Born March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow, grew up in merchant environment. His mother died when he was 8 years old. And my father remarried. There were four children in the family.
Ostrovsky was educated at home. His father had a large library where little Alexander for the first time began to read Russian literature. However, the father wanted to give his son a legal education. In 1835, Ostrovsky began his studies at the gymnasium, and then entered the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. Due to his passion for theater and literature, he never completed his studies at the university (1843), after which he worked as a scribe in court at the insistence of his father. Ostrovsky served in the courts until 1851.
Creativity Ostrovsky
In 1849, Ostrovsky's work “Our people - we will settle!” Was written, which brought him literary fame, he was highly appreciated by Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Goncharov. Then, despite the censorship, many of his plays and books were released. For Ostrovsky, writings are a way to truly depict the life of the people. The plays "Thunderstorm", "Dowry", "Forest" are among his most important works. Ostrovsky's play "Dowry", like other psychological dramas, non-standard describes the characters, inner world, the torment of heroes.
Since 1856, the writer has been participating in the issue of the Sovremennik magazine.
Ostrovsky Theater
In the biography of Alexander Ostrovsky, theatrical work occupies an honorable place.
Ostrovsky founded the Artistic Circle in 1866, thanks to which many talented people in the theatrical circle.
Together with the Artistic Circle, he significantly reformed and developed the Russian theater.
Ostrovsky's house was often visited famous people, among which I. A. Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, Ivan Turgenev, A. F. Pisemsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, P. M. Sadovsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Leo Tolstoy, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, M. N. Ermolova and other.
In a brief biography of Ostrovsky, it is worth mentioning the appearance in 1874 of the Society of Russian Drama Writers and opera composers where Ostrovsky was chairman. With his innovations, he achieved an improvement in the lives of theater actors. Since 1885, Ostrovsky headed theater school and was the head of the repertoire of theaters in Moscow.
Writer's personal life
It cannot be said that Ostrovsky's personal life was successful. The playwright lived with a woman from a simple family - Agafya, who had no education, but was the first to read his works. She supported him in everything. All their children died in early age. Ostrovsky lived with her for about twenty years. And in 1869 he married the actress Maria Vasilievna Bakhmeteva, who bore him six children.
last years of life
Until the end of his life, Ostrovsky experienced financial difficulties. Hard work greatly depleted the body, and health increasingly failed the writer. Ostrovsky dreamed of reviving the theater school, which could teach professional acting skills However, the death of the writer prevented the implementation of long-planned plans.
Ostrovsky died on June 2 (14), 1886 at his estate. The writer was buried next to his father, in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province.
Chronological table
Other biography options
- Ostrovsky knew Greek, German and French, and in more late age I also learned English, Spanish and Italian. All his life he translated plays into different languages Thus, he improved his skills and knowledge.
- The creative path of the writer covers 40 years successful work over literary and dramatic works. His work influenced the whole era of theater in Russia. For his work, the writer was awarded the Uvarov Prize in 1863.
- Ostrovsky is the founder of modern theatrical art, whose followers were such prominent figures like Konstantin Stanislavsky and Mikhail Bulgakov.
- see all
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. From an early age, he felt the 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 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 begin to sound not so much motives for exposing class tyranny as idealization ancient customs and Russian patriarchy (“Do not 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”, “ Plum"," 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 rides on a steamboat from the headwaters of the Volga to Nizhny Novgorod and makes a lot of records. 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 wrote the psychological drama Vasilisa Melentyeva, the historical chronicles Tushino, Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky, and others.
Doesn't stop creating household comedies and dramas (“Hard Days” -1863, “Abysses” -1865, etc.), as well as plays of a satirical orientation about the life of the nobility (“There is enough simplicity for every wise man” -1868, “Mad Money” -1869, “Wolves and Sheep " and 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 other outstanding personalities of our time will become his sincere friends and buddies.
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. “Dowry” is published, “ Last victim”,“ Talents and fans ”and other plays.
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 tries to form in the country new school realistic acting, 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.
It is the name of A. N. Ostrovsky that stands at the origins of the development of Russian drama theater. His dramas to this day are very popular due to the extraordinary flavor of his talent as a writer and playwright, who always felt what the secular audience expected from him. Therefore, it is interesting to know what kind of person Alexander Ostrovsky was. His books contain a huge creative heritage. Among his most famous works: “Guilty Without Guilt”, “Dowry”, “Thunderstorm”, “Wolves and Sheep”, “Snow Maiden”, “Hangover at someone else's feast”, “What you go for, you will find”, “Your people - let's settle", "Mad money", etc.
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. short biography
Alexander Nikolaevich was born in the spring of March 31 (April 12), 1823. He grew up on Malaya Ordynka in Moscow. His father was the son of a priest, and his name was Nikolai Fedorovich. Having received a seminary education in Kostroma, he went to study at the Moscow Theological Academy. But he never became a priest, but began to practice as a lawyer in judicial institutions. Over time, he rose to the rank of titular adviser and received a title of nobility.
Ostrovsky's biography (short) says that Ostrovsky's mother, Lyubov Ivanovna, died when he was 7 years old. There are six children left in the family. In the future, their stepmother, Emilia Andreevna von Tesin, who was the daughter of a Swedish nobleman, took over the care of the family. The Ostrovsky family did not need anything, much attention was paid to the education and upbringing of children.
Childhood
Almost all of his childhood Ostrovsky spent in Zamoskvorechye. His father had a large library, the boy began to study Russian literature early and felt a craving for writing, but his father wanted his son to become a lawyer.
From 1835 to 1940 Alexander studied at the Moscow Gymnasium. Then he entered Moscow University and began to study as a lawyer. But a quarrel with a teacher did not allow him to finish his last year at the university. And then his father arranged for him to serve in the court. The first salary he received was 4 rubles, but then it grew to 15 rubles.
Creation
Further, Ostrovsky's biography (short) indicates that Alexander Ostrovsky's fame and popularity as a playwright was brought by the play “Our people - let's settle!”, Published in 1850. This play was approved by I. A. Goncharov and N. V. Gogol. But the Moscow merchants did not like it, and the merchants complained to the sovereign. Then, on the personal order of Nicholas I, its author was dismissed from service and taken under police supervision, which was removed only under Alexander II. And in 1861, the play again saw the stage.
During the disgraced period of Ostrovsky, the first staged play in St. Petersburg was called "Do not get into your sleigh." Biography of Ostrovsky (short) includes information that for 30 years his plays were staged at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky and Moscow Maly Theaters. In 1856, Ostrovsky began working for the Sovremennik magazine.
Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich. Artworks
In 1859, Ostrovsky, with the support of G. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko, published the first collection of works in two volumes. At this point, the Russian critic Dobrolyubov will note that Ostrovsky is an accurate depiction of the "dark kingdom".
In 1860, after the "Thunderstorm", Dobrolyubov will call him "a ray of light in a dark kingdom."
Indeed, Alexander Ostrovsky knew how to captivate with his remarkable talent. Thunderstorm has become one of the most bright works playwright, with the writing of which his personal drama is also connected. Prototype main character the play was the actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya, with her for a long time had a close relationship, although they were both not free people. She was the first to play this role. Ostrov's image of Katerina made it tragic in its own way, so he reflected in it all the suffering and torment of the soul of a Russian woman.
Cradle of Talents
In 1863, Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize and became an elected corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Later, in 1865, he organized the Artistic Circle, which became the cradle of many talents.
Ostrovsky received in his house such eminent guests as F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. S. Turgenev, etc.
In 1874, the writer-playwright founded the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers, whose chairman remained Ostrovsky until his death. He also served on a commission related to the revision of the theater management regulations, which led to new changes, thanks to which the position of artists was significantly improved.
In 1881, a benefit performance of the opera The Snow Maiden by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov took place at the Mariinsky Theater. Biography of Ostrovsky (short) indicates that at that moment Ostrovsky was inexpressibly pleased musical arrangement great composer.
Last years
In 1885, the playwright began to manage the repertoire of Moscow theaters and headed the theater school. Ostrovsky almost always had financial problems, although he collected good fees from plays, and there was a pension appointed by Emperor Alexander III. Ostrovsky had many plans, he literally burned at work, this affected his health and depleted his vitality.
On June 2, 1886, he died at his Shchelykovo estate near Kostroma. He was 63 years old. His body was buried next to the grave of his father at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Kostroma province in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki.
The widow, actress Maria Andreevna Bakhmetyeva, three sons and daughter were granted a pension by Tsar Alexander III.
His estate in Shchelykovo is now a memorial and natural museum Ostrovsky.
Conclusion
Ostrovsky created his theater school with its holistic concept theatrical production. The main component of his theater was that there were no extreme situations in it, but depicted life situations that go back to the everyday life and psychology of a person of that time, which Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky knew very well. A short biography describes that Ostrovsky's theater had many ideas, but new stage aesthetics and new actors were needed to bring them to life. All this was later brought to mind by K. S. Stanislavsky and M. A. Bulgakov.
Ostrovsky's dramas served as the basis for film adaptations of films and television series. Among them is the film "Balzaminov's Marriage", filmed in 1964 based on the play "For what you follow, you will find" directed by K. Voinov, the film " Cruel romance”, Filmed in 1984 based on “Dowry” directed by Eldar Ryazanov. In 2005, Evgeny Ginzburg made the film Anna based on the play Guilty Without Guilt.
Ostrovsky created an extensive repertoire for the Russian theater stage, which included 47 very original plays. He worked in collaboration with talented young playwrights, including P. M. Nevezhin and N. Ya. Solovyov. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy became national due to its origins and traditions.
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. Born March 31 (April 12), 1823 - died June 2 (14), 1886. Russian playwright, whose work has become milestone Russian national theater. Corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was born on March 31 (April 12), 1823 in Moscow on Malaya Ordynka.
His father, Nikolai Fedorovich, was the son of a priest, he himself graduated from the Kostroma Seminary, then the Moscow Theological Academy, but began to practice as a court lawyer, dealing with property and commercial matters. He rose to the rank of collegiate assessor, and in 1839 received the nobility.
Mother, Lyubov Ivanovna Savvina, the daughter of a sexton and a prosvir, died when Alexander was not yet nine years old. There were four children in the family (four more died in infancy).
Thanks to the position of Nikolai Fedorovich, the family lived in abundance, was given great attention education of children who received home education. Five years after the death of his mother, his father married Baroness Emilia Andreevna von Tessin, the daughter of a Swedish nobleman. The children were lucky with their stepmother: she surrounded them with care and continued to teach them.
Ostrovsky's childhood and part of his youth were spent in the center of Zamoskvorechye. Thanks to his father's large library, he became acquainted early with Russian literature and felt an inclination towards writing, but his father wanted to make him a lawyer.
In 1835, Ostrovsky entered the third grade of the 1st Moscow Provincial Gymnasium, after which in 1840 he became a student at the law faculty of Moscow University. He failed to complete the university course: without passing the exam in Roman law, Ostrovsky wrote a letter of resignation (he studied until 1843). At the request of his father, Ostrovsky entered the service of a clerk in the Constituent Court and served in the Moscow courts until 1850; his first salary was 4 rubles a month, after a while it increased to 16 rubles (transferred to the Commercial Court in 1845).
By 1846, Ostrovsky had already written many scenes from merchant life and the comedy "Insolvent Debtor" was conceived (later - "Own people - let's settle!"). The first publication was a short play "The Picture family life”and the essay“ Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident ”- they were printed in one of the issues of the“ Moscow City List ”in 1847. Professor of Moscow University S.P. Shevyrev, after Ostrovsky read the play at his home on February 14, 1847, solemnly congratulated the audience on "the appearance of a new dramatic luminary in Russian literature."
Literary fame Ostrovsky brought comedy "Own people - let's count!" (original title- “Insolvent debtor”), published in 1850 in the journal of the university professor M.P. Pogodin “Moskvityanin”. Under the text was: "A. ABOUT." and "D. G.", that is, Dmitry Gorev-Tarasenkov, provincial actor who offered Ostrovsky cooperation. This collaboration did not go beyond one scene, and subsequently served as a source of great trouble for Ostrovsky, since it gave his detractors a reason to accuse him of plagiarism (1856). However, the play evoked favorable responses from H. V. Gogol and I. A. Goncharov.
Influential Moscow merchants, offended for his estate, complained to the "bosses"; as a result, the comedy was banned from staging, and the author was dismissed from service and placed under police supervision on the personal order of Nicholas I. Supervision was removed after the accession of Alexander II, and the play was allowed to be staged only in 1861.
Ostrovsky's first play, which was able to get on the stage, was "Do not get into your sleigh"(written in 1852 and staged for the first time in Moscow on stage Bolshoi Theater January 14, 1853).
Since 1853, for more than 30 years, new plays by Ostrovsky appeared almost every season in the Moscow Maly and St. Alexandrinsky theaters. Since 1856, Ostrovsky became a permanent contributor to the Sovremennik magazine. In the same year, in accordance with the wishes of the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, a business trip of outstanding writers took place to study and describe various areas of Russia in industrial and domestic terms. Ostrovsky took over the study of the Volga from the upper reaches to Nizhny Novgorod.
In 1859, with the assistance of Count G. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko, the first collected works of Ostrovsky were published in two volumes. Thanks to this edition, Ostrovsky received a brilliant assessment from N. A. Dobrolyubov, which secured him the fame of a painter " dark kingdom". In 1860, the Thunderstorm appeared in print, to which he dedicated the article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom”.
From the second half of the 1860s, Ostrovsky took up the history of the Time of Troubles and entered into correspondence with Kostomarov. The fruit of the work were five " historical chronicles in verse": "Kuzma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk", "Vasilisa Melentyeva", "Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky", etc.
In 1863, Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize (for the play "Thunderstorm") and was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1866 (according to other sources - in 1865), Ostrovsky founded the Artistic Circle, which later gave the Moscow stage many talented figures.
Ostrovsky's house was visited by I. A. Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, I. S. Turgenev, A. F. Pisemsky, F. M. Dostoevsky, I. E. Turchaninov, P. M. Sadovsky, L. P. Kositskaya-Nikulina, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy, P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. N. Ermolova, G. N. Fedotova.
In 1874, the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers was formed, of which Ostrovsky remained the permanent chairman until his death. Working in the commission "for the revision of legal provisions in all parts of the theater management", established in 1881 under the directorate of the Imperial Theaters, he achieved many changes that significantly improved the position of artists.
In 1885, Ostrovsky was appointed head of the repertoire of Moscow theaters and head of the theater school.
Despite the fact that his plays made good collections and that in 1883 Emperor Alexander III granted him an annual pension of 3 thousand rubles, money problems did not leave Ostrovsky until last days his life. Health did not meet the plans that he set for himself. Hard work exhausted the body.
On June 2 (14), 1886, on Spirits Day, Ostrovsky died in his Kostroma estate Shchelykovo. His last work was the translation of "Antony and Cleopatra" by W. Shakespeare - Alexander Nikolayevich's favorite playwright. The writer was buried next to his father at the church cemetery near the Temple in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki, Kostroma province. For the burial, Alexander III granted 3,000 rubles from the sums of the cabinet; widow, inseparably with 2 children, was assigned a pension of 3,000 rubles, and for education three sons and daughters - 2400 rubles a year. Subsequently, the widow of the writer M.V. Ostrovskaya, an actress of the Maly Theater, and the daughter of M.A. Shatelen were in the family necropolis.
After the death of the playwright, the Moscow Duma set up a reading room named after A. N. Ostrovsky in Moscow.
Family and personal life of Alexander Ostrovsky:
Younger brother - statesman M. N. Ostrovsky.
Alexander Nikolaevich had a deep passion for the actress L. Kositskaya, but both of them had a family.
However, even after becoming a widow in 1862, Kositskaya continued to reject Ostrovsky's feelings, and soon she began a close relationship with the son of a wealthy merchant, who eventually squandered her entire fortune. She wrote to Ostrovsky: "I do not want to take away your love from anyone."
The playwright lived in cohabitation with the commoner Agafya Ivanovna, but all their children died at an early age. Uneducated, but a smart woman, with a subtle, easily vulnerable soul, she understood the playwright and was the very first reader and critic of his works. Ostrovsky lived with Agafya Ivanovna for about twenty years, and two years after her death, in 1869, he married the actress Maria Vasilyevna Bakhmetyeva, who bore him four sons and two daughters.
Plays by Alexander Ostrovsky:
"Family Picture" (1847)
"Own people - let's count" (1849)
"An Unexpected Case" (1850)
"Morning young man» (1850)
"Poor Bride" (1851)
"Do not get into your sleigh" (1852)
"Poverty is no vice" (1853)
"Do not live as you like" (1854)
Hangover in someone else's feast (1856)
"Profitable Place" (1856)
"Festive Sleep Before Dinner" (1857)
"They didn't get along" (1858)
"Pupil" (1859)
"Thunderstorm" (1859)
"An old friend is better than two new ones" (1860)
“Your own dogs squabble, don’t pester someone else’s” (1861)
"The Marriage of Balzaminov" (1861)
"Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk" (1861, 2nd edition 1866)
"Hard Days" (1863)
"Sin and trouble does not live on anyone" (1863)
Voevoda (1864; 2nd edition 1885)
"Joker" (1864)
"In a Busy Place" (1865)
"Abyss" (1866)
"Dmitry the Pretender and Vasily Shuisky" (1866)
"Tushino" (1866)
"Vasilisa Melentyeva" (co-authored with S. A. Gedeonov) (1867)
"Sufficient Simplicity for Every Wise Man" (1868)
"Hot Heart" (1869)
"Mad Money" (1870)
"Forest" (1870)
"Not everything is Shrovetide for the cat" (1871)
"There was not a penny, but suddenly Altyn" (1872)
"Comedian XVII century» (1873)
"Snow Maiden" (1873)
"Late Love" (1874)
"Labor Bread" (1874)
"Wolves and Sheep" (1875)
"Rich Brides" (1876)
"Truth is good, but happiness is better" (1877)
"The Marriage of Belugin" (1877)
"Last Victim" (1878)
"Dowry" (1878)
"Good gentleman" (1879)
"Wild Woman" (1879), together with Nikolai Solovyov
"Heart is not a stone" (1880)
"Slaves" (1881)
"Shines, but does not warm" (1881), together with Nikolai Solovyov
"Guilty Without Guilt" (1881-1883)
"Talents and Admirers" (1882)
"Handsome Man" (1883)
"Not of this world" (1885)
It is the name of A. N. Ostrovsky that stands at the origins of the development of the Russian drama theater. His dramas to this day are very popular due to the extraordinary flavor of his talent as a writer and playwright, who always felt what the secular audience expected from him. Therefore, it is interesting to know what kind of person Alexander Ostrovsky was. His books contain a huge creative heritage. Among his most famous works: “Guilty Without Guilt”, “Dowry”, “Thunderstorm”, “Wolves and Sheep”, “Snow Maiden”, “Hangover at someone else's feast”, “What you go for, you will find”, “Your people - let's settle", "Mad money", etc.
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. short biography
Alexander Nikolaevich was born in the spring of March 31 (April 12), 1823. He grew up on Malaya Ordynka in Moscow. His father was the son of a priest, and his name was Nikolai Fedorovich. Having received a seminary education in Kostroma, he went to study at the Moscow Theological Academy. But he never became a priest, but began to practice as a lawyer in judicial institutions. Over time, he rose to the rank of titular adviser and received a title of nobility.
Ostrovsky's biography (short) says that Ostrovsky's mother, Lyubov Ivanovna, died when he was 7 years old. There are six children left in the family. In the future, their stepmother, Emilia Andreevna von Tesin, who was the daughter of a Swedish nobleman, took over the care of the family. The Ostrovsky family did not need anything, much attention was paid to the education and upbringing of children.
Childhood
Almost all of his childhood Ostrovsky spent in Zamoskvorechye. His father had a large library, the boy began to study Russian literature early and felt a craving for writing, but his father wanted his son to become a lawyer.
From 1835 to 1940 Alexander studied at the Moscow Gymnasium. Then he entered Moscow University and began to study as a lawyer. But a quarrel with a teacher did not allow him to finish his last year at the university. And then his father arranged for him to serve in the court. The first salary he received was 4 rubles, but then it grew to 15 rubles.
Creation
Further, Ostrovsky's biography (short) indicates that Alexander Ostrovsky's fame and popularity as a playwright was brought by the play “Our people - let's settle!”, Published in 1850. This play was approved by I. A. Goncharov and N. V. Gogol. But the Moscow merchants did not like it, and the merchants complained to the sovereign. Then, on the personal order of Nicholas I, its author was dismissed from service and taken under police supervision, which was removed only under Alexander II. And in 1861, the play again saw the stage.
During the disgraced period of Ostrovsky, the first staged play in St. Petersburg was called "Do not get into your sleigh." Biography of Ostrovsky (short) includes information that for 30 years his plays were staged at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky and Moscow Maly Theaters. In 1856, Ostrovsky began working for the Sovremennik magazine.
Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich. Artworks
In 1859, Ostrovsky, with the support of G. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko, published the first collection of works in two volumes. At this point, the Russian critic Dobrolyubov will note that Ostrovsky is an accurate depiction of the "dark kingdom".
In 1860, after the "Thunderstorm", Dobrolyubov will call him "a ray of light in a dark kingdom."
Indeed, Alexander Ostrovsky knew how to captivate with his remarkable talent. The Thunderstorm became one of the most striking works of the playwright, with the writing of which his personal drama is also associated. The prototype of the main character of the play was the actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya, with whom he had a close relationship for a long time, although they were both not free people. She was the first to play this role. Ostrov's image of Katerina made it tragic in its own way, so he reflected in it all the suffering and torment of the soul of a Russian woman.
Cradle of Talents
In 1863, Ostrovsky was awarded the Uvarov Prize and became an elected corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Later, in 1865, he organized the Artistic Circle, which became the cradle of many talents.
Ostrovsky received in his house such eminent guests as F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. S. Turgenev, etc.
In 1874, the writer-playwright founded the Society of Russian Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers, whose chairman remained Ostrovsky until his death. He also served on a commission related to the revision of the theater management regulations, which led to new changes, thanks to which the position of artists was significantly improved.
In 1881, a benefit performance of the opera The Snow Maiden by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov took place at the Mariinsky Theater. Ostrovsky's (short) biography testifies that at that moment Ostrovsky was unspeakably pleased with the musical accompaniment of the great composer.
Last years
In 1885, the playwright began to manage the repertoire of Moscow theaters and headed the theater school. Ostrovsky almost always had financial problems, although he collected good fees from plays, and there was a pension appointed by Emperor Alexander III. Ostrovsky had many plans, he literally burned at work, this affected his health and depleted his vitality.
On June 2, 1886, he died at his Shchelykovo estate near Kostroma. He was 63 years old. His body was buried next to the grave of his father at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Kostroma province in the village of Nikolo-Berezhki.
The widow, actress Maria Andreevna Bakhmetyeva, three sons and daughter were granted a pension by Tsar Alexander III.
His estate in Shchelykovo is now a memorial and natural museum of Ostrovsky.
Conclusion
Ostrovsky created his own theater school with its holistic concept of theatrical production. The main component of his theater was that it did not contain extreme situations, but depicted life situations that go into the life and psychology of a person of that time, which Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky knew very well. A short biography describes that Ostrovsky's theater had many ideas, but new stage aesthetics and new actors were needed to bring them to life. All this was later brought to mind by K. S. Stanislavsky and M. A. Bulgakov.
Ostrovsky's dramas served as the basis for film adaptations of films and television series. Among them are the film "Balzaminov's Marriage", filmed in 1964 based on the play "For what you go, you will find" directed by K. Voinov, the film "Cruel Romance", filmed in 1984 based on "Dowry" directed by Eldar Ryazanov. In 2005, Evgeny Ginzburg made the film Anna based on the play Guilty Without Guilt.
Ostrovsky created an extensive repertoire for the Russian theater stage, which included 47 very original plays. He worked in collaboration with talented young playwrights, including P. M. Nevezhin and N. Ya. Solovyov. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy became national due to its origins and traditions.
