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Many schoolchildren have difficulty distinguishing Fet’s poetry from Tyutchev’s creations - undoubtedly this is the fault of the teacher, who failed to correctly present masterpieces of two meters Russian literature. I assure you, after this article about Interesting Facts from the life of Fet, you will immediately learn to distinguish the poetics of Afanasy Afanasyevich from the work of Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev, I will try to be very brief!
In Tyutchev’s poetry, the world is presented as cosmic, even the forces of nature come to life and become natural spirits surrounding man. The motifs in Fet's work are closer to reality (down to earth). Before us is a description of real landscapes, images of real people, Fet’s love - the same complex feeling, but earthly and accessible.
As a child, A. Fet experienced a shock - he was deprived of his noble title and his father's surname. Real name writer Shenshin, his father is a retired Russian captain, and his mother is the German beauty Charlotte Feth. The parents met in Germany, where they immediately began a whirlwind romance. Charlotte was married, but completely unhappy in her marriage; her husband loved to drink and often raised his hand to her. Having met a noble Russian military man, she fell desperately in love with him, and even maternal feelings did not prevent the reunification of two hearts - Charlotte had a daughter. Already in the seventh month of pregnancy, Charlotte runs away to Russia to Afanasy Shenshin. Later, Shenshin will write a letter to Charlotte’s husband, but in response he will receive an obscene telegram. After all, the lovers committed an unchristian act.
The future poet was born in the Oryol province, and was recorded in the registry register by Afanasy Shenshin. Charlotte and Shenshin got married only two years after the birth of their son. At the age of 14, Afanasy was declared illegitimate, his surname Fet was returned to him and he was called a “foreigner.” As a result, the boy loses his noble origin and the inheritance of the landowner's father. Later he will regain his rights, but after many, many years.
In Lotman's works there is a mention of one unusual incident from the lives of two great writers. In those days, everyone played card games, especially loved to gamble (but not about that now). So, the process of the games was quite emotional; in a rush, the players tore and threw the cards on the floor, and the money fell with them. But picking up this money was considered indecent; it remained on the floor until the end of the game, and then the lackeys took it away in the form of tips.
One day socialites (including Fet and Tolstoy) were playing card game, and Fet bent down to pick up the fallen banknote. Everyone felt a little strange, but not Tolstoy; the writer bent over to his friend to illuminate it with a candle. There is nothing shameful in this act, because Fet played with his last money, unlike his rivals.
In the 60s of the 19th century, Fet began working on prose; as a result, two prose collections were published, consisting of essays and short stories-sketches.
The poet met Maria Lazich at a ball in the house of the famous officer Petkovich (this happened in 1848, when the sun mercilessly scorched on the border of the Kyiv and Kherson provinces). Maria Lazic was charming - tall, slender, dark, with a mop of dark thick hair. Fet immediately realized that Maria was like Beatrice for Dante. Then Fet was 28 years old, and Maria was 24 years old, she had full responsibility for the house and younger sisters, because she was the daughter of a poor Serbian general. Since then all love lyrics The writer is dedicated to this beautiful young lady.
According to contemporaries, Mary was not distinguished by incomparable beauty, but she was pleasant and seductive. So Afanasy and Maria began to communicate, write letters to each other, and spend joint evenings discussing art. But one day, while leafing through her diary (at that time all the girls had diaries in which they copied their favorite poems, quotes, and attached photographs), Fet noticed the musical notes under which there was a signature - Franz Liszt. Ferenc, a famous composer of that time, who toured Russia in the 40s, met Maria and even dedicated a piece of music to her. At first Fet was upset and jealousy washed over him, but then when he heard how great the melody sounded for Maria, he asked to play it constantly.
But the marriage between Athanasius and Maria was impossible, he has no means of subsistence and no title, and Maria, at least from poor family, but from the nobility. Lazic’s relatives did not know about this and did not understand at all why Fet had been communicating with their daughter for two years, but did not propose. Naturally, rumors and speculation spread throughout the city about Fet himself and Maria’s immorality. Then Afanasy told his beloved that their marriage was impossible, and the relationship needed to be ended urgently. Maria asked Afanasy to just be there without marriage or money.
But in the spring of 1850 something terrible happened. In despair, Maria sat in her room, trying to gather her thoughts on how to live further, how to achieve an eternal and indestructible union with her beloved. Suddenly she stood up sharply, causing the lamp to fall onto her long muslin dress; in a matter of seconds, flames engulfed the girl’s hair, she only managed to shout “Save the letters!” Relatives put out the fire of madness, but the number of burns on her body was incompatible with life, and after four painful days Maria died. Her last words were “It’s not his fault, but I...”. There is speculation that it was suicide and not just an accidental death.
Years later, Fet marries Maria Botkina, but not because strong love, but by calculation. The image of tall and black-haired Maria Lazic will forever remain in his heart and poetry.
It took the poet several years of service in the infantry to achieve officer rank and receive the nobility. He did not like the army way of life at all; Fet wanted to study literature, not war. But in order to regain his rightful status, he was ready to endure any difficulties. After his service, Fet had to work for 11 years as a judge and only then did the writer become worthy of receiving noble title!
After receiving a noble title and a family estate, Fet, who had achieved the main goal in his life, under some pretext asked his wife to go visit someone. On November 21, 1892, he locked himself in his office, drank a glass of champagne, called the secretary, dictating the last lines.
“I don’t understand the deliberate increase in inevitable suffering. I voluntarily go towards the inevitable. November 21, Fet (Shenshin)"
He took out a stiletto for cutting paper and raised his hand above his temple; the secretary managed to snatch the stiletto from the writer’s hands. At that moment, Fet jumped out of the office into the dining room, tried to grab the knife, but immediately fell. The secretary ran up to the dying writer, who said only one word “voluntarily” and died. The poet left no heirs behind him.
A. A. Fet is a poet whose work is characterized by a departure from everyday bustle into the “realm of dreams.” Nature and love constitute the main content of his poems. They subtly convey the poet’s moods and prove his artistic skill.
To this day, no one knows for sure to which family Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet belongs. A short biography can be presented using the following reliably known facts. His mother, the German Charlotte Becker, became the wife of Johann Vöth in 1818.
A little over a year later, their daughter was born. And after another 6 months, Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, an impoverished Russian landowner, arrived in Darmstadt for treatment. He fell in love with Charlotte and secretly took her to his country. She was pregnant at the time of her escape. Some biographers claim that she was from her husband, since she gave birth shortly after her arrival in Russia. Others believe that it is from Shenshin. I. Fet himself did not recognize this child as his will. The boy was born in 1820. He was baptized as an Orthodox Christian and was recorded in the birth certificate as the son of Shenshin. Only a year later, Fet gave his wife a divorce, and she was able, having accepted a new faith, to marry her new husband. Until the age of 14, Afanasy Jr. grew up and was brought up like an ordinary barchuk.
From the age of 14, the life of the future poet changed dramatically. His father took him first to Moscow, then to St. Petersburg, and then, on the advice of friends, sent him to study at a pedagogical institution of some Krümmer in the remote Livonian town of Verro. The fact is that back in 1835, the spiritual consistory decided to consider I. Fet as the boy’s father.
Shenshin had enemies who sought to use his presence to his detriment. He tried in this way to ensure the continued well-being of the family. From now on the boy was obliged to sign as Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet. His biography did not change, but he did not like the bewilderment and silent questions of those around him and embarrassed him. In 1837, the young man became a student at the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow University. He studied for 6 whole years as a foreigner. At this time, his poetic gift awakened. The first collection of his poems was published in 1840. In 1842-1843 he continued to publish in Moskvityanin and Otechestvennye zapiski. In 1844, the poet's mother died. His uncle, Pyotr Shenshin, promised to sign over his estate to his nephew, but since he died in Pyatigorsk, and not at home, his legacy was ruined and money was stolen from the bank. In order to get at least some funds and regain his noble title, Afanasy was forced to serve in the army. A year later he received only his first officer rank.
In 1848, the regiment with which the poet arrived stopped in the village of Krasnoselye. There Afanasy met Brzeski, the leader of the local nobility, and through him, the Lazic sisters, with one of whom he fell in love. But Fet decided that it was not good for a beggar to marry a poor woman. Soon Elena Lazic died in a fire. The regiment was transferred closer to the capital. In many ways, the contacts that Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet made in St. Petersburg turned out to be decisive. His creative biography only benefited from his friendship with Turgenev, and through him, with many other writers.
The world saw the release of a new collection of poems by the poet. It was a huge success. In 1858, a decree of Alexander II was issued, according to which the title of nobleman could only be obtained with the rank of colonel. Fet realized that he would only reach his rank in old age and immediately retired. He moved to Moscow and there in the same year he proposed to M. Botkina. The woman, who had an illegitimate child, immediately agreed. They lived well.
Her father, a tea merchant, gave her a decent dowry. Having received the money, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet showed himself from a completely different side. His biography, with the advent of finance, changed in better side. In 1860, the writer bought an abandoned farm and transformed it into a rich estate. The poet did not support the reform of 1861. Fet turned out to be a fierce defender of the old order. Now he thought only about increasing his wealth and bought one estate after another. In 1863, a two-volume volume of poems by A. Fet was published. The new generation did not accept him. The poet went through a period of many years without writing a single line.
Neighboring landowners elected Fet a justice of the peace. The position was quite honorable. For the next 17 years, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet stayed there. The poet’s creative biography, however, was going through a crisis. Fet stopped collaborating with the Sovremennik magazine, since the Chernyshevsky-Dobrolyubov line had become established there. But the poet did not want to take either the side of the Democrats or the views of the liberals. In 1873, the Senate issued a decree classifying Afanasy Afanasyevich as a member of the Shenshin family. The Fetov couple were even able to purchase a rich house in Moscow on Plyushchikha.
Only in 1881 did the poet return to literature. At first he was engaged in translations, then he again began to write poetry, and even later - memoirs. In 1889 Grand Duke a friend and admirer of the poet, granted him the title of chamberlain. The last poem known to posterity was written in October 1892. The final edition of Fet's works was published only in 1894. The poet died in November 1892 from complications after bronchitis. That's what he says about him last days official biography. Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet, in fact, according to the testimony of his relatives, before his death he asked to drink champagne, tried to kill himself with a stiletto, and only then he had a stroke.
Fet Afanasy Afanasievich (1820-1892) – Russian poet, memoirist and translator.
In the Oryol province, not far from the city of Mtsensk, in the 19th century the Novoselki estate was located, where on December 5, 1820, in the house of the wealthy landowner Shenshin, a young woman Charlotte-Elizabeth Becker Fet gave birth to a boy, Afanasy.
Charlotte Elisabeth was a Lutheran, lived in Germany and was married to Johann Peter Karl Wilhelm Feth, assessor of the Darmstadt City Court. They married in 1818, and a girl, Caroline-Charlotte-Georgina-Ernestine, was born into the family. And in 1820, Charlotte-Elizabeth Becker Fet abandoned her little daughter and husband and left for Russia with Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, being seven months pregnant.
Afanasy Neofitovich was a retired captain. During a trip abroad, he fell in love with the Lutheran Charlotte Elizabeth and married her. But since the Orthodox wedding ceremony was not performed, this marriage was considered legal only in Germany, and in Russia it was declared invalid. In 1822, the woman converted to Orthodoxy, becoming known as Elizaveta Petrovna Fet, and they soon married the landowner Shenshin.
A child born in 1820 was baptized in the same year. Orthodox rite and recorded it under my stepfather’s last name – Shenshin Afanasy Afanasievich.
When the boy was 14 years old, the Oryol provincial authorities discovered that Afanasy was registered under the surname Shenshin before his mother married her stepfather. In connection with this, the guy was deprived of his surname and noble title. This hurt the teenager so deeply, because from a rich heir he instantly turned into a nameless man, and all his life he then suffered because of his dual position.
From that time on, he bore the surname Fet, as the son of a foreigner unknown to him. Afanasy perceived this as a shame, and he developed an obsession that became decisive in his future life path, – to return the lost surname.
Until the age of 14, Afanasy was educated at home. Then he was assigned to the German boarding school Krommer in the Estonian city of Verro.
At the age of 17, his parents moved the guy to Moscow, where he began preparing for university at the boarding house of Pogodin (a famous historian, journalist, professor and writer at that time).
In 1838, Afanasy became a law student at the university. Then he decided to continue his studies in historical and philological (verbal), transferred and studied until 1844.
After graduating from university, Fet entered the army service; he needed this to regain his noble title. He ended up in one of the southern regiments, from there he was sent to the Uhlan Guards Regiment. And in 1854 he was transferred to the Baltic regiment (it was this period of service that he later described in his memoirs “My Memoirs”).
In 1858, Fet finished his service as a captain, like his stepfather, and settled in Moscow.
While still studying at the boarding school, Afanasy wrote his first poems and began to be interested in classical philology.
When Fet was studying at the university in Moscow, he made a friend Apollo Grigoriev, who helped Afanasy release his first collection of poetry called “Lyrical Pantheon.” This book did not bring success among readers to the author, but journalists paid attention to the young talent; Belinsky spoke especially well of Afanasy.
Since 1842, Fet's poetry began to be published in the newspapers Otechestvennye zapiski and Moskvityanin.
In 1850, a second book with his poems was published, which was already criticized positively in the Sovremennik magazine, some even admired Fet’s work. After this collection, the author was accepted into the circle of famous Russian writers, which included Druzhinin, Nekrasov, Botkin, Turgenev. Literary earnings improved Fet's financial situation, and he went to travel abroad.
The poet was a romantic; three main lines were clearly visible in his poems - love, art and nature. The following collections of his poems were published in 1856 (edited by I. S. Turgenev) and in 1863 (a two-volume collection of works).
Despite the fact that Fet was such a sophisticated lyricist, he managed to perfectly manage business affairs, buy and sell estates, and slowly make a financial fortune.
In 1860, Afanasy bought the Stepanovka farm, began to manage it, lived there constantly, only appearing briefly in Moscow in the winter.
In 1877 he bought the Vorobyovka estate in the Kursk province. In 1881, Afanasy bought a house in Moscow; he came to Vorobyovka only for his dacha summer period. Now he again took up creativity, wrote memoirs, made translations and released another lyrical collection of poems, “Evening Lights.”
The most popular poems of Afanasy Fet:
In 1857, Fet married Maria Petrovna Botkina, the sister of a famous critic. Her brother Sergei Petrovich Botkin is a famous physician, after whom a Moscow hospital is named. Nephew Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin was shot along with royal family Emperor Nicholas II in 1918.
Despite the fact that Afanasy Afanasievich was returned to the noble title and surname Shenshin in 1873, he continued to sign Fet.
Children of the marriage of Fet A.A. and Botkina M.P. did not have.
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet was born in the Novoselki estate in Mtsensk district in November 1820. The story of his birth is not entirely ordinary. His father, Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, a retired captain, belonged to an old noble family and was a wealthy landowner. While undergoing treatment in Germany, he married Charlotte Feth, whom he took to Russia from her husband and daughter. Two months later, Charlotte gave birth to a boy, named Afanasy and given the surname Shenshin. Fourteen years later, the spiritual authorities of Orel discovered that the child was born before the parents’ wedding, and Afanasy was deprived of the right to bear his father’s surname and deprived of his noble title. This event wounded the impressionable child, and he spent almost his entire life experiencing the ambiguity of his position. In addition, he had to earn his noble rights, which the church deprived him of. He graduated from the university, where he studied first at the Faculty of Law and then at the Faculty of Philology. At this time, in 1840, he published his first works as a separate book, which, however, did not have any success.
Having received his education, Afanasy. Afanasyevich decided to become a military man, since the officer rank provided the opportunity to receive a noble title. But in 1858 A. Fet was forced to resign. He never won the rights of the nobility - at that time the nobility gave only the rank of colonel, and he was a captain of headquarters. But the years of military service can be considered the heyday of his poetic activity. In 1850, “Poems” by A. Fet was published in Moscow, which was greeted with delight by readers. In St. Petersburg he met Nekrasov, Panaev, Druzhinin, Goncharov, Yazykov. Later he became friends with Leo Tolstoy. This friendship was long and fruitful for both.
During the years of military service, Afanasy Fet experienced a tragic love for Maria Lazich, a fan of his poetry, a very talented and educated girl. She also fell in love with him, but they were both poor, and for this reason Fet did not dare to join his fate with his beloved girl. Soon Maria Lazic died. Until his death, the poet remembered his unhappy love; in many of his poems one can hear its unfading breath.
In 1856, a new book on this was published. After retiring, A. Fet bought land in Mtsensk district and decided to devote himself agriculture. Soon he married M.P. Botkina. Fet lived in the village of Stepanovka for seventeen years, visiting Moscow only briefly. Here he received his highest decree that the surname Shenshin with all the rights associated with it had finally been approved for him.
In 1877, Afanasy Afanasyevich bought the village of Vorobyovka in the Kursk province, where he spent the rest of his life, only leaving for Moscow for the winter. These years, unlike the years lived in Stepanovka, were marked by his return to literature. The poet signed all his poems with the surname Fet: under this name he acquired poetic fame, and it was dear to him. During this period, A. Fet published a collection of his works under the title “Evening Lights” - there were four issues in total.
In January 1889, the fiftieth anniversary of A. A. Fet’s literary activity was solemnly celebrated in Moscow, and in 1892 the poet died, two days short of his 72nd birthday. He was buried in the village of Kleymenovo, the family estate of the Shenshins, 25 versts from Orel.
A. A. Fet lived a long and difficult life. His literary fate was also difficult. Of his creative heritage, modern readers know mainly poetry and much less prose, journalism, translations, memoirs, and letters. Without Afanasy Fet it is difficult to imagine the life of literary Moscow in the 19th century. Many people visited his house on Plyushchikha famous people. For many years he was friends with A. Grigoriev and I. Turgenev. All of literary and musical Moscow attended Fet’s musical evenings.
A. Fet's poems are pure poetry in the sense that there is not a drop of prose. He did not sing about hot feelings, despair, delight, lofty thoughts, no, he wrote about the simplest things - about nature, about the simplest movements of the soul, even about momentary impressions. His poetry is joyful and bright, it is filled with light and peace. The poet even writes about his ruined love lightly and calmly, although his feeling is deep and fresh, as in the first minutes. Until the end of his life, Fet did not lose the ability to rejoice.
The beauty, naturalness, and sincerity of his poetry reach complete perfection; his verse is amazingly expressive, figurative, and musical. It is not for nothing that Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Rachmaninov, and other composers turned to his poetry. “This is not just a poet, but rather a poet-musician...” - Tchaikovsky said about him. Many romances were written based on Fet's poems, which quickly gained wide popularity.
Fet can be called a singer of Russian nature. The approach of spring and autumn withering, a fragrant summer night and a frosty day, a rye field stretching endlessly and without edge and a dense shady forest - he writes about all this in his poems. Fet's nature is always calm, quiet, as if frozen. And at the same time, it is surprisingly rich in sounds and colors, living its own life, hidden from the inattentive eye:
I came to you with greetings,
Tell me that the sun has risen
What is it with hot light
The sheets began to flutter;
Tell me that the forest woke up, woke up all over, every branch, every bird was roused
And full of thirst in spring...
Fet also perfectly conveys the “fragrant freshness of feelings” inspired by nature, its beauty and charm. His poems are imbued with a bright, joyful mood, the happiness of love. The poet unusually subtly reveals the various shades of human experiences. He knows how to capture and put into bright, living images even fleeting mental movements that are difficult to identify and convey in words:
Whisper, timid breathing,
The trill of a nightingale,
Silver and sway
Sleepy stream,
Night light, night shadows,
Endless shadows
A series of magical changes
Sweet face
There are purple roses in the smoky clouds,
The reflection of amber
And kisses and tears,
And dawn, dawn!..
Usually A. Fet in his poems dwells on one figure, on one turn of feelings, and at the same time his poetry cannot be called monotonous; on the contrary, it amazes with its diversity and multitude of themes. The special charm of his poems, in addition to the content, lies precisely in the nature of his mood in poetry. Fet's muse is light, airy, as if there is nothing earthly in it, although she tells us exactly about the earthly. There is almost no action in his poetry; each of his verses is a whole series of impressions, thoughts, joys and sorrows. Take at least such of them as “Your ray, flying far...,” “Motionless eyes, crazy eyes...”, “The sun’s ray between the linden trees...”, “I stretch out my hand to you in silence... " and others.
The poet sang beauty where he saw it, and he found it everywhere. He was an artist with an exceptionally developed sense of beauty; This is probably why the pictures of nature in his poems are so beautiful, which he reproduced as it is, without allowing any decorations of reality. In his poems we recognize a specific landscape - middle zone Russia.
In all descriptions of nature, the poet is impeccably faithful to its smallest features, shades, and moods. It was thanks to this that such poetic masterpieces as “Whisper, timid breathing...”, “I came to you with greetings...”, “At dawn, don’t wake her up...”, “Dawn” were created. says goodbye to the earth..."
Fet's love lyrics are the most frank page of his poetry. The poet's heart is open, he does not spare it, and the drama of his poems is literally shocking, despite the fact that, as a rule, their main tonality is light, major.
The poems of A. A. Fet are loved in our country. Time has unconditionally confirmed the value of his poetry, showing that we, people of the 21st century, need it, because it speaks about the eternal and most intimate, and reveals the beauty of the world around us.
Name: Afanasy Fet
Age: 71 years old
Activity: lyric poet, translator, memoirist, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1886)
Family status: was married
Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet is a recognized genius of literature, whose work is cited both in Russia and in foreign countries. His poems, such as “I won’t tell you anything”, “Whisper, timid breathing”, “Evening”, “This morning, this joy”, “Don’t wake her up at dawn”, “I came”, “The Nightingale and the Rose” "and others are now mandatory for study in schools and higher educational institutions.
The biography of Afanasy Fet contains many mysteries and secrets that still excite the minds of scientists and historians. For example, the circumstances of the birth of a great genius who glorified the beauty of nature and human feelings are like the riddle of the Sphinx.
When Shenshin (the poet’s surname, which he bore for the first 14 and last 19 years of his life) was born is not known for certain. They call it November 10 or December 11, 1820, but Afanasy Afanasyevich himself celebrated his birthday on the 5th of the twelfth month.
His mother Charlotte-Elisabeth Becker was the daughter of a German burgher and for some time was the wife of a certain Johann Fet, assessor of the local court in Darmstadt. Soon Charlotte met Afanasy Neofitovich Shenshin, an Oryol landowner and part-time retired captain.
The fact is that Shenshin, having arrived in Germany, was unable to book a place in a hotel, because there were simply none there. Therefore, the Russian settles in the house of Ober-Krieg Commissioner Karl Becker, a widower who lived with his 22-year-old daughter, pregnant with her second child, son-in-law and granddaughter.
Why the young girl fell in love with 45-year-old Afanasy, who, moreover, according to the recollections of his contemporaries, was unpretentious in appearance - history is silent. But, according to rumors, before meeting the Russian landowner, the relationship between Charlotte and Fet gradually reached a dead end: despite the birth of their daughter Caroline, husband and wife often clashed, and Johann got into numerous debts, poisoning the existence of his young wife.
What is known is that from the “City of Sciences” (as Darmstadt is called), the girl fled with Shenshin to a snowy country, the severe frosts of which the Germans had never even dreamed of.
Karl Becker could not explain such an eccentric and unprecedented act of his daughter at that time. After all, she, being married woman, abandoned her husband and beloved child to the mercy of fate and went in search of adventure in an unfamiliar country. Grandfather Afanasy used to say that “means of seduction” (most likely, Karl meant alcohol) deprived her of her mind. But in fact, Charlotte was later diagnosed with a mental disorder.
Already on the territory of Russia, two months after the move, a boy was born. The baby was baptized according to Orthodox custom and named Athanasius. Thus, the parents predetermined the future of the child, because Athanasius translated from Greek means “immortal.” In fact, Fet became a famous writer, whose memory has not died for many years.
Charlotte, who converted to Orthodoxy and became Elizaveta Petrovna, recalled that Shenshin treated his adopted son as a blood relative and showered the boy with care and attention.
Later, the Shenshins had three more children, but two died at a young age, which is not surprising, because due to progressive diseases in those troubled times infant mortality was considered far from uncommon. Afanasy Afanasyevich recalled in his autobiography “ early years my life,” as his sister Anyuta, who was a year younger, went to bed. Relatives and friends stood by the girl’s bed day and night, and doctors visited her room in the morning. Fet remembered how he approached the girl and saw her ruddy face and blue eyes, motionless looking at the ceiling. When Anyuta died, Afanasy Shenshin, initially guessing such a tragic outcome, fainted.
In 1824, Johann proposed marriage to the governess who raised his daughter Caroline. The woman agreed, and Fet, either out of resentment at life, or to annoy his ex-wife, crossed Afanasy out of the will. “I am very surprised that Fet forgot and did not recognize his son in his will. A person can make mistakes, but denying the laws of nature is a very big mistake,” Elizaveta Petrovna recalled in letters to her brother.
When the young man turned 14 years old, the spiritual consistory canceled the baptismal registration of Athanasius as the legitimate son of Shenshin, so the boy was given his last name - Fet, since he was born out of wedlock. Because of this, Afanasy lost all privileges, so in the eyes of the public he appeared not as a descendant of a noble family, but as a “Hessendarmstadt subject,” a foreigner of dubious origin. Such changes became a blow to the heart for the future poet, who considered himself originally Russian. For many years, the writer tried to return the surname of the man who raised him as his own son, but his attempts were in vain. And only in 1873 Afanasy won and became Shenshin.
Afanasy spent his childhood in the village of Novoselki, in the Oryol province, on his father’s estate, in a house with a mezzanine and two outbuildings. The boy’s gaze revealed picturesque meadows covered with green grass, crowns mighty trees, illuminated by the sun, houses with smoking chimneys and a church with ringing bells. Also, young Fet got up at five in the morning and ran to the maids in his pajamas so that they could tell him a fairy tale. Although the spinning maids tried to ignore the annoying Afanasy, the boy eventually got his way.
All these childhood memories that inspired Fet were reflected in his subsequent work.
From 1835 to 1837 Afanasy attended German private boarding Krümmer, where he showed himself to be a diligent student. The young man pored over literature textbooks and even then tried to come up with poetic lines.
At the end of 1837, the young man set out to conquer the heart of Russia. Afanasy diligently studied for six months under the supervision of the famous journalist, writer and publisher Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin. After preparation, Fet easily entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. But the poet soon realized that the subject patronized by Saint Ivo of Brittany was not his path.
Therefore, the young man, without any hesitation, switched to Russian literature. As a first-year student, Afanasy Fet took up poetry seriously and showed his attempt at writing to Pogodin. Having familiarized himself with the student’s works, Mikhail Petrovich gave the manuscripts, who stated: “Fet is an undoubted talent.” Encouraged by the praise of the author of the book “Viy,” Afanasy Afanasyevich released his debut collection “Lyrical Pantheon” (1840) and began publishing in the literary magazines “Otechestvennye zapiski”, “Moskvityanin”, etc. "Lyrical Pantheon" did not bring recognition to the author. Unfortunately, Fet's talent was not appreciated by his contemporaries.
But at one point Afanasy Afanasyevich had to give up literary activity and forget about the pen and inkwell. A dark streak came in the life of the gifted poet. At the end of 1844, his beloved mother died, as well as his uncle, with whom Fet had developed a warm and friendly relationship. Afanasy Afanasyevich was counting on a relative's inheritance, but his uncle's money in an unexpected way disappeared. Therefore, the young poet was left literally without a livelihood and, in the hope of acquiring a fortune, entered the military service and became a cavalryman. He achieved the rank of officer.
In 1850, the writer returned to poetry and published a second collection, which received rave reviews from Russian critics. After a fairly long period of time, the third collection of the gifted poet was published under the editorship, and in 1863 a two-volume collection of Fet’s works was published.
If we consider the work of the author of “May Night” and “Spring Rain”, then he was a sophisticated lyricist and, as if, identified nature and human feelings. Besides lyric poems, his track record includes elegies, thoughts, ballads, messages. Also, many literary scholars agree that Afanasy Afanasyevich came up with his own, original and multifaceted genre of “melodies”; in his works there are often responses to musical works.
Among other things, Afanasy Afanasyevich is familiar modern readers as a translator. He translated a number of poems by Latin poets into Russian, and also introduced readers to the mystical Faust.
During his lifetime, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet was a paradoxical figure: before his contemporaries he appeared as a brooding and gloomy man, whose biography was surrounded by mystical halos. Therefore, dissonance arose in the minds of poetry lovers; some could not understand how this person, burdened with everyday worries, could sing so exaltedly of nature, love, feelings and human relationships.
In the summer of 1848, Afanasy Fet, serving in the cuirassier regiment, was invited to a ball at the hospitable home of the former officer of the Order Regiment M.I. Petkovich.
Among the young ladies fluttering around the hall, Afanasy Afanasyevich saw a black-haired beauty, the daughter of a retired cavalry general of Serbian origin, Maria Lazic. From that very meeting, Fet began to perceive this girl as or as -. It is noteworthy that Maria knew Fet for a long time, although she became acquainted with him through his poems, which she read in her youth. Lazic was educated beyond her years, knew how to play music and was well versed in literature. It is not surprising that Fet recognized a kindred spirit in this girl. They exchanged numerous fiery letters and often leafed through albums. Maria became the lyrical heroine of many Fetov’s poems.
But the acquaintance of Fet and Lazic was not happy. The lovers could have become spouses and raised children in the future, but the prudent and practical Fet refused an alliance with Maria, because she was as poor as he was. In his last letter, Lazich Afanasy Afanasyevich initiated the separation.
Soon Maria died: due to a carelessly thrown match, her dress caught fire. The girl could not be saved from numerous burns. It is possible that this death was a suicide. The tragic event struck Fet to the core, and comfort from the sudden loss loved one Afanasy Afanasyevich found in creativity. His subsequent poems were received with a bang by the reading public, so Fet managed to acquire a fortune; the poet’s fees allowed him to travel around Europe.
While abroad, the master of trochee and iambic became acquainted with rich woman from a famous Russian dynasty - Maria Botkina. Fet's second wife was not pretty, but she was distinguished by her good nature and easy disposition. Although Afanasy Afanasyevich proposed not out of love, but out of convenience, the couple lived happily. After a modest wedding, the couple left for Moscow, Fet resigned and devoted his life to creativity.
On November 21, 1892, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet died of heart attack. Many biographers suggest that before his death the poet attempted suicide. But there is currently no reliable evidence for this version.
The grave of the creator is located in the village of Kleymenovo.
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