Ieronim Yasinsky
Encyclopedia
Ieronim Ieronimovich Yasinsky , 1850
, Kharkiv
, Russian Empire
, modern Ukraine
, - December 31, 1931
, Leningrad
, USSR) was a Russia
n novel
ist, poet
, literary critic and essay
ist, who also published his works under several pseudonyms: Maxim Belinsky, Nezavisimy (The Independent One) and M.Tchunosov.
heroes, whose name he later used as a literary pseudonym. From the age of eleven the boy started to write verse and recite it at the family literary and musical parties, to invariable success.
Yasinsky received good home education. He continued studying in Chernigov gymnasium and in 1868 enrolled at the Kiev University
but in 1871 dropped out after marrying V.P.Ivanova, a woman of strong ideas on women’s liberation, who’s had great influence upon him. That was when financial difficulties started dogging the couple, they were not relieved neither by their moving to Saint Petersburg nor by his returning to Chernigov where in 1873-1878 he worked as a state official. In September 1870 Yasinsky debuted as an essayist and started to publish his articles in two newspapers, Kievsky vestnik and Kievsky telegraph. Many of these earlier pieces found their way into The Kiev Stories (1885) collection.
Yasinsky's first short novels (Natashka, 1881; The Sleeping Beauty, 1883) were lauded by the Russian leftist literary elite (Saltykov-Schedrin in particular) and their author was hailed as the new Garshin
. Several years later, though, things changed: his major novels (Irinarkh Plutarkhov, 1886; The Old Friend, 1887; The Great Man, 1888, and later Under Satan's Cloak, 1909), fell under sharp criticism for allegedly ridiculing the "revolutionary movement" and their author fell out of favour with critics who now tended to see him as a conservative jack-of-all-trades kind of author. Yasinsky had his own ideas regarding his mission and tried to promote himself as a new "art for arts's sake" figure whose goal was to "create an encyclopedia of Russian intelligentsia types, as seen in all possible aspects of life". Anton Chekhov
, who once wrote: "He is either an honest garbage collector or a sly crook", was unconvinced, while Maxim Gorky
, who treated Yasinsky's books as cheap anti-revolutionary pamphlets, once described their author as "dirty and spiteful old geezer".
Ieronim Yasinsky accepted the 1917 Revolution and even declared himself "a sudden Bolshevik
". He worked at Proletkult
, edited Soviet magazines (Krasny ogonyok, Plamya, 1918–1919), wrote science fiction for children and even translated Friedrich Engels
's poem "The Evening" in 1923, but was still rather unpopular with critics. In retrospect, his memoirs The Novel of My Life (1926) were recognised as an insightful, valuable documentation of the Russian literary and cultural life of the late 19th-early 20th century, as were his biographical essays on Saltykov-Schedrin, Garshin, Leykin
and Chekhov.
1850 in literature
The year 1850 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Alfred Lord Tennyson named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, succeeding William Wordsworth.*Periodical Household Words begins publication...
, Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, modern Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, - December 31, 1931
1931 in literature
The year 1931 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Cherokee playwright Lynn Riggs' play Green Grow the Lilacs premiers. It would later be adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as Oklahoma!....
, Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
, USSR) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, literary critic and essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
ist, who also published his works under several pseudonyms: Maxim Belinsky, Nezavisimy (The Independent One) and M.Tchunosov.
Biography
Yasinsky was born in Kharkov, to Ieronim Yasinsky, a nobleman of Polish origins, and Olga Maksimovna Belinskaya, daughter of colonel Maxim Belinsky, one of the 1812 BorodinoBattle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
heroes, whose name he later used as a literary pseudonym. From the age of eleven the boy started to write verse and recite it at the family literary and musical parties, to invariable success.
Yasinsky received good home education. He continued studying in Chernigov gymnasium and in 1868 enrolled at the Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
but in 1871 dropped out after marrying V.P.Ivanova, a woman of strong ideas on women’s liberation, who’s had great influence upon him. That was when financial difficulties started dogging the couple, they were not relieved neither by their moving to Saint Petersburg nor by his returning to Chernigov where in 1873-1878 he worked as a state official. In September 1870 Yasinsky debuted as an essayist and started to publish his articles in two newspapers, Kievsky vestnik and Kievsky telegraph. Many of these earlier pieces found their way into The Kiev Stories (1885) collection.
Yasinsky's first short novels (Natashka, 1881; The Sleeping Beauty, 1883) were lauded by the Russian leftist literary elite (Saltykov-Schedrin in particular) and their author was hailed as the new Garshin
Vsevolod Garshin
Vsevolod Mikhailovich Garshin ; was a Russian author of short stories.- Life :When Garshin was seven years old, he witnessed his father commit suicide.During the Russo-Turkish War, Garshin,...
. Several years later, though, things changed: his major novels (Irinarkh Plutarkhov, 1886; The Old Friend, 1887; The Great Man, 1888, and later Under Satan's Cloak, 1909), fell under sharp criticism for allegedly ridiculing the "revolutionary movement" and their author fell out of favour with critics who now tended to see him as a conservative jack-of-all-trades kind of author. Yasinsky had his own ideas regarding his mission and tried to promote himself as a new "art for arts's sake" figure whose goal was to "create an encyclopedia of Russian intelligentsia types, as seen in all possible aspects of life". Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, who once wrote: "He is either an honest garbage collector or a sly crook", was unconvinced, while Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
, who treated Yasinsky's books as cheap anti-revolutionary pamphlets, once described their author as "dirty and spiteful old geezer".
Ieronim Yasinsky accepted the 1917 Revolution and even declared himself "a sudden Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
". He worked at Proletkult
Proletkult
Proletkult was movement which arose in the Russian revolution and was active from 1917 to 1925 which aspired to provide the foundations for what was intended to be a truly proletarian art devoid of bourgeois influence.The name is a portmanteau of "proletarskaya kultura" , which are better-known as...
, edited Soviet magazines (Krasny ogonyok, Plamya, 1918–1919), wrote science fiction for children and even translated Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
's poem "The Evening" in 1923, but was still rather unpopular with critics. In retrospect, his memoirs The Novel of My Life (1926) were recognised as an insightful, valuable documentation of the Russian literary and cultural life of the late 19th-early 20th century, as were his biographical essays on Saltykov-Schedrin, Garshin, Leykin
Nikolay Leykin
-Biography:Leykin was born in Saint Petersburg into a merchant family. The merchant class was the subject of the majority of his fiction. His popular work Our Folk Abroad, set in Paris, which went through twenty-five editions, was a light satire on the ignorance and boorishness of Russian business...
and Chekhov.
Selected works
- Natashka (1881)
- The Sleeping Beauty (1883)
- The Kiev Stories (1885)
- Irinarkh Plutarkhov (1886)
- The Old Friend (1887)
- The Great Man (1888)
- Under Satan's Cloak (1909)
- The Novel of My Life (1926)