Mamin-Sibiryak Dmitry Narkisovich (1852 - 1912) - famous Russian writer, fiction writer-ethnographer, prose writer, playwright and storyteller.

Mamin-Sibiryak ( real surname Mamin) was born on November 6, 1852 in the Visimo-Shaitansky factory village of the Verkhotursky district of the Perm province, 140 km from Nizhny Tagil. This village, located in the depths of the Ural Mountains, was founded by Peter I, and a wealthy merchant Demidov built a plant here that produced iron. The father of the future writer was the factory priest Narkis Matveyevich Mamin (1827-1878). The family had four children. They lived modestly: my father received a small salary, a little more than a factory worker. For many years he taught children at the factory school for free. “Without work, I have not seen my father or mother. Their day was always full of work, ”recalled Dmitry Narkisovich.

From 1860 to 1864, Mamin-Sibiryak studied at the Visimskaya village primary school for the children of workers, located in a large hut. When the boy was 12 years old, his father took him and his older brother Nikolai to Yekaterinburg and sent them to a religious school. True, the wild Bursak morals had such an effect on the impressionable child that he fell ill, and his father took him from school. With great joy, Mamin-Sibiryak returned home and for two years felt completely happy: reading alternated with wandering in the mountains, spending the night in the woods and in the houses of the mine workers. Two years passed quickly. The father did not have the means to send his son to the gymnasium, and he was again taken to the same school.

He was educated at home, then studied at the Visim school for workers' children, later at the Yekaterinburg Theological School (1866-1868) and at the Perm Theological Seminary (1868-1872).
His first creative attempts belong to his stay here.

In the spring of 1871, Mamin moved to St. Petersburg and entered the Medical-Surgical Academy at the veterinary department, and then moved to the medical department. In 1874 Mamin passed the exam at the university and, having spent about two years at the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

Began to publish in 1875.
The rudiments of talent, a good acquaintance with the nature and life of the region are also seen in this work.
The author's style is already clearly outlined in them: the desire to depict nature and its influence on humans, sensitivity to the changes taking place around.

In 1876, Mamin-Sibiryak switched to law, but did not finish his course here either. He studied at the Faculty of Law for about a year. Excessive work, poor nutrition, lack of rest broke the young body. He began to have consumption (tuberculosis). In addition, due to financial difficulties and the illness of his father, Mamin-Sibiryak was unable to make a tuition fee contribution and was soon expelled from the university. In the spring of 1877, the writer left Petersburg. The young man reached out with all his heart to the Urals. There he was cured of his illness and found strength for new labors.

Once in his native places, Mamin-Sibiryak collects material for a new novel from the life of the Urals. Trips across the Urals and the Urals expanded and deepened his knowledge of folk life. But the new novel, conceived back in Petersburg, had to be postponed. The father fell ill and died in January 1878. Dmitry remained the sole breadwinner of a large family. In search of work, as well as to educate brothers and sisters, the family moved to Yekaterinburg in April 1878. But even in a large industrial city, a student who had lost his education failed to get a job. Dmitry began to give lessons to the lagging high school students. The tedious work paid poorly, but the teacher from Mamin turned out to be a good one, and he soon gained the fame of the best tutor in the city. He did not leave literary work in a new place; when there was not enough time during the day, he wrote at night. Despite financial difficulties, he subscribed books from St. Petersburg.

In Yekaterinburg, 14 years of the writer's life pass (1877-1891). He marries Maria Yakimovna Alekseeva, who has become not only a wife and friend, but also an excellent adviser on literary issues. During these years, he makes many trips to the Urals, studies literature on the history, economics, ethnography of the Urals, immerses himself in the life of the people, communicates with “simple people” who have vast life experience, and was even elected a vowel of the Yekaterinburg City Duma. Two long trips to the capital (1881-1882, 1885-1886) strengthened the writer's literary ties: he met Korolenko, Zlatovratsky, Goltsev and others. During these years he wrote and published many short stories and essays.

But in 1890 Mamin-Sibiryak divorced his first wife, and in January 1891 he married the talented artist of the Yekaterinburg Drama Theater Maria Moritsovna Abramova and moved with her to St. Petersburg, where final stage his life. Here he soon became close with the populist writers - N. Mikhailovsky, G. Uspensky and others, and later, at the turn of the century, and with the greatest writers of the new generation - A. Chekhov, A. Kuprin, M. Gorky, I. Bunin, highly who appreciated his work. A year later (March 22, 1892), the anxiously beloved wife Maria Moritsevna Abramova dies, leaving her sick daughter Alyonushka in the arms of her father, shocked by this death.

Mamin-Sibiryak took children's literature very seriously. He called the children's book a “living thread” that takes the child out of the nursery and connects him with the wide world of life. Addressing writers, his contemporaries, Mamin-Sibiryak urged them to truthfully tell children about the life and work of the people. He often said that only an honest and sincere book is useful: "A children's book is a spring sunbeam that awakens the dormant forces of a child's soul and causes the growth of seeds thrown on this fertile soil."

Children's works are very diverse and are intended for children of different ages. The younger children know Alyonushka's Tales well. Animals, birds, fish, insects, plants and toys live and talk cheerfully in them. For example: Komar Komarovich - long nose, Shaggy Misha - short tail, Brave Hare - long ears - slanting eyes - short tail, Sparrow Vorobeich and Ruff Ershovich. Talking about the fun adventures of animals and toys, the author skillfully combines fascinating content with useful information, kids learn to observe life, they develop feelings of camaraderie and friendship, modesty and hard work. The works of Mamin-Sibiryak for older children tell about the life and work of workers and peasants in the Urals and Siberia, about the fate of children working in factories, trades and mines, about young travelers on the picturesque slopes of the Ural Mountains. A wide and varied world, the life of man and nature, are revealed to young readers in these works. Readers highly appreciated the story of Mamin-Sibiryak "Emelya the Hunter", which was awarded an international prize in 1884.

Many works of Mamin-Sibiryak have become classics of world literature for children, discovering the high simplicity, noble naturalness of feelings and love for the life of their author, who inspires the poetic skill of domestic animals, birds, flowers, insects (collection of stories Children's shadows, 1894; textbook stories of Emelya- hunter, 1884; Winter on Studenaya, 1892; Seraya Sheika, 1893; Alenushkin's fairy tales, 1894-1896).

The last years of his life, the writer was seriously ill. October 26, 1912 St. Petersburg celebrated the fortieth anniversary of his creative activity, but Mamin already badly perceived those who came to congratulate him - a week later, on November 15, 1912, he died. Many newspapers published obituaries. The Bolshevik newspaper Pravda dedicated a special article to Mamin-Sibiryak, in which it noted the great revolutionary significance of his works: “A bright, talented, heartfelt writer died, under whose pen the pages of the past of the Urals came to life, an entire era of capital march, predatory, greedy, not with anything". Pravda praised the writer's merits in children's literature as well: "He was attracted by the pure soul of a child, and in this area he gave a number of wonderful essays and stories."

D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak was buried at the Nikolskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra; Two years later, the writer's daughter Alyonushka, Elena Dmitrievna Mamina (1892-1914), who had suddenly died, was buried nearby. In 1915, a granite monument with a bronze bas-relief was erected on the grave. And in 1956, the ashes and monument of the writer, his daughter and wife, M.M. Abramova, were moved to Literatorskie mostki Volkovsky cemetery. On the grave monument of Mamin-Sibiryak, the words are carved: "To live a thousand lives, suffer and rejoice in a thousand hearts - this is where real life and real happiness are."

List of works

• Traits from the life of Pepko (1984)

Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin *, known to us under the pseudonym Mamin-Sibiryak, was born on November 6, 1852 in the Visimo-Shaitansky plant (now the village of Visim near Nizhny Tagil). Mothers were hereditary priests. Father, Narkis Matveyevich Mamin, served as rector in the Nikolsky church in the village of Visim. At the same time, together with his wife, he taught at the local parish school, but at the same time was a member of the Ural Society of Natural Science Lovers. The mother of the future writer, nee Anna Semyonovna Stepanova, is the daughter of a deacon. Dmitry became the second child of 4 Mamin's children, he had 2 more brothers and 1 sister.

Mitya was educated at home, then studied at the Visim school for workers' children.

The parents wanted their son to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. Therefore, in 1866, they sent the boy to the Yekaterinburg Theological School. He stayed there until 1868, then transferred to the Perm Theological Seminary. In Perm, the young man became interested in literature.

In the spring of 1871, the young man left for St. Petersburg and entered the medical and surgical academy, the veterinary department, and later transferred to the medical one. After 3 years, Mamin enrolled in the natural faculty of St. Petersburg University, where he studied for another 2 years. But his studies did not end there either. Since 1876, the young man studied at the law faculty of the university, however, he did not finish this course either, he was forced to interrupt his studies due to material difficulties and a sharp deterioration in health - Dmitry was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The disease was captured at the initial stage, thanks to which he was completely cured.

All the years of St. Petersburg, Dmitry wrote small reports and stories for the capital's newspapers. Moreover, he began to be published since 1872.

In 1877, Dmitry Narkisovich returned to his parents in Nizhnyaya Salda, where they then lived. In the summer of the same year, at a picnic, the young man met the wife of a local engineer, 30-year-old mother of 3 children, Maria Yakimovna Alekseeva. Dmitry fell in love. The woman reciprocated. The romance began.

Maria Yakimovna was a fairly wealthy lady, her father held a large post at the Demidov factories. In 1878, the woman left her husband and, under the pretext that she intended to give the children a good education, bought herself a house in Yekaterinburg and moved there with two sons and a daughter. At the same time, Dmitry Narkisovich moved to her, since Mamin's father died and no one could prevent fornication. A little later, the whole Mamin family moved to Yekaterinburg. Maria Yakimovna and Dmitry Narkisovich lived in sin for 12 years. Alekseeva became the lover's first advisor in his work. It was in those years that Mamin wrote the great novel "Privalov Millions".

Dmitry Narkisovich traveled a lot in the Urals, studied literature on history, economics, ethnography. He earned his living as a journalist, but mostly it was supported by Maria Yakimovna. In 1881-1882, the writer published a series of travel essays "From the Urals to Moscow" and published them in the capital's editions under the pseudonym D. Sibiryak. The pseudonym was automatically added to the author's surname and it turned out the writer Mamin-Sibiryak.

In 1883, the "Delo" magazine published the "Privalov Millions". A second novel, The Mountain Nest, soon followed. After his release, Dmitry Narkisovich gained the fame of an outstanding realist writer. With the fees received, Mamin-Sibiryak bought a house in Yekaterinburg for his mother and brothers.

In the fall of 1890, Dmitry Narkisovich fell in love with the daughter of the Yekaterinburg photographer Heinrich - Maria Moritsevna Abramova. She was an actress and married to actor Abramov. Maria did not live with her husband and traveled around Russia with theater companies.

Stormy love story writer and actress ended with the breakup of Mamin-Sibiryak with Alekseeva and the move of lovers to St. Petersburg. On the eve of the break, the writer managed to publish his third novel, Three Ends, which was dedicated to Alekseeva.

Since the first spouse did not give Abramova a divorce, they lived with Dmitry Narkisovich in an illegal marriage. On April 4, 1892, Maria Moritsevna gave birth to a daughter and died the next day. The girl was named Elena, affectionately - Alyonushka. It was an unfortunate child, seriously ill from birth. Alyonushka suffered from the dance of St. Vitta - her face was constantly twitching, there were convulsions.

Dmitry Narkisovich was shocked by the death of his beloved woman. He set himself the goal of raising a sick daughter and devoted the rest of his life to her.

In 1894, the writer published his first work for children - the famous fairy tale "Gray Neck" about a duck with a broken wing. In Gray Neck, he saw his own little sick daughter. Created in 1894-1896, "Alyonushkin's Tales" finally secured for Dmitry Narkisovich the glory of a great storyteller.

In 1900, the writer legally married for the first time - to the teacher of his daughter Olga Frantsevna Guval.

The main trouble for Mamin-Sibiryak was the illegal birth of a girl. From the end of 1901, the writer fought for her adoption. Alyonushka's father was the husband of Maria Moritsovna. After receiving his refusal from the child, a trial took place and from March 1902 the girl became the legal daughter of Dmitry Narkisovich.

Of course, all these years Mamin-Sibiryak did not abandon the novel, he wrote and published the novels "Bread", "Traits from the Life of Pepko" and "Falling Stars". The Ural Stories were very popular. However, all these works did not reach the heights of the "Privalov Millions", created under the supervision of Maria Yakimovna.

In 1911, the writer suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed. Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak died on November 15, 1912 in St. Petersburg. He was buried next to his wife at the churchyard of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. A year and a half later, in the fall of 1914, his Alyonushka died of fleeting consumption. The girl found rest next to her parents. In the 1950s, the remains of the Mamin-Sibiryak family were reburied at the Volkovo cemetery in Leningrad.

_____________________

* The surname comes either from the Tatar name - MamIn or from the Bashkir name - MamIn, therefore it was originally pronounced with an accent on the last syllable - MamIn.

ALENUSHKIN'S FAIRY TALES

E. Permyakov. Alenushka's fairy tales. Staging.

GRAY NECK

I. Medvedeva, T. Shishova. Gray Neck. Staging.

G. Berezko. Gray neck. Scenario.

Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak; Visimo-Shaitan plant, Sverdlovsk region; 11/06/1852 - 11/15/1912

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak's books won love and respect for their charming descriptions of the picturesque nature of the Urals. There is a prize named after a writer, which is awarded to authors whose works describe this region. But the greatest popularity was brought to him by the collection "Alenushkin's Tales", which he named after his little daughter. Based on some of the fairy tales of Mamin-Sibiryak, which are popular to read to this day, cartoons... And many of the writer's stories are included in the school curriculum.

Biography of Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak's biography is full of various events. The writer was born into the family of a local priest. For some time, the future writer was educated exclusively at home. But this did not in any way affect the quality of knowledge, since Dmitry's family was intelligent and educated. Later, Mamin-Sibiryak continued his studies at the Yekaterinburg school and seminary in the city of Perm.

Initially, Dmitry planned to follow in the footsteps of his parents, but while studying at the seminary in 1872, he realized that he did not want to associate his life with the church. After that, he changed many educational institutions, as a result of which he ended up in St. Petersburg. There he studied to be a veterinarian and a lawyer. For several years the writer tried to find his place in life.

At one point, the life of the writer was complicated by a terrible diagnosis - Mamin-Sibiryak was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Because of this, he was forced to return to his father's house, where after the death of his father he became the only breadwinner. The family needed money, so Dmitry went to work in Yekaterinburg, where he met his future wife Maria.

After 1880, Mamin-Sibiryak, as later, often traveled to his native places and got acquainted with life ordinary people... Then he began to actively engage in writing. The first works of Mamin-Sibiryak - the stories "From the Urals to Moscow" and the novel "Privalov Millions", which became popular and won a positive assessment from critics. In his works, the writer described the picturesque nature of his native land and life russian people during the reforms. There are many fairy tales that Mamin-Sibiryak wrote for children. They are still very popular among readers.

In 1890, Dmitry and his wife divorced, and the writer married the theater artist Maria Abramova. The young family moved to St. Petersburg, where they lived for a year until Abramova died. The couple left a little daughter who was seriously ill with chorea. It was to her that the writer dedicated his most popular collection of works for children called "Alenushka's Tales". In this book of Mamin-Sibiryak, fairy tales are instructive and entertaining in nature and still find a good response among young readers. Unfortunately, the writer's daughter lived a very short life, having died at the age of twenty-three from tuberculosis.

At the fifty-ninth year of his life, Mamin-Sibiryak suffered an intracerebral hemorrhage, as a result of which his arms and legs were paralyzed. A year later, Dmitry fell ill with pleurisy and died in the fall of 1912. The writer was buried in St. Petersburg. After a while, in honor of Mamin-Sibiryak, whose fairy tales we can read today as part of school curriculum, was named a theater in Nizhny Tagil and several streets in various cities of Russia.

Mamin Sibiryak's books on the site Top books

Mamin Sibiryak's fairy tales for children are popular to this day. This allowed them to get into ours. Well, the most popular collection of the writer - "Alenushkin's Tales", is presented among. And given the consistently high interest in the writer's work, we will more than once see the tales of Mamin Sibiryak among.

Mamin Sibiryak list of books

• Untitled
• White-fronted
• Fighters
• Stormy stream
• In a whirlpool of passions
• Spring thunderstorms
• Mountain nest
• Wild happiness
• Zarnitsy
• Gold
• Birthday boy
• "Muzgarka" or "Winter"
• General favorite of the public
• From the Urals to Moscow
• Okhon's eyebrows
• Falling stars
• Across the Urals
• Last hallmarks
• Privalov millions

Dmitry Mamin was born on October 25 (November 6, NS) in 1852 in the Visimo-Shaitan plant of the then Perm province (now the village of Visim, Sverdlovsk region, near Nizhniy Tagil) into a priest's family. He was educated at home, then studied at the Visim school for workers' children.

Mom's father wanted him to follow in the footsteps of his parents in the future and be a minister of the church. Therefore, in 1866, the parents sent the boy to receive a spiritual education at the Yekaterinburg Theological School, where he studied until 1868, and then continued his studies at the Perm Theological Seminary. During these years he took part in a circle of advanced seminarians, was influenced by the ideas of Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov, Herzen. His first creative attempts belong to his stay here.

After the seminary, Dmitry Mamin moved to St. Petersburg in the spring of 1871 and entered the medical-surgical academy at the veterinary department, and then transferred to the medical department.

In 1874, Mamin passed the exams at St. Petersburg University. For about two years he studied at the Faculty of Science.

In 1876, he transferred to the law faculty of the university, but never even finished a course there. Mamin was forced to leave school due to material difficulties and a sharp deterioration in health. The young man began to develop tuberculosis. Fortunately, the young organism was able to overcome a serious illness.

In his student years, Mamin took up writing small reports and stories for newspapers. The first small stories of Mamin-Sibiryak appeared in print in 1872.

His student years, the first difficult steps in literature, along with acute material need, Mamin described well in his autobiographical novel Traits from the Life of Pepko, which became not only one of the best, brightest works of the writer, but also perfectly showed his worldview, views and ideas.

In the summer of 1877, Mamin-Sibiryak returned to his parents in the Urals. His father died the following year. The whole burden of worries about the family fell on Dmitry Mamin. In order to educate brothers and sisters, as well as be able to earn money, the family decided to move to Yekaterinburg. Here began new life novice writer.

Soon he married Maria Alekseeva, who also became a good advisor to him on literary issues.

During these years, he makes many trips throughout the Urals, studies literature on the history, economics, ethnography of the Urals, immerses himself in folk life, communicates with people with vast life experience.

Two long trips to the capital (1881-82, 1885-86) strengthened the writer's literary ties: he met Korolenko, Zlatovratsky, Goltsev and others. During these years he wrote and published many short stories and essays.

In 1881-1882. a series of travel sketches “From the Urals to Moscow” appeared, published in the Moscow newspaper “Russkiye Vedomosti”. Then his Ural stories and essays appeared in the publications Ustoi, Delo, Vestnik Evropy, Russkaya Mysl, Otechestvennye Zapiski.

Some of the works of this time were signed with the pseudonym "D. Sibiryak". Having added a pseudonym to his name, the writer quickly gained popularity, and the signature of Mamin-Sibiryak remained with him forever.

In these creations of the writer, creative motives characteristic of Mamin-Sibiryak begin to be traced: an elegant description of the grandiose Ural nature (not subject to any other writers), showing its impact on life, human tragedy. In the works of Mamin-Sibiryak, the plot and nature are inseparable, interrelated.

In 1883, the first novel by Mamin-Sibiryak, Privalov Millions, appeared on the pages of Delo magazine. He worked on it for ten (!) Years. The novel was a great success.

In 1884, his second novel, The Mountain Nest, was published in Otechestvennye Zapiski, which secured the glory of a realist writer for Mamin-Sibiryak.

In 1890, Mamin-Sibiryak divorced his first wife and married the talented artist of the Yekaterinburg Drama Theater M. Abramova. Together with her, he forever moved to St. Petersburg, where the last stage of his life took place.

A year after the move, Abramova dies due to difficult childbirth, leaving her sick daughter Alyonushka in her father's arms. The death of his wife, whom he loved very much, shook Mamin-Sibiryak to the depths of his soul. He suffers very much, does not find a place for himself. The writer fell into a deep depression, as evidenced by his letters to his homeland.

Mamin-Sibiryak begins to write a lot again, including for children. So he wrote for his daughter "Alenushkin's Tales" (1894-96), which became very popular. "Alenushka's Tales" are full of optimism, bright faith in goodness. "Alenushkin's Tales" have entered children's classics forever.

In 1895 the writer published the novel "Bread", as well as the two-volume collection "Ural Stories".

The last major works of the writer are the novels "Traits from the Life of Pepko" (1894), "Falling Stars" (1899) and the story "Mumma" (1907).

“Is it really possible to be satisfied with your life alone. No, to live a thousand lives, suffer and rejoice in a thousand hearts - that's where life and real happiness are! ", says Mamin in "Traits from the Life of Pepko." He wants to live for everyone, in order to experience everything and feel everything.

At the age of 60, on November 2 (November 15, NS), 1912, Dmitry Nirkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak died in St. Petersburg.

In 2002, to the 150th anniversary of the writer D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak, a prize named after him was established in the Urals. The prize is awarded annually on the birthday of D.N.Mamin-Sibiryak - November 6

The competition is open to authors whose works continue the literary traditions of classical Russian prose and poetry, and are also associated with the Urals. In addition to the gold medal with the image of Mamin-Sibiryak, each laureate receives 1 thousand dollars. The chairman of the jury of the award is the Ural writer Vladislav Krapivin.

On November 6 (October 25), 1852, Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak (real name - Mamin) was born - the great Russian prose writer and playwright.

There is no such person in Russia who has not heard the name of Mamin-Sibiryak and has not read at least one of his books.

In the post-revolutionary years this name was covered with such a thick layer of "textbook gloss" that many do not know the real fate. famous writernor many of his works. As soon as you say “Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak”, a famous photograph rises before your eyes, where he looks like a happy life, a respectable person, in a rich fur coat, in an astrakhan hat.

D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak

According to the recollections of friends, the writer was of medium height, but a strong build, charming, with beautiful black eyes, with an invariable pipe. Despite his hot temper, he was distinguished by kindness and sociability, was known as an excellent storyteller, and was often the soul of the company. At the same time, he did not tolerate injustice, he was a direct, whole person, did not know how to lie and pretend. Like any good person, "he was loved by old people, children and animals were not afraid." The colorful figure of Mamin-Sibiryak was so noticeable that Ilya Repin himself painted one of the Cossacks from him for his famous painting.

However, the personal fate of Mamin-Sibiryak was difficult and unhappy. Only early childhood and fifteen months of a happy marriage can be called successful. Was not easy and creative way famous writer. At the end of his life, he wrote to publishers that his works "will be typed in 100 volumes, and published only 36". There was no literary success, which he deserved, and the family drama of the Russian prose writer even resembles the plot of a Mexican TV series ...

Childhood and youth

Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin was born in the village of Visim (Visimo-Shaitansky plant, owned by the Demidovs), 40 kilometers from Nizhny Tagil, on the border of Europe and Asia. The father of the future writer is a hereditary priest. The family is large (four children), friendly, hard-working (“I have not seen my father or mother without work”), reading. The family had a large library: they subscribed to magazines and books from St. Petersburg. The mother loved to read aloud to the children. Dmitry's favorite book in childhood was "The childhood of Bagrov the grandson" (Aksakov).

About his early childhood and about his parents, the writer said: "There was not a single bitter memory, not a single childhood reproach." Hundreds of amazing letters from Dmitry Narkisovich to his parents have survived, where he always writes “Mom” and “Dad” with a capital letter. But the time had come to study seriously, and the poor priest Mamin did not have money for a gymnasium. Dmitry and his older brother Nikolai were taken to the Yekaterinburg Theological School (bursa), where their father had once studied. It was hard times for Mitya. He considered the years in the Bursa lost and even harmful: "... the school did not give anything to my mind, did not read a single book ... and did not acquire any knowledge." (Later Pavel Petrovich Bazhov graduated from the same school).

After the theological school, the priest's son had a direct path to the Perm theological seminary. There Dmitry Mamin began his first literary work. But he was "cramped" in the seminary, and the future writer did not finish the course. In 1872, Mamin entered the veterinary department of the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy. In 1876, without graduating from the academy, he transferred to the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. It was extremely difficult for him to study, his father could not send money. The student often starved and was poorly dressed. Dmitry earned his living by writing to the newspapers. And then there's also a serious illness - tuberculosis. I had to quit school and return home to the Urals (1878), but already to the city of Nizhnaya Salda, where his family moved. Father soon dies. Dmitry takes care of the family.

Singer of the Urals

Dmitry Narkisovich had to work very hard, give lessons: "I spent three years wandering 12 hours a day in private lessons." He wrote articles, was engaged in self-education. Moved to Yekaterinburg. He wrote books. The writer walked many roads in the Urals, rafted along the Ural rivers, met many interesting people, studied archives, was engaged in archaeological excavations. He knew the history of the Urals, economy, nature, folk tales and legends. “Ural! Ural! The body is stone, the heart is fiery ”- that was his favorite expression.

The future "classic" signed his first journalistic works D. Sibiryak. In those days, everything that was behind the Ural ridge was called Siberia. He began to sign novels with the double surname Mamin-Sibiryak. Now he would call himself Mamin-Uralts.

Recognition did not come to the writer immediately. For 9 years he sent his works to different editions and was always refused. Only in 1881-1882 a series of essays by D. Sibiryak “from the Urals to Moscow” was published in the Moscow newspaper “Russkie vedomosti”. The talented provincial was noticed not by publishers, but by radical journalists. A number of his essays on the Ural land were published in the St. Petersburg censored magazine "Delo", and later the most famous novel "Privalov Millions" was published. However, for a serious writer to be published in the "Delo" of the 80s did not represent a great honor: the magazine was living out its last days and took any material allowed by the censors (up to tabloid novels). The works of Mamin-Sibiryak deserved more. However, this publication allowed the talented writer to finally "reach out" to the capital's publishing houses and become famous not only in the Urals, but also in the European part of the great country.

Mamin-Sibiryak opened the Urals to the world with all its riches and history. A separate and serious conversation should be conducted about his novels, which will not fit into the framework of this essay. The novels demanded a lot of work from Mamin-Sibiryak. The writer did not have any assistants or secretaries: he had to rewrite and edit manuscripts himself many times, make insertions, and perform technical processing of texts. Mamin-Sibiryak was distinguished by his great capacity for work as a writer and was talented in many literary genres: novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, legends, essays. The pearls of his work - "Privalovskie Millions", "Mountain Nest", "Gold", "Three Ends" - made a huge contribution to the development of Russian literature and the Russian literary language.

About the language of these works, Chekhov wrote: "Mamin's words are all real, but he himself speaks them and does not know others."

Life at a turning point

Dmitry Narkisovich was approaching his fortieth birthday. Comparative well-being has come. The royalties from the publication of the novels gave him the opportunity to buy a house in the center of Yekaterinburg for his mother and sister. He married in a civil marriage to Maria Alekseeva, who left her husband and three children for him. She was older than him, a well-known social activist, an assistant in writing.

It would seem that there is everything to live a calm, happy life, but Dmitry Narkisovich began a crisis of "middle age", followed by a complete spiritual discord. His work was not noticed by the metropolitan criticism. For the reading public, he still remained a little-known "talented provincial". The originality of the creativity of the Ural "nugget" did not find proper understanding among the readers. In 1889, Mamin-Sibiryak wrote in one of his letters to a friend:

"... I gave them a whole land with people, nature and all the riches, and they don't even look at my gift."

I was tormented by dissatisfaction with myself. The marriage was not very successful. There were no children. Life seemed to end. Dmitry Narkisovich began to drink.

But for the new theatrical season of 1890, a beautiful young actress Maria Moritsevna Geynrikh (by husband and stage - Abramova) arrived from St. Petersburg. They could not help getting to know each other: Maria brought Mamin-Sibiryak a gift from Korolenko (his portrait). They fell in love with each other. She is 25 years old, he is almost 40. Everything was not easy. The writer was tormented by a debt to his wife. The husband did not give Maria a divorce. The family of Mamin-Sibiryak and friends were against this union. Gossip and gossip spread in the city. The actress was not allowed to work, there was no life and the writer. The lovers had no choice but to flee to Petersburg.

On March 20, 1892, Maria gave birth to a daughter, but she herself died the next day after a difficult birth. Dmitry Narkisovich almost committed suicide. From the shock he had experienced, he cried at night, went to pray at St. Isaac's Cathedral, tried to pour vodka over his grief. From letters to my sister: "I have one thought about Marus ... I go for a walk to talk loudly with Marusya." From a letter to his mother: “... happiness flashed like a bright comet, leaving a heavy and bitter residue ... Sad, hard, lonely. Our girl remained in my arms, Elena - all my happiness. "

"Alyonushkin's Tales"

Elena-Alenushka was born with a sick child (cerebral palsy). The doctors said - "not a tenant." But father, father's friends, nanny-educator - “Aunt Olya” (Olga Frantsevna Guvale later became the wife of Mamin-Sibiryak) pulled Alyonushka out of the other world. While Alyonushka was little, her father sat by her crib for days and nights. No wonder she was called "father's daughter". We can say that Mamin-Sibiryak performed the feat of fatherhood. Rather, he accomplished three feats: he found the strength to survive, did not let the child disappear and began to write again.

The father told the girl stories. At first he told those that he knew, then, when they ended, he began to compose his own. On the advice of friends, Mamin-Sibiryak began to write them down and collect them. Alyonushka, like all children, had a good memory, so the writer-father could not be repeated.

In 1896, "Alyonushkin's Tales" came out as a separate edition. Mamin-Sibiryak wrote: “... The publication is very nice. This is my favorite book - it was written by love itself, and therefore it will outlive everything else. " These words turned out to be prophetic. His "Alyonushka's Tales" are reissued every year, translated into different languages. Much has been written about them, they are associated with folklore traditions, the writer's ability to entertain the child with important moral concepts, especially the feeling of kindness. It is no coincidence that the language of Alyonushka's fairy tales was called by contemporaries "Mother's syllable". Kuprin wrote about them: "These tales are prose poems, more artistic than Turgenev's."

During these years Mamin-Sibiryak wrote to the editor: “If I were rich, I would devote myself to children's literature. It’s happiness to write for children ”.

Mamin-Sibiryak with her daughter

You just need to imagine in what state of mind he wrote these tales! The fact is that Dmitry Narkisovich did not have any rights to his child. Alyonushka was considered "the illegitimate daughter of the petty bourgeois Abramova," and Maria Moritsevna's first husband, out of revenge, did not give permission for her adoption. Mamin-Sibiryak reached despair, he even intended to kill Abramov. Only ten years later, thanks to the efforts of the writer's wife, Olga Frantsevna, permission was obtained.

"Happiness to write for children"

Mamin-Sibiryak knew this happiness long before "Alyonushkin's Tales". Back in Yekaterinburg, the first essay story for children "The Conquest of Siberia" was written (and he has about 150 children's works in total!). The writer sent his stories to the metropolitan magazines "Children's reading", "Rodnik" and others.

Everyone knows the fairy tale "The Gray Neck". She, together with "Alyonushkin's Tales", was included in the collection "Tales of Russian Writers" (in the series "Library of World Literature for Children"). When the tale was written, it had a sad end, but later Mamin-Sibiryak finished the chapter on saving the Gray Neck. The tale has been published many times - both separately and in collections. Many fairy tales before recent years have not been published. Now they return to the readers. Now we can read "The Confession of the Old St. Petersburg Cat Vaska", written back in 1903, and others.

FROM early childhood everyone knows the stories of DN Mamin-Sibiryak: "Emelya the Hunter", "Winter on Studennaya", "Skewer", "The Rich Man and Eremka". Some of these stories were highly regarded during the writer's lifetime. "Emelya the Hunter" was awarded the Prize Pedagogical Society in St. Petersburg, and in 1884 he received the International Prize. The story "Winter on Studennaya" was awarded the Gold Medal of the St. Petersburg Literacy Committee (1892).

Legends in the work of Mamin-Sibiryak

The writer had a long-standing interest in folk legends, especially in those created by the indigenous population of the Urals and Trans-Urals: Bashkirs, Tatars. Previously, part of the indigenous population was called Kyrgyz (they are mentioned in the legends of Mamin-Sibiryak). In 1889, he wrote to the Society of Russian Literature: “I would like to start collecting songs, fairy tales, beliefs and other works folk art”, Asked to give him permission to do so. The permit - "Open List" - was issued to Mamin-Sibiryak.

He wanted to write a historical tragedy about Khan Kuchum, but did not have time. He wrote only five legends. They came out as a separate book in 1898, which was not later reprinted. Some of the legends were included in the collected works of Mamin-Sibiryak, the most famous of which is Ak-Bozat. In the legends there are strong, bright heroes, their love for freedom, just love. The legend "Maya" is clearly autobiographical, in it the early death of the heroine, who left a small child, the endless grief of the protagonist, who loved his wife very much, and the consonance of the names - Maya, Maria. This is a personal song about bitter love, about longing for the deceased beloved.

Christmas stories and fairy tales of Mamin-Sibiryak

The son of a priest, a believer, Mamin-Sibiryak wrote Christmas tales, Christmas stories and fairy tales for both adults and children. Naturally, they were not published after 1917. At the time of the struggle against religion, these works could not be linked with the name of the democratic writer. Now they are being published. IN christmas tales and fairy tales Mamin-Sibiryak preaches the idea of \u200b\u200bpeace and harmony between people of different nationalities, different social strata, different ages. They are written with humor and optimism.

The last period of life

The last years of the writer were especially difficult. He was ill a lot himself and was very worried about the fate of his daughter. He buried his closest friends: Chekhov, Gleb Uspensky, Stanyukovich, Garin-Mikhailovsky. It almost stopped printing. March 21 (a fatal day for Mamin-Sibiryak) 1910 his mother dies. It was a huge loss for him. In 1911, the writer was paralyzed.

Shortly before his death, he wrote to a friend: “... That's the end soon ... I have nothing to regret in literature, she has always been a stepmother for me ... Well, to hell with her, especially since she was intertwined with bitter need for me personally, what they don't talk about even to the closest friends. "

The anniversary of the writer was approaching: 60 years from the date of birth and 40 years of literary work. They remembered about him, came to congratulate. And Mamin-Sibiryak was in such a state that he could not hear anything. At 60, he seemed like a decrepit old man with dull eyes. The jubilee was like a memorial service. They said good words: “the pride of Russian literature”, “the artist of the word” ... They presented a luxurious album with congratulations and wishes. This album also contained words about his works for children: “You opened your soul to our children. You understood and loved them, but they understood and loved you ... "

But the "confession" came too late: Dmitry Narkisovich died six days later (November 1912). After his death, telegrams still came and went with congratulations on the anniversary. The Moscow press did not notice the departure of Mamin-Sibiryak. Only in Yekaterinburg, friends and admirers of his talent gathered for a mourning evening. They buried Mamin-Sibiryak next to his wife at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

The fate of Alyonushka

Elena survived her father by two years. After his death, she insisted on a trip to Yekaterinburg. I looked at the city, its surroundings, and met my relatives. In her will, Elena Mamina wrote that after the death of the last owner, her father's house should become a museum, "which I urge you to set up in this city and, if possible, in a bequeathed house or a house that will be built in its place."

Her will was fulfilled: in the center of Yekaterinburg there is a wonderful Literary Quarter, which includes the preserved House of Mamin-Sibiryak (Pushkinskaya St., 27) with all the furnishings of those years, books, photographs, drawings and manuscripts of the writer.

Alyonushka died at 22 from transient consumption in the fall of 1914, when the First World War was going on. All of her archives, poems, drawings, part of her father's works were lost. Alyonushka was buried next to her parents. A year later, a monument was erected to all three. The words of Mamin-Sibiryak are engraved on it: "To live a thousand lives, suffer and rejoice in a thousand hearts - that's where real life and real happiness are."

Elena Shirokova

based on the article: Kapitonova, N.A., Mamin-Sibiryak D.N. // Literary local history: Chelyabinsk region / N.A. Kapitonov. - Chelyabinsk: ABRIS, 2008 .-- S. 18-29.

Recently, the site is increasingly responding to the same search query: “Why is the hero of the fairy tale D.N. Mamina-Sibiryak "Ak-Bozat" left his wife? "

The frequency and frightening regularity of this request first surprised us, then puzzled us: "Is it really only this global problem that worries the young generation of the entire post-Soviet space?" - we thought.

It turned out that this insoluble question torments only the victims of the current secondary education system - schoolchildren and students, who, instead of reading Russian literature, are now offered ready-made answers to simple questions, as in a ballot paper ("yes", "yes", "no", "yes "- cross out what you need!). The imperfection of the Unified State Examination is aggravated by the absolute confidence of students that in the "world wide web" it is easy to find a solution to all the unsolvable problems that humanity has ever posed for itself.

We will not smash this enviable confidence to smithereens, for hope dies last. We will answer this question without using “too many beeches” so that every representative of the “Pepsi generation” could “force” the answer, i.e. - in the spirit of the USE test.

Question: “Why is the hero of the fairy tale D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak "Ak-Bozat" left his wife? "
Answer options:

1. He fell in love with a woman from a neighbor's harem;
2. He was inflamed with a passion for a mare named Ak-Bozat (diagnosis - bestiality);
3. The wife did not manage the household well, did not clean up the wagon and did not know how to milk the mares, and spent all day on VKontakte.ru.

Now try, my dears, who basically do not read anything, point your finger to the sky and choose the correct answer. We would also recommend doing this to education officials who compose such tests on Russian literature. Their only goal is to turn Russian schoolchildren into stupid, obedient rams, capable of choosing answers already suggested by someone without unnecessary thought and tedious reading.

We advise all other students to turn to the original source and read a very worthy (not to be confused with the word "sloppy"!) Literary text of the fairy tale of the Russian writer D.N. Mamina-Sibiryak. Reading "Ak-Bozat" will take no more than 10-15 minutes, which in any case is less than the time spent looking for a ready-made answer on the Internet.

So,

“Why is the hero of the fairy tale D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak "Ak-Bozat" left his wife? "
(opinion of the site authors familiar with the text of "Ak-Bozat")

The hero of the fairy tale Bukharbai, in the past a very wealthy man, through his own fault lost (skipped, drank, wasted) all his fortune. The only thing he managed to save was a thoroughbred foal named Ak-Bozat (Star). For many years Bukharbai raised a foal, and the mare Ak-Bozat became the main business of his life: both the memory of his father and mother, and the hope for his own better future, the object of self-realization.

Hard work bears fruit: the daughter of a rich man draws attention to Bukharbai, who also likes Bukharbai himself. However, her father asks for Ak-Bozat as a kalym for his daughter! It would seem that a mare is a perfectly acceptable payment for family happiness with a loving wife.

However, the horse was kidnapped! And this happens exactly at the moment when Bukharbai “changed” his purpose - he agreed to exchange Ak-Bozat for family happiness, home and material well-being. As a result, life without Ak-Bozat, without a dream, which he once changed and lost forever, turned out to be unbearable for him. Therefore the hero leaves wife (!) and rushes on the way to his guiding star - Ak-Bozat, the possession of which, as he understands, was the true meaning of his life.