Marfa Kryukova
Encyclopedia
Marfa Semyonovna Kryukova ' onMouseout='HidePop("80282")' href="/topics/Arkhangelsk_Governorate">Arkhangelsk Governorate
, Russia — January 7, 1954, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa) was a Russia
n folklore
performer and a storyteller
.
Marfa Kryukova was born in a Pomor village of Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa on the White Sea
shore north-east of Arkhangelsk
. Her mother, Agrafena Kryukova
, was known as a storyteller and a folklore performer. In 1899, at the peak of interest in Russia to the Northern folklore, Alexey Markov, then a student, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa and recorded a number of tales and bylina
s from Agrafena and Marfa Kryukova, which he subsequently published. Markov visited the place once more in 1901.
Marfa Kryukova never got married, apparently because she was literate and liked to read books. She lived for most of her life in poverty. After the publications of Markov she was forgotten until 1934, when Vladislav Chuzhimov, a folklore collector, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa. At the time, Agrafena Kryukova was already dead, and Marfa Kryukova was the main person Chuzhimov worked with. Two of the Kryukova's tales were published in the same year, and Anna Astakhova
, a folklorist and an organizer of many folklore collecting expeditions to Arkhangelsk Oblast, wrote an essay on the tales, noticing very rich fine details and improvisations in the tales. In 1937, Astakhova herself visited Nizhnaya Zolotitsa and collected a number of bylinas from Kryukova. In 1939, two-volume edition of bylinas narrated by Kryukova was published. Until 1937, Marfa Kryukova never left her village. In total, Kryukova recorded about 150 bylinas, which include most of known plots.
In 1937, Kryukova was invited to perform to Arkhangelsk
, and subsequently to Moscow
. The Soviet authorities wanted to establish a new genre of folklore, which conformed to the ideological paradigms of the time, and Kryukova was assigned a literary agent, certain Viktorin Popov. Popov suggested Kryukova to write a poem on Vladimir Lenin
and provided necessary biographical details on him. Subsequently, she developed a new genre, novina, which was a kind of bylina written on a topic related to modern history of Soviet Union. Until her death in 1954, Kryukova recorded many novinas, which for the authorities were the most attractive part of her heritage. For these novinas, she got a new house built by the government, she traveled all across the country, and her books were widely publicized. Marfa Kryukova was accepted to the USSR Union of Writers
.
Arkhangelsk Governorate
Archangelsk Governorate was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Arkhangelsk...
, Russia — January 7, 1954, Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa) 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 folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
performer and a storyteller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
.
Marfa Kryukova was born in a Pomor village of Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa on the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
shore north-east of Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
. Her mother, Agrafena Kryukova
Agrafena Kryukova
Agrafena Matveyevna Kryukova was a Russian folklore performer and a storyteller. She was the mother of Marfa Kryukova.Agrafena Kryukova was born as Agrafena Kozhina in Chavanga, a Pomor village on the Tersky Coast, in the south of the Kola Peninsula. She learned bylinas from her mother and her...
, was known as a storyteller and a folklore performer. In 1899, at the peak of interest in Russia to the Northern folklore, Alexey Markov, then a student, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa and recorded a number of tales and bylina
Bylina
Bylina or Bylyna is a traditional Russian oral epic narrative poem. Byliny singers loosely utilize historical fact greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole to create their songs...
s from Agrafena and Marfa Kryukova, which he subsequently published. Markov visited the place once more in 1901.
Marfa Kryukova never got married, apparently because she was literate and liked to read books. She lived for most of her life in poverty. After the publications of Markov she was forgotten until 1934, when Vladislav Chuzhimov, a folklore collector, visited Verkhnyaya Zolotitsa. At the time, Agrafena Kryukova was already dead, and Marfa Kryukova was the main person Chuzhimov worked with. Two of the Kryukova's tales were published in the same year, and Anna Astakhova
Anna Astakhova
Anna Mikhaylovna Astakhova was a Russian scholar notable for her studies of the folklore of the Russian North.Astakhova was born in Kronstadt, close to Saint-Petersburg, in 1886, and graduated from the Women Pedagogical Institute in 1908. Until 1931, she worked as a schoolteacher, from 1931 as a...
, a folklorist and an organizer of many folklore collecting expeditions to Arkhangelsk Oblast, wrote an essay on the tales, noticing very rich fine details and improvisations in the tales. In 1937, Astakhova herself visited Nizhnaya Zolotitsa and collected a number of bylinas from Kryukova. In 1939, two-volume edition of bylinas narrated by Kryukova was published. Until 1937, Marfa Kryukova never left her village. In total, Kryukova recorded about 150 bylinas, which include most of known plots.
In 1937, Kryukova was invited to perform to Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
, and subsequently to 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...
. The Soviet authorities wanted to establish a new genre of folklore, which conformed to the ideological paradigms of the time, and Kryukova was assigned a literary agent, certain Viktorin Popov. Popov suggested Kryukova to write a poem on Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
and provided necessary biographical details on him. Subsequently, she developed a new genre, novina, which was a kind of bylina written on a topic related to modern history of Soviet Union. Until her death in 1954, Kryukova recorded many novinas, which for the authorities were the most attractive part of her heritage. For these novinas, she got a new house built by the government, she traveled all across the country, and her books were widely publicized. Marfa Kryukova was accepted to the USSR Union of Writers
USSR Union of Writers
The USSR Union of Writers, or Union of Soviet Writers was a creative union of professional writers in the USSR. It was founded in 1932 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party after disbanding a number of other writers' organizations: RAPP, Proletkult, and VOAPP.The aim of...
.