Alan Milne was the editor. Milne Alan Alexander: biography, career, personal life
In 1906-1914 he was an assistant to the publisher of the Punch magazine.
During the First World War he served in the British Army.
In 1917, he published the fairy tale "Once upon a time ..." (Once on a Time), in 1921 - the comedy play "Mr. Pim Passed By" (Mr. Pim Passed By), which became one of the most popular of the dramatic works of the author. In the 1920s the play was staged in Manchester, London and New York.
In 1920, Alan Milne and his wife Dorothy had a son, Christopher Robin. From the stories and poems that Alan wrote for his child, in 1924 a book of children's poems When We Were Very Young was born, which three years later had a sequel, Now We Are Six. Six). In the book "When We Were Little" a poem about a bear cub (Teddy Bear) appears for the first time. Both editions were illustrated by Ernest Howard Shepard, the artist who painted the famous image of Winnie the Pooh.
Some of the poems later.
In 1934, Milne, being a pacifist, published the book "Peace with Honor" (Peace With Honor), which called for peace and the rejection of war. The book has been the subject of considerable controversy.
In the 1930s, Milne wrote the novels "Two" (Two People, 1931), "Very short-lived sensation" (Four Days "Wonder, 1933). In 1939, he wrote his autobiography entitled" It's Too Late "(It's Too Late Now). Milne's last novel, Chloe Marr, was published in 1946.
In 1952, the writer suffered a stroke. On January 31, 1956, Alan Alexander Milne died at his home in Harfield, Sussex.
The copyright to the Winnie the Pooh books belonged to four beneficiaries - the Alan Milne family, the Royal Literary Foundation, the Westminster School and the Garrick Club. After the writer's death, his widow sold her stake to the Walt Disney Company, which made the famous Winnie the Pooh cartoons. In 2001, the other beneficiaries sold their stake to Disney Corporation for $350 million.
The writer's son Christopher Robin Milne (1920-1996) became a writer, following in his father's footsteps, and wrote several memoirs: "Enchanted Places", "After Winnie the Pooh", "Pit on the Hill".
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
(1882-1956) English writer
Millions of children and adults all over the world are familiar with a cute little bear named Winnie the Pooh. A fairy tale about him and his friends - Piglet the pig, Eeyore the donkey, Tiger, Rabbit and others - was composed by Alan Alexander Milne. There is another main character in the fairy tale - this is the little son of the writer Christopher Robin, who became not only a participant in this amazing fairy tale, but, strange as it may seem, one of its authors. Yes, and Winnie the Pooh was involved in the history of creating a fairy tale about himself and his friends. After all, this already pretty shabby teddy bear was the favorite toy of the little boy Christopher Robin, who did not part with him all his childhood.
So Winnie the Pooh became a member of the Milne family and the main character of the fairy tale. In the end, he became so famous that he overshadowed even his creator, who is now known only because he invented the fairy tale about Winnie the Pooh.
Alan Alexander Milne really did not create anything more significant, despite the fact that he had other works.
He came from a family that was as proud of its pedigree as the aristocrats are proud of their noble origin. All members of this family were quite outstanding people, although they did not differ in their generosity. Milne's great-grandfather was a bricklayer, and his grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor. He worked as a missionary in Jamaica, then returned to England and founded thirteen schools there,
after which he began to preach again. During his life, he never managed to save even the slightest bit of a decent amount to help his son break out into people. Everything that he earned, he generously distributed to poor people.
The writer's father had a hard time. He worked as an accountant at a confectionery factory, as an assistant mechanic, then as an assistant to a teacher. In the end, he nevertheless entered the university, and after graduation he founded his own school. It was a very good educational institution. At one time, the future famous writer Herbert Wells worked as a teacher in it. She and Alan Milne's father remained lifelong friends. Wells later reminisced about Milne in his book The Autobiographical Experience.
Milne Sr. tried to give his son Alan Alexander a good education. Alan studied at the closed Westminster School, graduated from the mathematical department of the University of Cambridge. During his studies, he edited the university magazine Granta and published his own humorous writings there. Milne liked literary work more than mathematics, so after graduating from university he decided to devote himself to literature. However, it was not easy to publish his works in some serious publication. It happened that the editors did not even read the manuscripts that Milne delivered to the editorial offices of journals.
So he couldn't believe his own eyes when one day he saw his parody of The Return of Sherlock Holmes published in Vanity Fair magazine.
And yet the works of Alan Alexander Milne, although not often, appeared in magazines, and his name became famous. In 1906, he became editor of the Punch magazine and thus was able to freely print his works. His business has finally improved. Milne married and soon released his sports humor from Punch magazine as a separate book.
During the First World War, he served in a reserve communications battalion, then went to the front, but fell ill, and he was returned to England. For a time, Alan Milne was an instructor at a boot camp, then worked in the propaganda department of the War Department, from where he was demobilized after the war with the rank of lieutenant.
Even during the war, he began to engage in dramaturgy. At first he wrote a play for the amateur troupe of the communications battalion, and then he began to create plays for professional theaters. After the war, Milne became a famous writer and playwright. His comedies were successful in theaters, and the detective novel The Secret of the Red House was even considered a classic.
In 1920, the son of Christopher was born in the family of Alan Milne. When the boy was one year old, he was presented with a teddy bear, who was named Winnie the Pooh. Then Christopher got a toy donkey Eeyore and a pig Piglet. Later, this company was supplemented by Kanga and the Tiger, and Milne invented the Owl and the Rabbit for the fairy tale.
Christopher was growing up, and real performances were played out in the nursery, in which all family members took part - father, mother, little son and his toys, who behaved like living beings in a fairy tale.
For his son, Alan Alexander Milne began to write children's books. At first it was poetry, and then "Winnie the Pooh" appeared. It turned out like this.
At the very beginning of the twenties, an acquaintance of Alana Milnov opened a children's magazine and asked Milne to write some poems for him. The writer refused, but still began to think that he could write such a thing. As a result, the poem "Sonya and the Doctor" and other poems appeared, which in 1924 were published as a separate book.
And then Milne remembered all the fairy tales that he told his son, and began to write them down. In 1926, the first book "Winnie the Pooh" was published, which included ten stories about a bear cub and his friends.
In 1927, a new book of children's poems by Alan Milne appeared, and in 1928 - the book "The House at Pooh's Edge", which included ten more stories about Winnie the Pooh. Thus, the first book about this wonderful bear came out when Christopher was three years old, and the last one, when he was already eight years old. In 1925, Milne purchased a large rural house with services and a large forest of 200 hectares - Cochford Farm, where the fairy tale mainly unfolded.
Alan Alexander Milne wrote other works for his son. He published a collection of Christopher Robin Stories, Christopher Robin Reading Book, Christopher Robin Birthday Stories, and even such an entertaining book as The Christopher Robin Alphabet. In addition to these, he wrote other small children's works.
However, Alan Milne no longer wrote about Winnie the Pooh. He even got angry when he was asked about it, and said: “If a person once wrote about a policeman, they will demand from him all his life that he writes only about policemen.”
Everything was explained by the fact that Christopher grew up and Milne stopped writing fairy tales for him. And for some reason he did not want to compose them for other children. But this was the writer's mistake, because his other works were no longer successful.
In 1938, a theatrical production based on Milne's play "Sarah Simple" suffered a complete failure. After that, he stopped writing for the theater. Gradually, readers lost interest in the writer's humorous works, and the Punch magazine, where Milne was again invited to work, even refused his services. In 1939, Alan Alexander Milne wrote his autobiography, but after a brief success, it was also forgotten.
Alan Milne's literary fortune left him when he was only forty-eight years old. Soon his name began to be mentioned only as the author of Winnie the Pooh. In this capacity, he is known to this day.
"Winnie the Pooh and Everything" is a typical family fairy tale that parents usually invent for their young children. Moreover, it reflected the cases and situations that actually happened in the Milne family, only they were played by the revived toys of Christopher Robin and himself.
The writer's son Christopher Milne, to whom one of the most remarkable children's works is dedicated, became a shopkeeper. At first he was engaged in grocery and haberdashery trade, and then he opened a bookshop and began to prosper. At 54, he published his own book, Enchanted Places, in which he spoke about his childhood.
Then he published another book - "The Road Through the Trees", where he again talked about his life, but already an adult. True, both of these books were not particularly successful and were only interesting because their author was involved in the creation of a wonderful fairy tale about Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
In 1906-1914 he was an assistant to the publisher of the Punch magazine.
During the First World War he served in the British Army.
In 1917, he published the fairy tale "Once upon a time ..." (Once on a Time), in 1921 - the comedy play "Mr. Pim Passed By" (Mr. Pim Passed By), which became one of the most popular of the dramatic works of the author. In the 1920s the play was staged in Manchester, London and New York.
In 1920, Alan Milne and his wife Dorothy had a son, Christopher Robin. From the stories and poems that Alan wrote for his child, in 1924 a book of children's poems When We Were Very Young was born, which three years later had a sequel, Now We Are Six. Six). In the book "When We Were Little" a poem about a bear cub (Teddy Bear) appears for the first time. Both editions were illustrated by Ernest Howard Shepard, the artist who painted the famous image of Winnie the Pooh.
Some of the poems later.
In 1934, Milne, being a pacifist, published the book "Peace with Honor" (Peace With Honor), which called for peace and the rejection of war. The book has been the subject of considerable controversy.
In the 1930s, Milne wrote the novels "Two" (Two People, 1931), "Very short-lived sensation" (Four Days "Wonder, 1933). In 1939, he wrote his autobiography entitled" It's Too Late "(It's Too Late Now). Milne's last novel, Chloe Marr, was published in 1946.
In 1952, the writer suffered a stroke. On January 31, 1956, Alan Alexander Milne died at his home in Harfield, Sussex.
The copyright to the Winnie the Pooh books belonged to four beneficiaries - the Alan Milne family, the Royal Literary Foundation, the Westminster School and the Garrick Club. After the writer's death, his widow sold her stake to the Walt Disney Company, which made the famous Winnie the Pooh cartoons. In 2001, the other beneficiaries sold their stake to Disney Corporation for $350 million.
The writer's son Christopher Robin Milne (1920-1996) became a writer, following in his father's footsteps, and wrote several memoirs: "Enchanted Places", "After Winnie the Pooh", "Pit on the Hill".
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
“I think that each of us secretly dreams of immortality. In the sense that his name will survive the body and will live in this world, despite the fact that the person himself has passed into another world, ”wrote the author of Winnie the Pooh shortly after his triumph. In 1926 a fairy tale Alana Milna about a teddy bear made a splash, and he overnight became the most famous children's writer. There was no doubt that Milne discovered the very secret of immortality, but there was one “but” ... Until the end of his days, the talented author did not reconcile himself that immortality was not brought to him by serious plays and short stories, on which he worked all his life , but a small "bear cub with sawdust in its head."
vagaries of fortune
Alan Alexander Milne was born in London on January 18, 1882. His father, John Milne, was the owner of a private school, where, of course, the boy went, and one of the teachers was Herbert Wells, later a famous science fiction writer. Parents sought to give their son the best education: he entered Westminster School, and then Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics. However, dry figures never attracted a talented young man - from childhood he was more interested in literature. As a student, Milne wrote notes for the student newspaper, which were highly appreciated by the staff of the British humor magazine Punch, who invited the author to become an assistant editor.
Following the literary life, the personal life of the writer settled down. In 1913 he married Dorothy de Selincourt, goddaughter magazine editor Owen Seaman. Interestingly, Milne's courtship of his future wife did not last long, he proposed to Dorothy and received consent the very next day after they met (it turns out that the girl read the works of her future husband published in the magazine more than once and was in love with him in absentia). However, happiness only seemed cloudless: wealthy aristocratic parents were happy to get rid of their beauty, because her absurd character had already managed to finish off all relatives.
Alan Milne with his wife. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Soon Milne turned into a slave to his wife, ready to fulfill any of her whims. At least, so in his article "Alan Milne: Winnie the Pooh and Other Troubles" claimed journalist Barry Gun: “If Daphne (as relatives called Dorothy - ed.), capriciously bending her lips, demanded that Alan jump from the roof of London's St. Paul's Cathedral, he most likely would have done so. In any case, the 32-year-old Milne volunteered for the front of the First World War, which began a year after his marriage, solely because his wife really liked the officers in military uniform who flooded the city.
Despite Milne's absolute love for his eccentric wife, just a few years later she exchanged her husband for some "real" singer, for whom she went to America. And when the foreigner left her, nothing prevented her from returning to the family to her husband and their only son Christopher Robin Milne.
Alan Milne, Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Howard Coster
"Adult" Writer
During the First World War, Milne ended up in a reserve communications battalion, then went to the front, but fell ill, and he was returned to England. For some time, the future famous writer was an instructor at a training camp, then worked in the propaganda department of the War Ministry, from where he was demobilized after the war with the rank of lieutenant.
During the war years, Milne was engaged in dramaturgy, his plays began to be staged not only by amateur troupes, but also by professional theaters. Gradually, critics began to call Milne "one of the most successful, prolific and well-known playwrights in England." But the glory of the "serious" writer was short-lived: everything changed the fairy tale about a teddy bear...
Throughout his childhood, a loving father told his little son Christopher fairy tales at night, in which his favorite teddy bear was certainly the main character, and once he transferred them to paper. The first chapter, "In Which We First Meet Winnie the Pooh and the Bees," was first published in the London Evening Paper on December 24, 1925, and immediately became a favorite children's story.
It is noteworthy that the entire "childish" period of Milne's work covers no more than seven years - the son grew up and the author did not return to children's topics anymore. Moreover, he literally hated his "Winnie the Pooh" and became angry if they talked to him about the new adventures of a teddy bear: "If a person once wrote about a policeman, they will demand from him all his life that he writes only about policemen."
Of course, Milne's wife added fuel to the fire, calling her husband "a children's writer with sawdust in his head." Being a secular lady, she was ashamed of his children's fairy tales, she wanted to be the wife of a serious playwright. But, alas, at the age of 48, literary luck left the talented writer. And in 1938, after the complete failure of the theatrical production of the play "Sarah Simple", he vowed to write for the theater.
In the paws of a teddy bear
Subsequently, one of Milne's biographers rightly wrote that the "Winnie the Pooh" cycle turned out to be similar to the "Frankenstein monster" - the creation took possession of the creator. Children demanded a continuation, and critics deliberately spoke badly about the serious plays and novels of the "storyteller". “All I wanted was to run away from this glory, as I used to want to run away from Punch, as I always wanted to run away ... However ...,” Milne regretted.
The author was worried that he had become a hostage of a funny teddy bear. It seemed that the attitude of readers to his talent might change in 1939, when Milne published his autobiography under the lyrical title "Too Late". But it was only a short-term success, very little time passed, and Milne again became only the "author of Winnie the Pooh." Readers even lost interest in his humorous stories, which were again published in the pages of Punch magazine.
Alan Milne. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
By the end of Milne's life, the circulation of fairy tales about Winnie the Pooh was over 7 million copies, but his books for adults were no longer reprinted.
Milne died at the age of 74 after a severe brain disease that plagued him in recent years. Dorothy lived another 15 years, but after Milne's death, Christopher never saw his mother again. The boy's life was not as rosy as in the famous fairy tale: throughout his childhood, his mother did not pay any attention to Christopher, his father was depressed, and the only close person for the baby was a nanny.
The creator of one of the favorite children's characters lived and worked in this house - Alan Alexander Milne.
This historic home is being sold by the international real estate agency Savills. The Milne house is called Cochford Farm. It is located in Ashdown Forest, Sussex. The house was built in the 15th century, and the Milne family moved into it in 1925.
The writer's son Christopher Robin Milne spent his childhood in this house, and the teddy bear is named after one of Christopher Milne's real toys.
The house has six bedrooms. It is located on the territory of a vast estate, several hectares. On the territory of the garden near the house you can see a monument to Christopher Robin, as well as solar images of the main characters of Milne's story: Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigers, Rabbit and Owls. All these statues were commissioned by Dorothy Milne, the writer's wife.
Cochford Farm was previously owned by the founder of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones. Three years after the purchase of the estate, the musician died.
Alan Alexander Milne was born in 1882 in Kilburn, London.
He was the third, youngest son in the family of John (John Vince Milne) and Sarah Milne (Sarah Marie Milne, née Heginbotham).
His father, John Milne, was in charge of the small private school Henley House (Henley House School), famous for the fact that HG Wells taught there (in 1889-1890). All the children of the Milns once studied within its walls.
Milne attended Westminster School and then the famous Trinity College, Cambridge (Trinity College, Cambridge), where he studied mathematics, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1903.
At the university, Milne begins to write poetry and short stories, and soon becomes the editor of the student magazine Grant. He usually wrote with his brother Kenneth, signing notes with the initials AKM.
Milne's work was noticed, and in 1906 the British humor magazine Punch began to collaborate with him, later Milne became an assistant editor there. Writes articles, short stories, feuilletons.
Through his work in the magazine, Milne met Dorothy (Daphne) de Sélincourt (1890-1971). She was the goddaughter of Chief Milne, Owen Seaman (who is said to be the psychological prototype of Eeyore). One day, going to Dorothy's birthday, Owen invited a young journalist with him.
In 1913, Milne married Dorothy, from this marriage one son, Christopher, was born.
Christopher Robin with his mother Dorothy Milne
In 1925, Milne bought his home, Cotchford Farm, and the family settled there.
When his son was three years old, Milne began to write poems about and for him.
Alan Alexander Milne dreamed of earning fame as a great author of detective stories, writing plays and short stories. But when Pooh's first chapter, "in which we first meet Winnie the Pooh and the bees," was printed in the London Evening Paper and broadcast on BBC radio on Christmas Eve on December 24, 1925, the first step was taken to recognize Milne as a classic of children's books.
Milne was convinced that he did not write children's prose or children's poetry. He spoke to the child within each of us. By the way, he never read his Pooh stories to his son, Christopher Robin, although he acknowledged the decisive role of his wife, Dorothy, and son in writing and the very fact of the appearance of "Winnie the Pooh."
Alan Alexander Milne with son Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh 1920s
Christopher Robin's room, 1920s
In 1924, Alan Milne first came to the zoo with his four-year-old son Christopher Robin, who really became friends with Winnie the bear, even gave her sweet milk to drink. Three years earlier, Milne bought an Alpha Farnell teddy bear (see photo) from Harrods and gave his son a teddy bear (see photo) for his first birthday. After the owner met Winnie, this bear was named after his beloved bear. The boy even came up with a new name for him - Winnie Pooh. The word Pooh came to the former Teddy from a swan whom Christopher Robin met when the whole family went to their country house at Cotchford Farm in Sussex.
By the way, this is next to the very forest, which is now known to the whole world as the Hundred Acre Forest.
Why Pooh? Yes, because "because if you call him and the swan does not come (which they love to do), you can pretend that Pooh said just like that ...". The toy bear was about two feet tall, had a light coloration, and had frequent eye drops.
Christopher Robin's real toys were also Piglet, Eeyore without a tail, Kanga, Roo and Tiger. Owl and Rabbit Milne invented himself.
The toys that Christopher Robin played with are in the New York Public Library. In 1996, Milne's favorite teddy bear was sold in London at the Bonham House auction to an unknown buyer for £4,600.
The very first person in the world who was lucky enough to see Winnie the Pooh was Punch magazine cartoonist Ernest Sheppard. It was he who first illustrated Winnie the Pooh. Initially, the teddy bear and his friends were black and white, and then they became colored. And the teddy bear of his son posed for Ernest Sheppard, not Pooh at all, but “Growler” (or Grumpy).
Artist Ernest Howard Shepard (1879-1976), who illustrated the book. 1976
Shepard's Christmas card, Sotheby's. 2008
In total, two books about Winnie the Pooh were written: Winnie-the-Pooh (the first separate edition was published on October 14, 1926 by the London publishing house Methuen & Co) and The House at Pooh Corner (The House at Pooh Corner, 1928). In addition, two collections of Milne's children's poems, When We Were Very Young (When we were very young) and Now We Are Six (Now we are six years old), contain several poems about Winnie the Pooh.
The entire "childish" period of Milne's work covers only a few years, from 1921 to 1928. He no longer returns to the children's theme: Christopher Robin grew up, and together with his grown-up son, the world of childhood leaves Milne's life. All that he subsequently created for children was a dramatization of the book The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham.
Alan Alexander Milne, 1948
Adult Christopher Robin with his fiancee, 1948
In 1961, the Disney Company acquired the rights to Winnie the Pooh. Walt Disney slightly changed the famous illustrations of the artist Shepard, which accompanied Milne's books, and released a series of cartoons about Winnie the Pooh. According to Forbes magazine, Winnie the Pooh is the second most profitable character in the world, behind only Mickey Mouse. Winnie the Pooh generates $5.6 billion in revenue each year
On April 11, 2006, Winnie the Pooh's star was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
At the same time, Milne's granddaughter, who lives in England, Claire Milne, is trying to get her bear cub back. Or rather, the right to it. So far unsuccessful.
In 1960, Winnie the Pooh was brilliantly translated into Russian by Boris Zakhoder and published with illustrations by Alice Poret.
Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh
