Brief biography of D.I.

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin - Russian writer and publicist, playwright and translator during the reign of Catherine the Great, the founder of everyday comedy, who worked in such a literary direction as classicism. The life and work of this man made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian literature.

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was born on April 3, 1745 and grew up in a noble family in Moscow. His family dates back to German roots, so his surname is the Russian variation of the Germanic name Von Vizin.

Initially, the future genius was educated at home, and then he was enrolled in the lists of students of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow University. Afterwards, for his services in the literary sphere, he was sent to St. Petersburg, where he met such iconic figures of the state as Lomonosov, Sumarokov.

The creative path: a success story

The first works began to appear as early as 1760. The writer began with translations that were periodically published. The first landmark publication was in the form of an early version of the famous play "The Minor". Later, by 1781, the completed play will be staged on the stage of St. Petersburg, and two years later it will take the stage of Moscow. Eight years later, a comedy with a satirical focus called "Brigadier" came out from the pen of the classicist, which elevated Fonvizin as a writer and was honored to be read in front of the empress herself in her summer house at Peterhof.

Like many writers, Fonvizin spent a lot of time abroad, in particular in France. His work as an adviser to the office is accompanied by the writing of a large number of journalistic texts, for example, "Discourse on the indispensable state laws", as well as work on translations that allowed the Russian reader to get acquainted with the works of Rousseau, Ovid and even Walter.

Personal life

Little is known about the writer's personal life. His wife's name was Katerina Ivanovna Rogovikova, she was from the family of a wealthy merchant. Children are not mentioned in his biography.

It is only known that he was an exemplary family man, therefore all his works are instructive in nature. In matters of family and marriage, he was categorical: a woman is adorned with loyalty, piety and education, and a man is virtue, strength and wisdom.

last years of life

In the last years of his life, spending time traveling abroad in Europe, the writer will encounter a disease that was too tough for the medicine of those years. The first apoplectic gift is enough for him, because of which he will be forced to return to Russia.

Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (1745 1792) - one of the most educated people of his era. He was a writer and playwright, publicist and translator. He is rightfully considered the creator of the national Russian everyday comedy, the most famous of which are "Minor" and "Brigadier". Born on April 14, 1745 in Moscow, in a noble family of descendants of a knight of the Livonian Order. Even under Ivan the Terrible, one of the knights of the Order of Von Wiesen was captured and remained in the service of the Russian Tsar. From him came the Fonvizins family (the prefix "von" was added in the Russian manner to the surname Wiesen). Thanks to his father, he received his primary education at home. He was brought up in the patriarchal way of life that reigned in the family. From 1755 he studied at the noble gymnasium at Moscow University, then at the philosophy faculty of the same university.

Since 1762 he has been in the public service, at first he has worked as a translator, then, since 1763, in the collegium of foreign affairs as a secretary of the cabinet minister Elagin. After working here for about six years, in 1769 he became the personal secretary of Count Panin. From 1777 to 1778 travels abroad, having spent a lot of time in France. In 1779 he returned to Russia and entered the service as an advisor to the office of the Secret Expedition. In 1783, his patron, Count Panin, passed away and he immediately resigned with the rank of state councilor and 3000 rubles. annual pension. I devoted my free time to travel.

Since 1783, Denis Ivanovich visited Western Europe, Germany, Austria, spent a lot of time in Italy. In 1785, the writer suffered his first stroke, due to which in 1787 he had to return to Russia. Despite the paralysis that tormented him, he continued to engage in literary work.
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin passed away on December 1 (12), 1792. The writer was buried in St. Petersburg at the Lazarevskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Creative way

The creation of the first works dates back to the 1760s. Being himself by his nature a lively and witty person, who loved to laugh and joke, he creates his early works in the genre of satire. This was facilitated by his gift of irony, which did not leave him until the end of his life. During these years, there is an intensive work in the literary field. In 1760, in the Literary Heritage, he published his so-called "early" Minor ". At the same time, in the period from 1761 to 1762, he translated Holberg's fables, the works of Rousseau, Ovid, Gresset, Terrason and Voltaire.

In 1766, his first famous satirical comedy The Brigadier was completed. The play became an event in literary circles, the author himself masterfully read it and Fonvizin, who was still little known at that time, was invited to Peterhof to read his work to Empress Catherine II herself. The success was enormous. The play was staged on the theater stage in 1770, but was published only after the death of the author. The comedy does not leave the stage to this day. A legend has come down to us that after the premiere, Prince Potemkin said to Fonvizin: “Die, Denis! But you can't write better! " In the same year, a translation of the treatise "Trading nobility as opposed to the military nobility" was published, which provided evidence of the need for the nobility to engage in trade.

Mature creativity

Of the publicistic works, one of the best is considered "Discourse on the indispensable state laws", created in 1783. In the autumn of the same 1783, the premiere of the main play in Fonvizin's work, the comedy "The Minor", took place. Despite the vast literary heritage left by Fonvizin, for most of us his name is associated with this particular comedy. The first production of the play was not easy. The censors were embarrassed by the satirical orientation of the play, the boldness of the lines of some of the heroes of the comedy. Finally, on September 24, 1782, the production took place on the stage of the Free Russian Theater. The success was colossal. As one of the authors of the "Dramatic Dictionary" testified: "The theater was incomparably filled and the audience applauded the play by throwing purses." The next performance took place in Moscow on May 14, 1783 at the Medox theater. Since that time, for more than 250 years, the play has been staged with invariable success in all theaters in Russia. With the birth of cinema, the first film adaptation of the comedy appeared. In 1926, Grigory Roshal made the film The Skotinin Lord based on The Minor.

It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Fonvizin's "Minor" on subsequent generations of writers. His works have been read and studied by all subsequent generations of writers from Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Belinsky to the present day. However, in the life of the writer himself, she played a fatal role. Catherine II perfectly understood the freedom-loving orientation of the comedy as an attempt on the existing social and state foundations. After 1783, when a number of the writer's satirical works were published, she personally forbade further publications in print of his works. And this continued until the writer's death.

However, despite the bans on publication, Denis Ivanovich continues to write. During this period, the comedy "The Choice of the Governor", the feuilleton "Conversation with Princess Khaldina" was written. Just before his departure, Fonvizin wanted to publish a five-volume edition of his works, but was refused by the empress. Of course, it was published, but much later after the departure of the master.

The most important conquest of Fonvizin, as already noted, was a new understanding of character for Russian literature. True, his entire complexity of character is limited to one or two traits. But the playwright motivates these character traits and explains them both by biographical circumstances and class affiliation.

Pushkin, having read "A Conversation with Princess Khaldina", scenes from an unfinished play by Fonvizin, admired how vividly the writer was able to portray a person, what nature and Russian "semi-education" made him in the 18th century. Later researchers, regardless of whether it is about the elements of realism in the work of Fonvizin or about his belonging to "enlightenment realism", noted literally the historical accuracy of his works. Fonvizin was able to paint a reliable picture of the mores of his time, since he was guided not only by the educational idea of ​​human nature, but also realized that a specific character bears the imprint of social and political life.

Showing this connection between man and society, he made his images, conflicts, plots an expression of social laws. Demonstrated with brilliance of talent, this discovery of Fonvizin in practice became one of the basic principles of mature realism.

After the "Minor" and his retirement, Fonvizin intended to devote himself entirely to literary activity. In 1783 he anonymously sent a number of satirical works to the "Interlocutor of the lovers of the Russian word." The most harsh of them, "Several questions that could arouse special attention in intelligent and honest people," veiledly directed directly to the empress, was regarded by her as impermissible on the part of her subject insolence. When it became known about the authorship of Fonvizin, he practically lost the opportunity to publish.

The brochure The Life of Count N. I. Panin (1784) was published abroad without the author's name. The name of Fonvizin was not mentioned even when it appeared in Russian translations. The translation of IG Zimmerman's work "On national curiosity" (1785) and the story "Callisthenes" (1786) also appeared anonymously.

Meanwhile, Fonvizin did his best to restore contact with the reader. By the 1780s. includes the program of the journal "Moskovskiye soobshcheniya", compiled by him, in 1788 he unsuccessfully tries to get permission to publish the one-man journal "Friend of honest people, or Starodum".

Fonvizin's “Complete Works and Translations”, already announced by subscription, in 5 volumes, did not come true. But, like many other unpublished authors, Fonvizin found his way to the reader in the manuscript, continuing to denounce the Russian autocracy even under the ban.

History of Russian Literature: in 4 volumes / Edited by N.I. Prutskov and others - L., 1980-1983

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Magic land! There in old years, Satyrs are a brave ruler, Fonvizin shone, a friend of freedom ... A.S. Pushkin

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Born into a wealthy noble family. From 1755 to 1760 he studied at the gymnasium at Moscow University, and in 1761-1762 - at the Faculty of Philosophy of the same university. During his student years he was engaged in translations. In 1762, Fonvizin decided to be a translator for the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and moved to St. Petersburg.

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A nobleman by birth, Fonvizin for ten years entered the gymnasium that had just opened at Moscow University. In 1760, among the ten best students, he was taken to St. Petersburg to meet with the founder of the university, M.V. Lomonosov. A student of the philosophy department, Fonvizin has established himself with translations from Latin, French and German. Excellent knowledge of foreign languages ​​led him to serve in the College of Foreign Affairs. In Petersburg, he became close to the outstanding writers of his time - Derzhavin, Kheraskov, Knyazhnin ...

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Fonvizin's literary activity begins in the 60s of the 18th century. An inquisitive and witty person, he was created in order to become a satirist. And there were enough reasons for bitter laughter in the Russian reality of that time. Fonvizin saw that embezzlers, bribe-takers, careerists gathered around the throne of Catherine II, that the waves of peasant uprisings were menacing signs of an impending popular storm.

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As a result of communication with a circle of young freethinking officers, he created "A Message to My Servants ..." (1769) - a satirical work based on the traditions of Russian fables and satire. At the same time, the writer shows an interest in drama, he has an idea for an original Russian satirical comedy. The first example of this kind was his "Brigadier" (1766-1769).

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Drama as one of the genres of fiction differs significantly from lyrics and epic primarily in that it is intended to be performed on stage. Its content consists of speeches, conversations of the characters in the form of a dialogue (a conversation between two or more characters) and a monologue (speech, story, expression of thoughts and feelings in the first person). The speech of the characters is accompanied by remarks - the author's instructions about the setting of the action, about the inner state of the characters, their facial expressions and gestures.

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The main types of dramatic works are tragedy, drama, comedy. In comedy, certain aspects of social life, negative traits and properties of people's characters are ridiculed. Satire (from Latin sature- mixture, mishmash) is a kind of comic, the most mercilessly ridiculing human imperfection, sharply condemning human vices or the imperfection of human life through ridicule

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In his most significant work - the comedy "The Minor" (1781) - Fonvizin points to the root of all Russia's troubles - serfdom. The author evaluates and judges not human vices in themselves, but above all social relations. The goodies - the enlightened nobles - not only condemn serfdom, but fight it. The comedy is built on an acute social conflict. Life in the Prostakovs' house is presented not as a summary picture of ridiculous customs, but as a system of relations based on serfdom.

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The author creates multi-faceted characters, revealing the inner drama of such negative characters as Eremeevna and Prostakova. According to N.V. Gogol, "The Minor" is "... a truly public comedy." In 1782, Fonvizin resigned and was engaged only in literary activity. In 1783 he published a number of satirical works. The empress herself answered them with irritation.

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The last years of his life Fonvizin was seriously ill (paralysis), but he continued to write until his death. In 1789 he began work on his autobiographical novella "A sincere confession in my deeds and thoughts," but did not finish this work. The story is a wonderful work of Russian prose. Here, in the image of the author, the character of a person and a writer is recreated - Russian in mind, humor, irony, the spiritual wealth of a person is shown, who knows how to rise above his weaknesses and fearlessly tell his compatriots about them.