Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin
Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin was a notable Russian writer born on January 23, 1873, into a financially struggling noble family in the Orel province. He faced significant challenges in his early education, including expulsion from high school, and later pursued agricultural studies in Germany after being arrested for his involvement in Marxist circles. Prishvin's literary career began in the early 1900s, with a focus on themes such as agriculture, nature, and folklore. His collection of essays, "V kraiu mepugannykh ptits," garnered critical acclaim, leading to recognition from the Russian Geographical Society.
Throughout his life, Prishvin navigated extreme poverty and fluctuating fame, particularly during the Soviet era. He was initially marginalized, but by the 1930s, he gained status as a significant figure in Russian literature, aided by a public endorsement from Joseph Stalin. Despite his reputation as a writer of children's stories, Prishvin's broader literary contributions, characterized by depth and stylistic innovation, have not been fully acknowledged. He passed away on January 16, 1954, leaving behind a complex legacy that reflects the struggles of individual freedom under Communist rule.
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Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin
Writer
- Born: January 23, 1873
- Birthplace: Orel province, Russia
- Died: January 16, 1954
- Place of death: Moscow, Russia
Biography
Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin was born on January 23, 1873, into an impoverished noble family in the Elets district of the Orel province in Russia. His father, Mikhail Dmitrievich Prishvin, a bankrupt salesman, gambler, horse breeder, and heavy drinker, died in 1880. Prishvin’s mother, Mariia Ivanovna Prishvina, had to raise five children alone.
Prishvin was excluded from high school by the time he was in the fourth grade because he and two classmates ran away in an unsuccessful attempt to travel to Asia. Prishvin had to continue his education in Siberia at the technical high school in Tiumen. In 1893, he studied at the department of chemistry and agriculture at Riga Polytechnical Institute. He was arrested in 1897 for belonging to Marxist circles and distributing illegal literature. In 1900, Prishvin began studies in the department of agronomy at the University of Leipzig, Germany, and graduated with a diploma in agricultural engineering in 1902.
In 1903, Prishvin began living with Evrosin’ia Pavlovna Smogaleva, an illiterate single mother, and her son, Iakov. They eventually married and had two sons, Lev Prishvin-Alpatov, born in 1906, and Petr, born in 1909. From 1903 until 1905, Prishvin worked for the Russian government as an agronomist in Klin and Luga. In 1905, Prishvin moved his family to St. Petersburg and began working as a journalist for Moscow and St. Petersburg newspapers.
Prishvin published his first short story, “Sashok,” in the journal Rodnik in 1906. Most of his other stories were about agriculture, nature, folklore, and travel, and his book, V kraiu mepugannykh ptits: Ocherki Vygovskogo kraia (1907), a collection of essays based on his travels in the Russian wilderness, was extremely well received. The book earned Prishvin the Silber Medal, awarded by the Russian Geographical Society, and membership in that society. In 1908, Prishvin became a member of the prestigious Religious- Philosophical Society in St. Petersburg.
During World War I, Prishvin worked as a correspondent for several Russian newspapers and journals. After the war, he and his family moved several times and often lived in extreme poverty as Prishvin struggled to be recognized as writer in the Soviet Union. During the 1920’s, Prishvin still published regularly in reputable journals and eventually regained popularity. By the mid-1930’s, Prishvin’ status as a living classic of Russian literature was secured by a public statement by Joseph Stalin, Russia’s leader.
In 1940, already a grandfather of three, Prishvin divorced and married his literary secretary, Valeriia Dmitrievna Lebedeva. During the 1940’s, Prishvin was again having difficulty with publishing his works and, after World War II, bought a small house on the Moskva River in Dunino, where he spent the last years of his life. He died of stomach cancer in Moscow on January 16, 1954. Within Soviet literary history, Prishvin is regarded as a writer of children’s stories, although these stories were only a small part of his total works. The depth and stylistic brilliance of his works have not been fully assessed, and his diaries clearly show recognition of the destruction of individual freedom under the Communist government.