According to a brief biography of Leonid Andreev, he was born in 1871 in Orel. His family was quite wealthy, and the young man received a good education. At first he studied at the Oryol classical gymnasium, then he entered St. Petersburg University. Already at that time, Andreev was fond of literature, was a big fan of Schopenhauer's work.
After some time, the father of the young man died, and financial situation families were shaken. Andreev himself recalls that at that time he began to abuse alcohol, sometimes starve. In the end, the young man was expelled from the university, and he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University.
In 1894, Andreev tried to commit suicide because of unrequited love. After a suicide attempt, his health deteriorated greatly and he was diagnosed with a heart defect. This disease later became the cause of the death of the writer.
The young man was forced to study and work, as he had to support his family: his mother, brothers and sisters, who moved to him in Moscow. The financial situation worsened again. At the same time, he begins to write, but his stories were not of interest to publishers, they refused to publish them.
mature years
In 1897 Andreev graduated from the university and started practicing as a lawyer. At the same time, he was able to publish his first story, which was noted by M. Gorky himself, who invited the young writer to the Knowledge publishing partnership.
In 1902, several significant events took place in the life of the writer at once. First, he married great-niece Taras Shevchenko. Secondly, with the help of M. Gorky, he published the first collection of his works. Thirdly, he became "not allowed to travel abroad", since the police reasonably assumed that he was connected with the revolutionaries. During the first Russian revolution, in 1905, Andreev supported the revolutionaries, hid members of the RSDLP in his house, for which he was arrested and imprisoned, then released on bail, which was paid by Savva Morozov.
Since 1906, the writer was in exile. He lived for some time in Germany, then in Capri, at the dacha of M. Gorky. At this time, the writer gradually becomes disillusioned with the ideas of the revolution and gradually moves away from all political affairs. He moved to Belgium and then to Finland. In 1909 he made big Adventure in Africa, began to write dramatic, philosophical works. At this time, his works were published in his homeland in the almanac "Rosehip".
The Writer and the Revolution of 1917
The writer met the February Revolution with enthusiasm and even headed the editorial office of the Russkaya Volya newspaper for some time, but October revolution Andreev did not accept, moreover, all the works of the writer of that time were imbued with hatred for Bolshevism.
Death
The writer never returned to his homeland. He remained in Finland, where he died of a heart defect in 1919.
Other biography options
- Andreev's literary biography is incredibly rich. IN total he wrote about 90 short stories, 20 plays, 8 novels and short stories. Andreev's works were read by his outstanding contemporaries. He was well-received as a writer
Leonid Andreev is a Russian writer and artist. He wrote not so many works and lived a short life. But the name of this author stands alone in the history of Russian literature. He doesn't look like anyone. His prose is amazing and makes you think. The works of this extraordinary author want to re-read again and again. The life and work of Leonid Andreev is the topic of the article.
Childhood
Leonid Andreev, whose stories are imbued with deep philosophy, was born in Orel on Pushkarnaya Street - the same one where his characters Geraska and Bergamot lived. In the year in which he was born future writer, in the family of a tax surveyor, some financial stability finally reigned.
Nikolai Ivanovich Andreev - the father of the prose writer - was distinguished by a firm and decisive character. He was respected by everyone in the district for his extraordinary sense of justice, to which he was faithful, even while in a drunken stupor. Nikolai Ivanovich, like his son later, had a craving for alcohol.
Love for creativity Leonid Andreev inherited from his mother. Anastasia Nikolaevna, although she was an illiterate woman, knew how to compose extraordinary stories and stories, which pleased her offspring a lot.
As a schoolboy, Leonid demonstrated an extraordinary gift for words. He often wrote school essays for your friends. He was remarkably able to recreate the style of great writers. But his real passion was drawing. Leonid Andreev, perhaps, would outstanding artist. But there was nowhere to study painting in Orel at that time. The writer throughout his life from time to time returned to his hobby.
Reading prompted Andreev to write. serious attitude to the book it worked out when he was still a boy. His life consisted of fights with the neighboring gunner boys, drawing, the works of Jules Verne, Charles Dickens and Mine Reed. All this knowledge and impressions eventually poured out on paper. Such characters as Sasha from the work "Angel", Geraska and Bergamot were born.
Youth
Andreev's development as a writer was significantly influenced by the works of Schopenhauer. "The World as Will and Representation" long years was a reference book for him. The future prose writer was barely seventeen when he made an entry in his diary in which he seemed to promise himself one day, thanks to his writing, destroy the established canons, and even morality itself. He seemed to see himself already in the future - scandalous famous writer, author of The Abyss. After all, Leonid Andreev evoked rather contradictory feelings among his contemporaries. His stories, however, had not yet been created on the day when the legendary entry appeared in the diary, quotes from which are so often quoted by the writer's biographers.
Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich, whose biography includes several suicide attempts, prolonged alcoholic binges, was not able to lead a calm, measured life. In his youth, he suffered from constant love interests. Even then, he was monstrously attracted by two forces: love and death.
IN Soviet years Leonid Andreev was forgotten. The biography of this writer was not of interest to literary critics, because his work did not fit into the framework established by the censors. Today, his books are again interested in readers. But even now they cause controversy. Suffice it to recall one of the stories written by Leonid Andreev. "Judas Iscariot" - the story of the most terrible villain in the history of Christianity - is presented so unexpectedly that, with all the talent of the author, it cannot cause exclusively positive reviews.
Student years
After graduating from high school, Andreev entered Faculty of Law. But the training had to be interrupted. Unrequited love pushed the future novelist to attempt suicide. After recovering from emotional experiences and illness, he again entered the university. This time in Moscow.
Leonid Andreev in student years, unlike most of his peers, had little interest in politics. He was not involved in banned organizations. But he spent a lot of time reading Nietzsche. So much so that the death of the German philosopher in 1900 was almost a personal tragedy for him.
Once during the holidays, while in Orel, Andreev met a girl. A romance began, which, like the previous one, ended in the betrayal of his beloved. And the young man again tried to commit suicide. This time, the attempt almost failed. This case had Negative consequences. Andreev until the end of his days suffered from a chronic heart disease acquired after a suicide attempt.
The beginning of creativity
After passing the state exams, Leonid Andreev found a job as an assistant lawyer. He had to write boring court reports. But even this he did not like his colleagues. His notes and reports were distinguished by a lively literary language. It was then that Leonid Andreev began his journey in literature.
His works were first published in the magazine "Courier". Then he begins to write for the Moscow Bulletin. Leonid Andreev, whose life flowed from young years very violently, was in constant search of himself. His outlook was changing, which can be seen by comparing early and later compositions. But the theme of Christianity and forgiveness always interested him.
"Bergamot and Geraska"
This story was published in 1898 by order of The Courier. The work was published in the Easter issue. The story tells about two very different people. One of them is a sentry, executive, but a stupid person. Another - Geraska - a mysterious creature. No one knows exactly where and on what he lives. Few of the residents of Pushkarnaya Street, where he lives, have ever seen him sober. In addition, Geraska steals. That is why he often walks beaten.
The story takes place on Easter. Bergamot is on duty. He dreams about when the working day will end and he will go home, where his beloved wife and little son. But the holiday is defiled by the sudden appearance of Gerask: dirty, drunk, worthless, obscenely cursing. Bergamot should have taken him to the station. But on the bright day of Easter, something happens in his soul. Instead of sending this unfortunate man to jail, the sentry takes him to his home, puts him at the festive table.
This story can be called literary debut Andreeva. It was after the publication of this work that Maxim Gorky turned to him. A few months later, the author of The Song of the Petrel asked the young writer to send the senior editor of one of the most popular literary magazines at that time, good story". So "Petka in the country" was published.
From jurisprudence to literature
At the time when Andreev's first stories were being read by Muscovites, he was still working in a law office. Last time he acted as a defender in 1900. He soon made the final decision to literary creativity. His last performance approved by fellow lawyers. Despite this, Andreev left the practice of law forever.
As you know, a writer needs not only readers, but also critics. Having freed himself from his unloved work, Andreev began to visit regularly literary evenings. He met Bunin, Kuprin and other prose writers. More experienced writers gave advice, sometimes very severely criticized. All this was necessary for the young prose writer. He completely plunged into the world of literature. And already in 1901 the first collection of his stories was published.
Glory
After the publication of the first book, Leonid Andreev became famous. The collection has been reprinted four times. Prominent literary critics left good reviews. This collection does not include works, thanks to which we love so much modern readers Leonid Andreev. "Judas Iscariot", "Diary of Satan" - all this was much later. small prose works that glorified the novice writer are stories about ordinary people, stories with a simple plot.
Andreev told about what he saw in Orel and in Moscow. He told readers ordinary stories, but singled out the main thing from them. And, of course, the critics appreciated it live literary language. So, what stories are included in the collection?
“Once upon a time”, “Angel”, “Silence”, “Valya”, “Alyosha the Fool”, “Bitter” - all these are works that served as the basis writing career hero of this article. It is worth talking about each of them in more detail and you can start with an essay that Leonid Andreev wrote for both children and adults.
"Angel"
Leonid Andreev, whose analysis of his work confirms his original thinking, as well as the influence of philosophers such as Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, entered literature thanks to works in which the so-called image of the little man, created by Pushkin, plays a significant role. The story "Angel" tells about a boy from poor family. About a little man who was destined to grow up too soon.
Sasha's father - the main character of the story - drinks heavily. The mother is not inferior to her husband in this. Sasha is left to himself, and therefore behaves like an adult. This boy resembles an embittered wolf cub. He is not used to tenderness and attention. Mother is rude. The father is a weak person. At strangers Sasha is no longer sympathetic.
One day he is invited to Christmas children's holiday, where he sees a wonderful toy on the Christmas tree - a wax figure in the shape of an angel. There is some pleasant excitement in Sasha's soul. He feels that he needs this angel.
The feelings of the boy, who is deprived of the care of his parents and irritates his teachers, are reminiscent of the experiences of Geraska from another Andreev's work. A resident of Pushkarnaya Street suddenly begins to cry during an Easter dinner. Why did he suddenly become so sensitive? The fact is that Bergamot's wife called him by name and patronymic. For a long long-suffering life, no one addressed him in this way. Also, Sasha, seeing a wonderful toy, suddenly softens, stops being rude. His soul seems to thaw. Sasha brings the little angel home and, together with his father, examines the Christmas toy for a long time.
But Andreev would not be himself if he ended this story on a bright, optimistic note. Sasha falls asleep and at night the wax angel melts. By this, the author seems to make it clear that the unfortunate small man will forever remain so. Enlightenment in his life is a temporary phenomenon.
"Lived once"
Merchant Lavrenty Kosheverov was evil, envious person. And, even being, as they say, on his deathbed, he did not relent. The hero of the story "Once Upon a Time" - a merchant, a deacon and a student - are in the hospital. They are terminally ill. But each of them looks into the eyes of death differently.
One is angry at the injustice of life that is leaving him. The other humbly awaits his death. The third believes that death will bypass him. Andreev portrayed the characters of people, how they state of mind changes after announcement terrible diagnosis. The prose writer wrote this story when he was just beginning to live. Behind him were three suicide attempts. But he managed to amazingly vividly describe the experiences of a person who, suffering from an incurable disease, cries only for the sun, which he will never see again.
The story "Silence" tells of the mysterious suicide of a priest's daughter. In "Alyosha the Fool" we are talking about a vague feeling of injustice creeping into a child's soul. Whoever Andreev wrote about, he was always extremely sincere. His stories are so piercing, as if he happened to live the life of each of his heroes.
Among the works written by Leonid Andreev, "Kusaka" is one of the few included in school curriculum. The story is dedicated to a dog that lives on the street and has the opportunity to observe human cruelty in its extreme manifestation.
"Abyss"
Andreev supplemented the second edition of the collection with stories in which Nietzsche's influence was felt. Its heroes find themselves in a situation that changes their consciousness. It is as if another person wakes up in them - a terrible one, following the lead of his bestial instincts.
The stories "Abyss", "Nabat", "Wall", published in 1902, confirmed that Andreev as a writer was fully formed. The works caused controversy and discussion. In them, the author said about what not only should be silent, but also not desirable to think about.
In "Abyss" in question O terrible event that happened to young people. A schoolgirl and a student are walking in the evening. Their conversation deals only with lofty topics. Thoughts, it would seem, are also extremely pure. But on the way they meet the dregs of society. These people destroy the atmosphere of purity and romance. And having become a victim of their attack, a student who not so long ago read poetry and talked about science and art suddenly turns into a creature for whom instincts are above all.
"The Life of Basil of Thebes"
At first creative way critical analysis of the modern social world for Andreev was in the first place. But later skepticism became noticeable. The writer became interested in spiritualism, which was fashionable at that time. Reading his works, one gets the impression that he was tormented by constant doubts about faith.
In the story of the life of "Basil of Thebes" he depicted the fate of a righteous man. The hero of this work meekly fulfills his duty. Basil of Thebes is a priest. But the parishioners do not want to listen to his sermons. Tragedies one after another destroy the peace in his house. The son dies, the wife becomes an inveterate drunkard, then a sick child is born. And Vasily, being a clergyman, suddenly begins to think about whether God sees him, whether he hears his prayers.
"Notes of an Unknown"
Works that Leonid Andreev created at a later stage of his work:
- "Judas Iscariot".
- "Satan's Diary"
- Sasha Zhegulev.
- "He. Notes of the Unknown»
Something gloomy and incomprehensible is present on the pages of Leonid Andreev's works. The story “He”, published in 1913, is filled with vague pessimism. It’s unclear, because as soon as in the end the reader begins to understand that Andreev’s hero is sick, and most of from what he describes, he imagines.
The hero of this work is a poor student. He receives a lucrative job offer. And then he goes abroad. There he should take up the duties of a teacher. His pupils are strange children. They play as if under duress, laugh as if on command. They are like adults playing the role of children. But the main oddity of the house in which the poor student finds himself is a man who increasingly looks out the window.
The narration in Notes of an Unknown is in the first person. The author shows thus internal state a person who is slowly losing his mind. The man in the window looks at the hero more and more often. Children are becoming more unbearable in his eyes. At the conclusion of this work, the teacher dies. What caused his madness remains a mystery.
"Judas Iscariot"
Andreev wrote this story in just two weeks. Maxim Gorky, after reading the work, said that not everyone would understand it and would cause a lot of noise. And so it happened.
Andreev's Judas is, of course, an extremely negative hero. But at the same time, very unhappy. The apostles in the story of the Russian writer - ordinary people who are not alien to such a vice as cowardice. Such an interpretation could not but cause controversy and discontent on the part of deeply religious people. However, the book has been translated into French, German, English languages, and filmed several times by Western and Russian filmmakers.
It should also list other works created by the writer on different stages creativity.
- "In the fog".
- "Signs".
- "Marseillaise".
- "Son of Man".
- "My notes".
- "Red Laughter"
- "The Tale of the Seven Hanged Men".
- "Yoke of War".
Last years
Leonid Andreev did not accept the revolution. Moreover, he had an extreme dislike for the Bolshevik government. Last years the writer spent in Finland. Books written in exile are permeated with a special pessimism. Among them is "Satan's Diary", the story of the Devil, who, being among mortals, was amazed and oppressed by the insidiousness of ordinary people.
Leonid Andreev, whose books were temporarily forgotten, today again arouses the interest of both literary critics and readers. He is called prominent representative Silver Age Russian literature. In 1956 on small homeland The writer created a museum dedicated to his work.
Writer Leonid Andreev died in Finland in 1919 from a heart attack. Buried in a small Finnish town.
Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich (1871-1919), writer.
Born August 21, 1871 in Orel. Surveyor's son. Youthful infatuation German philosophers A. Schopenhauer and E. Hartmann determined the qualities of Andreev's changeable nature, gravitating towards emotional extremes: disharmony and pessimism of the worldview, attention, sometimes painful, to the idea of death and the terrible in life.
After graduating from the law faculty of Moscow University (1897), Andreev worked for several years as an assistant to a barrister, at the same time he published court reports, feuilletons, etc. in the newspaper Courier. literary activity he considered the publication of the Easter story "Bargamot and Garaska" (1898). The favorable attention of M. Gorky, subsequently close friend Andreev, allowed him to join the association of realist writers "Sreda".
The release in 1901 of the collection "Stories" brought Andreev wide fame and critical acclaim. Continuing the traditions of F. M. Dostoevsky, the writer turned to an in-depth study of inner world man, wondered about the root causes of evil in the human soul.
Depicting the ethically limiting collisions (rape, murder in the stories "The Abyss", "In the Fog"), forcing a sense of hopelessness (the parable "The Wall"), putting the characters in situations of immediate and painful experience eternal questions, Andreev is looking for new means of expression that enhance the impact on the reader. Emotionally perceived news of the Russo-Japanese War served as an impetus for the creation of the story "Red Laughter" (1905). Here, the madness of what is happening is conveyed by extreme, screaming means (an irrational image of red laughter; a description of the Earth that has gone mad, looking like a head with skin torn off and a brain red like bloody porridge, etc.).
Andreev's intensified pessimistic moods are felt in the drama Savva (1906) and the story Judas Iscariot and Others (1907), in which the gospel events are rethought.
The image of a man - grains of sand in the infinity of space, doomed to loneliness from birth and, nevertheless, rebellious, again and again challenging fate, became central in Andreev's plays ("To the Stars", 1906; "Life of a Man", 1907 .; "Tsar-Hunger", 1908). In the future, his dramatic searches went in the direction of a complete rejection of action and spectacle (“Requiem”, 1913-1915; “ dog waltz", 1916).
With the outbreak of the First World War, Andreev turned to journalism, spoke with anti-German articles, calling for war to a victorious end. He enthusiastically met the February Revolution, but he perceived the events of October 1917 as a catastrophe, plunging the country into chaos and anarchy. One of his last articles, titled "S. O. S." (1919), - an appeal to governments European countries and the United States for help to Russia, perishing under the rule of the Bolsheviks.
In order to mobilize public opinion Andreev was going to make a trip to England and America, but the plans did not come true: on September 12, 1919, the writer died suddenly of heart failure in the village of Neivala in Finland.
ANDREEV Leonid Nikolaevich (1871-1919), prose writer, playwright.
Born on August 9 (21 n.s.) in the city of Orel in the family of an official. At the age of six, he learned to read "and read extremely much, everything that came to hand." At the age of 11 he entered the Oryol Gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1891. early childhood"felt a passionate attraction to painting," he painted a lot, but since there were no schools or teachers in Orel, "the whole thing was limited to fruitless dilettantism." Despite such a strict assessment by Andreev himself of his painting, his paintings were subsequently exhibited at exhibitions next to the works of professionals, reproduced in magazines. In his youth, he did not think of becoming a writer.
At the age of 26, after graduating from the law faculty of Moscow University, he was going to become a barrister and took this activity very seriously, but unexpectedly received an offer from a lawyer friend to take the place of a court reporter in the Moskovsky Vestnik newspaper. Having received recognition as a talented reporter, literally two months later he moved to the Kurier newspaper. Thus began the birth of the writer Andreev: he wrote numerous reports, feuilletons, and essays. The very first story "Bargamot and Garaska" (1898), published in the "Courier", attracted the attention of readers and delighted Gorky. The plots of many works of this time are directly prompted by life, for example, the story "Petka in the country" (1899). In 1889, new stories by L. Andreev appeared, including "Grand Slam" and "Angel", which are distinguished from the first stories (based on episodes from life) by the author's interest in a case in a person's life.
In 1901, the St. Petersburg publishing house Znanie, headed by Gorky, published the first collection of short stories by L. Andreev, including famous story"Lived once". The success of the writer, especially among young people, was enormous.
Andreev was worried about the growing alienation and loneliness of modern man, his lack of spirituality - the story "The City" (1902). Early Andreev are concerned about topics fatal accident, madness and death "Thought" (1902), "The Life of Basil of Thebes" (1903), "Ghosts" (1904).
In 1904, at the height of the Russo-Japanese War, Andreev wrote the story "Red Laughter", which determined new stage in his work. The madness of war is expressed in symbolically Red laughter starting to dominate the world.
During the revolution of 1905 Andreev assisted the revolutionaries, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. However, he was never a convinced revolutionary. His doubts were reflected in his work: the play "To the Stars", imbued with revolutionary pathos, appeared simultaneously with the story "So it was", which skeptically assessed the possibilities of the revolution.
In 1907, such works as Savva, Darkness, the play Tsar Hunger, philosophical dramas"The Life of a Man", first staged by the V. Komissarzhevskaya Theater in St. Petersburg, and then in Germany Munich and Dusseldorf, "Black Masks", "Anatema". During these years, Andreev began to actively cooperate with the modernist almanacs of the Rosepovnik publishing house.
In the 1910s, none of Andreev's new works becomes literary event, nevertheless, Bunin writes in his diary: "Still, this is the only one of contemporary writers, to which I am attracted, whose every new thing I'm reading right now."
In 1907 the writer became a laureate literary prize them. Griboyedov in St. Petersburg.
Last thing major work Andreev, written under the influence of world war and revolution, "Notes of Satan".
Andreev did not accept the October Revolution. At that time, he lived with his family in a dacha in Finland, and in December 1917, after Finland gained independence, he ended up in exile.
Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev (1871-1919) - Russian writer, founder of Russian expressionism, one of the representatives of the Silver Age of Russian literature.
Leonid Andreev was born on August 9 (21), 1871, in the city of Orel Russian Empire. His father, Nikolai Ivanovich Andreev (1847-1889), was a land surveyor-taxator, and his mother, Anastasia Nikolaevna Patskovskaya, was the daughter of a Polish landowner.
Leonid from childhood showed interest in reading. He studied at the Oryol classical gymnasium (1882-1891). He was fond of the works of Schopenhauer and Hartmann.
Youthful impressionability and developed imagination several times he was encouraged to act recklessly: at the age of 17, he decided to test his willpower and lay down between the rails in front of an approaching steam locomotive, but fortunately, he remained unharmed.
After graduating from high school, Andreev entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. After the death of his father, the financial situation of his family worsened, and Andreev himself began to abuse alcohol. At one time, Andreev even had to starve. In St. Petersburg, he tried to write his first stories, but from the editorial office, as Andreev recalls in his memoirs, they were returned with laughter. Expelled for non-payment, he entered the law faculty of Moscow University. In Moscow, in the words of Andreev himself: "life was better financially: the comrades and the committee helped."
In 1894, after a love failure, Andreev tried to commit suicide. The consequence of an unsuccessful shot was church repentance and heart disease, which subsequently caused the death of the writer. After this incident, Leonid Andreev was again forced to live in poverty: now he needed to feed his mother, his sisters and brothers, who had moved to Moscow. He was interrupted by odd jobs, teaching and painting portraits to order. IN political activity did not participate.
In 1897, he successfully passed the final exams at the university, which opened the way for him to the bar, which he practiced until 1902. In the same year he starts his journalistic activity in the newspapers "Moskovsky Vestnik" and "Courier". He signed his feuilletons with the pseudonym James Lynch. In 1898, his first story was published in the "Courier": "Bargamot and Garaska". According to Andreev, the story was an imitation of Dickens, but the young author was noticed by Maxim Gorky, who invited Andreev to the Knowledge book publishing partnership, which unites many young writers.
First Russian Revolution and pre-war years
1901 was a turning point in the biography of the writer Leonid Andreev. Came to him real glory after his story "Once Upon a Time" was published in the magazine "Life".
In 1902, Andreev married A. M. Veligorskaya, the great-niece of Taras Shevchenko. A few days before the wedding, Andreev gave the bride the first collection of his stories.
In the same year, he became the editor of Kurier, was forced to give the police an undertaking not to leave because of his connection with the revolutionary-minded students. Thanks to the help of Maxim Gorky, the first volume of his works was published in large numbers. During these years, the direction of creativity and its literary style were designated.
In 1905 he welcomed the First Russian Revolution; he hid hiding members of the RSDLP at his home, on February 10 he was sent to the Taganka prison because a secret meeting of the Central Committee was held at his apartment the day before (on February 25 he was released on bail brought by Savva Morozov). In the same year, he wrote the story "The Governor", which became a response to the murder on February 17 by the Socialist-Revolutionary I. Kalyaev of the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
In 1906, the writer was forced to leave for Germany, where his second son, Daniel, was born, who later became a writer (he wrote the treatise "Rose of the World"). In December of the same year, his wife died of postpartum fever (she was buried in Moscow at the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent).
Andreev leaves for Capri (Italy), where he lives with Gorky (from December 1906 - until the spring of 1907). After the start of the reaction in 1907, Andreev became disillusioned with the revolution itself. He moves away from the revolutionary-minded literary environment of Gorky.
In 1908 Andreev married Anna Ilyinichna Denisevich (Karnitskaya) and moved to own house in Wammels. At the villa "Advance" (the name was chosen due to the fact that the house was built on an advance from the publisher) Leonid Andreev writes his first dramatic works.
Since 1909, he has been actively collaborating with the modernist almanacs of the Rosepovnik publishing house. From a note in Moskovskaya Gazeta, 1912: “Leonid Andreev is going on a trip to Africa the other day. The journey will take about two months. The talented writer feels healthy and vigorous and is now busy studying various guidebooks and books about Africa.
First World War and the revolution of 1917
Leonid Andreev met the beginning of the First World War with enthusiasm. From an interview with the New York Times, September 1914: “It is necessary to defeat Germany - this is a matter of life and death, not only for Russia - the greatest Slavic state, all the possibilities of which are ahead, but also for European states. The defeat of Germany will be the defeat of All-European reaction and the beginning of a new cycle of European revolutions.
During the war, Andreev publishes a drama about military events in Belgium ("King, Law and Freedom"). In 1914 the drama was filmed joint stock company A. Khanzhonkova. However, the works of the writer at that time were mainly devoted not to the war, but to petty-bourgeois life, the theme of the “little man”.
After February Revolution In 1917 he was a member of the editorial board of the reactionary newspaper Russkaya Volya.
Leonid Andreev did not welcome the October Revolution. After the separation of Finland from Russia, he went into exile. Recent compositions The writer is imbued with pessimism and hatred for the Bolshevik authorities (“Diary of Satan”, “SOS”).
On September 12, 1919, Leonid Andreev died suddenly of a heart disease in the town of Mustamyaki, (Neyvola, Finland) at the dacha of his friend, doctor and writer F. N. Falkovsky. He was buried in Marioki. In 1956 he was reburied in Leningrad on literary bridges at the Wolf Cemetery.
Since 1956, his selected works have been frequently reprinted in the USSR. In 1991, the House-Museum of Leonid Andreev was opened in Orel, the writer's homeland. Since 2015, the website of the house-museum has been functioning.
Creativity, main ideas
The first works of Leonid Andreev, largely under the influence of the disastrous conditions in which the writer was then, are imbued with critical analysis. modern world("Bargamot and Garaska", "City"). However, even in early period The writer's work revealed his main motives: extreme skepticism, disbelief in the human mind ("The Wall", "The Life of Basil of Thebes"), there is a fascination with spiritualism and religion ("Judas Iscariot"). The stories "The Governor", "Ivan Ivanovich" and the play "To the Stars" reflect the writer's sympathy for the revolution. However, after the beginning of the reaction in 1907, Leonid Andreev abandoned any revolutionary views, believing that a revolt of the masses could only lead to great sacrifices and great suffering (see The Story of the Seven Hanged Men). In his story "Red Laughter" Andreev painted a picture of horror modern war(reaction to Russo-Japanese War). The dissatisfaction of his heroes with the surrounding world and orders invariably results in passivity or an anarchic rebellion. The writer's dying writings are imbued with depression, the idea of the triumph of irrational forces. In particular, in the unfinished novel Satan's Diary, Andreev pursues the idea that modern man became meaner and more cunning than the devil himself. Andreev's poor Satan was swindled by the people he met in Rome, and turned out to be a weak loser.
The creative style of Leonid Andreev is original and is a combination of various literary trends.
Despite the pathetic mood of the works, Andreev's literary language, assertive and expressive, with emphasized symbolism, met with a wide response in the artistic and intellectual environment. pre-revolutionary Russia. Positive reviews Maxim Gorky, Roerich, Repin, Blok, Chekhov and many others left about Andreev. Andreev's works are distinguished by sharp contrasts, unexpected turns plot, combined with the schematic simplicity of the syllable. Leonid Andreev recognized outstanding writer Silver Age of Russian Literature.
