Glebovo Temple of the Kazan Icon. Church of the Epiphany, Glebovo. Creating traditions together

Vasily Zhukovsky was born on January 29 (February 9), 1783 in the village of Mishenskoye, Tula province. He was the illegitimate son of the landowner A.I. Bunin. He received a new surname after being adopted by his godfather - the poor Belarusian nobleman Andrei Grigorievich Zhukovsky.

Education and creativity

The first education in Zhukovsky’s biography was received in the Bunin family. Then he studied at a private boarding school, the Tula Public School, with his sister V. Yushkova. He was interested in sentimentalism, and on this basis he met Nikolai Karamzin.

Zhukovsky's first poems were written while studying at a boarding school at the University of Moscow. Zhukovsky’s work of those times is filled with sentimentalism and romanticism (ballads “Lyudmila” (1808), “Cassandra” (1809), “Svetlana” (1808-1812)).

From 1805-1806, the writer worked at the Vestnik Evropy, and in 1808-1809 he was its editor. At this time, Zhukovsky's poetry blossoms and reaches its peak.

After the outbreak of the War of 1812, Zhukovsky took the side of the opposition. Military events are reflected in his works “To Emperor Alexander”, “Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors”. The latter brought fame to the writer.

In 1815, Zhukovsky was a member of the Arzamas literary society.

At the same time, he began his court service, which lasted 25 years. The decade from 1810 to 1820 is considered the heyday of the work of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. His most famous works were written in those days: the ballads “Aeolian Harp”, “The Twelve Sleeping Virgins”, many poems, translations.

An analysis of Zhukovsky's poems reveals a great thematic diversity and features of the poet's style. Significant assets are Zhukovsky’s translations of “Rustem and Zorab” (1849), “Odyssey” (1848-1849, “Nal and Damayanti” (1844).

Zhukovsky was well acquainted with many famous personalities, among them we can highlight Emperor Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol.

Personal life

At the age of 58, Zhukovsky married the 20-year-old daughter of his friend the painter Reitern, Elizaveta. After 12 years, he lived with his new relatives in Germany, until his death. He had two children - Pavel (1844) and Alexandra (1842).

Death of a Writer

Zhukovsky died on April 12 (April 24), 1852 in Baden-Baden. The writer's body was transported to Russia and buried in St. Petersburg.

Chronological table

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Education

Poetry career

Zhukovsky in 1837-1839

Retirement and decline of life

Addresses in St. Petersburg

Toponymy

Monuments

Major works

Songs and romances

Poems

Poems and stories in verse

(January 29 (February 9) 1783, Mishenskoye, Tula province, Russian Empire - April 12 (April 24), 1852, Baden-Baden, German Union) - Russian poet, founder of romanticism in Russian poetry, translator, critic.

Full member of the Imperial Russian Academy(1818); honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1827-1841) and subsequently an ordinary academician (1841) in the Department of Russian Language and Literature, Privy Councilor (1841).

Biography

Born on January 29 (February 9), 1783 in the village of Mishenskoye, Tula province. Illegitimate son of the landowner Afanasy Ivanovich Bunin (1716-1791) and the captive Turkish woman Salkha (baptized Elizaveta Dementyevna Turchaninova; d. 1811), brought in 1770 by Bunin’s serfs, participants Russian-Turkish war, from under the Bendery fortress (according to other sources, she was captured by Major K. Mufel, who gave her to Bunin to raise). The child received his surname from a poor Belarusian nobleman, Andrei Grigorievich Zhukovsky (d. 1817), who lived on the estate, who, at Bunin’s request, became the child’s godfather and then adopted him. Before the birth of the future poet, Bunin’s family suffered grief: out of eleven children, six died in a short time. Heartbroken, Maria Grigorievna Bunina decided to take the newborn into her family and raise him as her own son. Adoption did not give the right to transfer the nobility; in addition, according to the will of the father, the son did not receive anything.

One of Zhukovsky’s legitimate sisters married Glafira Alymova’s brother, thus becoming related to Glafira’s husband, A. A. Rzhevsky, vice-director of the Academy of Sciences.

Education

To obtain nobility, the child was fictitiously enlisted in the Astrakhan Hussar Regiment; having received the rank of ensign, which gave the right to personal nobility, in 1789 6-year-old Zhukovsky was included in the noble genealogy book of the Tula province and received a letter of noble dignity, which allowed him to subsequently receive an education in a private boarding school, then at the Tula Public School.

In 1797, 14-year-old Zhukovsky entered the Moscow noble university boarding school and studied there for four years. In the second year of Zhukovsky’s stay at the boarding school, among his comrades, including Dmitry Bludov, Dmitry Dashkov, Sergei Uvarov, Alexander and Andrei Turgenev, a special literary society arose - the Assembly, with an officially approved charter. Zhukovsky became its first chairman. There he also met the director of the boarding house, Ivan Petrovich Turgenev.

Zhukovsky made his debut in print with “Thoughts at the Tomb” (1797), written under the impression of the news of the death of V. A. Yushkova. “I vividly felt- says the 14-year-old author, - the insignificance of everything sublunary; the universe seemed like a coffin to me. Death! Fierce death! When will your hand become tired, when will the blade of your terrible scythe become dull?..”.

Poetry career

In 1802, Zhukovsky met Karamzin, becoming interested in sentimentalism. His “Bulletin of Europe” was published: Rural cemetery"- a free translation of the elegy of the English sentimentalist Gray. The poem attracted everyone's attention. The following year, the story “Vadim Novgorodsky” appeared, written in imitation of Karamzin’s historical stories.

From 1805-1806, Zhukovsky's poetic power grew rapidly, reaching its highest peak in 1808-1812. All this time, Zhukovsky worked at Vestnik Evropy, and in 1808-09 he was its editor.

In 1808 his “Lyudmila” appeared, an adaptation of “Lenora” by G. A. Burger. With this ballad, something new entered Russian literature, completely special content- romanticism. Zhukovsky was captured by the desire to travel into the distance of the Middle Ages, into the long-vanished world of legends and legends. The success of “Lyudmila” inspired Zhukovsky.

In 1812 Zhukovsky joined the militia. In the camp near Tarutino, he wrote “The Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors,” which immediately brought him incomparably greater fame than all his previous poetic activity. It was distributed in thousands of lists in the army and in Russia.

In 1815, Zhukovsky became one of the main participants in the Arzamas literary society, which in a comic form waged a persistent struggle against the conservatism of classical poetry.

Since 1816, Zhukovsky became the author of the first official anthem of Russia, “The Prayer of the Russians.” It was a translation (though greatly modified) of the text of the English hymn “God save the King.” The music was also borrowed from the English anthem (which was done by more than 20 countries at one time).

In 1816, Zhukovsky became a reader under the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. In 1817, he became the Russian language teacher of Princess Charlotte, the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and in the fall of 1826 he was appointed to the position of “mentor” of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II.

Zhukovsky in 1837-1839

Zhukovsky was well acquainted with A.S. Pushkin. When Pushkin’s deadly duel with Georges Dantes took place on January 27 (February 8), 1837, Zhukovsky was passing notes between Emperor Nicholas I and A.S. Pushkin. This responsibility was shared with him by Pushkin’s doctor, the emperor’s physician N.F. Arendt.

After the death of Pushkin, in 1837 Zhukovsky traveled with the heir, the Tsarevich, to Russia and part of Siberia. After this, in 1838-1839, Zhukovsky traveled with him around Western Europe. In Rome he became especially close to Gogol.

Retirement and decline of life

In 1841, due to the heir's coming of age, Zhukovsky resigned. In the same year, in Düsseldorf, the 58-year-old poet married 20-year-old Elizaveta Evgrafovna Reitern (1821-1856), the daughter of his longtime friend, the painter E. R. Reitern.

He spent the last 12 years of his life in Germany, in the circle of his new relatives - first in Düsseldorf, later in Frankfurt am Main, almost every year planning to visit Russia, but, due to the painful condition of his wife, he never had time to fulfill this desire.

At the beginning of 1842, Zhukovsky began translating the Odyssey. The first volume of the Odyssey was published in 1848, the second in 1849.

Died 12 (24 April) 1852 in Baden-Baden. The body was transported to Russia and buried in St. Petersburg in the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Children

• Alexandra Vasilievna Zhukovskaya(1842-1912) - married Verman. Maid of honor. Her marriage to Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich (4th son of Alexander II) was dissolved by the Synod, her son Alexei Alekseevich is the first Count Belevsky-Zhukovsky. Descendants live in the USA today (see Zhukovskaya, Alexandra Vasilievna)
• Pavel Vasilievich Zhukovsky(1844/5-1912). Rallymaster, amateur artist, author of the monument to Alexander II in the Moscow Kremlin.

Addresses in St. Petersburg

• 03. - 04.1805 - apartment of D.N. Bludov in the Varlont house - Basmannaya street, 10;
• 05. - 09.1817 - D.N. Bludov's house - Nevsky Prospekt, 80;
• 09. - 10.1817 - apartment of A. A. Pleshcheev in the Ritter house - Galernaya street, 12;
• 1818 - Bolshaya Meshchanskaya st., 20
• 09.1818 - 1819 - Bragin apartment building - Nikolsky Canal, 11;
• 1822-1826 - A.F. Voeikov’s apartment in apartment building A. A. Menshikova - Nevsky Prospekt, 64.

Memory

Toponymy

• St. Petersburg: Zhukovsky Street - named in 1902 in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the poet’s death.
• Zaporozhye: Zhukovsky Street - named in 1902 in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the poet’s death.

Monuments

• St. Petersburg: Monument in the Alexander Garden - opened on June 4, 1887 in connection with the centenary of the poet’s birth. Was vandalized in 2007.
• In Veliky Novgorod at the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia” among 129 figures of the most outstanding personalities in Russian history(for 1862) there is a figure of V. A. Zhukovsky.

Major works

Many works were translations and free adaptations, including from J. W. Goethe, F. Schiller, J. Byron, W. Scott.

Elegies

• “Rural Cemetery” (1802, free translation from T. Gray)
• "Slavyanka" (1816)
• "Evening" (1806)
• "The Sea" (1822)
• “Singer in the camp of Russian warriors” (1812)

Songs and romances

• “The Ring of the Soul-Maiden...” (1816)
• Messages (“To Turgenev, in response to his letter”, 1813), odes, idylls

Fairy tales

• "The Sleeping Princess"
• “The tale of Tsar Berendey, of his son Ivan Tsarevich, of the cunning of Koshchei the Immortal and of the wisdom of Princess Marya, Koshchey’s daughter.” The fairy tale was filmed in 1969.
• "The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf"

Ballads

• “Lyudmila” (1808) (free transcriptions of G. A. Burger’s ballad “Lenora”)
• "Svetlana" (1808-1812)
• “Twelve Sleeping Maidens” (part 1 - “Thunderbreaker”, 1810; part 2 - “Vadim”, 1814-1817),
• "The Forest King" (1818)
• "The Fisherman" (1818)
• "Knight of Togenburg" (1818)
• “Smalholm Castle, or Midsummer’s Evening” (1822)
• "Cup" (1825-1831)
• "God's Judgment over the Bishop" (1831)
• "Lenora" (1831).
• "Warwick"

Poems

• “To Her” (1811, publ. 1827)
• “Singer in the camp of Russian warriors” (1812)
• "By the Month" (1817)
• "Night View" (1836)

Poems and stories in verse

• "The Prisoner of Chillon" (1822) (Translation by J. Byron)
• "Ondine" (1837) (Translation by F. de Lamotte Fouquet)
• "Nal and Damayanti" (1844) (part of the Indian epic "Mahabharata")
• "Rustem and Zorab" (1849) (part of Ferdowsi's poem "Shahnameh")
• “The Odyssey (Homer)” (1849; new edition - 1982) (Translation of Homer)

Prose

• The story “Maryina Roshcha” (1809)

Articles

• "The Writer in Society" (1808)
• “On the fable and fables of Krylov” (1809)
• "On satire and satyrs of Cantemir" (1810)

The famous Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was born in 1783 in the village of Mishenskoye, Belevsky district, Tula province. His father was the landowner Afanasy Ivanovich Bunin (the 20th century writer Ivan Bunin came from the same family), his mother was a captive Turkish Salha (baptized Elizaveta Dementievna Turchaninova). Zhukovsky got his surname from his godfather, a poor Belarusian nobleman who lived in the Bunins' house.

Bunin's eldest son died, and Zhukovsky was the only boy among older sisters and nieces, who were only slightly younger than him. Upbringing among female society, pampering, affection, common love, left an imprint on the soft, gentle soul of the future poet. He began his studies at the Tula Public School, but the teacher did not understand him and was unable to appreciate the exceptional talents of his student, but was only angry at the boy’s inability to do mathematics. In 1797, Zhukovsky entered the Noble Boarding School at Moscow University. Zhukovsky's father entrusted his son to the director of Moscow University, I. P. Turgenev, who was a member of the Novikov circle. In Turgenev's house, Zhukovsky met many outstanding people of that time; met Karamzin, Dmitriev. Zhukovsky fell in love with the Turgenev family very much, and became especially close to one of the sons, Andrei. At the Noble Boarding School, Zhukovsky’s views were determined, his abilities and talents developed. The boarding school teachers did their best to encourage the literary tastes and activities of their students, who organized literary competitions among themselves and published a handwritten magazine. Zhukovsky soon became the head of this literary circle; At the age of 14, at the boarding school, he read an ode of his own composition - “For the Prosperity of Russia.” In this ode one can feel the strong influence of Lomonosov, Derzhavin, there is little independence, but Zhukovsky’s light pen is already visible, his undoubted literary talents are visible.

Orest Kiprensky. Portrait of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, 1815

The main thing that Zhukovsky took away from the Noble Pension was knowledge foreign languages and acquaintance with the most important works of foreign literature, but in general education The knowledge he received during his 3 years at the boarding school was rather superficial, although multifaceted. Subsequently, he had to fill in the gaps in his education by reading.

After graduating from the Noble Boarding School, in 1801, Zhukovsky entered the service at the Salt Office in Moscow, but did not serve for long, since the service did not interest him at all. This year former students The Noble Boarding School formed the “Friendly Literary Society,” which also reflected the features of the Novikov circle. Members of society strived for self-improvement, supported the “cult of friendship” (a typical feature of the sentimental-romantic era), and developed their literary views and tastes. A few years later, all members of the “Friendly Society” - Zhukovsky, Prince. Vyazemsky, A. Turgenev, Voeikov, Bludov, Merzlyakov and others became part of Arzamas.

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. Video

After retiring, Zhukovsky settled in the village, in his native Mishenskoye, where he devoted himself entirely to reading and literary pursuits. The real beginning of his poetic activity can be attributed to this time. In 1802, he wrote the elegy “Rural Cemetery,” which was published in Karamzin’s “Bulletin of Europe” and immediately attracted the attention of the reading public.

After spending some time in Mishenskoye, Zhukovsky moved in with his married sister, E. Protasova, who settled in the city of Belev, 3 miles from Mishenskoye, with her daughters, Maria and Alexandra. Zhukovsky, who was only a few years older than his nieces, undertook to give them lessons in literature and literature. Years spent in the Protasov family, quiet life provincial town, literary studies and conversations with cute girls, were perhaps the happiest time of Zhukovsky’s life. He soon realized that he deeply fell in love with his eldest niece, Marya Andreevna. This feeling, tender, bright and deep, left an imprint on all of Zhukovsky’s work. Realizing that a marriage between uncle and niece was impossible, Zhukovsky decided to leave Belev. He tried with all his might to overcome the feeling that had arisen in his soul.

"You bloom in the color of the day,
You are not blooming for me..."

he wrote in one of his charming lyrical poems.

Having settled in Moscow, Zhukovsky took over the publication of the magazine “Bulletin of Europe”, hoping to drown out his feelings with work. “Vestnik Evropy” published many of Zhukovsky’s own works—the story “Maryina Roshcha” (reminiscent of Karamzin’s “Poor Liza”), the ballad “Lyudmila,” which brought Zhukovsky fame, and some critical articles.

But neither separation, nor time, nor literary works could overcome Zhukovsky’s feelings for Masha Protasova, and after 3 years, in 1811, he returned to Mishenskoye, transferring the “Bulletin of Europe” into other hands. He was sure that Masha loved him too, and decided to ask E. A. Protasova to agree to their marriage, pointing out that he was only her half-brother. But Protasova flatly refused him and allowed him to see her daughter only on the condition that he would never tell Masha about his feelings. After some time, she demanded that Zhukovsky completely leave Mishensky, since in one of his poems (“Swimmer”) she saw a hint of his feelings for his daughter. Zhukovsky was in despair, but he submitted and left. This was in 1812. All of Russia at this time was covered in the patriotic upsurge of the Patriotic War. Zhukovsky enlisted in the Moscow militia. He did not participate in the Battle of Borodino, as he was in reserve, but he experienced Borodino and the fire of Moscow closely.

After the retreat of the French army, in Tarutino, Zhukovsky wrote the poem “The Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors” (see full text, summary and analysis), which at one time enjoyed enormous success and brought Zhukovsky fame. But literary fame did not please him. He could not forget the girl he loved, although he accepted the test sent to him with purely Christian humility. Despite the grief of separation, the bright mood never left him: “There are many good things in life without happiness,” he says in one of his letters from this time.

Zhukovsky drew up a plan for the education of Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich for 12 years. He chose teachers for him in various subjects, and he himself taught Russian language, literature and, most importantly, supervised the entire education of the heir. Zhukovsky paid the main attention to education hearts his student, who in the future was to become the Tsar of Russia. In his message to Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna on the occasion of the birth of the heir, Zhukovsky expresses the wish that the heir, the future tsar, would never forget: “... the holiest of titles: Human " He must -

Live for centuries in national greatness,
For good everyone - forget yours.
Only in the free voice of the fatherland
Read your deeds with humility.

Zhukovsky tried to convey to his pupil his own Christian worldview and to develop in him a humane attitude towards people. It is safe to say that Zhukovsky’s influence had a significant impact on the humane reforms of the Tsar the Liberator.

Zhukovsky passionately fell in love with his pupil, who also retained his heartfelt affection for him throughout his life.

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. Portrait by K. Bryullov, 1837

Despite his service under Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, Zhukovsky was engaged in literature in fits and starts. During this period he wrote Ondine, several fairy tales and lyric poems.

Pushkin died in 1837. Zhukovsky suffered this grief heavily, both as the loss of all of Russia and as the personal grief of a close friend. Having learned that Pushkin was seriously wounded in a duel, Zhukovsky hurried to him and last days and the poet spent hours near his bed. After the funeral, Zhukovsky wrote a letter to Sergei Lvovich Pushkin, the poet’s father, describing to him in detail the last hours of his son’s life. This letter, written with all the sincerity and ardent feeling of which Zhukovsky was capable, can be considered one of his best works.

The upbringing of the heir, Alexander Nikolaevich, ended with a long journey, first throughout Russia, then abroad; Zhukovsky accompanied his pupil. In 1841, the education of the Tsarevich was completed, and Zhukovsky, generously awarded, retired.

In the same year, he married the daughter of his friend, the painter Reitern, in Germany. He was 58 years old, his bride, Elizaveta Reitern, was 18... She was a poetic, dreamy girl, something in her image undoubtedly reminded her of Masha Protasova. In his old age, Zhukovsky’s ever-present dream of family happiness. He spent the end of his life, 12 years, quietly and peacefully with his young wife and the two children they had, a daughter and a son. The only thing that darkened Zhukovsky's happiness was the frequent illness of his wife. He could never return to Russia, which, of course, he yearned for, but his wife could not bear the Russian climate. Towards the end of his life, Zhukovsky himself began to suffer from eye problems and was even almost blind. This did not hinder him in his literary works - he acquired a typewriter and learned to write without looking. Over the past 12 years, he has written a lot of translations, mainly from folk epics. During this period, he translated “Nal and Damayanti” from the Indian epic, “Rustem and Zorab” from the Persian “Book of Kings” (Shahname), “Odyssey”, on which he worked for 6 years. He treated the translation of Homer with some kind of sacred trepidation. “I wanted,” he writes, “to look into the first world of poetry, into this lost Eden, in which at the time it breathed so easily and healingly. Homer opened the sacred door into it for me, and I lived happily with his bright creatures.” In addition, he translated in verse “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” the greatest work of our folk epic.

IN last years During his life abroad, Zhukovsky became very close to Gogol. They were brought together by the same Christian, mystical mood.

Tombstone of Zhukovsky in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Zhukovsky was not afraid of death and often said: “Death is a great blessing.” He died quietly and peacefully in 1852, at the age of 69. His body was transported to Russia, to St. Petersburg, and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, next to Karamzin.

ZHUKOVSKY Vasily Andreevich, Russian poet, translator, painter, draftsman, honorary member (1827), ordinary academician (1841) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Father of P.V. Zhukovsky. Illegitimate son landowner A.I. Bunin and captured Turkish woman Salha (he received his surname from the single nobleman A.G. Zhukovsky, his baptismal recipient). In 1797-1800 he studied at the Noble boarding school at Moscow University, where he was imbued with a sublime religious mentality, ideas of moral self-improvement, and also became involved in literary creativity(first publication - the poem “May Morning”, 1797, in the magazine “Useful and Pleasant Pastime of Time”).

V. A. Zhukovsky. Portrait by O. A. Kiprensky. 1816.

Upon leaving the boarding school, he became one of the founders of the Friendly Literary Society. In 1801 he was in the service of the Moscow Main Salt Office. In 1802-1807 he lived in Mishenskoye, intensively engaged in self-education, kept diaries, compiled notes on works on the theory of literature and art, translated “Don Quixote” by M. de Cervantes (from the French adaptation by J. P. C. de Florian; published in 1804 -06). The elegies “Rural Cemetery” (1802, free translation from T. Gray) and “Evening” (1807) brought Zhukovsky literary success, strengthened by the first romantic ballad in Russia “Lyudmila” (1808, an adaptation of G. A. Burger’s ballad “Lenora”; Zhukovsky’s later ballad “Svetlana” is a variation of the same plot). In 1808-11, Zhukovsky collaborated in the journal “Bulletin of Europe” (editor until mid-1809, co-editor of M. T. Kachenovsky until early 1811), published a number of translations on aesthetics and original literary critical articles, including “On the fable and fables of Krylov "(1809), "On satire and satyrs of Cantemir" (1810). During Patriotic War 1812 voluntarily joined the Moscow militia, wrote the anthem “Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors,” which was popular thanks to the many war participants named in it.

In his poems of 1802-14, Zhukovsky was the creator of Russian psychological lyrics, laying the foundations of the so-called elegiac school that dominated Russian poetry in the 1810s and early 1820s. Distinctive features new school steel: focus on the “life of the soul” with its main values ​​(friendship, love, memory), sensitive, poetic perception of nature, intonation of sadness, stylistic harmony, melody of verse. In 1815, Karamzin writers rallied around Zhukovsky, forming the Arzamas society. Meanwhile, Zhukovsky himself increasingly moved away from Karamzinist moderation and secular grace, gravitating toward Christian didactics and direct moral teaching (“Theon and Aeschines,” 1815, etc.). In the lyrics of 1815-24 (“Slavyanka”, 1815; “The Inexpressible”, “On the Death of Her Majesty the Queen of Wirtemberg”, “The Color of the Testament”, all 1819; “The Mysterious Visitor”, “The Moth and Flowers”, both 1824; etc.). ; also the ballad “The Aeolian Harp”, 1815) religious and philosophical motives already predominate, grief and suffering are interpreted as integral attributes of earthly existence, and hope in afterlife reward is associated with the ideals of sacrifice and self-denial. In Zhukovsky’s ballads, which tell about the struggle between good and evil, about sin and inevitable punishment and often replete with infernal horrors, moralizing pathos is also obvious (almost all the ballads are translations from English and German authors: I. V. Goethe, R. Southey, V. Scott, L. Uland, F. Schiller and others; the poem “The Twelve Sleeping Maidens” based on the novel of the same name by H. G. Spies consists of two ballads: “Thunderbreaker”, 1811, and “Vadim”, 1817). Zhukovsky remained alien to the rebellious, individualistic romanticism of the 1820s, although his translation of J. Byron's poem “The Prisoner of Chillon” (1822) influenced the formation of Russian romantic poem.

In 1817, Zhukovsky was invited as a teacher of the Russian language to Grand Duchess, future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna; in 1826-41 Zhukovsky was the tutor of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II. Consistently implementing the program of “education of the royal soul” in the spirit of the ideals of an enlightened monarchy, he accompanied him on trips around Russia and Europe. Zhukovsky, causing the displeasure of Emperor Nicholas I, used his position at court to protect convicts (including Decembrists), constantly fussed about the affairs of A.S. Pushkin, and after his death he obtained permission to sort out the poet’s papers and published the first posthumous collection of his works. Of the works of Zhukovsky himself during this period, the most significant are the tales written in creative competition with Pushkin (“The Tale of the Sleeping Princess,” 1832, and “The Tale of Tsar Berendey,” 1833), the poetic story “Ondine” (1831-36, complete edition - 1837; adaptation of the novel by F. de la Motte Fouquet) and the poem “Camoens” (1839; free translation of the poem by F. Galm).

In 1841, having retired in the rank Privy Councilor and with a lifelong pension, Zhukovsky left for Germany, where he married the daughter of the German artist G. von Reutern, Elizabeth. Zhukovsky never returned to Russia. His main work at this time was the translation of the poem “Odyssey” (1842-1849, published in 1849), which was in line with Zhukovsky’s interest in the ancients epic poems[based on the “Mahabharata” his poem “Nal and Damayanti” (1837-1841) was written, based on the “Shahname” of Ferdowsi - “Rustem and Zorab” (1846-47)] and folk tales(“Puss in Boots” by C. Perrault; “ tulip tree» based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm; “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf” based on Russian fairy tales; all 1845). Zhukovsky’s last, original poem “Ahasfer, the Eternal Jew” (published in 1857), the basis for which was the famous Christian legend, remained unfinished.

Zhukovsky was a professional artist; began drawing and painting during his years of study at the Noble boarding school.

He studied engraving from K. A. Zenf in Dorpat (1817), and used the advice of N. I. Utkin. While traveling around Europe, he met K.D. Friedrich (he was strongly influenced), I.F. Overbeck, J. O. D. Engr, B. Thorvaldsen. Collected works of art. While editing the “Bulletin of Europe”, he first introduced the “Review of Works of Art” department. He made about 2 thousand drawings, mostly contour drawings - views of cities and various localities in European countries and Russia (during a trip with the heir to the throne in 1837), a kind of “graphic diary” (over 20 albums stored in the Russian National Library, the Russian State Library, the Institute of Literary Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences) , graphic and watercolor portraits (including the drawing “Pushkin in the coffin”, 1837, IRLI RAS), illustrations for his own works and for the elegy “Rural Cemetery” by T. Gray (translated by Zhukovsky, 1839). Based on many of his drawings, Zhukovsky made etchings and lithographs; with his drawings the albums “Six views of Pavlovsk...” (1824), “Views of the deposit of V. Zhukovsky, engraved by himself” (b.g.), “Guide to the garden and city of Pavlovsk...” (1843) were published. . Author of picturesque landscapes (“Hilly landscape with a river and a waterfall”, 1851, Russian Museum, etc.). Artistic creativity Zhukovsky played a big role in the development of romantic landscapes in Russia.

Works: Complete. collection Op.: In 12 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1902; Poems: In 2 vols. L., 1939-1940; Collection Op.: In 4 vols. M.; L., 1959-1960; Works: In 3 vols. M., 1980; Foreign poetry in trans. V. A. Zhukovsky: In 2 vols. M., 1985; Aesthetics and criticism. M., 1985; Full collection Op. and letters: In 20 t. M., 1999-2004-. T. 1-2, 13, 14-,

Lit.: Seydlitz K. K. Life and poetry of V. A. Zhukovsky. St. Petersburg, 1883; Veselovsky A. N. V. A. Zhukovsky. Poetry of feeling and “heartfelt imagination.” St. Petersburg, 1904. M., 1999; Rezanov V.I. From research on the works of V.A. Zhukovsky. St. Petersburg, 1906-1916. Part 1-2; Gukovsky G. A. Pushkin and Russian romantics. M., 1965. M., 1995; Kornilov P. E. Etching classes of V. A. Zhukovsky // Book and graphics. M., 1972; Semenko I.M. Life and poetry of Zhukovsky. M., 1975; Libman M. Ya. Zhukovsky the painter // Antiquity. Middle Ages. New time. M., 1977; aka. Zhukovsky and German artists // Relationships between Russian and Soviet art and German artistic culture. M., 1980; Tula region in drawings by V. A. Zhukovsky. [Album]. Tula, 1978; Library of V. A. Zhukovsky in Tomsk. Tomsk, 1978-1988. Parts 1-3; Yanushkevich A. S. Stages and problems of creative evolution of V. A. Zhukovsky. Tomsk, 1985; aka. In the world of Zhukovsky. M., 2006; Afanasyev V.V. Zhukovsky. 2nd ed. M., 1987; Duganov R. Drawings of Russian writers of the 17th - early 20th centuries. M., 1988; Jesuitova R.V. Zhukovsky and his time. L., 1989; Remorova N. B. V. A. Zhukovsky and the German enlighteners. Tomsk, 1989; Kanunova F. 3. Issues of worldview and aesthetics of V. A. Zhukovsky. Tomsk, 1990; V. A. Zhukovsky in the memoirs of his contemporaries. M., 1999; Vinitsky I. House of the Interpreter: Poetic semantics and historical imagination of V. A. Zhukovsky. M., 2006.

V. L. Korovin; R.V. Duganov (fine arts).