Mikhail Artsybashev
Encyclopedia
Mikhail Petrovich Artsybashev ; (November 5, 1878 – March 3, 1927) was a Russian writer and playwright, and a major proponent of the literary style known as naturalism
. He was the great grandson of Tadeusz Kościuszko
and the father of Boris Artzybasheff
, who emigrated to the United States and became famous as an illustrator.
Dubroslavovka, Akhtyrka
Uezd, Kharkov
Gubernia (currently Sumy Oblast
, Ukraine
). His father was a small landowner and a former officer. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was only 3 years old. He attended school in Okhtyrka
until the age of 16. From 1895 to 1897 he was an office worker. He studied at the Kharkov School of Drawing and Art (1897–1898). During this time he lived in poverty, and was often unable to buy art supplies. In 1897 he attempted suicide. In 1898 he married Anna Vasilyevna Kobushko, with whom he had his son Boris. The couple separated in 1900.
, where he worked as a freelance
journalist, and published humorous stories. In 1901 he was expelled from the city for taking part in a demonstration.
He wrote his first important work of fiction, the story Pasha Tumanov in 1901, but was unable to publish it until 1905 due to its being banned by the censor.
He considered his novel The Death of Ivan Lande (1904) to be his best work, but his major success was the novel Sanin
(1907), which scandalized his Russian readers and was prohibited in many countries. He wrote Sanin in 1903, but was unable to publish it until 1907, again due to censorship. The protagonist of the novel ignores all social conventions and specializes in seducing virgin country girls. In one notorious scene, a girl tries to wash embarrassing white stains off her dress after sexual intercourse with Sanin. The novel was written under the influence of the philosophy of Max Stirner
, and was meant to expound the principles of Individualist anarchism
.
Artsybashev said the following in regard to his development as a writer:
In a 1913 interview he gave his views on literature:
He made this comment concerning Friedrich Nietzsche
:
work Notes of a Writer. In 1923 Artzybashev was granted Polish
citizenship and emigrated to Poland, where he edited the newspaper For Liberty! (За свободу!). He was known as an irreconcilable enemy of the Bolshevik regime, and Soviet critics dubbed the novels of his followers saninstvo and artsybashevchina (both terms are considered derogatory). He died in Warsaw
on March 3, 1927.
Naturalism (literature)
Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character...
. He was the great grandson of Tadeusz Kościuszko
Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...
and the father of Boris Artzybasheff
Boris Artzybasheff
Boris Artzybasheff was an American illustrator active in the United States, notable for his strongly worked and often surreal designs....
, who emigrated to the United States and became famous as an illustrator.
Early life
Artsybashev was born in KhutorKhutor
Khutor or khutir is usually taken to refer to a single-homestead rural settlement of Eastern Europe.In Cossack-settled lands that encompassed today's Ukraine, Kuban, and the lower Don river basin the word khutor was used to describe new settlements which had detached themselves from stanitsas...
Dubroslavovka, Akhtyrka
Okhtyrka
Okhtyrka is a city in Ukraine, a raion centre within Sumy Oblast. It is situated near the Vorskla River, on an eleven-mile spur of the Kiev–Kharkiv railway line. It is home to Akhtyrka air base...
Uezd, Kharkov
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
Gubernia (currently Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast is an oblast in the northeastern part of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Sumy.Other important cities within the oblast include Konotop, Okhtyrka, Romny, and Shostka....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
). His father was a small landowner and a former officer. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was only 3 years old. He attended school in Okhtyrka
Okhtyrka
Okhtyrka is a city in Ukraine, a raion centre within Sumy Oblast. It is situated near the Vorskla River, on an eleven-mile spur of the Kiev–Kharkiv railway line. It is home to Akhtyrka air base...
until the age of 16. From 1895 to 1897 he was an office worker. He studied at the Kharkov School of Drawing and Art (1897–1898). During this time he lived in poverty, and was often unable to buy art supplies. In 1897 he attempted suicide. In 1898 he married Anna Vasilyevna Kobushko, with whom he had his son Boris. The couple separated in 1900.
Career
In 1898 he relocated to Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, where he worked as a freelance
Freelancer
A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are often represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and...
journalist, and published humorous stories. In 1901 he was expelled from the city for taking part in a demonstration.
He wrote his first important work of fiction, the story Pasha Tumanov in 1901, but was unable to publish it until 1905 due to its being banned by the censor.
He considered his novel The Death of Ivan Lande (1904) to be his best work, but his major success was the novel Sanin
Sanin (novel)
Sanin is the novel by Russian writer Mikhail Artsybashev. It did have an interesting existing history being written by a 26 year old writer in 1904 - at the pick of the varied changes in Russian society and published and criticized in 1907, the year of one of the most horrific political reactions in...
(1907), which scandalized his Russian readers and was prohibited in many countries. He wrote Sanin in 1903, but was unable to publish it until 1907, again due to censorship. The protagonist of the novel ignores all social conventions and specializes in seducing virgin country girls. In one notorious scene, a girl tries to wash embarrassing white stains off her dress after sexual intercourse with Sanin. The novel was written under the influence of the philosophy of Max Stirner
Max Stirner
Johann Kaspar Schmidt , better known as Max Stirner , was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary fathers of nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism and anarchism, especially of individualist anarchism...
, and was meant to expound the principles of Individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his or her will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems. Individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy but refers to a...
.
Artsybashev said the following in regard to his development as a writer:
"My development was very strongly influenced by Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, although I never shared his views on non-resistance to evil. As an artist he overpowered me, and I found it difficult not to model my work on his. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and to a certain extent Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, played almost as great a part, and Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
and Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
were constantly before my eyes. These five names are those of my teachers and literary masters."
In a 1913 interview he gave his views on literature:
"Common sense, consistency, argumentation, a clear and concrete idea of one's subject that constitutes the plot of the work, a thoughtful evaluation of the phenomena introduced in the novel, clarity and concreteness- these are the things I demand of a literary work."
He made this comment concerning Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
:
"It is often thought here (in Russia) that Nietzsche exercised a great influence over me. This surprises me, for the simple reason that I have never read Nietzsche. This brilliant thinker is out of sympathy with me, both in his ideas and in the bombastic form of his works, and I have never got beyond the beginnings of his books. Max Stirner is to me much nearer and more comprehensible."
Later life
He moved to Moscow in 1912. In 1917-18 he published his anti-BolshevikBolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
work Notes of a Writer. In 1923 Artzybashev was granted Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
citizenship and emigrated to Poland, where he edited the newspaper For Liberty! (За свободу!). He was known as an irreconcilable enemy of the Bolshevik regime, and Soviet critics dubbed the novels of his followers saninstvo and artsybashevchina (both terms are considered derogatory). He died in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
on March 3, 1927.
English translations
- The Millionaire, Ivan Lande, and Nina, (stories/short novels), B.W. Huebsch, NY, 1915. from Archive.org
- The Revolutionist, (story), from Best Russian Short Stories, Boni and Liveright, 1917. from Archive.org
- Tales of the Revolution, (stories/short novels), B.W. Huebsch, NY, 1917. from Archive.org
- The Jew, (story), from The Shield, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1917. from Archive.org
- War, (play), Grant Richards LTD, London, 1918. from Archive.org
- Breaking Point, (novel), B.W. Huebsch, NY, 1920. from Archive.org
- Sanin, (novel), Cornell University Press, 2001. from Archive.org