Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich, whose biography formed the basis of this article, forever went down in Russian history not only as an outstanding poet and playwright, but also as a statesman who went from a private guard to the head of the Ministry of Justice. Having had a huge influence on the further development of Russian literature, he at the same time became a model of a true citizen and patriot.
Childhood of a young poet
Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin was born on July 14, 1743 in his family village of Sokura near Kazan. The family had many children, and due to the early death of its head, Roman Nikolaevich, the mother of the future poet, Fyokla Andreevna, could not give the children a proper education. This was hampered by frequent relocations caused by various everyday circumstances.
Nevertheless, studying at the Orenburg school, and then at the Kazan gymnasium, young Gavriil Derzhavin early became addicted to classical Russian poetry, the highest examples of which at that time were the poems of M. Lomonosov, V. Trediakovsky and A. Sumarokov. His first own poetic experiments also belong to this time. However, the early poems of the novice poet came out somewhat clumsily and awkwardly - the lack of knowledge of the basics of versification and the opportunity to consult with someone more experienced in this area affected.
Army service
In 1762, Gavriil Derzhavin was appointed as a private in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, who took part in the coup d'état, which resulted in the accession to the throne of Empress Catherine II. The years spent in the army, by the poet's own admission, were the most bleak period of his life. The hard military service took almost all the time and effort, allowing me to write poetry only in rare free moments.
Subsequently, Gavriil Derzhavin, briefly describing in his memoirs the features of army life, said that in those years he often attached himself to the common vice of the guards regiments - playing cards. Moreover, having got into an environment where cheating flourished, he himself quickly learned their picaresque tricks, and only thanks to “God and motherly prayers” - that's what he wrote in his memoirs, did not slide to the bottom of society.
Looking forward to a future career
Starting from 1772, the further biography of Gabriel Derzhavin took a different direction: he was promoted to officer, and in the period from 1773 to 1775 he took part in the work of the state commission investigating the circumstances of the Pugachev rebellion.
Experiencing severe financial difficulties, Gavriil Romanovich turned to the Empress herself for help, since in those days the autocrats did not disdain to read the letters of their subjects. His direct superior, Commander-in-Chief General-in-Chief A. Bibikov, attached his own report to the message, in which he praised Derzhavin's merits in "establishing law-abidingness among the Kalmyks." As a result, very soon the young man was granted the rank of collegiate adviser and became the owner of 300 serf souls, bestowed on him personally by the empress.
First marriage and creative maturity
In the same 1775, another important and joyful event took place in the life of Gabriel Derzhavin - he got married. His wife was the sixteen-year-old girl Ekaterina Bastidon, whose father was once the valet of the murdered sovereign Peter III, and whose mother was the breadwinner of the future Emperor Paul I. As befits a true poet, Derzhavin sang his chosen one in verse, calling her Plenira - from the verb ".
Most researchers of the poet's work consider these years to be the period when he acquired his own literary style, which made it possible to create a cycle of outstanding works in the genre of philosophical lyrics. At the same time, his works began to be published for the first time, but did not bring the author wide fame in literary circles.
Golden snuffbox from the hands of the Empress
Glory came to Derzhavin only after writing the ode "Felitsa", dedicated to Empress Catherine II. In this work, filled with the most loyal feelings, the author presented the Russian autocrat as the ideal of an enlightened ruler and mother of nations.
Such obvious flattery, dressed in a highly artistic form, was not left without due reward. The “Mother of Nations” granted the poet a golden snuff-box studded with diamonds and filled with gold coins, after which the career of Gavriil Romanovich went uphill. Appointments to various high positions followed one after another, but Derzhavin's character traits prevented him from getting along with other officials and caused frequent transfers from place to place.
At the head of the Olonets region
In 1776, the previously created Olonets province was transformed into a governorship, and by decree of the Empress, Gabriel Derzhavin was appointed its first governor. His duties, among other things, included monitoring the observance of the law by all officials subordinate to him. This was the cause of many of the troubles that followed soon after.
In those early years, embezzlers of public funds were not yet called corrupt officials, but this did not make them less. Theft was ubiquitous, and even the expression "take according to rank" came into use. This meant that petty bureaucrats could swipe with impunity only a small fraction of what they had access to. Middle-level officials were secretly allowed to profit in a much larger volume, but that’s all, “the greedy crowd standing at the throne,” as M.Yu. wrote. Lermontov, - with impunity they put their hand into the treasury up to the very elbow.
It was with these lawlessness that once happened in Russia that Gavriil Romanovich encountered in his new post. Being a decent and law-abiding person, he did his best to fight the evil that surrounded him, but as a result he only amassed numerous ill-wishers both in his subordinate structures and in court circles, which caused his subsequent resignation.
Nevertheless, during the years spent as governor, and having a residence first in Petrozavodsk, and then in Tambov, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin managed to do many good deeds before his resignation. So, through his efforts, the first Tambov theater was opened, a city school was built, a hospital for the poor opened its doors, and a printing house began to work.
Cabinet secretary of the Empress
The next step on the career ladder of Gabriel Derzhavin was the service as a personal office-secretary of Catherine II. Ignoring the slanders that rained down on the poet from all sides, the Empress brought him closer to her as a token of gratitude for the ode once written in her honor.
But even in this position, Gavriil Romanovich did not hold out for a long time, since he used to report on all matters, presenting them in a true, and sometimes unsightly, light, which greatly upset his benefactor. He bothered her with constant petitions for those in need and suffering from injustice. It ended up that the empress got tired of him, and she sent him out of sight - transferred to the Senate.
Creator of the first Russian anthem
While in this honorable exile, Derzhavin created his most famous work. In 1791, inspired by the news of the capture of the Turkish fortress of Izmail by Russian troops under the command of A.V. Suvorov, he wrote the poem “Thunder of victory, resound.” Set to music by composer Osip Kozlovsky, over the next years it was the official anthem of Russia, which was replaced only in 1833 by the famous "God Save the Tsar", written by another outstanding Russian poet - V. Zhukovsky in collaboration with composer A. Lvov.
remarriage
In 1794, the wife of Gavriil Romanovich died - the muse that he once sang in verse, giving her the romantic name Plenira. After a year, the still far from old widower remarried. He joined his fate with Daria Alekseevna Dyakova, who also became the heroine of his poems, this time under the name of Milena.
Both marriages of the famous poet, although filled with love, turned out to be childless. Having no offspring of their own, the couple raised the children of the deceased family friend P. Lazarev. One of them - Mikhail - later became a famous admiral, discoverer and explorer of the Arctic.
Career Peak
During the reign of Paul I, Derzhavin served as president of the College of Commerce and state treasurer, and Alexander I, who ascended the throne after that, appointed him minister of justice. But wherever he happened to serve, Gavriil Romanovich tried with all his might to eradicate bribery and embezzlement, which invariably made enemies for himself. In 1803, he petitioned for the highest name and ended his state activity, devoting himself entirely to literature.
The subsequent life and work of the poet
Even before his resignation, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin loved Zvanka, an estate that belonged to his second wife, Daria Alekseevna. In it, he spent the last years of his life, writing about 60 poems and preparing the first volume of his works for publication. In addition to poetic works, works in the field of dramaturgy are associated with his name. These include librettos created for several operas, as well as tragedies: "Herod and Marianne", "Eupraksia" and "Dark".
Derzhavin's poetry had a huge influence on the early work of A. S. Pushkin, who read his poems from childhood and studied them at the Lyceum in the lessons of Russian literature. They only met once. In 1815, Derzhavin was invited to the lyceum exam, where the still very young Alexander Pushkin read his famous poem “Memories of Tsarskoye Selo” in his presence. A reproduction from the painting by I. E. Repin, reproducing this episode, is presented in the article. The venerable master, having seen his brilliant successor in the swarthy young man and touched to the depths of his soul by his poems, wanted to hug Pushkin, but he ran away, unable to restrain his sobs.
The death of the poet and the subsequent fate of his remains
Death overtook him in 1816 at the Zvanka estate, which, as mentioned above, Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin loved until his retirement, often visited, and where he spent the rest of his life. His ashes, transported along the Volkhov to Veliky Novgorod, were buried in the Transfiguration Cathedral, located on the territory of the Varlaamo-Khutynsky Monastery. Later, his second wife, Daria Alekseevna, was also buried there.
During the Great Patriotic War, the monastery was in the war zone and was completely destroyed. The grave of the Derzhavins was also badly damaged. In 1959, their remains were reburied, placed in the Novgorodsky detinets, and in 1993, when the 250th anniversary of the poet was celebrated, they were returned to the Varlaamo-Khutynsky monastery, which had been revived by that time.
Among the names of outstanding Russian poets who brought fame to Russian literature, Gavriil Derzhavin is invariably mentioned, whose brief biography was set out in this article. The study of his life and work is of great importance not only from the aesthetic side, but also from the educational side, since the truths that he preached are eternal.
Brief biography of the poet, the main facts of life and work:
GAVRILA ROMANOVICH DERZHAVIN (1743-1816)
Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin was born on July 3 (July 14, according to the new style), 1743, in the village of Karmachi, Kazan province, into a poor noble family. His father, Roman Nikolaevich Derzhavin, was an officer in small ranks, although he entered the army as a private under Peter I. He married his distant relative and neighbor on the estate, the childless widow Fekla Andreevna Gorina (nee Kozlova).
Gavrila was the firstborn, he was born prematurely. They saved him from death in a barbaric old-fashioned way: they smeared him with rye dough, put him in a warm oven and kept him like that for several days until the child became strong.
When Gavryusha was one year old, a huge bright comet appeared in the sky. The adults were horrified. Suddenly, the little one pointed with his finger at the flying ball and said his first word:
At the age of seven, Gavrila was assigned to the boarding school of the German Rose, “exiled for hard labor”. Although the German was a complete ignoramus, during the four years spent in his boarding house, the boy learned to read and write and the German language.
In 1754, retired colonel Roman Nikolaevich died. A widow with three children was left in great poverty. She did not even have 15 rubles to pay the debts of the deceased. Moreover, taking advantage of the helplessness of the orphaned family, the neighbors took away from them part of the lands that belonged to Derzhavins. Fekla Andreevna stood idle in vain, together with her young sons, in the front of the clerks, seeking justice. Everything turned out to be fruitless. From that time on, Derzhavin began to be distinguished by a heightened sense of justice, especially in relation to the weak.
And yet, the mother managed to enroll her sons in the gymnasium that had just opened in Kazan. Gavrila showed such great abilities in his studies that the director of the gymnasium M. I. Verevkin, being in St. Petersburg with a report from Count Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, a favorite of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, found it possible to talk about him, and the count immediately ordered to record the undersized conductor of the Engineering Corps.
But contrary to Shuvalov's order, Derzhavin was enrolled as a private in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, and in 1762 he was demanded to St. Petersburg to his place of service. About the army years, the poet later wrote: “In this academy of needs and patience, I learned and educated myself.”
Three months after the start of his service in St. Petersburg, a coup d'etat took place - Emperor Peter III was overthrown and killed, Empress Catherine II ascended the throne. The Preobrazhensky took an active part in this.
Gavrila Romanovich remained in the soldiers for ten years. What just did not happen to him to survive in these years. Once he almost froze to death, standing in a severe cold and snowstorm on guard in the field behind the palace. Another time, sent at night with an order, he fell into huge snowdrifts on Presnya and was almost torn to pieces by dogs.
But every night before going to bed, he always read books and wrote "poetry without any rules." At the request of the soldiers' wives, Derzhavin composed letters for them to the village, trying to write them as simply as possible - in the "peasant taste".
A poor nobleman was bypassed for a long time in the service. Only in 1772 he achieved promotion to non-commissioned officers and moved to the barracks of the nobility. But this medal also had a downside. New comrades in the noble barracks gradually drew the poet into a circle of very scattered existence, and Derzhavin became addicted to the card game. In the end, a criminal case was initiated against him, which, according to the judicial customs of that time, lasted for twelve whole years and did not end with anything.
And in 1773, the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev began. The staunch monarchist Derzhavin secured his secondment to the commander-in-chief of the government forces, General Bibikov. All three years, until the uprising was finally crushed, Gavrila Romanovich was in the army. Twice he almost got captured by Pugachev.
The combat situation was not conducive to poetry classes. However, as soon as the slightest opportunity presented itself to Derzhavin, he again turned to creativity. In 1774, during a break between hostilities, the poet wrote four odes and later published them as a separate book.
The straightforward character of Gavrila Romanovich caused strong dissatisfaction among the top authorities. Unexpectedly, he was dismissed. Derzhavin did not want this, he protested, but was forced to accept it. Once in the civil service, the poet began to look for a powerful patron. Such was the most influential nobleman of Catherine's reign, Prosecutor General Prince A. A. Vyazemsky. With his help, the poet received a lucrative position in the Senate, but very soon came to the conclusion that "he cannot get along where they do not like the truth."
In 1778, Gavrila Romanovich married eighteen-year-old Ekaterina Yakovlevna Bastidon (1760-1794) - Plenira, as he began to call her in his poems.
Around the same time, Derzhavin joined a friendly circle of talented writers. He especially became close to N. A. Lvov and V. V. Kapnist. Later, their friendship was consolidated by family relations - Kapnist, Lvov and Derzhavin (by their second marriage) married three Dyakov sisters.
In 1780, Derzhavin first turned to spiritual poetry. He transcribed the 81st psalm, which later became known as an ode to "Lords and Judges." Some literary scholars call it an ode to "truly thunderous power."
And in 1782, the famous “Ode to Felitsa” appeared, which was addressed to the Empress. Catherine II was delighted with this work and in gratitude appointed Derzhavin governor of Olonets (from 1784), and then Tambov (from 1785 to 1788).
During his stay in the Olonets province, Gavrila Romanovich created his greatest work - the ode "God". The words about the place and purpose of man in this world: “I am a king, I am a slave, I am a worm, I am God” shocked all of Europe! The ode was immediately translated into most European languages and became an outstanding event in the literature of the late 18th century.
But let us return to the activities of Governor Derzhavin. In the provinces entrusted to him, Gavrila Romanovich launched a vigorous activity, in particular, in Tambov, he opened a theater, a people's home, an orphanage, a school in his own house, tried to fight the bureaucracy, defend justice. This confused the Petersburg authorities. In the end, Derzhavin was recalled. Catherine II considered that it was safer to keep him with her, strictly ordering the poet "not to do any business."
For about two and a half years, according to him, the poet "staggered around the square, living in St. Petersburg without any business." And at the end of 1791, he received a new appointment - Derzhavin became Catherine II's personal secretary on complaints. In the defense of justice, the poet knew no doubts. The empress did not always like this: after all, she was an autocrat and sometimes had little regard for the law.
Once, the secretary and the mistress argued so strongly that Derzhavin even shouted at the empress, and when she tried to leave, he grabbed her by the mantilla. Catherine screamed, her other secretary came running.
Vasily Stepanovich! said the monarch. -Stay here, otherwise this gentleman gives free rein to his hands.
Was it not then that Gavrila Romanovich said his significant words:
In Russia, laws are read only by legislators, and only insane people execute them.
In the end, Catherine could not stand it and lowered the shrew "up" - in September 1793, the poet was appointed senator, then president of the commerce college.
After the death of Catherine II in 1796, the poet continued to "quarrel with the kings." Paul I appointed him the ruler of his Council, but soon “for an obscene answer” he “expelled” him back to the Senate. After some time, Derzhavin again managed to win over Paul's favor with a commendable ode, and by the end of his reign he received a number of high appointments. Alexander I, with the formation of ministries in 1802, entrusted Derzhavin with the post of Minister of Justice. But the poet did not hold on to this post for long. During the next report of Derzhavin, the tsar angrily interrupted him with the words:
You always want to teach me, I am an autocratic sovereign and I want to.
On another occasion, when asked by Derzhavin what he had done wrong to the tsar, he replied sarcastically:
You serve very zealously.
In 1809, Derzhavin was finally "dismissed from all affairs."
The personal life of the poet was difficult, but happy, mostly because of his personal originality.
Derzhavin became rich and imposing, he bought a large house on the Fontanka. There, in 1793, his beloved wife, Ekaterina Yakovlevna, died. Soon the poet married her friend, the twenty-year-old beauty Daria Dyakova. She was strict with her husband, more than once scolded him for the harshness of his judgments and actions.
Having no children of his own, Derzhavin raised the children of a deceased friend. In his house it was always noisy, fun and a lot of people. Relatives were perplexed: when did the poet manage to find time for creativity?
Derzhavin was and was known as an extraordinary lover of life. Love for life, food, bodily pleasure literally exude his poems. After retiring, Gavrila Romanovich lived either in St. Petersburg or on his estate in Zvanka. He liked to welcome literary youth. It is known that the poet welcomed the first experiments of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, he also welcomed other Russian writers who later became famous.
Derzhavin witnessed the invasion of Napoleon and the expulsion of the French from Russia...
Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin died on July 8 (20 according to the new style), 1816, in the village of Zvanki, Novgorod province. At the hour of his death, the following lines were found on the slate, which the poet usually used as a draft:
The river of time in its striving
Takes away all the affairs of people
And drowns in the abyss of oblivion
Peoples, kingdoms and kings.
And if anything remains
Through the sounds of the lyre and the trumpet,
That eternity will be devoured by the mouth
And the common fate will not go away.
He was buried in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Varlaamo-Khutynsky convent, located on the right bank of the Volkhov River, 10 kilometers from Veliky Novgorod.
Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin (1743-1816)
The Pushkin era is called the golden age of Russian poetry, not only thanks to Alexander Sergeevich. At the same time, excellent poets were creating - Derzhavin, Batyushkov, Zhukovsky, Baratynsky, the fabulist Krylov, Lermontov and Tyutchev began.
Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin was Pushkin's immediate predecessor. He was the glory of the 18th century, he was idolized, admired. We can say that the glory of Derzhavin passed to Pushkin.
Alexander Sergeevich himself recalls how he treated Derzhavin in his youth: “I saw Derzhavin only once in my life, but I will never forget that. It was in 1815, at a public examination at the Lyceum. When we learned that Derzhavin would be with us, we all got excited. Delvig went out onto the stairs to wait for him and kiss his hand, the hand that wrote "Waterfall"... Derzhavin was very old. He was in a uniform and in plush boots. Our exam made him very tired. He sat with his head on his hand. His face was meaningless, his eyes were cloudy, his lips drooped: his portrait (where he is shown in a cap and dressing gown) is very similar. He dozed until the exam in Russian literature began. Then he perked up, his eyes sparkled; he was completely transformed. Of course, his poems were read, his poems were analyzed, his poems were praised every minute. He listened with extraordinary vivacity. Finally they called me. I read Memoirs in Tsarskoye Selo, standing a stone's throw from Derzhavin. I am unable to describe the state of my soul: when I reached the verse where I mention the name of Derzhavin, my adolescent voice rang out, and my heart beat with intoxicating delight ... I don’t remember how I finished my reading, I don’t remember where I ran away. Derzhavin was in admiration; he demanded me, wanted to hug me ... They looked for me, but they did not find me ... "
Pushkin wrote this in 1835, by which time his attitude to Derzhavin's poetry had essentially not changed. He considered him a great poet.
Some thinkers believed that great Russian literature began with Derzhavin's ode "God". It was with this ode that he opened his collected works:
O Thou infinite space,
Alive in the movement of matter,
Eternal with the passage of time,
Without faces, in three faces of a deity!
The spirit is everywhere and one,
Who has no place and no reason
Whom no one could comprehend.
Who fills everything
Embraces, builds, preserves,
Who we call: God.
You're! - the rank of nature broadcasts,
My heart says to me
My mind assures me
You are - and I'm not nothing!
Part of the whole universe,
Delivered, it seems to me, in a venerable
In the middle of nature I am the one
Where did you end the bodily creatures,
Where did you start the spirits of heaven
And the chain of beings bound everyone by me.
I am the connection of worlds that exist everywhere,
I am the extreme degree of matter;
I am the center of the living;
I'm rotting in the ashes,
I command the thunders with my mind,
I am a king - I am a slave - I am a worm - I am God!
But being so wonderful
Where did it happen? - unknown;
And I couldn't be myself.
Derzhavin is a poet of classicism. But he introduced “cordial simplicity” into classicism, so his odes, his lyrical poems, as it were, stepped out of the conventions of classicism into living life. The poet's work reflected many specific features of Russian life, Russian way of life, living Russian thoughts of that time. There were a lot of topical things in them.
It is sometimes difficult for a modern reader to read Derzhavin. But such is the poetic language of the pre-Pushkin era. This Russian language is still unsettled and motley, not yet brought into harmony. It is saturated with forms and turns that came from antiquity.
Derzhavin was born near Kazan in the family of a small estate nobleman. He did not receive a formal education. For ten years he served as a soldier in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 1772 he was promoted to officer. In 1777 he switched to civilian service: he served in the Senate, was governor in Petrozavodsk and Tambov, then secretary of Catherine II, Minister of Justice under Alexander I. Distinguished by his independence of character and directness (“Hot and true devil!” - he said about himself) , Derzhavin often quarreled with his superiors, and even went on trial. Since 1803, he lived in retirement, spending the summer in his estate Zvanka, on the banks of the Volkhov.
He began to compose poetry while still a soldier, writing in the barracks. In 1776, the poet published his odes in a separate book, but without indicating his name. The book went unnoticed. Later he was accepted into the circle of writers popular at that time - N. A. Lvov, I. I. Khemnitser, V. V. Kapnist, learned a lot from them, studied the works of theoreticians of classicism - Boileau, Batte, read Horace and other ancient authors .
These studies helped Derzhavin greatly. He anonymously published his new works in St. Petersburg magazines - and these were already truly Derzhavin works: “On the Death of Prince Meshchersky”, “Key”, “Poems for the Birth of a Porphyrogenic Child in the North”. Readers felt that none of the former poets, neither Sumarokov nor Lomonosov, used the “low calm” with such boldness, introduced such vernacular, did not depict themselves, their acquaintances, the environment with such boldness in verse. In the verses of the classicists, everything was regulated, and Derzhavin, preserving the ode as a genre, saturated it with new content.
Derzhavin's ode "Felitsa", written in 1782, was a huge success. Under the guise of the princess "Kyrgyz-Kaisatsky horde" Felitsa, the poet brought Empress Catherine. She, having read the ode, rewarded the poet and gave him a personal audience.
Derzhavin painted in "Felitsa" the image of Catherine as an enlightened "mother of the fatherland", tirelessly caring for the welfare of her subjects, sacredly observing the laws, smart and simple in everyday life and habits. The poet tried to create an ideal image of the monarch. In a sense, this ode was the poet's lesson to the kings.
Derzhavin sang of the empress, but at the same time he satirically painted her nobles. For which they, of course, took revenge on him. So he was sent away from the capital to the remote Olonets province - but as a governor. Derzhavin traveled all over the North. While sailing in the White Sea, he almost died once in a storm.
Gavriil Romanovich was a very brave, resolute, courageous person. There is such a fact in his biography. When rumors of Pugachev's uprising reached Petersburg, Derzhavin succeeded in appointing him to the command of General Bibikov, who led government troops against the rebels. He spent three years in the fire of the peasant war, two times he was nearly captured by Pugachev himself.
“In the person of Derzhavin, Russian poetry has taken a great step forward,” wrote Belinsky. And the historian of Russian literature G. Gukovsky confirms: “His poems are torn from his hands, they are copied into cherished notebooks, they don’t even need to be printed, everyone already knows them by heart ...” This is already the 80-90s of the XVIII century.
Derzhavin attached great importance to the visual power of poetry, sound, phonetic coloring.
Let's read together the wonderful poem "The Swan", in which the sound writing is beautiful, and the depiction is amazing, and the content is very serious - in this poem, which recalls the Greek legend that the souls of poets after death turn into swans, we see that Derzhavin knew himself price as a poet and understood that he would remain in the memory of people not as a nobleman, but as a great poet.
Swan
I'm an extraordinary guy
Separate myself from the perishable world,
With an immortal soul and singing,
Like a swan, I will rise into the air.
Incorruptible in two forms,
I will not linger at the gates of ordeals;
Exalted above envy,
I will leave under me the brilliance of kingdoms.
Yes, yes! Though I'm not famous,
But, being a favorite of the muses,
I am not equal to other nobles
And I prefer death itself.
The tomb will not close me,
Among the stars I will not turn into dust;
But, like some kind of tsevnitsa,
And now the skin, I see, the feather
Around the camp fits mine;
Fluff on the chest, winged back,
Swan-like glossy whiteness.
I fly, I soar - and under me
Seas, forests, I see the whole world;
Like a hill, it rises with its head,
To hear God sing.
From the Kuril Islands to the Bug,
From the White to the Caspian waters,
Peoples, light from a semicircle,
Compiled by the Russian clan.
Over time, they will know about me:
Slavs, Huns, Scythians, Chud,
And all that are blazing with abuse today,
They will show with a finger and say:
“Here he flies, that, building a lyre,
spoke the language of the heart
And preaching peace to the world,
He made everyone happy."
Away with a magnificent, glorious burial,
My friends! Chorus of Muses, don't sing!
Spouse! put on patience!
Do not howl over the imaginary dead.
Derzhavin glorified in his poems the generals Rumyantsev and Suvorov, the Cossack ataman Platov, but also glorified the simple Russian soldier, Ross, as he sublimely called him. He also writes about young noblewomen, and sings of peasant girls. He is a big lover of life, so his landscapes are very real, expressive, bright. Nature in Derzhavin is cheerful and healing.
We began our story about Derzhavin with an excerpt from Pushkin's memoirs. But Pushkin did not know that a few days after this exam at the Lyceum, Gavrila Romanovich said to Aksakov: "Soon a second Derzhavin will appear: this is Pushkin."
* * *You read the biography (facts and years of life) in a biographical article dedicated to the life and work of the great poet.
Thank you for reading. ............................................
Copyright: biographies of the lives of great poets
Today Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin(1743 - 1816) is known as a Russian poet of the Enlightenment, the author of grandiloquent and obsequious odes. And few people remember that literature was just a nice pastime for him. Contemporaries knew Derzhavin the officer, Derzhavin the politician.
We have collected some interesting facts from his biography that will help you look at the personality of this person differently.
coup participant
On June 28, 1762, an event occurred in the country that influenced the entire history of the Russian Empire. After the coup d'état, Catherine II ascended the throne, and her husband, Peter III, was imprisoned, where he soon died (or rather, was killed). Gavriil Romanovich, then still a nineteen-year-old guardsman of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, participated in Catherine's side. And, judging by the awards and positions that he received from the government, the empress appreciated this service.
smart courtier
After Derzhavin retired from military service, he received the rank of state councilor and a position in the highest state body - the Governing Senate. Later he was the governor of the Olonets, and then the Tambov governorships, cabinet secretary of Catherine II, and in 1802 he became the Minister of Justice of the Russian Empire. True, he did not stay in the rank of minister for long, a year later Derzhavin resigned.
Author of the unofficial anthem of Russia
Despite state affairs, the poet was actively engaged in literary activities and never stopped writing. In 1791, he created the ode “Thunder of victory, resound!”, Written on the capture of the Izmail fortress by Suvorov. The words were set to music and became the unofficial anthem of Russia.
Creator of the first Russian explanatory dictionary
Derzhavin was no stranger to science either. Since the founding of the Imperial Russian Academy in 1783, he has been a member. The poet took an active part in the creation of the dictionary of the Russian Academy - the first in Russian history. So without the work of Derzhavin there would not have been Dahl's monumental work.
Pushkin's benefactor
Contrary to the impression that the lines may give, Derzhavin was never his teacher. The young poet saw him only once, but remembered this meeting for the rest of his life:
“When we learned that Derzhavin would be with us, we all got excited. Delvig went out onto the stairs to wait for him and kiss the hand that had written The Waterfall... Derzhavin was very old. He was in a uniform and in plush boots. Our exam made him very tired. He sat with his head propped on his hand. His face was meaningless, his eyes were cloudy, his lips drooped; his portrait, where he is presented in a cap and a dressing gown, is very similar. He dozed until the exam in Russian literature began. Then he perked up, his eyes sparkled; he was completely transformed. Of course, his poems were read. He listened with extraordinary vivacity. Finally they called me. I read my Memoirs in Tsarskoye Selo, standing a stone's throw from Derzhavin. I am unable to describe the state of my soul: when I reached the verse where I mention the name of Derzhavin, my adolescent voice rang out, and my heart beat with intoxicating delight ... I don’t remember how I finished my reading; I don't remember where I ran. Derzhavin was in admiration; he demanded me, wanted to hug me... They were looking for me, but they didn't find me..."
Today, not so much is said about Gavriil Derzhavin, and they are remembered only at school lessons and university lectures, but Belinsky said that his talent was equal to Pushkin’s, and if he had been born in a different time, he would have been no less famous not only to his contemporaries, but also descendants.
Gavriil Derzhavin is a Russian poet, a significant figure in the Russian Empire. He held a high position and was acquainted with many important people. His works are serious works where he wrote not just for enjoyment, but in order to tell the world the truth.
Derzhavin was married twice. The first wife was 16 years old when they got married. There were no children in this marriage. When she was 34, she died. Derzhavin married a second time, but was never able to have children of his own.
He took under his care the children of his friend, who died. He and his wife also took care of several nieces from his wife's side.
Derzhavin died at the age of 73, when he was already retired and could calmly engage in creativity.
His poems and works touched many readers. I especially remember the poems "Snigir" about the death of Suvorov, and "The River of Times", which was not written to the end. Only an excerpt (beginning) was found, which the author wrote a few days before his death.
Derzhavin raised Russian classicism to the very top and became a famous person who did a lot, both for the state and for Russian poetry.
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Updated: 2017-08-15
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Date of birth: July 14, 1743
Date of death: July 20, 1816
Place of birth: Sokura village, Kazan province
Derzhavin Gavriil Romanovich- an outstanding Russian poet and politician, Derzhavin G.R.- was born on July 3, 1743. His work embodies the peak of Russian classicism. During his lifetime, he managed to be the governor of the Tambov province, the ruler of the Olonets viceroy, personal secretary under Catherine II, the minister of justice, the president of the College of Commerce and an honorary member of the Russian Academy (since its foundation).
Gabriel was born in a small village in the Kazan province. His father, Roman, was not a very rich nobleman and had the honorary rank of major. According to family legends, the Derzhavins descended from the Tatar Murza Bagrim. He left the Golden Horde in the 15th century and went to the service of the prince (in the reign of Vasily the Dark). Prince Murza was baptized and named Ilya. One of the sons of Ilya was named Dmitry, and he, in turn, had a son, Derzhava. This is how the Derzhavin family came about. Gabriel lost his father at an early age. He was raised by his mother, Thekla.
Derzhavin initially learned to read and write at home. The clergy taught him. At the age of seven, living in Orenburg, the father sends his son to the boarding school of the German Rosa, which was not known as a particularly good education or culture. Nevertheless, after four years there, Derzhavin began to speak German satisfactorily. A little later, Gabriel studied at the gymnasium of Kazan (in 1759-1762). Then he goes to serve.
Since 1762, he has known the full burden of military service. Derzhavin began with the Preobrazhensky Regiment. He was lucky in terms of participation in the most important historical events, but unlucky as a young warrior. From the very beginning of the service, one has to participate in the most important event - a coup d'état. The result was the ascension to the throne of Catherine II. Ten years later, he was elevated to the rank of officer, and again he had to immediately take an active part in the pacification of the Pugachev uprising.
Gabriel publishes his first poems in 1773 (at that time he was already thirty years old). In his works, he tries to inherit Sumarkov and Lomonosov, but from 1779 he understands that it is worth developing his own way of writing. He becomes the founder of a new, original poetic style, which over the years turns into a model of Russian philosophical lyrics. In 1778, he married E. Ya. Bastidon, whom he called Plenira at home.
Excessive vanity lived in Derzhavin's soul, which is why he was constantly sure that the Empress underestimated him as a military man. It is for this reason that Gabriel leaves his military position and completely devotes himself to the civil service.
The beginning of the service was in the Senate, in which he could not get a job because of the increased desire for truth.
In 1782, he wrote the well-known "Ode to Felitsa", in which, under a light veil, an appeal was observed directly to the empress. In turn, Catherine II liked his work, and she appointed Derzhavin the governor of Olonets, and after some time, the governor of Tambov.
It should be noted that Derzhavin fought the bureaucracy in every possible way, defended the interests of the local people, and also made every effort to turn these lands into one of the most enlightened on the territory of Russia.
Unfortunately, the vigor, directness and sense of heightened justice of a politician often played a cruel joke with him. He was disliked by higher nobles, and often places in the public service changed.
In 1791-1793. - becomes a personal cabinet secretary under Empress Catherine II herself, however, even here he could not get along with her policy, which is why he was immediately removed. In the summer of 1794, his wife died, and a year later he married D. A. Dyakova, whom he prefers to call Milena in his home circle.
In 1802-1803. - Minister of Justice, but at the age of sixty (1803) decides to retire.
When Derzhavin retired from public affairs, he completely devoted himself to creativity. He was also hospitable towards various writers of St. Petersburg. A little later, he decided to settle in St. Petersburg, but at the same time he visits the Zvanka estate in the province of Novgorod. In 1811 he became an honorary member of the literary community "Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word". One of the most active poets in the local environment.
Derzhavin died in July 1816 in the village of Zvanki. He was buried next to his second wife Daria in the Transfiguration Cathedral (Varlaamo-Khutynsky Monastery), located near Veliky Novgorod.
During the Great Patriotic War, this monastery was subjected to serious artillery fire. In 1959, a decision was made to reburial Derzhavin and his wife in the Novgorod Detinets. When in 1993 the restoration of the cathedral was completed, then on the anniversary (250th anniversary of Derzhavin), their remains were returned again.
Achievements of Gabriel Derzhavin:
The work of Gavriil Derzhavin became a wonderful basis for the poetry of Pushkin, Batyushkov and the Decembrist poets.
He is the founder of Russian classicism.
Dates from the biography of Gabriel Derzhavin:
1743 - birth.
1759-1762 - Kazan gymnasium.
1762 - serves in the Preobrazhensky Regiment.
1772 - receives an officer's rank.
1778 - marries Catherine Bastidon.
1782 - "Ode to Felitsa", dedicated to Catherine II.
1784 - an ode to the philosophical bias "God" is published.
1784-1785 - Olonets governor.
1786-1788 - Governor of the Tambov province.
1788 - writes "Autumn during the siege of Ochakov".
1791 - the unofficial anthem of Russia comes out from the pen of Derzhavin: "The thunder of victory, resound!".
1791-1793 - cabinet secretary under Catherine II.
1791-1794 - writes "Waterfall"
1794 - headed the College of Commerce. Death of first wife. Poems "Velmozh".
1795 - second wife, Daria Dyakova.
1799 - another philosophical ode "On the death of Prince Meshchersky."
1800 - the poem "Bullfinch", which was written in memory of the deceased Suvorov.
1802-1803 - Minister of Justice.
1803 - resigns.
1811 - Enters Lit. society "Conversation of lovers of the Russian word".
181101815 - Works on "Discourse on Lyric Poetry or on Ode" (treatise).
1816 - death.
Interesting facts of Gavriil Derzhavin:
Derzhavin was a connoisseur of eroticism. He liked to write erotic prose. An example is the Aristippus Bath. He gave it a special softness, excluding, if possible, the hard letter "r". He was pleased when such works were read to the ladies in his presence.
The image of Derzhavin is immortalized in numerous monuments: St. Petersburg, Kazan, Tambov, Petrozavodsk. Derzhavinskaya Street is located in Tambov, the local state university also bears his name, and even a crater on the planet Mercury was named after him.
During his life, Derzhavin managed to know both need and wealth. The story tells that once, left with the last 50 rubles in his pocket, Gabriel decided to play cards, although he had never played before. At the end of the evening, Derzhavin leaves with a sum of 8,000 rubles. In the future, he even won 40,000 in a short time, which he spent on urgent debts. However, like any wise person, he stopped in time.
In 1815, the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was awaiting the arrival of the famous Derzhavin. Everyone was dumbfounded when the first thing an important guest asked was where they had a toilet.
