The great Russian lyricist A. Fet was born on December 5, 1820. But biographers doubt not only the exact date of his birth. The mysterious facts of their true origin tormented Fet until the end of his life. In addition to the absence of a father as such, the situation with a real surname was also incomprehensible. All this envelops the life and work of Fet with a certain mystery.
Fet's parents
According to the official version, the Russian nobleman Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, while undergoing treatment in the German city of Darmstadt, settled in the house of Oberkriegskommissar Karl Becker. Some time later, a retired army officer becomes interested in the daughter of the owner, Charlotte. However, Charlotte at that time was no longer free and was married to a petty German official, Karl Fet, who also lived in Becker's house.
Despite these circumstances, and even the fact that Charlotte has a daughter from Fet, a stormy romance begins. The feelings of the lovers were so strong that Charlotte decided to escape with Shenshin to Russia. In the autumn of 1820, Charlotte, leaving her husband and daughter, leaves Germany.
Mother's protracted divorce
An essay on the life and work of Fet is impossible without a story about the relationship of his parents. Being already in Russia, Charlotte dreams of an official divorce from Karl Fet. But divorce in those days was a rather lengthy process. Some biographers claim that because of this, the wedding ceremony between Shenshin and Charlotte took place two years after the birth of little Athanasius, their common son. According to one version, Shenshin allegedly bribed the priest in order to give the boy his last name.
Probably, it was this fact that influenced the whole life of the poet. Violations of this kind in the Russian Empire were treated quite strictly. However, all sources confirm the fact of the wedding of Shenshin and Charlotte, who later took the name of Shenshin.
From nobles to beggars
Getting acquainted with the biography of the lyricist, one involuntarily wonders what influenced the life and work of Fet. It's hard to know every little detail. But the main milestones are quite accessible to us. Little Athanasius until the age of 14 considered himself a hereditary Russian nobleman. But then, thanks to the hard work of judicial officials, the secret of the child's origin was revealed. In 1834, an investigation was initiated into this case, as a result of which, by a decree of the Oryol provincial government, the future poet was deprived of the right to be called Shenshin.
It is clear that ridicule of recent comrades immediately began, which the boy experienced quite painfully. In part, this was precisely what served as the development of Fet's mental illness, which haunted him to death. However, it was much more important that in this situation he not only did not have the right to inherit, but in general, judging by the documents presented from the archives of that time, he was a person without a confirmed nationality. At one point, a hereditary Russian nobleman with a rich inheritance turned into a beggar, nobody but his mother needed a person, without a surname, and the loss was so great that Fet himself considered this event disfigured his life to his deathbed.
Foreigner Fet
One can imagine what the poet's mother went through, begging the judge's chicane for at least some information about the origin of her son. But it was all in vain. The woman went the other way.
Remembering her German roots, she appealed to the pity of her ex-German husband. History is silent about how Elena Petrovna achieved the desired result. But he was. Relatives sent official confirmation that Athanasius is the son of Fet.
So the poet got at least a surname, Fet's life and work received a new impetus in development. However, in all circulars, he still continued to be called "foreigner Fet." The natural conclusion from this was the complete disinheritance. After all, now the foreigner had nothing in common with the nobleman Shenshin. It was at this moment that the idea seized him by any means to regain the lost Russian name and title.
First steps in poetry
Athanasius enters the Faculty of Literature at Moscow University and is referred to in university forms in the same way - “foreigner Fet”. There he meets the future poet and critic. Historians believe that Fet's life and work changed precisely at that moment: it is believed that Grigoriev discovered the poetic gift of Athanasius.
Soon Feta comes out - "Lyrical Pantheon". The poet wrote it while still a university student. Readers highly appreciated the gift of the young man - they did not care what class the author belongs to. And even the harsh critic Belinsky repeatedly emphasized in his articles the poetic gift of the young lyricist. Belinsky's reviews, in fact, served Fet as a kind of pass to the world of Russian poetry.
Athanasius began to publish in various publications and a few years later he prepared a new lyric collection.
Military service
However, the joy of creativity could not cure Fet's sick soul. The thought of his true origin haunted the young man. He was ready to do anything to prove it. In the name of a great goal, Fet immediately after graduating from the university enters military service, hoping to earn the nobility in the army. He ends up serving in one of the provincial regiments located in the Kherson province. And immediately the first success - Fet officially receives Russian citizenship.
But the poetic activity does not end, he still continues to write and publish a lot. After some time, the army life of the provincial part makes itself felt: the life and work of Fet (he writes poetry less and less) are becoming gloomier and uninteresting. The craving for poetry is weakening.
Fet in personal correspondence begins to complain to friends about the hardships of his current existence. In addition, judging by some letters, he is experiencing financial difficulties. The poet is even ready to just get rid of the current oppressive physically and morally deplorable situation.
Transfer to St. Petersburg
The life and work of Fet were rather gloomy. Briefly recounting the main events, we note that the poet pulled the soldier's strap for eight long years. And just before receiving the first officer rank in his life, Fet learns about a special decree that raised the length of service and the level of army rank to obtain a noble rank. In other words, the nobility was now granted only to a person who received a higher officer rank than Fet had. This news completely demoralized the poet. He knew that he was unlikely to rise to this rank. The life and work of Fet were again redrawn at the mercy of others.
A woman with whom one could connect her life by calculation was also not on the horizon. Fet continued to serve, falling more and more into a depressed state.
However, luck finally smiled on the poet: he managed to transfer to the Guards Life Lancers Regiment, which was quartered not far from St. Petersburg. This event happened in 1853 and surprisingly coincided with a change in society's attitude towards poetry. Some decline in interest in literature, which appeared in the mid-1840s, has passed.
Now, when Nekrasov became the editor-in-chief of the Sovremennik magazine and gathered under his wing the elite of Russian literature, times clearly contributed to the development of any creative thought. Finally, the long-written second collection of Fet's poems, which the poet himself forgot about, saw the light of day.
poetic recognition
The poems published in the collection made an impression on connoisseurs of poetry. And soon such well-known literary critics of that time as V. P. Botkin and A. V. Druzhinin left rather flattering reviews about the works. Moreover, under pressure from Turgenev, they helped Fet publish a new book.
In essence, these were all the same previously written poems of 1850. In 1856, after the release of a new collection, Fet's life and work changed again. In short, Nekrasov himself drew attention to the poet. A lot of flattering words addressed to Afanasy Fet were written by the master of Russian literature. Inspired by such high praises, the poet develops a vigorous activity. It is published in almost all literary magazines, which undoubtedly contributed to some improvement in the financial situation.
Romantic infatuation
Fet's life and work were gradually filled with light. His most important desire - to receive a title of nobility - was soon to come true. But the next imperial decree again raised the bar for obtaining hereditary nobility. Now, in order to gain the coveted rank, it was already necessary to rise to the rank of colonel. The poet realized that it was simply useless to continue to pull the hated strap of military service.
But as often happens, a person cannot fail to be lucky in absolutely everything. While still in Ukraine, Fet was invited to an appointment with his friends Brzhevsky and met a girl on a neighboring estate, who then did not get out of his head for a long time. It was a gifted musician Elena Lazich, whose talent amazed even the famous composer, who was touring around Ukraine at that time.
As it turned out, Elena was a passionate fan of Fet's poetry, and he, in turn, was amazed at the girl's musical abilities. Of course, without romance it is impossible to imagine the life and work of Fet. The summary of his romance with Lazich fits into one phrase: young people had tender feelings for each other. However, Fet is very burdened by his disastrous financial situation and does not dare to take a serious turn of events. The poet tries to explain his problems to Lazich, but she, like all girls in such a situation, poorly understands his torment. Fet directly tells Elena that there will be no wedding.
Tragic death of a loved one
After that, he tries not to see the girl. Leaving for St. Petersburg, Athanasius realizes that he is doomed to eternal spiritual loneliness. According to some historians who study his life and work, Afanasy Fet wrote too pragmatically to friends about marriage, about love, and about Elena Lazich. Most likely, the romantic Fet was simply carried away by Elena, not intending to burden himself with a more serious relationship.
In 1850, while visiting the same Brzhevskys, he did not dare to go to a neighboring estate in order to dot the "i". Fet later regretted it very much. The fact is that Elena soon died tragically. History is silent about whether her terrible death was suicide or not. But the fact remains: the girl was burned alive on the estate.
Fet himself found out about this when he once again visited his friends. This shocked him so much that until the end of his life the poet blamed himself for Elena's death. He was tormented by the fact that he could not find the right words to calm the girl and explain his behavior to her. After the death of Lazich, there were many rumors, but no one has ever proved Fet's involvement in this sad event.
Marriage of convenience
Fairly judging that in the army he is unlikely to achieve his goal - a title of nobility, Fet takes a long vacation. Taking with him all the accumulated fees, the poet rushes on a trip to Europe. In 1857, in Paris, he unexpectedly marries Maria Petrovna Botkina, the daughter of a wealthy tea merchant, who, among other things, was the sister of the literary critic V.P. Botkin. Apparently, this was the same marriage of convenience that the poet had dreamed of for so long. Contemporaries very often asked Fet about the reasons for his marriage, to which he answered with eloquent silence.
In 1858 Fet arrived in Moscow. He is again overcome by thoughts of the scarcity of finances. Apparently, the dowry of his wife does not fully meet his requirements. The poet writes a lot, publishes a lot. Often the quantity of works does not correspond to their quality. This is noticed by close friends and literary critics. Seriously cooled to the work of Fet and the public.
landowner
Around the same time, Leo Tolstoy leaves the bustle of the capital. Settling in Yasnaya Polyana, he tries to regain inspiration. Probably, Fet decided to follow his example and settle in his estate in Stepanovka. It is sometimes said that Fet's life and work ended here. Interesting facts, however, were found in this period. Unlike Tolstoy, who really found a second wind in the provinces, Fet is increasingly abandoning literature. He is now passionate about the estate and farming.
It should be noted that as a landowner he really found himself. After some time, Fet multiplies his possessions by buying several more neighboring estates.
Afanasy Shenshin
In 1863, the poet published a small lyric collection. Even despite the small circulation, it remained unsold. But the neighbors-landowners appreciated Fet in a completely different capacity. For about 11 years he served as an elective justice of the peace.
The life and work of Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet were subordinated to the only goal to which he went with amazing persistence - the restoration of his noble rights. In 1873, a royal decree was issued, which puts an end to the poet's forty-year ordeals. He was fully restored in his rights and legalized as a nobleman with the surname Shenshin. Afanasy Afanasyevich confesses to his wife that he does not even want to pronounce the hated surname Fet aloud.
Biography of Fet, Afanasy Afanasyevich (1820 - 1892) - a famous Russian poet with German roots, translator, lyricist, author of memoirs, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg.
Brief biography - Fet A.A. for children
Option 1
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet is a Russian poet of German origin, memoirist, translator, and since 1886 a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Fet was born on December 5, 1820 in the Novoselki estate (Oryol province). The writer's father was a wealthy German-born landowner named Fet. Mother Athanasius remarried Afanasy Shenshin, who became the official father for the writer and gave him his last name.
When the boy was 14 years old, the legal illegality of this record was discovered, and Afanasy was forced to take the surname Fet again, which was akin to shame for him. Subsequently, he tried all his life to regain the name Shenshin. Fet received his education in a German private boarding school. Around 1835 he began to write poetry and take an interest in literature. After leaving school, he entered Moscow University, where he studied for 6 years at the verbal department of the Faculty of Philosophy.
In 1840, a collection of poems by the poet "Lyrical Pantheon" appeared. At the beginning of his literary career, he was supported by his friend and colleague Apollon Grigoriev. In 1845, Fet entered the service and a year later received his first officer rank. A few years later, the second collection of the writer appeared, which received a positive assessment from critics. At the same time, the beloved of the poet Marich Lazic died, to whom many poems from the collection were dedicated. Among them, "Talisman" and "Old Letters".
Fet often visited St. Petersburg, where he communicated with Goncharov and other writers. There he collaborated with the editors of the Sovremennik magazine. The third collection of poems appeared in 1856, edited by Turgenev. Soon the poet married Maria Botkina. After retiring, the writer settled in Moscow.
In 1863, a two-volume collection of his poems appeared. In 1867 he was awarded the title of justice of the peace, and in 1873 he was finally able to return his former name and title of nobility. The writer died of a heart attack on November 21, 1892 in Moscow. He was buried in Kleymenovo, now the Oryol region, the ancestral village of the Shenshins.
Option 2
Fet (Shenshin) Afanasy Afanasyevich, (1820–1892) Russian poet, prose writer, translator
Born in the village of Novoselki (Oryol province) in the family of a landowner A.N. Shenshin from Karolina Fet, who came from Germany. The whole life of the poet was spent in efforts to obtain the nobility. Fourteen years after his birth, some error in the metric was discovered, and in an instant he became a foreigner from a nobleman.
Russian citizenship was returned to him only in 1846.
In 1838-1844 he studied at Moscow University. During his studies, his first collection, Lyrical Pantheon (1840), was published, and starting from 1842, his poems began to be regularly published on the pages of magazines.
In 1845, Fet became a non-commissioned officer of the provincial regiment, since the officer rank gave the right to receive hereditary nobility. In 1853 he moved to the privileged Guards Life Hussar Regiment.
In 1858 he retired and energetically engaged in literary work. The nobility was not received. Then the poet acquired a landowner's plot, becoming a landowner-raznochinets.
Only in 1873 Fet, by permission of the king, became a nobleman Shenshin. By this time he was already widely known as the poet Fet.
Option 3
Fet Afanasy Afanasyevich (1820-1892). Fet holds one of the most honorable places among the writers who sang Russian nature. His poems convey subtle images, melodious lyrics of his father's expanses and poignant romance of feelings.
Fet was born in the family of a poor landowner with German roots, in the Novoselki estate. By the age of fifteen he was sent to a private boarding house and three years later he entered Moscow University. While studying at the verbal faculty, he began to try himself in the literary field. In 1840, his collection Lyrical Pantheon was published, which delighted readers with sincerity and purity.
The poet's second book came out only ten years later, and was overshadowed by the death of his beloved, Maria Lazich. At this time, Afanasy Afanasievich was in military service. He needed to regain the nobility, which he was deprived of due to the peculiarities of Russian jurisprudence. Being transferred to the Life Guards, the poet has the opportunity to communicate with Turgenev, Goncharov.
Ivan Turgenev edits Fet's third poetry collection, published in 1856. It included about a hundred works; both old and new. This edition was highly acclaimed by both readers and critics.
In 1856, Afanasy Fet married and retired the following year. He acquires a vast estate, where he becomes a successful landowner. His poems, previously published in separate books and published in leading domestic journals, are published in a two-volume edition of 1863.
After the resignation, Fet successfully leads the landowner's economy, zealously protecting the old way of life. His noble family name - Shenshin and privileges are returned to him. Issues of his collection "Evening Lights" and a book of memoirs are published. But health wears out a deadly disease.
During one of the attacks, the poet decides to commit suicide, but falls dead, barely opening a cabinet with table knives.
Biography of Fet A. A. by years
Option 1
Are you interested in knowing the most important and significant moments in the life of a writer? Then you did the right thing by opening the page where the chronological table of Fet is presented. It will help not only students, but also teachers. The table briefly describes the life and work of Fet; the presented data can be given to your students during the lesson, or you can remember forgotten dates and events yourself.
The writer of the golden age left behind many lyrical works, each of which conveys his inner mood. The biography of Afanasy Fet by date will help you independently understand the stages of development of his creative path and the main moments in the life of the great poet.
1820, December 5 (18)- Born in the Novoselki estate of the Mtsensk district of the Oryol province, which belonged to a retired officer Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin.
1835-1837 - Education in the German private boarding school Krümmer in Verro (now Võru, Estonia). At this time, he began to write poetry, to show interest in classical philology.
1838 - Entered Moscow University, first at the Faculty of Law, then at the historical and philological (verbal) department of the Faculty of Philosophy. Studied for 6 years: 1838-1844.
1840 - Fet's collection of poems "Lyrical Pantheon" was published with the participation of Apollon Grigoriev, Fet's friend at the university.
1845 - entered military service in the cuirassier regiment of the Military Order, became a cavalryman.
1846 - He was awarded the first officer rank.
1850 - Fet's second collection was released, which received positive reviews from critics in the magazines Sovremennik, Moskvityanin and Domestic Notes.
1853
- Fet was transferred to the guards regiment stationed near St. Petersburg;
in St. Petersburg he met with Turgenev, Nekrasov, Goncharov and others, as well as his rapprochement with the editors of the Sovremennik magazine.
1854 - served in the Baltic Port, which he described in his memoirs "My memories".
1856 - the third collection of Fet was published, edited by I. S. Turgenev.
1857 - Fet married Maria Petrovna Botkina
1858 - retired with the rank of guards headquarters captain and settled in Moscow.
1859 - there was a break between the poet and the journalist Dolgoruky A.V. from Contemporary.
1863 - a two-volume collection of Fet's poems was published.
1867 - Athanasius Fet was elected a justice of the peace for 11 years.
1873 - Afanasy Fet returned the nobility and the surname Shenshin. The poet continued to sign literary works and translations with the surname Fet.
1883-1891 - publication of four issues of the collection "Evening Lights".
1892 November 21 (December 4)- died in Moscow. According to some reports, his death from a heart attack was preceded by a suicide attempt. He was buried in the village of Kleymenovo, the Shenshin family estate.
Option 2
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (Shenshin) is a Russian lyricist who became famous as a "poet of feelings" and a "beauty fanatic". Being an adherent "pure art" , he developed in his work the "eternal" themes of love, beauty, nature, "poetry of the soul", art.
Life of A.A. Feta in dates and facts
Presumably between 29 October and 29 November 1820G.- was born on the estate of the landowner Athanasius Shenshin, in the village of Novoselki, Mtsensk district, Oryol province; at birth was recorded under the name of the father.
1834 G.- was sent to study in the town of Verro, located in Livonia (now Estonia). While there, the future poet received news from his father that his surname had been changed to the surname “Fet” due to the “sad circumstances” of his birth that had been revealed. This event brought him a lot of suffering and doomed him to years of struggle to regain his lost position in society.
1837 G.- was transported to Moscow and given to the boarding house M.P. Pogodin - a well-known writer, historian and journalist. Then Fet became interested in writing poetry.
1838 G.- entered Moscow University, where he first studied at the Faculty of Law, and then moved to the verbal department of the Faculty of Philosophy. In his student years, Fet received recognition from the most authoritative connoisseurs of fine literature, in particular, who noted his talent, and V.G. Belinsky, who approved his first collection of poetry "Lyric Pantheon", published in 1840 signed “A. F."
1845 G.- after graduating from the university, the poet entered military service in the Cuirassier regiment stationed in the Kherson province, thereby hoping to regain, in accordance with the laws of that time, the noble rank. He successfully combined military duties with poetry, which was evidenced by the flowering of his literary fame in the 1850s.
AT 1848 G. Fet met M. Lazich, for whom he experienced a deep love feeling, but with whom, due to social and material reasons, he could not get married. Soon the girl died, and this loss left a deep wound in the soul of the poet. The image of Maria Lazich is present in many of Fet's poems.
AT 1856 G.- made a trip to Europe, during which he visited Germany, France and Italy.
1857 G. - married M. Botkina.
1858 G. - retired and settled in Moscow.
AT 1860 G. in his native Mtsensk district of the Oryol province, the poet bought the Stepanovka farm and, having built a house there, lived the life of a village landowner. Immersed in the chores of the estate, he abandoned literary work for some time, but eventually returned to it again. During the years of voluntary "flight to Stepanovka" Fet actively translated the poetry of antiquity (Anacreon), the East (Saadi, Hafiz), German and French authors (Goethe, Heine, Musset, Beranger). He also wrote the first Russian translation of the famous treatise by the German philosopher A. Schopenhauer "The World as Will and Representation".
AT 1863 G.- Fet's collected works were published.
Beginning with 1883 G., successively published collections of his poems under the general title "Evening Lights" thanks to which he again ascended to the pinnacle of glory.
Option 3
1820
year, November 23 - was born in the village of Novoselki, Mtsensk district, Oryol province
1835-1837
- studying at the German private boarding school Krümmer in Verro (now Võru, Estonia), Fet begins to write poetry, shows interest in classical philology
1838-1844
- study at Moscow University
1840
- publication of a collection of poems by A. A. Fet "Lyric Pantheon" with the participation of A. Grigoriev, a friend of Fet at the university
1842
- publications in the magazines "Moskvityanin" and "Domestic Notes"
1845
- entry into military service in the cuirassier regiment of the Military Order, becomes a cavalryman
1846
- assignment of the first officer rank
1850
- the second collection of A. A. Fet, positive reviews from critics in the magazines Sovremennik, Moskvityanin and Domestic Notes. The death of Maria Kozminichna Lazich, the poet's beloved, whose memories are devoted to many of his subsequent poems.
1853
- Fet is transferred to the guards regiment stationed near St. Petersburg. The poet often visits St. Petersburg, then the capital. Fet's meetings with Turgenev, Nekrasov, Goncharov and others. Rapprochement with the editors of the Sovremennik magazine
1854
- service in the Baltic Port, described in his memoirs "My memories"
1856
- the third collection of A. A. Fet. Editor - Turgenev
1857
- Fet's marriage to M. P. Botkina
1858
- the poet retires with the rank of guards captain, settles in Moscow
1859
- break with the Sovremennik magazine
1863
- the release of a two-volume collection of poems by Fet
1867
- Fet elected magistrate for 11 years
1873
- returned the nobility and the surname Shenshin.
1883
-1891
- publication of four issues of the collection "Evening Lights"
1892
November 21 - Fet's death in Moscow. According to some reports, his death from a heart attack was preceded by a suicide attempt.
Full biography of Fet A. A.
Option 1
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (Shenshin) was born on December 5 (November 23 according to the old style) in 1820 in the Novoselki estate near the city of Mtsensk, Oryol province (now the Mtsensk district of the Oryol region).
According to other sources, Fet's date of birth is November 10 (October 29, old style) or December 11 (November 29, old style), 1820.
The future poet was born into the family of a landowner, retired captain Afanasy Shenshin, who in 1820 allegedly married abroad according to the Lutheran rite with Charlotte Fet, the daughter of Ober-Kriegs Commissar Karl Becker, who bore the surname Fet after her first husband. This marriage had no legal force in Russia. Until the age of 14, the boy bore the surname Shenshin, and then was forced to take the surname of his mother, as it turned out that the Orthodox wedding of his parents was performed after the birth of the child.
This deprived Fet of all noble privileges.
Until the age of 14, the boy lived and studied at home, and then was sent to a German boarding school in Verro, Livonia province (now the city of Vyru in Estonia).
In 1837, Afanasy Fet arrived in Moscow, spent half a year in the boarding house of Professor Mikhail Pogodin and entered Moscow University, where he studied in 1838-1844, first at the law department, then at the verbal department.
In 1840, the first collection of poems was published under the title “Lyrical Pantheon”, the author took refuge behind the initials A.F. From the end of 1841, Fet’s poems regularly appeared on the pages of the Moskvityanin magazine published by Pogodin. Since 1842, Fet has been published in the liberal Western journal Otechestvennye Zapiski.
In order to obtain the title of nobility, Fet decided to enter the military service. In 1845 he was accepted into a cuirassier regiment; in 1853 he moved to the Lancers Guards Regiment; in the Crimean campaign was part of the troops guarding the Estonian coast; in 1858 he retired as a staff captain, having not served the nobility.
During the years of military service, Afanasy Fet was in love with a relative of his provincial acquaintances, Maria Lazich, who influenced all his work. In 1850, Lazich died in a fire. Researchers single out a special cycle of Fet's poems related to Lazich.
In 1850, the second collection of Fet's poems, entitled Poems, was published in Moscow. In 1854, while in St. Petersburg, Afanasy Fet became close to the literary circle of the Sovremennik magazine - Nikolai Nekrasov, Ivan Turgenev, Alexander Druzhinin, Vasily Botkin, and others. His poems began to be published in the magazine. In 1856, a new collection of poems by A.A. Feta”, republished in 1863 in two volumes, with the second including translations.
In 1860, Fet bought the Stepanovka farm in the Mtsensk district of the Oryol province, took care of the household, and lived there all the time. In 1867-1877 he was a justice of the peace. In 1873, the surname Shenshin with all the rights associated with it was approved for Fet. In 1877, he sold Stepanovka, which he had arranged well, bought a house in Moscow and the picturesque Vorobyovka estate in the Shchigrovsky district of the Kursk province.
From 1862 to 1871, in the journals Russky Vestnik, Literary Library, and Zarya, Fet's essays were published under the editorial titles Notes on Volunteer Labor, From the Village, and On the Question of Hiring Workers.
In Stepanovka, Fet began work on the memoirs “My Memoirs”, covering the period from 1848 to 1889, they were published in 1890 in two volumes, and the volume “The Early Years of My Life” was published after his death - in 1893.
A lot at this time, Fet was engaged in translations, completed mainly in the 1880s. Fet is known as a translator of Horace, Ovid, Goethe, Heine and other ancient and modern poets.
In 1883-1891, four issues of Fet's collection of poems "Evening Lights" were published. The fifth he did not sing to release. The poems intended for him were partly and in a different order included in the two-volume Lyrical Poems published after his death (1894), prepared by his admirers - the critic Nikolai Strakhov and the poet K.R. (Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov).
Fet's last years were marked by signs of external recognition. In 1884, for the complete translation of the works of Horace, he received the Pushkin Prize of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, in 1886, for the totality of his works, he was elected its corresponding member.
In 1888, Fet received the court rank of chamberlain, personally introduced himself to Emperor Alexander III.
Afanasy Fet died on December 3 (November 21, old style) 1892 in Moscow. The poet was buried in the village of Kleymenovo, the Shenshin family estate.
Afanasy Fet was married to the sister of the literary critic Vasily Botkin - Maria Botkina.
Option 2
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet is a recognized genius of literature, whose work is cited both in Russia and in foreign countries. His poems, such as "", "Whisper, timid breathing", "Evening", "", "This morning, this joy", "", "Do not wake her at dawn", "", "I have come", "The Nightingale and the Rose" and others are now mandatory for study in schools and higher educational institutions.
In the biography of Afanasy Fet, there are many mysteries and secrets that still excite the minds of scientists and historians. For example, the circumstances of the birth of a great genius who sang of the beauty of nature and human feelings are like a riddle of the Sphinx.
When Shenshin was born (the name of the poet, which he bore for the first 14 and the last 19 years of his life), is not known for certain. They call it November 10 or December 11, 1820, but Afanasy Afanasyevich himself celebrated his birthday on the 5th of the twelfth month.
His mother, Charlotte-Elisabeth Becker, was the daughter of a German burgher and for some time was the wife of a certain Johann Feth, an assessor at the local court in Darmstadt. Soon Charlotte met Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, an Oryol landowner and part-time retired captain.
The fact is that Shenshin, having arrived in Germany, could not book a place in a hotel, because they simply were not there. Therefore, the Russian settles in the house of Ober-Kriegskommissar Karl Becker, a widower who lived with a 22-year-old daughter who was pregnant with her second child, son-in-law and granddaughter.
What a young girl fell in love with 45-year-old Athanasius, who, moreover, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, was unsightly himself - history is silent. But, according to rumors, before meeting the Russian landowner, the relationship between Charlotte and Fet gradually came to a standstill: despite the birth of their daughter Carolina, husband and wife often clashed, besides, Johann got into numerous debts, poisoning the existence of a young wife.
It is only known that from the “City of Sciences” (as Darmstadt is called), the girl, together with Shenshin, fled to a snowy country, the severe frosts of which the Germans even never dreamed of.
Karl Becker could not explain such an eccentric and unprecedented act of his daughter for those times. After all, she, being a married woman, left her husband and beloved child to the mercy of fate and went in search of adventure in an unfamiliar country. Grandfather Athanasius used to say that “means of seduction” (most likely, Karl meant alcohol) deprived her of her mind. But in fact, Charlotte was later diagnosed with a mental disorder.
Already in Russia, two months after the move, a boy was born. The baby was baptized according to the Orthodox tradition and named Athanasius. Thus, the parents predetermined the future of the child, because Athanasius in Greek means "immortal". In fact, Fet became a famous writer, whose memory has not died for many years.
Converted to Orthodoxy, Charlotte, who became Elizaveta Petrovna, recalled that Shenshin treated his adopted son as a blood relative and endowed the boy with care and attention.
Later, the Shenshins had three more children, but two died at a young age, which is not surprising, because due to progressive diseases in those troubled times, infant mortality was considered far from uncommon. Afanasy Afanasyevich recalled in his autobiography "The Early Years of My Life" how his sister Anyuta, who was a year younger, went to bed. Near the girl's bed, relatives and friends were on duty day and night, and in the morning doctors visited her room. Fet remembered how he approached the girl and saw her ruddy face and blue eyes, fixedly looking at the ceiling. When Anyuta died, Afanasy Shenshin, initially suspecting such a tragic outcome, fainted.
In 1824, Johann proposed marriage to the governess who was raising his daughter Caroline. The woman agreed, and Fet, either out of resentment for life, or then, in order to annoy the ex-wife, struck Afanasy out of the will. “I am very surprised that Fet forgot in his will and did not recognize his son. A person can make mistakes, but to deny the laws of nature is a very big mistake, ”Elizaveta Petrovna recalled in letters to her brother.
When the young man was 14 years old, the spiritual consistory canceled the baptismal record of Athanasius as the legitimate son of Shenshin, so the boy was given his last name - Fet, since he was born out of wedlock. Because of this, Athanasius lost all privileges, therefore, in the eyes of the public, he appeared not as a descendant of a noble family, but as a “Hessendarstadt subject”, a foreigner of dubious origin. Such changes were a blow to the heart for the future poet, who considered himself primordially Russian. For many years, the writer tried to return the name of the person who raised him as his own son, but the attempts were in vain. And only in 1873 Athanasius won and became Shenshin.
Athanasius spent his childhood in the village of Novoselki, in the Oryol province, in his father's estate, in a house with a mezzanine and two outbuildings. The boy's gaze opened up picturesque meadows covered with verdant grass, crowns of mighty trees lit by the sun, houses with smoking chimneys and a church with ringing bells. Also, young Fet got up at five in the morning and, wearing only pajamas, ran to the maids so that they would tell him a fairy tale. Although the spinning maids tried to ignore the annoying Athanasius, the boy eventually got his way.
All these childhood memories that inspired Fet were reflected in his subsequent work.
From 1835 to 1837, Athanasius attended the German private boarding school of Krümmer, where he showed himself to be a diligent student. The young man pored over literature textbooks and even then tried to come up with poetic lines.
Literature
At the end of 1837, the young man went to conquer the heart of Russia. Athanasius diligently studied for six months under the supervision of the famous journalist, writer and publisher Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin. After preparation, Fet easily entered the Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. But soon the poet realized that the subject patronized by Saint Ivo of Brittany was not his path.
Therefore, the young man, without any hesitation, transferred to Russian literature. As a first-year student, Afanasy Fet seriously took up poetry and showed his test of the pen to Pogodin. Having familiarized himself with the works of the student, Mikhail Petrovich gave the manuscripts Gogol, who stated: "Fet is an undoubted talent." Encouraged by the praise of the author of the book "Viy", Afanasy Afanasyevich publishes his debut collection "Lyrical Pantheon" (1840) and begins to be published in the literary journals "Domestic Notes", "Moskvityanin", etc. "Lyrical Pantheon" did not bring recognition to the author. Unfortunately, Fet's talent was not appreciated by his contemporaries.
But at one point, Afanasy Afanasyevich had to leave literary work and forget about the pen and inkwell. A black streak has come in the life of a gifted poet. At the end of 1844, his beloved mother died, as well as an uncle, with whom Fet had warm friendly relations. Afanasy Afanasyevich counted on the inheritance of a relative, but his uncle's money unexpectedly disappeared. Therefore, the young poet was literally left without a livelihood and, hoping to acquire a fortune, entered the military service and became a cavalryman. He rose to the rank of officer.
In 1850, the writer returned to poetry and released a second collection, which received rave reviews from Russian critics. After a fairly long period of time, under the editorship of Turgenev, the third collection of the gifted poet was published, and in 1863 a two-volume collected works of Fet was published.
If we consider the work of the author of "May Night" and "Spring Rain", then he was a refined lyricist and, as if, identified nature and human feelings. In addition to lyrical poems, his track record includes elegies, thoughts, ballads, messages. Also, many literary scholars agree that Afanasy Afanasyevich invented his own, original and multifaceted genre of "melodies", in his works there are often responses to musical works.
Among other things, Afanasy Afanasyevich is familiar to modern readers as a translator. He translated into Russian a number of poems by Latin poets, and also introduced readers to the mystical.
Personal life
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet during his lifetime was a paradoxical figure: before his contemporaries he appeared as a thoughtful and gloomy person, whose biography is surrounded by mystical halos. Therefore, a dissonance arose in the minds of poetry lovers, some could not understand how this person, burdened with worldly worries, could so exaltedly sing of nature, love, feelings and human relationships.
In the summer of 1848, Afanasy Fet, who served in the cuirassier regiment, was invited to a ball in the hospitable house of the former officer of the Order Regiment M.I. Petkovich.
Among the young ladies fluttering around the hall, Afanasy Afanasyevich saw a black-haired beauty, the daughter of a retired cavalry general of Serbian origin, Maria Lazich. From that very meeting, Fet began to perceive this girl as Caesar Cleopatra or as Lilya Brik. It is noteworthy that Maria knew Fet for a long time, however, she met him through his poems, which she read in her youth. Lazic was educated beyond her years, knew how to play music and was well versed in literature. It is not surprising that Fet recognized a kindred spirit in this girl. They exchanged numerous fiery letters and often flipped through albums. Maria became the lyrical heroine of many Fetov's poems.
But the acquaintance of Fet and Lazich was not happy. The lovers could become spouses and raise children in the future, but the prudent and practical Fet refused the union with Mary, because she was as poor as he was. In his last letter, Lazich Afanasy Afanasyevich initiated the breakup.
Soon Maria died: due to a carelessly thrown match, her dress caught fire. The girl could not be saved from numerous burns. It is possible that this death was a suicide. The tragic event struck Fet to the core, and Afanasy Afanasyevich found consolation from the sudden loss of a loved one in his work. His subsequent poems were received with a bang by the reading public, so Fet managed to acquire a fortune, the poet's fees allowed him to travel around Europe.
While abroad, the master of trochaic and iambic met with a wealthy woman from a famous Russian dynasty - Maria Botkina. The second wife of Fet was not good-looking, but she was distinguished by good nature and easy disposition. Although Afanasy Afanasyevich proposed not out of love, but out of convenience, the couple lived happily. After a modest wedding, the couple left for Moscow, Fet resigned and devoted his life to creativity.
Death
On November 21, 1892, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet died of a heart attack. Many biographers suggest that before his death, the poet attempted suicide. But at the moment there is no reliable evidence for this version. The grave of the creator is located in the village of Kleymenovo.
Option 3
Oonce to the question of the questionnaire of the daughter of Leo Tolstoy Tatyana “How long would you like to live?” Fet replied: "The least long." And yet the writer had a long and very eventful life - he not only wrote many lyrical works, critical articles and memoirs, but also devoted whole years to agriculture, and apple marshmallow from his estate was even supplied to the imperial table.
Non-hereditary nobleman: childhood and youth of Athanasius Fet
Afanasy Fet was born in 1820 in the village of Novoselki near the city of Mtsensk, Oryol province. Until the age of 14, he bore the surname of his father, the wealthy landowner Afanasy Shenshin. As it turned out later, Shenshin's marriage to Charlotte Fet was illegal in Russia, since they got married only after the birth of their son, which the Orthodox Church categorically did not accept. Because of this, the young man was deprived of the privileges of a hereditary nobleman. He began to bear the name of his mother's first husband, Johann Fet.
Athanasius was educated at home. Basically, he was taught literacy and the alphabet not by professional teachers, but by valets, cooks, courtyards, and seminarians. But Fet absorbed most of his knowledge from the surrounding nature, the peasant way of life and rural life. He liked to communicate for a long time with the maids, who shared news, told tales and legends.
At the age of 14, the boy was sent to the German boarding school Krummer in the Estonian city of Vyru. It was there that he fell in love with the poetry of Alexander Pushkin. In 1837, young Fet arrived in Moscow, where he continued his studies at the boarding school of professor of world history Mikhail Pogodin.
In quiet moments of complete carelessness, I seemed to feel the underwater rotation of flower spirals, trying to bring the flower to the surface; but in the end it turned out that only spirals of stems were striving outward, on which there were no flowers. I drew some verses on my slate board and erased them again, finding them meaningless.
From the memoirs of Afanasy Fet
In 1838, Fet entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, but soon switched to the Faculty of History and Philology. From the first year he wrote poems that interested classmates. The young man decided to show them to Professor Pogodin, and he - to the writer Nikolai Gogol. Soon Pogodin gave a review of the famous classic: "Gogol said this is an undoubted talent". The works of Fet and his friends were approved - the translator Irinarkh Vvedensky and the poet Apollon Grigoriev, to whom Fet moved from Pogodin's house. He recalled that "the house of the Grigorievs was the true cradle of my mental self." The two poets supported each other in their work and life.
In 1840, Fet's first collection of poems, Lyrical Pantheon, was published. It was published under the initials "A. F." It included ballads and elegies, idylls and epitaphs. The collection was liked by critics: Vissarion Belinsky, Pyotr Kudryavtsev and the poet Yevgeny Baratynsky. A year later, Fet's poems were already regularly published by Pogodin's magazine "Moskvityanin", and later by the magazine "Domestic Notes". In the last year, 85 Fetov's poems were published.
The idea to return the title of nobility did not leave Afanasy Fet, and he decided to enter the military service: the officer rank gave the right to hereditary nobility. In 1845, he was accepted as a non-commissioned officer in the Order's cuirassier regiment in the Chersonese province. A year later, Fet was promoted to cornet.
In 1850, bypassing all the censorship committees, Fet released a second collection of poems, which was praised on the pages of major Russian magazines. By this time, he was transferred to the rank of lieutenant and quartered closer to the capital. In the Baltic port, Afanasy Fet participated in the Crimean campaign, whose troops guarded the Estonian coast.
In 1854, in St. Petersburg, the poet entered the literary circle of Sovremennik, where he met writers Nikolai Nekrasov, Ivan Goncharov and Ivan Turgenev, critics Alexander Druzhinin and Vasily Botkin. Soon Fet's poems began to be printed by Sovremennik.
... We consider Mr. Fet not only a true poetic talent, but a rare phenomenon in our time, because true poetic talent, to whatever extent it manifests itself, is always a rare phenomenon: for this you need many special, happy, natural conditions.
Vasily Botkin
Under the supervision of Turgenev, the second collection of Fetov's poems was carefully revised, and in 1856 they published “Poems by A.A. Feta. The poet, although he accepted the corrections of the famous writer, later admitted that "the edition from Turgenev's editorial board came out as cleared as it was mutilated."
Encouraged by success, Fet began to write whole poems, stories in verse, fiction, and nature, as well as travel essays and critical articles. In addition, he translated the works of Heinrich Heine, Johann Goethe, Andre Chenier, Adam Mickiewicz and other poets.
“We can safely say that a person who understands poetry and willingly opens his soul to its sensations will not draw as much poetic pleasure from any Russian author, after Pushkin, as Mr. Fet gives him.”
Nikolai Nekrasov
In 1857, Afanasy Fet married Vasily Botkin's younger sister, Maria, the heiress of a wealthy merchant family. The following year, with the rank of guards staff captain, he retired, without having achieved the nobility. The couple settled first in Moscow, and in 1860 in the Stepanovka estate, which they bought in the Mtsensk district of the Oryol province - in the writer's homeland.
As Ivan Turgenev said,
“he [Fet] has now become an agronomist-owner to the point of desperation, let his beard grow to his loins, does not want to hear about literature, and drove the Musa away from behind ...”.
Fet devoted himself to rural care and household chores: he grew crops, designed a stud farm, kept cows, sheep, poultry, bred bees, and fish. From Stepanovka, Fet made an exemplary estate: the yields from his fields raised the statistics of the province, and Fet's apple marshmallow was delivered directly to the imperial court.
However, in 1863 the poet published another book - a two-volume set of his poems. Some critics greeted the book with joy, noting the "wonderful lyrical talent" of the writer, while others attacked him with harsh articles and parodies. Fet was accused of being a “serf landowner” and hiding under the guise of a lyric poet.
Afanasy Fet regularly published in the journals Russky Vestnik, Literary Library and Zarya. His essays on the post-reform state of agriculture were published there. They were printed under the editorial titles Notes on Freelance Labor, From the Village, and On the Question of Hiring Workers. In 1867, Afanasy Fet was elected a justice of the peace. This largely influenced the fact that 10 years later, by imperial decree, the surname Shenshin was finally approved for him and the title of nobility was returned. But the writer continued to sign his works with the surname Fet.
Laureate of the full Pushkin Prize: mature years and the death of the poet
In 1877, Fet sold Stepanovka in order to buy a house in Moscow, and in the Kursk province the old estate Vorobyovka. Despite the fact that many new concerns fell on the landowner Shenshin, he did not abandon literature. After a 20-year break, in 1883 a new poetic book was published - "Evening Lights". By this time, Fet had come to terms with the fact that his works were "for the few". "People don't need my literature, and I don't need fools", he said. In turn, the readers responded to the poet in the same way.
“When I began to re-read these three little pieces [“ Departed ”,“ Death ”,“ Alterego»] - I was terribly struck by their connection, and that terrible despondency that is hidden under this energetic, bright speech. Poor Fet! .. Alone everywhere, and in his magnificent Vorobyovka!
From a letter from Nikolai Strakhov to Leo Tolstoy, 1879
In the last years of his life, Fet received public recognition. In 1884, for the translation of Horace's works, he became the first recipient of the full Pushkin Prize of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Two years later, the poet was elected its corresponding member. In 1888, Athanasius Fet was personally introduced to Emperor Alexander III and awarded the court title of chamberlain.
While still in Stepanovka, Fet began to write the book “My Memoirs”, where he talked about his life as a landowner. The memoirs cover the period from 1848 to 1889. The book was published in two volumes in 1890.
On December 3, 1892, Fet asked his wife to call a doctor, and in the meantime he dictated to his secretary: “I don’t understand the conscious increase in inevitable suffering. Volunteering towards the inevitable" and signed "Fet (Shenshin)". The writer died of a heart attack, but it is known that at first he tried to commit suicide by rushing after a steel stiletto. Afanasy Fet was buried in the village of Kleymenovo, the Shenshin family estate.
I was offended to see how indifferently the sad news was received even by those whom it most of all should have touched. How selfish we are!<…>He was a strong man, fought all his life and achieved everything he wanted: he won a name, wealth, literary celebrity and a place in high society, even at court. He appreciated all this and enjoyed everything, but I am sure that his poems were dearest to him in the world and that he knew that their charm is incomparable, the very heights of poetry. The further, the more others will understand it.
From a letter from Nikolai Strakhov to Sofya Tolstoy, 1892
Already after the death of the writer, in 1893, the last volume of memoirs "The Early Years of My Life" was published. Fet also did not have time to release the volume that completes the cycle of poems “Evening Lights”. The works for this poetic book were included in the two-volume "Lyric Poems", which was published in 1894 by Nikolai Strakhov and Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov.
The talented poet Afanasy Fet was one of those whose poems can move even the most callous soul to tears. Soulful lyrics, deep and sensual, but at the same time without a gram of falsehood - that's what his poems are. In addition, Fet was noted in history as an excellent translator of foreign poetry.
Interesting facts from the life of Fet.
- Athanasius was the son of a German whose wife, being pregnant, ran away with her lover, a Russian nobleman. The stepfather bribed the priest to hide the secret of his stepson's origin, but when he was 14 years old, the secret became public, and the future poet lost his noble title, surname and inheritance.
- In documents and papers, due to his indefinite social status, the poet was usually called "foreigner Fet".
- Athanasius received his last name, under which he became famous, when his mother managed to beg his biological father to recognize the child as his son. In general, his surname sounded like "Fet", but the poet himself preferred to speak and write "Fet".
- Being in a cramped financial situation, Fet married for convenience in order to receive a dowry. The latter, however, was still not enough to solve all the problems of the poet.
- Fet's poems were first published in 1840.
- Many years later, the noble title and the name of his stepfather, Shenshin, were returned to the poet. But in history, Fet still remained under the name by which we know him.
- One of the poet's phobias was a panicky fear of getting into a psychiatric hospital.
- Fet wrote not only poetry, but also prose, and all his prose was written in the genre of realism.
- Fet, who died of a heart attack, had tried to commit suicide a minute before.
- Nekrasov wrote that among all Russian poets, only Fet can be put on a par with Pushkin.
- It is Fet who authored the translation of the famous "Faust" by Goethe.
- Afanasy Fet dedicated many of his poems to Maria Lazich, the tragically deceased girl with whom he was in love.
- The poet devoted many years to military service, since literary activity did not bring him significant income.
- During the first two decades of his work, Fet sold less than one thousand books.
- The poet was close friends with Turgenev and Tolstoy.
- Afanasy Fet left no descendants.
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet was born in 1820 in the Oryol province. He was the son of the landowner Shenshin and a German woman, whose last name was written in German Foeth. Their marriage, which took place abroad, was invalid in Russia. Thus, Fet was officially illegitimate and remained a foreign citizen until his majority. This discovery, which he made when he left home to study, was a cruel test for him, and he spent his whole life trying to obtain the rights of a nobleman and the name of his father. In the end, he achieved this in 1876, when he received "by the highest command" the right to bear the name Shenshin. However, in literature, he retained his former name until his death.
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (1820 - 1892). Portrait by I. Repin, 1882
Fet studied at a private educational institution in Livonia, and then in Moscow, where for some time he was a boarder with Pogodin, who almost starved him to death. Enrolling at Moscow University, he turned out to be a classmate of Apollon Grigoriev, in whose house he lived, paying for his lodging. In 1840, at his own expense, he published a book of very immature poems, in which nothing foreshadowed the future great poet. But already in 1842 Fet published in Muscovite several poems that are still considered the best.
Afanasy Fet. Poetry and fate
After graduating from the university, he entered the military service and served for fifteen years in various cavalry regiments, firmly determined to achieve the officer rank that the nobility gave. But, unfortunately for him, during his service in the army, the rank necessary for the nobility was twice raised, and only in 1856, having become the captain of the guard, he was finally able to retire as he wanted - a Russian nobleman. After a short trip abroad, he married (without any sentimentality, very profitable) and acquired a small estate, thinking of making a fortune.
In the meantime, poetry made him a name, and in the late fifties he was a prominent figure in the literary world. He became friends with Turgenev and Tolstoy, who valued his common sense and did not blame him for his extreme secrecy. It is from Fet that we know the details of the famous quarrel between two great novelists. Subsequently, it was Fet who reconciled them. But here the younger generation of anti-aesthetic radicals, irritated by the apparently civic direction of his poetry and his rabidly reactionary predilections, launched a systematic campaign against him. In the end they managed to silence him by whistling and hooting; having printed the third edition of his poems in 1863, Fet disappeared from literature for twenty years.
He lived on his estate, actively and successfully increasing his fortune and, as a justice of the peace, waging a stubborn struggle against the peasants for the interests of his own class. He gained fame as an extreme conservative and acquired a new, even better estate in the Kursk province. The main joys in his subsequent life were the return to him of his family name, the title of chamberlain, granted by Alexander III and the flattering attention of Grand Duke Constantine. In his relations with the royal family, Fet was a toady and a sycophant.
Although he stopped publishing poems after 1863, he never stopped writing them, and his poetic genius matured during a period of apparent silence. Finally, in 1883, he again appeared before the public and from that time began to publish small volumes under the general title Evening lights. He was never prolific as a poet and devoted his free time to broad undertakings of a more mechanical nature: writing three volumes of memoirs, translating his favorite Roman poets and his favorite philosopher Schopenhauer.
Under the strong influence of Schopenhauer, Fet became a staunch atheist and anti-Christian. And when, in the seventy-second year of his life, his asthma became unbearable, he naturally thought about suicide. Relatives did everything to prevent him from fulfilling his intention, and watched him very closely. But Fet showed extraordinary perseverance. Once, left alone for a moment, he took possession of a blunt knife, but before he could use it, he died of a broken heart (1892).
Many people know this name. But what Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet really was - his biography, perhaps, will help shed light on this.
His fate was not easy, but he took a worthy place in classical Russian literature. The article will be a detailed account of the main points of his life.
Brief biography of A. Fet
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet was born in the family of a retired captain Shenshin and Charlotte Fet. They were combined according to the Lutheran rite, which was not recognized in Russia.
The years of life and death of the poet (1820 - 1892) include many events.
The first collection of poetry was published in 1840. The main direction of Afanasy Afanasyevich's poetry was the lyrical comprehension of beauty and nature.
In 1837 he went to Moscow, to the Boarding House Pogodina. The following year, in 1838, he entered Moscow University, graduating in 1844. The following year he entered the military service.
In 1850 and 1856, the second and third collections of the poet's works were published.
1860 - the Stepanovka farm was bought, which was located in the Mtsensk district. Since that time, he lived without a break, doing housework. In 1877 the farm was sold and Afanasy Afanasyevich bought a house in Moscow.
1884 - he was awarded the A. S. Pushkin Prize.
Briefly about the most important of the biography of A. Fet
Entering the university in law, Athanasius soon transferred to the philological department.
In his student years he wrote a lot of poetry. Once he showed the notebook to Pogodin, who gave it to Gogol.
The classic said that Fet is an undoubted talent. Such a high appreciation supported the growing talent of the young man.
In 1844, Afanasy Afanasyevich entered service in the Cuirassier Regiment, which was located in the Kherson province. 1860 buys Stepanovka farm and goes there for many years.
In 1873, the nobility was restored to him and the right to the surname Shenshin was returned. After 1883, the last four collections of the poet's works were published.
When and where was A. Fet born
The poet was born in the Oryol province in 1820. The place of his birth is the village of Novoselki, which is located in the Mtsensk district. Date of birth according to the new style falls on December 5 (November 23 according to the old style).
A. Fet's parents
His mother was born Charlotte-Elizabeth Becker. She left Germany in 1820.
The poet was adopted. His adoptive father was a nobleman Shenshin.
Subsequently, an error was discovered in the birth documents, which prevented Afanasy Afanasyevich from retaining his noble rank. This happened as he lived for fourteen years.
As a result of the revealed forgery, he was deprived not only of his surname, but also of his inheritance, as well as citizenship. Afanasy Afanasyevich devoted his whole life to clearing his honest name.
The real name of A. Feta
The retired captain, nobleman Afanasy Shenshin was the poet's adoptive father and tried to pass on to him not only his surname, but also the nobility.
However, due to an error that was made in the documents in the records of his birth, fourteen years later, the son was deprived of both the Shenshin surname and the nobility.
It is interesting to note that at the time of the birth of the baby, his mother was not officially married to Shenshin. The previous marriage was not dissolved at that time. The surname of Charlotte-Elisabeth Becker's husband was Fet.
It is believed that when recording a baby under the surname Shenshin, a bribe was given to the priest so that he would not put the real name of the mother in the document.
This was done in order to hide the fact that the baby was actually illegitimate.
When in 1873 the poet received not only the nobility, but also a surname, he wrote to his wife and asked that the surname “Fet” no longer be pronounced in the family.
The childhood of Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet
The poet's father was not rich. Perhaps, therefore, his childhood is painted mainly in strict, gloomy tones.
The mother had a timid character and showed complete obedience towards her husband.
She practically did not participate in household chores, she was mainly engaged in raising her son. In addition to Athanasius, they had other children.
In childhood, Athanasius played a large role in the surrounding peasant way of life, under the influence of which his personality was shaped.
For his education, his parents hired teachers. At this time, Fet got acquainted with the work of Pushkin, fell in love with his fairy tales.
In 1834, the young man was sent to the Pension Krümmer in Verro for education.
Periodization of creativity
The poet wrote his first poems in his youth. They were published in 1840 in the first collection called "Lyrical Pantheon". From that moment on, he published his poems constantly.
He wrote lyrical poems, loved and endlessly admired nature and beauty. At the same time, he did not choose topics of a practical nature. In his entire life, not even a thousand of his books were sold.
The first collection was dominated by ballads, and Byron's imitation was strongly felt.
When the second book of his poems came out, it already contained masterpieces of his lyrics. The poet prepared the edition, sometimes coming to Moscow.
The third collection is a kind of result of the creative friendship between Fet and Turgenev.
In 1863 a new edition of the poems was published. By this time, Fet turns into a strong and economic landowner. He publishes works written precisely from this position (“Free labor” and others).
Subsequently, the poet for some time departs from literary life.
The main theme of recent collections was the time and memory of the events that were experienced in youth.
Where did A. Fet study
He graduated from the private pension Kümmer, which was located in the city of Verro (now it is in Estonia). The following year, he began his studies at Moscow University at the Faculty of Philosophy.
During all this time, he did not give up his passion for literature. 1844 was the year of graduation from the university.
A. Fet's personal life
The poet experienced a passionate, but tragic and brief love for Maria Lazich. The feeling was mutual, but fate did not allow them to connect.
At this time, Fet lived in poverty, and almost no dowry was given to the girl. If they got married, there would be a poor and unsettled life ahead. They didn't dare to do it.
Mary died early. An unextinguished match fell on her dress, and it caught fire. Fet blamed himself for her death all his life.
The poet remembered Mary all his life and dedicated a number of poems and the poem “Talisman” to her. Here are some of them: “Old letters”, “You have suffered, I am still suffering”, “No, I have not changed. Until deep old age ... ".
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet married Maria Botkina in 1857. She was in good condition and was older than him. There is information that the marriage was happy. A year later, he retired.
Unfortunately, Afanasy Afanasyevich was not able at that time to achieve the return of the previously lost title of nobility. After that, he bought a plot of land and planned to devote himself to housekeeping.
How A. Fet died
In 1873, Afanasy Afanasyevich managed to fulfill his long-standing desire - he was restored to the title of nobility. At the same time, the surname of his adoptive father, Shenshin, was returned to him.
In his last years, the poet was actively involved in charity work.
From 1883 to 1891 he was published in the collections "Evening Lights". In poetry at this time, his main subjects are love and nature.
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet passed away on November 21, 1892. This happened in his own house in Moscow on Plyushchikha. The cause of death was a massive heart attack.
Researchers have an assumption that shortly before his death, Afanasy Fet attempted suicide.
Where A. Fet is buried
The poet died in Moscow, in his own house. He was buried in his ancestral village, at home, at the end of the nineteenth century.
Where is the tomb of Fet
His grave is located in the ancestral village of Shenshino, which he inherited from his father, Afanasy Shenshin, in the Orel region.
Interesting facts about the life and work of Fet
Fet for many years sought to regain his noble title. This is one of the reasons that he went to serve in the rank of non-commissioned officer.
In 1853, the guards regiment became his place of service.
During the service, Athanasius did not stop writing poetry. In 1850, the second collection of works was published. The third came out in 1856.
From 1862 to 1871 he continued to publish his creative works. In particular, they included the cycles “From the Village”, “Notes on Freelance Labor”.
The collections include essays, short stories and short stories. Here Athanasius proved himself not only as a poet, but also as a writer.
One of the characteristic features of Fet's work is the distinction between genres. He believes that the subject of poetry is a romantic direction, and for prose - a realistic one.
Throughout his life, Fet was fond of translation. In particular, he wrote translations of Faust (the first and second parts), as well as some works by Arthur Schopenhauer. Fet planned to translate Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, but subsequently abandoned this.
When the first collection of poems was published in 1840, a typo was made in the author's surname: Fet was written instead of Fet.
Afanasy Fet - books worth reading
The bulk of his works are collections of lyric poetry.
Some contemporaries criticized them for being somewhat abstract and personal.
The poet's best poems became widely known. Here is a list of several: “I came to you with greetings”, “Do not wake her up at dawn”, “Wonderful picture” and many others.
Conclusion
The poet had a difficult life. At the same time, he was devoted to poetry and beauty all his life. Although not even a thousand of his books were sold during his life, everything he wrote, given the periodization of his work, took a firm place in classical Russian poetry.
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Afanasy Fet is an outstanding Russian poet, translator and memoirist, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. His poems are known and read not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders.
The whole life of Afanasy Afanasyevich was like a series of riddles: birth, name, position, creativity, personal life, death. One gets the feeling that the imperturbable poet is open at a glance, but his biography is replete with understatement, like holes in a holey coat.
Childhood and youth
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet (1820-1892) was born in the very center of Russia - in the Oryol region. The names of I.S. are associated with this region. Turgenev, L.A. Andreeva, I.A. Bunina, N.S. Leskov. Until now, researchers are arguing whether Fet was the son of the landowner Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, in whose estate he was born, or his mother Charlotte Fet gave birth to a child from her ex-German husband.
At the end of his life, Fet wrote his memoirs "The Early Years of My Life" (they were published after his death, in 1893). He speaks dryly and reservedly about his childhood. This is not surprising. He remembered his father as stern, stingy with affection. Namely, his character, his orders determined the homely atmosphere. The poet's mother was a timid, submissive woman. Deprived of parental warmth, little Athanasius spent days on end communicating with the yard children.
At first, the boy, under the guidance of his mother, learned to read German, and when he began to read Russian, he became passionately interested in Pushkin's poetry.
School life began for Athanasius at the age of thirteen. He was sent to the boarding school of the German Krümmer in the small town of Verrlo (now Võru), located on the territory of present-day Estonia. From the school fraternity, the boy was distinguished by the gift of poetry. Poetic talent grew in Fet's soul with difficulty, but steadily. There was no one to perceive and warm this talent away from home. And then there was an event that turned the whole life upside down.
From the memoirs of Afanasy Fet:
In quiet moments of complete carelessness, I seemed to feel the underwater rotation of flower spirals, trying to bring the flower to the surface; but in the end it turned out that only spirals of stems were striving outward, on which there were no flowers. I drew some verses on my slate board and erased them again, finding them meaningless.
From birth, he bore the family noble family name of his father - Shenshin. But a year after the start of his studies at the boarding school, the boy received a letter from his father, which said that from now on Athanasius should bear his mother's surname - Fet. (He became a fet later and by accident: in the printing house where the magazine with his poems was printed, the typesetter forgot to put two dots over the "e".) For a teenager who loved his father, this was a blow and, moreover, meant that he was losing his nobility title and right to be heir.
And the fact was that the boy was born before the marriage of his father with Charlotte Feth was consecrated by the church. Shenshin managed to record it in the metrical documents, but in 1834 the forgery somehow surfaced. Leaving the boarding school as a seventeen-year-old youth, Afanasy Fet left in him annoying witnesses of his unexpectedly erupted misfortune.
In the winter of 1837, Afanasy Neofitovich unexpectedly arrived at the boarding school and took his son to Moscow to prepare for entering the university. When the time came for the exams, Fet passed them brilliantly. He was admitted to the Faculty of Law. Soon the young man moved to the verbal department of the Faculty of Philosophy. But he did not become a diligent student. Instead of sitting in a crowded auditorium, he sought solitude, and verses multiplied in his cherished notebook.
By the second year, the notebook was thoroughly replenished. It's time to present it to the judgment of an experienced connoisseur. Fet gave the notebook to the historian M.P. Pogodin, who at that time lived N.V. Gogol. A week later, Pogodin returned the poems with the words: "Gogol said that this is an undoubted talent."
creative path
In 1840, Fet's first collection of poems, Lyrical Pantheon, was published. It was published under the initials "A. F." It included ballads and elegies, idylls and epitaphs. The collection was liked by critics: Vissarion Belinsky, Pyotr Kudryavtsev and the poet Yevgeny Baratynsky. A year later, Fet's poems were already regularly published by Pogodin's magazine "Moskvityanin", and later by the magazine "Domestic Notes". In the last year, 85 Fetov's poems were published.The idea to return the title of nobility did not leave Afanasy Fet, and he decided to enter the military service: the officer rank gave the right to hereditary nobility. In 1845, he was accepted as a non-commissioned officer in the Order's cuirassier regiment in the Chersonese province. A year later, Fet was promoted to cornet.
In 1850, bypassing all the censorship committees, Fet released a second collection of poems, which was praised on the pages of major Russian magazines. By this time, he was transferred to the rank of lieutenant and quartered closer to the capital. In the Baltic port, Afanasy Fet participated in the Crimean campaign, whose troops guarded the Estonian coast.
In 1854, in St. Petersburg, the poet entered the literary circle of Sovremennik, where he met writers Nikolai Nekrasov, Ivan Goncharov and Ivan Turgenev, critics Alexander Druzhinin and Vasily Botkin. Soon Fet's poems began to be printed by Sovremennik.
Vasily Botkin:
We consider Mr. Fet not only a true poetic talent, but a rare phenomenon in our time, for true poetic talent, to whatever degree it manifests itself, is always a rare phenomenon: for this you need many special, happy, natural conditions.
Under the supervision of Turgenev, the second collection of Fetov's poems was carefully revised, and in 1856 they published “Poems by A.A. Feta. The poet, although he accepted the corrections of the famous writer, later admitted that "the edition from Turgenev's editorial board came out as cleared as it was mutilated."
Encouraged by success, Fet began to write entire poems, stories in verse, fiction, as well as travel essays and critical articles. In addition, he translated the works of Heinrich Heine, Johann Goethe, Andre Chenier, Adam Mickiewicz and other poets.
Nikolay Nekrasov:
We can safely say that a person who understands poetry and willingly opens his soul to its sensations will not draw as much poetic pleasure from any Russian author, after Pushkin, as Mr. Fet will give him.
In 1863, the poet published another book - a two-volume set of his poems. Some critics greeted the book with joy, noting the "wonderful lyrical talent" of the writer, while others attacked him with harsh articles and parodies. Fet was accused of being a “serf landowner” and hiding under the guise of a lyric poet.
Afanasy Fet regularly published in the journals Russky Vestnik, Literary Library and Zarya. His essays on the post-reform state of agriculture were published there. They were printed under the editorial titles Notes on Freelance Labor, From the Village, and On the Question of Hiring Workers. In 1867, Afanasy Fet was elected a justice of the peace. This largely influenced the fact that 10 years later, by imperial decree, the surname Shenshin was finally approved for him and the title of nobility was returned. But the writer continued to sign his works with the surname Fet.
Personal life
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet during his lifetime was a paradoxical figure: before his contemporaries he appeared as a thoughtful and gloomy person, whose biography is surrounded by mystical halos. Therefore, a dissonance arose in the minds of poetry lovers, some could not understand how this person, burdened with worldly worries, could so exaltedly sing of nature, love, feelings and human relationships.In the summer of 1848, Afanasy Fet, who served in the cuirassier regiment, was invited to a ball in the hospitable house of the former officer of the Order Regiment M.I. Petkovich. Among the young ladies fluttering around the hall, Afanasy Afanasyevich saw a black-haired beauty, the daughter of a retired cavalry general of Serbian origin, Maria Lazich. From that very meeting, Fet began to perceive this girl as Caesar Cleopatra or as Vladimir Mayakovsky - Lilya Brik. It is noteworthy that Maria knew Fet for a long time, however, she met him through his poems, which she read in her youth.
Lazic was educated beyond her years, knew how to play music and was well versed in literature. It is not surprising that Fet recognized a kindred spirit in this girl. They exchanged numerous fiery letters and often flipped through albums. Maria became the lyrical heroine of many Fetov's poems. But the acquaintance of Fet and Lazich was not happy.
The lovers could become spouses and raise children in the future, but the prudent and practical Fet refused the union with Mary, because she was as poor as he was. In his last letter, Lazich Afanasy Afanasyevich initiated the breakup. Soon Maria died: due to a carelessly thrown match, her dress caught fire. The girl could not be saved from numerous burns. It is possible that this death was a suicide.
The tragic event struck Fet to the core, and Afanasy Afanasyevich found consolation from the sudden loss of a loved one in his work. His subsequent poems were received with a bang by the reading public, so Fet managed to acquire a fortune, the poet's fees allowed him to travel around Europe.
While abroad, the master of trochaic and iambic met with a wealthy woman from a famous Russian dynasty - Maria Botkina. The second wife of Fet was not good-looking, but she was distinguished by good nature and easy disposition. Although Afanasy Afanasyevich proposed not out of love, but out of convenience, the couple lived happily. After a modest wedding, the couple left for Moscow, Fet resigned and devoted his life to creativity.
Last years
In 1877, Fet sold Stepanovka in order to buy a house in Moscow, and in the Kursk province the old estate Vorobyovka. Despite the fact that many new concerns fell on the landowner Shenshin, he did not abandon literature.
After a 20-year break, in 1883 a new poetic book was published - "Evening Lights". By this time, Fet had come to terms with the fact that his works were "for the few". "People don't need my literature, and I don't need fools," he said.
In the last years of his life, Fet received public recognition. In 1884, for the translation of Horace's works, he became the first recipient of the full Pushkin Prize of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Two years later, the poet was elected its corresponding member.
In 1888, Athanasius Fet was personally introduced to Emperor Alexander III and awarded the court title of chamberlain. While still in Stepanovka, Fet began to write the book “My Memoirs”, where he talked about his life as a landowner. The memoirs cover the period from 1848 to 1889. The book was published in two volumes in 1890.
On December 3, 1892, Fet asked his wife to call a doctor, and in the meantime he dictated to his secretary:
I do not understand the conscious multiplication of inevitable suffering. Volunteering towards the inevitable
And signed "Fet (Shenshin)"
The writer died of a heart attack, but it is known that at first he tried to commit suicide by rushing after a steel stiletto. Afanasy Fet was buried in the village of Kleymenovo, the Shenshin family estate.
Already after the death of the writer, in 1893, the last volume of memoirs "The Early Years of My Life" was published. Fet also did not have time to release the volume that completes the cycle of poems “Evening Lights”. The works for this poetic book were included in the two-volume "Lyric Poems", which was published in 1894 by Nikolai Strakhov and Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov.
Important dates in life
■ 1834 - was deprived of all the privileges of a hereditary nobleman, the surname Shenshin and Russian citizenship
■ 1835-1837 - studied at a private German boarding school in the city of Werro
■ 1838-1844 - studied at the university
■ 1840 - the first collection of poems "Lyrical Pantheon" was published
■ 1845 - entered the provincial cuirassier regiment in southern Russia
■ 1846 - received an officer rank
■ 1850 - the second collection of poems "Poems" was published
■ 1853 - joined the guards regiment
■ 1856 - the third collection of poems was published
■ 1857 - married Maria Botkina
■ 1858 - retired
■ 1863 - a two-volume collection of poems was published
■ 1867 - Elected Justice of the Peace
■ 1873 - returned noble privileges and the surname Shenshin
■ 1883 - 1891 - worked on the five-volume "Evening Lights"
According to Nekrasov, among all Russian poets, only Fet could compete with Pushkin
Afanasy Fet was terrified of being in a mental hospital
A minute before he died of a heart attack, Fet tried to commit suicide.
Fet maintained friendly relations with Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy
In the first 20 years of his career, the poet sold less than 1,000 books.
Fet did not leave behind a single descendant
