How Nikolai Gumilyov died. Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov

Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev always thought about death. It is known, for example, that at the age of 11 he tried to commit suicide. Poet Irina Odoevtseva recalls the great monologue about death that Gumilyov delivered to her on Christmas evening in 1920.

"- I've been constantly thinking about death lately. No, not all the time, but often. Especially at night. Every human life, even the most successful, the happiest, is tragic. After all, it inevitably ends in death. After all, no matter how clever you are, no matter how cunning you are , but we will have to die. We are all sentenced from birth to death. Death row. We are waiting - they will knock on the door at dawn and lead us to hang. Hang, guillotine or put in the electric chair. Whatever. I, of course, arrogantly dream that

I won't die on a bed with a notary and a doctor...

Or that I will be killed in the war. But this is, in essence, the same death penalty. It cannot be avoided. The only equality of people is equality before death. A very banal thought, but it still worries me. And not only that I will die someday, many, many years from now, but also what will happen later, after death. And will there be anything at all? Or does it all end here on earth: “I believe, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief...”

A little over six months after this conversation, Gumilev was arrested by the GPU for participation in a “counter-revolutionary conspiracy” (the so-called Tagantsev case). On the eve of his arrest on August 2, 1921, having met Odoevtseva during the day, Gumilyov was cheerful and satisfied.

“I feel that I have entered the most successful period of my life,” he said. “Usually, when I’m in love, I go crazy, I suffer, I’m tormented, I don’t sleep at night, but now I’m cheerful and calm.” The last person to see Gumilyov before his arrest was Vladislav Khodasevich. They both lived then in the “House of Arts” - a kind of hotel, a commune for poets and scientists.

“On Wednesday, August 3rd, I had to leave,” recalls V. Khodasevich. “On the evening before departure, I went to say goodbye to some of my neighbors in the “House of Arts.” Already at ten o’clock I knocked on Gumilyov’s door. He was at home, resting after the lecture. We were on good terms, but there was no brevity between us... I didn’t know what to attribute to the extraordinary liveliness with which he rejoiced at my arrival. He showed some kind of special warmth, which seemed to be completely unusual for him I still needed to go to Baroness V.I. two in the morning. He was extremely cheerful. He talked a lot, on various topics. For some reason I only remember his story about his stay in the Tsarskoye Selo infirmary, about Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Grand Duchesses. Then Gumilyov began to assure me that he was destined to live a very long time - "at least until ninety years old." He kept repeating:
- Definitely up to ninety years old, certainly no less.
Until then I was going to write a bunch of books. He reproached me:
“Here we are the same age, but look: I’m really ten years younger.” This is all because I love youth. I play blind man's buff with my students - and I played today. And therefore I will certainly live to be ninety years old, and in five years you will turn sour.
And he, laughing, showed how in five years I would be hunched over, dragging my feet, and how he would perform “well done.”
When I said goodbye, I asked permission to bring him some things the next day for safekeeping. When the next morning, at the appointed hour, I approached Gumilyov’s door with my things, no one answered my knock. In the dining room, the servant Efim told me that at night Gumilyov was arrested and taken away." The circumstances of Gumilyov's death are still controversial.

“I don’t know anything for certain about how Gumilyov behaved in prison and how he died,” writes Odoevtseva. “The letter he sent from prison to his wife with a request to send tobacco and Plato, with assurances that there is nothing to worry about, “I’m playing chess", was cited many times. The rest is all just rumors. According to these rumors, Gumilyov was interrogated by Yakobson, a very subtle, intelligent investigator. He allegedly managed to charm Gumilyov, or, in any case, instill in him respect for his knowledge and trust in himself. K In addition, which could not help but flatter Gumilyov, Yakobson pretended - and perhaps he really was - an ardent admirer of Gumilyov and read him his poems by heart."

On September 1, 1921, the newspaper "Petrogradskaya Pravda" published a message from the Cheka "About a conspiracy uncovered in Petrograd against Soviet power" and a list of executed participants in the conspiracy of 61 people.

Among them, thirteenth on the list was “Gumilyov, Nikolai Stepanovich, 33 years old, former nobleman, philologist, poet, member of the board of the World Literature Publishing House, non-partisan, former officer. Member of the Petrograd military organization, actively contributed to the preparation of proclamations of counter-revolutionary content, promised to connect with organizing at the time of the uprising a group of intellectuals who would actively take part in the uprising, received money from the organization for technical needs.”

In March 1922, the Petrograd organ “Revolutionary Cause” reported the following details about the execution of participants in the case of Professor Tagantsev:
“The execution was carried out at one of the stations of the Irinovskaya railway road. Those arrested were brought at dawn and forced to dig a hole. When the hole was half ready, everyone was ordered to undress. Screams and cries for help began. Some of the doomed were forcibly pushed "into the pit, and shooting was opened on the pit. The rest of the bodies were driven onto a pile of bodies and killed in the same manner. After which the pit, where the living and wounded were groaning, was covered with earth."

Georgy Ivanov quotes the words of Sergei Bobrov (as retold by M. L. Lozinsky) about the details of the execution of Gumilyov: “Yes... This Gumilyov of yours... For us Bolsheviks, this is funny. But, you know, he died in style. I heard from the first hands (that is, from the security officers, members of the firing squad). He smiled, finished his cigarette... Fanfare, of course. But even the guys from the special department were impressed. Empty youth, but still a strong guy. Few people die like that. .."

At the end of the 1980s, a discussion broke out in the USSR about the death of Gumilyov. Retired lawyer G. A. Terekhov managed to look at Gumilev’s case (all cases of this kind are usually classified) and stated that from a legal point of view, the poet’s only fault was that he did not report to the Soviet authorities about his proposal to join the conspiratorial officer organization, which he categorically refused. There are no other incriminating materials in the criminal case on the basis of which Gumilyov was convicted.

This means that Gumilev was treated outside the law, since according to the criminal code of the RSFSR of that time (Article 88-1), he was subject to only a short prison sentence (from 1 to 3 years) or correctional labor (up to 2 years).

The opinion of G. A. Terekhov was challenged by D. Feldman, pointing out that, along with the criminal code, the decree on the Red Terror adopted by the Council of People's Commissars on September 5, 1918, which stated that “all persons involved in White Guard organizations, conspiracies and rebellions."

If we take into account this decree on terror, it becomes clear why Gumilyov could have been shot simply for failure to report. Judging by the execution order, many “participants” in the conspiracy (including 16 women!) were executed for much lesser “crimes.” Their guilt was characterized by the following expressions, for example: “was present”, “rewrote”, “knew”, “delivered letters”, “promised, but refused solely because of low payment”, “delivered information about... . museum affairs,” “supplied the organization’s buyer with ropes and salt to exchange for food.”

It remains to add that Gumilev, like many poets, turned out to be a prophet. The poem "Worker" (from the book "The Bonfire", published in July 1918) contains the following lines:

He stands in front of a red-hot forge, a short old man. A calm look seems submissive from the blinking of reddish eyelids. All his comrades have fallen asleep, Only he is the only one still awake: He is all busy casting a bullet that will separate me from the earth. The bullet he cast will whistle over the gray, foamy Dvina, the bullet he cast will find

My chest, she came for me...

The only thing that Gumilyov did not guess was the name of the river: it is not the Dvina that flows in Petrograd, but the Neva.

* This is confirmed by the story of A. A. Akhmatova: “I know about Kolya... they were shot near Berngardovka, along the Irininskaya road... I found out ten years later and went there. A clearing; a small crooked pine tree; next to it is another, powerful one, but with the roots turned out. It was a wall here. The ground sunk, went down, because no graves were filled there. Pits. Two brotherly pits for sixty people..."

Cross cenotaph at the supposed site of N. Gumilyov’s execution. Lubya River, Berngardovka village.

In the memoirs of Irina Odoevtseva (“On the Banks of the Neva”) there are many conversations with Gumilyov, including about death. There is also a story about a memorial service for Lermontov, which Gumilyov and Odoevtseva ordered in one of the St. Petersburg - then Petrograd - churches, and during the service it seemed to Gumilyov that the priest said “Nikolai” instead of the name “Mikhail”.

Irina Odoevtseva

We read about his death,
Others cried loudly.
I didn't say anything
And my eyes were dry.

And at night he came in a dream
From the grave and the other world to me,
In his old black jacket,
With a white book in a thin hand.

And he told me: “There is no need to cry,
It's good that you didn't cry.
It's so cool in the blue paradise,
And the air is so light,
And the trees rustle above me,
Like the trees of the Summer Garden."

Gumilev Nikolai Stepanovich (1886-1921), Russian mystic poet and critic, founder of the literary movement of Acmeism (Greek akme, blooming power). Born on April 3 (15), 1886 in Kronstadt, the son of a ship's doctor. Having spent his childhood in Tsarskoe Selo and St. Petersburg, his adolescence in Tiflis, his youth again in Tsarskoe Selo, Gumilev absorbs into his soul the impressions of imperial power and military valor mixed with southern exoticism, which initially determines his tastes, his poetic style.

Not too diligent in his gymnasium studies (although the famous poet Innokenty Annensky is the director of his gymnasium), Gumilyov is very diligent in extracurricular “adventure” reading. Having graduated from high school with difficulty and belatedly, he immediately left for Paris, where he spent two years communicating with French poets and artists and trying to publish the literary and artistic magazine Sirius, very far, as the name suggests, from everyday routine and intended, as can be seen from the publisher's explanations, exclusively “for refined understanding.”

In 1908, Gumilyov returned to Russia as a mature poet and critic. However, it soon becomes obvious that he behaves completely differently from what was customary in the poetic environment of that time, imbued with decadent “relaxation.” Gumilyov is a unique example when a person is ready to practically serve an ideal and is militant in this matter. Loyalty to his once accepted views and obligations is unwavering. Baptized in Orthodoxy, he, both among the skeptical intellectuals of his circle and subsequently among the tough Bolsheviks, continues to overshadow himself with a sign at the sight of every church, although, according to Khodasevich’s poisonous description, “he has no idea what religion is.” Having sworn allegiance to the Tsar, he remains a monarchist even under Soviet power, and he does not hide this either from the simple-minded Proletkult members to whom he lectures, or from the KGB investigators who interrogate him.

Gumilyov's first collection of poems, “The Path of the Conquistadors” (1905), was published during his student years. It was followed by “Romantic Flowers” ​​(1908), “Pearls” (1910), “Alien Sky” (1912) - Gumilev published these books in St. Petersburg, in Paris and again in St. Petersburg in pauses between trips to Egypt, Abyssinia and Somalia in order to study the life of African tribes (Gumilev donates the collected collections to the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography). However, the uncertainty of the aesthetic program of symbolism disappointed Gumilyov; he was looking for clarity, accuracy and the use of words in their direct rather than figurative meanings: for him, the rose was beautiful in itself, like a flower, and not as a romantic symbol. He was the first to introduce exotic themes into Russian poetry. In 1912, Gumilev organized a poetic group of Acmeists, which included his then wife Anna Akhmatova, S.M. Gorodetsky, O.E. Mandelstam and others.

When World War I broke out, he volunteered for the front. On August 24, 1914, Gumilyov was enlisted in the 1st squadron of the Life Guards of Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Uhlan Regiment and on September 28, having received a war horse, he went to the front line, to the border with East Prussia. Already in December 1914, Ulan Gumilyov was awarded the St. George Cross, 4th degree, and in January 1915 he was promoted to junior non-commissioned officer. Nikolai Gumilyov keeps a detailed diary of war days. Gumilyov’s correspondence from the front was published throughout 1915 in the St. Petersburg newspaper Birzhevye Vedomosti under the title “Notes of a Cavalryman.” On March 28, 1916, Gumilyov received the first officer rank of ensign with a transfer to the 5th Alexandria Hussar Regiment.

July 25, 1916 Gumilyov again went to the theater of military operations. In September - October 1916 in Petrograd he took the officer's exam for cornet. Having failed to pass the fortification exam (out of 15), Gumilyov again went to the front. I celebrated New Year 1917 in the trenches, in the snow. Gumilyov's service in the 5th Hussar Regiment ended unexpectedly. The regiment was reorganized, and ensign Gumilyov was sent to Okulovka, Novgorod province, to purchase hay for division units; there the February Revolution and the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II found him there. Gumilev is disappointed. He considers himself a failure, an ensign in a collapsing army. In April 1917, a message came from the regiment headquarters about the awarding of Warrant Officer Gumilyov with the Order of St. Stanislav, 3rd degree with swords and bow, but the poet did not have time to receive it. He secured a business trip to the Thessaloniki front, and on May 17, Anna Akhmatova accompanied her husband to the cruiser. But since Russia was withdrawn from the war by the incredibly shameful Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Gumilyov returned home to Russia in April 1918. Tsarskoe Selo was renamed Detskoe Selo, the Gumilevs’ house was requisitioned. Anna Ivanovna, Gumilyov’s mother, and her son Lyovushka live in Bezhetsk. Anna Akhmatova asked for a divorce...

Despite the war, Gumilev published the collections “Quiver” (1916), “Bonfire” (1918). He was a first-class translator and published a complete poetic translation of T. Gautier’s book “Enamels and Cameos” (1914), called “the miracle of transformation.” In prose he showed himself to be an excellent stylist; a collection of his stories, The Shadow of the Palm, was published posthumously in 1922.

A supporter of the monarchy, Gumilyov did not accept the Bolshevik coup of 1917, but refused to emigrate. Gumilyov was sure that he “would not be touched.” He believed that if something happened, his name would protect him. He thought that if monarchical sympathies were acknowledged openly and honestly, then this was the best defense. This principle worked quite well in the studios of Proletkult and in the Baltic Fleet, where Gumilev taught classes and gave lectures and where cackling listeners accepted the master’s “monarchism” as a healthy joke or eccentricity.

In recent years, Gumilyov continued to work feverishly. He managed to publish several collections of poems under Soviet rule: “Porcelain Pavilion”, “Tent”, “Pillar of Fire”. The last book, later recognized as the best, was published just weeks before the poet’s arrest and death.

In 1921, Nikolai Gumilyov was accused of involvement in a conspiracy against the Soviet regime and was executed on August 25, 1921. The security officers who shot him said that they were shocked by his self-control.

Nikolai Gumilyov surprised everyone...

“Here is an unheated meeting, some kind of literary evening. Winter, frost. Everyone came in felt boots and short fur coats, and Gumilev - in a tailcoat and with a lady blue from the cold in a black dress with a cutout. And he spoke French.

He also went to see Tagantsev, a senator and intellectual. Professors, artists, and bolder aristocrats gathered there. They drank some tea and cursed the Bolsheviks. They wrote proclamations (they didn’t post a single one), talked about the uprising (most of them didn’t even know how to shoot), planned to buy weapons somewhere and gave Gumilyov money for a typewriter. That's another conspiracy. But for 1921 - crime and counter-revolution. The so-called “Tagantsev conspiracy”.

The Bolsheviks removed the “alien element.” Gumilyov was arrested on April 3, 1921, at night, in the House of Arts. At that time they did not leave Gorokhovaya, where the Cheka was located. “Wasn’t it me who was exchanged for Cheka” - such a song was composed in those years.

Moreover, Gumilev simply shocked the security officers with his courage and pride. But they didn’t read poetry. Bitter ran around looking for intercessors. All the writers were running. Just died Block. They did not want to lose Gumilyov. We persuaded the Academy of Sciences to intercede, Proletkult.

Bitter broke through to Lenin, came running happy: they’ll let him go, just let him promise not to oppose the Soviet regime. (“Spit and kiss the villain’s hand.”) But it turned out even worse. Gumilyov refused to promise, the security officers became wildly angry, and Lenin personally ordered: “This one must be removed.”

“For the word “long-necked” there are three “e”, to shorten the poet: the conclusion is clear, and the knife is in it, but he is happy to hang on the edge, stabbed to death for being dangerous.” Vysotsky I wrote this about him too.

AND Mayakovsky He also mentioned: “Well, take me with a vile grip, shave my feathers with the razor of the wind, let me disappear, a stranger and overseas, under the fury of all Decembers.” Gumilyov had no chance, because there were 61 names on the Tagantsev execution list. Could the former officer have survived if the security officers shot Tagantsev’s wife and 15 other women for spilling tea?

We don't know his grave. It seems to be at Berngardovka station, but you won’t find this place anymore. (They will also bury it somewhere Mandelstam.) We don't know where, but we know how. For a long time the security officers will talk with fear and involuntary respect about his execution.

He died as he wanted: unbroken, a winner, proving that poetry is higher than reality. He did not survive his Russia, they were both buried in a mass grave, and no one knows where to take flowers for him and her. He was no longer there, but collections were published by inertia. The theater performed “Gondla”, and only when in 1922 the audience shouted: “Author, author!” - the Bolsheviks came to their senses and banned the play. By the end of the 20s, everything was banned. Back in the early 80s, Gumilyov was selected during searches.

Gumilyov even managed to write an epitaph for himself. She is in the poem "Eagle". This eagle flew so high to the stars that he “died, suffocated from bliss.” “He died, yes. But he could not fall, entering the circles of planetary movement. A bottomless maw yawned below, but the forces of attraction were weak... More than once worlds collapsed into the abyss, more than once the trumpet of the Archangel sounded, but his magnificent grave was not a prey for play.”

Novodvorskaya V.I. , Poets and Tsars, M., “Ast”, 2010, p. 131-132.

Gumilev Nikolai Stepanovich was born in 1886 in Kronstadt. His father was a naval doctor. Nikolai Gumilev, whose photo will be presented below, spent his entire childhood in Tsarskoye Selo. He received his education in gymnasiums in Tiflis and St. Petersburg. The poet Gumilyov Nikolai wrote his first poems at the age of twelve. His work was first published in the publication "Tiflis Leaflet" when the boy was 16 years old.

Nikolay Gumilyov. Biography

By the fall of 1903, the family returned to Tsarskoye Selo. There, the future poet finishes his studies at the gymnasium, whose director was Annensky. The turning point in Kolya’s life was his acquaintance with the works of the Symbolists and In the same 1903, the future poet met the high school student Gorenko (later Akhmatova). After graduating from high school in 1906, Nikolai, whose subsequent years would be very filled with events, left for Paris. In France, he attends lectures and meets representatives of the literary and artistic community.

Life after graduating from high school

The collection “The Path of the Conquistadors” was the first printed collection published by Nikolai Gumilyov. The poet’s work in the early stages was in some way a “collection of early experiences”, in which, nevertheless, its own intonation had already been found, the image of a courageous, lyrical hero, a lonely conqueror could be traced. While subsequently in France, he makes an attempt to publish the Sirius magazine. In the issues (the first three) the poet is published under the pseudonym Anatoly Grant and under his own name - Nikolai Gumilyov. The biography of the poet in subsequent years is of particular interest. It should be said that, while in Paris, he sent correspondence to various publications: the newspapers "Rus", "Early Morning", the magazine "Scales".

Mature period

In 1908, his second collection was published, the works in which were dedicated to Gorenko (“Romantic Poems”). It was with him that the mature period in the poet’s work began. Bryusov, who praised the author, stated, not without pleasure, that he was not mistaken in his forecasts. "Romantic poems" became more interesting in their form, beautiful and elegant. By the spring of 1908, Gumilev returned to his homeland. In Russia, he makes acquaintances with representatives of the literary world of St. Petersburg, and begins to act as a regular critic in the newspaper Rech. Later, Gumilyov began publishing his works there.

After a trip to the East

The first trip to Egypt took place in the fall of 1908. After this, Gumilev entered the Faculty of Law at the capital’s university, and subsequently transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1909, he began active work as one of the organizers of the Apollo magazine. In this publication, until 1917, the poet would publish translations and poems, as well as write one of the columns. In his reviews, Gumilev covers the first decade of the 20th century quite clearly. At the end of 1909, he left for Abyssinia for several months, and upon returning from there he published the book “Pearls.”

Life since 1911

In the fall of 1911, the “Workshop of Poets” was formed, which manifested its own autonomy from symbolism, creating its own aesthetic program. Gumilev's "Prodigal Son" was considered the first acmeistic poem. It was included in the 1912 collection "Alien Sky". By that time, the writer had already firmly established the reputation of a “syndic”, “master”, one of the most significant of In 1913, Gumilyov went to Africa for six months. At the beginning of World War I, the poet volunteered for the front. In 1915, “Notes of a Cavalryman” and the collection “Quiver” were published. During the same period, his printed works “Gondla” and “Child of Allah” were published. However, his patriotic impulses soon pass, and in one of his private letters he admits that for him art is higher than both Africa and war. In 1918, Gumilyov sought to be sent as part of the expeditionary force, but was delayed in London and Paris until spring. Returning to Russia that same year, the writer began work as a translator, preparing the epic of Gilgamesh, English poems and for World Literature. The book “Pillar of Fire” was the last one published by Nikolai Gumilyov. The poet's biography ended with arrest and execution in 1921.

Brief description of the works

Gumilyov entered Russian literature as a student of the symbolist poet Valery Bryusov. However, it should be noted that his actual teacher was This poet was, among other things, the director of one of the gymnasiums (in Tsarskoe Selo) in which Gumilyov studied. The main theme of his works was the idea of ​​courageous overcoming. Gumilyov's hero is a strong-willed, brave man. Over time, however, there is less exoticism in his poetry. At the same time, the author’s predilection for an unusual and strong personality remains. Gumilyov believes that this kind of people are not intended for everyday, everyday life. And he considers himself the same. Thinking quite a lot and often about his own death, the author invariably presents it in the aura of heroism:

And I won't die in bed
With a notary and a doctor,
And in some wild crevice,
Drowned in thick ivy.

Love and philosophy in later poems

Gumilyov devoted quite a lot of his works to feelings. His heroine in love lyrics takes on completely different forms. She could be a princess from a fairy tale, the legendary lover of the famous Dante, a fantastic Egyptian queen. A separate line runs through his work in poems to Akhmatova. Quite uneven, complex relationships were associated with her, worthy in themselves of a novel plot ("She", "From the Lair of the Serpent", "Beast Tamer", etc.). Gumilyov's late poetry reflects the author's passion for philosophical themes. At that time, living in terrible and hungry Petrograd, the poet was active in creating studios for young authors, being in some way an idol and teacher for them. During that period, from the pen of Gumilyov came some of his best works, permeated with discussions about the fate of Russia, human life, destiny ("The Lost Tram", "The Sixth Sense", "Memory", "My Readers" and others).

Childhood and education

Gumilev Nikolai Stepanovich was born in Kronstadt. Father is a naval doctor. He spent his childhood in Tsarskoe Selo and studied at the gymnasium in St. Petersburg and Tiflis. He wrote poetry from the age of 12, his first published appearance was at the age of 16 - a poem in the newspaper “Tiflis Leaflet”.

In the fall of 1903, the family returned to Tsarskoe Selo, and Gumilyov graduated from the gymnasium there, the director of which was In. Annensky (was a poor student, passed his final exams at the age of 20). The turning point is acquaintance with the philosophy of F. Nietzsche and the poems of the Symbolists.

In 1903 he met high school student A. Gorenko (the future Anna Akhmatova). In 1905, the author published the first collection of poems - “The Way of the Conquistadors”, a naive book of early experiences, which, nevertheless, had already found its own energetic intonation and appeared the image of a lyrical hero, a courageous, lonely conqueror.

In 1906, after graduating from high school, Gumilyov went to Paris, where he listened to lectures at the Sorbonne and made acquaintances in the literary and artistic community. He is attempting to publish the Sirius magazine, in the three published issues of which he is published under his own name and under the pseudonym Anatoly Grant. Sends correspondence to the magazine “Libra”, the newspapers “Rus” and “Early Morning”. In Paris, and also published by the author, Gumilev’s second collection of poems was published - “Romantic Poems” (1908), dedicated to A. A. Gorenko.

With this book, the period of mature creativity of N. Gumilyov begins. V. Bryusov, who praised his first book in advance, states with satisfaction that he was not mistaken in his predictions: now the poems are “beautiful, elegant and, for the most part, interesting in form.” In the spring of 1908, Gumilyov returned to Russia, made acquaintance with the St. Petersburg literary world (Vyacheslav Ivanov), and acted as a regular critic in the newspaper “Rech” (later he also began publishing poems and stories in this publication).

In the fall he makes his first trip to the East - to Egypt. He enters the Faculty of Law of the capital's university, and is soon transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1909, he took an active part in organizing a new publication - the Apollo magazine, in which later, until 1917, he published poems and translations and maintained a permanent column “Letters on Russian Poetry.”

Collected in a separate book (Pg., 1923), Gumilyov's reviews give a vivid idea of ​​the literary process of the 1910s. At the end of 1909, Gumilev left for Abyssinia for several months, and upon returning, he published a new book - “Pearls”.

On April 25, 1910, Nikolai Gumilyov married Anna Gorenko (their relationship broke down in 1914). In the fall of 1911, the “Workshop of Poets” was created, which demonstrated its autonomy from symbolism and the creation of its own aesthetic program (Gumilev’s article “The Legacy of Symbolism and Acmeism,” published in 1913 in Apollo). The first acmeistic work in the Workshop of Poets was considered to be Gumilyov’s poem “The Prodigal Son” (1911), which was included in his collection “Alien Sky” (1912). At this time, Gumilyov’s reputation as a “master”, “syndic” (leader) of the Workshop of Poets, and one of the most significant modern poets, was firmly established.

In the spring of 1913, as head of an expedition from the Academy of Sciences, Gumilyov went to Africa for six months (to replenish the collection of the ethnographic museum), kept a travel diary (excerpts from the “African Diary” were published in 1916, a more complete text was published recently).

At the beginning of the First World War, N. Gumilyov, a man of action, volunteered for the Uhlan regiment and earned two St. George Crosses for his bravery. His “Notes of a Cavalryman” were published in the “Birzhevye Vedomosti” in 1915.

At the end of 1915, the collection “Quiver” was published, his dramatic works were published in magazines - “Child of Allah” (in “Apollo”) and “Gondla” (in “Russian Thought”). The patriotic impulse and intoxication with danger soon pass, and he writes in a private letter: “Art is dearer to me than both war and Africa.”

Gumilyov transferred to the hussar regiment and sought to be sent to the Russian Expeditionary Force on the Thessaloniki Front, but along the way he stayed in Paris and London until the spring of 1918. A cycle of his love poems dates back to this period, which was compiled in the posthumous book “Kenya Star” (Berlin, 1923) .

Return to Russia

In 1918, upon returning to Russia, Gumilyov worked intensively as a translator, preparing the epic of Gilgamesh and poems by French and English poets for the publishing house “World Literature”. He writes several plays, publishes books of poetry “The Bonfire” (1918), “The Porcelain Pavilion” (1918) and others. In 1921, Gumilyov’s last book was published, according to many researchers, the best of all that he created, “The Pillar of Fire.”

On August 3, 1921, Gumilev was arrested by the Cheka in the case of the so-called. "Tagantsevo conspiracy" and on August 24 sentenced to death.

His name was one of the most odious in the history of official Russian literature throughout the Soviet period.

"The Case" of Gumilyov. Sociology of crime in Russian history and culture.

100th anniversary of his birth

Dedicated to Pavel Luknitsky

Published documents, materials, certificates, resumes, etc. are the story of the death and rehabilitation of Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov, who was executed by the workers and peasants in 1921.

My dear mother, I am submitting this book to the publisher. You were there when I wrote it, and earlier, when I took up Gumilyov’s “case”. You constantly reminded me of Your and Father’s Ancestors and advised me, if possible, to give up black and white colors. I tried to leave information for thought. Russian history is broader and more majestic, and your destiny, mommy, is an integral part of it, is proof of this.

. I won’t hide, with each line it became more difficult to tear Nemesis away from myself.

Petersburg, died in June 1973, in Moscow, buried in

St. Petersburg. Nobleman. Studied at Kadetsky and Pazhesky His I.V. buildings,

Institute of the Living Word. Graduated from Petrograd University. First biographer

Nikolai Gumilyov. One of the founders of literary groups of the 20s. Member

(technical secretary) of the Petrograd Union of Poets since 1924. Union member

writers of the USSR since 1934. Full member of the Geographical Society

Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Explorer of the Pamir, Monchetundra, Siberia regions.

translator of the Tajik folk epic, writers of Tajikistan,

Azerbaijan. Poetry: "Wolf", "Transition"; Drama: "Garden City",

"Sacred Tree"; Prose, novels and stories; "Moira", "Divana", "Madman"

Marod-Ali", "Horsemen and Pedestrians", "Pamir without Legends", "At the Foot of Death",

"Behind the Blue Stone", "Land of Youth", "Nisso" (translated into 34 languages), "On

banks of the Neva", "Leningrad is in action. " - 3-volume epic, "Delegate

the future", "Time is for us", "On a trail of smoke" and others.

At the time of Luknitsky’s arrest, Akhmatova left for treatment in Kislovodsk, Punin

The mentioned entry and similar others from the diary of the “First Eckermann”

Akhmatova" (N. Struve) were published by the writer's widow more than once: in 1987 in

"Okonka Library"; in 1988 in the magazine "Our Heritage"; in a book about

Luknitsky "The Earth is Before You"; in 1989 in the bulletin of the RHD; in 1991

two-volume "Meetings with Anna Akhmatova".

A photocopy of the complete archive is kept at home.

And yet, Nikolai Semenovich Tikhonov could not help but express his

public acknowledgment of my father's work by writing to my mother in 1977 on her

book "Brumbery": "Vera Konstantinovna Luknitskaya, mistress of the fantastic

city ​​of documentary poetic memories, owner of poetic secrets

past of Russian poetry - with surprise at the work she performed in the field

poetic discoveries - cordially Nikolai Tikhonov. 1977"

Terekhov G.A., (in 1990) personal pensioner, associate professor at the Higher School

KGB of the USSR, 1937-1948 - zonal prosecutor for Leningrad and the North Caucasus,

1948-1956 - chief transport prosecutor, 1956 -1970 - head of the department for

supervision of investigations in state security agencies, member of the board of the Prosecutor's Office

USSR, senior assistant to the Prosecutor General of the USSR.

Books by L.N. Gumilyov "Ancient Turks", "Discovery of Khazaria" and others,

signed to Luknitsky during their meetings in Leningrad in 1968: “To my dear

Pavel Nikolaevich from an old friend,” they talk about the preserved feeling for

Luknitsky, and in the 80s, when my mother visited L.N. Gumilev in Leningrad, he

invariably repeated to her: “Publish everything! Everything that Pavel Nikolaevich wrote down -

exactly. That's how it was."

In "Merani" there is a volume of poems that my mother collected and unknown facts

biographies of the poet, which provided material for the work of many literary scholars about

Gumilyov and the compilers of Gumilyov’s books, was published earlier than the said volume

"Poet's Libraries" in Soviet Writer. But in a letter, at that time, it was important

was emphasized - “Soviet writer”. Publish a book in Tbilisi

the publishing house "Merani" was suggested to my mother by V.P. Enisherlov, who worked in the magazine

"Ogonyok" head of the department. Yenisherlov was amazed when he read what was brought

mother for publication of materials about Gumilyov. One Hundred Pages of Unknown Facts

biographies of the poet, originals of the poet's poems, etc. Cold and distrustful

asked: “What other news? Where did you get this from, why is it still not

known?" Mom told about the existence of the archive, which, by the way, they knew about

many officials, literary critics, journalists, writers, not

only in Russia. V.P. immediately took an active part in the promulgation

materials, inviting his friend, the editor of Merani, to publish a volume

Gumilyov's poems with my mother's essay about life and work and him,

Yenisherlov's preface, which he attached to the manuscript, borrowing

him from my mother’s essay. At the beginning of 1987, in the Ogonyok library there was

Vera Luknitskaya’s book “Of Two Thousand Meetings. The Story of a Chronicler” was published and

several publications in the magazine "Our Heritage", where Enisherlov became the main

In this department I obtained some materials for my books:

"The Beginning of Aquarius", "The Binom of the Almighty", "Mommy's Socialism", "It's Because

- You. ", "Killers are asked not to worry" and others.

I dictated this article to Deputy Editor-in-Chief Alexander

Mostovshchikov, who later became my friend, at the entrance of the MN editorial office on

Pushkin Square, where I went from the prosecutor's office. At the entrance, because not

there was a free office, and in his own, his assistant Lena Hanga

hosted what was, at that time, a “cool” delegation. In addition, we