Portrait of Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский) (July 19 [O.S. July 7] 1893 – April 14, 1930) was a Russian poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism. portrait Vladimir Mayakovski, PD, German Wikipedia This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... portrait Vladimir Mayakovski, PD, German Wikipedia This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... is the 200th day of the year (201st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Old Style redirects here. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 104th day of the year (105th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... El Lissitzkys poster for a post-revolutionary production of the Victory Over the Sun. ...

Early life

He was born the last of three children in Baghdati, Georgia where his father worked as a forest ranger. His father was of Cossack and Russian descent while his mother was of Ukrainian descent. Although Mayakovsky spoke Georgian at school and with friends, his family spoke primarily Russian at home. At the age of 14 Mayakovsky took part in socialist demonstrations at the town of Kutaisi, where he attended the local grammar school. After the sudden and premature death of his father in 1906, the family — Mayakovsky, his mother, and his two sisters — moved to Moscow, where he attended School No. 5. Baghdati is a town of 31,000 people in the Imereti region of western Georgia, at the edge of the Ajameti forest. ... A Park Ranger is a person hired to protect and guard parkland, forests (then called Forest Rangers), or other rural or wilderness areas. ... For other uses, see Cossack (disambiguation). ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Kutaisi (Georgian: ; ancient names: Aea/Aia, Kutatisi, Kutaïssi ) is Georgias second largest city in the western province of Imereti. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ...

In Moscow, Mayakovsky developed a passion for Marxist literature and took part in numerous activities of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party; he was to later become an RSDLP (Bolshevik) member. In 1908, he was dismissed from the Grammar School because his mother was no longer able to afford the tuition fees. Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... The Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, or RSDLP (Росси́йская Социа́л-Демократи́ческая Рабо́чая Па́ртия = РСДРП), also known as the Russian Social-Democratic Workers Party and the Russian Social-Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party. ... For other uses, see Bolshevik (disambiguation). ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Around this time, Mayakovsky was imprisoned on three occasions for subversive political activities, but being underage, he avoided transportation. During a period of solitary confinement in Butyrka prison in 1909, he began to write poetry, but his poems were confiscated. On his release from prison, he continued working within the socialist movement, and in 1911 he joined the Moscow Art School where he became acquainted with members of the Russian Futurist movement. He became a leading spokesman for the group Gileas (Гилея), and a close friend of David Burlyuk, whom he saw as his mentor. Butyrka prison (Russian: Бутырская тюрьма, Butyrka Бутырка is a colloquial term) was the central transit prison in pre-revolutionary Russia, located in Moscow. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... School of painting, sculpturing and architecture - the Moscow school of painting, sculpturing and the architecture, the largest alongside with St. ... Futurism was a 20th century art movement. ... David Burliuk Revolution, 1917 David or Davyd Burliuk (July 21, 1882–January 15, 1967) was a Ukrainian avant-garde artist (Futurist, Neo-Primitivist), book illustrator, publicist, and author associated with Russian Futurism. ...

Literary life

The 1912 Futurist publication, A Slap in the Face of Public Taste (Пощёчина общественному вкусу) contained Mayakovsky's first published poems: "Night" (Ночь), and "Morning" (Утро). Because of their political activities, Burlyuk and Mayakovsky were expelled from the Moscow Art School in 1914. Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Image from Mayakovsky's Как делать стихи ("How To Make Poetry").

His work continued in the Futurist vein until 1914. His artistic development then shifted increasingly in the direction of narrative and it was this work, published during the period immediately preceding the Russian Revolution, which was to establish his reputation as a poet in Russia and abroad. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1748x447, 4 KB) Summary en: Picture from Vladimir Mayakovskys essay How to make poetry. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1748x447, 4 KB) Summary en: Picture from Vladimir Mayakovskys essay How to make poetry. ... The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ...

A Cloud in Trousers (1915) was Mayakovsky's first major poem of appreciable length and it depicted the heated subjects of love, revolution, religion, and art written from the vantage point of a spurned lover. The language of the work was the language of the streets, and Mayakovsky went to considerable lengths to debunk idealistic and romanticised notions of poetry and poets.

(From the prologue of A Cloud in Trousers.)

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik

In the summer of 1915, Mayakovsky fell in love with a married woman, Lilya Brik, and it is to her that the poem "The Backbone Flute" (1916) was dedicated; unfortunately for Mayakovsky, she was the wife of his publisher, Osip Brik. The love affair, as well as his impressions of war and revolution, strongly influenced his works of these years. The poem "War and the World" (1916) addressed the horrors of WWI and "Man" (1917) is a poem dealing with the anguish of love. Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik File links The following pages link to this file: Vladimir Mayakovsky Lilya Brik User:Humus sapiens/contribs Categories: Pre-1973 Soviet Union images ... Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik File links The following pages link to this file: Vladimir Mayakovsky Lilya Brik User:Humus sapiens/contribs Categories: Pre-1973 Soviet Union images ... Lilya Brik Lilya Yurevna Brik (alternatively spelled Lili or Lily, Russian: Лиля Юрьевна Брик; 1891 - August 4, 1978) was wife of Osip Brik, muse of Vladimir Mayakovsky and a sister of Elsa Triolet. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

Mayakovsky was rejected as a volunteer at the beginning of WWI, and during 1915-1917 worked at the Petrograd Military Automobile School as a draftsman. At the onset of the Russian Revolution, Mayakovsky was in Smolny, Petrograd. There he witnessed the October Revolution. He started reciting poems such as "Left March! For the Red Marines: 1918" (Левый марш (Матросам), 1918) at naval theatres, with sailors as an audience. Year 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday[1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ... For other uses, see October Revolution (disambiguation). ...

Agitprop poster by Mayakovsky

After moving back to Moscow, Mayakovsky worked for the Russian State Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) creating — both graphic and text — satirical Agitprop posters. In 1919, he published his first collection of poems Collected Works 1909-1919 (Все сочиненное Владимиром Маяковским). In the cultural climate of the early Soviet Union, his popularity grew rapidly. During 1922-1928, Mayakovsky was a prominent member of the Left Art Front and went on to define his work as 'Communist futurism' (комфут). He edited, along with Sergei Tretyakov and Osip Brik, the journal LEF. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Rosta or Rustah (in Persian: رسته) was the name of a district in Isfahan area in Iran attested in historical sources. ... Agitprop poster by Vladimir Mayakovsky. ... Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov (Riga, 1892 – September 10, 1937) was a Russian constructivist writer, playwright and special correspondent for Pravda. ... An issue of Novyi LEF designed by Rodchenko, 1928 LEF (ЛЕФ) was the journal of the Left Front of the Arts, a widely ranging association of avant-garde writers, photographers, critics and designers in the Soviet Union. ...

As one of the few Soviet writers who were allowed to travel freely, his voyages to Latvia, Britain, Germany, the United States, Mexico and Cuba influenced works like My Discovery of America (Мое открытие Америки, 1925). He also travelled extensively throughout the Soviet Union.

On a lecture tour in the United States, Mayakovsky met Elli Jones, who later gave birth to his daughter, an event which Mayakovsky only came to know in 1929, when the couple met clandestinely in the south of France, as the relationship was kept secret. In the late 1920s, Mayakovsky fell in love with Tatiana Yakovleva and to her he dedicated the poem "A Letter to Tatiana Yakovleva" (Письмо Татьяне Яковлевой, 1928).

Mayakovsky

The relevance of Mayakovsky cannot be limited to Soviet poetry. While over years, he was considered the Soviet poet par excellence, he also changed the perceptions of poetry in wider 20th Century culture. His political activism as a propagandistic agitator was rarely understood and often looked upon unfavourably by contemporaries, even close friends like Boris Pasternak. Near the end of the 1920s, Mayakovsky became increasingly disillusioned with Communism, his satirical plays The Bedbug (Клоп, 1929) and The Bathhouse (Баня, 1930), dealing with the Soviet philistinism and bureaucracy, illustrates this development. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as involvement in action to bring about change, be it social, political, environmental, or other change. ... 1967 Chinese propaganda poster from the Cultural Revolution. ... Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Russian: ) (February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1890 – May 30, 1960) was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer, in the West best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago. ... This article is about the form of society and political movement. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

On the evening of April 14, 1930, Mayakovsky shot himself. The unfinished poem in his suicide note read, in part: is the 104th day of the year (105th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The love boat has crashed against the daily routine. You and I, we are quits, and there is no point in listing mutual pains, sorrows, and hurts.

Mayakovsky was interred at the Moscow Novodevichy Cemetery. Grave of Anton Chekhov Novodevichy Cemetery (Новодевичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia, situated next to the World Heritage Site, the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the citys third most popular tourist site. ...

Mayakovsky's grave at Novodevichy

In 1930, his birthplace of Bagdadi in Georgia was renamed Mayakovsky in his honour. Following Stalin's death, rumours arose that Mayakovsky did not commit suicide but was in fact murdered at the behest of Stalin, however, there is no evidence that he was murdered. During the 1990s, while KGB files were being declassified, there was hope that new evidence would come to light on this question, but none has been found and the hypothesis remains unproven. Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... This article is about the KGB of the Soviet Union. ...

After his death, Mayakovsky was attacked in the Soviet press as a "formalist" and a "fellow-traveller" (попутчик) (as opposed to officially recognised "proletarian poets", such as Demyan Bedny). When, in 1935, Lilya Brik wrote to Stalin about this, Stalin wrote a comment on Brik's letter: Demyan Bedny, (Russian: Демьян Бедный) (1883-1945) was a Soviet poet, Bolshevik, satirist. ...

"Comrade Yezhov, please take charge of Brik's letter. Mayakovsky is still the best and the most talented poet of our Soviet epoch. Indifference to his cultural heritage is a crime. Brik's complaints are, in my opinion, justified..." (Source: Memoirs by Vasily Katanyan (L.Yu.Brik's stepson) p.112) Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (Russian: ; May 1, 1895 – February 4, 1940) was a senior figure in the NKVD (the Soviet secret police) during the period of the Great Purge. ...

These words became a cliché and officially canonized Mayakovsky but, as Boris Pasternak noted [1], it "dealt him the second death" in some circles. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Russian: ) (February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1890 – May 30, 1960) was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer, in the West best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago. ...

Poetically, Mayakovsky had no followers among Russian poets, his style was never properly analysed or further developed. Mayakovsky, however, was the most influential futurist in Lithuania and his poetry helped to form The Four Winds movement [2]. He was also an influence on the writer Valentin Kataev. Keturi vėjai (The Four Winds) - Lithuanian literary movement and literary journal (1924 - 1928). ... Katayev, Valentin (Petrovich) (Russian: Валентин Катаев) (b. ...

The well-known phrase "Lenin lives, lived and will live" come from his elegy "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin".

Statue of Mayakovsky in Vologda

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (804 × 1071 pixel, file size: 344 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Statue of Mayakovsky in Vologda. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (804 × 1071 pixel, file size: 344 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Statue of Mayakovsky in Vologda. ... St. ...

External links

• Biography
• State Museum of Mayakovsky in Moscow (Russian/English)
• Audio introduction, in English, to Mayakovsky's poems. Includes links.
• Between Agitation and Animation: Activism and Participation in Twentieth Century Art by Stella Rollig
• Unusual music project to 75 Anniversary of Mayakovsky Death: more than 100 new songs with Mayakovsky Lyrics (russian language)
• Vladimir Mayakovsky's Gravesite
• "Banya" ("The Bath"): Mayakovsky and Meyerhold)
• Meyerhold & Mayakovsky - Biomechanics & the Communist Utopia
• The 'raging bull' of Russian poetry article by Dalia Karpel at Haaretz.com, published on-line July 5, 2007
• Archival film edited by Copernicus Films

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Vladimir Mayakovsky

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References

• Mayakovsky, Vladimir (Patricia Blake ed., trans. Max Hayward and George Reavey). The bedbug and selected poetry. (Meridian Books, Cleveland, 1960).
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Mayakovsky: Plays. Trans. Guy Daniels. (Northwestern University Press, Evanston, Il, 1995). ISBN 0810113392.
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir. For the voice (The British Library, London, 2000).
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir (ed. Bengt Jangfeldt, trans. Julian Graffy). Love is the heart of everything : correspondence between Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lili Brik 1915-1930 (Polygon Books, Edinburgh, 1986).
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir (comp. and trans. Herbert Marshall). Mayakovsky and his poetry (Current Book House, Bombay, 1955).
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Selected works in three volumes (Raduga, Moscow, 1985).
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Selected poetry. (Foreign Languages, Moscow, 1975).
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir (ed. Bengt Jangfeldt and Nils Ake Nilsson). Vladimir Majakovsky: Memoirs and essays (Almqvist & Wiksell Int., Stockholm 1975).
• Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Satira ('Khudozh. lit.,' Moscow, 1969).
• Brown, E. J. Mayakovsky: a poet in the revolution (Princeton Univ. Press, 1973).
• Jangfeldt, Bengt. Majakovsky and futurism 1917-1921 (Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1976).
• Stapanian, Juliette. Mayakovsky's cubo-futurist vision (Rice University Press, 1986).
• Charters, Ann & Samuel. I love : the story of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lili Brik (Farrar Straus Giroux, NY, 1979).
• Lavrin, Janko. From Pushkin to Mayakovsky, a study in the evolution of a literature. (Sylvan Press, London, 1948).
• Mikhailov, Aleksandr Alekseevich. Maiakovskii (Mol. gvardiia, Moscow, 1988).
• Terras, Victor. Vladimir Mayakovsky (Twayne, Boston, 1983).
• Vallejo, César (trans. Richard Schaaf) The Mayakovsky case (Curbstone Press, Willimantic, CT, 1982).
• Wachtel, Michael. The development of Russian verse : meter and its meanings (Cambridge University Press, 1998).
• Humesky, Assya. Majakovskiy and his neologisms (Rausen Publishers, NY, 1964).
• Shklovskii, Viktor Borisovich. (ed. and trans. Lily Feiler). Mayakovsky and his circle (Dodd, Mead, NY, 1972).
• Novatorskoe iskusstvo Vladimira Maiakovskogo (trans. Alex Miller). Vladimir Mayakovsky: Innovator (Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1976).
• Rougle, Charles. Three Russians consider America : America in the works of Maksim Gorkij, Aleksandr Blok, and Vladimir Majakovsky (Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1976).
• Aizlewood, Robin. Verse form and meaning in the poetry of Vladimir Maiakovsky: Tragediia, Oblako v shtanakh, Fleita-pozvonochnik, Chelovek, Liubliu, Pro eto (Modern Humanities Research Association, London, 1989).
• Noyes, George R. Masterpieces of the Russian drama (Dover Pub., NY, 1960).
• (Lithuanian) Nyka-Niliūnas, Alfonsas. Keturi vėjai ir keturvėjinikai (The Four Winds literary movement and its members), Aidai, 1949, No. 24.