Demyan Bedny facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Demyan Bedny
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| Born | April 13, 1883 Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | May 19, 1945 (aged 62) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Notable awards | Order of Lenin |
Yefim Alekseevich Pridvorov (born April 13, 1883 – died May 25, 1945) was a famous writer from Russia. He was much better known by his pen name, Demyan Bedny. This name means Damian the Poor.
Demyan Bedny was a poet and a satirist. He also worked as a propagandist for the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union. This meant he wrote to support their ideas and goals.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Demyan Bedny was born into a poor family. This happened in a village called Hubivka, which is now part of Ukraine. When he was seven, he moved with his father to Elizavetgrad.
Six years later, he went back to his home village. He lived there with his mother in great poverty. When he was 14, his father helped him get into a medical assistant (feldsher) training college in Kyiv.
After his studies, he spent four years serving in the military. In 1904, he started studying at Petersburg University.
Becoming a Writer and Revolutionary
His time at university was during the 1905 Revolution. This was a time of big changes in Russia. Like many students, Pridvorov strongly supported the revolution.
In 1911, he started publishing his writings in communist newspapers. One of these was Pravda. In 1912, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. This group was also known as the Bolsheviks.
Also in 1911, he published a poem called "Of Demyan Bedny." This poem was so popular that people started calling him by that name. He also began writing letters to Vladimir Lenin. Their friendship lasted for a long time.
His first collection of works was published in 1913. It was called Basni, which means Fables. During World War I, he worked as a medical assistant again and received an award.
Supporting the Soviet Government
Demyan Bedny strongly supported the Bolsheviks. He did this throughout the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War. He wrote many pieces of agitprop (agitation and propaganda) from the front lines.
In 1919, a writer named Arthur Ransome described him. He said Bedny was "fatter than he used to be" because people sent him food. He had a "round face, shrewd laughing eyes, and cynical mouth."
Bedny received important awards for his work. He got the Order of the Red Banner in 1923. Then, he received the Order of Lenin in 1933.
In the 1920s and 1930s, he was very popular. The Soviet government supported him a lot. A town was even renamed Bednodemyanovsk in his honor. He was also the only writer allowed to live in rooms inside the Kremlin.
Later Challenges
Demyan Bedny faced his first big problem in December 1930. Two of his historical poems were criticized by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin asking why.
Stalin wrote back, saying Bedny had insulted the Russian working class. Stalin also did not like a play Bedny wrote in 1932 about the Red Army. He called it "mediocre."
In 1932, Bedny was asked to move out of his Kremlin apartment. He moved to a different place, which he called a "rat's barn." It seems his writings were too critical of Russia's past. Stalin wanted to promote Russian pride.
In 1936, a play by Bedny called The Bogatyrs was criticized. It showed Russia's past and its acceptance of Christianity in a way that was seen as disrespectful.
Bedny tried to get back into favor. He wrote poems that strongly attacked people who were arrested during the Great Purge. For example, he wrote a poem called 'No Mercy' about a famous trial in 1936.
However, in 1938, Bedny lost his membership in the Communist Party. He also lost his place in the Union of Soviet Writers. Stalin did not think his poems were as good as others.
Slowly, he started to regain Stalin's favor during World War II. His poem celebrating the Soviet victory was published in Pravda on May 3, 1945. Demyan Bedny died two weeks later, on May 19.
Interesting Facts
- Bedny had a very large private library. It had over 30,000 books! Stalin sometimes borrowed books from his collection.
- According to Nikita Khrushchev's memories, Demyan Bedny was his favorite poet.
Images for kids
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Demyan Bedny
See also
In Spanish: Demián Bedni para niños
