Maxim Gorky autobiography summary. Brief biography of Maxim Gorky

The biography of Maxim Gorky is set out in his works: “Childhood”, “In People”, “My Universities”, or rather, the beginning of his life. Maxim Gorky is the pseudonym of the outstanding Russian writer and playwright Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov. In his creative biography there was another pseudonym: Yehudiel Chlamida.

The nugget of talent was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. He is usually called a proletarian, revolutionary writer for his struggle against autocracy. The biography of Maxim Gorky was not easy. This will be discussed in this article.

Maxim Gorky was born in 1868. His biography began in Nizhny Novgorod. His maternal grandfather, Kashirin, was a demoted officer due to harsh treatment of his subordinates. After returning from exile, he became a tradesman and ran a dyeing workshop. His daughter married a carpenter and left with her husband for Astrakhan. There they had two children.

The eldest of them, Alyosha, fell ill with cholera at the age of four. Since the mother was pregnant with her second child, the father took care of the sick child and became infected from him. He soon died, and the boy recovered. Out of anxiety, the mother gave birth ahead of schedule. She decided to return to parents' house. On the way, her youngest child died.

They settled in her father's house in Nizhny Novgorod. Now there is a museum there - Kashirin’s house. The furnishings and furniture of those years have been preserved, even the rods with which the grandfather flogged Alyosha. He had a tough, hot-tempered character and could whip anyone in his anger, even his little grandson.

Maxim Gorky was educated at home. His mother taught him to read, and his grandfather taught him to read and write in church. Despite his temper, my grandfather was a very pious man. He often visited church and took his grandson there, usually against his will, by force. This is how a negative attitude towards religion arose in little Alyosha, as well as a spirit of resistance, which would later develop into a revolutionary trend in his works.

One day a boy took revenge on his grandfather by cutting up his favorite “Lives of the Saints” with scissors. For which, of course, he received it properly.

Maxim did not attend parish school for long. But due to illness he was forced to stop studying there. Maxim Gorky also studied at the Sloboda school for two years. That, perhaps, is all his education is. All his life he wrote with errors, which were then corrected by his wife, a proofreader by profession.

Alyosha’s mother remarried and moved in with her husband, taking her son with her. But his relationship with his stepfather did not work out. One day Alyosha saw him beating his mother. The boy attacked his stepfather and beat him. After that I had to run away to my grandfather, which was, of course, not the best option.

For a long time, Alyosha’s school of life was the street where he got the nickname “Bashlyk”. For some time he stole firewood to heat the house, food, and looked for rags in a landfill. After his classmates complained to the teacher that it was impossible to sit next to him because of the bad smell emanating from him, Maxim Gorky was offended and no longer came to school. He never received secondary education.

Youth years

Soon Alexei’s mother fell ill with Czech fever and died. Left orphaned, Alyosha was forced to earn his living. By that time my grandfather was completely broke. Gorky himself writes well about this time: “...my grandfather told me:

- Well, Lexey, you are not a medal, there is no place for you on my neck, but go join the people...

And I went among the people." This is how the story “Childhood” ends. The adult, independent period of the biography of Maxim Gorky begins. And he was only eleven years old then!

Alexey worked in different places: in a shop as a helper, as a cook, on a ship as a cook, in an icon-painting workshop as an apprentice.

When he was sixteen years old, he decided to try to enter Kazan University. But, to his great regret, he was refused. Firstly, low-income people were not accepted there, and secondly, he didn’t even have a certificate.

Then Alexey went to work at the pier. There he met revolutionary-minded youth, began to attend their circles, and read Marxist literature.

When the young man worked in a bakery, he met the populist Derenkov. He sent income from the sale of products to support the popular movement.

In 1987, Alexei’s grandmother and grandfather died. He loved his grandmother very much, who often protected him from his grandfather’s outbursts of anger and told him fairy tales. At her grave in Nizhny Novgorod, a monument was erected depicting her telling a fairy tale to her beloved grandson Alyosha.

The young man was very worried about her death. He developed depression, during which he attempted suicide. Alexei shot himself in the chest with a gun. But the watchman managed to call medical help. The unfortunate man was taken to the hospital, where he was urgently operated on. He lived, but the consequences of this wound would cause him lifelong lung disease.

Later, in the hospital, Alexey made another suicide attempt. He drank poison from a medical vessel. They managed to pump him out again, washing his stomach. Here psychiatrists had to examine the young man. Many were found mental disorders, which were later rejected. For attempting suicide, Alexei was excommunicated from church communion for four years.

In 1988, Alexey, together with other revolutionaries, left for Krasnovidovo to conduct revolutionary propaganda. He joins Fedoseev's circle, for which he is arrested. From that moment on, the police begin to follow him. At that time he was a farm laborer, worked as a watchman at the station, then moved to the Caspian Sea, where he began working among other fishermen.

In 1989, he wrote a petition in verse with the aim of transferring him to Borisoglebsk. Then he worked at the Krutaya station. Here Alexey first fell in love with the daughter of the station chief. His feeling was so strong that he decided to propose marriage. He, of course, was refused. But he remembered the girl all his life.

Alexey was fascinated by the ideas of Leo Tolstoy. He even went to see him in Yasnaya Polyana. But the writer’s wife ordered the walker to be driven away.

The beginning of a creative career

In 1989, Maxim Gorky met the writer Korolenko and took the risk of showing him his work. The beginning of his creative biography was very unsuccessful. The writer criticized his “Song of the Old Oak”. But the young man did not despair and continued to write.

This year Peshkov goes to prison for participating in the revolutionary youth movement. Coming out of captivity, he decides to go on a journey through Mother Rus'. He visited the Volga region, Crimea, the Caucasus, Ukraine (where he was hospitalized). I traveled what is now called “hitchhiking” - on passing convoys, walked a lot, climbed into empty freight cars. The young romantic liked this free life. The opportunity to see the world and feel the happiness of freedom - all this is easily the basis of the works of a beginning writer.

Then the manuscript “Makara Chudra” was born. In Georgia, Peshkov met the revolutionary Kalyuzhny. He published this work in the newspaper. Then the pseudonym Maxim Gorky was born. Maxim - in honor of his father, and Gorky - because bitterness was constantly present in his biography.

His works began to be readily published in newspapers and magazines. Soon everyone was talking about the new talent. By that time he had already settled down and got married.

Splash of fame

In 1998, two volumes of the writer’s works were published. They brought him not only great glory, but also trouble. Gorky was arrested for revolutionary views and imprisoned in a castle in the capital of Georgia.

After his release, the writer settled in St. Petersburg. There they were created by him best works: “Song about the Petrel”, “At the Bottom”, “Philistines”, “Three” and others. In 1902 he was elected honorary academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. The emperor himself highly appreciated the writer’s work, despite his struggle with the autocracy. His sharp, direct language, courage, freedom, and the genius of thought present in his works could not leave anyone indifferent. The talent was obvious.

During that period, Gorky continued to take part in the revolutionary movement, attended circles, and distributed Marxist literature. As if the lessons of past arrests had no effect on him. Such courage simply infuriated the police.

Now famous writer already communicated freely with the idol of his youth, Leo Tolstoy. They talked for a long time in Yasnaya Polyana. He also met other writers: Kuprin, Bunin and others.

In 1902, Gorky and his family, which already had two children, moved to Nizhny Novgorod. He rents a spacious house in the city center. Now there is a museum there. This apartment was a haven for creative people that time. Such famous people as Chekhov, Tolstoy, Stanislavsky, Andreev, Bunin, Repin and, of course, his friend Fyodor Chaliapin gathered there and communicated for a long time, exchanging new works. He played the piano and sang pieces of music.

Here he finished “At the Bottom”, wrote “Mother”, “Man”, “Summer Residents”. He was good not only in prose, but also in poetry. But some of them, for example “The Song of the Petrel,” are written, as you know, in blank verse. The revolutionary, proud spirit, the call to fight are present in almost all of his works.

Last years

In 1904, Gorky joined the RSDLP, and the following year he met Lenin. The writer is arrested again and imprisoned Peter and Paul Fortress. But soon, under public pressure, he was released. In 1906, Gorky was forced to leave the country and became a political emigrant.

He lived first in the USA. Then, due to a serious illness (tuberculosis) that tormented him for a long time, he settled in Italy. Everywhere he carried out revolutionary propaganda. Concerned authorities recommended that he settle on the island of Capri, where he lived for about seven years.

On the roof of the Izvestia newspaper editorial office building

Many Russian writers and revolutionaries visited him here. Once a week, a seminar for aspiring writers was even held in his villa.

Gorky wrote his “Tales of Italy” here. In 12, he went to Paris, where he talked with Lenin.

In 13, Gorky returned to Russia. He settled in St. Petersburg for five years. In his spacious house relatives and acquaintances found refuge. One day a woman named Maria Budberg brought him papers to sign and fainted from hunger. Gorky fed her and left her in his house. She would later become his mistress.

With writer Romain Rolland

Gorky, who was active in revolutionary activities, oddly enough had a negative attitude towards the October coup in the country. He was struck by the cruelty of the revolution and interceded for the arrested whites. After the assassination attempt on Lenin, Gorky sent him a sympathetic telegram.

In 21, Gorky left his homeland again. According to one version, the reason for this was deteriorating health, according to another, disagreement with politics in the country.

In 1928, the writer was invited to the USSR. He traveled around the country for five weeks, then returned back to Italy. And in 1933 he returned to his homeland, where he lived until his death.

IN last years life, he created the book “The Life of Klim Samgin,” which is striking in its philosophy of life.

In 1934, Gorky held the First Congress of the USSR Writers' Union.

In recent years he lived in Crimea. In 1936, Gorky visited his sick grandchildren in Moscow. Apparently he got infected from them or caught a cold on the way. But his health condition deteriorated sharply. The writer fell ill, it was clear that he would not recover.

Stalin visited the dying Gorky. The writer died on June 18. At the autopsy it turned out that his lungs were in terrible condition.

The writer's coffin was carried by Molotov and Stalin. Both of Gorky's wives followed the coffin. The city of Nizhny Novgorod, where the writer was born, bore his name from 1932 until 1990.

Personal life

Gorky always possessed enviable masculine strength, according to surviving information, despite his chronic illness.

The writer's first unofficial marriage was with midwife Olga Kamenskaya. Her mother, also a midwife, delivered the baby to Peshkov’s mother. It seemed interesting to him that his mother-in-law helped bring him into the world. But they did not live long with Olga. Gorky left her after she fell asleep while the author was reading “The Old Woman Izergil.”

In 1996, Alexey married Ekaterina Volzhina. She was the only official wife of the writer. They had two children: Ekaterina and Maxim. Katya died soon after. The son died two years before Gorky.

In 1903, he became friends with actress Maria Andreeva, who left her husband and two children for his sake. He lived with her until his death. Moreover, there was never a divorce from Gorky’s first wife.

TO famous works Gorky includes: the story “The Old Woman Izergil” (1895), the plays “The Bourgeois” (1901) and “At the Lower Depths” (1902), the stories “Childhood” (1913-1914) and “In People” (1915-1916), the novel “ The Life of Klim Samgin" (1925-1936), which the author never finished, as well as many cycles of stories. Gorky also wrote fairy tales for children. Among them: “The Tale of Ivanushka the Fool”, “Sparrow”, “Samovar”, “Tales of Italy” and others. Remembering your difficult childhood, Gorky paid special attention to children, organized holidays for children from poor families, produced children's magazine. Emigration, return to homeland In 1906, in the biography of Maxim Gorky, there was a move to the USA, then to Italy, where he lived until 1913. Even there, Gorky’s work defended the revolution. Returning to Russia, he stops in St. Petersburg. Here Gorky works in publishing houses, deals with social activities.

Biography of Maxim Gorky briefly the most important thing for children

Info

After the publication of the stories, the biography of M. Gorky received a new development: he entered the permanent job in the Samara Gazeta, where it was published daily in the “By the way” section. But he signed with the pseudonym Yehudiel Chlamida.

Important

The first book (“Essays and Stories”), which was written in two volumes, was published when Maxim was already 30 years old. And the critics really liked it, so Gorky began writing the novel “Foma Gordeev.”

Biography of Gorky

Attention

During this period he wrote “Confession”, “The Life of an Useless Man”, “Tales of Italy”. The second departure abroad occurred in 1921. It was associated with the resumption of the disease and with the aggravation of disagreements with new government.

For three years, Gorky lived in Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland. In 1924 he moved to Italy, where he published his memoirs about Lenin.

In 1928, at the invitation of Stalin, the writer visited his homeland. In 1932 he finally returned to the USSR. During the same period, he was working on the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin,” which was never completed.
In May 1934, the writer’s son, Maxim Peshkov, unexpectedly died. Gorky himself outlived his son by only two years. He died on June 18, 1936 in Gorki. The writer's ashes were placed in the Kremlin wall. cm.

Brief biography of Maxim Gorky

The attempt ends in failure; this is not surprising, because Alexey did not even have a secondary education. Decides to stay in Kazan. He works and at the same time gets acquainted with Marxism. In 1887, he learns about the death of his grandparents. In the same year he tries to commit suicide twice, but fails both times. In 1888 he was engaged in propaganda and was arrested.

It is under constant police surveillance. He continues to travel and do odd jobs. The first publication appears on September 12, 1892. A year later, he continues to publish and marries for the first time.

The marriage did not last long and after 2 years the writer left Kamenskaya. In 1896 he married Ekaterina Volzhina. At the beginning of the 20th century, he became interested in drama and wrote plays. In marriage, the writer has two children. In 1902, he settled in Nizhny Novgorod with his wife and children.

Brief biography of Gorky

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Maxim Gorky is a Russian writer, prose writer, playwright, born March 16, 1868. Real name Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov, he had a rather difficult life.

If you believe his true biography, he was brought up in a simple family of a carpenter. Basically, the life of a writer is filled with various events, including tragic ones.

His mother is Varvara Vasilyevna Kashirina, his father is Maxim Savvatyevich Peshkov. The parents were not officially married; they did not live together for long.

Soon Peshkov's father died of cholera. The mother did not dare to return to live with to my own father and got married again, but she also did not live long. She soon died of consumption. Very little Alexei was adopted by his grandfather Kashirin.

In his works, Gorky often tells interesting facts from his own life.

Brief biography of Gorky, the most important thing

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One more step

Only in 1892 Maxim published his first story, “Makar Chudra,” which readers liked. It was from that moment that Gorky began active literary activity.

His collection “Essays and Stories” achieved enormous popularity. In his novel entitled “Mother,” he reacted with great sympathy to the revolutionary movement that was taking place in Russia, which he conveyed in the novel.
A large number of writers' works created a great sensation and became a real sensation. The play “Yegor Bulychev and Others” alone deserves enormous attention and reverence, not to mention his other masterpieces, such as “Childhood”, “My Universities” and much more. Being outside the homeland, and these were 1921-1931, and after returning to native Russia Maxim had a huge influence on the formation of the ideological and aesthetic principles of the literature of the Soviet Union.

M. Gorky - short biography

He was one of the most controversial writers of his time, Gorky created in his works the image of his Epoch - the way he saw and understood it. The poet died at mysterious circumstances, there are rumors that the authorities were involved in his death and many blamed Stalin, suggesting that poisoning was committed. However, the cause of his death has not yet been established. 11th grade, 7th grade, 3rd grade for children. Interesting Facts from the life of Gorky Biography by dates and interesting facts

• Lermontov's childhood and youth briefly The year 1814 became famous not only for the military successes of Russia, but also for the birth of the great poet M. Yu. Lermontov. In the family of retired captain Yuri, a son was born, named Mikhail
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A short biography of M. Gorky, which commands respect

In 1921, due to worsening illness, at the insistence of Vladimir Lenin, and disagreements with the authorities, he again went abroad. The writer finally returned to the USSR in October 1932.

Last years and death In his homeland, he continues to actively write, publishes newspapers and magazines. Maxim Gorky died on June 18, 1936 in the village of Gorki (Moscow region) under mysterious circumstances.

There were rumors that the cause of his death was poisoning and many blamed Stalin for this. However, this version was never confirmed. Chronological table If you need a biography of Gorky by dates, we recommend looking at the page chronological table Gorky.

short biography Maxim Gorky Maxim Gorky (Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov) is an outstanding Russian writer, thinker, playwright and prose writer. He was also considered the founder Soviet literature.

Born on March 28, 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod in the family of a carpenter. Quite early on, he was left without parents and was raised by a grandfather who was tyrannical by nature. The boy's education lasted only two years, after which he had to quit his studies and go to work. Thanks to his ability for self-education and brilliant memory, he nevertheless managed to acquire knowledge in various fields.

In 1884 future writer tried unsuccessfully to enter Kazan University. Here he met a Marxist circle and became interested in propaganda literature.

A few years later he was arrested for his connection with the circle, and then sent as a watchman to the railway.

Alexey Peshkov, better known as the writer Maxim Gorky, is a cult figure in Russian and Soviet literature. He was nominated five times Nobel Prize, was the most published Soviet author throughout the existence of the USSR and was considered on a par with Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and the main creator of Russian literary art.

Alexey Peshkov - future Maxim Gorky | Pandia

He was born in the town of Kanavino, which at that time was located in the Nizhny Novgorod province, and is now one of the districts of Nizhny Novgorod. His father Maxim Peshkov was a carpenter, and in the last years of his life he managed a shipping company. Vasilievna’s mother died of consumption, so Alyosha Peshkova’s parents were replaced by her grandmother Akulina Ivanovna. From the age of 11, the boy was forced to start working: Maxim Gorky was a messenger at a store, a barman on a ship, an assistant to a baker and an icon painter. The biography of Maxim Gorky is reflected by him personally in the stories “Childhood”, “In People” and “My Universities”.

After an unsuccessful attempt to become a student at Kazan University and arrest due to connections with a Marxist circle, the future writer became a guard at railway. And at the age of 23, the young man set off to wander around the country and managed to reach the Caucasus on foot. It was during this journey that Maxim Gorky briefly wrote down his thoughts, which would later become the basis for his future works. By the way, the first stories of Maxim Gorky also began to be published around that time.

Having already become famous writer, Alexey Peshkov leaves for the United States, then moves to Italy. This did not happen at all because of problems with the authorities, as some sources sometimes present, but because of changes in family life. Although abroad, Gorky continues to write revolutionary books. He returned to Russia in 1913, settled in St. Petersburg and began working for various publishing houses.

It is curious that with all the Marxist views October Revolution Peshkov was quite skeptical. After the Civil War, Maxim Gorky, who had some disagreements with the new government, again went abroad, but in 1932 he finally returned home.

Writer

The first published story by Maxim Gorky was the famous “Makar Chudra,” which was published in 1892. And the two-volume “Essays and Stories” brought fame to the writer. Interestingly, the circulation of these volumes was almost three times higher than what was usually accepted in those years. Of the most popular works of that period it is worth noting the stories “Old Woman Izergil”, “ Former people", "Chelkash", "Twenty-six and one", as well as the poem "Song of the Falcon". Another poem, “Song of the Petrel,” has become a textbook. Maxim Gorky devoted a lot of time to children's literature. He wrote a number of fairy tales, for example, “Sparrow”, “Samovar”, “Tales of Italy”, published the first special children's magazine in the Soviet Union and organized holidays for children from poor families.

Very important for understanding the writer’s work are Maxim Gorky’s plays “At the Lower Depths,” “The Bourgeois” and “Yegor Bulychov and Others,” in which he reveals the playwright’s talent and shows how he sees the life around him. Big cultural significance for Russian literature they have the stories “Childhood” and “In People”, social novels“Mother” and “The Artamonov Case”. Last job Gorky’s epic novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” is considered, which has a second title “Forty Years”. The writer worked on this manuscript for 11 years, but never managed to finish it.

Personal life

The personal life of Maxim Gorky was quite stormy. He married for the first and officially only time at the age of 28. The young man met his wife Ekaterina Volzhina at the Samara Newspaper publishing house, where the girl worked as a proofreader. A year after the wedding, a son, Maxim, appeared in the family, and soon a daughter, Ekaterina, named after her mother. The writer was also raised by his godson Zinovy ​​Sverdlov, who later took the surname Peshkov.

But Gorky's love quickly disappeared. He began to feel burdened family life and their marriage to Ekaterina Volzhina turned into a parental union: they lived together solely because of the children. When little daughter Katya died unexpectedly, this tragic event became the impetus for the severance of family ties. However, Maxim Gorky and his wife remained friends until the end of their lives and maintained correspondence.

After separating from his wife, Maxim Gorky, with the help of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, met the Moscow Art Theater actress Maria Andreeva, who became his de facto wife for the next 16 years. It was because of her work that the writer left for America and Italy. From her previous relationship, the actress had a daughter, Ekaterina, and a son, Andrei, who were raised by Maxim Peshkov-Gorky. But after the revolution, Andreeva became interested in party work and began to pay less attention to her family, so in 1919 this relationship came to an end.

Gorky himself put an end to it, declaring that he was leaving for Maria Budberg, a former baroness and part-time his secretary. The writer lived with this woman for 13 years. The marriage, like the previous one, was unregistered. Last wife Maxima Gorky was 24 years younger than him, and all his acquaintances were aware that she was “having affairs” on the side. One of Gorky's wife's lovers was an English science fiction writer H.G. Wells, to whom she left immediately after the death of her actual spouse. There is a huge possibility that Maria Budberg, who had a reputation as an adventurer and clearly collaborated with the NKVD, could be a double agent and also work for British intelligence.

Death

After his final return to his homeland in 1932, Maxim Gorky worked in newspaper and magazine publishing houses, created a series of books “History of Factories and Plants”, “Poet’s Library”, “History civil war", organizes and conducts the First All-Union Congress Soviet writers. After unexpected death the writer wilted from his son's pneumonia. During his next visit to Maxim’s grave, he caught a bad cold. Gorky had a fever for three weeks, which led to his death on June 18, 1936. The body of the Soviet writer was cremated, and the ashes were placed in the Kremlin wall on Red Square. But first, Maxim Gorky’s brain was extracted and transferred to the Research Institute for further study.

Later, the question was raised several times that the legendary writer and his son could have been poisoned. People's Commissar Genrikh Yagoda, who was the lover of Maxim Peshkov's wife, was involved in this case. They also suspected involvement and even. During the repressions and the consideration of the famous “Doctors’ Case,” three doctors were blamed, including the death of Maxim Gorky.

Books by Maxim Gorky

• 1899 - Foma Gordeev
• 1902 - At the bottom
• 1906 - Mother
• 1908 - The life of an unnecessary person
• 1914 - Childhood
• 1916 - In People
• 1923 - My universities
• 1925 - Artamonov case
• 1931 - Egor Bulychov and others
• 1936 - Life of Klim Samgin

Real name and surname - Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov.

Russian writer, publicist, public figure. Maxim Gorky was born March 16 (28), 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod in a bourgeois family. He lost his parents early and was raised in his grandfather’s family. He graduated from two classes of a suburban primary school in Kunavin (now Kanavino), a suburb of Nizhny Novgorod, but was unable to continue his education due to poverty (his grandfather’s dyeing establishment went bankrupt). M. Gorky was forced to work from the age of ten. Possessing a unique memory, Gorky spent his whole life intensely engaged in self-education. In 1884 went to Kazan, where he participated in the work of underground populist circles; connection with the revolutionary movement largely determined his life and creative aspirations. In 1888-1889 and 1891-1892. wandered around the south of Russia; impressions from these “walks in Rus'” subsequently became the most important source plots and images for his work (primarily early).

The first publication was the story “Makar Chudra”, published in the Tiflis newspaper “Caucasus” September 12, 1892. In 1893-1896. Gorky actively collaborated with Volga newspapers, where he published many feuilletons and stories. The name of Gorky gained all-Russian and all-European fame soon after the release of his first collection “Essays and Stories” (vol. 1-2, 1898 ), in which the sharpness and brightness in conveying the realities of life was combined with neo-romantic pathos, with a passionate call for the transformation of man and the world (“Old Woman Izergil”, “Konovalov”, “Chelkash”, “Malva”, “On Rafts”, “Song of Sokol”, etc.). A symbol of growing revolutionary movement in Russia became “Song of the Petrel” ( 1901 ).

With the beginning of Gorky's work in 1900 His long-term literary and organizational activity began at the Znanie publishing house. He expanded the publishing program, organized since 1904 the release of the famous collections “Knowledge” rallied around the publishing house the largest writers close to the realistic direction (I. Bunin, L. Andreev, A. Kuprin, etc.), and actually led this direction in its opposition to modernism.

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. M. Gorky’s first novels “Foma Gordeev” were published (1899) and "Three" ( 1900) . In 1902 His first plays were staged at the Moscow Art Theater - “Philistines” and “At the Lower Depths”. Together with the plays "Summer Residents" ( 1904 ), "Children of the Sun" ( 1905 ), "Barbarians" ( 1906 ) they defined a unique Gorky type of Russian realistic theater of the early 20th century, based on acute social conflict and clearly expressed ideological character. The play “At the Lower Depths” is still preserved in the repertoire of many theaters around the world.

Involved in active political activity at the beginning of the first Russian revolution, Gorky was forced in January 1906 emigrate (returned at the end of 1913). The peak of the writer’s conscious political engagement (social-democratic overtones) occurred in 1906-1907 years when the plays “Enemies” were published ( 1906 ), novel "Mother" ( 1906-1907 ), journalistic collections “My Interviews” and “In America” (both 1906 ).

New turn in Gorky’s worldview and stylistic manner was revealed in the stories “Town of Okurov” ( 1909-1910 ) and “The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin” ( 1910-1911 ), as well as in autobiographical prose 1910s.: stories “Master” ( 1913 ), "Childhood" ( 1913-1914 ), "In people" ( 1916 ), collection of stories “Across Rus'” ( 1912-1917 ) etc.: Gorky addressed the problem of Russian national character. The same trends were reflected in the so-called. second dramaturgical cycle: plays “Eccentrics” ( 1910 ), “Vassa Zheleznova” (1st ed. – 1910 ), "Old Man" (created in 1915, published in 1918 ) and etc.

During the period of revolutions 1917 Gorky sought to fight the anti-humanistic and anti-cultural tyranny that the Bolsheviks relied on (series of articles “ Untimely thoughts"in the newspaper" New life»). After October 1917 on the one hand, he became involved in the cultural and community service new institutions, and on the other hand, he criticized the Bolshevik terror, tried to save representatives of the creative intelligentsia from arrests and executions (in some cases, successfully). Increasing disagreements with the policies of V. Lenin led Gorky to October 1921 to emigration (formally it was presented as going abroad for treatment), which actually (with interruptions) continued before 1933.

First half of the 1920s marked by Gorky's search for new principles of artistic worldview. The book “Notes from a Diary” was written in an experimental memoir-fragmentary form. Memories" ( 1924 ), at the center of which is the theme of the Russian national character and its contradictory complexity. Collection "Stories of 1922-1924" ( 1925 ) marked by an interest in secrets human soul, a psychologically complicated type of hero, gravitating toward conventionally fantastic vision angles that were unusual for the former Gorky. In the 1920s Gorky’s work began on broad artistic canvases highlighting Russia’s recent past: “My Universities” ( 1923 ), novel “The Artamonov Case” ( 1925 ), epic novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” (parts 1-3, 1927-1931 ; unfinished 4 hours, 1937 ). Later, this panorama was supplemented by a cycle of plays: “Yegor Bulychov and others” ( 1932 ), "Dostigaev and others" ( 1933 ), "Vassa Zheleznova" (2nd edition, 1936 ).

Finally returning to the USSR in May 1933, Gorky took an active part in cultural construction, led the preparations for the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers, and participated in the creation of a number of institutes, publishing houses and magazines. His speeches and organizational efforts played significant role in establishing the aesthetics of socialist realism. Journalism of these years characterizes Gorky as one of the ideologists of the Soviet system, indirectly and directly advocating the Stalinist regime. At the same time, he repeatedly appealed to Stalin with petitions on behalf of repressed figures of science, literature and art.

The pinnacle of M. Gorky’s creativity includes a series of memoir portraits of his contemporaries (L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, L.N. Andreev, etc.), created by him in different time.

June 18, 1936 Maxim Gorky died in Moscow and was buried on Red Square (the urn with his ashes was buried in the Kremlin wall).

Born on March 16 (28), 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod in a poor family of a carpenter. The real name of Maxim Gorky is Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov. His parents died early, and little Alexey stayed to live with my grandfather. His grandmother became a mentor in literature, who led her grandson into the world of folk poetry. He wrote about her briefly, but with great tenderness: “In those years, I was filled with my grandmother’s poems, like a beehive with honey; It seems that I was thinking in the forms of her poems.”

Gorky's childhood was spent in harsh, difficult conditions. WITH early years the future writer was forced to do part-time work, earning a living whatever he could.

Training and beginning of literary activity

In Gorky's life, only two years were devoted to studying at the Nizhny Novgorod School. Then, due to poverty, he went to work, but was constantly engaged in self-education. 1887 was one of the most difficult years in Gorky's biography. Due to the troubles that beset him, he tried to commit suicide, but nevertheless survived.

Traveling around the country, Gorky propagated the revolution, for which he was taken under police surveillance and then arrested for the first time in 1888.

Gorky's first published story, "Makar Chudra", was published in 1892. Then, his essays in two volumes, “Essays and Stories,” published in 1898, brought fame to the writer.

In 1900-1901 he wrote the novel “Three”, met Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy.

In 1902, he was awarded the title of member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, but by order of Nicholas II it was soon invalidated.

Gorky's famous works include: the story "Old Woman Izergil" (1895), the plays "Philistines" (1901) and "At the Demise" (1902), the stories "Childhood" (1913-1914) and "In People" (1915-1916) , the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” (1925-1936), which the author never finished, as well as many cycles of stories.

Gorky also wrote fairy tales for children. Among them: “The Tale of Ivanushka the Fool”, “Sparrow”, “Samovar”, “Tales of Italy” and others. Remembering his difficult childhood, Gorky paid special attention to children, organized holidays for children from poor families, and published a children's magazine.

Emigration, return to homeland

In 1906, in the biography of Maxim Gorky, he moved to the USA, then to Italy, where he lived until 1913. Even there, Gorky’s work defended the revolution. Returning to Russia, he stops in St. Petersburg. Here Gorky works in publishing houses and is involved in social activities. In 1921, due to worsening illness, at the insistence of Vladimir Lenin, and disagreements with the authorities, he again went abroad. The writer finally returned to the USSR in October 1932.

Last years and death

At home, he continues to actively write and publishes newspapers and magazines.

Maxim Gorky died on June 18, 1936 in the village of Gorki (Moscow region) under mysterious circumstances. There were rumors that the cause of his death was poisoning and many blamed Stalin for this. However, this version was never confirmed.

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