Lermontov Mikhail Yurievich(on the night of 2 to 3(15).10. 1814, Moscow (in the house of Major General F.N. Tolya opposite the Red Gate) - 15(27).07.1841, Pyatigorsk), Russian poet. On his mother's side he came from a wealthy noble family of the Stolypins. Mother Maria Mikhailovna Arsenyeva (1795-1817). The poet’s grandmother Elizaveta Alekseevna (Arsenyev’s husband) is D.A.’s sister. Stolypin, whose grandson is Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers P.A. Stolypin was the second cousin of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov.

On the paternal side, the Lermontov family originates from George Lermont (Scotland). While in the service of the Polish king, in 1613, during the siege of the Belaya fortress, Georg Lermont was captured and went over to the side of the Russians, fought with the rank of officer in the detachment of D. Pozharsky and for good service to the king received a charter in 1621 to own land in the Galichsky district of the Kostroma province. From him came the Lermontovs, already in the second generation, who converted to Orthodoxy. The poet Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov is the eighth generation from the Scottish warrior who arrived in Russia.

The poet's father is Yuri Petrovich Lermontov (1787-1831), a retired captain from the poor landowners of the Tula province. According to people who knew him closely, he was a wonderfully handsome man, with a kind and sympathetic soul, but extremely frivolous and unrestrained. His estate - Kropotovka, Efremovsky district of the Tula province - was located next to the Vasilievsky estate, which belonged to Elizaveta Alekseevna Arsenyeva, née Stolypina. The beauty and metropolitan manners of Yuri Petrovich captivated Arsenyeva’s only daughter, the nervous and romantically inclined Maria Mikhailovna. Despite the protest of her proud mother, she soon became the wife of a poor "army officer".

Mikhail's childhood years, from March 1815, were spent in the village of Tarkhany, Chembarsky district, Penza province (now the village of Lermontovo, Penza region) on the estate of his grandmother E.A. Arsenyeva.

Beautiful nature, the caring attitude of the grandmother, excellent home education, which was the standard among the nobility of that time, all contributed to the moral and spiritual development of the future poet:

“My soul, I remember from childhood, // was looking for the Miraculous...”

Lermontov's first teachers were a Greek who was more involved in furrier trade than lessons, home doctor Anselm Levis and a captured officer of the Napoleonic Guard, the Frenchman Cape. Of these, the most noticeable influence was exerted on him by Cape, who managed to instill in him deep interest and respect for the “wonderful hero” and “the man of rock.” After Capet's death, they hired the French emigrant Shandro, later described by Lermontov in Sashka under the name of the Marquis de Tess, a “semi-amusing pedant,” “an obedient slave of the provincial ladies and muses,” “the Parisian Adonis.” Shandro was soon replaced by the Englishman Windson, who introduced Lermontov to English literature, in particular to Byron, who played such a large role in his work.

In Tarkhany, since childhood, Lermontov observed pictures of peasant life and rural nature, listened to folk songs, legends about Stepan Razin, Emelyan Pugachev. The family happiness of the Lermontov family did not last long. On February 24, 1817, at the age of 21, Lermontov’s mother suddenly died, followed by a quarrel between the owner Tarkhan Elizaveta Alekseevna and Yuri Petrovich Lermontov, Mikhail’s father, and already on the ninth day after the death of his wife he was forced to leave for his small village of Kropotovo, Efremovsky district Tula province in order to preserve the son's right to inherit Tarkhan (4081 dessiatines of land and 496 peasant souls). This fact greatly overshadowed Lermontov’s childhood; from now on, his father only occasionally appeared in Arsenyeva’s house. Mikhail was torn between his father and grandmother. He later described his experiences in the drama "Menschen und Leidenschaften". All his life, Mikhail followed his father’s orders:

“...you are gifted with mental abilities - do not neglect them... this is a talent for which you will someday have to give an account to God! ...you have, my son, a kind heart - do not harden it even with the very injustice and ingratitude of people, for with hardness you yourself will fall into the vices you despise. Believe that true, unfeigned love for God and one’s neighbor is the only way to live and die in peace.”

Trips with relatives to the Caucasus (1818, 1820, 1825) left a deep imprint on Lermontov’s memory. In the summer of 1820, Lermontov and his grandmother visited E.A. in Mineralnye Vody. Khastatova, and in 1825 they visit Goryachevodsk, where Lermontov falls in love for the first time. Subsequently he writes:

“Who will believe me that I already knew love, being 10 years old? We were a large family on the waters of the Caucasus: grandmother, aunties, cousins. One lady came to my cousins ​​with her daughter, a girl of about 9. I saw her there. I I don’t remember whether she was good or not. But her image is still preserved in my head.”(Lermontov’s entry dated July 8, 1830)

In 1827, Lermontov came to Moscow, began writing poetry, and created his first poems (“Circassians”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”), marked by imitation of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. "Circassians" were written in the summer of 1828 during a trip to Tarkhany. On a copy of the poem, Lermontov will write: “In Chembar, behind the oak tree.” On September 1, 1828, Lermontov was enrolled as a half-boarder in the fourth class of the Moscow University Noble Boarding School. In December of the same year, Lermontov was successfully transferred to the fifth grade and received two prizes for his diligent attitude to his studies: a painting and a book. It was to 1828 that Lermontov himself dates the beginning of his poetic activity. Later, in 1830, he wrote:

“When I began to scribble poems in 1828, I, as if by instinct, rewrote and tidied them up; I still have them now.”

At the Noble boarding house, Lermontov compiled handwritten journals. In one of them ("Morning Dawn") Lermontov was the main employee. In "Morning Dawn" Lermontov published his first poem "Indian Woman". In 1830, the boarding house was transformed into a gymnasium and Lermontov left it.

He spends the summer in Serednikov, the estate of his grandmother’s brother, Stolypin, near Moscow. Not far from Serednikov lived his Moscow young ladies, A. Vereshchagina and her friend E.A. Sushkova, the “black-eyed” beauty with whom Lermontov fell madly in love. In Sushkova’s notes, Lermontov is depicted as a homely, clumsy, club-footed boy, with red, but intelligent, expressive eyes, an upturned nose and a sarcastic, mocking smile. While flirting with Lermontov, Sushkova at the same time mocked him mercilessly. In response to his feelings, he was offered “a shuttlecock or a rope, and was treated to buns filled with sawdust.” When they met again in a completely different situation, Lermontov took revenge on Sushkova very evilly and cruelly.

After the Boarding School, Lermontov entered Moscow University in the moral and political department (1830 - 1832), where he studied together with V.G. Belinsky, A.I. Herzen, N.P. Ogarev, who even then influenced the general ideological level of students. While studying at the university, Lermontov became interested in N.F. Ivanova and V.A. Bakhmetyeva, but he was disappointed. At this time, Lermontov wrote lyrical poems, poems, dramas, including the drama “Strange Man” (1831), which condemned the government and serfdom. After clashes with the professors, who were irritated by Lermontov’s impudent behavior, the poet failed his exams. Lermontov did not want to stay for a second year and left the university and moved to St. Petersburg with his grandmother. In St. Petersburg, he tried to enter the university, but he was not credited for his two-year studies at Moscow University and was offered to enroll as a first-year student. On the advice of his friend Stolypin, Lermontov entered the school of guards ensigns and cavalry cadets, where he spent “two terrible years” (November 10, 1832 - November 22, 1834), filled with military drill, first with the rank of non-commissioned officer and then cadet. Almost at the same time, his future killer N.S. entered the same school. Martynov, who described Lermontov in his notes as a highly educated and well-read person, whose views were far ahead of his peers. In fits and starts, Lermontov worked here on the novel “Vadim,” depicting episodes of the Pugachev uprising. In 1834, Lermontov graduated from school with the rank of cornet, served in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, stationed in Tsarskoe Selo near St. Petersburg, but spent a lot of time in St. Petersburg.

At this time, Lermontov becomes the soul of the company of local youth, leading the conversation, driving women crazy. It was at this time that his long-standing romance with E.A. came to an end. Sushkova. He pretends to be in love, achieves reciprocity and leaves her. At the end of 1835, Lermontov heard rumors that Varvara Lopukhina, whom he had long loved and never stopped loving until the end of his life, was marrying N.I. Bakhmetyeva. Shan-Girey tells how Lermontov was struck by the news of her marriage. The first appearance of Lermontov in print dates back to 1835. Until then, Lermontov was known as a poet only in officer and secular circles. One of his comrades, without his knowledge, took the story “Hadji Abrek” from him and gave it to the “Library for Reading”. Lermontov was very dissatisfied with this. The story was a success, but Lermontov did not want to publish his poems for a long time. Critical observations of this time on the life of aristocratic society formed the basis of the drama “Masquerade” (1835), which Mikhail Lermontov remade several times, but never received censorship permission to stage.

Lermontov's creativity is usually divided into two stages: early (1829 - 1836) and mature (1837 - 1841). A sharp turning point in Lermontov’s work and fate was determined by the poem “The Death of a Poet” (1837) - an angry response to the death of A.S. Pushkin in January 1837. Poems condemning not only the murderer, but also the court nobility - the culprit of the tragedy - were distributed throughout Russia. Lermontov was ill when news of Pushkin's death became known. Various rumors reached him; some, “especially ladies, justified Pushkin’s opponent,” finding that “Pushkin had no right to demand love from his wife, because he was jealous and bad-looking.” Indignation gripped the poet, and he poured it out on paper. At first the poem ended with the words: “And there is a seal on his lips.” In this form, it quickly spread through the lists, caused a storm of admiration, and aroused indignation in high society. When Stolypin began to condemn Pushkin in front of Lermontov, proving that Dantes could not have acted differently, Lermontov immediately interrupted the conversation and, in a fit of anger, wrote a passionate challenge to the “arrogant descendants” (the last 16 verses). The poem was understood as an "appeal to revolution"; the matter began. In March 1837, by order of the Tsar himself, Lermontov was arrested for distributing the last 16 lines of the poem “The Death of a Poet” and then transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment, located in Georgia. During his exile, Lermontov met with the disgraced Decembrists; met the Georgian intelligentsia, took a keen interest in the folklore of the mountain peoples, their way of life, traditions and language. Caucasian themes took a strong place in the work of Lermontov, a writer and artist (Lermontov drew well). On October 11, 1837, after the troubles of grandmother E.A. Arsenyeva and V.A. Zhukovsky Lermontov was transferred to the Grodno Hussar Regiment, stationed near Novgorod, but on the way to his place of new service, the poet stayed in the capital; On April 9, 1838, Lermontov was returned to the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. From 1838 to 1840, Lermontov was in St. Petersburg - this was the time of the poetic flowering of his talent, the poet restored social connections, visited the literary salons of the Karamzin family, V. Odoevsky, and attended balls and receptions of the aristocracy (the Valuevs, Repnins, Smirnov-Rosset). High society becomes “more than unbearable” for him, because “nowhere is there so much low and ridiculous as there” (from a letter to M. A. Lopukhina, 1838).

From the second half of the 30s, Lermontov's work became more diverse in content, richer in genre and stylistic terms. Lermontov's poems began to be published. The historical poem “Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich...” (published in 1838 without indicating the author’s name, which was not passed by censorship) was a great success. Lermontov became close to the editors of the journal Otechestvennye zapiski, met the critic V.G. Belinsky. While working on new romantic poems, Lermontov simultaneously wrote poetic stories from modern life (“Sashka”, “Tambov Treasurer”), in which the depiction of everyday life and morals takes on a satirical character. Lermontov’s poetic world includes big questions of our time, thoughts about the fate of a generation (“Duma”, 1838), about the tragic loneliness of a freedom-loving person, about the moral state of society. In the poem “The Poet” (1838), Lermontov proclaims the high ideals of civic poetry, which should ignite the “fighter for battle.” The growth of realistic elements is also associated with the establishment of a folk theme in Lermontov’s work, an appeal to oral epic poetry, and the reconstruction of Russian folk character (“Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich...”, “Borodino”, 1837, “Testament”, 1840, “Motherland” , 1841). The triumph of Lermontov’s realism was the novel “A Hero of Our Time” (1840), rich in deep social and psychological content. An artistic discovery of lasting significance was the image of the main character of the novel, Pechorin, who is shown against the broad background of the life of Russian society. By means of realistic writing, Lermontov reveals in his hero the tragic contradiction between the depth of his nature and the futility of his actions. Lermontov’s ideological and creative maturity was reflected in the artistic innovation of the novel, in the perfection of its composition, in the subtle, psychologically motivated revelation of the characters and mental life of the characters, in the language, incomparable in its accuracy and purity, which was admired by N.V. Gogol, L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov.

Lermontov’s work was nourished by the traditions of the romantic lyrics of the Decembrists; the rebellious poetry of D.G. was close to him. Byron . The features of romantic art corresponded to the individual make-up of Lermontov the poet, helped him express freedom-loving and rebellious ideals, and establish the idea of ​​personal freedom. Lermontov's romanticism, far from any contemplation, is filled with a tragically heightened feeling and intense thought; at the same time, it includes elements of a realistic vision of the world, which gradually occupied an increasing place in Lermontov’s poetry. Thus, the romantic poem “Mtsyri” (1839) is based on a real plot from the Caucasian life of that time and a topical ideological collision: a free highlander was captured by the tsar’s general and imprisoned in a monastery; his indomitable thirst for freedom becomes a vivid expression of protest against any oppression and suppression of the individual. The creative history of the poem “The Demon,” on which Lermontov worked from 1829 almost until the end of his life, is indicative: the conventionally romantic setting gradually gave way in it to vitally concrete descriptions; with each new version, the author’s main goal became more and more clear - to create in the image of the Demon a grandiose allegorical embodiment of the individual’s rebellion against the injustice of the “world order”. This is exactly how advanced contemporaries perceived the philosophical meaning of “The Demon,” which was the pinnacle of Russian romantic poetry. At the same time, in the latest editions of the poem, the futility of egocentric “demonism” is increasingly revealed, and the motives for spiritual rebirth are strengthened - through the love of a soul “open to good.”

On New Year's Day 1840, M.Yu. Lermontov was at a masquerade ball in the Noble Assembly. Turgenev, who was present there, observed how the poet “was not given rest, they constantly pestered him, took him by the hands; one mask was replaced by another, and he almost did not move from his place and silently listened to their squeak, alternately turning his gloomy eyes on them. I then “It seemed,” says Turgenev, “that I caught on his face the beautiful expression of poetic creativity.” As you know, this masquerade was inspired by his poem “The First of January,” full of bitterness and melancholy.

In February 1840, at a ball at the Countess de Laval, a duel took place with E. de Barant, the son of the French ambassador, for which Lermontov was court-martialed and again sent to the Caucasus to the Tengin infantry regiment (by order of April 9). As a participant in the difficult battle of the Valerik River in Chechnya, he was twice nominated for awards (one of them was a golden saber with the inscription “For bravery”), but the tsar, not wanting to ease the poet’s fate, rejected these submissions. In February 1841, Lermontov was allowed a short vacation to the capital to meet with his grandmother E.A. Arsenyeva, but soon, full of gloomy forebodings, he was forced to go back to the regiment. In the last months of his life, Lermontov created his best poems - “Motherland”, “Cliff”, “Dispute”, “Leaf”, “No, it’s not you I love so passionately...”. The poet's last work is “The Prophet”. On the way to the regiment M.Yu. Lermontov stayed for treatment in Pyatigorsk. A large company of cheerful young people lived here - all old acquaintances of Lermontov. “The public,” recalls Prince A.I. Vasilchikov, “lived amicably, cheerfully and somewhat riotously... Time passed in noisy picnics, cavalcades, parties with music and dancing. Emilia Aleksandrovna Verzilina, nicknamed the “Rose of the Caucasus,” enjoyed particular success among young people. In this company was also the retired Major Martynov, who loved to be original, to show off, to attract attention. Lermontov often angrily and caustically made fun of him for his “feigned Byronism”, for his “terrible” poses. A fatal quarrel occurred between them, which ended in an “eternally sad” duel. The poet fell victim to his duality. Gentle, responsive to a small circle of select people, he always behaved arrogantly and perkily towards all other acquaintances. The narrow-minded Martynov belonged to the latter and did not understand “in this bloody moment what he was raising his hand to.” Regarding this tragic death, V. G. Belinsky wrote: “... A new, great loss has orphaned poor Russian literature”(“Notes of the Fatherland”, 1841, No. 9, department 6, p. 2).

Lermontov's funeral, despite all the efforts of his friends, could not be performed according to church rites. The official announcement of his death read: “On June 15, at about 5 o’clock in the evening, a terrible storm broke out with thunder and lightning; at this very time, between the mountains Mashuk and Beshtau, M.Yu. Lermontov, who was being treated in Pyatigorsk, died.” According to Prince Vasilchikov, in St. Petersburg, in high society, the poet’s death was greeted with the words: “that’s where he belongs.”

Mikhail Lermontov was buried in the city cemetery in Pyatigorsk on July 17 (29), 1841. Later, the coffin with the body of M.Yu. Lermontov was transported to the village of Tarkhany and on April 23 (5.5).1842 was buried in the Arsenyev family crypt. In 1899, a monument to Lermontov was opened in Pyatigorsk, erected by all-Russian subscription.

Lermontov appeared in Russian literature as the heir and successor of A.S. Pushkin, in an era when noble revolutionism (after the defeat of the Decembrist movement in 1825) was looking for new ways of development. Already L.’s youthful poetry was imbued with a passionate dream of freedom and contained calls to action (the poems “The Turk’s Complaints”, “Monologue”). The weakening of the social movement colored his work in pessimistic tones, but at the same time the poet’s sharply critical view of modernity began to take shape; already in his early poems his longing for the ideal found expression. Developing many of Pushkin’s artistic principles, Lermontov expressed a new stage in the development of Russian social consciousness, and this determined the deep originality of his poetry, subtly noted by V.G. Belinsky: “Nowhere is there Pushkin’s revelry at the feast of life; but everywhere questions that darken the soul, chill the heart... Yes, it is obvious that Lermontov is a poet of a completely different era and that his poetry is a completely new link in the chain of historical development of our society.”(Complete Works, Volume 4, 1954, p. 503).

Civil, philosophical and subjective, deeply personal motives are closely intertwined in Lermontov’s work. He introduced “iron verse” into Russian poetry, marked by previously unprecedented energy in the expression of thought. Responding to the urgent needs of the spiritual life of Russian society and the liberation movement, Lermontov's poetry and prose prepared a new flowering of Russian literature. Lermontov's influence can be traced in the works of N.A. Nekrasova, I.S. Turgeneva, L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, A.A. Blok, V.V. Mayakovsky). His dramaturgy played a significant role in the development of theatrical art. Lermontov's legacy has found a varied interpretation in painting, theater, and cinema. His poems enriched Russian music, serving as the basis for opera ("Demon" by A.G. Rubinstein), symphony ("Cliff" by S.V. Rachmaninov, "Three Palms" by A.A. Spendiarov) and romance (A.S. Dargomyzhsky , M.A. Balakirev) creativity, became folk songs (“I go out alone on the road..”).

A separate science - Lermontov studies - has done a lot to study the life of M.Yu. Lermontov and the complex ideological and artistic issues of his work. A large amount of textual and commentary work has been carried out; Based on materials unknown or inaccessible to previous researchers, the biography of the poet was almost recreated. Memorial museums for Lermontov were created in the village of Lermontov, Penza region, where the poet spent his childhood, and in the city of Pyatigorsk, where Lermontov spent the last months of his life.

Role and place in literature

Lermontov's poetry was considered by contemporaries to be a “new link” in the historical development of Russian society. The author protested against the oppression of the common people and the infringement of thinking people in a feudal-autocratic state.

The peculiarity of Lermontov’s creativity is the fusion of socio-political and personal motives. The poet influenced the work of many other poets and writers.

Origin and early years

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was born on October 3, 1814 in the Russian Empire (Moscow). The origin of the future poet is amazing: his family goes back to Scotland. And the legendary prophet-bard Thomas Learmonth is considered a great ancestor.

Father - Yuri Petrovich Lermontov, retired infantry captain. He was considered a handsome man, kind, but quick-tempered.

Mother - Maria Mikhailovna Lermontova (nee Arsenyeva) was a rich heiress. She got married at 17 years old. After giving birth, her health deteriorated and her husband lost interest in her. Family life was not going well.

Mikhail was raised by his grandmother, Elizaveta Alekseevna Arsenyeva. She had a brilliant mind, willpower and business acumen. But, despite her harsh disposition, she did not use physical violence against the serfs, except to shave their hair or cut off their braids.

Lermontov spent his early years at his grandmother’s estate in Tarkhany.

Education

Lermontov received his primary education by studying at home. In the period from 1828 to 1830, he studied at a university boarding school in Moscow.

In 1830, the future poet entered Moscow University. At first he studies at the moral and political faculty, and then at the verbal faculty.

After graduating from university, Mikhail spends several years at the School of Guards Ensigns in St. Petersburg. In 1834, service began in the Hussar Regiment.

Creation

Lermontov becomes known to a wide circle of the public after the release of a poem dedicated to A. Pushkin. In it, the author reproached the authorities for the premature departure of the genius. Lermontov was sent into exile for his bold work. And only thanks to the grandmother’s request, the poet’s punishment was commuted. On the way to the Caucasus, Mikhail visited Moscow, where he wrote “Borodino” (1837).

Lermontov's lyrics are special; they convey alienation and at the same time a sense of social responsibility. And Mikhail Lermontov’s prose is a true picture of Russian society of that time.

Main work

Lermontov’s main work is considered to be the novel “A Hero of Our Time.” The author worked on it during 1838-1840. It consists of five original stories connected by one person. The idea of ​​the work is to show the evils of society in the person of the main character. The lyrical and psychological novel became a great discovery for Russian literature of that time.

Last years

Mikhail Lermontov was a famous duelist. His last duel was with a fellow student, Martynov. At a social reception, Mikhail made an unflattering joke at his expense - and this became the reason for the duel. On July 15, 1841, at the age of 26, Lermontov was shot.

Chronological table (by date)

Interesting facts from the life of the writer

• Lermontov was not popular with women. Once because of the girl's refusal, he later took revenge by disrupting her wedding.
• The poet had a daring character and was in a duel more than once.
• Everyone considered Martynov a “slanty shooter,” but it was he who fired the fatal shot at Lermontov.
• Lermontov was not a fussy eater and ate everything indiscriminately. One day his friends decided to play a trick on him and put sawdust in the buns. Mikhail did not notice this and ate it.
• Lermontov was the second cousin of Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin.

Writer's Museum

The Lermontov House-Museum is located on Malaya Molchanka (Moscow). The poet lived here from 1829 to 1832.

Lermontov, Mikhail Yuryevich - a brilliant Russian poet. Born in Moscow on the night of October 2-3, 1814. The Russian branch of the Lermontov family traces its origins to George Lermont, a native of Scotland, captured during the siege of the Belaya fortress. In 1613, he was already listed in the “Sovereign Service”, owned estates in the Galich district (later - Kostroma province). At the end of the 17th century. his grandchildren submitted a “Generation List” to the Discharge Order, naming in it as their ancestor that Scottish nobleman Learmont, who, belonging to the “bred people of the English lands,” took an active part in the struggle of Malcolm, the son of King Duncan, with Macbeth. The surname Lermont is also borne by the legendary Scottish poet-prophet of the 13th century; Walter Scott's ballad is dedicated to him: “Thomas the Rymer”, how Learmonth was kidnapped to the kingdom of fairies and there he received his prophetic gift. Lermontov's young fantasy oscillates between this enchanting legend about the Scottish ancestor and another captivating dream - about kinship with the Spanish Duke of Lerma. He calls Scotland “his own”, considers himself “the last descendant of brave fighters”, but at the same time willingly subscribes to M. Lerma’s letters, is interested in stories from Spanish life and history (the first essays of “The Demon”, the drama “The Spaniards”) - and he even paints a portrait of his imaginary Spanish ancestor.

Mikhail Yurjevich Lermontov. Artist P. Zabolotsky, 1837

The poet's parents

In the generations closest to the poet’s time, the Lermontov family was already considered seedy; His father, Yuri Petrovich, was a retired infantry captain. According to people who knew him closely, he was a wonderfully handsome man, with a kind and sympathetic soul, but extremely frivolous and unrestrained. His estate - Kropotovka, Efremovsky district, Tula province - was located next to the Vasilievsky estate, which belonged to Elizaveta Alekseevna Arsenyeva, née Stolypina (a relative of the great Russian reformer). The beauty and metropolitan gloss of Yuri Petrovich captivated Arsenyeva’s only daughter, the nervous and romantically inclined Maria Mikhailovna. Despite the protests of her proud mother, she soon became the wife of a poor “army officer.” Their family happiness apparently did not last very long. Constantly ill, Lermontov’s mother died in the spring of 1817, leaving many vague but dear images in her son’s memories. “My mother faded away in tears,” Lermontov said and remembered how she sang lullabies over him. Lermontov's grandmother, Arsenyeva, transferred all her love for her deceased daughter to her grandson and became passionately attached to him, but began to treat her son-in-law even worse; the discord between them became so aggravated that already on the 9th day after the death of his wife, Yuri Petrovich was forced to leave his son and go to his estate. He only occasionally appeared at Arsenyeva’s house, each time frightening her with his intention to take her son to him. This mutual enmity lasted until his death; it caused the child a lot of suffering. Lermontov was aware of the unnaturalness of his position and was constantly tormented by hesitation between his father and grandmother. The drama “Menschen und Leidenschaften” reflected his painful experience of this discord between people close to him.

Lermontov's childhood

Arsenyeva moved with her grandson to the Tarkhany estate, Penza province, where the poet spent his entire childhood. Surrounded by love and care, already in his early years he does not know joy and is immersed in his own world of dreams and sadness. This was, perhaps, also influenced by the serious illness he suffered, which confined him to bed for a long time and accustomed him to loneliness; Lermontov himself strongly emphasizes its importance in his youthful unfinished “Tale”, where he depicts his childhood in the person of Sasha Arbenin: “He learned to think... Deprived of the opportunity to have fun with the ordinary amusements of children, Sasha began to look for them in himself. Imagination became a new toy for him... Throughout the painful insomnia, suffocating between hot pillows, he was already getting used to overcoming the suffering of the body, carried away by the dreams of the soul... Probably, this early mental development greatly hindered his recovery.” Even then, a disintegration was emerging in Lermontov between the world of hidden dreams and the world of everyday life. He feels like a stranger among people and at the same time longs for a “kindred soul”, just as lonely. When the boy was 10 years old, he was taken to the Caucasus, to the waters; here he met a girl of about 9 years old and for the first time recognized the feeling of love, which left a memory for his entire life and inextricably merged with the first impressions of the Caucasus, which he considered his poetic homeland (“The Caucasus Mountains are sacred to me; you taught me to the sky, and from that time on I kept dreaming about you and about heaven").

Lermontov's first teachers were a runaway Greek who was more interested in furrier trade than in lessons, home doctor Anselm Levis and a captured officer of the Napoleonic guard, the Frenchman Cape. Of these, the last one had the most noticeable influence on him, managing to instill in him deep interest and respect for the “wonderful hero” and “the man of rock.” After Capet's death, the French emigrant Shandro was taken into the house, later introduced by Lermontov in "Sashka" under the name of the Marquis de Tess, "a semi-amusing pedant", "an obedient slave of the provincial ladies and muses", "the Parisian Adonis". Shandro was soon replaced by the Englishman Vindson, who introduced Lermontov to English literature, in particular to Byron, who played such a large role in his work.

At the Moscow Noble boarding house

In 1828, Lermontov entered the Moscow University Noble Boarding School and stayed there for about two years. The taste for literature flourished here; as before, students compiled handwritten journals; in one of them - “Morning Dawn” - Lermontov was the main collaborator and published his first poem - “Indian Woman”. Of the Russian writers, he is most influenced by Pushkin, whom he admired all his life, and of foreign writers by Schiller, especially with his first tragedies. In both of them, the poet finds the images he needs to express his own, still difficult, state. He is oppressed by sad loneliness; he is ready to finally break with external life, to create “a different world in his mind, and a different existence of images.” His dreams are “burdened by the burden of deceit”; he lives “believing nothing and recognizing nothing.” These outpourings, of course, contain many exaggerations, but they are undoubtedly based on a spiritual discord with the surrounding life. The first essay “The Demon” and the poem “Monologue” date back to 1829; This heavy mood came out very clearly in both of them. In the first, the poet abandons “tender and cheerful songs”, compares his life with a “boring autumn day”, draws the tormented soul of a demon, living without faith, without hopes, treating everything in the world with indifference and contempt. In the “Monologue”, the seedy “children of the north”, their spiritual melancholy, gloomy life without love and sweet friendship are depicted in gloomy colors.

In the spring of 1830, the Noble boarding school was transformed into a gymnasium, and Lermontov left it. He spends the summer in Serednikov, the estate of his grandmother’s brother, Stolypin, near Moscow. Not far from Serednikov lived his Moscow young ladies, A. Vereshchagina and her friend E. Sushkova, a “black-eyed” beauty with whom Lermontov dreamed of being seriously in love. In Sushkova’s notes, Lermontov is depicted as a homely, clumsy, club-footed boy, with red, but intelligent, expressive eyes, an upturned nose and a sarcastic, mocking smile. While flirting with Lermontov, Sushkova at the same time mocked him mercilessly. In response to his feelings, he was offered “a shuttlecock or a rope, and was treated to buns filled with sawdust.” When they met again in a completely different situation, Lermontov took revenge on Sushkova very cruelly.

In the same summer, Lermontov became seriously interested in the personality and poetry of the “huge” Byron, whom the poet “would like to achieve” all his life. He is pleased to think that they have “the same soul, the same torments”; he passionately wants “the same destiny.” From the very beginning there is more of a feeling of kinship between two rebellious souls than what is usually understood as influence. This is evidenced by the numerous parallels and analogies, common motifs, images and dramatic situations that can be found in Lermontov even in his most mature period, when imitation is out of the question.

Lermontov at Moscow University

In the fall of 1830, Lermontov entered the “moral and political department” at Moscow University. University teaching at that time contributed little to the mental development of young people. “Learning, activity and intelligence,” as Pushkin put it, “were alien to Moscow University at that time.” Professors gave lectures based on other people's manuals, finding that “you won’t become smarter, even though you write your own.” A serious intellectual life began, in student circles, but Lermontov did not get along with the students; he gravitates more toward secular society. However, some of the hopes and ideals of the best youth of that time are reflected in his drama “The Strange Man” (1831), the main character of which, Vladimir, is the embodiment of the poet himself. He, too, is experiencing a family drama, also torn apart by internal contradictions; he knows the selfishness and insignificance of people and still strives for them; when “he is alone, it seems to him that no one loves him, no one cares about him - and it’s so hard!” This is the state of mind of Lermontov himself. And all the more valuable is the scene when the man tells Vladimir about the cruelties of the landowner and about other peasant sorrows, and he becomes furious, and a cry escapes him: “Oh, my fatherland! my fatherland! Still, this is only a random motive, touching the soul of the poet; the main, fundamental ones are still the discord between dream and reality, the tragic clash of opposite principles, pure and vicious, deep hatred for people, for that very “light” in which he so willingly visited.

Lermontov spent less than two years at Moscow University. The professors, remembering his daring antics, cut him off in public exams. He did not want to stay in the same course for a second year and moved to St. Petersburg with his grandmother. His father had died shortly before; Subsequently, in hours of sad memories, the poet mourned him in the poem: “The terrible fate of father and son.”

Military service in St. Petersburg

Lermontov did not get into St. Petersburg University: he was not given credit for his two-year stay in Moscow and was asked to take the entrance exam for the first year. On the advice of his friend, Stolypin, he decided to enter the school of guard cadets and ensigns, where he was enrolled by order of November 10, 1832, “first as a non-commissioned officer, then as a cadet.” Almost at the same time, his future killer, N. S. Martynov, entered school with him, in whose biographical notes the poet-cadet is depicted as a young man who “was so superior in mental development to all other comrades that it is impossible to draw parallels between them. He entered school, according to Martynov, already a man, read a lot, changed his mind a lot; others were still peering into life, he had already studied it from all sides. In years he was no older than others, but his experience and outlook on people left them far behind him.”

Lermontov spent “two terrible years” at school, as he himself puts it. The earthly element of his nature temporarily won complete victory over the other, better part of his soul, and he plunged headlong into the “revelry” that reigned at school. About this time, his relative Shan-Girey writes the following: “Lermontov turned his drawing abilities and poetic talent to caricatures, epigrams and various works that were inconvenient to print, such as “Ulansha”, “Peterhof Holiday”, which were placed in handwritten illustrated books published at school magazine, and some of them were circulated in separate issues.” He was threatened with complete moral ruin, but he managed to save his creative powers here too. In hours of reflection, hiding his serious literary plans even from his friends, the poet “went into distant classrooms, empty in the evenings, and sat there alone for a long time and wrote until late at night.” In letters to his friend, M. Lopukhina, he occasionally reveals this best part of his soul, and then one hears a bitter feeling of regret about past desecrated dreams.

Upon leaving school (November 22, 1834) as a cornet in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, Lermontov settled with his friend A. A. Stolypin in Tsarskoe Selo, continuing to lead his previous lifestyle. He becomes “the soul of the society of young people of the highest circle, the leader in conversations, in revelries, and is in the world, where he amuses himself by driving women crazy, upsetting parties,” for which he “plays himself as a lover for several days.” The denouement of Lermontov’s long-standing romance with E. Sushkova dates back to this time. He pretended to be in love again, this time achieving her reciprocity; treated her publicly “as if she were close to him,” and when he noticed “that a further step would destroy him, he quickly began to retreat.”

No matter how strong, however, Lermontov’s passion for “light” and his desire to create a “pedestal” for himself in it is only one side of his life: the same duality of his nature is reflected, his art of hiding his intimate feelings and moods under a mask of gaiety. The former dark motives are now complicated by a feeling of deep remorse and fatigue. It sounds in his autobiographical story “Sashka”, in the drama “Two Brothers”, in his lyrics; it is also reflected in his letters to M. Lopukhina and Vereshchagina. At the end of 1835, he heard rumors that Varvara Lopukhina, whom he had long loved and never stopped loving until the end of his life, was marrying N.I. Bakhmetyev. Shan-Girey tells how Lermontov was struck by the news of her marriage.

Varvara Lopukhina-Bakhmetyeva. Watercolor by M. Yu. Lermontov, 1835

First appearance in print and first reference to the Caucasus

The first appearance of Lermontov in print dates back to 1835. Until then, Lermontov was known as a poet only in officer and secular circles. One of his comrades, without his knowledge, took the story “Hadji Abrek” from him and gave it to the “Library for Reading”. Lermontov was very dissatisfied with this. The story was a success, but Lermontov did not want to publish his poems for a long time. The death of Pushkin showed Lermontov to Russian society in all the power of his brilliant talent. Lermontov was ill when the news of this terrible event spread throughout the city. Various rumors reached him; some, “especially ladies, justified Pushkin’s opponent,” finding that “Pushkin had no right to demand love from his wife, because he was jealous and bad-looking.” Indignation gripped the poet, and he poured it out on paper. The poem “Death of a Poet” first ended with the words: “And there is a seal on his lips.” In this form, it quickly spread through the lists, caused a storm of admiration, and aroused indignation in high society. When Stolypin began to condemn Pushkin in front of Lermontov, proving that Dantes could not have acted differently, Lermontov immediately interrupted the conversation and, in a fit of anger, wrote a passionate challenge to the “arrogant descendants” (the last 16 verses). The poem was understood as an "appeal to revolution"; the matter began, and within a few days (February 25, 1837), by order of the Highest, Lermontov was transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment, operating in the Caucasus.

Lermontov went into exile, accompanied by general sympathy; they looked at him as an innocent victim. The Caucasus revived Lermontov, allowed him to calm down, and temporarily reach a fairly stable equilibrium. Glimpses of some new trend in his work are beginning to emerge more clearly, which manifested itself with such beauty and power in his “Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible and the merchant Kalashnikov,” completed in the Caucasus, and in such poems as “I, Mother of God. ..” and “When the yellowing field is worried.”

Return from the Caucasus

Thanks to my grandmother’s connections, on October 11, 1837, an order was issued to transfer Lermontov to the Life Guards Grodno Hussar Regiment, which was then stationed in Novgorod. Lermontov reluctantly parted with the Caucasus and even thought about resigning. He delayed leaving and spent the end of the year in Stavropol, where he became acquainted with the Decembrists who were there, including Prince. Al. Iv. Odoevsky, with whom he became close friends. At the beginning of January 1838, the poet arrived in St. Petersburg and stayed here until mid-February. After that, he went to the regiment, but served there for less than two months: on April 9 he was transferred to his former Life Guards Hussar Regiment. Lermontov returns to the “big world”, again playing the role of a “lion” in it; All the salon ladies, “lovers of celebrities and heroes,” look after him. But he is no longer the same and very soon begins to feel burdened by this life; He is not satisfied with either military service or secular and literary circles, and he either asks for leave or dreams of returning to the Caucasus. “What an eccentric, hot-tempered person he is,” A.F. Smirnova writes about him, “he will probably end in disaster... He is distinguished by impossible impudence. He dies from boredom, is indignant at his own frivolity, but at the same time does not have enough character to break out of this environment. This is a strange nature."

On New Year's Day 1840, Lermontov attended a masquerade ball in the Noble Assembly. Turgenev, who was present there, observed how the poet “was not given peace, they constantly pestered him, took him by the hands; one mask was replaced by another, and he almost did not move from his place and silently listened to their squeaks, alternately turning his gloomy eyes to them. “It seemed to me then,” says Turgenev, “that I caught on his face the beautiful expression of poetic creativity.” As you know, this masquerade was inspired by his poem “The First of January,” full of bitterness and melancholy. At Countess Laval's ball (February 16), he clashed with the son of the French envoy, Barant. The result was a duel, this time ending successfully, but resulting in Lermontov’s arrest in the guardhouse, and then transfer (by order of April 9) to the Tenginsky infantry regiment in the Caucasus.

Second link to the Caucasus

During his arrest, Lermontov was visited by Belinsky. They met in the summer of 1837 in Pyatigorsk, in the house of Lermontov’s friend from the university boarding school, N. Satin, but then Belinsky had the most unfavorable impression of Lermontov as an extremely empty and vulgar person. This time Belinsky was delighted “both with the poet’s personality and artistic views.” Lermontov took off his mask, appeared to be himself, and in his words one could feel “so much truth, depth and simplicity.” During this period of his St. Petersburg life, Lermontov wrote the last, fifth, essay “Demon” (the first four - 1829, 1830, 1831 and 1833), “Mtsyri”, “Fairy Tale for Children”, “Hero of Our Time”; poems “Duma”, “In a difficult moment of life”, “Three palm trees”, “Gifts of the Terek”, etc. On the day of departure from St. Petersburg. Lermontov was with the Karamzins; standing at the window and admiring the clouds floating over the Summer Garden and the Neva, he sketched his famous poem “Heavenly Clouds, Eternal Wanderers.” When he finished reading it, an eyewitness reports, “his eyes were wet with tears.”

On the way to the Caucasus, Lermontov stopped in Moscow and lived there for about a month. On May 9, 1840, he, along with Turgenev, Vyazemsky, Zagoskin and others, attended Gogol’s birthday dinner in Pogodin’s house and read his “Mtsyri” there. On June 10, Lermontov was already in Stavropol, where the main apartment of the commander of the Caucasian Line troops was then located. In two campaigns - to Lesser and Greater Chechnya - Lermontov attracted the attention of the detachment commander with his “agility, faithfulness of sight, ardent courage” and was presented with a golden saber with the inscription: “for courage.”

In mid-January 1841, Lermontov received leave and went to St. Petersburg. The next day after his arrival, he went to a ball with Countess Vorontsova-Dashkova. “The appearance of a disgraced officer at a ball attended by the Highest Persons” was considered “indecent and impudent”; his enemies used this incident as proof of his incorrigibility. At the end of the vacation, Lermontov's friends began to lobby for a reprieve, and he was allowed to stay in the capital for some more time. Hoping to receive a complete resignation, the poet missed this deadline and left only after the energetic order of the duty general Kleinmichel to leave the capital within 48 hours. They said that he demanded it Benckendorf, who was burdened by the presence in St. Petersburg of such a restless person as Lermontov. This time, Lermontov left St. Petersburg with very difficult forebodings, leaving his homeland with the following poems: “Farewell, unwashed Russia” (some, however, reject the rumor that Mikhail Yuryevich was their author).

Duel with Martynov and death of Lermontov

In Pyatigorsk, where he arrived, there lived a large company of cheerful young people - all old acquaintances of Lermontov. “The public,” recalls the prince. A. I. Vasilchikov lived a friendly, cheerful and somewhat riotous life... Time passed in noisy picnics, cavalcades, parties with music and dancing. Emilia Aleksandrovna Verzilina, nicknamed the “Rose of the Caucasus,” enjoyed particular success among young people. In this company was retired Major Martynov, who loved to be original, show off, and attract attention. Lermontov often angrily and caustically made fun of him for his feigned Byronism” and for his “terrible” poses. A fatal quarrel occurred between them, ending in an “ever sad” duel. The poet fell victim to his duality. Gentle and responsive to a small circle of select people, he always behaved arrogantly and perkily towards all other acquaintances. The narrow-minded Martynov belonged to the latter and did not understand “in this bloody moment what he was raising his hand to.” Lermontov's funeral, despite all the efforts of his friends, could not be performed according to church rites. The official announcement of his death read: “On the 15th of June, at about 5 o'clock in the evening, a terrible storm broke out with thunder and lightning; at this very time, between the mountains Mashuk and Beshtau, M. Yu. Lermontov, who was being treated in Pyatigorsk, died.” According to the book. Vasilchikov, in St. Petersburg, in high society, the poet’s death was greeted with the words: “that’s where he belongs.”

In the spring of 1842, Lermontov's ashes were transported to Tarkhany. In 1889, a monument to Lermontov was opened in Pyatigorsk, erected by all-Russian subscription.

Years of life: from 03.10.1814 to 15.07.1841

Poet, artist, prose writer, playwright. One of the most famous Russian poets, whose works are included in the classics of Russian literature. Creativity M.Yu. Lermontov belongs to romanticism; Byron and A.S. had a particularly strong influence on the poet. Pushkin.

Mikhail Yuryevich was born in Moscow on the night of October 2-3, 1814. His parents are Yuri Petrovich, a retired army captain, an unborn nobleman, and Maria Mikhailovna, née Arsenyeva, who belonged to the rich and noble Stolypin family. Two years after Mikhail was born, his mother died of consumption, and the grandmother took her grandson, threatening to otherwise deprive him of his inheritance. Before his father's death in 1831, M.Yu. Lermontov saw him only once, when he was already studying at the university. The grandmother loved her grandson and M.Yu.’s childhood very much. Lermontov, despite the absence of parents, were happy.

In 1828, Lermontov was enrolled in the 4th grade of the Moscow Noble Boarding School. It was at this time that Lermontov began to compose poetry. Lermontov's early poetic experiments are largely imitations of the romantics; they contain entire pieces borrowed from the works of other authors. The work of Byron had a particularly strong influence on Lermontov. In the years 1828-1832, Lermontov experienced a number of romantic interests, which are also reflected in his work. In September 1830, Lermontov entered the “moral and political department” of Moscow University, then transferred to the verbal department. This period of Lermontov’s work includes completely independent poems “Izmail Bey” (1832), “Litvinka” (1832), “Confession” (1831) - the prototype of the future poem “Mtsyri”. In 1832, the poet submitted a request to leave the university. According to the most reliable version, the reason for leaving was hostile relations with some professors. Lermontov goes to St. Petersburg with the intention of continuing his studies, but they refused to count him for two years of study in Moscow and offered him to enroll in the first year. Lermontov was not satisfied with this and, under the influence of his relatives, he entered the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers.

Lermontov later called the two years spent in this institution “ill-fated.” Drill reigned within the walls of the school; students were not allowed to read literary books at all. Outside these walls, the cadets were known for their adventures, parties and brawls, in which Lermontov also took part. During this period, he begins a number of serious works (the novel “Vadim”, several poems), but does not complete any of them. In 1834, Lermontov graduated from school and, having received the rank of cornet, was sent to the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. In general, in 1832-1836, Lermontov’s lyrical creativity almost died out, but the number of works in other genres increased: he devoted his energies to poems, dramas, and prose. Lermontov’s peak achievement during this period of his work can be considered the drama “Masquerade”. However, not a single attempt to publish the drama was successful. Lermontov’s first “serious” publication dates back to 1835, when his friend, without his knowledge, took the story “Hadji Abrek” (1834) and gave it to the magazine “Library for Reading”. The publication, although it was received positively, did not gain Lermontov much fame and by 1837 he remained little known to the public and literary circles.

Fame comes to Lermontov with the poem “The Death of a Poet” (1837) - a response to Pushkin’s last duel. Pushkin's death made a huge impression on Lermontov, and the tone of his poem was very harsh at that time. The poem outraged Nicholas II and Lermontov was arrested. The matter ended with the order of the emperor: “Transfer Cornet Lermontov of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment with the same rank to the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment.” In fact, it was an exile - the poet was sent to the Caucasus to join the active army. In March 1837, Lermontov left St. Petersburg.

The poet’s grandmother, using her connections, worked for her grandson and in the same year the poet was forgiven and transferred to the Grodno Hussar Regiment, which was located in the Novgorod province, and then to his former Life Guards Hussar Regiment. Lermontov returns to the “big world” and again plays a prominent role in it. At the same time, Lermontov established connections with Pushkin’s circle, his works were published in Sovremennik, “Domestic Notes” and other publications. The poems “Tambov Treasurer”, “Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich...”, and the story “Bela”, which was later included in the novel “Hero of Our Time”, were published. In 1839, Lermontov completed work on one of his main works - the poem "Mtsyri". According to contemporaries, Lermontov had a difficult character and his relationships with those around him (especially those close to the court) were very strained.

In February 1840, at a ball hosted by Countess Laval, the poet clashed with the son of the French ambassador de Barante. The consequence of the quarrel was a duel, and the consequence of the duel was a military court. Lermontov was sent to the Tenginsky infantry regiment in the active army in the Caucasus. From June to November, the poet took part in military battles, showed courage and was even nominated for an award, but the emperor crossed out his name from the award lists. Lermontov received leave and returned to St. Petersburg for a short time. This time was a time of creative upsurge: work on the poem “Demon” was completed, the novel “Hero of Our Time” was collected into a separate book, and more poems were written than ever. In October 1840, the only collection of the poet’s lifetime, “Poems by M. Lermontov,” was published. Lermontov himself wanted to retire and devote himself to literature, but he gave in to the insistence of his grandmother, who still hoped that her grandson would make a military career.

In May 1841 Lermontov returned to the Caucasus. In Pyatigorsk he stays for treatment in mineral waters. Here a fatal quarrel occurs with a former fellow student at the cadet school N.S. Martynov, which led on July 15, 1841 to the last duel at the foot of Mashuk. Martynov's bullet hit Lermontov in the chest and the poet died on the spot. In the spring of 1842, Lermontov's ashes were transported to Tarkhany.

Lermontov devoted his entire adult life, until his untimely death, not only to literature, but also to drawing. Much of his artistic work has not survived, but what has survived to this day - more than a dozen oil paintings, more than fifty watercolor works, over three hundred drawings - gives us the opportunity to appreciate his artistic heritage.

Judging by the memoirs of his contemporaries, Lermontov had a difficult character and the poet himself should be recognized as the instigator of the fatal duel.

According to the book. Vasilchikov, in St. Petersburg, in high society, the death of the poet was greeted with a comment: “that’s where he belongs”... In his memoirs, P. P. Vyazemsky, from the words of the adjutant Colonel Luzhin, noted that Nicholas I responded to this by saying: "A dog's death is a dog's death."

The image of Lermontov, included in the title of the biography, was made in July 1840 from life by Lermontov’s fellow soldier, Baron D.P. Palen, after the Valerik battle. The poet looks tired, he is unshaven, there is sadness in his eyes; his cap is wrinkled, his coat collar is unbuttoned, his epaulettes are missing. This is a very valuable, the only profile portrait of Lermontov and, perhaps, the most similar to the original of all lifetime images.

Bibliography

Chronological order of appearance of the most important works in periodicals

Lifetime editions
"Hadji Abrek" (1835);
"" (1837);
"" (1838);
"Duma" (1839);
"Bela" (1839);
"The Branch of Palestine" (1839);
"Three Palms" (1839);
"Fatalist" (1839);
"Gifts of the Terek" (1839);
"Taman" (1840);
"The Airship" (1840);
"Angel" (1840);
“The Last Housewarming” (1841);
"Sail" (1841);
"Dispute" (1841);
"A Tale for Children" (1842).

After the poet's death the following appeared:
"Ishmael Bay" (1843);
"Tamara" (1843);
"On the Death of Pushkin" (1856)
and much more.

Selected publications:
"" (1840);
"" (1840);
"" (1857);
"Angel of Death" (1857);
and many others.

Film adaptations of works, theatrical productions

1911 - “The Demon” / Il demone, directed by Giovanni Vitrotti (Italy)
1926 - “Princess Mary” / Tavadis asuli Meri, director Vladimir Barsky (USSR)
1927 - “Bela”, director Vladimir Barsky (USSR)
1927 - “Maksim Maksimych”, director Vladimir Barsky (USSR)
1941 - “Masquerade”, director Sergei Gerasimov (USSR)
1955 - “Princess Mary”, director Isidor Annensky (USSR)
1965 - “Hero of Our Time”, director Stanislav Rostotsky (USSR)
1966 - “Bela”, director Stanislav Rostotsky (USSR)
1966 - “Maksim Maksimych”, director Stanislav Rostotsky (USSR)
1968 - “Masquerade”, director Vladimir Laptev (USSR, TV)
1975 - Pages of Pechorin’s magazine, director Anatoly Efros (USSR, TV, film-play)
1981 - “Masquerade”, director Vladimir Samsonov (USSR, animated)
1985 - “A Hero of Our Time”, directed by Michael Almereyda (USA)
1988 - “Ashik-Kerib”, director Sergei Parajanov (USSR)
2006 - “Pechorin”, director Alexander Kott (Russia)

In addition, a number of operas have been written and ballets staged based on Lermontov’s works.

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov - the pride of Russian literature, Russian poet, prose writer, playwright - was born on October 15, 1814 in the family of a retired officer Yuri Petrovich and Maria Mikhailovna, a representative of a noble family, who died when the boy was two years old. Her death became a serious psychological trauma for the future poet, and was aggravated by the conflictual relationship between her father and maternal grandmother, E.A. Arsenyeva. She took the boy to her estate, in the Penza province, with. Tarkhany, and the future poet spent his childhood there. Mikhail grew up, caressed by love and care, received a good education, however, being an emotional, romantic, sickly, precocious child, he was, for the most part, in a sad mood, focused on the inner world.

As a ten-year-old boy, Mikhail Lermontov first came to the Caucasus, with which his entire future biography would be connected. From childhood, the future poet was imbued with special feelings for this region, especially since the impressions of his stay there were decorated with his first love. He showed an early ability for versification: poems and even poems written by him at the age of 14 have been preserved.

After their family moved to Moscow in 1827, in 1828 Mikhail became a fourth-class half-boarder at the Moscow University Noble Boarding School, where he received his education for about two years before the boarding house was transformed into a gymnasium. Here, his first poem, “Indian Woman,” was published in a handwritten journal.

In September 1830, Lermontov was a student at Moscow University (moral and political, then verbal department), where he studied for less than two years, because does not pass public exams: the teachers did not forgive him for his impudent behavior. Lermontov's poetic potential in this short period developed very fruitfully; his lyrical creativity of the early stage in 1830-1831. reaches its highest point. In order not to remain in the same course for the second year, he comes to St. Petersburg with his grandmother, hoping to transfer to a local university. However, his hopes were not justified: his studies in Moscow were not taken into account, and he was offered to enroll again as a first-year student.

Following the advice of a friend, on November 10, 1832, Lermontov entered the school of guard cadets and ensigns, where he spent, in his own words, “two terrible years,” filled with revelry, base entertainment, into which he plunged with all the strength of his restless and rebellious soul. After graduating from school in November 1834 with the rank of cornet, Life Guards, Lermontov was assigned to a hussar regiment located in Tsarskoye Selo.

His lifestyle is not much different from his previous one: Lermontov leads an active social life, becomes the life of the party, spends a lot of time with friends, flirts with women, breaking their hearts. In secular and officer circles he was already known as a poet, and in 1835 his work first appeared in print, without the knowledge of the author: a friend took the story “Hadji-Abrek” to the “Library for Reading”. It was greeted warmly by readers, but the dissatisfied Lermontov refused to publish his poems for a long time.

A poem written in 1837 on the death of Pushkin by M.Yu. Lermontov became a turning point in his biography. A hitherto unknown outstanding literary talent was revealed to the public, and the accusatory pathos of the work was perceived as an appeal to revolution. The consequence of this was deportation to the active army in the Caucasus, to the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. Staying in his beloved lands had a fruitful effect on Lermontov and helped him find peace of mind; he even thought about retiring and staying here when his grandmother obtained a transfer for him in October 1837 to the Grodno Hussar Regiment, stationed in Novgorod. On his way home, Lermontov spent several months in Stavropol, where he met the Decembrists.

Since January 1838 M.Yu. Lermontov lives in St. Petersburg, having been transferred to the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, where he previously served. The two years he spent in the capital (1838-1840 and part of 1841) became the time of the real flowering of his poetic gift, the loud literary fame that came to him, and his perception as the political heir of A. Pushkin. He moves in Pushkin's literary circle, actively writes and publishes. This period includes, in particular, his “Mtsyri”, “Hero of Our Time”, “Fairy Tale for Children”, and many poems.

A duel after a quarrel at a ball with the son of the French ambassador on February 16, 1841 ended in reconciliation with the enemy - and exile in April to the Caucasus, to the active Tenginsky infantry regiment. Lermontov had to participate in fierce battles, in particular in Chechnya near the Valerki River, in which he demonstrated amazing courage and courage. He was nominated for awards twice, but the king did not give his consent.

In January 1841, Lermontov came to St. Petersburg on vacation for three months. People continue to be interested in him, he is hatching new creative plans, and dreams of retiring in order to devote himself to literature. When the vacation ended, his friends got him a short respite, and Lermontov, counting on the fact that he would still be given full retirement, did not leave on time. However, his hopes were not justified: he was ordered to leave St. Petersburg within 48 hours. According to contemporaries, the poet left for the Caucasus with a heavy heart, tormented by gloomy forebodings. Many of his best poems, included in the treasury of Russian poetry, date back to this period of his creative activity: “Farewell unwashed Russia”, “Cliff”, “I go out alone on the road...”, “Leaf”, “Motherland”, “Tamara” , “Prophet”, etc.

In Pyatigorsk, Lermontov moved in a circle of old acquaintances, young people who indulged in social entertainment. Among them was retired Major Martynov, with whom Lermontov had once studied at the school of guards cadets. The sharp-tongued poet more than once sarcastically ridiculed his posturing, pomposity and dramatic manners. The disagreement between them ended on July 27 (July 15, O.S.), 1841, with a duel in which the poet, who was in the prime of his life and creative powers, who did not attach importance to the seriousness of his opponent’s intentions, was killed on the spot. Friends tried to have him buried according to church customs, but this was not possible. In the spring of 1842, the ashes of Mikhail Yuryevich were brought to Tarkhany and buried in the family crypt.

Literary heritage of M.Yu. Lermontov, which consisted of about three dozen poems, four hundred poems, a number of prose and dramatic works, was published mainly after the death of their author. In the short 13 years of his creative biography, the poet made an invaluable contribution to Russian literature as the author of lyric poetry with an exceptional variety of themes and motifs; his work completed the development of the national romantic poem and created the foundation for the realistic novel of the 19th century.