1. Years of study.
2. Resignation, beginning literary activity.
3. Emigration and return to homeland.
A. I. Kuprin was born in 1870 in county town Narovchat of the Penza province in the family of a minor official, secretary of the world congress. His father Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin died of cholera in August 1871. Almost three years later, the widow Lyubov Alekseevna moved with three children to Moscow, sent her daughters to closed educational establishments, Alexander lived with his mother until he was six years old in the Kudrinsky widow's house. For the next four years, Kuprin studied at the Razumovsky orphanage, where in 1877 he began writing poetry. The story “Brave Fugitives” (1917) is about this period of his life.
After graduating from the boarding school, he enters the Moscow Military Gymnasium (cadet corps). He studies in cadet corps eight years, there he writes lyrical and comic poems, translates from French and German. This period of life is reflected in the story “At the Turning Point” (“Cadets”) (1900). Enters the Alexander Military School, graduating as a second lieutenant in 1890. In 1889, the magazine “Russian Satirical List” published Kuprin’s first story, “The Last Debut.” The author considered the story a failure. For the publication, Kuprin received two days in a punishment cell - the cadets were forbidden to speak in the press. This is described in the novel “Junker” (1928-1932) and in the story “Printing Ink” (1929).
Service in the Dnieper infantry regiment in 1890-1894 was Kuprin’s preparation for a military career, but due to his violent temper when drunk, he was not accepted into the General Staff Academy (the strongman Kuprin threw a policeman into the water).
The lieutenant resigned. His life was stormy, he had the opportunity to try himself in a variety of fields, from wandering to a loader and a dentist. He was an inveterate adventurer and explorer - he went underwater as a diver, flew an airplane, and created an athletic society. He based many of his life experiences as the basis for his works. The years of service were reflected in the military stories “Inquiry” (1894), “The Lilac Bush” (1894), “Night Shift” (1899), “Hike” (1901), “Overnight” (1895), in the story “Duel” (1904 -1905), the story “The Wedding” (1908).
In 1892, Kuprin began work on the story “In the Dark.” In 1893, the manuscript was transferred to the editors of “Russian Wealth,” an almanac published by V. G. Korolenko, N. K. Mikhailovsky, I. F. Annensky. The story was published in the summer, and already at the end of autumn the story “ Moonlit night».
IN early works Kuprin can see how his skill grew. There is less and less imitation, a tendency to psychological analysis. Army-themed stories are distinguished by their sympathy for to the common man, acute social orientation. Feuilletons and essays paint the life of a big city with rich colors.
After his resignation, Kuprin moved to Kyiv and worked in newspapers. Kyiv period- a fruitful time in Kuprin’s life. He gets acquainted with the life of the townspeople and tells the most interesting things in the collection “Kyiv Types”. These essays appeared at the end of 1895 in the newspaper " Kiev word”, and next year they will be published as a separate book. Kuprin works as an accountant at a steel mill in the Donbass, writes the story “Moloch”, the story “ Wonderful doctor", the book "Miniatures: Essays and Stories", wanders, meets I. A. Bunin. In 1898, he lived with the family of his sister and brother-in-law, a forester, in the Ryazan province. In these wonderful places he began work on the story “Olesya”. Residents of Polesie forests, such as rich inland and external beauty Olesya, continue to interest Kuprin later as an object for depiction - in the story “Horse Thieves” he draws the image of the horse thief Buzyga, a strong, brave hero. In these works, Kuprin creates his “ideal natural man».
In 1899, the story “Night Shift” was published. Kuprin continues to collaborate in newspapers in Kyiv and Rostov-on-Don, and in 1900 he publishes the first version of the story “Cadets” in the Kyiv newspaper “Life and Art”. He leaves for Odessa and Yalta, where he meets Chekhov and works on the story “At the Circus.” In the fall he leaves again for the Ryazan province, taking on a contract to measure six hundred acres of peasant forest. Returning to Moscow, in the same year he entered literary circle N. D. Teleshova “Wednesday”, meets L. N. Andreev, F. I. Chaliapin.
At the end of the year, Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg to head the fiction department at the Magazine for Everyone. Introduced by I. A. Bunin to the publisher of the magazine “World of God” A. Davydova, he publishes there the story “In the Circus”. The story is imbued with the mood of the death of all that is beautiful. Kuprin reconsiders the “ideal of the natural man.” Man is beautiful by nature, capable of inspiring an artist, but in life beauty is belittled, therefore it evokes a feeling of regret, Kuprin believes. Chekhov assessed the story in this way: “Bunin’s “In Autumn” was made with a constrained, tense hand, in any case, Kuprin’s “At the Circus” is much more higher. “At the Circus” is a free, naive, talented work, and, moreover, written, undoubtedly, knowledgeable person" He also informed Kuprin that L.N. Tolstoy also read the work, and he liked it. IN family life Kuprin changes - he marries M. Davydova, his daughter Lydia is born. Now he is a co-editor of the magazine together with A. I. Bogdanovich and F. D. Batyushkov. He is introduced to L.N. Tolstoy, M. Gorky. In 1903, the story “Swamp” appeared in print, and the first volume of works was published.
In Crimea, the writer makes the first drafts of the story “The Duel”, but destroys the manuscript. Based on my impressions from meeting with traveling circus writes the story "White Poodle". At the beginning of 1904, Kuprin resigned from editorship of the magazine. Kuprin's story "Peaceful Life" has been published. He leaves for Odessa, then to Balaklava.
Kuprin was far from revolutionary movement, but the approach of the revolution was reflected in his work - it acquired a critical, revealing beginning. The essay “Frenzy” (1904), which expresses Kuprin’s ideological position, satirically depicts the “masters of life”; the joy of the idle public is depicted in contrast among the quiet, lyrical southern night. The stories "Measles", "The Good Society" and "The Priest" depict the conflict between the "good society" and the democratic intelligentsia. In reality, “good society” turns out to be mired in fraud; these are rotten people with imaginary virtue and ostentatious nobility.
Kuprin works for a long time on the manuscript of the “duel”, reads excerpts to Gorky and receives his approval, but during the search the gendarmes seized part of the manuscript. When it was published, the story brought fame to the author and caused great resonance in criticism. The writer observes with his own eyes the uprising on the cruiser "Ochakov", for this he travels every day from Balaklava to Sevastopol. He witnessed the shooting of the cruiser and sheltered the surviving sailors. The St. Petersburg newspaper “Our Life” publishes Kuprin’s essay “Events in Sevastopol.” In December, Kuprin was expelled from Balaklava and banned from living there in the future. He dedicated a series of essays “Listrigons” (1907-1911) to this city. In 1906, the second volume of Kuprin's stories was published. In the magazine “World of God” there is a story “Staff Captain Rybnikov.” Kuprin said that he considered “The Duel” to be his first real work, and “Staff Captain Rybnikov” as his best.
In 1907, the writer divorced and married E. Heinrich, and in this marriage a daughter, Ksenia, was born. Kuprin writes “Emerald” and “Shulamith”, publishes next volume stories. In 1909 he received Pushkin Prize. During this time he creates the “River of Life”, “The Pit”, “Gambrinus”, “ Garnet bracelet", "Liquid Sun" ( Science fiction with elements of dystopia).
In 1918, Kuprin criticized the new times and was arrested. After his release, he leaves for Helsinki and then to Paris, where he actively publishes. But this does not help the family live in prosperity. In 1924, he was offered to return, and only thirteen years later did the seriously ill writer come to Moscow, and then to Leningrad and Gatchina. Kuprin's esophageal disease worsened and in August 1938 he died.
In literature, the name of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is associated with an important transitional stage at the turn of two centuries. Not last role this was played by the historical breakdown in political and public life Russia. This factor is undoubtedly the most in a strong way influenced the writer's work. A.I. Kuprin is a man of unusual destiny and strong character. Almost all of his works are based on real events. Ardent fighter for justice, he sharply, boldly and at the same time lyrically created his masterpieces, which were included in the golden fund of Russian literature.
Kuprin was born in 1870 in the town of Narovchat, Penza province. His father, a small landowner, died suddenly when the future writer was only a year old. Left with his mother and two sisters, he grew up enduring hunger and all kinds of hardships. Experiencing serious financial difficulties associated with the death of her husband, the mother placed her daughters in a government boarding school, and together with little Sasha moved to Moscow.
Kuprin’s mother, Lyubov Alekseevna, was a proud woman, as she was a descendant of a noble Tatar family, as well as a native Muscovite. But she had to make a difficult decision for herself - to send her son to be raised in an orphan school.
Kuprin's childhood years, spent within the boarding school walls, were joyless, and internal state always seemed depressed. He felt out of place, felt bitterness from the constant oppression of his personality. After all, given the origin of his mother, of which the boy was always very proud, future writer As he grew up and matured, he showed himself to be an emotional, active and charismatic person.
Youth and education
After graduating from the orphan school, Kuprin entered a military gymnasium, which was later transformed into a cadet corps.
This event greatly influenced future fate Alexander Ivanovich and, first of all, on his work. After all, it was from the beginning of his studies at the gymnasium that he first discovered his interest in writing, and the image of Second Lieutenant Romashov from the famous story “The Duel” is the prototype of the author himself.
Service in an infantry regiment allowed Kuprin to visit many remote cities and provinces of Russia, study military affairs, the basics of army discipline and drill. The topic of officer everyday life has taken a strong position in many works of art the author, which subsequently caused controversial debates in society.
It would seem that, military career- the fate of Alexander Ivanovich. But his rebellious nature did not allow this to happen. By the way, service was completely alien to him. There is a version that Kuprin, while under the influence of alcohol, threw a police officer from the bridge into the water. In connection with this incident, he soon resigned and left military affairs forever.
History of success
After leaving the service, Kuprin experienced an urgent need to obtain comprehensive knowledge. Therefore, he began to actively travel around Russia, meet people, and learn a lot of new and useful things from communicating with them. At the same time, Alexander Ivanovich sought to try his hand at different professions. He gained experience in the field of surveyors, circus performers, fishermen, even pilots. However, one of the flights almost ended in tragedy: as a result of the plane crash, Kuprin almost died.
He also worked with interest as a journalist in various printed publications, wrote notes, essays, articles. The spirit of an adventurer allowed him to successfully develop everything he started. He was open to everything new and absorbed what was happening around him like a sponge. Kuprin was a researcher by nature: he eagerly studied human nature, wanted to experience all the facets of interpersonal communication for himself. Therefore, in time military service, faced with obvious officer promiscuity, hazing and humiliation human dignity, the creator in a damning manner formed the basis for writing his most famous works, such as “The Duel”, “Junkers”, “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”.
The writer built the plots of all his works based solely on personal experience and the memories he received during his service and travels around Russia. Openness, simplicity, sincerity in the presentation of thoughts, as well as the reliability of the description of characters’ images became the key to the author’s success in the literary path.
Creation
Kuprin was eager for his people with all his soul, and his explosive and honest character, due to Tatar origin mother, would not allow those facts about the lives of people that he personally witnessed to be distorted in writing.
However, Alexander Ivanovich did not condemn all of his characters, even bringing them to the surface dark sides. Being a humanist and a desperate fighter for justice, Kuprin figuratively demonstrated this feature of his in the work “The Pit”. It tells about the life of brothel dwellers. But the writer does not focus on the heroines as fallen women; on the contrary, he invites readers to understand the prerequisites for their fall, the torment of their hearts and souls, and invites them to discern in each libertine, first of all, a person.
More than one of Kuprin’s works is imbued with the theme of love. The most striking of them is the story ““. In it, as in “The Pit,” there is the image of a narrator, an explicit or implicit participant in the events described. But the narrator in Oles is one of the two main characters. This is a story about noble love, partly the heroine considers herself unworthy of it, whom everyone takes for a witch. However nothing general girl has nothing to do with her. On the contrary, her image embodies all possible feminine virtues. The ending of the story cannot be called happy, because the heroes are not reunited in their sincere impulse, but are forced to lose each other. But happiness for them lies in the fact that in their lives they had the opportunity to experience the power of all-consuming mutual love.
Of course, the story “The Duel” deserves special attention as a reflection of all the horrors of army morals that reigned then in Tsarist Russia. This is a clear confirmation of the features of realism in Kuprin’s work. Perhaps that is why the story caused a storm negative reviews critics and the public. Romashov's hero, in the same rank of second lieutenant as Kuprin himself, who once retired, like the author, appears before readers in the light extraordinary personality, whose psychological growth we have the opportunity to observe from page to page. This book brought wide fame to its creator and rightfully occupies one of the central places in his bibliography.
Kuprin did not support the revolution in Russia, even though at first he met Lenin quite often. Ultimately, the writer emigrated to France, where he continued his literary work. In particular, Alexander Ivanovich loved to write for children. Some of his stories (“White Poodle”, ““, “Starlings”) undoubtedly deserve the attention of the target audience.
Personal life
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was married twice. The writer's first wife was Maria Davydova, the daughter of a famous cellist. The marriage produced a daughter, Lydia, who later died during childbirth. Kuprin's only grandson, who was born, died from wounds received during the Second World War.
The second time the writer married Elizaveta Heinrich, with whom he lived until the end of his days. The marriage produced two daughters, Zinaida and Ksenia. But the first one died in early childhood from pneumonia, and the second became famous actress. However, there was no continuation of the Kuprin family, and today he has no direct descendants.
Kuprin’s second wife survived him by only four years and, unable to bear it, ordeal starvation during the siege of Leningrad, she committed suicide.
- Kuprin was proud of his Tatar origin, so he often put on a national caftan and skullcap, going out to people in such attire and going to visit people.
- Partly thanks to his acquaintance with I. A. Bunin, Kuprin became a writer. Bunin once approached him with a request to write a note on a topic that interested him, which marked the beginning of Alexander Ivanovich’s literary activity.
- The author was famous for his sense of smell. Once, while visiting Fyodor Chaliapin, he shocked everyone present, eclipsing the invited perfumer with his unique flair, unmistakably recognizing all the components of the new fragrance. Sometimes, when meeting new people, Alexander Ivanovich sniffed them, thereby putting everyone in an awkward position. They said that this helped him better understand the essence of the person in front of him.
- Throughout his life, Kuprin changed about twenty professions.
- After meeting A.P. Chekhov in Odessa, the writer went at his invitation to St. Petersburg to work in famous magazine. Since then, the author acquired a reputation as a rowdy and drunkard, as he often took part in entertainment events in a new environment.
- The first wife, Maria Davydova, tried to eradicate some of the disorganization inherent in Alexander Ivanovich. If he fell asleep while working, she deprived him of breakfast, or forbade him to enter the house unless new chapters of the work he was working on at that time were ready.
- The first monument to A.I. Kuprin was erected only in 2009 in Balaklava in Crimea. This is due to the fact that in 1905, during the Ochakov uprising of sailors, the writer helped them hide, thereby saving their lives.
- There were legends about the writer's drunkenness. In particular, the wits repeated famous saying: “If truth is in wine, how many truths are there in Kuprin?”
Death
The writer returned from emigration to the USSR in 1937, but with poor health. He had hopes that a second wind would open in his homeland, he would improve his condition and be able to write again. At that time, Kuprin's vision was rapidly deteriorating.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in Narovchat - died on August 25, 1938 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Russian writer, translator.
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the district town of Narovchat (now Penza region) in the family of an official, hereditary nobleman Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin (1834-1871), who died a year after the birth of his son.
Mother, Lyubov Alekseevna (1838-1910), née Kulunchakova, came from a family of Tatar princes (noblewoman, princely title Did not have). After the death of her husband, she moved to Moscow, where the future writer spent his childhood and adolescence.
At the age of six, the boy was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school (orphanage), from where he left in 1880. In the same year he entered the Second Moscow Cadet Corps.
In 1887 he was released into Aleksandrovskoye military school. Subsequently he will describe his “ military youth"in the stories "At the Turning Point (Cadets)" and in the novel "Junkers".
Kuprin's first literary experience was poetry that remained unpublished. The first work to see the light was the story “The Last Debut” (1889).
In 1890, Kuprin, with the rank of second lieutenant, was released into the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment, stationed in the Podolsk province (in Proskurov). The officer's life he led during four years, provided rich material for his future works.
In 1893-1894 in the St. Petersburg magazine " Russian wealth“His story “In the Dark,” the stories “On a Moonlit Night” and “Inquiry” were published. Kuprin has several stories on an army theme: “Overnight” (1897), “Night Shift” (1899), “Hike”.
In 1894, Lieutenant Kuprin retired and moved to Kyiv, without any civilian profession. In the following years, he traveled a lot around Russia, trying many professions, greedily absorbing life experiences that became the basis of his future works.
During these years, Kuprin met I. A. Bunin, A. P. Chekhov and M. Gorky. In 1901 he moved to St. Petersburg and began working as secretary of the “Magazine for Everyone.” Kuprin's stories appeared in St. Petersburg magazines: “Swamp” (1902), “Horse Thieves” (1903), “White Poodle” (1903).
In 1905, his most significant work was published - the story “The Duel”, which had big success. The writer’s performances with the reading of individual chapters of “The Duel” became an event cultural life capital Cities. His other works of this time: the stories “Staff Captain Rybnikov” (1906), “River of Life”, “Gambrinus” (1907), the essay “Events in Sevastopol” (1905). In 1906 he was a candidate for deputy State Duma I convocation from the St. Petersburg province.
Kuprin’s work in the years between the two revolutions resisted the decadent mood of those years: the cycle of essays “Listrigons” (1907-1911), stories about animals, the stories “Shulamith” (1908), “Garnet Bracelet” (1911), fantastic story"Liquid Sun" (1912). His prose has become a notable phenomenon in Russian literature. In 1911 he settled in Gatchina with his family.
After the outbreak of World War I, he opened a military hospital in his house and campaigned in newspapers for citizens to take out war loans. In November 1914, he was mobilized into the army and sent to Finland as commander of an infantry company. Demobilized in July 1915 for health reasons.
In 1915, Kuprin completed work on the story “The Pit,” in which he talks about the life of prostitutes in Russian brothels. The story was condemned for being, according to critics, excessive naturalism. Nuravkin’s publishing house, which published Kuprin’s “The Pit” in the German edition, was brought to justice by the prosecutor’s office “for distributing pornographic publications.”
The abdication of Nicholas II was met in Helsingfors, where he was undergoing treatment, and received it with enthusiasm. After returning to Gatchina, he was editor of the newspapers " Free Russia", "Liberty", "Petrograd leaflet", sympathized with the Socialist Revolutionaries. After the Bolsheviks seized power, the writer did not accept the policy of war communism and the terror associated with it. In 1918, I went to Lenin with a proposal to publish a newspaper for the village - “Earth”. Worked at the publishing house World literature", based on . At this time he translated Don Carlos. He was arrested, spent three days in prison, was released and added to the list of hostages.
On October 16, 1919, with the arrival of the Whites in Gatchina, he entered the North-Western Army with the rank of lieutenant and was appointed editor of the army newspaper “Prinevsky Krai,” headed by General P. N. Krasnov.
After the defeat of the North-Western Army, he went to Revel, and from there in December 1919 to Helsinki, where he stayed until July 1920, after which he went to Paris.
By 1930, the Kuprin family was impoverished and mired in debt. His literary fees were meager, and alcoholism plagued his years in Paris. From 1932, his vision steadily deteriorated, and his handwriting became significantly worse. Return to Soviet Union became the only solution Kuprin's material and psychological problems. At the end of 1936, he finally decided to apply for a visa. In 1937, at the invitation of the USSR government, he returned to his homeland.
Kuprin’s return to the Soviet Union was preceded by an appeal from the USSR Plenipotentiary Representative in France V.P. Potemkin on August 7, 1936 with a corresponding proposal to J.V. Stalin (who gave the preliminary “go-ahead”), and on October 12, 1936 - with a letter to the People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs N. I. Ezhov. Yezhov sent Potemkin’s note to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which on October 23, 1936 decided: “to allow the writer A. I. Kuprin to enter the USSR” (voted “for” by I. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, V. . Y. Chubar and A. A. Andreev; K. E. Voroshilov abstained).
He died on the night of August 25, 1938 from esophageal cancer. Buried in Leningrad on Literary Bridges Volkovsky cemetery next to the grave of I. S. Turgenev.
Stories and novels by Alexander Kuprin:
1892 - “In the Dark”
1896 - “Moloch”
1897 - “Army Ensign”
1898 - “Olesya”
1900 - “At the Turning Point” (Cadets)
1905 - “Duel”
1907 - "Gambrinus"
1908 - “Shulamith”
1909-1915 - “The Pit”
1910 - “Garnet Bracelet”
1913 - “Liquid Sun”
1917 - “Star of Solomon”
1928 - “The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia"
1929 - “The Wheel of Time”
1928-1932 - "Junkers"
1933 - “Zhaneta”
Stories by Alexander Kuprin:
1889 - “The Last Debut”
1892 - “Psyche”
1893 - “On a Moonlit Night”
1894 - “Inquiry”, “Slavic Soul”, “Lilac Bush”, “Unspoken Revision”, “To Glory”, “Madness”, “On the Road”, “Al-Issa”, “Forgotten Kiss”, “About That how Professor Leopardi gave me a voice"
1895 - “Sparrow”, “Toy”, “In the Menagerie”, “The Petitioner”, “Painting”, “ Terrible moment"", "Meat", "Untitled", "Overnight", "Millionaire", "Pirate", "Lolly", "Holy Love", "Curl", "Agave", "Life"
1896 - “Strange Case”, “Bonza”, “Horror”, “Natalya Davydovna”, “Demi-God”, “Blessed”, “Bed”, “Fairy Tale”, “Nag”, “Someone else’s Bread”, “Friends”, “ Marianna", "Dog's Happiness", "On the River"
1897 - " Stronger than death"", "Enchantment", "Caprice", "First-born", "Narcissus", "Breguet", "The first person you meet", "Confusion", "The Wonderful Doctor", "Barbos and Zhulka", " Kindergarten", "Allez!"
1898 - “Loneliness”, “ Backwoods»
1899 - “Night Shift”, “Lucky Card”, “In the Bowels of the Earth”
1900 - “Spirit of the Century”, “Dead Force”, “Taper”, “Executioner”
1901 - " Sentimental novel", "Autumn Flowers", "Ordered", "Hike", "At the Circus", "Silver Wolf"
1902 - “At rest”, “Swamp”
1903 - “Coward”, “Horse Thieves”, “How I Was an Actor”, “White Poodle”
1904 - “Evening Guest”, “Peaceful Life”, “Frenzy”, “Jew”, “Diamonds”, “Empty Dachas”, “White Nights”, “From the Street”
1905 - “Black Fog”, “Priest”, “Toast”, “Staff Captain Rybnikov”
1906 - “Art”, “Killer”, “River of Life”, “Happiness”, “Legend”, “Demir-Kaya”, “Resentment”
1907 - “Delirium”, “Emerald”, “Small fry”, “Elephant”, “Fairy Tales”, “Mechanical Justice”, “Giants”
1908 - “Seasickness”, “Wedding”, “Last Word”
1910 - “In a family way”, “Helen”, “In the cage of the beast”
1911 - “Telegraph Operator”, “Mistress of Traction”, “Royal Park”
1912 - “Weed”, “Black Lightning”
1913 - “Anathema”, “Elephant Walk”
1914 - “Holy Lies”
1917 - “Sashka and Yashka”, “Brave Fugitives”
1918 - “Piebald Horses”
1919 - “The Last of the Bourgeois”
1920 - “Lemon Peel”, “Fairy Tale”
1923 - “The One-Armed Commandant”, “Fate”
1924 - “Slap”
1925 - “Yu-yu”
1926 - “The Daughter of the Great Barnum”
1927 - “Blue Star”
1928 - “Inna”
1929 - “Paganini’s Violin”, “Olga Sur”
1933 - “Night Violet”
1934 - " The Last Knights", "Ralph"
Essays by Alexander Kuprin:
1897 - “Kyiv types”
1899 - “On the wood grouse”
1895-1897 - series of essays “Student Dragoon”
"Dnieper Sailor"
"Future Patty"
"False Witness"
"Chorister"
"Firefighter"
"The Landlady"
"Tramp"
"Thief"
"Artist"
"Arrows"
"Hare"
"Doctor"
"Prude"
"Beneficiary"
"Card supplier"
1900 - Travel pictures:
From Kyiv to Rostov-on-Don
From Rostov to Novorossiysk. Legend about the Circassians. Tunnels.
1901 - “Tsaritsyn Fire”
1904 - "In Memory of Chekhov"
1905 - “Events in Sevastopol”; "Dreams"
1908 - “A Little Bit of Finland”
1907-1911 - series of essays “Listrigons”
1909 - “Don’t touch our tongue.” About Russian-speaking Jewish writers.
1921 - “Lenin. Instant Photography"
Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat (Penza province) into a poor family of a minor official.
1871 was a difficult year in Kuprin’s biography - his father died, and the poor family moved to Moscow.
Training and the beginning of a creative path
At the age of six, Kuprin was sent to a class at the Moscow Orphan School, from which he left in 1880. After that, Alexander Ivanovich studied at the military academy, the Alexander Military School. The time of training is described in such works by Kuprin as: “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”, “Junkers”. “The Last Debut” is Kuprin’s first published story (1889).
From 1890 he was a second lieutenant in an infantry regiment. During the service, many essays, short stories, and novellas were published: “Inquiry,” “On a Moonlit Night,” “In the Dark.”
Creativity flourishes
Four years later, Kuprin retired. After this, the writer travels a lot around Russia, trying himself in different professions. At this time, Alexander Ivanovich met Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky.
Kuprin builds his stories of those times on life impressions gleaned during his travels.
Kuprin's short stories cover many topics: military, social, love. The story “The Duel” (1905) brought Alexander Ivanovich real success. Love in Kuprin’s work is most vividly described in the story “Olesya” (1898), which was his first major and one of his most beloved works, and the story of unrequited love, “The Garnet Bracelet” (1910).
Alexander Kuprin also loved to write stories for children. For children's reading he wrote the works “Elephant”, “Starlings”, “White Poodle” and many others.
Emigration and last years of life
For Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, life and creativity are inseparable. Not accepting the policy of war communism, the writer emigrated to France. Even after emigration, in the biography of Alexander Kuprin, the writer’s fervor does not subside; he writes novellas, short stories, many articles and essays. Despite this, Kuprin lives in material need and yearns for his homeland. Only 17 years later he returns to Russia. At the same time, the writer’s last essay was published - the work “Native Moscow”.
After a serious illness, Kuprin died on August 25, 1938. The writer was buried at Volkovsky cemetery in Leningrad, next to the grave of Ivan Turgenev.
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Born 1870 only child in a poor provincial family hereditary nobles. After the death of his father and moving to Moscow, he was sent to the cadet corps, after which he entered a military school. He begins his military career in Ukraine as a lieutenant in an infantry regiment, from where, after serving for 4 years, he retires. Since 1894, he has traveled a lot around the country, trying various civilian professions. In 1901 he moved to St. Petersburg, here he met many famous writers of that time, such as Bunin, Chekhov, Gorky. Works as a secretary for one of the St. Petersburg magazines.
In 1911, together with his second wife, he settled in Gatchina, where during World War I he organized a military hospital. He was drafted into the active army, but in 1915 he was discharged due to health reasons. He is undergoing treatment in Finland, where he receives the news of February Revolution. In 1919, he volunteered to join the North-Western “White” Army under the command of General Pyotr Krasnov. He emigrates through Finland to France, where he will subsequently live for 17 years. In 1937, impoverished and seriously ill, Kuprin returned to his homeland and soon died. He was buried in 1938 at the Leningrad Volkovskoe cemetery.
As one of the brightest and most original representatives of Russian realism and naturalism in literature Silver Age, Kuprin first picked up a pen while still a cadet, and despite those around him historical events and personal troubles, he did not stop writing almost until his death. The most significant and famous works The writer appeared: “The Duel”, “The Pit”, “Garnet Bracelet”, “White Poodle”, “Junkers”, “Moloch”, “Olesya” and many others.
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Biography of Kuprin
On September 7 (August 26, old style), 1870, a significant event for Russians took place in the city of Narovchat, Penza province. realism XIX century: Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born. On his father's side he came from the nobility, and on his mother's side from the Tatar princes.
The following year after his birth, his father died, and in 1874 little Alexander and his mother came to Moscow. They had no means of subsistence, so his mother had to send him to the Moscow Razumovsky orphanage when Kuprin turned 6. Since 1880, the writer studied at the Second Moscow Cadet Corps, then he got a job at the Alexander Military School. It was within these walls that Kuprin felt a craving for creativity and wrote “The Last Debut” in 1889.
On next year after my first literary experience He completed his training as a second lieutenant and served in an infantry regiment for four years. Kuprin did not like the barracks routine, but it inspired him to write his works: “Overnight”, “Night Shift”, “Junkers”, “Hike”.
After finishing his service, Kuprin left for Kyiv. Kuprin did not have permanent place work, so he began to travel frequently around Russia, mastered many professions, which greatly helped him when writing works. The 90s turned out to be very fruitful for his work. Stories and novellas “Moloch”, “Olesya”, “Kat”, “Forest Wilderness” and others were published. Kuprin made acquaintance with such famous writers as I.A. Bunin and A.P. Chekhov.
In 1901, Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg, got a job at the “Magazine for Everyone” and started a family. Here the writer met M. Gorky, who at that time headed the publishing house “Znanie”, which later published the first volume of Kuprin’s stories. Shortly before the revolution in 1905, he wrote one of his most famous masterpieces- "Duel". In the break between revolutions, Kuprin has a creative surge - he creates wonderful stories about pure and bright love: “Shulamith”, “Garnet Bracelet”, a series of essays “Listrigons”.
In 1911, Kuprin, married for the second time, went with his family to Gatchina.
With the onset of World War I, Kuprin was called up for service. But Alexander Ivanovich did not have the chance to fight for long: the next year, due to health problems, he was sent home to Gatchina. By that time, his home had been converted into a small hospital. In the same year, Kuprin finished the story “The Pit” about the life of prostitutes and received dissatisfied responses due to the too frank scenes.
While Kuprin was being treated in Helsinki, the tsar abdicated the throne. Inspired by this event, he returns back to Russia and works as an editor at a newspaper. Kuprin did not support the second revolution; he was skeptical about the policy of war communism. Nevertheless, in 1918 he made an attempt to reconcile with existing system and organized a meeting with Lenin at which he presented the project for the peasant newspaper “Zemlya”, but this initiative was never approved.
In 1919, Kuprin went to serve in the North-Western Army.
After the defeat of the White Guard at the end of 1919, Kuprin was forced to go abroad. He lived in Paris for 17 years, homesick. Abroad, Kuprin was engaged in journalism and wrote the collections “The Dome of St. Isaac Dolmatsky", "The Wheel of Time", "Elan", the novel "Junker".
But French life, associated with a lack of money and deteriorating health, was not to Kuprin’s taste, and he dreamed of returning to his homeland.
The writer was able to return to the USSR only in 1937 after permission from the Soviet government. His illness was getting worse, and Kuprin could no longer please his readers with new literary masterpieces.
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