Представления о русской литературе чаще всего formed by a person in the course of the school program. It cannot be argued that this knowledge is so completely wrong. But they reveal the subject is far from fully. Many significant names and phenomena have remained outside of the school course. For example, an ordinary schoolchild, even having passed an excellent exam in literature, is often completely unaware of who such Nadezhda Teffi is. But quite often, these so-called second-line names deserve our special attention.
Looking from the other side
To the versatile and bright talent of HopeAlexandrovna Taffy with great interest are all those who are not indifferent to the turning point of Russian history, in which she happened to live and create. This writer can hardly be attributed to literary stars of the first magnitude, but the image of an epoch without her will be incomplete. And it is especially interesting for us to look at Russian culture and history from those who turned out to be on the other side of its historical fault. And outside of Russia, by figurative expression, a whole spiritual continent of Russian society and Russian culture turned out to be. Nadezhda Teffi, whose biography turned out to be split into two halves, helps us to understand more deeply those Russian people who consciously did not accept the revolution and were its consistent adversaries. They had good reasons for this.
Nadezhda Teffi: Biography against the background of the era
Literary debut of Nadezhda AlexandrovnaLokhvitskaya took place in the beginning of the twentieth century with short poetic publications in capital periodicals. Basically, these were satirical poems and feuilletons on topics of concern to the public. Thanks to them, Nadezhda Teffi quickly gained popularity and became famous in both capitals of the Russian Empire. This literary fame gained in youth turned out to be surprisingly stable. Nothing could undermine public interest in Teffi's work. Her biography contains wars, revolutions and long years of emigration. The literary authority of the poetess and writer remained indisputable.
Creative nickname
The question of howNadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya became Nadezhda Teffi. The adoption of a pseudonym was a necessary measure for her, since it was difficult to publish under this last name. Nadezhda's elder sister, Mirra Lokhvitskaya, began her literary career much earlier, and her last name has already become famous. Nadezhda Teffi herself, whose biography is widely replicated, several times in notes about her life in Russia, mentions that she chose the name of a fool friend, whom everyone called "Steffi", as a pseudonym. One letter had to be reduced so that a person would not have an unreasonable reason for pride.
Poems and humorous stories
The first thing that comes to mind when meeting withthe creative legacy of the poetess, this is the famous maxim of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - "Brevity is the sister of talent." Teffi’s early works are in full conformity. Poems and feuilletons of the regular author of the popular magazine Satyricon were always unexpected, vivid and talented. The public was constantly waiting to continue, and the writer did not disappoint the people. It is very difficult to find another such writer, whose readers and admirers were such so different people as the Sovereign Emperor Samoderzh Nikolay II and the leader of the world proletariat Vladimir Lenin. It is quite possible that Nadezhda Teffi would have remained in the memory of her descendants as the author of a light humorous reading book, if not for the whirlwind of revolutionary events that covered the country.
Revolution
The beginning of these events that changed beyond recognitionfor several years, Russia can be seen from the stories and essays of the writer. The intention to leave the country arose not at one moment. At the end of 1918, Teffi, together with the writer Arkady Averchenko, even toured the country burning in the flames of civil war. In the course of the tour performances were planned before the public. But the scale of the unfolding events was clearly underestimated. The trip dragged on for about a year and a half, and with each passing day it became increasingly clear that there was no longer a way back. Russian land under their feet rapidly declined. Ahead was only the Black Sea and the path through Constantinople to Paris. He and did together with the retreating parts of the White Army Hope Teffi. Her biography later continued abroad.
Emigration
Existence far from the homeland is not enough for anyoneturned out to be simple and trouble free. However, the cultural and literary life in the world of Russian emigration was in full swing. Periodicals were published in Paris and Berlin and books were published in Russian. Many literary writers were able to unfold only in emigration. Experienced social and political upheavals became a very peculiar stimulus for creativity, and the forced separation from their native country became a constant theme of emigre works. The work of Nadezhda Teffi is no exception. Memories of a lost Russia and literary portraits of figures of the Russian emigration for many years become the dominant themes of her books and articles in periodicals.
Curious can be called the historical factthat the stories of Nadezhda Teffi in 1920 were published in Soviet Russia at the initiative of Lenin himself. In these notes, she spoke very negatively about the morals of some immigrants. However, the Bolsheviks were forced to consign to the popular poetess, after they got acquainted with her opinion about themselves.
Literary portraits
Notes on various Russian figurespoliticians, culture and literature, both those who remained in their homeland and who, due to the will of historical circumstances, were outside its borders, are the pinnacle of Nadezhda Teffi's creativity. Memories of this kind always attract attention. Memoirs of famous people are doomed to success. And Nadezhda Teffi, whose brief biography is conditionally divided into two large parts - life in the homeland and in emigration, was personally acquainted with very many prominent figures. And she had something to say about them to descendants and contemporaries. The portraits of these figures are precisely that and interesting - the personal attitude of the author of the notes to the persons depicted.
Pages of Memoir Prose Teffi give usan opportunity to get acquainted with such historical figures as Grigory Rasputin, Vladimir Lenin, Alexander Kerensky. With outstanding writers and artists - Ivan Bunin, Alexander Kuprin, Ilya Repin, Leonid Andreyev, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Hippius and Vsevolod Meyerhold.
Return to Russia
Жизнь Надежды Тэффи в изгнании была далека от well-being. Despite the fact that her stories and essays were readily published, literary fees were unstable and ensured the existence of somewhere on the verge of a living wage. During the fascist occupation of France, the life of Russian émigrés became much more complicated. Many well-known figures faced the question of moral choice. Nadezhda Teffi belonged to the part of the Russian people abroad who categorically rejected cooperation with collaborationist structures. But such a choice doomed a man to complete poverty.
The biography of Nadezhda Teffi ended in 1952.She was buried in the suburbs of Paris at the famous Russian cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois. She was destined to return to Russia only in her literary works. They began to be massively published in the Soviet periodical press in the late eighties of the twentieth century, during the period of perestroika. The books of Nadezhda Teffi were also published in separate editions. They were well received by the reading public.
