Gorky The most beautiful things in our world are created by labor and the clever hands of people.
Gorky Only human labor is sacred.
Gorky I know what labor is: labor is the source of all joy and all good things in the world.
Golky Labor and science are the two greatest forces in the world.
Gorky, love labor. There is no force that can make people become great and smart like labor, the power of collective, fraternal and free labor.
Gorky We learn to think in the process of our labor. As a result of our labor, we understand the mystery of the world, and then we truly change our lives.
Gorky Labor enables people to build confidence in their own intellectual power.
Gorky Don’t lament the pain of life! ——Sad that he is a weak person...
Gorky Reason is higher than the heart, and thought is more reliable than emotion.
Gorky There is no force more powerful than knowledge, and those armed with knowledge are invincible.
Golgi The broader a person's knowledge, the more perfect he himself is.
Golgi's book is the ladder of human progress.
Golky Books are inseparable life partners and mentors for young people.
Gorky The more you read, the stronger and braver your spirit becomes.
Golky Genius comes from diligence.
Gorki Maxim Gorky is a great Russian writer, "the greatest representative of proletarian art" (Lenin's words), the founder of socialist realist literature, and a mentor of proletarian revolutionary literature. In Nizhny Novgorod City (now known as Gorky City), his father was a joiner and died young. Gorky was raised by his maternal grandmother. His grandmother's family was poor, so Gorky, who was eleven years old, had to go out to make a living. He worked as an apprentice in a shoe shop and an icon workshop, helped as a cook on a ship, worked as a porter, a sawyer, a gardener, a baker, etc. to make a living. In his youth, he participated in a secret group of university students that tended to be populist; all of this was Gorky. of "university". After he turned twenty, Gorky began to wander around the motherland, with the purpose of "getting to know Russia" and "seeing how the people live." During his long wandering period, he worked while organizing secret groups to carry out revolutionary propaganda. In September 1892, Gorky published his debut novel "Makar Chudra". From then on, a dazzling star rose to the Russian literary world. In the 1990s, Gorky wrote many short stories, most of which were based on "lower" society (such as "Marva", "Konovalov", "Cherkas", etc.). In Gorky's early works, romantic folklore and allegorical stories play an important role, such as "The Story of Granny Izegil", "Song of the Eagle", and "Song of the Petrel" (1901); "Song of Haiyan" is an inspiring clarion call to march towards revolution. In the late 1990s, Gorky's creative thoughts reached maturity. During this period, Gorky published his first famous novel "Foma Gordeev" (1899), followed by "Three People" (1900). . In addition, Gorky also wrote many scripts of great social significance, such as "Little Burgher" (1901), "The Bottom" (1902), "The Consumer" (1904), "Children of the Sun" (1905), "Barbarian" "Man" (1905), "The Enemy" (1906), etc. In 1906, Gorky's most famous novel "Mother" came out. In many works, Gorky ruthlessly attacked the petty-bourgeois consciousness that was one of the supporting forces of the old system (such as the novella "Ogurov Town", 1909; "The Life of Matvey Kzhmyakin", 1911) . On the eve of the First World War, Gorky published important works such as "The Story of Italy" and "Romany in Russia".
In the years of preparation for the October Revolution, Gorky completed the first two parts of his autobiographical trilogy - "Childhood" (1914) and "In the World" (1916). The third part, "My University", was published in 1919. It was written in two or three years. After the October Revolution, Gorky completed the novel "Ardamonov Family Affair" (1925) and also created several scripts, the famous of which are "Egor Brechev and Others" (1932). Gorky's last novel "The Life of Klim Samkin" is an epic and immortal masterpiece. Gorky was not only a language artist, but also a critic, political commentator and scholar. Gorky's literary papers are a major contribution to Marxist aesthetics. In addition, Gorky was also engaged in a large number of social activities. He served as editor of the magazine "Red Virgin Land", organized the "World Literature Publishing House", and led the work of the First Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934. At the same time, he was a historian of the Civil War. and promoter and organizer of factory history writing. Under his care, a whole generation of Soviet writers was cultivated.
In May 1934, Gorky's son Maxim died mysteriously, which was a heavy blow to him in his later years. Subsequently, Gorky's family doctor Vinogradov died at the hands of the secret police, and the investigation into Maxim's death was interrupted. Kremlin Medical Director Kodolovsky also died during the investigation. The cause of death is unknown.
Russian writer Shentalinsky discovered a large number of secret files on writers and artists during the rule of Lenin and Stalin in the files of the former Soviet secret police (KGB). They were all highly secretive of the Soviet regime and had been blocked for many years. Shentarinsky compiled these historical materials into a book, which was published in French in Paris in 1993. In 1995, Croft's English version of the Russian translation "KGB Literary Archives" was published in London, England. The facts of the various persecutions suffered, as well as the true cause and date of death, are all first-hand historical materials; although Gorky, who was highly praised and had the highest status, was not imprisoned, he was also under secret surveillance by the KGB. There are records in the archives of the Soviet Secret Police Headquarters. There is a lot of secret material about him.
Falled out with Lenin
Gorky was hailed as the "father of proletarian literature" by the former Soviet authorities, and also had a "great friendship" with Lenin, but according to the KGB files, There were many ideological and political conflicts between Gorky and the Russian "Father of the Revolution", which almost led to a breakup. If Gorky wavered even slightly, Lenin would criticize him, and Gao would respond with a witty smile: "I know I am a very bad Marxist. After all, we artists are all a bit stupid..." . After the October Revolution, Gorky was shocked by the facts. He published an article in Novaya Zhizn (a daily newspaper run by the left-wing Mensheviks, published in Petersburg in April 1917), openly opposing the Bolsheviks' seizure of power, believing that this was a tragedy and tragedy for Russia. As a result, Xia Lenin closed the newspaper with an order in 1918. At the opening of the Second Congress of the Communist International, Lenin commented that Gorky's article written for the conference "has no communist flavor, but has a strong anti-communist character. Therefore, this kind of article is absolutely It cannot be published in magazines."
In the first half of 1920, they almost broke off diplomatic relations. On the occasion of Lenin's fiftieth birthday, Gorky compared him with Peter the Great and said: "Seeing this great man, There is always a kind of fear that he can manipulate the historical levers of our planet at will." In 1922, the Seventh Department of the Secret Police secretly prepared to purge Gorky, and they collected evidence from Gao's friends and acquaintances. At this time, Lenin and Cheka leader Dzerzhinsky were still alive.
The last time Lenin and Gorky met was on October 20, 1920. There have been some dramatic descriptions of this meeting, such as the movie "Man with a Gun" (1938). This reunion was also a breakup. Lenin repeatedly asked Gorky to move abroad: "If you don't leave, then we will have to send you away."
This was a form of expulsion for those with different views. Dozens of intellectuals were expelled from the country in two years.
However, the Soviet Union did not allow other people who needed to go abroad to go. In 1921, the poet Blok was seriously ill. Gorky repeatedly urged Lenin and Lunacharsky to let Blok go to Finland for treatment, but the poet still had to wait until he got his passport. passed away. Eighteen days later, on August 25, another poet, Nikolay Gumilev, was executed for being a Whiteguard, despite the fact that there was no evidence at all, and Gorky's pleas for mercy in the case were equally ineffective. The deaths of these two poets ushered in an era of victimization for writers.
On October 8, 1921, Gorky wrote a letter to say goodbye to Lenin and left the Soviet Union for Europe. In the summer of 1922, he was in a small town in northern Germany and learned that the leaders of the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party were on trial in Moscow. On July 1, he wrote to Rykov, the head of the Soviet government: "Dear Alexei: If the Socialist Revolutionaries are This trial ended in murder, then it would have been a premeditated and criminal murder. I ask you to tell Trotsky and others my point of view, because throughout the revolution. , I have pointed out a thousand times to the Soviet authorities that in our country, which is full of illiterates and uneducated people, it is stupid and criminal to destroy intellectuals. Russia is morally isolated from socialist Europe." He also wrote to France on July 3, hoping to arouse public attention to the matter in Europe. A magazine sponsored by the Mensheviks in exile published Gorky's letter. Both letters are kept at KGB headquarters. His letter to France had a wide impact and alarmed the Kremlin. Lenin called Gorky's letter "despicable", and Trotsky instructed "Pravda" to "write a moderately worded article about the writer Gorky. Political people will not take this kind of literary man seriously, and it must be in a foreign language." published". An article titled "Almost Degenerated to the Extreme", which was harshly worded and fiercely criticized Gorky, said: "From this political statement, we can see that Gorky, who is abroad, is endangering our revolution. His harm is extremely harmful..." . But perhaps Gorky's appeal had an effect. The Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union approved the death sentence passed by the Revolutionary Court, but did not carry out the death penalty.
Exiled in Italy
Gorky lives with his family in Sorento, Italy. He is sorting out his novel "The Life of Klim Samkin", writing articles and memoirs, and working with We maintain extensive correspondence with the outside world and are constantly surrounded by friends and guests. He was already in his sixties, and it seemed that he should decide what to do in his later years. However, when he heard that Lenin's widow Krupskaya made a book list, he wanted to remove all the Bibles and Korans in the library. , Dante and Schopenhauer's works were removed from the shelves, he decided to renounce his Soviet citizenship and even wrote a statement to this end.
He received strong criticism from both camps for this. The revolutionary poet Mayakovsky in Moscow publicly said that he was a zombie and had become a literary waste; the old Russians in exile in Paris strongly condemned his relationship with the Soviet revolution and regarded his essay about Lenin as A great disgrace in the history of Russian literature. After the publication of Gorky's "On the Russian Peasants", he not only aroused the anger of the Kremlin, but was also condemned by an exile newspaper for slandering the Russian peasants. Another newspaper published a decision by the Soviet government: Gorky would be arrested if he entered the Soviet border, forcing Gorky to immediately declare his loyalty to Soviet Russia. The only thing he could not agree with was their persecution of intellectuals.
During this period, there was an article titled "Gorky Abroad" in the file cabinet of the secret police headquarters in Moscow. It was unsigned and undated. It may have been from someone assigned by the secret police in a foreign country. A summary of material written by a spy for publication. Various press reports on Gorky were carefully analyzed at the secret police headquarters, foreign exile newspapers were printed, and various texts were translated. A large number of Gorky's letters, especially letters written to Gorky by others, were collected by the secret police headquarters. Gorky’s letter to Ekaterina Pishkova on March 3, 1924 contained this passage: “I think it’s time to stop talking about me being influenced by someone.
Everyone should know that I am 55 years old and have a lot of experience myself... If I was so easily influenced, then I should have obeyed Vladimir Ilych a long time ago, who is unrivaled in influencing others, then Today I should be feasting, surrounded by ballerinas, and driving around the city in the most luxurious car..." This letter was written six weeks after Lenin's death.
The secret police were interested in Gorky's His writings and opinions, as well as his attitude towards the enemies of the Soviet Russian regime. His secret archives became a huge project, consuming the labor of a large number of agents. There are many annotations on his letters, such as "Send to the Seventh Department" and "Send to the Seventh Department." Aglanov", "archive", "checked against the original text", etc.
The secret file contains a letter written by Gorky on September 8, 1927 to his young writer friend V. I. in the Soviet Union. A letter from Vanov, which has never been published, gives an indication of his views at the time: "I am inherently incapable of understanding the idealization of a mass, a nation or a class. I am a very bad Marxist. I don’t like to transfer the responsibility of life from individuals to the masses, collectives, a certain party or a certain group. And, I know, a peppercorn has more life than a handful of poppy seeds. I believe it would be ridiculously hypocritical if I looked at things the other way around." The very crazy Russian revolutionary - even though he discovered Archimedes' lever - arouses in me some anxiety about the fate of this Russian revolutionary..."
It can be seen from these views of Gorky It turned out that he was skeptical and critical of the Russian Revolution, and for this reason 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 the country? Regarding this issue, the secret files did not explain. There is no explanation for this in research on Gorky
Inducement and Surveillance
In 1928, Gorky returned to Russia after an absence of nearly seven years, but he only wanted to stay in the Soviet Union. He spent the summer and returned to Sorento every autumn.
Stalin personally found him a house in Moscow, very close to the Kremlin. It was a millionaire's mansion, and it soon became the home of Soviet leaders and politicians. A gathering place for artists and writers. He was also assigned two large villas with guard protection, one in Crimea and one in the suburbs of Moscow.
As for the things behind this, you can find out the secret files. Let’s take a look. The files collected in the second stage were from 1926 to 1928. At this time, Lenin was dead, Stalin was in power, Dzerzhinsky was also dead, and his successor was Yagoda, an extremely sinister KGB leader. The secret police, not only throughout the Soviet Union, but also overseas. Now they not only continue to collect materials on Gorky, but also begin to manipulate him and secretly monitor his activities.
Secret files show that the KGB controlled Gorky mainly through. His secretary Kruchkov began working for Gorky in 1918. He was smart and capable and became an indispensable figure in Gorky's work and life. He gradually controlled his social, literary and publishing contacts and represented Gorky everywhere. .
It is unknown whether Kruchkov had any contact with the KGB before he met Yagoda, but after he was arrested with Yagoda in 1937 as an enemy of the people and a counterrevolutionary cabal, In prison, he admitted that Yagoda often came to see him, and he also went to the secret police headquarters to find Yagoda; he also admitted that he approached Yagoda to discuss going to Italy to visit Gorky; in 1932, Yagoda gave him four thousand yuan , to buy a car for Gorky who was abroad; in 1933, Gorky did not have enough money to buy a villa in Sorento, so Yagoda gave Kruchkov two thousand yuan to pay. He took the money without signing a receipt.
It can be seen that Gorky was funded by the Soviet secret police when he lived in Italy. Of course, Gorky knew about this money. This kind of thing naturally led to his acquaintance with KGB chief Yagoda.
The secretary’s confession involved not only Gorky, but also other members of the Gorky family: he took cash from Yagoda several times to M. Badberg (Gorky’s last wife and H.G. Wells). mistress); in 1936, Yagoda handed him and Gorky's daughter-in-law Pishkova 400 pounds, also to Badberg; the last time was in September 1936 (that is, after Gorky's death), Pishkova Telling him that she had received a large amount of money from Yagoda's personal secretary, she said in confusion: "Why did they force so much money on me?"
This person said in confusion. In the secretary's confession, two women who had a special close relationship with Gorky were mentioned. One was Maria Badberg, a charming and bold woman who had several famous lovers and was considered by some to be a double agent, working both for 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 "participating in anti-Soviet rightist organizations." Only she was neither arrested nor executed. When Yagoda and others were tried in 1938, she was already far away in London and beyond the reach of the Soviet secret police. The other woman was Nadia Pishkova, Gorky's daughter-in-law, who was very beautiful. Romain Rolland said she was "young, very beautiful, simple and happy." Yagoda tried to penetrate deeper through her. Inside the Gorky family.
Stalin’s favorite
After Gorky returned to the Soviet Union to settle down in 1933, he was visited and surrounded by police from the secret police. Even his daily necessities were, like Stalin and the Politburo members, the responsibility of the secret police.
The celebration of 40 years of Gorky's creation is very popular. Stalin ordered cities, research institutes, streets, etc. to be named after Gorky. Someone told Stalin with trepidation that the Moscow Art Theater was founded by Chekhov. Stalin replied: "It doesn't matter. Gorky is a useless person, and we must tie him to the party." Gorky accepted these gifts, and he did not have to be afraid of criticism from others. The government did not allow people to criticize him. Under Stalin's auspices, the literary world began to worship Gorky.
On October 26, 1932, there was a famous gathering at Gorky's house in Moscow. It was attended by high-ranking officials, including the heads of the Kremlin, Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, etc. , they chatted and laughed, and drank wine; there were more than fifty writers, such as Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Pasternak, Platonov, Bulgakov, Babel, etc., and their behavior was But he is quite respectful and self-controlled. Suddenly, the writer Malyshkin came to Stalin and clinked glasses with him. The poet Lugovskoi shouted loudly: "Let us all drink to the health of Comrade Stalin!" At this time, the novelist Nili, who was sitting opposite Stalin, Kivlov stood up suddenly and said: "I'm tired of hearing this! We have done this for Stalin's health 1.147 million times. He is probably tired of this..." There was a sudden silence. Stalin reached out his hand, took the novelist's fingertips and said: "Thank you, Nikievlov, thank you. I'm really tired of this." A few years later, one out of every four people who attended the party that night Several were thrown into prison and many were shot. Among those executed was the novelist Nikievlov. Later, Gorky's secretary confessed in prison that Yagoda was actively manipulating the activities of the literary community and the selection of the chairman of the Writers Association behind the scenes. When the Writers' Congress was about to be held in 1934, he asked Gorky to write to Stalin and recommend Averbako as a writer. President.
Some people say that Gorky opposed violence and that he would oppose the "Great Purge" in 1937, so Stalin got rid of him. It now appears that this statement is pure fabrication. During his prison trial, Averbako confirmed that Gorky spoke highly of the work of the secret police. Gorky made no protest against the law passed on August 7, 1932, which stipulated that children as young as 12 years old could be sentenced like adults, including the death penalty. He was indifferent to the arrests of famous writers Koliuev and Mandelstam. In 1929, he visited Solovki and praised the Soviet Union's 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, November 15, 1930). At the same time, the authorities planned public trials of "industrial groups", including those of the older generation of pre-revolutionary engineers and technicians. Gorky wrote: "I was filled with anger when I read the reports about those villains." In March 1931, he agreed with the Mensheviks People were put on trial, including some of his former friends, whom he called criminals and saboteurs, and who he said had slipped through the cracks and who should continue to be hunted. He praised in a letter: "What a beautiful job Stalin did!"
In December 1934, Kirov, the first secretary of the Leningrad Party Committee, was assassinated, which gave Stalin an excuse to launch a great purge. Many people People were summarily shot on charges of espionage without investigation or trial. Gorky published an article in "Pravda" on January 2, 1935, cheering for Stalin: "The enemy must be destroyed ruthlessly and without mercy, and ignore the gasps and groans of those professional humanitarians."
Embarrassing old age
In May 1934, 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 into Maxim's death was interrupted. Kremlin Medical Director Kodolovsky also died during the investigation. The cause of death is unknown.
In the last two years of his life, Gorky completely became a taming tool of the government. He tirelessly praised Stalin, but the latter paid no attention to him. He suggested publishing Dostoevsky's novel "Demons", and "Pravda" immediately published an article by a royal literati criticizing him for committing "liberalism." Even Gorky couldn't read the newspaper. On several occasions, the KGB printed a newspaper specifically for him. Such a newspaper is preserved in the Gorky Memorial Hall.
Gorky wanted to travel to Italy, but was not approved. He was locked in a cage. On the surface his reputation was second only to Stalin's. In his memories, the writer Shikarpa talked about Gorky muttering desperately to himself: "I am so tired. It's like they have trapped me in a fence and I can't get out. I'm in a trap. I can't advance or retreat! I can't." Get used to this kind of life..."
Gorky spent his last spring in his villa in Crimea. French writer André Malraux went there to visit him. Details of the meeting are provided in the testimony of the Babel interrogation file held at the headquarters of the Soviet secret police. Malraux asked Gorky whether Soviet literature is now in a stage of decline, and Gorky's answer was yes; at that time, "Pravda" was criticizing the literary form theory of Shklovsky and others, as well as Shostakovich's Music, Gorky was very concerned about, he did not agree with those criticisms; he was depressed and lonely, and said many times that some people were not allowing him to return to Moscow and engage in the work he loved. Yagoda and Kruchkov arranged for some suspicious women to drink and party with Gorky all night until Gorky fell asleep. Kruchkov controlled Gorky's daily life, and those visitors had to be selected by him, so that Gorky could only meet figures from the Yagoda secret police circle and some cultural charlatans.
The official explanation for the death of this proletarian "father of literature" is a criminal murder, part of a huge conspiracy of the Trotsky right group, led by Bukharin, Rykov, Ya Golda, Trotsky and others directly manipulated the plot to overthrow Stalin's regime. Even his death was used by Stalin to make a big fuss. After Gorky's death, his house was searched thoroughly, and more than once. When his secretary Kruchkov was arrested, the secret police even cut potatoes open one by one in search of the materials they needed.
Gorky’s sad fate is thought-provoking. He obeyed the Stalin regime and enjoyed the highest reputation and status, but he paid the highest price for an intellectual - loss of personality and distortion of conscience. He participated in cruelty and promoted torture. He was both a victim and a tool of tyranny
On March 16, 1868, Alexey Maximovich Pishkov (Maxim Gorky) was born in Nizhny Novgorod. When Gorky was five years old, his father, a carpenter, passed away, so he stayed with his grandfather who opened a dyeing shop.
As a child, Gorky often fell into fierce quarrels and fights among the small proprietors of the declining family. Later, my bankrupt grandfather sold the old house and bought another house on Kanat Street. "This is an unpaved, grassy, ??but clean and quiet street, which leads through two rows of colorful cottages to the fields. The new house is prettier and cuter than the previous one; the front is painted The crimson color is warm and comforting; the three sky-blue casements and the white-leafed window on the attic are dazzlingly bright; the roof on the left is shaded by the beautiful shades of the elms and lime trees."— ——"Childhood"
In Gorky's childhood, his grandmother, who was a lace weaver, was his "closest person".
I don’t know how many nights, in this old wooden house, my grandmother often sat on the edge of the stove, looking at her little grandson illuminated by the bright light of the small foreign lantern, and talked endlessly about the warrior Ivan. and the sad robber mother among many other fairy tales. The love of his grandmother and those fairy tales that are as unfortunate as real life but also sparkle with kindness and ideals gave Gorky, who had suffered from the hardships of life at the bottom at an early age, "the strong strength to cope with the difficult life." At the same time, these fairy tales, as Gorky later recalled, "my mind is filled with my grandmother's fairy tales, just like a beehive is filled with sweetness." It is these memories that gave the writer the initial rich nourishment.
Gorky’s childhood home is still intact and has been turned into a writer’s memorial hall. The locals affectionately call it “Bishkov House” after Gorky’s original surname.