KAMENSKY Vasily

(1884 - 1961)

Born April 6 (18 NS) on the ship on the Kama River, near Perm. My father was the caretaker at the Urals gold mines. Early lost his parents, was raised in a family's aunt, whose husband was towing the shipping company manager in Perm. Early years were "among the ships, barges, rafts ... stevedores, sailors, captains'.

In 1900, Kamensky drop out of school, forced to earn a living, working in the accounting clerk for the railroad.

Since 1904 began to write, publishing a note in the newspaper "Perm Krai". Meets with local Marxists, which have influenced the formation of his political views.

During these years, enjoys the theater, becoming an actor, traveling with the troupe in Russia. Returning to the Urals, has been active in underground work among the workers in the railway workshops, was chairman of the strike committee, for which he goes to prison. Freed, travels to Istanbul, then to Tehran; impressions of these cities later will be reflected in his work.

In 1907, Kamensky settled in St. Petersburg, begins to actively publish their poems, gaining fame in literary circles. At the same time engaged in painting, creating an impressionistic landscapes and exhibit them at trade shows. Meets with Vladimir Khlebnikov, D. and V. Burliuk, M. Matyushin and other poets, with whom in 1910 published "Zadok the judges" - a collection of "cubists-futurists". Publishes a lyrical novel "dug".

In 1911, interested in aviation, becoming a professional aviator, makes paid flights to various cities in Russia. After the accident and the treatment appears again in St. Petersburg, where, together with Mayakovsky and David Burliuk travels to different cities of Russia with lectures.

During the First World War, cooperated with various publications, appears in various collections, expands the range of literary and artistic singles (Remizov, Repin, Kuprin, Gorky, and others). The main work of this period - the novel "Stenka Razin (1916), revised in 1927 in a poem.

October Revolution met with enthusiasm. In 1920 written: the book "Summer at Kamenka", the story "27 adventures Horta Joyce and others. In 1930 - the poem "Yemelyan Pugachev", "Ivan Bolotnikov". Memoirs of the book - "The Way of an enthusiast," "Life with Mayakovsky". Died Nov. 11, 1961 in Moscow.