home → About children M a osorgin biography by year. Mikhail Osorgin short biography

M a osorgin biography by year. Mikhail Osorgin short biography

Citizenship:

Russian empire →
USSR

Occupation:

novelist, journalist

Years of creativity: Genre:

stories, stories, essays

Works on the website Lib.ru

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin, real name Ilyin(October 7 () - November 27) - Russian writer, journalist, essayist.

Biography

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin; present fam. Ilyin was born in Perm - into a family of hereditary pillar nobles. He took the surname “Osorgin” from his grandmother. Father A.F. Ilyin is a lawyer, a participant in the judicial reform of Alexander II, brother Sergei (died in 1912) was a local journalist and poet.

While studying at the gymnasium, he published an obituary for his class teacher in the Perm Provincial Gazette, and published the story “Father” in the “Magazine for Everyone” under the pseudonym Permyak (1896). From then on I considered myself a writer. After successful completion gymnasium, he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. During his student years, he continued to publish in Ural newspapers and acted as a permanent employee of the Perm Provincial Gazette. He took part in student unrest and was exiled from Moscow to Perm for a year. After completing his education (1902), he became an assistant to a sworn attorney in the Moscow Court Chamber and at the same time a sworn solicitor at a commercial court, a guardian in an orphan's court, a legal adviser to the Society of Merchant Clerks and a member of the Society for the Care of the Poor. At the same time he wrote the book “Workers' Compensation for Accidents.”

Critical of the autocracy, a stalwart nobleman by birth, an intellectual by occupation, a frontier and anarchist by character, Osorgin joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1904. He was attracted by their interest in the peasantry and the land, by the populist traditions - to respond to violence with violence, to the suppression of freedom - with terror, not excluding individual ones. In addition, socialist revolutionaries valued personal unselfishness, high moral principles and condemned careerism. Meetings of the Moscow party committee were held in his apartment, and terrorists were hiding. Osorgin did not take an active part in the revolution, but was involved in its preparation. He himself later wrote that in the Socialist Revolutionary Party he was “an insignificant pawn, an ordinary excited intellectual, more of a spectator than a participant.” During the revolution of 1905-1907, appearances were organized in his Moscow apartment and dacha, meetings of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Committee were held, appeals were edited and printed, and party documents were discussed. Participated in the Moscow armed uprising of 1905.

In December 1905, Osorgin, mistaken for a dangerous “barricadist,” was arrested and spent six months in Tagansk prison, then released on bail. He immediately left for Finland, and from there - through Denmark, Germany, Switzerland - to Italy and settled near Genoa, in the Villa Maria, where an emigrant commune was formed. The first exile lasted 10 years. The literary result was the book “Essays on Modern Italy” (1913).

Special attention The writer was attracted to futurism. He was sympathetic to the early, determined futurists. Osorgin's work in Italian futurism had a significant resonance in Russia. They trusted him as a brilliant expert on Italy, they listened to his judgments. [Literature of the Russian Abroad (1920-1990): textbook/ed. A.I. Smirnova. M., 2006 - P.246-247]

In 1913, in order to marry seventeen-year-old Rachel (Rose) Ginzberg, daughter of Ahad Ha-Am, converted to Judaism (the marriage subsequently broke up).

From Italy he traveled twice to the Balkans and traveled through Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia. In 1911 Osorgin announced in print his departure from the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and in 1914 he became a Freemason. He asserted the supremacy of the highest ethical principles over party interests, recognizing only the blood connection of all living things, even exaggerating the importance of the biological factor in human life. In relations with people, he placed above all not the coincidence of ideological beliefs, but human closeness based on nobility, independence and selflessness. Contemporaries who knew Osorgin well (for example, B. Zaitsev, M. Aldanov) emphasized these qualities of his, not forgetting to mention his soft, subtle soul, about artistry and grace of appearance.

With the outbreak of World War I, Osorgin became very homesick for Russia. Although he did not stop ties with his homeland (he was a foreign correspondent for Russian Vedomosti and published in magazines, for example, in Vestnik Evropy), it was more difficult to carry them out. Semi-legally returns to Russia in July 1916, having passed through France, England, Norway and Sweden. From August 1916 he lived in Moscow. One of the organizers of the All-Russian Union of Journalists and its chairman (since 1917) and fellow chairman of the Moscow branch of the Writers' Union. Employee of "Russian Vedomosti".

Together with his longtime friend N. Berdyaev, he opens a famous bookstore in Moscow, which for a long time became a haven for the intelligentsia during the years of post-war devastation.

In 1921, Osorgin was arrested and exiled to Kazan.

In the fall of 1922, with a group of opposition-minded representatives of the domestic intelligentsia (such as N. Berdyaev, N. Lossky and others) he was expelled from the USSR. Trotsky, in an interview with a foreign correspondent, put it this way: “We deported these people because there was no reason to shoot them, but it was impossible to tolerate them.”

From the “Resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on approval of the list of intellectuals expelled from Russia”:

57. Osorgin Mikhail Andreevich. The right-wing cadet is undoubtedly anti-Soviet. Employee of "Russian Vedomosti". Editor of the newspaper "Prokukisha". His books are published in Latvia and Estonia. There is reason to think that he maintains contact with abroad. Commission with the participation of Comrade Bogdanov and others for the expulsion.

Osorgin's emigrant life began in Berlin, where he spent a year. In 1923 he finally settled in Paris. He published his works in the newspapers “Days” and “Last News”.

Osorgin's life in exile was difficult: he became an opponent of all and any political doctrines, valued freedom above all else, and emigration was very politicized.

The writer Osorgin became famous in Russia, but fame came to him in exile, where his best books. “Sivtsev Vrazhek” (1928), “The Tale of a Sister” (1931), “Witness to History” (1932), “The Book of Ends” (1935), “Freemason” (1937), “The Tale of a Certain Maiden” (1938 ), collections of stories “Where I Was Happy” (1928), “Miracle on the Lake” (1931), “Incidents of the Green World” (1938), memoirs “Times” (1955).

He retained Soviet citizenship until 1937, after which he lived without a passport and did not receive French citizenship.

Since the beginning of World War II, Osorgin's life has changed dramatically. In June 1940, after the German offensive and the occupation of part of French territory, Osorgin and his wife fled Paris. They settled in Chabris, on the bank of the Cher River that was not occupied by the Germans. There Osorgin wrote the book “In a quiet place in France (1940) and “Letters about insignificant things” (published in 1952). They showed his talent as a perspicacious observer and publicist. Having condemned the war, the writer reflected on the death of culture, warned about the danger of humanity returning to Middle Ages, mourned the irreparable damage that could be caused to spiritual values. At the same time, he firmly stood for the human right to personal freedom. In “Letters on Insignificant Things,” the writer foresaw a new catastrophe: “When the war ends,” Osorgin wrote, “the whole world will suffer.” will prepare for a new war."

The writer died and was buried in the same city.

Creation

In 1928, Osorgin created his most famous chronicle novel, Sivtsev Vrazhek. At the center of the work is the story of an old retired professor of ornithology, Ivan Alexandrovich, and his granddaughter Tatyana, who is turning from a little girl into a bride. The chronicle nature of the narrative is manifested in the fact that events are not arranged in one storyline, but simply follow each other. Center artistic structure Romana - a house on an old Moscow street. The house of an ornithologist professor is a microcosm, similar in its structure to the macrocosm - the Universe and the Solar system. It also has its own little sun burning - a table lamp in the old man’s office. In the novel, the writer sought to show the relativity of the great and the insignificant in existence. The existence of the world is ultimately determined for Osorgin by the mysterious, impersonal and non-moral play of cosmological and biological forces. For the earth, the driving, life-giving force is the Sun.

All of Osorgin’s work was permeated by two sincere thoughts: a passionate love for nature, close attention to everything living on earth and attachment to the world of ordinary, imperceptible things. The first idea formed the basis of essays published in " Latest news"signed "Everyman" and compiled the book "Incidents of the Green World" (Sofia, 1938). The essays are characterized by deep drama: on a foreign land the author turned from a “lover of nature” into a “garden eccentric”; the protest against technotronic civilization was combined with a powerless protest against exile. The embodiment of the second thought was bibliophilia and collecting. Osorgin collected a rich collection of Russian publications, which he introduced to the reader in the series “Notes of an Old Book-Eater” (Oct. 1928 - Jan. 1934), in a series of “ancient” (historical) stories that often provoked attacks from the monarchist camp for disrespect for the imperial family and especially to the church.

In his twenty books (of which five are novels), Osorgin combines moral and philosophical aspirations with the ability to lead a narrative, following the tradition of I. Goncharov, I. Turgenev and L. Tolstoy. This is combined with a love for some experimentation in the field of narrative technique: for example, in the novel “Sivtsev Vrazhek” he builds a series of separate chapters about very different people, as well as about animals.<…>Osorgin is the author of several autobiographical books that endear him to the modesty of the author and his life position a decent person.

Participation in Freemasonry

Osorgin Mikhail Andreevich- regularized and annexed on March 4 (May 6), 1925, on the recommendation of B. Mirkin-Getsevich. Elevated to the 2nd and 3rd degrees on April 8(1), 1925. 2nd Expert since November 3, 1926. Great Expert (Performer) from November 30 to 1929. Speaker from November 6 to 1932 and in -1937. 1st Guardian from to 1934 and from October 7 to 1938. Also librarian of the lodge in 1936, and since September 27, 1938. Worshipful Master from November 6 to 1940.

He held a number of officer positions in the lodge, and was Worshipful Master (the highest officer position in the lodge). He was a highly respected and worthy brother who made a great contribution to the development of Russian Freemasonry in France.

Mikhail Andreevich was a member State Chapter "Northern Star" Great College of Rituals

A very characteristic example of a deep knowledge of Freemasonry is Osorgin’s work “Freemason”, in which Mikhail Andreevich outlined the main directions in the work of Freemasonry and Freemasons. The author's inherent humor permeates this work from the first to the last page.

Works

Essays on modern Italy, 1913
Security department and its secrets. M., 1917
Ghosts. M., "Zadruga", 1917
Fairy tales and non-fairy tales M., "Zadruga", 1918
From a small house, Riga, 1921
Sivtsev Vrazhek. Paris, 1928
(Russian) " This happened in Krivokolenny Lane, which shortened the road to his own house from Maroseyka to Chistye Prudy." (19??)
Human things. Paris, 1929;
The Tale of a Sister, Paris, 1931
Miracle on the Lake, Paris, 1931
Witness to history
A book about endings
The Tale of a certain girl, Tallinn, 1938
In a quiet place in France (June-December 1940). Memories, Paris, 1946
Letters about insignificant things. New York, 1952
Time. Paris, 1955
Diary of Galina Benislavskaya. Controversies// “Verb”, No. 3, 1981
Memoirs of an Exile// “Time and We”, No. 84, 1985
Pince-nez

Editions

Notes of an old book-eater, Moscow, 1989
Osorgin M. A. Times: Autobiographical narrative. Novels. - M.: Sovremennik, 1989. - 624 p. - (From heritage). - 100,000 copies.
Osorgin M. A.- ISBN 5-270-00813-0
Sivtsev Vrazhek: Novel. Tale. Stories. - M.: Moscow worker, 1990. - 704 p. - (Literary chronicle of Moscow). - 150,000 copies.

- ISBN 5-239-00627-X

Collected works. T.1-2, M.: Moscow worker, 1999.

Links
Categories:
Personalities in alphabetical order
Writers by alphabet
Born on October 19
Born in 1878
Born in Perm
Deaths on November 27
Died in 1942
Deaths in France
Graduates of the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University
Social Revolutionaries
Masons of Russia
Masons of Italy
Freemasons of France
Freemasons WWF
Historians of Freemasonry
Russian writers in alphabetical order
Proselytes in Judaism
Russian writers of the first wave of emigration
Writers of Russia of the 20th century
Translators of prose and drama into Russian
Russian emigrants of the first wave in France
Famine in Russia 1921-1922
Memoirists of Russian Abroad
Lawyers of the Russian Empire
Lawyers by alphabet

Russian writers of the 20th century

While studying at the gymnasium, he published an obituary for his class teacher in the Perm Provincial Gazette, and in the Magazine for Everyone he published the story “Father” under a pseudonym. Permyak (1896). From then on I considered myself a writer. After successfully graduating from high school, he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. During his student years, he continued to publish in Ural newspapers and acted as a permanent employee of the Perm Provincial Gazette. He took part in student unrest and was exiled from Moscow to Perm for a year. After completing his education (1902), he became an assistant to a sworn attorney in the Moscow Court Chamber and at the same time a sworn solicitor at a commercial court, a guardian in an orphan's court, a legal adviser to the Society of Merchant Clerks and a member of the Society for the Care of the Poor. At the same time he wrote the book “Workers' Compensation for Accidents.”

Futurism attracted the writer's special attention. He was sympathetic to the early, determined futurists. Osorgin's work in Italian futurism had a significant resonance in Russia. They trusted him as a brilliant expert on Italy, they listened to his judgments. [Literature of the Russian Abroad (1920-1990): textbook/ed. A.I. Smirnova. M., 2006 - P.246-247]

In 1913, in order to marry seventeen-year-old Rachel (Rose), Gintsberg, the daughter of Ahad Ha-Am, converted to Judaism (the marriage subsequently broke up).

After the February Revolution, he was a member of the commission for the development of archives and political affairs in Moscow, which worked with the archives of the Moscow security department. Osorgin accepted the February Revolution of 1917. He began to publish widely in the magazine “Voice of the Past”, in the newspapers “People’s Socialist”, “Ray of Truth”, “Motherland”, “Power of the People”, kept a current chronicle and edited the “Monday” supplement.

At the same time, he prepared for publication the collections of stories and essays “Ghosts” (1917) and “Fairy Tales and Non-Fairy Tales” (1918). Participating in the analysis of documents of the Moscow secret police, he published the brochure “The Security Branch and Its Secrets” (1917).

After the October Revolution he opposed the policies of the Bolsheviks. In 1919 he was arrested and released at the request of the Writers' Union and J. K. Baltrushaitis.

In 1921, he worked in the Commission for Famine Relief under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (All-Russian Committee for Famine Relief “Pomgol”), and was the editor of the bulletin “Help” it published; in August 1921 he was arrested along with some members of the commission; They were saved from the death penalty by the intervention of Fridtjof Nansen. He spent the winter of 1921-1922 in Kazan, editing the Literary Gazette, then returned to Moscow. He continued to publish fairy tales and short stories for children. Translated from Italian (at the request of E. B. Vakhtangov) the play by C. Gozzi “Princess Turandot” (ed. 1923), plays by C. Goldoni.

Together with his longtime friend N. Berdyaev, he opens a famous bookstore in Moscow, which for a long time became a haven for the intelligentsia during the years of post-war devastation.

In 1921, Osorgin was arrested and exiled to Kazan.

From the “Resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on approval of the list of intellectuals expelled from Russia”:

Osorgin's emigrant life began in Berlin, where he spent a year. In 1923 he finally settled in Paris. He published his works in the newspapers “Days” and “Last News”.

Osorgin's life in exile was difficult: he became an opponent of any and all political doctrines, valued freedom above all else, and emigration was very politicized.

The writer Osorgin became famous in Russia, but fame came to him in exile, where his best books were published. “Sivtsev Vrazhek” (1928), “The Tale of a Sister” (1931), “Witness to History” (1932), “The Book of Ends” (1935), “Freemason” (1937), “The Tale of a Certain Maiden” (1938 ), collections of stories “Where I Was Happy” (1928), “Miracle on the Lake” (1931), “Incidents of the Green World” (1938), memoirs “Times” (1955).

He retained Soviet citizenship until 1937, after which he lived without a passport and did not receive French citizenship.

The writer died and was buried in the same city

Creation

In 1928, Osorgin created his most famous chronicle novel, Sivtsev Vrazhek. At the center of the work is the story of an old retired professor of ornithology, Ivan Alexandrovich, and his granddaughter Tatyana, who is turning from a little girl into a bride. The chronicle nature of the narrative is manifested in the fact that events are not arranged in one storyline, but simply follow each other. The center of the novel's artistic structure is a house on an old Moscow street. The house of an ornithologist professor is a microcosm, similar in its structure to the macrocosm - the Universe and the Solar system. It also has its own little sun burning - a table lamp in the old man’s office. In the novel, the writer sought to show the relativity of the great and the insignificant in existence. The existence of the world is ultimately determined for Osorgin by the mysterious, impersonal and non-moral play of cosmological and biological forces. For the earth, the driving, life-giving force is the Sun.

All of Osorgin’s work was permeated by two sincere thoughts: a passionate love for nature, close attention to everything living on earth and attachment to the world of ordinary, imperceptible things. The first idea formed the basis of essays published in “Last News” under the signature “Everyman” and which made up the book “Incidents of the Green World” (Sofia, 1938). The essays are characterized by deep drama: on a foreign land the author turned from a “lover of nature” into a “garden eccentric”; the protest against technotronic civilization was combined with a powerless protest against exile. The embodiment of the second thought was bibliophilia and collecting. Osorgin collected a rich collection of Russian publications, which he introduced to the reader in the series “Notes of an Old Book-Eater” (Oct. 1928 - Jan. 1934), in a series of “ancient” (historical) stories that often provoked attacks from the monarchist camp for disrespect for the imperial family and especially to the church.

Participation in Freemasonry

From 1925 to 1940, he actively participated in the activities of several lodges working under the auspices of the Grand Orient of France. He was one of the founders and was a member of several Masonic lodges: “Northern Star” and “Free Russia”.

Mikhail Andreevich was a member of the Sovereign Chapter “North Star” of the Great College of Rituals

A very characteristic example of a deep knowledge of Freemasonry is Osorgin’s work “Freemason,” in which Mikhail Andreevich outlined the main directions in the work of Freemasonry and Freemasons. The author's inherent humor permeates this work from the first to the last page.

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin was born on October 7, 1878 in the small city of Perm. It is worth noting that Osorgin is the author’s pseudonym; his real name is Ilyin. He had ancient Russian noble roots. The years of his childhood played a special role in the life of the future author.
Mikhail Andreevich’s father was a city judge, and therefore he very rarely appeared at home. The writer’s mother was very educated, knew several languages and read many books; she passed on everything she knew to her children. Mikhail received more love from his father than his brother and sister; he often went into the forest with him. Rivers - Volga, Kama and others played a special role in the life of the author; he mentioned them in his works. The Kama River for him has always been the most beautiful place on the ground.
Osorgin spent his entire childhood in Perm, and in teenage years left for Moscow. In 1897 he became a student at Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. Having graduated in 1902, Mikhail Andreevich began practicing law. However, this was different from what Osorgin really wanted; he always dreamed of a literary career. During his years at the gymnasium, he regularly published his articles in the local newspaper and ran the “Moscow Letters” column in it.
During the years of the revolution, participants in the revolution hid from the authorities in Osorgin’s apartment, and there were prohibited literature and weapons. In connection with this, he was sentenced to three years of exile in Tomsk region. The author was released in May 1906. Initially, he hid near Moscow, after which he left for Finland, from where he moved to Italy and lived in the Villa Maria, where, besides him, many emigrants from Russia were hiding. Here, in Italy, the author is actively developing his literary creativity.
After 2 years, he became a regular author, and then a correspondent for Russian Vedomosti, in Italy. Over the ten years of Osorgin’s work, this newspaper published more than three hundred of his materials, including articles and reports.
In 1916 he returned to his native land. Since the beginning of the October Revolution, Mikhail urged everyone not to follow the lead of the self-appointed government. When in 1918 the entire opposition press was destroyed, the author, together with other authors, founded the Book Shop of Moscow Writers. It was not just a store, it was a place where writers and readers could freely communicate. In addition, handwritten books could be sold there, since there was no printing.
With the onset of autumn 1922, he and other writers, as well as some scientists, were expelled from the country. Formally for a period of three years, but in fact forever. Osorgin went to live in Berlin, from where he often visited Italy. In Berlin he lectured and worked on his work. This is where his creative talent flourishes. All his works are about Russia.
The author became a major writer and original thinker already in Paris. He was often concerned about the fate of Russia and Europe, communism and fascism. He was married. The outbreak of World War II forced him and his wife to leave Paris and move to the town of Chabris. Upon returning to Paris, the author and his wife found their apartment sealed and their library taken away.
The author died on November 27, 1942, in the French city of Chabris, where he was buried.

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (Ilyin) was one of the famous Russian thinkers expelled into exile by the Bolsheviks in 1922. Behind the “Philosophical Ship” was the desire of the new authorities to look humane in the eyes of Europe and at the same time get rid of bright freedom-loving personalities.

The passengers of the “philosophical ship” were scientists, philosophers and writers, who had long been considered the lost color of the nation. However, in 2017, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill called the Russian intelligentsia guilty “of terrible crimes against faith, against God, against their people, against their country.”

“Lenin is a criminal, the intelligentsia is guilty... There is a war of incriminating evidence all around, doubts all around.” And in this situation, it would be useful to touch upon Osorgin’s personality, his creativity and activities, focusing on interesting facts and data.

First nickname

The fascination with the Kama River, freethinking at school and the forbidden passion for billiards, passion for poetry and literature, adoration of Goncharov and Belinsky could not just end in Ilyin’s youth. The usual story for a young educated Russian man at the end of the 19th century, he strives to become a writer. The first publications happen in my native Perm. The fashionable passion for pseudonyms does not bypass the young writer; he signs his first printed story “Father” with the pseudonym “Permyak”.

From Ilyin to Osorgin

Twice as a child, his father brought Mikhail to Ufa. There he meets his relatives and grandmother Nadezhda Lvovna Ilyina. The grandmother’s fascinating stories about her great-grandfather Fyodor Vasilyevich Osorgin, the owner of vast lands, clearly influenced the further fate of the writer’s first pseudonym. Ilyin later becomes Osorgin in literature.

Path to Europe

In 1897, Mikhail Osorgin became a student at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. Until 1902, he managed to take part in student unrest and survive a year-long expulsion from Moscow, gain serious journalistic experience and higher education.

The ferment of minds in Russia does not bypass Osorgin. The son of leading nobles, a brilliantly educated lawyer, taking his first steps in the public service, is imbued with the ideas of the Socialist Revolutionaries, becomes a participant in the revolutionary events of 1905 and ends up in Taganskaya prison for six months. In his autobiographical book “Times,” much later, he writes about this period of his life as a dream, where, in the end, burying himself in an insurmountable wall, scratching the prison walls with breaking nails, he had to exclaim: “Oh, God! After all, we preached love for everyone!”

First emigration

Upon leaving prison in 1906, Osorgin immediately left his homeland. Knowledge of languages, fluency in translation, journalistic and writing experience, ability and desire to work do not allow Mikhail Andreevich, who left Russia penniless, to get lost and disappear in Europe.

The ten-year period of his stay abroad became for him a period of comprehension of what had happened, a public renunciation of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the adoption of Judaism and the philosophy of Freemasonry. “Essays on Modern Italy” (1913) and collaboration with the editors of the Garnet Encyclopedia become noticeable in Russia and bring Osorgin the name and glory of the subtlest soul.

Back in the Motherland

The year 1916 becomes something of a turning point for Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin. He is not satisfied with cooperation with Russkiye Vedomosti. He rushes into the thick of events in his homeland and returns to Moscow semi-legally. Becomes the organizer of the All-Russian Union of Journalists, and then heads this organization

February Revolution and Osorgin

Osorgin enthusiastically accepted the February Revolution of 1917. Works a lot. He is a member of the commission for the development of archives and political affairs, published in newspapers and magazines, preparing for publication a collection of essays and stories, a brochure “The Security Department and its Secrets.”

Writers' Cooperative

Along with the overthrow of strict censorship supervision, in the same year of 1917, writers experienced a certain period of confusion and the danger of being crushed by the harsh essence of existence. Osorgin in his short essay “ Book store Writers” is pleased to talk about his participation in this fascinating, rewarding and life-saving collective work for writers from 1918 to 1922. The shop helped aspiring writers to survive and the most famous writers, She was cultural center Moscow during all the most difficult years of war and devastation, it only succumbed to the unbearable tax burden of the NEP.

Echo of the past

The new authorities openly tolerated the writers' bookshop in Moscow. They tolerated Osorgin’s activities even during his short work in the famine relief commission. Independent views and former involvement in the Socialist Revolutionary Party through arrest and release under Nansen’s guarantee ultimately turned out to be a “ticket to the philosophical ship” for Mikhail Andreevich.

And again emigration

Osorgin's life during his second emigration from 1923 was tightly connected with Paris. Here he marries for the third time, and here he continues to work fruitfully until the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1928, the most significant work from his work “Sivtsev Vrazhek”.

Until 1934, historical stories repeatedly appeared in print, in which he spoke disrespectfully about the imperial family and the highest clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Last refuge in Chabris

Masonic activity and passionate rejection of fascism in latest works- that's two more bright features extraordinary activities of the great Russian writer and journalist Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin. In his life, black and white, subtle and passionate came together. He was buried in 1942 in the French city of Chabris, where he lived after fleeing Nazi-occupied Paris.

To use presentation previews, create a Google account and log in to it: https://accounts.google.com

Slide captions:

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (1878 – 1942)

Osorgin's childhood 1878, 7 (October 19) Born in Perm. Father - Ilyin Andrey Fedorovich (presumably 1833–1891), a small-scale hereditary nobleman. Mother - Elena Aleksandrovna Savina (died in 1905) 1888–1897 studied at the Perm classical gymnasium

In 1897 Mikhail Andreevich entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. He later wrote with great warmth about his first Moscow impressions, and about the semi-impoverished life in the student quarter in the Bronnaya Streets area, and about university lectures, where “they taught how to be people, not attorneys and pharmacists.” After graduating from university in 1902, he began his legal work in Moscow. Mikhail Andreevich received the title of assistant sworn attorney of the Moscow Court Chamber, sworn attorney in the commercial court, guardian in the orphanage courts, was a legal adviser to the Society of Merchant Clerks, and a member of the Society for the Care of the Poor.

1905 Social Revolutionary One of the organizers of the All-Russian Union of Journalists and comrade of the chairman of the Moscow branch of the Writers' Union. Participant in the preparation of the Moscow armed uprising. Arrest (by mistake, confused with a namesake). Taganskaya prison, six months in solitary confinement awaiting a death sentence. Death of mother from anxiety.

Osorgin spoke modestly about his revolutionary activities: he was “an insignificant pawn, an ordinary excited intellectual, more of a spectator than a participant”; “More than myself, my apartment took an active part in the revolution of the fifth year.” “On one side I joined the party, but was the smallest spoke in its chariot,” he recalled with humor, “I wrote and edited various appeals. revolution

May 1906 Gendarmerie sentenced to five years of exile. Release on bail by an investigator who did not know about it. Escape to Finland, then to Italy.

Italy Osorgin settled in the town of Sori near Genoa, where an emigrant commune arose in the Villa Maria. After existing for about two years, the commune disintegrated. Osorgin moved away from emigrant circles and again found himself in the opposition. Italy for Osorgin was not a museum, but became alive and close.

In 1916, saying goodbye to Italy, Osorgin wrote: “Even if the skies of Italy, its seas and beaches are forgotten, there will remain a grateful memory of the simple, kind, selfless and grateful people whom I met everywhere<...>And where did they get this friendliness and subtlety of communication, this attentive approach to someone else’s emotional distress that is not always understandable to them?”

A regular correspondent for the Russkie Vedomosti newspaper, Osorgin chronicled the life of Italy from issue to issue. Talking about big and small events in the country, he published more than four hundred articles and feuilletons. He considered the most significant series of articles about high-profile trials, the Italo-Turkish War, Slavic lands, the Balkan War of 1912, and modern Italian literature.

He collaborated a lot in the journal "Bulletin of Europe", wrote the book "Essays on Modern Italy", chapters on Italy for the "History of Our Time", published by the Granat brothers. Osorgin was involved in organizing excursions for public teachers (more than three thousand of them visited Italy in those years). He himself traveled a lot ("The cities of Italy were my rooms: Rome - a study, Florence - a library, Venice - a living room, Naples - a terrace from which such a beautiful view opened", traveled all over Europe without a passport or visas, and was twice in the Balkans .

Return to Russia In 1916, through France, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland, Osorgin arrived in Petrograd. He was not arrested; the intercession of the authoritative State Duma deputy V.A. Maklakov and simply the confusion of the police in the pre-revolutionary months also played a role. Still, he lived in a semi-legal position, which did not stop him from going on a trip along the Volga from Moscow, visiting Perm at the opening of the university, going to Western Front. Osorgin continued his collaboration in Russkie Vedomosti. His article "Smoke of the Fatherland" sparked a flood of letters from readers welcoming his return.

February Revolution The February Revolution found Osorgin in Moscow. “I remember the moment of turning point,” he recalled, “in the vast courtyard of the Spassky barracks in Moscow, where a crowd came; the soldiers’ rifles were shaking in their hands, the officer did not dare give the command. A blank volley hit us in the chest, just as bullets could have hit us. the day of the human river along Tverskaya Street is a day of general radiance, red bows, the beginning of a new life. In essence, only this day was glorious and pure.”

“The Security Department and Its Secrets” Osorgin took part in the analysis of materials from the Moscow secret police, and in 1917 he published the book “The Security Department and Its Secrets.” And although he soon left this work, the sore mark on his soul remained for a long time. Let us remember the Narodnaya Volya member Danilov, one of the heroes of “The Book of Ends,” who spent the rest of his life in the archives of the secret police, where, in search of a petition for pardon that he once wrote, he “swimmed in a sea of \u200b\u200bthe greatest mud, raked mountains of sewage with his hands, learned a lot about many, what and it was impossible to guess what would be enough to forever lose faith in human decency"

The book “From a Little House,” written in 1917-1919, testified to the moments of despair he experienced. In the chapter about October, entitled “Ga ira - a symphony,” Blok’s image of a soldier with a girl appears. The soldier has stupid and kind eyes, a snub-nosed girl sings a song, but it seems impossible for Osorgin to love them: “They are scary to me, a soldier with a girl.” He cannot forget about another soldier, who beat the beat of a song about two friends with the handle of a machine gun: “Here Foma has gone to the bottom, and Erema has been there for a long time." The thought of Russia, where “some stray bullet fired by an October machine gunner has gotten lost and is flying,” where “there is no way to live without this bullet threatening you,” will appear more than once in his articles, and then will end up on the pages of the novel “Sivtsev Enemy."

After the revolution In the first post-revolutionary years, M.A. Osorgin was the first chairman of the All-Russian Union of Journalists, a comrade of the chairman of the Moscow branch of the Writers' Union, the first charter of the Union was written jointly by M.A. Osorgin and M.O. Gershenzon.

Bookstore When the private periodical press was liquidated in August 1918, “a group of writers, united by ties of long-standing friendship and work in “Monday,” decided to found a small bookstore and “run it exclusively on their own, in order to be near the book and without enslaving service, to have an extra chance not to die of hunger." Such work was unusual, but it saved “from the prospect of dancing to the official tune,” for the independent Osorgin this consideration was decisive.

A group of shareholders arose, which included art critic P. P. Muratov, poet V. F. Khodasevich, young prose writer A. S. Yakovlev, literary historian, translator and researcher of Balzac’s work B. A. Griftsov, later they were joined by B. K Zaitsev, who “packed books disgustingly and talked charmingly with customers,” philosopher N. A. Berdyaev, historian A. K. Dzhivelegov. However, the main person in the shop, according to contemporaries, was M.A. Osorgin.

Osorgin recalled: “Life became more complicated and threw a whole series of old libraries onto the market, which we bought up, trying to give our brother the writer and scientists the maximum payment.” But the Writers' Book Shop had, of course, no commercial significance; it was an important living literary social center. “We had philosophical and literary debates behind the counters, in which regular customers also took part,” wrote Osorgin. “It was cramped, smoky from the stove, warm from felt boots, cold to the fingers from books, fun from the presence of living people and pleasant from consciousness that our work is both curious and useful, and the only one that is not official, living, our own."

“Princess Turandot” While working in the shop, Osorgin collected an exceptionally valuable library of Russian books about Italy; he translated a lot from Italian: plays by C. Goldoni, L. Pirandello, L. Chiarelli. At the request of E. B. Vakhtangov, he translated the play by C. Gozzi “Princess Turandot”, which was a huge success in this translation.

All-Russian Committee for Famine Relief One of the most difficult pages of Osorgin's Moscow life is the story of his participation in the All-Russian Committee for Famine Relief, which existed for just over a month. However, it was precisely this short-lived activity that became the cause of another tragic turning point in the writer’s fate.

The Famine Relief Committee, “relying only on the moral authority of those who formed it,” managed to quickly unite people; it enjoyed the trust and support of both the Russian public and foreign organizations: “A few days were enough for trains of potatoes, tons of rye, carts to go to the starving provinces.” vegetables from the center and Siberia,<...>money flowed into the coffers of the public Committee from everywhere, which they did not want to give to the official Committee.”

Arrest Osorgin edited the committee's newspaper "Help", but managed to publish only three issues. The work of the committee was interrupted by the sudden arrest of its members at the end of August 1921. They were charged with political charges, which were formulated very vaguely.

The role of V.I. Lenin in the defeat of Pomgol Letters from V.I. Lenin indicate that the committee, which he disparagingly called “Kukish” (after the names of Kuskova and Kishkin), was doomed even before its official creation. Lenin saw the activity of committee members as a threat of counter-revolution, and his point of view was supported by many prominent party figures.

Kazan Osorgin, who was completely ill, was sent into exile in Tsarevokokshaisk (now Yoshkar-Ola), but he was unable to get there. They were allowed to stay in Kazan. And although he was considered a “counter-revolutionary” and was subjected to searches, he still found interesting things to do there: he was involved in setting up a bookstore, edited the Literary Newspaper (without signing and hiding his participation in it), and was a frequent guest at Kazan University.

Before his deportation in the spring of 1922, Osorgin was allowed to return to Moscow. "Last thing Russian summer"he spent in the village of Barvikha, Zvenigorod district. Seeing a car with security officers near his hut, he disappeared, got to Moscow, spent several days in a hospital that belonged to his friend, but, seeing no way out, he himself went to the Lubyanka. There the verdict was announced to him: expulsion with the obligation to leave the RSFSR within a week, and in case of failure - capital punishment. They were expelled for three years, a longer period was not allowed, but with a verbal explanation: “That is, forever.” At parting, the investigator suggested once again filling out the next one. questionnaire. To her first question: “How do you feel about Soviet power?” Osorgin replied: “With surprise.”

Reasons for the expulsion Osorgin did not know what the reasons for the expulsion were. Specific reasons were not needed. Osorgin wrote: “The investigator, who was entrusted with the case of the expulsion of representatives of the intelligentsia, who interrogated us all about all sorts of nonsense, someone asked: “What are the motives for our expulsion?” He answered frankly and sweetly: “The devil knows why they expelled!” It can be assumed that the reason could be connections with the Social Revolutionaries (in the past), and participation in the Famine Relief Committee, and many years of friendly and business connections with Berdyaev ( last summer They even spent 1922 together at the dacha). About Berdyaev and other participants in the collection “Oswald Spengler and the Decline of Europe,” Lenin wrote to N.P. Gorbunov on March 5, 1922: “This looks like a “literary cover for a White Guard organization.”

Not only for Osorgin, for many of those deported, all their thoughts, plans, and works were inextricably linked with Russia; departure was a tragedy. Lives were broken - it seemed then - with senseless cruelty. In the days of autumn 1922 there was only pain, resentment, despair. About the last moments, when the “sailing shore of Russia” was still visible, Osorgin wrote: “An amazingly strange feeling in my soul! As if, when she is here, before our eyes, it’s not so scary for her, but if you let her wander around the world, everything is possible.” happen, you won’t notice. And I’m not her nanny, just like she’s not a very loving mother to me. It’s very sad at this moment.” The shore disappeared, and, joining his companions - his fellow sufferers, Osorgin proposed a toast: “To the happiness of Russia.” , who threw us out!"

Abroad, Osorgin spent the winter in Berlin. In the fall of 1923 he left for Paris. Mikhail Andreevich retained Soviet citizenship and a Soviet passport until 1937, when a sharp conversation and break took place at the Soviet consulate. He has lived the last five years without any passport.

“Sivtsev Vrazhek” Osorgin’s first novel “Sivtsev Vrazhek” (1928) was published in France and brought the writer world fame. Immediately after its release, it was translated into major European languages, including Slavic. He had great success in America, where English translation was awarded Book club special award as best novel month (1930).

M.A. Osorgin - writer Well known for his articles and essays to Russian pre-revolutionary society, as a prose writer Osorgin made his mark precisely in emigration. And almost all of his books are about Russia: the novels “Sivtsev Vrazhek” (1928), “Witness of History” (1932), “The Book of Ends” (1935) and peculiar memoir books written in a free poetic manner, where lyrical outpourings turn into genre ones episodes or reflections on life and fate - “Things of Man” (1929), “Miracle on the Lake” (1931), and finally “The Times” (1955). Abroad, Osorgin continued his journalistic activities, collaborating in “Days”, “Latest News”, “Modern Notes”, etc.

Osorgin about Russia “That huge land and that multi-tribal people, to whom I gave the name of homeland in gratitude for the feelings born and for the structure of my thoughts, for the grief and joy I experienced, cannot be taken away from me in any way, neither by purchase, nor by sale, nor conquest, nor expulsion of me - nothing, no way, never. There is no such power and there cannot be. Does your tree love green leaves? It’s just that he, only connected with him, belongs only to him. And while he is connected, while he is green, while he is alive, he must believe in his native tree. Otherwise, what to believe in? Otherwise, how can we live?”