Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was born on April 3 (14), 1745 in Moscow into a noble family descended from a Livonian knightly family. The future writer received his primary education at home. A patriarchal atmosphere reigned in the Fonvizin family.
Since 1755, Denis Ivanovich studied at the noble gymnasium at the University in Moscow, then at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow University. In 1760, Fonvizin, among the "chosen students" leaves for St. Petersburg, where he meets Lomonosov and Sumarokov.
The beginning of the creative path
Since the 1760s, Denis Ivanovich has been creating his first works. Fonvizin's early work was distinguished by a sharp satirical orientation. In 1760, the so-called "early Undergrowth" was published in the Literary Heritage. In parallel, the writer was engaged in translations. In 1761, Fonvizin translated Holberg's fables into Russian. In 1762 - the works of Terrason, Voltaire, Ovid, Gresse, Rousseau.
Since 1762, Fonvizin has been working as a translator, and since 1763, as secretary of the Cabinet Minister Yelagin in the College of Foreign Affairs. In 1769, Denis Ivanovich transferred to the service of Count Panin as a personal secretary.
In 1768, the writer creates the satirical comedy The Brigadier. The play received a wide response and Fonvizin, whose biography was still unknown in the highest circles, was invited to Peterhof to read the work to Empress Catherine II herself.
Public service. Mature creativity
From 1777 to 1778, Fonvizin stayed abroad, spent a long time in France. Returning to Russia in 1779, Denis Ivanovich enters the service of an adviser to the office of the Secret Expedition. At the same time, the writer was translating the book Ta-Gio. In 1783, Fonvizin created one of the best works of Russian journalism - "Discourse on the indispensable state laws."
Since 1781, Denis Ivanovich has been a state councilor. In 1782 he retired. In the autumn of the same year, the premiere of the most important work of the playwright - the comedy "Undergrowth" (date of writing - 1781) was premiered in St. Petersburg. In 1783 the play was staged in Moscow.
Disease. Last years
Since 1783, Denis Ivanovich has been traveling around Europe, visiting Italy, Germany, Austria. In 1785, the writer had his first apoplexy. In 1787 Fonvizin returned to Russia.
In the last years of his brief biography, Fonvizin suffered from a serious illness - paralysis, but did not stop engaging in literary activities. Despite the ban of Catherine II on the publication of a five-volume collection of works, Denis Ivanovich at that time created the comedy The Choice of a Tutor, the feuilleton The Conversation with Princess Khaldina, and was working on his autobiography Pure Confession (left unfinished).
December 1 (12), 1792 Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin died. The writer was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.
Other biography options
- During a trip to St. Petersburg in 1760, Fonvizin attended a theatrical performance for the first time. It was Holberg's play Heinrich and Pernille. What happened on the stage made an indelible impression on the writer, and he retained his passion for the theater for the rest of his life.
- The success of the premiere of "Undergrowth" during the premiere was so great that the audience, according to the custom at the time, threw purses of money on the stage.
- Fonvizin paid special attention to appearance, for which he was recognized as a dandy. The writer decorated his clothes with fresh flowers, wore a sable frock coat and shoes with large buckles.
- Denis Ivanovich was married to Katerina Ivanovna Rogovikova, the daughter of a wealthy merchant.
Biography test
The test will help you better remember Fonvizin's brief biography.
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin
There in the old days
Satyrs are a bold ruler,
Fonvizin shone, friend of freedom ... (A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin")
In the 18th century, his surname was written in two words or with a hyphen (Von Wiesen, Fon-Wiesen) - Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin came from an ancient knightly family that settled in Russia under Ivan the Terrible.
Upbringing and education
D.I. was born Fonvizin in Moscow on April 3, 1745. He received his initial education under the guidance of his father, Ivan Andreevich, who was a fairly well-read person.
Fonvizin's house. contemporary photography
At the age of 10, he entered the gymnasium that opened at Moscow University, and after 5 years he became a student at Moscow University.
His literary experiments began already at the student's bench: at first they were translations, and then original works, mostly of a satirical orientation. Despite the fact that his first satirical experiments were popular, he himself was very critical of them, noting that "they were satirical salt, but not a drop of reason, so to speak."
A. Venetsianov "Portrait of Fonvizin"
At this time, Fonvizin became interested in theater, having attended a performance in St. Petersburg. About his impression, he wrote: “The action produced in me by the theater is almost impossible to describe: the comedy that I saw, rather stupid, I considered the product of the greatest mind, and the actors - great people, whom I thought would be my well-being.”
Service. The beginning of creativity
In 1762, Fonvizin was appointed a sergeant of the guard, interrupting his studies at the university. But the service does not interest him at all, he is weary of it, and in the near future he will be accepted into the board of foreign affairs as a “translator of the captain-lieutenant rank”, and next year he will be appointed “to be for some business” under the Cabinet Minister to accept I.P. . Yelagin, who has been in charge of theaters since 1766. Elagin was very disposed towards his young subordinate, but there were people around Elagin who were unfriendly towards Fonvizin and turned Elagin against him. In addition, at that time Fonvizin became a member of the Kozlovsky circle, which was made up of young writers. He later recalled this circle with horror, since "the best pastime consisted in blasphemy and blasphemy." But for Fonvizin, brought up in domestic good manners, it was impossible to be surrounded by such people for a long time, he "shuddered when he heard the curse of the atheists."
In addition to translations, Fonvizin begins to write independent poems, and also tries his hand at the genre of drama: in 1764 his comedy Korion was presented. And although it was based on the French comedy Gresse "Sydney", it already reflected and critically comprehended Russian customs. Despite the fact that French borrowings were evident, "Korion" was liked by the public, judging by the reviews of his contemporaries.
The author was encouraged by the success and in 1768 wrote the comedy "The Brigadier", which was also imitative (the comedy of the Danish writer Golberg "Jean de France"), but already more reflective of Russian life and Russian types. Fonvizin was compared with Moliere, and his comedy "The Brigadier" did not leave the stage.
DI. Fonvizin. Lithography
In 1769, Fonvizin nevertheless left the service under Elagin and entered the Collegium of Foreign Affairs as secretary N.I. Panin: he is entrusted with extensive correspondence with Russian diplomats at European courts. In addition, together with Panin, he draws up a draft of state reforms, as a result of which it was supposed to give the Senate legislative power, to ensure "two main points of the good of the state and peoples: liberty and property", i.e. liberation of the peasants. In his project, Fonvizin speaks sharply about the current state of affairs in the state: “yesterday’s corporal, who knows who, and it’s a shame to say for what, today becomes a commander and takes command of a well-deserved and wounded officer”; "No one intends to deserve, everyone seeks to serve." He also sharply criticizes serfdom: “Imagine a state where people are the property of people, where a person of one state has the right to be both a plaintiff and a judge over a person of another state, where everyone can consequently be either a tyrant or a victim.” According to Fonvizin, slavery is based on the ignorance of people, so it is necessary first of all to fight ignorance.
Coat of arms of Fonvizin
In 1783, Fonvizin retired and began to collaborate with the magazine Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word, which was published on the initiative of Ekaterina Dashkova. He writes several articles for the magazine, including “Several questions that can arouse special attention in smart and honest people”. Using the possibilities of the printed word, Fonvizin wanted to anonymously start a discussion about Russian reality: the absence of laws, without which the normal functioning of the state is impossible; moral degradation of the nobility; bringing to power not worthy people, but nonentities ...
This work caused a sharp dissatisfaction with Catherine II, she demanded that the questions be printed along with her answers.
Question 1: Why do we argue strongly in such truths, which nowhere else meet the slightest hesitation?
Answer 1: In our country, as elsewhere, everyone argues about what he does not like or is incomprehensible.
Question 2: Why do we see many good people in retirement?
Answer 2: Many good people have left the service, probably because they found it beneficial to be retired.
Question 3: Why is everyone in debt?
Answer 3: Because they are in debt because they live more than they have income.
Question 4: If merit is rewarded by the nobility, and the field is open to merit for every citizen, why do merchants never reach the nobility, but always either breeders or tax-farmers?
Answer 4: Some, being richer than others, have the opportunity to render any such merit, by which they receive distinction.
Question 5: Why don't litigants in our country print their cases and decisions of the government?
Answer 5: For the fact that there were no free printing houses until 1782.
Question 6: Why not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Moscow itself, societies between nobles were transferred?
Answer 6: From multiplying clobs.
Question 7: Why is the main effort of a large part of the nobles not to quickly make their children their people, but to quickly make them without serving as non-commissioned officers of the guard?
Answer 7: One is easier than the other.
Question 8: Why is there nothing to listen to in our conversations?
Answer 8: Because they are telling lies.
Question 9: Why are well-known and obvious loafers accepted everywhere equally with honest people?
Answer 9: Because they were not convicted at the trial.
Question 10: Why, in the legislative age, does no one think of distinguishing himself in this field?
Answer 10: Because this is not everyone's business.
DI. Fonvizin
Question 11: Why do signs of honors, which should testify to true merits to the fatherland, do not for the most part produce the slightest spiritual respect for those who wear them?
Answer 11: Because everyone loves and honors only his own kind, and not public and special virtues.
Question 12: Why are we not ashamed to do nothing?
Answer 12: This is not clear: it is shameful to do bad things, but to live in society is not to do nothing.
Question 13: How can the fallen souls of the nobility be uplifted? How to expel from the hearts insensitivity to the dignity of a noble title? How to make the honorable title of a nobleman be an indisputable proof of spiritual nobility?
Answer 13: A comparison of former times with the present will show unquestionably how many souls are encouraged or fallen; appearance, gait, etc. That already does.
Question 14: Having a monarch of an honest person, what would prevent us from taking as a general rule: to be honored with her favors only by honest deeds, and not to dare to seek them out by deceit and deceit?
Answer 14: Because everywhere, in every land and at every time, the human race will not be born perfect.
Question 15: Why in the old days jesters, spies and jokers did not have ranks, but now they have, and they are very high?
Answer 15: Our ancestors were not all able to read and write. N.B. This question was born from free speech, which our ancestors did not have; if they had, they would have found ten former ones for the present one.
Question 16: Why are many visitors from foreign lands, revered there as smart people, we are revered as fools; and vice versa: why are the local clever ones in foreign lands often fools?
Answer 16: Because tastes are different and every nation has its own meaning.
Question 17: Where does the pride of a large part of the boyars live: in the soul or in the head?
Answer 17: Where there is indecision.
Question 18: Why do things with us begin with great fervor and ardor, then they are abandoned, and often completely forgotten?
Answer 18: For the same reason that a person gets old.
Question 19: How to exterminate two opposing and both most harmful prejudices: the first, that everything is bad with us, but everything is good in foreign lands; second, as if everything is bad in foreign lands, but everything is fine with us?
Answer 19: Time and knowledge.
Question 20: What is our national character?
Answer 20: In a sharp and quick concept of everything, in exemplary obedience and at the root of all virtues, given from the creator to man ...
Catherine read this article not in the context of a political discussion, but in the context of the old behind-the-scenes court struggle and considered I.I. Shuvalov, whom she hated. In her "Facts and Fables" she characterizes him as follows: " I have a neighbor who in infancy was reputed to be clever, in his youth he showed a desire to be clever; in adulthood what? - You will see from the following: he walks briskly, but when he takes two steps to the right, he will change his mind and go to the left; here he is met with thoughts that force him to go forward, then he returns back. What is his way, such are his thoughts. My neighbor from his generation did not say five words and did not take a single step without repentance later about it.<…>When I look at him, then he, with his eyes downcast on the floor, puts on airs in front of me, but he is afraid of me mentally.
In the end, Catherine nevertheless identified Fonvizin as the author of Questions, as a result of which his journal Friend of Honest People, or Starodum, was banned from publication in 1788.
Comedy "Undergrowth" (1782)
"We all learned little by little..."
Fonvizin worked on the comedy for about 3 years. It was written in the era of classicism and meets the requirements of this literary trend: the condemnation of "malice" and the shortcomings of noble education; speaking surnames (Prostakovs, Skotinins, Tsyfirkin, etc.).
Difficulties immediately arose with the staging of the comedy: it was refused to be staged both in St. Petersburg and in Moscow - the censors, frightened by the boldness of the remarks of the characters in the comedy, did not let the comedy on stage. Finally, on September 24, 1782, the premiere took place in St. Petersburg, at the Free Russian Theater on Tsaritsyn Meadow, it was a huge success: "The theater was incomparably filled, and the audience applauded the play by throwing purses." And on May 14, 1783, the play was already played in Moscow.
Fonvizin's comedy is of enduring importance: it is still being read and staged. The names of her heroes became common nouns (Mitrofanushka, Skotinin, Mrs. Prostakova), and aphorisms became sayings:
"Don't do business, don't run away from business."
"God gave me a student, a boyar son."
“You can’t ride a betrothed with a horse.”
"With great enlightenment one can be a petty stinger."
"It's a sin to blame on your happiness."
"Live and learn".
"Where there is anger, there is mercy."
"A fault confessed is half redressed".
"In the great world there are small souls."
“It is more honest to be bypassed without guilt than to be granted without merit.”
"Guilty without guilt."
"Without noble deeds, a noble state is nothing."
"The dog barks, the wind carries."
"To oppress your own kind by slavery is unlawful."
"Dream in hand."
"Ends in the water."
"We saw the views."
"Beleny ate too much."
"Remember your name."
"Good, healthy."
“Everything in this comedy seems like a monstrous caricature of everything Russian. Meanwhile, there is nothing caricatured in it: everything is taken alive from nature ... ", - said N.V. Gogol.
Fonvizin died in 1792 in St. Petersburg and was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. He was an honest and progressive person, a fan of education and such a social structure that would not humiliate or infringe on the human person.
Fonvizin's grave in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
The works of D.I. Fonvizina
Comedy: "Foreman", "Undergrowth", "Korion".
Prose:"Universal court grammar", "Frank confession in my deeds and thoughts".
Poetry: “Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka”, “Fox-Koznodey”.
Publicism: “Uncle’s Instruction to His Nephew”, Discourse on the indispensable state laws”, “Experience of a fashionable dictionary of the dandy dialect”, “Experience of the Russian classmate”, “Uncle’s letters to his nephew”, “Letters of a dandy to the publisher of the Painter”, “Letters from relatives to Falaley”, “Letter from Taras Skotinin to his sister, Mrs. Prostakova”, “Correspondence of court councilor Vyatkin with his Excellency ***”, “Correspondence between Starodum and Dedilovsky landowner Durykin”, “Petition to the Russian Minerva from Russian writers”, “Instruction spoken on Spirits Day by Priest Vasily in the village of P ****.
Correspondence and memoirs.
D. Fonvizin at the monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia" in Veliky Novgorod
The famous writer of the Catherine era D.I. Fonvizin was born on April 3 (14), 1745 in Moscow, into a wealthy noble family. He came from a Livonian knightly family, completely Russified (until the middle of the 19th century, the surname was written Fon Wiesen). He received his primary education under the guidance of his father, Ivan Andreevich. In 1755-1760, Fonvizin studied at the newly opened gymnasium at Moscow University; in 1760 he was "produced to the students" of the Faculty of Philosophy, but stayed at the university for only 2 years.
A special place in the drama of this time is occupied by the work of Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (1745-1792), which was the pinnacle of theatrical culture of the 18th century. Inheriting the traditions of classic comedy, Fonvizin goes far ahead, essentially being the founder of critical realism in Russian dramaturgy. A. S. Pushkin called the great playwright "satire a bold ruler", "a friend of freedom." M. Gorky argued that Fonvizin initiated the most magnificent and, perhaps, the most socially fruitful line of Russian literature - the accusatory-realistic line. Creativity Fonvizin had a huge impact on contemporary and subsequent writers and playwrights. D. I. Fonvizin joined the theater early. Theatrical impressions are the strongest in his youth: “... nothing in St. Petersburg delighted me so much as the theater, which I saw for the first time in my life. The action produced in me by the theater is almost impossible to describe. While still a student, Fonvizin takes part in the life of the Moscow University Theater. In the future, Denis Ivanovich maintains contacts with the largest figures in the Russian theater - playwrights and actors: A. P. Sumarokov, I. A. Dmitrevsky and others, and writes theatrical articles in satirical magazines. These magazines had a great influence on the work of Fonvizin. In them, he sometimes drew motives for his comedies. Dramatic activity of Fonvizin begins in the 60s. At first, he translates foreign plays and "translates" them into Russian. But this was only a test of the pen. Fonvizin dreamed of creating a national comedy. "The Brigadier" is Fonvizin's first original play. It was written in the late 60s. The simplicity of the plot did not prevent Fonvizin from creating a sharply satirical work, showing the manners and character of his narrow-minded heroes. The play "The Brigadier" was called by contemporaries "a comedy about our morals". This comedy was written under the influence of leading satirical magazines and satirical comedies of Russian classicism and imbued with the author's concern for the education of young people. "The Brigadier" is the first dramaturgical work in Russia, endowed with all the features of national originality, nothing resembling comedies created according to foreign standards. In the language of comedy, there are many folk phrases, aphorisms, well-aimed comparisons. This dignity of the "Brigadier" was immediately noticed by contemporaries, and the best of Fonvizin's verbal turns passed into everyday life, entered into proverbs. The comedy The Brigadier was staged in 1780 at the St. Petersburg Theater on the Tsaritsyn Meadow. The second comedy "Undergrowth" was written by D. I. Fonvizin in 1782. She brought the author a long fame, put him in the front ranks of the fighters against serfdom. The play develops the most important problems for the era. It talks about the upbringing of underage sons of the nobility and the mores of the court society. But the problem of serfdom, malevolence and unpunished cruelty of the landowners was posed more acutely than others. "Undergrowth" was created by the hand of a mature master who managed to populate the play with living characters, build the action on the basis of not only external, but also internal dynamics. The comedy "Undergrowth" decisively did not meet the requirements of Catherine II, who ordered the writers "only occasionally touch on vices" and carry out criticism without fail "in a smiling spirit." On September 24, 1782, "Undergrowth" was staged by Fonvizin and Dmitrevsky at the theater on the Tsaritsyn meadow. The performance was a great success with the general public. On May 14, 1783, The Undergrowth premiered on the stage of the Petrovsky Theater in Moscow. The premiere and subsequent performances were a huge success. "The Choice of a Tutor" - a comedy written by Fonvizin in 1790, was devoted to the burning topic of educating young people in aristocratic noble houses. The pathos of comedy is directed against foreign adventurers-pseudo-teachers in favor of enlightened Russian nobles.
II. Vyazemsky P., Fonvizin, St. Petersburg, 1848 (the same in the Complete collection of works by P. Vyazemsky, vol. V, St. Petersburg, 1880); Belinsky V., Complete Works, Edited by S. A. Vengerov, vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1900, pp. 340-341; vol. VII, St. Petersburg, 1904, pp. 15-16 and 412; Chernyshevsky N., Complete Works, Volume X, Part 2, St. Petersburg, 1906, pp. 1-20 (article "On the Brigadier" von-Vizin); Dobrolyubov N., Complete Works, vol. I, GIHL, 1934 (article "Interlocutor of lovers of the Russian word"); His own, Complete Works, vol. II, GIHL, 1935 (article "Russian satire in the age of Catherine"); Grytsko (Essays on the history of Russian literature according to modern research, Sovremennik, 1865, Nos. 10 and 11, 1866, No. 1 (Grytsko is the pseudonym of G. Z. Eliseev)); Shashkov S. S., Fon-Vizin and his time, Delo, 1879, Nos. 7, 8 and 10; D. Yazykov, "Undergrowth" on stage and in literature, "Historical Bulletin", 1882, No. 10; Veselovsky Alexey, Etudes and characteristics, M., 1894; the same, ed. 4, volume I, M., 1912 (article "In Memory of Fonvizin"); Klyuchevsky V., "Undergrowth" by Fonvizin, "Art and Science", 1896, No. 1 (the same in the book: Klyuchevsky V., Essays and speeches (second collection of articles), M., 1913; the same, II, 1918 ); Istomin V., The main features of the language and style of Den. Iv. von-Vizin, Russian Philological Bulletin, 1897, vol. XXXVIII, no. 3-4; Tikhonravov N., Works, vol. III, part 1, ed. M. and S. Sabashnikov, M., 1898 (article "D. I. Fon-Vizin"); Pypin A.N., History of Russian literature, vol. IV, St. Petersburg, 1899 (the same; ed. 4, St. Petersburg, 1913; Russian Biographical Dictionary, volume "Faber - Tsyavlovsky", St. Petersburg, 1901 (article "Fonvizin" by I. N. Zhdanov, the same in the book: Zhdanov I. N., Works, volume II, published by the Department of the Russian Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 1907; Sakulin P., Russian literature, part 2, M., 1929 (by index); Gukovsky G., Fonvizin's "Undergrowth", "Russian Language and Literature in Secondary School", 1935, No. 1; His own, Essays on the History of Russian Literature of the 18th Century (Noble Fronde in Literature of the 1750s - 1760- 1936, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Bibliographic Institute Granat, seventh edition, volume 44, Moscow, no year (article "Fonvizin" by G. Gukovsky).
III. Fonvizin D., Works, letters and selected translations Edited by P. A. Efremov, ed. I. I. Glazunov, St. Petersburg, 1866; Mezier A. V., Russian literature from the 11th to the 19th centuries inclusive, part II, St. Petersburg, 1902, pp. 437-439 and 627.
Literary encyclopedia. - In 11 tons; M .: publishing house of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Friche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .
Fonvizin
Denis Ivanovich (1744 or 1745, Moscow - 1791, St. Petersburg), Russian writer.
In the early 1760s. translates the works of French authors. In 1763-64. enters the circle of the Voltairian F. A. Kozlovsky, where, by his own admission, he spends time "in blasphemy and blasphemy." In the “Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka” (1769), on behalf of his courtyard people, Fonvizin answers the question “why was this light created?” and sets out their life observations (sometimes in the spirit of Voltaire). The monologues of the servants are accompanied by caustic remarks by the author and are crowned with his confession: "I myself do not know what this world was created for." Fonvizin's first original play "The Brigadier" (1769) is dedicated to the gallomania that gripped the Russian nobility - admiration for French customs and culture. However, Fonvizin's intention is not limited to the condemnation of gallomania: in The Brigadier, savagery and rudeness, taken for patriotism, and ultimately stupidity, are ridiculed. The pinnacle of Fonvizin's work as a playwright was "Undergrowth" (1782), which retains the main features of classic comedy: the characters are clearly divided into virtuous and vicious, their total number coincides (4: 4), there is a reasoning hero, the characters have speaking names and surnames (Prostakova, Skotinin, Pravdin, Sophia (in Greek - wisdom), Mitrofan (in Greek - like a mother), three unities are observed. "Undergrowth" has political significance, contrasting the heroic era of Peter I with low modernity - the reign of Catherine II. Fonvizin Thus, he opposed the intensified enslavement of the peasants and the lack of genuine enlightenment. Fonvizin entered the history of Russian literature as the “Russian Molière.” Since 1789, he worked on his autobiography “A sincere confession in my deeds and thoughts,” but did not have time to finish it.
Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Under the editorship of prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .
See what "Fonvizin" is in other dictionaries:
From the German von Wiesen. The von Wiesen clan of the descendants of the Livonian knight became Russified by the 18th century, and the spelling of the surname was accordingly Russified. In 1824 Pushkin wrote to his brother: Don't forget to write Fonvizin to von Vizin. What kind of wicked is he? He is Russian, from ... ... Russian surnames
Fonvizin D.I. Fonvizin Denis Ivanovich (1744 1792) Russian writer, playwright, publicist. Aphorisms, quotes Fonvizin D.I. biography Thank God there are no duties on lies! After all, where would we all be ruined! The ranks begin, cease ... ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms
- (Denis Ivanovich; the surname F. was written in the 18th century in two words; the same spelling was preserved until the middle of the 19th century; the spelling in one word was finally established by Tikhonravov, although Pushkin already found this mark correct, as giving ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Fonvizin, Denis Ivanovich (1745 1792) famous writer of the Catherine era, creator of Russian everyday comedy. His comedies Brigadier and Undergrowth occupy the first place in the satirical literature of that time. They ridicule ignorance and rudeness ... ... 1000 biographies
Arthur Vladimirovich (1882/83 1973), painter. Watercolor theatrical portraits of figures of Russian culture (D.V. Zerkalova, 1940), still lifes, genre compositions are marked by a wealth of tonal shades ... Modern Encyclopedia
Denis Ivanovich (1744 or 1745–1792), Russian writer. The creator of the first social comedies in Russia: Brigadier (staged in 1770) a satirical depiction of the mores of the nobility; The undergrowth (staged in 1782) is a milestone work exposing ... ... Modern Encyclopedia
Among Russian writers who had a special gift for seeing and conveying everything absurd in life, Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was the first. And readers still feel the full measure of his wit, continuing to repeat the expressions: “All that is nonsense that Mitrofanushka does not know”, “Do not I want to study, I want to get married” and others. But it is not so easy to see that Fonvizin's witticisms are born not of a cheerful disposition, but of the deepest sadness due to the imperfection of man and society.
Fonvizin entered literature as one of the successors of Kantemir and Sumarokov. He was brought up in the belief that the nobility, to which he himself belonged, should be educated, humane, constantly care about the interests of the fatherland, and the tsarist government should nominate worthy nobles to high positions for the common good. But among the nobles he saw cruel ignoramuses, and at court - "nobles in the case" (simply speaking, lovers of the empress), who ruled the state at their whim.
From a distant historical distance, it is clear that Fonvizin's time, like any other, was neither unconditionally good nor unconditionally bad. But in the eyes of Fonvizin, evil overshadowed good. Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin was born on April 3, 1745. The surname of Fonvizin was written for a long time in the German manner: “Von Vizin”, and sometimes even “von Wiesen” during his lifetime. Pushkin was one of the first to use the current form with the following comment: “What kind of non-Christ is he? He is Russian, from pre-Russian Russian. The final spelling of "Fonvizin" was approved only after 1917.
The Fonvizin family is of German origin. Denis Ivanovich's father was a fairly wealthy man, but he never aspired to great ranks and excessive wealth. He lived not at the royal court in St. Petersburg, but in Moscow. Denis' elder brother Pavel wrote good-looking poems in his younger years and published them in the Useful Entertainment magazine.
The future writer received a fairly thorough education, although later in his memoirs he unflatteringly described his gymnasium at Moscow University. Nevertheless, he noted that he learned European languages and Latin there, "and most of all ... got a taste for the verbal sciences."
While still at the gymnasium, Fonvizin translated from German one hundred and eighty-three fables of the once famous children's writer L. Golberg, to which he then added forty-two more. He also translated a lot later - translations make up the bulk of all his works.
In 1762, Fonvizin became a student at Moscow University, but soon left it, moved to St. Petersburg and entered the service. Around the same time, his satirical poems began to go around. Of these, two were later printed and came down to us: the fable "The Fox-Koznodey" (preacher) and "The Message to my servants Shumilov, Vanka and Petrushka." Fonvizin's fable is an evil satire on court flatterers, and the "Message" is a wonderful, rather unusual work for its time.
Fonvizin addresses the most important philosophical question "What is this light created for?" illiterate people of that time; it is immediately clear that they will not be able to answer it. And so it happens. Honest uncle Shumilov admits that he is not ready to judge such complex things:
I know that we should be servants for a century
And for a century we have to work with our hands and feet.
The coachman Vanka denounces the general deceit and concludes by saying:
That the local world is bad, then everyone understands,
What it is for, no one knows.
Footman Petrushka is frank in his desire to live for his own pleasure:
The whole world, it seems to me, is a child's toy;
Just need to, believe me, then find out
How better, tenacious, play that toy.
Servants, and with them the reader, are waiting for a reasonable answer from an educated author. But he only says:
And you, my friends, listen to my answer: “I myself don’t know what this light was created for!”.
This means that the author has nothing to oppose to the opinion of the servants, although he himself does not share it. An enlightened nobleman knows no more about the meaning of life than a lackey. The "Message to the Servants" sharply breaks out of the poetics of classicism, according to which it was required that some very definite thought be clearly proved in the work. The meaning of Fonvizin's work is open to different interpretations.
After moving to St. Petersburg, Fonvizin began to compose comedies - the genre in which he became most famous. In 1764 he wrote the verse comedy Corion, adapted from the sentimental drama Sydney by the French writer L. Gresse. Around the same time, an early edition of The Undergrowth was written, which remained unpublished. At the end of the sixties, the comedy Brigadier was created and was a huge success, which played an important role in the fate of Fonvizin himself.
Hearing the "Brigadier" in the author's performance (Fonvizin was a wonderful reader), the writer was noticed by Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin. At that time, he was the tutor of the heir to the throne, Paul, and a senior member of the collegium (in fact, minister) of foreign affairs. As an educator, Panin developed a whole political program for his ward - in essence, a draft of the Russian constitution. Fonvizin became Panin's personal secretary. They became friends as much as possible between a noble nobleman and his subordinate.
The young writer found himself at the center of court intrigues and, at the same time, the most serious politics. He was directly involved in the count's constitutional plans. Together they created a kind of "political testament" Panin, written shortly before his death - "Discourse on the indispensable state laws." Most likely, Panin owns the main ideas of this work, and Fonvizin - their design. In the "Reasoning", full of remarkably witty formulations, it is proved, first of all, that the sovereign has no right to govern the country at will. Without solid laws, Fonvizin believes, “heads are only thinking about ways to get rich; who can - robs, who cannot - steals.
It was this picture that Fonvizin saw in Russia at that time. But France turned out to be no better, where the writer traveled in 1777-1778 (partly for treatment, partly with some diplomatic assignments). He expressed his bleak impressions in letters to his sister and to Field Marshal Pyotr Panin, brother of Nikita Ivanovich. Here are some excerpts from these letters, which Fonvizin was even going to publish: “Money is the first deity of this land. The corruption of morals has reached such an extent that a vile act is no longer punished with contempt ...”, “I rarely meet someone in whom I would be inconspicuous one of the two extremes: either slavery, or impudence of reason.
Much in Fonvizin's letters seems to be just the grumbling of a spoiled gentleman. But in general, the picture he painted is terrible precisely because it is true. He saw the state of society, which twelve years later was resolved by a revolution.
During the years of his service as a secretary, Fonvizin had almost no time left for studying literature. It appeared in the late seventies, when Panin was already ill and in undeclared disgrace. Fonvizin, in 1781, completed his best work - the comedy "Undergrowth". The dissatisfaction of the high authorities delayed its production for several months.
In May 1782, after Panin's death, Fonvizin had to resign. In October of the same year, the premiere of "Undergrowth" finally took place - the biggest success in the life of the author. Some admiring spectators threw full wallets onto the stage - in those days a sign of the highest approval.
In retirement, Fonvizin devoted himself entirely to literature. He was a member of the Russian Academy, which brought together the best Russian writers. The Academy worked on the creation of a dictionary of the Russian language, Fonvizin took upon himself the compilation of a dictionary of synonyms, which he, literally translating the word "synonym" from Greek, called "estates". His "Experience of the Russian Soslovnik" for its time was a very serious linguistic work, and not just a screen for satire on Catherine's court and the methods of governing the Empress's state (this is how this essay is often interpreted). True, Fonvizin tried to come up with sharper examples for his “estates”: “Deceit (promise and not do. - Ed.) is an art of great boyars”, “A madcap is very dangerous when in force” and the like.
"Experience" was published in the literary magazine "Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word", published at the Academy. In it, Catherine II herself published a series of moralistic essays “There were also fables”. Fonvizin placed in the journal (without a signature) bold, even daring “Questions to the author of “Tales and Fables”, and the Empress answered them. In response, irritation was hard to contain. True, at that moment the queen did not know the name of the author of the questions, but soon, apparently, she found out.
Since then, the works of Fonvizin began to be banned one after another. In 1789, Fonvizin did not receive permission to publish the satirical magazine Friend of Honest People, or Starodum. The articles of the writer already prepared for him first saw the light only in 1830. The announced publication of his collected works was twice disrupted. During his lifetime, only one new work was published - a detailed biography of Panin.
All Fonvizin's hopes were in vain. Of the previous political plans, nothing was carried out. Society has only gotten worse over time.
And now the forbidden writer could not enlighten him. In addition, a terrible disease fell on Fonvizin. Not at all old even for those times, the man turned into a decrepit ruin: half of his body was paralyzed. To top it off, by the end of the writer's life, almost nothing was left of his considerable wealth.
From a young age, Fonvizin was a freethinker. Now he became devout, but this did not save him from despair. He began to write memoirs under the title "A frank confession of my deeds and thoughts," in which he intended to repent of the sins of his youth. But he hardly writes about his inner life there, but again strays into satire, evilly depicting Moscow life in the early sixties of the 18th century. Fonvizin still managed to finish the comedy "The Choice of a Governor", which has not been completely preserved. The play seems rather boring, but the poet I. I. Dmitriev, who heard the author read the comedy aloud, recalls that he was able to convey the characters of the characters with extraordinary vividness. The next day after this reading, December 1, 1792, Fonvizin died.
Speaking about the historical and literary significance of Fonvizin, one should especially emphasize the great role that he played in the development of the literary language. It is not for nothing that Batyushkov associates the “education” of our prose with him. In this regard, not only Fonvizin's comedies are of great importance, but also the beginning of his memoirs-confessions "A sincere confession in my deeds and thoughts" and even his private letters from abroad, the language of which is distinguished by remarkable clarity, conciseness and simplicity, significantly ahead of in this regard, even Karamzin's Letters from a Russian Traveler.