May 4, 1887 – December 20, 1941 (54 years old)
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Igor Vasilyevich Severyanin (1887–1941) is an outstanding Russian poet, one of the brightest representatives of the Silver Age. Every stroke of Severyanin’s biography testifies to him as a bright and outstanding personality. He gained enormous fame during his lifetime: he gave “poetry concerts” throughout Russia, which enjoyed incredible success with the public.
The material was prepared jointly with a teacher of the highest category, Kuchmina Nadezhda Vladimirovna.
Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 27 years.
Creative flourishing
In 1911, I. Severyanin and I. Ignatiev founded a new direction in literature - egofuturism. A little later, the poet left the group of his colleagues. The separation was scandalous.
The poet's first collection of poems was called “The Thundering Cup.” It was published in 1913. The preface to it was written by the famous writer F. Sologub.
In the autumn of the same year, Severyanin performed together with V. Mayakovsky. At the same time, he met S. Spassky and K. Paustovsky.
In 1918, after a brilliant performance at the Moscow Polytechnic Museum, he received the honorary position of “King of Poets.” Mayakovsky and K. Balmont also fought for it.
Igor Severyanin, short biography
Igor Severyanin (Igor Vasilievich Lotarev) is one of the outstanding Russian poets of the Silver Age. Years of his life: 1887-1941, born in St. Petersburg in the family of the captain of the railway battalion Vasily Petrovich and the daughter of the leader of the nobility Natalya Stepanovna Lopyrev. The future poet spent his childhood in St. Petersburg until his parents separated. After the breakup of the family, Igor lived with his uncle on the Vladimirovka estate near Cherepovets in what is now the Vologda region, where the Igor-Severyanin Museum is now located (this is how, with a hyphen, he himself signed his works).
In 1904, having graduated from the 4th grade of the real school in Cherepovets, Igor Severyanin went to the Far East to join his father, to Manchuria. Then, on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, he returned to his mother in St. Petersburg.
Igor Severyanin began publishing his works in 1904. The first published poems were: “The Death of the Rurik”, “The Feat of the Novik”, “Towards the upcoming exit of the Port Arthur squadron”. The poet positioned himself as a follower of “pure lyricism”, at the same time he introduced innovations into poetry and created several new word formations in the Russian language.
In 1911, Igor-Severyanin teamed up with the poets who published the newspaper “Petersburg Herald” in order to found a new Russian literary movement, egofuturism. The characteristic features of this movement were ostentatious selfishness, extensive use of foreign words, and the cultivation of sensations. At the same time, I. Severyanin wrote, published and independently distributed a brochure entitled “Prologue (Egofuturism).” Less than a year later, the writer left this group, explaining that the task he had in mind had been completed.
“The Thundering Cup” is the first large collection of poems by Igor-Severyanin, which was published in 1913 by the Grif publishing house and brought fame to the author. Severyanin’s works are mostly decadent in nature, the language is defiantly pretentious, deliberate, bordering on tastelessness. The author introduces new dimensions, while obtaining poetic forms that were not previously used: square of squares, garland, diesel.
In 1912, in St. Petersburg, and then in Moscow, in the society of free aesthetics, assembled by Valery Bryusov, I. Severyanin made his public debut. The following year, the poet went on a tour of the cities of southern Russia, and over the course of 5 years he took part in 135 concerts with his works.
In January 1918, I. Severyanin moved to live in the village of Toila in Estonia with his common-law wife Maria, as well as his mother, nanny, former common-law wife and daughter Valeria. A large family rented half a house from a local carpenter.
A month later, the poet went to Moscow to participate in the “election of the king of poets,” where his opponent in the final was Mayakovsky. The public chose Northerner as the winner. Based on the election results, an almanac was published, on the cover of which was printed a photo of the victor.
The February Revolution was reflected in the works of the creator in the poems “To My People”, “Hymn of the Russian Republic”.
After Germany occupied Estonia, the poet ended up in a filtration camp in Tallinn. Thus began his forced emigration, after which he never returned to Russia.
During his entire life in Estonia, I. Severyanin gave about 4 dozen concerts, together with Mayakovsky and A. Tolstoy he performed in Berlin in 1922.
In 1921, Severyanin separated from his common-law wife and married the homeowner’s daughter, Felissa, who exchanged Lutheranism for Orthodoxy for her husband’s sake. The couple had a son, Bacchus. It is believed that the wife became the poet’s muse, so his work did not fade away in emigration, and the verse acquired classical simplicity. This is evidenced by the narratives of four autobiographical novels: “The Dew of the Orange Hour”, “Falling Rapids”, “Bells of the Cathedral of the Senses”, “Leander’s Royal”. Collections of poems have been created: “Mirrelia”, “Vervena”, “Minstrel”, “Nightingale”, “Classic Roses”, utopia “Sunny Savage”.
Igor-Severyanin is the first major translator of poetry from Estonian into Russian. His translations from French, Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Lithuanian have also been preserved.
An interesting study is “The Theory of Versification. Stylistics of Poetics”, and such a work-memoir as “Mine about Mayakovsky”.
During the years of emigration, the poet toured Europe a lot, in 1931 he performed twice in Paris. One of the performances was attended by Marina Tsvetaeva, who spoke of Severyanin’s creative evening as “the only joy for many months.”
In the work of Igor Severyanin, a special niche is reserved for women. The poetry of the last period became lyrical, melodious and without pretentiousness. Some poems were later set to music by A. Vertinsky, S. Rachmaninov and other composers.
The poet died of a heart attack in Tallinn and was buried there. Currently, Northerner’s poems have been translated and read in almost all countries of the world.
- “Classical Roses”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem
- “Spring Day”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem
- “Overture (Pineapples in champagne!)”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem
- “Grad”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem
- “It was by the sea”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem, essay
- “Bring back love”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem
- “Spring”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem
- “Russian”, analysis of Severyanin’s poem, essay
According to the writer: Severyanin Igor
Estonian emigration
The short biography of Igor Severyanin includes many dramatic moments.
The beginning of forced Estonian emigration dates back to the first half of March 1918. During the years of living in Estonia, the poet published several collections of poems and four poetic autobiographical novels. Severyanin also translated Estonian poetry into Russian and worked on a major study, “The Theory of Versification.”
In the first years of emigration, the poet traveled a lot to European countries.
Creative path
Igor wrote his first poem at the age of 8. In 1904, the young man began sending his works to magazines, but did not receive positive feedback. Igor signed various pseudonyms. Everything changed after meeting with Konstantin Fofanov. It was he who became a mentor for the young poet.
In 1907, Igor Vasilyevich came up with a pseudonym for himself - Severyanin. This word combined the poet’s love for the north, as well as a tribute to Fofanov. It was he who became a guiding star for the young man. Igor Vasilyevich considered Mirra Lokhvitskaya his predecessor. According to the poet’s original idea, the pseudonym was written with a hyphen - Igor-Severyanin. This combination showed the initiation of a person, his formation as a poet.
Igor Vasilyevich began preparing for the publication of the first collection of poems. His work fell into the hands of Leo Tolstoy and the writer did not hesitate to devastatingly criticize the young creator. He sent his opinion to most magazines, but this only played into Severyanin’s hands.
Everyone criticized Igor Vasilyevich, but this only supported him. Gradually a circle of followers formed around him. In 1911, a new movement appeared - egofuturism. Its main features:
- selfishness;
- refinement of sensations;
- Cult of personality.
But Northerner did not lead it for long; he quickly moved to the Symbolists, and from them to free swimming. In 1913, the poet published his first collection of poems, “The Thundering Cup.” Fyodor Sologub spoke warmly about the book. After this, Northerner went on tour. He performed in front of different audiences and his manner of reciting poetry caused laughter. Then Northerner published a second collection of poems, “Rosiris”.
In 1918, the poet emigrated to Estonia. He never returned to Russia. Abroad he published collections:
- "Nightingale";
- "Classic Roses";
- "Vervena" and others.
In parallel with writing poems, Severyanin translated Estonian books into Russian. He also managed to tour Europe.
Personal life
Before emigrating, Igor Severyanin was in an unregistered relationship with the artist M. Volnyanskaya. The owner of a beautiful, rich voice, she performed gypsy romances.
In 1921, the poet separated from his “common-law” wife and married F. Kruut. For the sake of the Northerner, she, a zealous Lutheran, converted to Orthodoxy. Until 1935, the wife was not only a muse, but also a real guardian angel of Igor Vasilyevich. Thanks to her, his talent did not wither in emigration. The poems became clearer and acquired classical simplicity.
Severyanin had quite a lot of literary muses. He dedicated his works to E. Gutsan, A. Vorobyova, E. Novikova, and the famous fiction writer T. Krasnopolskaya.
The loving poet’s relationships with women were not only platonic. Already married to F. Kruut, he twice entered into romantic relationships during a tour of Europe. The most painful thing for both spouses was Severyanin’s affair with E. Strandell. She was the wife of the owner of a grocery store, and the issue of provisions on credit depended on her.
Two children were born in this marriage. The daughter, V.I. Semenova, was born in St. Petersburg, but later went to Estonia, where she died in 1976. The son, Bacchus Igorevich, lived in Sweden until 1944.
Essays
The loving Ivan Vasilyevich Lotarev sang in his poems human feelings, relationships and the beauty of nature. The biography of the poet, who took the pseudonym Igor Severyanin, consists of fragments of the time of the Tsarist and Soviet eras. The revolutionary component, the bold ideas of the literary environment helped to form my own style of writing poetry.
Igor Severyanin: biography
The poet was born in St. Petersburg in 1887 into the family of a tradesman Vasily Petrovich Lotarev and a born noblewoman Natalya Stepanovna. Later, when the boy was 9 years old, the family broke up. The future genius of the pen was brought up in a family of relatives near Cherepovets. In the city, Igor graduated from the 4th grade of school and moved to China to live with his father. Unfortunately, he soon died, his short biography in the East ended, the young man was taken by his mother to the cultural capital - St. Petersburg. I fell in love many times in my life, but I had only one wife – Felissa Kruut. There are children from an unregistered relationship: two girls and a boy. Igor Vasilyevich suffered from tuberculosis. He died in the capital of Estonia in 1941 from heart failure.
Life and literary work
Poems began to come out from the pen of the talented child when he was only seven or eight years old. Igor Severyanin considers the official beginning of the biography of his work to be the works that were published in 1905 in the press for the people “Leisure and Business”. Acquaintance with Feofanov influenced the poet’s literary path. Having personally paid for the publication of 35 brochures, Severyanin planned to subsequently combine them in a collection of poems. L.N. Tolstoy saw one poetry notebook, and after reading it, he criticized it.
Criticism did Severyanin good; the entire press wrote about his works and himself. Having created the poetic movement of egofuturism (a “refined” attitude to reality), Severyanin leaves the circle, imbued with the ideas of the Symbolists. At the age of 26, Igor Vasilyevich published the most important collection of poems in his literary biography, “The Thundering Cup,” which in a short time brought him fame and recognition. The poem “Pineapples in Champagne,” published in a collection of poems in 1915, is still often quoted. Due to a change in the ruling power in the country, Northerner left for Estonia. He continued to publish poems and novels in verse abroad. In addition to the poetic composition of words, the writer was engaged in translations.
Interesting Facts
An interesting fact about concert life in Igor’s biography was that at the first concerts in Georgia, the audience perceived the poetic works recited by the author as a comic performance. The hall exploded with laughter when Severyanin read poetry. At the following concerts, feeling the power of the poetic word, the audience applauded and showered the creator with flowers.
He was related to Afanasy Fet (on the maternal side).
The writer's pseudonyms are varied: Mimosa, Count Evgraf d'Axangraf, Needle.
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