Brief biography of Arkady Averchenko. "It's easy to understand a woman, but it's hard to explain her."

Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko (1881 - 1925) - Russian writer, satirist, theater critic.

Born in Sevastopol in the family of a merchant. He was educated at home, because due to poor eyesight and poor health, he could not study at the gymnasium. I read a lot and indiscriminately.

At the age of fifteen he went to work as a junior scribe in a transport office. A year later, he left Sevastopol and began working as a clerk at the Bryansk coal mine, where he served for three years. In 1900 he moved to Kharkov.

In 1903, Averchenko's first story, “How I had to insure my life,” was published in the Kharkov newspaper Yuzhny Krai, in which his literary style is already felt. In 1906 he became the editor of the satirical magazine "Shtyk", almost completely represented by his materials. After the closure of this magazine, the head of the next one - "Sword" - also soon closed.

In 1907 he moved to St. Petersburg and collaborated in the satirical magazine "Strekoza", later transformed into "Satyricon". Then he becomes the permanent editor of this popular publication.

In 1910, three books by Averchenko were published, which made him famous throughout reading Russia: "Merry Oysters", "Stories (Humorous)", Book 1, "Bunnies on the Wall", Book II. "... their author is destined to become a Russian Twain ...", V. Polonsky remarked shrewdly.

Published in 1912, the books "Circles on the Water" and "Stories for Convalescents" approved the title of "King of Laughter" for the author.

Averchenko greeted the February revolution with enthusiasm, but he did not accept the October revolution. In the fall of 1918 he left for the south, collaborated in the newspapers Priazovsky Krai and Yug, performed reading his stories, and was in charge of the literary section at the House of the Artist. At the same time he wrote the plays "The Medicine for Stupidity" and "The Game with Death", and in April 1920 he organized his own theater "The Nest of Migratory Birds". Six months later he emigrates through Constantinople abroad; from June 1922 he lived in Prague, briefly leaving for Germany, Poland, Romania, the Baltic states. Published his book "A dozen knives in the back of the revolution", a collection of stories: "Children", "Funny in the terrible", a humorous novel "The Patron's Joke", etc.

In 1924 he undergoes an operation to remove an eye, after which he cannot recover for a long time; heart disease soon progresses sharply.

Died in the Prague City Hospital on January 22 (March 3 NS) 1925. He was buried in Prague at the Olshansky Cemetery.

Books (8)

Anthology of Satire and Humor of Russia of the XX century

Some ancient thinkers believed that a person can be defined as "an animal that knows how to laugh."

And I think they were right to some extent, because not only the ability to walk on two legs and work activity separated people from the animal world, helped to survive and go through all the imaginable and inconceivable trials of thousands of years of history, but also the ability to laugh. That is why those who knew how to make laugh were popular in all ages and among all peoples.

Kings could afford to keep jesters at court, and common people gathered in the squares to watch the performances of itinerant comedians or buffoons. Interestingly, over time, the title of the king of laughter appeared. They were awarded to those who achieved the greatest success in this art. Since the end of the first decade of our century in Russia, nowhere officially approved the title of the king of laughter belonged to Arkady Averchenko.

Volume 1. Cheerful oysters

Collected works of the Russian writer-humorist Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko opens with a volume that includes a collection of his works "Merry Oysters" (1910) and the first two books of his three-volume "Stories (humorous)" (1910-1911).

The writer's bright talent, his literary skills are fully embodied in the witty stories included in this volume.

Volume 2. Circles on the water

The second volume of A. Averchenko's works includes: the third book of the collection "Stories (humorous)" (1911), "New history" (from "General history, processed by" Satyricon "") (1910), "Expedition to Western Europe of satiricons" ( 1911) and one of the best collections of short stories by the writer Circles on the Water (1912).

Volume 3. Black on white

The third volume of A. Averchenko's works includes the collections "Stories for Convalescents" (1912), "Black and White" (1913), "On the Good People, in Essentially" (1914), as well as stories from the "Cheap Humorous Library" by Satyricon "" And "New Satyricon" (1910-1914).

Volume 4. Weeds

The fourth volume of A. Averchenko's works includes collections of works first published in 1914-1917: Weed Grasses (1914), Notes of a Theatrical Rat, Wolf Pits, Mischievous and Rotozei (1915), Gilded pills "(1916)," About small - for big "(1916)," Blue with gold "(1917).

Arkady Averchenko was born on March 27, 1881 in Sevastopol in the family of a poor merchant Timofei Petrovich Averchenko and Susanna Pavlovna Sofronova, the daughter of a retired soldier from the Poltava region.

Averchenko did not receive any elementary education, since due to poor eyesight he could not study for a long time, but the lack of education was eventually compensated by his natural mind.

Arkady Averchenko began working at the age of 15. From 1896 to 1897, he served as a junior scribe in the transport office of Sevastopol. He did not last long there, a little more than a year, and subsequently described this period of his life in the ironic "Autobiography", as well as a story in "On the steamer horns"

In 1896, Averchenko went to work as a clerk in the Donbass at the Bryansk mine. He worked at the mine for four years, subsequently writing several stories about life there - "In the Evening", "Lightning" and other works.

In 1903, Averchenko's first story "How I had to insure my life" was published in the Kharkov newspaper "Yuzhny Krai", in which his literary style was manifested. In 1906 Averchenko became the editor of the satirical magazine "Shtyk", almost entirely represented by his materials. After the closure of this magazine, the head of the next one - "Sword" - also soon closed.

In 1907 he moved to St. Petersburg and collaborated with the satirical magazine Strekoza, later transformed into Satyricon. Then he became the permanent editor of this popular publication.

In 1910, three books by Averchenko were published, which made him famous throughout reading Russia: "Merry Oysters", "Stories (humorous)", book 1, "Bunnies on the wall", book II. "... their author is destined to become a Russian Twain ...", V. Polonsky remarked shrewdly.

Published in 1912, the books "Circles on the Water" and "Stories for Convalescents" approved the title of "King of Laughter" for the author.

Averchenko greeted the February revolution with enthusiasm, but he did not accept the October revolution. In the fall of 1918, Averchenko left for the south, collaborated with the newspapers Priazovsky Krai and Yug, performed reading his stories, and was in charge of the literary section at the Artist's House. At the same time he wrote the plays "Medicine for stupidity" and "Play with death", and in April 1920 he organized his own theater "Nest of Migratory Birds". Six months later he emigrates abroad through Constantinople, since June 1922 he lives in Prague, briefly leaving for Germany, Poland, Romania and the Baltic states. Published are his book "A Dozen Knives in the Back of the Revolution", a collection of stories: "Children", "Funny in the Terrible" and the humorous novel "The Patron's Joke".

AVERCHENKO'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

Fifteen minutes before my birth, I did not know that I would appear in the world. I am doing this in itself a trifling instruction only because I want to be ahead of all other wonderful people by a quarter of an hour, whose life was described with tedious monotony without fail from the moment of birth. Well.

When the midwife presented me to my father, he looked at what I was like with the air of a connoisseur and exclaimed:

I bet on gold it's a boy!

“Old fox! - I thought, chuckling inwardly, - you play for sure.

Our acquaintance, and then friendship, began with this conversation.

Out of modesty, I hesitate to point out the fact that the bells were ringing on my birthday and there was general popular rejoicing.

Evil tongues associated this jubilation with some great holiday that coincided with the day of my birth, but I still don’t understand what any other holiday has to do with it?

Taking a closer look at my surroundings, I decided that I needed to grow up as the first duty. I did this with such diligence that by the age of eight I saw my father one day taking my hand. Of course, even before that, my father repeatedly took me by the indicated limb, but previous attempts were no more than real symptoms of paternal affection. In the present case, moreover, he put his hat on his head and mine, and we went out into the street.

Where the hell are they taking us? - I asked with a straightforwardness that always distinguished me.

You have to learn.

Very necessary! I do not want to study.

Why?

To get rid of it, I said the first thing that came to my mind:

I am sick.

What is hurting you?

I went over all my organs by memory and chose the most important one:

Um ... Let's go to the doctor.

When we went to the doctor, I bumped into him, his patient and knocked over a small table.

You, boy, do you absolutely not see anything?

Nothing, - I replied, hiding the tail of the phrase, which finished in my mind: "... good in learning."

So I never did science.

The legend that I was a sick, frail boy who could not study grew and strengthened, and most of all I took care of this myself.

My father, being a merchant by profession, did not pay any attention to me, as he was up to his throat busy with chores and plans: how could he go broke as soon as possible? This was the dream of his life, and he must be given full justice - the good old man achieved his aspirations in the most impeccable way. He did this with the complicity of a whole galaxy of thieves who robbed his store, buyers who borrowed exclusively and systematically, and - fires that incinerated those of his father's goods that were not stolen by thieves and buyers.

Thieves, fires and customers stood as a wall between me and the school for a long time, and I would have remained illiterate if the older sisters had not come up with a funny idea that promised them a lot of new sensations: to take up my education. Obviously, I was a tidbit, because because of the very dubious pleasure of illuminating my lazy brain with the light of knowledge, the sisters not only argued, but once even entered hand-to-hand, and the result of the fight - a dislocated finger - did not in the least cool the teacher's fervor of the elder sister Lyuba.

So - against the background of kindred solicitude, love, fires, thieves and buyers - my growth took place, and a conscious attitude towards the environment developed.

When I was fifteen years old, my father, with regret said goodbye to thieves, buyers and fires, once said to me:

We must serve you.

Yes, I do not know how, - I objected, as usual choosing a position that could guarantee me complete and serene peace.

Nonsense! - objected the father. - Seryozha Zeltser is not older than you, but he is already serving!

This Seryozha was the biggest nightmare of my youth. A neat, neat little German, our housemate, Seryozha from a very early age was set up as an example to me as an example of self-control, diligence and accuracy.

Look at Seryozha, - said the mother sadly. - The boy serves, deserves the love of his superiors, knows how to talk, keeps himself freely in society, plays the guitar, sings ... And you?

Discouraged by these reproaches, I immediately approached the guitar hanging on the wall, pulled the string, began to screech some unknown song in a piercing voice, tried to "keep more free", shuffling my feet on the walls, but all this was weak, everything was second-rate. Seryozha remained out of reach!

Seryozha is serving, and you are not serving yet ... - my father rebuked me.

Seryozha, perhaps, eats frogs at home, - I objected, thinking. - So you will order me?

I will order if necessary! my father barked, banging his fist on the table. - Damn it! I will make you silk!

As a man of taste, my father preferred silk out of all materials, and other material seemed to him unsuitable for me.

I remember the first day of my service, which I had to start in some sleepy transport office for transporting luggage.

I got there almost at eight o'clock in the morning and found only one man in a vest without a jacket, very friendly and modest.

“This is probably the main agent,” I thought.

Hello! - I said, firmly shaking his hand. - How's it going?

Wow. Sit down, let's chat!

We lit up cigarettes in a friendly way, and I started a diplomatic conversation about my future career, telling the whole story about myself.

You fool, haven't you even erased the dust yet ?!

The one in whom I suspected the chief agent jumped up with a cry of fright and grabbed the dusty rag. The initial voice of the newly arrived young man convinced me that I was dealing with the main agent himself.

Hello, I said. - How do you live, can you? (Sociability and secularity according to Seryozha Zeltser.)

Nothing, said the young master. - Are you our new employee? Wow! I am glad!

We got into a friendly conversation and did not even notice how a middle-aged man entered the office, grabbing the young gentleman by the shoulder and shouting sharply at the top of his throat:

Is that how you, devilish parasite, prepare the registry? I’ll kick you out if you’re lazy!

The gentleman, whom I took for the chief agent, turned pale, lowered his head sadly and wandered over to his table. And the chief agent sank into a chair, leaned back and began to ask me about my talents and abilities.

"I am a fool," I thought to myself. - How could I not make out earlier what kind of birds my previous interlocutors were. This boss is a boss! Immediately you can see! "

At this time, a scuffle was heard in the hall.

Look who is there? - asked me the main agent.

I looked out into the hall and reported reassuringly:

Some shabby old man pulls off his coat.

The shabby old man walked in and shouted:

It's ten o'clock, and none of you is doing a damn thing !! Will this ever end ?!

The previous important boss jumped in his chair like a ball, and the young gentleman, whom he had previously called "a quitter," warned me in my ear:

The main agent dragged himself in.

This is how I began my service.

I served for a year, all the time trailing in the most shameful way in the tail of Seryozha Zeltser. This young man received 25 rubles a month, when I received 15, and when I also reached 25 rubles, they gave him 40. I hated him, like some disgusting spider washed with fragrant soap ...

At the age of sixteen I parted with my sleepy transport office and left Sevastopol (I forgot to say - this is my homeland) to some kind of coal mines. This place was the least suitable for me, and therefore, probably, I ended up there on the advice of my father, experienced in everyday troubles ...

It was the dirtiest and most remote mine in the world. Between autumn and other seasons, the only difference was that in autumn the dirt was higher than the knees, and at other times it was lower.

And all the inhabitants of this place drank like shoemakers, and I drank as well as others. The population was so small that one person had a whole host of positions and occupations. Cook Kuzma was at the same time both the contractor and the trustee of the mine school, the paramedic was a midwife, and when I first came to the most famous hairdresser in those parts, his wife asked me to wait a little, as her husband went to insert glasses for someone miners last night.

These miners (miners) seemed to me also a strange people: being for the most part fugitives from hard labor, they did not have passports and the absence of this indispensable belonging of a Russian citizen was poured with a woeful look and despair in their souls - a whole sea of ​​vodka.

Their whole life looked like they were born for vodka, worked and ruined their health with unbearable work - for the sake of vodka and went to the next world with the close participation and help of the same vodka.

One day, before Christmas, I was driving from a mine to the nearest village and saw a number of black bodies lying motionless all along the way; came across in two, three every 20 steps.

What it is? - I was amazed ...

And the miners, - the driver smiled sympathetically. - Gorilka kupovaly near the village. For God's feast.

Ty was not reported. They got wet on the misty. Axis how!

So we drove past whole deposits of dead drunk people who apparently had such a weak will that they did not even have time to run home, surrendering to the burning thirst that gripped their throats where this thirst overtook them. And they lay in the snow, with black meaningless faces, and if I didn’t know the road to the village, I would have found her along these giant black stones, scattered by a giant boy with a finger all the way.

The people were, however, for the most part strong, seasoned, and the most monstrous experiments on their bodies cost them relatively cheap. They broke through each other's heads, completely destroyed their noses and ears, and one daredevil even once took on a tempting bet (no doubt a bottle of vodka) to eat a dynamite cartridge. Having done this, for two or three days, despite severe vomiting, he enjoyed the most thrifty and caring attention from his comrades, who were all afraid that he would explode.

After this strange quarantine was over, he was severely beaten.

The office employees differed from the workers in that they fought less and drank more. All these were people, for the most part, rejected by the rest of the world for mediocrity and inability to live, and thus, on our small island surrounded by immeasurable steppes, the most monstrous company of stupid, dirty and mediocre alcoholics, scum and scraps of fastidious white light gathered.

Brought here by the gigantic broom of God's will, they all gave up on the outside world and began to live as God wills.

They drank, played cards, swore with cruel desperate words, and sang something persistent viscous in their drunkenness and danced gloomily and with concentration, breaking floors with their heels and spewing out streams of blasphemy against humanity from weakened lips.

That was the fun side of mining life. Her dark sides consisted of hard labor, walking through the deepest mud from office to colony and back, as well as sitting out in the guardhouse according to a whole series of outlandish protocols drawn up by a drunken sergeant.

When the management of the mines was transferred to Kharkov, they took me there too, and I revived in soul and strengthened in body ...

I wandered around the city all day, with my hat on one side and whistling independently the most dashing motives that I had overheard in my summer shantans - a place that at first delighted me to the depths of my soul.

I worked in the office disgustingly and still wonder why they kept me there for six years, lazy, looked at work with disgust and on every occasion entered not only with the accountant, but also with the director in long, fierce disputes and polemics.

Probably because I was a cheerful person, joyfully looking at the wide world of God, a person who readily put off work for laughter, jokes and a number of intricate anecdotes, which refreshed those around who were mired in work, boring accounts and squabbles.

My literary activity began in 1904, and it was, as it seemed to me, a continuous triumph. Firstly, I wrote a story ... Secondly, I took it to the "Southern Territory". And thirdly (until now I am of the opinion that this is the most important thing in the story), thirdly, it was published!

For some reason I did not receive a fee for it, and this is all the more unfair because as soon as it was published, the newspaper's subscription and retail immediately doubled ...

The same envious, evil tongues that tried to connect my birthday with some other holiday also linked the fact of raising retail with the beginning of the Russian-Japanese war.

Well, yes, we, reader, know with you where the truth is ...

Having written four stories in two years, I decided that I had worked enough for the benefit of my native literature, and decided to have a thorough rest, but 1905 rolled up and, picking me up, twisted me like a chip.

I began to edit the magazine "Shtyk", which had great success in Kharkov, and completely abandoned my service ... Feverishly I wrote, drew cartoons, edited and corrected, and in the ninth issue I finished drawing to the point that Governor-General Peshkov fined me 500 rubles, dreaming that I will immediately pay them out of pocket money ...

I refused for many reasons, the main ones being: lack of money and unwillingness to indulge the whims of a frivolous administrator.

Seeing my steadfastness (the fine was not replaced by imprisonment), Peshkov lowered the price to 100 rubles.

I refused.

We bargained like crap, and I came to him almost ten times. He never managed to squeeze money out of me!

Then he, offended, said:

One of us has to leave Kharkov!

Your Excellency! - I objected. - Let's propose to Kharkiv citizens: who will they choose?

Since they loved me in the city and even vague rumors reached me about the desire of citizens to perpetuate my image by setting up a monument, Mr. Peshkov did not want to risk his popularity.

And I left, having managed to publish three issues of the Sword magazine before my departure, which was so popular that copies of it can be found even in the Public Library.

I arrived in Petrograd just for the New Year.

There was illumination again, the streets were decorated with flags, banners and lanterns. But I won't say anything. I will shut up!

And so I am sometimes reproached that I think about my merits more than is required by ordinary modesty. And I, - I can give my word of honor, - having seen all this illumination and joy, pretended that I did not at all notice the innocent cunning and sentimental, simple-minded attempts of the municipality to brighten up my first visit to a large unfamiliar city ... Modestly, incognito, I got into a cab. and drove incognito to the place of his new life.

And so - I started it.

My first steps were associated with the magazine "Satyricon", founded by us, and to this day I love, like my own child, this wonderful, cheerful magazine (8 rubles a year, 4 rubles for half a year).

His success was half my success, and I can proudly say now that a rare cultured person does not know our "Satyricon" (8 rubles for a year, 4 rubles for half a year).

In this place I am already approaching the last, nearest era of my life, and I will not say, but everyone will understand why I am silent in this place.

Out of a sensitive, tender, to the point of painful tender modesty, I fall silent.

I will not list the names of those persons who have recently become interested in me and wished to meet me. But if the reader ponders the true reasons for the arrival of the Slavic deputation, the Spanish Infante and President Falier, then perhaps my modest personality, stubbornly keeping in the shadows, will receive a completely different light ...

© Arkady Averchenko

NIKITA BOGOSLOVSKY TELLS ABOUT ARKADIA AVERCHENKO.

We know very little about the life and creative path of Averchenko, the most talented, witty, bright and popular writer-humorist of the pre-revolutionary decade. Perhaps the greatest amount of information about him can be gleaned from the article by the critic O. Mikhailov, preceding the collection of humorous stories by Averchenko (publishing house "Khudozhestvennaya literatura", 1964).

In this article, I am by no means going to subject numerous works of the writer to literary-critical analysis ... I just want, on the basis of the opportunity given to me, to acquaint with a number of little or even completely unknown information and sources in our country and briefly tell the reader about the stages of the biography of the writer, only slightly touching upon his creative activity.

“Biographical information about Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko is scarce. It is only known that he was born in 1881 in Sevastopol, in a poor merchant family ”(O. Mikhailov). Averchenko himself in the humorous "Encyclopedic Dictionary" says: "Rod. in 1882 ". Unfortunately, the exact date of birth cannot be established, since in his personal archive, taken from abroad by the late IS Zilbershtein and kept in TsGALI, there is not a single identity card indicating the year and month of birth. The writer died on March 12, 1925 in Prague and was buried in the local Olshansky cemetery, where a modest monument was erected to him with an incorrect date of birth carved on marble - "1884".

Timofei Petrovich Averchenko, the writer's father, and his mother Susanna Pavlovna had nine children - six girls and three boys, two of whom died in infancy. The writer's sisters, with the exception of one, outlived their brother for a long time.

Arkady Timofeevich's father was, according to O. Mikhailov, "an eccentric dreamer and a worthless businessman", to which the critic, apparently, came to the conclusion based on Averchenko's story "Father", as well as information from his own "Autobiography".

There is various information about the primary education of the writer. In Autobiography, he says that if it weren't for his sister, he would have remained illiterate. But, obviously, he still studied at the gymnasium for some time. According to the testimony of the writer NN Breshko-Breshkovsky, who knew Averchenko closely, "the lack of education - two classes in the gymnasium - was replenished with a natural mind." Indeed, he did not receive a complete secondary education, since due to his poor eyesight he could not study for a long time, and besides, soon as a result of an accident, he severely injured his eye, and did not succumb to final healing.

And now, leaving the teaching, Averchenko, as a 15-year-old boy, enters the service in a private transport office. He repeatedly recalls this period of his life in his stories. However, Averchenko, having worked in the office for a little over a year, in 1897 left for the Donbass, to the Bryansk mine, where he entered as a clerk on the recommendation of the engineer I. Terentyev, the husband of one of his sisters. After serving three years at the mine and subsequently writing several stories about his life there ("Evening", "Lightning" and others), he together with the mine office moved to Kharkov, where, as O. Mikhailov writes, "in the newspaper" Yuzhny Krai " On October 31, 1903, his first story appears. "

LD Leonidov, a famous entrepreneur who once worked at the Moscow Art Theater, and later the owner of theater enterprises in France and the United States, was one of the few art workers who knew Averchenko in his youth: “Arkasha Averchenko was tall, thin as a pole, a young man ... He overshadowed my friends at parties with his wit and successful funny impromptu ... "

Averchenko, being dismissed from service in 1907 with the words of the director: “You are a good person, but you’re not good for a devil”, having gone through several financially difficult months and did not find sufficient opportunities in Kharkov for his literary activity, to which he began to feel strong attraction, on the advice of friends he moved to St. Petersburg in January 1908.

I must say that by this time Averchenko already had some literary experience - in the last years of his Kharkov life he edited the satirical magazine "Shtyk" (1906-1907) and published several issues of the magazine "Mech". Five years after his appearance in the capital Averchenko on the pages of "Satyrikon" (No. 28, 1913) tells about his arrival in St. Petersburg as follows: “For several days in a row I wandered around St. Petersburg, looking closely at the signs of the editorial offices - my daring did not go further. What sometimes determines human fate: the editorial offices of "Jester" and "Oskolkov" were located on distant unfamiliar streets, and "Dragonfly" and "Gray Wolf" in the center ... Be "Fool" and "Shards" right there, in the center - maybe I would lay my humble head in one of these magazines. I'll go first and "Dragonfly" - I decided. - Alphabetically. This is what an ordinary, modest alphabet does to a person: I stayed at the Dragonfly.

In 1965, MG Kornfeld, recalling his acquaintance with his future employee, said: “Averchenko brought me several hilarious and excellent in form stories, which I gladly accepted. At that time, I was finishing the reorganization of "Dragonfly" and the formation of a new editorial staff. Averchenko became her permanent employee at the same time as Teffi, Sasha Cherny, Osip Dymov, O. L. d'Or and others ... "

Since the Strekoza magazine fell into complete decline, changes were necessary, and the appearance of the talented and energetic Averchenko was very helpful. And now, on April 1, 1908, "Dragonfly", founded by the father of the current editor, the owner of the soap factory Herman Kornfeld, came out under a new name: "Satyricon". The title was drawn by M. Dobuzhinsky, the drawing on the first page by L. Bakst. And Arkady Timofeevich, already then the secretary of the editorial board of "Strekoza", continued his activity in the same position in "Satyricon", of which he became editor in 1913. And soon after that, a serious conflict (mainly on material grounds) occurred between a group of the magazine's employees and the publisher, and Averchenko left the editorial office with the most talented writers and artists and founded his own magazine "New Satyricon". In its first issue, published on June 6, 1913, in connection with this conflict, Kornfeld's offended letter was published with hints of the possibility of reconciliation and a very poisonous and ironic response from the editorial board. For some time, both magazines were published in parallel, but about a year later, the old "Satyricon", deprived of the best authors and artists, was forced to close, losing a huge number of subscribers. And the "New Satyricon" successfully existed until August 1918, after which most of its employees went to emigration (Averchenko, Teffi, Sasha Cherny, S. Gorny, A. Bukhov, Remi, A. Yakovlev and others).

During his prosperous, successful life in St. Petersburg, Averchenko became extremely popular. "Satyricon" and large editions of collections of stories were immediately snapped up. In many theaters of the country, his plays (mostly staged stories) were successfully performed. And even His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II, being an admirer of Averchenkov's talent, once deigned to invite him to Tsarskoe Selo to read his works in the circle of the august family. But, as M.Kornfeld says: "It seemed to us all that the speech of the editor of" Satyricon "in Tsarskoe Selo would hardly be appropriate and desirable." The visit did not take place, Averchenko referred to illness.

During ten years of his life in the capital, Averchenko traveled a lot around the country with performances, and went on trips abroad, as a rule, together with fellow fellow artists in the magazine, artists A.A. Radakov and N.V. Remizov (Remi). After the very first foreign voyage in the summer of 1911, he published an appendix to the Satyricon for 1912 - the book Expedition of the Satyricons to Western Europe, which had a resounding success. And in the same year, in addition to hard work in the magazine, he went on a long tour of Russia, participating in many cities in the evenings of humorist writers.

How did he look outwardly, this young and awkward provincial in the recent past, who in a short time managed to become a famous writer who constantly made the whole reading Russia laugh? The artist N.V. Remizov, already in exile, describes the first appearance of Averchenko in the editorial office: “A man of large stature entered the room with a slightly puffy face, but with a pleasant, open expression: eyes looked through their pince-nez, which had the peculiarity of smiling without participation muscles of the face. The impression was at first glance at him - attractive, despite the slight shade of provincial "chic", like a black, too wide pince-nez ribbon and a white starched waistcoat, details that were already "taboo" in St. Petersburg. "

The success of the magazine, large circulation of books, performances, theatrical performances have brought material prosperity. Averchenko moves to a cozy apartment, furnishes it beautifully. NN Breshko-Breshkovsky recalls how "in the mornings Averchenko was engaged in gymnastics to the sounds of a gramophone, working with pood weights." Although he did not have a musical education, at one time he was seriously fond of opera, then operetta, and in numerous miniature theaters, where his plays were staged, he was his own man. Often in "Satyricon" his ironic and funny theatrical reviews appeared under one of the many pseudonyms - Ae, Wolf, Foma Opiskin, Medusa-Gorgon, Falstaff and others. The writer, as a rule, spent his evenings at the Vienna restaurant with his satiricon friends, writers, actors, and musicians. Chess was one of Averchenko's many everyday hobbies. L.O. Utesov told me that he was an outstanding player, that he composed and typed puzzles.

The war of 1914 had almost no effect on the life and work of Averchenko - due to his "one-eyed" character, he was not drafted into the army and continued to edit his magazine, often speaking at charity events in favor of the wounded and victims of the war. After October, both Averchenko himself and the editorial board of "Satyrikon" took a sharply negative position towards the Soviet regime, after which the magazine was closed by a government decree in August 1918.

And then everything collapsed. The magazine is gone. Books don't come out. A solid bank account is requisitioned. They intend to "condense" the apartment. In the future - a hungry and cold winter. Friends and associates are leaving Petrograd - in every direction. And then a proposal from Moscow from the artist Koshevsky - to organize a cabaret theater somewhere in the south of Russia. But Averchenko and Radakov, who arrived in Moscow, find Koshevsky seriously ill. The whole plan was thwarted. And then Averchenko, together with Teffi, who was also in Moscow, went to Kiev (they were invited to literary evenings by two different entrepreneurs).

In "Memoirs" Teffi very vividly and funny describes the numerous troubles that the writers had to get into during their long trip through the occupied by the Germans Ukraine. In Kiev, Averchenko, however, did not stay long and through Kharkov and Rostov, where he lived for several months, speaking with evenings of humor, as a refugee went to his homeland, to Sevastopol, then occupied by whites. It was at the end of March or at the beginning of April 1919. But what he was doing in Sevastopol from April to June this year, when the French troops surrendered the city to the Red Army, information was nowhere to be obtained. And, from June 1919 to the end of 1920, Arkady Timofeevich, as well as famous writers I. Surguchev, E. Chirikov and I. Shmelev actively worked in the newspaper "Yug" (later "South of Russia"), intensively campaigning for help Volunteer army. Averchenko also, together with the writer Anatoly Kamensky (who later returned to the USSR), opened the House of the Artist cabaret theater, where at the beginning of 1920 his multi-act play The Game with Death, written last summer, was staged. Judging by the review published in the newspaper Yug (January 4, 1920), the play was a good success. And in the spring of the same year, Averchenko already participates in the performances of the new theater - "The Nest of Migratory Birds" and continues to arrange his evenings in Sevastopol, Balaklava and Evpatoria.

By the end of October, Wrangel's troops were in a desperate situation in the Crimea. On November 2, the Reds occupied Sevastopol. And a few days before that, Averchenko in a steamer hold on coal sacks went to Constantinople. He told about this journey with bitter humor in the book “Notes of the Innocent. I am in Europe "(Berlin, publishing house" North ", 1923). Friends in Constantinople (now Istanbul) rented him a small room in Pere (urban area) in advance, and he lived there for a year and a half, resurrecting his Nest theater. At that time, there were a lot of Russian refugees in the city; Russian theaters of miniatures and restaurants worked.

But life in a country alien to manners, traditions and language became extremely difficult for Averchenko. He leaves Turkey with his troupe, and on April 13, 1922 arrives on the Slavic land - in Sofia, where he intended to stay for a long time, but since the then government of Stamboliysky treated white emigrants very harshly, and introduced numerous restrictions for them, the troupe, together with its leader After giving only two performances, she hastily departed for Yugoslavia, and on May 27, the first performance, which was a huge success, took place in Belgrade. Then another one, according to a different program - and Averchenko with the theater leaves for Prague, giving a concert in Zagreb on the way. And two days later, on June 17, Averchenko arrives in Prague, where he finally settles for permanent residence.

Prague, which hospitably and cordially met the writer, also pleased him. He quickly acquired many friends and admirers. Many of his stories have been translated into Czech. On July 3, the first evening took place, which was a great success and received rave reviews in many newspapers. Then, from July to September, he toured the country - he visited Brno, Plzen, Moravska Ostrava, Bratislava, Uzhgorod, Mukachevo and, returning to Prague only in the first half of September, began to work intensively for the Prager Press newspaper, there appeared weekly his feuilletons and new stories. In October, a successful tour took place in the Baltic States, Poland and Berlin.

Trouble awaited Averchenko in connection with his upcoming trip to Romania - at first they did not give a visa for a long time. When he finally appeared before the Chisinau public on October 6, they gave the writer a standing ovation, after which an unexpected complication occurred in Bucharest. The fact is that the then Romanian newspapers suddenly remembered that during the World War Averchenko in his "New Satyricon" placed several caustic and offensive feuilletons about the Romanian army, and demanded that the government ban his speeches and leave the country. But later the matter was settled after a petition through diplomatic channels of members of the Czech government, admirers of the writer's talent.

And then again wandering: Belgrade, Berlin again. An invitation was received from the USA, and a vacation at the Riga seaside was planned. But all plans were broken - on the eve of his departure to Riga, his left eye, damaged in the Kharkiv times, seriously hurt. An operation was performed and an artificial eye had to be inserted. It would seem that everything went well, but the writer began to feel a general malaise, at first not attaching importance to it. But things got worse - staying at the Podobrady resort did not help, suffocation attacks began, and on January 28, 1925, he was almost unconscious, was admitted to a clinic at the Prague City Hospital. Diagnosis: almost complete weakening of the heart muscle, enlargement of the aorta and renal sclerosis.

Despite a noticeable improvement in early February, after a secondary hemorrhage in the stomach at 9 a.m. on March 12, 1925, at the age of 44, the remarkable Russian humorist writer Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko died in a hospitable but foreign country. His body was placed in a metal coffin and enclosed in a special case in case someone in the future - relatives or cultural organizations - could transport the ashes of the deceased home. Averchenko had no direct heirs, he was a bachelor.

From the very beginning of his St. Petersburg activity, many reviews appeared in the press about Averchenko's works. In the West, after the death of the writer, many books have been published dedicated to him. But in none of them, for some reason, two major works are ever evaluated and even almost never mentioned: the story "Approaches and two others" and the humorous novel "The Patron's Joke".

Averchenko repeatedly used his favorite literary device - in literary characters he displayed the appearance and characters of his friends and associates in the "Satyricon", most often the artists A. Radakov and N. Remizov, depicting them (under pseudonyms) in the "Expedition to Western Europe" (in In this book, the artists drew cartoons on each other). In fact, the characters of Podkhodtsev are not a story, but a series of funny and sometimes lyrical short stories with three “cross-cutting” characters - Podkhodtsev, Klinkov and Gromov - there is also a similarity with the characters and appearance of satiricon friends.

Averchenko's last work, The Patron's Joke, was written in 1923 in Zoppot (now Sopot) and published in Prague in 1925 after the writer's death. The novel is both cheerful and sad, permeated with nostalgia for the author's dear heart of carefree bohemian Petersburg life. And again, in the characters of the novel, the signs of the author himself and his friends.

Arkady Averchenko was buried in Prague at the Olshansky cemetery.

In 2006, a television program "The Man Who Laughed" was filmed about Arkady Averchenko.

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Collections of stories:

"Humorous stories"
"Merry Oysters"
"General history, processed by" Satyricon ""
"Twelve portraits (in the" Boudoir "format)"
"Children"
"A dozen knives in the back of the revolution"
"Notes of the Innocent"
"Boiling boiler"
"Circles on the water"
"Little Leniniana"
"Devilry"
"About good people, in essence!"
"Pantheon of advice to young people"
"Stories for Convalescents"
"Stories about children"
"Tales of the Old School"
"Funny in Scary"
"Weeds"
"Black and white"
"Miracles in the sieve"
"Expedition to Western Europe of satiricons: Yuzhakin, Sanders, Mifasov and Krysakov"
"Humorous stories"

A. T. Averchenko's creativity

Traditions of Russian satire in prose by Arkady Averchenko

The purpose of the lesson: to present the work of A. T. Averchenko (1881-1925) from the point of view of continuing the traditions of Russian literature.

Methodological techniques: reviewing, discussion of essays; teacher's story; text analysis, student report.

During the classes

I... Reading and discussion of 2-3 compositions on the works of Bunin and Kuprin

II. Teacher's word

The idea of ​​a literary situation can never be complete without its humorous and satirical pages. At the beginning of the century, the aged and bored "Strekoza", in which the young Chekhov was once published, in 1908 was transformed by a group of young employees of this magazine into a new magazine - "Satyricon". Over time (since 1913) it modernized its name, becoming the "New Satyricon", but continued to unite remarkable artistic forces. Artists Re-Mi (N. Remizov), L. Bakst, I. Bilibin, M. Dobuzhinsky, A. Benois, N. Altman collaborated in this magazine, talented and witty writers - Sasha Cherny, S. Gorodetsky, Teffi (Lokhvitskaya) , A. Averchenko. A. Kuprin, L. Andreev, A. Tolstoy, A. Green were published in "Satyricon". The highlight of each issue was the works of Arkady Averchenko. Under funny pseudonyms (Medusa Gorgon, Falstaff, Foma Opiskin), he appeared with editorials and topical feuilletons, wrote about the theater, about musical evenings, about art exhibitions, and only signed stories with his last name.

Averchenko is a master of humorous storytelling. The best of them, rather, belong to the satirical genre.

III. Conversation on the stories of Averchenko

Issues for discussion:

- What traditions of Russian literature does Averchenko continue?

- What associations arise when reading his stories?

1. The story "Victor Polikarpovich".

The beginning of the story "Victor Polikarpovich" is a reminiscence of Gogol's "Inspector General": "An audit came to one city ... The chief auditor was a stern, straightforward, fair person with a loud, imperious voice and decisive actions that awe everyone around."

(Reference: reminiscence- designation of features in a work of art that evoke the memory of another work by using characteristic images, speech patterns, rhythmic and syntactic moves. Reminiscence resembles the creative manner, motives and themes of an author and is designed for the associative perception of the reader). The plot of the story is reminiscent of the plot of Gogol's play: “the inhabitants of the city complained about the policeman Dymba, who illegally and incorrectly collected from them three hundred rubles of“ port tax for sea improvement ”. This collection was, of course, an ordinary bribe. Gogol's town is located in such a wilderness, from which "if you ride for three years, you won't reach any state." For Averchenko: "The nearest sea is six hundred miles across two provinces." The modern auditor is a real one, he gradually "brings to clean water" officials - higher and higher in rank - on whose order this "port dues" was collected. We already see his adherence to principles and incorruptibility, his determination to find the truth and punish the culprit. Finally, it turns out that the official from St. Petersburg, who "developed" the project of the sea tax, is Viktor Polikarpovich himself. The zeal of the inspector immediately fades away, and the "switchman" is punished - one policeman Dymba, and even then "for smoking while on duty."

2. The Robinson's story.

The story "Robinsons" depicts the former spy Akatsiev, on the heels of the intellectual Narymsky and calculating which rules, instructions and laws he violated. The situation was borrowed by Averchenko from Saltykov-Shchedrin: the heroes find themselves on a desert island. The conditionality of the position emphasizes its absurdity. Akatsiev saves the drowning Narymsky only because he counted about one hundred and ten thousand violations, for which “upon returning to Russia” Narymsky will have to pay fines “or sit for about one and a half years”.

3. The story "The Poet".

The style of many of Averchenko's stories resembles Chekhov's style - laconic, witty, well-aimed. Like Chekhov, Averchenko makes fun of stupidity, vulgarity, mediocrity. Averchenko is Chekhov's inventive in terms of plots, sometimes he builds them almost "out of nothing." For example, in the story "The Poet", cheap cliches are made fun of, which are passed off as creativity. An annoying and impudent visitor pursues the editor, offering his verses. It becomes a kind of obsession. The graphomaniac slips his "creation" ("I wish I had a black curl for her / Every morning to scratch ...") into a book, into his coat pocket, and sends it in a letter. The editor discovers "poems" in his shoes, in a cigar drawer, in a pillow, and even at dinner - inside a cold chicken. Unable to bear it, he writes a letter to the publisher asking for release from editorial duties, and on the back of the sheet he habitually finds all the same lines.

4. The story “Mermaid.

Another story has a similar theme - "Mermaid". The story is also about the poet. The author makes fun of romanticism divorced from life, parodies modernist delights. The poet Pelikanov, dreamed of meeting a real mermaid, expresses himself in cliches: "silvered moonlit river", "silent molyba", "sad eyes ... like stars" Artist Krantz comes up with a story on the go, somewhat reminiscent of both style and style of Kuprin “Olesya”: “Once in the summer I was hunting ... Actually, what kind of hunting? So, I wandered with a gun. I love loneliness. And so, wandering in this way, one warm summer evening I came across an abandoned fishing house on the river bank ... "The sublime vocabulary of the romantic beginning (" beautiful silence, desolation and loneliness "," tenderness " "Schiller, Pushkin and Dostoevsky" - the hero reads them) contrasts with the lowered, harsh words of the beautiful "mermaid" that she got from the fishermen.

Her "sad eyes" and "coral lips" seduce the hero for a short time. At first he is frightened off by the smell of fish (“I would never kiss a perch or crucian carp”), then the manners: “she ate the minnows whole, with their heads and entrails”, combed their hair with a fragment of “fish ridge with bones, in the form of teeth of a ridge, and on in some places the fish meat has not yet been eaten with these teeth ”. Finally, the hero, with relief, pushes his "beautiful captive" back into the water. This story instantly cures the poet Pelikanov's romantic rubbish: “Perhaps I'll go home. It’s a little damp nowadays. ”

5. Results of the discussion.

Continuing the traditions of Russian satire, Russian literature - Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Chekhov, Kuprin - Averchenko is relevant not only for his time, but also for ours: the objects of satire did not disappear, they only slightly transformed.

III... We listen to the report (or essay) of a previously prepared student on the political satire of Averchenko ("A dozen knives in the back of the revolution").

IV... Questions about the creativity of A. T. Averchenko (questions can be used as individual tasks on the cards)

- What is the name of the satirical magazine "Strekoza" since 1913?

- Under what pseudonyms did Arkady Averchenko write?

- Where do you see the development of Gogol traditions in the story of AT Averchenko "Victor Polikarpovich"?

- What Chekhovian traditions are continued by A. T. Averchenko?

- What is the subject of AT Averchenko's satire? Give examples.

- What satirical techniques does A. T. Averchenko use in his stories?

- What are the political convictions of A. T. Averchenko? How were they reflected in his work?

- Where do you see the relevance of A. T. Averchenko's work?

Together with the board of mines he moved to Kharkov.

In October 1903, the first story of Arkady Averchenko, "How I had to insure my life," was published in the Kharkov newspaper "Yuzhny Krai". Averchenko himself considered the story "The Righteous One" ("Journal for All", 1904) to be his literary debut.

In 1905, he collaborated with the Kharkov Provincial Gazette.

Since 1906 he edited the journal "Shtyk", since 1907 - the journal "Mech".

Averchenko moved to St. Petersburg and got a job as a secretary of the satirical magazine "Strekoza", which later changed its name to "Satyricon". From 1913 he took up the position of editor of the magazine. His publishing colleagues were Sasha Cherny, Nadezhda Teffi, Nikolai Remizov and others.

The best humorous stories of Averchenko were published in "Satyricon".

In 1910 his books "Merry Oysters", "Stories (Humorous)", "Bunnies on the Wall" were published, which brought the author the fame of "Russian Twain". In 1912 - "Water Circles" and "Stories for Convalescents", also warmly received by the readers.

In 1910-1912, Averchenko, in the company of his friends-artists Alexei Radakov and Nikolai Remizov, traveled across Europe, after which he published the book "Expedition of the Satyricons to Western Europe" (1912).

In addition to stories and plays, Arkady Averchenko also wrote theater reviews under the pseudonyms Volk, Foma Opiskin, Meduza-Gorgon, Falstaff, etc.

In 1913, after a conflict between a group of employees of "Satyricon" and the publisher, Averchenko and a number of writers and artists left the editorial office. Averchenko founded his own magazine "New Satyricon". For some time, both magazines were published in parallel, but a year later the old "Satyricon" was closed, and "New Satyricon" existed until the summer of 1918.

Then Averchenko moved to Sevastopol, where since 1919 he collaborated with the newspaper "Yug". At the beginning of 1920, he opened the House of the Artist cabaret theater, where his multi-act play Play with Death was successfully staged. In April 1920 he organized his own theater "The Nest of Migratory Birds".

In November 1920, he emigrated to Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). In 1921 in Paris he published a collection of pamphlets "A dozen knives in the back of the revolution".

In April 1922 he moved to Sofia (Bulgaria), then to Belgrade (Serbia).

Since June 1922, the writer has lived permanently in Prague (Czech Republic). On July 3, his first evening in Prague took place, which was a great success and received rave reviews in many newspapers. From July to September, Averchenko toured Brno, Plzen, Moravskaya Ostrava, Bratislava, Uzhgorod, Mukachevo. Returning to Prague in the first half of September, he began working for the Prager Press newspaper, where his feuilletons and new stories appeared on a weekly basis. In October, Averchenko made a successful tour in the Baltics, Poland and Berlin.

In 1923, the Berlin publishing house "Sever" published his collection of Averchenko's emigre stories "Notes of the Simple-minded". Also in the emigration came the collections of stories "Children" and "Funny in the terrible".

The last work of Averchenko - the novel "The Patron's Joke", written in 1923, was published in 1925 after the writer's death.

In early 1925, Averchenko underwent surgery to remove his left eye; on March 12, 1925, he died. He was buried at the Olshansky cemetery in Prague.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Averchenko Arkady Timofeevich

Russian writer-humorist, playwright, theater critic

Born on March 15 (27 N.S.) in Sevastopol in a merchant's family. He was educated at home, because due to poor eyesight and poor health, he could not study at the gymnasium. I read a lot and indiscriminately.

At the age of fifteen he went to work as a junior scribe in a transport office. A year later, he left Sevastopol and began working as a clerk at the Bryansk coal mine, where he served for three years. In 1900 he moved to Kharkov.

In 1903, Averchenko's first story, “How I had to insure my life,” was published in the Kharkov newspaper “Yuzhny Krai”, in which one can already feel his literary style. In 1906 he became the editor of the satirical magazine "Shtyk", almost completely represented by his materials. After the closure of this magazine, the head of the next one - "Sword" - also soon closed.

In 1907 he moved to St. Petersburg and collaborated in the satirical magazine "Strekoza", later transformed into "Satyricon". Then he becomes the permanent editor of this popular publication.

In 1910, three books by Averchenko were published, which made him famous throughout reading Russia: "Merry Oysters", "Stories (humorous)", book 1, "Bunnies on the wall", book II. “… Their author is destined to become a Russian Twain…”, V. Polonsky remarked shrewdly.

Published in 1912, the books "Circles on the Water" and "Stories for Convalescents" approved the title of "King of Laughter" for the author.

Averchenko greeted the February revolution with enthusiasm, but he did not accept the October revolution. In the fall of 1918 he left for the south, collaborated in the newspapers Priazovsky Krai and Yug, performed reading his stories, and was in charge of the literary section in the House of the Artist. At the same time he wrote the plays "The Medicine for Stupidity" and "The Game with Death", and in April 1920 he organized his own theater "The Nest of Migratory Birds". Six months later he emigrates through Constantinople abroad; from June 1922 he lived in Prague, briefly leaving for Germany, Poland, Romania, the Baltic states. Published his book "A dozen knives in the back of the revolution", a collection of stories: "Children", "Funny in the terrible", a humorous novel "The Patron's Joke", etc.

In 1924 he undergoes an operation to remove an eye, after which he cannot recover for a long time; heart disease soon progresses sharply.

Died in the Prague City Hospital on January 22 (March 3, n. S.) 1925. He was buried in Prague at the Olshansky Cemetery.

He was like a whirlwind. In love with life and the sun

Healthy body, strong, young,

He drunk us, bursting into our window,

And blinded, shining a star between us.

Burning in the fire of immeasurable success

Charmingly fooling around and naughty,

He laughed, and the whole country, like,

Triumphantly, she echoed the king's merriment.