Summary Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Alexander Kuprin: biography, creativity and interesting facts from life

In literature, the name of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is associated with an important transitional stage at the turn of two centuries. Not the least role in this was played by the historical breakdown in the political and public life Russia. This factor undoubtedly had the strongest influence on the writer’s work. A. I. Kuprin - man unusual fate and strong character. Almost all of his works are based on real events. An ardent fighter for justice, he sharply, boldly and at the same time lyrically created his masterpieces, which were included in the golden fund of Russian literature.

Kuprin was born in 1870 in the town of Narovchat, Penza province. His father, a small landowner, died suddenly when the future writer was only a year old. Left with his mother and two sisters, he grew up enduring hunger and all kinds of hardships. Experiencing serious financial difficulties associated with the death of her husband, the mother placed her daughters in a government boarding school, and together with little Sasha moved to Moscow.

Kuprin’s mother, Lyubov Alekseevna, was a proud woman, as she was a descendant of a noble Tatar family, as well as a native Muscovite. But she had to make a difficult decision for herself - to send her son to be raised in an orphan school.

Kuprin's childhood years, spent within the boarding house, were joyless, and his inner state always seemed depressed. He felt out of place, felt bitterness from the constant oppression of his personality. After all, given the origin of his mother, of which the boy was always very proud, future writer As he grew up and matured, he showed himself to be an emotional, active and charismatic person.

Youth and education

After graduating from the orphan school, Kuprin entered a military gymnasium, which was later transformed into a cadet corps.

This event greatly influenced future fate Alexander Ivanovich and, first of all, on his work. After all, it was from the beginning of his studies at the gymnasium that he first discovered his interest in writing, and the image of Second Lieutenant Romashov from the famous story “The Duel” is the prototype of the author himself.

Service in an infantry regiment allowed Kuprin to visit many remote cities and provinces of Russia, study military affairs, the basics of army discipline and drill. The topic of officer everyday life has taken a strong position in many works of art the author, which subsequently caused controversial debates in society.

It would seem military career- the fate of Alexander Ivanovich. But his rebellious nature did not allow this to happen. By the way, service was completely alien to him. There is a version that Kuprin, while under the influence of alcohol, threw a police officer from the bridge into the water. In connection with this incident, he soon resigned and left military affairs forever.

Success story

After leaving the service, Kuprin experienced an urgent need to obtain comprehensive knowledge. Therefore, he began to actively travel around Russia, meet people, and learn a lot of new and useful things from communicating with them. At the same time, Alexander Ivanovich sought to try his hand at different professions. He gained experience in the field of surveyors, circus performers, fishermen, even pilots. However, one of the flights almost ended in tragedy: as a result of the plane crash, Kuprin almost died.

He also worked with interest as a journalist in various printed publications, wrote notes, essays, articles. The spirit of an adventurer allowed him to successfully develop everything he started. He was open to everything new and absorbed what was happening around him like a sponge. Kuprin was a researcher by nature: he eagerly studied human nature, I wanted to experience all the facets of interpersonal communication for myself. Therefore, during military service, faced with obvious officer promiscuity, hazing and humiliation human dignity, the creator in a damning manner formed the basis for writing his most famous works, such as “The Duel”, “Junkers”, “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”.

The writer built the plots of all his works based solely on personal experience and the memories he received during his service and travels around Russia. Openness, simplicity, sincerity in the presentation of thoughts, as well as the reliability of the description of characters’ images became the key to the author’s success in the literary path.

Creation

Kuprin was eager for his people with all his soul, and his explosive and honest character, due to Tatar origin mother, would not allow those facts about the lives of people that he personally witnessed to be distorted in writing.

However, Alexander Ivanovich did not condemn all of his characters, even bringing their dark sides to the surface. Being a humanist and a desperate fighter for justice, Kuprin figuratively demonstrated this feature of his in the work “The Pit”. It tells about the life of brothel dwellers. But the writer does not focus on the heroines as fallen women; on the contrary, he invites readers to understand the prerequisites for their fall, the torment of their hearts and souls, and invites them to discern in each libertine, first of all, a person.

More than one of Kuprin’s works is imbued with the theme of love. The most striking of them is the story ““. In it, as in “The Pit,” there is the image of a narrator, an explicit or implicit participant in the events described. But the narrator in Oles is one of the two main characters. This is a story about noble love, partly the heroine considers herself unworthy of it, whom everyone takes for a witch. However, the girl has nothing in common with her. On the contrary, her image embodies all possible feminine virtues. The ending of the story cannot be called happy, because the heroes are not reunited in their sincere impulse, but are forced to lose each other. But happiness for them lies in the fact that in their lives they had the opportunity to experience the power of all-consuming mutual love.

Of course, the story “The Duel” deserves special attention as a reflection of all the horrors of army morals that reigned then in Tsarist Russia. This is a clear confirmation of the features of realism in Kuprin’s work. Perhaps that is why the story caused a storm negative reviews critics and the public. Romashov's hero, in the same rank of second lieutenant as Kuprin himself, who once retired, like the author, appears before readers in the light of an extraordinary personality, whose psychological growth we have the opportunity to observe from page to page. This book brought wide fame to its creator and rightfully occupies one of the central places in his bibliography.

Kuprin did not support the revolution in Russia, even though at first he met Lenin quite often. Ultimately, the writer emigrated to France, where he continued his literary work. In particular, Alexander Ivanovich loved to write for children. Some of his stories (" White poodle", " ", "Starlings") undoubtedly deserve the attention of the target audience.

Personal life

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was married twice. The writer's first wife was Maria Davydova, the daughter of a famous cellist. The marriage produced a daughter, Lydia, who later died during childbirth. Kuprin's only grandson, who was born, died from wounds received during the Second World War.

The second time the writer married Elizaveta Heinrich, with whom he lived until the end of his days. The marriage produced two daughters, Zinaida and Ksenia. But the first one died in early childhood from pneumonia, and the second became famous actress. However, there was no continuation of the Kuprin family, and today he has no direct descendants.

Kuprin’s second wife survived him by only four years and, unable to bear it, ordeal starvation during the siege of Leningrad, she committed suicide.

1. Kuprin was proud of his Tatar origin, so he often wore a national caftan and skullcap, going out to people in such attire and going to visit people.
2. Partly thanks to his acquaintance with I. A. Bunin, Kuprin became a writer. Bunin once approached him with a request to write a note on a topic that interested him, which marked the beginning literary activity Alexander Ivanovich.
3. The author was famous for his sense of smell. Once, while visiting Fyodor Chaliapin, he shocked everyone present, eclipsing the invited perfumer with his unique flair, unmistakably recognizing all the components of the new fragrance. Sometimes, when meeting new people, Alexander Ivanovich sniffed them, thereby putting everyone in an awkward position. They said that this helped him better understand the essence of the person in front of him.
4. Throughout his life, Kuprin changed about twenty professions.
5. After meeting A.P. Chekhov in Odessa, the writer went at his invitation to St. Petersburg to work in a famous magazine. Since then, the author acquired a reputation as a rowdy and drunkard, as he often took part in entertainment events in a new environment.
6. The first wife, Maria Davydova, tried to eradicate some of the disorganization inherent in Alexander Ivanovich. If he fell asleep while working, she deprived him of breakfast, or forbade him to enter the house unless new chapters of the work he was working on at that time were ready.
7. The first monument to A.I. Kuprin was erected only in 2009 in Balaklava in Crimea. This is due to the fact that in 1905, during the Ochakov uprising of sailors, the writer helped them hide, thereby saving their lives.
8. There were legends about the writer's drunkenness. In particular, the wits repeated famous saying: “If truth is in wine, how many truths are there in Kuprin?”

Death

The writer returned from emigration to the USSR in 1937, but with poor health. He had hopes that a second wind would open in his homeland, he would improve his condition and be able to write again. At that time, Kuprin's vision was rapidly deteriorating.

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is a famous writer, a classic of Russian literature, whose most significant works are “Junkers”, “Duel”, “The Pit”, “ Garnet bracelet" and "White Poodle". Also high art are considered short stories Kuprin about Russian life, about emigration, about animals.

Alexander was born in county town Narovchat, which is located in the Penza region. But the writer spent his childhood and youth in Moscow. The fact is that Kuprin’s father, hereditary nobleman Ivan Ivanovich, died a year after his birth. Mother Lyubov Alekseevna, also coming from noble family, had to move to large city, where it was much easier for her to give her son upbringing and education.

Already at the age of 6, Kuprin was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school, which operated on the principle of an orphanage. After 4 years, Alexander was transferred to the Second Moscow Cadet Corps, after which the young man entered Alexandrovskoe military school. Kuprin graduated with the rank of second lieutenant and served for exactly 4 years in the Dnieper Infantry Regiment.

After his resignation, the 24-year-old young man leaves for Kyiv, then to Odessa, Sevastopol and other cities Russian Empire. The problem was that Alexander did not have any civilian specialty. Only after meeting him does he manage to find permanent job: Kuprin goes to St. Petersburg and gets a job at the “Magazine for Everyone.” Later he would settle in Gatchina, where during the First World War he would maintain a military hospital at his own expense.

Alexander Kuprin enthusiastically accepted the abdication of the Tsar's power. After the arrival of the Bolsheviks, he even personally approached with a proposal to publish a special newspaper for the village “Zemlya”. But soon, seeing that the new government was imposing a dictatorship on the country, he became completely disillusioned with it.

It is Kuprin who owns the derogatory name Soviet Union- “Sovdepiya”, which will become firmly established in the jargon. During civil war volunteered to join the White Army, and after a major defeat he went abroad - first to Finland and then to France.

By the early 30s, Kuprin was mired in debt and could not provide his family with even the most necessary things. Moreover, the writer did not find anything better than to look for a way out of difficult situation in a bottle. In the end the only solution was a return to his homeland, which he personally supported in 1937.

Books

Alexander Kuprin began writing in his final years in the cadet corps, and his first attempts at writing were in the poetic genre. Unfortunately, the writer never published his poetry. And his first story published was “ Last debut" Later, his story “In the Dark” and a number of stories on military topics were published in magazines.

In general, Kuprin devotes a lot of space to the theme of the army, especially in early work. Suffice it to recall his famous autobiographical novel “Junkers” and the story that preceded it “At the Turning Point”, also published as “Cadets”.

The dawn of Alexander Ivanovich as a writer came at the beginning of the 20th century. He published the story “The White Poodle,” which later became a classic of children’s literature, his memoirs about his trip to Odessa, “Gambrinus,” and, probably, his most popular work, the story “The Duel.” At the same time, such creations as “Liquid Sun”, “Garnet Bracelet”, and stories about animals were released.

Separately, it is necessary to say about one of the most scandalous works of Russian literature of that period - the story “The Pit” about the life and destinies of Russian prostitutes. The book was mercilessly criticized, paradoxically, for “excessive naturalism and realism.” The first edition of "The Pit" was withdrawn from publication as pornographic.

In exile, Alexander Kuprin wrote a lot, almost all of his works were popular with readers. In France, he created four major works - “The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia”, “The Wheel of Time”, “Junker” and “Zhanet”, as well as large number short stories, including the philosophical parable about beauty “Blue Star”.

Personal life

The first wife of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was young Maria Davydova, daughter of the famous cellist Karl Davydov. The marriage lasted only five years, but during this time the couple had a daughter, Lydia. The fate of this girl was tragic - she died shortly after giving birth to her son at the age of 21.

The writer married his second wife Elizaveta Moritsovna in 1909, although they had been living together for two years by that time. They had two daughters - Ksenia, who later became an actress and model, and Zinaida, who died at three years old. complex shape pneumonia. The wife outlived Alexander Ivanovich by 4 years. She committed suicide during the siege of Leningrad, unable to withstand the constant bombing and endless hunger.

Since Kuprin’s only grandson Alexey Egorov died due to injuries received during the Second World War, the family famous writer was interrupted, and today its direct descendants do not exist.

Death

Alexander Kuprin returned to Russia with his health already in poor health. He had an alcohol addiction, plus old man I was quickly losing my sight. The writer hoped that in his homeland he would be able to return to labor activity, but my health did not allow this.

A year later, while watching a military parade on Red Square, Alexander Ivanovich contracted pneumonia, which was also aggravated by esophageal cancer. On August 25, 1938, the famous writer’s heart stopped forever.

Kuprin's grave is located on Literatorskie Mostki Volkovsky cemetery, not far from the burial place of another Russian classic -.

Bibliography

• 1892 - “In the Dark”
• 1898 - “Olesya”
• 1900 - “At the Turning Point” (“Cadets”)
• 1905 - “Duel”
• 1907 - "Gambrinus"
• 1910 - “Garnet Bracelet”
• 1913 - “Liquid Sun”
• 1915 - “The Pit”
• 1928 - “Junkers”
• 1933 - “Zhaneta”

A bright representative of realism, a charismatic personality and simply a famous Russian writer of the early 20th century is Alexander Kuprin. His biography is eventful, quite difficult and filled with an ocean of emotions, thanks to which the world came to know his best creations. “Moloch”, “Duel”, “Garnet Bracelet” and many other works that have replenished the golden fund of world art.

The beginning of the journey

Born on September 7, 1870 in the small town of Narovchat, Penza District. His father is civil servant Ivan Kuprin, whose biography is very short, since he died when Sasha was only 2 years old. After which he stayed with his mother Lyubov Kuprina, who was a Tatar of princely blood. They suffered hunger, humiliation and deprivation, so his mother made the difficult decision to send Sasha to the department for young orphans at the Alexander Military School in 1876. A student of the military school, Alexander graduated from it in the second half of the 80s.

In the early 90s, after graduating from military school, he became an employee of the Dnieper Infantry Regiment No. 46. A successful military career remained a dream, as Kuprin’s disturbing, eventful and emotional biography tells. Summary biography says that Alexander failed to enter higher education military school because of the scandal. And all because of his hot temper, under the influence of alcohol, he threw a police officer from a bridge into the water. Having risen to the rank of lieutenant, he retired in 1895.

Writer's temperament

Personality with incredible bright colors greedily absorbing impressions, wanderer. He tried many crafts: from laborer to dental technician. A very emotional and extraordinary person is Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, whose biography is full bright events, which became the basis for many of his masterpieces.

His life was quite stormy, there were many rumors about him. Explosive temperament, excellent physical fitness, he was drawn to try himself, which gave him invaluable life experience and strengthened the spirit. He constantly strived for adventure: he dived underwater in special equipment, flew on an airplane (he almost died due to a disaster), was the founder of a sports society, etc. During the war years, together with his wife, he equipped an infirmary in his own house.

He loved to get to know a person, his character, and communicated with people of a wide variety of professions: specialists with higher technical education, wandering musicians, fishermen, card players, the poor, clergy, entrepreneurs, etc. And in order to get to know a person better, to experience his life for himself, he was ready for the craziest adventure. A researcher whose spirit of adventurism was simply off the charts is Alexander Kuprin, the writer’s biography only confirms this fact.

He worked with great pleasure as a journalist in many editorial offices, published articles and reports in periodicals. He often went on business trips, lived in the Moscow region, then in the Ryazan region, as well as in the Crimea (Balaklava region) and in the city of Gatchina, Leningrad region.

Revolutionary activities

He was not satisfied with the then social order and the reigning injustice, and therefore how strong personality he wanted to change the situation somehow. However, despite his revolutionary sentiments, the writer had a negative attitude towards the October revolution led by representatives of the Social Democrats (Bolsheviks). Bright, eventful and various difficulties - this is the Biography of Kuprin. Interesting facts from the biography say that Alexander Ivanovich nevertheless collaborated with the Bolsheviks and even wanted to publish a peasant publication called “Earth,” and therefore often saw the head of the Bolshevik government, V.I. Lenin. But soon he suddenly went over to the side of the “whites” (anti-Bolshevik movement). After they were defeated, Kuprin moved to Finland, and then to France, namely to its capital, where he stayed for some time.

In 1937, he took an active part in the press of the anti-Bolshevik movement, while continuing to write his works. Troubled, filled with the struggle for justice and emotions, this is exactly what Kuprin’s biography was. The summary of the biography states that in the period from 1929 to 1933 the following famous novels: “The Wheel of Time”, “Junker”, “Zhaneta”, and many articles and stories have been published. Emigration had a negative effect on the writer; he was unclaimed, suffered hardships and missed native land. In the second half of the 30s, believing the propaganda in the Soviet Union, he and his wife returned to Russia. The return was overshadowed by the fact that Alexander Ivanovich suffered from a very serious illness.

People's life through the eyes of Kuprin

Kuprin's literary activity is imbued with the classic manner of Russian writers of compassion for the people who are forced to live in poverty in a wretched living environment. A strong-willed personality with a strong desire for justice is Alexander Kuprin, whose biography says that he expressed his sympathy in his creativity. For example, the novel “The Pit,” written at the beginning of the 20th century, which tells about hard life prostitute And also images of intellectuals suffering from the hardships they are forced to endure.

His favorite characters are just like that - reflective, a little hysterical and very sentimental. For example, the story “Moloch”, where the representative of this image is Bobrov (engineer) - a very sensitive character, compassionate and worried about ordinary factory workers who work hard while the rich ride like cheese in butter on other people’s money. Representatives of such images in the story “The Duel” are Romashov and Nazansky, who are endowed with great physical strength, as opposed to a tremulous and sensitive soul. Romashova was very annoying military activities, namely vulgar officers and downtrodden soldiers. Probably no writer has condemned the military environment as much as Alexander Kuprin.

The writer was not one of the tearful, people-worshipping writers, although his works were often approved by the famous populist critic N.K. Mikhailovsky. His democratic attitude towards his characters was expressed not only in the description of their difficult lives. Alexander Kuprin’s man of the people not only had a trembling soul, but was also strong-willed and could give a worthy rebuff at the right moment. The life of the people in Kuprin’s works is a free, spontaneous and natural flow, and the characters have not only troubles and sorrows, but also joy and consolation (the cycle of stories “Listrigons”). A man with a vulnerable soul and a realist is Kuprin, whose biography according to dates says that this work took place between 1907 and 1911.

Its realism was also expressed in the fact that the author described not only the good traits of his characters, but also did not hesitate to show them dark side(aggression, cruelty, rage). A striking example is the story “Gambrinus,” where Kuprin described the Jewish pogrom in great detail. This work was written in 1907.

Perception of life through creativity

Kuprin is an idealist and romantic, which is reflected in his work: heroic deeds, sincerity, love, compassion, kindness. Most of his characters are emotional people, those who have fallen out of the usual rut of life, they are in search of truth, a freer and fuller existence, something beautiful...

The feeling of love, the fullness of life, this is what Kuprin’s biography is imbued with, interesting facts from which they say that no one else could write about feelings as poetically. This is clearly reflected in the story “The Garnet Bracelet,” written in 1911. It is in this work that Alexander Ivanovich exalts true, pure, free, ideal love. He very accurately depicted the characters of various layers of society, described in detail the situation surrounding his characters, their way of life. It was for his sincerity that he often received reprimands from critics. Naturalism and aesthetics are the main features of Kuprin’s work.

His stories about animals “Barbos and Zhulka”, “Emerald” fully deserve a place in the collection of world art of words. A short biography of Kuprin says that he is one of the few writers who could so feel the flow of nature, real life and it’s so successful to display this in your works. A striking embodiment of this quality is the story “Olesya,” written in 1898, where he describes the deviation from the ideal of natural existence.

Such an organic worldview, healthy optimism are the main distinctive properties of his work, in which lyricism and romance, proportionality of the plot and compositional center, dramatic action and truth harmoniously merge.

Master of Literary Arts

Virtuoso of the word - Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, whose biography says that he could very accurately and beautifully describe the landscape in literary work. His external, visual and, one might say, olfactory perception of the world was simply excellent. I.A. Bunin and A.I. Kuprin often competed to identify the smell different situations and phenomena in his masterpieces and not only... In addition, the writer could display true image their characters are very carefully down to the smallest detail: appearance, disposition, communication style, etc. He found complexity and depth, even when describing animals, and all because he really loved writing on this topic.

A passionate lover of life, a naturalist and a realist, this is exactly what Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was. The writer’s brief biography states that all his stories are based on real events and are therefore unique: natural, vivid, without obsessive speculative constructions. He thought about the meaning of life, described true love, talked about hatred, strong-willed and heroic deeds. Emotions such as disappointment, despair, struggle with oneself, the strengths and weaknesses of a person became the main ones in his works. These manifestations of existentialism were typical of his work and reflected the complexity inner world man at the turn of the century.

Writer in transition

He truly is a representative of the transitional stage, which undoubtedly affected his work. A bright type of the “off-road” era - Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, short biography which suggests that this time left an imprint on his psyche, and, accordingly, on the author’s works. His characters are in many ways reminiscent of the heroes of A.P. Chekhov, the only difference is that Kuprin’s images are not so pessimistic. For example, technologist Bobrov from the story “Moloch”, Kashintsev from “Zhidovka” and Serdyukov from the story “Swamp”. Main characters Chekhov's works are sensitive, conscientious, but at the same time broken, exhausted people who are lost in themselves and disillusioned with life. They are shocked by aggression, they are very compassionate, but they can no longer fight. Realizing their helplessness, they perceive the world only through the prism of cruelty, injustice and meaninglessness.

A short biography of Kuprin confirms that, despite the writer’s gentleness and sensitivity, he was a strong-willed person, loving life, and therefore his heroes are somewhat similar to him. They have a strong thirst for life, which they grasp very tightly and do not let go. They listen to both the heart and the mind. For example, drug addict Bobrov, who decided to kill himself, listened to the voice of reason and realized that he loved life too much to end everything once and for all. The same thirst for life lived in Serdyukov (the student from the work “Swamp”), who was very sympathetic to the forester and his family, dying of an infectious disease. He spent the night at their house and for this short time I almost went crazy from pain, emotions and compassion. And when morning comes, he strives to quickly get out of this nightmare in order to see the sun. It was as if he was running from there in a fog, and when he finally ran up the hill, he simply choked on an unexpected surge of happiness.

Passionate lover of life - Alexander Kuprin, whose biography suggests that the writer was very fond of happy endings. The ending of the story sounds symbolic and solemn. It says that the fog was spreading at the guy’s feet, about pure blue sky, about the whisper of green branches, about the golden sun, the rays of which “ringed with the jubilant triumph of victory.” Which sounds like the victory of life over death.

The exaltation of life in the story “The Duel”

This work is the true apotheosis of life. Kuprin, whose short biography and work are closely related, described the cult of personality in this story. The main characters (Nazansky and Romashev) - prominent representatives individualism, they declared that the whole world would perish when they were gone. They firmly believed in their beliefs, but were too weak in spirit to bring their idea to life. It was this disproportion between the exaltation of one’s own personalities and the weakness of its owners that the author caught.

A master of his craft, an excellent psychologist and realist, these are precisely the qualities the writer Kuprin possessed. The author’s biography says that he wrote “The Duel” at a time when he was at the peak of his fame. It was in this masterpiece that they united best qualities Alexandra Ivanovich: an excellent writer of everyday life, psychologist and lyricist. Military theme was close to the author, given his past, and therefore no effort was required to develop it. The bright general background of the work does not overshadow the expressiveness of its main characters. Each character is incredibly interesting and is a link in the same chain, without losing their individuality.

Kuprin, whose biography says that the story appeared during the Russian-Japanese conflict, criticized the military environment to the nines. The work describes military life, psychology, and reflects the pre-revolutionary life of Russians.

In the story, as in life, an atmosphere of deadness and impoverishment, sadness and routine reigns. A feeling of absurdity, disorder and incomprehensibility of existence. It was these feelings that overwhelmed Romashev and were familiar to the residents pre-revolutionary Russia. In order to drown out the ideological “impossibility”, Kuprin described in “The Duel” the dissolute morality of the officers, their unfair and cruel attitude towards each other. And of course, the main vice of the military is alcoholism, which flourished among the Russian people.

Characters

You don’t even need to draw up a plan for Kuprin’s biography to understand that he is spiritually close to his heroes. These are very emotional, broken individuals who sympathize, are indignant at the injustice and cruelty of life, but cannot fix anything.

After the “Duel,” a work appears called “River of Life.” In this story, completely different moods reign; many liberation processes took place. He is the embodiment of the finale of the drama of the intelligentsia, which the writer narrates. Kuprin, whose work and biography are closely connected, does not betray himself; the main character is still a kind, sensitive intellectual. He is a representative of individualism, no, he is not indifferent, having thrown himself into the whirlwind of events, he understands that new life not for him. And glorifying the joy of being, he still decides to die, because he believes that he does not deserve it, which he writes about in suicide note comrade.

The theme of love and nature are those areas in which the writer’s optimistic moods are clearly expressed. Kuprin considered such a feeling as love to be a mysterious gift that is sent only to a select few. This attitude is reflected in the novel “The Garnet Bracelet,” just like Nazansky’s passionate speech or Romashev’s dramatic relationship with Shura. And Kuprin’s narratives about nature are simply fascinating; at first they may seem too detailed and ornate, but then this multicoloredness begins to delight, as the realization comes that these are not standard turns of phrase, but the author’s personal observations. It becomes clear how he was captivated by the process, how he absorbed impressions, which he later reflected in his work, and it is simply enchanting.

Kuprin's mastery

A virtuoso of the pen, a man with excellent intuition and an ardent lover of life, this is exactly what Alexander Kuprin was. A brief biography tells that he was an incredibly deep, harmonious and internally filled person. He subconsciously felt the secret meaning of things, could connect causes and understand consequences. As an excellent psychologist, he had the ability to highlight the main thing in a text, which is why his works seemed ideal, from which nothing could be removed or added. These qualities are displayed in “The Evening Guest”, “River of Life”, “Duel”.

Alexander Ivanovich did not add anything special to the sphere of literary techniques. However, in later works author, such as “River of Life”, “Staff Captain Rybnikov”, there is a sharp change in the direction of art; he is clearly drawn to impressionism. Stories become more dramatic and concise. Kuprin, whose biography is eventful, later returns to realism. This refers to the chronicle novel “The Pit”, in which he describes the life of brothels, he does this in the usual manner, everything is just as natural and without hiding anything. Because of this, it periodically receives condemnation from critics. However, this did not stop him. He did not strive for something new, but tried to improve and develop the old.

Results

Biography of Kuprin (briefly about the main things):

• Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich was born on September 7, 1870 in the town of Narovchat, Penza District in Russia.
• He died on August 25, 1938 at the age of 67 in St. Petersburg.
• The writer lived at the turn of the century, which invariably affected his work. Survived the October Revolution.
• The direction of art is realism and impressionism. The main genres are short story and story.
• Since 1902 he lived in marriage with Davydova Maria Karlovna. And since 1907 - with Heinrich Elizaveta Moritsovna.
• Father - Kuprin Ivan Ivanovich. Mother - Kuprina Lyubov Alekseevna.
• He had two daughters - Ksenia and Lydia.

The best sense of smell in Russia

Alexander Ivanovich was visiting Fyodor Chaliapin, who called him the most sensitive nose in Russia when visiting. A perfumer from France was present at the evening, who decided to test this by inviting Kuprin to name the main components of his new development. To the great surprise of everyone present, he completed the task.

In addition, Kuprin had a strange habit: when meeting or meeting, he sniffed people. Many were offended by this, and some were delighted, they argued that thanks to this gift he recognized human nature. Kuprin's only competitor was I. Bunin, they often organized competitions.

Tatar roots

Kuprin, how real Tatar, was very hot-tempered, emotional and very proud of his origins. His mother is from a family of Tatar princes. Alexander Ivanovich often dressed in Tatar attire: a robe and a colored skullcap. In this form, he loved to visit his friends and relax in restaurants. Moreover, in this vestment he sat down like a real khan and squinted his eyes for greater resemblance.

Universal Man

Alexander Ivanovich changed a large number of professions before he found his true calling. He tried his hand at boxing, teaching, fishing and acting. He worked in the circus as a wrestler, land surveyor, pilot, traveling musician, etc. Moreover, his main goal was not money, but invaluable life experience. Alexander Ivanovich stated that he would like to become an animal, a plant or a pregnant woman in order to experience all the delights of childbirth.

Beginning of writing activity

He received his first writing experience at a military school. It was the story “The Last Debut”, the work was quite primitive, but still he decided to send it to the newspaper. This was reported to the school management, and Alexander was punished (two days in a punishment cell). He promised himself to never write again. However, he did not keep his words, as he met the writer I. Bunin, who asked him to write short story. Kuprin was broke at the time, so he agreed and used the money he earned to buy food and shoes. It was this event that pushed him to serious work.

This is him, the famous writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, a physically strong man with a tender and vulnerable soul and with his own quirks. A great lover of life and experimenter, compassionate and with a great desire for justice. Naturalist and realist Kuprin left a legacy of a large number of magnificent works that fully deserve the title of masterpieces.

Born 1870 only child in a poor provincial family hereditary nobles. After the death of his father and moving to Moscow, he was sent to the cadet corps, after which he entered a military school. He begins his military career in Ukraine as a lieutenant in an infantry regiment, from where, after serving for 4 years, he retires. Since 1894, he has traveled a lot around the country, trying various civilian professions. In 1901 he moved to St. Petersburg, here he met many famous writers of that time, such as Bunin, Chekhov, Gorky. Works as a secretary for one of the St. Petersburg magazines.

In 1911, together with his second wife, he settled in Gatchina, where during World War I he organized a military hospital. He was drafted into the active army, but in 1915 he was discharged due to health reasons. He is undergoing treatment in Finland, where he receives the news of February Revolution. In 1919, he volunteered to join the North-Western “White” Army under the command of General Pyotr Krasnov. He emigrates through Finland to France, where he will subsequently live for 17 years. In 1937, impoverished and seriously ill, Kuprin returned to his homeland and soon died. He was buried in 1938 at the Leningrad Volkovskoe cemetery.

As one of the brightest and most original representatives of Russian realism and naturalism in literature Silver Age, Kuprin first picked up a pen while still a cadet, and despite those around him historical events and personal troubles, he did not stop writing almost until his death. The most significant and famous works of the writer were: “The Duel”, “The Pit”, “Garnet Bracelet”, “White Poodle”, “Junker”, “Moloch”, “Olesya” and many others.

Brief biography by date interesting facts

Biography of Kuprin

On September 7 (August 26, old style), 1870, a significant event for Russians took place in the city of Narovchat, Penza province. realism XIX century: Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born. On his father's side he came from the nobility, and on his mother's side from the Tatar princes.

The following year after his birth his father died, and in 1874 little Alexander came to Moscow with his mother. They had no means of subsistence, so his mother had to send him to the Moscow Razumovsky orphanage when Kuprin turned 6. Since 1880, the writer studied at the Second Moscow cadet corps, then he got a job at the Alexander Military School. It was within these walls that Kuprin felt a craving for creativity and wrote “The Last Debut” in 1889.

The year after his first literary experience He completed his training as a second lieutenant and served in an infantry regiment for four years. Kuprin did not like the barracks routine, but it inspired him to write his works: “Overnight”, “ Night shift", "Junkers", "Campaign".

After finishing his service, Kuprin left for Kyiv. Kuprin did not have permanent place work, so he began to travel frequently around Russia, mastered many professions, which greatly helped him when writing works. The 90s turned out to be very fruitful for his work. Stories and novellas “Moloch”, “Olesya”, “Kat”, “Forest Wilderness” and others were published. Kuprin made acquaintance with such famous writers as I.A. Bunin and A.P. Chekhov.

In 1901, Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg, got a job at the “Magazine for Everyone” and started a family. Here the writer met M. Gorky, who at that time headed the Znanie publishing house, which later published the first volume of Kuprin’s stories. Shortly before the revolution in 1905, he wrote one of his most famous masterpieces- “Duel.” In the break between revolutions, Kuprin had a creative upsurge - he creates wonderful stories about pure and bright love: “Shulamith”, “Garnet Bracelet”, cycle of essays “Listrigons”.

In 1911, Kuprin, married for the second time, went with his family to Gatchina.

With the onset of World War I, Kuprin was called up for service. But Alexander Ivanovich did not have the chance to fight for long: the next year, due to health problems, he was sent home to Gatchina. By that time, his home had been converted into a small hospital. In the same year, Kuprin finished the story “The Pit” about the life of prostitutes and received dissatisfied responses due to the too frank scenes.

While Kuprin was being treated in Helsinki, the tsar abdicated the throne. Inspired by this event, he returns back to Russia and works as an editor at a newspaper. Kuprin did not support the second revolution; he was skeptical about the policy of war communism. Nevertheless, in 1918, he made an attempt to reconcile with the existing system and organized a meeting with Lenin, at which he presented the project for a peasant newspaper “Zemlya”, but this initiative was never approved.

In 1919, Kuprin went to serve in the North-Western Army.

After the defeat of the White Guard at the end of 1919, Kuprin was forced to go abroad. He lived in Paris for 17 years, homesick. Abroad, Kuprin was engaged in journalism and wrote the collections “The Dome of St. Isaac Dolmatsky", "The Wheel of Time", "Elan", the novel "Junker".

But French life, associated with a lack of money and deteriorating health, was not to Kuprin’s taste, and he dreamed of returning to his homeland.

The writer was able to return to the USSR only in 1937 after permission from the Soviet government. His illness was getting worse, and Kuprin could no longer please his readers with new literary masterpieces.

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Interesting facts and dates from life

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is a talented and original Russian writer late XIX- beginning of the 20th century. Kuprin’s personality, like his work, is an explosive mixture of a nobleman, noble robber and a beggar wanderer. A huge, raw precious nugget, which retains the primitive beauty and strength of character, the power and magnetism of personal charm.

Brief biography of Kuprin

Alexander Kuprin was born on August 26, 1870 in the Penza province. His father was a minor official noble origin, and the mother’s pedigree had Tatar roots. The boy was orphaned early and spent almost seventeen years in military government institutions - an orphanage, a gymnasium, a cadet school, and later, a cadet school. Intellectual inclinations broke through the shell of military drill, and young Alexander the dream of becoming a poet or writer appeared and grew stronger. At first there were youthful poems, but after military service in provincial garrisons, the first stories and novellas appeared. The aspiring writer takes the plot of these works from his own life. Kuprin’s creative life begins with the story “Inquiry,” written in 1894. In the same year, he resigns and goes to wander around the south of Russia. Kuprin was everything during his travels - he unloaded barges at Kyiv piers, took part in sports athletic competitions, worked at a factory in the Donbass, served as a forest inspector in Volyn, studied to become a dental technician, played in a provincial theater and in the circus, and worked as a land surveyor. These travels enriched his life and writing experience. Gradually, Kuprin became a professional writer, publishing his works in Russia. provincial newspapers. Not accepting October revolution, Kuprin emigrated and lived abroad until 1937. Nostalgia for the homeland resulted not only in a creative decline, but also in physical ill health. Kuprin lived in Russia for only a year after returning, and in August 1938 he died.

Kuprin's creativity

In 1896, Kuprin writes and publishes the story “Moloch,” which is the beginning of a new stage in creative life an aspiring writer and a completely new work for Russian literature. Capitalism, despite its progressiveness, is a ruthless Moloch, devouring the lives and destinies of people for material profit. In 1898, he published the story “Olesya,” the first of his few works about love. Naive and beautiful in its naivety, pure love the forest girl, or as she is called in the area “the sorceress” Olesya, is broken by the timidity and indecisiveness of her lover. A man of a different circle and worldview was able to awaken love, but was unable to protect his beloved. From the beginning of the new, 20th century, Kuprin began to be published in St. Petersburg magazines. The heroes of his works are ordinary people who know how to maintain honor and dignity and not betray friendship. In 1905, the story “The Duel” was published, which the author dedicated to Maxim Gorky. Alexander Ivanovich writes about love and human devotion in the story “Shulamith” and the story “The Pomegranate Bracelet”. There are not many works in world literature where the hopeless is described so subtly , unrequited, and at the same time, selfless feeling of love, as Kuprin does in “Garnet Bracelet”.

• Alexander Kuprin himself great romantic, even somewhat of an adventurer. In 1910 he ascends in a hot air balloon.
• In the same year, but a little later, he was one of the first in Russia to fly on an airplane.
• He descends to the seabed, studying diving, and makes friends with Balaklava fishermen. And then everyone he meets in life appears on the pages of his works - from the millionaire capitalist to the beggar.