Literary portrait of the writer ln andreev. Portraits of Leonid Andreev, "before" and "after"

In 1906, Leonid Andreev's wife died. I described the details of this tragic story at myself - http://jenya444.livejournal.com/271560.html - and here I place Andreev's portraits "before" (by Repin, 1904 and 1905) and "after" (by Serov, all three - 1907). First Serov, then Repin:

From the book ZhZL about Serov:

That summer, in Ino, Serov met with the writer Leonid Andreev. He became close to him during the preparation for the publication of the satirical magazine "Bogey" and even then he became convinced that their views on what is happening in Russia largely coincide.
A year ago, the publisher of the Golden Fleece magazine, NP Ryabushinsky, ordered Serov to make a portrait of Leonid Andreev for the magazine, and at the same time conveyed in a letter the condition set by the writer: Andreev wants Serov to paint his portrait. But circumstances divorced them, and only two months later Serov received a letter from Andreev from Berlin. Having muffledly mentioned his sudden disappearance “into the limits of inaccessibility,” the writer admitted: most of all he regrets that “I don’t have to be written by you.”
In the same letter, Andreev transparently hinted at his participation in the July uprising of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in Sveaborg, after which he was forced to hide from arrest in Norway. And then he mentioned that he met with a family who had also left Russia in Stockholm. They decided to settle in Berlin.
And now they meet again, and Serov is amazed at the change that has taken place with the writer. Two years ago, at Gorky's dacha in Kuokkala, when they were discussing plans to create "Bogey", Andreev looked completely different, his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, his whole appearance exuded energy. Like Serov, he was excited by the idea of ​​challenging the authorities. Now his gaze has gone out, deep wrinkles are visible on his face - an imprint of inner anguish, as if he had survived a serious illness.
In the conversation, the reasons for these changes were revealed: the death in Berlin, in November, of his wife, Alexandra Mikhailovna, at the birth of her second son, Daniel. After her death, he could no longer stay in Berlin, he went to Capri, to Gorky. Gorky convinced - salvation is in work. Overcoming himself, he began to write again, finished a story on the Gospel story - about Christ and Judas.
“And here again,” Andreev finished wearily, “and, by the way, bought a plot next door for the construction of a dacha, six versts from here, on the Black River.

The life span of Leonid Andreev was released to an insulting small. Only 48 years old. And there were no calm ones among them, only a swing, up and down. Instant literary fame after the debut collection of short stories in 1901, recognition by L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov, M. Gorky - and almost complete oblivion under the reign of Soviet power. Suicide attempts based on unhappy love - and two happy marriages (the first wife died in childbirth), which gave him five talented children. An enthusiastic welcome of the first Russian revolution (he managed to sit in prison for its ideals) - and a complete rejection of the ideas of Bolshevism.

And, like any very talented person, he is talented in many ways. He was an excellent navigator (his own flotilla of yachts in the Baltic), an artist (he was praised by Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov) ...

He was in a hurry to catch everything.

When a group of tourists from England came on an excursion one day, they were delighted from the doorway: oh, we know, we know, Andreev, a famous photographer! - smiles Tatyana Polushina, head of the Leonid Andreev House-Museum in Oryol. - After all, he was one of the first in Russia to take a color photo using the "autochrome" technique *. Simply put, this is an image on glass.

- And how do the British know about this?

The fact is that the director of the Russian Archives in Leeds, philologist Richard Davis, from his youth was a great admirer of Russian literature (he himself studied in Leningrad) and was very fond of Andreev's work. It so happened that after the death of Leonid Nikolaevich in 1919, most of the writer's archive ended up in Argentina. His son Savva lived there and died in 1970. Juanita's widow was ready to sell the archive of Russia for a symbolic payment, but bureaucratic delays dragged out the case, and then Richard Davis went to Argentina ...

- Intercepted?

Rather, he did a good deed. It was then that the world learned that Leonid Nikolaevich was not only a writer of the first magnitude, but also a master of color photography. Now there are about 400 Andreev's photographs in Leeds, 56 are kept in Orel, in our funds, about a dozen in the Pushkin House in St. Petersburg, there is something in the Hoover Archive ... By the way, other children of Leonid Andreev also shared their collections with Davis.

We must pay tribute to Davis, he advertised Andreev as a photographer great: he published a luxurious (in four languages, unfortunately, there is no Russian among them) photo album, issued sets of postcards, and used Andreev's works in the production of posters. Davis came to Oryol several times, visited our museum. And in the 90s he even took our "autochromes" to England for restoration, since no one in Russia would undertake to work with them. Moreover, he restored it free of charge.

- Is it known who Leonid Nikolaevich taught the art of photography?

No one. He mastered everything on his own. Beginning in 1903, he took black-and-white photographs, and when color photography came to Russia - this is 1907 - he began to engage in "autochrome". Filmed "kodak" - a pleasure for that time not cheap, but Andreev's fame as a writer brought huge fees. His granddaughter Irina, who helped us a lot in the establishment of the museum, recalled that he was the only prose writer who was paid line by line, like poets. The fees were higher than those of Gorky ...

I can’t help but boast: quite recently, Andreeva’s grand-niece, academician of the Russian Academy of Education, Ksenia Aleksandrovna Abulkhanova, presented us with the Andreev stereoscope, a device that allowed us to obtain a three-dimensional image when viewed. And several black and white photographs taken by Leonid Nikolaevich. It was with them that he began as a photographer.

SUBSTANTIAL QUESTION

* What is "autochrome"?

The mechanism for obtaining a color image on raster plates is quite simple. High-quality potato starch is carefully sieved and divided into three equal piles. Each is painted in its own color: orange-red, purple and green. Then the piles are dried and mixed. An adhesive layer is applied to a glass plate, and a powder is spread over it with a brush, which is sprinkled with soot on top. The soot was pressed, rolled out on a plate, and in a dark room was covered with a photo emulsion on top. Then the plate was inserted into the apparatus and removed, receiving a color photograph.

In fact, a combined (three-color) light filter appeared between the light-sensitive layer and the base (glass), which resulted in a very high-quality image.

COLLEAGUE'S VIEW

"I couldn't believe it was a photograph ..."

Writer Korney Chukovsky:

"It seemed that not one person, but some factory working nonstop, in several shifts, made all these innumerable piles of large and small photographs that were dumped in his office, kept in special chests and boxes, hung on the windows , cluttered the tables. There was no corner in his dacha that he would not have taken several times. Other pictures he succeeded excellently - for example, spring landscapes. It was hard to believe that this was a photograph - there was so much Levitanian elegiac music in them.

Over the course of a month, he took thousands of pictures, as if fulfilling some kind of colossal order, and when you came to him, he made you look at all these thousands, innocently confident that they are a source of bliss for you too. He could not imagine that there are people for whom these pieces of glass are not interesting. He touchingly begged everyone to take up color photography.

At night, walking around his huge office, he spoke monologues about the great Lumiere, the inventor of color photography, about sulfuric acid and potash ... You sat on the sofa and listened. "

(From memories of Leonid Andreev)

The editors are grateful to the "Oryol United State Literary Museum of IS Turgenev" for help in preparing this publication.

You can see this stereophoto gallery in the same way as Leonid Andreev's contemporaries viewed it. To do this, you need a smartphone and virtual reality glasses. The simplest ones, made of cardboard Google Cardboard VR, can be purchased for 100-200 rubles or made by yourself according to the instructions fromGoogle ... Open the gallery on your smartphone - insert it into your glasses and enjoy a three-dimensional color picture from the 1910s.

"Andreev lived on Kamennoostrovsky, in a terribly gloomy house: A huge room - corner, with a lantern, and the windows of this lantern are located in the direction of the islands and Finland. When you come to the window, the lanterns of Kamennoostrovsky run away in a chain into the wet distance. Leonid Andreev, who lived in the writer Leonida Nikolaevich, was infinitely lonely, not recognized and always turned his face into the hole of the black window. It was through such a window that the last guest in a black mask came to him - death. "

Alexander Blok. In memory of Leonid Andreev

Andreev, Leonid Nikolaevich was born on August 9 (21) in Orel in 1871 on 2nd Pushkarnaya Street. His father, Nikolai Ivanovich, a son by blood of a leader of the nobility and a serf girl; mother, Anastasia Nikolaevna - from the family of a ruined Polish landowner. They then just got out of poverty: Andreev, a land surveyor-taxator, got a job in a bank, bought a house and began to acquire an economy. Nikolai Ivanovich was a prominent figure: "gunners, broken heads" respected him for his extraordinary physical strength and sense of justice, which did not betray him even in his famous drunken tricks and regular fights. Leonid Andreev later explained the firmness of his character (as well as his craving for alcohol) by heredity on the part of his father, while he attributed his creative abilities entirely to the maternal line. Anastasia Nikolaevna, nee Patskovskaya, although she came, as it is believed, from a Russianized and impoverished Polish noble family, was a simple and poorly educated woman. Her main virtue was her selfless love for children, and especially for her first-born Lenusha; and she also had a passion for inventions: in her stories, no one could separate true from fiction.

Childhood Leonid remembers "clear, carefree." At the age of six he learned to read "and read a lot, everything that came to hand."

He studied at the Oryol classical gymnasium (1882-91) and, on his own instructions, in a small autobiography, " studied badly, in the seventh grade he bore the title of the last student for a whole year and for his behavior had no more than four, and sometimes three". The gymnasium openedAndreevand the gift of speech: writing off tasks from friends, he wrote essays for them instead, with enthusiasm varying his manners. The penchant for stylization manifested itself later in literary experiments, when, analyzing the works of famous writers, he tried to fake "under Chekhov", "under Garshin", "under Tolstoy"... But in his school years, Andreev did not think about writing and was seriously engaged only in ... drawing. And since there were no opportunities to study painting in Oryol, then " the whole thing was limited to fruitless amateurism". And more than once then the already well-known writer lamented about his undeveloped talent as an artist - a talent that now and then forced him to throw down his pen and take up a brush or pencil. He read a lot, mainly fiction. " What is my faith " Tolstoy .

"Bit into" he is also in Hartmann and Schopenhauer; he studied the latter very thoroughly, making large extracts from it and making lengthy notes, and "The World as Will and Representation" for many years remained one of his favorite books and had a noticeable influence on his work.

Under these influences, from the age of 15 to 16, he began to suffer from "damned questions" to such an extent that, wanting to test "fate", he lay down on the rails. "Fate" turned out to be supportive. The locomotive had this time a high-pitched furnace, and the train that rushed over the young man did not harm him.

At the age of seventeen, Andreev made a significant entry in his diary, known in the retelling of V.V. Brusyanin. The future fiction writer promised himself that " with his writings he will destroy both morality and established human relations, destroy love and religion and end his life in all destruction".

In the senior grades of the gymnasium, Andreev's love interests began. However, the word "infatuation" does not give an idea of ​​the fatal force that he felt from his youth until the very last day in himself and around him. Love, like death, he felt subtly and sharply, to the point of pain. " Just as some need words, as others need work or struggle, so love is necessary for me,- wrote L. Andreev in his diary. Like air, like food, like sleep - love is a necessary condition for my human existence".

After graduating from high school, Andreev entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. By this time, the material conditions of the family had deteriorated enormously. The father died, and had to be in dire need, even starving. The first story was written on this topic - " about a hungry student. I cried when I wrote it, but in the editorial office, when the manuscript was returned to me, they laughed". Literary debut - the story "In the Cold and Gold".

In 1893, expelled for non-payment from St. Petersburg University, he transferred to the law faculty of Moscow University, where "materially lived better": comrades and the committee helped. "But" in other respects" he " recalls St. Petersburg University with great pleasure. " At the same time, he, according to the rules, undertakes "not to take part in any communities, such as, for example, communities and the like, as well as not to even enter into societies permitted by law, without permission for that in each individual case from the immediate superiors."

In the summer of 1894, on vacation in Orel, the most difficult and longest of the heart dramas that Andreyev had endured began. "July 22, 1894 is my second birthday",- he wrote in his diary; but the reciprocity was short-lived. His beloved responds with a refusal to Andreev's offer to marry him, and again he tries to commit suicide.In 1894, he "unsuccessfully shot; the consequence of the unsuccessful shot was church repentance and heart disease, not dangerous, but stubborn and annoying."

Brother of Leonid Andreev recalls: " I was a boy, but even then I understood, felt what great sorrow, what great longing he carries in himself "

In 1895 his widowed mother moved to Moscow with 5 younger brothers and sisters of Andreev, a period of poverty and wandering around the apartments began: August 1895 - Prechistensky Boulevard, 25 (the house has not survived); from January 1896 - Malaya Nikitskaya street, 2; spring 1896 - Spiridonyevskaya street, 2 (the house has not survived); autumn 1896 - Malaya Nikitskaya street, basement floor, 20; January 1897 - 20 Granatny Lane, apt. 5; December 1897 and January 1898 - corner of Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya Street and Malaya Nikitskaya Street, 136/41 (mezzanine above the warehouse).Andreev, a student, gave lessons, made announcements about the work of Moscow museums for the newspaper "Russian Word". Andreev showed no inclination for political activity; He maintained relations with the Oryol community (for which he came under police surveillance): together with other "old people" who came to general conspiratorial meetings, he ridiculed the "reformists" who studied and propagated Marx. "Golden pastime", whichOryol "old men"opposed to political self-education, described by Andreev in the plays "Days of Our Lives" and "Gaudeamus" ("Old Student"). The characters and events were almost never thought of.

Reading, in particular, philosophical, further removed Andreev from the spite of the day. For whole nights, according to his brother, Leonid sat over the works of Nietzsche, whose death in 1900 he perceived almost as a personal loss.

Attempts to get into print all failed; on the other hand, the painting classes were going well. He "painted to order portraits for 3 and 5 rubles each. After improving, he began to receive a portrait for 10 or even 12 rubles."

In May 1897, Leonid Andreev unexpectedly successfully passed the state examinations at the university; and, although his diploma turned out to be only a second degree and gave the title not of a "candidate", but of a "real student", this was quite enough to start a lawyer's career: he soon signed up as an assistant attorney at the Moscow lawyer of the Moscow Judicial District... Livenson, acted as a defense lawyer in court and took this activity very seriously.

"Contact with the printing press" consisted at first in the fact that Andreev supplied the "Information Department" of the "Russkoe Slovo" newspaper with penny materials in a few lines: "The chamber of the Romanov boyars is open on such and such days ..."

Unexpectedly, having received an offer from a lawyer acquaintance about the place of a court reporter in the newspaper "Moskovsky Vestnik" for writing essays "From the courtroom",Andreeva few days later he brings to the editor his first court report. "It was written in good literary language, very lively ... There was no stereotyped introduction that the session was taking place at that time, but the indictment, set out in the form of a story, began right away."- recalled an employee of the" Moskovsky Vestnik ".Andreevdefense in courtcombinedwith anonymous publication in the journal. HAfter two months, he switched to giving reports to the newly founded Moscow newspaper, the Kurier newspaper.There he begins to print feuilletons, which he signs with "James Lynch" and "L. - ev" and stories.Later, byWhen Andreev reached fame, some publications, in order to at least give something from the workfashion writer, began to reprint the feuilletons of James Lynch.

For the Easter issue of 1898, at the request of the editorial board of Andreev "influenced by Dickens" whom I loved very much, I reread "ten times"; wrote the story "Bergamot and Garaska". He then decided the fate of Andreev, since Gorky drew attention to him. The young writers became close and, together with the novice writers Wanderer, Bunin, Teleshov, the singer Shalyapin, formed a close literary and artistic community. Gorky helped Andreev with advice and deed, introduced him to the Znaniye publishing partnership, founded by a group of young writers with the aim of maintaining and developing the social-realistic traditions of Russian literature of the 19th century.

Since 1900 Andreev led the series of feuilletons "Impressions" and the evely Sunday essay "Moscow. Little things in life" in "Courier".Andreev drew the attention of a large public to himself in "Life" in 1901 with the story "Once upon a time." In the same year, in September, the first volume of stories was published in the St. Petersburg publishing house "Knowledge" at the expense of Gorky, which included the Little Angel, the Grand Slam, Lies, Silence and Once Upon a Time.

10 february1902 yearin the church of Nikola Yavlensky on Arbat Street, Andreev's wedding took place withAlexandra MikhailovnaWeligOrsk - the grand-niece of T. G. Shevchenko.The Andreevs rented an apartment on Srednaya Presnya (now 34 Zamoryonova Street), where literary "Mondays" were held.

Leonid Andreev with his wife, 1903

From December 1902 Andreev - editor of the fictional department of the Kurier; with the help of Gorky, he attracts Serafimovich to cooperation, prints the first works of Remizov, Zaitsev, Chulkov ...

After the marriage beganthe calmest and happiest period in Andreev's life. But,he continuednot for long. In January 1903 he was elected a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature at Moscow University. Andreev continued his literary activity, and rebellious motives appeared in his work. After publicationin January 1904the story "No Forgiveness", which was directed against the agents of the tsarist secret police, the newspaper"Courier"closed.

Leonid Andreev. Portrait by Ilya Repin, 1904.

An important event - not only literary, but also public - was Andreev's anti-war story "Red Laughter". The writer enthusiastically welcomes the first Russian revolution, tries to actively contribute to it: he works for the Bolshevik newspaper "Borba", participates in a secret meeting of the Finnish Red Guard. VFebruary 1905he re-enters conflikt with the authorities, advocating the provision of an apartment for meetings of the Central Committee of the RSDLP. After which he is confined to solitary confinement. Only thanks to the bail made by Savva Morozov does he manage to get out of prison.

In spite of everything, Andreev did not stop his revolutionary activity: in July 1905, he and Gorky performed at a literary and musical evening, the collection from which goes in favor of the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP and the families of the workers on strike at the Putilov plant. Now he has to hide abroad from the persecution of the authorities: at the end of 1905, the writer leaves for Germany.

In Germany, Leonid Andreev experienced one of the most terrible tragedies of his life - the death of his beloved wifeat the birth of Daniel's second son. At this time, he was working on the play “The Life of a Man”, about which he later wrote to Vera Figner: “Thank you for your review of the“ Life of a Man ”. This thing is very dear to me; and now I see that they will not understand her. And it really hurts obiHe pisses me off, not as an author (I have no pride), but as a “Person”. After all, this thing was the last thought, the last feeling and pride of my wife - and when they take it apart coldly, scold me, then I chuthere is some kind of great insult in it.Of course, what do critics care about the fact that the "man's wife" is dead - but it hurts. Yesterday and today the play is staged in St. Petersburg, and I feel sick to think about it. " In December 1907, Andreev met with Gorky in Capri, and in May 1908, having somehow recovered from his grief, he returned to Russia.

Leonid Andreev continues to contribute to the revolution: he supports the illegal fund of prisoners of the Shlisselburg Fortress, shelters the revolutionaries in his house.The writer works as an editor in the almanac "Rosehip" and the collection "Knowledge". He invites Alexander Blok, whom he highly appreciates, to Znaniye. Blok, in turn, speaks of Andreev as follows: “They find something in common with Edgar Poe. This is true to a certain extent, but the huge difference is that there is nothing "extraordinary", "strange", "fantastic", "mysterious" in Mr. Andreev's stories. All simple everyday cases. "

However, the writer had to leavefrom "Knowledge": Gorky resolutely rebelled against the publications of Blok and Sologub. Andreev broke with "Rosehip"after he rejected the printednovels by Savinov and Sologub.

Anna Andreeva, second wife of the writer, Marseille, 1910. Photo taken by Andreev.

Perhaps the most significant work of this period was Judas Iscariot, in which Andreev reinterprets the well-known biblical story. The disciples of Christ appear as cowardly philistines, and Judas is the mediator between Christ and people. The image of Judas is twofold: formally - a traitor, but in essence - the only person devoted to Christ. He betrays Christ in order to find out whether any of his followers is capable of sacrificing himself for the salvation of the teacher. He brings the apostles weapons, warns them of the danger threatening Christ, and after the death of the Teacher, he follows him. In the mouth of Judas, the author puts a very deep ethical postulate: “A sacrifice is suffering for one and a shame for all. You have taken all the sin upon yourself. You will soon be kissing the cross on which you crucified Christ! .. Did he forbid you to die? Why are you alive when he is dead? .. What is the truth itself in the mouths of traitors? Doesn't it become a lie? " Andreev described this work as "Something about psychology, ethics and practice of betrayal."

A snapshot that is listed as a self-portrait. Leonid Andreev in front of a copy of Francisco Goya's drawing made with his own hand. 1912, Vammelsuu

Leonid Andreev is constantly looking for style. He develops techniques and principles of not pictorial, but expressive writing. At this time, such works were born as "The Tale of the Seven Hanged" (1908), which tells about government repressions, the plays "Days of Our Lives" (1908), "Anatema" (1910), "Ekaterina Ivanovna" (1913), the novel " Sashka Zhegulev "(1911).

After 1905 Andreev performsmainly in the genre of drama. His first play To the Stars appeared in 1905 and until 1917 he published at least one play a year.

Veresaev and L. Andreev, 1912

L. Andreev greeted the First World War as "the struggle of the democracy of the whole world against tsarism and despotism, of which Germany is a representative." He expected the same from all figures of Russian culture. At the beginning of 1914, the writer even went to Gorky in Capri to persuade him to abandon his "defeatist" position and at the same time restore shaken friendly relations. Returning to Russia, he began working for the newspaper Utro Rossii, an organ of the liberal bourgeoisie, and in 1916 became editor of the newspaper Russkaya Volya.

Andreev enthusiastically welcomed the February Revolution. He even allowed violence if it was used to achieve "lofty goals" and served the people's good and the triumph of freedom.

However, his euphoria waned as the Bolsheviks strengthened their positions. Already in September 1917, he wrote that the "conqueror Lenin" was treading "on pools of blood." Opponent of any dictatorship, he could not come to terms with the Bolshevik dictatorship. In October 1917, he left for Finland, which was actually the beginning of emigration (in fact, thanks to a sad curiosity: when the border between Soviet Russia and Finland was established along the Sestra River, Andreev lived in a dacha with his family and, willy-nilly, found himself "abroad" ).

On March 22, 1919, his article "S.O.S!" Was published in the Parisian newspaper Obshche Delo, in which abouthe turned to the "noble" citizens for help and called on them to unite in order to save Russia from the "savages of Europe who rebelled against herculture, laws and morals ", which turned it" into ashes, fire, murder,nenie, cemetery, dungeons and insane asylums. "

Andreev was exhibited in St. Petersburg in 1913 at the "Exhibition of the Independent" and was approved by Repin and Roerich.

Andreev. Artist Repin.

The writer's restless state of mind also affected his physical well-being.... On December 9, Leonid Andreev died of heart paralysis in the village of Neyvala in Finland at the dacha of a friend, the writer Valkovsky. His body was temporarily buried in a local church.

This is TVperiod ”period lasted until 1956, when his ashes were reburied in Leningrad at Literatorskie mostki Volkov cemetery.

leonidandreev.ru

"When thousands kill one, it means that this one won."

“And what a great liar who knows how to deceive only others? Lie to yourself in such a way as to believe - this is art. "

“But do pious people know how to distinguish the false from the real? Only swindlers can do it. "

"The wisdom of words is needed only by the poor in spirit, the rich are silent NS".

In 1930, the last collection of stories by Leonid Andreev was published, and - for many yearss defaults.

The second "discovery" of Andreev's creativity, as part of the prerevolutionlucational literature, happened in our country in 1956, with the release of the collection "Stories". This discovery has been going on for more than thirty years, but the currentThis collection of works in volumes is only a stage in the comprehension of this remarkable writer.

At the "Moscow Premiere" will present the film adaptation of the story by Leonid Andreev. The film "Judas" by the young director Andrei Bogatyrev based on the story "Judas Iscariot" by Leonid Andreev was included in the main program of the "Moscow Premiere" festival - "The Magnificent Seven MK". And a little earlier she participated in the Moscow International Film Festival, where Alexei Shevchenkov, who played Judas, was awarded the Silver George for the best male role.

This is the second Russian adaptation of Leonid Andreev's work after Mikhail Katz's Desert, filmed in 1991 with the participation of actors Sergei Russkin and Nikolai Pastukhov.

Portrait of the writer Leonid Andreev with a cigarette
in the book by Korney Chukovsky "Contemporaries". 1910th

L. N. Andreev Museum in Orel
Creativity, main ideas

Portrait of the writer Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev(Summer rest). 1905 (c) I.E. Repin. Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M. A. Vrubel.

The first works of Leonid Andreev, largely under the influence of the disastrous conditions in which the writer was then, are imbued with a critical analysis of the modern world ("Bargamot and Garaska", "City"). However, even in the early period of the writer's work, his main motives were manifested: extreme skepticism, disbelief in the human mind ("The Wall", "The Life of Basil of Thebes"), there is a passion for spiritualism and religion ("Judas Iscariot"). The stories "The Governor", "Ivan Ivanovich" and the play "To the Stars" reflect the writer's sympathy for the revolution.

However, after the start of the reaction in 1907, Leonid Andreev abandoned all revolutionary views, believing that the revolt of the masses could lead only to great victims and great suffering (see "The Tale of the Seven Hanged"). In his story "Red Laughter" Andreev painted a picture of the horrors of modern war (reaction to the Russo-Japanese War of 1905). The dissatisfaction of his heroes with the surrounding world and order invariably results in passivity or anarchic rebellion. The writer's suicide writings are imbued with depression, the idea of ​​the triumph of irrational forces.

Despite the pathetic mood of the works, Andreev's literary language, assertive and expressive, with underlined symbolism, met a wide response in the artistic and intellectual environment of pre-revolutionary Russia. Positive comments about Andreev were left by Maxim Gorky, Roerich, Repin, Blok, Chekhov and many others. Andreev's works are distinguished by the sharpness of contrasts, unexpected plot twists, combined with the schematic simplicity of the syllable. Leonid Andreev is recognized as a prominent writer of the Silver Age of Russian literature.

Leonid Andreev

A year or two before the first book of stories by Leonid Andreev was published - and it came out in 1901 - Gorky wrote to me from Nizhny-Novgorod that he recommends and asks me to shelter and caress the young aspiring writer, Andreev, a man although unknown but very sweet and talented.

Soon after this, Gorky arrived in Moscow and on the very first Wednesday brought Andreev to us.
He was a young man with a handsome face, a small beard and long black hair, very quiet and silent. He was dressed in a tobacco-colored jacket.

At ten o'clock, when our reading usually began, Gorky suggested listening to a short story by the young author.

I listened to him yesterday, ”said Gorky,“ and, I confess, there were tears in my eyes.
But Andreev began to say that today he had a sore throat, that he could not read ... In a word, he was shy and embarrassed.
“Then, come on, I'll read it,” Gorky volunteered.

He took a thin notebook, sat down closer to the lamp and began:
- The story is called "Silence" ...

The reading lasted about half an hour.

Andreev sat next to Gorky, all the time without moving, crossing his legs and not taking his eyes off one point, which he had chosen somewhere in the distance, in a semi-dark corner. But he hardly felt at that time that every page he read brings these strangers, though known to him, nevertheless, among whom he sits, like a newcomer to school.

The reading ended. Gorky raised his eyes, smiled affectionately at Andreev and said:
- Damn it, I got knocked over again!

Alexei Maksimovich was not alone. It was clear to everyone that in the person of this newcomer, Sreda was acquiring a good, talented comrade.

Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev is considered the great Russian writer of the Silver Age. This writer worked not only in a realistic form, but also in a symbolic one. Despite the fact that this creator is considered a mysterious person, he knew how to transform an ordinary character into a person, forcing readers to reflect.

1. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev loved the works of Hartmann and Schopenhauer.

2.Andreev is called the founder of Russian expressionism.

3. During his school years, this writer drew cartoons of students and teachers.

4. Paintings by Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev were at exhibitions and were appreciated by Repin and Roerich.

5. According to the writer, he inherited positive and negative traits from his parents. His mother gave him creativity, and his father - a love of alcohol and a firmness of temper.

6. The writer managed to study at 2 universities: in Moscow and in St. Petersburg.

7. Having a diploma allowed Andreev to start a career as a lawyer.

8. The pseudonym of Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was James Lynch.

9. For a long time, the writer had to live in a country house in Finland.

10. Until 1902, Andreev was an assistant attorney at law, and also acted as a defense lawyer in the courts.

11. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev tried to commit suicide several times. The first time he lay down on the rails, the second - he shot himself with a pistol.

12. The first story that Andreev wrote was not recognized.

13. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was married twice.

14.Andreeva's first wife, whose name was Alexandra Mikhailovna Veligorskaya, was the grand-niece of Taras Shevchenko. She died in childbirth.

15. Andreev's second wife is Anna Ilyinichna Denisevich, who after his death lived abroad.

16. Andreev had 5 children in marriages: 4 sons and 1 daughter.

17.All of Andreev's children followed in the footsteps of their father and were engaged in literature and creativity.

18. Leonid Nikolaevich met with enthusiasm the February Revolution and the First World War.

19. From his house Andreev made a shelter for revolutionaries.

20. Andreev became famous only after in 1901 he wrote his collection "Stories".

21.The great writer was buried in Finland, despite the fact that the last years of his life he lived in Leningrad.

22. The death of the writer led to heart disease.

23. In childhood, Andreev was fascinated by reading books.

24. Leonid Nikolaevich's active literary activity began with the publication "Courier".

25. Studying at the university, Andreev had to go through a love drama. His chosen one refused to marry him.

26. As a student at the university, Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev taught.

27. Andreev was able to get closer to Gorky.

28. For the fact that Andreev had connections with the opposition, the police gave him a recognizance not to leave the place.

29. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev went to live in Germany due to the fact that the government controlled him through loyalty to the revolutionaries.

30.The second son of the writer was born in Germany.

31. In 1957, the writer was reburied in St. Petersburg.

32. In his childhood, the writer was fond of painting, but in his city there were no special schools for training and therefore he did not receive such an education, and remained self-taught until the end of his life.

33. Andreev was published in modernist almanacs and magazines at the publishing house "Rosehip".

34. The revolution inspired Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev to write the "Notes of Satan".

35 In Oryol in 1991 a house-museum was opened in memory of this writer.

36. Andreev did not have "rainbow" works.

37. The writer was born in the Oryol province. Bunin and Turgenev were also walking there.

38. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was a very handsome man.

39. Leonid Nikolaevich had less taste than talent.

40. In 1889, the most difficult year of his life began in the life of the writer, because his father died, as well as a crisis of love relations.

41. Many believe that Andreev had the gift of foresight.

42. Maxim Gorky was a mentor and critic of Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev.

43 In a large family, the future writer became the firstborn.

44. The writer's mother was from a family of poor Polish landowners, and his father was a surveyor.

45. Andreev's father died of apoplectic stroke, leaving 6 children orphans.

46. ​​For a long time he did not want to see the baby, at the birth of which Andreev's wife died.

47. The writer was paid 5 rubles in gold per line.

48. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev managed to build a house with a tower, which he called "Advance".

49. Initially, the writer's death was not even noticed at home. For 40 years he was forgotten.

50. Leonid Nikolaevich died at the age of 48.

51. Andreev's mother always spoiled him.

52. Throughout his life, Leonid Nikolaevich tried to fight the habit of alcohol abuse.

53. In school, Andreev constantly skipped lessons and did not study well.

54.The study of the writer at Moscow University was paid for by the society of the needy.

56. On the shoulders of Andreev after the death of his father fell the responsibilities of the head of the family.

57. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev for the years of his life worked in the newspaper "Russian Will".

58. Andreev was fond of reading philosophical treatises.

59. In 1907, Andreev managed to receive the Griboyedov Literary Prize, after which not a single work of his was successful.

60. Plays by Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev were filmed.

61. The writer could not finish writing the novel "The Diary of Satan". They graduated from it only after the death of Andreev.

62. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev, despite his connections with the Bolsheviks, hated Lenin.

63. Andreev was admired by such contemporaries as: Blok and Gorky.

64. The works of Tolstoy and Chekhov had a huge impact on the formation of Andreev as a creative person.

65. The writer also created illustrations for his works.

66. Critics have argued that Andreyev's works have notes of "cosmic pessimism."

67.The writer was expelled from St. Petersburg University for non-payment.

68. Andreev got married with his first wife in church.

69. Leonid Nikolaevich was in prison for a short time.

70. Over the years of his life, Andreev wooed many women. At that time there was even a joke that he “made an offer to all the artists of the art theater in turn”.

71. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev even courted the sisters of his two spouses.

72. Before marrying his second wife, Andreev asked her to return her name given at birth - Anna. This was due to the fact that only prostitutes were called Matilda at that time.

73. He left the child, because of whom the first wife of the writer died, to be raised by his mother-in-law.

74. Andreev's daughter had to work as a cleaner, and a nurse, and a servant. She ended up becoming a writer like her father.

75. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev named his youngest son Valentin in honor of Serov.

76 In the last years of his life, Andreev thought a lot about the psychology of creativity.

77. The writer never took part in political life.

78. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev is considered a Russian writer of the Silver Age.

79. Andreeva's mother graduated only from the parish school.

80.After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev repented in the church.

81. The creation of the work "Red Laughter" Andreev was prompted by the Russian-Japanese war.

82. Until the age of 12, Andreev was taught by his parents, and only from the age of 12 he was sent to a classical gymnasium.

83. Leonid Nikolaevich is considered one of the first writers of the 20th century.

84. The writer wrote his story "Judas Iscariot" in Capri.

85. Contemporaries called this writer "the sphinx of the Russian intelligentsia."

86. At 6 years old Andreev already knew the alphabet.

87. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was paid 11 rubles for a portrait.

88. During his life 5 years Andreev worked in the legal profession.

89. This man simply could not imagine his life without love.

90.The first and only secretary of Leonid Nikolaevich was his second wife.

91. The descendants of this writer live today in America and Paris.

92. Andreev was also considered a master of color photography.

93. About 400 color stereo autochromes of Andreev are known today.

94. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev had a passion for invention.

95. The death of Nietzsche was perceived by this writer as a personal loss.

96. Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev was a member of the commission for the organization of literary "Tuesdays".