Mikhail Leonidovich Slonimsky
Mikhail Leonidovich Slonimsky was a notable Russian writer born on July 20, 1897, in Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg. Coming from a family of Jewish intellectuals with a rich heritage in various fields, including journalism and the arts, he was profoundly influenced by the cultural environment of his upbringing. Slonimsky served as a soldier in World War I, which shaped his views on war and injustice, leading him to join the communist revolution in 1917. His participation in the revolution inspired his first novel, *Lavrovy*, and showcased his commitment to exploring the complexities of human experience during turbulent times.
In the early 1920s, he became a member of the Serapion Brothers, a literary group that valued creative autonomy in the face of governmental restrictions. Slonimsky's most acclaimed work, *Shestoi strelkovyi*, reflects on the demoralizing impact of war while addressing the struggles of young soldiers. Although he later engaged with socialist realism in some of his writings, his characters often retained a vivid complexity. Despite experiencing a decline in recognition after his death on October 8, 1972, scholars acknowledge Slonimsky's contributions as vital for understanding a crucial era in Russian literary and political history.
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Mikhail Leonidovich Slonimsky
Writer
- Born: July 20, 1897
- Birthplace: Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg, Russia
- Died: October 8, 1972
- Place of death: Leningrad, Russia (now St. Petersburg, Russia)
Biography
Mikhail Leonidovich Slonimsky was born in Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 20, 1897. His father, Leonid Zinovevich Slonimsky, was a journalist specializing in political and economic affairs. Both of Slonimsky’s parents came from distinguished lines of scientists, historians, musicians and literary critics. The family of Jewish intellectuals opened their home to the leading cultural figures of the day.
Slonimsky attended the Larinsky School, where he soon became absorbed in the history of the French Revolution. A teacher guided him to the work of Alphonse de Lamartine, an early French Romantic and proponent of political freedom who had a lasting influence on the young student.
Slonimsky volunteered for World War I military service and was wounded in battle. Though he afterward became an officer, he came to feel that the war was “unjust,” and in 1917 he joined the communist revolution. His journal of revolutionary experiences provided the basis for his first novel, Lavrovy (the Lavrovs).
After the revolution, Slonimsky worked in a Bolshevik publishing house. In 1919, he met Maxim Gorky, who became his literary mentor, closely reading his early manuscripts and finding him jobs that exposed him to the leading authors of the day. In February, 1921, Slonimsky began meeting with several Red Army veterans who became known as the Serapion Brothers. The group took its name from the book Der Einsiedler Serapion (Serapion the hermit), by the German author E. T. A. Hoffmann; the title character stands apart from society and symbolizes the autonomy of imaginative literary creation. Slonimsky and his colleagues valued this independence highly and resisted the state’s attempts to govern the style or content of their creations.
Slonimsky is best remembered for the writing he produced as one of the Serapion Brothers. In 1922, he published his first book of short stories, Shestoi strelkovyi (the sixth fusilier), generally held to be his most outstanding work. Its principal theme is the demoralizing effect of war on young soldiers, although many stories include one character—frequently an officer—who maintains faith in the revolutionary cause.
In 1923 Slonimsky went to Bakhmut, in the Ukraine, to edit a newspaper for coal miners. A story from that period—“Mashina Emeri” (the Emery machine)—represented a shift from the experimental Serapion genre to the socialist realism prescribed by the Soviet regime, one of its characters being depicted as the ideal communist party member. Unfortunately, the ideological cast resulted in one-dimensional characters who do not grow through the story’s action.
Slonimsky’s first novel, however—Lavrovy—portrays characters who are very much alive. The story concerns a family much like Slonomsky’s, attached to the old life of the intellect but struggling to assimilate the new socialist mores. In still later works, Slonimsky returned to the Serpaion style and subject matter. His memoir Kniga vospominanii offers a comprehensive picture of his life in the Serapion period.
Slonimsky’s work has been somewhat neglected since his death on October 8, 1972. However, scholars agree that, despite (or because of) his ideological ambivalence, he has left a valuable record of a supremely important period in Russian history.