Mirra Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya. Biography. Brief biography of Lokhvitskaya Illness and death
There is something mystical both in the poetry of Mirra Lokhvitskaya and in her fate. This was noticed immediately after her death. “I expected to die young, // And she died young,” wrote Igor Severyanin, paraphrasing her famous lines. Her very name, Mirra, is imbued with mysticism. Actually, her name was Maria, she became Mirra only in her youth - why is not known exactly.
“Myrrh” is a precious incense, an ancient symbol of love and death. Its Greek name is “myrrh”. Myrrh, along with gold and incense, is one of the gifts brought by the Magi to the infant Christ. As a component, myrrh is part of a complex aromatic composition with the consonant name “myrrh”, used in liturgical practice and symbolizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
It is impossible not to notice that the semantic field of the word “myrrh” includes all the main themes of Lokhvitskaya’s poetry, to which she remained faithful throughout her entire creative career.
The peaks are burning in the fire of sunset,
The soul trembles and heeds the call,
She hears a whisper: “You will enter eternity
Having passed through the gates of love and death." (“Gate of Eternity”) –
she wrote in one of her last poems. Her inclination towards mysticism was natural, one might even say hereditary. Her great-grandfather, Kondraty Andreevich Lokhvitsky (1779–1839), was known as a mystical poet, the author of mysterious “prophecies.”
Unfortunately, documentary biographical information about Mirra Lokhvitskaya is very scarce; contemporaries rarely remembered her. And the external outline of her biography is not too eventful. The most complete and truthful source of information about her is her own poetry, which reflected her unique personality. Existing biographical information is replete with inaccuracies. Let's try to isolate the most reliable information.
Maria Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya was born on November 19 (December 2), 1869 in St. Petersburg in the family of a famous lawyer at that time, Alexander Vladimirovich Lokhvitsky (1830-1884).
A.V. Lokhvitsky belonged to the circle of learned lawyers. He was a doctor of laws, the author of a course on criminal law and other works and articles, according to contemporaries, “marked by clarity and talent of presentation.” He practiced as a lawyer, or more precisely, an attorney at law. His speeches attracted the audience with brilliant dialectics and remarkable wit.
Mother, Varvara Alexandrovna (née Hoyer, † not earlier than 1917), came from a Russified French (or German?) family. She was well-read and was fond of literature.
On November 30, 1869, the girl was baptized in the Sergievsky All Artillery Cathedral, which was located next to the house in which the Lokhvitskys lived (address - Sergievskaya St., 3). The recipients of the baptism were Lieutenant Colonel V.A. von Goyer and E.A. Bestuzheva-Ryumina, wife of St. Petersburg University professor K.N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin (after whom the famous Higher Women's Courses were named). Bestuzhev-Ryumin was a friend of A.V. Lokhvitsky.
The next child in the family was Nadezhda Alexandrovna (1872-1952) - the famous Teffi.
From her autobiographical stories it is clear that the family had many children, and the age difference between the older and younger children was quite significant. It is difficult to find out the exact number of brothers and sisters from church registers, since the family moved from city to city several times (the father graduated from Moscow University, then studied in Germany, taught in Odessa, St. Petersburg and finally returned to Moscow, where he was a sworn attorney); Addresses also changed within the same city. The years of life of only the elder brother Nikolai (1868-1933) and the youngest sister, Elena (1874-1919), are reliably known.
His brother chose a military career, rose to the rank of general, and during the First World War he commanded an expeditionary force in France, in civil war participated in the white movement, for some time he was the commander of the 2nd Kolchak army. Among his many awards are the St. George Cross of the fourth and third degrees; evidence of personal courage. In exile, he participated in various patriotic organizations and was chairman of the society of monarchist-legitimists.
Elena Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya is depicted in many of Teffi’s autobiographical stories. Nadezhda and Elena - two younger sisters - were especially friendly with each other. Elena also wrote poetry, later, together with Teffi, translated Maupassant, and was a member of the society of dramatic writers. However, she did not consider herself a professional “writer”. She lived with her mother until she was 40, then married court councilor V.V. Plandovsky. The names of two more older sisters are reliably known - Varvara Alexandrovna Popova and Lydia Alexandrovna Kozhina (their portraits are contained in Teffi’s family album). Around 1910, Varvara, having become widowed or divorced, settled with her mother and sister Elena. In the address book she certified herself as a “writer.” In 19161917 collaborated with Novoye Vremya, publishing notes under the pseudonym “Murgit,” undoubtedly taken from Mirra’s poem of the same name. Teffi’s stories also mention her sister Vera.
As for the relationship between the two most famous sisters, Mirra and Nadezhda, they were apparently not easy. The bright talent of both, with a very small age difference (in fact, two and a half years), led to mutual repulsion rather than attraction. In Teffi’s stories and memoirs, there are often tangible “pins” addressed to her late sister. But it would still be unfair to attach too much importance to them. “Two-faced” Teffi, laughing and crying, is true to herself here too. Her poetry provides some examples of lyrical sadness, containing recognizable reminiscences of Mirra’s poetry and clearly inspired by memories of her.
In 1874 the family moved to Moscow. In 1882, Maria entered the Moscow Alexander School (renamed the Alexander Institute in the 90s), where she studied while living as a boarder at the expense of her parents. At the institute, her literature teacher was bibliographer D.D. Yazykov (information that literature was taught by the poet A.N. Maikov is a gross mistake that is in no way consistent with the poet’s biography).
After the death of her husband, Varvara Alexandrovna and her younger daughters returned to St. Petersburg. In 1888, having completed the course and received a certificate as a home teacher, Maria moved there, to her family.
She began writing poetry very early, and realized herself as a poet at the age of 15. Shortly before graduating from the institute, two of her poems, with the permission of her superiors, were published as a separate small brochure.
In 1889, Mirra Lokhvitskaya began regularly publishing her poems in periodicals. The first publication in which she began to collaborate was the illustrated magazine "North", in the coming years she began to publish in several more magazines - "Picturesque Review", "Artist", "Trud", "Russian Review", "Books of the Week" and etc. She usually signed herself “M. Lokhvitskaya,” friends and acquaintances then already called her Mirra. By this time I met the writers Vsevolod Solovyov, I. Yasinsky, Vas. Iv. Nemirovich-Danchenko, A. Korinfsky, critic and art historian P.P. Gnedich, poet and philosopher Vladimir Solovyov and others.
In the 1890s. The Lokhvitsky family regularly spent the summer months in the so-called “Oranienbaum colony” - a holiday village between Peterhof and Oranienbaum.
The impressions of this area were inspired by a number of poems by Lokhvitskaya, as well as her poem “By the Sea”.
Next door to the Lokhvitskys, the family of the famous architecture professor Ernest Gibert (1823–1909) rented a dacha. This was one of the many foreign architects whose fate was connected with Russia. A purebred Frenchman, he was born in Paris in the 40s. came to St. Petersburg, graduated from the Academy of Arts and stayed in Russia forever. He built quite a lot in St. Petersburg and the provinces. Ernest Ivanovich, as they began to call him in his new homeland, lived long life(buried at the Smolensk Lutheran Cemetery, * although by religion he was most likely a Catholic). Over time, he married, apparently also a Russified Frenchwoman, Olga Fegin (1838–1900). They had a daughter, Olga Ernestovna, and several sons, one of whom, Evgeniy Ernestovich, Mirra Lokhvitskaya married.
The wedding took place at the end of 1891. Later, answering the questionnaire, Lokhvitskaya wrote that her husband was then a student at St. Petersburg University. However, it is possible that they meant the Institute of Civil Engineers, of which E.I. Zhiber was a professor for many years. E.E. Zhiber was a civil engineer by profession (as listed in the directory “All Petersburg”). F.F. Fidler reports that he served in an insurance company. Be that as it may, his work involved travel and long business trips.
About a year after the wedding, the young couple left St. Petersburg, lived for some time in Tikhvin and Yaroslavl (address: Romanovskaya street, Kuleshov’s house), then for several years Moscow became their permanent place of residence (address: Brilliantov’s house on the corner of 2nd Znamensky and Bolshoy Spassky lanes - now the lanes are called 2nd Kolobovsky and Bolshoi Karetny).
In the fall of 1898, the family moved to St. Petersburg again. Permanent address in St. Petersburg – Stremyannaya street, 4, apt. 7.
The poetess had five children, all boys. Three: Mikhail, Evgeniy and Vladimir were born in the first years of her marriage, one after another.
Around 1900, a fourth child, Ishmael, was born. By the early 1900s. refers to a comic poem preserved in workbook poetess, a poem dedicated to her children, in which she gives a playful description of each of them and speaks quite seriously about her maternal feelings.
My Michael is a brave warrior, Strong in life’s battles, talkative and restless, Poisoning my life. My Zhenyushka is a clear boy, My corrected portrait, In agreement with my mother’s will, Inevitable as a poet. My superstitious Volodya loves to argue endlessly, but with exemplary courtesy he wins all hearts. My Ishmael is the son of the East, The rustling of palm tops, He sleeps deeply all day long, At night he is awake alone. But let me reject honor and glory sooner, Than give up my horde: Four heroes!
Indeed, according to the unanimous testimony of memoirists, despite the “courage” of her love lyrics, in life Lokhvitskaya was “the most chaste married lady in St. Petersburg,” a faithful wife and virtuous mother. She has few poems addressed to children, but they form an integral part of her poetic heritage. Evgeniy, Izmail and the last, fifth child, Valery, born in the fall of 1904, received personal dedications.
Lokhvitskaya's first collection of poems was published in 1896 and was awarded the Pushkin Prize (half - which, however, did not diminish the honor; the full was rarely awarded). It is widely believed that the venerable poet Apollo Nikolaevich Maikov once especially patronized Lokhvitskaya, but no evidence of their communication has survived. Moreover, A.A. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, a reviewer of the collection, in his recommendation review says: “Upon the publication of Ms. Lokhvitskaya’s collection, the late K.N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, probably personally acquainted with the author, gave the late Apollo Nikolaevich Maykov and me a copy of this collection each.” Therefore, Maikov did not know Lokhvitskaya. Most likely, vague memories that the academician poet was somehow involved in awarding her the Pushkin Prize, as well as the presence of her anthological poems on antique themes, created a myth about some kind of special patronage of Lokhvitskaya by Maykov.
Further collections of the poetess's poems were published in 1898, 1900, 1903 and 1904. The third and fourth collections were awarded an honorary review by the Academy of Sciences.
With the move to St. Petersburg, Lokhvitskaya joined the literary circle of the poet K.K. Sluchevsky. Sluchevsky treated her with great warmth; at his “Fridays” she was always a welcome, although infrequent, guest. However, judging by the diary entries of F.F. Fiedler, and in this close circle the attitude towards the poetess was ambiguous. In general, Lokhvitskaya’s circle of literary connections is quite narrow. Of the symbolists, F.K. was perhaps the most friendly towards her. Sologub.
Among her friends, Lokhvitskaya was surrounded by a peculiar aura of light love and, as its negative reflection , a fog of rumors and speculation. Although appearance is not directly related to literature, in her case it played an important, albeit ambiguous, role. A classic portrait of the poetess is given in the memoirs of I.A. Bunin: “And everything about her was charming: the sound of her voice, the liveliness of her speech, the sparkle of her eyes, this sweet, light playfulness... Her complexion was especially beautiful: matte, even, similar to the color of a Crimean apple.”
Memoirists emphasize a certain exoticism of her appearance, corresponding to the exoticism of her poetry. On initial stage Lokhvitskaya’s spectacular appearance probably helped her literary career, but later it became an obstacle to understanding her poetry. Not everyone wanted to see that the poetess’s external attractiveness was combined with a lively mind, which over time began to reveal itself more and more clearly in her lyrics. Lokhvitskaya's drama is an ordinary drama of a beautiful woman in whom they refuse to notice anything other than beauty.
IN biographical information There is information that the poetess often and with constant success spoke at literary evenings. These “variety” successes of hers seem greatly exaggerated. There are only a few evidences of such performances in her archive. In addition, she suffered from shyness, noticeable to outsiders. Wed. memories of E. Poselyanin: “When she went on stage, there was so much helpless shyness in her that she seemed much less beautiful than on her card, which was published in all the magazines.”
Lokhvitskaya herself recognized this property in herself. So it is wrong to make her fame dependent on her personal charm.
The question inevitably arises about the nature of Lokhvitskaya’s relationship with the poet K.D. Balmont. P.P. Pertsov in his memoirs mentions their “high-profile romance,” which, in his opinion, marked the beginning of Balmont’s other countless novels. This information is confirmed by the diary entries of F.F. Fiedler (according to Balmont himself, who readily told the barely familiar collector of literary gossip the most intimate details of his relationship with the poetess, a married woman). However, even in the context of Fiedler’s observations, a suspicion arises that the poet is more likely to wishful thinking than to report facts, especially since in many years of frank correspondence with his closest friend Bryusov, he never once mentioned anything like that. Many years later, Balmont himself, in his autobiographical essay “At Dawn,” said that he was connected with Lokhvitskaya only by “poetic friendship.” Otherwise, the relationship between the two poets is surrounded by deaf silence. Memoirists who wrote about Lokhvitskaya do not say a word about this. Those who wrote about Balmont hardly mention Lokhvitskaya. Researchers, based on several poetic dedications, conclude that at some point the poets were connected by intimate relationships, then their paths diverged, but the memories of the “bright feeling” remained; subsequently Balmont was very saddened by the death of Lokhvitskaya, dedicated it to her memory several poems and named his daughter from his marriage with E.K. after her. Tsvetkovskaya. It seems that all this is only partly true. As for the intimate relationships colorfully described by Balmont, they may not have happened.
Almost no documentary evidence of communication between the two poets has survived. There is not a single letter from Lokhvitskaya in Balmont’s archive; only one of his letters, very official in tone, has survived in her archive. However, even from this single letter one can understand that there were other letters, but, apparently, for some reason they were destroyed.
The “lower limit” of acquaintance between poets no later than February 1896 is established according to the dedicatory inscription on the book (I volume of Lokhvitskaya’s poems) donated to Balmont. Based on indirect hints, it can be assumed that acquaintance and certain stages of the relationship were associated with a stay in Crimea (in 1895 (?) and 1898). How these relationships developed can be judged only by fragmentary mentions in the poets’ correspondence with other recipients and extremely sparse remarks in Balmont’s autobiographical prose. But silence itself is significant. In the almost complete absence of epistolary and memoir sources, abundant material is provided by the poetic roll call, imprinted in the work of both and by no means reducible to a few direct dedications. In any case, Balmont is easily recognizable in Lokhvitskaya’s poetry. From this roll call we can conclude that the relationship between the two poets was far from idyllic. After a relatively short period when they felt like close friends and like-minded people, a sharp difference in views emerged - as evidenced by Balmont’s critical reviews. There is reason to believe that with his demonstrative disregard for the feelings and reputation of his beloved, he played a very unseemly role in her fate, which is what caused the strange silence.
The drama, apparently, was that the feeling of the poets was mutual, but Lokhvitskaya, due to her marital status and religious beliefs, tried to suppress this feeling in life, leaving the sphere of creativity for him. Balmont, in those years, fascinated by Nietzsche’s ideas about “superhumanity”, striving, according to modernist principles, to merge creativity with life, with his numerous poetic appeals constantly undermined the unstable mental balance, which the poetess achieved with great difficulty. The poetic exchange between Balmont and Lokhvitskaya, full of mutual delight at the beginning of their acquaintance, eventually turns into a kind of duel. The consequences were tragic for both poets. For Lokhvitskaya, the result of the dramatic conflict was painful transformations of the psyche (on the verge of mental illness), which ultimately led to premature death. Balmont, who realized “life creativity” in immoderate revelry with alcohol and, probably, drug abuse, destroyed his own personality (he began to show signs of “Jekyll and Hyde syndrome”; many years later, at the end of his life, he was overtaken by mental illness).
Lokhvitskaya’s health has been noticeably deteriorating since the late 1890s. She is often sick, complains of heart pain, chronic depression, nightmares (symptoms of incipient Basedow disease, aggravated emotional experiences). In December 1904, shortly after the fifth birth, the disease worsened; in 1905, the poetess was already practically bedridden. The last period of improvement was in the summer of 1905, at the dacha, then the patient suddenly became sharply worse. She died painfully (see article by Yu. Zagulyaeva). Death occurred on August 27, 1905. The funeral took place on August 29. There were few people there. The cynically indifferent reaction described by Fiedler, even of those who deigned to honor the memory of the deceased with their presence, testifies to the deep loneliness of the poetess in the circle of writers and the misunderstanding that surrounded her. Lokhvitskaya was buried in the Spiritual Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, in the same place, at the Nikolskoye cemetery, and buried.
The poetess died at the age of 35. For a long time, biographical certificates listed pulmonary tuberculosis as the cause of death, but this was a mistake. Contemporary evidence tells a different story. Thus, Yu. Zagulyaeva reports about “heart toad”, i.e. angina pectoris. Even more informative is the diary entry of F.F. Fiedler: “On August 27, Lokhvitskaya died at the Bekhterev Clinic - from heart disease, diphtheria and Basedow’s disease.” It is worth noting a medical fact: the development of Graves' disease is often the result of some kind of shock or constant nervous tension. The surviving photographs of Lokhvitskaya (one of the last, which can be approximately dated to 1903-1904 on the left) do not reflect the external signs of this disease it probably progressed in the last period of the poetess’s life. Be that as it may, it was already obvious to contemporaries that the physical causes of Lokhvitskaya’s death were closely related to her mental state. “She died early; somehow mysterious; as a consequence of the disturbed balance of her spirit... That’s what they said...” - wrote the poetess I. Grinevskaya, who was friends with Lokhvitskaya, in her memoirs.
Balmont did not show any concern for his beloved throughout her dying illness, and was not present at the funeral. Most likely, he (like everyone else) had no idea that Lokhvitskaya was seriously ill and that the “disturbed balance of spirit” aggravated her painful condition, because in the last years of the poetess’s life, he communicated not with herself, but exclusively with her lyrical heroine. In his letter to Bryusov dated September 5, 1905, among the disparaging characteristics of modern poets there is this: “Lokhvitskaya is a beautiful romance.” In the context of what happened, these words sound cynical (Balmont could not have known about the death of the poetess). His collection “Evil Spells”, the name of which is clearly borrowed from Lokhvitskaya (the expression is found in her dramas “Immortal Love” and “In nomine Domini”, as well as in the poem “Evil Whirls”), is also imbued with cynicism. However, the death of his beloved, apparently, was a crushing blow for the poet, and even the apparent inadequacy of his reaction rather indicates not indifference, but an inability to immediately comprehend what happened. Eight years after Lokhvitskaya’s death, Balmont admitted to Fidler that he loved her and “still loves her.” Subsequently, he perceived his feeling exclusively as bright (cf. his remark in the essay “Crimea”: “Crimea is a blue window, a blue window of my happy hours of liberation and youth... where, in the blissful days of unexpected joy, Mirra Lokhvitskaya experienced the verse with me: “I would like to to be your rhyme, - to be like a rhyme, yours or no one’s,” - a blue window that no evil spell can extinguish” (K. Balmont. Autobiographical prose. M., 2001, p. 573.)
He did not write anything specifically about Lokhvitskaya in prose, but in poetry he continued to respond to her poems until the end of his life and built a kind of mysticism of love with the hope of a subsequent reunion (continuing the mysticism of love of the poetess herself).
The love story of two poets had a strange and tragic continuation in the destinies of their children. Balmont's daughter was named Mirra in honor of Lokhvitskaya (it would be more accurate to say that the poet perceived his daughter as the reincarnation of his beloved). The name of Lokhvitskaya’s penultimate son, Ishmael, was somehow connected with her love for Balmont. Ishmael was the name of the main character of the strange fairy tale she composed “About Prince Ishmael, Princess Svetlana and Dzhemali the Beautiful,” in which the relationship of the poets was fancifully refracted. In 1922, when Balmont was already in exile and living in Paris, a young man, a former Wrangel soldier, a young poet, Izmail Lokhvitsky-Giber, came to him. Balmont was excited by this meeting: the young man was very similar to his mother. He soon became a fan of fifteen-year-old Mirra Balmont, who also wrote poetry (her father saw her only as a poetess). What happened next is impossible to understand. Whether the girl rejected the love of the young poet, or for some reason his relationship with Balmont deteriorated, or he simply could not find himself in his new emigrant life, but after a year and a half, Ishmael shot himself. In his suicide letter, he asked to give Mirra a package that contained his poems, notes and a portrait of his mother. Balmont reported this in a letter to his next lover, Dagmar Shakhovskaya, who bore him two children. Their daughter, born the same year, was named Svetlana.
The subsequent fate of Mirra Balmont was no less tragic. An unsuccessful marriage, the birth of more than ten children, monstrous poverty. She died in 1970. A few years before her death, she was in a car accident and lost the ability to move.
The fates of Lokhvitskaya’s other sons also turned out sadly. Evgeniy and Vladimir remained in Russia and died during the siege of Leningrad. The eldest son Mikhail emigrated, lived in exile for a long time, first in France, then in the USA, and in 1967 he committed suicide out of grief after losing his wife. There was information that another son (obviously the youngest, Valery) lived in Paris in the 70s. XX century, but nothing more precise can be said.
The grave of Mirra Lokhvitskaya at the Nikolskoye cemetery has been preserved. The inscription on the tombstone reads: “Maria Alexandrovna Zhiber – “M.A. Lokhvitskaya" - Born November 19, 1869. Died August 27, 1905." Judging by the location of the burial, it was assumed that the husband would later be buried nearby, but the place remained empty.
In 2012, the relatives of the poetess (her niece I.V. Plandovskaya, together with her son N. Plandovsky-Timofeev and his wife Natalya) restored the monument.
"I love the beauty of the sun
And the muses of the Hellenic creation,
But I worship the Cross,
The cross as a symbol of suffering.
Maybe these are not the best poems of the poetess, but this is the best that could be written on her grave.
The photo was taken from a VKontakte group dedicated to Lokhvitskaya (I hope the author of the photo will not be offended that I placed it here).
* I would like to thank the staff of the Literary Museum of the Pushkin House for providing photographs of Mirra Lokhvitskaya (the photographs were published in the Russian Archives almanac), as well as researcher of Lokhvitskaya’s work, V. Makashina, for indicating the burial place of E. Zhiber, and researcher of Teffi’s work, E. Trubilova, for clarifying the maiden name of Varvara Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya, as well as L. and S. Novoseltsev for providing information about the fate of the poetess’s sons.
Lokhvitskaya's poetry is elegant and colorful. During her lifetime she received the name "Russian Sappho". The line “This happiness is voluptuousness” was the poetess’s motto.
In their early works she glorifies love as a bright romantic feeling that brings family happiness and the joy of motherhood. For her first collection of poetry, “Poems (1889 - 1895),” which appeared in 1896, Mirra Lokhvitskaya was awarded the Pushkin Prize of the Academy of Sciences. The poetess dedicated the collection to her husband and included poems addressed to her son.
The public exchange of messages in verse and the mutual dedications of Lokhvitskaya and Balmont aroused general interest and only emphasized the inherent aura of a “bacchante” in Lokhvitskaya. The poet dedicated his best collection, “Let’s Be Like the Sun” (1903), to her. However, I. Bunin, who knew the poetess well and highly appreciated her work, spoke about the discrepancy between the real human appearance of the poetess and the image of her lyrical heroine: “She sang of love, passion, and therefore everyone imagined her almost as a bacchante, not at all suspecting that she, despite her youth, had been married for a long time... that she was the mother of several children, a big homebody...”(Bunin I.A.).
By the end of the 19th century, the popularity of the “Russian Sappho” was constantly increasing; criticism found in her poetry “more sincerity than immodesty.”
In the 1900s, Lokhvitskaya turned to dramatic forms, wrote plays based on medieval themes, and was also attracted to eternal biblical stories. Poems recent years lives are imbued with mysticism and pessimism, thoughts of suffering and death. Along with fairy-tale and fantastic motifs, painful visions appeared in her works. Subsequent collections: "Poems. 1898 - 1900", 1900, - "honorable review" from the Academy of Sciences; "Poems. 1900 - 1902", 1903; "Poems. 1902-1904", 1904 - posthumously awarded half the Pushkin Prize). In addition to lyrical poems, these collections included dramatic poems “Two Words”, “On the Way to the East”, “Vandelin”, “Immortal Love”, “In nomine Domini” (“In the Name of God”).
During the poetess’s lifetime, five issues of “Poems” were published (the last one in 1904). It is widely believed that Lokhvitskaya did not have a significant influence on contemporary and subsequent literature. Meanwhile, experience shows that this is not so. The images of her poetry are often played out by other authors. Amfitheatrov wrote about this in the 10th century in an article devoted to an analysis of the work of Igor Severyanin: “Although her life was short, she managed to say a few of her words and add a few of her thoughts to the treasury of Russian literature. Later, various gentlemen poets have been making their living with them for a whole decade now...”V. F. MarkovsaidNowadays: “Lokhvitskaya is a storehouse of prophetic anticipations<...>She was ahead of Balmont by almost ten years with her "To the Sun"<...>Other poets are also heard in her lines. The very first poem of the first book of her poems sounds like a harbinger of Gippius, Balmont and Sologub, and in addition, some of the “Soloviev” aspects of Blok. Lokhvitskaya wrote about the rope dancer (and about “loneliness together”) before Akhmatova, explained the nature of the naiad before Tsvetaeva, put “rain” and “raincoat” in poetry before Yuri Zhivago, used words like “terevinf” before Vyacheslav Ivanov. A follower of Mirra Lokhvitskaya was Igor Severyanin. He created a kind of cult of the poetess, and her name was included in the declarations of the ego-futurists, who called her their forerunner.
White nymph - under the sad willow He looks into a pond overgrown with water lilies. Do you hear? There was a whiff of distant music - These are violets blooming. The evening is approaching. Even more fragrant The young grass will breathe. Do you believe?.. But the thrill of silence is clearer, Where words are powerless. 1899
Nowadays
What morals, what a time! Everyone is lazily carrying the burden, Without dreaming of anything else. It's boring in their sleepy gatherings, In their ordinary fun, Their fun is feigned. We, frozen in modest desires, We are looking for semi-dark colors, Hating darkness and light. We are not beckoned by the ghost of happiness, Celebrations and autocracy, There are no visions in our dreams. Everything disappeared without return. Where those who once shone In a halo of gold? Those who walked towards their cherished goal, That they didn’t turn pale during the torture, Didn't you moan under the whip? Where those who knew no sorrows In the wild splendor of bacchanalia Burnt years? Where are you people? Past, past! Everything is gone irrevocably Everything faded away without a trace. And to the delight of the hypocrites Life crawls in a gray fog, Unresponsive and deaf. Vera is sleeping. Science is silent. And boredom reigns over us, Mother of vice and sin. 1898In a different country
You once loved me, - A long time ago, in a different country.- You were full of powerful forces, You were loved by me. The sunset of radiant days flashed - A long time ago, in another country.- We parted - not according to you, Not my fault. And the blue vault was eclipsed - In a different country, for a long time.- My friend, let us bow before Fate, It was meant to be. 1904-1905Gate of Eternity
I dreamed of mountains in the fire of sunset, Not like mists, not like visions, But like the vastness of the earthly stronghold The threshold of the glory of another world. They rose like a double wall, Aleli bright above the clouds Everything is in wonderful signs, in treasured runes, Keeping the wisdom of the Eternal Secret. I understand the signs, I understand the runes, - In moments of light and revelation. But how will I pass the golden walls? How do you enter the kingdom of another world? The peaks are burning in the fire of sunset The soul trembles and heeds the call. She hears a whisper: “You will enter eternity, Having passed through the gates of love and death." 1904-1905Autumn sunset
Oh farewell light, oh beautiful light, Lit in the heights of the snowy desert, You warm your soul with a vain dream, Anxious melancholy, tender sadness. The fields of ether bloom with you, Where the poppies of the heavenly tabernacles bloom. You have a fusion of fire and peace, In you is the silence of the coming winter. Trusting the night, you quietly doze In the scarlet fog, in the unclear distance. You wearily listen to children’s prayers, Oh farewell light, oh beautiful light! 1898Sleeping swan
My earthly life is ringing, The indistinct rustle of reeds, They lull the sleeping swan to sleep, My restless soul. They flash hurriedly in the distance In the quest of greedy ships, Calm in the thickets of the bay, Where sadness breathes, like the oppression of the earth. But the sound, born from trepidation, Slips into the rustling of the reeds, And the awakened swan trembles, My immortal soul And will rush into the world of freedom, Where the sighs of storms echo the waves, Where in the choppy waters Looks like eternal azure. 1896***
I love you brighter than the sunset sky of lights, Purer than flakes of fog and more tender secret words, More dazzling than arrows cutting through clouds in the darkness; I love you more than anyone can love on earth. Like a dewdrop that reflects the light ether within itself, I embrace the whole sky - boundless love, like the world, That love that shines like a hidden pearl at the bottom; I love you deeper than they love you in a pre-dawn dream. Your love shone for me as the sun of my life. You are my day. You are my dream. You are oblivion from the torments of existence. You are whom I love and whom I obey, loving. You are the one who raised my heart to yours with love! 1900-1902 *** I want to die young Without loving, without being sad about anyone, Golden star rolls Fly around with an unfaded flower. I want it on my stone Exhausted by long enmity Finding bliss together I want to die young! Bury me aside From boring and noisy roads, Where the willow bowed to the wave, Where unmown gorse turns yellow. So that sleepy poppies bloom, So that the wind can breathe over me The scents of a distant land. I want to die young! I don't look at the path I've taken, On the madness of wasted years, I can sleep carefree If the anthem is my last one. Let the fire never die out And the memory of that one will remain What awakened hearts for life. I want to die young! 1898
Maria Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya (married Zhiber), who signed the poems “Mirra Lokhvitskaya”, received the name “Russian Sappho” during her lifetime; love was the main theme of her work; the line “This happiness is voluptuousness” was perceived as the poetess’s motto.
In her early poems, love is a bright feeling that brings family happiness and the joy of motherhood; Subsequently, the life of the lyrical heroine is complicated by the invasion of sinful passion, which brings discord into her soul. The wide range of these experiences helped poems varying the same theme not to look monotonous, love lyrics seemed to take on a plot twist. All Lokhvitskaya’s collections had the title “Poems” and differed only in dating; a kind of novel in verse arose.
Lokhvitskaya's fame received a somewhat scandalous connotation after her hobby Balmont(“Lionel”): the public exchange of messages in verse and mutual dedications corresponded to Lokhvitskaya’s inherent “bacchante” aura. However Bunin, who knew her well and highly valued her, noted the discrepancy between this reputation and the real human appearance of the poetess: “... mother of several children, a big homebody, lazy in an oriental way...”
Sensual and life-loving on the surface, Lokhvitskaya’s lyrics, glorifying sinful passion, concealed spiritual purity and simplicity, deep religiosity; the tendency towards mysticism was clearly reflected in the later poems with their premonition of imminent death.
One of the main advantages of Lokhvitskaya has always been light and melodic verse (her first collection in 1896 was awarded the Pushkin Prize of the Academy of Sciences). But to subsequent poetic generations, her lyrics often seemed devoid of deep thought and traditional in form. Lokhvitskaya did not have a noticeable influence on the poetry of modernism. He became almost her only and fanatical admirer Igor Severyanin, who created a kind of cult of the poetess; thanks to him, Lokhvitskaya’s name was included in the declarations of egofuturists as their predecessors.
She died of tuberculosis at the age of 36, leaving five children.
"Russian poetry of the Silver Age, 1993"
Mirra Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya was born in 1869 or 1871 in St. Petersburg, died there in 1905. After graduating from the Moscow Alexander Institute (1888), she lived in St. Petersburg, Tikhvin, Yaroslavl, Moscow and was engaged in literary activities. Lokhvitskaya’s debut dates back to 1888, she collaborated in the magazines “North”, “World Illustration”, “Northern Herald”, “Russian Thought”, “Book of the Week”, “Trud”, “Niva”, “Artist” and others publications Lokhvitskaya became famous for her poem “By the Sea” (1892). The first collection of “Poems” by Lokhvitskaya was published in 1896 and awarded the Pushkin Prize, the second volume - in 1898, the third - in 1900, the fourth - in 1903, the fifth - in 1904. Very popular in late XIX- at the beginning of the twentieth century, the lyrics of Lokhvitskaya (“Russian Sappho”) attracted the attention of many composers. 89 of her poems were set to music, some of them more than once (, , , , , , , etc.). Romances based on Lokhvitskaya's texts were written by V. Byutsov, Y. Bleichman, S. Vasilenko, R. Gliere, B. Grodzky, V. Zolotarev, A. Taneyev, A. Taskin, V. Muromtsevsky, K. Tideman, N. Sokolov, A. Chernyavsky and others.
“Songs of Russian poets: Collection in 2 volumes - L.: Soviet writer, 1988”
LOKHVITSKAYA, Mirra Alexandrovna - Russian poetess. Daughter of a lawyer. Published since 1889 in St. Petersburg publications. The first collection of “Poems” was published in 1896 (awarded by the Pushkin Prize of the Academy of Sciences). Lokhvitskaya's poetry is confined to the sphere of narrowly personal, intimate experiences (almost all poems are on the theme of love). The emphasized inattention to social issues brings Lokhvitskaya closer to the poets of the 90s, early representatives of decadence ( K. Balmont and etc.). In addition to lyrical poems, Lokhvitskaya owns several dramatic poems from the life of the Middle Ages ( "Immortal Love", "On the way to the East" and etc.).
Works: Poems, vol. 1-5, M. - St. Petersburg, 1896-1904; Before sunset, St. Petersburg, 1908.
Lit.: [Biography], in the book: Dictionary of members of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, M., 1911; Nemirovich-Danchenko Vas. I., In cemeteries (Memoirs), Revel, p. 135-48; Bryusov V., Distant and Close, M. 1912; Makovsky F., What is Russian decadence?, “Education”, 1905, No. 9; Grinevich P. F. ( Yakubovich P. F.), Essays Russian. poetry, 2nd ed., St. Petersburg, 1911, p. 352-58
Al. Morozov
Brief Literary Encyclopedia: In 9 volumes - T. 4. - M.: Soviet encyclopedia, 1967
LOKHVITSKAYA Mirra Alexandrovna (by her husband Zhiber) - Russian poetess. Daughter of a lawyer. She received her education at the institute. The first collection of her poems appeared in 1888.
Lokhvitskaya undoubtedly had great poetic talent. Her poems were distinguished by the brilliance of metaphors, musicality, and emotional richness. In terms of themes and main content, her poetry was limited to the sphere of sensual love and elevated naked voluptuousness to a cult. Lokhvitskaya cultivated narrow individualism, a view of a woman as a creature who finds her happiness in selfless submission to her beloved, her “master.”
If vol. I and II of her poems captivated with the immediate joy of life, then in volume III pessimistic notes were felt, and vol. IV and V, which included, along with lyrical poems medieval dramas were imbued with mysticism, which is associated with the growth of religious and mystical sentiments of the bourgeois intelligentsia before the first Russian revolution (poetry Andrey Bely and early Blok, magazine “New Way”, etc.).
Bibliography: I. Poems, 5 vols., M. and St. Petersburg, 1896-1904; Poems. Before sunset, with app. unreleased poem from previous years with a preface. K.R., St. Petersburg, 1908.
II. Melshin L.(P.F. Grinevich), Essays on Russian poetry, St. Petersburg, 1904; Poyarkov N., Poets of our days, M., 1907; Abramovich N. Ya., Aesthetics and erotica, “Education”, 1908, IV. Reviews: “Russian wealth”, 1896, VII, 1900, VIII, 1903, III, etc.
III. Vladislavlev I.V., Russian writers, ed. 4th, Guise, L., 1924.
V.B.
Literary encyclopedia: In 11 volumes - [M.], 1929-1939
Maria Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya, who later bore the surname Zhiber and wrote under the pseudonym Mirra Lokhvitskaya, is a poetess who had great success at the end of the 19th century, but for some reason is almost forgotten today. At the same time, Lokhvitskaya, who worked mainly in the genre of symbolism, is considered the founder of Russian “women’s” poetry; her followers include Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva, on whom Mirra Lokhvitskaya’s poems had a great influence. She is also the sister of another famous Russian poetess, Teffi (Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya), and the “white” general Nikolai Lokhvitsky.
Mirra Lokhvitskaya did not live to see the revolution - she died on August 27 (September 9, new style) 1905 in the capital, under rather mysterious circumstances. The exact cause of death was never established, just as the disease that tormented the poetess in recent years was not diagnosed.
The youth and early poems of Mirra Lokhvitskaya
Maria Alexandrovna was born on November 19 (December 1, new style) 1869 in St. Petersburg. Her father was widely famous figure jurisprudence. The mother, a Russified Frenchwoman, was very fond of literature, and instilled this love in both daughters (Nadezhda, the future Teffi, was born three years later).
In 1874 the family moved to Moscow. Maria entered the Moscow Alexander School in 1882. There were all conditions for the development of poetic talent - for example, Maria was taught literature by the famous poet Apollo Maikov. As a result, Mirra Lokhvitskaya simply could not help but start writing poetry - and she began at the age of fifteen. Her talent was noticed immediately; even during her studies, Mirra Lokhvitskaya’s poems were published in the form of brochures.
In 1888, when the Lokhvitskys had already returned back to St. Petersburg, Mirra was published in the magazine “North”, published several more brochures, and quickly began to gain popularity. The entire 1890s would be extremely successful for her.
The creative peak of Mirra Lokhvitskaya
From the very beginning of the nineties of the 19th century, Lokhvitskaya began to publish very actively in St. Petersburg publications and quickly entered the capital’s literary community. In 1896, her first collection of poetry, enthusiastically received by critics and the public, was awarded the Pushkin Prize.
The poetess, having married in 1891, spent a lot of time with the house and children (she had five sons), and did not appear in public too often. But this did not hinder the growth of popularity of her poems, especially since collections and publications in magazines were published regularly - both at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th.
Mirra Lokhvitskaya published poems under real name, while the younger sister, in order to avoid associations and literary competition, with the beginning creative career took the pseudonym Teffi.
At the turn of the century, Lokhvitskaya was, without a doubt, one of the most notable poetic figures of her time. What is important is that her work was facilitated by great commercial success, which, as we know, does not always happen. Both the public, criticism, and the literary community were extremely supportive of her, only some reproached her for the lack of a “civil” or “political” message in her poems.
There were persistent rumors, although unconfirmed and not refuted, about Lokhvitskaya’s relationship with another famous poet of this era, Konstantin Baliont.
The last years of the life of Mirra Lokhvitskaya
Lokhvitskaya's health deteriorated greatly in 1904. She complained of heart pain, poor sleep and depression. At first she was treated by living at a dacha in Finland, then she was forced to go to the hospital - it was difficult to care for her at home. Before her death, Lokhvitskaya suffered from severe pain - she had to regularly take morphine.
Despite all this, in 1904 she published her last collection of poetry, which was again awarded the Pushkin Prize. Alas, already posthumously.
Poembook, 2013
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A talented poetess (1869-1905), daughter of the famous scientist and lawyer A.V. Lokhvitsky.
Mirra (also Maria) Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya (by her husband Zhiber) - a talented poetess (1869-1905), daughter of the famous scientist and lawyer A.V. Lokhvitsky (see). Teffi's sister.
She studied at the Moscow Alexander Institute and even then attracted attention with her poetic talent. Several of her poems were published as a separate brochure (M., 1888). Since 1889, she began to publish her poems in “North”, “Artist”, “World Illustration”, “Russian Review”, “Sev. Vestn.”, “Nedele”, “Niva”, etc. In 1896 she published the first collection (M., 1896), followed in 1898 (M.) by the 2nd volume; in 1900 (St. Petersburg) the 3rd volume was published, in 1903 (St. Petersburg) - the 4th, in 1905 - the 5th. The first 2 volumes were published in 1900, 2nd edition.
In 1897, Lokhvitskaya received half the Pushkin Prize for the 1st volume; in 1905, after her death, half the prize was awarded by the academy for the 5th volume. With the light hand of Balmont, Lokhvitskaya was given the nickname “Russian Sappho”, which quite correctly defines the main character of her poetry, all the pathos of which went into the chanting of love. In terms of talent, Lokhvitskaya is one of the most outstanding Russian poets. Her verse is elegant, harmonious, light, the images are always bright and colorful, the mood is clear, the language is flexible. Based on the time of the appearance of Lokhvitskaya’s first collection of poems, which were alien to any “civil” notes and, in their content, demonstratively broke all ties with “ideological” poetry, the young poetess was classified as a decadentist.
This is a mistake: in the best period of her work, Lokhvitskaya does not have even a shadow of that relaxation, nervous weakness, pretentiousness and, in general, morbidity and extravagance, which are organically associated with the concept of true decadence. Lokhvitskaya, on the contrary, is full of strength, passionately wants to live and enjoy, and gives herself over to her impulses with all the fullness of intense feeling. Now that the literary life of the 1890s can be looked at from a historical point of view, it is necessary, as has already been done in relation to Balmont, to establish a close, organic connection between Lokhvitskaya’s cheerfulness and another movement.
Despite the difference in content, the general elation of Lokhvitskaya’s poetry was undoubtedly psychologically affected by the same surge of social vigor that was expressed in the bold challenge of Marxism. Lokhvitskaya doesn’t want to know the whining that characterized the period of the 80s. “I look boldly into the distance,” declares the young debutante. The thirst for happiness boils within her, she is ready to fight for it, has no doubt that she will achieve it, and repeats in ecstasy: “I believe you, dreams, spring dreams.” But, psychologically coinciding with the surge of public vigor in the mid-90s, Lokhvitskaya’s mood is completely alien to public interests. The poetess's ideas about the goals and objectives of life are completely oriental; She directed all the strength of her impulse and thirst for life exclusively towards love. She spoke with complete frankness about the “desires of a fiery soul,” about “mad passion,” etc., but the directness and peculiar naivety with which she created the apotheosis of passion gave it great charm.
The rapture of the first delights of love brightened up the hackneyed motifs of the collection (spring, moon, lilac, kisses of a loved one, the happiness of reciprocity, the sweetness of the first caresses, etc.). Three periods should be distinguished in Lokhvitskaya’s eroticism. Even if in the first collection there are downright cynical things, the overall coloring of it was nevertheless given by naive grace; “Sweet songs of love” were, moreover, dedicated to the poetess’s husband for the fact that he brought her “happiness and joy.” With the release of the 2nd collection, the shy coloring of youthful delight disappears. The singer’s feelings take on an exclusively sultry character. “This happiness is voluptuousness”: this is the main motive of the 2nd collection. Everything in life disappears before the thirst for a monotonously understood love, and with complete frankness the poetess tells what her ideal is: “Some are waiting for happiness, some are asking for glory, some are looking for honors and battles, some are thirsting for wild fun, some are for the tenderness of prayers. And I will give all the false visions, like the absurd delirium of faded days, for the bliss of awakening, oh, my friend, on your chest.” Describing her love songs, she puts next to the epithets “my burning, my feminine verse” - and is convinced that the depth of feeling justifies everything. Along with the heat, something else begins to creep into the poetess’s bright mood. If earlier she exclaimed: “Suns, give me the sun,” now she declares: “The welcoming ray of the sun is dear to me and the rustle of secrets beckons me.” She begins to be attracted to suffering; on the title page of the second collection there is an epigraph “amori et dolori”, and in the poem “To My Brothers” there is even the following thesis: “poets are bearers of light, the foundations of a great building. The poet’s destiny has been and will be suffering.” The further she goes, the more Lokhvitskaya’s bright mood disappears. With the III collection she enters the last phase, where there is already much more shadow than light. The general tone of Lokhvitskaya’s poetry is now joyless; a lot is said about suffering, powerlessness, death. The former simplicity and clarity is replaced by pretentiousness. The plots are becoming more and more sophisticated. In the third collection, two “dramatic poems” attract attention: “On the way to the East” and “Vandelin”. In the first one one can feel the former burning feelings of the poetess; “Sick dreams” dominate entirely in Vandelin.
In the symbolic struggle between the cheerful beauty of the Prince of Double Roses and the product of a foggy dream - the mysterious ghost of the sad knight Vandelin - the ethereal beauty of the latter wins. The IV and V collections of her works, published shortly before Lokhvitskaya’s death, did not add anything to the poetess’s fame. Having lost the freshness of her feelings, Lokhvitskaya fell into medieval devilry, into the world of witches, the cult of Satan, etc. There are few purely lyrical plays; a significant part of both collections is occupied by unsuccessful medieval dramas. There is almost nothing left of the former cheerfulness here. It was replaced by a diametrically opposed desire for mysticism; Now Lokhvitskaya defines herself this way: “my soul is a living reflection of the heavens of a yearning land.” But mysticism did not at all suit Lokhvitskaya’s clear poetic temperament. There was a clear sense of spiritual breakdown and loss of life purpose. It is difficult to resist the assumption that the poem included in the third collection: “I want to die young, roll like a golden star, fly around an unfading flower. I want to die young... Let the fire not fade to the end, and let the memory of the one who awakened hearts for life remain,” was not just a literary work, but a clearly conscious prophetic epitaph.
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