Valeri Briusov was a Russian writer, poet, dramatist, critic, and
historian. He was one of the founders of Symbolist movement in Russia.
He was born Valeri Yakovlevich Briusov on December 13, 1873, in Moscow,
Russia. His grandfather, Aleksandr Bakulin, was a poet, and his father,
Yakov Briusov, was a wealthy merchant who also published his poems and
stories. Young Briusov grew up in a trilingual environment, he spoke
French and German in addition to his native Russian. He received an
excellent private education; from 1885-1889 he studied at private
Gymnasium of F.I. Kreiman, from 1890-1893 he studied at private
Gymnasium of L.I. Polivanov and was acting in several school plays. At
that time Briusov was romantically involved with a young and beautiful
lady, Elena Kraskova. Her sudden death in 1893 caused him an emotional
trauma, and Briusov expressed himself in writing. He wrote poetry and
drama, as well as translated from English, French and German
literature. In 1893 he wrote his first drama, "The Dekadents (End of a
Century)". At that time Briusov wrote a letter to Paul Verlain and
presented himself as a founder of Symbolism in Russia.
From 1892-1899 Briusov studied history and literature at Moscow
University. After graduation in 1899, Briusov became a professional
writer, literary translator, and critic. He joined the Moscow
Literary-Artistic Society which was the center of emerging new styles
and trends during the time known as the "Silver Age" of Russian
culture. Briusov was involved in formation of Symbolism and
Neo-Classicism in Russian literature and Arts, and later he saw
emergence of Acmeism, Russian Modern, Cubo-Futurism and other
avant-garde movements. Briusov himself tried a variety of styles in his
numerous poems, albeit his best achievements belong to Symbolism and
Neo-Classicism. From 1904-1906 he was editor of magazines "Vesy" (The
Balance) and "Severnye Tsvety" (Nothern Flowers), and also worked with
the "Skorpion" publishing house. His poetry ranged from sophisticated
eroticism to mythology, legends, and epic subjects. During the 1900s
Briusov's own view of the World was influenced by the situation of "fin
de siecle." He expressed his feelings of "End of Time" in his novel
"Ognenny Angel" (aka.. The Fiery Angel), set in Germany, delivers a
plethora of allusions to modern time, through an artful blend of love
story with history, occult philosophy, and mysticism. It was adapted
into eponymous opera by Sergei Prokofiev.
Briusov expressed his premonitions about inevitable collapse of
urbanized civilization; he described industrialization as a collective
suicide of humankind. Briusov's metaphoric language became even more
sharp and passionate, as he described himself as a "slave of bourgeois
culture" but was still hopelessly addicted to pleasures of his
hedonistic and "classy" lifestyle. In such poems as "Kamenshchik"
(aka.. The Mason), "Umirayushchii koster" (aka.. Dying Fire), and his
book of prose "Zemnaya Os" (aka.. The Earth's axis), Briusov pictured
various ways out of trappings of civilization, such as going back to
nature and organic way of life, or suffer through revolutionary changes
of a decadent society. In real life Briusov became a military
correspondent during the World War I, then suffered from a nervous
breakdown, after he witnessed cruel realities of war and death. His
sci-fi novel "Gora zvezdy" (aka.. Star's Mountain), stories "Vosstanie
Mashin" (aka.. Uprising of Machines, 1908) and "Myatezh Mashin" (aka..
Revolt of Mashines, 1914) show his emergence as a sci-fi writer and
departure from illusionary world of pure Symbolism.
After the Russian revolution of 1917, Briusov was appointed Head of
Committee for Press and Publishing, then worked as Head of Moscow
Public Libraries under Commissar Anatoli Lunacharsky. In 1919 Briusov was
recommended to join the Communist Party, a recommendation he could not
object at the time of dictatorship. From 1919-1921 he was Chairman of
Union of Poets, then from 1921-1923 he was director of Moscow Institute
of Literature and Arts. Briusov edited the first edition of the Soviet
Encyclopedia. He made definitive translations of works by Edgar Allan Poe,
Emile Verharn, Maurice Maeterlinck, Paul Verlain, Romain Rolland, Victor Hugo, Lord Byron and
Oscar Wilde, among others. Briusov's complete translations of "Dr. Faust"
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and "Aeneid" by Virgil belong among the highest achievements
of literary translation into Russian. Briusov revealed the beauty of
Armenian poetry in his numerous translations, he published a
comprehensive book "Poetry of Armenia", a fundamental collection of
Armenian poetry. For his Russian translation of Armenian folk epic
"Sasuntsi David" (aka.. David of Sasuntsi), about the national hero of
the Armenian people, Briusov was designated Poeple's Poet of Armenia
(1923).
Valeri Briusov eventually came to disillusionment with the Soviet
reality after witnessing rapid degradation of culture under the rule of
Soviet Communists. Since the 1900s Briusov indirectly opposed Vladimir Lenin
and wrote that Revolution causes destruction but fails to create a
better world, in return Vladimir Lenin labeled Briusov as "poet-anarchist."
During 1920-1924, when many of his friends emigrated, Briusov expressed
disappointment with his life after the Soviet revolution. Briusov wrote
that he was torn between his naive hopes in revolution, and the truth
that the Russian revolution caused terrible losses and destruction, but
did not deliver on the promise of social justice and freedom. The
unfolding drama of totalitarian dictatorship and grim reality of the
Soviet Communism caused Briusov a depression and a serious illness. He
was found dead in his Moscow apartment on October 9, 1924, and was laid
to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia.
Maxim Gorky called Briusov "the most refined intellectual" of all Russian
writers of his time. Briusov was the leader of Russian Symbolism during
the cultural revival known as "Silver Age" along with such authors as
'Konstantin Balmont', Aleksandr Blok, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Andrei Bely, Dmitri Merezhkovsky, and
Zinaida Gippius, among others. Briusov's collection of poetry "Venok" (aka..
The Wreth) belongs among the highest achievements in Russian
literature.
