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Vladislav Khodasevich (Theorist) - Berlin, Germany

Vladislav Khodasevich — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:43:37 -0500

Vladislav Felitsianovich Khodasevich (May 16, 1886 - June 14, 1939) was an influential Russian poet and literary critic who presided over the Berlin circle of Russian emigre litterateurs.

Khodasevich was born in Moscow into a family of a Polish nobleman and a converted Jewish woman. He left the Moscow University after understanding that poetry was his true vocation. Khodasevich's first collections of poems, Youth (1907) and A Happy Little House (1914), were subsequently discarded by him as immature.

In the year 1917, Khodasevich gained wider renown by writing a superb short piece The Way of Corn. This poem is eponymous with Khodasevich's best known collection of verse, first published in 1920 and revised in 1922.

Patronized by Maxim Gorky, Khodasevich and his wife Nina Berberova (herself a distinguished littérateur, 1901-1993) left Russia for Gorky's villa in Sorrento, Italy. Later they moved to Berlin, where they took up with Andrei Bely. Khodasevich's complicated relationship with this maverick genius ended with a scandalous rupture, followed by the latter's return to Moscow. In his memoirs, Bely presented an unforgettable, expressionistic, and very partial portrayal of Khodasevich.

During his first years in Berlin, Khodasevich wrote his two last and most metaphysical collections of verse, Heavy Lyre (1923) and European Night (1927). The former contained the most important rendition of Orpheus theme in the Russian poetry, the esoteric Ballad. It should be noted that Khodasevich didn't align himself with any of the aesthetic movements of the day, claiming Pushkin to be his only model. He even penned several scholarly articles exploring the master-stroke of the great Russian poet.

In the mid-1920s, Khodasevich switched his literary activities from poetry to criticism. He joined Mark Aldanov and Alexander Kerensky as the co-editor of the Berlin periodical Days, in which he would publish his penetrating analyses of the contemporary Soviet literature. He also indulged in a prolonged controversy with the Parisian emigre pundits, such as Georgy Adamovich and Georgy Ivanov, on various issues of literary theory. As an influential critic, Khodasevich did his best to encourage the career of Vladimir Nabokov, who would always cherish his memory.

Despite a physical infirmity that gradually took hold of him, Khodasevich worked relentlessly during the last decade of his life. Most notably, he wrote an important biography of Gavrila Derzhavin (translated into English and published by University of Wisconsin Press in 2007) in 1931, which he attempted to style in the language of Pushkin's epoch. Several weeks before Khodasevich's death his brilliant book of memoirs, Necropolis, was published. Although severely partisan, the book is invaluable for its ingenious characterizations of Maxim Gorky, Andrei Bely, and Mikhail Gershenzon.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vladislav+Khodasevich
Address: Berlin, Germany
Contact: http://www.poetryloverspage.com/yevgeny/khodasevich/index.html
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Anton Chekhov (Writer) - Moscow, Russia

Anton Chekhov — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:35:25 -0500

A doctor, who explored Russia (he traveled even to Sakhalin island) and the Russian mind as well. His stories and plays are all dedicated to everyday life. Every time one reads him there is a feeling as if someone smart is telling an ironic story about yourself. Chekhov, as a narrator, gives an impression of a kind and a honest person, so if you believe that a man is the perfect undoubting creature who makes no mistakes, don’t read him or your confidence will collapse. I advise you to start with his philosophical and intelligent short stories and then move to plays where his philosophy is a bit smashed by obligatory theatre dynamics.
Written by Dan Perushev / Way to Russia Guides.
Address: Moscow, Russia
Contact: http://waytorussia.net/moscow/writer/anton-chekhov-writer.html
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G. K. Chesterton (Writer)

G. K. Chesterton — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:34:58 -0500

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy and detective fiction.

Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox." He wrote in an off-hand, whimsical prose studded with startling formulations. For example: "Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it." As a Christian apologist he is widely admired throughout many religious denominations, as well as by many non-Christians. As a political thinker, he cast aspersions on both Liberalism and Conservatism, saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." He routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox Christian", and came to identify such a position with Catholicism more and more, eventually converting to Roman Catholicism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton
Address:
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