Marina Ivanovna
Tsvetaeva
1892-1941
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was an outstanding Russian poet, novelist and translator, whose work had a significant impact on the literature of the 20th century. Tsvetaeva’s poetry clearly shows musicality, which is associated with her childhood passion for playing the piano. Marina Tsvetaeva was born in Moscow on September 26 (October 8), 1892. In her family, her father was a university professor, and her mother was a pianist. At the age of six, she began writing her first poems. Tsvetaeva received her education at a private gymnasium in Moscow, and then continued her studies at boarding schools in Switzerland, Germany and France. After her mother’s death, she and her siblings were raised by their father, who provided the children with a good education. Tsvetaeva’s first collection of poetry was published in 1910 and was called The Evening Album. He attracted the attention of such famous writers as Valery Bryusov, Maximilian Voloshin and Nikolai Gumilev. The influence of their work, as well as the works of Nikolai Nekrasov, is felt in the first verses of the poetess. In 1912, she released her second collection, The Magic Lantern, which also included poems for children such as “So”, “In Class”, and “On Saturday.” In 1913 the third collection, “From two books”, was published. During the Civil War (1917-1922), Tsvetaeva used poetry as a means of expressing sympathy, and she also wrote plays. In 1912, Marina Tsvetaeva married Sergei Efron, and the couple had a daughter, Ariadna. In 1914, she met the poet Sofia Parnok, to whom she dedicated a series of poems called “Girlfriend”. In 1922, Tsvetaeva moved to Berlin, then to the Czech Republic, and then to Paris. During this period, such works as “Poem of the Mountain”, “Poem of the End”, “Poem of the Air” were written. Tsvetaeva’s poems, written in 1922-1925, were collected in the book “After Russia”, published in 1928. However, her poetry did not bring recognition abroad, and in exile Tsvetaeva became known mainly for her prose. During this period, she wrote a series of works about people important to her: in 1930, the cycle “Mayakovsky”, dedicated to Vladimir Mayakovsky, whose suicide shocked the poetess; in 1933, “Living about Living”, memories of Maximilian Voloshin; in 1934, “The Captive Spirit” in memory of Andrei Bely; in 1936 – “A Strange Evening” about Mikhail Kuzmin; in 1937 – “My Pushkin”, dedicated to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. In 1939, M.I. Tsvetaeva returned to the USSR. In Moscow, a memorial plaque has been installed on the house where the poetess lived from 1911 to 1919.
Address: Moscow, Sivtsev Vrazhek lane, 19
