In the history of Russian literature there are “quiet” names, names of writers and poets of the second rank, who are sometimes overshadowed by noisy “pop poetry”, or by modernists with claims to genius. Time passes and puts everyone in their place. It turns out that in modernity there were, to put it in Yesenin’s language, a lot of “broken and deceitful gestures”, and behind the noise there was absolutely nothing worthwhile. But the power of true talent passes through decades and continues to be felt for a long time. Especially when the artist’s very talent comes from the earth, from the soil, from a deep awareness of his blood connection with the fate of the entire people. This was the case with our contemporary Nikolai Rubtsov, and also, even earlier, with Ivan Nikitin. We have been learning the last lines about winter since primary school…
Biography of Ivan Nikitin (1824 - 1861)
Voronezh... The land that gave the world and Russia two great sons - Alexei Koltsov and Ivan Nikitin. However, he served his exile here in the 30s. last century poet, who left an eloquent confession about this: “I am near Koltsov, Like a falcon, looped ...” We are talking about external lack of freedom. Only Koltsov and Nikitin were hardly free to the end. Both were oppressed by the need to engage in hated trading, because there were simply no other sources of income. Living in Russia for a writer on royalties from his works is a luxury that falls to a very select few.
Until the end of his short life, Nikitin remained the son of the time, the century and a representative of the merchant class. The last one is worth special mention. Not very much Soviet years They liked to advertise the fact that the first generation of Russian merchants came out of the Old Believers. And there were large families, loyalty to traditions, a love of work from a young age. And the first Russian merchants did not consider it shameful for themselves to plow, sow, mow, and drink vodka with the common people, for they always remembered from what lows they themselves had risen. Subsequently, the merchants turned into bourgeois, and ties with the past weakened.
The father of the future poet was a candle merchant who went bankrupt due to a tendency to drink and a violent temper. Nikitin did not receive a systematic education; he was forced to leave his studies at the seminary and become the owner of an inn, which brought a small but constant source of income. Nikitin tried to make up for the shortcomings of his education by intensive self-education, in which he succeeded a lot. Towards the end of his life, with a loan received from local philanthropist Kokorev, Nikitin was able to open a bookstore with a reading room. They quickly became the cultural center of the province.
Looking at Nikitin’s photograph and knowing that he passed away at the classic, fatal age for a Russian (and not only) poet - 37 years old, it is difficult to get rid of the thought that he looks much older than his years. Not only his beard aged him, but also the hardships he endured in childhood, the need to fight for every piece of bread. In those days, people generally grew up and aged, apparently much faster than now... Consumption (aka tuberculosis) was considered an incurable disease. She brought Nikitin to the grave. He is buried next to Koltsov, which has deep truth and symbolism. However, more on this below.
Works of Ivan Nikitin
Nikitin's early poems inevitably had an imitative character and are now of interest only to literary historians. In search of his voice, he turned to folklore and the experience of his predecessors. And among them was not only fellow countryman Alexey Koltsov. A.I. Neledinsky-Meletsky and A.F. Merzlyakov, then a lyceum friend Anton Delvig tried to root the genre of “Russian song” in Russian literature. So Koltsov already had whose experience to take into account. Not all of the poems that had the title “Russian Song” actually became songs and went to the people. The latter has a sensitive ear, it immediately and unmistakably picks up the slightest falsehood, deviation from authenticity, artlessness of folk versification.
During his lifetime, Nikitin managed to publish two collections of poetry. They evoked the most contradictory responses, which, however, is natural - there were those who accepted the poet’s work, and those who treated him as imitative and even weak. As noted above, Nikitin enters the reader’s consciousness primarily as a singer of his native nature and, secondly, as a writer of everyday life of the difficult peasant lot, hopeless poverty and exhausting labor.
Nature, as Nikitin perceives it, is an inexhaustible source of poetic inspiration, the very force that is capable of healing mental and even physical wounds, reconciling with deep social imperfection and stratification. Undoubtedly, the character of Nikitin's poetry was influenced by his own character. Unlike the much more emotional Koltsov, Nikitin was, to use the expression of the philosopher I. Kant, “a thing in itself.” Stingy means of expression, a minimum of metaphors and other verbal “decorations”, external simplicity and even artlessness. But they are the ones that have the most impact! For behind this external restraint it is not difficult to discern a passionate, rebellious, seeking, restless nature.
Few poets can compare with Nikitin in some physiological accuracy of descriptions, in the naturalism of sensations, as, for example, in the textbook lines of the poem “The stars fade and go out. There are clouds on fire...” And what a truly cosmic, universal scope there is in Nikitin’s first original poem “Rus”, where there is a “tent of blue skies”, and “the distance of the steppes”, and “chains of mountains”. Nikitin invariably moved toward awareness and comprehension of Russia through Voronezh, his “small Motherland,” whose borders he left only once, for a trip to the capital.
- When at Soviet power The Mitrofanyevskoe cemetery in Voronezh was razed and liquidated; only the burials of Koltsov and Nikitin were preserved - a kind of provincial “Literary Bridges”.
- Many songs have been written based on Nikitin’s poems, bearing the name of the author. To this day they are perceived as Russian folk - the author managed to penetrate so much into the folk spirit. The most famous thing of this kind is “A rogue merchant was driving from the fair...”
Ivan Savvich Nikitin was born on September 21 (October 3), 1824 in Voronezh, into the family of a wealthy tradesman. His father sold candles.
The future writer learned to read and write early. This was facilitated by a close acquaintance with a shoemaker living next door.
When Ivan turned 8 years old, he was sent to a religious school. After graduating, he entered the seminary. But my studies there had to be interrupted. The reason was the rapid ruin of the father, who quickly became addicted to the “green serpent,” as well as the death of the mother.
All worries about the family fell on the shoulders of the young man. Nikitin entered service in a candle shop. Later it was sold for debts. An inn was purchased with the proceeds.
Creative path
Nikitin was not delighted with the “officialdom” that prevailed at the Voronezh seminary where he studied. Memoirs of the difficult years of study were published in 1861 in the form of a diary.
Nikitin's first poems appeared in 1849. Many of them were imitative in nature.
In 1851 the poem “Rus” was written. It was published 2 years later, in the newspaper “Voronezh Provincial Gazette”.
A little later it was republished in the newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti. Critics appreciated the patriotic pathos of the young poet and began to call him “the new A. Koltsov.”
Later, Nikitin’s poems began to be published in Otechestvennye zapiski, as well as in the magazine Moskvatyanin.
After the first publications, Nikitin became a member of the local club, which included the entire Voronezh intelligentsia. The “heart” of the club was N.I. Vtorov. He soon became Nikitin's close friend. Second good friend M. F. De Poulet became a poet. He became the editor of almost all of his works.
The very first collection was published in 1856. It contained poems on a variety of topics. The poet mainly addressed social problems and religion. Critics gave this collection mixed reviews.
In 1859, Nikitin's second collection of poems was published. In 1861, his “Diary of a Seminarian” was published. The work was published in the newspaper “Voronezhskaya Beseda”.
Nikitin also wrote such poems for children as: “In a dark thicket the nightingale fell silent,” “The evening is clear and quiet,” “Living speech, living sounds.” They are now taught in 3rd grade. Having felt close to nature since childhood, Nikitin became a real singer of his native land.
Features of creativity
A significant place in the poet’s work is devoted to people’s troubles and suffering. The life of a peasant is wonderfully described in such poems as: “Street Meeting”, “Beggar”, “Mother and Daughter”, “Plowman”, “Coachman’s Wife”.
Nikitin warmly sympathized with the Russian people and sincerely wished for an improvement in their unenviable situation. At the same time, the poet did not idealize the peasantry. The Russian peasant is often presented in his works as a rude, brutalized domestic despot. According to some fellow writers, Nikitin was not a truly folk poet. His worldview was that of a city man who observed the life of the peasantry from the outside. For this reason, according to critics, his work lacks true depth.
Influence on Russian musical culture
Studying the short biography of Ivan Savich Nikitin, you should know that composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov and E.F. Napravnik paid attention to his work. More than sixty romances and songs were written based on the poet's words. Many pieces of music have become widely popular among the people.
In 2009, composer A. Sharafutdinov wrote the song album “Joy and Sorrow” based on the poet’s words.
Illness and death
Ivan Savvich's health has always been weak. He was often sick. IN last years throughout his life he suffered from consumption. The poet passed away on October 16, 1861, in Voronezh. Ivan Nikitin rests in the local cemetery, not far from the grave of the poet A. Koltsov. This place is now called a literary necropolis.
Other biography options
- In the summer of 1855, weak and sickly Ivan Nikitin caught a severe cold after swimming in the river. The disease was very difficult, with complications. Poet for a long time couldn't get out of bed. Several times he thought he was dying. But, in his own words, faith came to his aid. After this, Nikitin began to create in a slightly different vein. Religious and mystical notes began to appear more and more often in his poems.
- According to some reports, the poet suffered from drug addiction. He used salojuanna, a substance known only to a very small circle.
- In 1911, a monument to I. Nikitin was erected in Voronezh. Its author was the sculptor I. A. Shuklin. In the house where the poet lived, his house-museum now functions. In the period from 1949 to 1974. postage stamps with the poet's image were issued.
The work of Ivan Nikitin arouses sincere interest among admirers of real deep poetry.
Nikitin Ivan Savvich is a poet-nugget who loved nature since childhood and sang its beauty. The works of Ivan Savvich went through a large number of editions and were distributed throughout a huge number copies.
The original poet vividly describes the spirit of that distant time. In poetic creativity, the poet strives to comprehend his existence, expresses a feeling of dissatisfaction with his own existence and suffers greatly from the discrepancy with the existing reality. The poet found peace in nature and religion, which temporarily reconciled him with life.
From the biography of Nikitin Ivan Savvich:
Ivan Savvich Nikitin was born on October 3 (September 21), 1824 in the city of Voronezh. His father, Savva Evstikhievich Nikitin, came from a clergy background, was a wealthy tradesman, traded in a candle shop and ran a candle factory.
Ivan Nikitin spent his childhood and youth surrounded by pilgrims who bought candles in the shop.
Little Ivan mastered reading and writing early. A neighbor who was a shoemaker helped him with this. Only after learning to add letters did Ivan begin to compose his first poems. He never found support and approval for his creativity from his father, who was an adherent of bourgeois views. As a child, Vanya read a lot and loved being in nature, with which he felt unity from birth.
House in Voronezh, where I. S. Nikitin lived with his father
When Ivan was eight years old, his father sent him to the Voronezh Theological School. After graduating from college (1839), he expressed a desire to be a priest and entered the theological seminary. (1839), from which he was expelled for absenteeism (1843). Nikitin, as the son of wealthy parents, was a free student at the seminary and retained his independence and broad-mindedness. The seminary played a big role in the development of the poet, but he was not satisfied with the existing education system and the practices adopted there. Later he would write about this in “The Diaries of a Seminary” (1861), where he reflected the unhappy impressions of his stay at the seminary. Ivan Nikitin dreamed of studying at the university.
Ivan Nikitin never managed to finish the seminary. His father's difficult character and drunkenness ultimately ended in ruin. Then his mother Praskovya Ivanovna died, his means of livelihood dried up, his dreams of entering the university turned out to be unrealistic, and Nikitin was forced first to trade in a candle shop, then to maintain an inn (since 1844), which was purchased in place of the sold candle factory.
Ivan also had to do menial work, including sweeping the yard. Then I had to pay off the accumulated debts for a long time. But despite everything, the aspiring poet did not abandon his passion for literature and continued to write poetry.
He constantly spends more than ten years communicating with visiting people who represented different social groups and estates.
The difficulties of Nikitin’s life, who worked at an inn as a janitor, his difficult, monotonous life, its difficult circumstances did not break the young man, he did not sink spiritually, in every free moment he tried to read books, write poems that asked to come out of his heart.
While still studying at the seminary, Nikitin became seriously interested in poetry and composed a lot himself. His passion for literature opened up new horizons for him; he managed to break out of the philistine worldview and gain inner freedom. Nikitin communicated closely with the people, grew up in an atmosphere of folk dialects different places Russia, listened to stories and tales of wanderers, lives of saints and spiritual poems. In his youth, he was fond of Pushkin, Zhukovsky and other classics. From the church walls he brought out a reverent attitude towards nature. Despite the fact that by that time the seminary no longer had wonderful teachers - A.V. Koltsova and A.P. Serebryansky—the seminarians were nourished by the memories of their circle. Nikitin wrote his first poems precisely in imitation of Koltsov.
Since 1853, Nikitin’s rapprochement with the historian, ethnographer and public figure N.I. Vtorov and his circle, which united representatives of the Voronezh intelligentsia. It was Vtorov who inspired Ivan Nikitin for the first publication in the Voronezh Provincial Gazette on November 21, 1853 of the poem “Rus”, written during the beginning of Crimean War and its patriotic content was very topical.
Captivated by Nikitin’s work, N.I. Vtorov introduced him to the circle of local intelligentsia, introduced him to Count D.N. Tolstoy, who published the poet’s poems in “Moskvityanin” and published his first collection as a separate edition in St. Petersburg (1856).
The poet's popularity at that time was growing, but he still lived hard. Father drank continuously, however, family relationships slightly improved; The atmosphere of the inn was no longer so depressing for the young man, who moved in a circle of intelligent people who were sincerely disposed towards him.
But Nikitin began to be overcome by illness. In 1855, Ivan Nikitin became very ill, catching a cold while swimming. The illness dragged on and developed into consumption.
In 1856, Nikitin became interested in the governess of the Plotnikov landowners. The girl's name was M.I. Junot. The feelings were mutual, the girl had an ebullient nature, developed and sensitive to poetry. They did not advertise their feelings.
Bookstore of I. S. Nikitin
In 1859, the poet, thanks to the assistance of friends, took out a loan in the amount of three thousand rubles, since his own fees were not enough to realize his plan. Being a man of action, I. Nikitin in February 1859, with this money, he opened a bookstore in Voronezh, and with it a shop and a library. Soon the store will go from normal point of sale turned into a noticeable center of culture, the likes of which had never existed in the city. This allowed it to become one of the main cultural centers in Voronezh. +In 1861, Nikitin visited St. Petersburg and Moscow, took part in local cultural work, in the formation of a literacy society in Voronezh, as well as in the establishment of Sunday schools.
In the early 60s, N. A. Nekrasov invited the poet to collaborate in the Sovremennik magazine. This was a real recognition, but I. Nikitin could no longer take advantage of the invitation. A serious illness undermined the poet’s strength.
In May 1861, the poet again caught a bad cold, which caused an exacerbation of the tuberculosis process and a sharp deterioration general condition health. The tuberculosis process has accelerated significantly. The level of medicine in those years left virtually no hope for recovery.
The poet died on October 16 of the same year at the age of only 37 years. He was buried in Voronezh, at the Novo-Mitrofanyevskoye cemetery, where the poet lived all his life. short life.
The creative heritage of I. S. Nikitin and his contribution to Russian literature:
A wonderful Russian poet lived in times Tsarist Russia in the nineteenth century in the difficult pre-reform period. This circumstance had a huge impact on the development of his talent and on all his work.
Ivan began writing poetic lines while still in the seminary, and decided to publish his creations only in 1853. They were published in the Voronezh Provincial Gazette when young man was 29 years old. Patriotic pathetic poems were reprinted in other newspapers and magazines; they were very useful, since the Crimean War was going on. The author's works were copied and passed from hand to hand, and began to be published in Otechestvennye Zapiski and Library for Reading.
In the summer of 1855, Nikitin fell ill, catching a cold while swimming. Faith saved him, and many poems with religious themes appeared. The theme of human faith runs like a red thread through all of Ivan Nikitin’s poetic work: “ New Testament", "Prayer", "The Sweetness of Prayer", "Prayer for the Cup". Seeing holy grace in everything, Nikitin became the most soulful singer of nature (“Morning”, “Spring in the Steppe”, “Meeting of Winter”) and enriched Russian poetry with a large number of masterpieces of landscape lyricism.
Soon the first collection of poems was published (1856) and Nikitin began to be compared with Koltsov.
Then Nikitin wrote the poem “Fist”, which was completed in 1857. He showed in the poem the type of person who strongly resembled his own father. Voronezh tradesman Karp Lukich, the hero of the poem, lived by petty deception, calculation and measurement. He is a reseller, a penniless and ruined merchant himself, who cannot get out of severe poverty. As a result of this life, he became a drunkard and tyrannized everyone in the house. The poem was received favorably by critics and the book sold out in less than a year, bringing the poet a good income. Despite his painful condition and depressed mood, Nikitin continued to closely follow Russian literature in 1857-1858. From abroad I read Shakespeare, Cooper, Goethe, Hugo, Chenier. He also began to study German, translating Heine and Schiller. In 1857-1858 he worked in Otechestvennye zapiski and Russian Conversation. At this time, the inn began to generate income, and the family came out of poverty. The father did not stop drinking, but family relationships improved, and work no longer weighed on Nikitin so much.
Nikitin received an excellent review from Dobrolyubov for his poem. The poet was introduced to Count D.N. Tolstoy, who helped him get published.
The second collection appeared in 1859. Nikitin became a master of Russian landscape and successor to Koltsov, a glorifier of hard peasant labor, the life of the urban poor and the injustice of the world. Nikitin's name thundered, but life was still hard.
In the second half of 1860 Nikitin worked a lot. Soon, in 1861, his prose “Diary of a Seminarian” was published.
The original and most essential feature of Nikitin’s poetry is truthfulness and simplicity, reaching the most strict direct reproduction of everyday prose. Almost all of Nikitin’s poems fall into two large blocks: some are dedicated to nature (“South and North” (1851) “Morning” (1854)), others are dedicated to human need, people’s suffering (“Plowman” (1856), “The Coachman’s Wife” ( 1854)). In both, the poet is completely free from any effects and idle eloquence.
From early childhood, he was familiar with the life of the common people and serfs, filled with hardships and suffering. All his creations fully reflect the lack of rights, hopelessness, need and hard work of people from the lower classes, to which the vast majority of the Russian population belonged. The poet sincerely sympathized with representatives of these classes and treated them in accordance with Christian traditions, supporting those in need not only kind words, but also providing them with real help. The main part of the writer’s work is poetic landscape lyrics, which, among other things, contains a religious slant and has a philosophical orientation. In my own way creative style is the successor to the traditions laid down by Koltsov.
His ability to feel subtly is amazing the world, celebrate the subtle shades of colors. He was able to describe the world around him with inspiration and piercing sensitivity with just one stroke of the pen. In his poems there is a true love for nature; in his work the poet showed himself to be a talented landscape painter. Love for the people is one of the main themes in Nikitin’s work.
A significant place in the work of the poet, who sincerely worried about his people and let their troubles pass through his own heart, is occupied by poems depicting the life of an ordinary commoner (“The Coachman’s Wife,” “The Plowman,” “Mother and Daughter,” “Beggar,” “Street Meeting” ). They clearly express deep, sincere love for their people, warm sympathy for their plight and a great desire to improve their situation.
At the same time, Nikitin did not idealize the people, looking at them with sober eyes, he painted them truthfully, without hiding the dark sides and negative traits of the people’s character: family despotism, rudeness (“Damage”, “Stubborn Father”, “Divide”).
Nikitin's panoramic vision covered all aspects of Russian life.
Nikitin’s work contains a lot of autobiographical elements with predominant sad tones, sadness and grief, also caused by a protracted illness. The source of such aching sadness was not only personal adversity, but also the surrounding life with human suffering, social contrasts, and constant drama. Nikitin was a member of the circle of local Voronezh intelligentsia, it was the circle of Nikolai Ivanovich Vtorov. But Vtorov soon left Voronezh. Nikitin's second friend was Mikhail Fedorovich De-Pule. It was he who, after Nikitin’s death, became his executor; he published his legacy, wrote a biography and edited Nikitin’s works.
During his short life, Nikitin wrote about two hundred beautiful poems, three poems and a story.
Nikitin's works are superbly set to music and have served as a source of inspiration for many Russian composers. Over 60 wonderful songs and romances were composed based on Nikitin’s poems, many of which became popular. There are songs that have turned into folk songs. Perhaps the most famous of them is “Uhar-merchant”. Here, however, it should be noted that the text of the folk version of the song has undergone significant changes that influenced the original semantic content.
Nikitin was and remains an unsurpassed singer of Russian nature. The name of Ivan Nikitin entered the musical culture of Russia; his name has outlived many, larger, but forgotten poets.
Memory of the original Russian poet:
*In 1924 in Voronezh, in the house in which Ivan Nikitin lived since 1846, the Nikitin Literary Memorial House-Museum was founded.
*One of the Voronezh gymnasiums is named after the poet.
*In the USSR, postage stamps with Nikitin’s image were issued.
*Streets in Voronezh, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk are named after Ivan Nikitin.
*On Nikitinskaya Square in Voronezh in 1911, a monument to the poet was unveiled, the design of which was developed by sculptor I.A. Shuklin.
*In 2011, the Russian Post released a circulation of postcards depicting the above-mentioned monument to the poet in Voronezh.
, Poet, Prose Writer
Nikitin Ivan Savvich (1824–1861), Russian poet, prose writer.
Born September 21 (October 3), 1824 in Voronezh. The son of a candle factory owner who went bankrupt by the 1830s, he was educated at the Voronezh parish (1833) and district (1834–1839) theological schools and theological seminary (1839–1843; expelled for poor academic performance), in the literary life of which A. had participated somewhat earlier. V. Koltsov. He took care of the housekeeping (up to performing the duties of a janitor at the inn purchased by the family), replacing, accordingly, his recent appearance a freedom-loving “Westerner” into the appearance of a simple Russian peasant (hair “in a circle”, boots with high tops, a sheepskin coat on a naked body, etc.).
Joy has swift wings.
Nikitin Ivan Savvich
After the first publication (poem. Rus - “Under the big tent / Blue skies...”, 1853) he became close to the circle of local historian N.I. Vtorov, who studied the history, ethnography and folklore of the Voronezh region, among whose participants were the future executor, biographer and editor poet M.F. De Poulet and publisher of his works A.R. Mikhailov.
Influence of A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov, F.I. Tyutchev (Slanderers, 1849; When the sunset with farewell rays, 1850; When alone, in moments of reflection, 1851) and especially Koltsov (The Sadness of an Old Man, Duma, both 1849 ; Song, 1853) with its characteristic folk vocabulary and rhythm is replaced in Nikitin’s lyrics by his own intonations, recognizable “ethnographic” themes, attention to everyday life, religious motives (Old Friend, Winter Night in the Village, both 1853; Merchant at the Mill, 1854).
In 1854, N.V. Kukolnik published two collections of Nikitin’s poems in his “Library for Reading”; several poems were published in the magazine “Moskvityanin”. Quick fame inspired Nikitin, he persistently engages in self-education (including studying French and German, translations from Fr. Schiller and G. Heine), again dresses “in fashion” and becomes, in the words of his tireless trustee Vtorov, “a secular human." At the same time, a sharp deterioration in health, a consequence of hard physical labor, contributed to the strengthening of the mournful tonality of Nikitin’s poetry.
The steppe is wide,
The steppe is deserted,
Why are you like this
Are you looking cloudy?
Where is your beauty?
Bright greens,
There is dew on the flowers
Emerald?
Nikitin Ivan Savvich
In 1856, his first collection of Poems was published, which evoked both approving and harsh (for “lack of independence” - N.G. Chernyshevsky in the Sovremennik magazine) reviews from critics.
In an effort to poeticize the “non-poetic” material of the real life of common people, Nikitin begins to focus on the lyrics of N.A. Nekrasov with a pronounced narrative beginning, colloquial everyday vocabulary, a diversity of characters from the village “bottom” - the peasants, the poor, the dispossessed (The Story of a Peasant Woman, 1854; Burlak , both 1854; Street Meeting, 1855; The Story of a Friend, 1856), focusing on the dramas of everyday life - betrayal, murder, selfish deceptions, etc. (often in the song genre - Quarrel, Treason, both 1854; Get rid of melancholy..., 1855).
According to the critic A.M. Skabichevsky, the autobiographical basis of many of Nikitin’s poems, who was in a difficult relationship with his father, a man of tough character, was the “eternal Russian plot of family tyranny,” which grew under Nikitin’s pen into the problem of inconsistency of high spiritual impulses creative personality and her rough, egoistic surroundings, into the problem of the inescapable loneliness of a talented loser, characteristic of romanticism and specifically refracted in Nikitin’s “folk” lyrics.
Don't poison moments of calm
Painful premonition of loss:
The mysterious definition of heaven,
But their law is inviolably holy.
And if from the very cradle
You have suffered -
Like a man with his highest goal
Do not forget in the painful struggle.
Nikitin Ivan Savvich
In the early 1860s, Nikitin opened a bookstore and a cheap library in Voronezh, which became one of the cultural centers of the city. In the late 1850s - early 1860s, civic-journalistic and angry social-critical notes were clearly heard in the poet’s lyrics (Sokha, Untalented Share, Time Moves Slowly..., Again familiar visions, Master, We, brothers, bear a heavy cross ..., The despicable tyranny will fall... etc., distributed illegally and first published in 1906).
In 1858–1860 Nikitin worked on the story Diary of a Seminarian, which anticipated the Essays of the Bursa by N.G. Pomyalovsky. In 1861 - one of the founders of a Sunday school in Voronezh and the Literacy Society. The last months of the poet's life are colored by tragically bright, mutual and unfulfilled love, the search for consolation and support in the writings of the Orthodox ascetic Tikhon of Zadonsk.
Nikitin’s poetry, often marked by verbal and psychological monotony, excessive detail and verbosity, includes the poems Vengeance (1853) - about the reprisal of a peasant against a depraved serf-owner, The Coachman’s Wife, Three Meetings (both 1854), Plowman (1856), especially highly regarded revolutionary-democratic criticism for “communist” pathos (“Where is your enchanted treasure, / Where is your talent, plowman, hidden?”), Overnight in the village (1857–1858), Beggar (1857), Spinner (1858), On the Ashes , Wake, Tailor, Mother and Daughter (all 1860), masterpieces of Russian landscape and landscape-everyday lyrics Winter Night in the Village (“Merry shines / The month over the village...”, 1853), Meeting of Winter (1854), Morning (“ The stars fade and go out. The clouds are on fire...", 1855), Brightly the stars twinkle (1860). I.A. Bunin wrote about Nikitin: “The beauty of the early dawn was conveyed to them in such a way that the whole poem was, as it were, imbued with its dew, strong morning freshness, all the smells of wet reeds, the chill of a steaming scarlet river, the hot shine of the sun...”
More than 60 romances and songs were written to the words of Nikitin, one of the brightest Russian peasant poets, Koltsov’s successor, literary teacher I.Z. Surikov, S.D. Drozhzhin and other nugget artists who developed in line with the Nekrasov school. . composers V.S. Kalinnikov (On the Old Mound), E.F. Napravnik (Rus), N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (Meeting of Winter). A number of Nikitin’s poems, set to music, became popular folk songs (The Bobyl’s Song to the music of S. Monyushko - “The rich fool / And he can’t sleep with the treasury; / The Bobyl is naked like a falcon, / Sings - he’s having fun...”; Ukhar the Merchant – “A rogue merchant was driving from the fair...”, both 1858). The type of strong Russian character outlined here is supported by the hero of Nikitin's poem Taras (1861), which anticipates the main motives of Nekrasov's poem Who Lives Well in Rus'.
Ivan Savvich Nikitin - photo
Ivan Savvich Nikitin - quotes
Life stretches out like a free steppe... Go, and look - don’t make a mistake! Behind the green chain of hills You don’t want to find peace. It’s good under a thunderstorm-blizzard, It’s good under the torrential rain Across the steppes, in endless fun, A mad troika rushing across them! Come on, coachman! Fasten the root Yul Why are you scowling? Look into the distance! What a vastness! Come on, a dear song, So that the heart aches in the chest, So that the damned tears come out, Those that lay like oppression over the soul, So that into the distance, under heavenly thunderstorms, We can fly endlessly with you. 
Ivan Savvich Nikitin(September 21 (October 3) 1824, Voronezh - October 16 (28), 1861, ibid.) - Russian poet.
Biography
Born into the family of candle merchant Savva Evtikhievich Nikitin (1793-1864).
He studied at the theological seminary. The seminary gave Nikitin a lot, but the young man did not like the official and boring education system, and he would later express his attitude towards this way of life in “The Diaries of a Seminarist” (1861).
In 1844, Nikitin’s father bought an inn on Kirochnaya Street and settled here with his son. However, his father's drunkenness and violent character led the family to ruin, forcing Nikitin to leave the seminary and become an innkeeper.
After the first publications Nikitin entered the circle of local intelligentsia that formed around Nikolai Ivanovich Vtorov. Nikitin’s close friends were Vtorov himself and another member of the circle, Mikhail Fedorovich De-Pule (future executor, biographer and editor of publications of Nikitin’s works).
Remaining the owner of the inn, Nikitin He did a lot of self-education, studying French and German, as well as the works of Russian and foreign writers (Shakespeare, Schiller, Goethe, Hugo and others). In 1859, Nikitin took advantage of a loan of 3,000 rubles, received through the mediation of friends from the famous entrepreneur and philanthropist Vasily Aleksandrovich Kokorev, and opened a bookstore with a reading room in the center of Voronezh, which quickly became one of the centers cultural life cities.
Creation
The earliest surviving poems date from 1849, many of them imitative in nature. He made his debut in print with the poem “Rus,” written in 1851, but published in the Voronezh Provincial Gazette only on November 21, 1853, that is, after the start of the Crimean War. The patriotic pathos of the poem made it very topical. On December 11, 1853, it was reprinted in the St. Petersburg Gazette newspaper with the following comment:
Isn’t it true that something familiar can be heard in this poem, in the feeling with which it is imbued, in the techniques, in the texture of the verse? Is Koltsov really destined to be resurrected in Nikitin?
Later poems Nikitina published in the magazines “Moskvityanin”, “Otechestvennye zapiski” and other publications.
The first separate collection (1856) included poems on the most different topics, from religious to social. The collection evoked mixed responses. The second collection of poems was published in 1859. The prosaic “Diary of a Seminarian” was published in “Voronezh Conversation for 1861.” (1861).
Nikitin is considered a master of Russian poetic landscape and Koltsov's successor. Main themes in poetry Nikitina- native nature, hard work and hopeless life of peasants, suffering of the urban poor, protest against the unjust structure of life.
Basically, being courageously restrained and careful, apparently, in the most intimate, deeply hidden, he hid his human suffering behind a sense of beauty in nature. The more piercingly nature sounded in him, and he in it, the deeper it all sank into the reader’s soul.
- Dmitry Kovalev
Died I. S. Nikitin from consumption on October 16, 1861 in Voronezh, where he was buried. Over time, the cemetery was liquidated and a circus was built in its place. The grave of I. S. Nikitin and several other graves, one of which is the burial of another famous poet A. V. Koltsov, were not touched. This place is fenced and is called the “Literary Necropolis”.
Poem "Fist"
Largest poetic work Nikitina, the poem “Fist”, began in October 1854. The first edition was completed by September 1856. The second edition, to which the poet made significant corrections, was completed by the beginning of 1857. The first publication was a separate edition in 1858 (date censorship permission - August 25, 1857).
The word “kulak” in Nikitin’s time did not mean a wealthy peasant, as was established later, but a completely different social type. According to Dahl, the kulak is “a reseller, a reseller... in bazaars and marinas, he himself is penniless, lives by deception, calculation, and measurement.” At the center of Nikitin’s poem is the image of just such a fist, the Voronezh tradesman Karp Lukich. This bankrupt merchant barely earns a living through petty fraud in the market, cannot get out of severe poverty, gets drunk and tyrannizes his family. The poet shows us in different life situations the character of this person, the inner life of his home, the fate of his household (wife and daughter). The poem has strong autobiographical features: main character and his wife in many ways resemble the poet's parents.
The poem received favorable reviews from Dobrolyubov and other critics. An anonymous review from the Moscow Review said:
Several scenes that are stunning in their drama, in places there is genuine comedy and always a warm feeling of universal love... a lively rendering of reality, typically outlined characters and wonderful descriptions of nature complete the charm produced by this fresh and truly poetic creation of a young writer who has already rapidly developed his creative powers.
Nikitin's poetry and Russian musical culture
To words Nikitina More than 60 songs and romances were written, many by very famous composers (Napravnik, Kalinnikov, Rimsky-Korsakov). Some of Nikitin's poems, set to music, became popular folk songs. The most famous is “The Ukhar-Merchant” (“The Ukhar-Merchant Went to the Fair…”), which, however, was subjected to abbreviation and alteration in the popular version, which completely changed the moral meaning of the poem.
In 2009, composer Alexander Sharafutdinov recorded an album of songs “Joy and Kruchina” based on Nikitin’s poems.
Memory
In Voronezh in 1911, a monument to the poet was erected on Nikitinskaya Square according to the design of the sculptor I. A. Shuklin.
In Voronezh, in the house where the poet lived since 1846, the Nikitin Literary Memorial House Museum (Voronezh Regional Literary Museum named after I. S. Nikitin) has been operating since 1924.
A street in the city of Voronezh is named after Ivan Savvich.
Voronezh regional universal science Library bears the name of the poet.
In Lipetsk there is Nikitina Street.
In Novosibirsk there is Nikitina Street. Many Novosibirsk residents mistakenly believe that the name of the street is dedicated to Afanasy Nikitin.
There is a gymnasium named after I. S. Nikitin in Voronezh.
In 1949 and 1974, postage stamps with the image of I. S. Nikitin were issued in the USSR.
In 2011, for the 425th anniversary of Voronezh, the Russian Post issued a postcard depicting the monument to I. S. Nikitin (sculptor I. A. Shuklin).