IA Goncharov: life and work

Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov - a famous Russian writer, who was in the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The most famous was due to such novels as "Cliff", "Ordinary story", "Oblomov", as well as the cycle of road essays "Fregat Pallada." And, of course, everyone knows Goncharov's literary-critical article, "Millions of Tears." Let's talk more about this great writer.

Childhood writer

Ivan Goncharov, whose life and work will be described in this article, was born in the city of Simbirsk in 1812. His parents were members of the merchant class. Childhood of a small Ivan was held in the big house of Goncharovs, located in the center of the city. Years later, the writer will tell about him in his autobiographical story "At home": "Glaciers, cellars, barns were stuffed with flour, various millet and various provisions for our family and households. It was not just an estate, it was a whole village. " I must say that what I saw in this house launched in young Goncharov an interest in learning about the barbaric, local life of pre-reform Russia, which was so truthfully and vividly conveyed in his novels.

When Ivan was 7 years old, his father died, and for the upbringing of Ivan took the godfather - Nikolay Tregubov. As a retired sailor, he was distinguished by his good critical thinking and broad-mindedness. "Good seaman" - so Goncharov, whose biography is well known to fans, called his tutor. Ivan Alexandrovich recalled: "To thank Nicholas for our upbringing, my mother took all the trouble about his life, the Tregubov's yard merged with ours, and under the guidance of my mother we healed one large family." Intellectual care went to Nicholas. The material part fell on the shoulders of the mother - a strict, experienced, excellent hostess.

Education

Initially, the young Goncharov, whose life and work is admired, studied at home under the supervision of Tregubov, and then in a private boarding house. As soon as the boy turned 10 years old, he was sent to Moscow at the insistence of his mother.

The next 8 years Ivan was trained in a commercial college. In the future, the writer will characterize these years as difficult and uninteresting. Although his moral and spiritual development was in full swing. The young man read a lot. Domestic literature became his true guide. Goncharov (life and work briefly described in this article) recalled: "Karamzin was my first teacher in the development of the humanities and the moral sphere as a whole. As for poetry, we reveled with friends Ozeryov, Dmitriev, Derzhavin and even Kheraskov, issued at school for the poet. "

The First Idol

"Eugene Onegin" Pushkin became for Goncharov and his contemporaries a real poetic treasure. He said: "O God! What light, what magical horizons were opened, and what revelations and poetry, and life, understandable and modern, came from this life-giving source! "This prayerful admiration before the name of the great poet Goncharov experienced all his life.

Admission to the University

Classes in the school for Ivan became unbearable, and he asked the mother to file a petition for his expulsion. At this point the young man turned eighteen, and he began to think about his future. And since the passion for writing that sprang up in childhood did not go anywhere, Goncharov, whose life and work were intertwined forever, decided to enter the verbal faculty of Moscow University. In 1831, he successfully passed the exams and was admitted there.

Three years of training became an important milestone in his biography. The future writer was deliberately thinking about himself, about people, about life. Along with Ivan, Aksakov, Turgenev, Lermontov, Stankevich, Ogarev, Herzen, Belinsky and other gifted young people who entered their name in the history of Russian literature were trained at the university .

After university

After graduating from the university in 1834, Goncharov went to his native Simbirsk, where his sisters, mother and Tregubov were waiting for him. Such an acquaintance from childhood, the city struck Ivan first of all by the fact that for so many years there nothing has changed. It was a huge sleepy village.

Even before the end of the university, the future writer had the idea of not returning to his native city. He was attracted by a tense spiritual life in the capitals (Petersburg, Moscow). Although he made the decision to leave, he did not leave.

First job

At this time Goncharov, an essay of life and creativity of which is in the school curriculum, received an offer from the governor of Simbirsk. He wanted the future writer to work for him as his personal secretary. After long hesitation and reflection, Ivan accepted the offer, but the work was boring and ungrateful. But he understood the mechanism of functioning of the bureaucratic system, which later became useful to him as a writer.

Eleven months later he moved to Petersburg. Ivan began to build his future with his own hands, without any help from the outside. Upon arrival, he arranged an interpreter for the Ministry of Finance. Service was not burdensome and highly paid.

Later he became friends with the Maikov family, teaching the two elder sons Russian literature and Latin. The Maikov's house was an interesting cultural center of St. Petersburg. Every day painters, musicians, writers gathered here.

Beginning of creativity

Over time, Goncharov, whose "Million of Tears" remains one of the most read works, began to be ironic about the romantic cult of art inherent in the Maikov house. The 40s can be called the beginning of his creative career. This was an important time in terms of the development of Russian literature and the life of society as a whole. Then the writer met Belinsky. The great critic essentially enriched the spiritual world of Ivan Alexandrovich and showed admiration for the style of the letter that Goncharov owned. The "million torment" of the writer was highly appreciated by Belinsky.

In 1847 in "Contemporary" was published "Ordinary story". In this novel, the conflict between romanticism and realism is represented in the form of an essential collision of Russian life. The author invented the author's attention to the typicality of the processes reflected in this creation.

Trip around the world

In 1852, Goncharov was lucky enough to get a secretary for the service to Vice Admiral Putyatin. So the writer went on a round-the-world trip on the frigate Pallada. Putyatin was commissioned to inspect Russian possessions in America (Alaska) and establish trade and political relations with Japan. Ivan Alexandrovich was already in anticipation of the many impressions that would enrich his work. Goncharov, whose "Million of Tears" is still popular, from the first days he kept a detailed diary. These notes formed the basis of his future book "Frigate Pallas." It was published in 1855, when the writer returned to Petersburg, and was well received by readers.

But since Ivan Aleksandrovich worked as a censor in the Ministry of Finance, he was in an ambiguous position. In the progressive strata of society his office was not welcomed. The persecutor of free thought and the representative of the hated power - this was what most Goncharov was for. The novel "Oblomov" was almost ready, but Ivan Alexandrovich could not finish it because of the lack of time. Therefore, he left the Ministry of Finance and completely focused on writing career.

The flowering of creativity

"Goncharov, the novel Oblomov" - this inscription was on the cover of several thousand books published in 1859. The fate of the leading character was revealed not only as a social phenomenon, but also as a sort of philosophical interpretation of the national character. The writer made an artistic discovery. This novel entered the essay of Goncharov's life and work as his most outstanding work. But Ivan Alexandrovich did not want to stay idle and luxuriate in the rays of glory. Therefore, I began work on a new novel - The Cliff. This work was his child, whom he raised for 20 years.

The last novel

Diseases and mental depression - it was from them suffered in the last years of life Goncharov, whose life and work were very productive. "Cliff" is the last major work of the writer. After Ivan Alexandrovich finished his work on him, he began to live even harder. Of course, he dreamed of writing a new novel, but so he did not start it. He always wrote strained and slow. He often complained to his colleagues that he did not have time to comprehend the rapidly flowing events of modern life. He needed time to realize them. All three of the writer's novels depicted pre-reform Russia, which he understood very well. The events of the following years, Ivan Alexandrovich understood worse, and he lacked the moral or physical strength for their deeper study. Nevertheless, he actively corresponded with other writers and did not abandon creative activity.

He wrote several essays: "Eastern Siberia", "A Journey Through the Volga", "Literary Evening" and many others. Some were published posthumously. Also worth noting is a number of his critical works. Here are the most famous sketches of Goncharov: "Millions of Tears," "Better Late Than Never", "Notes on Belinsky," and others. They firmly fit into the annals of Russian criticism as classical examples of literary and aesthetic thought.

Death

In early September 1891 Goncharov (life and work briefly described in this article) caught a cold. Three days later, being completely alone, the great writer died. Ivan Alexandrovich was buried at the Nikolsky cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (after half a century the writer's ashes were transferred to Volkovo cemetery). In the "Bulletin of Europe" immediately appeared an obituary: "Like Saltykov, Ostrovsky, Aksakov, Herzen, Turgenev, Goncharov will always be at the leading positions in our literature."