DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2023-29-186-229

EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/GAJYHP

УДК / UDK: 821.161.1.1
Issue:

2023 №29

Author: Andrey B. Ustinov
About the author:

Andrei Ustinov — PhD in Philology, Fellow at Center for Open Studies, San Francisco, California, USA.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0521-0974

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract:

The essay reconstructs the Moscow period of the literary biography of the poet and playwright Evgenii L’vovich Kumming (1899‒1980), starting with the establishment of the All-Russian Union of Poets in December 1918 until his immigration to Estonia in the Spring of 1921. The author reconstructs his participation in Moscow literary associations “The Green Atelier” (“Zelenaia masterskaia”), “The Literary Mansion” (“Literaturnyi osobniak”), “The Link” (“Zveno”) as well as the historical context of his creative activities. Literary life of those years was largely concentrated in writers’ clubs, and cafes, where numerous events were held with poetry readings, polemical discussions, etc. The essay traces in detail Kumming’s participation in such literary meetings. Kumming’s “dramatic trilogy” The Legendary Life and Worthy Death of Petrushka (1920), which appears as a vivid example of the poetic avant-garde of the post-revolutionary years, is republished in the Appendix.

Keywords: Evgenii Kumming, Veniamin Kaverin, Moscow literary life of the late 1910s – early 1920s, literary life, “The Literary Mansion,” “The Green Atelier.”
For citation:

Ustinov, A.B. “The Stormy Life of Evgeny Kumming. Moscow, 1918‒1921.” Literaturnyi fakt, no. 3 (29), 2023, pp. 186–229. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2023-29-186-229

References:

1. Vol’pin, Nadezhda. “Glazami druga. Vspominaia Sergeia Esenina” [“Through the Eyes of a Friend. Remembering Sergei Yesenin”]. Zvezda Vostoka, no. 3‒4. Tashkent, 1987. (In Russ.)

2. “ʽDrebezzhanie moikh rzhavykh russkikh strun…’ Iz perepiski Vladimira i Very Nabokovykh i Romana Grinberga (1940‒1967)” [“ʽThe Rattling of My Rusty Russian Strings…’ From the Correspondence between Vladimir and Vera Nabokov and Roman Grinberg (1940‒1967)”], publ. by R. Iangirov. In memoriam. Istoricheskii sbornik pamiati A.I. Dobkina [ In Memoriam. Historical Collection in Memory of A.I. Dobkin]. St. Petersburg, Paris, Feniks-Atheneum Publ., 2000, pp. 345‒397. (In Russ.)

3. Kaverin, V. Sobranie sochinenii: v 8 t. [ Collected Works: in 8 vols.], vol. 7: Osveshchennye okna: Trilogiia [Illuminated Windows: Trilogy]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1983. 590 p. (In Russ.)

4. Krusanov, A.V. Russkii avangard 1907‒1932: Istoricheskii obzor: v 3 t. [Russian Avant-garde, 1907‒1932: Historical Review: in 3 vols.], vol. 2: Futuristicheskaia revoliutsiia (1917‒1921) [Futuristic Revolution (1917‒1921)], book 1. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2003. 808 p. (In Russ.)

5. Kugusheva, N.P. Prorzhavlennye dni: sobranie stikhotvorenii [ Rusted Days: Collection of Poems], comp. A.L. Sobolev. Moscow, Vodolei Publ., 2011. 336 p. (In Russ.)

6. Literaturnaia zhizn’ Rossii 1920-kh godov. Sobytiia. Otzyvy. sovremennikov. Bibliografiia [ Literary Life in Russia in the 1920s. Events. Reviews. Contemporaries. Bibliography], vol. 1, part 1: Moskva i Petrograd. 1917‒1920 gg. [Moscow and Petrograd. 1917‒1920], ex. ed. A.Iu. Galushkin. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2005. 766 p. (In Russ.)

7. Literaturnaia zhizn’ Rossii 1920-kh godov. Sobytiia. Otzyvy. sovremennikov. Bibliografiia [ Literary Life in Russia in the 1920s. Events. Reviews. Contemporaries. Bibliography], vol. 1, part 1: Moskva i Petrograd. 1921‒1922 gg. [Moscow and Petrograd. 1921‒1922], ex. ed. A.Iu. Galushkin. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2005. 704 p. (In Russ.)

8. Struve, G. “Iz moikh vospominanii: ob odnom russkom literaturnom kruzhke v Berline” [“From my Memories: about One Russian Literary Circle in Berlin”]. Tri Iubileia Andreia Sedykh. Al’manakh [Three Anniversaries of Andrey Sedykh. Almanac]. New York, Literaturnyi fond Publ., 1982, pp. 189‒194. (In Russ.)

9. Timenchik, R.D. “Po povodu ʽAntologii peterburgskoi poezii epokhi akmeizma’.” [“Concerning the ʽAnthology of Petersburg Poetry of the Epoch of Acmeism’.”]. Russian Literature, vol. 5, no. 4, 1977, pp. 315‒323. (In Russ.)

10. Shruba, M. Slovar’ psevdonimov russkogo zarubezh’ia v Evrope (1917‒1945) [Dictionary of Pseudonyms of the Russian Diaspora in Europe (1917‒1945)]. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2018. 1060 p. (In Russ.)

11. Pogodina, S. “Dramaticheskaia trilogiia Evgeniia Kumminga ʽLegendarnaia zhizn’ i dostoinaia smert’ Petrushki’.” [“Drama Trilogy by Eugene Kumming ʽLegendary Life and Worthy Death of Petrushka’.”]. Littera Scripta VIII: Jauno filologu rakstu krājums, Nr. 1, 2012, ss. 117–123. (In Russ.)