Anastasia Verbitskaya is a Russian writer, prose writer, memoirist, playwright. With all her work, she tried to convey to women the idea that you should not put love for a man at the center of your life. You need to devote yourself to creativity, science or art, so as not to become bankrupt if love passes.
Biography
Anastasia Alekseevna Verbitskaya was born on February 11 (23), 1861 in Voronezh in a noble family. Father - Major A. A. Zyablov, mother - from an artistic environment, a relative of the artist P. Mochalov.
In 1877, Verbitskaya graduated from the Elizabethan Women's Institute in Moscow, then served as a governess. Being the owner of a beautiful voice, she studied in 1879-81 at the Moscow Conservatory (vocal class), which she did not graduate due to lack of funds.
She taught singing and music at the Elizabethan Institute, but according to the charter of the educational institution, she left the service due to her marriage in 1882.
On the photo is Anastasia Verbitskaya in the 1900s
Creativity
Anastasia Verbitskaya's writing career began in 1883 with the political department at the Russian Courier.
In 1887, her first major work of art, the story Discord, dedicated to women's emancipation, one of the main themes of Verbitskaya's entire work, was placed in Russian Thought. The main character of the work, the writer Kameneva, embodied the favorite image of Anastasia - a woman fighting for equality and her happiness.
Since 1894, the constant literary activity of Anastasia Verbitskaya began. It was published in many magazines: "Beginning", "Life", "Russian we alth", "Education", "World of God" and others.
A separate collection of early stories "Dreams of Life" (1899-1902) was published, in which the writer talentedly described the horror of a person's loneliness in a big city.
Since 1899, Anastasia Verbitskaya herself acted as a publisher of her own works, also assisted in the publication of translated novels that de alt with the theme of feminism and emancipation. The heroines of her works tried to escape from the fetters of false family morality.
From 1900 to 1905 several of her works were published:
- "Freed" (1902);
- “The Crime of Marya Ivanovna” (collection of short stories, 1902);
- The First Swallows (1900);
- "Vavochka" (2nd edition, 1900-1902);
- "The Story of a Life" (1903);
- "Happiness" (collection of short stories, 1905);
- Moths (collection of short stories, 1905).
In 1901, the autobiography of Anastasia Verbitskaya was published"Collection to help student women", in which she directly declared herself as an "ideological" writer, defended the right of women to have their hearts and independence in society. Verbitskaya urged them to live by their work and not depend on men. Her stance received support in certain circles.
In 1905, Anastasia Verbitskaya greeted the revolution with enthusiasm. She even provided her apartment for meetings of the committee of the RSDLP. The published novels "Dawn" (1906) and "Wings flapped" (1907) were influenced by the events of Bloody Sunday.
The novel "The Zeitgeist", written in 1905-1907, became an expression of the revolutionary ideas of the writer. The events of the armed uprising in Moscow became his historical canvas. This work was a great reader success: for 4 years the novel was published 3 times with a total circulation of more than 50 thousand copies.
In 1909, the novel "The Keys of Happiness" was published, in which the theme of women's sexual freedom is openly presented. This work also became a bestseller. Until 1913, 6 more books were published, which were a continuation of this novel.
Stagings based on works by Anastasia Verbitskaya
In 1913, the novel "The Keys of Happiness" was filmed by directors Y. Protazanov and V. Gardin. The picture became the highest grossing in pre-revolutionary Russian cinema. In 1914, V. Gardin also filmed the novel "Vavochka", the film was included in Timan's "Russian Golden Series". In 1915, V. Viskovsky's painting "The Power of Love" based on the novel "Elena Pavlovna and Seryozhka" was released.
The only film adaptation of Anastasia Verbitskaya's novel that has survived to this day is A. Andreev's film "Andrey Toboltsev", filmed in 1915.
In 1917, the film "The Winners and the Defeated" was released, where Verbitskaya acted as a co-director and scriptwriter. This painting by B. Svetlov was a complete staging of the novel "The Keys of Happiness".
Writer's personal life
In 1882 she married A. V. Verbitsky, who was a poor land surveyor. In marriage, she gave birth to three sons. One of the sons, Vsevolod Verbitsky, was an actor at the Moscow Art Theater, in 1948 he became a People's Artist of the RSFSR.
The writer Anastasia Verbitskaya died on January 16, 1928 in Moscow. She was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery of the capital.
