Childhood and youth
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov was born on January 15 (27 according to the new style) January 1879. The future writer grew up and was brought up in an average family. His father Pyotr Bazhov (originally the surname was spelled with the letter “e”), a native of the peasants of the Polevskaya volost, worked at a mining site in the town of Sysert, in the Sverdlovsk region.
Later the Bazhovs moved to the village of Polevskoy. The writer’s parent earned his bread by hard work, but was not involved in agriculture: there were no arable plots of land in Sysert. Peter was a hardworking man and a rare specialist in his field, but the man’s bosses did not favor him, so Bazhov Sr. changed more than one job.
The fact is that the head of the family loved to sip on strong drink and often went on binges. But it was not this bad habit that became a stumbling block between managers and subordinates: the tipsy Bazhov did not know how to keep his mouth shut, so he criticized the working elite to the nines.
Later, the “talkative” Peter, who for this reason was nicknamed Drill, was taken back, because such professionals are worth their weight in gold. True, the factory management did not immediately condescend to forgive; Bazhov had to beg for a job for a long time. At the moments of the helmsmen’s thoughts, the Bazhov family was left without a means of subsistence; they were saved by the odd earnings of the head of the family and the crafts of his wife Augusta Stefanovna (Osintseva).
The writer's mother came from Polish peasants, ran a household and raised Pavel. In the evenings I was fond of needlework: weaving lace, knitting fishnet stockings and creating other cozy little things. But because of this painstaking work, which was carried out in the dark, the woman’s vision was severely deteriorated.
By the way, despite Peter’s wayward character, he and his son developed friendly relations. Pavel’s grandmother even used to say that his father indulged his child all the time and forgave any pranks. And Augusta Stefanovna had a completely soft and flexible character, so the child was raised in love and harmony.
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov grew up as a diligent and inquisitive boy. Before moving, he attended the zemstvo school in Sysert and studied excellently. Pavel picked up subjects on the fly, be it Russian or mathematics, and every day he pleased his relatives with fives in his diary. Bazhov recalled that thanks to Pushkin he was able to get a decent education. The future writer took a volume of the great Russian writer from the local library under harsh conditions: the librarian jokingly ordered the young man to learn all the works by heart. But Paul took this task seriously.
Later, his school teacher spoke about the student to a veterinarian friend as a gifted child from a working-class family who knew Alexander Sergeevich’s creations by heart. Impressed by the talented young man, the veterinarian gave the boy a start in life and provided the native of a poor family with a decent education. Pavel Bazhov graduated from the Ekaterinburg Theological School, and then entered the Perm Theological Seminary.
The young man was invited to continue his studies and receive church orders, but the young man did not want to serve in the church, but dreamed of poring over textbooks at the university. In addition, Pavel Petrovich was not a religious, but rather a revolutionary-minded person.
But there was not enough money for further education. Pyotr Bazhov died of liver disease, so he had to be content with Augusta Stefanovna’s pension. Therefore, without receiving a university diploma, Pavel Petrovich worked as a teacher in theological schools of Yekaterinburg and Kamyshlov, teaching students Russian language and literature. Bazhov was loved, each of his lectures was perceived as a gift, he read the works of great classics sensually and with soul. Pavel Petrovich was one of those rare teachers who could interest even an inveterate student and restless student.
The girls at school had a peculiar custom: they pinned bows made of multi-colored satin ribbons to their favorite teachers. Pavel Petrovich Bazhov had no free space left on his jacket, because he had the most “insignia” of all. It is worth saying that Pavel Petrovich participated in political events and perceived the October Revolution as something proper and fundamental. In his opinion, the abdication of Nicholas II and the Bolshevik coup should have ended social inequality and provided the inhabitants of the country with a happy future.
Until 1917, Pavel Petrovich was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party; during the civil war he fought on the side of the Reds, organized the underground and developed a strategy in the event of the fall of Soviet power. Bazhov also served as head of the trade union bureau and public education department. Later, Pavel Petrovich headed the editorial activities and published a newspaper. Among other things, the writer organized schools and called for the fight against illiteracy. In 1918, the master of words joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Literature
As you know, as a student, Pavel Petrovich lived in Yekaterinburg and Perm, where instead of wildlife there were solid railways around, and instead of small houses there were stone apartments with several floors. In cultural cities, life was in full swing: people went to theaters and discussed social events at restaurant tables, but Pavel loved returning to his native land.
There he became acquainted with semi-mystical folklore: a local old man nicknamed Slyshko ("Glass") - watchman Vasily Khmelinin - loved to tell folk tales, the main characters of which were mythical characters: the Silver Hoof, the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, the Jumping Fire Girl, the Blue Snake and the Grandmother Little blue.
Grandfather Vasily Alekseevich explained that all his stories are based on everyday life and describe “ancient life.” Khmelinin especially emphasized this difference between Ural tales and fairy tales. Local children and adults listened to every word of grandfather Slyshko. Among the listeners was Pavel Petrovich, who absorbed Khmelinin’s amazingly magical stories like a sponge.
From those times, his love for folklore began: Bazhov carefully kept notebooks in which he collected Ural songs, tales, legends and riddles. In 1931, a conference on Russian folklore was held in Moscow and Leningrad. As a result of the meeting, the task of studying modern worker and collective farm-proletarian folklore was set, then it was decided to create a collection “Pre-revolutionary folklore in the Urals.” Local historian Vladimir Biryukov was supposed to search for materials, but the scientist did not find the necessary sources.
Therefore, the publication was headed by Bazhov. Pavel Petrovich collected folk epics as a writer, and not as a folklorist. Bazhov knew about passportization, but did not carry it out. The master of the pen also adhered to the principle: the heroes of his works came from Russia or the Urals (even if these assumptions contradicted the facts, the writer rejected everything that was not in favor of his homeland).
In 1936, Pavel Petrovich published his first work entitled “The Azov Girl”. Later, in 1939, the collection “The Malachite Box” was published, which during the author’s lifetime was replenished with new tales from the words of Vasily Khmelinin. But, according to rumors, one day Bazhov admitted that he did not rewrite his stories from other people’s lips, but composed them.
Creativity of P.P. Bazhova
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov (1879 - 1950) - famous Ural writer and folklorist. He was born near Yekaterinburg in a working-class family. Pavel Bazhov's first writing experience occurred during the Civil War. It was then that he began working as a journalist, and later became interested in the history of the Urals. His book with Ural essays was published in 1924.
The fame of the storyteller came later. In 1936, his first story, “The Azov Girl,” was published in the magazine. In 1939, the first collection of fairy tales, “The Malachite Box,” was published in Yekaterinburg. Basically, all the stories retold and recorded by the writer were folklore.
Popularity came to Bazhov in adulthood. And that is why he took the concept of “real literature” very seriously and highly valued the title of writer. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was considered a model for writers working in the fairy tale genre, “for whom the fairy tale represents that wonderful fusion where folk art is inseparable from the personal creativity of the poet.” Another standard for Bazhov was Leva Nikolaevich Tolstoy, “whose fairy tales and children’s stories are an immeasurable example of simplicity, clarity, entertaining, and the absence of linguistic tricks.”
Much more has been written about Bazhov’s work than he himself wrote. For a long time, critics argued among themselves, what kind of phenomenon is “this Bazhov” - a folklorist, writer, local historian, historian? And contemporaries wrote: “Bazhov placed living Russian people in the magical world of old Ural tales, and with their real, earthly power they defeated the conventions of fairy-tale magic. How the earthly love of a simple Russian girl defeated the magical power of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain.” Bazhov was called “a miner of oral speech gold and a seeker of native legends.”
Bazhov himself assessed his work more than modestly. He answered all praise addressed to him the same way: “When saying good words to a specific person, we must not forget that behind him stands that huge thing called workers’ folklore. We must not forget that I am only a performer, and the main creator is a worker.”
Bazhov’s bright, original creativity is firmly connected with the life of the mining and processing Urals.
The talent of the working people, the life, morals, and customs of the Ural miners constantly attracted the attention of the writer. His tales absorbed plot motifs, fantastic images, and the flavor of folk legends. On the pages of the stories, unfading stone flowers bloom, good and evil monsters, blue snakes, nimble lizards and cheerful goats come to life. In total, Pavel Petrovich Bazhov created 56 tales. Read:
Features of Bazhov's tales
The writer considered the creation of fairy tales to be the main work of his life. In addition, he edited almanacs and books, including those devoted to Ural local history.
Initially, the tales processed by Bazhov are folklore. He heard “Secret Tales” as a boy from Khmelinin. This man became the prototype of Slyshko’s grandfather, the narrator of the work “The Malachite Box.” Bazhov later had to declare officially that this was just a technique, and he did not simply record other people’s stories, but created his own based on them.
The term “skaz” later entered the folklore of the Soviet era to define the prose of workers. However, after some time it was established that this concept does not denote a new phenomenon in folklore: tales in fact turned out to be memories, legends, traditions, fairy tales, that is, genres that had existed for a long time.
Naming his works with this term, Pavel Petrovich Bazhov, whose fairy tales were associated with the folklore tradition, took into account not only the tradition of this genre, which implies the obligatory presence of a storyteller, but also the existence of ancient oral traditions of the Ural miners. From these folklore works he adopted the main feature of his creations - the mixing of fairy-tale images in the narrative.
Magical heroes of Bazhov's fairy tales
The miracles of Bazhov's fairy tales touch on natural phenomena and mineral mining. Even in ancient times, people believed that fabulous creatures guarded underground wealth. The Mistress of the Copper Mountain appears before the readers of Bazhov's fairy tales. She was considered not only the keeper of treasures, but also the patroness of talented people. True, the workers of the Urals were afraid to meet her. It was believed that it was impossible to marry a person who wanted to receive the patronage of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain.
Among the magical characters there is a relative of Baba Yaga - Grandma Sinyushka. And also the Great Snake, the stern guardian of gold deposits. The Jumping Fire Girl will seem mischievous. If this girl wants, she will show the location of the gold. The image of Darinka with her cat Murenka is charming. The adventures of the heroes are so unusual that fairy tales are interesting to both adults and children.
Pavel Bazhov was very proud of his works in the thematic collection “Malachite Box”. The writer became famous thanks to this book. The works included in it were nicknamed “tales”. Folklore stories are based on life and everyday life in the Urals, the beauty of nature. Mythological characters are also “involved.” The story is told from the first person – the narrator. In addition, the stories go back to the “secret tales” of the Urals - the legends of miners.
It’s worth reading Bazhov’s fairy tales not only for the amazing characters. The works glorify the skill of people and work that turns into creativity. Adults will find important things for themselves here. Bazhov focuses on talent and skill. Although all of Bazhov's tales were based on folklore, he placed ordinary people in the plot. With their own reality and earthly strength, these heroes defeated the conventions of fairy tales. In total, Pavel Bazhov gave the world fifty works.
Fantastic heroes of fairy tales
The main theme of Bazhov's tales is the simple man, his skill, talent and work. Communication with the secret foundations of our life, with nature, is carried out with the help of powerful representatives of the mountain magical world. Perhaps the most striking among characters of this kind is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, whom Stepan, the hero of “The Malachite Box,” met. She helps Danila, a character in a tale called “The Stone Flower,” to discover his talent.
And after he refuses to make the Stone Flower himself, he becomes disappointed in it. In addition to this character, the Great Snake, who is responsible for the gold, is interesting. His image was created by the writer on the basis of the ancient superstitions of the Khanty and Mansi, as well as Ural legends, signs of ore miners and miners.
Grandma Sinyushka, another heroine of Bazhov’s tales, is a character related to the famous Baba Yaga. The connection between gold and fire is represented by the Jumping Fire Girl, who dances over a gold deposit. So, we met such an original writer as Pavel Bazhov. The article presented only the main milestones of his biography and the most famous works.
If you are interested in the personality and work of this author, you can continue to get acquainted with him by reading the memoirs of Pavel Petrovich’s daughter, Ariadna Pavlovna.
Tales
Publishing house "Makhaon", 2014
At what age should I read Bazhov to my child? It is included in the school curriculum. His works are difficult for preschoolers to understand and are overloaded with specific definitions that will need to be explained. “The Silver Hoof” and “The Jumping Fire Girl” can be read at the age of 6-7, the rest of the fairy tales can definitely be read later, from the age of ten. It's not that they are difficult. Knowledge and understanding of philosophy and historical facts is required at least at an elementary level. Not to mention the subtle substances that permeate the tales. The classics must be “settled” in your head, otherwise reading will turn into a chore.
Usually, to get to know a writer, they buy a cheaper book to see how it goes. A book quite worthy in terms of the quality of illustrations was published by “Swallowtail” in the “Golden Collection of Childhood” series. It was not possible to find any information about the artist Maria Korotaeva, but the drawings are good. Not masterpieces, typical book ones - and good ones. The right colors are green, gray, brown, the mood is right: calm majesty, the magic of Russian nature. The faces of the characters are lost, people are part of the picture, everything is interconnected: houses, trees, and living creatures. From new impressions: there is no feeling of stonyness, on the contrary, softness and serenity are felt. And such a view of Bazhov is worthy of respect. The book includes fairy tales: “The Mistress of the Copper Mountain”, “The Malachite Box”, “The Stone Flower”, “Two Lizards”, “The Jumping Fire Girl”, “The Blue Snake”, “The Silver Hoof”. The price of the book in stores is ~250 rubles.
Personal life
It is known that for a long time Pavel Petrovich was not involved in relationships with women. The writer was not deprived of the attention of lovely ladies, but at the same time he was not a Don Juan either: Bazhov did not plunge headlong into fleeting passions and novels, but led an ascetic bachelor life.
Why Bazhov remained single until he was 30 is difficult to explain. The writer was passionate about his work and did not want to waste time on the young ladies passing by, and also believed in sincere love. However, this is how it happened: the 32-year-old folklorist proposed his hand and heart to 19-year-old Valentina Aleksandrovna Ivanitskaya, a former student. The serious and educated girl agreed.
It turned out to be a marriage for life, the lovers raised four children (seven were born in the family, but three died in infancy from illness): Olga, Elena, Alexei and Ariadne. Contemporaries recall that comfort reigned in the house and there were no cases where the spouses were burdened by domestic or other disagreements.
It was impossible to hear the name Valya or Valentina from Bazhov, because Pavel Petrovich called his beloved by affectionate nicknames: Valyanushka or Valestenochka. The writer did not like to be late, but even leaving for a meeting in a hurry, he returned to the threshold if he forgot to kiss his beloved wife goodbye.
Pavel Petrovich and Valentina Aleksandrovna lived happily and supported each other. But, like any other mortal, in the life of the writer there were both cloudless and sad days. Bazhov had to endure a terrible grief - the death of a child. Young Alexey died due to an accident at the factory. It is also known that Pavel Petrovich, although he was a busy person, always set aside time to talk with children. It is noteworthy that the father communicated with his offspring as with adults, gave them the right to vote and listened to their opinions.
“The ability to know everything about his loved ones was an amazing feature of my father. He was always the busiest, but he had enough spiritual sensitivity to be aware of everyone’s worries, joys and sorrows,” said Ariadna Bazhova in the book “Through the Eyes of a Daughter.”
Children
This marriage union became the only spouse for both. Seven children were born into a strong and happy family. However, due to illness, three babies died soon after birth, and the parents were able to go out and raise only four.
Olga, Elena, Alexey and Ariadna grew up in an atmosphere of friendship, love and mutual respect. According to eyewitnesses, Pavel called his wife exclusively affectionate analogues of the name. She was certainly “Valyanushka” or “Valestenochka”, and before any leaving home he always kissed her. And if in a hurry he forgot to do this, he always returned, despite the possibility of disrupting the upcoming important meeting.
But no matter how hard the couple tried to maintain happiness and love in their world, their family also knew the horror of losing a loved one. Young son Alexey died at the plant as a result of an accident. The family suffered the loss heavily, but were forced to come to terms with a cruel fate.
It is noteworthy that the father always communicated with his children as adults and never shied away from talking, even when there was very little free time. Subsequently, his youngest daughter Ariadne, in her book of memoirs “Through the Eyes of a Daughter,” noted the following: “The ability to know everything about his loved ones was an amazing feature of his father. He was always the busiest, but he had enough spiritual sensitivity to be aware of everyone’s worries, joys and sorrows.”
Bazhov House-Museum in Yekaterinburg
All works of Pavel Bazhov were written in a house on the corner of Chapaev and Bolshakov streets (formerly Bishop and Bolotnaya). Before the construction of this house, Bazhov lived from 1906 in a small house, which has not survived, on the same Bolotnaya street, not far from the corner.
The writer began building the house on Chapaev Street 11 in 1911, and from 1914 the Bazhov family lived in it until leaving for Kamyshlov. Pavel Bazhov returned here in 1923 and lived here until the end of his life.
The house has four rooms, a kitchen and a hallway leading to the writer’s office, which was also the senior Bazhov’s bedroom. One side of the house faces the garden, where everything was planted by the hands of the Bazhovs. Birch and linden trees, rowan and bird cherry trees, cherry and apple trees grow here. The writer’s favorite benches under the rowan tree and a table under the linden tree have been preserved. Next to the garden is a vegetable garden and outbuildings (a barn with a hayloft).
After the writer’s death, his wife Valentina Aleksandrovna lived in the house until 1968. On February 3, 1969, the Bazhov memorial house-museum was opened here.
Ernst Neizvestny and the monument to Bazhov
Pavel Bazhov defended those who were attacked, did not allow them to be expelled from the Writers' Union, including the children's writer Bella Dijour, the mother of Ernst Neizvestny. It is probably no coincidence that Ernst Neizvestny, who knew the writer since childhood, made a model of the monument to Bazhov.
Arriving one day in Sverdlovsk on vacation, after Bazhov’s death, Ernst Neizvestny learned about a competition for a monument for the writer’s grave. I found out and did my job. Bella Abramovna does not remember whether the figurine was plaster or plasticine. Read also: Ludwig van Beethoven biography.
Judge the figurine “P.P. Bazhov" is now possible only by photograph. On a hill, either on an old stump, or on a stone, sits this thoughtful, wise old forest man with a not at all old face, with a pipe in his hand, with a book on his knees, in some long clothes. But despite all this external conventionality and romance, there is a striking portrait resemblance to the living author of “The Malachite Box”. A real magical storyteller!
