Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (1717-1777) - Russian poet, writer and playwright of the 18th century.
Born into a noble family on November 14 (25), 1717 in St. Petersburg. He studied at home, continued his education in the Land Gentry Corps, where he began to engage in literary work, transcribing psalms in verse, composing "congratulatory odes" to Empress Anna on behalf of the cadets, songs - modeled on French poets and V. K. Trediakovsky (Tredyakovsky). After graduating from the corps in 1740, he was enrolled first in the military field office of Count Munnich, then as an adjutant to Count A. G. Razumovsky.
Verbosity is characteristic of human stupidity.
Sumarokov Alexander Petrovich
Fame brought him published in 1747 and played at the court of his first tragedy "Khorev". His plays were played at the court by the troupe of F. G. Volkov, ordered from Yaroslavl.
When a permanent theater was established in 1756, Sumarokov was appointed director of this theater and for a long time he remained the main "supplier" of the repertoire. Chorev was followed by eight tragedies, twelve comedies and three operatic librettos.
In parallel, Sumarokov, who worked extremely quickly, developed in other areas of literature. In 1755-1758, he was an active contributor to the academic journal Monthly Works, and in 1759 he published his own satirical and moralizing journal The Hardworking Bee (the first private journal in Russia). In 1762-1769, collections of his fables were published, from 1769 to 1774, a number of collections of his poems.
Despite the proximity to the court, the patronage of nobles, the praise of admirers, Sumarokov did not feel appreciated and constantly complained about the lack of attention, the nitpicking of censorship and the ignorance of the public. In 1761 he lost control of the theatre. Later, in 1769, he moved to Moscow. Here, abandoned by his patrons, ruined and drunk, he died on October 1 (12), 1777. He was buried at the Donskoy cemetery in Moscow.
Creativity Sumarokov develops within the framework of classicism, in the form that he adopted in France XVII - early. 18th century Modern admirers, therefore, more than once proclaimed Sumarokov "the confidant of Boileau", "Northern Racine", "Molière", "Russian Lafontaine".
The literary activity of Sumarokov stops attention with its external diversity. He tried all genres: odes (solemn, spiritual, philosophical, anacreontic), epistles (messages), satires, elegies, songs, epigrams, madrigals, epitaphs; In his poetic technique, he used all the meters that existed at that time, made experiments in the field of rhyme, and applied a variety of strophic constructions.
Russian nobleman, poet, writer and playwright of the 18th century. He is often referred to as the "father of the Russian theatre".
In 1756, by decree of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna The Senate established a permanent theater and A.P. Sumarokova appointed him director. To ennoble the title of actors in the eyes of the poorly educated public, the new director procured the last noble distinction - the right to wear a sword.
A.P. Sumarokov wrote numerous plays for the theatre. While working for the theater, at the same time he wrote: odes, elegies, fables, satires, parables, eclogues, madrigals, articles, etc. Unlike M.V. Lomonosov, he believed that poetry should be, first of all, not majestic, but "pleasant".
In January 1759 A.P. Sumarokov succeeded in obtaining a new decree Elizabeth: "of the Russian theater to comedians and others ... from now on to be in the department of the Court Office and be called courtiers by them." 3,000 rubles were added to the maintenance of the troupe. Actors' salaries were increased, their position became more stable.
“But the character of the Russian theater has changed dramatically. He completely lost his independence. and even in the choice of repertoire, he now completely depended on the Court Office and the ignorant Chamberlain Karl Sivsrs, who headed it. Sumarokov tirelessly quarreled with him, complained about him who did so much for Russian culture and, it would seem, is still influential, taking out insults on innocent actors.
“I only ask that,” he wrote in one of his letters, annoyed and offended, “that if I deserve to be thrown away from the theater, then at least that it be done without continuation ... For my work in the theater, which it seems to me more than what Volkov did shishaki, and I can’t be in Volkov’s team, but ask me to be dismissed from the theater, I won’t be until I go crazy.
In his letters, Sumarokov either asked for his resignation or threatened that if he was dismissed, he would cease to be a writer, at least a dramatic one. He swore this on his honor, his last name, hoping that his threat would frighten Elizabeth and he would be able to defend himself as director of the theater. But Elizaveta Petrovna had long been fed up with his complaints. Far from everything she liked in his tragedies, in which the idea was constantly emphasized that the indulgence of the monarch's own passions leads to the misfortune of his subjects. And although in these tragedies there was always a conversation about the ideal monarch, by which Elizabeth was allegedly meant, she could not help but understand the true meaning of the edifications of their creator. After another letter from Sumarokov to Shuvalov in the summer of 1761, his resignation was sanctioned. Sumarokov threw thunder and lightning. But he was outgoing. And passionately loved the theater. In addition, the Russian Theater continued to play his compositions - no decrees could break Sumarokov's indissoluble connection with the Russian stage.
Kulikov K.F., the first actors of the Russian theater, L., "Lenizdat", p. 50-51.
A.P. Sumarokov left us an impression of the Russian theater of his time: “For a clerk to weave praises ... it’s only inappropriate, if it’s indecent ... for those who came to see Semira, sit near the orchestra itself and gnaw nuts and think that when money has been paid for entry into a disgrace, you can fight in the stalls, and in the boxes tell the stories of your week loudly. You, travelers who have been in Paris and London, tell me, do they gnaw nuts there during the performance of the drama, and when the performance is in its greatest heat, are the drunken coachmen who quarreled among themselves whipped to the alarm of the entire stalls, boxes and theater?
Lunacharsky M.V., Russian criticism from Lomonosov to the predecessors of Belinsky, in Sat.: M.V. Lomonosov: pro et contra / Comp. M.A. Maslin, St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy, 2011, p. 640.
The inscription on the pedestal of the Bronze Horseman: "Petro Primo Catharina Secunda" - "To Peter the Great Catherine the Second" proposed exactly A.P. Sumarokov.
After establishment Peter I Petersburg Vedomosti newspaper, the government maintained a monopoly on the printed word, but in 1759 A.P. Sumarokov was allowed to publish the first private magazine in Russia: "Hard-working bee", published in circulation 1200 copies.
And in 1759 he wrote an epigram that became famous:
Dancer! You are rich. Professor! You are poor.
Of course, the head is much smaller than the legs.
Wilmanstrand (now Lappeenranta) - October 1, Moscow) - one of the largest representatives of Russian literature of the 18th century, creator of the repertoire of the first Russian theater. Father-in-law Ya. B. Knyazhnin, uncle P. I. Sumarokov.
Biography
Alexander Sumarokov came from a pillar noble family of the Sumarokovs, was born in Finland near Wilmanstrand in the family of ensign Peter Sumarokov. Initially, the training took place at home.
Fame brought him published in 1747 and played at the court of his first tragedy "Khorev". His plays were played at the court by the troupe of F. G. Volkov, ordered from Yaroslavl. When a permanent theater was established in 1756, Sumarokov was appointed director of this theater and for a long time he remained the main "supplier" of the repertoire, for which he is rightfully called the "father of the Russian theater". Chorev was followed by eight tragedies, twelve comedies and three operatic librettos.
In parallel, Sumarokov, who worked extremely quickly, developed in other areas of literature. In 1755-1758 he was an active member of the academic journal Monthly Works, in 1759 he published his own satirical and moralizing journal The Hardworking Bee (the first private journal in Russia). In 1762-1769, collections of his fables were published, from 1769 to 1774 - a number of collections of his poems.
Despite the proximity to the court, the patronage of nobles, the praise of admirers, Sumarokov did not feel appreciated and constantly complained about the lack of attention, the nitpicking of censorship and the ignorance of the public. In 1761 he lost control of the theatre. Later, in 1769, he moved to Moscow. Here, abandoned by his patrons and ruined, he died on October 1 (12), 1777. He was buried at the Donskoy Cemetery in Moscow.
Creation
Creativity Sumarokov developed within the framework of classicism, in the form that he adopted in France XVII - early. 18th century
Sumarokov's literary activity is distinguished by its external diversity. He tried all genres: odes (solemn, spiritual, philosophical, anacreontic), epistles (messages), satires, elegies, songs, epigrams, madrigals, epitaphs. In his poetic technique, he used all the meters that existed at that time, made experiments in the field of rhyme, and applied a variety of strophic constructions.
However, Sumarokov's classicism is different, for example, from the classicism of his older contemporary Lomonosov. Sumarokov "reduces" classical poetics. The "decrease" is expressed in the striving for a less "high" theme, in the introduction of motives of a personal, intimate order into poetry, in the preference for "medium" and "low" genres over the "high" genres. Sumarokov creates a large number of lyrical works in the genre of love songs, works of many satirical genres - fables, comedies, satires, epigrams.
Sumarokov sets a didactic task for satire - “to correct temper with a mockery, to make her laugh and use her direct charter”: Sumarokov ridicules empty class vanity (“not in title, in action one should be a nobleman”), warns against abuse of landowner power (see in particular “ Chorus to the perverted world, where the “titmouse” says that “overseas they don’t trade people, they don’t put villages on the map, they don’t rip off the skin of the peasants”).
Sumarokov is one of the initiators of Russian parody, a cycle of "Wonderful Odes" ridiculing Lomonosov's "frantic" odic style. He created 9 tragedies and 12 comedies, as well as about 400 fables.
Family
He was married three times and had four children.
- wife since 1746 Johanna Christina Balk(1723-1769), chamberlain of Empress Catherine II.
- Ekaterina Alexandrovna (1746-1797), one of the first Russian writers. She published her poems in the magazine "Hardworking Bee" published by her father. Around 1768 she married the poet and playwright Ya. B. Knyazhnin. Their sons Alexander and Boris Kniazhnin.
- Praskovya Alexandrovna (1754-1800), since 1779 married to Count Anton Petrovich Golovin (1742-1802).
- wife since 1770 Vera Prokhorovna NN(1743-1777), peasant serf.
- Pavel Alexandrovich (1771-?)
- Natalya Alexandrovna
- wife since 1777 Ekaterina Prokofievna(1750-?), peasant serf.
Sumarokov commented on the death of Mikhail Lomonosov as follows:
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Notes
In the first days of October, another truce came to Kutuzov with a letter from Napoleon and an offer of peace, deceptively signified from Moscow, while Napoleon was already not far ahead of Kutuzov, on the old Kaluga road. Kutuzov answered this letter in the same way as the first one sent from Lauriston: he said that there could be no talk of peace.
Soon after this, from the partisan detachment of Dorokhov, who was walking to the left of Tarutin, a report was received that troops had appeared in Fominsky, that these troops consisted of Brusier's division, and that this division, separated from other troops, could easily be exterminated. Soldiers and officers again demanded activity. Staff generals, excited by the memory of the ease of victory at Tarutin, insisted on Kutuzov's execution of Dorokhov's proposal. Kutuzov did not consider any offensive necessary. The average came out, that which was to be accomplished; a small detachment was sent to Fominsky, which was supposed to attack Brussier.
By a strange chance, this appointment - the most difficult and most important, as it turned out later - was received by Dokhturov; that same modest, little Dokhturov, whom no one described to us as making battle plans, flying in front of regiments, throwing crosses at batteries, etc., who was considered and called indecisive and impenetrable, but the same Dokhturov, whom during all the Russian wars with the French, from Austerlitz and up to the thirteenth year, we find commanders wherever only the situation is difficult. In Austerlitz, he remains the last at the Augusta dam, gathering regiments, saving what is possible when everything is running and dying and not a single general is in the rearguard. He, sick with a fever, goes to Smolensk with twenty thousand to defend the city against the entire Napoleonic army. In Smolensk, he had barely dozed off at the Molokhov Gates, in a paroxysm of fever, he was awakened by the cannonade across Smolensk, and Smolensk held out all day. On the day of Borodino, when Bagration was killed and the troops of our left flank were killed in the ratio of 9 to 1 and the entire force of the French artillery was sent there, no one else was sent, namely the indecisive and impenetrable Dokhturov, and Kutuzov was in a hurry to correct his mistake when he sent there another. And the small, quiet Dokhturov goes there, and Borodino is the best glory of the Russian army. And many heroes are described to us in verse and prose, but almost not a word about Dokhturov.
Again Dokhturov is sent there to Fominsky and from there to Maly Yaroslavets, to the place where the last battle with the French took place, and to the place from which, obviously, the death of the French already begins, and again many geniuses and heroes describe to us during this period of the campaign , but not a word about Dokhturov, or very little, or doubtful. This silence about Dokhturov most obviously proves his merits.
Naturally, for a person who does not understand the movement of the machine, at the sight of its operation, it seems that the most important part of this machine is that chip that accidentally fell into it and, interfering with its movement, is rattling in it. A person who does not know the structure of the machine cannot understand that not this spoiling and interfering chip, but that small transmission gear that turns inaudibly is one of the most essential parts of the machine.
On October 10, on the very day Dokhturov walked halfway to Fominsky and stopped in the village of Aristovo, preparing to execute the given order exactly, the entire French army, in its convulsive movement, reached the position of Murat, as it seemed, in order to give the battle, suddenly, for no reason, turned to the left onto the new Kaluga road and began to enter Fominsky, in which only Brussier had previously stood. Dokhturov under command at that time had, in addition to Dorokhov, two small detachments of Figner and Seslavin.
On the evening of October 11, Seslavin arrived in Aristovo to the authorities with a captured French guard. The prisoner said that the troops that had now entered Fominsky were the vanguard of the entire large army, that Napoleon was right there, that the entire army had already left Moscow for the fifth day. That same evening, a courtyard man who came from Borovsk told how he saw the entry of a huge army into the city. Cossacks from the Dorokhov detachment reported that they saw the French guards walking along the road to Borovsk. From all this news, it became obvious that where they thought to find one division, there was now the entire French army, marching from Moscow in an unexpected direction - along the old Kaluga road. Dokhturov did not want to do anything, because it was not clear to him now what his duty was. He was ordered to attack Fominsky. But in Fominsky there used to be only Brussier, now there was the whole French army. Yermolov wanted to do as he pleased, but Dokhturov insisted that he needed to have an order from his Serene Highness. It was decided to send a report to headquarters.
For this, an intelligent officer, Bolkhovitinov, was chosen, who, in addition to a written report, was supposed to tell the whole story in words. At twelve o'clock in the morning, Bolkhovitinov, having received an envelope and a verbal order, galloped, accompanied by a Cossack, with spare horses to the main headquarters.
The night was dark, warm, autumnal. It has been raining for the fourth day. Having changed horses twice and galloping thirty versts along a muddy, viscous road in an hour and a half, Bolkhovitinov was at Letashevka at two o'clock in the morning. Climbing down at the hut, on the wattle fence of which there was a sign: "General Staff", and leaving the horse, he entered the dark passage.
- The general on duty soon! Very important! he said to someone who was getting up and snuffling in the darkness of the passage.
“From the evening they were very unwell, they didn’t sleep for the third night,” whispered the orderly voice intercessively. “Wake up the captain first.
“Very important, from General Dokhturov,” said Bolkhovitinov, entering the open door he felt for. The orderly went ahead of him and began to wake someone:
“Your honor, your honor is a courier.
- I'm sorry, what? from whom? said a sleepy voice.
- From Dokhturov and from Alexei Petrovich. Napoleon is in Fominsky,” said Bolkhovitinov, not seeing in the darkness the one who asked him, but from the sound of his voice, assuming that it was not Konovnitsyn.
The awakened man yawned and stretched.
“I don’t want to wake him up,” he said, feeling something. - Sick! Maybe so, rumors.
“Here is the report,” said Bolkhovitinov, “it was ordered to immediately hand it over to the general on duty.
- Wait, I'll light the fire. Where the hell are you always going to put it? - Turning to the batman, said the stretching man. It was Shcherbinin, Konovnitsyn's adjutant. “I found it, I found it,” he added.
The orderly cut down the fire, Shcherbinin felt the candlestick.
“Oh, the nasty ones,” he said in disgust.
By the light of the sparks, Bolkhovitinov saw Shcherbinin's young face with a candle and a still sleeping man in the front corner. It was Konovnitsyn.
When at first the sulphurous tinder lit up with a blue and then a red flame, Shcherbinin lit a tallow candle, from the candlestick of which the Prussians gnawed at it ran, and examined the messenger. Bolkhovitinov was covered in mud and, wiping himself with his sleeve, smeared his face.
- Who delivers? Shcherbinin said, taking the envelope.
“The news is true,” said Bolkhovitinov. - And the prisoners, and the Cossacks, and scouts - all unanimously show the same thing.
“There is nothing to do, we must wake up,” said Shcherbinin, getting up and going up to a man in a nightcap, covered with an overcoat. - Pyotr Petrovich! he said. Konovnitsyn did not move. - Headquarters! he said, smiling, knowing that these words would probably wake him up. And indeed, the head in the nightcap rose at once. On Konovnitsyn's handsome, hard face, with feverishly inflamed cheeks, for a moment there still remained an expression of dream dreams far removed from the present situation, but then he suddenly shuddered: his face assumed its usual calm and firm expression.
- Well, what is it? From whom? – unhurriedly, but immediately he asked, blinking from the light. Listening to the officer's report, Konovnitsyn printed it out and read it. As soon as he read, he put his feet in woolen stockings on the dirt floor and began to put on shoes. Then he took off his cap and, combing his temples, put on his cap.
1.10.1777 (14.10). - Died writer, playwright Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov
(11/14/1717 - 10/1/1777) - poet and playwright. Born in St. Petersburg in a noble family. Sumarokov's father was a major military officer and official at. Sumarokov was educated at home, his teacher was a foreigner - the teacher of the heir to the throne, the future. In 1732 he was sent to a special educational institution for children of the higher nobility - the Land Gentry Corps, arranged according to the Prussian model, which was called the "Knight's Academy". There, Sumarokov soon stood out for his serious attitude to scientific studies and, in particular, his attraction to literature.
Sumarokov's first works, written while still in the Corpus, were transcriptions of psalms, love songs and odes; French poets and verses by Tredyakovsky served as models for them. By the time the corpus was finished (1740), two lush and empty odes were printed, in which the poet sang. The students of the Land Gentry Corps received a superficial education, but a brilliant career was secured for them. Sumarokov was no exception, who was released from the corps as an adjutant to Vice-Chancellor Count M. Golovkin, and in 1741, after accession, became adjutant to her favorite, Count A. Razumovsky. Service under him gave Sumarokov the opportunity to be in the high society of the capital and led to acquaintance with famous figures of that time.
During this period, Sumarokov called himself a poet of "tender passion": he composed fashionable love and pastoral songs (about 150 in total), which were very successful, he also wrote shepherd's idylls (7 in total) and eclogues (65 in total). In a dedication to the collection of his eclogues, Sumarokov wrote: “In my eclogues, tenderness and fidelity are proclaimed, and not malicious voluptuousness, and there are no such speeches that would be repugnant to hearing.”
Work in these genres contributed to the fact that the poet developed a light verse, close to the spoken language of that time. The main size used by Sumarokov was iambic six-foot, a Russian variety of Alexandrian verse.
In the odes written in the 1740s, Sumarokov was guided by the patterns given in this genre. This did not prevent him from arguing with the teacher on literary and theoretical issues. Lomonosov and Sumarokov represented two currents of Russian classicism. Unlike the statesman Lomonosov, Sumarokov considered the main tasks of poetry not to raise national problems, but to serve moral ideals. Poetry, in his opinion, should be primarily "pleasant". In the 1750s Sumarokov even made parodies of Lomonosov's odes in a genre that he himself called "absurd odes."
In the second half of the 1740s. Sumarokov introduced the genre of poetic tragedy into Russian literature, creating 9 works of this genre: Khorev (1747), Sinav and Truvor (1750), Dimitry the Pretender (1771), etc. In tragedies written in accordance with the canons of classicism and largely borrowed from French tragedies (plan, ideas, character, even whole scenes and monologues), Sumarokov's critical views regarding the shortcomings of rulers, which cause suffering for many people, also appeared. Nevertheless, in 1756 Sumarokov was appointed the first director of the Russian Theater in St. Petersburg and had an undoubted influence on Russian theatrical art. Sumarokov also composed operas and ballets, in which he introduced a dramatic element and allusions to contemporary events. After retiring in 1761 (many court officials were dissatisfied with his criticism), the poet devoted himself entirely to literary activity.
At the end of the reign of Empress Elizabeth, Sumarokov opposed the established style of government. He was outraged that the nobles did not correspond to the ideal image of the "sons of the fatherland", that bribery flourished. In 1759, he began publishing the journal The Hardworking Bee, dedicated to the future wife of the heir to the throne, with whom he linked his hopes for arranging life according to more moral principles. The magazine contained attacks on the nobles, which is why it closed a year after its foundation due to lack of funds and the unwillingness of the Empress to finance it.
Sumarokov's opposition and his constant struggle with censorship was not least based on his difficult, irritable character. Everyday and literary conflicts - in particular, the conflict with Lomonosov - are also partly explained by this circumstance. And the coming of Catherine II to power disappointed Sumarokov with the fact that a handful of her favorites, first of all, took up not serving the common good, but satisfying their personal needs. Sumarokov may have hinted at his own position in the tragedy Dimitry the Pretender: “I must subdue my tongue to pretense; / To feel differently, to speak differently, / And to be vile sly ones I am like. / Here is the step if the king is unjust and evil. During the reign of Catherine II, Sumarokov paid great attention to the creation of parables, satires, epigrams and pamphlet comedies in prose ("Tresotinius", 1750; "Guardian", 1765; "Cuckold by Imagination", 1772; etc.).
However, for all the difficulties of his character, Sumarokov was guided by moral principles, which he considered obligatory for the nobility. Here is the attitude of Sumarokov to the upper stratum of society: “The word black, belongs to the low people, not the word vile people; for a vile people are convicts and other despicable creatures, and not artisans and farmers. We give this name to all those who are not nobles. Nobleman! Great importance! A reasonable priest and preacher of the majesty of God, or briefly theologian, naturalist, astronomer, rhetorician, painter, sculptor, architect, etc. according to this stupid position [that is, not ranked among the nobility. - Ed.] are members of the mob. O unbearable noble pride, deserving of contempt! The true mob is the ignorant, even if they had great ranks, the wealth of Krezovo and would have drawn their family from Zeus and Juno, who never existed.
Empress Ekaterina appreciated Sumarokov's adherence to principles and, despite the need to sometimes make suggestions to this "hot head", did not deprive him of her favor. All his writings were printed at the expense of the Cabinet. However, she cooled him in conflicts with court nobles: “In this way you will keep the peace of mind necessary for the works of your pen, and it will always be more pleasant for me to see the presentation of passions in your dramas than in your letters.”
According to his philosophical convictions, Sumarokov was a rationalist and formulated his views on the structure of human life as follows: “What is based on nature and truth can never change, and what has other grounds is boasted, blasphemed, introduced and withdrawn at the discretion of each and without any mind." His ideal was enlightened noble patriotism, opposed to uncultured provincialism, metropolitan francomania and bureaucratic venality. In a sense, Sumarokov can be called a Westerner, and although at that time the entire ruling stratum, including the Empress, was like that, his self-conceit was extremely high: he called Voltaire the only one, along with Metastasius, worthy of his "co-worker". And this Voltaire standard also characterizes him as the "flesh of the flesh" of the Petrine era.
Simultaneously with the first tragedies, Sumarokov began to write literary and theoretical poetic works - epistles. In 1774 he published two of them - "Epistole on the Russian language" and "On poetry in one book. Instructions for those who want to be writers." One of his most important themes was the idea of the greatness of the Russian language. Sumarokov's language is much closer to the spoken language of enlightened nobles than the language of his contemporaries Lomonosov and Trediakovsky. By this, Sumarokov's work had a great influence on contemporary and subsequent Russian literature. In particular, he considered his main merit that "Sumarokov demanded respect for poetry" at a time of neglect of literature.
The conflicted Sumarokov was not happy in family life either. He was married three times. Of the four sons, one died young; three others drowned trying to save each other. From 1771, Sumarokov lived either in Moscow or in the countryside, occasionally visiting St. Petersburg, on business or at the call of the Empress. He died on October 1, 1777 in Moscow, aged 59, and was buried in the Donskoy Monastery.
During the life of Sumarokov, a complete collection of his works was not published, although many poetry collections were published, compiled according to genre. After the poet's death, the freemason Novikov twice published The Complete Collection of All Works of Sumarokov (1781, 1787).
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Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, whose biography is inextricably linked with the development of national culture of the 18th century, is rightfully considered the "father of the Russian theater." He served him as a playwright and librettist. His contribution to Russian literature is also invaluable, which, thanks to his poetic works, rose to a new height for those times. His name has entered the history of Russia forever.
Young heir to an old noble name
On November 25, 1717, in Moscow, a son was born in the family of ensign Peter Sumarokov, who was named Alexander. Like many children from ancient noble families, namely, the Sumarokov family belonged to their number, the boy received his initial education and upbringing at home under the guidance of teachers and tutors hired by his parents.
In those years, many young nobles preferred a military career. Alexander Sumarokov was no exception. The biography of his independent life begins when, at the age of fifteen, he enters the Land Open in St. Petersburg at the behest of Empress Anna Ioannovna. Within its walls, he spends eight years and here for the first time begins to engage in literature.
Cadet Corps and upcoming career
During the period of study in the cadet corps, the novice writer writes poetry and lyrics, taking as a model the work of French authors and his compatriot. His first poetic experiments are poetic transcriptions of psalms. In addition, he fulfills the orders of his comrades - on their behalf he writes congratulatory odes to the Empress Anna Ioannovna, who ruled in those years, which was in great fashion.
In 1740, Alexander Sumarokov was among the young graduate officers of the corps. The biography says that his life in those years was the best possible. At twenty-three, he was enrolled in the office of Count Minich, and soon became the personal secretary, first of Count Golovin, and then of the all-powerful Alexei Razumovsky. But, despite the career that opened before him, he devotes himself to literature. His idol of those years was Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, whose famous odes became for Sumarokov a model of harmony and a guideline in search of a creative path.
First deserved glory
However, no real artist can be satisfied with just imitation of what was created by someone else, he is always looking for his own style. That is exactly what Sumarokov did. The biography of his creative life really begins when lists of his love songs appear in the salons of the educated St. Petersburg aristocracy. This genre was chosen by the author not by chance. It was he who, to the greatest extent, allowed the state of mind of Alexander to be revealed - a young brilliant officer, full of romantic experiences typical of his age.
But the real glory was brought to him by the staging of his poetic drama “Khorev”, which took place at the court in 1747. Then she went out of print, becoming the property of the general public, which made his name popularly known. After that, also at court, several plays are performed, the author of which was Sumarokov. The biography of his work goes from that time to a new level - he becomes a professional writer.
The rich creative life of Sumarokov
In 1752 a significant event took place. By her decree, the Empress summoned F. G. Volkov, an outstanding theatrical figure of those years, from Yaroslavl and entrusted him with the organization of the first permanent theater in Russia, of which Sumarokov was appointed director.
A brief biography of him only in general terms can give an idea of the invaluable contribution that this person made to the formation of Russian stage life, but in the memory of future generations he was preserved as the “father of the Russian theater”, and this, you see, is more eloquent than any words.
His creative heritage is unusually wide. Suffice it to recall eight tragedies that came out from under his pen, twenty comedies and three opera librettos. In addition, Sumarokov left a significant mark in other literary fields. His works are published on the pages of the academic journal Monthly Writings, and in 1759 he begins to publish his own journal, The Hardworking Bee. In subsequent years, numerous collections of his poems and fables were published.
The end of the poet's life and the memory of descendants
Sumarokov managed the theater until 1761. After that, he lived in the capital for some time, and then in 1769 moved to Moscow. Here he has a serious conflict with the commander-in-chief P. Saltykov, whose side the empress takes. This inflicts mental trauma on the poet and entails serious material problems. But, despite the hardships, in the seventies, according to researchers, he wrote his best works, such as "Dmitry the Pretender", "Squabbler" and many others. He died on October 12, 1777 and was buried on
Descendants fully appreciated the merits of this man to the Fatherland. On the famous monument “Millennium of Russia”, Alexander Sumarokov is also represented among the outstanding historical figures of the state (the reader can see a photo of this object on the page). Entire generations of poets grew up on his works, which made up the glory and pride of our culture, and his theatrical compositions became a textbook for future playwrights.
