Ol'ga Dmitrievna Forsh
Ol'ga Dmitrievna Forsh (1873–1961) was a notable Russian author and artist, born to a military family in Russia. After her father's early death, she was raised in an orphanage where she received a formal education, eventually earning a teaching certificate. Forsh's artistic ambitions were hindered by an eye condition that affected her color perception, yet she pursued her passion for art and literature throughout her life. She began publishing stories in the late 1900s, with her first novella appearing in 1908.
Forsh's work often addressed social issues, including feminism, exemplified by her novel "Oglashennye," which responded to contemporary misogynist narratives. Following a tumultuous personal life, including the loss of her husband and her deep involvement in the St. Petersburg artistic community, Forsh became a recognized figure in literature during the early 1920s. She is credited with writing the first "Soviet" historical novel, "Palace and Prison," and continued to produce a significant body of work into her sixties, including autobiographical stories and novels. Forsh's legacy includes her contributions to Russian literature and art, reflecting the complexities of her era and personal experiences.
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Subject Terms
Ol'ga Dmitrievna Forsh
Writer
- Born: May 16, 1873
- Birthplace: Russia
- Died: July 17, 1961
Biography
Ol’ga Dmitrievna Forsh was born in 1873 in Russia. She was the daughter of an influential military commander. Forsh’s father died when she was eight, and Forsh was sent by her stepmother to an orphanage for upper-class children. While at the orphanage, Forsh received a formal education, enrolling in the Nikolaevsky Women’s Institute for Orphans in 1884. Forsh graduated in 1891 with a teaching certificate. At the age of eighteen, Forsh began receiving payments from her father’s pension, which she applied to art lessons and travel. In 1859, she began studying under Pavel Petrovich Chistakov, a teacher at the Russian Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. However, Forsh’s artistic endeavors were frustrated by an eye condition that affected her perception of colors. In 1895, she married Boris Eduardovich Forsh, which caused her to lose her father’s pension. Forsh’s husband was a czarist military officer, and for nine years she lived with him in remote outposts. Her husband resigned from the military in 1909, protesting what he felt was the overzealous use of the death penalty within the army. The couple then set up an artist commune outside of Kiev. While living in the commune, Forsh taught art at the prestigious Kiev School of Drawing.
In 1907, Forsh published her first short story, “Chereshnia,” in Russkii vestnik. This was followed by a tale about Buddha’s life and several children’s stories. She published her first novella, Rytsar’ iz Niurenberga (the knight of Nuremburg) in 1908. In 1910 Forsh moved with her husband and three children to Saint Petersburg, where she began attending literary salons, most notably Viacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov’s Tower. In 1917, Forsh wrote a feminist novel, Oglashennye, in response to popular misogynist writings. In 1918, Forsh began working for the Division of School Reform in Moscow. Forsh’s husband died in 1919, and she became even more involved with philosophy groups and the artistic life of St. Petersburg. During this period, Forsh wrote a play, Smert’ Kopernika: Sovremennyi dramaticheskii etiud (death of Copernicus), a deeply philosophical piece.
It was not until the early 1920’s, however, that Forsh became a recognized literary figure, when she published three collections of short-stories based on everyday life: Letoshnii sneg, Obyvateli (average citizens) and Moskovskie rasskazy (Moscow stories). She also later wrote what is considered the first “Soviet” historical novel, Palace and Prison, which chronicles the life of a radical nineteenth century figure, Mikhail Beideman. After the success of Palace and Prison, Forsh continued writing in the historical vein, first with Sovremenniki (contemporaries), based in the nineteenth century, and then with Goriachii tsekh (hot shop). Forsh was a prolific author, producing several novels and plays while in her sixties, contributing further to her large body of work. Toward the end of her life she published a number of short, autobiographical stories, as well as another novel, Mikhailovskii zamok (Mikhailovskii castle). Her final novel was Pioneers of Freedom.