Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak - biography, facts, photos

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak is a Russian prose writer and playwright. He is the author of many short stories and essays. In his novels, Mamin-Sibiryak described actual events, thanks to which he gained a reputation as a realist writer.

His biography has many unusual moments and interesting facts, which we will tell you about right now.

So, here is a short biography of Mamin-Sibiryak .

Brief biography of Mamin-Sibiryak

Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak was born on October 25, 1852 in the village of Visim, in the Perm province. He grew up in the family of the clergyman Narkis Matveevich and his wife Anna Semyonovna. He had one sister and 2 brothers.

Parents loved their children and tried to give them the best education. Later, Mamin-Sibiryak admits that the years of his childhood were some of the best in his biography.

Childhood and youth

As a child, Mamin-Sibiryak was never punished by his father or mother, and did not even hear reproaches from them.

Initially, Dmitry studied at the Visim school, after which he entered the theological school. The father dreamed that his son would follow in his footsteps and also become a priest.

Since the boy was physically weak, he soon became seriously ill. The head of the family even had to take him home, where he stayed for 2 whole years. During this period of his biography, Mamin-Sibiryak paid great attention to reading various literature (see interesting facts about literature).

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak in his youth

After graduating from college, Dmitry became a student at the Perm Theological Seminary. During this time, he often went hungry and had little interest in church education.

At that moment in his biography, Mamin-Sibiryak began to seriously study the works of Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Alexander Herzen, who were very popular in society.

Dmitry Narkisovich tried with all his might to find his calling in life. In 1872, he left for St. Petersburg, where he successfully passed the exams for the veterinary faculty of the Medical Academy.

In 1876, without graduating from the academy, the student entered the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University. However, he studied here for only a year, as he continued to experience serious financial difficulties and health problems.

As a result, Mamin-Sibiryak was unable to graduate from a single university. An interesting fact is that during his studies he worked part-time as a tutor and also wrote articles for newspapers to make ends meet. Sometimes he even managed to provide financial support to his brother Vladimir, who was a student at Moscow University.

In 1877, Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak returned home. Soon his father dies, and therefore many responsibilities fall on the shoulders of the future writer. This period of his biography turned out to be one of the most difficult for him.

There was a catastrophic lack of money, so the whole family had to move to Yekaterinburg. In this city, he tried to find a decent job that would allow him to support his family.

For a long time, Dmitry was unable to realize himself as a writer. Many publishing houses were indifferent to his work. The situation changed for the better after he met Maria Alekseeva, who in the future would become his first wife.

In 1881, the first works of Dmitry Narkisovich were published. An interesting fact is that from that time he began to publish under the pseudonym “D. Sibiryak”, and later began to sign as “Mamin-Sibiryak”.

Important dates in the biography of Mamin-Sibiryak

November 6, 1852 - birth in Visimo-Shaitan.
1866 - beginning of studies at the Ekaterinburg Theological School.
1868 – beginning of studies at the Perm Theological Seminary.
1872 – admission to the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy.
1876 – transfer to the Faculty of Law.
1877 - return to the Urals. Moving to Yekaterinburg and marrying Maria Alekseeva. Publication of the first work of fiction, “Secrets of the Green Forest.” Traveling through the Urals.
1882 – publication of the essays “Prospectors”. Beginning of cooperation with the magazine “Russian Thought”.
1883 – the release of the novel “Privalov’s Millions”, work on which lasted 10 years.
1884 – publication of the novel “Mountain Nest” in Otechestvennye Zapiski.
1890 - Marriage to M. Abramova.
1891 – final move to St. Petersburg. Death of wife and long-term depression. The beginning of particularly fruitful work on children's works.
1892 – publication of the novel “Gold” and the story “Okhon’s Eyebrows”.
1894 – the first works from the cycle of children’s stories “Alenushkin’s Tales” were published.
1895 – the two-volume book “Ural Stories” and the novel “Bread” were published.
November 15, 1912 - death in St. Petersburg.

Literature

The first stories in the creative biography of Mamin-Sibiryak were written while still studying at the seminary. The young man skillfully described the beauty of nature and the life of the Ural people, but his works went unnoticed for a long time.

Only after the publication of the novel “Mountain Nest” did Dmitry gain some popularity in society. With the fee he earned, he bought a house for his mother in Yekaterinburg. After this, the writer wrote the stories “In Thin Souls”, “Prospectors” and “In the Stones”, which also received recognition.

M. Gorky, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, N. D. Teleshov and I. A. Bunin. Yalta, 1902

In 1886, Mamin-Sibiryak’s new novel “Stormy Stream” was published, which talked about the development of capitalism. At the same time, he continued to write short stories and essays.

During his biography, Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak published 15 novels written in the spirit of realism. They told about the life of ordinary people living in Siberia and the Urals, and also touched on the political changes taking place in Russia.

The following works by Mamin-Sibiryak received the greatest popularity:

“Characters from the life of Pepko”;
"Falling stars";
"Mumma";
"Alenushka's Tales";
"Privalov's millions."

Critics called the last of the presented books the pearl of Mamin-Sibiryak’s work. His works encouraged the reader not only to learn history or some interesting facts, but also to think about the life and actions of his heroes.

Personal life

Mamin-Sibiryak met his first wife, Maria Alekseeva, in 1877 at a picnic. At that time, the girl was legally married and had three children. Her father held a high position at the Demidov enterprises. Soon Alekseeva left her husband for Mamin-Sibiryak.

There was complete idyll between the spouses. Maria supported Dmitry in everything and was an excellent assistant on literary issues. An interesting fact is that the writer repeatedly trusted his wife to edit his works.

However, in 1890 they decided to separate. Mamin-Sibiryak began cohabiting with theater artist Maria Abramova, who was also officially married, although she did not live with her husband.

As a result, the writer dedicated the novel “Three Ends” to his ex-wife and left with Abramova for the capital. It is interesting that Mary’s sister, Elizaveta, will become the second wife of Alexander Kuprin in the future.

But at this stage of Mamin-Sibiryak’s biography, happiness turned away from him. Two years after the start of her relationship with Abramova, she died in 1892. This happened the day after the birth of their daughter. The girl was named Elena, although all her life her father affectionately called her Alyonushka.

It is worth noting that for some time Mamin-Sibiryak was unable to give his daughter his last name, since she was illegitimate. In addition, Alena was sick with chorea, a disease characterized by chaotic and irregular movements.

Due to the death of his beloved, the writer became despondent, began to abuse alcohol and often thought about suicide.

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak with his daughter Alyonushka (Elena)

Childhood and youth

Dmitry Narkisovich was born in the village of Visim, Perm province. He was born October 25, 1852. His father was a clergyman, his father’s name was Narkis Matveevich. Mother, Anna Semyonovna. She devoted herself to raising children. There were four of them in the family: Dmitry, two brothers and a sister. Children saw only affection and care from their parents. Mamin-Sibiryak fondly remembers his childhood years and his parents. The boy did not know what punishment or reproaches were. The writer went to study at a local school, after which he continued his studies at a religious school.

My father dreamed that Dmitry would continue his work of serving God. But the years of study were interrupted due to the child’s serious illness. Since childhood, he has not been in good health. Perhaps adolescence caused deterioration in health, perhaps living away from home contributed. However, his father was forced to take him home, where Dmitry stayed for two years. All this time the boy read a lot. He remembers these years with particular warmth, because life brought him few gifts, and he considered life in his parents’ house to be such a gift of fate.

The next stage of Dmitry’s education was the Perm Theological Seminary. Mamin-Sibiryak was not interested in spiritual education. He felt that it was not his. Dmitry was fascinated by literature. He strove in every possible way to realize his cherished dream: to become a writer.

At this time, writers Alexander Herzen and Nikolai Chernyshevsky were popular. Mamin-Sibiryak became their admirer. This left an imprint on his understanding of life and choice of profession. He read their works.

The future writer understands that provincial education is not for him, and decides to leave for St. Petersburg. In 1972, he became a student at the Medical Academy, enrolling in the veterinary faculty. But this specialty did not appeal to the young man.

Leaving the academy, he entered the law faculty of the university in St. Petersburg. Here he studied for a short time. Financial difficulties and health conditions forced him to leave the university. He identified life in St. Petersburg as a stepping stone to a writing career. But this path is long, considering that he came from the provinces and had no connections.

The writer never received higher education. He earned money as a tutor and wrote articles that provided him with a livelihood. Dmitry even had the opportunity to help his brother Vladimir, who was a Moscow student.

In 1877, Mamin-Sibiryak returned to his father’s house. But there a difficult life awaited him, connected with caring for his family. His father dies. Dmitry becomes the head of the family. Financial difficulties require getting a job. He has nowhere to work in his native village. He decides to move to Yekaterinburg with his family. But even here he cannot realize his talent as a writer. All his appeals to publishing houses end in refusal. Only the meeting with his first wife Maria Alekseeva helped change his life for the better. In 1881 he began to publish.