Konstantin Konstantinovich Sluchevsky
Konstantin Konstantinovich Sluchevsky (1837-1903) was a notable yet often overlooked figure in Russian literature, recognized as a precursor to Russian modernism. Born in St. Petersburg to a noble family with Ukrainian and Polish roots, he initially served as an officer in the Semenovsky Regiment before pursuing a literary career. Sluchevsky's first translations of French poets appeared in 1857, and his original poetry gained attention in the early 1860s for its innovative style, although it also attracted criticism from contemporaries. After a period of study in Europe, he returned to Russia and wrote several works that challenged prevailing artistic norms, leading to his temporary exclusion from the literary scene.
Despite early setbacks, Sluchevsky found renewed success with his long narrative poem "V snegakh" in 1879 and subsequently published numerous poetic cycles and essays reflecting his experiences with rural communities. He also played significant roles in the government and education sectors, and his influence extended through a literary salon he hosted in St. Petersburg, attended by emerging modernist writers. Sluchevsky's contributions included a wide range of literary forms, from poetry to short stories, and his work continued to resonate within literary circles until his passing in Finland, where he spent his later years writing.
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Konstantin Konstantinovich Sluchevsky
Writer
- Born: July 26, 1837
- Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
- Died: September 25, 1904
Biography
A tangential literary figure in his own day, Konstantin Konstantinovich Sluchevsky was nonetheless a forerunner of Russian modernism. Born in St. Petersburg on July 26, 1837, Sluchevsky was the eldest of five children born to Konstantin Afanas’evich Sluchevsky, a nobleman from Ukraine, and Anzhelika Ivanovna Zaremba, the well-educated daughter of Polish gentry. Sluchevsky served as an officer in the Semenovsky Regiment following his graduation from the First Cadet Regiment.
He entered the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff in 1857, the same year that his first translations—of the French poets Auguste Barbier and Pierre-Jean Béranger—were published in Obshchezanimatel’nyi vestnik (the general-interest messenger), a revolutionary democratic journal. In 1860, Sluchevsky’s own verse began to appear; Sovremmenik (the contemporary), another radical journal, published thirteen of his poems, which already exhibited the syntactical and imagistic innovation that would become hallmarks of their author’s style and that would draw the immediate ire of critics.
The following year, Sluchevsky resigned from the army and traveled to Europe to study, eventually receiving a doctoral degree from Heidelberg University. When Sluchevsky returned to St. Petersburg, he wrote three poorly received diatribes against the utilitarianism and nihilism current in art. Outcast as a writer, he began a successful career in the government; in 1867, he became a censor in the Press Department. Sluchevsky married Ol’ga Kapitonovna Loginova in 1872. They had four children.
A few of Sluchevsky’s poems were anthologized during the 1870’s, but it was the publication of his long, narrative poem “V snegakh” (snowbound) in Novoe vremia (new times) in 1879 that marked his reemergence as a writer. At the same time, Sluchevsky began traveling throughout Russia for work; he published both poetic cycles—including “Murmanskie otgoloski” (echoes of murmansk, 1881- 1890), “V puti” (while traveling, 1880-1881), and “Chernozemnaia polosa” (the Chernozem region, 1880- 1881)—and historical and ethnographical essays related to his contact with peasants and fishermen. During the 1880’s and 1890’s, he published three collections of short stories, a four-volume collection of poetry, and his collected works in six volumes.
Sluchevsky was anthologized frequently; however, his unconventional poetics were criticized by contemporaries. In 1888, he was elected a committee member in the Ministry of Education and a council member in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1890, Sluchevsky and his wife divorced, and he married Agniia Fedorovna Rerikh, with whom he already had a daughter.
The next year, he became editor of the Pravitel’stvennyi vestnik (the government messenger). Under his leadership, the daily newspaper’s content was expanded to include articles on economics, ethnography, folklore, literature, and theater. In 1899, Sluchevsky began hosting a Friday evening salon for St. Petersburg writers. Among the salon’s participants were young poets, including Valerii Iakovlevich Briusov, Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius, and Fedor Kuz’mich Sologub, who admired Sluchevsky’s writing and who would be associated with twentieth century Russian modernism. Sluchevsky’s salon lived on until 1917. Sluchevsky retired from the newspaper in 1902 and lived out his remaining years writing poetry in Finland with his wife and daughter.