Ostrovsky's biography summary is the most important thing. Appeal to history

• Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was born on March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow. The childhood and youth of the future playwright were spent in Zamoskvorechye.
• Ostrovsky's father, Nikolai Fedorovich, once completed a course at the Theological Academy. Served in Civil Chamber worked as a private lawyer. At the end of his life, he earned and acquired the rank of a hereditary nobleman.
• Ostrovsky's mother, Lyubov Ivanovna, nee Savvina, was the daughter of a priest. She bore her husband eleven children, of whom four survived. She died in 1831. The children were raised by a nanny, Avdotya Ivanovna Kutuzova, and later by the second wife of Nikolai Fedorovich.
• Ostrovsky's stepmother, Baroness Emilia Andreevna von Tesin, was Swedish by birth. She raised the children of Nikolai Fedorovich and instilled in them a love for European art. Largely thanks to her, the children in the Ostrovsky family spoke several languages. Alexander, in particular, knew Greek, French, German, and later - English, Italian, Spanish.
• 1835 - Alexander Ostrovsky was sent to the 1st Moscow Gymnasium.
• 1840 - Ostrovsky graduated from the gymnasium and entered the law faculty of Moscow University. The father wants Alexander to become a lawyer, but the desire for literary creativity and passion for the theater are stronger.
• 1843 - Ostrovsky interrupts his studies at the University (he has little interest in jurisprudence), but at the insistence of his father, he enters the service of a scribe in the Moscow conscientious court. This work helped Ostrovsky a lot as a writer, gave rich material for future creativity, because before him passed unimagined stories from privacy ordinary people. Alexander Nikolaevich wrote down all the remarkable cases from merchant and noble life.
• 1846 - Ostrovsky plans to write a comedy. According to various sources, it was called "Insolvent debtor" or "Picture of family happiness." final version, however, was called “Our people - we will settle!” and showed up later.
• 1847 - sketches of a future comedy and an essay "Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident" were published in the Moscow City List. Ostrovsky wrote one scene of the play in collaboration with provincial actor Dmitry Gorev, as a result of which, under the first publication, there were the initials not only “A.O.”, but also “D.G.”. The ill-wishers of Alexander Nikolayevich subsequently took advantage of this circumstance and fanned a big campaign to accuse the playwright of plagiarism.
• Spring 1848 - the Ostrovsky family moved to the Shchelykovo estate in the Kineshma district of the Kostroma province. It was the desire of Nikolai Fedorovich, who decided to return to his native places in his old age. Alexander Nikolayevich, who has long lived apart from his family, nevertheless visits Shchelykovo. He is fascinated by the Central Russian nature, and the Volga makes an indelible impression. Subsequently, admiration for the great Russian river will be reflected in many works of the playwright.
• The end of the 40s - Alexander Nikolaevich and his first wife, the Moscow bourgeois Agafya Ivanovna, begin to live in a civil marriage.
• 1849 - Ostrovsky writes his first comedy "Our people - let's settle!" (first called "Bankrut").
• 1850 - "Own people - let's settle!" published, but by decree of Emperor Nicholas I, the comedy was forbidden to be staged. The author was dismissed from the service and placed under the supervision of the police. Supervision was removed only after the accession of Alexander II. However, the play was approved by I.A. Goncharova and N.V. Gogol. Ostrovsky becomes famous. He begins to collaborate with the magazine "Moskovityanin", enters the circle of writers, artists and other artists. This year, the plays “Morning young man' and 'An unexpected event'.
• 1851 - The Poor Bride is written and published.
• 1855 - 1860 - during this period, Alexander Nikolayevich draws close to revolutionary democrats. Characteristic works of this time - the opposition of "rulers" " little man". Ostrovsky writes “A hangover in someone else’s feast”, “ Plum"," Pupil.
• 1856 - Ostrovsky begins to collaborate with the Sovremennik magazine. This year Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich offers Russian writers a business trip - to describe various regions of the country in terms of domestic and industrial. Ostrovsky takes over the Volga, from the upper reaches of the river to Nizhny Novgorod. He travels by boat, taking numerous notes along the way.
• 1857 - Ostrovsky writes the play "The Characters Didn't Agree".
• 1859 - written "Thunderstorm". In the same year, two volumes of works by A.N. Ostrovsky were published.
• 1860 - Dobrolyubov, highly appreciating the "Thunderstorm", writes the article "Ray of light in dark kingdom».
• 1860s - during this period of creativity, Ostrovsky turns to historical topics. He writes the chronicles "Tushino", "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky", the psychological drama "Vasilisa Melentyeva".
• 1861 - the staging of the play "Our people - we will settle!" is allowed.
• 1863 - Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize. Elected a Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
• The second wife of Alexander Nikolayevich was the actress of the Maly Theater Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva. She was much younger than Ostrovsky.
• 1864 - the Ostrovskys have their firstborn, son Alexander. In total, Alexander Nikolaevich had six children: in 1866, son Mikhail was born, in 1867 daughter Maria, in 1869 son Sergei, in 1874 - the second daughter Lyubov, in 1877 - the fourth son Nikolai.
• 1865 - 1866 - at this time (the exact date is not determined), Ostrovsky created an Artistic Circle in Moscow, from where many talented theater figures subsequently appeared on the Moscow stage. From the beginning of 1866, Alexander Nikolayevich was appointed head of the repertory part of the Moscow imperial theaters.
• The period of the 1870s - Ostrovsky in his works refers to the life of the nobility. The plays “Enough Stupidity for Every Wise Man”, “Mad Money”, “Forest”, “Snow Maiden”, “Wolves and Sheep” are released. In the first half of the decade, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and opera composers, whose chairman Alexander Nikolayevich was until his death.
• 1870 - 1880 - known as last period creativity of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. The works are characterized by an appeal to the fate of a Russian woman in post-reform Russia: “ Last victim”, “Dowry”, “Heart is not a stone”, “Talents and admirers” and other plays.
• 1881 - under the directorate of the imperial theaters, a Commission was established "for the revision of legal provisions in all parts of the theater management." Ostrovsky takes a most active part in the work of the Commission, and through his efforts many changes were adopted that significantly improved financial situation actors.
• 1883 - Emperor Alexander III grants Ostrovsky a pension of 3,000 rubles a year.
• 1885 - Ostrovsky was appointed head of the repertoire of Moscow theaters and at the same time head of theater school.
• June 2 (14), 1886 - Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky dies at the Shchelykovo estate. Buried at the local cemetery. In total, according to various sources. Ostrovsky wrote 47 or 49 plays.

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky - the famous Russian writer and playwright, who had a significant impact on the development national theater. He formed new school realistic game and wrote many wonderful works. This article will outline the main stages of Ostrovsky's work. As well as the most significant moments of his biography.

Childhood

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky, whose photo is presented in this article, was born in 1823, on March 31, in Moscow, in the Malaya Ordynka area. His father, Nikolai Fedorovich, grew up in the family of a priest, graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy himself, but did not serve in the church. He became a court lawyer, engaged in commercial and court cases. Nikolai Fedorovich managed to rise to the rank of titular adviser, and later (in 1839) to receive the nobility. The mother of the future playwright, Savvina Lyubov Ivanovna, was the daughter of a sexton. She died when Alexander was only seven years old. Six children grew up in the Ostrovsky family. Nikolai Fedorovich did everything to ensure that the children grew up in prosperity and received a decent education. A few years after the death of Lyubov Ivanovna, he married a second time. His wife was Emilia Andreevna von Tessin, baroness, daughter of a Swedish nobleman. The children were very lucky with their stepmother: she managed to find an approach to them and continued to educate them.

Youth

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky spent his childhood in the very center of Zamoskvorechye. His father had a very good library, thanks to which the boy got acquainted early with the literature of Russian writers and felt a penchant for writing. However, the father saw only a lawyer in the boy. Therefore, in 1835, Alexander was sent to the First Moscow Gymnasium, after studying in which he became a student at Moscow University. However, Ostrovsky did not succeed in obtaining a law degree. He quarreled with the teacher and left the university. On the advice of his father, Alexander Nikolaevich went to work in the court as a scribe and worked in this position for several years.

Attempt at writing

However, Alexander Nikolayevich did not leave attempts to prove himself in the literary field. In his first plays, he adhered to an accusatory, "moral-social" direction. The first were printed in a new edition, Moscow City Listk, in 1847. These were sketches for the comedy "Failed Debtor" and the essay "Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident". Under the publication were the letters "A. ABOUT." and "D. G." The fact is that a certain Dmitry Gorev offered the young playwright cooperation. It did not progress beyond the writing of one of the scenes, but subsequently became a source of great trouble for Ostrovsky. Some ill-wishers later accused the playwright of plagiarism. In the future, many magnificent plays will come out from under the pen of Alexander Nikolaevich, and no one will dare to doubt his talent. Further, the table presented below will be detailed, which will allow systematizing the information received.

First success

When did it happen? Ostrovsky's work gained great popularity after the publication in 1850 of the comedy "Our people - let's settle!". This work received positive reviews from literary circles. I. A. Goncharov and N. V. Gogol gave the play a positive assessment. However, an impressive fly in the ointment also fell into this barrel of honey. Influential representatives of the Moscow merchants, offended by the estate, complained to the highest authorities about the impudent playwright. The play was immediately banned for staging, the author was expelled from service and placed under the strictest police supervision. Moreover, this happened on the personal orders of Emperor Nicholas I himself. Supervision was abolished only after Emperor Alexander II ascended the throne. And the theatrical public saw the comedy only in 1861, after the ban on its production was lifted.

Early plays

The early work of A. N. Ostrovsky did not go unnoticed, his works were published mainly in the Moskvityanin magazine. The playwright actively collaborated with this publication both as a critic and as an editor in 1850-1851. Under the influence of the “young editors” of the magazine and the main ideologist of this circle, Alexander Nikolayevich composed the plays “Poverty is not a vice”, “Don’t get into your sleigh”, “Don’t live as you want”. The themes of Ostrovsky's work during this period are the idealization of patriarchy, Russian ancient customs and traditions. These moods slightly muffled the accusatory pathos of the writer's work. However, in the works of this cycle, the dramatic skill of Alexander Nikolayevich grew. His plays have become famous and in demand.

Collaboration with Sovremennik

Beginning in 1853, for thirty years, the plays of Alexander Nikolayevich were shown every season on the stages of the Maly (in Moscow) and Alexandrinsky (in St. Petersburg) theaters. Since 1856, Ostrovsky's work has been regularly covered in the Sovremennik magazine (works are published). During the social upsurge in the country (before the abolition of serfdom in 1861), the writer's works again acquired accusatory sharpness. In the play “A Hangover at a Strange Feast”, the writer created an impressive image of Bruskov Tit Titych, in which he embodied the rude and dark force home autonomy. Here, for the first time, the word "tyrant" was heard, which later became fixed for a whole gallery of Ostrovsky's characters. In the comedy "Profitable Place" the corruption of officials that has become the norm was ridiculed. The drama "The Pupil" was a living protest against violence against the person. Other stages of Ostrovsky's work will be described below. But the pinnacle of reaching this period of his literary activity was the socio-psychological drama "Thunderstorm".

"Storm"

In this play, "bytovik" Ostrovsky painted a dull atmosphere provincial town with her hypocrisy, rudeness, the indisputable authority of the "senior" and rich. In opposition to the imperfect world of people, Alexander Nikolayevich depicts breathtaking pictures of the Volga nature. The image of Katerina is covered with tragic beauty and gloomy charm. The thunderstorm symbolizes the spiritual confusion of the heroine and at the same time personifies the burden of fear under which they constantly live. simple people. The kingdom of blind obedience is undermined, according to Ostrovsky, by two forces: common sense who preaches in the play Kuligin, and a pure soul Catherine. In his Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom, the critic Dobrolyubov interpreted the image main character as a symbol of deep protest, gradually ripening in the country.

Thanks to this play, the work of Ostrovsky soared to an unattainable height. "Thunderstorm" made Alexander Nikolaevich the most famous and revered Russian playwright.

Historical motives

In the second half of the 1860s, Alexander Nikolayevich began to study the history of the Time of Troubles. He began to correspond with the famous historian and Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov. Based on the study of serious sources, the playwright created a whole cycle historical works: "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky", "Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk", "Tushino". Problems national history were portrayed by Ostrovsky with talent and authenticity.

Other plays

Alexander Nikolaevich still remained true to his favorite topic. In the 1860s, he wrote many "everyday" dramas and plays. Among them: " hard days”, “Abyss”, “Jokers”. These works consolidated the motives already found by the writer. Since the late 1860s, Ostrovsky's work has been undergoing a period of active development. In his dramaturgy, images and themes of the “new” Russia that survived the reform appear: businessmen, acquirers, degenerate patriarchal moneybags and “Europeanized” merchants. Alexander Nikolaevich created a brilliant cycle satirical comedies, debunking the post-reform illusions of citizens: "Mad Money", "Hot Heart", "Wolves and Sheep", "Forest". moral ideal playwrights are pure in soul, noble people: Parasha from "Hot Heart", Aksyusha from "Forest". Ostrovsky's ideas about the meaning of life, happiness and duty were embodied in the play "Labor Bread". Almost all of Alexander Nikolayevich's works written in the 1870s were published in Otechestvennye Zapiski.

"Snow Maiden"

The appearance of this poetic play was completely accidental. The Maly Theater was closed for repairs in 1873. His artists moved into the building Bolshoi Theater. In this regard, the commission for the management of the Moscow imperial theaters decided to create a performance in which three troupes will be involved: opera, ballet and drama. Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky undertook to write a similar play. "The Snow Maiden" was written by the playwright for a very short term. The author took a plot from a Russian folk tale as a basis. While working on the play, he carefully selected the sizes of the verses, consulted with archaeologists, historians, and connoisseurs of antiquity. The music for the play was composed by the young P. I. Tchaikovsky. The premiere of the play took place in 1873, on May 11, on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. K. S. Stanislavsky spoke of The Snow Maiden as a fairy tale, a dream told in sonorous and magnificent verse. He said that the realist and bytovik Ostrovsky wrote this play as if he had not been interested in anything before, except for pure romance and poetry.

Work in recent years

During this period, Ostrovsky composed significant socio-psychological comedies and dramas. They tell about tragic destinies sensitive, gifted women in a cynical and greedy world: "Talents and Admirers", "Dowry". Here the playwright developed new techniques of stage expression, anticipating the work of Anton Chekhov. Preserving the peculiarities of his dramaturgy, Alexander Nikolaevich sought to embody the "internal struggle" of the characters in an "intelligent fine comedy".

Social activity

In 1866, Alexander Nikolaevich founded the famous Artistic Circle. He subsequently gave the Moscow stage many talented figures. Ostrovsky was visited by D. V. Grigorovich, I. A. Goncharov, I. S. Turgenev, P. M. Sadovsky, A. F. Pisemsky, G. N. Fedotova, M. E. Ermolova, P. I. Tchaikovsky , L. N. Tolstoy, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. E. Turchaninov.

In 1874, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was established in Russia. Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was chosen as the chairman of the association. Photos of the famous public figure were known to every lover of performing arts in Russia. The reformer made a lot of efforts to ensure that the legislation of the theater management was revised in favor of the artists, and thereby significantly improved their financial and social situation.

In 1885, Alexander Nikolayevich was appointed to the post of head of the repertoire and became the head of the theater school.

Ostrovsky Theater

The work of Alexander Ostrovsky is inextricably linked with the formation of a real Russian theater in its modern sense. The playwright and writer managed to create his own theater school and a special holistic concept of staging theatrical performances.

Features of Ostrovsky's work in the theater are the absence of opposition to the acting nature and extreme situations in the action of the play. In the works of Alexander Nikolaevich, ordinary events occur with ordinary people.

The main ideas of the reform:

• the theater should be built on conventions (there is an invisible “fourth wall” that separates the audience from the actors);
• when staging a performance, bet must be placed on more than one famous actor, but on a team of artists who understand each other well;
• the immutability of the attitude of actors to language: speech characteristics should express almost everything about the characters represented in the play;
• people come to the theater to watch the actors play, and not to get acquainted with the play - they can read it at home.

The ideas that the writer Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich came up with were subsequently finalized by M. A. Bulgakov and K. S. Stanislavsky.

Personal life

The personal life of the playwright was no less interesting than his literary creativity. Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich lived in a civil marriage with a simple bourgeois for almost twenty years. Interesting Facts and the details of the marital relationship of the writer and his first wife are still of concern to researchers.

In 1847, in Nikolo-Vorobinovsky Lane, next to the house where Ostrovsky lived, a young girl, Agafya Ivanovna, settled with her thirteen-year-old sister. She had no relatives or friends. Nobody knows when she met Alexander Nikolayevich. However, in 1848 the young people had a son, Alexei. There were no conditions for raising a child, so the boy was temporarily placed in an orphanage. Ostrovsky's father was terribly angry that his son not only dropped out of a prestigious university, but also got in touch with a simple bourgeois woman living next door.

However, Alexander Nikolaevich showed firmness and, when his father, together with his stepmother, left for the recently purchased Shchelykovo estate in the Kostroma province, he settled with Agafya Ivanovna in his wooden house.

The writer and ethnographer S.V. Maksimov jokingly called Ostrovsky's first wife "Marfa Posadnitsa", because she was next to the writer in times of severe need and severe hardship. Ostrovsky's friends characterize Agafya Ivanovna as a very intelligent and cordial person by nature. She remarkably knew the manners and customs of merchant life and had an unconditional influence on Ostrovsky's work. Alexander Nikolaevich often consulted with her about the creation of his works. In addition, Agafya Ivanovna was wonderful and hospitable hostess. But Ostrovsky did not register an official marriage with her even after the death of his father. All the children born in this union died very young, only the eldest, Alexei, briefly survived his mother.

Over time, Ostrovsky had other hobbies. He was passionately in love with Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya-Nikulina, who played Katerina at the premiere of The Thunderstorm in 1859. However, a personal break soon occurred: the actress left the playwright for the sake of a rich merchant.

Then Alexander Nikolaevich had a connection with a young artist Vasilyeva-Bakhmetyeva. Agafya Ivanovna knew about this, but she steadfastly carried her cross and managed to maintain Ostrovsky's respect for herself. The woman died in 1867, March 6, after a serious illness. Alexander Nikolaevich did not leave her bed until the very end. The burial place of Ostrovsky's first wife is unknown.

Two years later, the playwright married Vasilyeva-Bakhmetyeva, who bore him two daughters and four sons. Alexander Nikolaevich lived with this woman until the end of his days.

Writer's death

Tense public and could not but affect the health of the writer. In addition, despite good fees from staging plays and an annual pension of 3 thousand rubles, Money Alexander Nikolayevich missed all the time. Exhausted by constant worries, the writer's body eventually failed. In 1886, on June 2, the writer died at his Shchelykovo estate near Kostroma. The emperor granted 3,000 rubles for the playwright's burial. In addition, he assigned a pension of 3,000 rubles to the writer's widow, and another 2,400 rubles a year for the upbringing of Ostrovsky's children.

Chronological table

The life and work of Ostrovsky can be briefly displayed in a chronological table.

Ostrovsky's life and work were filled with such events. The table, which shows the main events in the life of the writer, will help to better study his biography. The dramatic heritage of Alexander Nikolaevich is difficult to overestimate. Even during the life of the great artist, the Maly Theater was called “Ostrovsky's house”, and this says a lot. Creativity Ostrovsky, short description which is presented in this article, it is worth studying it in more detail.

The greatest Russian playwright Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was born on March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow on Malaya Ordynka.

The beginning of the way

The father of Alexander Nikolayevich first graduated from the Kostroma Theological Seminary, then the Moscow Theological Academy, but in the end he began to work, saying modern language, lawyer. In 1839 he received the noble rank.

The mother of the future playwright was the daughter of junior church employees, she died when Alexander was not even eight years old.

The family was wealthy and enlightened. A lot of time and money was spent on educating children. Since childhood, Alexander knew several languages ​​and read a lot. WITH early age he felt a desire to write, but his father saw him in the future only as a lawyer.

In 1835, Ostrovsky entered the 1st Moscow Gymnasium. After 5 years - becomes a student of the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. Future profession he is not attracted and maybe that is why the conflict with one of the teachers becomes a reason for leaving educational institution in 1843.

At his father's insistence, Ostrovsky first served as a clerk in the Moscow Constituent Court, then in the Commercial Court (until 1851).

Observation of his father's clients, then of the stories that were dealt with in court, gave Ostrovsky the richest material for future creativity.

In 1846, Ostrovsky first thought about writing a comedy.

Creative success

His literary views are formed in student years under the influence of Belinsky and Gogol - Ostrovsky immediately and irrevocably decides that he will write only in a realistic manner.

In 1847, in collaboration with actor Dmitry Gorev, Ostrovsky wrote the first play, Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident. The following year, his relatives move to live in family estate Shchelykovo in the Kostroma province. Alexander Nikolayevich also visits these places and remains under an indelible impression of nature and the Volga expanses for life.

In 1850, Ostrovsky published his first big comedy "Our people - let's settle!" in the magazine "Moskvityanin". The play has big success and enthusiastic reviews of writers, but it is forbidden for re-publishing and staging on the complaint of merchants sent directly to the emperor. The author was dismissed from service and placed under police supervision, which was removed only after the accession to the throne of Alexander II. In Ostrovsky's first play, the main features of his dramatic works, which were characteristic of all creativity in the future: the ability to show the most complex all-Russian problems through personal and family conflict, create memorable characters for all characters and “voice” them with live colloquial speech.

The position of the "unreliable" worsened the already difficult affairs of Ostrovsky. Since 1849, without the blessing of his father and without getting married in a church, he began to live with a simple bourgeois Agafya Ivanovna. The father completely deprived his son of material support, and financial position young family was difficult.

Ostrovsky begins a permanent collaboration with the Moskvityanin magazine. In 1851 he publishes The Poor Bride.

Under the influence of the main ideologist of the journal A. Grigoriev, Ostrovsky’s plays of this period began to sound not so much as motives for exposing class tyranny, as for idealizing old customs and Russian patriarchy (“Don’t get into your sleigh”, “Poverty is not a vice” and others). Such sentiments reduce the criticality of Ostrovsky's works.

Nevertheless, Ostrovsky's dramaturgy becomes the beginning of a "new world" in everything. theatrical art. A simple everyday life with "live" characters and spoken language. Most of the actors accept Ostrovsky's new plays with enthusiasm, they feel their novelty and vitality. Since 1853, almost every season at the Maly Theater in Moscow and the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg for 30 years, new plays by Ostrovsky appear.

In 1855-1860, the playwright draws closer to the revolutionary democrats. He goes to the Sovremennik magazine. The main "event" of Ostrovsky's plays of this period is the drama common man opposing " strong of the world this." At this time, he writes: “In a strange feast, a hangover”, “Profitable place”, “Thunderstorm” (1860).

In 1856, at the direction of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, the best Russian writers sent on a business trip around the country with the task to describe industrial production and life of various regions of Russia. Ostrovsky travels by steamboat from the upper reaches of the Volga to Nizhny Novgorod and makes many notes. They become real encyclopedic notes on the culture and economy of the region. At the same time, Ostrovsky remains an artist of the word - he transfers many descriptions of nature and life into his works.

In 1859 the first collected works of Ostrovsky were published in 2 volumes.

Appeal to history

House-Museum: A.N. Ostrovsky.

In the 60s, Alexander Nikolaevich drew special interest towards history and makes acquaintance with the famous historian Kostomarov. At this time, he writes the psychological drama "Vasilisa Melentyeva", historical chronicles"Tushino", "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky" and others.

He does not stop creating everyday comedies and dramas (“Hard Days” -1863, “Abysses” -1865, etc.), as well as satirical plays about the life of the nobility (“Enough Simplicity for Every Wise Man” -1868, “Mad Money” -1869 , Wolves and Sheep, etc.).

In 1863, Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize for historical writings, and elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

The following year pleases him with the birth of his first son, Alexander. In total, Ostrovsky will become the father of six children.

From 1865-1866 (the exact date has not been determined), Alexander Nikolaevich created an Artistic Circle in Moscow, from which many talented theater workers would subsequently emerge. In 1870 (according to other sources - in 1874), the Society of Russian Drama Writers and Opera Composers was organized in Russia, the head of which the playwright would remain until the end of his life. During this period, the whole color of the Russian stays in Ostrovsky's house. cultural society. I.S.Turgenev, F.M.Dostoevsky, P.M.Sadovsky, M.N.Ermolova, L.N.Tolstoy and many others prominent figures modern times will become his sincere friends and pals.

In 1873, Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky and the young composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in a few months, would write the opera The Snow Maiden, amazing in its beauty of style and sound, created on the basis of folk tales and customs. Both the playwright and the composer will be proud of their creation all their lives.

With the theater - to the end

IN last years life Ostrovsky often refers to women's destinies in their works. He writes comedies, but more - deep socio-psychological dramas about the fate of spiritually gifted women in the world of practicality and self-interest. “The Dowry”, “The Last Victim”, “Talents and Admirers” and other plays are published.

In 1881, under the directorate of the imperial theaters, a special commission was organized to create new legislative acts on the work of theaters throughout the country. Ostrovsky takes an active part in the work of the commission: he writes many "notes", "considerations" and "projects" on the topic of organizing work in theaters. Thanks to him, many changes are adopted that significantly improve the pay of acting.

Since 1883, Ostrovsky received from Emperor Alexander III the right to an annual pension in the amount of three thousand rubles. In the same year, the last literary masterpiece of Alexander Nikolayevich, the play Guilty Without Guilt, is released - a classic melodrama that amazes with the strength of the characters of its heroes and impresses with its plot. It was a new surge of great dramatic talent under the influence of a memorable trip to the Caucasus.

After 2 years, Ostrovsky was appointed head of the repertoire of Moscow theaters and head of the theater school. The playwright is trying to form a new school of realistic acting in the country, highlighting the most talented actors.

Ostrovsky works with theatrical figures, he has a lot of ideas and plans in his head, he is busy translating foreign (including antique) dramatic literature. But his health fails more often. The body is depleted.

On June 2 (14), 1886, in the Shchelykovo estate, Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky died of angina pectoris.

He was buried at the church cemetery near the Church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province.

The funeral was carried out with funds provided by Alexander III. A widow with children was granted a pension.

Interesting facts about Ostrovsky:

From childhood, the playwright knew Greek, French and German languages. Later he learned English, Italian and Spanish.

The play "Thunderstorm" was not immediately censored. But the empress liked her, and the censor made concessions to the author.

A. N. Ostrovsky

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky is one of the most prominent Russian playwrights, whose work was an important stage in the development Russian literature and the national theatre. We can safely say that it was the works of Ostrovsky that laid the foundation for the Russian repertoire in the theater.

Ostrovsky's plays are known and loved by many generations of Russian viewers and readers. Based on them art films, the questions that Ostrovsky raises in his works are relevant today.

Childhood and youth

The Russian playwright was born on March 13, 1823 in Moscow, in the family of a court official. The mother of the future playwright died early, the family had six children. Ostrovsky's father really wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. After graduating from the Moscow gymnasium, Alexander enters the law faculty of Moscow University. Ostrovsky never finished it.

In 1843, Ostrovsky was hired as a court clerk and worked in various Moscow courts until 1851. This period of life helped Ostrovsky a lot in his future work. Working in the courts, he perfectly studied the world of the Russian merchant class and the petty-bourgeois class, which he later brilliantly described in his works. Many characters, characters are taken by the playwright from his real life.

First plays

In 1847, Ostrovsky's essays were published in the Moscow City Leaf newspaper under the title "Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident". However, the playwright gained wide popularity after the publication of the play "Our people - let's get along." This work, written in the comedy genre, was enthusiastically received by the public and received excellent reviews from critics. Gogol and Goncharov spoke approvingly of this play.

However, the representatives of the merchant class did not like the work very much, and after their complaint to the authorities, the play was forbidden to be staged, and its author was fired from his job. “Our people - we will settle” was allowed to be staged only after the death of Emperor Nicholas, in 1861. With the second play, Alexander Nikolayevich was much more fortunate. “Don’t get into your sleigh” was written by him in 1852 and already in 1853 appeared on the stage of theaters. Since 1856, Ostrovsky has been constantly working in the Sovremennik magazine.

Since 1853, every year Moscow and St. Petersburg theaters staged new plays by the playwright, and all of them were favorably received by both the public and domestic critics.

At the peak of popularity

In 1856, Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky went to the Volga region to study the life and life of the inhabitants of the region. It was after this trip that Ostrovsky wrote one of his most striking plays, The Thunderstorm. In 1859, the first collected works of Ostrovsky were published, which was enthusiastically received by critics. In the 1860s, Ostrovsky began to study Russian history, he was especially interested in the period of the Time of Troubles.

In 1863 he was awarded the Uvarov Prize and became a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In the 60s, the playwright founded the Artistic Circle, which gave a start in life to many future stars of the Russian stage. In 1874, on the initiative of Ostrovsky, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was founded. In 1885, Alexander Nikolaevich became the head of the repertoire of all Moscow theaters.

Ostrovsky worked hard all his life, this seriously undermined his health. In June 1886 he died on his estate in the Kostroma province. Emperor Alexander III granted a large sum to the funeral of the playwright, and also granted a pension to his widow and provided funds for the education of his children.

The significance of Ostrovsky for Russian literature and his role in the development of the Russian theater are undeniable and enormous. For Russian theater he was a figure of the same magnitude as Molière for French theater, and Shakespeare is for English. On account of his 47 plays written by him personally, several more were written in collaboration.

Ostrovsky's plays show the life and everyday life of ordinary people, his works are very realistic, but at the same time they pose deep and eternal problems for the viewer.

Ostrovsky can be called the founder of the Russian theater, he created a new theater school and new concept acting game.

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky - writer, playwright and a man whose work has become milestone in the development of the Russian national theater. Alexander Nikolayevich was born on March 31, 1823, his father was a lawyer official, and his mother was from the lower clergy. He was born and raised in Moscow, as a child he lived in Zamoskvorechye, and he studied for five years at the First Moscow Gymnasium, later for three years at Moscow University at law faculty, and in 1843 he left the university. From that year until 1851, he served in the Moscow courts, the first work was written directly under the influence of this work, this work was “Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident”, written in 1847. The same year was the start of his dramatic direction, the first work " family picture", which was originally called" Picture of Family Happiness ". A little later, three years later, he published the comedy "Bankrupt", later it was called "Own people - let's settle!", It was this work that opened Ostrovsky as a writer for such famous people like Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov, Timofey Nikolaevich Granovsky and others. But this comedy also made a lot of noise, as a result of which Ostrovsky was placed under police supervision.

Ostrovsky ridiculed in his works the merchants, their way of life, behavior. In 1851, he wrote the work "The Poor Bride", in which he colorfully described the bureaucratic life. At this time, he actively works both as a writer and as an editor in the Moskvityanin magazine. A certain “young editorial board” was created there, which included Alexander Nikolayevich, this community was close friends outside of work. In 1852, Ostrovsky wrote the play “Do not sit in your own sleigh”, in 1853 “Poverty is not a vice”, and in 1854 “Do not live as you want”. In the works of Ostrovsky, a change in his attitude towards the merchant class can be traced.
Starting with the last works written by Ostrovsky, his dramatic abilities are growing, and over the next three decades in the Moscow Maly and St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky theaters every season they staged a new play of his.

Ostrovsky has been working in the Sovremennik magazine since 1856. Since 1851, his attitude to the merchants, his style of criticism in his works becomes the same. In 1855, the work "Hangover at a stranger's feast" was written. It was in this comedy that Ostrovsky first used the word "tyrant", which was fixed in the work of Alexander Nikolaevich for a long time.

In 1856, the comedy "Profitable Place" was written, which demonstrated the bribery of officials, two years later the play "The Pupil" was written. And the following year, the drama "Thunderstorm" was written. This work has become a cult. It describes aspects of rudeness, hypocrisy, the power of the rich and "senior" in a provincial town. At the age of 60, he writes one every year household comedy or drama. 1863 - "Hard Days", 1864 - "Jokers", 1865 - "Abyss". At the same time, historical plays are also released: 1861 - "Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk", 1864 - "Voevoda", 1866 - "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky", as well as the work "Tushino".

A new breath regarding satirical comedies was marked by the release in 1868 of the work “Enough Stupidity for Every Wise Man”, “A Warm Heart”, in 1869 the work “Mad Money”, in 1870 - “Forest”, and in 1875 “Wolves and Sheep ". In the early 1870s, the play "Labor Bread" and the fairy tale "The Snow Maiden" were written.

The last years of creativity have become significant for his biography, as he wrote many well-known works to date. "Dowry" 1878, "The Last Victim" at the same time, "Talents and Admirers" 1882. Ostrovsky's plays made a huge contribution to the development of the Russian stage. His dramaturgy gave many people an understanding of man. Alexander Nikolaevich lived interesting life which has benefited many. The playwright died in 1886 on June 2.