Biography Gippius-Merezhkovskaya Zinaida Nikolaevna


(1869-1945)

Gippius Zinaida Nikolaevna (1869 – 1945), poetess, prose writer, critic.
She was born on November 8 (20th century) in the city of Belev in the Chernigov province to the family of a state official who served in Nizhyn. I received a thorough home education.
After the death of his father, the family moved to Moscow, then to Yalta and Tiflis, where her passion for Russian classics began, especially F-Dostoevsky.
In the summer of 1889 he married D. Merezhkovsky, along with whom he moved to Petersburg. Here begins active literary activity, publishes the first poems in the “Northern Herald”, around which the St. Petersburg Symbolists of the “older generation” grouped.
Reflections on “eternal themes” – “about man, love and death” – determined the tonality of many of the poems Gippius 1900’s. The main value for her was a Nietzschean-understood self (“I love myself as God”).


In 1901 – 02 he became one of the organizers of the Religious and Philosophical Assemblies (the basis is the doctrine of the Kingdom of God on earth). The meaning of the meetings was in the union of the intelligentsia and representatives of the Church with the aim of “religious revival” of the country. The magazine “New Way” (1903 – 04) became the printing organ of the Collections. Many poems of this time express her spiritual aspirations, in common with the ideas of Merezhkovsky (“Christ”, “Lord of the Father,” “Christian’s Deathbed Confession,” etc.), others are free from all mysticism and religion (“Pines,” “
After the revolution of 1905, public issues began to occupy an increasing place in her stories.
In 1908 he published collections of short stories “Black on White”, in 1911 – “The Devil’s Doll”, in 1912 – “Moon Ants”, etc.
He also acts as a critic, publishing the “Literary Diary” – a collection of critical articles
(under the pseudonym Anton Krainy).
The October Revolution Gippius met with extreme hostility, in 1920, she, together with Merezhkovskii emigrated to France. In emigration she appeared in articles and poems with sharp attacks on the Soviet system. In 1939 in Paris, a book of poems “Shining”. Two volumes of memoirs “Living Persons” were published in Prague in 1925. Gippius had a hard time bearing the death of her husband (1941). Nevertheless, she managed to create a literary monument to D. Merezhkovsky, a biography book full of extensive factual material. Her book “Dmitry Merezhkovsky” came out after her death, in 1951.
At the age of 76 she died September 9, 1945 in Paris.
A short biography from the book: Russian writers and poets. A short biographical dictionary. Moscow, 2000.


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Biography Gippius-Merezhkovskaya Zinaida Nikolaevna