Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich. Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich

Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich is a poet and publicist who lived in our country at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. He is best known for his translation into Russian of Homer’s Iliad; it was this version that eventually became the standard. We will talk in detail about the life, fate and work of the poet in this article.

Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich: biography. Childhood

The future writer was born in Poltava on February 2, 1784. His parents came from old noble families, which were almost impoverished by that time. Little Nikolai lost his mother early, and then he almost lost his life - smallpox was a terrible disease in those days. It was the disease that disfigured Gnedich’s face and deprived him of his eyes.

In 1793, the boy was sent to study at the Poltava Theological Seminary. Five years later, it was decided to move the school and its students to Novomirgorod from Poltava. But Ivan Petrovich, Gnedich’s father, took his son from the educational institution and sent him to the Kharkov Collegium. In those years, this institution was considered the most prestigious Ukrainian school. The future poet graduated from the Collegium in 1800, after which he moved to Moscow for permanent residence.

Here he, together with his longtime friend Alexei Yunoshevsky, was accepted into the Moscow University Gymnasium as boarders. But within a few months, the young man was transferred as a student to the Faculty of Philosophy, from which he graduated brilliantly in 1802.

First publications

During his university years, Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich became close to members of the Friendly Literary Society, which included A. Turgenev, A. Merzlyakov, A. Kaisarov. The poet also made friends with the playwright N. Sandunov. During these years, the young man became interested in tyrant-fighting ideas and became engrossed in F. Schiller.

The year 1802 was marked by a joyful event for Gnedich - his translation was published for the first time. It was the tragedy “Abufar”, written by the Frenchman J. Dusis. At the same time, the writer’s original work was published - the story “Moritz, or the Victim of Vengeance.” And a year later, two translations of Schiller appeared at once - the novel “Don Corrado de Guerera” and the tragedy “The Fiesco Conspiracy”.

But, despite the fact that they started printing it, there is still not enough money, so plans to continue their studies have to be abandoned. In 1802, the poet moved to St. Petersburg. Here he gets a job as an official in the Department of Public Education. Gnedich will occupy this place until 1817.

The writer devotes all his free time to theater and literature. In this area, he achieved considerable success, and also made acquaintance with Pushkin, Krylov, Zhukovsky, Derzhavin and several future Decembrists.

Service

Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich quickly gained fame as an excellent poet and translator. This fame opened before him the homes of many high-ranking and noble persons of St. Petersburg, including Olenin and Stroganov. Thanks to the patronage of these people, the writer became a member of the Russian Academy in 1811, and then was appointed to the position of librarian of the Imperial Public Library, where he headed the department of Greek literature.

Soon Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich became close friends with Olenin. They were united by a common interest in theater and the ancient world. This greatly changed the poet’s financial and professional situation.

Most of all during these years the writer devotes his time to working in the library. By 1819, he had compiled a catalog of all the books that were in his department and recorded them in a special register. In addition, Gnedich often made presentations at library meetings.

Collection of books

In life, Gnedich N.I. was naive and simple-minded. The writer’s biography suggests that his only passion was literature and books. The first helped him receive the title of academician and the rank of state councilor. As for books, Gnedich collected about 1,250 rare and sometimes unique volumes in his personal collection. After the poet’s death, they all went to the Poltava gymnasium according to his will. After the revolution, the books ended up in the Poltava library, and then some of them were transported to Kharkov.

In 1826, Gnedich was awarded the title of corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Throughout his life he was engaged in translations of works by Voltaire, Schiller, and Shakespeare.

Illness and death

Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich is a wonderful poet and appreciated by his contemporaries. But not everything in his life was so rosy. Illnesses that began in childhood did not leave him. The writer went several times for treatment to the Caucasus, famous for its mineral waters. But this only helped for a while. And in 1830, the ailments worsened with renewed vigor, and a sore throat was added to them. Treatment in Moscow with artificial mineral waters had no effect. Despite his state of health, in 1832 the poet managed to prepare and publish a collection of Poems.

In 1833, the writer fell ill with the flu. The weakened body cannot withstand the new illness, and on February 3, 1833, the poet dies at the age of 49. This ends the short biography. Gnedich Nikolai was buried in St. Petersburg on On his last journey, he was accompanied by Pushkin, Krylov, Vyazemsky, Olenin, Pletnev and other prominent literary figures of that time.

Creation

The idea of nationality has always been at the heart of the writer’s lyrics. Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich sought to portray the ideal of a harmonious and working person. His hero was always full of passions and freedom-loving. This is what caused the poet’s enormous interest in Shakespeare, Ossian and ancient art in general.

Homer's characters seemed to Gnedich the embodiment of the heroic people and patriarchal equality. His most famous work was “Fishermen”, in which the writer combined Russian folklore with Homeric style. It’s not for nothing that this idyll is considered Gnedich’s best original creation. Even Pushkin, in a note to his “Eugene Onegin,” quoted lines from this work, in particular the description of the white nights of St. Petersburg.

Among the writer’s works it is worth highlighting the following:

"The Beauty of Ossian."
"Dormitory".
"Peruvian to Spaniard."
"To friend".
"On the mother's coffin."

"Iliad"

In 1807, Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich began translating the Iliad. The poems were written in hexameter, which was close to the original. Moreover, this was the first Russian poetic translation of Homer. The work lasted more than 20 years, and in 1829 the full version of the translation was published. The work had enormous socio-cultural and poetic significance. Pushkin called it a “high feat.”

The very idea of translation came to Gnedich in his distant childhood, when he first read Homer’s work. Before him, many famous writers did this, including Lomonosov and Trediakovsky. But not a single attempt was successful. This state of affairs gave Gnedich’s translation even more weight and significance.

Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich lived a rather amazing life. A short biography of the writer can only be compiled from interesting events that happened to him:

Olenin at one time introduced Gnedich as a famous and excellent translator into the salons of Grand Duchess Catherine and Empress Maria Feodorovna. Acquaintance with the reigning person became decisive for the poet. Thanks to her help, the writer was awarded a lifelong pension so that he could devote all his time to translating the Iliad.
Gnedich was the first to begin publishing poems by the still young and unknown Pushkin.
The writer was awarded two orders for his literary work - Vladimir IV degree and Anna II degree.

Today, not every schoolchild knows who Nikolai Gnedich was and what contribution he made to Russian literature. Nevertheless, his name has survived for centuries, and the translation of the Iliad is still considered unsurpassed.

Born on February 2, 1784. The son of poor Poltava landowners, who lost his parents early, he nevertheless received a sufficient education for his time. Initially he studied at the Poltava Seminary, but did not stay here long and moved to... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

Gnedich, Nikolai Ivanovich poet, famous translator of the Iliad, was born in 1784 in Poltava. His parents, poor descendants of an old noble family, died early and already in childhood the poet experienced loneliness, which became the lot of his entire life. In childhood… … Biographical Dictionary

Russian poet, translator. Born into a noble family. In 1800 02 he studied at the Moscow University boarding school. Participated in the “Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word”. He also became close to the Free Society... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1784 1833) Russian poet, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1826). Translated the works of F. Schiller, Voltaire, W. Shakespeare. In 1829 he published a translation of Homer's Iliad. Collection of Poems (1832) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Gnedich, Nikolai Ivanovich- GNEDICH Nikolai Ivanovich (1784 1833), Russian poet. Author of the classic translation of Homer's Iliad (1829). Collection of “Poems” (1832). ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1784 1833), Russian poet, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1826). Translated the works of F. Schiller, Voltaire, W. Shakespeare. The translation of Homer's Iliad (1829) is considered a classic. Collection of "Poems" (1832). * * * GNEDICH Nikolai Ivanovich... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich- (17841833), Russian poet, translator. Full lane “The Iliad” (1829, new edition 1978), trans. prod. F. Schiller, Voltaire, W. Shakespeare. Pov. "Moritz, or the Victim of Vengeance" (1802). Freedom-loving verse. “The Hostel” (1804), “Peruvian to Spaniard” (1805);… … Literary encyclopedic dictionary

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Varlamov, apparently, did not work at all on the theory of musical composition and was left with the meager knowledge that he could have learned from the chapel, which in those days did not at all care about the general musical development of its students.

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“Sherwood,” writes one contemporary, “in society, even in St. Petersburg, was not called anything other than bad Sherwood... his comrades in military service shunned him and called him by the dog name “Fidelka.”

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...Field Marshal Kamensky publicly called him “a state thief, a bribe-taker, a complete fool.”

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Biographical Dictionary, vol. 1-4

(02/13/1784, Poltava - 02/15/1833, St. Petersburg), poet, playwright, theater, activist, translator, publisher, member. Ross. Academician, Corresponding Member AN, in PB 1811-31.

He came from a Cossack noble family. As a child, he suffered from smallpox, which deprived him of his right eye and disfigured his beautiful face. He learned to read and write from the village sexton. At the age of 9 he was sent to the Poltava Theological Seminary, and at the age of 12 he entered the Kharkov Collegium. Since 1800 he studied in Moscow. un-those. In con. 1802, without graduating from university. course, went to St. Petersburg. In March 1803 he became a scribe in the Department. adv. enlightenment, became friends with K.N. Batyushkov, who introduced him to the houses of M.N. Muravyov and A.N. Olenin. Then he met and became friends with I. A. Krylov. Got close to the member. VOLSNKH. Per. W. Shakespeare, Voltaire, F. Schiller. In 1807 he entered the lit. circle of G. R. Derzhavin. Since 1807, he began translating. Homer's Iliad in Alexandrian verse (iamb hexameter). In 1813 after publication. letters from S.S. Uvarov to him about Russian. metric equivalent for lane. "ancient poets" passed under the lane. "Iliad" in Russian. hexameter (hexameter dactyl). Acquaintance and friendship with Olenin on the basis of a common interest in antiquity. in the world, the theater, G.'s official and financial situation dramatically changed. Olenin introduced him as a translator to the imp. Maria Fedorovna and led. book Ekaterina Pavlovna, thanks to the cut, Gnedich received a life sentence. pension for working on the lane. "Iliad". July 12, 1811 Gnedich was accepted as assistant. b-rya in PB with leaving in Dep. education, where he served until 1817. His work at the B-ke consisted of analyzing Greek. book, comp. their catalogue, on daily duty. Delivered a talk. in celebrations, meetings of the B-ki: “Discourses on the reasons slowing down the success of our literature” (1814); “Discourse on taste, its properties and influence on the language and customs of peoples” (1816); "The Birth of Omer" (1817). In May 1819 he compiled a “Statement of how many volumes in general and in each particular category are in the Imperial Public Library in the Department of Greek Writers.” The OR RNL stores two volumes, comp. manuscript for them. catalogues: "Catalog of the Imperial Public Library. Greek" (1820) and "Catalogue of the Imperial Public Library. Latin. 15. Literary arts: Eloquence" (1822). Reviewed newly received books. in Greek and lat. language In April 1826 Gnedich received the position of a br, but with a “truncated” salary; from June 12, 1827, he began to receive a full salary, because he was fired from the clerical office. State advice. Olenin allowed Gnedich to study translation. "Iliad" during official hours, personally helping with the translation. military, technical concepts. More than 30 research letters. Olenin wrote for Gnedich. All employees of the B-ki helped as much as possible during the transition. “The Iliad”: D. P. Popov translated the “Iliad” into prose, interpreted difficult phrases; A. I. Ermolaev looked for suitable words in the chronicles, respectively. Greek concepts; Krylov specially studied Greek. language and took part in the difficult turns. In 1826, at the request of Olenin, Emperor. assigned Gnedich a boarding house of 3,000 rubles. per year in addition to the salary he received for his work in the library and “especially for his labors in translating the Iliad into Russian in verse.” The translation was published in December 1829 and became the largest event in his literary life. Worked in B-ke on January 31, 1831.

During his service in the PB Gnedich, under the patronage of Olenin, to receive additional. earnings in Aug. 1814 defined in the State. chancellor clerk, where he later held the position of forwarder.

He took an active part in lit. life. In con. 1810s Gnedich - member. Islands "Green Lamp", in the beginning. 20s - VOLRS, played the role of a literature teacher. youth of the Decembrist persuasion, was engaged in publishing. activities, publishing "Experiments" K-N. Batyushkov (2 parts 1817), poems by A. S. Pushkin “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (1820) and “Prisoner of the Caucasus” (1822), “Prisoner of Chillon” by Byron in the translation. Zhukovsky. Published in the magazine. and gas.: "Northern Vest.", "Flower Garden", "Dram, Vest.", "Western Europe", "Son of the Fatherland", "Ukr. Vest.", "Northern Observer", "Journal of Fine Arts" Arts", "Moscow Telegraph", "Northern Bee". In alm.: “Northern Flowers”, “Literary Museum”, “New Aonids”, “Alcina”, “Thalia”, “Leaf of Graces”, “Housewarming”, “Rout”.

In 1811 he was elected member. Ross. academician, in 1826 - corresponding member. AN. Since 1830 - honor, free associate of Acad. arts

Awarded the Order of Vladimir, 4th degree, and Order of Anna, 2nd degree. He had the rank of Art. owls AND.

He was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg. On Olenin’s initiative, friends raised money for the monument. Manuscripts and 5 authors. book with Gnedich's edits were transferred to B-ku. In 1874, I. S. Turgenev presented B-ka with proof sheets of the Iliad with amendments by Gnedich, A. I. Krasovsky, A. Kh. Vostokov, V. G. Belinsky, M. E. Lobanov. On the last sheet G. wrote: “The end and glory to God, and thanks to everyone,” and one of his friends then wrote below: “Translator! Translator!”

Op.: Op. T. 1-3 (St. Petersburg; M., 1884); Collection op. In 6 volumes, 2nd ed. (St. Petersburg; M., 1903); Poly. collection poetic op. and transl.: In 3 vols. (SPb., 1905); Poems (St. Petersburg, 1832; 2nd ed. Leningrad, 1956; 3rd ed. Moscow; Leningrad, 1963; Moscow, 1984); Academy of Arts, or about exhibitions of works of art in 1820 //SO. 1820. No. 38-40; Fishermen: [Idyll] (St. Petersburg, 1822); Common folk songs of modern Greeks, with the original, published and translated in verse with the addition of an introduction, comparing them with Russian common songs and notes (St. Petersburg, 1825); About the tactics of the Achaeans and Trojans, about the formation of troops, etc. //CO. 1826. No. 20; Homer's Iliad, trans. N. Gnedich: In 2 volumes (SPb., 1829; M.; L., 1935; M., 1978; L., 1990).

Reference: TSB; KLE; Brockhaus; Vengerov. Sources; Gennadi; Gennadi. Dictionary; Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov); Mezhov. Story; Muratova (1); NES; Pavlovsky I. F. Krat, biogr. words, scientists and writers of the Poltava province. from the half of the 18th century Poltava, 1912; RBS; Rus. writers.

Lit.: Bulgarin F. Something about the translators of Homer //SO. 1821. No. 30; Lobanov M. Life and works of Nikolai Ivanovich Gnedich //Tr. imp. Ross. Academician 1842. Part 5; Lives of Homer and the translator of his Iliad into Russian. language, with their portraits located at PB. St. Petersburg, 1867; Krugly A. O. M. E. Lobanov and his relationship to Gnedich and Zagoskin // IV. 1880. T. 2, Aug.; Tikhanov P. N. N. I. Gnedich: Several data on unpublished. source to the 100th anniversary of his birthday (1784-1884) //Sb. ORYAS. 1884. T. 33, No. 3. (2nd ed. St. Petersburg, 1884); Ponomarev S.I. Towards the publication of the Iliad in Gnedich’s translation. St. Petersburg, 1886; Georgievsky G. P. A. N. Olenin and N. I. Gnedich: New materials from the Oleninsky arch. //Sat. ORYAS. 1914. T. 91; No. 1; Kukulevich A. “The Iliad” translated by N. I. Gnedich // Uch. zap. LSU. No. 33. Ser. Philol. Sci. 1939. Issue. 2; Medvedeva-Tomashevskaya I. N. Gnedich in the social and literary struggle of the first quarter of the 19th century. L., 1949; Medvedeva I. N. N. I. Gnedich and the Decembrists: (From the history of literary programs and associations of the Decembrists) // Decembrists and their time: Materials and communications. M.; L., 1951; Zhikharev S.P. Notes of a contemporary. M.; L., 1955; Efimova (1); Khotyakov (1); History of Russian literature: In 4 vols. L., 1981; Golubeva O. D. Keepers of Wisdom. M., 1988; Hers. What the autographs told us. St. Petersburg, 1991.

100th anniversary. pp. 36, 63, 76, 78, 143, 155; PB report for 1895.

Arch.: Arch. RNB. F. 1, op. 1, 1816, no. 17; OR RNB. F. 197; RGALI. F. 1225; OR IRLI. No. 80-108, 9642, 10089, 10102, 13812, 14370; 28006; RGIA. F. 1162, op. 7, no. 242.

Iconogr.: Munster; Rovinsky; Russian portraits of the 18th and 19th centuries: Ed. led book Nikolai Mikhailovich. St. Petersburg, 1907; Adaryukov

O. D. Golubeva

1784 - 1833

A country: Russia

Gnedich Nikolai Ivanovich (1784 - 1833), poet, translator. Born on February 2 (13 NS) in Poltava into a poor noble family. In 1793 he was admitted to the Poltava Theological Seminary, then studied at the Kharkov Collegium, after which he entered the Noble Boarding School at Moscow University in 1800. I always studied with great interest and devoted a lot of time to the ancient Greek language and literature. From a young age he became known for his translations of French plays. In 1802 he left for St. Petersburg, where he received a rather modest position as an official in the Department of Public Education.
Literary interests and a good knowledge of ancient Greek and several European languages early determined his path as a translator. He contributed both translations and original poems in magazines published by members of the Free Society of Lovers of Science and Arts, with whom he became close.
Beginning in 1811, he served for many years in the Imperial Public Library, without interrupting his literary pursuits. The most famous were his poems “The Hostel” (a free translation from the French of Thomas’s ode, 1804), “A Peruvian to a Spaniard” (1805), and a translation of Voltaire’s tragedy “Tancred” (1810).
In 1807, Gnedich began translating Homer’s Iliad, in which he found “all aspects of heroic life.” He devoted 20 years to this work. To translate the poem, he had to “search for the internal possibilities of Russian verse,” capable of expressing the meaning and spirit of ancient images , ancient worldview and worldview. He settled on the Russian hexameter as a size capable of conveying Homer's verse.
In the memory of subsequent generations, Gnedich remained primarily as the author of the first complete poetic translation of the Iliad. “With the name of Gnedich,” wrote Belinsky, “the thought of one of those great feats that constitute the eternal gain and eternal glory of literature is connected. Translation of the Iliad.” Gnedich’s translation into the Russian language is a merit for which there is no worthy reward.”
After the publication of the Iliad, Gnedich published a collection of poems (1832), which included 77 works written in the last years of his life.
After a serious illness, on February 3 (15 n.s.) 1833 N. Gnedich died.