Zinaida Hippius Biography

St. Petersburg 2nd Krasnoarmeyskaya St. Along with her husband, Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Valery Bryusov stood at the origins of Russian symbolism. Contemporaries called her “decadent Madonna” - for style, beauty and bold statements. During her life, everyone was also talked about her: some were dismissively called mediocrity, others admired literary talent and vivid performances, and others discussed her shocking behavior.

Zinaida Hippius childhood, youth, family of Zinaida was born in the fall of the year in the family of Russified German Nikolai Hippius and Anastasia Stepanova from the city of Belev of the Tula province. In addition to her, there were three more daughters in the family - Anna, Natalya and Tatyana. Mother, Anastasia Vasilievna, daughter of Ober-Police from Yekaterinburg, was formed “according to all the rules” for the girls of that time.

Father, Nikolai Romanovich at the end of the university became a lawyer, gained fame, he was often sent to different cities for service. Zina never received a full -fledged education, as she studied in fits and stories. Parents sent their daughter to the Kiev Institute of Noble Maidens, but Zina was so sad and cried that she had often spent time in the hospital ward than in the classroom.

After the first semester, she returned home. The girl was twelve years old when grief came to the family: the head of the family died from tuberculosis. For Zina, this event was a great shock. Mom and grandmother, gathering girls, moved to Moscow. There, Zinaida was sent to the gymnasium of Sophia Fisher, where she liked. But then tuberculosis was found in her, after which Anastasia Vasilievna decided to move to the Crimea: the air there was considered healing for consumption patients.

Zina had to study at home. Mom was very worried that her daughters inherited the father’s illness, and took care of them excessively. The only way to hide from hyper -peaks for Zina was the diary in which she recorded her thoughts and poems. Soon the family moved to the Caucasus where Uncle Zina lived - Alexander. He took his sister's family with his daughters under his patronage, but soon died of inflammation of the brain.

Zina's family remained in Tiflis. In his youth, carried away by the work of Semyon Nadson, the young girl wrote poems that differed from the works of her colleagues in a poetic circle. She herself gathered talented youth around her, both local and visiting. Gippius at that time turned seventeen years old, but it has already stood out brightly among its friends and like -minded people with non -standard behavior and a feature of views on life.

In absentia, they were already known to each other, but at a meeting, as the girl herself wrote, they felt some mystical spiritual unity. In the couple she married in the church of Mikhail Archangel, they played a modest wedding in Tiflis, after which the newlyweds went to St. Petersburg. The family of two creative personalities caused gossip in society: the young wife flirted with the writers, artists, poets surrounding her, the husband did not seem to notice the excitement that arose in the literary bomonda when Zina appeared.

Soon rumors about the numerous novels of Hippius and male failure of Merezhskovsky began to spread. But the couple did not seem to notice the leisure gossip. Only a few close people knew how strong and indestructible the spiritual connection between spouses was. The poetess was called the "Devil", and she really circled the heads of men. Moreover, the carnal delights of Hippius were not interested, but she needed a state of love.

It is known that the spouses had different bedrooms, and in more than half a century of life together there were no intimate relationships between them. Their mutual love was higher than bodily intimacy, the spouses could have been enjoying intellectual conversations with each other for hours. In their years, publicist Dmitry philosophers settled in their house, which gave rise to a lot of new rumors.

Zinaida Nikolaevna was accused of unworthy behavior, shameless not only her, but also her husband. But the point was that the philosopher of a woman was not interested at all. Be that as it may, Zinaida and her husband lived together for 52 years, without parting, according to the poetess, for not a single day. Literary activities to arrive in St. Petersburg Merezhkovsky introduced his wife to the popular writers of that time, including Yakov Polonsky, Dmitry Grigorovich, Apolon Maikov, Alexei Pleshcheyev.

Gippius saw the first publication of her poems in the Northern Herald magazine. In the magazine "Bulletin of Europe", the first story of the Hippius "Emergency" was published. The prototypes of the heroes of history were the maid Pasha, who served in the house, and the family friend, the poet Nikolai Minsk, between whom a serious love drama broke out. Initially, the story was called "ordinary people." Soon after the publication of Zinaida Nikolaevna, it was successfully published in other publications, including “Russian thought” and “Bulletin of Europe”.

According to the author, she did not even remember her works by the exception was the novel “Small Waves”. The house of Gippius and Merezhkovsky became the center of unity of writers, philosophers, public figures.At the beginning of the new century, Gippius entered the circle of Sergei Diaghilev, thanks to which she began to publish his works and critical articles in the magazine “World of Art”.

Later, she began to write for other publications, including for “new life”, “education”, “in the morning of Russia”. Subsequently, Gippius collected the best publications in the book “Literary Diary”. The poems of Zinaida Nikolaevna were successful. It was her contemporaries that called the main symbolist. Poetesses poetry were filled with decadence, praises of the world of fantasies, and the departure from "tedious" realities.

Gippius had a great influence on the work of the year. Shocked by the execution of January 9, in her prose, she since then paid more attention to public problems. Welcoming the February revolution of the year, the writer, nevertheless, accepted with horror the October Socialist Revolution that followed her, calling her the triumph of “supranemic evil”. In the future, she made a sharp critic of Soviet Russia, believing that this social system would not last long.

Together with Merezhkovsky, she emigrated, after a year of crossings they settled in Paris, where they created the Literary and Philosophical Circle “Green Lamp”. In Paris, she worked on the collection of journalism “Blue Book. Petersburg diaries ”published a cycle of memoirs“ Living Persons ”. At the beginning of World War II, the Green Lamp circle ceased to exist, and the spouses first dispersed, discussing the personality of Adolf Hitler.

If Dmitry Sergeyevich justified his dictatorship, then Zinaida Nikolaevna spoke sharply in her manner sharply negatively. Because of the progerman position, many turned away from Merezhskovsky, the life of the couple became very difficult. Death and memory for a terrible blow for the writer was the death of the beloved husband of Dmitry in December. Following him, her sister Anna died.

Zinaida Nikolaevna failed to cope with the blow, although she tried to distract herself, taking up the writing of Merezhkovsky’s biography. Several times, Gippius tried to put her hands on herself, as a result, her mind was obsessed. The only creature left with the poetess to the end was her cat. They buried the poetess in the same grave with Merezhkovsky in the Russian cemetery of Saint-Genevo-de-Bois.

By the birthday of the writer, a virtual exhibition was organized at the Museum of Sergei Yesenin, the works of Hippius began to be reprinted.

For her poem “The Song of the Girl”, director Natalya Malygina created the animated film “Zinina Walk”, and Irina Evteeva used the author of the “Princess of the Silver Garden” for her cartoon “Demon”. Adolfus von Gest, so the first of them, changed his surname to “von gippius” and settled in the German settlement in Moscow. He became the first book trader of Russia, owned a bookstore.

As for the Hippius sisters, Anna became a doctor, emigrated in the year. Tatyana became an artist, her brush belongs to a portrait of Alexander Blok. Natalia became a sculptor. Both relatives of the poetess remaining in the USSR were arrested and exiled, during the war they fell into the Nazi concentration camp. They managed to survive and returned to the Union. A portrait of the brush of Leo Bakst was preserved, on which he portrayed the poetess in a men's suit.

Gippius had many pseudonyms under which she wrote critical articles, journalism. For unknown reasons, the poetess chose male names and surnames for pseudonyms, signing work as Anton extreme, comrade German, Leo Pushchin, Roman Arena and others. At one time, Zinaida Nikolaevna saw talented beginner poets and helped them enter literary circles. And to the verses of Sergei Yesenin, who was still not known at all, wrote a laudatory review.

Important events in life year: she was married with the philosopher and poet Dmitry Merezhkovsky. I released a "literary diary" with critical articles. Diary ". Petersburg diaries. "