Ivan Shmelyov
Encyclopedia
Ivan Sergeyevich Shmelyov ( – June 24, 1950) was a Russia
n émigré
writer best known for his full-blooded idyllic recreations of the pre-revolutionary past spent in the merchant district of Moscow
. He was a member of the Moscow literary group Sreda
.
, a trip that had a deep spiritual influence on him and resulted in his first book, Na skalakh Valaama ['On the cliffs of Valaam'] (1897). After graduating in 1898 he performed military service and spent several years as a civil servant in the provinces while continuing to write; his early stories were published by Maxim Gorky
's Znaniye Publishing House.
After the Russian Revolution of 1905
his popularity increased, and his 1911 story "Chelovek iz restorana" ['The man from the restaurant'] had tremendous success, making him one of the best known writers of the day; it "depicts, with moments of Dostoyevskyan power, the decadence of the wealthy, as seen by a simple waiter and pious father to whom son and daughter return after disastrous adventures in the world." Shmelyov's story was the basis for Yakov Protazanov
's film of the same title
, released in 1927, with Mikhail Chekhov in the leading role.
, and other leading writers of the day, as well as his own work. His works from this period on "were remarkable for the richness of their popular (in the sense of narodnyj) language.... Particularly noteworthy was his brilliant use of the skaz technique."
Shmelev welcomed the February Revolution
and the fall of the autocracy; he set off on a series of journeys across Russia to see the effects of the change, and was extremely moved when political exiles returning from Siberia told him how much his writings had meant to them. However, he rejected the October Revolution
and moved to the White
-held Crimea
, and when his beloved son Sergei, an officer in the Volunteer Army
who had accepted the Bolsheviks' offer of amnesty and refused to follow P. Wrangel
into exile in 1920, was seized by Béla Kun
's Revolutionary Committee in the Crimea and shot without trial, he accepted Bunin's suggestion that he join him in exile in France.
Perhaps the most powerful of Shemelev's writings in emigration is Solntse mertvykh (1923, tr. as The Sun of the Dead in 1927): "In the mosaic of the impressions of the narrator, an elderly intelligent
stuck in the Crimea after the evacuation of Wrangel's troops from the peninsula, there pass the fates of the inhabitants of the Crimea—intelligents, workers, peasants—Tatars
and Russians—men and women, all equally clutched in the vice of hunger and fear of the Terror
... Everything gradually dies against the background of the loveliness of nature, on the shore of the azure sea, under the rays of a golden sun—the sun of the dead, because it illuminates an earth on which everything has been eaten, drunk, trampled—on which poultry, animals, and men are all dying". Another important work of his later period is Leto Gospodne [The Summer of the Lord] (1933–48), an autobiographical novel full of lovingly drawn characters and beautifully observed details in which "his style reaches a high level of lyrical and epic contemplation.". The tetralogy from which Shmelev has had time to complete only first two volumes of the novel "The heavenly ways" (1937, 1948) has been conceived. Operation of the third part of the novel should occur in deserts Optinoj where after many shocks and irreplaceable losses its hero finds the sincere world and the higher sense of life begins to see clearly.
wrote of a reading in Paris in 1942: "Shmelev read as they read in the provinces before the time of Chekhov: with shouts and muttering, like an actor. He read some old-fashioned stuff, churchy, silly, about religious processions and hearty Russian dishes. The audience was ecstatic and clapped." But his rich prose and his deep roots in Russian culture won him many readers when he was finally published in his homeland. Fifty years after his death, in 2000, the remains of Shmelyov and his wife were transferred from the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery
to the necropolis of Donskoy Monastery
in Moscow.
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 émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
writer best known for his full-blooded idyllic recreations of the pre-revolutionary past spent in the merchant district of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He was a member of the Moscow literary group Sreda
Sreda (literary group)
The Moscow Literary Sreda was a Moscow literary group founded in 1899 by Nikolay Teleshov. The name Sreda means Wednesday, taken from the day of the week on which writers and other artists met at Teleshov's home. The last meeting of the Sreda took place in 1916...
.
Early life
Shmelev was born in the Zamoskovorechye to a merchant family; after finishing high school in 1894 he attended the law faculty of Moscow University. His first published story appeared in 1895; in the same year he visited Valaam MonasteryValaam Monastery
The Valaam Monastery, or Valamo Monastery is a stauropegic Orthodox monastery in Russian Karelia, located on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe.-History:...
, a trip that had a deep spiritual influence on him and resulted in his first book, Na skalakh Valaama ['On the cliffs of Valaam'] (1897). After graduating in 1898 he performed military service and spent several years as a civil servant in the provinces while continuing to write; his early stories were published by 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:...
's Znaniye Publishing House.
After the Russian Revolution of 1905
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...
his popularity increased, and his 1911 story "Chelovek iz restorana" ['The man from the restaurant'] had tremendous success, making him one of the best known writers of the day; it "depicts, with moments of Dostoyevskyan power, the decadence of the wealthy, as seen by a simple waiter and pious father to whom son and daughter return after disastrous adventures in the world." Shmelyov's story was the basis for Yakov Protazanov
Yakov Protazanov
Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov was Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of cinema of Russia....
's film of the same title
Man from the Restaurant
Man from the Restaurant is a 1927 Soviet film directed by Yakov Protazanov based on the story by Ivan Shmelyov. The main role was wrote for Ivan Moskvin, but he was changed for Chekov because of illness.-Cast:* Michael Chekhov * Vera Malinovskaya...
, released in 1927, with Mikhail Chekhov in the leading role.
Career
In 1912 Shmelyov organized the Moscow Writers' Publishing House («Книгоиздательство писателей в Москве»), which published Ivan Bunin, Boris ZaitsevBoris Konstantinovich Zaytsev
-References:...
, and other leading writers of the day, as well as his own work. His works from this period on "were remarkable for the richness of their popular (in the sense of narodnyj) language.... Particularly noteworthy was his brilliant use of the skaz technique."
Shmelev welcomed the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
and the fall of the autocracy; he set off on a series of journeys across Russia to see the effects of the change, and was extremely moved when political exiles returning from Siberia told him how much his writings had meant to them. However, he rejected the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and moved to the White
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
-held Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, and when his beloved son Sergei, an officer in the Volunteer Army
Volunteer Army
The Volunteer Army was an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920....
who had accepted the Bolsheviks' offer of amnesty and refused to follow P. Wrangel
Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel or Vrangel was an officer in the Imperial Russian army and later commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army in Southern Russia in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.-Life:Wrangel was born in Mukuliai, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire...
into exile in 1920, was seized by Béla Kun
Béla Kun
Béla Kun , born Béla Kohn, was a Hungarian Communist politician and a Bolshevik Revolutionary who led the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.- Early life :...
's Revolutionary Committee in the Crimea and shot without trial, he accepted Bunin's suggestion that he join him in exile in France.
Perhaps the most powerful of Shemelev's writings in emigration is Solntse mertvykh (1923, tr. as The Sun of the Dead in 1927): "In the mosaic of the impressions of the narrator, an elderly intelligent
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
stuck in the Crimea after the evacuation of Wrangel's troops from the peninsula, there pass the fates of the inhabitants of the Crimea—intelligents, workers, peasants—Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
and Russians—men and women, all equally clutched in the vice of hunger and fear of the Terror
Red Terror
The Red Terror in Soviet Russia was the campaign of mass arrests and executions conducted by the Bolshevik government. In Soviet historiography, the Red Terror is described as having been officially announced on September 2, 1918 by Yakov Sverdlov and ended about October 1918...
... Everything gradually dies against the background of the loveliness of nature, on the shore of the azure sea, under the rays of a golden sun—the sun of the dead, because it illuminates an earth on which everything has been eaten, drunk, trampled—on which poultry, animals, and men are all dying". Another important work of his later period is Leto Gospodne [The Summer of the Lord] (1933–48), an autobiographical novel full of lovingly drawn characters and beautifully observed details in which "his style reaches a high level of lyrical and epic contemplation.". The tetralogy from which Shmelev has had time to complete only first two volumes of the novel "The heavenly ways" (1937, 1948) has been conceived. Operation of the third part of the novel should occur in deserts Optinoj where after many shocks and irreplaceable losses its hero finds the sincere world and the higher sense of life begins to see clearly.
Later life
The younger generation of Russian writers, who came of age in exile, sometimes did not appreciate Shmelev's traditionalism and approval of the patriarchal society. Nina BerberovaNina Berberova
Nina Nikolayevna Berberova was a Russian writer who chronicled the lives of Russian exiles in Paris in her short stories and novels. She visited post-Soviet Russia and died in Philadelphia.-Biographical Sketch:...
wrote of a reading in Paris in 1942: "Shmelev read as they read in the provinces before the time of Chekhov: with shouts and muttering, like an actor. He read some old-fashioned stuff, churchy, silly, about religious processions and hearty Russian dishes. The audience was ecstatic and clapped." But his rich prose and his deep roots in Russian culture won him many readers when he was finally published in his homeland. Fifty years after his death, in 2000, the remains of Shmelyov and his wife were transferred from the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery
Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery
Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Cemetery, specifically the one known as Cimetière de Liers, as there are two cemeteries in the city, is a Russian Orthodox cemetery, located on Rue Léo Lagrange in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, département Essonne, France....
to the necropolis of Donskoy Monastery
Donskoy Monastery
Donskoy Monastery is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591 in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from an imminent threat of Khan Kazy-Girey’s invasion...
in Moscow.
English Translations
- The Story Of A Love, Dutton, 1931.
- The Stone Age, Barbary Coast, 1985.
See also
- My Love (2006 film) - a film adaptation of 1927's A Love Story (История любовная, Istoriya lyubovnaya)
External links
- Works (in Russian)
- Biography (in Russian)
- Returning to Russia. Shmelev (in Russian)
- Official Ivan Shmelev page on Facebook (in Russian, English, French, and Polish)