors of serfdom. If you build 19-th February to its literary genesis, . then tears, . spilled over "Anton Unfortunate, . take it the same place of honor, . as a feeling of deep respect for the people, . the reader "Notes of a Hunter" led to the conviction, . that people deserve freedom,
. In the "Village" and "Anton Unfortunate Grigorovich immediately reached the climax of his work. Talent, . for their artistic merit, . minor, . Grigorovich created only because the two first-rate in historical significance Stuff, . that in them he was able to catch "the moment" and get beat, . according to his own heart, . hearts of, . that was in Russian society a good and honest,
. But as soon pass a "point", it cost the public consciousness to enter into a further phase of a progressive movement - and Grigorovich, have lost none of the basic properties of their talent, could not be in the forefront. All the other numerous works of Grigorovich of the people's life are written with no sympathy for the ailing people, but there was no need to bring this sympathy in the reader. Seeds sown by "Anton Unfortunate, they went up to full flower, and because" Fishers "," settlers ", etc.. already very few people worried. It added, however, that in a purely artistic point of lengthy Roma Grigorovich concede his first novels. True, the language they are still easy and natural, beautiful descriptions of nature are true, the plot is interesting, but in general, novels stretched and affected melodrama and the effects of artificial. Reproach in peyzanstve, t. e. that Russia's straightforward muzhiks assigned Grigorovich totally alien to them French-romantic qualities, to some extent unfair to his great popular novels. Idealization of them are really a lot. Outside the image of national life Grigorovich's works do not constitute a literary interest. His "St. Petersburg" story, . which usually appear fine dandies and people, . unsuccessful climbing in the know, . his strained-humorous essays and even a description of travel - all, . speaking florid expression Belinsky, . added nothing to the "totalitetu" fame Grigorovich,
. Some exception is only in the late story Grigorovich "Acrobats of charity", which surely captured the typical features of the St. Petersburg careerist Philanthropy. Literature on Grigorovich cm. by Vengerov, "Sources of the Dictionary of Russian Writers and Vladislavlev," Russian Writers ". S. Vengerov.