During the Silver Age, the world saw many great poets, actors and artists who literally revived the culture in the country. One of such outstanding people of his time was Sergey Mikhailovich Volkonsky, an art critic, memoir writer and theater figure, as well as an ardent connoisseur of beauty. His last name doomed him to universal recognition at birth, although, as often happens, after death.
Genes
The biography of Sergei Volkonsky is difficult to condense to the size of one sheet, since the life of this outstanding person is significant and his contribution to the development of culture in Russia is truly enormous. He was born on May 16 (according to the old style), 1860, in a family of hereditary princes, dating back to the 13th century. His mother, Elizaveta Grigoryevna, was the first woman in the history of the Russian lands who was globally interested in issues of theology, professing Catholicism,which subsequently influenced her son: Prince Sergei accepted the same faith, as an adult.
His father - the son of the famous Decembrist Volkonsky Sergei Grigoryevich and his great wife Maria Raevskaya - served as a privy councilor, and since 1882 - the minister of public education. Such outstanding parents could only have a comprehensively developed child, as Sergei Mikhailovich grew up: he was deeply interested in culture in all its manifestations.
Soul Calling
From a young age, having received the necessary education at home, he entered the Larinsky Gymnasium in St. Petersburg, where he first became closely acquainted with the theater and Ernesto Rossi, who had toured in Russia since 1877. It was this actor who formed the first ideas of Sergei Volkonsky that the acting is as important as the repertoire. Enthusiastic guy actively attends acting, voice and gesture classes.
In 1880, he successfully graduated from the Lyceum and entered the university, the Faculty of History and Philology, continuing to be passionately interested in the theater, arranging theatrical performances at home with his brothers, and later participating in amateur court productions.
May 2, 1892 Prince Volkonsky gives a lecture to a large audience on the subject of art, which became his springboard in his career: he is invited to various creative events, Sergei Mikhailovich himself begins to actively write articles for various publishing houses, in paralleltraveling around the world.
Career and introduction of reforms
At the end of July 1899, Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky was appointed director of all the imperial theaters in Russia, which caused a great split of opinion in society. The prince had his own views and tastes, often going against the outdated stereotypes of actors of the old school, so discord and condemnation broke out from time to time.
At the same time, such luminaries as Mikhail Fokin, Diaghilev, A. Benois were on the side of Volkonsky, Alexander Gorsky was appointed chief choreographer, and Vasnetsov, Korovin and Serov, outstanding artists who later became classics, were invited to cooperate with the theater Russian fine arts. On the theater stage were staged:
- The operas "Tristan and Isolde", as well as "The Valkyrie" - they were first seen by the beau monde on the stage of Russian theaters. The opera "Eugene Onegin", on which Benoit worked hard, was updated.
- The plays "Othello", "Snow Maiden" and "Biron" in a modern interpretation fell in love with the public, critics noted the quality of the costumes and the acting, which has become many times more professional.
- Ballets The Four Seasons, Harlequinade, Camargo.
Volkonsky is scrupulous in everything related to productions, scandals are increasingly flaring up on this basis, as he does not tolerate negligence in work, as well as inconsistencies in the image and acting of the actor. On this basis, in 1901, a series of irreconcilable differences occurred with Diaghilev and the leading primas of the theater, who were looking for support fromhigh-ranking lovers, and the prince resigns in desperation.
June 7, 1901, his resignation was finally accepted, and Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky devotes himself to writing, putting his thoughts, developments and ideas on paper. Attempts by the government in 1917 to return his position to him did not lead to anything, because the prince was reputed to be a man of strong principles and did not want to make concessions. In December 1920, he migrates to Europe, shocked by the attitude of Russians to their own land and history. Also, his idea of creating a museum of the Decembrists in memory of his ancestors failed, so nothing holds him up anymore.
Volkonsky's legacy
Often printed on the pages of Apollon magazine, Sergei Mikhailovich publishes the following works:
- "Man on stage".
- "Conversations".
- Artistic Responses.
- "Expressive word".
- "Laws of Speech".
- "About the Decembrists" - memories of an outstanding uncle and his wife.
His numerous lectures, reports and weighty articles are in great demand, so the prince has practically no time for himself. On one of his travels in 1910, he got acquainted with the Dalcroze method - rhythmic gymnastics, which was the progenitor of modern aerobics. The idea of developing coordination to music and a sense of rhythm, tact and grace of movements captivates Volkonsky so much that in 1912 rhythmic gymnastics courses were opened in St. Petersburg, and a magazine with the same name was published in parallel.
Family
Due to the widespread employment and passion for art, personal life for Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky was of little interest, and only after migration, when in 1936 he read a series of lectures in London, did he meet the American Mary Fern French, the daughter of a diplomat. The same summer, an engagement was announced, and soon they played a wedding. The newlyweds left for America, and in the fall of the same year, the prince fell ill and died on October 25. He was buried in the same city - Hot Springs. The couple did not have time to have children.
What do his contemporaries say about the prince?
His close friends were Marina Tsvetaeva and Alexandre Benois, who speak of him as a man of a subtle soul, who was a true expert in his field, which he demanded from the rest. He perfectly played several musical instruments, ideally mastered the skill of rhetoric and acting. Everyone who knew him noted his impeccable manners, honed to perfection: his whole image seemed to have descended from the pages of a novel.
The voice was melodious, beautifully delivered phrases, but without pathos. Many noted his lively jet-black eyes, dark skin and black mustache, which were too expressive on his face. At the same time, Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky was distinguished by incredible thinness, especially in the last years of his life, which indicated a difficult life and high nervous tension that constantly haunted him, which was explained by outstanding genes: his grandfather, a Decembrist, was just as fond of a man of honor and his word.
OutstandingVolkonsky's relatives
The family tree of Sergey Mikhailovich Volkonsky is full of famous people who are known to many:
- His great-grandfather was Alexander Benkendorf, who was a secret confidant of Nicholas II and the head of his gendarmerie.
- Maternal grandfather - Grigory Volkonsky belonged to the first musical community in Russia - a circle of Vielgorsky brothers. He possessed the rarest bass, which did not prevent him from simultaneously serving as chamberlain at court.
And his paternal grandfather, the Decembrist Sergei Grigoryevich Volkonsky, became a general at the age of 24. After the uprising, he was sentenced to hard labor in Siberia. Some mistakenly classify Sergei Mikhailovich Volkonsky as a Decembrist, confusing him with his grandfather, apparently due to insufficient knowledge of history.
