Maximilian Voloshin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Maximilian Alexandrovich Kirienko-Voloshin
|
|
|---|---|
Voloshin
|
|
| Born | 28 May 1877 Kiev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) |
| Died | August 11, 1932 (aged 55) Koktebel, USSR |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Literary movement | Symbolist movement |
Maximilian Alexandrovich Kirienko-Voloshin (Russian: Максимилиа́н Алекса́ндрович Кирие́нко-Воло́шин; May 28, 1877 – August 11, 1932), often called Max Voloshin, was a famous Russian poet. He was an important part of the Symbolist movement in Russian art and writing. He became well-known as a poet and a critic who wrote about literature and art. His work appeared in many popular magazines in the early 1900s, like Vesy and Apollon. He also translated many French poems and stories into Russian.
Contents
About Max Voloshin
His Younger Years
Max Voloshin was born in Kiev in 1877. He spent his early childhood in places like Sevastopol and Taganrog. Later, he went to school in the Crimea, where his mother bought some land in Koktebel in 1893.
After finishing high school, Voloshin went to Moscow University. This was a time when many students in Russia were getting involved in social movements. Voloshin took part in these activities, which led to him being asked to leave the university in 1899.
But this didn't stop him! Voloshin kept traveling all over Russia, often walking. In 1900, he even worked on a project to map out the route for the Tashkent Railway.
When he came back to Moscow, Voloshin decided not to go back to the university. Instead, he continued his travels, visiting places like Western Europe, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. His time in Paris and his travels around France had a big impact on him. He returned to Russia feeling very much like a Parisian.
During this time, Russia had many different groups of writers and artists, known as the "Silver Age." Even though Voloshin was friends with many famous people, he often kept to himself. He once wrote in a poem: "In your world, I am a passerby, close to all and yet a stranger to all."
Once, a man damaged a famous painting by Ilya Repin called Ivan the Terrible Killing His Son. Many people were shocked, but Voloshin was the only one who defended the man. Voloshin said it was an artistic statement that fit the painting's style. Voloshin also had a brief relationship that ended, which greatly influenced his writing. Slowly, Voloshin found himself drawn back to Koktebel in the Crimea, where he had spent much of his childhood. His first book of poems came out in 1910, and more followed. His collected essays were published in 1914.
His Life and Work
During World War I, Voloshin was in Switzerland. He wrote very thoughtful poems that explored the sad events happening in Russia at the time. He was known for his humanism, which means he believed in being kind and understanding to all people. He encouraged people "to be a human, not a citizen" during revolutions and "to realize the oneness" during wars. He believed in seeing things from all sides.
Voloshin eventually returned to France and stayed there until 1916. A year before the February Revolution in Russia, he came back home and settled in Koktebel. He lived there for the rest of his life. The Russian Civil War that followed inspired Voloshin to write long poems. These poems connected what was happening in Russia to its ancient, mythical past.
Later, some people criticized Voloshin for not taking a side in the political fight between the "Reds" (Communists) and the "Whites" (anti-Communists). But in reality, he tried to protect people from both sides. His house, which is now a museum, even has a secret hiding place where he kept people whose lives were in danger.
It's said that a poet's work was never so connected to the place where they lived as Voloshin's was. He created a magical world of the Cimmerii (an ancient people) in his pictures and poems. He painted beautiful landscapes of the eastern Crimea. Nature itself seemed to respond to Voloshin's art. If you look west from the Voloshin Museum, there's a mountain that looks a lot like Voloshin's face!
Amazingly, Voloshin survived the Civil War. In the 1920s, he turned his house into a free rest home for writers. He believed that private property was not important. But he still found most of his inspiration from being alone and thinking about nature.
In his later years, he also became known as a talented water-colour painter. Many of his artworks are now in museums around the world, and others are in private collections.
His Lasting Impact
Some people might say that Voloshin's poetry isn't as perfect as that of other famous poets like Boris Pasternak or Anna Akhmatova. But many agree that his poems contain deep ideas and tell us more about Russian history than the works of almost any other poet. Many of Voloshin's thoughts seem to have predicted the future. He once wrote that in a normal country, two groups are outside the law: criminals and the people in charge.
Because of his strong beliefs and deep ideas, Voloshin was not popular with the Soviet government. Not a single one of his poems was published in the USSR from 1928 to 1961. Some people believe that if he hadn't died in 1932, he would have been a victim of the Great Purge, a time when many people were arrested and killed. One of Voloshin's best poems starts with the line: "This is not the first time that, dreaming of freedom, we build a new prison."
Voloshin's small village of Koktebel in Southern-Eastern Crimea inspired much of his poetry. It still remembers its famous poet, who was buried there on a mountain that now carries his name. His "House of a Poet" (now a museum) still attracts people from all over the world. It reminds visitors of the days when Voloshin welcomed countless poets, artists, actors, scientists, and travelers. He is considered one of the most important poets of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. His poems have even been turned into songs and performed by many singers.
The Russian progressive rock band Little Tragedies has created music for three of Voloshin's poems.
His Works
- Deafmute Demons (1923)
- Verses on Terror (1923)
- The Ways Of Cain (1923)
See also
In Spanish: Maksimilián Voloshin para niños
