Sasha Cherny, Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg (1880-1932) - Russian poet and prose writer, his work dates back to the Silver Age, especially famous for his lyrical and satirical feuilletons in poetic form.
Early childhood
Sasha was born in the city of Odessa on October 1, 1880. His parents were of Jewish origin; his father worked as a pharmacist and agent in a chemical laboratory. Later the family moved to the city of Belaya Tserkov, where the future poet spent his childhood.
There were five children in the family, two of them were given the same name by their parents - Sasha. And it so happened among the Glickbergs that the light-haired child (blonde) was called Sasha Bely, and the dark-haired one (brunette) was Sasha Black. Thus, the poet’s future pseudonym emerged from his childhood family nickname.
Sasha Cherny was noticeably different from his sisters and brothers. He had a wild imagination, he was constantly making something, inventing something, and conducting experiments. He either mixed sulfur, tooth powder and petroleum jelly to make waterproof gunpowder, or tried to make ink from the sap of the mulberry tree. In general, the Glickbergs' apartment sometimes resembled a chemical plant. For such experiments, Sasha often had to receive punishment from his father, who was distinguished by his severity and tough disposition.
The Glickburgs were wealthy people, but uncultured. It cannot be said that Sasha had a happy childhood; the boy grew up withdrawn and unsociable.
Education
In those days, it was almost impossible for a child from a Jewish family to receive a decent education. Therefore, at first Sasha was home-schooled.
In order for the boy to enter the Bila Tserkva gymnasium, his parents had to baptize him in the Russian Orthodox Church. The child began studying at the gymnasium at the age of 10, his studies were not easy for him, and the boy was expelled several times for poor performance. To the constant punishment at home was added a new fear of the school yoke.
At the age of 15, he could not stand it and ran away from home, abandoning his studies. By the way, earlier the eldest child of the Glikberg family decided to take the same step, and Sasha Cherny followed his example.
At first, the boy was sheltered by his paternal aunt. She brought Sasha to St. Petersburg, where he entered the gymnasium to continue his studies. But soon the young man was expelled from there, failing to pass the algebra exam.
Sasha’s situation was catastrophic: there was no money to live at all, he wrote to his father and mother, asking for help, but his parents did not answer the letters of his fugitive son. The guy became a beggar and started begging.
In 1898, a young journalist, Alexander Yablonsky, began working for one of the largest St. Petersburg newspapers, Son of the Fatherland. He learned about the unfortunate young man who had been abandoned by his family, and wrote a report about the sad fate of the teenager.
Zhitomir and godfather C. Roche
The article was read by a very wealthy gentleman from Zhitomir, Konstantin Roche, who devoted a lot of time and money to charity. He took the young man to his place, providing him with shelter and education. Zhitomir truly became a second home for Sasha, and he always considered Konstantin Konstantinovich Roche his godfather.
Roche adored poetry, he instilled his love of poetry in Sasha, and soon discovered that the guy himself had a good poetic gift.
Konstantin Konstantinovich helped Sasha get a job as a minor official in the Collection Service. Simultaneously with his work, the young man began to write poetry.
In 1900 he was called up for military service. An infantry regiment was based in Zhitomir, in which Sasha served for 2 years as a volunteer.
After the service, he went to the small town of Novoselitsy, where he got a job as a customs officer on the border with Austria-Hungary.
But he soon returned to Zhitomir, where he began collaborating with the Volynsky Vestnik newspaper. In 1904, his first poetic work, “The Diary of a Reasoner,” was published; the aspiring poet signed “On his own.” The local Zhitomir intelligentsia became interested in the work, and soon Sasha received the nickname “poet”.
Petersburg
Unfortunately, the Volynsky Vestnik newspaper, in which Sasha began to regularly publish his poems, closed. But the young man was already very interested in literary activity, and he decided to move to St. Petersburg. Here he first lived with Roche’s relatives, and they helped him get a job in the railway tax service.
He served as a minor official, and his immediate boss was a woman, Maria Ivanovna Vasilyeva. Sasha and Masha were very different from each other - both in position and in education, and besides, the woman was much older than him. Despite these differences, they became close and married in 1905. This gave the young poet a chance to leave his job in the railway office and devote himself entirely to literature.
He began collaborating with the satirical magazine “Spectator”. In issue number 23, the poem “Nonsense” was published, and for the first time the work was signed by Sasha Cherny. It was November 1905. The poem was a success, and Sasha immediately began to be invited to many satirical publications.
Several magazines and newspapers began publishing it:
- "Journal";
- "Leshy";
- "Almanac";
- "Masks".
Sasha Cherny's popularity among readers grew. However, this fact was overshadowed by the fact that after his satirical poems the magazine “Spectator” was closed, and the collection of poetry “Different Motives” was generally banned by censorship due to political satire.
All this led to the fact that in 1906 Sasha Cherny left for Germany, where he attended lectures at the University of Heidelberg.
Creativity flourishes
In 1908, Sasha returned to St. Petersburg, where the new magazine “Satyricon” had just opened and he, along with other famous poets, became its regular author. Moreover, from 1908 to 1911 he occupied the position of the undisputed poetic leader of Satyricon, thanks to the magazine Sasha had all-Russian fame. Korney Chukovsky spoke about him:
His poems were really on everyone’s lips at that time. Readers loved them for their sparkling humor, special bile and bitterness, biting satire, simplicity and at the same time audacity, witty remarks and naive childishness. Newspapers and magazines simply fought for the right to publish Sasha’s poetry; he, as before, collaborated with many publishing houses:
- “Russian Rumor” and “Modern World”;
- “Kiev Thought” and “Sun of Russia”;
- "Contemporary" and "Argus";
- "Odessa news".
One after another, collections of his poetry were published: “Involuntary Tribute”, “To All the Poor in Spirit”, “Satires”.
But in 1911, without reason or explanation, Sasha Cherny left Satyricon. Perhaps the inner state of his soul affected him; the young poet felt that he had exhausted himself in this direction. In the same year he made his debut in children's literature:
- poem "Bonfire";
- followed by his first prose work, the story for children “The Red Pebble,” in 1912;
- in 1914, the famous “Living ABC” in verse;
- in 1915, a collection of children's poems “Knock Knock”.
Over time, works for children took the main place in the work of Sasha Cherny.
Revolution and war
In 1914, when war with Germany was declared, Sasha was called to the front. The horrors of war turned out to be a difficult test for the poet; he fell into a terrible depression and was admitted to a hospital. And then he continued his service in medical units: he was a caretaker of a hospital in Gatchina, then went to the front with the Warsaw consolidated field hospital No. 2, and helped the caretaker at the Pskov field reserve hospital.
At the end of August 1918, when the Red Army entered the city of Pskov, Sasha left it along with other refugees. He did not accept the revolution. The poet made attempts to reconcile with the new government, but nothing worked, despite the fact that the Bolsheviks offered him to head a newspaper in Vilna. Cherny left Russia in 1920.
Emigration
First, he and his wife moved to the Baltic states, to the city of Kovno. Then they moved to Berlin. Here he continued to engage in literary activities. The poet collaborated with the publishing houses “Spolokhi”, “Rul”, “Volya Rossii”, “Segodnya”. Sasha had the opportunity to work as an editor at the magazine “Grani”.
In 1923, a book with his poems, “Thirst,” was published, published at his own expense. All the works were imbued with longing for the homeland; their lines revealed the poet’s sad position “under a foreign sun.”
In 1924, Cherny moved to France. Here he made every effort to make Russian literature popular abroad. He collaborated with several Parisian magazines and newspapers:
- "Last news";
- "Chimes";
- "Satyricon";
- "Illustrated Russia";
- "Revival".
He organized literary evenings, traveled throughout France and Belgium reading his poems for Russian-speaking listeners, and took part in “days of Russian culture” every year. Sasha Cherny released a children's almanac “Russian Land”, which told about the Russian people, their history and creativity.
During the years of emigration, Cherny worked especially hard on prose. He created many wonderful works for children:
Death
In 1929, in the southern part of France, in the small town of La Favière, Sasha bought a plot of land and built a house. This place has become a truly cultural Russian center abroad. Many musicians, artists, Russian writers gathered here, who often came and stayed with Cherny for a long time.
On July 5, 1932, a fire broke out near Sasha’s house and a neighboring farm caught fire. Without thinking for a second about the consequences for his health, he ran to help his neighbors and participated in putting out the fire. Arriving home, he lay down to rest, but never got out of bed; he died of a heart attack.
He was buried in the French Lavender Cemetery. The closest and dearest person to Sasha Cherny, his wife Maria Ivanovna, died in 1961. From that time on, there was no one to look after or pay for their graves; the couple had no children. Therefore, the actual exact burial place of the poet was lost. In 1978, a memorial plaque was installed at the Lavender cemetery, which says that the poet Sasha Cherny rests in this cemetery.
All that remains is the memory and his immortal poetry. Songs were written based on Sasha Cherny’s poems and performed by such popular Russian singers as the group “Splin”, Zhanna Aguzarova, Arkady Severny, Maxim Pokrovsky, Alexander Novikov.
Sasha Cherny appears, whose biography, although short, is very interesting. This is the person who managed to achieve everything on his own. The one who proved to the whole world that he is a Man with a capital M. Despite all the obstacles, the difficult path of life and many other problems that blocked the path of the poet, he nevertheless became a person worthy of his title. And this cannot go unnoticed and respected.
Poet Sasha Cherny. short biography
Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg was born (it was he who later took the pseudonym Sasha Cherny) on October 1, 1880 in the city of Odessa. His parents were Jews, which later had an influence on his development and perception of the world due to his specific upbringing. The family had five children, two of whom were named Sasha. Our poet was dark-haired, which is why he received the nickname “black,” which later became his pseudonym. In order to receive an education at the gymnasium, the boy was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church, but he and Sasha ran away from home and began begging. This story was written in the newspaper, and local philanthropist K.K. Roche, touched by the boy’s story, took him into his care. Roche adored poetry and taught young Glickberg to love it, gave him a good education and encouraged Sasha to start writing poetry. It is Roche who can be considered Sasha’s godfather in the field of literature and poetry.
Young summers
From 1901 to 1902, Alexander served as an ordinary soldier, after which he worked at the Novoselensk customs. At this time, the Volynsky Vestnik newspaper published the young writer’s first work, “The Diary of a Reasoner,” which aroused special interest in him among the local intelligentsia. This is what gave the guy the nickname “poet”. Sasha Cherny did not stop writing even in St. Petersburg, where he moved in 1905. He was published in such newspapers and magazines as “Magazine”, “Almanac”, “Masks”, “Spectator” and others. Although the poet’s popularity increased, not everything was as smooth as it might seem at first glance. The satire “Nonsense,” published in the magazine “Spectator,” led to the closure of the publication, and the collection “Different Motives” was banned due to non-compliance with censorship. Because of this, the young poet had problems with the authorities and the owners of the magazine; for some time he was not accepted in society, and was made into a kind of outcast.
Study and work
While living in Germany, Alexander not only created and wrote his brilliant works, but also studied at the University of Heidelberg during 1906-1908. Sasha Cherny, whose biography is already full of challenging events, continues to write what censorship prohibits, but this does not stop him. In 1908, he returned to St. Petersburg again, where he became an employee of the Satyricon magazine, and also published in such publications as Argus, Modern World, Sovremennik, Sun of Russia, Odessa News, “Russian Rumor” and “Kiev News”, publishes the first books.
First World War
During the First World War, Alexander served as an ordinary officer in the Fifth Army at a field hospital. At the same time, he worked as a prose writer, publishing collections and children's books.
Works by Sasha Cherny
The poet's bibliography includes more than 40 books and collections, about 100 quotes and sayings, as well as countless poems. All his works were published under the pseudonyms “Sasha Cherny”, “On My Own” and “Dreamer”. The most popular were: the story “Wonderful Summer”, the collection “Frivolous Stories”, as well as children’s books “Professor Patrashkin’s Dream”, “Seafaring Squirrel”, “Fox Mickey’s Diary”, “Ruddy Book” and “Cat Sanatorium”, published in the time between the First and Second World Wars.
The poet Sasha Cherny, whose biography is already crowned with many interesting and mysterious facts, died on August 5, 1932 during a fire that he helped to extinguish. He didn’t die in the fire, he died at home after all the events - he just lay down on the bed and never got up again. Despite all the genius and majesty of the poet, Alexander’s grave has not been found to this day. She got lost because there was no one to pay for her, and nothing with anything.
All that's left
Alexander's wife died in 1961 - the only person who was dear to the poet, since there were no children in the family. After her death in 1978, Lavender was symbolically installed in the cemetery in order to somehow perpetuate the name of the legendary poet. Thanks to the care of Korney Chukovsky in the 1960s, all of Sasha’s works were published in the Big and Small series of the “Poet’s Library” in several volumes.
To date
Sasha Cherny, whose biography is one of the most interesting, left behind a large legacy of books and poems. His works are studied both at school and in higher education institutions. His quotes are used by all people, regardless of age and position in society, which indicates the popularity and ability of the author to touch a person to the quick.
Sasha Cherny (real name Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg) was born on October 1, 1880 in the city of Odessa. The pharmacist's family had 5 children, two of whom were Sasha. Blonde and brunette, “White” and “Black”. This is how the pseudonym appeared.
The boy became a high school student at the age of ten. So that Sasha could enroll outside the “percentage norm” for Jews, his father baptized him. But Sasha found it difficult to study; he was repeatedly expelled for poor performance. At the age of 15, the boy ran away from home, began to wander and soon found himself without a livelihood. His father and mother stopped responding to his requests for help. A journalist accidentally found out about Sasha’s fate and wrote an article about it, which fell into the hands of a major Zhytomyr official, K. Roche. Roche was touched by this sad story and took the young man to his house. This is how Sasha ended up in Zhitomir.
But here, too, the future poet did not finish high school, this time due to a conflict with the director. Sasha was called up for military service, where he served for two years.
Then Alexander ended up in the town of Novoselitsy (on the border with Austria-Hungary), where he went to work at the local customs office.
Returning to Zhitomir, he began working for the Volynsky Vestnik newspaper. His “Diary of a Reasoner” is printed here, signed “On his own.” However, the newspaper quickly closed. A young man, already interested in literature, decides to move to St. Petersburg. Here Sasha was sheltered by the relatives of Constantin Roche. Alexander served as an official on the Warsaw Railway. His boss was Maria Ivanovna Vasilyeva. Despite the fact that she was several years older than Sasha, they became close and got married in 1905. Alexander Glikberg left his office job and devoted himself entirely to literary creativity. So he became Sasha Cherny.
His very first poem, “Nonsense,” published under an unknown pseudonym, led to the closure of the magazine “Spectator,” in which it was published, and was distributed in lists throughout the country. Sasha Cherny’s poems, both sarcastic and tender, gained nationwide popularity. Korney Chukovsky wrote: “...having received the latest issue of the magazine, the reader, first of all, looked for the poems of Sasha Cherny in it.”
In 1906, a collection of poems, “Different Motives,” was published, which was soon banned by censorship due to political satire.
In 1910-1913, the poet wrote children's books.
In 1914, Alexander went to the front, served in the 5th Army as a private at a field hospital and worked as a prose writer. However, unable to withstand the horrors of the war, he fell into depression and was placed in a hospital.
After the October Revolution in the fall of 1918, Alexander went to the Baltic states, and in 1920 to Germany. For some time the poet lived in Italy, then in Paris. He spent the last years of his life in the south of France.
In exile, Sasha worked in newspapers and magazines, organized literary evenings, traveled around France and Belgium, performed poetry to Russian audiences, and published books. A special place in his work was now occupied by prose addressed to both adults and children.
The death of Sasha Cherny was sudden and unexpected: risking his life, he helped neighbors put out the fire, and then, already at home, he had a heart attack. Sasha Cherny died in France in the town of Lavender on July 5, 1932. He was only 52 years old.
Poet and prose writer Sasha Cherny was born under the name Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg in a fairly large family with five children. Surprisingly, the two boys had the same name - Sasha, but one had blond hair and therefore was called “white”, and the other had dark hair - he was called “black”. This is the origin of the pseudonym. The author was born in Odessa, October 13, 1880. Soon his parents sent the boy to the gymnasium, but fate turned out to be such that Alexander left his home and, remaining completely penniless, began begging on the street. A newspaper wrote about a lonely and poor boy. This story touched one gentleman official, K.K. Roche that he decided to take young Sasha with him. Roche was a fairly noble man and loved poetry, which, of course, contributed to the character of the future writer.
At the age of 21, Alexander entered the service as a private, and three years later began working in customs. In the summer of 1904, the “Diary of a Reasoner” was published in one of the newspapers in the city of Zhitomir under the pseudonym “On My Own.”
A year later, Glikberg began to live in St. Petersburg, where a series of publications of works began in various magazines: “Leshy”, “Spectator”, “Almanac” and some others. The poems found many positive responses among readers.
For the first time, Alexander Mikhailovich signed himself as “Sasha Cherny” in 1905 in his satire “Nonsense.” The publication of this poem caused the magazine to cease its work from now on. The author's collection was banned due to censorship.
From 26 to 28 years old, the poet stayed in Germany, studying at a German university, and then again came to St. Petersburg and began collaborating with the publication Satyricon. The author published several collections of poems, his works were published in famous magazines and newspapers, such as Sovremennik, Solntse Rossii, Kievskaya Mysl and some others.
Alexander Glikberg was at the front as a private in the infirmary during the First World War.
In the 18th year of the last century, the poet and prose writer left Russia. He settled first in Lithuania, then Berlin and Rome, and in 1924 finally settled in the capital of France, where his collections began to be published. Five years later, he bought a small territory in the south of the country, where Russian artists came to visit.
At the beginning of August 1932, Alexander Mikhailovich died due to a heart attack. The reason for this was a recent fire, in extinguishing which the poet helped his neighbors, but upon arriving home, he fell ill and was no longer able to get up.
Biography by dates and interesting facts. The most important.
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Sasha Cherny's biography for children will help you prepare for the lesson and learn about the work of this poet.
Sasha Cherny short biography
Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg, who later became known as Sasha Cherny, was born on October 1, 1880 in the Odessa family of a Jewish pharmacist, where besides him there were four more children.
To give their son the opportunity to enter the gymnasium, his parents baptized him. But Alexander did not study at the gymnasium for long. The boy ran away to St. Petersburg at the age of 15 and became a beggar. His fate was written about in the newspaper, and the Zhytomyr official K.K. Roche, touched by this story, took the boy to his place. Roche, who did a lot of charity work and loved poetry, had a great influence on Alexander.
After serving for two years (1901-1902) as a volunteer in the Russian army, he began working in the customs service in Novoselitsy.
Returning to Zhitomir, the young author begins to collaborate with the local Volynsky Vestnik. But the newspaper soon closed, and in 1905 Alexander Mikhailovich left for St. Petersburg. There he published poems in the magazines “Leshy”, “Almanac”, “Spectator” and many others, earning a living from clerical work.
In 1905, Alexander Glikberg married Marina Vasilyeva. Returning from a honeymoon trip to Italy, he decided to leave his job and study only literature.
After the publication of the poem “Nonsense” under the name “Sasha Cherny”, the writer was welcome at meetings of all satirical magazines of that time.
In 1906-1908 he lived in Germany, where he continued his education at the University of Heidelberg.
Sasha Cherny returned to St. Petersburg in 1908. Through the efforts of the magazine “Satyricon”, collections of his poems “Satires”, “Involuntary Tribute”, “To All Poor in Spirit” were published. Many publications were happy to publish his works. The writer also tried himself as an author of children's works, publishing the books “The Living Alphabet”, “Knock Knock” and others.
In 1914, Cherny was mobilized and began serving in a field hospital.
