Biography Sologub Fedor Kuzmich


(1863-1927)

Sologub (real name – Teternikov) Fedor Kuzmich (1863 – 1927), prose writer, poet.
Born February 17 (March 1, S.) in St. Petersburg in a poor family (his father – a tailor, a former serf, a mother – a peasant).
In four years he lost his father, his mother began to work as a servant in the house of a St. Petersburg official.
He studied at the parish school, then in the district school, graduated from the St. Petersburg Teachers’ Institute (1882).
In 1882 – 92 he was a mathematics teacher in provincial cities, before retiring in 1907 he continued his pedagogical activity in St. Petersburg.
The first poems, in which the influence of the Symbolists are present, was published in 1884. Ten years of work in the provinces were not for him in vain: he brought to Petersburg the novel Heavy Dreams, which began in 1882, and was published in 1895 in The Northern Herald.
In the “Northern Herald”

in 1893-97, 17 of his poems were placed (2 of them are translations from Verlaine), three stories (“Shadows”, “Worms”, “To the Stars”), five articles on public topics, many reviews.
Already in St. Petersburg, he entered the circle of Russian Symbolists, united around the magazine “Severny Vestnik” (Minsk, Merezhkovsky, Gippius, Balmont, etc.). In 1895 – 96 published his first collections: “Poems: Book One”, “Shadows, Stories and Poems.”
His books of poetry (“Serpent, Verses, Book Six”, 1907, “The Fiery Circle”, 1908) and short stories (The Book of Separation, 1908, The Book of Enchants, 1909) are published. In these years he also appears as a playwright (“The Gift of Wise Bees”, 1907, “Victory of Death” and “Night Dances”, 1908, etc.).
The peak of his prose was the famous novel “The Little Devil,” written in 1902 and published in 1907. The appearance of this novel determined the further fate of Sologub: he was able to retire and engage in only literary
work. He begins to write the novel “Navy charms.”
In 1910 – 12 leaves the Collected Works of Sologub in twelve volumes. February revolution welcomed, October did not accept, however continued public literary activity. In March 1918 he was elected chairman of the Council of the Union of figures of fiction. He published his democratic poems of different years (a collection of “Cathedral Gospel”, 1921).
He translates a lot. In 1924 he was elected honorary chairman of the section of translators in the Union of Leningrad Writers, in 1925 – chairman of the section of children’s literature, in 1926 – chairman of the board of the Union, is a member of the editorial board of World Literature. In these years he published several collections of poems. December 5, 1927 F. Sologub died in Leningrad.
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 Sologub Fedor Kuzmich