Is it easy to be the muse of a great man? Probably not, if only because all his life (and after death too) will have to remain in his shadow. And even their own merits and dignities will be powerless in the name of a genius. The heroine of our article, Lilya Brik, was also awarded such a lot. Her biography as an independent person is interesting and not familiar to everyone. But everyone knows that this woman was the love and muse of Vladimir Mayakovsky. And even her own life path is considered by biographers exclusively in the interweaving with the life and work of the poet.
Lilya Brik. Life before MayakovskyLily Urievna (Gurievna, Yuryevna) Kagan was born in Moscow on November 11, 1891 in an intelligent Jewish family: father - lawyer, mother - musician. The couple, in love with German romantic poetry, named their daughters respectively: Lily - in honor of Goethe's beloved woman, Elsa - in honor of Goethe's heroine.
From a young age, girls were taught music and foreign languages. The wide views of the parents allowed the daughters to be completely independent, although later the father and mother more than once had to regret their condescension. Lily as a teenager learned to win men's hearts, and in her network, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, there were quite adult and famous men, among whom was even Fedor Chaliapin.
After graduating from high school, the girl studied at mathematical courses, then at architectural. Later she trained in Munich in modeling skills. In 1911, Lily returned to the capital, where she met her future husband - Osip Brik, with whom, however, she was familiar earlier. I must say that Osip's parents were categorically against this novel and marriage - they were not at all satisfied with the moral appearance of the bride. However, the son went against their will, and in 1912 Osip and Lily got married. Two years later, the couple moved to St. Petersburg, and their home soon became a favorite meeting place for creative people: poets, musicians, artists. It was said that more serious people visited them : lawyers, politicians and even security officers.
Acquaintance with Mayakovsky
At first, Lily's younger sister Elsa met the poet, they even had an affair. But once Elsa made an irreparable mistake, deciding to introduce her friend to her sister. She came with him to the salon, where Lilya Brik reigned. The biography of all participants in the action from this minute made a sharp roll. Vladimir Mayakovsky read his new poem "Cloud in Pants" and immediately dedicated it to Lily. She could not help but fall under the influence of this huge passionate nature. In her memoirs, Lily wrote that his love literally "attacked her." So there was no way to resist. Osip Brik, a humble lawyer, fell in love with the poet's poems and has since done everything to publish and promote it.
And Elsa was forgotten. However, the girl quickly found consolation: she married the French military Triole, and then the famous writer Louis Aragon. And there she herself became a writer. For Vladimir Mayakovsky that day became fateful - from now on, Lilya Brik was the whole meaning of his life. Further biography became common not only for the two of them, but also for Osip Brik.
Strange family
It really was unusual. Lily’s husband spared no time and money to publish Vladimir’s poems, which no publisher had ever published before. Love for Lily seethed in Mayakovsky, finding a way out in all new works: Flute-Spine, To Everything, Lilichka, Man. And each of his lines was dedicated to her. Surprisingly, Osip was not at all embarrassed. Soon Mayakovsky moved to live with them. Mocking rumors about this "depraved family" walked around Moscow. The biography of Lily Brick, written by herself, contains frank statements that the affair with Mayakovsky began when they no longer had intimate relations with Osip. In other sources, there are directly opposite statements that they sometimes made love with Osip, locked themselves in the kitchen, and Volodya scratched at the door and cried. The truth is one: it was a very painful relationship, possibly costing the poet's life.
Lilya Brik: biography in creativity
Now about the tragedy of being in the shadow of a genius. For their relationship, as mentioned above, much is overlooked, including the creative biography of the heroine herself. But she was one of the most outstanding and beautiful women of the twentieth century. Writer, translator, sculptor, actress, journalist - she had many talents. With Mayakovsky, they worked a lot and fruitfully in “Windows of ROST”, worked on the film according to the script of Vladimir, and performed a lot together. Exhausted by a sick relationship with her lover, the poet struck up short-term novels with other women, but again returned to his L.Yu. B.
In the first years of Soviet power, all three began to sympathize with the Bolsheviks, Osip even joined the CPSU (b), worked for some time in the Cheka. Not without the help of the couple Brik Mayakovsky began to print in the central newspapers. In 1922, Lily had another stormy romance with the Soviet banker Krasnoshchekov, and jealousy killed the poet. Then everything fell into place again, and the strange trinity reunited again: they lived together, traveled together around the country and abroad. It is surprising that at that difficult time they did not have problems with traveling abroad. It was assumed that this privilege was given to them for Lily's cooperation with well-known bodies. This also explained that her husbands (and Lily had four of them) could be arrested and even shot, but she was never touched. These rumors were not commented on by her, however, and were not refuted.
In 1926, the poet was given a new apartment, and he moved there, naturally, with a couple of Brik. These were years that were very fruitful for Lily in a creative way. She helps to publish the journal of the creative association "LEF", participates in the filming of the film "Jew and Earth", writes scripts for other films, translates the theoretical works of German literary critics, deals with sculptural works and, of course, Mayakovsky’s publishing issues. In 1930, the couple went to Europe, where they were overtaken by the news of the death of the poet. In a suicide note, Mayakovsky called Lily the sole heiress of his works, thereby declaring her his unofficial widow and appointing him responsible for the fate of his creative heritage. And Lilya Yurievna devoted almost her entire life to this main goal.
Last years
The biography of Lily Brick was full of meetings with amazing people and new events from the first to the last days. She managed to publish her books during her lifetime, the most famous of which are the biographical collection of memoirs "Partisan Stories" and personal correspondence with Vladimir Mayakovsky. Was she fatalistic? Unlikely. But once she told relatives that she had a dream in which she scolded Volodya for suicide. And he put a gun in her hand and said: "Anyway, you will do the same."
Together with her last husband - Vasily Katanyan - she lived in a summer house in Peredelkino. An elderly writer fell and broke her thigh neck - an insidious injury for the elderly that could not be treated. And one night, 86-year-old Lilya Yurievna took a lethal dose of sleeping pills ...
She bequeathed not to bury her, but to cremate and dispel the dust above the field. Her will was fulfilled, and a monument was erected in her memory - a large round boulder with engraved initials - “L.Yu. B.” Like on a ring donated by Mayakovsky.