One of the most famous French writers.the beginning of XX century - Henri Barbusse. The best books glorified him as an antiwar author, pacifist, opponent of violence in any of its forms. He became one of the first who as realistic and as natural as possible described all the horrors of the First World War.
First steps
Henri Barbusse was born in 1873 in the north-western suburb of Paris, a small town called Asnieres-sur-Seine, which after the revolution became very popular among Russian émigrés.
He was born in an international familyFrenchman and Englishwoman. His father was also a writer, so it is not surprising that his son entered and successfully graduated from the literary department at the Sorbonne. The first steps of Barbus in literature was a collection of poems "Weeping", published in 1895. As well as the novels Hell and Pleading, written several years later, the works are imbued with pessimism. In this case, they were not very popular.
At the front
In 1914, the life of Henri Barbusse changed dramatically.He volunteered for the front to fight against Germany. In 1915, he was wounded and discharged for health reasons. For participation in hostilities he was awarded the Military Cross, but the main thing that he took from the front line were personal emotions and experiences that formed the basis of his most famous book, The Fire.
The idea of this work appeared onfront, in the intervals between battles. Barbusse speaks about him in letters to his wife. I started to embody ideas in life in the hospital at the very end of 1915. The book was soon finished and in August of the 16th it began to be printed in the newspaper "Creativity". A separate edition of the work was published in mid-December of the same year in the publishing house "Flammarion". It also indicated the award of Henri Barbusse Goncourt Prize - the most prestigious French literary award.
"Fire" - the main novel of Barbus
In the first chapter of the novel the work is comparedwith Dante's Divine Comedy, which makes the book poetic in nature. Heroes of "Fire" as it were march from paradise to the last circles of hell. At the same time, the religious notes disappear, and the imperialist war is more terrible than the most fantastic invention of any writer. The book "is terrible in its merciless truth", so Maxim Gorky writes about Barbusse's novel in the preface to the first Russian edition.
Glimpses of the hero's insight appear already in thefirst chapter of "Vision." It tells about the earthly "paradise" in the Swiss mountains. There is no war there, and people living in it, representatives of different nations, have already come to understand the uselessness and horror of war.
К такому же выводу приходят и главные герои novel - the soldiers. In the final chapter of "Dawn" they awaken. The biography of Barbus Henri is closely related to the events described in the novel. His main message is the inevitable arrival of the broad masses of the people to revolutionary ideas. The catalyst for this is the participation of almost all European countries in the imperialist war.
The novel is written in the form of a "diary of one platoon."This allows the author to make the narrative as realistic as possible, following the characters, the reader is now under fire on the front line, now in the rear, now in the thick of the battle, when the platoon attacks.
Barbusse and the October Revolution
October Revolution in Russia by Henri Barbusseperceived as a key event in world history, actively supporting it. In his opinion, it would allow all European nations to break free from capitalist oppression.
In many ways, these ideas were reflected inthe novel "Clarity" of 1919. Inspired by the socialist revolution in Russia, Henri Barbusse becomes a member of the French Communist Party. Quotes of the writer, dedicated to the events of those years, argue that "the world - this is peace, arising from labor." So, the author really believed that by working hard for the benefit of the whole society, people can achieve happiness in any state.
Since then, Henri Barbusse has been activesocial and political life. In particular, in 1924 he opposed the repression of the leaders of the Tatarbunar uprising in Romania. Then an armed peasant uprising in South Bassarabia rose up against the current authorities, supported by the Bolshevik Party.
Criticism of capitalism
Books by author Barbus Henri, which listcomplement the novels "The Light of the Abyss", "The Manifesto of Intellectuals", published in France in the 20s, are devoted to sharp criticism of capitalism. The writer also did not recognize the bourgeois civilization, insisting only that in the course of socialist construction in the state it is possible to build an honest and fair society. For example, Barbusse took the events that took place in the Soviet Union, in particular the actions taken by Joseph Stalin. In 1930, even his essay “Russia” was published, and 5 years later, after his death, an essay “Stalin”. In these works, these ideas were described in detail. True, books were soon banned in the homeland of socialism, since many of the heroes mentioned in them were repressed by that time.
"Stalin - this is Lenin today" - an aphorism, which is written by Barbusse.
Barbusse in the USSR
The Soviet Union Barbusse visited 4 times, for the first time in1927 On September 20, the French progressive author made a report in the Column Hall of the House of the Unions in Moscow, "The White Terror and the Danger of War." In the same year, he made the whole journey through the socialist state under construction, visiting Kharkov, Tiflis, Batumi, Rostov-on-Don and Baku.
In 1932, Barbusse arrives in the Soviet Unionas one of the organizers of the international anti-war congress, which was held in August in Amsterdam. On it, he delivered his famous speech, "I Accuse."
His next visit coincided with the election of an honoraryMember of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. After that, work on a book about Stalin was conceived and started. In July 1935, Barbusse visited Moscow for the last time, actively worked on a book, studied documents, met with friends and colleagues of Lenin. However, it was not possible to complete the work.
Barbusse suddenly contracted pneumonia and died suddenly in Moscow on August 30, 1935. After 3 days, the body was escorted to France at the Belorussky railway station, staging a farewell rally.
The writer was buried in the famous Parisian Pere Lachaise cemetery on September 7. The farewell with Barbus became a political demonstration of a united popular front.
