Vasily Zhukovsky: brief biography and creativity. Zhukovsky, Vasily Andreevich - biography Songs and Romances



Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:	Mishenskoye, Tula Governorate, Russian Empire
Date of death:
A place of death:	Baden-Baden, German Confederation
Citizenship:
Occupation:	Poet, translator, critic
Years of creativity:
Direction:	Sentimentalism and Romanticism
	Elegies, romances, songs, friendly messages, ballads.
	Thoughts at the tomb

Education

Poetry career

Zhukovsky in 1837-1839

Retirement and decline of life

Addresses in St. Petersburg

Toponymy

Monuments

Major works

Songs and romances

Poems

Poems and stories in verse

(January 29 (February 9) 1783, Mishenskoye, Tula province, Russian Empire - April 12 (April 24), 1852, Baden-Baden, German Union) - Russian poet, founder of romanticism in Russian poetry, translator, critic.

Full member of the Imperial Russian Academy (1818); honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1827-1841) and subsequently an ordinary academician (1841) in the Department of Russian Language and Literature, Privy Councilor (1841).

Biography

Born on January 29 (February 9), 1783 in the village of Mishenskoye, Tula province. The illegitimate son of the landowner Afanasy Ivanovich Bunin (1716-1791) and the captured Turkish woman Salkha (baptized Elizaveta Dementievna Turchaninova; d. 1811), brought in 1770 by Bunin’s serfs, participants in the Russian-Turkish war, from under the Bendery fortress (according to other sources, was captured by Major K. Mufel, who gave her to Bunin to raise). The child received his surname from a poor Belarusian nobleman, Andrei Grigorievich Zhukovsky (d. 1817), who lived on the estate, who, at Bunin’s request, became the child’s godfather and then adopted him. Before the birth of the future poet, Bunin’s family suffered grief: out of eleven children, six died in a short time. Heartbroken, Maria Grigorievna Bunina decided to take the newborn into her family and raise him as her own son. Adoption did not give the right to transfer the nobility; in addition, according to the will of the father, the son did not receive anything.

One of Zhukovsky’s legitimate sisters married Glafira Alymova’s brother, thus becoming related to Glafira’s husband, A. A. Rzhevsky, vice-director of the Academy of Sciences.

Education

To obtain nobility, the child was fictitiously enlisted in the Astrakhan Hussar Regiment; having received the rank of ensign, which gave the right to personal nobility, in 1789 6-year-old Zhukovsky was included in the noble genealogy book of the Tula province and received a letter of noble dignity, which allowed him to subsequently receive an education in a private boarding school, then at the Tula Public School.

In 1797, 14-year-old Zhukovsky entered the Moscow noble university boarding school and studied there for four years. In the second year of Zhukovsky’s stay at the boarding school, among his comrades, including Dmitry Bludov, Dmitry Dashkov, Sergei Uvarov, Alexander and Andrei Turgenev, a special literary society arose - the Assembly, with an officially approved charter. Zhukovsky became its first chairman. There he also met the director of the boarding house, Ivan Petrovich Turgenev.

Zhukovsky made his debut in print with “Thoughts at the Tomb” (1797), written under the impression of the news of the death of V. A. Yushkova. “I vividly felt- says the 14-year-old author, - the insignificance of everything sublunary; the universe seemed like a coffin to me. Death! Fierce death! When will your hand become tired, when will the blade of your terrible scythe become dull?..”.

Poetry career

In 1802, Zhukovsky met Karamzin, becoming interested in sentimentalism. The “Bulletin of Europe” published his “Rural Cemetery” - a free translation of the elegy of the English sentimentalist Gray. The poem attracted everyone's attention. The following year, the story “Vadim Novgorodsky” appeared, written in imitation of Karamzin’s historical stories.

From 1805-1806, Zhukovsky's poetic power grew rapidly, reaching its highest peak in 1808-1812. All this time, Zhukovsky worked at Vestnik Evropy, and in 1808-09 he was its editor.

In 1808 his “Lyudmila” appeared, an adaptation of “Lenora” by G. A. Burger. With this ballad, a new, completely special content entered Russian literature - romanticism. Zhukovsky was captured by the desire to travel into the distance of the Middle Ages, into the long-vanished world of legends and legends. The success of “Lyudmila” inspired Zhukovsky.

In 1812 Zhukovsky joined the militia. In the camp near Tarutino, he wrote “The Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors,” which immediately brought him incomparably greater fame than all his previous poetic activity. It was distributed in thousands of lists in the army and in Russia.

In 1815, Zhukovsky became one of the main participants in the Arzamas literary society, which in a comic form waged a persistent struggle against the conservatism of classical poetry.

Since 1816, Zhukovsky became the author of the first official anthem of Russia, “The Prayer of the Russians.” It was a translation (though greatly modified) of the text of the English hymn “God save the King.” The music was also borrowed from the English anthem (which was done by more than 20 countries at one time).

In 1816, Zhukovsky became a reader under the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. In 1817, he became the Russian language teacher of Princess Charlotte, the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and in the fall of 1826 he was appointed to the position of “mentor” of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II.

Zhukovsky in 1837-1839

Zhukovsky was well acquainted with A.S. Pushkin. When Pushkin’s deadly duel with Georges Dantes took place on January 27 (February 8), 1837, Zhukovsky was passing notes between Emperor Nicholas I and A.S. Pushkin. This responsibility was shared with him by Pushkin’s doctor, the Emperor’s personal physician N.F. Arendt.

After the death of Pushkin, in 1837 Zhukovsky traveled with the heir, the Tsarevich, to Russia and part of Siberia. After this, in 1838-1839, Zhukovsky traveled with him throughout Western Europe. In Rome he became especially close to Gogol.

Retirement and decline of life

In 1841, due to the heir's coming of age, Zhukovsky resigned. In the same year, in Düsseldorf, the 58-year-old poet married 20-year-old Elizaveta Evgrafovna Reitern (1821-1856), the daughter of his longtime friend, the painter E. R. Reitern.

He spent the last 12 years of his life in Germany, in the circle of his new relatives - first in Düsseldorf, later in Frankfurt am Main, almost every year planning to visit Russia, but, due to the painful condition of his wife, he never had time to fulfill this desire.

At the beginning of 1842, Zhukovsky began translating the Odyssey. The first volume of the Odyssey was published in print in 1848, the second in 1849.

Died 12 (24 April) 1852 in Baden-Baden. The body was transported to Russia and buried in St. Petersburg in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Children

Alexandra Vasilievna Zhukovskaya(1842-1912) - married Verman. Maid of honor. Her marriage to Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich (4th son of Alexander II) was dissolved by the Synod, her son Alexei Alekseevich is the first Count Belevsky-Zhukovsky. Descendants live in the USA today (see Zhukovskaya, Alexandra Vasilievna)
Pavel Vasilievich Zhukovsky(1844/5-1912). Rallymaster, amateur artist, author of the monument to Alexander II in the Moscow Kremlin.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

03. - 04.1805 - apartment of D.N. Bludov in the Varlont house - Basmannaya street, 10;
05. - 09.1817 - D.N. Bludov's house - Nevsky Prospekt, 80;
09. - 10.1817 - apartment of A. A. Pleshcheev in the Ritter house - Galernaya street, 12;
1818 - Bolshaya Meshchanskaya st., 20
09.1818 - 1819 - Bragin apartment building - Nikolsky Canal, 11;
1822-1826 - apartment of A. F. Voeikov in the apartment building of A. A. Menshikov - Nevsky Prospekt, 64.

Memory

Toponymy

St. Petersburg: Zhukovsky Street - named in 1902 in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the poet’s death.
Zaporozhye: Zhukovsky Street - named in 1902 in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the poet’s death.

Monuments

St. Petersburg: Monument in the Alexander Garden - opened on June 4, 1887 in connection with the centenary of the poet’s birth. Was vandalized in 2007.
In Veliky Novgorod, on the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia”, among the 129 figures of the most outstanding personalities in Russian history (as of 1862), there is the figure of V. A. Zhukovsky.

Major works

Many works were translations and free adaptations, including from J. W. Goethe, F. Schiller, J. Byron, W. Scott.

Elegies

“Rural Cemetery” (1802, free translation from T. Gray)
"Slavyanka" (1816)
"Evening" (1806)
"The Sea" (1822)
“Singer in the camp of Russian warriors” (1812)

Songs and romances

“The Ring of the Soul-Maiden...” (1816)
Messages (“To Turgenev, in response to his letter”, 1813), odes, idylls

Fairy tales

"The Sleeping Princess"
“The tale of Tsar Berendey, of his son Ivan Tsarevich, of the cunning of Koshchei the Immortal and of the wisdom of Princess Marya, Koshchey’s daughter.” The fairy tale was filmed in 1969.
"The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf"

Ballads

“Lyudmila” (1808) (free transcriptions of G. A. Burger’s ballad “Lenora”)
"Svetlana" (1808-1812)
“Twelve Sleeping Maidens” (part 1 - “Thunderbreaker”, 1810; part 2 - “Vadim”, 1814-1817),
"The Forest King" (1818)
"The Fisherman" (1818)
"Knight of Togenburg" (1818)
“Smalholm Castle, or Midsummer’s Evening” (1822)
"Cup" (1825-1831)
"God's Judgment over the Bishop" (1831)
"Lenora" (1831).
"Warwick"

Poems

"To Her" (1811, publ. 1827)
“Singer in the camp of Russian warriors” (1812)
"By the Month" (1817)
"Night View" (1836)

Poems and stories in verse

"The Prisoner of Chillon" (1822) (Translation by J. Byron)
"Ondine" (1837) (Translation by F. de Lamotte Fouquet)
"Nal and Damayanti" (1844) (part of the Indian epic "Mahabharata")
"Rustem and Zorab" (1849) (part of Ferdowsi's poem "Shahnameh")
“The Odyssey (Homer)” (1849; new edition - 1982) (Translation of Homer)

Prose

The story “Maryina Roshcha” (1809)

Articles

"The Writer in Society" (1808)
“On the fable and fables of Krylov” (1809)
"On satire and satyrs of Cantemir" (1810)

Do you want to meet such a famous poet as Vasily Zhukovsky? His short biography should interest literature lovers. Starting out as a sentimentalist, Zhukovsky became one of the founders of Russian romanticism. His poetry is filled with images of folk fiction and melancholy dreams. Vasily Zhukovsky translated the works of J. Byron, F. Schiller, and Homer's Odyssey. We invite you to learn more about his life and work.

Origin of V. A. Zhukovsky

Vasily Zhukovsky was born in the village. Mishensky, Tula province 01/29/1783. His father, A.I. Bunin was the landowner of this village, and his mother was a captive Turkish woman. Vasily Zhukovsky received his patronymic and surname from a friend of the Bunins, Andrei Grigorievich Zhukovsky. Shortly before the birth of the future poet, the Bunin family suffered a terrible grief: in a short time, six out of 11 people died, including their only son, who was studying at the University of Leipzig at that time. Maria Grigorievna, heartbroken, in memory of her son, decided to take the newborn into her family and raise him as her own son.

Studying at a boarding school

Soon the boy became the favorite of the whole family. At the age of 14, Vasily entered the university boarding school in Moscow. He studied there for 4 years. The boarding school did not provide extensive knowledge, but under the guidance of teachers, students often gathered to read their literary experiments. The best of them were published in periodicals.

First works

Soon Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky published his first works. His biography was marked by its debut in print in 1797. The first published work was “Thoughts at the Tomb.” It was created under the impression of the death of V. A. Yushkova. During the period of study at the boarding school (from 1797 to 1801), the following works of Zhukovsky were published: in 1797 - "May Morning", in 1798 - "Virtue", in 1800 - "Peace" and "To Tibullus", in 1801 - " To the person" and others. All of them are dominated by a melancholic note. The poet is struck by the transience of everything earthly, the fragility of life, which seems to him full of suffering and tears. This mood was explained mainly by the literary tastes of the time. The fact is that Vasily Andreevich’s first works appeared when many admired Karamzin’s “Poor Liza,” published in 1792. Countless imitations arose.

However, not everything was explained by fashion. The circumstances of the birth of Vasily Zhukovsky were not forgotten either by others or by himself. He had an ambiguous position in the world. The poet's childhood and youth were not happy.

First transfer, return to the village

The first translation of Zhukovsky, the novel “The Boy at the Stream” by Kotzebue (1801), also dates back to the time of his studies at the boarding school. After completing the course of study, Vasily Andreevich entered the service, but soon decided to leave it. He settled in Mishenskoye in order to continue his education.

Creativity of 1802-1808

During his life in the village (1802-1808), Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky practically did not publish his works. His biography is marked by the appearance of only a few new creations. In the "Bulletin of Europe" in 1802 his famous "Rural Cemetery" was published - an adaptation or free translation from Gray. This work immediately attracted attention. Naturalness and simplicity became a new discovery of the time when pompous pseudo-classicism still reigned. Around the same time, Zhukovsky created “Maryina Roshcha,” a story written in imitation of “Poor Liza.”

In 1806, Vasily Andreevich responded to the general patriotic mood with “The Bard’s Song over the tomb of the victorious Slavs.” "Lyudmila" appeared in 1808. It was a reworking of the work "Lenora" by Burger. It was with this that Romanticism entered Russian literature. Vasily Andreevich was captured by that side of him where he was striving deep into the Middle Ages, into the world of medieval legends and tales.

Zhukovsky was inspired by the success of "Lyudmila". Alterations and translations have continuously followed one after another since that time. Vasily Andreevich translated mainly German poets. And his most successful creations are associated with the creations of Schiller. At this time, Zhukovsky also created original works. For example, the first part of the poem “The Twelve Sleeping Maidens” entitled “Thunderbreaker” appeared, as well as several prose articles.

Moving to Moscow, editorial activities

At the same time, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky became the editor of Vestnik Evropy. His short biography is marked by his move to Moscow to fulfill this position. Editorial activity continued for two years, from 1809 to 1810. At first, Vasily Andreevich worked alone, then together with Kachenovsky. The Vestnik Evropy finally moved to the latter.

Zhukovsky's heart drama

After this, Zhukovsky returned to his village and experienced a deep heartfelt drama here. A few years ago, he began studying with his nieces, the daughters of E. A. Protasova, the youngest daughter of the landowner Bunin. Ekaterina Afanasyevna had been widowed shortly before and settled in Belev. Vasily Andreevich passionately fell in love with Maria Protasova, his eldest student. The favorite motifs of his lyrics are dreams of mutual love and family happiness. However, Zhukovsky's feelings soon acquired a melancholic hue. Family ties made this love impossible in the eyes of others. The poet had to carefully hide his feelings. Only in poetic outpourings did it find a way out. However, without interfering with Zhukovsky’s scientific studies. He began to study history, Russian and world, with special zeal, and acquired thorough knowledge.

"Singer in the camp of Russian warriors" and "Svetlana"

Zhukovsky in 1812 decided to ask Maria Protasova’s hand in marriage from her mother, but received a decisive refusal. Family relationships prevented marriage. Vasily Andreevich soon after this left for Moscow. Here Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky joined the militia. Briefly about this experience we can say the following. Carried away by the patriotic enthusiasm that captured the Russian troops, Zhukovsky wrote “The Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors” in the camp near Tarutin. This work immediately gained great fame. It was distributed in thousands of lists throughout the army and throughout Russia. Zhukovsky's new ballad "Svetlana" also dates back to 1812. Despite the Russian introduction, this work developed the motifs of Burger's "Lenora".

Life and work of Zhukovsky at court

The military life of Vasily Zhukovsky did not last long. He fell ill with typhus at the end of 1812 and retired in January 1813. In 1814, the “Message to Emperor Alexander” appeared, after which Empress Maria Feodorovna wanted Zhukovsky to come to St. Petersburg. Maria Protasova married Professor Mayer in 1817. Dreams of love will continue to be heard in Zhukovsky’s poetry later. However, the girl was in poor health and died in 1823. Will Vasily Zhukovsky be able to forget Maria Protasova and find a life partner? The biography of his subsequent years will give you the answer to this question.

Basic notes of Zhukovsky's poetry

“The longing of love”, “longing into the distance”, “grief for the unknown”, “languor of separation” - these are the main notes of Vasily Andreevich’s poetry. Her character depended almost entirely on Zhukovsky’s mystical mood, caused by unfulfilled dreams of love. Thus, the circumstances of the time, the sentimental literary tastes that dominated society, suited the poet’s personal feelings in the best possible way. By introducing romantic content into his work, Zhukovsky significantly expanded the sentimentalism of Russian literature that had established itself before him. However, developing new motives in his works, he followed mainly the instructions of personal feelings.

The poet Vasily Zhukovsky took from medieval romanticism only that which corresponded to his own mystical dreams and aspirations. The significance of his work lay in the fact that Zhukovsky’s poetry, being subjective, at the same time served the general interests of the development of literature. His subjectivism was an important step towards detaching verbal creativity from pseudo-classical coldness. Zhukovsky introduced into literature the world of inner life, hitherto practically unknown to it.

The period from 1817 to 1841 is the time when Vasily Andreevich lived at court. At first he was a teacher of the Russian language. His students were princesses Elena Pavlovna and Alexandra Fedorovna. And since 1825, Vasily Andreevich became the tutor of Alexander Nikolaevich, the heir to the throne. At this time, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky often traveled abroad. The poet went there both on official business and for treatment.

Zhukovsky's travels and new works

Zhukovsky's works appeared at this time as if by chance. For example, having gone to Switzerland and Germany in the fall of 1820, Vasily Andreevich began translating Schiller's "Maid of Orleans" in Berlin. In 1821 he graduated from it. And under the impression of those in Switzerland, a translation of Byron’s “The Prisoner of Chillon” was created (in 1822).

Vasily Zhukovsky spent the winter of 1832-33. A whole series of translations from Herder, Schiller, Uhland, excerpts from the Iliad, etc. appeared at this time. Vasily Andreevich traveled around Russia and part of Siberia in 1837 together with the heir to the throne. And in 1838-39. he went with him to Western Europe. Zhukovsky became close to Gogol in Rome, which influenced the development of the mystical mood in his later work.

Marriage

Classes with the heir ended in the spring of 1841. The influence that Zhukovsky had on him was beneficial. Now let’s answer the question about how Vasily Zhukovsky’s personal life developed. In Düsseldorf in 1841, Vasily Andreevich (he was already 58 years old at that time) was married to the 18-year-old daughter of the painter Reitern, his longtime friend. Zhukovsky spent the last 12 years of his life in Germany with his wife's family.

Vasily of recent years

In the first year of his marriage, he wrote the fairy tales “Puss in Boots” and “About Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf.” The translation of the Odyssey (the first volume) appeared in 1848, and the second in 1849. Unfortunately, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky did not have time to finish the poem “The Wandering Jew”. His short biography ends in Baden-Baden in 1852, April 7. It was then that Vasily Andreevich died. He left behind his wife, daughter and son. But not only them. Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky left us a great artistic legacy.

His work is included in the school literature curriculum. To this day, many people read the works of Vasily Andreevich, and interest in his personality does not fade. So you have become acquainted with the biography of such a great Russian poet as Vasily Zhukovsky. We have described his work only briefly, but it deserves detailed study. It is certainly worth continuing to get acquainted with this poet.

He was the illegitimate son of the wealthy landowner Afanasy Ivanovich Bunin and the captured Turkish woman Salha, who ended up in Russia in 1770 after the capture of the Bendery fortress by Russian troops.

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky arrived in St. Petersburg in 1815.

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky took an active part in the literary life of St. Petersburg, was an active member and permanent secretary of the Arzamas literary society.

I. A. Krylov, A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, A. V. Koltsov and others gathered at Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky’s “Saturdays”.

Many of the poet’s works were written in St. Petersburg, in which he acted as the largest representative of romanticism in Russian poetry (“The Twelve Sleeping Virgins,” “Slavyanka,” translations from J. Byron, F. Schiller, V. Goethe, etc.).

In the poems and letters of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky of the 20-30s. contains descriptions of the capital and its suburbs.

Since 1826, appointed tutor to the heir, Alexander II, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky lived in the wing of the Winter Palace, the so-called. “Shepelevsky house” (not preserved; site of the current new Hermitage building).

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky usually spent the summer months in Tsarskoe Selo or Pavlovsk, where he lived in palaces.

In 1840 he retired and from that time on he visited St. Petersburg only on short visits.

Using his influence at court, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky repeatedly sought to mitigate the fate of representatives of the advanced social movement who became victims of government reaction.

Thanks to his efforts, the conditions of Pushkin's exile were eased; he persistently and unsuccessfully interceded for some of the condemned Decembrists, although he condemned their uprising; later he worked for the exiled M.Yu. Lermontov, contributed to the release of T. G. Shevchenko from captivity.

The poet received his surname and patronymic from the poor landowner Andrei Grigorievich Zhukovsky who adopted him, who lived in the Bunin family. Despite their outward prosperity, their childhood years were overshadowed by the consciousness of inequality in their father’s family, in which the mother of the future poet was in the position of a servant. Later he wrote: “I got used to separating myself from everyone, because no one took special part in me and because any participation in me seemed to me a favor... I was alone, always alone” (Diary, St. Petersburg, 1903, p. 27).

Vasily Andreevich's initial education began with home teachers, then he studied at a boarding house in the city of Tula and at a public school, from where he was soon expelled for poor academic performance.

For some time he lived in the family of his sister Varvara Afanasyevna Yushkova, where he continued to study under the guidance of various teachers and governesses. In the Yushkov family, who deeply revered the works of modern literature, especially Karamzin and Dmitriev, his literary interests awoke.

From 1797-1800, Vasily Andreevich studied at the Noble boarding school at Moscow University (see the description of the act in the Moscow Gazette, No. 103, December 26, 1800). It was there that the poet’s literary activity began and moral, philosophical and aesthetic views began to form, which were influenced by the struggling literary movements of classicism and sentimentalism, as well as moral ideas of the late 18th century, which were largely a reaction to French philosophy that was preparing the revolution of 1789.

During his years of study, the poet wrote solemn and philosophical odes in the spirit of Derzhavin and Lomonosov

"Virtue", 1798;

"Hero", 1799;

"Peace", 1800;

“To Tibullus”, 1800, sometimes internally polemicizing with their ideas, contrasting the civil ideals of classicism with the virtue and love of humanity of the era of pre-romantic consciousness of the late 18th century.

Some of the poems testify to the ideological influence of Karamzin’s sentimentalism and his poetics (“May Morning,” 1797).

During these years, his poems were published in the magazines “A Pleasant and Useful Pastime of Time”, “Morning Dawn”, “Ippokrena” and others. The development of the poet’s worldview and literary interests was influenced not so much by school teaching at the boarding school, but by his friendly environment. In which the main role belonged to the family of the director of Moscow University and the Noble boarding school I. P. Turgenev. An ardent champion of enlightenment in the 18th century, who saw the meaning of life in the spiritual development of the individual, in his moral improvement and service to good. After finishing the boarding school, the traditions of classicism appeared less and less in the work of Vasily Andreevich, yielding to the influence of Karamzin’s poetic principles, which was greatly facilitated by the poet’s participation in the “Friendly Society” organized by him together with Andrei Turgenev and A. Merzlyakov (1801).

The poet at this time studies new German, English and French literature (Schiller, Goethe, Gray, Thomson, Jung, Florian, Parney, Milvois and others), translates excerpts from

"The Sorrows of Young Werther" (1801) by Goethe,

Kotzebue's novel "The Boy at the Stream" (1801),

his comedy “False Shame” (1801),

Gray's elegy "The Country Cemetery" (original version - 1801),

"William Tell" (1802) and others.

In the spring of 1802, having left his service in the Moscow salt office, he settled in the village of Mishenskoye with the intention of continuing his education, deeply studying German and English literature and devoting his life to poetic creativity.

In the same 1802, Vasily Andreevich wrote the second translation of Gray’s elegy “Rural Cemetery”, which then appeared in the “Bulletin of Europe” (No. 24) and placed him among the best Russian poets. Zhukovsky considered the year he created this work to be the birthday of his lyre. From that time on, he became close friends with Karamzin, often visited him in Kuntsevo and recognized himself as his student and supporter of sentimentalism.

From 1802-1807 the story “Vadim Novgorodsky” (1803) and the elegy “Evening” (1806) were written.

In 1805, he began classes with his Protasov nieces, for one of whom, Maria Andreevna, he experienced a feeling of deep love, which became the source of deep lyricism in his love elegies, songs and many ballads.

From 1808, Vasily Andreevich edited the journal “Bulletin of Europe” for two years, striving “under the guise of entertaining and pleasant” content to contribute to the education and moral education of readers. He published his songs in the magazine:

“Longing for the Darling” (1807),

“My friend, my guardian angel” (1808),

elegiac message

"To Philalethes" (1808),

"Lyudmila" (1808),

"Cassandra" (1809)

"The Writer and Society" (1808),

“On the fable and fables of Krylov” (1809),

"On Criticism" (1809),

“On satire and satyrs of Cantemir” (1809).

At the beginning of the war of 1812, Zhukovsky joined the militia. On the day of the Battle of Borodino he was in reserve, not far from the battle site. After the surrender of Moscow, before the battle of Tarutino, he wrote his patriotic anthem, the romantic ode “Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors,” which first appeared in the “Bulletin of Europe” in December 1812.

In January 1813, Vasily Andreevich, after illness, returned from the army to his native places (Muratovo, Dolbino, Oryol province, Mishenskoye) with the hope of obtaining E. A. Protasova’s consent to marry her daughter Masha. But having received a decisive refusal from her mother, after two years of hesitation, he finally lost faith in the possibility of family happiness and, trying to alleviate the suffering of the girl who loved him, he left for St. Petersburg, where his friends had long called him, to accept a place at court, where he gained fame as an author "A singer in the camp of Russian warriors."

In September 1815, the period of his court service began for Zhukovsky V.A. in the position of reader under the widow of Paul I, Empress Maria Feodorovna.

From 1826 he was the tutor of the heir, the future Tsar Alexander II. The latter position often deprived him of the opportunity to engage in literature. Zhukovsky's court position displeased his free-thinking friends, but it did not make him a loyal poet of the autocracy and a person cut off from the progressive interests of society. He condemned serfdom as an evil that was contrary to the moral dignity of man and social justice, spoke in defense of education, against autocratic tyranny and protective reactionary literature, which he sought to contrast with the literature of the enlightened nobility, to unite the best writers of the country (Pushkin, Gogol, Vyazemsky, Baratynsky, D. Davydov , V. Odoevsky, N. Yazykov and others). He sought a softening of Pushkin’s fate, Baratynsky’s liberation from soldiery, T. Shevchenko’s ransom from serfdom, Herzen’s release from exile, and freed his peasants from serfdom. All this caused the court clique and Nicholas I himself to distrust the poet, in whom he saw the head of the liberal party in Russia. It is known that Nicholas I, in response to Zhukovsky’s readiness to vouch for I. Kireevsky, who published the magazine “European,” replied: “Who will vouch for you?” (N. Barsukov, Life and works of M. P. Pogodin, book 4, St. Petersburg, 1891, p. 10).

Deep humanism and a progressive way of thinking brought Vasily Andreevich closer to the best people in Russia and advanced literature, one of the founders of which he was at the dawn of the 19th century. In the literary struggle of the 10s. the poet was in the Karamzinist camp and was one of the active members of the Arzamas society (1815), in which he held an honorable position as secretary. As the largest poet of the new movement, he became the subject of fierce attacks from the epigones of classicism, the conservative writers of Conversations of Lovers of the Russian Word, who opposed his ballads

"Svetlana",

"Warwick"

"Alina and Alsim"

"Aeolian harp",

"Twelve Sleeping Virgins" and songs.

From October 1820 to January 1822, Vasily Andreevich was abroad in the royal retinue. He traveled through Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and met Goethe, Tieck, Uhland and other German writers. While living abroad, he wrote the poem “Lalla Ruk” (1821),

adapted Thomas Moore's story "Peri and the Angel" (1821),

translated Byron's poem "The Prisoner of Chillon" (1822),

Schiller's tragedy "The Maid of Orleans" (1822).

In the first years after arrival, the elegy “The Sea” (1822) was written,

“You are in front of me”, 1823;

"Ghost", 1823;

"Night", 1823;

“I am a young muse, it used to be...”, 1824;

"The Mysterious Visitor", 1824;

"Moth and Flowers", 1824,

"Smalholm Castle" (1822).

But then, for six years, until 1831, he created nothing, with the exception of a translation of Schiller’s ballad “The Triumph of the Winner” (1828), the poem “To Goethe” (1827) and individual works on occasion. The bustle of court life and the duties of the heir's educator interfered with the poet's work.

Only in 1831, when Vasily Andreevich lived in Tsarskoye Selo, meeting daily with Pushkin and very often with Gogol, did he again experience the extraordinary upsurge of creative forces that once filled his life in Muratov and Dolbino. Creative inspiration did not leave him abroad, where he went for treatment in 1832-33.

In 1831 Vasily Andreevich wrote three fairy tales:

"The Tale of Tsar Berendey"

"Sleeping Beauty",

"The War of Mice and Frogs"

many ballads from Schiller

"Glove",

"Polycrates' ring"

"Ceres's Complaints"

Southie - "Donika"

“God's Judgment over a Bishop,” imitations and poetic stories.

In 1832-33 the poet wrote his last ballads, the genre of which he never returned to. These include ballads from Uland

"Roland the Squire"

"Carl's Swimming"

"Fratricide",

"Knight Rollon"

"Ulin and his daughter"

Schiller's Eleusinian Feast.

From the mid-30s. Vasily Andreevich creates works mainly of the large epic genre: poems and stories in verse. He writes the story “Ondine” (1837), L. Fouquet, a free translation of “Camoens” (1839) by Fr. Talma, and translated into verse the Indian folk story “Nal and Damayanti” (1841).

Changes in the poet’s personal life have also been associated with recent years. After traveling with the heir first in Russia (from May 2 to December 17, 1837), and then in Europe (from May 1838 to early 1839), he resigned in 1839, which was accepted under the pretext that “the pedagogical duties entrusted to him tasks" ended when the heir reached adulthood. In fact, Nicholas I was unhappy with his role. as an educator, his intercession for the condemned and his harsh letter to the queen, which condemned the rudeness of the heir. Therefore, the tsar hastened to give the poet an honorable resignation and thus put an end to his court career.

In August 1839, Vasily Andreevich took part in the celebrations on the occasion of the opening of the monument in honor of the Battle of Borodino of 1812 and at the same time published his poem “The Borodino Anniversary” as a separate brochure.

In July 1840, he left for Germany and soon proposed there to the daughter of his friend, the artist Reitern. After a short visit to St. Petersburg to put his material affairs in order, he returned to Germany again and in 1841 got married and settled in Düsseldorf, remaining in Germany forever. Many times he tried to return to Russia, he missed his homeland and friends, but circumstances prevented him from fulfilling his desire.

In family life, the poet apparently did not find the happiness he was striving for. In his letters, he often complains about his wife’s serious illness, isolation from friends, deteriorating health and gradual loss of vision. It was at this time that his religious sentiments and conservative political views intensified. Vasily Andreevich’s creative activity has not weakened in recent years, despite the increasing frequency of illnesses.

In the first year of his married life, he wrote three fairy tales in blank verse, borrowed from the Grimm collection:

"About Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf"

"Puss in Boots",

"Tulip Tree"

In subsequent years, he translated the poem “Rustem and Zorab” (1844-47), which is an adaptation of part of Ferdowsi’s poem “Shah-Name”, in the adaptation of the German poet Rückert, “The Odyssey” (1842-49) by Homer.

Death interrupted his work on the translation of the Iliad and the creation of the original poem “The Eternal Jew” on an apocryphal plot of the Middle Ages, the idea of which was to depict the moral and philosophical significance and historical fate of Christianity.

In recent years, Vasily Andreevich lived in Baden-Baden and died there. His ashes were soon transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra next to Karamzin’s grave.

The poet's work, excluding his student work, is divided into three periods.

The first lasted from the beginning of 1802 to 1808 and can be called pre-romantic. The main lyrical genre for Vasily Andreevich at this time was the meditative elegy, in which the thematic and artistic traditions of Karamzinism were combined with an individual perception of life and a specific psychological character, which gave unity to the entire work as a whole. The poet followed Karamzin's poetic principles, correlating words and images not with objective reality and the logical content of ideas, but with the experiences they evoke in consciousness. But he went further than his teacher, overcame the normative consciousness of sentimentalism with its artificial, abstracted, closed “feelings” and conventional images of virtuous heroes and expressed the individual human soul, which became the life and content of poetry. Such a qualitatively new poetic work was the elegy “Rural Cemetery”, behind the traditional motives of which a living person is already revealed, with implied life contradictions and drama. In it, pictures of nature, thoughts about the injustice and contradictions of social life, about the sad fate of the poet in reality are imbued with such truth of individual experience, such sincere sympathy for ordinary people and internally justified melancholic sadness that the essence of the poem is not thoughts, not the meaning of individual judgments and paintings of nature in a sentimental spirit, and the inner world of the lyrical hero, the structure of his soul. This elegy confirms the validity of Belinsky’s words that the poet “apparently acted as a successor to Karamzin, as his associate, while in fact he created his own period of literature, which had nothing in common with Karamzin’s... Zhukovsky introduced a romantic element in Russian poetry: this is his great deed, his great feat” (V. G. Belinsky, Complete collection of works, vol. VII, p. 124). In the elegy, the features of early romanticism first appeared: lyrical mood, emotional coloring and spirituality of the entire work with the individual character of the poet. All this found expression in new means of poetic speech: in the expressiveness and emotional coloring of the semantic meaning of the word, in the melodic structure of poetic speech, achieved by a system of intonation, pauses, repetitions, parallelisms, reduction and expansion of the volume of sentences, inverse and rhythmic variations, etc. .

The poetic richness of the elegy is so significant and unusual that, as Pletnev wrote, “it was destined to begin a happy revolution in poetry in our country.”

The poet’s poetic principles were further developed in the elegy “Evening” - the pinnacle of the poet’s creativity of the first period. Lyrical motifs, a complex system of interrogative and exclamatory intonations, a natural and imperceptible change in the intensification and weakening of emotional tension make the poems a single, smoothly flowing musical and lyrical stream, in which the experiences of the lyrical hero are reflected with the slightest nuances. In this elegy there is no longer the rhetorical length and intonation monotony of “The Rural Cemetery”, but in it the poet’s inner world is revealed not in direct lyrical expression, but in connection with traditional sentimental motives and situations, which makes these elegies typically pre-romantic, with which the first period of the poet’s work ends.

The second period lasted from 1808 to 1833. During this time, Vasily Andreevich wrote romantic elegies, songs, and ballads. The transition to them were messages that revealed immediate experiences caused by the conditions of the poet’s personal life, his social self-awareness, which convinced him of the inconsistency of the surrounding reality with the moral dignity of man. In the sincere sorrow of the poet's messages, in his complaints about life ("To Philaletus", early 1808; "To Turgenev", 1813) - a deep drama was revealed, which constituted the subtext of the poet's elegies, songs and ballads, their psychological specificity and spontaneity. The mood of yearning for ideal, romantic happiness and detachment from “changing blessings” was expressed fully in the elegy “Theon and Aeschines” (1814), which Belinsky looked at “as a program for all of Zhukovsky’s poetry, as a statement of the basic principles of its content” ( Complete collected works, vol. VII, M., 1955, p. 194). It is imbued with hidden drama, which is resolved by the romantic belief that love and the desire for a “lofty goal” are stronger than death (“The grave will not destroy these bonds”).

Understanding the poetry of Vasily Andreevich is connected with the theme of the charm of the soul, illuminated by a vision of the beautiful, always instantaneous and inexpressible. This theme is reflected in the poet’s love lyrics and his friendly messages, as well as in the elegy “The Mysterious Visitor” (1824), which Belinsky considered “one of Zhukovsky’s most characteristic poems.” Associated with its characteristically romantic content is the melodic manner of developing the theme, the movement of which is realized by a change of questions, transitions from one motive to another, emotionally colored by the intonation of a direct address to an unknown mysterious visitor. The feeling inspired by the mysterious visitor is close to “young hope”; love that makes the world beautiful for us; the thought, which “silently leads us into the past”; poetry, with which “everything close is beautiful”; a presentiment that clearly speaks “about the heavenly, about the holy.” The poet does not know who this mysterious visitor is. “But this uncertainty,” writes Belinsky, “this vagueness constitutes the main charm, as well as the main drawback of Zhukovsky’s poetry” (Poln. sobr. soch., vol. VII, p. 180). Poems speak about the feeling of charm and aspiration of the soul towards an unknown ideal as the predominant content of poetry

“The Charm of Days Past” (1818),

“To a passing genius” 1818

"The Unspeakable" (1819) and others.

The poet’s love lyrics, associated with a romantic feeling of love for M. A. Protasova, have the same character of elegiac charm and “ideality”

“My friend, my guardian angel”, 1808;

“Oh, dear friend! now joy is with you,” 1811;

“To Her,” 1811;

“You stood quietly before me,” 1823.

Vasily Andreevich developed in his poetry a means of directly expressing lyrical experience, conveyed not so much by the logical as by the intonation and rhythmic side of poetic speech, its emotional and semantic coloring.

Since 1808, his poetry has been enriched with a new poetic genre. In the plots of his ballads, in their narrative speech, as well as in the lyrical landscapes and melodic structure of his elegies, the same atmosphere of the poet’s dreaminess and romantic languor is revealed. Therefore, the plot and the morality arising from it, like the characters of the characters themselves, do not have independent meaning - all this only serves as a reflection of the mood of the narrator, the poet himself.

In the first ballad, “Lyudmila,” the poet declared himself as a master of this genre. He gave his ballad a national flavor, moving the scene of action to Moscow Rus' in the 16th - 17th centuries, gave the heroine the Russian name Lyudmila, introduced folk fairy-tale formulas and names, preserving the principles of melodic structure of speech. His ballad reflected elements of Russian nationality, but it was devoid of genuine nationality. Its historical significance, however, is great, since the ballad was the first artistic embodiment of the idea of nationality. “Lyudmila” attracted the attention of contemporaries and became the subject of controversy (1816). In the ballad “Svetlana,” the national flavor is enhanced, nightmares and horrors lose their mystery and are explained by the heroine’s sleep and state of mind. But the nationality is not reflected deeply in it, Russian life is depicted too idyllic, the characters are pale, and the external pictures of life and nature are conventional. However, this does not deprive the ballad of artistic value; its essence is not in the reproduction of objective reality, but in the feeling of bright joy, lightness and at the same time sadness that it evokes.

Vasily Andreevich’s great achievement in the ballad “Twelve Sleeping Maidens” was psychological analysis and romantic pictures of nature, reflecting the mood of the work as a whole, the inner world of the heroes. In this ballad, the plot, images and religious motifs - everything in its lyrical sound expresses the poet’s experiences and his worldview. After “The Twelve Sleeping Maidens,” the poet no longer wrote on Russian subjects.

In 1814, “The Aeolian Harp” was written, a ballad on the theme of unequal love. It affirms the triumph of love over death and the superiority of a person’s moral dignity over social status. This work is one of the poet's highest achievements. Vasily Andreevich wrote many translated and original ballads based on ancient themes and themes from ballads of Western European writers.

The third period - from 1834 to the end of his life - was marked by the transition from elegy, songs and ballads to large epic genres: poems and stories in verse. His work reveals an interest in epic clarity and artistic simplicity, which are inspired by inner poetry and bright romance. Zhukovsky V.A. translated

"Ondine"

"Nal and Damayanti"

"Rustem and Zorab"

"Odyssey".

His translations were of great importance for the development of Russian literature. They introduced Russian readers to the greatest poets of the era, to Iranian, Indian and Greek epics. Pushkin spoke about him as a translator: “In struggles with difficulty, he is an extraordinary strongman.” Vasily Andreevich's translations are distinguished by their individual originality. He translated works that were close to him in spirit, reflecting in them the lyrical cast of his soul, introducing deviations from the original that gave the translation a unified flavor and psychological sound. Over the years, his translations showed fewer and fewer deviations from the original. Such an unsurpassed translation is the translation of the Odyssey.

Zhukovsky's merit as a romantic poet is that, having expressed his inner world, he made not only romanticism, but also the means of poetic depiction of mental life in general, a property of Russian literature. A specific analysis of the poet’s literary heritage shows the high artistic value of his poetry and makes it possible to understand how “immensely great is the importance of this poet for Russian poetry and literature” (Belinsky, Poln. sobr. soch., vol. VII, 1955, p. 142).

Zhukovsky Vasily Andreevich died 12(24).IV. 1852 in Baden-Baden (Germany), his body was transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (now the Necropolis of Art Masters).

In 1854, using funds raised by public subscription, a tombstone by P. Klodt was erected.

In 1887, a bust of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky by V. P. Kreitan was installed in the Alexander Garden (now Gorky Garden).

One of the central streets of the city (formerly Malaya Italianskaya) is named after him.

The famous Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was born in 1783 in the village of Mishenskoye, Belevsky district, Tula province. His father was the landowner Afanasy Ivanovich Bunin (the 20th century writer Ivan Bunin came from the same family), his mother was a captive Turkish Salha (baptized Elizaveta Dementievna Turchaninova). Zhukovsky received his surname from his godfather, a poor Belarusian nobleman who lived in the Bunins' house.

Bunin's eldest son died, and Zhukovsky was the only boy among older sisters and nieces, who were only slightly younger than him. Upbringing among female society, pampering, affection, common love, left an imprint on the soft, gentle soul of the future poet. He began his studies at the Tula Public School, but the teacher did not understand him and was unable to appreciate the exceptional talents of his student, but was only angry at the boy’s inability to do mathematics. In 1797, Zhukovsky entered the Noble Boarding School at Moscow University. Zhukovsky's father entrusted his son to the director of Moscow University, I. P. Turgenev, who was a member of the Novikov circle. In Turgenev's house, Zhukovsky met many outstanding people of that time; met Karamzin, Dmitriev. Zhukovsky fell in love with the Turgenev family very much, and became especially close to one of the sons, Andrei. At the Noble Boarding School, Zhukovsky’s views were determined, his abilities and talents developed. The boarding school teachers did their best to encourage the literary tastes and activities of their students, who organized literary competitions among themselves and published a handwritten magazine. Zhukovsky soon became the head of this literary circle; At the age of 14, at the boarding school, he read an ode of his own composition - “For the Prosperity of Russia.” In this ode one can feel the strong influence of Lomonosov, Derzhavin, there is little independence, but Zhukovsky’s light pen is already visible, his undoubted literary talents are visible.

Orest Kiprensky. Portrait of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, 1815

The main thing that Zhukovsky took away from the Noble Boarding School was knowledge of foreign languages and familiarity with the most important works of foreign literature, but in general, the education he received in 3 years at the boarding school was rather superficial, although multifaceted. Subsequently, he had to fill in the gaps in his education by reading.

After graduating from the Noble Boarding School, in 1801, Zhukovsky entered the service at the Salt Office in Moscow, but did not serve for long, since the service did not interest him at all. In the same year, former students of the Noble Boarding School formed the “Friendly Literary Society,” which still reflected the features of the Novikov circle. Members of society strived for self-improvement, supported the “cult of friendship” (a typical feature of the sentimental-romantic era), and developed their literary views and tastes. A few years later, all members of the “Friendly Society” - Zhukovsky, Prince. Vyazemsky, A. Turgenev, Voeikov, Bludov, Merzlyakov and others became part of Arzamas.

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. Video

After retiring, Zhukovsky settled in the village, in his native Mishenskoye, where he devoted himself entirely to reading and literary pursuits. The real beginning of his poetic activity can be attributed to this time. In 1802, he wrote the elegy “Rural Cemetery,” which was published in Karamzin’s “Bulletin of Europe” and immediately attracted the attention of the reading public.

After spending some time in Mishenskoye, Zhukovsky moved in with his married sister, E. Protasova, who settled in the city of Belev, 3 miles from Mishenskoye, with her daughters, Maria and Alexandra. Zhukovsky, who was only a few years older than his nieces, undertook to give them lessons in literature and literature. The years spent in the Protasov family, the quiet life of a provincial town, literary studies and conversations with cute girls, were perhaps the happiest time of Zhukovsky’s life. He soon realized that he deeply fell in love with his eldest niece, Marya Andreevna. This feeling, tender, bright and deep, left an imprint on all of Zhukovsky’s work. Realizing that a marriage between uncle and niece was impossible, Zhukovsky decided to leave Belev. He tried with all his might to overcome the feeling that had arisen in his soul.

"You bloom in the color of the day,
You are not blooming for me..."

he wrote in one of his charming lyrical poems.

Having settled in Moscow, Zhukovsky took over the publication of the magazine “Bulletin of Europe”, hoping to drown out his feelings with work. “Vestnik Evropy” published many of Zhukovsky’s own works—the story “Maryina Roshcha” (reminiscent of Karamzin’s “Poor Liza”), the ballad “Lyudmila,” which brought Zhukovsky fame, and some critical articles.

But neither separation, nor time, nor literary works could overcome Zhukovsky’s feelings for Masha Protasova, and after 3 years, in 1811, he returned to Mishenskoye, transferring the “Bulletin of Europe” to other hands. He was sure that Masha loved him too, and decided to ask E. A. Protasova to agree to their marriage, pointing out that he was only her half-brother. But Protasova flatly refused him and allowed him to see her daughter only on the condition that he would never tell Masha about his feelings. After some time, she demanded that Zhukovsky completely leave Mishensky, since in one of his poems (“Swimmer”) she saw a hint of his feelings for his daughter. Zhukovsky was in despair, but he submitted and left. This was in 1812. All of Russia at this time was covered in the patriotic upsurge of the Patriotic War. Zhukovsky enlisted in the Moscow militia. He did not participate in the Battle of Borodino, as he was in reserve, but he experienced Borodino and the fire of Moscow closely.

After the retreat of the French army, in Tarutino, Zhukovsky wrote the poem “The Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors” (see full text, summary and analysis), which at one time enjoyed enormous success and brought Zhukovsky fame. But literary fame did not please him. He could not forget the girl he loved, although he accepted the test sent to him with purely Christian humility. Despite the grief of separation, the bright mood never left him: “There are many good things in life without happiness,” he says in one of his letters from this time.

Zhukovsky drew up a plan for the education of Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich for 12 years. He chose teachers for him in various subjects, and he himself taught Russian language, literature and, most importantly, supervised the entire education of the heir. Zhukovsky paid the main attention to education hearts his student, who in the future was to become the Tsar of Russia. In his message to Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna on the occasion of the birth of the heir, Zhukovsky expresses the wish that the heir, the future tsar, would never forget: “... the holiest of titles: Human " He must -

Live for centuries in national greatness,
For good everyone - forget yours.
Only in the free voice of the fatherland
Read your deeds with humility.

Zhukovsky tried to convey to his pupil his own Christian worldview and to develop in him a humane attitude towards people. It is safe to say that Zhukovsky’s influence had a significant impact on the humane reforms of the Tsar the Liberator.

Zhukovsky passionately fell in love with his pupil, who also retained his heartfelt affection for him throughout his life.

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. Portrait by K. Bryullov, 1837

Despite his service under Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, Zhukovsky was engaged in literature in fits and starts. During this period he wrote Ondine, several fairy tales and lyric poems.

Pushkin died in 1837. Zhukovsky suffered this grief heavily, both as the loss of all of Russia and as the personal grief of a close friend. Having learned that Pushkin was seriously wounded in a duel, Zhukovsky hurried to him and spent the last days and hours of the poet near his bed. After the funeral, Zhukovsky wrote a letter to Sergei Lvovich Pushkin, the poet’s father, describing to him in detail the last hours of his son’s life. This letter, written with all the sincerity and ardent feeling of which Zhukovsky was capable, can be considered one of his best works.

The upbringing of the heir, Alexander Nikolaevich, ended with a long journey, first throughout Russia, then abroad; Zhukovsky accompanied his pupil. In 1841, the education of the Tsarevich was completed, and Zhukovsky, generously awarded, retired.

In the same year, he married the daughter of his friend, the painter Reitern, in Germany. He was 58 years old, his bride, Elizaveta Reitern, was 18... She was a poetic, dreamy girl, something in her image undoubtedly reminded her of Masha Protasova. In his old age, Zhukovsky’s constant dream of family happiness came true. He spent the end of his life, 12 years, quietly and peacefully with his young wife and the two children they had, a daughter and a son. The only thing that darkened Zhukovsky's happiness was the frequent illness of his wife. He could never return to Russia, which, of course, he missed, but his wife could not bear the Russian climate. Towards the end of his life, Zhukovsky himself began to suffer from eye problems and was even almost blind. This did not hinder him in his literary works - he acquired a typewriter and learned to write without looking. Over the past 12 years, he has written a lot of translations, mainly from folk epics. During this period, he translated “Nal and Damayanti” from the Indian epic, “Rustem and Zorab” from the Persian “Book of Kings” (Shahname), “Odyssey”, on which he worked for 6 years. He treated the translation of Homer with some kind of sacred trepidation. “I wanted,” he writes, “to look into the first world of poetry, into this lost Eden, in which at the time it breathed so easily and healingly. Homer opened the sacred door into it for me, and I lived happily with his bright creatures.” In addition, he translated in verse “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” the greatest work of our folk epic.

In the last years of his life abroad, Zhukovsky became very close to Gogol. They were brought together by the same Christian, mystical mood.

Tombstone of Zhukovsky in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Zhukovsky was not afraid of death and often said: “Death is a great blessing.” He died quietly and peacefully in 1852, at the age of 69. His body was transported to Russia, to St. Petersburg, and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, next to Karamzin.

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky is a major literary figure, writer, translator, who made a huge contribution to such a grandiose direction of Russian literature as romanticism. Court teacher of the imperial family, friend and mentor of Alexander Pushkin. Born on January 29 (February 9, new style) 1783 in the village of Mishenskoye, Tula region.

The story of his birth was unusual: his father was a landowner, and his mother was a serf peasant woman originally from Turkey. The boy received his first and last name from his father’s friend Andrei Zhukovsky. The wife of Afanasy Bunin, the boy's prodigal father, took pity on the baby and accepted him into the family, raising him throughout his life as his own son.

Vasily received an excellent education, first at a noble boarding school in Moscow, and then at the public school of his native Tula. From his youth he was attracted to literature, especially the works of ancient Russian classics. In addition, he devoted a lot of time to self-education in the field of world history.

While still a student at the boarding school, Zhukovsky began to take his first steps in the literary field: in 1797 he began writing his first translations, and in 1782 the magazine “Bulletin of Europe” first published his adaptation of Gray’s “Rural Cemetery.” The year 1808 was marked by a significant event for the author: his famous ballad “Lyudmila” was published and Zhukovsky was invited to the position of editor in the “Bulletin of Europe”.

From 1812 to 1813 he served in the militia and wrote the ballad “Svetlana”. Typhus, which he contracted in the service, prevented his further stay at the front and Zhukovsky resigned. His political views were reflected in such works as “To Emperor Alexander” and “Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors.” Since 1815, Zhukovsky began working in the Arzamas literary association.

In 1817, the writer was awarded the great honor of becoming a court teacher for Princess Alexandra Feodorovna, the future Empress Nicholas I. Later he taught Tsarevich Alexander II, becoming not only his guide in the world of science, but also his spiritual mentor. In total, he spent 25 years at court.

The period from 1810 to 1820 is considered the most fruitful in his work. It was at this time that many successful translations, poems and ballads were written. Among them: “Aeolian Harp”, “Twelve Sleeping Maidens”. His work never experienced such a surge, not before or after. However, later he created truly masterpieces, for example, the translation of “The Odyssey” and “Rustem and Zorab”, which were published in 1849.

Translations made by Zhukovsky have been repeatedly noted by critics as independent integral works, which often surpass the originals in style and composition. Contemporaries characterized Zhukovsky as a gentle, sentimental, dreamy person, who, moreover, possessed remarkable life experience, wisdom and insight. He was extremely honest, smart and decent. Hopeless love for his own niece Maria Protasova led to two marriage proposals, which were refused.

The year 1841 brought with it a sharp deterioration in the writer’s health; in the hope of improving his health, he went to Germany. Then he decided to marry 18-year-old Elizabeth, from whose marriage a daughter, Alexandra, and a son, Pavel, were born.

On April 24, 1852, Zhukovsky died in Baden-Baden, his body was interred in St. Petersburg, where he spent most of his life. It is known that at the end of his life the writer became completely blind, but continued his work. The last work written by the poet was the ballad “The Wandering Jew.”

Zhukovsky can deservedly be called the most striking personality of the pre-Pushkin period of Russian literature. He was the founder of romanticism and the flourishing of this artistic movement is associated with his work. The themes of the human soul, patriotism, love for nature and the Motherland, and the moral component of human life run like a red thread through all his works. He himself tried to live according to his conscience and invariably called on the reader to do so. The pathos of his works captures from the first to the last line and touches the most subtle strings of the human soul.