Ivan Savvich Nikitin facts from the biography. See what “Nikitin, Ivan Savvich” is in other dictionaries. Striving for beauty

A wonderful Russian poet lived during the time of 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. From early childhood, he was familiar with the life of the common people and serfs, filled with hardships and suffering. All his creations fully reflect the lack of rights, hopelessness, need and hard work of people from the lower classes, to which the vast majority of the Russian population belonged.

The poet sincerely sympathized with representatives of these classes 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 poetic landscape lyrics, which, among other things, contains a religious slant and has a philosophical orientation. In its creative style it is a 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 fairly wealthy merchant family. His father was the owner of a small candle factory, which would be more accurately called a handicraft workshop. He had a shop where he sold candles.

He was taught to read and write by a shoemaker

Little Ivan mastered reading and writing early. A neighbor who was a shoemaker helped him with this. Only after learning to add letters did Ivan begin to compose his first poems.

Seminary studies

When Ivan was eight years old, his father sent him to theological school. After graduating from college, he expressed a desire to be a priest and entered the theological seminary. The seminary played a big role in the development of the poet, but he was not satisfied with the existing education system and the practices adopted there. Later he would 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. His passion for literature opened up new horizons for him; he managed to break out of the philistine worldview and gain inner freedom.

Inn owner

Ivan Nikitin never finished the seminary. His father's difficult character and drunkenness ultimately ended in ruin. Then his mother died. The current circumstances forced Ivan to abandon his studies and start maintaining the inn, which was purchased instead of the sold factory. He constantly spends more than ten years communicating with visiting people who represented different social groups and classes.

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

First publications

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

In 1857, the poet completed work on the poem “Fist,” which was a great success among readers and received recognition and high marks from critics. Its main character, the tradesman Karp Lukich, was a bankrupt merchant, lived off petty deception and could not get out of poverty. In the family he was a real despot and a heavy drunkard. The hero of the poem strongly resembled Nikitin’s father in character.

Nikitin opens a bookstore in Voronezh

In 1859, the poet, thanks to the assistance of friends, took out 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 cultural centers in Voronezh.

Illness and death

In 1855, Ivan Nikitin became very ill, catching a cold while swimming. The illness 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. The tuberculosis process has accelerated significantly. The level of medicine in those years left virtually no 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, where the poet lived his entire short life.

Reflection of the poet’s creativity in musical culture

His works are beautifully set to music and have served as a source of inspiration for many Russian composers. Over 60 songs and romances were composed based on Nikitin’s poems, many of which became popular. There are songs that have turned into folk songs. Perhaps the most famous of them is “Uhar-merchant”. Here, however, it should be noted that the text of the folk version of the song has undergone significant changes that influenced the original semantic content.

Memory of the poet

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

Ivan Savvich Nikitin was a famous Russian poet. He was born on September 21, 1824 in Voronezh. His father sold candles and for the time being was quite a wealthy man. In 1839, at the age of 15, Vanya Nikitin entered the theological seminary, where he studied for 4 years. While he was in the seminary, his father’s affairs deteriorated somewhat, which became the cause of his father’s addiction to the “little white one,” as a result of which the beatings of his mother began. By the way, Nikitin’s mother fell under the bad influence of her husband, and just like him, she began to abuse alcohol, which could not but affect Ivan’s studies. Due to the fact that the atmosphere in the house was extremely tense, Nikitin began to skip classes a lot, for which he was expelled with the wording of “low success.”

But the seminary was still able to teach Nikitin something. Not so much because of his studies, but because of his discovered passion for reading, Nikitin attended this educational institution. He became passionately interested in Belinsky, and inspired by his works, he left the seminary. Further, Nikitin’s biography is not entirely simple. “Free life” turned out to be harsh and cruel, and forced Nikitin to begin to accustom himself to difficult realities. Plunging into a world full of worries, troubles and the need to earn money, he began working in his father’s shop. His father continued to drink and, after some time, sold both the candle factory and the shop. With the little money that he managed to earn from the sale of the candle shop, Nikitin’s father decided to open an inn, where he arranged for his son to work there as a janitor. Despite the difficult conditions that surrounded him, Nikitin tried to hold on and not lose heart, not to sink to the level of some of the people who surrounded him, even though this was quite difficult to do.

In 1953, Nikitin sent his poems to the then famous Voronezh Provincial Gazette. The poem “Rus” was so patriotic that it brought the poet fame in Voronezh. The editors of Vedomosti, N.I. Vtorov and K.O. Aleksandrov-Dolnik, became interested in Nikitin and even decided to introduce him to a certain circle of intellectuals that existed at that time.

Gradually, starting somewhere in 1854, Nikitin’s poems began to be published in Moskvityanin, Library for Reading, and Otechestvennye Zapiski. It seems that everything began to gradually improve, the friendly attitude of the authors and editors towards Nikitin had an encouraging effect on him, apathy and despondency began to gradually disappear, Nikitin was actively writing at that time. Everything that he managed to achieve in such a short period of time, namely success in the writing field, Nikitin’s warm and friendly relations with his colleagues, the goodwill of Vtorov and the members of his circle had their effect - Nikitin stopped withdrawing into himself and was no longer aloof and constantly depressed. But Nikitin’s high vitality and good mood were overshadowed by one thing - health problems.

In 1856, a collection of Nikitin’s poems was published, which caused an extremely cold attitude from critics, namely Chernyshevsky, who very sharply and in unpleasant tones expressed his opinion about the collection in Sovremennik.

In addition to his writing, Nikitin did not forget about his work and continued to look after his father’s inn. Despite the fact that Nikitin’s father never gave up his addiction to drinking, the relationship between them improved - apparently, this was due to the fact that Nikitin was no longer as upset about problems in the family as before. The reason for this was that he moved in writing circles, and he actually had no time left for worries, and he had a favorite pastime to which he devoted all his free time. In the period from 1854 to 1856. Nikitin devoted a lot of time to self-education, read and studied enthusiastically, and even decided to start learning French.

The year 1857 became difficult for Nikitin, one might even say difficult. The fact is that at this time, his closest friend and ally, Vtorov, left for another country, leaving him practically alone. This event became the reason that Nikitin again began to feel decadent moods, and seemed to feel his family problems and adversities anew. This could not but affect the attitude towards oneself as a poet; he begins to doubt himself, his creative talent, his talent as a writer.

1858 was the year when Nikitin’s poem entitled “The Fist” was published, to which criticism, oddly enough, reacted positively and warmly. Dobrolyubov himself expressed his positive attitude towards the poem. In addition to reviews from critics, the poem sold out in large quantities and began to bring Nikitin a stable, good income. During these years, Nikitin again decided that it was time to engage in self-education, and during this period he especially actively studied the works of Schiller, Hugo, Goethe, Chenier and others, and began to study German in order to later translate Heine and Schiller into Russian. In general, 1857-1858 for Nikitin became a period when the poet actively published in such publications as Otechestvennye zapiski, Russian Conversation, and others. V.A. helped him a lot at that time. Kokarev, who lent Nikitin about 3,000 rubles (at that time it was very decent money). With this amount, Nikitin decides to open his own store, and in 1859 he fulfills his dream by opening both a store and a library where one could come and read books.

In the same 1859, Nikitin published a collection of poems, which, to the great regret of the author himself, did not enjoy the same great popularity as his previous work, and critics reacted rather coolly to these poems. This could not but have a negative impact on his well-being, and for the next year and a half, Nikitin either struggled with attacks of weakness, or, on the contrary, noticed that his level of vitality was jumping up.

The next year, in 1861, Nikitin decided to go to Moscow and Petrograd on vacation. Having returned from there, he was in high spirits for the rest of the year and even wrote a rather voluminous work called “The Diary of a Seminarian,” which was later published in the already well-known magazine “Voronezh Conversations.” But these efforts of his remained unappreciated, and again a wave of sympathetic reviews washed over Nikitin with renewed vigor.

By the end of that year, Nikitin began to feel worse, and then his health suddenly improved. Nikitin gathered his courage and continued his activities in the literary circle that formed around a certain M.F. De Poulet. Nikitin also continues to work on the opening of Sunday schools and on the problem of generally improving student literacy.

In May 1861, Nikitin caught a severe cold, which subsequently led to such a serious illness as tuberculosis, which became the final chord in his life. While Nikitin was treating this disease, he felt very bad, could barely move and had neither the moral nor physical strength to force himself to do anything. But his father, for example, remained completely blind and deaf to his son’s illness, and continued to abuse alcohol, as before.

The very first works of this author date back to 1849. Considering Nikitin’s work as a whole, we can make an unambiguous conclusion that the suffering he experienced, mental melancholy, sadness and a feeling of some hopelessness, one way or another, left their mark on all of his work. Perhaps the whole point was that since his youth, he loved to withdraw into himself and remain indifferent to what was happening outside his consciousness. Nikitin honestly tried to abstract himself from the melancholy and sadness that had become constant components in his life, and even wrote works about things that he had never seen in his life. So, for example, some of his poems were dedicated to the sea, so deep, blue and boundless, but he had never seen it.

All of Nikitin’s poetry is thoroughly imbued with the poet’s desire to comprehend and understand life, to try to change it at least a little, even if this task, in the end, turned out to be beyond his strength. His dreams did not correspond to reality, and the desire to turn a blind eye to obvious things simply killed him. But, nevertheless, having managed to at least slightly overcome himself and the inclination of creativity, Nikitin in the years 1849-1853, as best he could, tried not to isolate himself on his own experiences, tried to become interested in the things around him, and as a result, some of his social motives, called “Silence of the Night”, “Leave Your Sad Story”, “To the Singer”, “Vengeance” and “Need”.

In those years, Nikitin was still too young to have his own, established point of view on many problems, and therefore the works of those years smack a little of official patriotism (“Rus”), only after some time he begins to see evil and injustice in the reality around him. He begins to show his first notes of protest, calls on people to fight evil and evil deeds, as well as selfish motives, which, in his opinion, too many of those around him possessed (“Leave your sad story,” “To the Singer,” etc. .).

In the period from 1849 to 1853, Nikitin read the works of other authors, trying to find in them answers to possibly unresolved questions. Koltsov had the strongest influence on Nikitin at that moment, especially regarding the form of his writing activity (“Spring on the Steppe”, “Rus”, “Life and Death”, “Calm”, “Inheritance”, “Song” and many others) .) Nikitin was so imbued with Koltsov’s style that most of his works of that time, in the manner of presentation, were extremely difficult to distinguish from the works of Koltsov himself.

In addition to Koltsov, Nikitin had a great influence in the period from 1849-1853. provide works by M.Yu. Lermontov, A.S. Pushkin and other famous poets of that time. The gradual understanding of the realities of life and some of the mysteries of the human soul, as well as human consciousness, largely determined the direction of Nikitin’s works of that time. They contain too much rhetorical theme, a certain artificiality (“Duma”, “Cemetery”, “Wreck”).

1853 is not final in this kind of work; the periods of Nikitin’s life even after 1853 will be distinguished by the impact of unnecessary experiences and complex conclusions and thoughts. But, in addition to this, notes of ethnic elements and folk color begin to sound more and more actively in his works (“New Struggle”, “Donets”, “To take Kars”, etc.). But his works such as “Prayer for the Chalice” and “The Sweetness of Prayer,” on the contrary, are imbued with religious motifs.

In most of Nikitin’s early works, the influence of M.Yu. Lermontov, A.S. is clearly felt. Pushkin (“Fist”, “New Struggle”, “My Yard Is Not Wide”, “Treason”, “What a Good Thing He Was” and “Bobyl”), but at the same time, it should be noted that Nikitin’s desire to still find his own path, and to succumb to the influence of other authors as little as possible. Despite Nikitin’s desire, in his works, which date from 1854 to 1856, one can discern the influence that Vtorov and the members of his literary circle had on him (as you remember, Nikitin was an active participant in this organization). And only in 1857 can we attribute the fact that in literary circles they began to perceive him as an independent creative unit, and not as a carbon copy of the work of many authors who were known long before him.

After 1857, the works of this author are the most direct and immediate reflection of his emotional experiences, problems, concerns and thoughts, which, unfortunately, were not always so colorful and bright. Time passed towards the 60s, and at the same time, Nikitin himself improved and developed as a poet, who by this time had learned to take a philosophical approach to the problems of the surrounding reality. And, even despite the fact that Nikitin was not able, as he believed, to fully reveal his talent, his poems of 1860 are already distinguished by much greater independence of thinking and logically constructed conclusions. As soon as he showed the literary world that he himself was worth something, death suddenly disrupted all his plans and intentions. Nikitin was never able to fully show what he was capable of and how he could still write.

One of the strongest directions of his creativity is the ethnographic side of his work. He was able to very accurately convey folk traditions, customs and rituals in his works, and was able to emphasize precisely those advantages of the life and way of life of the common people that most fully and accurately reveal and outline the picture of people's life. His sincere affection for the common man, love for Russian nature, sympathy for the difficult lot that befell many peasants at that time, as well as a passionate and all-consuming desire to at least a little alleviate the suffering and labor of his native people - all this together gave its result, which reflected in his works.

Another unique ability of Nikitin was the ability to objectively reveal and show aspects of people's life. Despite the fact that he loved his people and his country with all his heart and soul, he never sought to completely and completely idealize them. Describing in his works both positive and negative traits of the people's character, he tried to approach this issue as impartially as possible, and, consequently, he despised all negative traits, such as despotism, rudeness, drunkenness and others. He ridiculed all these negative characteristics of the Russian character in his works “The Stubborn Father”, “Division”, “Damage” and others.

But still, despite his attachment to rural residents, Nikitin can be classified as a lover of city life. Although he occasionally visited the surrounding villages of Voronezh, he mostly preferred to stay in the city.

Also, Nekrasov, who at that time already enjoyed quite a lot of fame, was of great importance for Nikitin, from the point of view of his writing talent. Nekrasov’s work, in a sense, determined the direction of development of Nikitin’s poetry, since Nekrasov’s satire, irony and amazing sense of humor revealed new facets and sides in the author himself. But, as is obvious, Nikitin’s whole life consisted of sharp contrasts, for example, in 1860 he wrote a poem dedicated to Nekrasov, in which he spoke in a rather harsh form about the writer’s work and about his nature in general.

But, summing up all of the above, we can draw one main conclusion - all of Ivan Nikitin’s work has always, to one degree or another, reflected his experiences and doubts; his constantly fluctuating mood distorted the direction of his works towards optimism and sincere faith and hope for a bright future. Although literally the next day Nikitin was already writing poems full of bitterness, pessimism and notes of bitter irony.

All Nikitin’s work has a large share of autobiography; some events that took place in his life forever left a deep imprint on his numerous works. Especially at a time when Nikitin was shackled by illness, all his poems (already his last poems) were thoroughly permeated with sadness and gloomy reflections and heavy thoughts. The main source of negativity, which was accurately reflected in his works, was not only personal grief and the constant stress in which he lived while living with his drunken parents, but also the harsh social reality, which always tormented Nikitin with its injustice, and at times, cruelty.

Nikitin was not a great poet of his time, but everything he did, he did with his soul, with his heart, with a sincere and honest attitude towards himself, towards his work and towards people. That is why his works (especially some of them) are truly the apogee of humanism and philanthropy - those qualities that were already very rare at that time!

Please note that the biography of Nikitin Ivan Savvich presents the most important moments from his life. This biography may omit some minor life events.

In the difficult pre-reform period, the biography of Nikitin Ivan Savvich as a poet began, so his work was filled with the suffering of a forced, enslaved people. Motifs of need, exhausting labor, hopeless grief, and eternal melancholy characterized each of his works.

Christian

The poet knew how to empathize, sympathize and help those suffering, which is why Nikitin’s biography contains many manifestations of a purely Christian attitude towards one’s neighbor. Most of his poems and poems have religious or philosophical content. These are the poems "Fist" and "Taras", the poems "Prayer for the Cup", "Child's Prayer", "Prayer". Modern readers are close to his landscape lyrics; many poems are known by heart, and this does not depend on age. Everything suggests that Nikitin’s biography was written forever by fate, since the motives of native nature, health, beautiful people and pure feelings are eternal and will be in demand in all centuries.

Ivan Savvich Nikitin was born in September 1824 into the family of a poor Voronezh merchant, the owner of a small, almost artisanal factory. For eight years he was sent to a theological school, after which he set out to become a priest and entered the Voronezh Theological Seminary. Already at a young age, Ivan Savvich Nikitin felt a burning interest in literature, read many poetry books and tried to compose himself. Koltsov, Zhukovsky and Pushkin became his favorite poets.

Dreams and reality

In his dreams, Ivan Nikitin, a poet, saw himself as a student at the capital’s university, where he had the opportunity to see legendary writers. However, his father went bankrupt, he had to sell the factory in order to buy a crumbling inn and pay off the accumulated debts for a long, long time. The future poet had to manage this hotel to help his family. Therefore, not only did the university remain a distant dream, but I also had to leave the seminary.

He left many letters to his descendants about these years, filled with work and worries. It soulfully describes the love that Ivan Nikitin had for poetry. His poems are filled with heartache for the people forced to live in hopeless poverty, but at the same time the nightingale’s Russian speech sings in every letter, admiring the world around them, the free spaces. The poet's soul remained pure, attached to the beautiful, comforted by the word of freedom.

First poems

Ivan Nikitin began writing poetry very early, as soon as he learned to form letters, which he himself mentions in his letters. But, unfortunately, not all of them have survived. The earliest dates back to 1849. The very first publication immediately showed others that a real poet had come into the world. This poem by Ivan Nikitin - "Rus" - has become a textbook. It is from that galaxy of few masterpieces that schoolchildren still happily learn by heart to this day. Nikitin Ivan Savvich always wrote poems for children; he has quite a few works that would not be understandable to them.

And the first published poem was instantly reprinted by almost all newspapers published in Russia, and the poet became famous. However, the first collection of poems appeared only in 1856. Three years later, a bookstore opened in Voronezh - a stronghold of youth education, and Ivan Savvich Nikitin became its owner. Interesting facts from the poet's life were collected by those people who constituted the color of the social life of Voronezh, and who were brought together by this cultural center of the provincial city - the bookstore. Unfortunately, this happiness did not last long. “In the dark thicket the nightingale fell silent...” - Nikitin’s biography turned out to be very short.

Consumption

The poet lived a short, extremely difficult life, full of never-ending troubles with many sorrows, since his father, after ruin, fell into an incessant binge. But he devoted every free minute to poetry - reading or writing. However, the forces were running out. The life and work of Ivan Savvich Nikitin was cut short by consumption, which he contracted from overwork and the inability to pay attention to his own health. He died in the year when serfdom collapsed (in 1861).

He had been waiting for the liberation of the peasants all his life, and with every line he hastened this event. Being the owner of an inn, he saw many of the dirtiest scenes, communicated with a variety of people belonging to a variety of classes. His poems were passed on from mouth to mouth even by those who could not read, and the Voronezh intelligentsia called him “the second Koltsov.” In fact, he was never second, and Nikitin’s poetics are quite different from Koltsov’s poetics even in his earliest poems, although Chernyshevsky once reproached him for imitation.

Poems and poems

Nikolai Dobrolyubov highly appreciated Nikitin’s poem “Fist” for its originality, noting the creative growth that the poet has received since previous publications. In 1855, the poems “Street Meeting” and “The Coachman’s Wife” were published, after which the poet began to think about introducing something new into his style of presentation.

And therefore, after two years, poems came that were significantly different from the previous ones: “The Plowman,” “Overnight in the Village,” “The Spinner,” “The Beggar,” then “Mother and Daughter” and the famous “Wake.” Social motives appeared in the lines. This is especially true for the poems “Dead Body”, “Old Servant” and others created in his last years. In 1860, Nikitin, already terminally ill, wrote his only prose work, “The Diary of a Seminarian,” where memories of his youth were found.

Music

All his poems are so melodious that they themselves ask for song. The poet wrote about the bright moments of life: “A clear world will dawn on the soul...” More than sixty songs and romances were written at different times by Russian composers based on Nikitin’s poems. And composers are still interested in the poetry of Ivan Savvich. For example, in 2009, Alexander Sharafutdinov recorded an entire album called “Joy and Sorrow.”

Nikitin's poems are always saturated with music, they have absorbed that folk life, like a groan, which forced the poet, who cried all night over a poetic line, to destroy it at dawn, because it did not truthfully convey the state that made the night sleepless. The poet painstakingly searched for the truth - albeit not in life, but in poetry. The main thing is that he found her.

Family

Ivan Savvich was more like his mother - a meek woman, compassionate, deeply religious, even religious. She, like the poet himself, patiently waited all her life for a better fate, suffering immensely from the harsh character of her husband. The whole of Voronezh knew my father. The merchant is enterprising, but a heavy drinker, the first fist fighter in the city, which his family knew better than others. Ivan Nikitin loved his father very much for his strength, for his seriousness, for his practical acumen, for his efficiency.

But as a poet, his mother gave him much more. This is an exceptional, immeasurable sensitivity of the soul, a subtle poetic ear, dreaminess and deep faith. From birth, he communicated with wanderers, pilgrims, and pilgrims who visited the Mitrofanievsky monastery in Voronezh. They all came to the shop at the factory to buy candles.

People

People flocked here from all over the country; Nikitin heard and noted the folk dialect of different regions while still a little boy. He loved the stories of pilgrims and eagerly read the lives of saints and other spiritual books. This is precisely why the poet’s attitude towards Russian nature turned out to be so reverent, almost religious.

Subsequently, meeting and seeing off coachmen and cab drivers, merchants and wanderers, peasants and traveling artists, being the manager of an inn, Nikitin just as willingly communicated with passing people of all the variegated classes of Russian society. People were always extremely frank with him, because the poet is sensitive and kind. Although their stories for the most part were very bitter and weighed heavily on the heart. The only relaxation was poetry. In those days it was bad form to publish poems under your own name, and anonymous manuscripts were not accepted in the Voronezh newspaper. That is why the first publication of the poet’s poems took place so late.

Friends

Members of the Voronezh reading circle, among whom was the editor of the local newspaper Vtorov, immediately fell in love with both Nikitin’s poems and himself. Some liked the social protest and democratic overtones in his poems, while others reveled in the religious motifs and harmony in the poetic landscapes.

In 1854, Nikitin was recognized in the capital - his poems were published in Otechestvennye zapiski, and Kukolnik wrote an article about Nikitin in the Reading Library. Then a literature lover and high-ranking official, Count Tolstoy, became interested in the poet, after which a separate book by Nikitin was published with verses personally chosen by Tolstoy and a preface written by him.

About borrowings and imitations

Nikitin’s early work really went through a certain literary school, since in his poems of the first period one can hear Pushkin (“Forest”), and Koltsov (“Rus”, “Spring in the Steppe”), and Lermontov (“In the West is the Sun”, “The Key”) "), and Maykova ("Evening"), and Nekrasova ("Street Meeting", "The Coachman's Story").

However, this is more like a single aesthetic support, since all of the above poets relied on folklore sources. There is always a common prototype. For Nikitin, this is not apprenticeship, but the folkloric nature of poetic thinking, the simplicity of folk ways, habits and attitudes towards creativity, which even at that time was largely oral. Nikitin is not even a poet, he is a storyteller who must live through collective creativity.

Ivan was born into the family of candle merchant Savva Evtikhievich Nikitin (-).

Creation

The earliest surviving poems date from 1849, many of them imitative in nature. He made his debut in print with the poem “Rus,” written in 1851, but published in the Voronezh Provincial Gazette only on November 21, 1853, that is, after the start of the Crimean War. The patriotic pathos of the poem made it very topical. On December 11, 1853, it was reprinted in the St. Petersburg Gazette newspaper with the following comment:

Isn’t it true that something familiar can be heard in this poem, in the feeling with which it is imbued, in the techniques, in the texture of the verse? Is Koltsov really destined to be resurrected in Nikitin? .

Subsequently, Nikitin’s poems were published in the magazines “Moskvyatyanin”, “Otechestvennye zapiski” and other publications.

The first separate collection () included poems on a variety of topics, from religious to social. The collection evoked mixed responses. The second collection of poems was published in 1859. The prosaic “Diary of a Seminarian” was published in “Voronezh Conversation for 1861.” ().

Nikitin is considered a master of Russian poetic landscape and successor to Koltsov. The main themes in Nikitin's poetry are native nature, the hard work and hopeless life of peasants, the suffering of the urban poor, and protest against the unjust structure of life.

Basically, being courageously restrained and careful, apparently, in the most intimate, deeply hidden, he hid his human suffering behind a sense of beauty in nature. The more piercingly nature sounded in him, and he in it, the deeper it all sank into the reader’s soul.

Poem "Fist"

Nikitin's largest poetic work, the poem "Fist", began in October 1854. The first edition was completed by September 1856. The second edition, to which the poet made significant corrections, was completed by the beginning of 1857. The first publication was a separate edition in the city (date of censorship permission - August 25, 1857).

In Nikitin’s time, the word “kulak” did not mean a wealthy peasant, as was established later, but a completely different social type. According to Dahl, the kulak is “a reseller, a reseller... in bazaars and marinas, he himself is penniless, lives by deception, calculation, and measurement.” At the center of Nikitin’s poem is the image of just such a fist, the Voronezh tradesman Karp Lukich. This bankrupt merchant barely earns a living by petty fraud in the market, cannot get out of severe poverty, gets drunk and tyrannizes his family. The poet shows us in different life situations the character of this person, the inner life of his home, the fate of his household (wife and daughter). The poem has strong autobiographical features: the main character and his wife in many ways resemble the poet’s parents.

The poem received favorable reviews from Dobrolyubov and other critics. An anonymous review from the Moscow Review said:

Several scenes that are stunning in their drama, in places there is genuine comedy and always a warm feeling of universal love... a lively rendering of reality, typically outlined characters and wonderful descriptions of nature complete the charm produced by this fresh and truly poetic creation of a young writer who has already rapidly developed his creative powers.

Nikitin's poetry and Russian musical culture

More than 60 songs and romances have been written to Nikitin's words, many by very famous composers (Napravnik, Kalinnikov, Rimsky-Korsakov). Some of Nikitin's poems, set to music, became popular folk songs. The most famous is “The Ukhar-Merchant” (“The Ukhar-Merchant Went to the Fair…”), which, however, was subjected to abbreviation and alteration in the popular version, which completely changed the moral meaning of the poem.

Memory

• In Voronezh in 1911, a monument to the poet was erected on Nikitinskaya Square according to the design of the sculptor I. A. Shuklin.
• In Voronezh, in the house where the poet lived since 1846, the Nikitin Literary Memorial House Museum (Voronezh Regional Literary Museum named after I. S. Nikitin) has been operating since 1924.
• A street in the city of Voronezh is named after Ivan Savvich.
• The Voronezh Regional Universal Scientific Library is named after the poet.
• In Lipetsk there is Nikitina Street.
• In Novosibirsk there is Nikitina Street. Many Novosibirsk residents mistakenly believe that the name of the street is dedicated to Afanasy Nikitin.
• There is a gymnasium named after I. S. Nikitin in Voronezh.
• In 1974, postage stamps with the image of I. S. Nikitin were issued in the USSR.
• In 2011, for the 425th anniversary of Voronezh, the Russian Post issued a postcard depicting the monument to I. S. Nikitin (sculptor I. A. Shuklin).
• In Barnaul there is Nikitina Street.

• Postage stamps of the USSR

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Excerpt characterizing Nikitin, Ivan Savvich

Prince Andrei felt that either of all the affairs that occupied the Minister of War, the actions of Kutuzov’s army could least of all interest him, or it was necessary to let the Russian courier feel this. “But I don’t care at all,” he thought. The Minister of War moved the rest of the papers, aligned their edges with the edges and raised his head. He had a smart and characteristic head. But at the same moment as he turned to Prince Andrei, the intelligent and firm expression on the face of the Minister of War, apparently habitually and consciously changed: the stupid, feigned, not hiding his pretense, smile of a man who receives many petitioners one after another stopped on his face .
– From General Field Marshal Kutuzov? - he asked. - Good news, I hope? Was there a collision with Mortier? Victory? It's time!
He took the dispatch, which was addressed to him, and began to read it with a sad expression.
- Oh my god! My God! Shmit! - he said in German. - What a misfortune, what a misfortune!
Having run through the dispatch, he put it on the table and looked at Prince Andrei, apparently thinking about something.
- Oh, what a misfortune! The matter, you say, is decisive? Mortier was not taken, however. (He thought.) I am very glad that you brought good news, although the death of Shmit is an expensive price to pay for victory. His Majesty will probably wish to see you, but not today. Thank you, take a rest. Tomorrow be on the way out after the parade. However, I'll let you know.
The stupid smile that had disappeared during the conversation reappeared on the face of the Minister of War.
- Goodbye, thank you very much. The Emperor will probably wish to see you,” he repeated and bowed his head.
When Prince Andrei left the palace, he felt that all the interest and happiness brought to him by the victory had now been abandoned by him and transferred to the indifferent hands of the Minister of War and the courteous adjutant. His whole mindset instantly changed: the battle seemed to him like an old, distant memory.

Prince Andrei stayed in Brünn with his friend, the Russian diplomat Bilibin.
“Ah, dear prince, there is no nicer guest,” said Bilibin, going out to meet Prince Andrei. - Franz, the prince’s things are in my bedroom! - he turned to the servant who was seeing Bolkonsky off. - What, a harbinger of victory? Wonderful. And I’m sitting sick, as you can see.
Prince Andrei, having washed and dressed, went out to the diplomat’s luxurious office and sat down to the prepared dinner. Bilibin calmly sat down by the fireplace.
Prince Andrei, not only after his journey, but also after the entire campaign, during which he was deprived of all the comforts of cleanliness and grace of life, experienced a pleasant feeling of relaxation among those luxurious living conditions to which he had become accustomed since childhood. In addition, after the Austrian reception, he was pleased to talk, at least not in Russian (they spoke French), but with a Russian person who, he assumed, shared the general Russian disgust (now especially vividly felt) for the Austrians.
Bilibin was a man of about thirty-five, single, in the same company as Prince Andrei. They knew each other back in St. Petersburg, but they became even closer on Prince Andrei’s last visit to Vienna together with Kutuzov. Just as Prince Andrei was a young man who promised to go far in the military field, so, and even more, did Bilibin promise in the diplomatic field. He was still a young man, but no longer a young diplomat, since he began serving at the age of sixteen, was in Paris, in Copenhagen, and now occupied a rather significant position in Vienna. Both the Chancellor and our envoy in Vienna knew him and valued him. He was not one of that large number of diplomats who are required to have only negative merits, not do well-known things and speak French in order to be very good diplomats; he was one of those diplomats who love and know how to work, and, despite his laziness, he sometimes spent the night at his desk. He worked equally well, no matter what the nature of the work was. He was not interested in the question “why?”, but in the question “how?”. What the diplomatic matter was, he didn’t care; but to draw up a circular, memorandum or report skillfully, accurately and gracefully - he found great pleasure in this. Bilibin's merits were valued, in addition to his written works, also by his art of addressing and speaking in higher spheres.
Bilibin loved conversation just as he loved work, only when the conversation could be elegantly witty. In society, he constantly waited for an opportunity to say something remarkable and entered into conversation only under these conditions. Bilibin's conversation was constantly peppered with original witty, complete phrases of general interest.
These phrases were produced in Bilibin’s internal laboratory, as if on purpose, of a portable nature, so that insignificant secular people could conveniently remember them and transfer them from living rooms to living rooms. And indeed, les mots de Bilibine se colportaient dans les salons de Vienne, [Bilibin’s reviews were distributed throughout Viennese living rooms] and often had an influence on so-called important matters.
His thin, emaciated, yellowish face was all covered with large wrinkles, which always seemed as cleanly and diligently washed, like fingertips after a bath. The movements of these wrinkles constituted the main play of his physiognomy. Now his forehead wrinkled in wide folds, his eyebrows rose upward, now his eyebrows went down, and large wrinkles formed on his cheeks. The deep-set, small eyes always looked straight and cheerful.
“Well, now tell us your exploits,” he said.
Bolkonsky, in the most modest way, without ever mentioning himself, told the story and the reception of the Minister of War.
“Ils m"ont recu avec ma nouvelle, comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles, [They accepted me with this news, as they accept a dog when it interferes with a game of skittles,] he concluded.
Bilibin grinned and loosened the folds of his skin.
“Cependant, mon cher,” he said, examining his nail from afar and picking up the skin above his left eye, “malgre la haute estime que je professe pour le Orthodox Russian army, j"avoue que votre victoire n"est pas des plus victorieuses. [However, my dear, with all due respect to the Orthodox Russian army, I believe that your victory is not the most brilliant.]
He continued in the same way in French, pronouncing in Russian only those words that he contemptuously wanted to emphasize.
- How? You with all your weight fell upon the unfortunate Mortier with one division, and this Mortier leaves between your hands? Where is the victory?
“However, seriously speaking,” answered Prince Andrei, “we can still say without boasting that this is a little better than Ulm...
- Why didn’t you take us one, at least one marshal?
– Because not everything is done as expected, and not as regularly as at the parade. We expected, as I told you, to reach the rear by seven o'clock in the morning, but did not arrive at five in the evening.
- Why didn’t you come at seven o’clock in the morning? “You should have come at seven o’clock in the morning,” Bilibin said smiling, “you should have come at seven o’clock in the morning.”
– Why didn’t you convince Bonaparte through diplomatic means that it was better for him to leave Genoa? – Prince Andrei said in the same tone.
“I know,” Bilibin interrupted, “you think it’s very easy to take marshals while sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace.” This is true, but still, why didn’t you take it? And do not be surprised that not only the Minister of War, but also the August Emperor and King Franz will not be very happy with your victory; and I, the unfortunate secretary of the Russian embassy, ​​do not feel any need to give my Franz a thaler as a sign of joy and let him go with his Liebchen [sweetheart] to the Prater... True, there is no Prater here.
He looked straight at Prince Andrei and suddenly pulled the collected skin off his forehead.
“Now it’s my turn to ask you why, my dear,” said Bolkonsky. “I confess to you that I don’t understand, maybe there are diplomatic subtleties here that are beyond my weak mind, but I don’t understand: Mack is losing an entire army, Archduke Ferdinand and Archduke Charles do not show any signs of life and make mistakes after mistakes, finally, alone Kutuzov wins a real victory, destroys the charme [charm] of the French, and the Minister of War is not even interested in knowing the details.

Ivan Savvich Nikitin born September 21 (October 9 n.s.) 1824 in Voronezh in a wealthy middle-class family.

I. Nikitin studied at the Voronezh Theological School ( 1833-1849 ) and theological seminary ( 1839-1843 ), but did not finish it. During Nikitin's stay there, his father's trading affairs began to deteriorate, and he began to drink and show his tough character. Under the influence of his drunkenness and despotism, Nikitin’s mother also began to drink. An extremely difficult atmosphere was created in the house, and Nikitin completely abandoned his studies. In 1843 he was fired “for lack of success, for not going to class.” But, paying little attention to his studies, Nikitin passionately devoted himself to reading at the seminary. Having fallen in love with literature, passionate about Belinsky, filled with high aspirations and poetic dreams, Nikitin had to immediately after leaving the seminary plunge into the heaviest everyday prose and sit down at the counter in his father’s candle shop. At this time he began to drink even more. His house, candle factory and shop were sold. With the proceeds, Nikitin's father started an inn. The ruin of his father and difficult family circumstances forced I. Nikitin to become the owner of an inn. In 1859 I. Nikitin opened a bookstore, which became an important center of literary and social life in Voronezh.

Ivan Nikitin began publishing in 1853. At the beginning of Nikitin’s literary career, a circle of Voronezh intellectuals led by N.I. took part in it. Second. I. Nikitin's first poems are imbued with religious and idyllic motifs. Since 1854. Nikitin's poems began to appear in Moskvityanin, Otechestvennye Zapiski, and Library for Reading.

Since the early 50s in his work the desire for realism is increasingly manifested. Poems “Burlak”, “The Coachman’s Wife”, “Three Meetings” ( 1854 ) and others are dedicated to the sad fate of the urban worker, the rural poor, and the peasant woman. In the poem "Vengeance" ( 1853 ) he talks about the reprisal of a peasant against a cruel and depraved serf master. The poet’s early poems (“Rus”, 1851 ; "Meeting Winter" 1854 ).

Having entered the literary field, Nikitin did not change his life situation, continuing after 1853. maintain an inn. His father continued to drink, but family relationships 1854-56 have improved somewhat; The atmosphere of the inn was no longer so oppressive for the poet, who moved in a circle of intelligent people who were sincerely disposed towards him. In 1854-56 Nikitin worked seriously on his self-education, read a lot, and began studying French. After leaving for 1857. from Voronezh Vtorov, who became Nikitin’s closest friend, and after the collapse of Vtorov’s circle, the poet with extreme acuteness again felt the severity of his life and family situation, a pessimistic mood took hold of him with greater force, creative excitement was replaced by a sharp decline in creative forces, doubt in his talent.

The social upsurge of the 60s played a decisive role in the formation of I. Nikitin’s aesthetic views and his realistic method. Severe review from N.G. Chernyshevsky about the first collection of poems ( 1856 ), in which the critic condemned the poet for imitation, contributed to the ideological and creative growth of I. Nikitin. In 1857 The poem “Fist” was completed, in which the power of need, the severity of family and everyday relationships, and the tragedy of women’s lack of rights are deeply revealed. Following the democratic principles of critical realism, Nikitin introduced into poetry a new face from the bourgeois environment - a spiritually impoverished, disfigured by the social structure of the petty tradesman, the kulak. ON THE. Dobrolyubov praised the poem “Fist” as an original work.

All 1859 . the poet fell ill; slight improvement in health alternated with deterioration. From the beginning of 1860 his health began to improve, his mood became more cheerful, his literary productivity increased, and his interest in public life increased again. Summer 1860 the poet visited Moscow and Petrograd. Nikitin's book trade was quite successful . In the second half of 1860. Nikitin felt good and worked hard.

The poet painted in his poems true pictures of the hopeless life of a peasant, a poor plowman: “Overnight in the village” ( 1857-1858 ), "Plowman" ( 1856 ), "Beggar" ( 1857 ), "Spinner" ( 1858 ), "Sokha" ( 1857 ), “On the Ashes”, “Wake” ( 1860 ) and others. The suffering of the urban poor is described in the poems “The Tailor”, “Mother and Daughter” ( 1860 ). Some works express direct social protest: “The Headman” ( 1856 ), poem "Taras" ( 1860 ) etc. A sharp assessment of the social system is given in the poems “Familiar Visions Again...” ( 1858 ), "Master" ( 1861 ). The poems “Our time is shamefully perishing!..”, “We, brothers, bear a heavy cross...”, “The despicable tyranny will fall...”, widely distributed in illegal lists and first published only in 1906, sounded revolutionary. Nikitin wrote about feudal Rus' as a kingdom of “bribes and uniforms,” “sorrow and chains.”

I. Nikitin entered the history of Russian prose as the author of “The Diary of a Seminarian” ( 1860 ), where issues of education are closely connected with issues of the formation of a new person.

Ivan Nikitin is a master of Russian poetic landscape. With soulful lyricism, he reproduced pictures of his native land with its unique colors.

In May 1861 Nikitin caught a bad cold. This cold, exacerbating the tuberculosis process, turned out to be fatal. During his long illness, the poet experienced the most severe physical suffering. To these were added moral ones, the cause of which was the father, who, despite his son’s serious illness, continued to lead his previous lifestyle. Ivan Savvich Nikitin died October 16, 1861.