Ivan Savvich Nikitin wrote. Ivan Savvich Nikitin - interesting data and facts from life

Ivan Nikitin Career: Writer
Birth: Russia "Voronezh Region" Voronezh, 21.9.1824
Nikitin Ivan Savvich is a famous poet. Born September 21, 1824 in Voronezh, in the family of a tradesman, a candle merchant.

In 1839 Nikitin entered the Voronezh seminary. During Nikitin's stay in it, his father's trading business was shaken, and he began to drink and show his tough temper. Under the influence of his drunkenness and despotism, Nikitina's mother also began to drink. A devilishly heavy atmosphere was created in the house, and Nikitin in no way abandoned his studies. In 1843, he was dismissed "for lack of success, because of not attending the class." But, paying no attention to the studies, Nikitin in the seminary passionately devoted himself to reading. Having fallen in love with literature, carried away by Belinsky, filled with lofty aspirations and poetic dreams, Nikitin had to plunge into the heaviest worldly prose immediately after leaving the seminary and sit down at the counter in his father's candle shop. At this time, he began to drink even more. His building, candle factory and shop were sold. With the proceeds, Nikitin's father opened an inn. Nikitin began to manage there, performing all the duties of a janitor himself. Despite the difficult life situation, Nikitin did not sink spiritually. Surrounded by an environment that could not recognize him, he withdrew into himself. In November 1853, Nikitin sent three poems to Voronezh Gubernskiye Vedomosti. One of them - the patriotic "Rus" - brought the poet popularity in Voronezh. N.I., who then headed the Voronezh Gubernskie Vedomosti. Vtorov and K.O. Alexandrov-Dolnik, took an active part in Nikitin and introduced him to the circle of the local intelligentsia, which was grouped around them. Since 1854, Nikitin's poems began to appear in "Moskvityanin", "Notes of the Fatherland", "Library for Reading". The press treated the poet very sympathetically. Success, a mass of new impressions, the warm, friendly touch of Vtorov and the members of his circle had an encouraging effect on Nikitin, alienation and unsociableness disappeared, he was in a cheerful mood, like he worked uncut dogs. But the cheerful disposition was overshadowed by a disorder of health. In 1856, a collection of Nikitin's poems appeared, to which the critics reacted coolly or negatively. Chernyshevsky spoke most negatively about the collection in Sovremennik. Having entered the literary field, Nikitin did not change his life situation, continuing to maintain an inn even later in 1853. His father continued to drink, but family relationships in 1854 - 56 years improved slightly; the situation of the inn at the present time was no longer so oppressive to the poet, who rotated in a circle with all his heart of intelligent people located towards him. In 1854 - 56, Nikitin thoroughly worked on his self-education, as he read uncut dogs, he began to study the French language. After Vtorov’s departure from Voronezh in 1857, the one who became Nikitin’s closest friend, and after the collapse of the Vtorov’s circle, the poet with extreme acuteness again felt the burden of his life and family situation, a pessimistic disposition seized him with greater force, creative excitement was replaced by a sharp decline in creative strength, doubt in his talent. In 1858 Nikitin's long poem "The Fist" was published. Criticism met "Kulak" extremely sympathetically; among other things, Dobrolyubov treated the poem with enormous praise; The same happy moment "Fist" had with the public: less than a year after its release, it had already sold out, bringing Nikitin a rather important profit. Despite the oppressed disposition and morbid condition, Nikitin in 1857-58 continued to sympathetically look after Russian literature, get acquainted with foreign literature, reading Cooper, Shakespeare, Hugo, Goethe, Chenier, began to study German, translating Schiller and Heine. In 1857-58, the poet collaborated in "Notes of the Fatherland" and "Russian Conversation". With the assistance of V.A. Kokorev, who loaned Nikitin 3,000 rubles, he opened a book shop and a library for reading in 1859. In 1859, Nikitin released a freshly baked collection of poems, which was met with criticism much colder than The Fist. Throughout 1859, the poet fell ill; a slight improvement in health alternated with deterioration. At the beginning of 1860, his health began to improve, his disposition became more cheerful, literary productivity rose, interest in public life rose again. In the summer of 1860 the poet visited Moscow

ve and Petrograd. Nikitin's book dealer was doing quite well. In the second half of 1860, Nikitin felt rather well, worked hard, wrote a long prose work"Diary of a seminarian", published in the "Voronezh Conversation for 1861" and evoked sympathetic reviews from critics. Nikitin's state of health, which had deteriorated by the end of 1861, improved again by the beginning of 1861, and the rise of strength began again. He takes an active part in the meetings of M.F. De Poulet circle, in local cultural work, in the organization in Voronezh of a society for the promotion of literacy and in the establishment of Sunday schools. In 1859 - 1861, Nikitin published his works in "Notes of the Fatherland", "People's Reading", "Russian Word" and "Voronezh Conversation". In May 1861, Nikitin caught a very cold. This cold, exacerbating the tuberculous course, turned out to be fatal. For all the time of a long illness, the poet experienced the most severe physical suffering. Moral ones were added to them, the cause of which was dad, who continued, despite his son’s severe illness, news of an old lifestyle. Nikitin died on October 16, 1861. The earliest surviving works of Nikitin date back to 1849. Separation and concentration, developed by difficult living conditions, left their mark on Nikitin's work of 1849-1853. His poetic scope was limited; he mainly revolved in the realm of personal experiences, surrounding existence attracted nothing attention. Ignoring it, the poet once again painted something that he had never seen under any circumstances, in particular, the sea (“Night on the seashore”, “In the west the light is burning”, “When the Neva, bound by granite ...”). In Nikitin's poetry, during that very period of time, a dazzling desire to comprehend being, a feeling of dissatisfaction with it, torment from its inconsistency with dreams and aspirations, dazzlingly manifested itself; reassurance to the poet was given by nature and religious faith, which reconciled him for a while with life ("Field", "Evening", "When sunset with farewell rays ...", "When the only one, in moments of reflection ...", "New Testament", etc.). But Nikitin, nevertheless, in 1849 - 1853 did not completely close himself in the sphere of personal feelings and experiences, in his work of that time the beginnings of interest in the surrounding life, the people are already noticeable, social motives are already sounding (“Silence of the night”, “Leave your sad story ", "Singer", "Vengeance", "Need"). Nikitin had not yet figured out social issues at that time, he was patriotically inclined ("Rus"), but he already saw evil in public life, was indignant at him, was indignant, already called on the poet to fight him ("Leave your joyless alignment ..." , "Singer"). In 1849 - 1853, Nikitin was entirely at the mercy of literary influences. Koltsov's influence was the coolest, especially with regard to form ("Spring on the Steppe", "Rus", "Life and Death", "Calmness", "Song", "Inheritance", etc.). Nikitin mastered Koltsov's form and verse superbly, and some of his poems in this respect are not inferior to Koltsov ("Spring on the Steppe", "Rus"). Along with the influence of Koltsov, Nikitin's poetry of 1849-1853 reveals the influence of Lermontov ("Key", "When sunset with farewell rays ...", "South and North", "Dried birch", "I remember happy years...", "Bored with the luxury of brilliant fun ...", etc.), Pushkin ("Forest", "War for Faith", etc.), and other poets. The influence of literary sources is very evident in the thoughts and ideas expressed Nikitin in poems with a philosophical element, which occupied a fairly prominent position in his poetry of 1849 - 1853. In these poems, there is a lot of artificiality, rhetoric ("Duma", "Ruins", "Cemetery", "Bored with the luxury of brilliant fun ..." etc.). Personal experiences play a prominent image in the work of Nikitin and then in 1853, but along with them, a great interest of the poet in the life around him, in the folk and petty-bourgeois life and psychology is revealed. After 1853, Nikitin's poetry also became to a certain extent, local color, an ethnographic ingredient, an interest in the history of the local region are expressed to a certain extent. a.

..", "On the capture of Kars"), but leaves the poet by 1856. The religious mood, found in the work of Nikitin in 1849 - 1953, was quite strongly manifested in 1854 ("Prayer for the Chalice", "Sweetness of Prayer", "S.V. Chistyakova"), but then disappeared. In Nikitin's poetry in 1854 - 1856, just as before, one can see the influence of other poets: Koltsov ("Treason", "My yard is not wide ..." , "Bobyl", "What a fine fellow he was ...", "Get off, depression ...", "Who has no thought ..."), Lermontov ("Friend"), Pushkin ("Fist", "New struggle"), etc., but to a much lesser extent than before, the gravitation to go one's own way is more and more revealed. and members of his circle. By 1857, Nikitin had already completely defined himself as a poet. In his poetry after that year, social motives occupied a prominent position, but not scooped up all its content, he still devoted considerable sympathy to personal experiences and nature; the social ingredient did not suppress the artistic one. By 1861, the poetic forces of Nikitin, which had gradually developed, began to flourish magnificently, but death interrupted that very flowering; they didn't show up at all. Nikitin did not reveal all the possibilities hidden in him. The most significant place in Nikitin's poetry is occupied by poems dedicated to the depiction of folk life. They dazzlingly expressed the most sincere, deep love for the people, ardent sympathy for their plight, a passionate desire to improve their situation. But at the same time, Nikitin soberly looked at the population, did not idealize it, painted it truthfully, without hushing up the dark sides, negative demons. folk character, in particular, rudeness, family despotism ("Stubborn father", "Corruption", "Delezh", etc.). Nikitin was in the full sense of the word a city dweller; although he visited the vicinity of Voronezh, he stayed on the estates of the landowners; in a real village, among the peasants, in the conditions of their life, he never lived. Nikitin was provided with material for depicting folk life and psychology, mainly by cab drivers who stopped at his inn, and in general by peasants who came to Voronezh. Limited field of observation folk life affected Nikitin's poetry, he did not draw a broad, comprehensive picture of the life of the people, did not reveal the fullness and diversity of folk psychology, but gave a system, although scattered, fragmentary, but lively pictures in which the socio-economic situation of the people, people's sorrows are truthfully depicted and sorrow, some aspects of folk life, the characteristic features of folk psychology and mores are rightly noticed ("Vengeance", "Old Man-friend", "Quarrel", "Coachman's Wife", "Stubborn Father", "Merchant at the Bee-Hard", "Burlak" , "Corruption" ("Illness"), "The Story of a Peasant Woman", "Delezh", "Departure of the Coachman", "Headman", "Midnight", "Dark in the Gorenka ...", "Beggar", "Village Poor", "Spinner", "A merchant was driving from the fair ...", "Dead body", "Old servant", "A lady is sitting behind a spinning wheel ..."). Along with the peasantry, Nikitin paid considerable attention to the philistinism, dedicating the poem "The Fist" to it. It is stretched beyond measure, some types are outlined palely, but the hero of the poem, a philistine fist, is outlined superbly, a true and vivid description of philistinism and its psychology is given. In the development of the social element in Nikitin's work, Nekrasov played a well-known image, but his influence was not the main force that gave orientation to Nikitin's poetry, determined it, and in general was not extremely significant. Despite the similarity of motives and moods, it almost lacks such characteristic features of Nekrasov's muse as satire and irony. (Enthusiastic worship of Nekrasov, his passion for poetry in 1857 was replaced in Nikitin in 1960 by a roughly negative attitude towards him, expressed in the poem "The Poet-Revealer".) A social poet, Nikitin gave a few poems that are uplifted by sincerity, the depth of social feelings, the strength of civic sorrow, creative upsurge ("Conversations", "Familiar visions again! ..", "Our time is shamefully perishing! .."). The image is subjective

x experience Nikitin managed to achieve a hefty feeling, strength and beauty, as, in particular, in the famous poem "Dug a deep hole with a spade ...", which is not only the best creation of the poet, but also belongs to the most remarkable and touching works of Russian poetry. From childhood, Nikitin fell in love with nature, could merge with it, feel its soul, recognize the shades of its colors and gave a system of beautiful and vivid paintings of it, in which he showed himself to be a talented landscape painter ("Evening after this rain", "Storm", "Morning", "October 19", "The stars have crumbled, they tremble and burn ...", "The day is twilight. It is getting dark in the forest ...", "In the dark thicket, the nightingale fell silent ...", "Remember? - with scarlet edges ... " and etc.). The diary of a seminarian, which remains Nikitin's only attempt to test his strength in artistic prose, shows that in this area he could occupy a prominent position among contemporary realist writers of everyday life. The Diary of a Seminarian, published before Pomyalovsky's famous Essays on the Bursa, was of great importance for its time. public importance: Nikitin illuminated an area that was almost unaffected at that time. Nikitin's work is closely connected with his life and personality, there is more than enough of an autobiographical element in it. Heavy, gloomy, with only small and few gaps, Nikitin's being, often aggravated and tormented by his infirmity, left a solid imprint on his work: joyless tones predominate in it, deep depression and sorrow run like a red thread ("Another single extinct day ..." , "I remember the happy years ...", "I made friends with a harsh fate ahead of time ...", "In the forest", "In the garden", "Lampadka", "Irreplaceable, priceless loss! ..", "Childhood merry, children's dreams...", "Poor youth, gloomy days...", "A deep hole dug with a spade...", etc.). The source of Nikitin's grief was not only personal living conditions, but the whole surrounding existence with its irreconcilable social contrasts, with its evil, horror and human suffering. Along with sadness and sorrow, others characteristic features Nikitin's poetry are: simplicity, sincerity, feeling, humanity and drama. In terms of their artistic merits, Nikitin's works are very unequal: among his poems, especially before 1854, there are quite a lot of weak ones, which are more prose expressed in verse than poetry, but, along with this, he has a system of poems clothed in an elegant art form, full of poetic feeling, written with beautiful musical verses. In general, Nikitin was not a very large figure in terms of his artistic talent, but his poetry is uplifted by the humanism that penetrates it, by deep sincerity, feeling and height of spiritual disposition. This edge of Nikitin's poetry attracted public sympathy for him and created wide popularity.

How is the rating calculated?
◊ The rating is calculated based on the points accrued in the last week
◊ Points are awarded for:
⇒ visiting pages dedicated to the star
⇒ vote for a star
⇒ star commenting

Biography, life story of Nikitin Ivan Savvich

Childhood, youth, study at the seminary

Ivan Savvich Nikitin was born on October 3 (September 21), 1824 in the city of Voronezh. His father, Savva Evstikhievich Nikitin, was a wealthy tradesman who sold candles and kept an inn. Ivan Nikitin studied at a religious school from the age of eight, then entered the seminary, but did not finish it. After the death of his father, he kept his father's inn, worked in a candle shop. Nikitin's childhood and youth were spent surrounded by pilgrims who bought candles in a shop. Nikitin, as the son of well-to-do parents, was a freelance seminary student and retained his independence and broad-mindedness. He dreamed of a university. While still in seminary, he began to write poetry. Nikitin closely communicated with the people, grew up in an atmosphere of folk dialects different places Russia, listened to the stories and tales of wanderers, the lives of saints and spiritual poems. In his youth, he was fond of other classics. From the church walls, he brought a reverent attitude to nature. Despite the fact that by that time there were no wonderful teachers in the seminary - A.V. Koltsov and A.P. Serebryansky, the seminarians fed on the memories of their circle. Nikitin wrote the first poems precisely in imitation of Koltsov.

Literary success

The first poems by Ivan Nikitin were published in 1853 in the Voronezh newspaper Gubernskiye Vedomosti. Patriotic pathos poems were reprinted in other newspapers and magazines, they were very handy, as the Crimean War was going on. Soon the first collection of poems was published (1856) and Nikitin began to be compared with Koltsov. The second collection appeared in 1859. Nikitin became the master of the Russian landscape and the successor to Koltsov, a hymnologist of hard peasant labor, the life of the urban poor and the injustice of the world order. Nikitin's name thundered, but life was still hard. Soon, in 1861, the prose Diary of a Seminary was published. He wrote the poem "The Fist", which was completed in 1857. He showed in the poem a type of person who strongly resembled his own father. The Voronezh tradesman Karp Lukich, the hero of the poem, lived by petty deceit, miscalculation and measurement. He is a dealer, himself a penniless and ruined merchant, he cannot get out of severe poverty. As a result of this life, he drank and tyrannized everyone in the house. The poem was received favorably by critics and the book quickly sold out. At this time, the inn began to generate income, the family came out of need. Father did not stop drinking, but relations in the family improved, work was no longer so burdensome for Nikitin.

CONTINUED BELOW

Circle of Vtorov, heritage

Nikitin received Dobrolyubov's excellent review of his poem. The poet was introduced to Count D.N. Tolstoy, who helped him publish. However, the rest of the criticism was negative. He spoke especially badly of him. In the summer of 1855, Nikitin fell ill after catching a cold while swimming. Faith saved him, many poems with religious themes appeared. Nikitin wrote more than 60 romances and songs, he remained an unsurpassed singer of Russian nature. Nikitin's panoramic vision embraced all aspects of Russian life. The Seminarian's Diary was written a year before his death. With royalties from books, Nikitin was able to buy book store, which became a literary club for the townspeople. There were many plans, but strength and health were running out. Nikitin entered the circle of the local Voronezh intelligentsia, it was the circle of Nikolai Ivanovich Vtorov. But Vtorov soon left Voronezh. The second friend of Nikitin was Mikhail Fedorovich De-Poulet. It was he who, after the death of Nikitin, became his executor, he published his legacy, wrote a biography and edited Nikitin's writings.

Personal life

In 1856, Nikitin became interested in the governess of the landowners Plotnikovs. The girl's name was M.I. Junot. The feelings were mutual, the girl was of an ebullient nature, developed and sensitive to poetry. They did not advertise their feelings.

Death

Ivan Nikitin died of tuberculosis in 1861. In total, he wrote 200 poems. The name of Ivan Nikitin entered the musical culture of Russia, his name outlived many, larger, but forgotten poets. The cemetery where the poet was buried in Voronezh was liquidated, a circus was built in its place.

The remarkable Russian poet lived in times tsarist Russia in the nineteenth century in the difficult pre-reform period. This circumstance had a huge impact on the development of his talent and on all his work. With early childhood he was familiar with the life of ordinary people and serfs filled with hardships and suffering. In all his creations, the lack of rights, hopelessness, need and hard work of people from the lower classes, to which an overwhelmingly large proportion of the Russian population belonged, are fully reflected.

The poet sincerely sympathized with the representatives of these estates and treated them in accordance with Christian traditions, supporting those in need with only a kind word, but also giving them real help. The main part of the writer's work is a poetic landscape lyrics, which, among other things, contains a religious bias and has a philosophical orientation. In terms of his creative style, he is the successor to the traditions laid down by Koltsov.

The poet came from a merchant family

Ivan Savvich Nikitin was born on October 3, 1824 in Voronezh into a poor but well-to-do merchant family. His father was the owner of a small candle factory, which would be more properly called a handicraft workshop. He had a shop where he sold candles.

A shoemaker taught him to read and write

Little Ivan mastered reading and writing early. A neighbor who was a shoemaker helped him in this. Only after learning how to fold letters, Ivan began to compose his first poems.

Seminary studies

When Ivan was eight years old, his father sent him to a religious school. After graduating from college, he expressed a desire to be a priest and entered the seminary. The seminary played a big role in the formation of the poet, but he was not satisfied with the existing education system and the rules adopted there. He would later write about this in The Diaries of a Seminarian.

While studying at the seminary, Nikitin became seriously interested in poetry and composed a lot himself. Passion for literature opened up new horizons for him, he managed to break out of the petty-bourgeois worldview and gain inner freedom.

Inn owner

Seminary Ivan Nikitin never graduated. His father's heavy temper and drunkenness eventually ended in ruin. Then his mother died. The circumstances forced Ivan to abandon his studies and start maintaining the inn, which was bought instead of the sold plant. For more than ten years, he constantly spends in communication with visiting people who represented different social groups and estates.

He also had to do menial work, including sweeping the yard. Then more long time had to pay off the accumulated debts. But in spite of everything, the aspiring poet did not abandon his passion for literature and continued to write poetry. He never found support and approval of creativity from his father, who was an adherent of petty-bourgeois views.

First publications

For the first time Ivan Nikitin decided to publish his poems in 1853. They were published in the newspaper "Gubernskiye Vedomosti" published in Voronezh. Soon patriotic poems appeared on the pages of other publications, which was very important, since in those years there was the Crimean War. In 1856, the first collection of Nikitin's poems was published. The next collection comes out in 1859. Critics put Nikitin's work on the same level as Koltsov and saw in him a master of landscape and a singer of the hard lot of the common people.

In 1857, the poet completed work on the poem "The Fist", which was a great success with readers and received recognition and high marks from critics. Her the protagonist, the tradesman Karp Lukich, was a ruined merchant, lived off petty deceit and could not get out of poverty. In the family, he was a real despot and a deep drunkard. The hero of the poem strongly resembled Father Nikitin in terms of character.

Opening of a bookstore by Nikitin in Voronezh

In 1859, thanks to the assistance of friends, the poet takes a loan in the amount of three thousand rubles, since his own fees were not enough to realize his plan. With this money, he opens a bookstore in Voronezh. A reading room was organized at this store, which allowed it to become one of the main centers of culture in Voronezh.

Illness and death

In 1855, Ivan Nikitin fell seriously ill after catching a cold while swimming. The disease dragged on and developed into consumption. In the spring of 1861, he again caught a serious cold, which caused a sharp deterioration in his general health. Tuberculous process has accelerated significantly. The level of medicine of those years practically did not leave hope for recovery. The poet died on October 16 of the same year at the age of only 37 years. They buried him in Voronezh, where the poet lived all his short life.

Reflection of the poet's work in musical culture

His works perfectly fit the music and have served as a source of inspiration for many Russian composers. More than 60 songs and romances were composed to Nikitin's poems, many of which became popular. There are songs that have become folk songs. Perhaps the most famous of them is "Ukhar-merchant". Here, however, it should be noted that the text of the folk version of the song has undergone significant changes that have affected the original semantic content.

memory of a poet

Streets in Voronezh, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk are named after Ivan Nikitin.
In 1911, a monument to the poet was opened on Nikitinskaya Square in Voronezh, the project of which was developed by the sculptor I.A. Shuklin.
In 1924, in Voronezh, in the house where Ivan Nikitin had lived since 1846, the Nikitin Literary and Memorial House-Museum was established.
One of the gymnasiums in Voronezh is named after the poet.
In the USSR, postage stamps with the image of Nikitin were issued, and in 2011 the Russian Post issued a circulation of postcards, which depict the above-mentioned monument to the poet in Voronezh.

The work of Ivan Nikitin arouses sincere interest among admirers of real deep poetry.

Nikitin Ivan Savvich is a nugget poet who loved nature since childhood and sang of its beauty. Ivan Savvich's compositions withstood big number editions and sold in large numbers.

The original poet vividly describes the spirit of that distant time. In poetic creativity, the poet seeks to comprehend his existence, expresses a feeling of dissatisfaction with his own being and suffers greatly from the inconsistency of the existing reality. The poet found solace in nature and religion, which reconciled him for a while with life.

From the biography of Nikitin Ivan Savvich:

Ivan Savvich Nikitin was born on October 3 (September 21), 1824 in the city of Voronezh. His father, Savva Evstikhievich Nikitin, came from a clergy, was a wealthy tradesman, traded in a candle shop and kept a candle factory.

Ivan Nikitin's childhood and youth were spent surrounded by pilgrims who bought candles in a shop.

Little Ivan mastered reading and writing early. A neighbor who was a shoemaker helped him in this. Only after learning how to fold letters, Ivan began to compose his first poems. He never found support and approval of creativity from his father, who was an adherent of petty-bourgeois views. As a child, Vanya read a lot and loved to be in nature, with which he felt unity from birth.

House in Voronezh, where I. S. Nikitin lived with his father

When Ivan was eight years old, his father sent him to the Voronezh Theological School. After graduating from college (1839), he expressed a desire to be a priest and entered the seminary. (1839), from which he was expelled for absenteeism (1843). Nikitin, as the son of well-to-do parents, was a freelance seminary student and retained his independence and broad-mindedness. The seminary played a big role in the formation of the poet, but he was not satisfied with the existing education system and the rules adopted there. He would later write about this in The Diaries of a Seminarian (1861), where he would reflect his unhappy impressions of being in the seminary. Ivan Nikitin dreamed of studying at the university.

Seminary Ivan Nikitin never managed to finish. His father's heavy temper and drunkenness eventually ended in ruin. Then his mother Praskovya Ivanovna died, the means of subsistence dried up, dreams of entering the university turned out to be unrealistic, and Nikitin was forced to first trade in a candle shop, then maintain an inn (since 1844), which was bought instead of the sold candle factory.

Ivan also had to do menial work, including sweeping the yard. Then for a long time it was necessary to pay the accumulated debts. But in spite of everything, the aspiring poet did not abandon his passion for literature and continued to write poetry.

For more than ten years he has been constantly communicating with visiting people who represented different social groups and classes.

The difficulties of being Nikitin, who worked at the inn as a janitor, his difficult monotonous life, her difficult circumstances did not break the young man, he did not sink spiritually, in any free moment he tried to read books, compose poems that asked out of his heart.

While still studying at the seminary, Nikitin became seriously interested in poetry and composed a lot himself. Passion for literature opened up new horizons for him, he managed to break out of the petty-bourgeois worldview and gain inner freedom. Nikitin closely communicated with the people, grew up in the atmosphere of folk dialects of different places in Russia, listened to the stories and tales of wanderers, the lives of saints and spiritual poems. In his youth, he was fond of Pushkin, Zhukovsky and other classics. From the church walls, he brought a reverent attitude to nature. Despite the fact that by that time there were no wonderful teachers in the seminary - A.V. Koltsov and A.P. Serebryansky, the seminarians fed on the memories of their circle. Nikitin wrote the first poems precisely in imitation of Koltsov.

Since 1853, Nikitin began to get closer to the historian, ethnographer and public figure N. I. Vtorov and his circle, which united representatives of the Voronezh intelligentsia. It was Vtorov who inspired Ivan Nikitin for the first publication in the Voronezh Gubernskiye Vedomosti on November 21, 1853 of the poem "Rus", written during the beginning of the Crimean War, and its patriotic content was very topical.

Fascinated by the work of Nikitin, N. I. Vtorov introduced him to the circle of the local intelligentsia, introduced him to Count D. N. Tolstoy, who published the poet’s poems in the Moskvityanin and published his first collection in St. Petersburg as a separate edition (1856).

The popularity of the poet at that time was growing, but he still lived hard. Father drank heavily, however, family relations improved slightly; the atmosphere of the inn was no longer so depressing for the young man, who moved in a circle of intelligent people who were sincerely disposed towards him.

But Nikitin began to be overcome by illness. In 1855, Ivan Nikitin fell seriously ill after catching a cold while swimming. The disease dragged on and developed into consumption.

Bookshop I. S. Nikitin

In 1859, thanks to the assistance of friends, the poet takes a loan in the amount of three thousand rubles, since his own fees were not enough to realize his plan. Being a man of action, I. Nikitin in February 1859, with this money, he opened a bookstore in Voronezh, and with it a shop and a library. Soon, the store turned from an ordinary outlet into a noticeable center of culture, which was not in the city. This allowed him to become one of the main centers of culture in Voronezh. + In 1861, Nikitin visited St. Petersburg and Moscow, took part in local cultural work, in the formation of a literacy society in Voronezh, and also in the establishment of Sunday schools.

In the early 60s, N. A. Nekrasov invited the poet to collaborate in the Sovremennik magazine. This was a real recognition, but I. Nikitin could no longer take advantage of the invitation. A serious illness undermined the strength of the poet.

In May 1861, the poet again caught a bad cold, which caused an exacerbation of the tuberculosis process and a sharp deterioration in his general health. Tuberculous process has accelerated significantly. The level of medicine of those years practically did not leave hope for recovery.

The poet died on October 16 of the same year at the age of only 37 years. He was buried in Voronezh, at the Novo-Mitrofanevsky cemetery, where the poet lived his entire short life.

The creative heritage of I. S. Nikitin and his contribution to Russian literature:

The remarkable Russian poet lived during the time of Tsarist Russia in the nineteenth century in a difficult pre-reform period. This circumstance had a huge impact on the development of his talent and on all his work.

Ivan began to write poetic lines while still in the seminary, and he decided to give his creations to print only in 1853. Their publication took place in the Voronezh Gubernskie Vedomosti, when young man was 29 years old. Patriotic pathos poems were reprinted in other newspapers and magazines, they were very handy, as the Crimean War was going on. The author's works were copied and passed from hand to hand, began to be printed in the "Notes of the Fatherland", "Library for Reading".

In the summer of 1855, Nikitin fell ill after catching a cold while swimming. Faith saved him, many poems with religious themes appeared. The theme of human faith runs like a red thread through everything poetic creativity Ivan Nikitin: " New Testament”, “Prayer”, “The sweetness of prayer”, “Prayer for the cup”. Seeing the holy grace in everything, Nikitin became the most soulful singer of nature (“Morning”, “Spring in the steppe”, “Meeting of winter”) and enriched Russian poetry a large number masterpieces of landscape poetry.

Soon the first collection of poems was published (1856) and Nikitin began to be compared with Koltsov.

Then Nikitin wrote the poem "The Fist", which was completed in 1857. He showed in the poem a type of person who strongly resembled his own father. The Voronezh tradesman Karp Lukich, the hero of the poem, lived by petty deceit, miscalculation and measurement. He is a dealer, himself a penniless and ruined merchant, he cannot get out of severe poverty. As a result of this life, he drank and tyrannized everyone in the house. The poem was received favorably by critics and the book sold out in less than a year, bringing the poet a good income. Despite his illness and depressed mood, Nikitin continued to closely follow Russian literature in 1857-1858. From abroad I read Shakespeare, Cooper, Goethe, Hugo, Chenier. Also began to study German, translating Heine and Schiller. In 1857-1858 he worked in "Notes of the Fatherland", "Russian Conversation". At this time, the inn began to generate income, the family came out of need. Father did not stop drinking, but relations in the family improved, work was no longer so burdensome for Nikitin.

Nikitin received Dobrolyubov's excellent review of his poem. The poet was introduced to Count D.N. Tolstoy, who helped him publish.

The second collection appeared in 1859. Nikitin became the master of the Russian landscape and the successor to Koltsov, a hymnologist of hard peasant labor, the life of the urban poor and the injustice of the world order. Nikitin's name thundered, but life was still hard.

In the second half of 1860, Nikitin worked hard. Soon, in 1861, his prose Diary of a Seminarian was published.

The original and essential feature of Nikitin's poetry is truthfulness and simplicity, reaching the strictest direct reproduction of worldly prose. Almost all of Nikitin's poems fall into two big block: some are dedicated to nature ("South and North" (1851) "Morning" (1854)), others - to human need, people's suffering ("Plowman" (1856), "The Coachman's Wife" (1854)). In both those and others, the poet is completely free from any effects and idle eloquence.

From early childhood, he was familiar with the life of ordinary people and serfs filled with hardships and suffering. In all his creations, the lack of rights, hopelessness, need and hard work of people from the lower classes, to which an overwhelmingly large proportion of the Russian population belonged, are fully reflected. The poet sincerely sympathized with the representatives of these estates and treated them in accordance with Christian traditions, supporting those in need not only with a kind word, but also providing them with real help. The main part of the writer's work is a poetic landscape lyrics, which, among other things, contains a religious bias and has a philosophical orientation. In terms of his creative style, he is the successor to the traditions laid down by Koltsov.

His ability to subtly feel the world around him, to sing the subtle shades of colors is striking. He was able with just a stroke of the pen to describe the world around him with inspiration and piercing sensitivity. In his poems - a true love of nature, in his work the poet showed himself as a talented landscape painter. Love for the people is one of the main themes in Nikitin's work.

A significant place in the work of the poet, who sincerely worried about his people and let their troubles pass through his own heart, is occupied by poems describing the life of an ordinary commoner (“Coachman’s Wife”, “Plowman”, “Mother and Daughter”, “Beggar”, “Street Meeting” ). They clearly express deep sincere love for their people, ardent sympathy for their plight and a great desire to improve their situation.

At the same time, Nikitin did not idealize the people, looking at him with sober eyes, he painted him truthfully, without hiding the gloomy sides and negative traits of the people's character: family despotism, rudeness (“Corruption”, “Stubborn Father”, “Delezh”).

Nikitin's panoramic vision embraced all aspects of Russian life.

In the work of Nikitin there is a lot of autobiographical element with prevailing sad tones, sadness and grief, which are also caused by a protracted illness. The source of such poignant sadness was not only personal adversity, but also the surrounding life with human suffering, social contrasts, and constant drama. + Nikitin was a member of the circle of the local Voronezh intelligentsia, it was the circle of Nikolai Ivanovich Vtorov. But Vtorov soon left Voronezh. The second friend of Nikitin was Mikhail Fedorovich De-Poulet. It was he who, after the death of Nikitin, became his executor, he published his legacy, wrote a biography and edited Nikitin's writings.

In his short life, Nikitin wrote about two hundred beautiful poems, three poems and a story.

Nikitin's works perfectly fit the music and have served as a source of inspiration for many Russian composers. Over 60 wonderful songs and romances were composed to Nikitin's poems, many of which became popular. There are songs that have become folk songs. Perhaps the most famous of them is "Ukhar-merchant". Here, however, it should be noted that the text of the folk version of the song has undergone significant changes that have affected the original semantic content.

Nikitin was and remains an unsurpassed singer of Russian nature. The name of Ivan Nikitin entered the musical culture of Russia, his name outlived many, larger, but forgotten poets.

Memory of an original Russian poet:

* In 1924 in Voronezh, in the house where Ivan Nikitin had lived since 1846, the Nikitin Literary and Memorial House-Museum was established.

* One of the gymnasiums in Voronezh is named after the poet.

* In the USSR, postage stamps with the image of Nikitin were issued.

*Streets in Voronezh, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk are named after Ivan Nikitin.

* A monument to the poet was opened on Nikitinskaya Square in Voronezh in 1911, the project of which was developed by the sculptor I.A. Shuklin.

*In 2011, the Russian Post issued a circulation of postcards depicting the above-mentioned monument to the poet in Voronezh.

In the history of Russian literature there are names "quiet", the names of writers and poets of the second row, which are obscured either by noisy "pop poetry", or by modernists with claims to genius. Time passes and puts everyone in their place. It turns out that in modernity there were, to put it in Yesenin's way, a lot of "broken and deceitful gestures", and behind the noise - absolutely nothing worthwhile. But the power of true talent passes through decades and continues to be felt for a long time. Especially when the very talent of the artist comes from the earth, from the soil, from a deep awareness of his blood connection with the fate of the whole people. So it was with our contemporary Nikolai Rubtsov, and also, even earlier, with Ivan Nikitin. The lines of the last about winter we teach from elementary school…

Biography of Ivan Nikitin (1824 - 1861)

Voronezh ... The land that gave the world and Russia two great sons - Alexei Koltsov and Ivan Nikitin. However, he served a link here in the 30s. of the last century, a poet who left an eloquent confession about this: “I am near Koltsov, Like a falcon, looped ...” This is about external lack of freedom. Only Koltsov and Nikitin were hardly free to the end. Both were oppressed by the need to engage in hated huckstering, because there were simply no other sources of income. To live in Russia for a writer on royalties from his works is a luxury that falls to very few chosen ones.

Until the end of his short life, Nikitin remained a son of time, a century, and a representative of the merchant class. The last one deserves a special mention. Not much in Soviet years they liked to advertise the fact that the first generation of Russian merchants came from the Old Believers. And there were large families, fidelity to traditions, love for work from an early age. And the first Russian merchants did not consider it shameful for themselves to plow, and sow, and mow, and drink vodka with commoners, because they always remembered from what bottoms they themselves rose. In the future, merchants turned into bourgeois, and ties with the past weakened.

The father of the future poet was a candle merchant, who went bankrupt due to a penchant for drunkenness and a violent temper. Nikitin did not receive a systematic education, he was forced to leave his studies at the seminary and become the owner of an inn, which brought, albeit a small, but constant source of income. Nikitin tried to make up for the shortcomings of education by enhanced self-education, in which he succeeded a lot. Already towards the end of his life, with a loan received from a local philanthropist Kokorev, Nikitin was able to open a bookstore with a reading room. They quickly became the cultural center of the province.

Looking at a photograph of Nikitin and knowing that he passed away at the classical, fatal age for a Russian (and not only) poet - 37 years old, it is difficult to get rid of the thought that he looks much older than his years. It was not only his beard that aged him, but also the hardships suffered in childhood, the need to fight for every piece of bread. In those days, people generally matured and grew old, apparently much faster than now ... Consumption (aka tuberculosis) was considered an incurable disease. She brought Nikitin to the grave. He is buried next to Koltsov, which has deep truth and symbolism. However, more on that below.

Creativity of Ivan Nikitin

Nikitin's early poems were inevitably imitative in nature and are now of interest only to literary historians. In search of his voice, he turned to folklore and the experience of his predecessors. And among them was not only fellow countryman Alexei Koltsov. A.I. Neledinsky-Meletsky and A.F. Merzlyakov, then Lyceum friend Anton Delvig, tried to root the genre of “Russian song” in Russian literature. So Koltsov already had whose experience to take into account. Not all of the poems that had the title "Russian Song" really became songs and went to the people. The latter has a sensitive ear, it immediately and unmistakably catches the slightest falsehood, a deviation from the authenticity, artlessness of folk versification.

During his lifetime, Nikitin managed to publish two poetry collections. They caused the most contradictory responses, which, however, is natural - there were those who accepted the poet's work, and those who treated him as imitative and even weak. As noted above, Nikitin enters the reader's consciousness mainly as a singer of his native nature, and secondly, as a writer of everyday life of a difficult peasant life, hopeless need and exhausting work.

Nature in Nikitin's perception is an inexhaustible source of poetic inspiration, the very power that can heal mental and even physical wounds, reconcile with deep social imperfection and stratification. Undoubtedly, the nature of Nikitin's poetry was influenced by his own character. Unlike the much more emotional Koltsov, Nikitin was, to use the expression of the philosopher I. Kant, "a thing in itself." Meager expressive means, a minimum of metaphors and other verbal "decorations", outward simplicity and even artlessness. But they are the most powerful! For behind this external restraint it is not difficult to see a passionate, rebellious, searching, restless nature.

Few poets can compare with Nikitin in some physiological accuracy of descriptions, in naturalistic sensations, as, for example, in the textbook lines of the poem “The stars grow dim and go out. Clouds on fire ... "And what a truly cosmic, universal scope in the first original Nikitin poem "Rus", where "the tent blue skies”, and “the distance of the steppes”, and “chains of mountains”. Nikitin invariably went to the understanding and comprehension of Russia through Voronezh, his "small Motherland", the boundaries of which he left only once, for the sake of a trip to the capitals.

When at Soviet power The Mitrofanievskoye cemetery in Voronezh was demolished and liquidated, only the burial places of Koltsov and Nikitin, a kind of provincial "Literary bridges", were saved.
Many songs have been written on Nikitin's verses that have come off the author's name. To this day, they are perceived as Russian folk - so much the author managed to imbue the spirit of the people. The most famous thing of this kind is “A merchant was riding from the fair ...”