M a osorgin short biography. Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin: interesting data and facts from life

OSORGIN, MIKHAIL ANDREEVICH(real name Ilyin) (1878–1942), Russian prose writer, journalist. Born on October 7 (19), 1878 in Perm in a family of hereditary pillar nobles, direct descendants of Rurik. He began publishing during his high school years, from 1895 (including the story Father, 1896). In 1897 he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, from where in 1899 he was exiled to Perm under the secret supervision of the police for participating in student unrest. In 1900 he was reinstated at the university (he graduated from the course in 1902), and during his studies he wrote the column “Moscow Letters” (“Diary of a Muscovite”) in the newspaper “Perm Provincial Gazette”. Confidential intonation, soft and wise irony, combined with keen observation, mark Osorgin’s subsequent stories in the genre of “physiological essay” ( On an inclined plane. From student life , 1898; Prison car, 1899), romantic "fantasy" ( Two moments. New Year's fantasy, 1898) and humorous sketches ( Son's letter to mom, 1901). He was engaged in advocacy, and together with K.A. Kovalsky, A.S. Butkevich and others, he founded the publishing house “Life and Truth” in Moscow, which published popular literature. Osorgin's brochures were published here in 1904 Japan, Russian military leaders Far East (biographies of E.I. Alekseev, A.N. Kuropatkin, S.O. Makarov, etc.), Remuneration of workers for accidents. Law June 2, 1903.

In 1903, the writer married the daughter of the famous Narodnaya Volya member A.K. Malikov (memoir essay by Osorgin Meetings. A.K.Malikov and V.G.Korolenko, 1933). In 1904 he joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party (he was close to its “left” wing), in whose underground newspaper he published an article in 1905 Behind What?, justifying terrorism by “fighting for the good of the people.” In 1905, during the Moscow armed uprising, he was arrested and almost executed due to the coincidence of surnames with one of the leaders of the military squads. Sentenced to exile, in May 1906 temporarily released on bail. The stay in Taganskaya prison was reflected in Pictures of prison life. From a diary of 1906, 1907; participation in the Socialist Revolutionary movement - in essays Nikolay Ivanovich, 1923, where, in particular, V.I. Lenin’s participation in the dispute at Osorgin’s apartment was mentioned; Small memory wreath, 1924; Nine hundred and fifth year. For the anniversary, 1930; and also in the story Terrorist, 1929, and having a documentary basis in the duology Witness to history, 1932, and A book about endings, 1935.

Already in 1906, Osorgin wrote that “it is difficult to distinguish a revolutionary from a hooligan,” and in 1907 he illegally left for Italy, from where he sent correspondence to the Russian press (some of it was included in the book. Essays on modern Italy, 1913), stories, poems and children's fairy tales, some of which were included in the book. Fairy tales and non-fairy tales(1918). Since 1908, he has constantly collaborated with the newspaper “Russian Vedomosti” and the magazine “Bulletin of Europe”, where he published stories Emigrant (1910), My daughter (1911), Ghosts(1913), etc. Around 1914 he joined the Masonic fraternity of the Grand Lodge of Italy. In those same years, having studied Italian, I closely followed the news Italian culture(articles about the work of G. D. Annunzio, A. Fogazzaro, G. Pascali and others, about the “destroyers of culture” - Italian futurists in literature and painting), became the largest specialist on Italy and one of the most prominent Russian journalists, developed specific genre a fictionalized essay, since the late 1910s, often permeated with the lyrical irony characteristic of the writer’s style. In July 1916 he returned to Russia semi-legally. In August, his article was published in Russkiye Vedomosti. Smoke of the Fatherland, which aroused the anger of the “patriots” with such maxims: “... I really want to take Russian man by the shoulders... shake and add: “And you’re much better at sleeping, even with a gun on!” While continuing to work as a traveling correspondent, he published a series of essays Around the Motherland(1916) and On the quiet front (1917).

February revolution At first he accepted it enthusiastically, then warily; in the spring of 1917 in Art. Old Proclamation warned about the danger of Bolshevism and the “new autocrat” - Vladimir, published a series of fictionalized essays about the “man of the people” - “Annushka”, published brochures Freedom fighters(1917, about Narodnaya Volya), About the current war and about eternal peace "(2nd ed., 1917), in which he advocated war to the bitter end, Security department and its secrets(1917). After October revolution spoke out against the Bolsheviks in opposition newspapers, called for a general political strike, in 1918 in Art. Day sorrow predicted the Bolsheviks' dispersal of the Constituent Assembly. The strengthening of Bolshevik power prompted Osorgin to encourage the intelligentsia to engage in creative work; he himself became one of the organizers and first chairman of the Union of Journalists, vice-chairman of the Moscow branch of the All-Russian Union of Writers (together with M.O. Gershenzon he prepared the charter of the union), as well as the creator of the famous Bookstore writers, which has become one of the important centers of communication between writers and readers and a kind of autographic (“handwritten”) publishing house. He took an active part in the work of the Moscow circle “Studio Italiana”.

In 1919 he was arrested and released at the request of the Writers' Union and J.K. Baltrushaitis. In 1921 he worked in the Commission for Famine Relief at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (Pomgol), and was the editor of the bulletin “Help” it published; in August 1921 he was arrested along with some members of the commission; from death penalty they were saved by the intervention of F. Nansen. He spent the winter of 1921–1922 in Kazan, editing " Literary newspaper", returned to Moscow. He continued to publish fairy tales for children and short stories, and translated (at the request of E.B. Vakhtangov) a play by C. Gozzi Princess Turandot(ed. 1923), plays by C. Goldoni. In 1918 he made sketches of a large novel about the revolution (a chapter was published Monkey town). In the fall of 1922 with a group of opposition-minded representatives domestic intelligentsia was expelled from the USSR (essay How they left us. Yubileiny, 1932). Longing for his homeland, he retained his Soviet passport until 1937. He lived in Berlin, gave lectures in Italy, and from 1923 in France, where, after marrying a distant relative of M.A. Bakunin, he entered the most calm and fruitful period of his life.

Osorgin's novel, begun in Russia, brought him worldwide fame. Sivtsev Vrazhek(department ed. 1928), where a calm, measured and spiritual rich life in the ancient center of Moscow, an ornithologist professor and his granddaughter - a typical existence of the beautiful-hearted Russian intelligentsia, which at first is shocked by the First World War, and then the revolution breaks in. Osorgin seeks to look at what happened in Russia from the point of view of “abstract”, timeless and even non-social humanism, drawing constant parallels human world with an animal. The statement of a somewhat studentish attraction to the Tolstoyan tradition, reproaches for the “dampness”, insufficient organization of the narrative, not to mention its obvious tendentiousness, did not prevent the enormous reading success Sivtseva Enemy. The clarity and purity of writing, the intensity of lyrical and philosophical thought, the bright nostalgic tonality dictated by the enduring and keen love for one’s fatherland, the liveliness and accuracy of everyday life, resurrecting the flavor of the Moscow past, the charm of the main characters - bearers of unconditional moral values - give Osorgin’s novel the charm and depth of highly artistic literary evidence of one of the most difficult periods in Russian history. Creative luck writers have also become The Tale of a Sister(separate edition 1931; first published 1930 in the magazine “Modern Notes”, like many other emigrant works of Osorgin), inspired by warm memories of the writer’s family and creating a “Chekhovian” image of a pure and integral heroine; dedicated to memory parents book of memoirs Things person(1929), collection. Miracle on the Lake(1931). Wise simplicity, sincerity, unobtrusive humor, characteristic of Osorgin’s manner, were also evident in his “old stories” (part of them was included in the collection. The Tale of a certain girl, 1838). Possessing excellent literary taste, Osorgin successfully acted as a literary critic.

A remarkable series of novels based on autobiographical material Witness to history (1932), Book about the ends(1935) and Freemason(1937). In the first two it is given artistic comprehension revolutionary sentiments and events in Russia at the beginning of the century, not devoid of features of an adventure narrative and leading to the idea of the dead end of the sacrificial idealistic path of the maximalists, and in the third - the lives of Russian emigrants who associated themselves with Freemasonry, one of the active figures of which Osorgin was from the beginning 1930s. Critics praised artistic innovation Freemason, the use of cinematic stylistics (partly related to the poetics of European expressionism) and newspaper genres (information inclusions, factual richness, sensational slogan “caps”, etc.).

Clearly manifested in the novel Sivtsev Vrazhek Osorgin's pantheism found expression in a series of lyrical essays Green World Incidents(1938; originally published in " Latest news"signed "Everyman"), where close attention to all life on earth is combined with a protest against the offensive technotronic civilization. In line with the same “protective” perception, a cycle was created dedicated to the world of things - the writer’s rich collection of Russian publications Notes of the old book eater(1928–1937), where the prose writer’s unmistakable ear for the Russian word was expressed in archaic, precise, correct and colorful speech.

Shortly before the war, Osorgin began work on his memoirs ( Childhood And Youth, both 1938; Time– publ. 1955). In 1940, the writer moved from Paris to the south of France; in 1940–1942 he published correspondence in the New Russian Word (New York) Letters from France. Pessimism, awareness of the meaninglessness of not only physical, but also spiritual resistance to evil are reflected in the books In a quiet place in France(ed. 1946) and Letters about insignificant(ed. 1952).

Osorgin Mikhail Andreevich, real name Ilyin (October 7 (19), 1878 - November 27, 1942) - Russian writer, journalist, essayist, one of the active and active Masons of the Russian emigration, founder of several Russian Masonic lodges in France.

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin; present fam. Ilyin was born in Perm - into a family of hereditary pillar nobles. He took the surname “Osorgin” from his grandmother. Father A.F. Ilyin was a lawyer, a participant in the judicial reform of Alexander II, brother Sergei (died in 1912) was a local journalist and poet.

But philosophy is not even a science, although it is called the science of sciences. It is born from the luxury of life or weariness of life. She is a cake. And she is also a mockery. And she is also a caretaker. Life now is such that if you step away from it for a minute, it will leave you for days. Whoever wants to survive must cling to it, to life, climb, and knock others off the bandwagon, like on a tram.

Osorgin Mikhail Andreevich

While studying at the gymnasium, he published an obituary for his class teacher in the Perm Provincial Gazette, and published the story “Father” in the “Magazine for Everyone” under the pseudonym Permyak (1896). From then on I considered myself a writer. After successfully graduating from high school, he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. IN student years continued to publish in Ural newspapers and acted as permanent employee"Perm Provincial Gazette". He took part in student unrest and was exiled from Moscow to Perm for a year. After completing his education (1902), he became an assistant to a sworn attorney in the Moscow Court Chamber and at the same time a sworn solicitor at a commercial court, a guardian in an orphan's court, a legal adviser to the Society of Merchant Clerks and a member of the Society for the Care of the Poor. At the same time he wrote the book “Workers' Compensation for Accidents.”

Critical of the autocracy, a stalwart nobleman by birth, an intellectual by occupation, a frontier and anarchist by character, Osorgin joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1904. He was attracted by their interest in the peasantry and the land, by the populist traditions - to respond to violence with violence, to the suppression of freedom - with terror, not excluding individual ones. In addition, socialist revolutionaries valued personal unselfishness, high moral principles and condemned careerism. Meetings of the Moscow party committee were held in his apartment, and terrorists were hiding. Active participation Osorgin did not participate in the revolution, but was involved in its preparation. He himself later wrote that in the Socialist Revolutionary Party he was “an insignificant pawn, an ordinary excited intellectual, more of a spectator than a participant.” During the revolution of 1905-1907, appearances were organized in his Moscow apartment and dacha, meetings of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Committee were held, appeals were edited and printed, and party documents were discussed. Participated in the Moscow armed uprising of 1905.

Futurism attracted the writer's special attention. He was sympathetic to the early, determined futurists. Osorgin's work in Italian futurism had a significant resonance in Russia. They trusted him as a brilliant expert on Italy, and listened to his judgments.

In 1913, in order to marry seventeen-year-old Rachel (Rose), Gintsberg, the daughter of Ahad Ha-Am, converted to Judaism (the marriage subsequently broke up).

From Italy he traveled twice to the Balkans and traveled through Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia. In 1911 Osorgin announced in print his departure from the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and in 1914 he became a Freemason. He asserted the supremacy of the highest ethical principles over party interests, recognizing only the blood connection of all living things, even exaggerating the importance biological factor In human life. In relations with people, he placed above all not the coincidence of ideological beliefs, but human closeness based on nobility, independence and selflessness. Contemporaries who knew Osorgin well (for example, B. Zaitsev, M. Aldanov) emphasized these qualities of his, not forgetting to mention his soft, subtle soul, about artistry and grace of appearance.

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin, real name Ilyin(October 7 (19), 1878 - November 27, 1942) - Russian writer, journalist, essayist, one of the active and active Masons of the Russian emigration, founder of several Russian Masonic lodges in France.

Biography

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (real name Ilyin) was born in Perm - into a family of hereditary pillar nobles. He took the surname “Osorgin” from his grandmother. Father A.F. Ilyin is a lawyer, a participant in the judicial reform of Alexander II, brother Sergei (died in 1912) was a local journalist and poet.

While studying at the gymnasium, he published an obituary for his class teacher in the Perm Provincial Gazette, and published the story “Father” in the “Magazine for Everyone” under the pseudonym Permyak (1896). From then on I considered myself a writer. After successfully graduating from high school (1897), he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. During his student years, he continued to publish in Ural newspapers and acted as a permanent employee of the Perm Provincial Gazette. He took part in student unrest and was exiled from Moscow to Perm for a year. After completing his education (1902), he became an assistant to a sworn attorney in the Moscow Court Chamber and at the same time a sworn solicitor at a commercial court, a guardian in an orphan's court, a legal adviser to the Society of Merchant Clerks and a member of the Society for the Care of the Poor. At the same time he wrote the book “Workers' Compensation for Accidents.”

In 1903 he married the daughter of Narodnaya Volya member A.K. Malikov.

Critical of the autocracy, a stalwart nobleman by birth, an intellectual by occupation, a frontier and anarchist by character, Osorgin joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1904. He was attracted by their interest in the peasantry and the land, by the populist traditions - to respond to violence with violence, to the suppression of freedom - with terror, not excluding individual ones. In addition, socialist revolutionaries valued personal unselfishness, high moral principles and condemned careerism. Meetings of the Moscow party committee were held in his apartment, and terrorists were hiding. Osorgin did not take an active part in the revolution, but was involved in its preparation. He himself later wrote that in the Socialist Revolutionary Party he was “an insignificant pawn, an ordinary excited intellectual, more of a spectator than a participant.” During the revolution of 1905-1907, appearances were organized in his Moscow apartment and dacha, meetings of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Committee were held, appeals were edited and printed, and party documents were discussed. Participated in the Moscow armed uprising of 1905.

In December 1905, Osorgin, mistaken for a dangerous “barricadist,” was arrested and spent six months in Tagansk prison, then released on bail. He immediately left for Finland, and from there - through Denmark, Germany, Switzerland - to Italy and settled near Genoa, in the Villa Maria, where an emigrant commune was formed. The first exile lasted 10 years. The literary result was the book “Essays on Modern Italy” (1913). Osorgin’s collaboration with the editors of the Garnet Encyclopedia dates back to the same time, which indicated him in the list of authors at the beginning of each volume without the patronymic initial (Osorgin M.) and with the clarification in parentheses: “Rome.”

In 1912, in order to marry lawyer Rachel Grigorievna (Girshevna) Ginzberg (1885, Kiev - 1957, Tel Aviv), daughter of the writer Usher Isaevich Ginzberg (who published under the pseudonym Ahad-ha-Am), he converted to Judaism (the marriage broke up in 1923 already in Germany, and R. G. Osorgina-Gintsberg remarried the artist and journalist N. V. Makeev).

From Italy he traveled twice to the Balkans and traveled through Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia. In 1911 Osorgin announced in print his departure from the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and in 1914 he became a Freemason. He asserted the supremacy of the highest ethical principles over party interests, recognizing only the blood connection of all living things, even exaggerating the importance of the biological factor in human life. In relations with people, he placed above all not the coincidence of ideological beliefs, but human closeness based on nobility, independence and selflessness. Contemporaries who knew Osorgin well (for example, B. Zaitsev, M. Aldanov) emphasized these qualities of his, not forgetting to mention his soft, subtle soul, artistry and grace of appearance.

Osorgin Mikhail Andreevich
Born: October 7 (19), 1878.
Died: November 27, 1942.

Biography

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin, real name Ilyin (October 7 (19), 1878 - November 27, 1942) - Russian writer, journalist, essayist, one of the active and active Masons of the Russian emigration, founder of several Russian Masonic lodges in France.

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin; present fam. Ilyin was born in Perm - into a family of hereditary pillar nobles. He took the surname “Osorgin” from his grandmother. Father A.F. Ilyin is a lawyer, a participant in the judicial reform of Alexander II, brother Sergei (died in 1912) was a local journalist and poet.

While studying at the gymnasium, he published an obituary for his class teacher in the Perm Provincial Gazette, and published the story “Father” in the “Magazine for Everyone” under the pseudonym Permyak (1896). From then on I considered myself a writer. After successfully graduating from high school (1897), he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. During his student years, he continued to publish in Ural newspapers and acted as a permanent employee of the Perm Provincial Gazette. He took part in student unrest and was exiled from Moscow to Perm for a year. After completing his education (1902), he became an assistant to a sworn attorney in the Moscow Court Chamber and at the same time a sworn solicitor at a commercial court, a guardian in an orphan's court, a legal adviser to the Society of Merchant Clerks and a member of the Society for the Care of the Poor. At the same time he wrote the book “Workers' Compensation for Accidents.”

Critical of the autocracy, a stalwart nobleman by birth, an intellectual by occupation, a frontier and anarchist by character, Osorgin joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1904. He was attracted by their interest in the peasantry and the land, by the populist traditions - to respond to violence with violence, to the suppression of freedom - with terror, not excluding individual ones. In addition, socialist revolutionaries valued personal unselfishness, high moral principles and condemned careerism. Meetings of the Moscow party committee were held in his apartment, and terrorists were hiding. Osorgin did not take an active part in the revolution, but was involved in its preparation. He himself later wrote that in the Socialist Revolutionary Party he was “an insignificant pawn, an ordinary excited intellectual, more of a spectator than a participant.” During the revolution of 1905-1907, appearances were organized in his Moscow apartment and dacha, meetings of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Committee were held, appeals were edited and printed, and party documents were discussed. Participated in the Moscow armed uprising of 1905.

In December 1905 Osorgin, mistaken for a dangerous “barricadist,” was arrested and spent six months in Taganskaya prison, then released on bail. He immediately left for Finland, and from there - through Denmark, Germany, Switzerland - to Italy and settled near Genoa, in the Villa Maria, where an emigrant commune was formed. The first exile lasted 10 years. The literary result was the book “Essays on Modern Italy” (1913).

In 1913, in order to marry seventeen-year-old Rachel (Rose), Gintsberg, the daughter of Ahad Ha-Am, converted to Judaism (the marriage subsequently broke up).

From Italy he traveled twice to the Balkans and traveled through Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia. In 1911 Osorgin announced in print his departure from the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and in 1914 he became a Freemason. He asserted the supremacy of the highest ethical principles over party interests, recognizing only the blood connection of all living things, even exaggerating the importance of the biological factor in human life. In relations with people, he placed above all not the coincidence of ideological beliefs, but human closeness based on nobility, independence and selflessness. Contemporaries who knew Osorgin well (for example, B. Zaitsev, M. Aldanov) emphasized these qualities of his, not forgetting to mention his soft, subtle soul, artistry and grace of appearance.

With the outbreak of World War I, Osorgin became very homesick for Russia. Although he did not stop ties with his homeland (he was a foreign correspondent for Russian Vedomosti and published in magazines, for example, in Vestnik Evropy), it was more difficult to carry them out. Semi-legally returns to Russia in July 1916, having passed through France, England, Norway and Sweden. From August 1916 he lived in Moscow. One of the organizers of the All-Russian Union of Journalists and its chairman (since 1917) and fellow chairman of the Moscow branch of the Writers' Union. Employee of "Russian Vedomosti".

After the February Revolution, he was a member of the commission for the development of archives and political affairs in Moscow, which worked with the archives of the Moscow security department. Osorgin accepted the February Revolution of 1917. He began to publish widely in the magazine “Voice of the Past”, in the newspapers “People’s Socialist”, “Ray of Truth”, “Motherland”, “Power of the People”, kept a current chronicle and edited the “Monday” supplement.

At the same time, he prepared for publication the collections of stories and essays “Ghosts” (1917) and “Fairy Tales and Non-Fairy Tales” (1918). Participating in the analysis of documents of the Moscow secret police, he published the brochure “The Security Branch and Its Secrets” (1917).

After the October Revolution he opposed the policies of the Bolsheviks. In 1919 he was arrested and released at the request of the Writers' Union and J. K. Baltrushaitis.

In 1921, he worked in the Commission for Famine Relief under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (All-Russian Committee for Famine Relief “Pomgol”), and was the editor of the bulletin “Help” it published; in August 1921 he was arrested along with some members of the commission; They were saved from the death penalty by the intervention of Fridtjof Nansen. He spent the winter of 1921-1922 in Kazan, editing the Literary Gazette, then returned to Moscow. He continued to publish fairy tales and short stories for children. Translated from Italian language(at the request of E. B. Vakhtangov) the play by C. Gozzi “Princess Turandot” (ed. 1923), plays by C. Goldoni.

Together with his longtime friend N. Berdyaev, he opens a famous bookstore in Moscow, which for a long time became a haven for the intelligentsia during the years of post-war devastation.

In 1921, Osorgin was arrested and exiled to Kazan.

In the fall of 1922, with a group of opposition-minded representatives of the domestic intelligentsia (such as N. Berdyaev, N. Lossky and others) he was expelled from the USSR. Trotsky, in an interview with a foreign correspondent, put it this way: “We deported these people because there was no reason to shoot them, but it was impossible to tolerate them.”

From the “Resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) on approval of the list of intellectuals expelled from Russia”:

57. Osorgin Mikhail Andreevich. The right-wing cadet is undoubtedly anti-Soviet. Employee of "Russian Vedomosti". Editor of the newspaper "Prokukisha". His books are published in Latvia and Estonia. There is reason to think that he maintains contact with abroad. Commission with the participation of Comrade Bogdanov and others for the expulsion.

Osorgin's emigrant life began in Berlin, where he spent a year. In 1923 he finally settled in Paris. He published his works in the newspapers “Days” and “Last News”.

Osorgin's life in exile was difficult: he became an opponent of any and all political doctrines, valued freedom above all else, and emigration was very politicized.

The writer Osorgin became famous in Russia, but fame came to him in exile, where his works were published best books. “Sivtsev Vrazhek” (1928), “The Tale of a Sister” (1931), “Witness to History” (1932), “The Book of Ends” (1935), “Freemason” (1937), “The Tale of a Certain Maiden” (1938 ), collections of stories “Where I Was Happy” (1928), “Miracle on the Lake” (1931), “Incidents of the Green World” (1938), memoirs “Times” (1955).

Saved Soviet citizenship until 1937, after which he lived without a passport and did not receive French citizenship.

Since the beginning of World War II, Osorgin's life has changed dramatically. In June 1940, after the German offensive and the occupation of part of French territory, Osorgin and his wife fled Paris. They settled in Chabris, on the bank of the Cher River that was not occupied by the Germans. There Osorgin wrote the book “In a Quiet Place in France” (1940) and “Letters about Insignificant Things” (published in 1952). They revealed his talent as a perspicacious observer and publicist. Having condemned the war, the writer reflected on the death of culture, warned about the danger of humanity returning to the Middle Ages, and mourned the irreparable damage that could be caused to spiritual values. At the same time, he firmly stood for the human right to personal freedom. In “Letters on Insignificant Things,” the writer foresaw a new catastrophe: “When the war is over,” Osorgin wrote, “the whole world will be preparing for a new war.”

The writer died and was buried in the same city.

Creation

In 1928, Osorgin created his most famous chronicle novel, Sivtsev Vrazhek. At the center of the work is the story of an old retired professor of ornithology, Ivan Alexandrovich, and his granddaughter Tatyana, who is turning from a little girl into a bride. The chronicle nature of the narrative is manifested in the fact that the events are not arranged in one storyline, but simply follow each other. Center artistic structure Romana - a house on an old Moscow street. The house of an ornithologist professor is a microcosm, similar in its structure to the macrocosm - the Universe and solar system. It also has its own little sun burning - a table lamp in the old man’s office. In the novel, the writer sought to show the relativity of the great and the insignificant in existence. The existence of the world is ultimately determined for Osorgin by the mysterious, impersonal and non-moral play of cosmological and biological forces. For the earth, the driving, life-giving force is the Sun.

All of Osorgin’s work was permeated by two sincere thoughts: passionate love to nature, close attention to everything living on earth and attachment to the world of ordinary, imperceptible things. The first idea formed the basis of essays published in “Last News” under the signature “Everyman” and which made up the book “Incidents of the Green World” (Sofia, 1938). The essays are characterized by deep drama: on a foreign land the author turned from a “lover of nature” into a “garden eccentric”; the protest against technotronic civilization was combined with a powerless protest against exile. The embodiment of the second thought was bibliophilia and collecting. Osorgin collected a rich collection of Russian publications, which he introduced to the reader in the series “Notes of an Old Book-Eater” (Oct. 1928 - Jan. 1934), in a series of “ancient” (historical) stories that often provoked attacks from the monarchist camp for disrespect for the imperial family and especially to the church.

In his twenty books (of which five are novels), Osorgin combines moral and philosophical aspirations with the ability to lead a narrative, following the tradition of I. Goncharov, I. Turgenev and L. Tolstoy. This is combined with a love for some experimentation in the field of narrative technique: for example, in the novel “Sivtsev Vrazhek” he builds a series individual chapters about very different people, as well as about animals. Osorgin is the author of several autobiographical books, which endear him to the modesty of the author and his life position a decent person.

Masonic activity

Regularized and joined the Northern Star lodge on March 4 (May 6), 1925, on the recommendation of B. Mirkin-Getsevich. Elevated to the 2nd and 3rd degrees on April 8 (1), 1925. 2nd expert since November 3, 1926. great expert (performer) from November 30, 1927 to 1929. speaker from November 6, 1930 to 1932 and in 1935-1937. 1st Guard from 1931 to 1934 and from October 7, 1937 to 1938. Also lodge librarian 1934-1936, and since September 27, 1938. Worshipful Master from November 6, 1938 to 1940.

From 1925 to 1940, he actively participated in the activities of several lodges operating under the auspices of the Grand Orient of France. He was one of the founders and was a member of the Northern Star and Free Russia lodges.

Mikhail Andreevich is the founder of the Northern Brothers lodge, its venerable master from the date of its foundation to April 11, 1938. The lodge operated from October 1931 to April 1932 as a narrow Masonic group, from November 17, 1932 - as study group. The act of establishment was signed on November 12, 1934. It worked independently of the existing Masonic obediences according to the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. From October 9, 1933 to April 24, 1939, it held 150 meetings, then ceased its activities. Initially, meetings were held at the apartment of M. A. Osorgin on Mondays, after the 101st meeting - at other apartments.

He held a number of officer positions in the lodge, and was Worshipful Master (the highest officer position in the lodge). He was a highly respected and worthy brother who made a great contribution to the development of Russian Freemasonry in France.

Mikhail Andreevich was a member of the “North Star” Chapter (4-18 years old) of the Supreme Council of the Great Collegium of the DPSHU.

Elevated to the 18th degree on December 15, 1931. Expert circa 1932. Chapter member until 1938.

Very typical example Deep knowledge of Freemasonry is served by Osorgin’s work “Freemason”, in which Mikhail Andreevich outlined the main directions in the work of Freemasonry and Freemasons. The author's inherent humor permeates this work from the first to the last page.

Works

Sketches of Modern Italy, 1913
Security department and its secrets. M., 1917
Ghosts. M., “Zadruga”, 1917
Fairy tales and non-fairy tales M., “Zadruga”, 1918
From a small house, Riga, 1921
Sivtsev Vrazhek. Paris, 1928
Doctor Shchepkin’s office (Russian) “This happened in Krivokolenny Lane, which shortened the road to his own home from Maroseyka to Chistye Prudy." (19??)
Human things. Paris, 1929;
The Tale of a Sister, Paris, 1931
Miracle on the Lake, Paris, 1931
Witness to History 1932
Book of Ends 1935
Freemason, 1937
The Tale of a Certain Maiden, Tallinn, 1938
In a quiet place in France (June-December 1940). Memoirs, Paris, 1946
Letters about insignificant things. New York, 1952
Time. Paris, 1955
Diary of Galina Benislavskaya. Controversies
"Verb", No. 3, 1981
Memoirs of an Exile
“Time and We”, No. 84, 1985

Editions

Notes of an old book-eater, Moscow, 1989
Osorgin M.A. Times: Autobiographical narration. Novels. - M.: Sovremennik, 1989. - 624 p. - (From heritage). - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-270-00813-0.
Osorgin M.A. Sivtsev Vrazhek: A novel. Tale. Stories. - M.: Moscow worker, 1990. - 704 p. - ( Literary chronicle Moscow). - 150,000 copies. - ISBN 5-239-00627-X.
Collected works. T.1-2, M.: Moscow worker, 1999.

Polikovskaya L.V. “The Life of Mikhail Osorgin. Building your own temple." - St. Petersburg, Kriga, 2014. - 447 p. - 2000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-901805-84-8

Osorgin (Ilyin) Mikhail Andreevich (10/07/1878, Perm - 11/27/1942, France)
Born in Perm into the family of a hereditary nobleman A.F. Ilyin. The father, an educated and liberal-minded man, served in the district court. Mother was an intelligent woman who spoke languages. She devoted herself to raising children.
In Perm, Mikhail Ilyin graduated from high school. Like his older brother Sergei, he began writing and publishing during his high school years. Then he entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Law. He came to Perm for holidays and vacations, lived here while the university was closed due to student unrest, and at that time wrote for Perm. newspapers. After graduating from university, he came to Perm twice more; for the second time, in 1916, already as a correspondent for Russian Vedomosti. More in native land he did not visit, he only wrote about it with sincere love.
On life path the writer had a lot more: passion revolutionary ideas, short imprisonment, secret border crossing, first emigration. The writer lives in Italy and travels to the Balkans. The First World War begins. Through Paris, London, Oslo, Stockholm he returns to Russia.
Osorgin accepted February 1917, but did not accept the October revolution. But for now he works, becomes one of the organizers of the All-Russian Union of Writers, chairman of the All-Russian Union of Journalists, and, together with other writers, establishes a cooperative bookstore, where they themselves sell books. Famous production directed by E. B. Vakhtangov - “Princess Turandot”, which has not left the theater stage for many years, could not do without the participation of the writer: it was he who translated the fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi from Italian.
Then, in Osorgin’s fate, a heroic deed and a tragic outcome occur simultaneously. During the famine of 1921, the Famine Relief Commission was created in the country. Osorgin was a member of this commission. Pomgol managed to do a lot, and for this almost all of his members were arrested. They were saved from execution by the intercession of Fridtjof Nansen. Osorgin was exiled... And then, in 1922, on the famous “philosophical ship” among large group scientific and creative intelligentsia, he was expelled from his native country.
Twenty years of forced emigration. The writer is working. The novel “Sivtsev the Enemy” (1928) is dedicated to the events revolutionary years. Then came out “The Tale of a Sister” (1931), the duology “Witness of History” (1932), “The Book of Ends” (1935), the story “Freemason” (1937), the books “The Tale of a Certain Maiden”, “Incidents of the Green World” "(1938). Essays, memoirs and the novel “Times” were created in these same years, and many pages of these works are dedicated to Perm. edge.
All these works, written in beautiful Russian, in the style of a master, were published abroad. They returned to their homeland only at the end of the 20th century. But the writer himself never returned - he was buried in the town of Chabris on the Cher River in France.