Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg ( rus, Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Гли́кберг, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲikbʲɪrk, a=Alyexandr Mikhaylovich Glickbyerg.ru.vorb.oga), better known as Sasha Chorny ( rus, Са́ша Чёрный, p=ˈsaʂə ˈtɕɵrnɨj, a=Sasha Chyornyy.ru.vorb.oga; – 5 July 1932), was a Russian poet, satirist and children's writer.

Early years

Alexander Glikberg was born into a Jewish family of

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

s in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, Russian Empire (currently in Ukraine) on October 13 N.S. 1880. The Glikberg family was not a happy one: his mother suffered from

hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

and children were bad for her nerves; his father often became violent and severely punished his children. It so happened that among the five Glikberg children there were two Alexanders (or Sashas for short), the blond Sasha was usually called ''White Sasha'' (''Белый Саша'' in Russian) and the brunet ''Black Sasha'' (''Чёрный Саша'' in Russian). The Glikberg children could not enter a gymnasium because of the quota restriction for enrollment of Jews in schools in

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. Eventually the Glikbergs solved the problem by baptizing themselves and their children. After this, in 1889, the children entered the

gymnasium. Alexander found studying in the gymnasium akin to boring bureaucratic service. At the age of fifteen he ran away from home. For some time he lived with his aunt in Saint Petersburg, but after being expelled from a Saint Petersburg gymnasium for failing algebra, he was left homeless and without money. Neither his parents nor other relatives responded to his letters and pleas for help. Fortunately for Alexander, one of his stories was published by the journalist ''Alexander Yablonovsky'' in the popular newspaper ''Syn Otechestva''. The article was read by K.K. Rochet, a French-Russian living in Zhitomir, who decided to adopt the boy. Alexander entered a Zhitomir gymnasium, from which he was also eventually expelled after a conflict with the principal. Alexander served two years in the Army and then got a job as a customs officer in the village of Novosiltsy on the border with Austria-Hungary. In 1904, he returned to his adoptive family in Zhitomir and worked as a journalist for the magazine ''Volynsky Vestnik''. The magazine went bankrupt within two months, and Alexander decided to continue his journalistic career in Saint Petersburg.

Poet

On moving to Saint Petersburg, he worked an administrative job for the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway. There he met his wife, Maria Ivanovna Vasilieva, who was his manager at the railroad. She was a few years older than he, better educated, and richer. In Chorny's verse, marriage to a co-worker was often noted as the worst fate for a person. Despite this, their marriage seemed to have been a happy one and lasted their whole lives. They spent their honeymoon in Italy, in 1905. After returning to Saint Petersburg, Alexander published a collection of verse titled ''Nonsense'' (Чепуха) in the magazine ''Zritel'' using the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Sasha Chorny. The magazine was closed by the government as a result of these verses, but their effect on the readers was huge. The verses were distributed throughout the country, rewritten by hand, and Chorny soon became a popular and sought after author. Between 1906 and 1907, Sasha Chorny lived in Germany and studied at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg. In 1908, he returned to Saint Petersburg and wrote for the popular magazine ''

Novyi Satirikon ''Novyi Satirikon'' was a Russian language weekly humor and satirical magazine that was published in Saint Petersburg in the period 1908–1914. During the 1917 Revolution, the magazine held an anti-Bolshevik political stance, and most of its co ...

'' to wide popular acclaim. "When somebody gets an issue of the magazine, the first things he looks for are the Sasha Chorny poems. There isn't a student, physician, or lawyer that does not know Chorny's verses by heart," wrote Korney Chukovsky, who was also a Satirikon contributor. Among the admirers of his verses was Vladimir Mayakovsky, who knew many of his poems by heart and often recited them. In 1910, Sasha Chorny published his book of verses, ''Satires'', followed in 1911 by another one, ''Satires and Lyrics''. He also published the children's books ''Tuk-Tuk'' (Knock-Knock) in 1913 and ''Live ABC'' (1914).

War and emigration

During World War I, Sasha Chorny served as a private at a field hospital. After the October Revolution, he emigrated to Vilnius, then to Germany, where he worked for the Berlin magazine ''Fire-bird'', then to France, where he worked for the Parisian ''Russian newspaper''. In 1923, he published his third book of verses ''Thirst''. In 1927, he was a founder of a Russian colony in the village La Favière in Provence. In emigration, he wrote the poem ''Who lives well in emigration'' (Кому в эмиграции жить хорошо, 1931-1932) and prose ''Non-serious stories'' (Несерьезные рассказы, 1928) ''Soldiers' tales'' (Солдатские сказки, published in 1933). After his death his fourth book of verse ''Children's Island'' (''Детский остров'') was published. He died of a heart attack while helping to put out a fire in the town of

Lavandou Le Lavandou (; oc, Lo Lavandor) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It derives its name either from the flower lavender (''lavanda'' in Provençal) that is prevalent in the area, o ...

in the South of France on July 5, 1932. Legend has it that Chorny's dog Micky, the 'author' of the Chorny story ''Micky the Fox Terrier's Diary'', lay on the chest of Sasha Chorny and died with his owner. Vladimir Nabokov, in his eulogy, said, "He left only a few books and a quiet, beauteous shadow."Левинг, Юрий
''Владимир Набоков и Саша Черный''
«Старое литературное обозрение» 2001, №1(277). Quote in Russian: " �� него осталось только несколько книг и тихая, прелестная тень."

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

set five of Chorny's poems to music for his song cycle ''Satires (Pictures of the Past)'', op. 109.

References

External links

*
Sasha Chorny poetry
*
Sasha Chorny: poems, biographyBiography and works
- in Russian
Chorny's verses
- in Russian
Chorny ''Micky the Fox Terrier's Diary''
- parallel Russian original and English translation

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chorny, Sasha 1880 births 1932 deaths Odesa Jews People from Odessky Uyezd Writers from Odesa White Russian emigrants to France French people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Russian children's writers Russian male poets Jewish poets Russian satirists 20th-century Russian poets 20th-century Russian male writers Heidelberg University alumni Expatriates from the Russian Empire in Germany