The great Russian poet Fedor Ivanovich Tyutchev is familiar to a very wide circle of readers. Many of his works are familiar from school times. But when Tyutchev was born and died, the poet’s biography and creative motives, few knew, or, perhaps, many simply forgot.
Childhood Fedor Ivanovich
Fedor Tyutchev was born in the village of Ovstug, about 30 kilometers north of Bryansk, in 1803. The village was located on the banks of the Desna River. The boy was brought up in a family where they spoke exclusively French. And not only in the childhood years of Tyutchev’s life, it was possible to notice that he mainly uses this language. His letters are overwhelmingly, articles written in subsequent years, and even some poems - all in French.
At the age of twelve, the boy already translated Horace into Russian, and wrote the first poem at sixteen. Those who knew him as a child noted his quick mind, remarkable erudition, and even the poetic gift that young Tyutchev already possessed. Briefly speaking about the education of Fyodor Ivanovich, several main stages of his education can be noted. In 1812, Tyutchev was entrusted with the care of a family teacher, Semyon Raich. From 1819 to 1822 he studied at Moscow University. And already at the age of nineteen he entered the civil service at the St. Petersburg Foreign Office.
The career of a poet, or Life abroad
Of course, it is important to know when Tyutchev was born and died, but first of all, it is worth talking about his life, career and career. Fedor Ivanovich never considered himself a professional poet. He often forgot the texts of verses in books. Sometimes they were found after his death. And very often Tyutchev did not care that his works were published. He did not have a career as a poet. That is why Tyutchev's poetry did not have such popularity as, for example, Pushkin or Nekrasov.
He very early, still young, in 1822, left Russia and lived mainly in Germany, then a little in Italy, and served as a diplomat. All this time, Fyodor Ivanovich spoke little Russian at home. It was not easy that he was not a professional poet, and even rarely used the Russian language. Fedor Ivanovich was a diplomat, and if not the whole life of Tyutchev, then a very significant segment of it was connected with the diplomatic career.
Famous Political Publicist
But the career achievements of Fedor Tyutchev as a diplomat were not too impressive. In 1841, he was even dismissed and expelled from the Foreign Office. His significant achievements were different. Fedor Ivanovich was a man who was able to communicate with intellectual centers throughout Europe, which was accepted on equal terms in England, Germany, and France, the main political thinkers of that time.
Tyutchev was one of the most influential political publicists. Later, in the memoirs of people who worked at that time in the military and foreign affairs agencies of all these countries, there were references to his articles, which were published in the European press. They said that it was in them that they felt a sense in world history and saw the outlines of future European wars.
Not a career diplomat, but one of the main European historical and political thinkers. That was who the inconspicuous Fedor Ivanovich Tyutchev was. And you also need to know about this. Since this is also part of the poet's biography. And not only information about when Tyutchev was born and died.
Poet and diplomat
Tyutchev's career as a poet is very intermittent. Even before leaving abroad, he began to print in magazines and almanacs. But more often than not, Fedor Ivanovich signed with initials. Tyutchev was born in 1803, and already in 1822 his writing career ended, and he disappeared from the field of view of the Russian reader for a long time. However, in 1836 an event occurred that largely predetermined the fate of Russian poetry. At this time, Alexander Pushkin founded his journal Sovremennik.
The publication in this magazine is amazing. Here, Fyodor Ivanovich immediately appears as a brilliant and outstanding poet. But very few people then understood that this was the poetry of Tyutchev, a diplomat who lives abroad. The real career of Fedor Tyutchev as a poet began in 1850.
Return to Russia
Despite the fact that for many years Tyutchev’s life was connected with abroad, he finally returned to Russia a few years before 1850. Serves, holds a number of high posts. Fedor Ivanovich was an official on special assignments at the sovereign, worked in the department of foreign censorship.
And now, at this time, everything is in the same journal "Sovremennik", where Nekrasov has already become the leader and very famous personalities of that time are published, an article appears that describes the work of some poets. Including Fedor Ivanovich, and also his initials are deciphered.
Finally, after this publication, the new poet Fedor Tyutchev entered the minds of the Russian reader. And already in 1854 a collection of his poems was published. But his unprofessional attitude to poetry continues to persist.
Several cycles that make up the poet’s work
Returning to the verses of Fedor Tyutchev, it should be noted that the entire small volume of the works of this poet can be divided into three equal parts. These are political poems that are rarely mentioned and not always read aloud. Then come the philosophical ones that are best known, and they are very easy to identify. In them, basically a person always remains alone with nature.
And the third cycle was called "Denisievsky", by the name of the common-law wife of Fedor Ivanovich, the mother of his three children - Elena Alexandrovna Denisieva. These works had a great influence on Russian poetry. They were a kind of lyrical diary. They very often referred to a specific person. These verses became the poet’s love story for Elena Alexandrovna.
Family history of Tyutchev, or tragic events in the fate of the poet
Passionate affair with Denisieva lasted for fourteen years. It ended in a terrible shock for the poet. The wife dies of tuberculosis in 1864. Subsequent years are very often overshadowed by tragic events. Almost immediately after the death of Elena Alexandrovna, their common son and daughter pass away. A year later, Tyutchev's mother dies, in 1870 - Dmitry, the eldest son.
Perhaps, against the background of these events, which covered the poet in a wave, Fyodor Ivanovich’s health deteriorated sharply. And, probably, here one can answer the question of many readers about when Tyutchev was born and died. Having been born in 1803 and having lived a rather bright and eventful life, the poet died in 1873 from an apoplexy shock.
Fedor Ivanovich thinks in poetry
The most amazing property of the poetry of Fyodor Ivanovich is that it is inherent in the complete identification of nature with man. The poet Tyutchev endows her with soul, feelings and even speech. She is completely human. Paying attention to many fragments of the lyrics of Fyodor Ivanovich, we can conclude that the poet very often uses grammatical forms of words or stresses, which are not very familiar to the ear of a simple reader. The thing is that Tyutchev is archaic not only for modern time, but also from the point of view of the nineteenth century.
The life of Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev was not short when compared with poets who passed away early, such as Pushkin or Lermontov. But, nevertheless, all the lyric works written by him, as a rule, are placed in one volume. But even this has a deep meaning. Tyutchev thinks in poetry, so the same image or concept goes through different works.
And the key to the lyrics of Fedor Tyutchev is that the reader can not understand the meaning of a word, based on only one verse. It is necessary to read a few where this word occurs, and only then it will be possible to see how the energy of meaning grows and comes to some kind of completion. Tyutchev not only describes nature, he seems to be developing a language or thinking itself in Russian.
The “thinking” poetry of Fedor Ivanovich Tyutchev transformed the whole of Russian culture. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev once said that one cannot argue about the work of Fedor Tyutchev. Because the one who is not able to feel the works of this author does not feel poetry at all.