Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (July 7 (19) ( 18930719 ) , Baghdadi village, Kutaisi province (modern Bagdati, Imereti region, Georgia) - April 14, Moscow, RSFSR) - Soviet futurist poet, playwright, designer, editor of the magazines "LEF" ("Left Front"), "New LEF" and REF.

Biography

Vladimir Mayakovsky was born in the village of Baghdadi in Georgia into the family of Vladimir Konstantinovich Mayakovsky (1857-1906), who served as a third-class forester in the Erivan province, since 1889 in the Baghdad forestry. The poet's mother, Alexandra Alekseevna Pavlenko (1867-1954), from a family of Kuban Cossacks, was born in the Kuban. In the pedigree of Mayakovsky - writer Danilevsky Grigory Petrovich, who in turn had common family roots with the families of A. S. Pushkin and N. V. Gogol. In 1902 Mayakovsky entered the gymnasium in Kutaisi. After the death of his father in 1906, Mayakovsky moved to Moscow with his mother and sisters. In 1906, in Moscow, he entered the fifth gymnasium (now Moscow school No. 91), where he studied in the same class with Pasternak's brother Shura. He interrupted his studies in 1908 and took up revolutionary activities.

Thanks to his powerful voice, brilliant artistic abilities, powerful stage temperament and incredible charisma, he becomes the clear and unsurpassed leader of all public performances of the futurists. However, having a voluminous bass of a rich timbre, he had no musical abilities, and could not sing, he only recited.

I want to be understood by my native country,
but I will not understand -
well?!
By home country
I will pass by
how is it going
oblique rain.

the author then did not dare to include the poem in the text, but in 1928 he published them as part of a critical article, albeit with an apologetic explanation: “Despite all the romance sensitivity (the audience grabs their handkerchiefs), I tore out these beautiful, rain-soaked feathers.” There is an opinion that even in the panegyric poem "Good" Mayakovsky mocks the ceremonial officialdom. “He rules with a rod, so that he would go to the right. / I'll go to the right. / Very well." Perhaps this is an involuntary self-parody, but the foreshadowing of Prigov's postmodern "Policeman" is not excluded. Geniuses are often ahead of themselves.

Today, opponents of the Soviet project blame Mayakovsky for his adherence to the October Revolution. However, the revolution was sung by Blok, Bryusov, Yesenin, Klyuev, Pasternak (who, however, called into question the expediency of the revolution in the novel Doctor Zhivago), Khlebnikov and many, many others, who sincerely and enthusiastically accepted the revolution as the kingdom of the third testament. Such was the general intoxication with revolutionary romance, including the great poets who sang the changes that had begun in the country as the road to a beautiful new world that opens before a renewed humanity. Now we can say that the Revolution of 1917 had a colossal romantic charm, brought unprecedented inspiration and renewal to the masses, shaped the lifestyle of tens of millions of young people, and primarily thanks to the work of V. V. Mayakovsky.

In the poem "Out loud" (1930) - an affirmation of the sincerity of one's path and the hope of being understood in the "communist far away." However, the poem "Bad" mysteriously disappeared. Mayakovsky kept all his notebooks. His sharply satirical plays Bedbug and Bathhouse were withdrawn from the repertoire. From the already printed magazine, by order from above, his commemorative portraits were torn out. In addition, a strange parcel with a revolver arrived from Lubyanka.

A poetic language reformer, he had a great influence on the poetry of the 20th century. Especially on Kirsanov, Voznesensky, Yevtushenko, R. Rozhdestvensky, K. Kedrov. In the poetry of ironists and postmodernists, it is present as a text initially commented on and interpreted with the opposite meaning.

Committed suicide (shot himself) April 14, 1930. At one time there were many rumors that it was a murder, but in the 1990s, an examination was carried out based on Mayakovsky's things stored in his museum, which came to the conclusion that he himself shot. However, no test can be 100% reliable. The version of suicide was strongly rejected by Nikolai Aseev, who shouted directly from the podium: “Something is wrong here! He was killed". Perhaps we will never unravel the mysterious fuss of the special services around the death of the poet. It is completely incomprehensible why ten days after the interrogation last love the poet Veronika Polonskaya was shot by the investigator who led this complicated investigation. The Mayakovsky suicide case was opened the day before his death. There are more questions and hypotheses than reliable facts. In the last verses, the poet undoubtedly says goodbye to life and the reasons for leaving are by no means political "the love boat crashed into everyday life." These are not the words of a politician, but of the gentlest and most subtle lyricist. The ninety-year-old translator of Anne Frank's Diary, Rita Wright-Kovaleva, said the best about him: "He was gentle!" The best epitaph for a poet who spent his whole life striving to be rude, a son of an era.

Do you, who love women and dishes,
give life to please?
I'd rather be in a fucking bar
serve pineapple water!

To you! (1915)

According to the surviving memoirs of the famous writers of that time, V.P. Kataev and Yu.K. Olesha, the last day of Mayakovsky was restored almost every minute. The writers were present in his apartment immediately after the tragic shot and testify that the OGPU officers seized Mayakovsky's brain right in the bedroom for transfer to the brain institute in order to establish the biological nature of genius.

The uniqueness of the Mayakovsky phenomenon, the unsurpassed scale of his creative personality, his poems, striking in their artistic impact, are closely connected with the October Revolution. The most powerful, spiritual, devoted and furious singer of the Revolution and Lenin was one of the founders of the Soviet literary classic, the new revolutionary word. Just as Pushkin is indisputably considered the creator of new Russian literature and poetry of the 19th century, so Mayakovsky is recognized as the founder of Soviet revolutionary aesthetics, the first creator of the romantic, legendary image of V. I. Lenin. Mayakovsky, by the power of his talent, made the events of which he was a contemporary - the First world war, the February Revolution, October revolution, civil war, the era of the NEP - epic. Mayakovsky fearlessly turned to his descendants, into the distant future, confident that he would be remembered hundreds of years later:

My verse will break through the mass of years
And it will appear weighty, rudely, visibly,
How the plumbing came in today,
Worked by the slaves of Rome!

It is symbolic that the poet died when it became clear that the Revolution had taken place, when the most critical historical moments were already behind us, life in the USSR was getting better and it became obvious that the course of history was irreversible, and there was no return to pre-revolutionary times. The poet and the Revolution were created for each other, and the fact that there were no more poets and writers of the scale of Mayakovsky in the USSR can be explained by the fact that there was no longer an event comparable in historical scale to the October Revolution

Poet and God

The poet embodies the idea of ​​a person as the crown of the worldview, who has the right not to reckon with anything and no one that is outside of him. A challenge to Heaven is also a challenge to God, a directly declared doubt in his omnipotence.

Almighty, you invented a pair of hands
made,
that everyone has a head, -
why didn't you think
to be pain-free
kiss, kiss, kiss?!

Cloud in Pants (1914-15)

The reproach to the Almighty turns into a sharp fight against God with extremely blasphemous and at the same time images that cut into consciousness:

I thought you were an almighty god
and you are a half-educated, tiny god.

The work of Mayakovsky, who knew the Holy Scriptures perfectly, is full of quotations and latent references to him, a constant dispute with him.

Cinema

In 1918, Mayakovsky wrote the script for the film Born Not for Money, based on Jack London's novel Martin Eden. The poet himself played the main role of Ivan Nov. No copies of this film have survived.

Links

• Materials of V. V. Mayakovsky Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI)
• Songs on poems by Mayakovsky Radio Mayakovsky
• Complete Works in the Collection of Classics of the Moshkov Library
• Vladimir Mayakovsky - poems in the Anthology of Russian Poetry
• Vladimir Mayakovsky. How to make poetry?
• Inna Stessel. Comrade Konstantin
• Yuri Zverev. Under a false name

Literature

• Nikolai Aseev. Mayakovsky Begins (poem)
• Valentin Kataev. My diamond crown ("On the Commander")
• Yuri Olesha. Vl. Mayakovsky
• Benedikt Livshits. One and a half eyed archer
• Iskrzhitskaya I. Yu., Kormilov S. I. Vladimir Mayakovsky. Moscow: MGU Publishing House, 1999. (Rereading the classics).
• Alfonsov V. N. In conflict with his favorite art // Words and colors
• Alfonsov V. N. Poet-painter // Words and colors
• I. P. Smirnov. The place of the "mythopoetic" approach to a literary work among other interpretations of the text (about Mayakovsky's poem "That's how I became a dog") // Myth - folklore - literature. L.: 1978. S. 186-203.
• Pin L.

Brief information about the life and work of V. V. Mayakovsky

Vladimir Mayakovsky is one of the most prominent poets of the early 20th century. The meaning and essence of an entire era - the Russian revolution of the 20th century - is associated with his name and work. His talent manifested itself both in poetry, written only in his own poetic style, and in dramatic works. He accompanied his literary creations with his own illustrations, so it can be said without exaggeration that Vladimir Mayakovsky also had artistic talent. A lot is known about this great poet of the Silver Age, but at the same time, almost nothing can be said clearly about him. He was and will remain a mystery even to the most sincere admirers of his work. As for his biography, there are practically no “blank spots” in it, but his spiritual world, which influenced creativity and the vicissitudes of fate, is still a mystery.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was born on July 7, 1893 in the Kutaisi province, in the small Georgian village of Baghdadi. Both parents were direct descendants of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. The father of the great poet - Vladimir Konstantinovich - was a hereditary nobleman, and worked as a forester. Mother, Pavlenko A.A., was engaged in raising children, in addition to Vladimir, there were two more children in the family.

The events of childhood and adolescence largely determined his future life path. In the period from 1902 to 1906, the future poet studied at the Kutaisi gymnasium, where he probably managed to get acquainted with the liberal democratic intelligentsia. In 1905, he even took part in a major demonstration of Russian and Georgian youth. His father actually died from a needle stick, resulting in blood poisoning. Due to the death of his father, Mayakovsky developed a phobia of catching some kind of illness, so he always had a soap dish with him and constantly washed his hands.

After the unexpected death of his father, the family moved to Moscow in 1906. In the capital, he entered the fifth classical gymnasium. In the fourth grade, his classmate was Shura Pasternak, the brother of the great Russian writer and poet. The financial condition was rather difficult, so in 1908 Vladimir Mayakovsky was expelled from the Moscow gymnasium, since his mother did not have the means to pay for further education. Nevertheless, thanks to his talent for fine arts, he was accepted to study at the Stroganov School. But even here the study of the future poet did not go smoothly because of his political views.

In his youth, he was arrested three times. In 1908, Mayakovsky was imprisoned because of his political convictions. The arrest of the poet was caused by revolutionary agitation, which he carried out among the representatives of the working class and in connection with the suspicion of the activities of an underground printing house. Released as a minor under the supervision of parents. The second arrest was due to suspicions of collaboration with anarchists. The third arrest was participation in the organization of the escape of female political convicts from prison. Then he spent 11 months in prisons, including the famous Butyrka. He was then released for lack of evidence.

After the next conclusion, which took place in Butyrskaya prison, ended, Mayakovsky stopped taking an active part in the work of the party.

He began to write his first poems in his youth, while in prison, they were then selected by prison officers. But according to the poet himself, the poems turned out to be bad. "Night" - the first published lyrical work young poet. It was written under the influence of the futuristic ideas of the Hylaea poetic circle, which included Vladimir Mayakovsky.

With Lilya Brik

In 1915, the author of the famous poem "A Cloud in Pants" met a married couple - Lilya and Osip Maksimovich Brik. This meeting turned out to be fatal in the fate of the poet. An inexplicable passion for Leela made him ignore all the conventions of society and settle in their apartment. Lilya Brik became his muse, his lover, his icon. Mayakovsky confessed his love to her, presenting a ring with engraved initials - "LOVE", which also meant the word - I love. She treated him ambiguously: on the one hand, she accepted his courtship, strove to be his muse, and on the other, she scoffed. She said more than once that there was no difference between Vladimir and a cabman. They both manage something. Only one is a horse, and the other is a word. Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik, whose relationship was complicated to the limit, in fact, were an excellent tandem of the creator and the muse. The Swedish family of Briks with Mayakovsky created favorable conditions not only for communication with Lilya.

With the Brick family

Osip Brik personally took part in the life of the poet. He corrected the punctuation and spelling of the poems of the brilliant creator. Such a strange relationship connected these three people. The secret of the relationship between Mayakovsky and Brikov tried in 1927 to reveal the film "Love in Three" directed by Abram Roma and screenwriter Viktor Shklovsky.

Mayakovsky never married. He had peculiar relationships with his beloved women, not typical of the morality of that time. Mayakovsky's personal life was stormy, but everything, in the end, came down to one thing, or rather, to one thing - Lilya Brik. Of course, the attraction to her was unnatural, and even somehow painful. And Mayakovsky understood this. He was looking for ways to break off these relationships: he started romances on the side. From the connection of the poet with the Russian emigrant Elizabeth Siebert, even a daughter was born - Patricia Thompson.

Tatyana Yakovleva

Mayakovsky often toured abroad. Once in Paris, the poet fell passionately in love with the Russian emigrant Tatyana Yakovleva, who, unfortunately for the lover, did not reciprocate. Therefore, Tatyana Yakovleva is another unhappy love in the poet's life. But she played an important role in Mayakovsky's life. Although the fact that the poet and Yakovlev had a romantic relationship has not been proven, he still dedicated more than one poem to her. After all, the character did not allow Mayakovsky to give up even when there was no hope. Just before leaving for his homeland, the poet gave the received fee for public performance in Paris, to one flower company with the only condition - Mademoiselle Yakovleva was to receive a beautiful bouquet once a week with a note "From Mayakovsky." The company fulfilled all the agreements, and Tatyana received flowers for many years, and even after the tragic death of the poet. And during the Nazi occupation, these bouquets saved her from starvation: she sold them on the street.

Elizabeth Lavinskaya

Vladimir Mayakovsky was the biological father of the monumental sculptor Gleb-Nikita Lavinsky. The poet became closely acquainted with his mother, married Elizaveta Lavinskaya, in 1920, when they worked together at the ROSTA satire windows, and a year later a son was born in the Lavlinsky family. The paternity of the poet was revealed in the documentary television project "The Third Extra", shown on Channel One in 2013.

With Veronika Polonskaya

The last beloved woman of the poet was Veronika Polonskaya, an actress of the Moscow Academic Theatre. However, the poet did not dedicate his last poem to her, and she was not his main heir. Lilya Brik continued to play the main role even after the death of the poet.

Mayakovsky took his own life on April 14, 1930 with a pistol shot. Veronika Polonskaya witnessed his tragic death. Two days before the tragic incident, he left a suicide note in which he asked no one to blame for his death.

Mayakovsky, as a versatile talented person in his short life, was able to realize himself in different types art. This is clearly evidenced by his creative legacy. The versatility of this creative personality is also evidenced by his directorial and acting work. In the dramatic genre, Mayakovsky's archive contains five plays, four of which were staged at the Meyerhold Theater.

Interesting facts from the life of Mayakovsky

1 .Mayakovsky had a controversial character. In his youth, while in prison, he became withdrawn. In addition, he was very sensitive and therefore prone to extremes in thought and action.

2. The extremes in behavior are clearly evidenced by the story told by famous artist Repin. He liked the curly brown hair of the poet, and he offered to paint his portrait. Soon Mayakovsky came to pose for the artist, shaving his head bald.

3 .The poet was very kind and generous to the elderly. He often himself found the needy old people, gave them money and at the same time never gave his name.

4 .Mayakovsky was very fond of dogs, which speaks of his kind character. In many photographs, he is captured with his beloved dogs and looks happy from communicating with them.

5. Vladimir Mayakovsky was an avid gambler. gambling, especially billiards and cards, were his irresistible passion. There is even a version that his suicide is connected with the loss of Russian roulette. However, the exact causes and circumstances of the death of the famous poet still remain unexplored.

The son of the poet Gleb-Nikita Lavinsky

6. Mayakovsky worked diligently to find the most suitable, ideal rhyme that would fit into the poems in all respects. He could walk 15-20 km until he found exactly what he needed.

7. "Poetic Ladder" is the hallmark of the great Russian poet, which many admired. On the part of the writer, this was a clear trick, since at that time poets were paid for the number of lines in the written poems, and the "ladder" led to the fact that he received 2-3 times more than his colleagues in the shop.

8. The first filming in the movie was the film Chained by Film, where he starred with Lilia Brik. This film was not preserved, only photographs and posters depicting the main character remained.

9. The picture “The Young Lady and the Hooligan” has survived to this day, the screenwriter and main character of which was Mayakovsky himself.

Mayakovsky's daughter Patricia Thompson

10. The poet's daughter Patricia Thompson was born in America in 1925, lived in Upper Manhattan and taught at New York University. Outwardly, she was very similar to her father. The secret of her birth was told to her by her mother when the girl was 9 years old. The poet's daughter died on April 1, 2016.

photo from internet

The fatal shot that the last affection of the poet, Veronika Polonskaya, heard when leaving the room on Lubyanka, sounded on April 14, 1930 ...

Mayakovsky's death at the age of thirty-seven raised many questions from his contemporaries. Why did the genius, beloved by the people and the Soviet government, "singer of the revolution" voluntarily die?

There is no doubt that it was suicide. The results of an examination conducted by criminologists 60 years after the death of the poet confirmed that Mayakovsky shot himself. established the authenticity of what had been written two days earlier. The very fact that the note was drawn up in advance speaks in favor of the thoughtfulness of this act.

When Yesenin passed away three years earlier, Mayakovsky writes: “It is not difficult to die in this life.
Make life much more difficult." With these lines, he puts a bitter assessment of escaping from reality with the help of suicide. About his own death, he writes: "... this is not a way ... but I have no way out."

We will never know the exact answer to the question of what broke the poet so much. But Mayakovsky's voluntary death can be partly explained by the events preceding his death. In part, the choice of the poet reveals his work. The famous lines from the poem "Man", written in 1917: "And the heart is eager for a shot, and the throat is raving with a razor ...", speak for themselves.

In general, Mayakovsky's poetry is a mirror of his nervous, contradictory nature. His poems are full of either almost teenage delight and enthusiasm, or bile and bitterness of disappointment. This is how Vladimir Mayakovsky was described by his contemporaries. The same main witness to the poet's suicide writes in her memoirs: “In general, he always had extremes. I do not remember Mayakovsky ... calm ... ".

The poet had many reasons to draw the last line. Married Lilya Brik, the main love and muse of Mayakovsky, all her life approached and moved away from him, but never completely belonged to him. Long before the tragedy, the poet had already flirted with his fate twice, and the reason for this was an all-encompassing passion for this woman. But then Mayakovsky, whose death still worries the minds, remained alive - the weapon misfired.

Serious health problems that began due to overwork and a severe flu, the deafening failure of the play "Bath" in March 1930, parting with which the poet asked to become his wife ... All these life collisions, indeed, blow after blow, seemed to be preparing Mayakovsky's death. Kneeling in front of Veronika Polonskaya, persuading her to stay with him, the poet clung to his relationship with her like a saving straw. But the actress was not ready for such a decisive step as a divorce from her husband ... When the door closed behind her, a revolver with a single bullet in the clip put an end to the life of one of the greatest poets.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893-1930) is considered an outstanding Soviet poet. In addition to poetry, he was also engaged in dramaturgy, writing screenplays, tried himself as a film director and film actor. He took an active part in the work of the creative association "LEF". That is, we see a bright creative personality, incredibly popular in the 20s of the last century. The whole country knew the name of the poet. Some people liked his poems, others not so much. Indeed, they were somewhat specific and found recognition among supporters of just such a peculiar expression of their inner world.

But we will not talk about the work of the poet. To this day it raises many questions. Mayakovsky's unexpected death on April 14, 1930. Vladimir Vladimirovich died at the age of 36. This is the very happy period of life when you look with the same irony at those who are older and those who are younger than you. There are still many, many years of life ahead, but the fateful path of the creator for some reason was cut short, leaving in the souls of people a feeling of confusion, mixed with bewilderment.

Naturally, there was a consequence. Organized by the OGPU. The official conclusion was suicide. We can agree with this, since creative people are inherently very unpredictable. They see the world somewhat different from other people. Forever some throwing, doubts, disappointments and a constant search for something elusive all the time. In a word, it is very difficult to understand what they want to get from this life. And now, at the peak of disappointment, the cold muzzle of a pistol is brought to the temple or heart. A shot, and all problems are solved by themselves in the simplest and most proven way.

However, the suicide of Vladimir Vladimirovich left a lot of questions and ambiguities. They clearly indicate that there was no suicide, but there was murder. Moreover, it was carried out by official state bodies, which were originally supposed to protect citizens from rash and dangerous acts. So where is the truth? In this case, she is not at fault, but in facts that clearly indicate not just a criminal, but a political crime. But to understand the essence of the issue, you need to know the particulars. Therefore, we will first get to know the Brik family in more detail, with which our hero had a long close relationship.

Briki

Lilya Yurievna Brik (1891-1978) - a famous Soviet writer and her husband Osip Maksimovich Brik (1888-1945) - a literary critic and literary critic. This couple met the talented young poet in July 1915. After that, Mayakovsky's life began new stage which lasted 15 years until his death.

Vladimir and Lily fell in love with each other. But Osip Maksimovich did not interfere with this feeling. The trinity began to live together, which caused a lot of gossip in literary circles. What happened there and how it happened is irrelevant for this story. It is much more important to know that Brikov and Mayakovsky were connected not only by spiritual, but also by material relations. Under Soviet rule, the poet was by no means a poor man. It is quite natural that he shared part of his income with the Briks.

Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik

It can be assumed that this is why Lily tried with all her might to tie Vladimir to herself. Since 1926, the trinity lived in a Moscow apartment, which the poet received. This is Gendrikov Lane (now Mayakovsky Lane). It is located in the very center of Moscow not far from Taganskaya Square. The Briks did not have the opportunity to get a separate apartment at that time. The huge city lived in communal apartments, and only outstanding personalities who brought significant benefits to the existing regime had their own living space.

Since 1922, Mayakovsky's works began to be published in major publications. The fees were so high that the trio began to spend a lot of time abroad, staying in expensive hotels. Therefore, it was not in the interests of the Briks to break off relations with a gifted and naive poet who was a good cash cow.

Heart affairs of Vladimir Mayakovsky

Being completely dependent on Lily Brik, our hero from time to time entered into intimate relationships with other women. In 1925 he went to America and started there love story with Ellie Jones. She was an emigrant from Russia, so the language barrier did not bother them. From this connection, on June 15, 1926, a girl was born who received the name Helen (Elena). She is alive to this day. He is a philosopher and writer, maintains a close relationship with Russia.

In 1928, Mayakovsky met Tatyana Yakovleva in Paris. Along the way, Vladimir bought Lily Brik a French car. He chose it together with Yakovleva. For Moscow at that time it was an unimaginable luxury. The poet wanted to create a family with his new Parisian passion, but she did not express a desire to go to Bolshevik Russia.

However, Vladimir did not lose hope to unite himself with the bonds of Hymen and Tatyana and finally say goodbye to the Briks. This, of course, was not part of Lily's plans. In April 1929, she introduced the poet to the young and beautiful actress Veronika Polonskaya, who had been married to actor Mikhail Yanshin for 4 years.

Our hero was seriously carried away by a girl who was 15 years younger than him. Very opportunely, news came from Paris that supposedly Yakovleva was marrying a well-born Frenchman. Therefore, Vladimir quickly forgot his foreign passion and focused all his attention on Veronica. It was this girl who became the main witness to the tragedy, because Mayakovsky's death occurred almost before her eyes.

Chronology of tragic events

Possible cause of death

If we assume that Vladimir Vladimirovich was killed, then why was this done, who did he interfere with? In 1918, the poet inextricably linked his fate with the Bolshevik Party. He was a tribune preaching the ideas of world revolution. That is why it was such a huge success with various publishers. He was paid huge fees, provided with separate housing, but in return they demanded devotion and loyalty.

However, by the end of the 20s, notes of disappointment with the existing regime began to slip in the works of the poet. There were still years of collectivization ahead, a terrible famine, repressions, and Vladimir Vladimirovich already felt in his soul the mortal danger hanging over the country. It became increasingly difficult for him to praise the existing reality. I had to step over my understanding of the world and moral principles more and more often.

A wave of jubilation was gaining strength in the country. Everyone admired or pretended to admire the achievements of the socialist system, and Mayakovsky began to satirically denounce all sorts of "rubbish". It sounded out of tune with the enthusiastic chorus of sycophants and opportunists. The authorities very quickly felt that the poet had become different. He has changed, and in a way that is dangerous for the regime. The first sign was the criticism of his plays "Bug" and "Bath". Then the portrait disappeared from literary magazine, and persecution in the press unfolded.

Along with this, the Chekists began to patronize the poet. They began to visit regularly as good friends, because Lilya Brik loved to receive guests. But it's one thing when fellow writers come, and another thing when an OGPU officer comes into the apartment on a friendly visit. We must also not forget that Osip Maksimovich Brik in 1919-1921 was an employee of the Cheka. And there are no former Chekists.

All this guardianship was carried out in order to check the reliability of the poet. The results were deplorable for Vladimir Vladimirovich. The decision was made to remove it. It could not have been otherwise, because a reforged tribune could cause great ideological harm to the communist regime.

The last day of the poet's life

Mayakovsky's death, as already mentioned, occurred on April 14, 1930. There were no Briks in Moscow: they went abroad back in February. The poet decided to take advantage of their absence in order to finally break the protracted relationship leading nowhere. He wanted to create a normal family and for this he chose Veronica Polonskaya. In early April, he makes a cash contribution to a housing cooperative in order to purchase an apartment for himself, and leave the existing living space to a voluptuous and selfish couple.

On Monday, April 14, the poet arrives at Polonskaya at 8 o'clock in the morning and takes her to his place. There is a conversation going on between them. Vladimir demands that Veronika leave her husband and go to him right now. The woman says that she cannot leave Yanshin right away. She does not refuse Mayakovsky, assures that she loves him, but she needs time. After that, Polonskaya leaves the apartment, as at 10-30 she has a rehearsal in the theater. She goes out into the front door and then hears the sound of a revolver shot. Veronica runs back into the room just a moment after leaving and sees that Vladimir is lying on the floor with his arms outstretched.

Soon an investigation team arrived, but not from the police, but from counterintelligence. It was headed by the head of the secret department of the OGPU, Yakov Saulovich Agranov (1893-1938). His appearance can be explained by the fact that he oversaw the creative intelligentsia. The scene of the incident was examined, the poet's body was photographed. Vladimir Vladimirovich's suicide letter, dated April 12, was found. Agranov read it aloud and put it in his tunic pocket.

Toward evening, the sculptor Konstantin Lutsky appeared. He made a plaster mask from the face of the deceased. At first, they did not want to do an autopsy, since it was already clear that the poet died from a shot in the heart. But rumors spread that Mayakovsky had syphilis, which caused the tragedy. Pathologists had to open the body, but no serious abnormalities were found in the organs. The newspapers wrote that the poet died of a transient illness. Friends signed the obituary, and that was the end of the matter.

Murder or suicide?

So how should one characterize the death of Mayakovsky? Was it murder or suicide? To shed light on this question, let's start, as expected, with a suicide note. Here is her text:

“To everyone… Don’t blame anyone for dying and don’t gossip. The deceased didn’t like this terribly.

Comrade government, my family is Lilya Brik, mother, sister and Veronika Polonskaya. I would be grateful if you give them a tolerable life. Give the verses you have begun to the Briks, they will sort it out. As they say - the incident is over, the love boat crashed into everyday life. I am counting with life, and there is no need for a list of mutual pains, troubles and insults. Happy staying."

Here is a will written, according to the date, April 12. And the fatal shot sounded on April 14. At the same time, a love explanation with Veronica also took place, although the poet knew that he was about to die. But despite this, he insisted that the beloved immediately leave her husband. Is there any logic in this?

It is also interesting that Vladimir Vladimirovich wrote the last letter in pencil. He had money to buy a cooperative apartment, but there was not even a little thing for a pen. However, the deceased had his own very good pen with a luxurious gold nib. He never gave it to anyone, but wrote only to her. But at the most crucial moment of his life he picked up a pencil. By the way, it is much easier for them to forge handwriting than with a pen.

At one time, Sergei Eisenstein said in a narrow circle of friends that if you carefully read the style of writing, you can argue that it was not written by Mayakovsky. So who then produced this creation. Maybe there was an employee in the apparatus of the OGPU who took on such duties that were so unusual for him?

The archive contains the criminal case number 02-29. This is just the suicide case of VV Mayakovsky. It was led by investigator I. Syrtsov. So, the inspection protocol does not mention the suicide letter, as if it never existed. There is also no examination of the shirt that the poet was wearing at the time of his death. But she could tell a lot to the investigation.

But most importantly, it is absolutely unclear from the case where Polonskaya was when the fatal shot was fired. Either she was standing near the poet, or she had already left the room. As Veronica herself later claimed, she went out into the front door and only there she heard the sound of a shot. However, judging by the papers, her behavior can be interpreted in different ways. The woman ran down the stairs, and a shot rang out, or ran out of the room screaming, and it was at that moment that the poet shot himself. So maybe she saw Vladimir in his hand with a pistol, got scared and tried to hide? It seems that the investigator did not need a clear and precise answer at all.

The criminal case was closed on April 19. At the same time, it remained a mystery whether a gun was found near the body or not. How was the body? Head to the door or head into the room. If someone else entered the room and fired, then Vladimir Vladimirovich had to fall back, that is, head deep into the room. But nothing definite can be said here. Thus, it can be concluded that the investigative actions were carried out extremely carelessly. They were a pure formality. All the work was done not for the sake of establishing the truth, but for the sake of a tick that such work was done.

So the conclusion suggests itself. The poet was killed by the OGPU, but presented this case as a suicide. It was safely placed in the archive and gathered dust on the shelves until the 90s of the XX century. And who will you ask in 60 years? Moreover, Yagoda's people, including Agranov, were shot in 1937-38. So the retribution was done anyway.

Who was the winner after Mayakovsky's death?

The death of Mayakovsky was in the hands of Lily Brik. There is no talk about Osip Maksimovich, since his family life with his loving wife ended in divorce. But the Soviet government recognized Lily as the legitimate heiress of the deceased poet. She got his co-op apartment and cash savings.

But the most important thing is the archives, which, in fact, were the property of the people. However, this is not all. Since 1935, the so-called "widow" of Mayakovsky began to receive interest from the sold works of the poet. And they were printed in millions of copies, since Vladimir Vladimirovich was posthumously recognized as the best and most talented poet of the Soviet era.

As for Polonskaya, without two minutes the wife received nothing. However, no. She got gossip, talk behind her back, malevolent smirks. The last point in this epic was the divorce from her husband. Well, what can you do. That's the way this world works. Someone finds, and someone loses. But let's be optimistic. Folk wisdom says: "What does not happen is always for the better."

In Vladimir Mayakovsky, he did not immediately begin to write poetry - at first he was going to become an artist and even studied painting. The fame of the poet came to him after meeting the avant-garde artists, when the first works of the young author were enthusiastically greeted by David Burliuk. Futuristic group, "Today's Lubok", "Left Front of Arts", advertising "ROSTA Windows" - Vladimir Mayakovsky worked in many creative associations. He also wrote for newspapers, published a magazine, made films, created plays and staged performances based on them.

Vladimir Mayakovsky with his sister Lyudmila. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky with his family. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky in childhood. Photo: rewizor.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky was born in Georgia in 1893. His father served as a forester in the village of Baghdadi, later the family moved to Kutaisi. Here, the future poet studied at the gymnasium and took drawing lessons: the only Kutaisi artist Sergei Krasnukha worked with him for free. When the wave of the first Russian revolution reached Georgia, Mayakovsky - as a child - participated in rallies for the first time. His sister Lyudmila Mayakovskaya recalled: “The revolutionary struggle of the masses also influenced Volodya and Olya. The Caucasus experienced the revolution especially acutely. There, everyone was involved in the struggle, and everyone was divided into those who participated in the revolution, who definitely sympathized with it and who were hostile..

In 1906, when Vladimir Mayakovsky was 13 years old, his father died from blood poisoning: he injured his finger with a needle while stitching papers. Until the end of his life, the poet was afraid of bacteria: he always carried soap with him, took a folding basin on his travels, carried cologne for rubbing with him, and carefully monitored hygiene.

After the death of his father, the family was in a difficult situation. Mayakovsky recalled: “After the funeral of my father, we have 3 rubles. Instinctively, feverishly, we sold out tables and chairs. Moved to Moscow. What for? Didn't even have friends.". In a Moscow gymnasium, the young poet wrote his first "incredibly revolutionary and equally ugly" poem and published it in an illegal school magazine. In 1909-1910, Mayakovsky was arrested several times: he joined the Bolshevik Party, worked in an underground printing house. At first, the young revolutionary was given "on bail" to his mother, and for the third time he was sent to prison. Mayakovsky later called the conclusion in solitary confinement "11 Butyr months." He wrote poetry, but the notebook with lyrical experiments - "stilted and tearful", as their author assessed - was taken away by the guards.

In conclusion, Mayakovsky read many books. He dreamed of a new art, a new aesthetic that would be fundamentally different from the classical one. Mayakovsky decided to study painting - he changed several teachers and a year later entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here the young artist met David Burliuk, and later - with Velimir Khlebnikov and Alexei Kruchenykh. Mayakovsky again wrote poetry, from which his new comrades were delighted. Avant-garde authors decided to unite against the "aesthetics of junk", and soon a manifesto of a new creative group appeared - "A slap in the face of public taste."

David has the wrath of a master who has overtaken his contemporaries, while I have the pathos of a socialist who knows the inevitability of the collapse of junk. Russian futurism was born.

Vladimir Mayakovsky, excerpt from the autobiography "I myself"

Futurists spoke at meetings - read poems and lectures about new poetry. For public speaking, Vladimir Mayakovsky was expelled from the school. In 1913–1914, the well-known tour of the Futurists took place: a creative group with performances toured Russian cities.

Burliuk rode and promoted futurism. But he loved Mayakovsky, stood at the cradle of his verse, knew his biography to the smallest detail, knew how to read his things - and therefore, through the butads of David Davidovich, the appearance of Mayakovsky arose so material that he wanted to be touched with his hands.
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Upon arrival in the city, Burliuk first of all organized an exhibition of futuristic paintings and manuscripts, and in the evening he made a report.

Futurist poet Pyotr Neznamov

Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Rodchenko and Dmitri Shostakovich at the rehearsal of the play "The Bedbug". 1929. Photo: subscribe.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik in the film Chained by Film. 1918. Photo: geometria.by

Vladimir Mayakovsky (third from left) and Vsevolod Meyerhold (second from left) at the rehearsal of the performance "Banya". 1930. Photo: bse.sci-lib.com

Vladimir Mayakovsky was interested not only in poetry and painting. In 1913, he made his debut in the theater: he himself wrote the tragedy "Vladimir Mayakovsky", he himself staged it on stage and played the main role. In the same year, the poet became interested in cinema - he began to write scripts, and a year later he starred in the film “Drama at the Futurist Cabaret No. 13” for the first time (the picture has not been preserved). During the First World War, Vladimir Mayakovsky was a member of the avant-garde association "Today's Lubok". Its participants - Kazimir Malevich, David Burliuk, Ilya Mashkov and others - drew patriotic postcards for the front, inspired by the traditional popular popular print. They created simple colorful pictures for them and wrote short poems in which they ridiculed the enemy.

In 1915, Mayakovsky met Osip and Lilya Brik. This event in his autobiography, the poet later noted the subtitle "the most joyful date." Lilya Brik became Mayakovsky's lover and muse for many years, he dedicated poems and poems to her, and even after parting continued to declare his love. In 1918, they starred together for the film Chained by Film - both in the lead roles.

In November of the same year, the premiere of Mayakovsky's play Mystery Buff took place. It was staged at the Musical Drama Theater by Vsevolod Meyerhold, and designed in the best traditions of the avant-garde by Kazimir Malevich. Meyerhold recalled working with the poet: “Mayakovsky was well versed in very subtle theatrical, technological things that we, directors, usually learn for a very long time in different schools, practically at the theater, etc. Mayakovsky always guessed every right and wrong stage decision, precisely as a director”. The “revolutionary folk spectacle,” as the translator Rita Wright called it, was staged several more times.

A year later, the tense era of "Windows of GROWTH" began: artists and poets collected hot topics and produced propaganda posters - they are often called the first Soviet social advertising. The work was intense: both Mayakovsky and his colleagues more than once had to stay late or work at night in order to release the batch on time.

In 1922, Vladimir Mayakovsky headed the literary group "Left Front of the Arts" (later "left" in the title changed to "revolutionary"), and soon the eponymous magazine of the creative association. On its pages published prose and poetry, pictures of avant-garde photographers, bold architectural projects and news of the "left" art.

In 1925, the poet finally broke up with Lilya Brik. He went on tour to France, then went to Spain, Cuba and the USA. There, Mayakovsky met the translator Ellie Jones, a short but stormy romance broke out between them. In autumn, the poet returned to the USSR, and in America his daughter, Helen-Patricia, was soon born. After returning from the United States, Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote the cycle "Poems about America", worked on scripts for Soviet films.

Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: goteatr.com

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik. Photo: mayakovskij.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: peter.my

In 1928–1929, Mayakovsky wrote the satirical plays Bedbug and Bathhouse. Both premieres were held at the Meyerhold Theatre. The poet was the second director, he followed the design of the performance and worked with the actors: he recited fragments of the play, creating the necessary intonations and placing semantic accents.

Vladimir Vladimirovich was very fond of any kind of work. He went to work with his head. Before the premiere of "The Bath" he was completely exhausted. He spent all his time in the theatre. He wrote poems, inscriptions for the auditorium for the production of "Baths". He himself supervised their hanging. Then he joked that he was hired at the Meyerhold Theater not only as an author and director (he worked a lot with actors on the text), but also as a painter and carpenter, since he himself painted and nailed something. As a very rare author, he was so burned and sick of the performance that he participated in the smallest details of the production, which, of course, did not enter into his authorial functions at all.

Actress Veronika Polonskaya

Both plays caused a stir. Some viewers and critics saw in the works a satire on the bureaucracy, while others - criticism of the Soviet system. "Banya" was staged only a few times, and then banned - until 1953.

The loyal attitude of the authorities to the "main Soviet poet" was replaced by coolness. In 1930, for the first time, he was not approved to travel abroad. Official criticism began to fiercely attack the poet. He was reproached for satire in relation to phenomena allegedly defeated, for example, the same bureaucracy, and bureaucratic delays. Mayakovsky decided to hold the exhibition "20 Years of Work" and present the results of his many years of work. He himself selected newspaper articles and drawings, arranged books, hung posters on the walls. The poet was assisted by Lilya Brik, his new beloved actress Veronika Polonskaya and an employee of the State Literary Museum Artemy Bromberg.

On the day of the opening, the hall for guests was packed. However, as Bromberg recalled, none of the representatives of literary organizations came to the opening. And there were no official congratulations of the poet on the twentieth anniversary of his work either.

I will never forget how in the House of Press at the exhibition of Vladimir Vladimirovich "Twenty Years of Work", which for some reason was almost boycotted by "big" writers, we, several Smenovites, were literally on duty for days near the stands, physically suffering from how sad and strict A large, tall man, with his hands behind his back, walked up and down the empty halls, walking back and forth, as if waiting for someone very dear and becoming more and more convinced that this dear person would not come.

Poet Olga Bergholz

Non-recognition was exacerbated by personal drama. Vladimir Mayakovsky, in love with Polonskaya, demanded that she leave her husband, leave the theater and live with him in a new apartment. As the actress recalled, the poet either made scenes, then calmed down, then again began to be jealous and demand an immediate solution. One of these explanations became fatal. After Polonskaya left, Mayakovsky committed suicide. In his suicide letter, he asked the "comrade government" not to leave his family: “My family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronika Vitoldovna Polonskaya. If you give them a decent life, thank you.”.

After the death of Mayakovsky, the entire archive of the poet went to the Briks. Lilya Brik tried to preserve the memory of his work, wanted to create a memorial room, but constantly ran into bureaucratic obstacles. The poet was almost never published. Then Brik wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin. In his resolution, Stalin called Mayakovsky "the best and most talented poet of the Soviet era." The resolution was published in Pravda, Mayakovsky's works began to be published in huge editions, and the streets and squares of the Soviet Union were named after him.

Vulgarity, not contesting it in life, challenged it in death. But lively, agitated Moscow, alien to petty literary disputes, stood in line at his coffin, not organized by anyone in this line, spontaneously, by itself recognizing the unusualness of this life and this death. And lively, excited Moscow filled the streets on the way to the crematorium. And lively, agitated Moscow did not believe his death. Still does not believe.