Nikolai Minsky
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Minsky and Nikolai Maksimovich Minsky are pseudonyms of Nikolai Maksimovich Vilenkin (1855-1937), a mystical writer and poet
of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry
.
Born in Glubokoe (now Hlybokaye
, Belarus
) to poor Jewish parents, he was orphaned early. He was brought up, and finished his schooling, in Minsk
. He took his pseudonym from the city he grew up in. He studied law at the University of Saint Petersburg
.
His first poems were written on "civil topics". In 1889, he began work on the book With the Light of Conscience, employing a deliberately pompous tone to present its theory of "meonism" (me on being Greek for "nonexistent"). The objective of the work is to show that the main purpose of humanity is "nonexistence itself".
In 1900, Dmitri Merezhkovsky, Minsky, Zinaida Gippius
, Vasily Rozanov
, and others founded the Religious-Philosophical Society in Saint Petersburg. Minsky, like the majority of intellectuals, sympathized with the revolution and social democracy. He was the nominal editor of the legal Bolshevik
newspaper New Life.
After the revolution
was defeated in 1905, Minsky became one of the leaders of Russian decadence
and symbolism
. These ideas represented the cult of beauty and enjoyment and declared war on the public tendencies that threatened to damage the "cleanliness" of artistic creation. After 1905, he lived abroad.
A religious-philosophical concept is presented in the treatises With the Light of Conscience (1890) and The Religion of the Future (1905). Other publications include the collection of verses From the Gloom to the Light (1922) and various dramas and translations
.
He died in Paris, and is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery
.
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...
of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry
Silver Age of Russian Poetry
Silver Age is a term traditionally applied by Russian philologists to the first two decades of the 20th century. It was an exceptionally creative period in the history of Russian poetry, on par with the Golden Age a century earlier...
.
Born in Glubokoe (now Hlybokaye
Hlybokaye
Hlybokaye is a town in Vitebsk Oblast, Belarus, the capital of the Hlybokaye Raion . The first records about the settlement are dated 1514....
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
) to poor Jewish parents, he was orphaned early. He was brought up, and finished his schooling, in Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
. He took his pseudonym from the city he grew up in. He studied law at the University of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.
His first poems were written on "civil topics". In 1889, he began work on the book With the Light of Conscience, employing a deliberately pompous tone to present its theory of "meonism" (me on being Greek for "nonexistent"). The objective of the work is to show that the main purpose of humanity is "nonexistence itself".
In 1900, Dmitri Merezhkovsky, Minsky, Zinaida Gippius
Zinaida Gippius
Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius, was a Russian poet, playwright, editor, short story writer and religious thinker, regarded as a co-founder of Russian symbolism and seen as "one of the most enigmatic and intelligent women of her time in Russia"....
, Vasily Rozanov
Vasily Rozanov
Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov was one of the most controversial Russian writers and philosophers of the pre-revolutionary epoch. His views have been termed the "religion of procreation", as he tried to reconcile Christian teachings with ideas of healthy sex and family life and not, as his adversary...
, and others founded the Religious-Philosophical Society in Saint Petersburg. Minsky, like the majority of intellectuals, sympathized with the revolution and social democracy. He was the nominal editor of the legal 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....
newspaper New Life.
After the revolution
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
was defeated in 1905, Minsky became one of the leaders of Russian decadence
Decadence
Decadence can refer to a personal trait, or to the state of a society . Used to describe a person's lifestyle. Concise Oxford Dictionary: "a luxurious self-indulgence"...
and symbolism
Russian Symbolism
Russian symbolism was an intellectual and artistic movement predominant at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. It represented the Russian branch of the symbolist movement in European art, and was mostly known for its contributions to Russian poetry.-Russian symbolism in...
. These ideas represented the cult of beauty and enjoyment and declared war on the public tendencies that threatened to damage the "cleanliness" of artistic creation. After 1905, he lived abroad.
A religious-philosophical concept is presented in the treatises With the Light of Conscience (1890) and The Religion of the Future (1905). Other publications include the collection of verses From the Gloom to the Light (1922) and various dramas and translations
Translations
Translations is a three-act play by Irish playwright Brian Friel written in 1980. It is set in Baile Beag , a small village at the heart of 19th century agricultural Ireland...
.
He died in Paris, and is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
.