Brief biography of D. I. Fonvizin

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was born in Moscow on April 3, 1745. His surname comes from the Livland ancient family. The German baron Peter von Wisin left his homeland during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and moved to Russia. After the mid-19th century, the surname Von Wisin began to be written together - Fonvizin. Denis Ivanovich’s family had eight children. The father himself trained them. As soon as a noble school opened in Moscow, Ivan Fonvizin sent his eldest sons, Pavel and Denis, there.

…

Youth and education

His subsequent education continued at the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow University. During the same period of time, his first satirical works began to be created and published in Moscow magazines.

In 1760, after studying at the university for a couple of years, Denis Ivanovich moved to St. Petersburg as one of the best students. There he managed to make new acquaintances, quite influential personalities for that period of time: Mikhail Lomonosov and Alexander Sumarkov. Knowledge of many languages allowed Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin to work as a professional translator; he translated numerous fables by Holberg, as well as the works of Terrason and Voltaire, into Russian. In 1762, he served as a translator at the College of Foreign Affairs.

Fonvizin Denis Ivanovich - short biography

Writer Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was born on April 14, 1975 in Moscow. The family into which the boy was born was rich and noble, so he received the best education at that time - invited teachers taught him at home.

At the age of 10, Denis entered the gymnasium at Moscow University for noble children. After graduation, he studied for another year at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University itself.

During this period, Fonvizin began to make translations and publish in some Moscow magazines.

In 1762, Denis Ivanovich decides to move to St. Petersburg and there he enters the service of the College of Foreign Affairs as a translator.

Fonvizin does not abandon creativity during his service. He is very passionate about theatre. In 1768 he created the play “The Brigadier”. Thanks to its satirical component, the comedy became very famous among the educated segments of the population. Fonvizin was awarded an invitation to a reception with Catherine II in Peterhof to present his work.

Since 1777, Fonvizin was abroad on duty. Mostly in France. He returned to Russia in 1779.

The influence of the service was also reflected in the author’s works. In 1783 he wrote “Discourse on the Indispensable Laws of State.”

In the year Fonvizin retired from service, the premiere of his most famous comedy, which glorified him as a playwright, “The Minor,” took place. Spectators in St. Petersburg first saw the production in the fall of 1782.

After leaving the service, Fonvizin decides to travel. He goes to Europe and visits many countries. He returned to his homeland only in 1787, already a sick man.

In the last years of his life he suffered from paralysis, but this did not stop him from being creative. However, the writer was in disgrace with the empress and he no longer published significant works.

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin died on December 1 (12), 1792 and was buried in St. Petersburg.

List of books by the author studied at school

“Minor” - a summary of Fonvizin’s comedy for a reader’s diary

Creative path

The first satirical comedy “The Brigadier,” created in 1768, received a wide response; moreover, the work on the production helped to embody the author’s personal interest in the theater. The fame that the comedy gained helped the writer Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin become more recognizable in high circles. In addition, thanks to this, Denis Ivanovich was invited to Peterhof to see Empress Catherine II. Since 1769, Fonvizin worked as N.I.’s secretary. Panin (head of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs).

Fonvizin spent a couple of years abroad and returned to his homeland in 1779. In March 1782, after the removal of N.I. Panin from business, Fonvizin decided to resign from his position, devoting himself entirely to literature and creativity. A year later, he created one of the best works, in the opinion of many Russian publicists, “Discourse on Indispensable State Laws.” In the same 1782, the premiere of one of the author’s most recognizable works, the comedy “Minor,” took place in St. Petersburg.

In his works, the author touched upon social problems that pointed to the unjust power of the nobility. He noted the importance of developing patriotism and was an interesting author of his time. An educated and sensible man all his life he was an enemy of autocratic tyranny and permissiveness of the tsar's favorites. Critics noted that reliable and truthful thoughts reflected in his works and related to contemporary Russian life for him could be attributed to the chronicles of that time.

Mature creativity

Among the journalistic works, “Discourse on the Indispensable Laws of State,” created in 1783, is considered one of the best. In the autumn of the same 1783, the premiere of the main play in Fonvizin’s work, the comedy “The Minor,” took place. Despite the extensive literary heritage left by Fonvizin, for most of us his name is associated with this comedy. The first production of the play was not easy. The censors were embarrassed by the satirical orientation of the play and the boldness of the remarks of some of the comedy characters. Finally, on September 24, 1782, the production was carried out on the stage of the Free Russian Theater. The success was colossal. As one of the authors of the “Dramatic Dictionary” testified: “The theater was incomparably filled and the audience applauded the play by throwing purses.” The next production took place in Moscow on May 14, 1783 at the Medox Theater. Since that time, for more than 250 years, the play has been performed with constant success in all theaters in Russia. With the birth of cinema, the first film adaptation of the comedy appeared. In 1926, based on “The Minor,” Grigory Roshal made the film “The Skotinins’ Gentlemen.”

It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Fonvizin’s “Minor” on subsequent generations of writers. His works were read and studied by all subsequent generations of writers from Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Belinsky to the present day. However, in the life of the writer himself, she played a fatal role. Catherine the Second perfectly understood the freedom-loving orientation of comedy as an attempt on existing social and state foundations. After 1783, when a number of the writer's satirical works were published, she personally prohibited further publication of his works in print. And this continued until the death of the writer.

However, despite publication bans, Denis Ivanovich continues to write. During this period, the comedy “The Governor’s Choice” and the feuilleton “Conversation with Princess Khaldina” were written. Just before his departure, Fonvizin wanted to publish a five-volume set of his works, but was refused by the empress. Of course, it was published, but much later after the master left.

Personal life

The only thing known for certain about the personal life of the outstanding writer is what he himself decided to share in his autobiographical story. From there you can learn about Anna Priklonskaya, who captivated his mind and heart in his youth and did not leave him until the end of his life. Anna reciprocated his feelings, but was married.

Fonvizin himself married a little later to Katerina Khlopova. Moreover, many noted Fonvizin’s increased attention to his appearance, for which he was considered a dandy. He always looked smart and liked to add decorations in the form of fresh flowers to his clothes.

last years of life

In the last years of his life, spending time traveling abroad in Europe, the writer encountered a disease that was too tough for the medicine of those years. The first apoplectic gift will suffice him, because of which he will be forced to return to Russia.

Suffering from paralysis, the author will continue to engage in creative activities. The main work he left and written in the last days of his life was the autobiographical work “Frank Confession.” The writer died on December 1, 1792 in St. Petersburg and was buried at the Lazarevskoye cemetery.

Author: Anastasia Trubnikova
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Interesting Facts

About the life and work of D.I. Fonvizin preserved interesting facts:

Fonvizin's favorite writer is Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a French thinker and revolutionary.
The author became famous among his contemporaries not for his works, but for his brilliant translations. Only after the success of Voltaire's Alzira did the reading public pay attention to the work of their compatriot.
Fonvizin was an influential politician and was a member of the board that developed laws to mitigate serfdom.

The beginning of a creative journey

Since the 1760s, Denis Ivanovich created his first works. Fonvizin's early work was distinguished by its sharp satirical orientation. In 1760, the so-called “early “Nedorosl”” was published in “Literary Heritage”. At the same time, the writer was engaged in translations. In 1761, Fonvizin translated Holberg's fables into Russian. In 1762 - works by Terrason, Voltaire, Ovid, Gresse, Rousseau.

Since 1762, Fonvizin has worked as a translator, and since 1763 - secretary of the cabinet minister Elagin in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs. In 1769, Denis Ivanovich entered the service of Count Panin as his personal secretary.

In 1768, the writer created the satirical comedy “The Brigadier”. The play received a wide response and Fonvizin, whose biography was still unknown in high circles, was invited to Peterhof to read the work to Empress Catherine II herself.

Speaking about the work of Fonvizin, Belinsky wrote: “In general, for me, Kantemir and Fonvizin, especially the latter, are the most interesting writers of the first periods of our literature: they tell me not about sky-high excesses on the occasion of flat illuminations, but about the living reality that historically existed, about the rights of society "

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin came from an old noble family. He studied at the same noble gymnasium at Moscow University, where his peer Novikov also studied, then studied at the university’s Faculty of Philosophy. In 1760, among the ten best high school students, Fonvizin and his brother Pavel arrived in St. Petersburg. Here he met Lomonosov, the founder of the Russian theater F.G. Volkov and saw a theatrical performance for the first time; the first play was the play by the Danish writer Golberg “Henry and Pernille”. In 1761, by order of one of the Moscow booksellers, Fonvizin translated from German a fable by the founder of Danish literature, Ludwig Holberg. The bearer of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, rationalist and moralist Golberg, who sought to subordinate all his artistic creativity to educational tasks - the creation of a “new breed of people”, was close to Fonvizin in the future. In total, Fonvizin translated 226 fables. Then (in 1762) he translated the political-didactic novel by the French writer Abbot Terrason “Heroic Virtue or the Life of Seth, King of Egypt,” written in the manner of the famous “Telemachus” by Fenelon, Voltaire’s tragedy “Alzira or the Americans,” Ovid’s “Metamorphosis,” in 1769, Gresse’s sentimental story “Sidney and Scilly or Benefits and Gratitude,” which Fonvizin called “Corion.” His favorite writer was Rousseau.

Simultaneously with the translations, Fonvizin’s original works began to appear, painted in sharply satirical tones. Fonvizin was under the strong influence of French educational thought from Voltaire to Helvetius. He became a permanent member of the circle of Russian freethinkers who met in the house of Prince Kozlovsky.

Fonvizin's literary studies also helped him in his career. His translation of Voltaire's tragedy attracted attention, and in 1763 Fonvizin, who was then serving as a translator in a foreign collegium, was appointed to serve under the then already well-known cabinet minister Elagin, under whose command Lukin also served. His comedy “The Brigadier” enjoyed even greater success, for which the author was invited to Peterhof to read it to the Empress herself, after which other readings followed, as a result of which he became close to Pavel Petrovich’s tutor, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin. In 1769 Fonvizin went into the service of Panin, becoming, as his secretary, one of his closest and most trusted persons. Before Panin’s death, Fonvizin, on his direct instructions, compiled a remarkable document - “A Discourse on the extermination of every form of government in Russia and, therefore, on the precarious state of both the empire and the sovereigns themselves.” The Discourse contains an exceptionally harsh picture of the despotic regime of Catherine and her favorites, demands constitutional reforms and directly threatens a violent coup otherwise.

In 1777 – 1778 Fonvizin travels abroad and stays in France for quite a long time. From here he writes letters to his sister F.I. Argamakova, P.I. Panin (brother of N.I. Panin), Ya.I. Bulgakov. These letters had a pronounced public-social character. Fonvizin's keen mind, observation, and ability to understand economic, social and political phenomena in the life of French society allowed him to paint a historically accurate picture of feudal-absolutist France. Studying French reality, Fonvizin wanted to better understand the processes taking place not only in France, but also in Russia, and to find ways to improve the socio-political order in his homeland. He appreciates what deserves attention in France - trade and industry.

One of the best works of Russian journalism is “Discourse on Indispensable State Laws” (late 1782 - early 1783). It was intended for Nikita Panin’s pupil, the future Emperor Pavel Petrovich. Speaking about serfdom, Fonvizin considers it necessary not to destroy it, but to introduce it into the “limits of moderation.” He was frightened by the possibility of a new Pugachevism; it was necessary to make concessions in order to avoid further shocks. Hence the main requirement is the introduction of “fundamental laws”, the observance of which is also necessary for the monarch. The most impressive is the picture of contemporary reality drawn by the satirical writer: limitless arbitrariness that has gripped all government bodies.

Fonvizin's struggle with Catherine II and the evil reigning in the country especially intensified in 1782-1783. It unfolded on the pages of the Russian Academy magazine “Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word.” A large place in the magazine was devoted to “Notes on Russian History,” Catherine’s tendentious work. The feuilletons “There were stories and tales” are also published here. In the third book of the magazine, Fonvizin published “Questions to the author of “Facts and Fables.” The controversy was clearly political in nature. Fonvizin touched upon the internal situation in the country: favoritism, lack of transparency in court, and the moral decay of the nobility. Another journalistic article by Fonvizin, “General Court Grammar” (1783), in which the empress’s confidants were subjected to satirical ridicule, was not allowed for publication in the magazine “Interlocutor...”. The following are satirically sharply written: “A letter found after the blessed death of the court councilor Vzyatkin” and “Instructions from an uncle to his nephew,” which show how, neglecting honor and duty, using their official position, officials in an autocratic-bureaucratic state make money.

Together with “The Brigadier,” Fonvizin’s best comedy is “The Minor” (1782). This is an amusing criticism of the village nobility.

D. I. Fonvizin. A word about the writer. "Undergrown"

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin

- the most famous writer during the reign of Catherine the Great.
Denis Ivanovich
was born in April 1745 in Moscow.

His parents came from a wealthy noble family. Representatives of this family also served Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Father – Von Wisin

, a Russified official, was a representative of an ancient knightly dynasty.

Parents, as enlightened people, try to give their son a good education. The boy is sent to the best gymnasium in Moscow, and after five years of study he is accepted into Moscow University, where he studies for two years.

The student diligently studies languages and achieves perfection in German and French, which gives him the opportunity to become acquainted with the masterpieces of great European writers.

The gymnasium and the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Moscow helped the young man become familiar with the verbal sciences. Denis Ivanovich

tries his hand at acting. First he takes part in student productions, and later on the professional stage of the Public Theater.

In the early period of his work, Denis Ivanovich

makes translations of literary works of many European writers. The young man is considered a progressive thinker and a bearer of educational ideas.

There is an acquaintance with a group of free-thinking young officers, the result of rapprochement with whom is several works of a satirical nature.

Thus, in 1769, the comedy “The Brigadier”, which became incredibly popular, was written, which ridicules the ignorance of the modern nobility and the desire to imitate everything French. The play is staged on the stage of the capital's theater. She receives rave reviews from critics.

Having received a promotion, Denis Ivanovich

takes the place of secretary of the head of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs N. Panin.

Common political views with oppositional overtones bring Panin and Fonvizin

. Both are firmly convinced of the need for progressive and educational reforms in Russia. This friendship will later have a great influence on the work of the satirist.

The country is undergoing drastic changes caused by the defeat of the Pugachev rebellion.

At this time Denis Ivanovich

finished work on the comedy “The Minor.” It is this work that is destined to become the most famous of all the author’s literary works.

After the triumph of the comedy “Minor” Denis Ivanovich

writes a petition asking for resignation, having received which, the writer devotes all his strength to literature.
Fonvizin's
satirical works are published in various literary publications .

While traveling through Germany and Italy, the writer finishes his work and publishes a biographical work in French dedicated to the life of Nikita Panin.

Count Panin in the work of Fonvizin

shown as an ideal and highly enlightened nobleman, which caused discontent among the government of the Russian Empire.
Fonvizin
is prohibited from publishing his works. The author's five-volume work, work on which was completed shortly before the ban on his appearances in print, was not published.

A serious illness made adjustments to the literary work of Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin

. Work on “A sincere confession of my deeds and thoughts” continued until the last days of the writer. This unfinished work is an example of the literary perfection of Russian prose.

In December 1792, the satirist died. With great honors, his body was interred in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

After reading the title, you can already understand what the author will be talking about. Raising and educating the younger generation under conditions of serfdom. What does the hero of the play learn and what should he learn? – the author reflects on these questions through the characters of the comedy.

In the work, the author was able to explain the appearance in the life of society of such characters as Skotinin

and
Prostakova
. The comedy exposes ignorant people who have unlimited power over others and use this power for no good. They rule cruelly and heartlessly.

Let's look at a few quotes from the work that Mrs. Prostakova

describes himself best:

“Read it for yourself! No, madam, thank God, I was not brought up like that. I can receive letters, but I always tell someone else to read them.”

“Since we took away everything the peasants had, we can’t take anything back. Such a disaster!

“I manage everything myself, father. From morning to evening, like someone hanged by the tongue, I don’t lay down my hands: I scold, I fight; That’s how the house holds together, my father!”

“He’s lying, my dear friend. I found the money and didn’t share it with anyone. Take it all for yourself, Mitrofanushka

».

“Rogues! The thieves! Fraudsters! I’ll order everyone to be beaten to death!”

“A nobleman, when he wants, is not free to flog his servants: but why was the decree given to us on the freedom of the nobility?”

And here are a few quotes from the speeches of her brother, Skotinin

“If I weren’t Taras Skotinin

, if not every fault is my fault.”

“No matter how much my neighbors offended me, no matter how much loss they caused, I didn’t hit anyone with my brow, and I’ll rip off any loss from my own peasants before going after it.”

“I love pigs, sister, and in our neighborhood there are such large pigs that there is not a single one of them that, standing on its hind legs, would not be taller than each of us by a whole head.”

“Eco happiness has arrived; Yes, I have never seen so much since I was born; Yes, I will buy all the pigs from the world with them; Yes, you hear me, I’ll do it so that everyone will blow the trumpet: in this little neighborhood there’s only pigs to live.”

"How! The nephew should interrupt his uncle! Yes, I’ll break him like hell at the first meeting.”

How about Skotinin

and
Prostakova
relate to education, teaching? Let them say it themselves.

“People live and have lived without science. The deceased father was a commander for fifteen years, and at the same time he deigned to die because he did not know how to read and write, but he knew how to make and save enough wealth.”

“Mitrofanushka, my friend, if studying is so dangerous for your little head, then for me, stop.”

“I won’t add a penny; and you're welcome. Science is not like that. Only you are tormented, but all I see is emptiness. No money - what to count? There is money - we’ll figure it out well without Pafnutich.”

“This was not the century. We weren't taught anything. It used to be that kind people would approach the priest, please him, please him, so that he could at least send his brother to school. By the way? The deceased is light with both hands and feet, may he rest in heaven! It happened that he would deign to shout: I will curse the child who learns something from the infidels, and be it not Skotinin who wants to learn something.”

"I? I haven't read anything in my life, sister! God saved me from this boredom.”

And how, with such life mentors, could Mitrofanushka grow up?

“So I felt sorry. […] .

You, mother: you are so tired, beating the priest.”

“Well, say another word, you old bastard! I’ll finish them off; I’ll complain to my mother again, so she’ll deign to give you a task like yesterday.”

"Well! Give me the board, garrison rat! Ask what to write."

“Over there by the closet of the pole for a week the door has not yet been hung: so for now that is a noun.”