Vladimir Korolenko
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko (July 27, 1853 – December 25, 1921) was a Ukrainian
-Russia
n short story writer, journalist, human rights
activist and humanitarian. His short stories were known for their harsh description of nature based on his experience of exile in Siberia
. Korolenko was a strong critic of the Tsar
ist regime and in his final years of the Bolshevik
s.
, Volhynian Governorate
, Russian Empire
(now Ukraine
) in 1853, the son of a Cossack
and a district judge. His cousin Vladimir Vernadsky
was the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. He was educated at secondary schools in Zhitomir and Rovno before undertaking tertiary studies at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute
in 1871 and the Moscow College of Agriculture and Forestry in 1874. Korolenko was expelled from both institutions for participating in the revolutionary activities of the Narodnik
s movement. During 1876 he was exiled briefly to Kronstadt
.
Korolenko's first short stories were published in 1879. However, his literary career was interrupted that year when he was arrested for revolutionary activity and exiled to the Vyatka
region for five years. In 1881 he refused to swear allegiance to the new Tsar Alexander III
and was exiled farther, to Yakutia.
Upon his return from the exile, he had more stories published. Makar's Dream (Сон Макара, Son Makara) established his reputation as a writer when it was published in 1885. The story, based on a dying peasant's dream of heaven, was translated and published in English in 1892.
Korolenko settled in Nizhniy Novgorod shortly afterwards and continued publishing popular short stories. He published a novel Слепой музыкант (Slepoi Musykant) in 1886, which was published in English as The Blind Musician in 1896-1898.
After visiting the Chicago exhibition during 1893, Korolenko wrote the story Without Language (Без языка, Bez Yazyka) based on what happens to a Ukrainian peasant who immigrates to the USA. His final story Мгновение (Mgnovenie, "Blink of an Eye"), was published in 1900.
By then, Korolenko was well established amongst Russian writers. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
but resigned in 1902 when Maxim Gorky
was expelled as a member because of his revolutionary activities. (Anton Chekhov
resigned from the Academy for the same reason).
in 1904.
Vladimir Korolenko was a lifetime opponent of Czarism and reservedly welcomed the Russian Revolution of 1917
. However, he soon opposed the Bolsheviks as their despotic nature became evident. During the Russian Civil War
that ensued, he criticised both Red Terror
and White Terror.
He worked on an autobiography История моего современника (Istoria moego sovremenika The History of My Contemporary.
Korolenko advocated for human rights
and against injustices and persecutions on the basis of social class
by his essay В Голодный год (During The Starving Year, 1891–1892), nationalism
in his article Мултанское дело (The Multanskoye Affair, 1895–1896), and criticised the anti-Semitic Beilis trial (in his Call to the Russian People in regard to the blood libel
of the Jews, 1911–1913).
He died in Poltava
in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 25, 1921.
due to his admiration of Korolenko's work.
A minor planet
3835 Korolenko
, discovered by Soviet
astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh
in 1977 is named for him.
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
-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 short story writer, journalist, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist and humanitarian. His short stories were known for their harsh description of nature based on his experience of exile in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Korolenko was a strong critic of the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
ist regime and in his final years of the 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....
s.
Early life
Korolenko was born in ZhitomirZhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
, Volhynian Governorate
Volhynian Governorate
Volhynian Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit initially of the Russian Empire, created in 1792 after the Second Partition of Poland from the territory of the Kiev Voivodeship and Wołyń Voivodeship...
, 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...
(now 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...
) in 1853, the son of a Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
and a district judge. His cousin Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was a Russian/Ukrainian and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and of radiogeology. His ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to Russian cosmism. He also worked in Ukraine where he...
was the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. He was educated at secondary schools in Zhitomir and Rovno before undertaking tertiary studies at the Saint Petersburg Technological Institute
Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology
Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Russia , it currently trains around 5000 students.-History:...
in 1871 and the Moscow College of Agriculture and Forestry in 1874. Korolenko was expelled from both institutions for participating in the revolutionary activities of the Narodnik
Narodnik
Narodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...
s movement. During 1876 he was exiled briefly to Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
.
Literary career 1879-1900
Kirov, Kirov Oblast
Kirov , formerly known as Vyatka and Khlynov, is a city in northeastern European Russia, on the Vyatka River, and the administrative center of Kirov Oblast. Population: -History:...
region for five years. In 1881 he refused to swear allegiance to the new Tsar Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
and was exiled farther, to Yakutia.
Upon his return from the exile, he had more stories published. Makar's Dream (Сон Макара, Son Makara) established his reputation as a writer when it was published in 1885. The story, based on a dying peasant's dream of heaven, was translated and published in English in 1892.
Korolenko settled in Nizhniy Novgorod shortly afterwards and continued publishing popular short stories. He published a novel Слепой музыкант (Slepoi Musykant) in 1886, which was published in English as The Blind Musician in 1896-1898.
After visiting the Chicago exhibition during 1893, Korolenko wrote the story Without Language (Без языка, Bez Yazyka) based on what happens to a Ukrainian peasant who immigrates to the USA. His final story Мгновение (Mgnovenie, "Blink of an Eye"), was published in 1900.
By then, Korolenko was well established amongst Russian writers. He was a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
but resigned in 1902 when 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:...
was expelled as a member because of his revolutionary activities. (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...
resigned from the Academy for the same reason).
Journalist 1895-1921
In 1895, Korolenko became the editor of the periodical Russkoe Bogatstvo (Russian Wealth) and used this position to criticise alleged injustices occurring under the tsar. He also used his position to publish reviews of important pieces of literature such as Chekhov's final play The Cherry OrchardThe Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
in 1904.
Vladimir Korolenko was a lifetime opponent of Czarism and reservedly welcomed the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
. However, he soon opposed the Bolsheviks as their despotic nature became evident. During the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
that ensued, he criticised both Red 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...
and White Terror.
He worked on an autobiography История моего современника (Istoria moego sovremenika The History of My Contemporary.
Korolenko advocated for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and against injustices and persecutions on the basis of social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
by his essay В Голодный год (During The Starving Year, 1891–1892), nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
in his article Мултанское дело (The Multanskoye Affair, 1895–1896), and criticised the anti-Semitic Beilis trial (in his Call to the Russian People in regard to the blood libel
Blood libel
Blood libel is a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays...
of the Jews, 1911–1913).
He died in Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 25, 1921.
Ongoing influence
Korolenko is generally considered to be a major Russian writer of the late 19th century and early 20th century. Russian singer and literature student Pavel Lion (now Ph.D.) adopted his stage name Psoy KorolenkoPsoy Korolenko
Psoy Galaktionovich Korolenko is a pseudonym of a Russian Jewish song writer and performer by the name of Pavel Eduardovich Lion . At the same time Pavel Lion is a slavist with a Ph.D...
due to his admiration of Korolenko's work.
A minor planet
Minor planet
An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
3835 Korolenko
3835 Korolenko
3835 Korolenko is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 23, 1977 by Nikolai Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory.- External links :*...
, discovered by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh
Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh
Nikolay Stepanovich Chernykh was a Soviet and Russian astronomer.Chernykh was born in the city of Usman' in Voronezh Oblast...
in 1977 is named for him.
Written works
The following is a list of Korolenko's most notable writings:- Son Makara (1885) translated as Makar's Dream (1891);
- Slepoi Muzykant (1886) translated as The Blind Musician (1896–1898);
- V durnom obshchestve (1885) translated as In Bad Company (1916);
- Les Shumit translated as The Murmuring Forest (1916);
- Reka igraet (1892) The River Sparkles;
- Za Ikonoi After the Icon
- Bez Yazyka (1895) or Without Language;
- Mgnovenie (1900) or Blink of an Eye;
- Siberian Tales 1901;
- Istoria moego sovremmenika or The History of My Contemporary an autobiography (1905–1921)
Quotes
- "Человек создан для счастья, как птица для полета, только счастье не всегда создано для него." (Human beings are to happiness like birds are to flight, but happiness is not always for them.) (Paradox)
- "Насилие питается покорностью, как огонь соломой." (Violence feeds on submission like fire feeds on dry grass.) (Story about Flora, Agrippina and Menachem)
- "Лучше даже злоупотребления свободой, чем ее отсутствие." (It is better to abuse freedom than to have none.)
Footnotes
Korolenko's articles and Call to the Russian People in regard to the Beilis TrialExternal links
- Answers.com resources on Korolenko
- Student Encyclopedia article
- The 2-Hryvna coin dedicated to Korolenko (National Bank of Ukraine)
- Life of Korolenko by Rosa LuxemburgRosa LuxemburgRosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
- Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko, 1853-1921 Published in Reference Guide to Russian Literature (1998)