Apollon Maykov

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Apollon Maykov : biography

1821 – 1897

Literary career

The first Apollon Maykov’s poems (signed "M.") were published in 1840 (Odessa Almanac) and 1841 (Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya, Otechestvennye Zapiski). Guided by his father’s example, he was studying painting too, but soon devoted himself to poetry wholeheartedly. Instrumental in this decision was P.A.Pletnyiov, the University professor whose encouragement for the young man was highly important. Fulfilling the role of a mentor, Pletnyov showed the first poems of his protégé to such literary giants as Vasily Zhukovsky and Nikolai Gogol. Maykov has never become a painter, but still those lessons had strong bearing upon his artistic worldview and influenced the style of his writing.

In the early 1842 his first collection Poems by A.N. Maykov was published, to much acclaim. "For me it sounds like Delvig’s ideas expressed by Pushkin," Pletnyov wrote.Y.K.Grot and P.A.Pletnyov’s correspondence. Saint Petersburg, 1896. Vol. 1. P.483. Vissarion Belinsky responded with a comprehensive essay,Belivsky, V., Russian Literature in 1842. Works of… In 9 Volumes, Vol. 6, p. 207) praising the book’s first section called "Of the Anthology Kind" (V antologicheskom rode), a cycle of verses stylized after both ancient Greek epigrams and traditional elegy. Despite certain flaws (which Belinsky subjected to thorough analysis too) the book was an overnight success, placing Apollon Maykov among Russia’s leading poets of the time. Much gratified with the famous critic’s close attention,There was a "cult of Belinsky" in the Maykov family, partly imposed upon by Ivan Goncharov, for whom Belinsky was a genius. the young poet paid heed to all of the latter’s advice and years later, working upon re-issues, did a lot of self-editing in direct accordance with them.Lansky, L. The Belinsky Library. Letarturnoye nasledstvo (The Literary Heritage). Vol. 55, Мoscow., 1948, pp. 474–476.

After graduating the University, Maykov joined the Russian Ministry of Finance as a clerk. Having received a stipend for his first book from Tsar Nicholas I, he used the money to travel abroad, visiting Italy (where he spent most of the time writing poetry and painting), France, Saxony, and Austria. In Paris Apollon and Valerian attended lectures on literature and fine arts at the Sorbonne and the College de France. On his way back Maykov visited Dresden and Prague where he met Vaclav Hanka and Pavel Jozef Safarik, two leaders of the national revival movement. The direct outcome of this voyage for Apollon Maykov was a University dissertation on the Ancient Slavic people’s law.

In 1844 Maykov returned to Saint Petersburg to join Rumyantsev Museum’s library as an assistant. He became actively involved with the literary life of the Russian capital, contributing regularly to several leading journals: Otechestvennye Zapiski, Finsky Vestnik, Sovremennik. He also debuted as a critic and published several essays on both literature and fine art, reviewing works by artists like Ayvazovsky, F.P.Tolstoy, Fedotov, from the position of a "natural school" doctrine follower.

In 1846 the Petersburg Anthology (Peterburgsky sbornik) published his poem "Mashenka", which saw Maykov discarding elegy and leaning towards more down-to-Earth style of writing. Again Belinsky was much impressed, hailing the arrival of "a new talent, quite capable of presenting real life in its true light."The Works of Belinsky. Мoscow, 1982. Vol. 8. P. 148 The critic also liked Two Fates (Dve sudhby, Saint Petersburg, 1845), another "natural school" piece. Marked by Mikhail Lermontov’s influence, it featured "a Pechorin-type character, an intelligent, thinking nobleman degrading into a low-brow philistine," according to Alexander Hertzen’s review.The Complete Hertzen. In 30 volumes, Moscow, 1954. Vol. 2. P. 411 In the late 1840s Maykov was also writing prose, using a Gogol-induced manner known as "physiological sketch": among the short stories, published at the time, were "The Uncle’s Will" (1847) and "The Old Woman. Fragments From the Notes of a Virtuous Man" (1848).