Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat (Penza province) in a poor family of a petty official.

1871 was a difficult year in Kuprin's biography - his father died, and the impoverished family moved to Moscow.

Education and the beginning of a creative path

At the age of six, Kuprin was sent to the class of the Moscow Orphan School, from which he left in 1880. After that, Alexander Ivanovich studied at the military academy, the Alexander Military School. The training time is described in such works by Kuprin as: “At the Turning Point (Cadets)”, “Junkers”. "The Last Debut" - the first published story of Kuprin (1889).

Since 1890 he was a second lieutenant in an infantry regiment. During the service, many essays, stories, novels were published: "Inquiry", "Moonlight Night", "In the Dark".

The heyday of creativity

Four years later, Kuprin retired. After that, the writer travels a lot around Russia, trying himself in different professions. During this time, Alexander Ivanovich met Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky.

Kuprin builds his stories of those times on life impressions gleaned during his travels.

Kuprin's short stories cover many topics: military, social, love. The story "Duel" (1905) brought Alexander Ivanovich real success. Love in Kuprin's work is most vividly described in the story "Olesya" (1898), which was the first major and one of his most beloved works, and the story of unrequited love - "Garnet Bracelet" (1910).

Alexander Kuprin also liked to write stories for children. For children's reading he wrote the works "Elephant", "Starlings", "White Poodle" and many others.

Emigration and the last years of life

For Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, life and work are inseparable. Not accepting the policy of war communism, the writer emigrates to France. Even after emigration in the biography of Alexander Kuprin, the writer's ardor does not subside, he writes novels, short stories, many articles and essays. Despite this, Kuprin lives in material need and yearns for his homeland. Only 17 years later he returns to Russia. At the same time, the last essay of the writer is published - the work "Moscow dear".

After a serious illness, Kuprin died on August 25, 1938. The writer was buried at the Volkovskoye cemetery in Leningrad, next to the grave

(August 26, old style) 1870 in the city of Narovchat, Penza province, in the family of a petty official. The father died when the son was in his second year.

In 1874, his mother, who came from an ancient family of Tatar princes Kulanchakov, moved to Moscow. From the age of five, due to severe financial situation the boy was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky orphanage, famous for its harsh discipline.

In 1888, Alexander Kuprin graduated from the cadet corps, in 1890 - Alexandrovskoye military school in the rank of lieutenant.

After graduating from college, he was enrolled in the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment and sent to serve in the city of Proskurov (now Khmelnitsky, Ukraine).

In 1893, Kuprin went to St. Petersburg to enter the Academy of the General Staff, but was not allowed to take exams due to a scandal in Kiev, when he threw a tipsy bailiff overboard, insulting a waitress, in a barge restaurant on the Dnieper.

In 1894 Kuprin left military service. He traveled a lot in the south of Russia and Ukraine, tried himself in various fields of activity: he was a loader, a storekeeper, a forest ranger, a land surveyor, a reader, a proofreader, an estate manager and even a dentist.

The first story of the writer "The Last Debut" was published in 1889 in the Moscow "Russian satirical sheet".

Army life is described by him in the stories of 1890-1900 "From the Distant Past" ("Inquiry"), "Lilac Bush", "Accommodation", "Night Shift", "Army Ensign", "Campaign".

Kuprin's early essays were published in Kyiv in the collections Kyiv Types (1896) and Miniatures (1897). In 1896, the story "Moloch" was published, which brought wide fame to the young author. This was followed by The Night Shift (1899) and a number of other stories.

During these years, Kuprin met the writers Ivan Bunin, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky.

In 1901 Kuprin settled in St. Petersburg. For some time he was in charge of the fiction department of the Journal for All, then he became an employee of the World of God magazine and the Knowledge publishing house, which published the first two volumes of Kuprin's works (1903, 1906).

Into history domestic literature Alexander Kuprin entered as the author of the stories and novels "Olesya" (1898), "Duel" (1905), "Pit" (part 1 - 1909, part 2 - 1914-1915).

He is also known as a major storyteller. Among his works in this genre are "In the Circus", "Swamp" (both 1902), "Coward", "Horse Thieves" (both 1903), "Peaceful Life", "Measles" (both 1904), "Staff Captain Rybnikov "(1906), "Gambrinus", "Emerald" (both 1907), "Shulamith" (1908), " Garnet bracelet"(1911), "Listrigons" (1907-1911), "Black Lightning" and "Anathema" (both 1913).

In 1912, Kuprin made a trip to France and Italy, the impressions of which were reflected in the cycle of travel essays "Cote d'Azur".

During this period, he actively mastered new, previously unknown types of activities - he went up in a balloon, flew an airplane (almost ended tragically), went down under water in a diving suit.

In 1917, Kuprin worked as the editor of the Svobodnaya Rossiya newspaper, published by the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party. From 1918 to 1919, the writer worked at the World Literature publishing house, created by Maxim Gorky.

After coming to Gatchina (St. Petersburg), where he lived since 1911, the White troops, he edited the newspaper "Prinevsky Territory", published by Yudenich's headquarters.

In the autumn of 1919 he emigrated with his family abroad, where he spent 17 years, mainly in Paris.

During his emigre years, Kuprin published several collections of prose "The Dome of St. Isaac of Dolmatsky", "Elan", "Wheel of Time", the novels "Janeta", "Junker".

Living in exile, the writer was in poverty, suffering from both lack of demand and isolation from his native soil.

In May 1937, Kuprin returned with his wife to Russia. By this time he was already seriously ill. Soviet newspapers published interviews with the writer and his journalistic essay "Moscow dear".

On August 25, 1938, he died in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) from cancer of the esophagus. He was buried at the Literary bridges of the Volkov cemetery.

Alexander Kuprin was married twice. In 1901, his first wife was Maria Davydova (Kuprina-Iordanskaya), the adopted daughter of the publisher of the magazine "World of God". She subsequently married a magazine editor" Modern world"(who replaced the" World of God "), the publicist Nikolai Jordansky, and she herself worked in journalism. In 1960, her book of memoirs about Kuprin," Years of Youth ", was published.

In literature, the name of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is associated with an important transitional stage at the turn of two centuries. Not the last role in this was played by a historical breakdown in the political and public life Russia. This factor undoubtedly had the strongest influence on the writer's work. A. I. Kuprin is a man of unusual fate and strong character. Almost all of his works are based on real events. An ardent fighter for justice sharply, boldly and at the same time lyrically created his masterpieces, which were included in the golden fund of Russian literature.

Kuprin was born in 1870 in the town of Narovchat, Penza province. His father, a small landowner, died suddenly when the future writer was only a year old. Left with his mother and two sisters, he grew up enduring hunger and all sorts of hardships. Experiencing serious financial difficulties associated with the death of her husband, the mother placed her daughters in a government boarding school, and together with little Sasha moved to Moscow.

Kuprin's mother, Lyubov Alekseevna, was a proud woman, as she was a descendant of a noble Tatar family, as well as a native Muscovite. But she had to make a difficult decision for herself - to give her son up for education in an orphanage school.

Kuprin's childhood years, spent within the walls of the boarding house, were bleak, and internal state always seemed depressed. He felt out of place, felt bitterness from the constant oppression of his personality. Indeed, given the origin of the mother, which the boy was always very proud of, the future writer, as he grew up and became, showed himself as an emotional, active and charismatic person.

Youth and education

After graduating from the orphan school, Kuprin entered a military gymnasium, which was later transformed into a cadet corps.

This event had a significant impact on further fate Alexander Ivanovich and, first of all, on his work. After all, it was from the beginning of his studies at the gymnasium that he first revealed an interest in writing, and the image of Lieutenant Romashov from the famous story “Duel” is the prototype of the author himself.

Service in an infantry regiment allowed Kuprin to visit many remote cities and provinces of Russia, to study military affairs, the basics of army discipline and drill. The theme of officer everyday life has taken a strong position in many works of art the author, which subsequently caused controversial disputes in society.

It would seem that a military career is the fate of Alexander Ivanovich. But his rebellious nature did not allow this to materialize. By the way, the service was completely alien to him. There is a version that Kuprin, being under the influence of alcohol, threw a police officer off the bridge into the water. In connection with this incident, he soon retired and left military affairs forever.

History of success

Leaving the service, Kuprin experienced an urgent need to obtain comprehensive knowledge. Therefore, he began to actively travel around Russia, get to know people, draw from communication with them a lot of new and useful things for himself. At the same time, Alexander Ivanovich sought to try his hand at various professions. He gained experience in the field of surveyors, circus artists, anglers, even pilots. However, one of the flights almost ended in tragedy: as a result of the plane crash, Kuprin almost died.

He also worked with interest as a journalist in various print media, wrote notes, essays, articles. The vein of an adventurer allowed him to successfully develop everything he started. He was open to everything new and absorbed what was happening around him like a sponge. Kuprin was a researcher by nature: he eagerly studied human nature, wanted to experience all the facets of interpersonal communication for himself. Therefore, during the time military service, faced with obvious officer promiscuity, hazing and humiliation human dignity, the creator, in a revealing manner, formed the basis for writing his most famous works, such as "Duel", "Junkers", "At the Turn (Cadets)".

The writer built the plots of all his works, relying solely on personal experience and memories received by him during his service and travels around Russia. Openness, simplicity, sincerity of the presentation of thoughts, as well as the reliability of the description of the images of the characters became the key to the author's success in the literary path.

Creation

Kuprin wholeheartedly yearned for his people, and his explosive and honest nature, due to the Tatar origin of his mother, would not allow him to distort in writing those facts about the life of people whom he personally witnessed.

However, Alexander Ivanovich did not condemn all of his characters, even bringing their dark sides to the surface. Being a humanist and a desperate fighter for justice, Kuprin figuratively demonstrated this feature of his in the work "The Pit". It tells about the life of the inhabitants of brothels. But the writer does not focus on the heroines as fallen women, on the contrary, he invites readers to understand the prerequisites for their fall, in the torment of their hearts and souls, he offers to see in every whore, first of all, a person.

More than one of Kuprin's works is saturated with the theme of love. The most striking of them is the story "". In it, as in "The Pit", there is an image of a narrator, an explicit or implicit participant in the events described. But the narrator in Oles is one of the two main characters. This is a story about noble love, partly the heroine considers herself unworthy of it, whom everyone takes for a witch. However, the girl has nothing to do with her. On the contrary, her image embodies all possible female virtues. The ending of the story cannot be called happy, because the characters do not reunite in their sincere impulse, but are forced to lose each other. But happiness lies for them in the fact that they had a chance in life to experience the power of all-consuming mutual love.

Of course, the story "Duel" deserves special attention as a reflection of all the horrors of army customs that reigned then in tsarist Russia. This is a vivid confirmation of the features of realism in the work of Kuprin. Perhaps that is why the story caused a flurry negative reviews critics and the public. The hero of Romashov, in the same rank of second lieutenant as Kuprin himself, who once retired, like the author, appears before readers in the light of an extraordinary personality, whose psychological growth we have the opportunity to observe from page to page. This book brought wide fame to its creator and rightfully occupies one of the central places in his bibliography.

Kuprin did not support the revolution in Russia, although at first he met quite often with Lenin. Ultimately, the writer emigrated to France, where he continued his literary work. In particular, Alexander Ivanovich liked to write for children. Some of his stories ("White Poodle", "", "Starlings") undoubtedly deserve the attention of the target audience.

Personal life

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was married twice. The first wife of the writer was Maria Davydova, the daughter of a famous cellist musician. In marriage, a daughter, Lydia, was born, who later died during her birth. The only grandson of Kuprin, who was born, died from wounds received during the Second World War.

The second time the writer married Elizabeth Heinrich, with whom he lived until the end of his days. The marriage produced two daughters, Zinaida and Xenia. But the first one died early childhood from pneumonia, and the second became a famous actress. However, the continuation of the Kuprin family did not follow, and today he has no direct descendants.

The second wife of Kuprin survived him by only four years and, unable to withstand the ordeal of hunger during the siege of Leningrad, committed suicide.

1. Kuprin was proud of his Tatar origin, so he often put on a national caftan and skullcap, going out in such attire to people, went to visit.
2. Partly thanks to his acquaintance with I. A. Bunin, Kuprin became a writer. Bunin once turned to him with a request to write a note on a topic of interest to him, which marked the beginning literary activity Alexander Ivanovich.
3. The author was famous for his sense of smell. Once, while visiting Fyodor Chaliapin, he shocked everyone present, overshadowing the invited perfumer with his unique flair, unmistakably recognizing all the components of the new fragrance. Sometimes, when meeting new people, Alexander Ivanovich sniffed them, thereby putting everyone in an awkward position. It was said that this helped him better understand the essence of the person in front of him.
4. Throughout his life, Kuprin changed about twenty professions.
5. After meeting A. P. Chekhov in Odessa, the writer went to St. Petersburg at his invitation to work in a well-known magazine. Since then, the author has acquired a reputation as a brawler and drunkard, as he often took part in entertainment events in a new environment for himself.
6. The first wife, Maria Davydova, tried to eradicate some disorganization inherent in Alexander Ivanovich. If he fell asleep during work, she deprived him of breakfast, or forbade him to enter the house if the new chapters of the work on which he was working at that time were not ready.
7. The first monument to A.I. Kuprin was erected only in 2009 in Balaklava in the Crimea. This is due to the fact that in 1905, during the Ochakov uprising of sailors, the writer helped them hide, thereby saving their lives.
8. There were legends about the drunkenness of the writer. In particular, the wits repeated famous saying: "If the truth is in wine, how many truths are there in Kuprin?".

Death

The writer returned from emigration to the USSR in 1937, but already in poor health. He had hopes that a second wind would open in his homeland, he would improve his condition and be able to write again. At that time, Kuprin's vision was rapidly deteriorating.

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Talented writer. Genus. in 1870. He was brought up in Moscow, in the 2nd cadet corps and the military Alexander School. He began to write as a cadet; his first work ("The Last Debut") was published in the Moscow humorous ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Kuprin, Alexander Ivanovich- Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. KUPRIN Alexander Ivanovich (1870-1938), Russian writer. From 1919 in exile, in 1937 he returned to his homeland. IN early works showed the lack of freedom of man as a fatal social evil (the story Moloch, 1896). Social… … Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Talented writer. Born in August 1870 in the Penza province; by mother comes from the family of the Tatar princes Kolonchaki. He studied at the 2nd Cadet Corps and the Alexander Military School. He began to write as a cadet; his first story... Biographical Dictionary

Russian writer. Born in the family of a poor official. He spent 10 years in closed military schools, 4 years he served in an infantry regiment in the Podolsk province. In 1894 ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich- (18701938), writer. In 1901 he settled in St. Petersburg. He was in charge of the fiction department at the Magazine for Everyone. In 1902 07 he lived on Razyezzhaya Street, 7, where the editorial office of the journal “God's World” was located, in which Kuprin edited for some time ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

- (1870 1938), Russian. writer. Perceived the poetry of L. as one of the brightest and brightest phenomena in Russian. culture of the 19th century About K.'s attitude to L.'s prose is evidenced by his letter to F. F. Pullman dated 31 Aug. 1924: "Do you know that the cutters of precious ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia

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- (1870 1938), writer. In 1901 he settled in St. Petersburg. He was in charge of the fiction department at the Magazine for Everyone. In 1902 07 he lived at 7 Razyezzhaya Street, which housed the editorial office of the journal God's World, in which K. edited for some time ... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

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Books

• Alexander Kuprin. Complete collection of novels and short stories in one volume, Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich. 1216 pages. All the novels and stories of the famous Russian writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, written by him in Russia and in exile, are collected in one volume. ...
• Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Collection, A. I. Kuprin. Alexander Kuprin lived an unusually varied life, which is reflected in his works. A recognized master of the laconic genre, he left us such masterpieces as "Garnet Bracelet", "In…

Kuprin Alexander Ivanovich (1870 - 1938)

"We should be grateful to Kuprin for everything - for his deep humanity, for his finest talent, for his love for his country, for his unshakable faith in the happiness of his people, and, finally, for the ability that never died in him to light up from the slightest contact with poetry and free and leto write about it."

K. G. Paustovsky

Kuprin Alexander Ivanovichwas bornSeptember 7 in the city of Narovchat, Penza province, in the family of a petty official who died a year after the birth of his son. Mother (from the ancient family of the Tatar princes Kulanchakov) after the death of her husband moved to Moscow, where the future writer spent his childhood and youth. At the age of six, the boy was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school (orphan), from where he left in 1880. In the same year he entered the Moscow Military Academy, transformed into the Cadet Corps,after which he continued his military education at the Alexander Cadet School (1888 - 90) " military youth"is described in the stories "At the Break (Cadets)" and in the novel "Junkers". Already then he dreamed of becoming a "poet or novelist."Kuprin's first literary experience was the remaining unpublished poems. Firstth story "The Last Debut" was published in 1889.

In 1890, after graduating from a military school, Kuprin, with the rank of second lieutenant, was enrolled in an infantry regiment stationed in the Podolsk province. The life of an officer, which he led for four years, provided rich material for his future works. In 1893 - 1894 in the St. Petersburg magazine "Russian wealth" his story "In the Dark" and the stories "Moonlight Night" and "Inquiry" were published. A series of stories is dedicated to the life of the Russian army: "Overnight" (1897), "Night Shift" (1899), "Campaign". In 1894 Kuprin retired and moved to Kyiv, having no civilian profession and little life experience. traveled a lot around Russia, tried many professions, eagerly absorbed life experiences that formed the basis of future works.

In the 1890s he published the essay "Yuzovsky Plant" and the story "Moloch", the stories "Forest Wilderness", "The Werewolf", the stories "Olesya" and "Kat" ("Army Ensign").During these years, Kuprin met Bunin, Chekhov and Gorky. In 1901 he moved to St. Petersburg, began working as a secretary for the Journal for All, married M. Davydova, and had a daughter, Lydia.

Kuprin's stories appeared in St. Petersburg magazines: "Swamp" (1902); "Horse Thieves" (1903); "White Poodle" (1904). In 1905, his most significant work, the story "Duel", was published, which was a great success. The writer's speeches with the reading of individual chapters of the "Duel" became an event in the cultural life of the capital. His works of this time were very well-behaved: the essay "Events in Sevastopol" (1905), the stories "Staff Captain Rybnikov" (1906), "The River of Life", "Gambrinus" (1907). In 1907 he married a second marriage to sister of mercy E. Heinrich, daughter Ksenia was born.

Kuprin's work in the years between the two revolutions opposed the decadent moods of those years: the cycle of essays "Listrigons" (1907 - 11), stories about animals, the stories "Shulamith", "Garnet Bracelet" (1911). His prose became a prominent phenomenon in Russian literature at the beginning of the century.

After the October Revolution, the writer did not accept the policy of war communism, the "Red Terror", he experienced fear for the fate of Russian culture. In 1918 he came to Lenin with a proposal to publish a newspaper for the village - "Earth". At one time he worked in the publishing house "World Literature", founded by Gorky.

In the autumn of 1919, while in Gatchina, cut off from Petrograd by Yudenich's troops, he emigrated abroad. The seventeen years that the writer spent in Paris were an unproductive period. Constant material need, homesickness led him to the decision to return to Russia.

In the spring of 1937, the seriously ill Kuprin returned to his homeland, warmly welcomed by his admirers. Published an essay "Moscow dear". However, new creative plans were not destined to come true.

It is rather difficult to write about Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin and at the same time it is easy. Easy because I know his works since childhood. And who among us does not know them? A capricious, sick girl, demanding an elephant to visit, a wonderful doctor who fed two chilled boys on a cold night and saved an entire family from death; the knight from the fairy tale "Blue Star" who is immortally in love with the princess...

Or the poodle Artaud, making incredible cubrets in the air, to the sonorous commands of the boy Seryozha; cat Yu - yu, gracefully sleeping under the newspaper. How memorable, from childhood and from childhood all this, with what skill, how convex - easily written! It's like flying! Childishly - directly, lively, brightly. And even in tragic moments, bright notes of love of life and hope resound in these ingenuous narrations.

Something childish, surprised, always, almost to the very end, to death, lived in this big and overweight man with clearly defined oriental cheekbones and a slightly cunning squint of his eyes.

Svetlana Makorenko

On September 6 and 7, Penza and Narovchat will host the XXVIII Kuprinskiy literary holiday and debriefing XII creative competition"Garnet bracelet".

COMMANDMENTSKUPRINA

"1. If you want to portray something ... first imagine it quite clearly: color, smell, taste, position of the figure, facial expression ... Find figurative, unused words, best of all unexpected. Give me a juicy perception of what you have seen, and if you do not know how to see yourself, put down your pen ...

6. Do not be afraid of old stories, but approach them in a completely new way, unexpectedly. Show people and things your way, you are a writer. Do not be afraid of your real self, be sincere, do not invent anything, but give it as you hear and see.

9. Know what you actually want to say, what you love and what you hate. Carry out the plot in yourself, get used to it ... Go and see, get used to it, listen, take part yourself. Never write from your head.

10. Work! Do not be sorry to cross out, work hard. Sick with your writing, criticize mercilessly, do not read unfinished work to friends, be afraid of their praise, do not consult with anyone. And most importantly, work while living ... Stop worrying, take up the pen and then again do not give yourself rest until you achieve what you need. Strive hard, mercilessly."

The "Commandments", according to V. N. Afanasyev, were expressed by Kuprin at a meeting with one young author, and years later, reproduced by this author in the "Women's Journal" for 1927.

But, perhaps, the main commandment of Kuprin, left to posterity, is love for life, for what is interesting and beautiful in it: for sunsets and dawns, for the smells of meadow grass and forest preli, for a child and an old man, for a horse and a dog , to a pure feeling and a good joke, to birch forests and pine groves, to birds and fish, to snow, rain and hurricanes, to bells and a balloon, to freedom from attachment to perishable treasures. And a complete rejection of everything that disfigures and stains a person.