Maxim Rylsky - Ukrainian poet of the Soviet era

The first half of the XX century was known not only for large-scale wars, but also for the flowering of literature. Despite all the deaths and devastation, writers, artists, composers and poets of that period tried to awaken wonderful feelings in the hardened human souls. Among them was the Ukrainian poet Maxim Rylsky. He happened to experience two world wars, a revolution, a civil war and suffered from repression. Despite this, he remained not only a worthy man, but also an excellent poet.

Maxim Rylsky: biography of early years

Maxim Fadeevich Rylsky (Maxim Tadeyovich Rilsky) was born in the village of Romanovka in 1895, as evidenced by the record in the church parish book. The ancestors of his father were Polish noblemen. Contrary to such a glorious pedigree Fadey, Rylsky married an ordinary peasant girl Melania.

According to the poet's recollections, his mother, having barely mastered the letter, with an incredible passion was carried away by reading, especially she loved the works of Leo Tolstoy. At the same time, Melania Rylskaya did not forget her roots, so the atmosphere of love and reverence for Ukrainian culture reigned in their house. Fadey Rylsky's comrades were well-known cultural figures of the XIX century - composer Nikolai Lysenko, theatrical figure Afanasy Saksaganskiy and many other folklorists, historians and ethnographers.

Thanks to the highly cultured environment, the poet has been fascinated by Ukrainian culture, language, and even more by nature since childhood. Being the son of a landowner, he did not know about the everyday difficulties of the peasants, so for him, Romanovka was a paradise. He was in love with the nature of his native land and at an early age began to write poetry.

Primary education Maxim Rylsky got a home (in Romanovka). When the boy was thirteen, he was sent to Kiev to study at a private gymnasium.

At first, the young man lived with his close friend Nikolai Lysenko, after his death - with the ethnographer Alexander Rusov.

During this period he actively writes poetry, and already in 1910, when the boy turned fifteen, his first collection of lyrical poetry "On the Big Islands" was published. This book marked the emergence of a new star of the poetic word.

Rylsky-neoclassic

The First World War, fortunately, bypassed the young man, and after graduating from the gymnasium in 1915, Maxim Rylsky became a student of the medical faculty of the University of Kiev. However, after two years of study, the young man is transferred to the Faculty of History and Philology.

Unfortunately, the revolution and the civil war prevented the completion of studies. In 1917 Maxim Rylsky left the university and, leaving Kiev, returned to his native Romanovka, where he arranged a teacher. Despite the incomplete higher education, the poet continues to actively engage in self-education. It is known that he independently studied more than a dozen languages, which allowed him to translate works of foreign authors.

Despite the difficulties, the poet does not cease to write poetry. So, in 1918 there is another collection of his poems - "Pіd osіnnіmi zorіami".

At the very beginning of the twenties, the poet became a member of the literary association of neoclassicists. Neoclassicism gravitated towards classicism, admiring the past centuries, and tried to abstract in their work from the pressing problems. They argued that a creative person should not depend on the political situation, but create according to the dictates of the heart. That is why by the end of the twenties neoclassicists began to actively "harass" in the press. Soon many of them were arrested and shot.

This cup did not pass by Maxim Rylsky, who by that time had lived and taught in Kiev for several years, and also managed to publish several more collections of poems: "Sinya Distichin", "Kriz 'buryu shnig", "Trinadtsyata vesna", "Gomin i Vidgomin "and others. Also during this period he was actively engaged in translating Ukrainian works of Russian, Polish and French writers into Ukrainian. For example, in 1927 he translated from the Polish poem of Adam Mickiewicz "Pan Tadeusz".

In 1931 Rylsky was accused of detaching his poetry from politics and arrested.

Poetry after imprisonment

Almost six months had to be spent in prison for the poet. During this time he had to go through a lot. He was forced to sign false evidence of his participation in various conspiracies. In the end, the poet was released, believing that a man of such talent is still useful to the party.

After liberation, Maxim Rylsky forever changed: he was broken, which could not but affect his work. To help the poet "acclimatize" to life, after the destruction of many of his friends, Ostap Chernya took him for a while from Kiev to live at home. Friendly care helped to come to life and return to literary activity to a poet named Maxim Rylsky.

Poet poetry soon began to appear on the pages of various publications. However, Rylsky could no longer freely create, as before. To survive, with the help of his talent, he had to exalt the "native" party, its leaders and their achievements. And although Maxim Rylsky sometimes succeeded in pushing his poems "for the soul" into print, they no longer had that "spark", but felt tired and disappointed.

The Great Patriotic War and the last years of the poet

When the Second World War struck, Rylsky was already forty-one. We did not send him to fight. However, during all the years of the war, he volunteered at the front before the soldiers, reading poems and trying to morally support them. In addition, the poet donated personal funds to the defense fund.

After the victory, Maxim Rylsky actively participated in the restoration of Kiev.

Thanks to his work, Rylsky was awarded awards and titles. He became the owner of the Stalin, Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR. In addition, from the end of 1944 until his death, the poet headed the Institute of Arts, Folklore and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (later this educational institution began to bear the name of the poet). In addition, since 1946 Maxim Rylsky was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In 1964, after a long struggle with the disease (Rylsky had cancer), the poet died. He was buried at the legendary Baykovoye cemetery in Kiev.

Throughout his life, Rylsky published thirty-five collections of poems, not counting publications in the press and translations. After his death, several books and pamphlets appeared about his work and biography. Among them, the book of his son Bogdan "Mandryvka in the youth of the father." At the same time, the collected works of the poet began to be published. And also the bilingual (in Ukrainian and English) book "Vibrii tvori" by Maxim Rylsky was published.

M. Rylsky: personal life

Being a calm and peace-loving person, Maxim Rylsky was able to show firmness of character. So, falling in love with the wife of his fellow villager Catherine, the poet was able to "beat off" her. Did not stop him, either that the beloved was older, or that she already had a son. The enamored poet married her, adopted her six-year-old son and raised her as her own. Later the couple's son Bogdan was born.

Maxim and Ekaterina Rylsky lived together a long and difficult life. After the death of his beloved in 1958, Rylsky greatly grieved and six years later died himself.

In 2014, 50 years have passed since the death of this poet. Many years passed, and what was written by him "on the orders", over time lost its relevance and was forgotten. However, those poems that Maxim Rylsky wrote at the behest of the heart, still remain favorite readers.