Andrew white. Secrets of history

Andrei Bely (1880-1934) - Russian poet and writer, was one of the leading figures in Russian modernism and symbolism, also known for his work as a poet, memoirist and critic.

Childhood

The real name of Andrei Bely is Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev. He was born on October 26, 1880 in Moscow.

His father, Nikolai Vasilievich Bugaev, was a famous Russian philosopher and mathematician, a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, an honored professor and dean at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Moscow University.

Mom, Alexandra Dmitrievna (maiden name Egorova), was considered one of the first beauties in Moscow.

Long years of life (almost 26 years) of the future poet passed in the house of his parents, which was located at the intersection of Denezhny Lane with the Arbat. Now at this place in the very center of Moscow there is the only memorial museum in the world dedicated to Andrei Bely.

Among the representatives of the old Moscow professorship, his father, Nikolai Bugaev, had very wide acquaintances, so Andrei's childhood passed in the high atmosphere of cultural and professorial Moscow. The great writer Leo Tolstoy was a frequent guest in the house.

A difficult relationship developed between the parents, which had a serious impact on the emerging character and psyche of the future poet. In the future, this was expressed in the oddities and conflicts of Andrei Bely with those around him.

Education

At the age of 11, Andrei entered the best Moscow private gymnasium Polivanov L.I., where his favorite hobbies were Eastern religion (occultism, Buddhism) and literature (especially the boy was interested in the works of Ibsen, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky). In the last courses, the young man was very interested in poetry. Among poetic works, he gave special preference to the poets of France and the symbolists of Russia (Merezhkovsky, Bryusov and Balmont).

When the guy was 15 years old, he became close to the future Russian poet Sergei Solovyov, the son of a famous translator. Andrey became quite close to their family, here he got acquainted with the latest art in music, painting, philosophy. It was in the house of the Solovyovs that his first poetic experiments were met with sympathy and a creative pseudonym was invented - Andrei Bely.

In 1899, he graduated from the gymnasium and, at the insistence of his parents, passed the exams for admission to Moscow University. At the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, he chose the natural department, because from his early youth, despite his mystical and artistic moods, Andrei strove for the exact sciences.

At the university, he intensively engaged in the study of Darwin's theory and invertebrate zoology, paid much attention to chemistry. At the same time, he did not miss a single issue of the monthly art illustrated magazine "World of Art", in which he studied the novelties of the work of Russian symbolists.

In 1903, Bely graduated from the university with honors.

In 1904, at the same Moscow University, Andrei became a student of the Faculty of History and Philology. He chose the famous Russian logician, translator and philosopher Boris Alexandrovich Fokht as his leader. However, a year later, Bely stopped going to classes, and in 1906 he wrote to the dean's office a petition to expel him from the university. He decided to devote himself entirely to literary activity.

Literary activity

In the winter of 1901, Bely met the experienced symbolists Bryusov, Gippius, and Merezhkovsky. And already in 1903, a circle of young symbolists began to form around him, which consisted mainly of university students. The mug was given the name "Argonauts", and Andrei became its ideological inspirer and undoubted leader.

In 1903, Andrei began to correspond with the poet Alexander Blok, and a year later they met in person. This acquaintance in the future resulted in many years of painful enmity and friendship.

In January 1904, the monthly scientific and literary magazine "Vesy" began to be published in Moscow. Andrei Bely maintained close cooperation with the publishing house.

The Argonauts circle held its meetings at the apartment of the well-known Russian public figure and lawyer Pavel Ivanovich Astrov. At one of the meetings, it was decided to publish a literary and philosophical collection. In 1906, the first two books of this collection were published, which were given the name "Free Conscience".

In 1909, Bely worked at the Moscow publishing house "Musaget", he was one of its founders, here the poet was engaged in translations, and also published his poems.

In 1911 Andrei set out to travel to the Middle East and North Africa. Impressions from this trip are reflected in the "Travel Notes".

Returning to Russia, in 1912, Bely worked a little as an editor in the journal Works and Days. Then he went abroad again, where in Berlin he met Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian founder of the religious and mystical teaching of anthroposophy. Andrei plunged headlong into this teaching and became a student of Steiner.

Three volumes of his theoretical and critical articles appeared during this period:

• "Symbolism";
• "Green Meadow";
• "Arabesques".

A little Bely began to move away from the poetry of symbolism, more and more prose works appeared in his work, for example, the novels "Silver Dove" and "Petersburg", as well as the autobiographical story "Kotik Letaev".

From 1914 to 1916 Andrei lived in Switzerland, where he took part in the construction of the Goetheanum temple. At the end of 1916, Bely was summoned to Russia to check his attitude towards military service. Asya's wife did not go with Andrei, she stayed in Switzerland, deciding to devote herself completely to Steiner's cause and the construction of the temple.

Bely considered the First World War to be a universal disaster, and he perceived the revolution in Russia in 1917 as a possible way out of the global impasse catastrophe. These ideas are embodied in his works:

• essay cycle "On the Pass", consisting of three parts "Crisis of Life", "Crisis of Thought" and "Crisis of Culture";
• essay "Revolution and Culture";
• the poem "Christ is Risen";
• poetry collections "The Princess and the Knights" and "Star".

Along with creativity, Andrei was engaged in teaching activities. For young proletarian writers and poets in the proletarian culture in Moscow, he lectured on the theory of prose and poetry.

From 1921 to 1923, Bely again spent abroad, but after a complete break in marital relations with his wife, he returned to Russia, where a particularly fruitful period of his work began, now he mainly wrote prose:

• the dilogy of the novels "Moscow" ("Moscow eccentric" and "Moscow under attack");
• novel "Masks";
• memoirs "Memories of Blok";
• trilogy "At the turn of two centuries", "The beginning of the century", "Between two revolutions".

A significant contribution to literary science was Bely's research work "Gogol's Mastery", "Rhythm as Dialectics" and "The Bronze Horseman".

Personal life

Having met and became close to the poet Alexander Blok, Andrei Bely began courting his wife, Lyubov Mendeleeva, and later they became lovers. In this dramatic love triangle, all three suffered for almost four years, until the final break occurred, which was reflected in Blok's play "Puppet Show". The poet Andrei Bely went abroad and poured out his suffering in the poetry collections "Ashes" and "Urn".

Almost at the same time, Bely was also in another love triangle - with his fellow symbolist poet Valery Bryusov and his wife, poetess Nina Petrovskaya. This romance between Andrei and Nina began quite innocently, but soon Petrovskaya fell in love with Bely so much that in her feelings she reached mystical worship of him. Andrei decided to break off these relations, he had enough of a love affair with Lyuba Mendeleeva, Blok's wife, but Petrovskaya began to literally pursue him. It got to the point that Nina attempted to kill her lover. During a break in a lecture that Andrey was reading at the Polytechnic Institute, she approached and shot him at point-blank range. Fortunately, the Browning misfired. All this collision was later reflected in Bryusov's novel "The Fiery Angel".

In 1909, Bely met an artist, the niece of the great Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. The girl's name was Anna (close people called her Asya), they became close and began to live in a civil marriage. She shared with him years of wandering, when from 1910 to 1912 he traveled through Egypt, Palestine, Tunisia and Sicily. In the spring of 1914, Andrei officially married Asa, their marriage took place in Bern.

In 1916, he left for Russia alone, Asya did not follow him, remaining in Dorn. Five years later, he returned to his wife, but after explanations it became clear that further cohabitation was no longer possible.

After wandering abroad for a couple of years, Bely returned to Moscow. Married life with Anna Turgeneva remained in the past, but another woman appeared in his fate. Vasilyeva Claudia Nikolaevna became the last beloved of the poet. In 1925, at the invitation of their friends, they left for Kuchino, where they settled in the dacha of acquaintances. As Andrei Bely later said, this estate became for him like Yasnaya Polyana for Leo Tolstoy or like Yalta for Anton Chekhov. Here he was finally able to immerse himself in creativity. In 1931, Claudia and Andrei legalized their relationship.

Klavdia Nikolaevna made the last years of Bely's life happy, she was quiet and very caring, she surrounded him with her attention, and in response he affectionately called her Claudia.

On January 8, 1934, Andrei had a stroke, he died in the arms of his wife, he was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Real name and surname - Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev.

Andrei Bely - Russian poet, prose writer, theorist of symbolism, critic, memoirist - was born October 14 (26), 1880 in Moscow in the family of mathematician N.V. Bugaev, who 1886-1891 - Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, founder of the Moscow School of Mathematics, who anticipated many ideas of K. Tsiolkovsky and Russian "cosmists". The mother studied music and tried to counter the artistic influence of her father's "flat rationalism". The essence of this parental conflict was constantly reproduced by Bely in his later works.

At the age of 15, he met the family of his brother Vl.S. Solovyov - M.S. Solovyov, his wife, artist O.M. Solovieva, and son, future poet S.M. Solovyov. Their house became a second family for A. Bely, here his first literary experiments were sympathetically met, a pseudonym was invented, he was introduced to the latest art and philosophy (A. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche, Vl.S. Solovyov). In 1891-1899 Bely studied at the Moscow private gymnasium L.I. Polivanova. In 1903 He graduated from the natural department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. In 1904 entered the Faculty of History and Philology, but in 1906 filed an application for dismissal.

In 1901 Bely submitted his "Symphony (2nd, dramatic)" for publication. The genre of the literary "symphony," created by A. Bely (during his lifetime, the "Northern Symphony (1st, heroic)" was published ( 1904 ), "Return" ( 1905 ), "Blizzard Cup" ( 1908 )), demonstrated a number of essential features of his poetics: an inclination towards the synthesis of words and music (the system of leitmotifs, the rhythmization of prose, the transfer of the structural laws of musical form into verbal compositions), the combination of plans for eternity and modernity.

In 1901-1903. he was among the Moscow symbolists grouped around the Scorpio publishing house (V. Bryusov, K. Balmont, Yu. Baltrushaitis) and Grif; then he met the organizers of the St. Petersburg Religious and Philosophical Meetings and the publishers of the New Way magazine D.S. Merezhkovsky, Z.N. Gippius. From January 1903 began a correspondence with A. Blok (personal acquaintance took place 1904.), with which he was connected by years of "friendship-enmity". Autumn 1903 Andrei Bely became one of the organizers and ideological inspirers of the “Argonauts” circle (Ellis, S.M. Solovyov, A.S. Petrovsky, E.K. Medtner, etc.), who professed the ideas of symbolism as religious creativity (“theurgin”), equality of "texts of life" and "texts of art", love-mystery as a path to the eschatological transformation of the world. "Argonautic" motifs developed in Bely's articles of this period, published in the magazines "World of Art", "Balance", "Golden Fleece", as well as in the collection of poems "Gold in Azure" ( 1904 ).

The collapse of the "Argonautic" myth in the mind of Andrei Bely ( 1904-1906 ) occurred under the influence of a number of factors: the shift of philosophical guidelines from the eschatology of F. Nietzsche and Vl.S. Solovyov to neo-Kantianism and the problems of the epistemological justification of symbolism, the tragic ups and downs of unrequited love for L.D. Blok (reflected in the collection "Urn", 1909 ), a split and a fierce magazine controversy in the symbolist camp. Events of the Revolution 1905-1907 gg. were perceived by Bely at first in line with anarchist maximalism, but it was during this period that social motives and “Nekrasov’s” rhythms and intonations appeared in his poetry (collection of poems “Ashes”, 1909 ).

1909-1910. - the beginning of a turning point in the worldview of A. Bely, the search for new positive life paths. Summing up the results of his previous creative activity, he published three volumes of critical and theoretical articles ("Symbolism", "Green Meadow", both 1910 ; "Arabesque", 1911 ). Attempts to find a "new soil", a synthesis of the West and the East are palpable in the novel "Silver Dove" ( 1909 ). The beginning of the revival was the rapprochement and civil marriage with the artist A.A. Turgeneva, who shared with him the years of wandering ( 1910-1912 , Sicily - Tunisia - Egypt - Palestine), described in two volumes of Travel Notes. Together with her, Andrei Bely is experiencing years of enthusiastic apprenticeship with the founder of anthroposophy, R. Steiner. The highest creative achievement of this period is the novel "Petersburg" ( 1913-1914 ), which concentrated the historiosophical issues related to the understanding of Russia's path between the West and the East, and had a huge impact on the greatest novelists of the 20th century (M. Proust, J. Joyce, etc.).

In 1914-1916. lived in Dornach (Switzerland), participating in the construction of the anthroposophical temple "Goetheanum". In August 1916 returned to Russia. IN 1915-1916. created the novel "Kotik Letaev" - the first in a planned series of autobiographical novels (continuation - the novel "The Baptized Chinese", 1921 ). Bely perceived the beginning of the First World War as a universal disaster, the Russian revolution 1917 – as a possible way out of the global catastrophe. The cultural-philosophical ideas of that time were embodied in the essay cycle “On the Pass” (“I. Crisis of Thought”, 1918 ; "II. Crisis of thought, 1918 ; III. The Crisis of Culture", 1918 ), essay "Revolution and Culture" ( 1917 ), the poem "Christ is Risen" ( 1918 ), a collection of poems "Star" ( 1922 ).

In 1921-1923. Andrei Bely in Berlin experienced a painful parting with R. Steiner, a break with A.A. Turgeneva and was on the verge of a mental breakdown, although he continued active literary activity. Upon returning to his homeland, he made a series of hopeless attempts to find his place in Soviet culture, created the novel dilogy "Moscow" ("Moscow eccentric", 1926 ; "Moscow under attack" 1926 ), the novel "Masks" ( 1932 ), acted as a memoirist ("Memoirs of Blok", 1922-1923 ; trilogy "At the turn of two centuries", 1930 ; "beginning of the century" 1933 ; "Between Two Revolutions" 1934 ), wrote theoretical and literary studies "Rhythm as Dialectics and The Bronze Horseman" ( 1929 ) and Gogol's Mastery ( 1934 ). These studies had a decisive influence on the literary criticism of the 20th century. (formalist and structuralist schools in the USSR, "new criticism" in the USA), laid the foundations of modern scientific poetry (distinguishing between meter and rhythm, etc.). In the work of Andrei Bely, a feeling of a total crisis of life and the world order was expressed.

The biography of Andrei Bely, for all its inconsistency, is an undeniable reflection of the turning point in which a significant part of the life of this extraordinary thinker and versatile gifted person fell. Russian literature of the early twentieth century, and especially poetry, cannot be imagined without him. Andrei Bely, whose brief biography can only give a very superficial impression of his place and significance in the general cultural context of the era, was constantly at the very center of the turbulent whirlwinds of Russian public life. And there was a sense of great change. Today, no one denies the well-known fact that the entire Russian culture of this period was, to one degree or another, permeated with a premonition of future wars and revolutions.

Andrei Bely. Biography. What defined it

It is not uncommon to come across the fact that creative pseudonyms adhere so tightly to their carriers that no one even remembers that these names are fictitious. So, if not everyone, then very many have heard about the poet Andrei Bely. But the fact that this is only his pseudonym, few people come to mind. Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev - these are his real name, patronymic and surname - was born on October 26, 1880 in the family of a professor at Moscow University. It will not be a big exaggeration to say that this circumstance largely predetermined the future life of the future famous writer. The biography of Andrei Bely began in the center of Moscow. The apartment on the Arbat, where he was destined to live for about a quarter of a century, today has the status of a memorial.

University of Moscow

The status of this educational institution has never been in doubt, in the Russian Empire it was in every sense the first. Boris Bugaev studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, but he was more interested in questions of culture, literature, aesthetics, philosophy, mysticism and the occult than the natural sciences. Therefore, after successfully completing the course, he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of the same Moscow University. It was in his student years that the path to great literature began for him. The intellectual environment in which a person has to develop is often of decisive importance and determines his entire future life. And the circle of future poetic themes was designated precisely in these years.

Alexander Blok

Perhaps it would not be a big exaggeration to say that the literary biography of Andrei Bely began with an acquaintance and correspondence with the great Russian symbolist poet. That is, even before meeting with Blok, he was a member of the circles of the highest artistic bohemia in both capitals of the Russian Empire. Even the pseudonym that later became famous helped him come up with the famous M.S. Solovyov. But only Alexander Blok was able to discern and feel in Andrei Bely an equal interlocutor and, in many ways, a competitor. Then for many years they were connected by a bizarre relationship of friendship-enmity. Andrei Bely (poet) was in constant rivalry with the genius of Russian poetry. And you can only compete with a great man on an equal footing. But the biography of Andrei Bely will be incomplete if not to mention his relationship with the wife of Alexander Blok, Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva. There was more to them than just acquaintance. And this greatly complicated the relationship between the two poets. But, of course, it was reflected in their work.

Abroad

The departure from Russia was an attempt by the poet to break out of the established social circle and discover new horizons of creativity. And of course, to put an end to the protracted ambiguous relationship with Alexander Blok and his wife. The trip around Europe took more than two years. This period in the poet's work was very fruitful. Poems were often dedicated and addressed to the circle of friends left in Russia, including Blok and Mendeleeva. After returning from Europe, the poet became friends with A. Turgeneva (they would officially marry only five years later) and went abroad again. This time in a different direction - through Sicily to Palestine, Egypt and Tunisia. He will return to Russia only at the height of the war, shortly before the revolution.

Change of historical eras

Andrei Bely, whose biography and work are far from everyday life and even more so from politics, could not but reflect in his poetic works and critical articles the growing turbulence of public life and the cataclysm approaching Russia. The poet cannot do otherwise, even if he pretends that nothing that is happening around has anything to do with him. And he was not alone. The theme of the impending catastrophe was one of the dominant ones in Russian art. The range of her perception fits into the gap between horror and delight. Some met the revolution as the end of the world, while others perceived it as the beginning of a new world. Both of them were right in their own way. Andrei Bely entered as one of the brightest representatives of symbolism. Classics were his early poetry collections "Gold in Azure", "Ashes", "Urn" and the novel "Silver Dove". At the cutting edge of the controversy, his essays on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky were perceived as topical. Widespread popularity among the educated public had his novel "Petersburg". Peru Andrei Bely owns many journalistic articles during the First World War.

After the revolution

In the history of Russia in the twentieth century, there came a moment when the inevitable catastrophe became a fait accompli. Perceived by symbolist poets, one of the brightest representatives of whom was Andrei Bely, as an impending inevitability, the revolution became a legitimate daily routine. Along with the social system, the whole paradigm of the worldview of the Russian intelligentsia has also changed. Before many "knife to the throat" the question arose of whether it is possible to live at all in that country, which not so long ago was called the Russian Empire? The biography of Andrei Bely of this post-revolutionary period is chaotic and contradictory. The poet rushes about in different directions for a long time, even manages to travel abroad, which in those days was not at all easy. This drags on for quite some time. But he still ends his days in the Soviet Union. He died on January 8, 1934, and was buried at No. It is impossible to call the Soviet period of Andrei Bely's work fruitful even with a strong desire. Symbolism, like many other poetic schools and phenomena, remained on the other side of the revolution. During these years, the poet tries to work, and he succeeds a lot. But several of his novels and many literary works no longer had their former success. For Soviet literature, Andrei Bely remained nothing more than a remnant of a bygone era.

Under the name Alexander Bely, Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev was hiding. He was a writer, a prominent representative of Russian symbolism, a decadent poet, critic, and versifier.

The future poet was born on October 26, 1880 in an intelligent family. Father - Nikolai Vasilievich Bugaev, professor, dean at Moscow University and a famous mathematician. Mother - Alexandra Dmitrievna (nee Egorova), was considered a recognized Moscow beauty. For the first 26 years of his life, Boris lived on the Arbat in the very center of Moscow. All the childhood of little Boris passed under the strict control of his parents. In 1891, Bugaev Jr. entered the prestigious L.I. Polivanov Gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1899. In high school, Bely became interested in Buddhism, the occult and mysticism, while studying literature. Acquaintance with the Solovyov family abruptly changed the life of young Boris. Their house has become truly native for a fifteen-year-old boy. The Solovyovs supported Bely in his first literary experiments, introduced him to creativity, the philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. After the gymnasium, Alexander Bely entered the natural department of the Faculty of Mathematics at Moscow University. Here he studied invertebrate zoology and Darwin's theory, chemistry. The poet graduated with honors from the university. But Boris did not cease to be strongly drawn to literature.

In 1900, Alexander Bely finally decided to connect his life with poetry, so in 1902 he and his friends organized their own literary circle, called the Argonauts. Inside the circle there was an atmosphere of the absence of any literary clichés and freedom of thought was welcomed. In 1903, the young poet struck up a friendship and correspondence with, and in 1904 he met him personally. In the same year, Alexander Bely entered the Faculty of History and Philology, but after two years of study, he himself wanted to leave, he was more attracted to work in the journal Libra. In 1906, two books of a collection called "Free Conscience" were published.

At that time, the closest person to Alexander was Blok, who had recently married Lyubov Mendeleeva. Blok himself paid little attention to his wife (there were rumors that Blok preferred easily accessible women to Lyubov). Mendeleeva often complained to Bely about this, Alexander visited the young woman almost every day. This whole affair dragged on, and Love even confessed her feelings to Alexander Bely. As a result, they became passionate lovers for two years. Blok dedicated his famous play about a love triangle to this intricate connection. The story ended sadly for Bely, Mendeleeva deleted the young poet from her life and stayed with her husband. Alexander was depressed for a long time and decided to give up everything and go abroad.

Bely lived abroad for more than two years. Several collections dedicated to Blok and Mendeleev were published from his pen. Once again in Russia, the poet meets a new love - the young artist Asya Turgenev. The young woman soon becomes his wife, and in 1911 they set off on a long journey through Sicily, Tunisia, Egypt and Palestine. In 1912, in Berlin, Alexander Bely met Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy (“science in the spirit”), and the poet gladly became his student.

In 1914 a terrible war broke out. And Rudolf, together with his students, moved to Switzerland. There, the construction of the building of St. John began - the Goetheanum, a temple that was supposed to gather representatives of all religions under its roof. This structure was erected by the hands of Steiner's followers. In 1916, Bely was forcibly summoned to Russia to check his fitness for military service. Asya did not follow her husband, she stayed in the temple in Switzerland.

In 1917, Bely returned abroad to his wife. The meeting with Asya made him understand that they had parted forever. The poet's wife decided to devote herself to serving in the temple. She even received the name "anthroposophic nun". Alexander was very upset by this separation, he was left alone again. Depression took possession of him, he created at that time a huge number of poems dedicated to Asa Turgeneva.

Years later, a third woman appeared in the life of Alexander Bely - Claudia Nikolaevna Vasilyeva. It was she who spent the rest of his life next to the poet. Boris Nikolaevich did not experience any passionate or loving feelings for Claudia, but still she was a ray of hope for him. Quiet, submissive, caring Claudia, as the writer called her, was able to leave her first husband only in 1929 and a few months later became Bely's wife. The writer died in her arms on January 8, 1934 in Moscow.

Andrey Bely(real name Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev; October 14 (26), 1880, Moscow, Russian Empire - January 8, 1934, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR) - Russian writer, poet, critic, versifier ; one of the leading figures of the Russiansymbolism.

Born in the family of Professor Nikolai Vasilyevich Bugaev, a famous mathematician and philosopher, and his wife Alexandra Dmitrievna, nee Egorova. Until the age of twenty-six he lived in the very center of Moscow, on the Arbat; in the apartment where he spent his childhood and youth, there is currently a memorial apartment. In 1891-1899. studied at the famous L. I. Polivanov gymnasium, where in the last classes he became interested in Buddhism, occultism, while studying literature. Dostoevsky, Ibsen, Nietzsche had a special influence on Boris at that time. In 1895, he became close with Sergei Solovyov and his parents, Mikhail Sergeyevich and Olga Mikhailovna, and soon with Mikhail Sergeyevich's brother, the philosopher Vladimir Solovyov.

In 1899 he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University (natural department). In his student years he met "senior symbolists". From his youth, he tried to combine artistic and mystical moods with positivism, with the desire for the exact sciences. At the university, he works on invertebrate zoology, studies Darwin, chemistry, but does not miss a single issue of the World of Art.

In the autumn of 1903, a literary circle was organized around Andrei Bely, called the Argonauts.

In our circle there was no common, stamped worldview, there were no dogmas: from now until now we have been united in searches, and not in achievements, and therefore many among us found ourselves in the crisis of our yesterday and in the crisis of a worldview that seemed outdated; we greeted him in his attempts to give birth to new thoughts and new attitudes,” Andrey Bely recalled.

In 1904, the "Argonauts" gathered in an apartment near Astrov . At one of the meetings of the circle, it was proposed to publish a literary and philosophical collection called "Free Conscience", and in 1906 two books of this collection were published.

In 1903, Bely entered into correspondence with A. A. Blok, in 1904 a personal acquaintance took place. Before that, in 1903, he graduated with honors from the university, but in the fall of 1904 he entered the historical and philological faculty of the university, choosing B. A. Fokht as the head; however, in 1905 he stopped attending classes, in 1906 he filed a request for expulsion and began to cooperate in the Scales (1904-1909).

Bely lived abroad for more than two years, where he created two collections of poems that were dedicated to Blok and Mendeleev. Returning to Russia, in April 1909, the poet became close to Asya Turgeneva (1890-1966) and together with her in 1911 made a series of trips through Sicily - Tunisia - Egypt - Palestine (described in "Travel Notes"). In 1912, in Berlin, he met Rudolf Steiner, became his student and devoted himself without hesitation to his apprenticeship and anthroposophy. In fact, moving away from the former circle of writers, he worked on prose works. When the war broke out in 1914, Steiner and his students, including Andrei Bely, moved to Dornach, Switzerland. There began the construction of St. John's building - the Goetheanum. This temple was built by the students and followers of Steiner with their own hands. On March 23, 1914, in the Swiss city of Bern, Anna Alekseevna Turgeneva entered into a civil marriage with Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev. In 1916, B. N. Bugaev was called up for military service and arrived in Russia in a roundabout way through France, England, Norway and Sweden. Asya did not follow him.

After the October Revolution, he taught classes in the theory of poetry and prose at the Moscow Proletkult among young proletarian writers. From the end of 1919, Bely thought about going abroad to return to his wife in Dornach. But he was released only at the beginning of September 1921. He met with Asya, who suggested that he leave forever. According to the poems of that time, according to his behavior (“Bely’s Christ Dances”, in the words of Marina Tsvetaeva), one can feel that he was very upset by this parting.

Asya decided to leave her husband forever and stayed in Dornach, devoting herself to the cause of Rudolf Steiner. She was called the "anthroposophical nun". Being a talented artist, Asya managed to preserve a special style of illustrations, which replenished all anthroposophical publications. Her "Memories of Andrei Bely", "Memoirs of Rudolf Steiner and the construction of the first Goetheanum" reveal to us the details of their acquaintance with anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner and many famous talented people of the Silver Age. White was completely alone. He dedicated a large number of poems to Asa. Her image can be recognized in Katya from the Silver Dove.

In October 1923, Bely returned to Moscow; Asya forever remained in the past. But a woman appeared in his life who was destined to spend his last years with him. Claudia Nikolaevna Vasilieva (nee Alekseeva; 1886-1970) became Bely's last girlfriend, to whom he did not feel love, but held on to her as if she were a savior. Quiet, submissive, caring Claudia, as the writer called her, became Bely's wife on July 18, 1931. Before that, from March 1925 to April 1931, they rented two rooms in Kuchin near Moscow. The writer died in her arms from a stroke, which became a consequence sunstroke , January 8, 1934 in Moscow. Lyubov Dmitrievna Mendeleeva outlived her former lover by five years.

Literary debut - "Symphony (2nd, dramatic)" (M., 1902). It was followed by "Northern Symphony (1st, heroic)" (1904), "Return" (1905), "Blizzard Cup" (1908) in an individual genre of lyrical rhythmic prose with characteristic mystical motives and a grotesque perception of reality. Entering the circle of symbolists, he participated in the magazines "World of Art", "New Way", "Scales", "Golden Fleece", "Pass". An early collection of poems, Gold in Azure (1904), is notable for its formal experimentation and characteristic symbolist motifs. After returning from abroad, he published collections of poems "Ashes" (1909; the tragedy of rural Rus'), "Urn" (1909), the novel "Silver Dove" (1909; published in 1910), essays "The tragedy of creativity. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy" (1911).

The results of his own literary-critical activity, partly symbolism in general, are summed up in the collections of articles “Symbolism” (1910; also includes poetry works), “Green Meadow” (1910; includes critical and polemical articles, essays on Russian and foreign writers), “ Arabesques" (1911). In 1914-1915, the first edition of the novel "Petersburg" was published, which is the second part of the trilogy "East or West". In the novel "Petersburg" (1913-1914; revised abbreviated edition 1922) there is a symbolized isatiric image of Russian statehood. The first in a planned series of autobiographical novels is Kotik Letaev (1914-1915, separate edition 1922); the series was continued by the novel The Baptized Chinese (1921; separate ed. 1927). In 1915 he wrote a study "Rudolf Steiner and Goethe in the worldview of modernity" (Moscow, 1917)

The understanding of the First World War as a manifestation of the general crisis of Western civilization is reflected in the cycle "On the Pass" ("I. Crisis of Life", 1918; "II. Crisis of Thought", 1918; "III. Crisis of Culture", 1918). The perception of the life-giving element of the revolution as a saving way out of this crisis is in the essay "Revolution and Culture" (1917), the poem "Christ is Risen" (1918), the collection of poems "Star" (1922). Also in 1922, in Berlin, he published the "sound poem" "Glossolalia", where, based on the teachings of R. Steiner and the method of comparative historical linguistics, he developed the theme of creating a universe from sounds. Upon his return to Soviet Russia (1923), he creates the novel dilogy Moscow (The Moscow Eccentric, Moscow Under Attack; 1926), the novel Masks (1932), writes memoirs Memoirs of Blok (1922- 1923) and the memoir trilogy At the Turn of Two Centuries (1930), The Beginning of the Century (1933), Between Two Revolutions (1934), theoretical and literary studies Rhythm as Dialectics and The Bronze Horseman (1929) and "Gogol's Mastery" (1934).

Novels

• "Silver dove. A story in 7 chapters "" (M .: Scorpio, 1910; edition of 1000 copies); ed. Pashukanis, 1917; ed. "Era", 1922
• "Petersburg" (in the 1st and 2nd coll. "Sirin" (St. Petersburg, 1913; circulation - 8100 copies each), ending in the 3rd coll. "Sirin" (St. Petersburg, 1914; circulation 8100 copies .; separate edition ([Pg.], 1916; circulation 6000 copies); version revised in 1922 - parts 1, 2. M .: Nikitinskie subbotniks, 1928; circulation 5000 copies); Berlin, "Epokha", 1923
• “Kotik Letaev” (1915; ed. - Pb.: Epoch, 1922; circulation 5000 copies).)
• “The Baptized Chinese” (as “The Crime of Nikolai Letaev” in the 4th edition of the alm. “Notes of Dreamers” (1921); separate ed., M .: Nikitinskie subbotniks, 1927; circulation 5000 copies)
• "Moscow eccentric" (M .: Krug, 1926; circulation 4000 copies), also 2nd ed. - M.: Nikitinskiye Subbotniks, 1927
• "Moscow under attack" (M.: Krug, 1926; circulation 4000 copies), also 2nd ed. - M.: Nikitinskiye Subbotniks, 1927
• "Masks. Roman" (M.; L.: GIHL; 1932; circulation 5000 copies), published in January 1933

Poetry

• "Gold in Azure" (M.: Scorpio, 1904), a collection of poems
• "Ashes. Poems" (St. Petersburg: Rosepovnik, 1909; circulation 1000 copies; ed. 2nd, revised - M .: Nikitinskie Subbotniks, 1929; circulation 3000 copies)
• "Urn. Poems" (M.: Grif, 1909; edition 1200 copies)
• "Christ is risen. Poem "(Pb .: Alkonost, 1918; circulation 3000 copies), published in April 1919
• “First date. Poem "(1918; separate ed. - St. Petersburg: Alkonost, 1921; circulation 3000 copies; Berlin, "Word", 1922)
• "Star. New verses ”(M .: Alcyona, 1919; P., GIZ, 1922)
• "The Queen and the Knights. Tales" (Pb.: Alkonost, 1919)
• "Star. New verses” (Pb.: State publishing house, 1922; edition 5000 copies).
• "After the Separation", Berlin, "Epoch", 1922
• "Glossolalia. Poem about Sound (Berlin: Epoch, 1922)
• "Poems about Russia" (Berlin: Epoch, 1922)
• Poems (Berlin, ed. Grzhebin, 1923)

Documentary prose

• "Travel Notes" (2 volumes) (1911)

1. "Opheira. Travel notes, part 1. (M.: Book publishing house of writers in Moscow, 1921; circulation 3000 copies)
2. "Travel notes, vol. 1. Sicily and Tunisia" (Moscow; Berlin: Helikon, 1922)

• “Memories of Blok” (Epic. Literary monthly, edited by A. Bely. M .; Berlin: Helikon. No. 1 - April, No. 2 - September, No. 3 - December; No. 4 - June 1923)
• "At the turn of two centuries" (M.; L.: Zemlya i fabrika, 1930; edition 5,000 copies)
• "The Beginning of the Century" (M.; L.: GIHL, 1933; circulation 5000 copies).
• "Between two revolutions" (L., 1935)

Articles

• "Symbolism. Book of articles "(M.: Musaget, 1910; circulation 1000 copies)
• "The meadow is green. Book of articles "(M.: Alcyona, 1910; circulation 1200 copies)
• "Arabesques. Book of articles "(M.: Musaget, 1911; circulation 1000 copies)
• "The tragedy of creativity." M., "Musaget", 1911
• "Rudolf Steiner and Goethe in the Worldview of Modernity" (1915)
• "Revolution and Culture" (M.: Publishing House of G. A. Leman and S. I. Sakharov, 1917), brochure
• "Rhythm and Meaning" (1917)
• "On Rhythmic Gesture" (1917)
• “At the pass. I. The Crisis of Life” (St. Petersburg: Alkonost, 1918)
• “At the pass. II. Crisis of thought” (Pb.: Alkonost, 1918), published in January 1919
• “At the pass. III. The Crisis of Culture" (Pb.: Alkonost, 1920)
• "Sirin of learned barbarism". Berlin, "Scythians", 1922
• "On the meaning of knowledge" (Pb.: Epoch, 1922; circulation 3000 copies)
• "Poetry of the Word" (Pb.: Epoch, 1922; circulation 3000 copies)
• “Wind from the Caucasus. Impressions” (M.: Federation, Krug, 1928; edition 4000 copies).
• Rhythm as dialectics and the Bronze Horseman. Research” (M.: Federation, 1929; circulation 3000 copies)
• Gogol's skill. Research ”(M.-L .: GIHL, 1934; circulation 5000 copies), published posthumously in April 1934

Miscellaneous

• "The tragedy of creativity. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy" (M.: Musaget, 1911; circulation 1000 copies), brochure
• "Symphony"

1. Northern Symphony (heroic) (1900; published - M .: Scorpio, 1904)
2. Symphony (dramatic) (M.: Scorpio, 1902)
3. Return. Symphony III (M.: Grif, 1905. Berlin, "Lights", 1922)
4. Blizzard Cup. The Fourth Symphony" (M.: Scorpion, 1908; edition 1000 copies).

• “One of the cloisters of the kingdom of shadows” (L.: State publishing house, 1924; circulation 5000 copies), essay

Editions

• Andrey Bely Petersburg. - Printing house of M. M. Stasyulevich, 1916.
• Andrey Bely On the pass. - Alkonost, 1918.
• Andrey Bely One of the abodes of the realm of shadows. - L .: Leningrad Gublit, 1925.
• Andrey Bely Petersburg. - M .: "Fiction", 1978.
• Andrey Bely Selected prose. - M .: Sov. Russia, 1988. -
• Andrey Bely Moscow / Comp., entry. Art. and note. S. I. Timina. - M .: Sov. Russia, 1990. - 768 p. — 300,000 copies.
• Andrey Bely Baptized Chinese. - "Panorama", 1988. -
• White A. Symbolism as a worldview. - M .: Respublika, 1994. - 528 p.
• Andrey Bely Collected Works in 6 volumes. - M .: Terra - Book Club, 2003-2005.
• Andrey Bely Gogol's skill. Study. — Book Club Knigovek, 2011. —
• White A. Poems and poems / Entry. article and comp. T. Yu. Khmelnitskaya; Prep. text and notes. N. B. Bank and N. G. Zakharenko. — 2nd edition. — M., L.: Sov. writer, 1966. - 656 p. — (Library of the poet. Large series.). — 25,000 copies.
• White A. Petersburg / The publication was prepared by L. K. Dolgopolov; Rep. ed. acad. D. S. Likhachev. - M .: Nauka, 1981. - 696 p. - (Literary monuments).