How many years ago did Kharms live? Biography of Daniil Kharms

Daniil Kharms (Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev) was born on December 30 (according to the old style - 17) December 1905. His father, Ivan Pavlovich Yuvachev, was a man of exceptional destiny. For participation in the Narodnaya Volya terror, he (then a naval officer) was tried in 1883 and spent four years in solitary confinement, and then more than ten years in hard labor. Kharms’s mother ran a shelter for former convicts in St. Petersburg.
Kharms studied at the St. Petersburg German school (Peterschule), where he acquired a thorough knowledge of German and English languages. In 1924 he entered the Leningrad Electrical Technical College, from where a year later he was expelled for “poor attendance” and “inactivity in community service" Thus, the writer was unable to receive either higher or secondary specialized education. But he was intensively engaged in self-education, especially interested in philosophy and psychology. He lived exclusively on literary earnings. Since 1924, he begins to call himself Kharms. This was the main of his many aliases; originating, perhaps, both from the French “charm” (charm, charm) and from the English “harm” (harm, misfortune); it quite accurately reflected the essence of the writer’s attitude to life and work: Kharms knew how to travesty the most serious things and find very sad moments in the most seemingly funny ones. The same ambivalence was characteristic of his personality: orientation towards the game, towards funny prank combined with sometimes painful suspiciousness, with the confidence that he brings misfortune to those he loves.
In 1925, Kharms met young Esther Rusakova and soon married her. The romance and marriage were difficult and painful for both parties - until the divorce in 1932. However, throughout his life he will remember Esther and compare with her all the women with whom fate brings him together.
In 1925, Kharms joined a small group of Leningrad poets, led by Alexander Tufanov; they called themselves “zaumniks.” Here an acquaintance occurs and a friendship arises with Alexander Vvedensky. In 1926, they, together with young philosophers Leonid Lipavsky and Yakov Druskin, formed the “Chinari” association. Around the same time, Kharms and Vvedensky were accepted into the Leningrad branch of the All-Russian Union of Poets. In the collections of the Union they publish two of their poems, which remain the only “adult” works that they are destined to see published. Main form activities of the “plane trees” - performances with reading of their poems in clubs, universities, literary circles; they usually ended in scandals.
Kharms participates in various left-wing associations and initiates their creation. In 1927, the Association of Real Art (OBERIU) emerged, which, in addition to Kharms and Vvedensky, included Nikolai Zabolotsky, Konstantin Vaginov, Igor Bakhterev, and Nikolai Oleinikov, who became a close friend of Kharms, also joined them.
The only evening of OBERIU on January 24, 1928 became a kind of benefit performance for Kharms: in the first part he read poetry, and in the second his play “Elizabeth Bam” was staged (it in many ways anticipates the discoveries of the European theater of the absurd). Sharp negative reviews the press determined that such evenings were impossible; now the Oberiuts could only perform small programs. Finally, one of their speeches at the Leningrad State University dormitory aroused new accusations of counter-revolutionism. In 1930, OBERIU ceased to exist, and at the end of 1931, Kharms and Vvedensky were arrested. The sentence, however, was relatively mild - exile to Kursk, and the efforts of friends led to the fact that already in the fall of 1932 the poets were able to return to Leningrad.
Back at the end of 1927, Oleinikov and Boris Zhitkov organized the “Association of Writers of Children's Literature” and invited Kharms to it. From 1928 to 1941, he constantly collaborated in children's magazines "Hedgehog", "Chizh", "Cricket", "Oktyabryata", he published about 20 children's books. Poems and prose for children provide a kind of outlet for his playful element, but they were written exclusively for earning money and special significance the author did not give them any credit. The attitude of official party criticism towards them was clearly negative.
After the exile, there could be no talk of any publications or speeches. Moreover, it was necessary to hide his creativity from outsiders. Therefore, communication between former Oberiuts and people close to them now took place in apartments. Kharms, Vvedensky, Lipavsky, Druskin, Zabolotsky, Oleinikov, had conversations on literary, philosophical and other topics. The activities of this circle continued for several years. But in 1936, Vvedensky married a Kharkov woman and went to her; in 1937, Oleynikov was arrested and soon shot.
Kharms’ “adult” works are now written exclusively “for the table.” Poetry is replaced by prose, leading prose genre becomes a story. In the 30s there is a desire for a large form. Its first example can be considered the cycle “Cases” - thirty short stories and the scenes, which Kharms arranged in a certain order, rewrote in separate notebook and dedicated it to his second wife Marina Malich (whom he married in 1935). In 1939, the second big thing appeared - the story “The Old Woman”. About a dozen stories written in 1940–1941 are known.
By the end of the 30s, the ring around Kharms was shrinking. There are fewer and fewer opportunities to be published in children's magazines. The consequence of this was a very real famine. The tragedy of the writer’s works during this period intensifies to a feeling of complete hopelessness, complete meaninglessness of existence. Kharms’ humor also undergoes a similar evolution: from light, slightly ironic – to black.
The beginning of the war and the first bombing of Leningrad intensified Kharms’s feeling of his own approaching death. In August 1941, he was arrested for “defeatist statements.” Long time no one knew anything about him future fate, only in February 1942 Marina Malich was informed about the death of her husband. Opinion about him last days contradictory. Some believe that Kharms, who was threatened with execution, feigned a mental disorder and was sent to a prison psychiatric hospital, where he died during the first winter of the siege of Leningrad. There is also information that Kharms was actually diagnosed with schizophrenia shortly before his arrest, so he was admitted to the hospital for compulsory treatment. It is not known exactly where he died - in Leningrad or Novosibirsk. Date of death: February 2, 1942
Kharms's manuscripts were preserved by his friend Joseph Druskin; he took them in the winter of 1942 from the writer’s empty room. I did not part with this suitcase either during the evacuation or upon returning to Leningrad; I did not touch its contents for about twenty years, maintaining hope for a miracle - the return of the owner. And only when there was no hope, he began to sort out the papers of his deceased friend.
Daniil Kharms has verses that many call prophetic:

A man left the house
With rope and bag
And in long journey, and on a long journey
I set off on foot.
He walked and kept looking ahead,
And he kept looking forward,
Didn't sleep, didn't drink,
Didn't sleep, didn't drink,
Didn't sleep, didn't drink, didn't eat.
And then one morning
He entered the dark forest
And from that time on, and from that time on,
And from then on he disappeared...
And if somewhere it
I'll have to meet you
Then quickly, then quickly,
Tell us quickly.

Twenty-five years after his death, Kharms was appreciated by a wide readership. His rebirth began, which continues today.

Soviet poet, prose writer, playwright, children's writer. One of the central representatives of the Russian avant-garde of the early 20th century. During Kharms’s lifetime, his works were not only not published, but were also known to a very narrow circle of people.

Daniil Ivanovich Kharms, real name Yuvachev, born December 30 (December 17, old style) 1905 in St. Petersburg. His father was a naval officer. IN 1883 for complicity in the Narodnaya Volya terror, he was brought to trial, spent four years in solitary confinement and more than ten years in hard labor, where he experienced religious conversion: along with the memoir books “Eight Years on Sakhalin” ( 1901) and "Shlisselburg Fortress" ( 1907) he published mystical treatises "Between the World and the Monastery" ( 1903), "Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven" ( 1910).

Kharms's mother had noble origin, was in charge of 1900s a shelter for former convicts in St. Petersburg.

After the revolution, she became a castellan at the Barracks Hospital named after S.P. Botkin, his father worked as a senior auditor of the State Savings Banks, and later as the head of the accounting department of the working committee for the construction of the Volkhov hydroelectric station.

IN 1915. Daniel enters the first class of a real school, which was part of the Main German School of St. Peter in Petrograd (Petershule). During the revolution and Civil War Kharms and his parents either move to the Volga region or return back to St. Petersburg. WITH 1922 Kharms studies in Tsarskoe Selo, at a school where his aunt, Natalya Ivanovna Kolyubakina, was the director. After finishing school in 1924. Kharms entered the Leningrad Electrical Technical School. However, not having the slightest desire for the profession, he was expelled a year later. At this time, he chooses the pseudonym “Kharms”. Start literary activity Kharms falls on 1925. He joined a small group of Leningrad poets, “zaumniks,” headed by A. Tufanov. During this year, Kharms formed two notebooks of poems, which he October 9, 1925. submitted along with an application for admission to the Leningrad branch of the All-Russian Union of Poets, and March 26, 1926 was accepted into it. IN 1925 Kharms married E.A. Rusakova (divorced in 1932)

The collaboration with the “nerds” was short-lived. IN 1925 Kharms meets A.I. Vvedensky and is part of the union of “plane trees” founded by him, which also included Ya. S. Druskin and L. S. Lipavsky - who became true friends Kharms. IN 1925-1928 years, Kharms created a number of short-lived literary (and other) organizations. The public performances of Kharms and his associates are distinguished by their unconventional approach to art, provocativeness and cause sharp criticism in the “official” press. Autumn 1927 Kharms, A. Vvedensky, I. Bakhterev and N. Zabolotsky create a new literary group - the Association of Real Art (abbreviated as OBERIU). According to the creators, this association was supposed to include not only writers, but also artists and musicians. The global plans were not destined to come true. January 24, 1928 year in the Leningrad House of Press took place the most famous performance Oberiutov, which included reading poetry and staging Kharms’ play “Elizabeth Bam.” This performance (as well as all previous ones) was criticized in the press, but small performances of Kharms with friends took place until the spring 1930 Kharms's financial situation remained very deplorable throughout this time. In March 1929 Kharms was even expelled from the Union of Poets for non-payment of membership fees. In order to somehow earn money life Harms began writing poetry for children because it was the only thing he could publish. December 10, 1931 Kharms was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in the camps, but then the sentence was commuted and replaced with exile to Kursk (A. Vvedensky was also exiled there). In 1932 Kharms and Vvedensky managed to return to Leningrad. From that time on, there was no talk of any publications or performances. Kharms (like most of his friends) did not even try to publish his “adult” works. Communication between former Oberiuts and people close to them now took place in apartments. The only source Works for children remained as a means of subsistence, but even these could be published less and less often. IN 1935 Kharms enters into a second marriage with M. Malich. After publication in 1937 in a children's magazine, the poem “A Man Came Out of the House with a Club and a Bag” was not published at all for some time, which put him and his wife on the brink of starvation. Despite extremely unfavorable circumstances, Kharms continues to work: he writes many short stories, theatrical skits and poems for adults, creates a cycle of miniatures “Cases”, the story “The Old Woman”. August 23, 1941 Kharms was arrested “for defeatist sentiments.” According to the recollections of friends, he was really pessimistic about the prospects of the USSR in the war and had an extremely negative attitude towards the prospect of serving in the army. In light of the circumstances, it’s hard to blame Kharms for this. Almost nothing is known about the further fate of the poet; neither the date of death nor its cause have been established. It is known that he died in a prison psychiatric hospital, about which February 4, 1942 was reported to his wife M. Malich. Apparently Kharms feigned madness to avoid execution, and most likely died of starvation.

Kharms in notebooks names the following reasons for his expulsion from the Electrical Technical College: “1) Inactivity in public works. 2) I don’t fit the class physiologically.”

Kharms had about 20 pseudonyms. So big number literary names is explained, on the one hand, by Kharms’s penchant for mystification and theatricalization of his life, on the other hand, censorship constantly banned Kharms’s works, and he published them under new pseudonyms.

The meaning of the pseudonym “Kharms” is not known for certain. Researchers of Kharms’s work suggest that it is formed in consonance with the French “charme” - “charm, charm” and the English “harm” - “harm”. Some go even further and look for the origins of the pseudonym in the Sanskrit "dharma" - "religious duty" and the name of the Egyptian magician Hermes (Hermes) Trismegistus.

The nature of the performances of Kharms and his comrades can be judged by several interesting facts. Thus, during the speech of the “plane trees” at a meeting of the literary circle of the Higher Courses of Art History ( 1927) A scandal broke out, during which Kharms, climbing onto a chair, declared: “I don’t read in stables and brothels!”

On your own last performance in the student dormitory of Leningrad State University ( 1930) the Oberiuts came with posters: “Kolya went to the sea”, “They walked down the steps of mima kvass”, “Are we not pies?” etc. According to L. Ya. Ginzburg, in response to attempts to find out the meaning of the last slogan, poets reasonably remarked: “Are we pies?”

K. Malevich gave Kharms his book “God will not be thrown off” with a dedicatory inscription: “Go and stop progress!”

The literary association OBERIU is unique not only in domestic but also in world literature. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that all publications of all members of this association (with the exception of N. Zabolotsky) can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This despite the fact that creative potential and the originality of the Oberiuts’ ideas are now obvious.

The fate of most Oberiuts was tragic. A. Vvedensky, arrested at the same time as Kharms, died during transfer. V. Vaginov died of tuberculosis in 1934 Oleynikov was shot in 1938 B. Levin and L. Lipavsky died at the front. N. Zabolotsky eight years old (1938-1946) spent in camps and exile.

Kharms’s literary heritage was preserved by his friend Ya. Druskin, who, after the news of Kharms’ death, came to his abandoned apartment and took a suitcase with manuscripts. Y. Druskin did not touch the suitcase for 20 years and only in the 60s began analyzing manuscripts.

A cult figure among domestic hippies, Anna Gerasimova (Umka) is a specialist in the works of D. Kharms and the Oberiuts.

Bibliography

The literary heritage of D. Kharms is small: poems and stories for children, poems for adults, several plays, prose presented short stories. Among his “adult” works, the most famous are the cycle “Cases” and the story “The Old Woman”.

Film adaptations of works, theatrical performances

Art films

Clownery (1989) dir. D. Frolov

Staru-kha-rmsa (1991) dir. V. Gems

Happy Days (1991) dir. A. Balabanov

Concert for a Rat (1996) dir. O. Kovalov

Falling into Heaven (2007) dir. N. Mitroshina

Cartoons

Samovar Ivan Ivanovich. (1987) dir. Ts. Orshansky

Once Upon a Time (1990) dir. A. Guryev

Case (1990) dir. A. Turkus

Keywords: Daniil Kharms, Biography of Daniil Kharms, Detailed biography, full biography, read the biography of Kharms, the work of Daniil Kharms, absurdity, Russian avant-garde, works, read online, free, download, Russian literature, prose, oberiuts

Daniil Ivanovich Kharms, real name Yuvachev, was born on December 30 (December 17, old style) 1905 in St. Petersburg. His father was a naval officer. In 1883, he was put on trial for complicity in Narodnaya Volya terror, spent four years in solitary confinement and more than ten years in hard labor, where he experienced religious conversion: along with the memoir books “Eight Years on Sakhalin” (1901) and “The Shlisselburg Fortress” (1907) he published mystical treatises “Between the World and the Monastery” (1903), “Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven” (1910).

Kharms’s mother was of noble origin; in the 1900s she ran a shelter for former convict women in St. Petersburg.

After the revolution, she became a castellan at the Barracks Hospital named after S.P. Botkin, his father worked as a senior auditor of the State Savings Banks, and later as the head of the accounting department of the working committee for the construction of the Volkhov hydroelectric station.

In 1915-1918, Daniel studied at the privileged Main German School of St. Peter in Petrograd (Petrishul).

In 1922-1924 - at the 2nd Detskoselsky Unified Labor School, a former gymnasium in Tsarskoe Selo, where his aunt Natalya Kolyubakina was the director and teacher of Russian literature.

In 1924-1926 he studied at the First Leningrad Electrical Technical School, from where he was expelled for “poor attendance and inactivity in public works.”

In the early 1920s, Daniil Yuvachev chose the pseudonym "Kharms", which gradually became so attached to him that it became part of his surname.

In the 1930s, when all Soviet citizens were issued passports, he added a hyphen to the second part of his last name, so it became “Yuvachev-Kharms.”

The pseudonym "Kharms" is interpreted by researchers as "charm", "enchantment" (from the French charm), as "harm" and "misfortune" (from the English harm) and as a "sorcerer". In addition to the main pseudonym, Daniil used about 30 more pseudonyms - Charms, Harmonius, Shardam, Dandan, as well as Ivan Toporyshkin, Karl Ivanovich Shusterling and others.

He began writing poetry while studying at school, and later chose poetry as his main profession.

The earliest surviving poem by Kharms, “In July, Somehow Our Summer...” dates back to 1922.

The early Kharms was greatly influenced by the poet Alexander Tufanov, successor of Velimir Khlebnikov, author of the book “To Zaumi,” who founded the Order of Zaumni in March 1925, the core of which included Kharms himself, who took the title “Behold Zaumi.”

The departure from Tufanov was predetermined by his friendship with the poet Alexander Vvedensky, with whom in 1926 Kharms created the “School of Plane Trees” - a chamber community, which, in addition to two poets, included philosophers Yakov Druskin, Leonid Lipavsky and the poet, later editor children's magazine"Hedgehog" Nikolai Oleinikov. The main form of activity of the “plane trees” was performances with the reading of their poems.

In 1926, Kharms’ poem “The Case of railway"was published in a collection of poems; in 1927, "Poem by Pyotr Yashkin" was published in the collection "Bonfire".

In 1928, Kharms became a member literary group Association of Real Art (OBERIU), which included the poets Alexander Vvedensky, Nikolai Zabolotsky and others, who used the techniques of alogism, absurdity, and grotesque. At the “Three Left Hours” evening organized by the association, the highlight of the program was the production of Kharms’ play “Elizabeth Bam.”

In the same year, writer Samuil Marshak attracted Kharms to work in the Leningrad department of the children's literature publishing house Detgiz. “Ivan Ivanovich Samovar” (1928), “Ivan Toporyshkin” (1928), “How Dad Shot My Ferret” (1929), “Jolly Siskins” (co-authored with Marshak, 1929), “Million” were published in print. "(1930), "Liar" (1930) and others. Kharms's poems were published in 11 separate editions.

In December 1931, Kharms, along with other employees of the Leningrad children's publishing sector, was arrested on suspicion of anti-Soviet activities and was sentenced to three years in prison, which was replaced in 1932 by exile to Kursk, where he was escorted along with Vvedensky. In 1932, he managed to return to Leningrad, where he continued to collaborate in the magazines "Ezh" and "Chizh", published a free translation of the story German poet Wilhelm Busch "Plikh and Plikh".

In 1934, Kharms was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR. In the same year, he began work on the philosophical treatise "Existence", which was not completed.

In March 1937, the magazine “Chizh” published the poem “A Man Came Out of the House,” which tells how in the USSR a man left his house and disappeared without a trace. After this, Kharms was no longer published in children's publications. In the same year, he began creating the prose cycle "Cases".

At the end of May - beginning of June 1939, Kharms wrote the story "The Old Woman", which many researchers consider the main thing in the writer's work.

In the fall of 1939, Kharms feigned mental illness, and in September-October he was admitted to the neuropsychiatric dispensary of the Vasileostrovsky district, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

In the summer of 1940, he wrote the stories “Knights”, “Myshin’s Victory”, “Lecture”, “Pashkvil”, “Interference”, “Falling”, in September - the story “Power”, later - the story “A translucent young man was rushing about on the bed...”.

In 1941, for the first time since 1937, two children's books with Kharms' participation were published.

The last surviving work of Kharms was the story “Rehabilitation,” written in June 1941.

On August 23, 1941, Kharms was arrested and accused of anti-Soviet activities. In mid-December he was transferred to the psychiatric department of the prison hospital at Kresty.

On February 2, 1942, Daniil Kharms died in custody in besieged Leningrad from exhaustion. His name was erased from Soviet literature.

In 1960, Kharms’ sister Elizaveta Gritsyna appealed to the USSR Prosecutor General with a request to review her brother’s case. On July 25, 1960, by a decision of the Leningrad prosecutor's office, Kharms was found innocent, his case was closed for lack of evidence of a crime, and he himself was rehabilitated.

A collection of his children's poems, "The Game" (1962), was published in the USSR. Since 1978, his collected works have been published in Germany. By the mid-1990s, Kharms took the place of one of the main representatives of Russian artistic literature 1920-1930s, opposing Soviet literature.

The first complete three-volume collected works of Daniil Kharms was published in Russia in the 2010s.

Daniil Kharms was married twice. The first wife, Esther Rusakova, the daughter of a former political emigrant, after a divorce from the writer in 1937, along with her family, was arrested, sentenced to five years in the camps and soon died in Magadan.

Kharms’s second wife, Marina Malich, came from the Golitsyn family; after her husband’s death, she was evacuated from besieged Leningrad to Pyatigorsk, from where she was taken away by the Germans for forced labor in Germany. She managed to get to France, and later Marina emigrated to Venezuela. According to her memoirs, literary critic Vladimir Glotser wrote the book “Marina Durnovo: My husband Daniil Kharms.”

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Real name Yuvachev (1905 1942), Russian writer. In poetry, plays ("Elizabeth Bam", staged in 1927), the story "The Old Woman" (1939, published in 1991), grotesque stories (the cycle "Cases", 1933 39, published posthumously), the originality of poetics... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Kharms, Daniil Ivanovich- Daniil Ivanovich Kharms. KHARMS (real name Yuvachev) Daniil Ivanovich (1905 42), Russian writer. Member of OBERIU. In poetry, plays (“Elizabeth Bam”, staged in 1927), the story “The Old Woman” (1939, published in 1991), grotesque stories (cycle... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

KHARMS (real name Yuvachev) Daniil Ivanovich (1905 42) Russian writer. In the play Elizaveta Bam (staged in 1927), the story The Old Woman (1939, published in 1991), in grotesque stories (cycle Cases, 1933 39, published posthumously) he showed... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

KHARMS Daniil Ivanovich- KHARMS (real name Yuvachev) Daniil Ivanovich (190542), Russian Soviet writer. The play “Elizabeth to You” (post. 1927). Book poems and stories for children “Naughty Traffic Jam”, “Theater” (both 1928), “About how Kolka Pankin flew to Brazil, and ... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

- (Yuvachev). Genus. 1905, d. 1942. Writer (poet, prose writer, playwright) (absurdist). Became professional literary work in 1925. Member of the Order of Zaumnikov, later the Association of Real Art (OBERIU), the Association of Children's Writers... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

- (real name Yuvachev; 1905/06 1942) – Russian. writer. Entered literature in the middle. 20s In poetry, plays ("Elizabeth Bam", post. 1927), p. “The Old Woman” (1939), grotesque stories (cycle “Cases”, 1933 39) showed the absurdity of existence, depersonalization... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Pseudonyms

Daniil Kharms Birth name: Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev Date of birth: December 17 (30), 1905 Place of birth: Saint Petersburg Date of death: February 2, 1942 Place of death: Leningrad ... Wikipedia

Daniil Kharms Name at birth: Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev Date of birth: December 17 (30), 1905 Place of birth: St. Petersburg Date of death: February 2, 1942 Place of death: Leningrad ... Wikipedia

Kharms, Daniil Ivanovich Daniil Kharms Birth name: Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev Date of birth: December 17 (30), 1905 ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Stories, sketches, sketches, Kharms Daniil Ivanovich. Daniil Ivanovich Kharms (real name Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev) poet, prose writer, one of the organizers and active authors of the OBERIU group, classicist Russian literature., Born in St. Petersburg 30...
  • Stories, sketches, sketches, Daniil Ivanovich Kharms. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. Daniil Ivanovich Kharms (real name Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev) poet, prose writer, one of the organizers and...
Daniil Kharms (Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev) was born on December 30 (old style - 17) 1905. His father, Ivan Pavlovich Yuvachev, was a man of exceptional destiny. For participation in the Narodnaya Volya terror, he (then a naval officer) was tried in 1883 and spent four years in solitary confinement, and then more than ten years in hard labor. Kharms’s mother ran a shelter for former convicts in St. Petersburg.
Harms studied at the St. Petersburg German school (Peterschule), where he acquired a thorough knowledge of German and English. In 1924, he entered the Leningrad Electrical Technical School, from where a year later he was expelled for “poor attendance” and “inactivity in public works.” Thus, the writer was unable to receive either higher or secondary specialized education. But he was intensively engaged in self-education, especially interested in philosophy and psychology. He lived exclusively on literary earnings. Since 1924, he begins to call himself Kharms. This was the main of his many aliases; originating, perhaps, both from the French “charm” (charm, charm) and from the English “harm” (harm, misfortune); it quite accurately reflected the essence of the writer’s attitude to life and work: Kharms knew how to travesty the most serious things and find very sad moments in the most seemingly funny ones. The same ambivalence was characteristic of his personality: an orientation towards the game, towards a cheerful prank, was combined with sometimes painful suspiciousness, with the confidence that he was bringing misfortune to those he loved.
In 1925, Kharms met young Esther Rusakova and soon married her. The romance and marriage were difficult and painful for both parties - until the divorce in 1932. However, throughout his life he will remember Esther and compare with her all the women with whom fate brings him together.
In 1925, Kharms joined a small group of Leningrad poets, led by Alexander Tufanov; they called themselves “zaumniks.” Here an acquaintance occurs and a friendship arises with Alexander Vvedensky. In 1926, they, together with young philosophers Leonid Lipavsky and Yakov Druskin, formed the “Chinari” association. Around the same time, Kharms and Vvedensky were accepted into the Leningrad branch of the All-Russian Union of Poets. In the collections of the Union they publish two of their poems, which remain the only “adult” works that they are destined to see published. The main form of activity of the “plane trees” is performances with the reading of their poems in clubs, universities, and literary circles; they usually ended in scandals.
Kharms participates in various left-wing associations and initiates their creation. In 1927, the Association of Real Art (OBERIU) emerged, which, in addition to Kharms and Vvedensky, included Nikolai Zabolotsky, Konstantin Vaginov, Igor Bakhterev, and Nikolai Oleinikov, who became a close friend of Kharms, also joined them.
The only evening of OBERIU on January 24, 1928 became a kind of benefit performance for Kharms: in the first part he read poetry, and in the second his play “Elizabeth Bam” was staged (it in many ways anticipates the discoveries of the European theater of the absurd). Sharply negative reviews in the press determined the impossibility of such evenings; now the Oberiuts could only perform small programs. Finally, one of their speeches at the Leningrad State University dormitory aroused new accusations of counter-revolutionism. In 1930, OBERIU ceased to exist, and at the end of 1931, Kharms and Vvedensky were arrested. The sentence, however, was relatively mild - exile to Kursk, and the efforts of friends led to the fact that already in the fall of 1932 the poets were able to return to Leningrad.
Back at the end of 1927, Oleinikov and Boris Zhitkov organized the “Association of Writers of Children's Literature” and invited Kharms to it. From 1928 to 1941, he constantly collaborated in children's magazines "Hedgehog", "Chizh", "Cricket", "Oktyabryata", he published about 20 children's books. Poems and prose for children provide a unique outlet for his playful element, but they were written solely for earning money and the author did not attach much importance to them. The attitude of official party criticism towards them was clearly negative.
After the exile, there could be no talk of any publications or speeches. Moreover, it was necessary to hide his creativity from outsiders. Therefore, communication between former Oberiuts and people close to them now took place in apartments. Kharms, Vvedensky, Lipavsky, Druskin, Zabolotsky, Oleinikov, had conversations on literary, philosophical and other topics. The activities of this circle continued for several years. But in 1936, Vvedensky married a Kharkov woman and went to her; in 1937, Oleynikov was arrested and soon shot.
Kharms’ “adult” works are now written exclusively “for the table.” Poetry is replaced by prose, and the leading prose genre is the story. In the 30s there is a desire for a large form. Its first example can be considered the cycle “Cases” - thirty short stories and sketches, which Kharms arranged in a certain order, copied into a separate notebook and dedicated to his second wife Marina Malich (whom he married in 1935). In 1939, the second big thing appeared - the story “The Old Woman”. About a dozen stories written in 1940-1941 are known.
By the end of the 30s, the ring around Kharms was shrinking. There are fewer and fewer opportunities to be published in children's magazines. The consequence of this was a very real famine. The tragedy of the writer’s works during this period intensifies to a feeling of complete hopelessness, complete meaninglessness of existence. Kharms' humor also undergoes a similar evolution: from light, slightly ironic - to black.
The beginning of the war and the first bombing of Leningrad intensified Kharms’s feeling of his own approaching death. In August 1941, he was arrested for “defeatist statements.” For a long time no one knew anything about his further fate, only in February 1942 Marina Malich was informed of her husband’s death. Opinions about his last days are contradictory. Some believe that Kharms, who was threatened with execution, feigned a mental disorder and was sent to a prison psychiatric hospital, where he died during the first winter of the siege of Leningrad. There is also information that Kharms was actually diagnosed with schizophrenia shortly before his arrest, so he was admitted to the hospital for compulsory treatment. It is not known exactly where he died - in Leningrad or Novosibirsk. Date of death - February 2, 1942
Kharms's manuscripts were preserved by his friend Joseph Druskin; he took them in the winter of 1942 from the writer’s empty room. I did not part with this suitcase either during the evacuation or upon returning to Leningrad; I did not touch its contents for about twenty years, maintaining hope for a miracle - the return of the owner. And only when there was no hope, he began to sort out the papers of his deceased friend.
Daniil Kharms has verses that many call prophetic:

A man left the house
With rope and bag
And on a long journey, and on a long journey
I set off on foot.
He walked and kept looking ahead,
And he kept looking forward,
Didn't sleep, didn't drink,
Didn't sleep, didn't drink,
Didn't sleep, didn't drink, didn't eat.
And then one morning
He entered the dark forest
And from that time on, and from that time on,
And from then on he disappeared...
And if somewhere it
I'll have to meet you
Then quickly, then quickly,
Tell us quickly.

Twenty-five years after his death, Kharms was appreciated by a wide readership. His rebirth began, which continues today.



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Copyright: Daniil Kharms