Gorky Maxim Gorky is a great Russian writer, "the greatest representative of proletarian art" (in Leninist), the founder of socialist realistic literature and the mentor of proletarian revolutionary literature. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod (now Gorky) and his father died young. Gorky was brought up by his grandmother. When grandma's family was poor, Gorky had to go out to make a living at the age of eleven. He used to be an apprentice in a shoe store and an icon workshop, helped cook on a boat, worked as a porter, sawyer, gardener, baker and so on. In order to make a living, he joined a secret college student group, which tended to be populist when he was young. All these are Gorky's "universities". After the age of twenty, Gorky began to wander around the motherland with the purpose of "knowing Russia" and "seeing how people live". During his long wandering, he organized secret groups and carried out revolutionary propaganda while working. 1In September, 892, Gorky published his first novel, magal Cudla. Since then, a dazzling star has risen in Russian literature. Gorky wrote many short stories in 1990s, most of which were set in the "bottom" society (such as Malva, Konarov, Chercastle). In Gorky's early works, romantic folklore and fables occupy an important position, such as the story of Ezekiel's mother-in-law, the song of eagle and the song of Haiyan (190 1). Among them, The Song of Haiyan is an inspiring revolutionary horn. At the end of 1990s, Gorky's creative thoughts became mature. During this period, Gorky published his first famous novel Fermat Goyle Deyev (1899), and then three people came out (1900). In addition, Gorky also wrote many plays of great social significance, such as Little Citizen (190 1), The Bottom (1902), Cancel the Guest (1904) and Children of the Sun (. Gorky's most famous novel Mother was published in 1906. Gorky mercilessly attacked the ordinary citizen consciousness as one of the supporting forces of the old system in many works (for example, the novella The Town of Ogurov,1909; The life of Matvei Crimean Kim, 19 1 1). Gorky's important works published on the eve of World War I include The Story of Italy and The Roaming of a Russian. In preparation for the October Revolution, Gorky completed the first two autobiographical trilogy-Childhood (19 14) and On Earth (19 16), and the third one, My University, was written in/kloc-0. After the October Revolution, Gorky completed the novel The Family Affairs of Aldamonov (1925), and at the same time created several plays, among which Egor Blichev and others (1932) were famous. Gorky's last novel, The Life of Kerim Samgin, is an epic masterpiece. Gorky is not only a language artist, but also a critic, political commentator and scholar. Gorky's literary thesis is a great contribution to Marxist aesthetics. In addition, Gorky also engaged in a large number of social activities. He used to be the editor-in-chief of Land of Red Women, organized the World Literature Publishing House, and led the work of the first Soviet writers' congress in 1934. At the same time, he is also an advocate and organizer of writing civil war history and factory history. Under his care, he trained a whole generation of Soviet writers.

1934 In May, Gorky's son Maxim died mysteriously, which was a heavy blow to his later years. Subsequently, Gorky's family doctor vinogradov died at the hands of the secret police, and the investigation of Maxim's death was interrupted. Ko Dollof, the medical director of the Kremlin, also died in the investigation. The cause of death is unknown.

In the archives of the former Soviet secret police (KGB), the Russian writer Shentarinsky found a large number of secret files about writers and artists during Lenin and Stalin's rule, which were classified as highly confidential by the Soviet regime and blocked for many years. Shentalinsky compiled these historical materials into a book, which was published in French in Paris from 65438 to 0993. From 65438 to 0995, Croft's English version of KGB Documentary Archives translated from Russian was published in London, England, which is the first-hand historical data to understand the persecution suffered by Soviet writers and artists in Stalin's era and the real cause and date of death. Gorky, who is highly respected and ranked second, is also under the secret surveillance of KGB, and there are a lot of secret materials about him in the archives room of the Soviet secret police headquarters.

Fall out with Lenin

Gorky was praised as the "father of proletarian literature" by the former Soviet authorities, and also had a "great friendship" with Lenin. However, according to the KGB archives, Gorky had many ideological and political conflicts with the Russian "father of revolution" and almost broke up. When Gorky wavered a little, Lenin would criticize him and respond with a humorous smile: "I know I am a poor Marxist. After all, we artists are a little silly ... ". After the October Revolution, Gorky was shocked by the facts and published an article in "New Life" (a daily newspaper run by the left-wing Mensheviks, published in Petersburg in April, 19 17), openly opposing the Bolsheviks' seizure of political power, thinking it was a tragedy and destruction of Russia. As a result, Xia Lenin is a piece of paper in 19 18. At the opening of the second international congress of * * * production, Lenin commented that Gorky's article for this congress "has no smell of * * * producers, but it has a strong anti-* * nature. Therefore, such an article must not be published in a magazine. "

By the first half of 1920, diplomatic relations were almost broken. Gorky compared Lenin with Peter the Great on the occasion of his 50th birthday, saying, "Seeing this great man always makes people feel such a sense of fear. He fiddled with the historical lever of our planet at will. " 1922, the seventh secret police department secretly prepared to clean Gorky, and they collected evidence from Gao's friends and acquaintances. At this point, Lenin and dzerzhinsky, the main leader of Cheka, were still alive.

Lenin and Gorky last met in 1920 10 year 10 October 20th. There are some dramatic descriptions about this meeting, such as the movie The Man with the Gun (1938). This reunion is also a breakup. Lenin repeatedly asked Gorky to emigrate: "If you don't go, then we have to send you away."

This is a way to exclude people with different opinions. In two years, dozens of intellectuals were deported. However, Sue didn't let other people who needed to go abroad. The poet Brock was seriously ill in 192 1. Gorky urged Lenin and Luna Charles to let Brock go to Finland for treatment again and again, but the poet died before he got his passport. 18 days later, on August 25th, another poet, Nicola gumilyov, was executed on the charge of structure.baiwei .. Although there is no evidence at all, Gorky's intercession in this case is useless. The death of these two poets opened an era in which writers suffered.

192 1 year1October 8, Gorky wrote to say goodbye to Lenin and left the Soviet Union for Europe. 1922 In the summer, he was in a small town in northern Germany and learned that the leader of the Russian Social Revolutionary Party was being tried in Moscow. /kloc-in July, 2000, he wrote to Rykov, head of the Soviet government: "Dear Alexei, if the trial of the Social Revolutionary Party ends in murder, it will be a premeditated and evil murder. I ask you to tell Trotsky and others my opinion. I hope this won't surprise you, because during the whole revolution, I have pointed out to the Soviet authorities a thousand times that it is stupid and criminal to eliminate intellectuals in our illiterate and uneducated country. I now firmly believe that if a social revolutionary is killed, this crime will morally isolate Russia from socialist Europe. Gorky ". On July 3, he also wrote to France, hoping to attract the attention of the European public. Gorky's letter was published in a magazine sponsored by exiled Menshevik. Both letters are kept in KGB headquarters. His letter to France had a wide influence and alarmed the Kremlin. Lenin called Gorky's letter "despicable", while Trotsky instructed Pravda to "write a gentle article about Gorky, a writer, and politicians would not take this kind of literati seriously and publish it in a foreign language". An article entitled "Almost Fallen to the Extreme" severely criticized Gorky, saying: "From this political statement, we can see that Gorky, who is abroad, is endangering our revolution. He is very harmful ... ". But perhaps Gorky's appeal worked. The Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union approved the death sentence passed by the revolutionary court, but it was not implemented.

Exile in Italy

Gorky and his family live in Souranto. He is sorting out his novel The Life of Kerim Samgin, writing articles and memoirs, keeping extensive correspondence with the outside world, and constantly having friends and guests around him. He is nearly sixty years old, and it seems that it is time to decide whether to stay in his later years. However, when he heard that Lenin's widow, Krupskaya, made a list of books to take all the books off the shelves in the library, he decided to give up his Soviet nationality and even wrote a statement for this.

He was strongly criticized by two camps for this. Mayakovski, a revolutionary poet in Moscow, publicly declared that he was a zombie and became a waste in literature. The old Russians in exile in Paris strongly condemned his relationship with the Soviet revolution and thought that his article about Lenin was a great shame in the history of Russian literature. After the publication of Gorky's On Russian Farmers, it not only aroused the anger of the Kremlin, but also was condemned by an exiled newspaper, saying that he slandered Russian farmers. Another newspaper published the decision of the Soviet government: Gorky would be arrested if he entered the Soviet border, forcing Gorky to declare his allegiance to the Soviet Union immediately. The only thing he can't agree with is their persecution of intellectuals.

During this period, there was an article entitled Gorky Abroad in the filing cabinet of Moscow secret police headquarters, which was unsigned and undated. It may be a summary written by a spy sent by a foreign secret police to publish. All kinds of news reports about Gorky are carefully analyzed at the secret police headquarters. Newspapers in exile are printed and all kinds of words are translated. A large number of Gorky's letters, especially those written to Gorky by others, are collected by the secret police headquarters. Gorky wrote a letter to yekaterina Piskova on March 3rd, 1924, in which he wrote: "I think it's time to stop talking about what personal influence told me. You should know that I am 55 years old and I have rich experience ... If I was so impressionable, I should have obeyed Vladimir ilych a long time ago. His influence on others is unparalleled, so today I should be surrounded by ballerinas and travel around the city in the most luxurious car … "This letter was written six weeks after Lenin's death.

The secret police are interested in Gorky's works and opinions, and his attitude towards the enemies of the Soviet Russian regime. His secret file became a huge project, which consumed a lot of agents' labor. There are many comments on his letters, such as "Send the seventh book", "Send it to Agranov", "Archive it", "Check it against the original" and so on.

There is a letter1September 8, 927 from Gorky to V Ivanov, a young writer friend of the Soviet Union. This letter has never been made public, which shows his view at that time: "I was born unable to understand the idealization of the masses, nationalities and classes." I am a poor Marxist, and I don't like to shift the responsibility of life from individuals to the masses, collectives, a party or a group. Besides, I know that a pepper seed is more vital than a handful of poppy seeds. I think it would be hypocritical and ridiculous if I look at this problem in reverse. " "When I imagine the ignorant and chaotic desert in Russia, China, India and all other rural areas, I see the small and crazy Russian revolutionary in front of this desert-although he discovered Archimedes' lever-which aroused my anxiety about the fate of this Russian revolutionary ..."

From Gorky's point of view, we can see that he was skeptical and critical of the Russian revolution, so he had to go into exile, but when he later returned to the Soviet Union, he became a completely different person. Why did he return to China? On this issue, the secret file has no explanation, and there is no research explanation about Gorky.

Seduction and surveillance

1928 Gorky returned to Russia after nearly seven years, but he only wanted to spend the summer in the Soviet Union and return to Sulanto every autumn.

Stalin himself found a house for him in Moscow, which is very close to the Kremlin. This is a millionaire's mansion and soon became a gathering place for Soviet leaders, artists and writers. He was also assigned to two big villas with guards, one in Crimea and the other in the suburbs of Moscow.

As for what's behind this, we can see it through secret files. The documents collected in the second stage range from 1926 to 1928. By this time Lenin was dead, Stalin was in power, and dzerzhinsky was dead. His successor is Jagoda, an extremely insidious KGB leader and his secret police, not only in the Soviet Union, but also overseas. Now they not only continue to collect Gorky's information, but also begin to manipulate him and spy on his activities.

Secret documents show that the KGB mainly controls Gorky through his secretary Krukov. This person started working for Gorky from 19 18. He was smart and capable, became an indispensable figure in Gorky's work and life, gradually controlled his social, literary and publishing contacts, and represented Gorky everywhere.

I don't know whether Krukov had contact with KGB before he met Yagoda, but after he was arrested with Yagoda in 1937 as a public enemies and counter-revolutionary plot, he admitted in prison that Yagoda often came to see him, and he also went to the secret police headquarters to find Yagoda. He also admitted that he was looking for Yagoda to discuss visiting Gorky in Italy. 1932, yagoda gave him 4000 yuan to buy Gorky a car abroad. 1933, Gorky doesn't have enough money to buy a villa in Sulanto. Jagoda paid Krokekov 2000 yuan, and he took the money without a receipt.

It can be seen that Gorky was funded by the Soviet secret police when he lived in Italy. Gorky knew the money, of course, and this kind of thing naturally made him meet Yakoda, the head of the KGB. The secretary admitted that not only Gorky was involved, but also other members of Gaos were funded: he took cash from Yagoda several times to M Badbog (Gorky's last wife and mistress of H G Wells); 1936 Jagoda gave him and Gorky's daughter-in-law Bisko Eva 400 pounds and also gave it to Badberg; The last time was in September 1936 (that is, after Gorky's death), Bisko Eva told him that she had received a large sum of money from Yagoda's private secretary. She was puzzled and said, "Why do they want so much money from me?"

In the secretary's confession, two women who were particularly close to Gorky were mentioned. One is Maria Badberg, a charming and bold woman with several famous lovers. Some people think that she is a double agent, serving both Britain and the Soviet Union. There is no evidence for this statement. There is a list of eight people in the investigation file of Secretary Gorky, and her name is listed as "joining the anti-Soviet right organization". Only she was not arrested or sentenced. 1938 When Yagoda and others were tried, she was already in London, beyond the reach of the Soviet secret police. Another woman is Nadia Bisko Eva, Gorky's daughter-in-law, Chang Mei? Beauty, romain rolland said that she was "young, very beautiful, simple and happy", and Yagoda tried to penetrate Gorky's family more deeply through her.

Stalin's favorite

Gorky returned to the Soviet Union on 1933 and was visited and surrounded by secret police. Even his daily necessities, such as Stalin and members of the Politburo, are the responsibility of the secret police.

Celebrating Gorky's 40 years of creation is very prosperous. Stalin ordered cities, research institutes, streets and so on to be named after Gorky. Someone told Stalin trembling that the Moscow Art Theatre was founded by Chekhov. Stalin replied: "It doesn't matter. Gorky is a useless person, and we must tie him up in the party. " Gorky accepted these gifts, so he didn't have to be afraid of criticism. The government forbade people to criticize him. Under the auspices of Stalin, the literary world began to worship Gorky.

1932, 10 year1October 26th, there was a famous party at Gorky's house in Moscow, attended by the Kremlin, Stalin, Molotov, voroshilov, KarGanovic and other leaders. They talked and laughed. There are more than fifty writers, such as Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Pasternak, Platonov, bulgakov and Babel. But their behavior is quite self-controlled. Suddenly, the writer Marcos King came to Stalin and clinked glasses with him. The poet Lugovsky shouted: "Let's all drink to the health of Comrade Stalin!" At this time, Nikilov, a novelist sitting opposite Stalin, suddenly stood up and said, "I'm tired of listening!" " For Stalin's health, we made 1 147000 times. He may be tired of it ... "It suddenly froze. Stalin reached out and grasped the novelist's fingertip and said, "Thank you, Nikilov, thank you. I'm really tired of this. "A few years later, one out of every four people who attended the party that night was put in prison and many people were shot. Among those who were shot was novelist Nikilov. Later, Gorky's secretary confessed in prison that Yasuda actively manipulated literary activities behind the scenes and became the chairman of the Association. On the occasion of the upcoming 1934 writers' congress, he asked Gorky to write to Stalin and recommend availe Bako as the chairman.

Some people said Gorky was against violence, and he would oppose the "great purge" in 1937, so Stalin removed him from the list. Now it seems that this statement is pure fabrication. During his trial in prison, Avilbaco confirmed that Gorky spoke highly of the work of the secret police. Gorky didn't protest against the law passed by 1932 on August 7th, which stipulated that children aged 12 could be convicted as adults, including the death penalty. He was indifferent to the arrest of famous writers Coriou Yev and Mandelstam. 1929, he visited soloviki and praised the Soviet union, the first concentration camp.

During the collectivization period, Gorky provided the authorities with an appalling slogan: "If the enemy does not surrender, let him perish" (Pravda, 1930+0 15). At the same time, the authorities plan to publicly try "industrial groups", including the older generation of engineers and technicians before the revolution. Gorky wrote: "After reading the reports about those villains, my heart was filled with anger." 193 1 March, he agreed to try Menshevik, including some of his former friends. He called them criminals and saboteurs, and said that some of them had escaped from the net and should continue searching. He praised in a letter: "How beautifully Stalin did!"

193465438+In February, Kirov, the first secretary of the Leningrad Party Committee, was assassinated, which gave Stalin an excuse for a big purge. Many people were summarily shot for espionage without investigation or trial. Gorky 1935 1.2 published an article in Pravda to cheer for Stalin: "We must destroy the enemy without mercy and ignore the gasps and groans of professional humanists."

Awkward old age

1934 In May, Gorky's son Maxim died mysteriously, which was a heavy blow to Gorky in his later years. Subsequently, Gorky's family doctor vinogradov died at the hands of the secret police, and the investigation of Maxim's death was interrupted. Ko Dollof, the medical director of the Kremlin, also died in the investigation. The cause of death is unknown.

In the last two years of his life, Gorky became a tool for the government to tame. He praised Stalin tirelessly, but the latter ignored him. He suggested publishing Dostoevsky's novel The Devil, and Pravda immediately published an article by a royal scholar, criticizing him for committing "liberalism". Even Gorky couldn't see the newspaper. The KGB printed a newspaper specially for him several times, and the Gorky Memorial Hall kept such a newspaper.

Gorky wanted to travel to Italy, but he was not approved. He was locked in a cage. On the surface, his reputation is second only to Stalin. Writer Shkapa talked about Gorky's desperate muttering in his memory: "I'm so tired. It seems that they have surrounded me in a fence and I can't get out. I fell into a trap. You can't enter or retreat! I'm not used to this kind of life ... "

Gorky spent his last spring in his villa in Crimea. French writer andre malraux visited him there. The testimony in Babel's interrogation file kept by the Soviet secret police headquarters provides the details of this meeting. Malraux asked Gorky whether Soviet literature was in decline, and Gorky's answer was yes. At that time, Pravda was criticizing Kolov's literary form theory and Shostakovich's music. Gorky is very concerned. He doesn't agree with those criticisms. He was depressed and lonely, and repeatedly said that he was not allowed to go back to Moscow to do the job he loved. Jagoda and Krukov arranged some suspicious women and Gorky to indulge in wine and revelry all night until Gorky fell asleep. Krokkov controlled Gorky's daily life, and those visitors had to be selected by him, so that Gorky could only see the figures in the Yakoda secret police circle and some cultural swindlers.

The official explanation of the death of the "father of literature" of the proletariat is a sinful murder, which is part of a huge conspiracy of Trotsky's right-wing group, directly manipulated by Bukharin, Rykov, Jagoda and Trotsky, and the plot is to overthrow Stalin's regime. Even his death was made an issue of by Stalin. After Gorky died, his home was searched thoroughly, and more than once. When his secretary Krokkov was arrested, the secret police even cut the potatoes one by one to find the materials they needed.

Gorky's tragic fate is thought-provoking. He obeyed Stalin's regime and enjoyed the highest reputation and status, but he paid the highest price for an intellectual-the loss of personality and the distortion of conscience. He participated in cruelty and preached cruelty. He was both a victim and a tool of political abuse.

Maxim Gorky was born in Nizhny Novgorod on March 1868 16. Gorky's father was a carpenter and died when he was five years old, so he lived in his grandfather's house, where he opened a dye house. Gorky, a young boy, is often caught in a fierce quarrel between small private owners of a declining family. Later, the bankrupt grandfather sold the old house and bought another house in Kanat Street. "This is an unpaved and grassy street, but it is clean and quiet. It passes through two rows of colorful huts and leads to the fields. The new house is more beautiful and lovely than the old one. The front is painted with warm and quiet crimson color; On the top floor, three sky-blue windows and a white leaf window with a fence are dazzling; The roof on the left hides the beautiful shade of elm and bodhi trees. " -Childhood

In Gorky's childhood, his grandmother, who used to be a lace weaver, was his "closest person".

I don't know how many nights, in this old wooden house, grandma often sits by the kang stove, watching her little grandson illuminated by the light of the small ocean lamp, telling many fairy tales such as Ivan the soldier and the sad robber mother. Grandmother's love and fairy tales, as unfortunate as real life, shine with kindness and ideals, which makes Gorky gain "a powerful force to cope with the suffering of ruffians" prematurely. At the same time, these fairy tales, as Gorky later recalled, "my mind is full of my grandmother's fairy tales, just like a hive is full of sweetness." It is these memories that gave the writer rich nutrition at first.

Gorky's childhood home has been well preserved so far and has been turned into a writer's memorial hall. According to Gorky's original surname, the locals affectionately call it "Peter Skoff's cabin".