Interesting facts from the life of Mayakovsky. Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik

Mayakovsky literally burst into the world with his soul-stirring, unusual poems. Handsome, powerful, broad in gestures, thoughts and feelings - such is this poet, speaking first name to the Sun.

Childhood and youth

Mayakovsky's life began in the Georgian village of Baghdadi, Kutaisi province, where he was born on July 19, 1893 into an impoverished noble family. Mayakovsky was born on his father’s birthday, so they named him Vladimir.

The family did not live well. The father, filled with a sense of responsibility for his household, worked a lot and hard. In 1906 he passed away - he died of blood poisoning. At this time, Volodya is thirteen, he is a student at the Kutaisi gymnasium. After the death of their father, the mother and her children, son and daughters, moved to Moscow. Having studied a little at the fifth classical gymnasium, the future poet was expelled from it for non-payment.

And then the rebellious beginning of Vladimir Mayakovsky began to be realized in revolutionary activities. In 1908 he became a member of the Bolshevik Party. The result of this is eleven months in Butyrka prison. It was from here that the young man took out his first notebook of poems. After his release from prison, his party work is interrupted.

Active creative activity

He begins to actively engage in literature, joining futurism - a scandalous movement in art. In their program collection “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste,” the poet’s first poems, “Morning” and “Night,” were published in 1912. The poem with the unusual title “Cloud in Pants” was published in the second half of the 1910s thanks to Osip Brik, whom Mayakovsky met in the summer of 1915. Since then, Osip and Lilya Brik became his friends. Lilichka, as Vladimir Vladimirovich affectionately called her, is associated with sincere love feelings, later expressed in poetry.

Taking an active life position, Mayakovsky always responded to political events. Thus, the poem “War and Peace” is dedicated to the First World War, “Left March” - to the revolutionary events of 1917.

This man-tribune not only wrote brilliant poetry, but also wrote scripts, acted in films, was an excellent reader, and painted propaganda and satirical posters in “Windows of ROSTA” - the Russian telegraph agency that dealt with propaganda art.

Numerous trips

In the first half of the twenties, the poet visited Western countries - Latvia, Germany, France, and in 1925 - the USA, Cuba, Mexico. He wrote poems and articles about European impressions, read his poetic works, and gave presentations. The poet dedicated a whole cycle of poems and the essay “My Discovery of America” to America.

In the second half of the 20s, he traveled a lot around the Soviet Union, speaking to various audiences.

Satirical orientation of creativity

One of the important directions of Mayakovsky’s work is satire. It manifested itself in numerous poetic works and comedies of the late twenties, “The Bedbug”, “Bathhouse”, staged at the Meyerhold Theater - about a society that had forgotten about true revolutionary values. At this time, tragic motives are already heard in creativity.

The end of a short fiery journey

The life of the great poet was cut short on April fourteenth, 1930. He shot himself with a pistol directly in the heart. Disputes about the ambiguity of this death continue to this day.

Mayakovsky remained in the hearts of his descendants as a man who did not tolerate lies and falsehood, and as a poet who wrote poems that seared the soul.

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Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky is the most famous Russian futurist poet. The time of his creative heyday occurred during a dramatic period in the history of Russia, the time of revolutions and the Civil War.

Childhood and youth of the poet Mayakovsky

Vladimir Mayakovsky was born on July 7 (19), 1893 in the town of Baghdati (now in the Imereti region, Georgia). His father served as a forester, and his mother came from the Kuban Cossacks. In 1902, Vladimir was sent to the gymnasium of the city of Kutaisi. There he first became acquainted with the propaganda materials of Russian and Georgian revolutionaries. Four years later, Mayakovsky's father died, and the family moved to Moscow. Vladimir transferred to Moscow gymnasium No. 5, but studied there for only about a year and was expelled for non-payment. In 1908, Mayakovsky joined the RSDLP. That same year, he was arrested for the first time for illegal activities. In subsequent years, the young man was arrested several more times.

The beginning of Mayakovsky's poetic activity

While still in high school, Mayakovsky began writing poetry. But the lines he wrote in his early youth have not survived. The poet himself later admitted that he considered his early works bad. In 1910, after 11 months of arrest, Mayakovsky left the party to devote himself entirely to poetry. Soon, Mayakovsky's friend Evgenia Lang encouraged him to also take up painting. For some time, Mayakovsky studied at the MUZHVZ school, but did not complete the course.

In 1912, Mayakovsky’s first publication, the poem “Night,” was published in the collection “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.” The following year, the poet’s own collection “I” was published. Makovsky's manuscript was provided with several drawings and reproduced lithographically. In 1913, the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky” was also staged, in which the young poet played himself.

In 1914, Vladimir Mayakovsky clearly expressed his anti-war position. When the poet was drafted into the army, Maxim Gorky helped ensure that he was sent not to the front, but to a unit located in St. Petersburg at the Automotive Training School. Despite government restrictions, Mayakovsky continued to publish. In 1915, he met the Brik couple and soon began to live with them. In the summer of 1917, Mayakovsky was commissioned.

Perception of the revolution by V. Mayakovsky

Mayakovsky enthusiastically accepted the October Revolution. Mayakovsky later said that the years of the Civil War were the best in his life. On the occasion of the anniversary of the Revolution, based on Mayakovsky’s text, the premiere of the play “Mystery Bouffe” took place in Petrograd, directed by Meyerhold and with costumes by Kazimir Malevich. In the post-revolutionary years, recognition came to Mayakovsky. His new poems were published in large numbers. The poet's admiration for the Soviet regime is manifested in “Poems about the Soviet Passport,” the poem “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin” and in “The Soviet ABC.” In 1919-1921, Mayakovsky collaborated with the ROSTA agency (now the TASS agency) and produced propaganda posters “Windows of ROSTA”, accompanying the satirical images with his own poems.

Specifics of V. Mayakovsky's creativity

It is generally accepted that Mayakovsky is the most outstanding of the Russian futurists. His works are distinguished by the following features: the use of short verse and line breaks (“ladders”); mixing lyrical and satirical elements; use of emotionally charged, including obscene, language; autobiography and identification of the author and the lyrical hero.

Last years and death of Myakovsky

In the twenties, Mayakovsky’s poem “Good” was published, as well as the plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. From 1922 to 1928, he headed the LEF association, which included former futurists. At the end of the twenties, sharp criticism of futurism in general and Mayakovsky’s work in particular appeared more and more often on the pages of the government press. In 1928, Mayakovsky finally broke up with Lilya Brik. The poet's other love affairs were also unsuccessful. By 1930, Mayakovsky was suffering from deep depression. At the beginning of April 1930, the poet began planning suicide.

On April 14, 1930, Mayakovsky shot himself in the heart. Over time, speculation arose more than once that Mayakovsky was killed. This version is allegedly supported by the conflict between Vladimir Vladimirovich and Stalin. However, the poet’s biographers are sure that he took his own life. Tens of thousands of people attended the poet's funeral. Over time, Mayakovsky became the most recognizable poet of the early years of Soviet power, and his works were included in the compulsory curriculum in Russian literature for decades.

The great poet was born on July 19, 1893 in the village of Bagdati in Georgia, so he later had an excellent command of the Georgian language. He was tall (189 cm), grew up in the family of a forester with 5 children. The author's sisters were Lyudmila and Olga, and the author's brothers, Konstantin and Alexander, unfortunately died in childhood.

Brief chronological table of the most important dates

July 19, 1893- birth of a poet.
1902 - admission to the gymnasium.
1906 - moving to Moscow, continuing studies at the gymnasium.
1908 - the poet is expelled from the educational institution.
1911 - On the advice of a friend, I entered the art school.
1912 - publication of the poem “Night”.
1913 - publication in the Jewish magazine “Voskhod” of the verse “Jews!”
1913-1915 - release of the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky”, release of “”.
1923 - “Left Front”.
1927 - the poem “Good!” is published, telling about the best times.
April 14, 1930- suicide of Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Education and early years

V. Mayakovsky studied at the local gymnasium. My father died from blood poisoning from a simple needle, which affected V. Mayakovsky’s further perception of sharp things - he avoided various pins and similar objects in every possible way, so as not to repeat the fate of his father. Later, he and his family moved to Moscow, where he continued to study at the gymnasium. He managed to take part in the revolutionary picket. When Vladimir was in the 5th grade - this is 1908 - he was kicked out (the family did not have money to pay for further education).

Important! Already from childhood, Vladimir determined the direction in his creativity. The guy was carried by the flow of life into a literary circle, which he attended during breaks from his studies. At that time Mayakovsky wrote his first half-poem, which was published in the illegal gymnasium magazine “Rush”.

Arrest

After Mayakovsky was kicked out of the gymnasium, he decided to join. The poet led a rebellious lifestyle, and was often arrested for various antics. But since Vladimir was still a minor, he was always released. The result is that he is stillended up in Butyrka prison for almost a year, where he continued to write poetry. After leaving Butyrka, the guy leaves the party. He communicates closely with Eugenia Lang, who advises the not yet accomplished poet to take up painting. Mayakovsky listens to the advice and enters the painting school. Then he finds new friends and joins the Gileya team of cubo-futurists.

War years and revolution

At the beginning of the war, Vladimir Mayakovsky really wanted to volunteer to serve, but they did not want to take him into the army because of political reasons. He releases the poem “To You,” in which he speaks with a protest text about the structures of the tsarist army. When he was later called up, his ardor to shed blood for the Fatherland subsided, and his friends helped him “hide” by assigning him a job as a draftsman to an engineer in the company. During this time, Mayakovsky, together with the soldiers, takes into custody the director of the driving school, P. Sekretev, who had previously personally presented him with the medal “For Diligence.”

Creation

They began publishing the poet's works in 1912. The first published creation was the verse “Night”. In the same year, on November 30, the poet’s first public performance took place in the “Stray Dog” artistic basement. In 1913, Mayakovsky’s first collection entitled “I” was published.. True, the collection included only 4 works by the author. It was published in the Jewish magazine “Voskhod” with the poem “Jews!” A little later, the verse “Nate!” came out, dedicated to the entire “high society”. And just a year later, readers are shocked by another work - “Listen,” written in a style unusual for Mayakovsky. A year later, the poet released a tragedy of the same name, created it himself and took part in the filming. At a reception with Lily Brik, the author reads a new poem for the first time - “A Cloud in Pants,” which became, perhaps, one of his main works of that time, along with the brilliant “War Has Been Declared.”

Important! He helped Mayakovsky in every possible way and enrolled him in a military automobile training school, where he served during wartime. And Osip Brik contributed to the publication when the poet was not allowed to do so. He bought two of Vladimir’s poems and later published them.

During the revolutionary period, he published several collections of relevant topics - “Revolution. Poetochronika” and “Simple as Mooing”. And a little later, poems directly related to politics were published - “Good attitude towards horses”, “Left march”, “Order for the army of art”. Among the most famous plays is “Mystery Bouffe” (1918-1919).

Mayakovsky - director, artist and screenwriter

Mayakovsky was also a very good director and screenwriter. At that time, cinema was only at the stage of discovering possibilities, but the poet intuitively sensed the powerful potential for the development of this direction, which he talked about. The poetry and cinematic experiments of V. Mayakovsky are closely connected with each other by rhythm and images. In his scripts and productions one can observe generality, monumentality, and in some moments eccentricity characteristic of his innovative and rough character. In 1918, V. Mayakovsky starred in films. They were according to his own scripts:

“Not born for money”;
“Chained by Film”;
“The Young Lady and the Hooligan.”

At the same time, the poet works for “The Art of the Commune,” a newspaper that was actively involved in the visual arts. In 1920, he published two wonderful works - “Attitude towards the Young Lady” and “Heine-like”. In 1923, V. Mayakovsky became the organizer of the LEF magazine and the Left Front of Arts community.He also continues to paint pictures - one of the most famous is “Roulette”. During these same years, Mayakovsky wrote stunning poems: “Sevastopol-Yalta”, “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin”. With the last poem in one of the concert halls in Moscow, where he was present, the audience and even the Great Leader himself applauded while standing for another 15 minutes.

Controversy between Mayakovsky and Yesenin

Since 1920, Mayakovsky has been actively competing with, who is no less significant figure in Russian literature. They often have verbal altercations with angry, radical expressions. But Vladimir cannot help but note Sergei’s unconditional talent, although he reproaches the latter for excessive alcohol consumption and conservatism.

Literary heritage of the travel period

In peacetime, Vladimir Mayakovsky often traveled. For the period from 1923 to 1925. he visited many countries, including Latvia, Germany, France. While in the USA, he wrote a couple of “American” poems: “American Russians”, “Broadway”, “Brooklyn Bridge”. During the same period, the amazing poem “Good!” was published. and the magnificent work “Who to be?”, the poem “The Secret of Youth”, well received by critics. Mayakovsky continues to write plays and film scripts. In just a year, he manages to create about 9 scripts and several memorable plays: “Bathhouse” and “Bedbug”. The audience did not receive the latter very well.Negative comments appeared in the newspapers, and then the text: “Down with Mayakovism!”.

Creative exhibition

Despite the negative characterization of his work, which so often appears in printed publications, Mayakovsky nevertheless decided in 1930 to organize a retrospective exhibition “20 years of work.” All famous creative people of that time were invited to it. But the exhibition failed miserably, and as a result, the poet fell into a terrible depression.

Personal life

Lilya Brik became the beloved of the great poet, he dedicated the stunning, sensual poem “Lilichka” to her. Not everyone today will understand the story of this love, because Lily had a husband, but he turned a blind eye to all his wife’s antics. Together with Mayakovsky, Lilya starred in the film “Chained by Film,” and after that they began to live together. The poet often spoiled her with various expensive gifts, for example, one of them was a Renault car. Vladimir Mayakovsky also met with Lily Brik’s sister, Elsa Triolet. The poet loved women very much, and already in 1921 the artist Lilya Lavinskaya became pregnant from him. She bore him a son with a double name - Gleb-Nikita. Women also loved Mayakovsky in return - fleeting affairs happened to him all the time. But only one woman was able to give him a child again - emigrant Ellie Jones. Soon a girl was born - Elena Mayakovskaya (Patricia Thompson). The poet met for quite a long time with Tatyana Yakovleva, with whom he began to communicate during his visit to France. She did not want to move to her lover in Moscow, so Vladimir decided to act decisively. He himself intended to go to her, but he was not given a visa, and all his dreams turned into ashes. Finally, Mayakovsky met with another married lady, Veronica Polonskaya, who did not dare to leave her husband, since the poet was fickle. The girl became pregnant from Vladimir, but had an abortion because she did not want to destroy the family idyll.

Death

The events of 1930 significantly undermined the poet. He did not come out of lingering sadness and depression, sat at home, and, despite numerous women, missed his beloved “Brika,” who at that time was traveling with her husband in Europe. On April 14, 1930, Vladimir Mayakovsky committed suicide - he shot himself in the chest. He was only 36 years old. No one knows the final version of death, there are only guesses. It was clear that he was preparing for this fateful day, because on the eve he wrote a note asking not to blame anyone for what happened, but to give all the poems to Lily Brik.

Important! The last person Mayakovsky saw before his death was Veronica Polonsky. As soon as the girl left the house, closing the door behind her, a shot followed. Veronica Polonskaya did not even come to the funeral, because she could not look at the relatives and friends of the deceased, who considered her to be the culprit of suicide.

He was buried (according to Brikov's terms), cremated, burying his ashes in a grave at the Novodevichy cemetery. Having learned about what had happened, a strict ban on the publication of his poems soon appeared. Lilya Brik wrote a letter to I. Stalin himself with a request to honor the memory of the great poet properly. He responded to the request with approval, creating a museum in his honor in 1937 and authorizing publication.

The poet has never been marriedbut, nevertheless, had two children.
He invented a special style of writing poetry - “Ladder”.For this, many considered him a deceiver, because in newspapers at that time they paid not for the number of characters, but for the lines.
Vladimir Mayakovsky was very fond of gambling,and many are still convinced that it was they who destroyed the poet.
The poet loved to compose poetry on the go.Sometimes he walked the streets for hours just to find the right rhyme.
Lilya Brik inherited an apartment and corporate money after the death of Vladimir Mayakovsky,which is what he asked to do in his suicide note.

You can also see important and additional facts about the life of V. Mayakovsky in the video below.

He lived only 36 full years. He lived brightly, created quickly and created a completely new direction in Russian and Soviet poetry. Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky is a poet, playwright, artist and screenwriter. A tragic and extraordinary personality.

Family

The future poet was born into a nobleman's family in the village of Baghdad, Kutaisi province in Georgia on July 19, 1893. Like his father, his mother was from a Cossack family. Vladimir Konstantinovich was a descendant of Zaporozhye Cossacks, his mother was Kuban. He was not the only child in the family. He also had two sisters - Lyudmila and Olga, who far outlived his talented brother, and two brothers - Konstantin and Alexander. They, unfortunately, died in infancy.

From the tragic

His father, Vladimir Konstantinovich, who served almost his entire life as a forester, died of blood poisoning. While stitching papers, he pricked his finger with a needle. Since then, Vladimir Mayakovsky suffered from bacteriophobia. He was afraid of dying like his dad from an injection. Later, hairpins, needles, and pins became dangerous objects for him.

Georgian roots

Volodya was born on Georgian soil and, subsequently, already a famous poet, in one of his poems Mayakovsky called himself a Georgian. He liked to compare himself with the temperamental people, although he had nothing to do with them by blood. But, apparently, his early years spent on Kutaisi soil, among Georgians, affected his character. He became as hot-tempered, temperamental, restless as his fellow countrymen. He spoke excellent Georgian.

Early years

At the age of eight, Mayakovsky entered one of the gymnasiums in Kutaisi, but after the death of his father in 1906, he moved to Moscow with his mother and sisters. There Vladimir entered the fourth grade of the 5th classical gymnasium. Due to lack of funds to pay for tuition, after a year and a half he was expelled from the educational institution. During this period, he met the Marxists, became imbued with their ideas and joined the party, and was persecuted by the tsarist authorities for his revolutionary views. He had to spend eleven months in Butyrka prison, from which he was released for being a juvenile at the beginning of 1910.

Creation

The poet himself dates the beginning of his poetic creativity from the time of his imprisonment. It was behind bars that Vladimir wrote his first works. An entire notebook with poems was confiscated by the guards. Mayakovsky was a talented person in many areas. After his release, he became interested in painting and even entered the Stroganov School. There he studied in preparatory class. In 1911 he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Three years later he was expelled from the school for speaking publicly at gatherings.

He subsequently gained recognition in the artistic field. For his work on advertising posters for the Dobrolet company, the predecessor of Aeroflot, at the Paris exhibition Vladimir Mayakovsky received a silver medal.

Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote several screenplays for films in which he himself starred.

The creator called himself a “working poet.” Before him, no one wrote sweepingly using the so-called ladder. This was his signature style. Readers admired this innovation, but “colleagues” couldn’t stand it. There is an opinion that Mayakovsky invented this ladder for the sake of fees. In those days they paid for every line.

Love

The poet’s personal relationships were not easy. His first great love was Lilya Brik. Mayakovsky met her in July 1915. They started living together in the eighteenth year. He gave her a ring with the engraving “LOVE”, which meant Lilya Yuryevna Brik.

While traveling in France, Tatyana Yakovleva, a Russian emigrant, the poet ordered his second great love to be sent a bouquet of flowers every day. Even after the poet’s death, flowers came to the Russian beauty. During World War II, Tatyana only saved herself from hunger by selling the bouquets that came to her.

Mayakovsky had two children. Son Gleb-Nikita born in 1921 from artist Lily Lavinskaya and daughter Helen-Patricia born in 1926 from Ellie Jones.

Death

After prolonged attacks in the press, which began in 1929, on April 14, 1930, Vladimir Mayakovsky shot himself in his apartment. Thousands of people attended his funeral. The farewell to the poet lasted for three days.

Life milestones:

July 9, 1983 - birth;
1908 - entry into the RSDLP, conclusion;
1909 - first poems;
1910 - release from prison;
1912 - poetic debut;
1925 - travel to Germany, Mexico, France, USA;
1929 - the beginning of attacks on the poet in newspapers;
April 14, 1930 - death.

In Ladimir, Mayakovsky did not immediately start writing poetry - at first he was going to become an artist and even studied painting. The poet's fame came to him after meeting avant-garde artists, when David Burliuk greeted the young author's first works with delight. Futurist group, “Today's Lubok”, “Left Front of the Arts”, advertising “Windows of GROWTH” - Vladimir Mayakovsky worked in many creative associations. He also wrote for newspapers, published a magazine, made films, created plays and staged performances based on them.

Vladimir Mayakovsky with his sister Lyudmila. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky with his family. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky in childhood. Photo: rewizor.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky was born in Georgia in 1893. His father served as a forester in the village of Baghdadi, and later the family moved to Kutaisi. Here the future poet studied at the gymnasium and took drawing lessons: the only Kutaisi artist, Sergei Krasnukha, taught him for free. When the wave of the first Russian revolution reached Georgia, Mayakovsky - as a child - participated in rallies for the first time. His sister Lyudmila Mayakovskaya recalled: “The revolutionary struggle of the masses also influenced Volodya and Olya. The Caucasus experienced the revolution especially acutely. There everyone was involved in the struggle, and everyone was divided into those who participated in the revolution, those who definitely sympathized with it and those who were hostile.”.

In 1906, when Vladimir Mayakovsky was 13 years old, his father died from blood poisoning: he injured his finger with a needle while stitching papers. Until the end of his life, the poet was afraid of bacteria: he always carried soap with him, took a collapsible basin with him when traveling, carried cologne with him for rubbing and carefully monitored hygiene.

After the death of the father, the family found itself in a difficult situation. Mayakovsky recalled: “After my father’s funeral, we have 3 rubles. Instinctively, feverishly, we sold out of tables and chairs. We moved to Moscow. For what? There weren’t even any acquaintances”. In a Moscow gymnasium, the young poet wrote his first “incredibly revolutionary and equally ugly” poem and published it in an illegal school magazine. In 1909–1910, Mayakovsky was arrested several times: he joined the Bolshevik Party and worked in an underground printing house. At first, the young revolutionary was given “on bail” to his mother, and for the third time he was sent to prison. Mayakovsky later called confinement in solitary confinement “11 Butyrka months.” He wrote poetry, but the notebook with lyrical experiments - “stilted and tearful,” as the author assessed them - was taken away by the guards.

In conclusion, Mayakovsky read many books. He dreamed of a new art, a new aesthetics that would be radically different from the classical one. Mayakovsky decided to study painting - he changed several teachers and a year later he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here the young artist met David Burliuk, and later Velimir Khlebnikov and Alexei Kruchenykh. Mayakovsky again wrote poetry, which his new comrades were delighted with. Avant-garde authors decided to unite against the “old aesthetics,” and soon a manifesto of a new creative group appeared - “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.”

David has the anger of a master who has surpassed his contemporaries, I have the pathos of a socialist who knows the inevitability of the collapse of old things. Russian futurism was born.
Vladimir Mayakovsky, excerpt from autobiography “I Myself”

Futurists spoke at meetings - read poems and lectures on new poetry. For public speaking, Vladimir Mayakovsky was expelled from the school. In 1913–1914, a famous futurist tour took place: the creative group toured Russian cities with performances.

Burliuk traveled and promoted futurism. But he loved Mayakovsky, stood at the cradle of his poetry, knew his biography to the smallest detail, knew how to read his things - and therefore, through David Davidovich’s butads, Mayakovsky’s appearance appeared so material that one wanted to touch him with his hands.
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Upon arrival in the city, Burliuk first organized an exhibition of futuristic paintings and manuscripts, and in the evening gave a report.
Futurist poet Pyotr Neznamov

Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Rodchenko and Dmitry Shostakovich at the rehearsal of the play “The Bedbug”. 1929. Photo: subscribe.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik in the film “Chained by Film.” 1918. Photo: geometria.by

Vladimir Mayakovsky (third from left) and Vsevolod Meyerhold (second from left) at the rehearsal of the play “Bathhouse”. 1930. Photo: bse.sci-lib.com

Vladimir Mayakovsky was interested not only in poetry and painting. In 1913, he made his debut in the theater: he himself wrote the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky”, staged it on stage and played the main role. In the same year, the poet became interested in cinema - he began writing scripts, and a year later he starred for the first time in the film “Drama in the Futurist Cabaret No. 13” (the picture has not survived). During the First World War, Vladimir Mayakovsky was a member of the avant-garde association “Today's Lubok”. Its participants - Kazimir Malevich, David Burliuk, Ilya Mashkov and others - painted patriotic postcards for the front, inspired by traditional popular print. Simple colorful pictures were created for them and short poems were written in which they ridiculed the enemy.

In 1915, Mayakovsky met Osip and Lilya Brik. The poet later noted this event in his autobiography with the subtitle “the most joyful date.” Lilya Brik became Mayakovsky's lover and muse for many years; he dedicated poems and poems to her, and even after breaking up he continued to declare his love. In 1918, they starred together in the film Chained by Film - both in leading roles.

In November of the same year, the premiere of Mayakovsky’s play “Mystery Bouffe” took place. It was staged at the Musical Drama Theater by Vsevolod Meyerhold, and designed in the best traditions of the avant-garde by Kazimir Malevich. Meyerhold recalled working with the poet: “Mayakovsky was knowledgeable in very subtle theatrical, technological things that we, directors, know, which we usually study for a very long time in different schools, practically in the theater, etc. Mayakovsky always guessed every right and wrong stage decision, precisely as a director.”. The “revolutionary folk play,” as translator Rita Wright called it, was staged several more times.

A year later, the intense era of “GROWTH Windows” began: artists and poets collected hot topics and produced propaganda posters - they are often called the first Soviet social advertising. The work was intense: both Mayakovsky and his colleagues more than once had to stay late or work at night in order to release the batch on time.

In 1922, Vladimir Mayakovsky headed the literary group “Left Front of the Arts” (later the “left” in the name was replaced by “revolutionary”), and soon the magazine of the creative association of the same name. Its pages published prose and poetry, photographs by avant-garde photographers, bold architectural projects and news of “leftist” art.

In 1925, the poet finally broke up with Lilya Brik. He went on tour to France, then went to Spain, Cuba and the USA. There Mayakovsky met translator Ellie Jones, and a short but stormy romance broke out between them. In the fall, the poet returned to the USSR, and in America he soon had a daughter, Helen-Patricia. After returning from the USA, Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote the cycle “Poems about America” and worked on scripts for Soviet films.

Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: goteatr.com

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik. Photo: mayakovskij.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: piter.my

In 1928–1929, Mayakovsky wrote the satirical plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. Both premieres took place at the Meyerhold Theater. The poet was the second director, he oversaw the design of the performance and worked with the actors: he read fragments of the play, creating the necessary intonations and placing semantic accents.

Vladimir Vladimirovich was very interested in all kinds of work. He threw himself into his work. Before the premiere of “Bath” he was completely exhausted. He spent all his time in the theater. He wrote poems and inscriptions for the auditorium for the production of “Baths”. I supervised their hanging myself. Then he joked that he was hired at the Meyerhold Theater not only as an author and director (he worked a lot with the actors on the text), but also as a painter and carpenter, since he himself painted and nailed down something. As a very rare author, he was so passionate and passionate about the performance that he participated in the smallest details of the production, which, of course, was not at all part of his authorial functions.
Actress Veronica Polonskaya

Both plays caused a stir. Some viewers and critics saw the works as a satire on bureaucracy, while others saw them as criticism of the Soviet system. “Bathhouse” was staged only a few times, and then it was banned until 1953.

The loyal attitude of the authorities towards the “main Soviet poet” gave way to coolness. In 1930, he was not allowed to travel abroad for the first time. Official criticism began to fiercely attack the poet. He was reproached for satire in relation to phenomena that were supposedly defeated, for example, the same bureaucracy, and bureaucratic delays. Mayakovsky decided to hold an exhibition “20 years of work” and present the results of his many years of work. He himself selected newspaper articles and drawings, arranged books, and hung posters on the walls. The poet was helped by Lilya Brik, his new beloved actress Veronica Polonskaya and an employee of the State Literary Museum Artemy Bromberg.

On the opening day, the guest hall was packed. However, as Bromberg recalled, no representatives of literary organizations came to the opening. And there were no official congratulations to the poet on his twentieth anniversary of work either.

I will never forget how, in the House of Press, at Vladimir Vladimirovich’s exhibition “Twenty Years of Work,” which for some reason was almost boycotted by the “big” writers, we, several people from Smena, literally stood around the stands for days, physically suffering because of how sad and stern A large, tall man walked face down through the empty halls, with his hands behind his back, walking back and forth, as if expecting someone very dear and becoming more and more convinced that this dear person would not come.
Poet Olga Berggolts

The lack of recognition was aggravated by personal drama. Vladimir Mayakovsky, in love with Polonskaya, demanded that she leave her husband, leave the theater and live with him in a new apartment. As the actress recalled, the poet would create scenes, then calm down, then again begin to be jealous and demand an immediate solution. One of these explanations became fatal. After Polonskaya left, Mayakovsky committed suicide. In his suicide letter, he asked “comrade government” not to leave his family: “My family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya. If you give them a tolerable life, thank you.”.

After Mayakovsky's death, the entire archive of the poet went to Brik. Lilya Brik tried to preserve the memory of his work, wanted to create a memorial room, but constantly ran into bureaucratic obstacles. The poet was almost never published. Then Brik wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin. In his resolution, Stalin called Mayakovsky “the best and most talented poet of the Soviet era.” The resolution was published in Pravda, Mayakovsky’s works began to be published in huge editions, and streets and squares of the Soviet Union were named after him.

Vulgarity, without challenging it in life, challenged it in death. But living, excited Moscow, alien to petty literary disputes, stood in line at his coffin, without anyone organizing this line, spontaneously, by itself recognizing the unusualness of this life and this death. And lively, excited Moscow filled the streets on the way to the crematorium. And living, excited Moscow did not believe his death. He still doesn’t believe it.