Ivan Sergeevich Shmelev is a writer, publicist, thinker representing the conservative Christian direction of Russian literature. According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, his work was characterized by an excellent knowledge of the national language and everyday life of the townspeople of that time. All his works were imbued with an anti-Soviet spirit, sadness for the tsarist past of Russia.
Biography
Ivan Sergeevich was born on September 21 or October 3, 1873 in the Kadashevskaya settlement of Zamoskvorechye. His grandfather was a state peasant, and his father belonged to the merchant class. However, he had nothing to do with trade, but was engaged in a contract, was the owner of a large carpentry cooperative and several bathing establishments.
Little Ivan was brought up in veneration of antiquity and religiosity. At the same time, the formation of the boy was influenced by workers who were hired to work for his father. They were from different provinces, each of them carried rebellion, folklore, and a special flavor. This is what gave Shmelev's works a special social acuity, combined with close attention to the way of storytelling. The writer continued the literary traditions of the critical realism of N. S. Leskov, F. M. Dostoevsky.
According to the traditions of that time, little Vanya learned to read and write at home. The first teacher was his mother. It was she who introduced her son to the works of the great Krylov, Pushkin, Turgenev, Gogol. In 1884, the boy entered the sixth Moscow gymnasium. Within the walls of this educational institution, he began to read Tolstoy, Leskov, Korolenko.
Personal life
In autumn 1895, the writer married Olga Okhterloni. After the wedding, the young go to Valaam, the newly-made wife wanted to go on a rather unusual honeymoon trip to monasteries and hermitages. This place will inspire Shmelev to his first work - “On the rocks of Valaam. Beyond the world. Travel Sketches . True, the book's fate is rather unenviable. The Holy Synod, headed by Pobedonostsev, accused her of sedition. The book was published in an editorial version, it did not receive recognition among the people.
The first bitter experience makes Ivan Sergeevich look at his future in a different way, and he enters the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. Then he will serve for 8 years as an official in the wilderness of the Vladimir and Moscow provinces. However, the public service was not to the liking of the young man, and in 1905 he was again convinced that his life's work was writing. His works begin to be published in the "Children's reading", he was invited to cooperate in the magazine "Russian Thought". Two years later, Shmelev, confident in himself and his vocation, resigns. He leaves for Moscow and completely surrenders to creativity.
At this time, under the influence of the revolution, Shmelev wrote a number of works that became widely known. Maxim Gorky himself expresses his support for the young writer.
The outbreak of war forces the Shmelev family to move to their estate in Kaluga. It was here that the writer realized all the negative impact of the bloody massacre on the morality of people. Ivan Sergeevich was an opponent of the October Revolution, the new government, in his opinion, destroyed the consciousness and spirituality of a person. In 1918 he bought a house in Alushta and settled in the Crimea.
The writer's son was assigned to the Volunteer Army, the young man served in the commandant's office, the battles took place far from him. But the Reds, who won the victory in 1920, occupy the Crimea and decide to cruelly deal with their opponents. Sergei Shmelev was arrested and soon shot.
The next year brings the writer's family yet another serious test - an exhausting famine swept across the country and the land of grace was no exception.
In the spring of 1922, Shmelev decided to return to the capital. From here, at the invitation of a friend Bunin, the writer and his wife leave for Berlin, and then for Paris, where they will live for 27 years.
The tragic epic "Sun of the Dead" was the first creation of Ivan Sergeevich in exile. The book was a huge success and was translated into German, French, English and several other languages, which was quite rare in Europe. This was followed by a number of successful works, including "Stone Age", "Soldiers", "Heavenly Ways" and others.
In the summer of 1936, Ivan Sergeevich loses his wife, after a hasty illness the woman dies. The writer took this loss very hard - Olga was the closest person to him, his like-minded person. Friends, trying to distract the man from heavy thoughts, send him on a trip. He will visit Latvia, Estonia, the Pskov-Pechora Monastery, stand at the Soviet border.
The last year of his life was quite difficult for the writer. A serious illness confines him to bed, an operation is required. After her health returns, and with it the desire to create and work. Ivan Sergeevich makes new plans and dreams of writing the third book "Heavenly Ways". However, these plans were not destined to come true, after only six months on June 24, 1950 in Paris, Shmelev dies of a heart attack.
