Robert Rozhdestvensky (1932-1994) - the most famous Soviet poet, publicist, translator. His poems have always been distinguished by the relevance and modernity of topics, and the evolution of Soviet society with its achievements, ups and downs is clearly traced in his work. Hundreds of songs were written on the poems of Rozhdestvensky, which were performed in all corners of the Soviet Union, including the imperishable "My Years", "Moments", "Wedding", "My Motherland" and many others.
Childhood and youth
Robert Rozhdestvensky (Petkevich) is a native Siberian. He was born on June 20, 1932 in the village of Kosikha, now located in the Altai Territory. His father, Stanislav Nikodimovich, was an employee of the NKVD, and his mother, Vera Pavlovna, a physician by education, headed a rural primary school.
The poet's first childhood memories were associated with Omsk, where his family moved after a divorce from his father. When the war broke out, both parents went to the front to defend their country, from where their father never returned. The boy remained in the care of his grandmother, who died before the end of the war. Young Robert spent several years at the Danilovsky Children's Reception Center.
At the end of the war, his mother married a soldier Ivan Rozhdestvensky and transported her son to Austria. Due to the constant traveling of his stepfather, Robert managed to study in Vienna, Konigsberg, Leningrad. Already in adolescence and youth, the aspiring poet writes many poems. For a long time he did not dare to send them to serious critics, so he recited his opuses mainly at school events. And when he nevertheless made up his mind and sent them to the capital's writers, then a disappointing answer came from Moscow - "literary inconsistency." At the same time, Robert was not admitted to the Literary Institute, calling him incapable.
Attempt at writing
In 1950 he entered the Karelian-Finnish University at the Faculty of History and Philology, but did not stay there for long. A year later, the young man begins to study at the Moscow Literary Institute named after A.M. Gorky, who will successfully finish after 5 years. Already in his second year, the young man was accepted into the Writers' Union without objection, which was then regarded as the highest recognition.
In 1950, the Novy Svet magazine began publishing the first adult poems, which were quite warmly received. During his student years, the first collections of Rozhdestvensky's poems - "Test" and "Flags of Spring" were published. In 1955, a poem in the style of love lyrics "My Love" was added to them and the first song written on his poems "Your Window" (composer A. Flyarkovsky) was released.
At the zenith of glory
Fame came to the young poet instantly, they began to quote and recognize him. It was said about him that he was stuffed with poetry. Thanks to the bright social orientation of his works, Rozhdestvensky was recognized by the authorities. But everything was not always smooth. In 1960, he fell into disgrace after the publication of the poem "Morning", which did not like the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee I. Kapitonov, who called him "decadent". As a result, the poet was no longer printed and invited to meetings and performances. Only after Khrushchev's resignation were the restrictions lifted, but deep feelings about this affected Robert's health.
In 1972 he was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize, and in 1978 he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, despite the categorical objections of his wife. During perestroika's hard times, Robert Stanislavovich, disappointed in the inaction of the party, will put his party card on the table with the words: "I don't want to be a member of Polozkov's party anymore".
Robert Rozhdestvensky, along with B. Akhmadullina, E. Yevtushenko, A. Voznesensky, belonged to the cohort of representatives of the "young poetry" of the 1950-60s. Their poems were imbued with deep sincerity and citizenship, they were distinguished by a combination of a certain rationality and high pathos. Robert Stanislavovich wrote on the topic of the day, about that. what was relevant and what the whole country was talking about. He very accurately felt the time, which was vividly expressed in his poems and songs. The range of topics of interest to the poet was wide enough - from military themes and socialist realism to love lyrics.
The poet's social activity was associated with an attempt to convey to the people the creative heritage of many famous poets. The activities of Robert Stanislavovich contributed to the wide acquaintance of society with the works of M. Tsvetaeva, O. Mandelstam, V. Vysotsky. For example, thanks to Rozhdestvensky, the first collection of works by Vladimir Semyonovich, entitled "Nerve", was published.
Robert Stanislavovich enthusiastically accepted the perestroika reforms. In 1986, together with A. Voznesensky, he openly demanded to begin the processes of democratization and the abolition of censorship, and four years later called on the first president of the USSR to condemn anti-Semitism. However, at the end of perestroika, the poet was among the critics of M. Gorbachev's policy.
With a song through life
In the mid-1950s pop poetry appeared in the USSR, and Rozhdestvensky became its brightest representative. He turned out to be one of the leading songwriters with whom the country's best composers collaborated. Among them are D. Tukhmanov, A. Babadzhanyan, Yu. Saulsky, T. Khrennikov and dozens of others. Since the second half of the 60s, real masterpieces have come out from under their pen, which the whole country tirelessly sang. Moreover, these were both deeply soulful songs about the war ("If we forget the war", "Great Distance", "Ballad of Immortality"), and sincere, lyrical ("All Life Ahead", "My Years", "Earth Gravity" , "Call me").
Personal life
Robert Rozhdestvensky was married to the famous artist and literary critic Alla Kireeva, with whom he lived together for over 40 years. They met while still students of the Literary Institute. Then Robert did not make a big impression on the future wife, but she was remembered by her with his kind and gentle eyes. The great poet composed many works for her and in her name, affectionately calling his wife his muse. As Alla Borisovna recalled, Robert often said: "Whatever happens, please live, live happily always".
In 1957, the couple had their eldest daughter, Ekaterina, a translator, now a popular photo artist, whose series of photographs entitled "Private Collection" featuring the stars of the first magnitude became an event in the cultural life of the country. In 1970, the youngest daughter Ekaterina was born, who later became a journalist specializing in cinema and literature.
In 1990, Rozhdestvensky was diagnosed with a terrible brain tumor. But he took this news in an ironic tone, writing the poem "Unsent Letter to the Surgeon." Robert underwent two difficult operations in France, but even after them the doctors were afraid to give any guarantees. Upon his return to the Union, the poet developed peritonitis. He was literally pulled out of the afterlife. He was advised to rest, but Robert Stanislavovich continued to work until the last day of his life. He died of a heart attack on August 19, 1994, and is buried at the Peredelkino cemetery.
Robert Rozhdestvensky was born on June 20, 1932 in the village of Kosikha, West Siberian Territory, now Altai Territory.
Robert received his name in honor of the revolutionary of the People's Commissar of Agriculture of the USSR Robert Eikhe. Since 1934, Robert lived with his parents and grandmother in Omsk. Robert's father, Stanislav Nikodimovich Pyatkevich, was a Pole by nationality from a family exiled to Siberia after the Warsaw uprising. He worked for the OGPU - NKVD, but resigned from the NKVD in 1937 to avoid arrest, and until the Finnish war worked in the Leskhoz. During the war, he was the platoon commander of the 257th Separate Sapper Battalion of the 123rd Infantry Division, and was killed in action in Latvia on February 22, 1945. Robert Rozhdestvensky said: “Upon arrival in Omsk, my father served in the NKVD. He was a tall, very athletic guy (for example, I remember him on the football field, which was located behind the NKVD building ...). Anyway, he was clearly a sociable person: a lot of friends, a button accordion, a good voice, in short - "death to flies." The mother, of course, did not always like it. And the parents quarreled quite often. (I remember that too). In the 37th or the beginning of the 38th, it was time for the next "purge". This time the Latvians and Poles were “cleansed”. Friends of the father, having learned about this, made him quietly resign from the "organs". After that, in my opinion, he worked as someone at a tire factory and in one of the forestry enterprises. And then he volunteered for the Finnish front. He returned just before the Great War itself. And, of course, he also went to her. He died at Smolensk. And I saw him for the last time when my father's train stopped in Omsk for 10 minutes. I saw it in almost complete darkness on the cargo platform. It was unusual for me to see him, and I babbled something pitifully and cried. That, in fact, is all about the father. "
Robert's mother, Vera Pavlovna Fedorova, was the director of a rural elementary school before the war, at the same time she studied at the medical institute, which she graduated with honors in 1941. In 1937, Robert's parents divorced. From the age of three to seven, Robert attended a kindergarten in Omsk, and began his studies in the kindergarten of school # 19. Here he finished four classes. After the start of the war, his mother was called to the front, after which Robert stayed with his grandmother Nadezhda Alekseevna Fedorova. Shocked by what had happened, he wrote a poem "With a rifle, my dad goes on a hike ...". His school teacher took the poem to the editorial office of the Omskaya Pravda newspaper, where it was published on July 8, 1941.
In April 1943, Robert's grandmother died, and Vera Pavlovna briefly came on vacation to register her sister in her apartment. Robert lived with his aunt and cousin until 1944, after which his mother decided to take her son with her, registering him as the son of the regiment. However, on the way, in Moscow, she changed her mind, and Robert ended up in the Danilovsky children's reception center. In 1943 he studied at the military music school, and later said: “I was nine years old then. Mother and father were at war from the very beginning, I lived with my grandmother, and only when she died, mother asked for leave to take me with her. She designed me as the son of a regiment. I had an altered uniform, and we went to the front. We drove for two weeks. I was wildly proud - to travel half the country in military uniform! I walked along the train at each station. But in Moscow, my mother's acquaintances said that the front was preparing for an offensive. She was a military doctor, her place was at the operating table. Where am I going? She got scared and left me in the orphanage. In the Danilov Monastery, half was occupied by a prison, and half by an orphanage. It was a shame to death that I did not get to the front. Then my uncle came and called me to the military music school. And my friend and I flooded - we wanted to escape from the orphanage. Again - the form. So I became a pupil of the Red Army. Doodle until blue in the face. And then there was Victory Day. On May 9 we were in Red Square. They rocked us. In the most salute hour - hundreds of searchlights. People threw small change in their rays, and it sparkled. I got the feeling from there: you don't have to be an adult, you have to be happy. "
In 1945, Vera Pavlovna married a fellow soldier - officer Ivan Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky, after which Robert received his stepfather's surname and patronymic, and his parents took him to Koenigsberg, where they both served. In 1946 the Rozhdestvensky family moved to Leningrad, and in 1948 to Petrozavodsk.
In Petrozavodsk in 1950 the first publications of poems by Robert Rozhdestvensky appeared in the journal At the Border. In the same year, Rozhdestvensky tried to enter the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute, but unsuccessfully. Later, he studied for a year at the historical and philological department of Petrozavodsk State University, and in 1951, on the second attempt, Robert managed to enter the Literary Institute, from which he graduated in 1956, and moved to Moscow. At the Literary Institute, Robert Rozhdestvensky met fellow student Alla Kireeva, a future literary critic and artist.
“We met at the Literary Institute. - said Alla Kireeva. - Robert transferred to our course from the philological faculty of the Karelian University. This shy provincial (but at the same time a boxer, volleyball player and basketball player who played for the national team of Karelia, where the Robert Rozhdestvensky Memorial Games are still held), was simply “stuffed” with poetry. The atmosphere at the Literary Institute was amazing. Students in washed, worn-out tracksuits, standing on the stairs, read their poems, every now and then they heard the generous: "Old man, you are a genius!" Robert was different. He was attracted by kindness and shyness ... “We coincided with you, coincided on a day that will be remembered forever. How the words match the lips. With a dry throat - water. " We really coincided with him. We have in many ways similar destinies. My parents divorced, I was raised by my grandmother. I was on my own. The same goes for Rob. After the war (when his mother remarried) his brother was born, and his parents were not up to the eldest son. This is how “two loneliness met”. We have lived together for 41 years. "
You know,
I want every word
this morning poem
suddenly reached for your hands,
as if
a bored branch of lilac.
You know,
I want every line
suddenly bursting out of size
and the whole stanza
tearing to shreds
I managed to respond in your heart.
You know,
i want every letter
would look at you in love.
And would be filled with the sun
as if
dew drop on the palm of a maple tree.
You know,
I want the February blizzard
I dutifully spread myself at your feet.
And want,
so that we love each other
so many,
how long we have left to live.
In this happy marriage in 1957 and 1970, Robert and Alla had two daughters. One of them, Ekaterina Robertovna, became a translator of fiction from English and French, a journalist and photographer. As a studio photographer, she became known for a series of works entitled "Private Collection" in the glossy magazine "Caravan of stories", as well as a number of other works. Another daughter, Ksenia Robertovna, became a journalist.
In 1955, Rozhdestvensky's book "Flags of Spring" was published in Karelia. A year later, the poem "My Love" was published there. At that time, Robert Rozhdestvensky entered literature along with a group of talented peers, among whom stood out Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Bella Akhmadulina, Andrei Voznesensky and Vladimir Tsybin. Young poetry in the 1950s began with catchy manifestos, striving to establish itself in the minds of readers as soon as possible. The stage helped her: the poems of those years themselves could not exist without sound. But the readers, first of all, were bribed by the civil and moral pathos of this internally diverse lyrics, a poetic view that affirmed the personality of the creative person in the center of the universe. A characteristic feature of Rozhdestvensky's poetry is the constantly pulsating modernity, the lively relevance of the questions he posed to himself and to his readers. These questions affected so many people that they instantly found a response in a wide variety of circles. If you arrange the poems and poems of Rozhdestvensky in chronological order, you can be sure that the poet's lyric confession reflected some essential features inherent in our social life, its movement, maturity, spiritual gains and losses. “Many believed that Robert was 'bought' by the Soviet regime,” said Alla Kireeva, “but in fact, Robert simply sincerely believed in communism. In his early publications, there are many declarations of love for the Motherland, for "the flag of the color of my blood." However, he did not always have an even relationship with those in power. Here is just one episode. Nikolai Gribachev wrote the poem "No, boys", which was directed against the poets of the sixties, who allegedly violated the precepts of their fathers, and therefore doomed to dishonor. Rozhdestvensky took this as a challenge and answered with the poem "Yes, boys." On the eve of the meeting of writers and poets with Khrushchev, he showed the poem to the then party organizer of the Writers' Union Stepan Shchipachev. He was horrified and asked to destroy the manuscript. But the poems were read, and Khrushchev shouted in fury: "Comrade Rozhdestvensky, it's time for you to stand under the banner of your fathers!" Punishment followed, many tried to forget about Rozhdestvensky. He was not published, he was not invited to meetings ... Then the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Kapitonov for some reason did not like the poem "Morning", as a result, Robert had to leave Moscow for Kyrgyzstan altogether. He worked there, translating the poems of local poets into Russian. From Frunze, he sent me a letter with the following lines: “I go out alone on the road, In front of me, which lay. The night is quiet, the desert listens to God ... The Party gave all this to us. " But the relationship with the authorities is one thing, and quite another is belief in ideals. When they collapsed, he did not want to live. One of his last poems contains the following lines: “I wrote for the joy of the chalet, about how wisely the leaders of the“ special temper ”look at us from the Mausoleum (I knew little. And it helped.) I did not try to doubt the faith. The poems are gone. But the shame for them remained. "
We are to blame
Very guilty:
Not we
with a landing
fell into the mist.
And in that -
trampled by war
autumn -
we were not at the front,
and in the rear.
On the knock of the night
did not flinch fearfully.
Did not see
no captivity,
no prison!
We are to blame
that they were born late.
We ask forgiveness:
We are to blame.
But now
and our destinies
started.
Step one is done -
the words are spoken.
We started -
then firmly,
then in draft.
Like songs
like April grass ...
We enter life.
We despise bleating.
And suddenly I hear a conversation about
that, they say, a generation is growing up.
Nekstati: incomprehensible:
Not that:
And someone -
fussy and passionate, -
inconceivably malice
carried away,
already screaming
in our face
pointing your finger:
"No, boys!"
Let me
what is he talking about?
About what?
We do not need indulgence!
About what?
And I look at them:
builders,
poets,
astronauts -
my magnificent boys.
It's not for us to grumble
It is not for us to accumulate grievances:
And yet - the same
in the name of
of the whole earth:
"Yes, boys!"
From orbit
space
into heroes
descended!
Yes boys
funny seekers,
stragglers
from cold hands:
I'm talking about it
not intentionally
and ready to repeat
in every way:
Yes, boys in the dry frosts of Bratsk!
Yes, boys, on the state farms of Kulunda!
Yes,
boldly
smart
bespectacled -
coming
unheard of sciences!
Yes boys
in heavy exercises,
bound
strictness
armor.
Dudes?
OK.
Case
not in dudes.
And our generation -
not they.
Let them vote
about naughty children
in the swirling
artificial smoke
dashing speculators
on ideas
unlearned
nothing.
And we are funny
prophets
clumsy.
After all, we will be able to answer them in full.
Revolution is bubbling in any of us
The only one.
Faithful.
One.
Yes, boys!
Stand by my side
over infirmity
invented
fuss.
Yes, boys!
Work, dream.
And be wrong -
Devil take you!
Yes boys
we go out on a path not smooth!
Fight
with lies!
Stand your ground!
After all, you can't go wrong
in the most important thing.
In the flag we live under!
In 1955, while practicing in Altai, Robert met a conservatory student Alexander Flyarkovsky, with whom Rozhdestvensky's first song, "Your Window", was created. Later, Robert Rozhdestvensky created many texts of popular songs - "Peace", "Become what I want", "Chase" from the movie "New Adventures of the Elusive", "Undiscovered Islands", "Huge Sky", "Sweet Berry", "I Wish you "and other works, including songs for performances and operettas" The Naked King "to the music of Tikhon Khrennikov," Charley's Aunt "to the music of Oscar Feltsman," The Journey of Niels with Wild Geese "to the music of Vladimir Shainsky. D.B. Kabalevsky wrote music to the words of the poem "Requiem".
Over the years, Robert Rozhdestvensky collaborated with many composers. Its co-authors were Arno Babadzhanyan, Igor Shamo, Alexander Flyarkovsky, Mark Fradkin, David Tukhmanov, Oscar Feltsman, Mikael Tariverdiev, Alexandra Pakhmutova, Evgeny Ptichkin, Yan Frenkel, Maxim Dunaevsky, Vladimir Shainsky, Raymond Pauls, Yevgeny Martynov, Yakov , Georgy Movsesyan, Igor Luchenok, Matvey Blanter, Eduard Khanok, Boris Alexandrov, Evgeny Doga, Yuri Saulsky, Alexey Ekimyan, Tikhon Khrennikov, Oleg Ivanov, Vadim Gamaliya, Alexander Morozov, Stanislav Pozhlakov, Evgeny Krylatov, Zinovy Binkin, Alexander Zatsepin, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Muslim Magomayev, Nikita Bogoslovsky, Robert Amirkhanyan, Bogdan Trotsyuk, Alexander Zhurbin, Yevgeny Zharkovsky, Murad Kazhlaev, Gennady Podelsky, Mark Minkov, Alexander Bronevitsky, Victoria Chernysheva, Yuri Gulyaev, Boris Emelyanov and many other authors.
Rozhdestvensky often took part in the Song of the Year program.
I ask, if only for a little while
My pain, you leave me.
A cloud, a gray cloud,
You fly to your home
From here to home.
My shore, show yourself in the distance
Edge, thin line.
My shore, gentle shore,
Oh, to you, dear, I would swim,
Swim at least someday.
Somewhere far away, somewhere far away
Mushroom rains are falling.
Right by the river, in a little garden
The cherries ripened, bending to the ground.
Somewhere far away, in my memory,
Now, like in childhood, it's warm
Though the memory is hidden
With such big snows.
You are a thunderstorm, give me a drink
Drunk, but not to death.
Here again, like the last time
I keep looking somewhere in the sky,
As if I'm looking for an answer ...
Robert Rozhdestvensky published the collections of poetry "Drifting Avenue" in 1959, "To the same age" and "Uninhabited islands" in 1962, "Action radius" in 1965, "Dedication" in 1970, "Over twenty years" in 1973 ... In 1971, his book of travel essays "And the earth does not end" was published. In the 1980s, a number of his poetry collections were published: "The Voice of the City", "Seven Poems", "Choice", "Poems, Ballads, Songs", "Friends", "Age" and other publications. In the 1990s, Rozhdestvensky published collections of poems "Insomnia", "Crossing", and poems for children - "Alyoshka's thoughts."
In 1972, Robert Rozhdestvensky received the Lenin Komsomol Prize, and in 1979 he was awarded the USSR State Prize.
Robert Rozhdestvensky was three times on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. He first appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in 1968, in 1979 he persuaded Françoise Sagan to give the prize to Konchalovsky's Siberiade, and in 1973 he supported Ferreri's Big Grub.
Together with him, his wife Alla Kireeva observed the situation in France at that time, who said: “In general, life in Cannes was absolutely normal, but everyone was very excited, they said that cars were turned over and burned in Paris. It was even said at the Palace of Festivals, from the stage. And suddenly everyone began to walk around with red bows pinned with diamond pins - they supported the anti-bourgeois revolution. There was a sense of some confusion of both the organizers of the festival and the participants. And there was talk of closing the festival altogether. The jury members, when they were sitting, decided this issue. As far as I remember, Robert was in favor of continuing the festival: after all, they came to work, not to go on strike. And in fact there was a feeling that no one took this revolution seriously ... Robert was asked to answer a questionnaire in some Cannes newspaper, and his answers were published under the title "Who are you, Rozhdestvensky?" There were some naive questions like: "What kind of films do you think can deeply touch the audience internationally?", Or: "Tell us what an ideal film should be?" There was also a question: "Are there" idols "in Russia whose actions and gestures are eagerly watched by the public?" To this question, Robert replied: “Idols,” in your understanding, exist. But, in my opinion, it is not the public that follows their gestures and actions, but the “idols” themselves zealously follow each other's actions and gestures. ” Well, in general, he answered with humor. And Alex Moskovich read this interview, was delighted with a puppy, found us himself, met us ... We hung out on his yacht - he had just won this yacht at cards. And so I look, an aunt is sitting there with such a half-finger diamond. I quietly ask: "Alik, is it real?" He told me: “You fool! There is no fake in Cannes! " He took us to the casino, where I danced with Omar Sharif. "
Since 1986, Robert Rozhdestvensky was the chairman of the Commission on the literary heritage of Osip Mandelstam, was directly involved in the case of the rehabilitation of Mandelstam. Rozhdestvensky was also the Chairman of the Commission on the literary heritage of Marina Tsvetaeva, and achieved the opening of the Tsvetaeva House-Museum in Moscow. He was the chairman of the commission on the literary heritage of Vladimir Vysotsky, and the compiler of the first book of poetry by Vysotsky published in the USSR "Nerv" in 1981.
The years of perestroika were hard for the poet, as he himself repeatedly said: “I do not hide: I was then a believer - a believer in Stalin, in Stalin. It was exactly Faith - with its saints, martyrs, commandments. At that time we even had a boyish vow in the yard: "Honest Leninist-Stalinist of all leaders." We were happy with the happiness of ignorance. Then, upon learning, I was horrified. I was especially shocked that even when they did not have time to defend the city, they always managed to take out the factories and shoot the prisoners ... Would I have renounced Requiem and 210 Steps? - From “Requiem” - no. In "210 steps" there are some lines that ... no, let it be, it's all sincere. I did not achieve anything with these verses. I don’t count myself as dissidents: I wrote about what I believed in, they didn’t put pressure on me. Although the censorship was a crap. " The poet's wife recalled in an interview: “The years of perestroika broke him down. I remember he was offered to head the editorial board of Ogonyok. After a meeting at the Central Committee of the CPSU, he returned home completely dejected and said: "Alka, I have no strength for this." “Give it up and live your life,” I advised. So he did, recommending our friend Vitaly Korotich for the post of editor-in-chief. I am grateful to Vitaly, he supported Robert in his last years of life: he published poetry, published books. Although the "fashion for the" sixties "has already passed, and the new generation was not fond of poetry. Robert was unclaimed. He did not sort things out with anyone, avoided heart-to-heart conversations. Gone into my world. Here is one of his poems from those years:
Let's grieve at the table.
Open your soul to the table ...
We will vote at the table.
We will compose on the table ...
And hear a groan from the table ...
Rozhdestvensky practically locked himself in Peredelkino in his Moscow apartment. He was always a couch potato, did not like noisy companies and social events, after filming and performing, he immediately went home. In early 1990, doctors diagnosed him with brain cancer. Friends helped him with the operation in France, and when he was extremely haggard with traces of the operation on his forehead flashed in one of the TV programs - the country breathed a sigh of relief - he was alive. I remember this TV show, I remember how Robert Ivanovich sadly answered the correspondent's questions and, of course, I remember his words: “Yes, fine, old man. Working. I work a lot ... ”- having heard the answer, I realized: if something is wrong, Robert Rozhdestvensky will not stoop to complaints. He was always partial to strong people, wrote about them more than once, and when the difficult hour came, it turned out that he was in no way inferior to his heroes. A rare example of a great poet and a great man merging into one:
Dear Doctor!
You don't know yet
that you will do my operation.
And I have already been informed
that there is a tumor in my brain
the size of a chicken egg, -
(interesting,
who brought the chicken out,
laying such eggs?! ..)
I had poor grades in anatomy school.
But today the soft word "tumor"
scares me and scares me, -
(especially since for some reason it grows
against my will) ...
No, I believe, of course, the stories of doctors,
that "the operation will go as it should",
I believe that it is "not too difficult"
and "almost not dangerous at all"
but still, all the same, doctor,
I hope that at your school,
the anatomy was normal,
and that your hands do not tremble,
and my heart beats slowly ...
Your profession is very illustrative, doctor,
too visual.
But we too - composing poetry -
we are also trying to operate on tumors,
eternal tumors of dishonor and malice,
envy and thoughtlessness!
We operate with words.
And the words - (you understand, doctor!) -
not like your drills, milling cutters and saws
(or what else do you have ?!).
Words bounce off human skulls
like hailstones from iron roofs ...
Well, and if the operation ends in failure
(of course, this does not happen with you, but suddenly ...)
So: if the operation fails,
You will surely be offended.
And I will forget about everything instantly.
There will be no way for me.
Forever in any way ...
... However, don't be too sad, Doctor.
Do not.
It's not your fault.
Let's count with you
that a strange chicken is to blame
that someone once brought out
just to
so that it is in the human brain
carried
these eggs are tumors.
Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky died in Moscow on August 19, 1994 from a heart attack and was buried in Peredelkino.
In the same year, the collection "The Last Poems of Robert Rozhdestvensky" was published in Moscow. In 1997, the name of Robert Rozhdestvensky was assigned to a minor planet registered in the international catalog of minor planets under No. 5360.
Before his death, Robert Rozhdestvensky wrote a letter to his wife: “Dear, dear Alyonushka! For the first time in forty years I am sending you a letter from the second floor of our dacha to the first floor. This means that the time has come. I thought for a long time what to give you for this - (I still don't believe!) - the common anniversary. And then I saw a three-volume book standing on the shelf and even laughed with joy and gratitude to you. The whole morning I was making bookmarks to those verses that (already from the 51st year!) In one way or another have to do with you ... You are the co-author of almost everything that I have written. "
There was a time when our parents besieged the Polytechnic Museum, Luzhniki, Central House of Writers for the sake of meeting with Robert Rozhdestvensky. There was a time when we, the children of our parents, sang songs to the verses of Robert Rozhdestvensky in companies and hikes, with a guitar and at concerts of school VIAs. For us - the poet Robert Rozhdestvensky - this is a whole era in Russian Soviet poetry. With his poems, he was able to tell about the great country of Russia, about heroes and ordinary people, about grandiose accomplishments and small deeds. Rozhdestvensky did everything surprisingly talented and sincerely. The poet knew how to talk about great things simply. About love, about a country, about a person. His poems sounded in songs that became not only a symbol of the era, but also a symbol of the whole country, the whole people. "Chase" from "The Elusive Avengers", "Become This", "Huge Sky". And, of course, the main domestic series of the country "Seventeen Moments of Spring"! After all, he is thoroughly imbued with the lyrics of his poems, set to the music of Mikael Tariverdiev. He turned out to be much more modern and relevant than the era in which he lived. It is not without reason that songs based on poems by Robert Rozhdestvensky were and remain popular today.
About Robert Rozhdestvensky in 2007 a documentary film "I lived for the first time on this Earth" was filmed.
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The text was prepared by Tatiana Khalina
Used materials:
Materials of the site www.rogdestvenskij.ru
Mark Mudrik, "The Last Letter of Robert Rozhdestvensky"
Article "Robert Rozhdestvensky in Omsk", Komsomolskaya Pravda 1995.
Materials of the site www.natmixru.narod.ru
The legendary poet of the sixties, Robert Rozhdestvensky, lived with his wife for 41 years. The artist and literary critic Alla Kireeva, even after the death of the poet, asked to call herself the wife, and not the widow of Rozhdestvensky. Absolutely different from each other, they still managed to become one, and carried love and respect for each other throughout their lives. In the last letter to Alla, the already sick poet admitted: "You are the co-author of practically everything that I have written."
We coincided with you, coincided ...
Robert and Alla met at the Literary Institute. Rozhdestvensky transferred from the Faculty of Philology of the Karelian University. Alla remembers him as a shy provincial, who is against the background of liberated young poets and prose writers. He was distinguished by kindness and modesty. At the same time, he was literally stuffed with verses,
In the entire institute there were one hundred and twenty young men and six girls, so Alla had enough male attention. Robert stood out among all with an intelligent and attentive look. Basically, students “looked not at others, but inside themselves - how to get published, how to please,” Kireeva recalls. They studied in the same course, and then in an instant something happened. "Immediately and for life."
Family life of the poet and Muse
Rozhdestvensky entered literature together with a group of talented authors: Vasily Aksenov, Bella Akhmadulina, Andrei Voznesensky and Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Poetry evenings at the Polytechnic Institute, whole concerts at Luzhniki made young poets real stars of that time, they were recognized everywhere, asked for autographs. Rozhdestvensky was actively published and published. Alla worked in the literary consulting of the magazine "Yunost".
The poet was not spoiled by fame, according to his wife, he had absolutely no star fever. He was indifferent to the claims of numerous female fans. Alla Kireeva recalled that she was very jealous of these girls, worried that “some skinny one” would come (Alla herself was somewhat plump) and take him away. But their married life was distinguished by marital fidelity, neither Robert nor his wife were even rumored.
Their family life was detached and separate from the literary community. The first years were spent in a room in a communal apartment in the basement. The house was located not far from the Central House of Writers, and some writers constantly wandered over to them to chat, drink or just warm up. It was noisy, fun and interesting.
Alla did not want to move to the writer's house, being wary of near-literary scandals and gossip. They received an apartment in another house, where they lived for quite a long time. That house was also full of guests and friends.
Robert and Alla had two daughters - Ekaterina and Ksenia. Ekaterina became a translator and famous photographer, Ksenia became a journalist.
How opposites attract
Alla Kireeva regretted that at one time she and Robert did not speak much, it was good for them to be silent together. She felt when one of the guests weighed him down, when something disturbed him, felt his slightest desires. It's amazing how such an understanding could arise between very different people - Robert was a kind, calm person, trying to see only good in people, while Alla, on the contrary, was reputed to be a rebel.
When Rozhdestvensky wanted to join the Communist Party, she spoke out sharply against and even threatened to divorce. Robert remained non-partisan, which did not prevent him from occupying a number of key posts in literary structures.
In some interviews, Alla Kireeva speaks about other poets of the sixties as a real critic. For example, she considers Bella Akhmadulina the most beautiful poetess of all times and peoples, but she did not see much talent behind this. Once she said that Akhmadulina was spoiled by her husbands, and no one just gave her a snow shovel in the pope in time.
She said about Yevgeny Yevtushenko that he was a great poet who deserved a monument, but there was a lot of rubbish among his poems. She considered Andrei Voznesensky a great master, noted that all his works were accurate and clean, but she considered him a bit chilly.
Interesting notes:
Whether Kireeva was a critic of her husband is unclear. But the fact that she was his Muse is beyond doubt. During the period when interest in the poetry of the sixties faded away, Rozhdestvensky wrote for himself and for her. One of the most lyrical songs of the Soviet stage, performed by Joseph Kobzon, "Nocturne", was dedicated to her:
Between you and me, the hum of nothingness
Star seas secret seas
How is my spring life now for you?
Tender my strange mine
In 1994, Robert Rozhdestvensky passed away. Alla Kireeva is convinced that he was knocked down by disappointment in everything he believed in. Rozhdestvensky was an absolutely Soviet person, he was proud of his country and firmly believed in communist ideals. For Alla Kireeva, the changes in the country did not become a collapse, she was always critical of the government and the Soviet system. It must be said that Alla Kireeva did not feel sympathy for the new government either. She has often criticized Putin in her interviews.
After the death of her husband, Alla Kireeva lived for another 21 years, brought up her grandchildren, at the age of 70 she became interested in painting. She passed away in May 2015.
Rozhdestvensky Robert Ivanovich is a man of remarkable talent. His work is imbued with strength, uniqueness and an amazing atmosphere. You immerse yourself in his poems, you want to read them and ... understand. They cannot be compared with the work of other famous poets - his style can only be that of Rozhdestvensky ...
Childhood and youth
Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose biography is today's topic, was born on June 20, 1932. The birthplace of the genius was an unremarkable Altai village in Kosikha, 65 km from the city of Barnaul. Robert Stanislavovich Petkevich (his father's surname) was named after the revolutionary Robert Robert Eiche.
Mom worked as a teacher and at the same time received a medical education. His father, a Pole by nationality, served in the NKVD.
However, the parents were married for a very short time, and when the future poet was 5 years old, they divorced. This, of course, hurt the child's psyche.
Most of the childhood memories of young Robert were preserved about Omsk, where his mother moved with her child after the divorce.
Heavy burden of war
The war soon broke out. Stanislav was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army, and his mother was taken as a medic. Little Robert remained in the care of his grandmother, who died before the end of the war. Robert remained in the care of his mother's sister. However, soon Vera Pavlovna, the mother of the future poet, assigned the boy to an orphanage while he was at the front. At first she wanted to take him to the front with her, registering as the son of a regiment, but on the way she changed this decision, as she was afraid for the boy's life. Robert remembers those times - letters from his parents, a flower bed with flowers under the school where potatoes were planted, the hope for the return of his family ... To escape from the hated orphanage, he and a friend entered a military school, but did not finish it.
His own father, Stanislav, died in 1945.
After the end of the war, Vera came for her son with her new husband. It turned out to be a fellow soldier of a woman with a poetic surname Rozhdestvensky, which was the best fit for Robert. The stepfather managed to replace his own father. Soon Vera gave birth to her husband's son Ivan.
The family moved frequently. Immediately after the end of the war, they settled in Konigsberg, later moved to Leningrad, and in 1948 decided to settle in Petrozavodsk, and later moved to Karelia. Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose biography as a young man was written by him with his own hand, mentions little about this period.
Student life of Rozhdestvensky
After leaving school, 18-year-old Robert tried to enter the Moscow Literary Institute, but failed in the exams. The poet himself, in his biography, admitted that having taken documents and a stack of poems with him, he enthusiastically went to the exams, but he was not accepted due to "creative failure". After rereading his poems years later, Robert admitted the correctness of these words - "it was a quiet horror!".
He studied for a year in Karelia, being actively involved in sports. At this point, Robert decided that poetry was not for him. However, the talent took its toll, and he again made an attempt to enter the coveted institute - and he did!
In 1956 the young poet graduated from the Moscow
During his studies, Robert himself writes that he did not have so many friends. The closest of them was the merry fellow Vladimir Morozov, a straightforward and talented man, but too sociable and inclined to drink. His life was tragically cut short only at the age of 25, when the life of the young poet was just beginning to improve ... Robert was then living in Chisinau.
The fate of Robert Rozhdestvensky was much more successful. This was facilitated not only by talent, but also decency, kindness, which were inherent in genius. There were many talented poets in the USSR, but there were only a few really good and talented people.
Marriage and family of the poet
At the institute, the poet and met his first and only wife, Alla Kireeva. The girl was reprimanded for smoking in an educational institution, the poet looked closely - and immediately fell in love! A literary critic by profession, Alla was happily married to Robert for 41 years. The woman says that the memories of past happiness echo in her heart with pain to this day. She recalls how quickly Robert became friends with her parents, especially his mother, who always sided with him when the spouses had disagreements.
According to the poet's widow, while studying at the institute, Robka was a somewhat detached and withdrawn person. He did not participate in literary circles formed by aspiring poets, and did not like to perform on stage.
Meanwhile, a certain detachment and mystery attracted girls to him. Alla recalls that she often heard from the students: "Girls, I fell in love with Rozhdestvensky!" Meanwhile, Alla herself was not impressed by the poet, although she immediately noticed his expressive eyes, gentle and attractive. For about a year, Alla met with Leonid, a student of the same Moscow Institute, and was never seen in Robert's company by her classmates. Friends recall that immediately after the end of the lectures, Lenya and Alla ran to each other from different ends of the corridor and walked for a long time, talking about something of their own.
No one could have thought that Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose personal life remained a secret, would suddenly marry Alla, once - and for the rest of his life!
Life-long love
The family life of Robert and Alla was filled with warmth and comfort, unquenchable love. They were so different - Alla is an excellent literary critic and a rather harsh person who loves to speak the truth in person. She expresses her beliefs with a strength and courage that must be admired. Robert, on the other hand, is a man of fine mental organization, calm. Nevertheless, they lived in a happy marriage for 41 years and never regretted their choice ... It was to his Alla that the poet dedicated love poems that formed the basis of the immortal songs that belong to the classics of the genre today. That only is his "Echo". The greatest thing that Robert Rozhdestvensky valued was his family.
In 1957, immediately after graduation, the couple had a daughter, Ekaterina, who is currently engaged in translation and the art of photography. Her collection of pictures with popular stars is known to everyone. The daughter of Robert Rozhdestvensky is married and has three children.
Ksenia was born in 1970. At the moment she is actively involved in journalism in the field of cinema and literature. Alla says that her daughter writes incredibly a lot and very well, but the woman often uses pseudonyms. Afraid to drop her name in case of unsuccessful publication.
Creativity and success
The poet Robert Rozhdestvensky has been writing since childhood. His first verse was dedicated to his own father and was called "With a rifle, my dad goes camping ..." and was published in a magazine. This was followed by the difficult war years. But Robert continued to write, thanks to his tutor he was again published in the newspaper, and even paid a fee - about 13 rubles. Then the inspired boy brought this money to the school and donated it to the Defense Fund.
Because of the work of his stepfather, whom Robert Rozhdestvensky calls his father in his biography, he often had to move. The young poet visited many cities, changed schools and surroundings. Continuing to write poetry, Robka did not send them anywhere, fearing rejection of publication, but he often read his creations at school evenings. It was only in 1950 that several of his poems, written by an adult, firm hand, were published in the newspaper At the Frontier.
Over the years of study at the institute, Rozhdestvensky accumulated many poems, which were published in 1955. The collection is called "Flags of Spring" and was published in Karelia. A year later, Robert's poem "My Love" is published.
The best songs of the USSR
In 1955, Rozhdestvensky's first song "Your Window" was also written in collaboration with the composer Alexander Flyarkovsky. In general, in the USSR he was a famous songwriter. Everyone knew and loved his works. Both lyric and military poems came out from the poet's pen, and the music for them was written by famous composers Saulsky, Tukhmanov, Babadzhanyan, Khrennikov and others. Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose biography contains hundreds of poems, literally gushed with ideas.
Along with such famous poets as Akhmadullina, Voznesensky, Yevtushenko, he wrote with talent and openness, but at the same time he had a unique feature of feeling the time. Robert wrote on topics relevant to the whole country, although the themes of his poems were different - war, politics, love. The works of Robert Rozhdestvensky sounded in such famous films as "Carnival", "17 Moments of Spring", "The Elusive Avengers". They were performed by the most famous people - Kobzon, Gverdtsiteli, Leshchenko, Anna German, Senchina.
Written by Robert Rozhdestvensky for children. These are funny and mischievous poems, simple, understandable to each of us who remember ourselves as a child.
Criticism and limitations
Despite his popularity and undoubted talent, in 1960, Robert wrote the verse "Morning", which was categorically disliked by the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Kapitonov, who called him "decadent."
"... a person dies in the end if he hides his illness ..."
After such unflattering criticism, Robert was no longer printed and invited to perform. He was very worried about these restrictions, which had a noticeable effect on his health. After Khrushchev's resignation, they were removed, but an unpleasant aftertaste remained. Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose poems breathe with talent, did not deserve such a fate.
Social activity of Rozhdestvensky
In 1972, Rozhdestvensky received the Lenin Komsomol Prize, and in 1978 he made a speech at the Central Committee of the CPSU. This act provoked a violent reaction from his wife, who was categorically against the party. Soon the poet himself became disillusioned with her.
His social activity is associated with an attempt to convey to people the work of Tsvetaeva, Mayakovsky and other talents. It was Rozhdestvensky who made the world see Vysotsky's collection "Nerve". Marina Vladi, the widow of a famous singer, then called Robert and thanked him for the fact that he was engaged in the collection, and not Yevtushenko or Voznesensky. Say, they did not consider her Volodya a real poet ...
Many believe that there was constant rivalry between old friends Voznesensky, Rozhdestvensky and Yevtushenko. Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose biography and character are best known to his wife, understood that each poet has his own style, his own capabilities. Timid, unlike Eugene and Andrei, never chased fame, - Alla is sure. Although it should be admitted that there was a rivalry between Yevtushenko and Rozhdestvensky, both poetic and human.
“Sometimes I think it’s good that Robka left so early and didn’t have time to be funny.”
"Please, live"
Robert lived for 62 years. In 1990, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which they undertook to operate in Paris. The work of Robert Rozhdestvensky helped him here as well. The terrible diagnosis did not break the poet. He wrote "Unsent Letter to the Surgeon" with surprising irony.
He underwent two difficult operations in France, but the doctors were still in no hurry to guarantee his recovery. And upon returning home, he developed peritonitis - he was hardly rescued.
Nevertheless, the poet lived for another 4 years and died of a heart attack in Moscow in 1994, in August. Buried at the cemetery in Peredelkino. All this time he was writing. Robert Rozhdestvensky died - the memory of him remained alive forever.
And his widow Alla Kireeva recalls that he repeatedly repeated to her the words: "Whatever happens, please live, live happily always."
And Alla lives. Lives thanks to children and grandchildren, who became their continuation with Timid ...
"How are you doing now,
my spring,
my tender
my strange? "
Robert Rozhdestvensky: the subtleties of creativity
Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose poems were especially popular and recognizable, wrote during the times of many talented people - these are Yevtushenko, Akhmadullina, and Tsybin, and Vysotsky, and many others - bright, distinctive, unique.
Initially, in the poetry of Rozhdestvensky, catchy manifestos can be traced, which helped to establish themselves in the memory and consciousness of readers. Young poetry in those years was filled with pathos in order to develop over time into something deeper and more touching.
"... Until dawn seventy-eight minutes.
And now,
Breathing on swollen fingers
Gasping for breath
Hurrying
Overtaking the dawn
Writes a song
The last song
Poet…"
A distinctive feature of the poetry of Robert Rozhdestvensky is contemporary problems that resonated in the soul of everyone who read these lines, be it a politician or a worker at a factory. The relevance of poetry is what made Robert so popular and beloved. Tracing his work in chronological order, one can notice the features of social life, its spiritual development, maturity. Together with his poems, the poet himself grew up. He grew spiritually, his poems became deeper and deeper.
In general, over time, youth poetry is replaced by something else. Poets begin to seek spiritual integrity and harmony within themselves. And this is reflected in their poems.
In addition, the memory of a war childhood bursts into the consciousness of the already matured Rozhdestvensky, dramatically intertwining with pressing problems. This served as the impetus for the formation of his lyrical hero - whole, passionate, loving life.
The work of Robert Rozhdestvensky also falls on the lyrics. A considerable part of his poetry is love lyrics, which he dedicated to his beloved wife. Each of his verses is saturated with tenderness, harmony, warmth. His hero here, remaining an integral personality, always comes to his beloved with difficulty, his words are filled with anxious expectation and passion. The search for love is the path of his whole life, the way of becoming his hero.
We all know who Robert Rozhdestvensky is. Interesting facts about him are known to few:
- In the film "I'm 20" Robert plays himself and reads his poems from the stage.
- In 2007, the poet's daughter and wife wrote the book "Identity Card" about him.
- Was awarded 4 prizes.
- Almost never needed money.
- He had a speech impediment, which made it very difficult to get to know his peers in new schools, whom he changed a lot because of his father's service.
- Traveled almost the whole world, believing that a poet should travel, learn everything new and write about it. It’s good, of course, to withdraw into yourself, Rozhdestvensky said, but a poet must travel the world.
- I missed my wife very much during my trips and wrote many poems for her.
These lines were written by Robert at the request of Tatiana Lioznova, the director of the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring". She asked to create something heartbreaking - and Robert did an excellent job. Several lines:
"... Moments are compressed into years,
Moments are compressed into centuries.
And I don't understand sometimes
where is the first moment
where is the last ... "
The life of Robert Rozhdestvensky, whose biography was reviewed today, is just an instant, like the life of each of us in an immense universe. However, this man left an immortal legacy not only to his relatives, but to all Russian-speaking peoples who still enjoy his work.
Biography
Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvensky (1932−1994), Russian poet, publicist. Born on June 20, 1932 in the village of Kosikha, Troitsky District, Altai Territory, in a military family, the childhood of the future poet was "wandering." After his parents left for the front, he was brought up in orphanages. Studied at Petrozavodsk University; graduated from the Literary Institute. M. Gorky (1956). He began to publish in 1950. In numerous collections ("Flags of Spring", 1955; "Test", 1956; "Drifting Avenue", 1959; "Coevals", "Uninhabited Islands", both 1962; "Radius of Action", 1965; "Son of Faith", 1966; Seriously, 1970; Radar of the Heart, 1971; The Voice of the City, It All Starts with Love, both 1977; This Time, 1983) and poems (My Love, 1955; Letter to the Thirtieth Century ", 1963;" Poem about different points of view ", 1967;" Before your arrival "," Poem of love ", 1968;" Dedication ", 1969;" 210 steps ", 1978, USSR State Prize, 1979; Waiting, 1982 ) showed himself as one of the representatives (along with E. A. Yevtushenko, A. A. Voznesensky, B. A. Akhmadulina and others), "young poetry" of the 1950-1960s, whose work was distinguished not only by sincerity and freshness poetic language, but also a pronounced civic consciousness, high pathetics, scale and contrast of the image, combined with a certain rationalism. Addressing current poetic topics (the struggle for peace, overcoming social injustice and national enmity, the lessons of World War II), the problems of space exploration, the beauty of human relations, moral and ethical obligations, the difficulties and joys of everyday life, foreign impressions, Rozhdestvensky with his energetic, with a pompous, "battle" letter, he continued the traditions of V.V. Mayakovsky.
Over the years, departing from his characteristic declarativeness and diversifying the rhythmic structure of verse, Rozhdestvensky, in an organic fusion of journalistic expressiveness and lyricism, created many texts of popular songs ("Peace", "Become what I want", Song of the elusive avengers from the movie "The Elusive Avengers", 1967, directed by G.P. Keosayan, "Undiscovered Islands", "Huge Sky", "Sweet Berry", "I Wish You", etc., including songs for performances and operettas "The Naked King", music T N. Khrennikova, "Charley's Aunt", music by OB Feltsman, "Niels's Journey with Wild Geese", music by V. Ya. Shainsky). The words of the poem "Requiem" were composed by D. B. Kabalevsky. He left a book of literary critical notes "The conversation will be about a song."
Rozhdestvensky Robert Ivanovich (real name - Petkevich) was born on 20.06.1932 in Altai in the village of Kosikha. His childhood in wartime was little different from others: cold, hunger, waiting for news from the front and fear for loved ones.
Robert entered the first year of the military music school, which he did not manage to finish, because the writer's stepfather was a military man, and his family had to move frequently. Rozhdestvensky lived in Konigsberg, then in Kaunas, then in Taganrog and even in Vienna. Robert finished his school education in Leningrad. In 1951 he entered the Moscow Literary Institute. There, in 1953, the writer met his future wife, Alla Kireeva.
Having gained popularity, Robert Ivanovich tried to travel the whole world, and he never needed financially: books sold quickly, evenings passed with filled halls. Rozhdestvensky headed the commission of Vladimir Vysotsky on literary heritage at the Writers' Union. In addition, the writer has worked in animation and fiction films and was a jury member at 26 and 32 film festivals in Cannes.
In 1970, the poet was awarded the Moscow Komsomol Prize, in 1972 - the Lenin Komsomol Prize, then, in 1979, Robert was awarded the State Prize.
In 1993, Robert Ivanovich signed with his like-minded people “a letter of 42 to Boris Yeltsin, where they demand the ban of nationalist and communist parties. Rozhdestvensky, already seriously ill, created "The Last Poems of Robert Rozhdestvensky", which was published after his death.
Robert Rozhdestvensky died of a heart attack in 1994 and is buried in the cemetery in Peredelkino.