Velimir Khlebnikov
Velimir Khlebnikov, born Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov in 1885 in Tundutov, Russia, was a prominent figure in the Russian Futurist movement. Initially studying mathematics at Kazan University, he later shifted to natural sciences, although he never completed his degree. His literary career began to take shape in St. Petersburg, where he connected with the avant-garde community and published poems in Futurist journals, aligning himself with influential writers and thinkers of the time. Khlebnikov's work contributed significantly to several key anthologies of Futurist poetry, solidifying his place in this groundbreaking literary movement.
His life took a drastic turn when he was drafted into the Russian army during World War I, which left him deeply affected and struggling to reintegrate into society. Following the war, he faced a series of hardships, including homelessness and time spent in prisons and mental institutions. Despite these challenges, Khlebnikov continued to create poetry, producing a number of long narrative pieces that he envisioned as part of a larger epic work. He passed away in 1922 in Novgorod, a victim of exhaustion and illness, yet remains a significant and influential figure in the landscape of Russian literature.
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Velimir Khlebnikov
Poet
- Born: October 28, 1885
- Birthplace: Tundutov, Russia
- Died: June 28, 1922
- Place of death: Santalovo, Novgorod province, Russia
Biography
Velimir Khlebnikov was the pseudonym of Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov, born in 1885 in Tundutov, Russia. His father was a district administrator there, but his work for the czarist government took him to other cities. In 1903, Khlebnikov enrolled in the mathematics department of Kazan University, which was already a famous institution, if not quite as desirable as Moscow University. He subsequently switched to the natural sciences, which enabled him to take several extended field trips. In 1908, he went to St. Petersburg University to study natural sciences, but never finished his degree.
In St. Petersburg he began making connections with the literary community, although he was not able to place any of his works in the major literary journals of the time. However, he did place a few poems in Vasili Kamensky’s Futurist journal Springtime. This success drew him into a widening circle of Futurist writers, thinkers, and composers, until by 1910 he was firmly established as a Futurist poet. He became a major contributor to several anthologies of Futurist poetry, including A Trap for Judges and A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.
In 1916, Khlebnikov was drafted into the Russian army, an experience that left him a permanently broken man, unable to find any place in post-World War I society. For the rest of his life he was a homeless wanderer, going in and out of prison and mental institutions. These peregrinations apparently took him to Baku and even as far as Iran, but ultimately he returned to the Russian heartland. However, his difficulties did not impair his ability to produce poetry, and he wrote many long narrative poems which he appears to have intended to ultimately combine into a single lengthy epic. In 1922, he died in Novgorod of general exhaustion brought about by malaria and repeated bouts of typhus.