Nekrasov N. A. (1821-1877), poet

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NEKRASOV Nikolay Alexeevich (1821-1877, St. Petersburg), poet, prose writer. In 1838 came to St. Petersburg to enroll at the University (in 1839-40 audited classes as an irregular student), in contrary to his father's will, who deprived Nekrasov of financial support. Not to die in the attic became the aim of Nekrasov's first years in St. Petersburg (see his autobiographic novel The Life and Adventures of Tikhon Trostnyakov and others. Nekrasov had to hobo in the outskirts of St. Petersburg for trifling wages. At the same time he started contributing to Petersburg periodicals (Panteon Russkikh I Evropeyskikh Teatrov, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Russky Invalid, Otechestvennye Zapiski), wrote vaudevilles (Petersburg Usurer, The Morning in the Editorial Office, and others), which had been staged in the Alexandrinsky Theatre. Nekrasov's feuilletons, chronicles, prose of the 1840s became in a way the St. Petersburg chronicle of the time. Nekrasov's first collection of poems The Dreams and Sounds, (St. Petersburg, 1840) was not a success. It was also the time when he cultivated V. G. Belinsky and published his Petersburg Physiology, Petersburg Collection, The First of April almanac. In 1846 Nekrasov purchased the publishing rights to the Sovremennik; since 1868 assumed the editorship of the Otechestvennye Zapiski journal. The major themes of Nekrasov's poetry took shape by the 1850s, with the peasantry theme becoming the leading one; however in the history of Russian poetry Nekrasov gained stature as one of the most prominent poets of the urban thematic. Based on Pushkin's traditions in the perception of St. Petersburg in Russian poetry, Nekrasov came up with his own vision of the city (poem Poor Folk). Nekrasov's Petersburg appears as a city of social contrasts, poor inhabitants and human dramas (cyclus On the Street, On the Weather; poems: Riding at night on a dark Street..., In the Hospital, Yesterday at about Six O'clock..., Razmyshlenia U Paradnogo Podyezda Thoughts at a Vestibule, Morning and many others), in many respects close to Dostoevsky's Petersburg, fateful, cruel and ruthless. Gloomy views of a northern city, depicted by Nekrasov, were considered as a forerunner of the symbolists' urbanistic poetry (V. Y. Bryusov). In St. Petersburg Nekrasov changed a number of flats. Since 1857 until his death lived along with I. I. Panaev and А. Y. Panaeva in А. А. Kraevsky's house at 36 Liteiny Avenue (the corner of Basseynaya Street, from 1918 Nekrasova Street; memorial plaque; since 1946 Nekrasov memorial flat-museum; in 1922 in the park opposite to the museum Nekrasov's bust was installed, sculptor V. V. Lishev). Nekrasov's flat used to be the Sovremennik's editorial office, also hosting writers friendly gatherings. A monument to Nekrasov was erected at the corner of the Grechesky Avenue and Nekrasova Street (1971, sculptor L. Y. Eidlin, architect V. S. Vasilkovsky). The poet's funeral turned into a grand procession. Among others Dostoevsky, P. V. Zasodimsky, G. V. Plekhanov made funeral orations at the burial service. In 1881 a monument was erected at Nekrasov's grave (sculptor М. А. Chizhov). Streets in Pargolovo and Pavlovsk are named after Nekrasov. The Library No 9 in the Central City District and the Higher Pedagogical School also bear Nekrasov's name.

Reference: Ломан О. В. Некрасов в Петербурге. Л., 1985.

A. B. Muratov. Belinsky Vissarion Grigorievich
Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich
Chizhov Matvey Afanasievich
Dostoevsky Fedor Mikhailovich
Eidlin Leonid Yulievich
Kraevsky Andrey Alexandrovich
Lishev Vsevolod Vsevolodovich
Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeevich
Panaev Ivan Ivanovich
Panaeva Avdotia Yakovlevna
Plekhanov Georgy Valentinovich
Zasodimsky Pavel Vladimirovich
Zasodimsky Pavel Vladimirovich
Grechesky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city
Liteiny Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 36
Nekrasova St./Saint Petersburg, city
Nekrasova St./Pargolovo, village
Nekrasova Street/Pavlovsk, town
Ломан О. В. Некрасов в Петербурге. Л., 1985 Literaturnaya gazeta (Literary Newspaper), 1830-1831, 1840-1849
Russky Invalid (The Russian Invalid), newspaper
Otechestvennye Zapiski (Notes of the Fatherland), journal
Alexandrinsky Theatre
Sovremennik (Contemporary), journal
Novodevichye Cemetery
Novodevichye Cemetery
Nekrasov Memorial Museum Apartment
1840
1846
1868
1877
1971