Maxim is a bitter story about the writer. Brief biography of Gorky. Trips to the USSR

26.11.2021

And the author of the play "At the Lower Depths", the novel "Mother" and the autobiographical stories "Childhood", "In People" and "My Universities", Maxim Gorky lived in poverty for many years, rented corners in flophouses, worked as a salesman, a dishwasher and a shoemaker's assistant. After the revolution, he was recognized as “the main proletarian writer.” Tverskaya Street in Moscow was named after Gorky, and in 1934 he was appointed head of the USSR Writers' Union.

“I was filled with my grandmother’s poems”: childhood years

Alexey Peshkov. 1889–1891. Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: histrf.ru

House of the Kashirin family. Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: nevvod.ru

Alexey Peshkov. May 1889. Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: D. Leibovsky / Museum of A. M. Gorky and F. I. Chaliapin, Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan

Maxim Gorky was born on March 28, 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod. His real name is Alexey Peshkov. The father of the future writer, Maxim Peshkov, was a carpenter, and his mother, Varvara Kashirina, came from a poor middle-class family. When Gorky was three years old, he fell ill with cholera and infected his father. The boy recovered, but Maxim Peshkov soon died. The mother married a second time, and Gorky remained in the care of her father Vasily Kashirin, the owner of a dyeing workshop. The future writer was raised by his grandparents. Vasily Kashirin taught Gorky to read and write from church books, and Akulina Kashirina read him fairy tales and poetry. The writer later recalled: “I was filled with my grandmother’s poems like a beehive with honey; It seems that I was thinking in the forms of her poems".

By the 1870s, Maxim Gorky's grandfather went bankrupt. The family moved to the poorest district of Nizhny Novgorod - Kunavinskaya Sloboda. To help his relatives, the future writer tried to earn money from childhood and was engaged in rags - he looked for things on the city streets and sold them.

In 1878, Gorky entered the Slobodsko-Kunavinsky elementary school. He studied well, received awards from teachers for good grades - books, certificates of merit.

“At school it became difficult for me again, the students made fun of me, calling me a rag-tag, a beggar, and once, after a quarrel, they told the teacher that I smelled like a garbage pit and that they couldn’t sit next to me.<...>But finally I passed the exam for the third grade, received as a reward the Gospel, Krylov’s fables in binding and another book without binding with an incomprehensible title - “Fata Morgana”, they also gave me a certificate of merit.<...>I took the books to the shop, sold them for fifty-five kopecks, gave the money to my grandmother, and spoiled the certificate of commendation with some inscriptions and then handed it to my grandfather. He carefully hid the paper without opening it and not noticing my mischief.”
Maxim Gorky, “Childhood”

Gorky was expelled from the school. The documents wrote: "Course<...>I didn’t graduate due to poverty.”. After that, he was an apprentice shoemaker and draftsman, a dishwasher on a steamship, an assistant to an icon painter, and a salesman in a merchant's shop. Since childhood, Gorky read a lot, among his favorite authors were Stendhal, Honore de Balzac and Gustave Flaubert. The future writer was also interested in philosophy - he studied the works of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Gorky recorded his impressions of the books he read in his personal diary.

“I felt out of place among the intelligentsia”

Alexey Peshkov. 1889–1990. Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: Maxim Dmitriev / a4format.ru

Writer Vladimir Korolenko. 1890s. Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: worldofaphorism.ru

Alexey Peshkov. Photo: kulturologia.ru

In 1884, at the age of 16, Maxim Gorky went to Kazan to enter the local university. But the future writer did not have an education certificate, and he was not allowed to take the exams. In the story “My Universities” he later wrote: “Amid the sound of the rain and the sighs of the wind, I soon realized that the university was a fantasy...”. Gorky did not have money to rent housing. At first he lived with friends, and then began to work part-time in the Kazan port and rent corners in flophouses with tramps. In his free time, he composed his first literary works: notes, stories and poems.

A few months later, Gorky found a job in Vasily Semenov’s bakery, where Narodnaya Volya members often gathered. There he became acquainted with the works of Russian revolutionaries, and soon joined one of the underground circles of Marxists. Gorky was an agitator; he held educational conversations with the illiterates and workers. Despite all the activity during the meetings, Gorky was not taken seriously.

“Gorky was not destined to establish strong ties with [Nicholas - Approx. ed.] Fedoseev, nor to meet Lenin at that time. Gorky had no friends in this environment.<...>. Among the Narodnik students, he was not an equal person, but only a “son of the people,” as they called him among themselves: for them, he was, as it were, a clear proof of their “faith in the people” that they professed.<...>Years of excessive physical work and intense experiences undermined his mental strength. The entire world confronting him in its everyday, difficult environment contradicted all his long-standing expectations. He felt the rejection of this alien world with all its depth.”
Literary critic Ilya Gruzdev, “Gorky” (book from the “Life of Remarkable People” series)

1887 was a difficult year for Maxim Gorky. His grandmother died, he began to have conflicts at work, quarrels with members of the circle. Gorky shot himself. He was lucky: he survived, although he was put on trial by the church and was excommunicated. After this, Gorky moved to Nizhny Novgorod, where he began working as an assistant to a sworn attorney. There he also met the writer Vladimir Korolenko, to whom he showed his poem “The Song of the Old Oak.” Korolenko read the work and found many semantic and spelling errors in it. Gorky later wrote about this: “I decided not to write any more poetry or prose, and indeed throughout my life in Nizhny - almost two years - I wrote nothing.”.

In 1890, Gorky went on a walking journey and visited the south of Russia, visiting the cities of the Caucasus and Crimea. In his autobiography he wrote: “I felt out of place among the intelligentsia and went traveling”. In the south, Gorky communicated a lot with local residents, engaged in their traditional crafts: fishing, extracting salt. On the way, he wrote stories and notes, poems in which he imitated George Byron.

“I shouldn’t write in literature - Peshkov”

Maxim Gorky (center) among the staff of the Nizhny Novgorod List. 1899. Photo: a4format.ru

Maxim Gorky (right) in a group of Samara Gazeta editorial staff. 1895. Photo: a4format.ru

In 1892, Gorky stopped in Tiflis, where he met the revolutionary Alexander Kalyuzhny. The writer read his works to him, and Kalyuzhin advised Gorky to publish and he himself took his story “Makar Chudra” to the editorial office of the Tiflis newspaper “Caucasus”. The work was published in September 1892 under the pseudonym Maxim Gorky. According to Kalyuzhin, the writer explained it this way: “I shouldn’t write in literature - Peshkov”.

Soon Gorky returned to Nizhny Novgorod to his previous place of work. In his free time, he continued to write stories. Gorky read them to friends and acquaintances. One of my friends sent the story “Emelyan Pilyai” to the editorial office of the Moscow newspaper Russkie Vedomosti. Soon the work was published.

On Korolenko’s advice, when working on his next works, Gorky began to more carefully develop the images of the heroes and tried to maintain a single narrative style. These changes are noticeable in the story “Chelkash”, about which Korolenko wrote: “Not bad at all! You can create characters, people speak and act from you, from their essence, you know how not to interfere with their thoughts, the play of feelings, this is not given to everyone!.. I told you that you are a realist!.. But in at the same time - a romantic! ". Gorky sent the story to the famous St. Petersburg weekly magazine “Russian Wealth”, where it was soon published.

On the recommendation of Korolenko, Gorky became a journalist for the Samara Newspaper in 1895 and moved from Nizhny Novgorod to Samara. There he wrote about events in the city, theatrical events and social life, and published feuilletons under the pseudonym Yehudiel Chlamida. A few months later, the writer was entrusted with running a literary column, in which Gorky published his works weekly. Soon he returned to Nizhny Novgorod, where he became editor of the Nizhny Novgorod List.

Gorky became a famous journalist. The large provincial newspaper Odessa News invited him to be a special correspondent for the publication at the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition, which was held in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896.

"The great writer Maxim Gorky"

Scene from the play “Philistines” by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vasily Luzhsky. 1902. Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov, Moscow. Moscow Art Theater Museum, Moscow

Maxim Gorky (right) and writer Anton Chekhov. 1900. Yalta, Republic of Crimea. Photo: regnum.ru

Maxim Gorky (left) and director Konstantin Stanislavsky. 1928. Moscow. Moscow Art Theater Museum, Moscow

In the mid-1890s, Gorky mainly carried out journalistic orders. However, he did not give up literary creativity: he wrote stories, poems, and worked on his story “Foma Gordeev” about the life of the Russian merchants. In 1898, Gorky’s first collection “Essays and Stories” was published. After its publication, the writer began to communicate with Anton Chekhov. Chekhov gave Gorky advice and criticism: “Incontinence is felt in the descriptions of nature with which you interrupt dialogues; when you read them, these descriptions, you want them to be more compact, shorter, like 2-3 lines”. The writer liked Gorky’s fairy tales, including “Song of the Falcon.”

In 1899, “Foma Gordeev” was published in the newspaper “Life”. The story glorified Gorky: reviews of it appeared in leading Russian magazines, a conference on the writer’s work was organized in St. Petersburg, and Ilya Repin painted a portrait of Gorky. In Nizhny Novgorod, Maxim Gorky became involved in social activities: he organized charity evenings and New Year trees for poor children. The writer was constantly under police surveillance because he never stopped communicating with revolutionaries.

“I didn’t write to you because I was busy as hell with various things and was angry all the time, like an old witch. The mood is gloomy. Their back hurts, their chest too, their head helps them with this... Out of grief and bad mood, I began to drink vodka and even write poetry. I think that the position of a writer is not such a sweet position.”
Maxim Gorky, from correspondence with Anton Chekhov

In 1899, Gorky was expelled from Nizhny Novgorod for promoting revolutionary ideas to the small town of Arzamas. Before exile, he was allowed to go to Crimea to improve his health: the writer had tuberculosis.

At the same time, the Art Theater in Moscow began preparing a production of Gorky’s first play, “The Bourgeois.” The premiere took place three years later during a tour in St. Petersburg in March 1902, but was unsuccessful. Soon after the release of the play, Gorky’s exile ended, and he returned to Nizhny Novgorod, where he completed the play “At the Lower Depths.” The premiere of the play of the same name took place on the stage of the Art Theater in Moscow in December 1902. The production was prepared by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. They carefully selected the actors and held long rehearsals. The writer himself helped the directors. He wanted the leading actors to get used to the images of tramps.

“You need to be able to pronounce Gorky so that the phrase sounds and lives. His instructive and preaching monologues<...>one must be able to pronounce simply, with a natural inner lift, without false theatricality, without pomposity. Otherwise you will turn a serious play into a simple melodrama. It was necessary to learn the tramp's special style and not mix it with the usual everyday theatrical tone or with the actor's vulgar declamation.<...>It is necessary to penetrate into the spiritual recesses of Gorky himself, as we did with Chekhov in our time, in order to find the secret key to the author’s soul. Then the spectacular words of tramp aphorisms and florid phrases of the sermon will be filled with the spiritual essence of the poet himself, and the artist will become excited along with him.”
Konstantin Stanislavsky, “My life in art”

The premiere of “At the Lower Depths” was a success; tickets for the performance were difficult to get. However, government publications criticized the play, and soon it was banned from playing in provincial theaters without special permission.

Maxim Gorky (left) and singer Fyodor Chaliapin. 1901. Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: putdor.ru

Among the writers of the publishing house "Znanie". From left to right: Maxim Gorky, Leonid Andreev, Ivan Bunin, Nikolai Teleshov, Skitalets (Stepan Petrov), Fyodor Chaliapin, Evgeny Chirikov. 1902. Moscow. Photo: auction.ru

Maxim Gorky and actress Maria Andreeva on the ship before leaving America. 1906. Photo: gazettco.com

In the same 1902, Gorky headed the publishing house “Znanie”. He published realist writers: Ivan Bunin, Leonid Andreev and Alexander Kuprin. For publication, he tried to choose works that were understandable even to readers from workers and peasants. Gorky wrote: “The best, most valuable and at the same time the most attentive and strict reader of our days is a competent worker, a competent democrat. This reader is looking in the book, first of all, for answers to his social and moral perplexities; his main desire is for freedom.”. He adhered to the same principles in his works of the following years - the plays “Barbarians”, “Summer Residents” and “Children of the Sun”, in which he criticized the bourgeoisie.

On January 22, 1905, the First Russian Revolution began. Gorky supported the rebellious workers and wrote a proclamation “To all Russian citizens and the public opinion of European states,” in which he called for “immediate, persistent and friendly struggle against the autocracy”. Soon the writer was detained and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Foreign artists reacted to Gorky's arrest. The French Society of Friends of the Russian People published a call for the writer's release: “The great writer Maxim Gorky will have to appear, behind closed doors, before an unprecedented trial on charges of conspiracy against the state<...>It is necessary that all people worthy of being called human beings defend, in the person of Gorky, their sacred rights.”. Under pressure from society, the writer was released in February 1905. To avoid another arrest, Gorky left the country. He lived in the United States for about six months, where he wrote a collection of essays, “In America.”

Due to the worsening of tuberculosis at the end of 1906, Gorky left for Italy and settled on the island of Capri near Naples. His friends Fyodor Chaliapin, Ivan Bunin and Leonid Andreev came to the writer from Russia.

While in exile, Gorky wrote a lot. He created the novel “Mother,” which was inspired by the revolutionary events at the Sormovo plant. The work was published in its entirety in Germany, but in Russia the abridged version was withdrawn from print. Gorky's next work - the play "Enemies" - was not allowed to be published by censors. The plays “The Last” and “Vassa Zheleznova”, the novel “The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin” and other works of the writer of these years were published in publications in Germany, France and the USA, and were almost immediately translated into foreign languages. During this period, Gorky collaborated with Vladimir Lenin and other communists, and was a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP). In the official newspaper of the RSDLP, the writer published incriminating articles and pamphlets.

“Clouds are approaching Rus'”

Maxim Gorky. Photo: epwr.ru

Honoring Maxim Gorky (sitting, third from right) in connection with his 50th anniversary at the World Literature publishing house. March 30, 1919. Illustration from Valery Shubinsky’s book “Architect. Life of Nikolai Gumilyov." Moscow: Corpus Publishing House, 2014

Maxim Gorky. 1916–1917. Petrograd. Photo: velykoross.ru

In 1913, in honor of the tercentenary of the House of Romanov, Nicholas II declared a partial amnesty for political criminals, including Maxim Gorky. The writer was allowed to return to Russia. Friends and relatives tried to dissuade him. Lenin wrote: “I’m terribly afraid that this will harm your health and undermine your performance.”. Gorky delayed his return for several months. By December 1913, he finished the autobiographical story “Childhood” and went to Russia. The writer settled in St. Petersburg, where he again came under police surveillance. Despite this, he continued to communicate with revolutionaries, write articles about the fate of Russia and criticize the government.

“No one will deny that clouds are approaching Rus' again, promising great storms and thunderstorms, difficult days are coming again, demanding a friendly unity of minds and wills, extreme tension of all the healthy forces of our country<...>There is also no doubt that Russian society, having experienced too many heart-shaking dramas, is tired, disappointed, apathetic.”
Maxim Gorky, article “On Karamazovism”

In St. Petersburg, Gorky finished the autobiographical story “In People” - a continuation of the popular “Childhood”. In 1915, the writer began publishing the journal “Chronicle”, in which Yuliy Martov, Alexandra Kollontai, Anatoly Lunacharsky and others published their scientific and political articles. Among the writers who published here were Vladimir Mayakovsky, Sergei Yesenin, Alexander Blok. Gorky soon became the editor of the Bolshevik publications Pravda and Zvezda.

During the First World War, the writer worked on a series of stories “Across Rus'”, which was based on his impressions of his first travels in the south of Russia, the Caucasus and the Volga region. Gorky published anti-war articles in newspapers and magazines. At the same time, the writer founded the Parus publishing house. Ivan Bunin, Vladimir Korolenko and others published their works there.

Gorky viewed the February Revolution of 1917 with caution. The writer criticized the Provisional Government for disorganization and political heterogeneity: “We must not forget that we live in the wilds of many millions of ordinary people, politically illiterate and socially illiterate. People who don’t know what they want are politically and socially dangerous people.”. In May 1917, Gorky began publishing the newspaper “New Life”, where in the section “Untimely Thoughts” he published his articles with reflections on politics. After the October Revolution, the writer criticized the actions of the Bolsheviks and Vladimir Lenin.

“Lenin, Trotsky and those accompanying them have already been poisoned by the rotten poison of power, as evidenced by their shameful attitude towards freedom of speech and personality<...>Blind fanatics and unscrupulous adventurers are rushing headlong, supposedly along the path to a “social revolution” - in fact, this is the path to anarchy, to the death of the proletariat and revolution.<...>Lenin is followed by a fairly significant - for now - part of the workers, but I believe that the reason of the working class, its consciousness of its historical tasks, will soon open the eyes of the proletariat to the unrealizability of Lenin’s promises, to the full depth of his madness.”
Maxim Gorky, “Towards Democracy”

In July 1918, Gorky’s newspaper was closed for criticizing the authorities, and articles from the series “Untimely Thoughts” were not published in the USSR until perestroika. Then the writer, right in his apartment in Petrograd, created the “House of Arts” - an organization that became the prototype of the future Writers' Union. The creative studio of Nikolai Gumilev operated here, members of the literary association “Serapion Brothers” held meetings, Alexander Blok gave lectures.

In 1919, Gorky was appointed head of the evaluation commission of the People's Commissariat of Trade and Industry. He was assigned to supervise the work of antique dealers who compiled catalogs of confiscated private collections. The writer himself became interested in collecting - he began buying antique Chinese vases and Japanese figurines.

On the initiative of Gorky, in the same 1919, the publishing house “World Literature” was organized, which began to publish works of Russian and world classical literature with comments from literary scholars.

“Periods of happiness and misunderstanding”: personal life

Maxim Gorky and his wife Ekaterina Volzhina with their children - Maxim and Ekaterina. 1903. Nizhny Novgorod. Photo: a4format.ru

Maxim Gorky and actress Maria Andreeva pose for artist Ilya Repin at the Penaty estate. August 18, 1905. St. Petersburg. Photo: Karl Bulla / Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow

Maria Zakrevskaya-Budberg. Photo: fotoload.ru

When Gorky worked as a journalist at Samara Gazeta, he met Ekaterina Volzhina - she worked part-time as a correspondent for the same publication. In August 1896 they got married. Volzhina was the only legal wife of the writer. Gorky lived with her in marriage for seven years, they had two children - son Maxim and daughter Ekaterina. Volzhina Gorky wrote: “I love you not only as a man, a husband, I love you as a friend, maybe more as a friend”.

In 1902, during a rehearsal of Gorky’s play “At the Depths,” the writer met actress Maria Andreeva, the wife of official Andrei Zhelyabuzhsky. They lived together for more than 15 years and maintained a relationship until Gorky's death. Andreeva wrote: “There were periods, and very long ones, of enormous happiness, intimacy, complete merging - but they were replaced by equally stormy periods of misunderstanding, bitterness and resentment.”.

In 1920, Gorky met with his former maid of honor, Baroness Maria Zakrevskaya-Budberg. She became the writer’s last muse; he dedicated the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” to her. Budberg translated Gorky's works into English and edited his manuscripts. They separated several years before the writer's death, in 1933. After this, Budberg went to London, where she lived with Herbert Wells. In the Soviet Union, it was forbidden to write about her relationship with Gorky: she was a spy and employee of the NKVD.

Emigrant and head of the USSR Writers' Union

Maxim Gorky at the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers. August 17 - September 1, 1934. Moscow. Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow

Maxim Gorky among the pioneers. 1930s. Multimedia art museum, Moscow

Meeting Maxim Gorky at the station. 1928. Mozhaisk, Moscow region. Multimedia art museum, Moscow

In 1921, Maxim Gorky left for Germany. The official reason in the Soviet press was the writer's deteriorating health, but in fact he left the country due to disagreements with the ruling party. However, all of Gorky’s expenses abroad were paid by the RCP(b). The writer’s relationship with Vladimir Lenin improved, they began to correspond again. Gorky informed Lenin about his treatment: “I’m being treated. I lie in the air for two hours a day, in any weather - here our brother is not spoiled: rain - lie down! snow - also lie down! and we lie humbly".

In Berlin, Gorky founded the magazine Beseda, in which he published Russian emigrant writers. The publication was published rarely, and soon closed. Literary critic Henri Troyat wrote: “There were too many differences of opinion between those who left Russia to escape the dictatorship of the proletariat and those who chose to remain in the country.”. The writer was criticized in the émigré press for his connections with the Soviet government. In response, he published an article in the Manchester Guardian newspaper, where he said that he supported the Bolsheviks and regretted the critical articles written in 1917–1918. Many of the writer’s friends, including Ivan Bunin, stopped communicating with him. Gorky wrote: “I watch with amazement, almost horror, how disgustingly people who only yesterday were “cultured” are decomposing.”.

In 1924, Gorky left for Italy and settled in the city of Sorrento. By this year, he finished the autobiographical story “My Universities” about his life in Kazan, the novel “The Artamonov Case”, and then began creating the epic “The Life of Klim Samgin”. Gorky wrote to journalist Konstantin Fedin about this work: “It will be a cumbersome thing and, it seems, not a novel, but a chronicle of the 1880s - 1918”. He worked on the book until the end of his life.

In 1928, Gorky celebrated his sixtieth birthday. At the invitation of Joseph Stalin, in May of the same year he came to the USSR and traveled around the country, during which he met fans and attended literary meetings. In 1929, the writer visited his homeland again. This time he visited the Solovki camp, talked with its prisoners, and gave a speech at the International Congress of Atheists. Over the next few years, Gorky visited the USSR several more times, but finally returned there only in 1933. Many writers did not accept his decision.

“We said to each other: he [Maxim Gorky - Approx. ed] is about to explode. But all the employees of “New Life” disappeared into the prison dungeons, and he did not say a word. Literature died, and he did not say a word. I somehow accidentally saw him on the street. Alone in the back seat of a huge Lincoln, he seemed to me separated from the street, separated from Moscow life and turned into an algebraic symbol of himself.<...>An ascetic, emaciated creature, living only with the desire to exist and think. Maybe, I thought, this is the beginning of his senile desiccation and stiffness?
Writer Victor Serge (based on the book “Maxim Gorky” by Henri Troyat)

In Moscow, Gorky was given a gala reception. For living, he and his family were given the former mansion of millionaire Sergei Ryabushinsky in the center of Moscow, a dacha in the village of Gorki in the Moscow region, and a house in Crimea. During his lifetime, a street in Moscow and his hometown, Nizhny Novgorod, were named after the writer.

On Gorky’s initiative, in the early 1930s, the magazines “Literary Studies” and “Our Achievements” were created, the book series “The Life of Remarkable People” and “The Poet’s Library” were published, and the Literary Institute was opened. In August 1934, the First Congress of Soviet Writers took place in Moscow, at which the charter of a new body, the Union of Writers of the USSR, was adopted. Gorky became its first leader. At this time, he almost never left his dacha in Gorki. Foreign writers and poets also came there: Romain Rolland, Herbert Wells and others.

Construction of the White Sea Canal. 1933. Photo: Alexey Rodchenko / bessmertnybarak.ru

1. Maxim Gorky was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times, but was never awarded it. The last time he was nominated for an award was in 1933. Then the list of nominees included three Russian writers: Gorky, Merezhkovsky and Bunin. Reward for "the rigorous mastery with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose" handed to Bunin. For him, like Gorky, this was his fifth nomination.

2. Gorky communicated with Leo Tolstoy. The writers first met in January 1900 in Moscow at Tolstoy’s house and soon began corresponding. Tolstoy closely followed Gorky's work. He wrote: “He [Gorky] will always have a great merit. He showed us a living soul in a tramp.<...>It’s just a pity that he makes up a lot... I’m talking about psychological invention.”.

3. Gorky visited Solovki and the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, where prisoners worked. The writer named the Soviet camps “an unprecedented, fantastically successful experience in the re-education of socially dangerous people”, and in the 1930s he edited the collection “The White Sea-Baltic Canal named after Stalin: History of Construction, 1931–1934.”

Maxim Gorky is a famous Russian writer who was able to overcome many difficulties in his life, rise from the very bottom - his biography is replete with tragic events.

This man was rightly called a genius, because it was he who created the magnificent work “At the Depths”, touching the soul and full of topical problems, and became the founder of a new direction in literature - socialist realism.

Russian writer A. M. Gorky

We all know Maxim Gorky as a great revolutionary writer, many recognize his portrait among others, study his biography, important facts from life: real name and surname, place of birth, the title of his first work, reasons for emigrating from the country.

However, few people thought about the very value of the life of this brilliant writer; few people know that literally every day of Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov passed in a fierce struggle with himself, with power, with life’s adversities.

Brief biography of Maxim Gorky

A. M. Peshkov was born on March 28, 1868. A native of the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Alyosha chose the pseudonym for himself as a reminder of his father, Maxim Savvanteevich.

Father and mother

At the age of three, Alexei became seriously ill with cholera. The boy's father, who dearly loved his son, cared for him for a long time. He was able to cure Alyosha, but became infected from him and soon died.

A happy family broke up. The mother, Varvara Vasilievna Peshkova, subconsciously blaming her son for the death of her husband, could not forgive her child and moved away from him. She died of a dangerous disease - consumption, when Alexei was 11 years old.

Childhood

The boy was orphaned early, and his grandfather Kashirin was forced to raise him. He, being a cruel, merciless man, often beat his grandson, which is why in his adult life Alexey Peshkov stopped experiencing physical pain. But this did not stop him from deeply empathizing with other people and suffering from other people's pain.

Alyosha also had good memories from childhood associated with his grandmother Akulina Ivanovna. She told him fairy tales or stories from her life, sang sonorous songs. The grandmother took care of the boy, taught him to overcome life's obstacles and cope with difficulties.

Education

The future great writer did not have a decent education. Peshkov began studying at a parish school, but illness disrupted his plans for studying. Later he entered the school, but became famous there as a difficult teenager, a student with a complex character.

Alexey began stealing food and picking up discarded clothes. Other students noted that he often gave off an unpleasant odor, which became the reason for bullying and ridicule. Because of this, Alyosha Peshkov dropped out of school, went on a trip around the country, learned a lot of new things, and saw how hard the life of ordinary people was. Traveling gave Alexey a lot of experience and knowledge.

Youth years

When Alyosha turns 19, his grandparents die. While in Kazan and unsuccessfully trying to enter the university, he becomes depressed and attempts suicide. The young man shoots himself in the chest, but the bullet misses his heart and lodges in his lung.

Doctors had to save the writer twice because, while in the hospital, he wanted to try to commit suicide again by drinking poison.

Creative path

Maxim Gorky began his creative career by working in a provincial newspaper. With the great help of V.G. Korolenko, the writer was able to prove himself in the world of literature.

It was the very first work, “Essays and Stories,” that brought Gorky fame as a writer, something that no famous Russian writer had ever achieved during his lifetime.

In his works, the writer often spoke about the revolutionary democratic movement and criticized the existing government. Due to controversial statements about Lenin and support for revolutionary sentiment, Gorky was detained by the police more than once.

In 1892, the first story “Makar Chudra” was published under the pseudonym Maxim Gorky. The writer's stunning success begins with him.

Emigration

In the next period of his work, Maxim Gorky worked closely with revolutionary organizations, which is reflected in his revolutionary novel “Mother”. In 1905, under threat of arrest, the writer was forced to leave his native country and go to the USA. At the end of the year he goes to Italy to the island of Capri.

The writer was received with great joy abroad; he was invited to various receptions and evenings. Mark Twain personally took care of the worthy reception of Maxim Gorky in America.

After an unsuccessful attempt to return to his homeland, Maxim Gorky went abroad in 1921 to improve his health. He travels around Germany, then returns to Capri. Continuing to be interested in events in revolutionary Russia, the writer is skeptical about the revolution in his native country.

During this period of his life, Gorky wrote the novel “The Artamonov Case.”

Return to homeland

Finally, the great writer, responding to the invitation of the authorities, returned to Russia in 1928. Gorky is received with open arms, and after an exemplary five-week trip around the country, he is given a mansion and two dachas.

Gorky is working on the creation of “The Life of Klim Samgin”, and also becomes the editor of the newspaper “The Life of Wonderful People”.

Last years of life and death

Another tragedy that befell Gorky was the death of his son Maxim, which greatly crippled the writer. While visiting his grave, where Gorky lay for a long time on the damp ground and could not believe his son’s death, the writer caught a cold and became seriously ill.

He died on June 18, 1936. There are many versions of his death; contemporaries claim that the writer could have been poisoned. The body of the great genius was cremated, and his brain was removed for further study.

Interesting facts from the biography of M. Gorky

Something that might be interesting to know:

Despite the fact that Gorky was a comprehensively developed, intelligent and erudite person, at the age of thirty he continued to write with errors, which were carefully corrected by his beloved wife Ekaterina Volzhina.
The fact that Maxim Gorky was a unique person is also evidenced by his ability to drink a lot and often, but never get drunk.
The writer’s personal life was unsuccessful: he had two wives and many mistresses.
The writer was interested in okimono and collected Japanese bone figurines.
During his lifetime, Maxim Gorky could have received the Nobel Prize five times, but was deprived of this award due to great efforts by the authorities.

Famous works of Maxim Gorky

The writer wrote many novels, stories and plays:

"Makar Chudra";
“Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities”;
“Old Woman Izergil”;
"At the bottom";
“The Artamonov Case”;
novel "Mother";
stories “The Life of an Useless Person”, “The Town of Okurov”, “The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin”.

Conclusion

Maxim Gorky, whose real name is Alexey Peshkov, is an iconic figure of Russian culture. Years of the writer’s life: 1868-1936. Not only did he produce many excellent works, but he was the editor of many literary magazines. The name of this brilliant writer will not fade for centuries; his stories, novels, and plays will be reread by our descendants.

Maxim Gorky - writer, playwright, prose writer. He stood at the origins of the creation of the Union of Writers of the USSR and was its first chairman.

When asked a question about the work of Alexei Peshkov, he confuses many. Not everyone knows that this is the real name of the writer Maxim Gorky. He was not just a writer, but was also distinguished by his active social activities. At first skeptical about the revolution, he later became its singer. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize five times, and his works were published in large numbers during his lifetime. Gorky was put on a par with Pushkin and Tolstoy; his works were written in accessible language, understandable to everyone.

Childhood and youth

Alexey Peshkov was born on March 28, 1868 in the small town of Kanavino, Nizhny Novgorod province. The boy’s father, Maxim Peshkov, worked as a carpenter, then held the position of manager in a shipping office. He died of cholera, which he contracted from his son. Alexei was 4 when he fell ill, his father nursed him, fell ill himself and soon died. Alyosha hardly remembered his dad, but from the stories of his relatives he knew a lot about him and honored his memory. When he took a pseudonym, he called himself Maxim in honor of his father.

Alyosha’s mother’s name was Varvara Kashirina, she came from a philistine background. After the death of her husband, she married again, but soon died of consumption. His paternal grandfather, Savvaty Peshkov, had the rank of officer, but for cruel treatment of soldiers he was demoted and sent to Siberia. He was such a tough person that even his son Maxim ran away from home five times, and at 17 he left his native walls forever.

After the death of his parents, Alyosha was left an orphan, and his childhood was spent with his maternal grandparents. From the age of 11, he was already comprehending his life's universities. His work history began as a store messenger, then he got a job on a ship as a bartender, then served as an assistant to a baker and icon painter. He later colorfully described these years in his works “Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities”.

Alexey Peshkov tried to enter Kazan University, but nothing came of this idea. Then he was arrested for participating in a Marxist circle. For a short time, Peshkov worked on the railway as a watchman. When he turned 23, he went on a walking journey across Russia, and he managed to walk as far as the Caucasus. Throughout the entire journey, the future writer tries to write down everything that he sees around him, as well as his thoughts and feelings, which will then be reflected in his work. He begins to write a little and his stories are published.

Emigration

When the name of Maxim Gorky was already quite famous in the country, he emigrated to the USA, and then from there to Italy. This decision was not caused by a problem with the current government, as can often be read in historical treatises, but only because of changes in his personal life. He continues to work abroad and many of his revolutionary books are published there. In 1913, Maxim Gorky returned to his homeland. He stopped in St. Petersburg and continued to work, and collaborated with various publishing houses.

Peshkov always adhered to Marxist views, but when the October Revolution broke out, he did not immediately accept it. After the end of the Civil War, Gorky again left for the border, but in 1932 he returned to his homeland, this time for good.

Writer

1892 marked the beginning of the writer’s creative biography. It was at this time that he published his story “Makar Chudra”. However, fame came to him a little later, with the release of the two-volume book “Essays and Stories.” This book was published in a large circulation, which was three times larger than other publications of that time. The most significant stories at that time were “Former People”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Chelkash” and the poem “Song of the Falcon”. The following poem by Maxim Gorky is included in all anthologies. Gorky did not remain aloof from children's literature. He writes fairy tales - “Samovar”, “Sparrow”, “Tales of Italy”, publishes the first magazine for children in the USSR and organizes holidays for poor children.

An important milestone in Gorky’s work were his plays “The Bourgeois”, “At the Lower Depths”, “Yegor Bulychov and Others”, in which he reveals himself as a talented playwright and demonstrates his vision of the reality around him. A special place in Russian classical literature is occupied by his stories “In People” and “Childhood”, novels “The Artamonov Case” and “Mother”. The last creation of the great writer was the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin,” which is sometimes called by its second title, “Forty Years.” It took eleven years of Gorky’s life to write it, but, unfortunately, this work remained unfinished.

Personal life

The first and only official wife of Maxim Gorky was named Ekaterina Volzhina. The writer got married when he was quite old - at 28. The future spouses met at the publishing house of the newspaper Samara Gazeta, where Katya worked as a proofreader. They got married and a year later became the parents of a son, Maxim, and then a daughter, Ekaterina, who was named after her mother. Gorky also raised his godson Zinovy Sverdlov, who later changed his last name to Peshkov.

However, the first love for his wife quickly passed, and family life began to weigh heavily on the freedom-loving petrel of the revolution. The couple continued to live together, but only thanks to their children. When their baby daughter died, this was the reason for divorce. However, the spouses managed to remain on good terms; they were friends and corresponded until the writer’s death.

After leaving the family, the Moscow Art Theater actress Maria Andreeva appears in Gorky’s life, whom he met thanks to the writer. They lived in a civil marriage for sixteen years. It was she who caused the emigration immediately to the States, then to Italy. Maria had two children of her own - Ekaterina and Andrei, for whom Gorky tried to replace their father. After the October Revolution, Maria plunged headlong into party work, her family faded into the background, and in 1919 the couple separated.

The initiator of the breakup was Maxim Gorky; he announced to his wife that he had another woman. Her name was Maria Budberg, she was a former baroness and worked as Maxim’s secretary. Family life with Budberg lasted thirteen years. This marriage was also civil. The age difference between the spouses was 24 years, and it was no secret that she had a romantic relationship on the side. Among her lovers was the famous science fiction writer from England Herbert Wells. It was to him that Maria went shortly after the death of Maxim Gorky. It is highly likely that the adventurer Budberg was a secret employee of the NKVD, and could well have been recruited as a double agent, for example, by British intelligence.

Death

After Gorky finally returned home in 1932, he collaborated simultaneously with several newspapers and magazines, publishing the books “The Poet’s Library”, “History of Factories and Plants”, “History of the Civil War”. During these years, he acted as the organizer and ideological inspirer of the creation of the Writers' Union. During this period, his beloved son Maxim suddenly dies from pneumonia. This death greatly crippled Gorky, he seemed to go out. The writer often visited his son’s cemetery, and after one of these visits he felt severely unwell. He had a fever for three weeks until Gorky died on June 18, 1936. His body was cremated, and the urn with his ashes was placed in the Kremlin wall. But even before cremation, the writer’s brain was removed and studied at one of the research institutes.

Over the years, the question about the cause of death of Gorky and his son began to be asked quite often. There was too much unusual in the sudden development of the disease and death. There was an assumption that they were poisoned and that Genrikh Yagoda, the People's Commissar and part-time lover of Maria Budberg, was directly related to this. They suspected that Leon Trotsky and even Stalin were involved in the death of the writer. When the high-profile “doctors’ case” appeared in the USSR, three doctors were accused of the death of the writer Gorky.

Creation

Novels

1900-1901 - “Three”
1906 - “Mother”
1925 - “The Artamonov Case”
1925-1936- “The Life of Klim Samgin”

Stories

1894 - “Poor Pavel”
1899 - “Foma Gordeev”
1900 - “Man. Essays"
1908 - “The Life of an Useless Man.”
1908 - “Confession”
1909 - “Summer”
1909 - “Okurov Town”
1913-1914 - “Childhood”
1915-1916 - “In People”
1923 - “My Universities”
1929 - “At the End of the Earth”

Stories

1892 - “Makar Chudra”
1893 - “Emelyan Pilyai”
1894 - “My Companion”
1895 - “Chelkash”
1895 - “Old Woman Izergil”
1895 - "Error"
1895 - “Song of the Falcon”
1897 - “Former People”
1898 - “Varenka Olesova”
1898 - “Rogue”
1899 - “Twenty-six and one”
1906 - “Comrade!”
1908 - “Soldiers”
1911 - “Tales of Italy”

Plays

1901 - “The Bourgeois”
1902 - “At the Bottom”
1904 - “Summer Residents”
1905 - “Children of the Sun”
1905 - “Barbarians”
1906 - “Enemies”
1908 - “The Last”
1910 - "Jackass"
1913 - “Zykovs”
1913 - “False Coin”
1915 - “Old Man”
1930 - “Somov and others”
1931 - “Egor Bulychov and others”
1932 - “Dostigaev and others”

Links

The relevance and reliability of information is important to us. If you find an error or inaccuracy, please let us know. Highlight the error and press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Enter .

The name of Maxim Gorky is probably familiar to any Russian person. Cities and streets were named after this writer in Soviet times. The outstanding revolutionary prose writer came from the common people, was self-taught, but the talent he possessed made him world famous. Such nuggets appear once every hundred years. The life story of this man is very instructive, since it clearly shows what a person from the bottom can achieve without any outside support.

Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov (this was the real name of Maxim Gorky) was born in Nizhny Novgorod. This city was renamed in his honor, and only in the 90s of the last century it was given back its original name.

The biography of the future writer began on March 28, 1868. The most important thing that he remembered from childhood, Alexey Maksimovich described in his work “Childhood”. Alyosha's father, whom he barely remembered, worked as a carpenter.

He died of cholera when the boy was very young. Alyosha's mother was pregnant at the time; she gave birth to another son, who died in infancy.

The Peshkov family lived at that time in Astrakhan, because his father had to work in the last years of his life in a shipping company. However, literary scholars are debating who Maxim Gorky’s father was.

Having taken two children, the mother decided to return to her homeland, to Nizhny Novgorod. There her father, Vasily Kashirin, ran a dyeing workshop. Alexey spent his childhood in his house (now there is a museum there). Alyosha's grandfather was a rather domineering man, had a stern character, and often punished the boy for trifles, using rods. One day Alyosha was whipped so severely that he was confined to bed for a long time. After this, the grandfather repented and asked the boy for forgiveness, treating him with candy.

The autobiography described in the story “Childhood” says that the grandfather’s house was always full of people. Numerous relatives lived in it, everyone was busy with business.

Important! Little Alyosha also had his own obedience; the boy helped dye fabrics. But my grandfather severely punished me for poorly done work.

Alexei’s mother taught him to read, then his grandfather taught his grandson the Church Slavonic language. Despite his stern character, Kashirin was a very religious person and often went to church. He forced Alyosha to go to church almost by force, but the child did not like this activity. He carried the atheistic views that Alyosha showed in childhood throughout his entire life. Therefore, his work was revolutionary; the writer Maxim Gorky in his works often said that “God is made up.”

As a child, Alyosha attended a parish school, but then became seriously ill and left school. Then his mother married a second time and took her son to her new home in Kanavino. There the boy went to primary school, but his relationship with the teacher and priest did not work out.

One day, coming home, Alyosha saw a terrible picture: his stepfather was kicking his mother. Then the boy grabbed a knife to intercede. She calmed her son, who was about to kill his stepfather. After this incident, Alexey decided to return to his grandfather's house. By that time the old man was completely broke. Alexey attended a school for poor children for some time, but was kicked out because the young man was unkempt and smelled bad. Alyosha spent most of his time on the street, stealing to feed himself, and finding clothes for himself in a landfill. Therefore, the teenager got involved with a bad company, where he received the nickname “Bashlyk”.

Alexey Peshkov did not study anywhere else, never receiving a secondary education. Despite this, he had a strong desire for self-education, independently reading and briefly memorizing the works of many philosophers, such as:

Nietzsche;
Hartmann;
Selly;
Karo;
Schopenhauer.

Important! All his life, Alexei Maksimovich Gorky wrote with spelling and grammatical errors, which were corrected by his wife, a proofreader by training.

First independent steps

When Alyosha was 11 years old, her mother died of consumption. The grandfather, having become completely impoverished, was forced to let his grandson go in peace. The old man could not feed the young man and told him to go “to the people.” Alexey found himself alone in this big world. The young man decided to go to Kazan to enter university, but was refused.

Firstly, because that year the enrollment of applicants from the lower strata of society was limited, and secondly, because Alexey did not have a document on secondary education.

Then the young man went to work at the pier. It was then that a meeting took place in Gorky’s life that influenced his further worldview and creativity. He met a revolutionary group, which briefly explained the essence of this progressive teaching. Alexei began attending revolutionary meetings and was engaged in propaganda. Then the young man got a job in a bakery, the owner of which sent income to support revolutionary development in the city.

Alexey has always been a mentally unstable person. Upon learning of the death of his beloved grandmother, the young man fell into a severe depression. One day, near the monastery, Alexey tried to commit suicide by shooting his lung with a gun. A watchman who witnessed this called the police. The young man was rushed to the hospital and managed to save his life. However, in the hospital, Alexey made a second suicide attempt by swallowing poison from a medical vessel. The young man was saved again by washing his stomach. The psychiatrist diagnosed Alexey with many mental disorders.

Wanderings

Further, the life of the writer Maxim Gorky was no less difficult; in short, we can say that he suffered from various misfortunes. At the age of 20, Alexei was first imprisoned for revolutionary activities. After this, the police conducted constant surveillance of the troubled citizen. Then M. Gorky went to the Caspian Sea, where he worked as a fisherman.

Then he went to Borisoglebsk, where he became a weigher. There he first fell in love with a girl, the boss’s daughter, and even asked for her hand in marriage. Having been refused, Alexey, however, remembered his first love all his life. Gorky tried to organize a Tolstoy movement among the peasants, for this he even went to meet Tolstoy himself, but the writer’s wife did not allow the poor young man to see the living classic.

In the early 90s, Alexey met the writer Korolenko in Nizhny Novgorod. By that time, Peshkov was already writing his first works, one of which he showed to a famous writer. It is interesting that Korolenko criticized the work of the aspiring writer, but this could not in any way affect his strong desire to write.

Peshkov was then imprisoned again for revolutionary activities. After leaving prison, he decided to travel around Rus', visiting different cities, the Crimea, the Caucasus, and Ukraine. In Tiflis I met a revolutionary who advised me to write down all my adventures. This is how the story “Makar Chudra” appeared, which was published in 1892 in the newspaper “Caucasus”.

Gorky's work

Creativity flourishes

It was then that the writer took the pseudonym Maxim Gorky, hiding his real name. Then several more stories appeared in Nizhny Novgorod newspapers. By that time, Alexey decided to settle in his homeland. All the interesting facts from Gorky’s life were used as the basis for his works. He wrote down the most important things that happened to him, and the results were interesting and truthful stories.

Korolenko again became the mentor of the aspiring writer. Gradually, Maxim Gorky gained popularity among readers. The talented and original author was talked about in literary circles. The writer met Tolstoy and.

In a short period of time, Gorky wrote the most talented works:

“Old Woman Izergil” (1895);
"Essays and Stories" (1898);
"Three", novel (1901);
"The Bourgeois" (1901);
(1902).

Interesting! Soon Maxim Gorky was awarded the title of member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, but Emperor Nicholas II personally reversed this decision.

Useful video: Maxim Gorky - biography, life

Moving abroad

In 1906, Maxim Gorky decided to go abroad. He first settled in the United States. Then, for health reasons (he was diagnosed with tuberculosis), he moved to Italy. Here he wrote a lot in defense of the revolution. Then the writer returned to Russia for a short time, but in 1921 he went abroad again due to conflicts with the authorities and worsening illness. He returned to Russia only ten years later.

In 1936, at the age of 68, the writer Maxim Gorky ended his earthly journey. Some saw his death as the poisoning of ill-wishers, although this version was not confirmed. The writer's life was not easy, but filled with varied adventures. On sites where biographies of various writers are published, you can see a table of chronological life events.

Personal life

M. Gorky had a rather interesting appearance, which can be seen by looking at his photo. He was tall, expressive eyes, thin hands with long fingers, which he waved when talking. He enjoyed success with women, and, knowing this, he knew how to show his attractiveness in the photo.

Alexei Maksimovich had many fans, many of whom he was close to. Maxim Gorky first married in 1896 to Ekaterina Volgina. She gave birth to two children: son Maxim and daughter Katya (died at age five). In 1903, Gorky became involved with actress Ekaterina Andreeva. Without filing a divorce from their first wife, they began to live as husband and wife. He spent many years abroad with her.

In 1920, the writer met Maria Budberg, a baroness, with whom he entered into an intimate relationship; they were together until 1933. There were rumors that she worked for British intelligence.

Gorky had two adopted children: Ekaterina and Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky, the latter became a famous Soviet director and cameraman.

Useful video: interesting facts from the life of M. Gorky

Conclusion

The work of Alexei Maksimovich Gorky made an invaluable contribution to Russian and Soviet literature. It is original, original, amazing in its beauty of words and power, especially considering that the writer was illiterate and uneducated. His works are still admired by his descendants and are studied in high school. The work of this outstanding writer is also known and revered abroad.

Russian Soviet writer, playwright, publicist and public figure, founder of socialist realism.

Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov was born on March 16 (28), 1868 in the family of cabinetmaker Maxim Savvatyevich Peshkov (1839-1871). Orphaned early, the future writer spent his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather Vasily Vasilyevich Kashirin (d. 1887).

In 1877-1879, A. M. Peshkov studied at the Nizhny Novgorod Slobodsky Kunavinsky Primary School. After the death of his mother and the ruin of his grandfather, he was forced to leave his studies and go “to the people.” In 1879-1884 he was a shoemaker's apprentice, then in a drawing workshop, and then in an icon painting studio. He served on a steamship sailing along the Volga.

In 1884, A. M. Peshkov made an attempt to enter Kazan University, which ended in failure due to lack of funds. He became close to the revolutionary underground, participated in illegal populist circles, and conducted propaganda among workers and peasants. At the same time, he was engaged in self-education. In December 1887, a streak of failures in life almost led the future writer to suicide.

A. M. Peshkov spent 1888-1891 traveling around in search of work and impressions. He traveled the Volga region, Don, Ukraine, Crimea, Southern Bessarabia, the Caucasus, managed to be a farm laborer in a village and a dishwasher, worked in fishing and salt fields, as a watchman on the railway and as a worker in repair shops. Clashes with the police earned him a reputation as "unreliable." At the same time, he managed to establish his first contacts with the creative environment (in particular, with the writer V. G. Korolenko).

On September 12, 1892, the Tiflis newspaper “Caucasus” published A. M. Peshkov’s story “Makar Chudra”, signed with the pseudonym “Maxim Gorky”.

The formation of A. M. Gorky as a writer took place with the active participation of V. G. Korolenko, who recommended the new author to the publishing house and edited his manuscript. In 1893-1895, a number of the writer’s stories were published in the Volga press - “Chelkash”, “Revenge”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Emelyan Pilyai”, “Conclusion”, “Song of the Falcon”, etc.

In 1895-1896, A. M. Gorky was an employee of the Samara Newspaper, where he wrote feuilletons daily in the “By the way” section, signing the pseudonym “Yegudiel Chlamida.” In 1896 - 1897 he worked for the Nizhegorodsky Listok newspaper.

In 1898, the first collection of works by Maxim Gorky, “Essays and Stories,” was published in two volumes. It was recognized by critics as an event in Russian and European literature. In 1899, the writer began work on the novel Foma Gordeev.

A. M. Gorky quickly became one of the most popular Russian writers. He met ,. Neorealist writers began to rally around A. M. Gorky (, L. N. Andreev).

At the beginning of the twentieth century, A. M. Gorky turned to drama. In 1902, his plays “At the Lower Depths” and “The Bourgeois” were staged at the Moscow Art Theater. The performances were an exceptional success and were accompanied by anti-government protests from the public.

In 1902, A. M. Gorky was elected an honorary academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the category of fine literature, but by personal order the election results were annulled. As a sign of protest, V. G. Korolenko also renounced their titles of honorary academicians.

A. M. Gorky was arrested more than once for social and political activities. The writer took an active part in the events of the Revolution of 1905-1907. For the proclamation of January 9 (22), 1905, calling for the overthrow of the autocracy, he was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress (released under pressure from the world community). In the summer of 1905, A. M. Gorky joined the RSDLP, and in November of the same year, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP, he met. His novel “Mother” (1906) received great resonance, in which the writer depicted the process of the birth of a “new man” during the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat.

In 1906-1913 A. M. Gorky lived in exile. He spent most of his time on the Italian island of Capri. Here he wrote many works: the plays “The Last”, “Vassa Zheleznova”, the stories “Summer”, “Town of Okurov”, the novel “The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin”. In April 1907, the writer was a delegate to the V (London) Congress of the RSDLP. A. M. Gorky visited Capri.

In 1913, A. M. Gorky returned to. In 1913-1915, he wrote the autobiographical novels “Childhood” and “In People”; since 1915, the writer published the journal “Chronicle”. During these years, the writer collaborated with the Bolshevik newspapers Zvezda and Pravda, as well as with the magazine Enlightenment.

A. M. Gorky welcomed the February and October revolutions of 1917. He began working at the publishing house “World Literature” and founded the newspaper “New Life”. However, his differences in views with the new government gradually grew. The journalistic cycle of A. M. Gorky “Untimely Thoughts” (1917-1918) caused sharp criticism.

In 1921, A. M. Gorky left Sovetskaya for treatment abroad. In 1921-1924 the writer lived in Germany and Czechoslovakia. His journalistic activities during these years were aimed at uniting Russian artists abroad. In 1923 he wrote the novel “My Universities”. Since 1924, the writer lived in Sorrento (Italy). In 1925, he began work on the epic novel “The Life of Klim Samgin,” which remained unfinished.

In 1928 and 1929, A. M. Gorky visited the USSR at the invitation of the Soviet government and in person. His impressions from trips around the country were reflected in the books “Around the Union of Soviets” (1929). In 1931, the writer finally returned to his homeland and launched extensive literary and social activities. On his initiative, literary magazines and book publishing houses were created, book series were published (“The Life of Remarkable People”, “The Poet’s Library”, etc.)

In 1934, A. M. Gorky acted as the organizer and chairman of the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers. In 1934-1936 he headed the Union of Writers of the USSR.

A. M. Gorky died on June 18, 1936 at his dacha in Pod (now in). The writer is buried in the Kremlin wall behind the Mausoleum on Red Square.

In the USSR, A. M. Gorky was considered the founder of the literature of socialist realism and the ancestor of Soviet literature.