Today we will talk about the biography and activities of Alexei Suvorin, a well-known journalist, writer, publisher, as well as a playwright and theater critic. His life was full of bright and interesting events. So let's get started.
Childhood
Suvorin Aleksey Sergeevich was born in 1834, in autumn, in the small village of Korshevo (now the Voronezh region of the Russian Federation). The guy's father was a state peasant in the village. He was injured during the Battle of Borodino, and after that - an officer's rank. Later he became a captain, which meant that the whole family received lifelong hereditary nobility. At 49, he married again, as he was a widow. The chosen one was the 20-year-old daughter of the priest Alexander. In marriage, the couple had 9 children, of which Alex was the eldest.
In 1851, Alexei graduated from the Mikhailovsky Cadet Corps in Voronezh. He became a sapper, after a while he retired. After that, he devoted himself to teaching in Voronezh and Bobrov. At this time, he became close to the writer Nikitin.
Youth
In one well-known magazine posted a story aboutordinary rural life called "Garibaldi". He became very famous, as the famous actor Sadovsky read him out at many creative evenings. Beginning in 1858, Aleksey Sergeevich Suvorin began to publish his own articles in journals. Wrote under a fictitious name Vasily Markov. A little later, Countess E. V. Salias de Tournemir invited Suvorin to move to Moscow for a while in order to participate in the Russian Speech. When it stopped, Suvorin took up a new business for himself - compiling books for public reading. He did this by order of the Society for the Distribution of Useful Books in Moscow. Among his works, it should be noted "The History of the Time of Troubles", "Boyar Matveeva", the story "The Soldier and the Soldier", "Alenka".
Life in Saint Petersburg
Aleksey Sergeevich Suvorin, whose biography took an increasingly interesting turn, moved to St. Petersburg in 1863. He wrote in the Russian Disabled magazine under the pseudonym A. Bobrovsky. He published his short stories, which he later published in the book All: Essays on Modern Life. Because of some especially free-thinking heads, in 1866 the authorities opened a criminal case against the young man. The book was burned, Alexei Suvorin was sentenced to 2 months in prison, but later his sentence was changed: he received 2 weeks of work in the guardhouse.
Stranger
He became most famous as a writer when he wrote under the pseudonym The Stranger in the late 1860s. Wrote in the magazine St. Petersburg News. It was in the feuilleton genre that Suvorin's talent was most clearly revealed. He skillfully combined sincerity and subtle wit. The highlight of his work was that he knew how to find an approach to each person. Even when criticizing, he did not hurt the personality. He managed to modify the traditional morning feuilleton - in it he was the first to discuss various significant events taking place in the literary, political and social life of the city.
It is worth noting that journalist Alexei Suvorin was not one of the timid. He did not hesitate to openly criticize many figures. Katkov, Prince Meshchersky, Skaryatin and others endured his attacks. At the same time, Aleksey touched only on the public aspects of people's activities. As for political views, here Suvorin was a moderate liberal Westernizer. His judgments were based on the principles of tolerance, broad political freedoms and protest against narrow nationalism.
The inimitable success of the Stranger's feuilletons made Suvorin the main object of hatred in well-known circles. By the way, in 1874 the editorial board of V. Korsh was withdrawn from the Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti. Alexey's feuilletons were the main reason for this.
The public realized what kind of person it had lost only when Suvorin published two new books in 1875. They were instantly sold out, although the events described were no longer so relevant.
A new round of career
In the same year, Alexei began to writein "Birzhevye Vedomosti". A year later, he bought the newspaper Novoye Vremya together with V. Likhachev. Aleksey Suvorin was forced to become a publisher, since he could not be an editor for censorship reasons. Actually, he officially remained the publisher of this newspaper until the end of his days. The audience expected a lot from Alexei. Everyone thought that the St. Petersburg Vedomosti known to us would revive again. For the first editions, N. Nekrasov and M. E. S altykov-Shchedrin offered their works. However, the expectations of the majority were not met. The publishing house of the newspaper expressed great sympathy for the Bulgarian uprising in 1876. This brought Aleksey Sergeevich Suvorin even more respect and fame not only among his former admirers, but also among the new public. However, after a couple of years, everyone realized that Suvorin's witty language would not return. The newspaper became more conservative with each issue.
However, it must be said that the newspaper depersonalized the image of Suvorin a little. In general, his style has remained the same, although much has changed in him. Its merit was that it avoided the rude, vulgar and unfounded attacks that were practiced in a number of other newspapers. But the fact remains: with the acquisition of the newspaper, Suvorin began to write less. Only occasionally did he write the Little Letters column.
Took an active part in the creation of an organization of a monarchist orientation called the "Russian Assembly" in 1901. For a while, he even joined the board of the organization, but over time, this activity attracted him less and less.
Dramaturgy
In recent years, Suvorin Alexei Sergeevich, whose brief biography we are considering, became interested in theater. This area was close to him, as he acted as a reviewer more than once.
As a playwright he gained popularity thanks to the drama "Tatyana Repina". It was inspired by real tragic events, namely the suicide of a young Kharkov actress E. Kadmina in 1881. A. Chekhov even wrote a short sequel, which Suvorin later highly appreciated and published.
No less successful was the drama called "Medea", which was written in collaboration with V. Burenin. A historical drama called "Dmitry the Pretender and Princess Xenia" was also noticed. You might think that the genre of drama was Suvorin's favorite, but this is not so. He wrote comedies and jokes: "Women and Men", "He's Retired", "Honestly", "Stock Fever".
Publisher
Starting from 1972, he began to publish the Russian Calendar. Even at the time of the purchase of the New Time, he acquired a bookstore and a large publishing company. By the way, she occupied a leading position in the book trade. Beginning in 1895, he also published the well-known reference publication All Russia. He also published a directory of addresses "All Petersburg". It contained information not only about the streets and institutions of the city, but also provided a list of tenants.
Family
Suvorin Alexey Sergeevich, whose detailed biography is presented above, was in two marriages. He concluded his first marriage with Anna Baranova,translator. The marriage produced 5 children: 3 sons and 2 daughters. Son Mikhail became a famous playwright, writer, conservative public figure and journalist, that is, he followed in his father's footsteps. He died in Belgrade in exile. The second son, Alexei, became a journalist and publisher. He wrote under the pseudonym Poroshin. Actively popularized therapeutic starvation. Committed suicide for unclear reasons.
The second time he married Anna Orfanova, who was the sister of the populist writer M. Orfanov, who wrote under the pseudonym Mishla. The marriage produced 9 children. Son Boris, born in 1879, became a publisher, journalist, and writer. Died in exile in Yugoslavia. Daughter Anastasia became an actress.
The hero of the article died in the warm summer of 1912 in Tsarskoye Selo.
Summing up the results of the article, I would like to say that Aleksey Sergeevich Suvorin left behind a worthy mark in history. What was his biography? Alexei Suvorin was a versatile person. His biography is full of various activities, in each of which he was a worthy figure. Unfortunately, in wide circles his name is not very well known, but in narrow circles Alexei Suvorin is known and respected.
