The name of the writer Ivan Bunin is well known not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. Thanks to his own works, the first Russian laureate in the field of literature earned world fame during his lifetime! To better understand what guided this person when creating your unique masterpieces, you should study the biography of Ivan Bunin and his view on many things in life.

Brief biographical sketches from early childhood

The future great writer was born back in 1870, on October 22. Voronezh became his homeland. Bunin's family was not rich: his father became an impoverished landowner, so from early childhood little Vanya experienced many material deprivations.

The biography of Ivan Bunin is very unusual, and this was evident from the very early period of his life. Even in his childhood, he was very proud of the fact that he was born into a noble family. At the same time, Vanya tried not to focus on material difficulties.

As the biography of Ivan Bunin testifies, in 1881 he entered first grade. Ivan Alekseevich began his schooling at the Yeletsk gymnasium. However, due to the difficult financial situation of his parents, he was forced to quit school in 1886 and continue to learn the basics of science at home. It is thanks to homeschooling that young Vanya gets acquainted with the creativity of such famous writers, like Koltsov A.V. and Nikitin I.S.

Some of the beginnings of Bunin's career

Ivan Bunin began writing his very first poems at the age of 17. It was then that his creative debut took place, which turned out to be very successful. It is not for nothing that printed publications published the works of the young author. But it’s unlikely that their editors could have imagined then how stunning successes in the field of literature awaited Bunin in the future!

At the age of 19, Ivan Alekseevich moved to Orel and got a job at a newspaper with the eloquent name “Orlovskiy Vestnik”.

In 1903 and 1909, Ivan Bunin, whose biography is presented to the reader in the article, was awarded the Pushkin Prize. And on November 1, 1909, he was elected an honorary academician to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which specialized in refined literature.

Important events from your personal life

The personal life of Ivan Bunin is replete with many interesting moments, which you should pay attention to. In the life of the great writer there were 4 women for whom he had tender feelings. And each of them played a certain role in his fate! Let's pay attention to each of them:

1. Varvara Pashchenko - Ivan Alekseevich Bunin met her at the age of 19. This happened in the building of the editorial office of the Orlovsky Vestnik newspaper. But with Varvara, who was one year older than him, Ivan Alekseevich lived in a civil marriage. Difficulties in their relationship began due to the fact that Bunin simply could not provide her with the material standard of living that she was striving for. As a result of this, Varvara Pashchenko cheated on him with a wealthy landowner.
2. Anna Tsakni in 1898 became the legal wife of the famous Russian writer. He met her in Odessa while on vacation and was simply struck by her natural beauty. However, family life quickly cracked due to the fact that Anna Tsakni always dreamed of returning to her hometown - Odessa. Therefore, the entire life of Moscow was a burden for her, and she accused her husband of indifference to her and callousness.
3. Vera Muromtseva is the beloved woman of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, with whom he lived the longest - 46 years. They formalized their relationship only in 1922 - 16 years after they met. And Ivan Alekseevich met his future wife in 1906, during a literary evening. After the wedding, the writer and his wife moved to live in the southern part of France.
4. Galina Kuznetsova lived next to the writer’s wife, Vera Muromtseva, and was not at all embarrassed by this fact, just like Ivan Alekseevich’s wife herself. In total, she lived for 10 years in a French villa.

The writer's political views

The political views of many people had a significant influence on public opinion. Therefore, certain newspaper publications devoted a lot of time to them.

Even though Ivan Alekseevich had to mostly engage in his own creativity outside of Russia, he always loved his homeland and understood the meaning of the word “patriot.” However, belonging to any particular party was alien to Bunin. But in one of his interviews, the writer once said that the idea of ​​a social democratic system was closer to his spirit.

Personal life tragedy

In 1905, Ivan Alekseevich Bunin suffered a grave grief: his son Nikolai, whom Anna Tsakni gave birth to, died. This fact can definitely be attributed to the writer’s personal life tragedy. However, as follows from the biography, Ivan Bunin held firm, was able to endure the pain of loss and, despite such a sad event, give the whole world many literary “pearls”! What else is known about the life of the Russian classic?

Ivan Bunin: interesting facts from life

Bunin very much regretted that he graduated from only 4 classes of the gymnasium and could not receive a systematic education. But this fact did not at all prevent him from leaving a significant mark on the literary world.

Ivan Alekseevich had to stay in exile for a long period of time. And all this time he dreamed of returning to his homeland. Bunin cherished this dream virtually until his death, but it remained unfulfilled.

At the age of 17, when he wrote his first poem, Ivan Bunin tried to imitate his great predecessors - Pushkin and Lermontov. Perhaps their work had a great influence on the young writer and became an incentive to create his own works.

Nowadays, few people know that early childhood writer Ivan Bunin was poisoned by henbane. Then he was saved from certain death by his nanny, who gave little Vanya milk in time.

The writer tried to determine the appearance of a person by his limbs, as well as the back of his head.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin was passionate about collecting various boxes and bottles. At the same time, he fiercely protected all his “exhibits” for many years!

These and others Interesting Facts characterize Bunin as extraordinary personality, capable not only of realizing her talent in the field of literature, but also of taking an active part in many fields of activity.

Famous collections and works of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin

The largest works that Ivan Bunin managed to write in his life were the stories “Mitina’s Love”, “Village”, “Sukhodol”, as well as the novel “The Life of Arsenyev”. It was for the novel that Ivan Alekseevich was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Very interesting for the reader is the collection of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin “ Dark alleys" It contains stories that touch on the theme of love. The writer worked on them from 1937 to 1945, that is, precisely when he was in exile.

Samples of Ivan Bunin’s creativity, which are included in the collection “Cursed Days,” are also highly appreciated. It describes the revolutionary events of 1917 and the entire historical aspect that they carried within them.

Popular poems by Ivan Alekseevich Bunin

In each of his poems, Bunin clearly expressed certain thoughts. For example, in famous work“Childhood” the reader gets acquainted with the thoughts of a child regarding the world around him. A ten-year-old boy reflects on how majestic nature is around him and how small and insignificant he is in this universe.

In the poem “Night and Day” the poet masterfully describes different times day and emphasizes that everything is gradually changing in human life, and only God remains eternal.

Nature is interestingly described in the work “Rafts,” as well as the hard work of those who every day transport people to the opposite bank of the river.

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize was awarded to Ivan Bunin for the novel “The Life of Arsenyev” he wrote, which actually told about the life of the writer himself. Although this book was published in 1930, in which Ivan Alekseevich tried to “pour out his soul” and his feelings about certain life situations.

Officially, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Bunin on December 10, 1933 - that is, 3 years after its publication. famous novel. He received this honorary award from the hands of the Swedish king Gustav V himself.

It is noteworthy that for the first time in history, the Nobel Prize was awarded to a person who was officially in exile. Until this moment, not a single genius who became its owner had been in exile. Ivan Alekseevich Bunin became precisely this “pioneer”, whom the world literary community noted with such valuable encouragement.

In total, the Nobel Prize laureates received 715,000 francs in cash. It would seem a very impressive amount. But it was quickly squandered by the writer Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, as he provided financial assistance to Russian emigrants, who bombarded him with many different letters.

Death of a Writer

Death came to Ivan Bunin quite unexpectedly. His heart stopped while he was sleeping, and this sad event happened on November 8, 1953. It was on this day that Ivan Alekseevich was in Paris and could not even imagine his imminent death.

Bunin probably dreamed of living long and one day dying in native land, among his loved ones and large quantity friends. But fate decreed somewhat differently, as a result of which the writer spent most of his life in exile. However, thanks to his unsurpassed creativity, he virtually ensured immortality for his name. The literary masterpieces written by Bunin will be remembered by many generations of people. A creative personality like him gains worldwide fame and becomes a historical reflection of the era in which she created!

Ivan Bunin was buried in one of the cemeteries in France (Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois). So rich and interesting biography Ivan Bunin. What is his role in world literature?

The role of Bunin in world literature

We can safely say that Ivan Bunin (1870-1953) left a noticeable mark on world literature. Thanks to such virtues as ingenuity and verbal sensitivity, which the poet possessed, he was excellent at creating the most suitable literary images in his works.

By nature, Ivan Alekseevich Bunin was a realist, but despite this, he skillfully supplemented his stories with something fascinating and unusual. The uniqueness of Ivan Alekseevich lay in the fact that he did not consider himself to be a member of any well-known literary group or “trend” that was fundamental in its views.

All of Bunin’s best stories were dedicated to Russia and told about everything that connected the writer with it. Perhaps it was precisely because of these facts that Ivan Alekseevich’s stories were very popular among Russian readers.

Unfortunately, Bunin's work has not been fully studied by our contemporaries. Scientific research the writer's language and style are still to come. His influence on Russian literature of the 20th century has not yet been revealed, perhaps because, like Pushkin, Ivan Alekseevich is unique. There is a way out of this situation: turning again and again to Bunin’s texts, to documents, archives, and contemporaries’ memories of him.

He opened new horizons for the most demanding readers. He wrote skillfully fascinating stories and stories. He had a keen sense of literature and native language. Ivan Bunin is a writer, thanks to whom people looked at love differently.

On October 10, 1870, a boy, Vanya, was born in Voronezh. He grew up and was brought up in the family of a landowner in the Oryol and Tula provinces, who became impoverished because of his love for cards. However, despite this fact, aristocracy was felt in the writer for a reason, because his family roots lead us to the poetess A.P. Bunina and V.A. Zhukovsky’s father, A.I. Bunin. The Bunin family was a worthy representative noble families Russia.

Three years later, the boy’s family moved to an estate on the Butyrka farm in Oryol province. Many of Bunin’s childhood memories are associated with this place, which we can see between the lines in his stories. For example, in “Antonov Apples” he describes with love and reverence the family nests of relatives and friends.

Youth and education

In 1881, having successfully passed the exams, Bunin entered the Yelets Gymnasium. The boy showed interest in learning and was a very capable student, but this did not apply to the natural and exact sciences. In his letter to his older brother, he wrote that the mathematics exam was “the most terrible” for him. He did not graduate from high school, as he was expelled due to absence from the holidays. He continued his studies with his brother Julius at his parental estate Ozerki, with whom he later became very close. Knowing the child’s preferences, the relatives focused on the humanities.

His first literary works date back to this period. At 15 young writer creates the novel “Passion”, but it is not published anywhere. The first published poem was “Over the grave of S. Ya. Nadson” in the magazine “Rodina” (1887).

Creative path

This is where the period of Ivan Bunin’s wanderings begins. Beginning in 1889, he worked for 3 years in the Orlovsky Vestnik magazine, which published his short literary works and articles. Later he moves to his brother in Kharkov, where he gets him a job in the provincial government as a librarian.

In 1894 he went to Moscow, where he met Leo Tolstoy. As mentioned earlier, the poet already then subtly senses the surrounding reality, therefore in the stories “ Antonov apples”, “New Road” and “Epitaph”, nostalgia for the bygone era will be so keenly traced and dissatisfaction with the urban environment will be felt.

1891 is the year of publication of Bunin’s first collection of poems, in which the reader first encounters the theme of the bitterness and sweetness of love, which permeates the works dedicated to the unhappy love for Paschenko.

In 1897, a second book appeared in St. Petersburg - “To the End of the World and Other Stories.”

Ivan Bunin also distinguished himself as a translator of works by Alcaeus, Saadi, Francesco Petrarch, Adam Mickiewicz and George Byron.

The writer's hard work yielded results. In Moscow in 1898, the poetry collection “Under open air" In 1900, a collection of poems “Falling Leaves” was published. In 1903, Bunin was awarded the Pushkin Prize, which he received from the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Every year the talented writer enriched literature more and more. 1915 is the year of his creative success. His most famous works were published: “Mr. from San Francisco”, “ Easy breath", "Chang's Dreams" and "The Grammar of Love". The dramatic events in the country greatly inspired the master.

He turned a new page in his book of life after moving to Constantinople in the 1920s. Later he ends up in Paris as a political emigrant. He did not accept the coup and condemned the new government with all his heart. The most significant novel created during the period of emigration is “The Life of Arsenyev.” For it the author received Nobel Prize in 1933 (the first for a Russian writer). This is a grandiose event in our history and a big step forward for Russian literature.

During the Second World War, the writer lives very poorly in the Villa Janet. His work abroad does not find the same response as at home, and the author himself suffers from longing for his native land. Last thing literary work Bunin is published in 1952.

Personal life

1. The first was Varvara Pashchenko. This love story cannot be called happy. At first, the obstacle to their relationship was the young lady’s parents, who were categorically against their daughter’s marriage to a failed young man, who was also a year younger than her. Then the writer himself became convinced of the dissimilarity of the characters. As a result, Pashchenko married a wealthy landowner, with whom she had a close relationship secret from Bunin. The author dedicated poetry to this gap.
2. In 1898, Ivan married the daughter of the migrant revolutionary A. N. Tsakni. It was she who became a “sunstroke” for the writer. However, the marriage did not last long at all, since the Greek woman did not experience the same strong attraction to her husband.
3. His third muse was his second wife, Vera Muromtseva. This woman truly became Ivan’s guardian angel. Just as after the wreck of a ship during a storm there is a calm lull, so Vera appeared at the most necessary moment for Bunin. They lived in marriage for 46 years.
4. But everything was going smoothly only until Ivan Alekseevich brought his student, the aspiring writer Galina Kuznetsova, into the house. It was a fatal love - both were not free, both were separated by a gap in age (she was 26, and he was 56 years old). Galina left her husband for him, but Bunin was not ready to do the same with Vera. So the three of them lived together for 10 years until Marga appeared. Bunin was in despair: his second wife was taken away by another woman. This event was a big blow for him.

Death

In the last years of his life, Bunin became nostalgic for Russia and really wanted to go back. But his plans never came to fruition. November 8, 1953 - the date of death of the great writer Silver Age, Ivan Bunin.

He made a huge contribution to the development literary creativity in Russia, became a symbol of Russian emigrant prose of the 20th century.

If you missed anything in this article, write in the comments and we’ll add it.

Publications in the Literature section

“Russia lived in him, he was Russia”

On October 22, 1870, the writer and poet Ivan Bunin was born. The last pre-revolutionary Russian classic and the first Russian Nobel laureate in literature he was distinguished by his independence of judgment and, in the apt expression of Georgy Adamovich, “he saw right through people, he unmistakably guessed what they would prefer to hide.”

About Ivan Bunin

"I was born October 10, 1870(all dates in the quote are indicated in the old style. - Editor's note) in Voronezh. He spent his childhood and early youth in the village, and began writing and publishing early. Quite soon, criticism also paid attention to me. Then my books were awarded three times with the highest award of the Russian Academy of Sciences - the Pushkin Prize. However, I was not more or less widely known for a long time, because I did not belong to any literary school. In addition, I did not move much in the literary environment, lived a lot in the village, traveled a lot in Russia and outside Russia: in Italy, Turkey, Greece, Palestine, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, in the tropics.

My popularity began from the time I published my “Village”. This was the beginning of a whole series of my works, which sharply depicted the Russian soul, its light and dark, often tragic foundations. In Russian criticism and among the Russian intelligentsia, where, due to ignorance of the people or political considerations, the people were almost always idealized, these “merciless” works of mine evoked passionate, hostile responses. During these years, I felt my literary strength becoming stronger every day. But then war broke out, and then revolution. I was not one of those who was taken by surprise by it, for whom its size and atrocities were a surprise, but still the reality exceeded all my expectations: no one who did not see it will understand what the Russian revolution soon turned into. This spectacle was sheer horror for anyone who had not lost the image and likeness of God, and from Russia, after Lenin seized power, hundreds of thousands of people who had the slightest opportunity to escape fled. I left Moscow on May 21, 1918, lived in the south of Russia, which passed from hand to hand between whites and reds, and on January 26, 1920, having drunk the cup of unspeakable mental suffering, I emigrated first to the Balkans, then to France. In France, I lived for the first time in Paris, and in the summer of 1923 I moved to the Alpes-Maritimes, returning to Paris only for some winter months.

In 1933 he received the Nobel Prize. While in exile, I wrote ten new books.”

Ivan Bunin wrote about himself in “Autobiographical Notes”.

When Bunin came to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize, it turned out that all passers-by knew his face: photographs of the writer were published in every newspaper, in store windows, on the cinema screen. Seeing the great Russian writer, the Swedes looked around, and Ivan Alekseevich pulled his lambskin cap over his eyes and grumbled: "What's happened? A perfect success for the tenor".

“For the first time since the establishment of the Nobel Prize, you awarded it to an exile. For who am I? An exile enjoying the hospitality of France, to which I, too, will forever remain grateful. Gentlemen of the Academy, allow me, leaving aside myself and my works, to tell you how wonderful your gesture is in itself. There must be areas of complete independence in the world. Undoubtedly, around this table there are representatives of all kinds of opinions, all kinds of philosophical and religious beliefs. But there is something unshakable that unites us all: freedom of thought and conscience, something to which we owe civilization. For a writer, this freedom is especially necessary - for him it is a dogma, an axiom.”

From Bunin's speech at the Nobel Prize ceremony

However, his feeling for his homeland and the Russian language was enormous and he carried it throughout his life. “We took Russia, our Russian nature with us, and wherever we are, we cannot help but feel it”, - Ivan Alekseevich said about himself and about millions of the same forced emigrants who left their fatherland during the turbulent revolutionary years.

“Bunin did not have to live in Russia to write about it: Russia lived in him, he was Russia.”

Writer's secretary Andrey Sedykh

In 1936, Bunin went on a trip to Germany. In Lindau, he first encountered the fascist order: he was arrested and subjected to an unceremonious and humiliating search. In October 1939, Bunin settled in Grasse at the Villa Jeannette, where he lived throughout the war. Here he wrote his “Dark Alleys”. However, under the Germans he did not publish anything, although he lived in great poverty and hunger. He treated the conquerors with hatred and sincerely rejoiced at the victories of the Soviet and allied troops. In 1945 he moved permanently from Grasse to Paris. Last years I was sick a lot.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin died in his sleep on the night of November 7–8, 1953 in Paris. He was buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

“I was born too late. If I had been born earlier, my writing memories would not have been like this. I wouldn’t have to go through... 1905, then the First world war, followed by the 17th year and its continuation, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler... How not to envy our forefather Noah! Only one flood befell him..."

I.A. Bunin. Memories. Paris. 1950

“Start reading Bunin - be it “Dark Alleys”, “Easy Breathing”, “The Cup of Life”, “ Clean Monday", "Antonov's Apples", "Mitya's Love", "The Life of Arsenyev", and you will immediately be captured and enchanted by the unique Bunin Russia with all its charming signs: ancient churches, monasteries, bell ringing, village graveyards, ruined "noble nests", with its rich colorful language, sayings, jokes, which you will not find either in Chekhov or Turgenev. But that’s not all: no one has so convincingly, so psychologically accurately and at the same time laconicly described the main feeling of a person - love. Bunin was endowed with a very special property: vigilance of observation. With amazing accuracy he could draw psychological picture any person seen, give a brilliant description of natural phenomena, changes in moods and changes in the lives of people, plants and animals. We can say that he wrote on the basis of keen vision, sensitive hearing and keen sense of smell. And nothing escaped him. His memory of a wanderer (he loved to travel!) absorbed everything: people, conversations, speech, colors, noise, smells.”, - literary critic Zinaida Partis wrote in her article “Invitation to Bunin”.

Bunin in quotes

“God gives each of us, along with life, this or that talent and entrusts us with the sacred duty not to bury it in the ground. Why, why? We don't know. But we must know that everything in this world, incomprehensible to us, must certainly have some meaning, some high God’s intention, aimed at ensuring that everything in this world “is good,” and that the diligent fulfillment of this God’s intention is Our service to him is always ours, and therefore joy and pride...”

Story "Bernard" (1952)

“Yes, from year to year, from day to day, you secretly expect only one thing - a happy love meeting, you live, in essence, only in the hope of this meeting - and all in vain...”

The story “In Paris”, collection “Dark Alleys” (1943)

“And he felt such pain and such uselessness of his entire future life without her that he was overcome by horror and despair.”
“The room without her seemed somehow completely different than it was with her. He was still full of her - and empty. It was strange! There was still the smell of her good English cologne, her unfinished cup was still standing on the tray, but she was no longer there... And the lieutenant’s heart suddenly sank with such tenderness that the lieutenant hurried to light a cigarette and walked back and forth around the room several times.”

Short story "Sunstroke" (1925)

“Life is, undoubtedly, love, kindness, and a decrease in love, kindness is always a decrease in life, there is already death.”

Short story "The Blind Man" (1924)

“You wake up and lie in bed for a long time. There is silence throughout the whole house. You can hear the gardener carefully walking through the rooms, lighting the stoves, and the firewood crackling and shooting. Ahead lies a whole day of peace in the already silent, winter-like estate. Slowly get dressed, wander around the garden, find a cold and wet apple accidentally forgotten in the wet leaves, and for some reason it will seem unusually tasty, not at all like the others. Then you’ll get down to reading books—grandfather’s books in thick leather bindings, with gold stars on morocco spines. These books, similar to church breviaries, smell wonderful with their yellowed, thick, rough paper! Some kind of pleasant sourish mold, old perfume..."

The story “Antonov Apples” (1900)

“What an old Russian disease this is, this languor, this boredom, this spoiledness - the eternal hope that some frog will come with a magic ring and do everything for you: you just have to go out onto the porch and throw the ring from hand to hand!”
“Our children, our grandchildren will not be able to even imagine the Russia in which we once (that is, yesterday) lived, which we did not appreciate, did not understand - all this power, complexity, wealth, happiness...”
“I walked and thought, or rather, felt: even if now I managed to escape somewhere, to Italy, for example, to France, everywhere it would be disgusting - the man was disgusted! Life made him feel so keenly, look at him so keenly and carefully, his soul, his vile body. What our former eyes - how little they saw, even mine!

Collection “Cursed Days” (1926–1936)

"After a century he says
The poet - and his syllable rings -
Autumn painted in crimson.
And the cemetery sleeps sadly,
Where in a foreign land does he lie?
And he looks sadly from above..."
From a poem by Tamara Khanzhina in memory of Bunin

Biography

An amazing fact, but this talented, brilliant, educated and sophisticated man did not receive a good education in his youth. Most of the knowledge and interest in literature, philosophy and psychology was instilled in Ivan Bunin by his older brother, who graduated with honors from the university and worked a lot with the boy. Perhaps it was thanks to his brother Yuli that Bunin was able to discover his literary talent.

Bunin's biography can be read like a novel with an exciting plot. All his life, Bunin changed cities, countries and, which is no secret, women. One thing remained constant - his passion for literature. He published his first poem at the age of 16 and already at 25 he shone in the literary circles of both capitals of Russia. Bunin's first wife was the Greek Anna Tsakni, but this marriage did not last long, Bunin's only son died at the age of five, and after a while the writer met the main woman in his life - Vera Muromtseva. It was with her, who later became Bunin’s official wife, that the writer emigrated to France, failing to accept Bolshevik power.

While living in France, Bunin continued to write, there he created his best works. But he did not stop thinking about Russia, yearning for it, grieving his abdication. However, these experiences only benefited his work; it is not without reason that Bunin’s stories, poems and short stories are today considered the golden heritage of Russian literature. For the skill with which he developed the traditions of Russian classical prose, eighty-year-old Bunin was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature - the first Russian writer. During all the years of emigration, Bunin had his wife, Vera, by his side, who steadfastly endured both her husband’s difficult character and his hobbies on the side. Until the very last day she remained his faithful friend, and not just his wife.

While in France, Bunin constantly thought about returning to Russia. But seeing what happens to his compatriots who believed in the benevolence Soviet government and returning home, the writer abandoned this idea year after year. Bunin's death occurred in the 84th year of his life in his modest apartment in Paris. The cause of Bunin's death, according to the doctor's conclusion, was a whole bunch of diseases - heart failure, cardiac asthma and pulmonary sclerosis. Bunin's funeral service took place in a Russian church in Paris, then the body was placed in a zinc coffin in a temporary crypt - Bunin's wife hoped that she would still be able to bury her husband in Russia. But, alas, this was not allowed to happen, and on January 30, 1954, Bunin’s funeral took place with the transfer of his coffin from the temporary crypt. Bunin's grave is located in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris.

Bunin's wives - first wife Anna (left) and second wife Vera (right)

Life line

October 10, 1870 Date of birth of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin.
1881 Admission to Yelets Gymnasium.
1892 Moving to Poltava, working in the newspapers “Poltava Provincial Gazette”, “Kievlyanin”.
1895 Success in the literary society of Moscow and St. Petersburg, acquaintance with Chekhov.
1898 Marriage to Anna Tsakni.
1900 Parting with Tsakni, trip to Europe.
1901 Release of Bunin's collection of poems "Falling Leaves".
1903 Awarding Bunin the Pushkin Prize.
1906 The beginning of a relationship with Vera Muromtseva.
1909 Awarding Bunin the Pushkin Prize, election as an honorary academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in the category of fine literature.
1915 Publication of Bunin's complete works in the supplement to the Niva magazine.
1918 Moving to Odessa.
1920 Emigration to France, to Paris.
1922 Official marriage with Vera Muromtseva.
1924 Writing Bunin's story "Mitya's Love".
1933 Awarding Bunin the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1934-1936 Publication of Bunin's collected works in Berlin.
1939 Transfer to Grasse.
1945 Return to Paris.
1953 Completion of Bunin's collection of stories "Dark Alleys".
November 8, 1953 Date of death of Bunin.
November 12, 1953 Funeral service, placing the body in a temporary crypt.
January 30, 1954 Bunin's funeral (reburial).

Memorable places

1. The village of Ozerki, the former estate of the Bunins, where the writer spent his childhood.
2. Bunin’s house in Voronezh, where he was born and lived the first three years of his life.
3. Bunin Literary and Memorial Museum in Yelets, in the house where Bunin lived as a high school student.
4. Bunin House-Museum in Efremov, where Bunin periodically lived and worked in 1906-1910. and on which a memorial plaque in memory of Bunin is installed.
5. St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, of which Bunin was elected honorary academician.
6. Bunin’s house in Odessa, where Bunin and Muromtseva lived in 1918-1920. before his departure to France.
7. Bunin’s house in Paris, where he lived periodically from 1922 to 1953. and where he died.
8. Bunin’s house in Grasse, Villa “Jeanette”, at the entrance to which there is a memorial plaque in memory of Bunin.
9. Bunin’s house in Grasse, Villa Belvedere.
10. Monument to Bunin in Moscow.
11. Monument to Bunin in Orel.
12. Monument to Bunin in Voronezh.
13. Cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, where Bunin is buried.

Episodes of life

Bunin had not only literary, but also acting talent. He had very rich facial expressions, he moved and danced well, and was an excellent rider. It is known that Konstantin Stanislavsky himself invited Bunin to play the role of Hamlet in the theater, but he refused.

The last years of his life, Ivan Bunin lived practically in poverty. The writer immediately spent the money that he received as a Nobel laureate on parties and receptions, helping emigrants, and then unsuccessfully invested in some business and completely went bankrupt.

It is known that Ivan Bunin, like many writers, kept a diary. He made his last entry on May 2, 1953, a few months before his death, which he apparently already foresaw due to deteriorating health: “This is still amazing to the point of tetanus! In some, very short time, I will be gone - and the affairs and fates of everything, everything will be unknown to me!”

Covenant

“What a joy it is to exist! Just to see, at least to see only this smoke and this light. If I had no arms and legs and I could only sit on a bench and look at the setting sun, then I would be happy with it. You only need one thing - to see and breathe.”

Documentary, dedicated to Ivan Bunin, from the series “Geniuses and Villains”

Condolences

“Tsar Ivan was a great mountain!”
Don Aminado (Aminodav Peysakhovich Shpolyansky), satirist poet

“He was an extraordinary writer. And he was an extraordinary man."
Mark Aldanov, prose writer, publicist

“Bunin is a rare phenomenon. In our literature, in language, this is the peak above which no one can rise.”
Sergei Voronin, novelist

“All his life Bunin waited for happiness, wrote about human happiness, looked for ways to it. He found it in his poetry, prose, in his love for life and for his homeland and said great words that happiness is given only to those who know. Bunin lived a complex, sometimes contradictory life. He saw a lot, knew a lot, loved and hated a lot, worked a lot, sometimes made cruel mistakes, but all his life his greatest, most tender, unchanging love was his native country, Russia.”
Konstantin Paustovsky, writer

Ivan Bunin was born into a poor noble family on October 10 (22), 1870. Then, in Bunin’s biography, he moved to an estate in the Oryol province near the city of Yelets. Bunin spent his childhood in this very place, among the natural beauty of the fields.

Bunin's primary education was received at home. Then, in 1881, the young poet entered the Yelets gymnasium. However, without finishing it, he returned home in 1886. Further education Ivan Alekseevich Bunin received thanks to his older brother Yuli, who graduated from the university with honors.

Literary activity

Bunin's poems were first published in 1888. The following year, Bunin moved to Orel, starting to work as a proofreader in a local newspaper. Bunin's poetry, collected in a collection called "Poems", became the first book published. Soon Bunin's work gained fame. Bunin's following poems were published in the collections "Under the Open Air" (1898), "Leaf Fall" (1901).

Dating with greatest writers(Gorky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, etc.) leaves a significant imprint on Bunin’s life and work. Bunin's stories "Antonov Apples" and "Pines" are published.

The writer in 1909 became an honorary academician of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Bunin reacted rather harshly to the ideas of the revolution, and left Russia forever.

Life in exile and death

The biography of Ivan Alekseevich Bunin almost entirely consists of moves and travels (Europe, Asia, Africa). In exile, Bunin continues to actively study literary activity, writes his best works: “Mitya’s Love” (1924), “Sunstroke” (1925), as well as the main novel in the writer’s life, “The Life of Arsenyev” (1927-1929, 1933), which brought Bunin the Nobel Prize in 1933 . In 1944, Ivan Alekseevich wrote the story “Clean Monday”.

Before his death, the writer was often ill, but at the same time he did not stop working and creating. In the last few months of his life, Bunin was busy working on a literary portrait of A.P. Chekhov, but the work remained unfinished

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin died on November 8, 1953. He was buried in the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois cemetery in Paris.

Chronological table

Other biography options

• Having only 4 classes at the gymnasium, Bunin regretted all his life that he did not receive a systematic education. However, this did not prevent him from receiving the Pushkin Prize twice. The writer's older brother helped Ivan study languages ​​and sciences, going through the entire gymnasium course with him at home.
• Bunin wrote his first poems at the age of 17, imitating Pushkin and Lermontov, whose work he admired.
• Bunin was the first Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• The writer had no luck with women. His first love, Varvara, never became Bunin’s wife. Bunin's first marriage also did not bring him happiness. His chosen one Anna Tsakni did not respond to his love deep feelings and was not at all interested in his life. The second wife, Vera, left because of infidelity, but later forgave Bunin and returned.
• Bunin long years spent in exile, but always dreamed of returning to Russia. Unfortunately, the writer did not manage to accomplish this before his death.
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