What novels did Bulgakov write? The best works of Bulgakov: list and brief overview

Famous writer, playwright and theater director, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born in 1891 in Kyiv. In 1909, Mikhail entered the medical faculty of Kyiv University, from which he graduated with honors in 1916. While studying, he marries Tatyana Lappa (the first of Bulgakov's three wives). For about five years, Mikhail worked as a military doctor.

In 1921, he moved to Moscow and began working as a feuilletonist in various metropolitan newspapers. At the same time he publishes individual works in the newspaper "Nakanune", published in Berlin. In 1923, Bulgakov joined the All-Russian Writers Union, and in 1925 he wrote the novel “ dog's heart", which will be published for the first time only in 1968. The publication took place simultaneously in the magazines "Grani" (Frankfurt) and "Student" (London). In the Soviet Union, this work was first published in 1987 and has since been republished several times. The Italians were the first to film this novel in 1976, and in our country “Heart of a Dog” was filmed only in the late 80s. The director of the film was Vladimir Bortko.

In the fall of 1926, Bulgakov’s play “ Days of the Turbins", which was positively received by both critics and fans of the author. Until 1930, when the writer’s work was banned by the Soviet government, everyone theater season began with new productions based on Bulgakov's novels.

After much repression by the country's party leadership, Bulgakov became director of the Moscow Art Theater and held this position until 1936. Over the next few years, Mikhail worked at the Bolshoi Theater as a translator and librettist. Among his most famous librettos are “Minin and Pozharsky”, as well as “Peter I”.

In 1939, the author’s health deteriorated sharply, and during the same period he began dictating the latest version of the novel “The Master and Margarita” to his wife. On March 10, 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov died of hypertensive nephrosclerosis.

After the author's death, most of his novels were filmed, some even several times. For example, “The Master and Margarita” was filmed not only in our country, but also in Hungary, Yugoslavia and other countries. It should be noted that with every attempt to film the novel, the circumstances amazingly prevented the completion of filming. IN different years Several directors tried to follow through, but the films were never completed, causing the novel to gain a mystical reputation. The novel was released on screen only in December 2005 by director Vladimir Bortko, the author of the cult film adaptation of “Heart of a Dog.”

Creation

Stories and novels

Plays, librettos, film scripts

Stories

Journalism and feuilletons

Film adaptations of works

(May 3 (15), 1891, Kyiv - March 10, 1940, Moscow) - Russian Soviet writer, playwright and theater director. Author of novels, novellas, short stories, feuilletons, plays, dramatizations, film scripts and opera librettos.

Biography

Mikhail Bulgakov was born on May 3 (15), 1891 in Kyiv in the family of professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov (1859-1907) and his wife Varvara Mikhailovna (nee Pokrovskaya) (1869-1922). The family had seven children: Mikhail (1891-1940), Vera (1892-1972), Nadezhda (1893-1971), Varvara (1895-1954), Nikolai (1898-1966), Ivan (1900-1969) and Elena ( 1902-1954).

In 1909, Mikhail Bulgakov graduated from the Kyiv First Gymnasium and entered the medical faculty of Kyiv University. October 31, 1916 - received a diploma confirming “the degree of doctor with honors with all the rights and benefits, laws Russian Empire awarded this degree."

In 1913, M. Bulgakov entered into his first marriage - with Tatyana Lappa (1892-1982).

After the outbreak of World War I, M. Bulgakov worked as a doctor in the front-line zone for several months. Then he was sent to work in the village of Nikolskoye, Smolensk province, after which he worked as a doctor in Vyazma.

During Civil War, in February 1919, M. Bulgakov was mobilized as a military doctor into the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. At the end of August 1919, according to one version, M. Bulgakov was mobilized into the Red Army as a military doctor; On October 14-16, together with units of the Red Army, he returned to Kyiv and, during street fighting, went over to the side of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia and became a military doctor of the 3rd Terek Cossack Regiment.

In the same year he managed to work as a doctor of the Red Cross, and then in the White Guard Armed Forces South of Russia. He spends some time with Cossack troops in Chechnya, then in Vladikavkaz.

At the end of September 1921, M. Bulgakov moved to Moscow and began collaborating as a feuilletonist with metropolitan newspapers (“Gudok”, “Rabochiy”) and magazines (“Gudok”, “Rabochy”) Medical worker", "Russia", "Renaissance"). At the same time, he published individual works in the newspaper “Nakanune”, published in Berlin. From 1922 to 1926, more than 120 reports, essays and feuilletons by M. Bulgakov were published in Gudka.

In 1923, M. Bulgakov joined the All-Russian Writers Union. In 1924, he met Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya (1898-1987), who had recently returned from abroad, who in 1925 became his new wife.

Since October 1926, the play “Days of the Turbins” has been performed at the Moscow Art Theater with great success. Its production was allowed for a year, but was later extended several times because I. Stalin liked the play. However, in his speeches, I. Stalin agreed: “Days of the Turbins” is “an anti-Soviet thing, and Bulgakov is not ours.” At the same time, an intense and extremely harsh criticism creativity of M. Bulgakov. According to his own calculations, over 10 years there were 298 abusive reviews and 3 favorable ones. Among the critics were: influential officials and writers like V. Mayakovsky, A. Bezymensky, L. Averbakh, V. Shklovsky, P. Kerzhentsev and many others.

At the end of October 1926 at the Theater. Vakhtangov, the premiere of the play “Zoyka’s Apartment” is held with great success.

In 1928, M. Bulgakov travels with his wife to the Caucasus, visiting Tiflis, Batum, Cape Verde, Vladikavkaz, Gudermes. This year the premiere of the play “Crimson Island” is taking place in Moscow. M. Bulgakov conceives the idea of ​​a novel, later called “The Master and Margarita.” The writer also begins work on a play about Moliere (“The Cabal of the Saint”).

In 1929, M. Bulgakov met Elena Sergeevna Shilovskaya, who became his third and last wife in 1932.

By 1930, M. Bulgakov's works ceased to be published, plays were withdrawn from the theater repertoire. The plays “Running”, “Zoyka’s Apartment”, “Crimson Island” have been banned from production; the play “Days of the Turbins” has been removed from the repertoire. In 1930, M. Bulgakov wrote to his brother Nikolai in Paris about the unfavorable literary and theatrical situation for himself and the difficult financial situation. Then he writes a letter to the USSR Government with a request to determine his fate - either to give him the right to emigrate, or to provide him with the opportunity to work at the Moscow Art Theater. M. Bulgakov receives a call from I. Stalin, who recommends that the playwright apply to enroll him in the Moscow Art Theater.

In 1930, M. Bulgakov worked as a director at the Central Theater of Working Youth (TRAM). From 1930 to 1936 - at the Moscow Art Theater as an assistant director. In 1932, the play “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Gogol, staged by M. Bulgakov, was staged on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater. The play “The Cabal of the Holy One” was released in 1936, after almost five years of rehearsals. After seven performances, the production was banned, and Pravda published a devastating article about this “false, reactionary and worthless” play.

In January 1932, I. Stalin (formally A. Enukidze) again allowed the production of “The Days of the Turbins”, and before the war it was no longer prohibited. True, this permission did not apply to any theater except the Moscow Art Theater.

In 1936, after an article in Pravda, M. Bulgakov left the Moscow Art Theater and began working at the Bolshoi Theater as a librettist and translator. In 1937, M. Bulgakov worked on the libretto of “Minin and Pozharsky” and “Peter I”.

In 1939, M. Bulgakov worked on the libretto “Rachel”, as well as on a play about I. Stalin (“Batum”). The play was approved by I. Stalin, but, contrary to the writer’s expectations, it was banned from publication and production. M. Bulgakov's health condition is deteriorating sharply. Doctors diagnose him with hypertensive nephrosclerosis. Bulgakov continues to use morphine, prescribed to him in 1924, to relieve pain symptoms. During the same period, the writer begins to dictate to his wife the latest versions of the novel “The Master and Margarita.”

Since February 1940, friends and relatives have been constantly on duty at M. Bulgakov’s bedside. On March 10, 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov died. On March 11, a civil memorial service took place in the building of the Union of Soviet Writers. Before the funeral service, Moscow sculptor S. D. Merkurov removes M. Bulgakov from the face death mask.

M. Bulgakov is buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. At his grave, at the request of his wife E. S. Bulgakova, a stone was installed, nicknamed “Golgotha,” which previously lay on the grave of N. V. Gogol.

Creation

M. Bulgakov, in his own words, wrote his first story in 1919.

1922-1923 - publication of “Notes on Cuffs”.

In 1924 - publication of the novel “ White Guard", about the tragic events of the struggle for power between various political forces in Ukraine in 1918.

A collection was published in 1925 satirical stories"Diaboliad" In 1925, the story “ Fatal eggs”, the story “Steel Throat” (the first in the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”). The writer is working on the story “Heart of a Dog”, the plays “Days of the Turbins” and “Zoyka’s Apartment”.

In 1926, the play “Days of the Turbins” was staged at the Moscow Art Theater.

In 1927, M. Bulgakov completed the drama “Running”.

From 1926 to 1929, M. Bulgakov’s play “Zoyka’s Apartment” was staged at the Evgeni Vakhtangov Theater-Studio; in 1928-1929, in the Moscow Chamber Theater The Crimson Island (1928) was staged.

In 1932, the production of “Days of the Turbins” was resumed at the Moscow Art Theater.

The first one was completed in 1934 full version the novel "The Master and Margarita", including 37 chapters.

Works of Mikhail Bulgakov

Stories and novels

• The Adventures of Chichikov (satirical story, 1922)
• White Guard (novel, 1922-1924)
• Diaboliada (story, 1923)
• Notes on cuffs (story, 1923)
• Crimson Island. Roman Comrade Jules Verne. Translated from French into Aesopian by Mikhail A. Bulgakov (novel, published in Berlin in 1924)
• Fatal eggs (story, 1924)
• Heart of a Dog (story, 1925, published in the USSR in 1987)
• Grand Chancellor. Prince of Darkness (part draft novel "The Master and Margarita", 1928-1929)
• The Engineer's Hoof (novel, 1928-1929)
• To a secret friend(unfinished story, 1929, published in the USSR in 1987)
• The Master and Margarita (novel, 1929-1940, published in the USSR in 1966)
• The Life of Monsieur de Molière (novel, 1933)
• Theatrical novel(Notes of a Dead Man) (unfinished novel, 1936-1937, published in the USSR in 1965)

Plays, librettos, film scripts

• Zoyka's Apartment (play, 1925, staged in the USSR in 1926, released in mass circulation in 1982)
• Days of the Turbins (play based on the novel “The White Guard”, 1925, staged in the USSR in 1925, released in mass circulation in 1955)
• Running (play, 1926-1928)
• Crimson Island (play, 1927, published in the USSR in 1968)
• Cabal of the Holy One (play, 1929, (staged in the USSR in 1936), in 1931 the censor was allowed to be staged with a number of cuts called “Molière”, but even in this form the production was postponed)
• Adam and Eve (play, 1931)
• Crazy Jourdain (play, 1932, published in the USSR in 1965)
• Bliss (the dream of engineer Rhine) (play, 1934, published in the USSR in 1966)
• The Inspector General (film script, 1934)
• Last days(Alexander Pushkin) (play, 1935 (published in the USSR in 1955)
• An Extraordinary Incident, or The Inspector General (play based on the comedy by Nikolai Gogol, 1935)
• Ivan Vasilievich (play, 1936)
• Minin and Pozharsky (opera libretto, 1936, published in the USSR in 1980)
• The Black Sea (opera libretto, 1936, published in the USSR in 1988)
• Rachel (opera libretto based on the story “Mademoiselle Fifi” by Guy de Maupassant, 1937-1939, published in the USSR in 1988)
• Batum (play about the youth of I.V. Stalin, original title “Shepherd”, 1939, published in the USSR in 1988)
• Don Quixote (opera libretto based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, 1939)

Stories

• No. 13. — House of Elpit-Rabkommun (short story, 1922)
• Arithmetic (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• On the night of the 3rd (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• At the Zimin Theater (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• How he went crazy (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• Kaenpe and Kape (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• The Red Crown (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• Raid. In the Magic Lantern (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• Extraordinary Adventures Doctors (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• November 7th day (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• Beware of fakes! (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• Birds in the Attic (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• Workers' Garden City (story from the collection "Notes and Miniatures", 1922)
• Soviet Inquisition (story from the collection “Notes and Miniatures”, 1922)
• Chinese history. 6 paintings instead of a story (story, 1923)
• Memories... (story dedicated to the death of Lenin, 1924)
• Khan's Fire (short story, 1924)
• Towel with a Rooster (story from the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”, 1925)
• Baptism by turning (a story from the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”, 1925)
• Steel Throat (story from the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”, 1925)
• Blizzard (story from the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”, 1925)
• Egyptian Darkness (story from the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”, 1925)
• The Missing Eye (story from the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”, 1925)
• Star Rash (story from the series “Notes of a Young Doctor”, 1925)
• Bohemia (short story, 1925)
• Holiday with syphilis ( humorous story, 1925)
• The Story of Diamonds (short story, 1926)
• I Killed (short story, 1926)
• Morphine (short story, 1926)
• Treatise on Dwelling (story from the collection “Treatise on Dwelling”, 1926)
• Psalm (story from the collection “Treatise on Dwelling”, 1926)
• Four portraits (story from the collection “Treatise on Dwelling”, 1926)
• Moonshine Lake (story from the collection “Treatise on Housing”, 1926)

Journalism and feuilletons

Journalism and feuilletons

Film adaptations of works

• Pilate and others (The Master and Margarita) (Germany, TV film, 1972, 90 min.) - dir. Andrzej Wajda
• The Master and Margarita (Yugoslavia - Italy, Feature Film, 1972, 95 min.) - dir. Alexander Petrovich
• The Master and Margarita (Poland, television series, 1989, 4 episodes ~370 min.) - dir. Maciek Wojtyszko
• Incident in Judea (The Master and Margarita) (UK, TV film, 1991) - dir. Paul Briers
• The Master and Margarita (Russia, feature film, 1994, 240 min./125 min.) - dir. Yuri Kara
• The Master and Margarita (Russia, TV play, 1996, 142 min.) - dir. Sergey Desnitsky
• The Master and Margarita (Hungary, short film, 2005, 26 min.) - dir. Iboya Fekete
• The Master and Margarita (Russia, television series, 2005, 10 episodes, ~500 min.) - dir. Vladimir Bortko
• The Master and Margarita, part one, chapter 1 (Israel, animated film, 2010, 33 min.) - dir. Terenty Oslyabya
• Heart of a Dog (Russia, feature film, 1988, 131 min.) - dir. Vladimir Bortko
• Cuore di cane (Heart of a Dog) (Italy, feature film, 1975) - dir. Alberto Lattuada
• Running (based on the works: Running, White Guard, Black Sea) (USSR, feature film, 1970, 196 min.) - dir. Alexander Alov, Vladimir Naumov
• Days of the Turbins (USSR, feature film, 1976, 223 min.) - dir. Vladimir Basov
• Ivan Vasilyevich changes his profession (Ivan Vasilyevich) (USSR, feature film, 1973, 87 min.) - dir. Leonid Gaidai
• Fatal Eggs (Russia, feature film, 1995, 117 min.) - dir. Sergey Lomkin
• Morphine (based on the works: Notes of a Young Doctor, Morphine) (Russia, feature film, 2008, 112 min.) - dir. Alexey Balabanov
• Notes of a Young Doctor (based on the works: Notes of a Young Doctor) (Russia, feature film, 1991, 65 min.) - dir. Mikhail Yakzhen
• Case history (based on the works: “The Red Crown”) (Russia, feature film, 1990, 40 min.) - dir. Alexey Prazdnikov

Theater productions based on the works of Mikhail Bulgakov

Museums

• State Museum M. A. Bulgakov in Moscow, “Bad Apartment.”
• Cultural Center“Bulgakov House” (Moscow, Bolshaya Sadovaya, no. 10)
• Turbin House, Literary and Memorial Museum named after. M. Bulgakov in Kyiv: Andreevsky Spusk, 13.
• One Street Museum (Museum of Andreevsky Descent) - part of the exhibition is dedicated to the life of Mikhail Bulgakov and his work.

Memory

120th anniversary

• On May 15, 2011, the 120th anniversary of the birth of M. Bulgakov was celebrated in Kyiv.
• On May 15 at 22:40 the feature film “Theatrical Romance” was shown on the “Culture” TV channel.
• In Moscow, three new exhibitions have been prepared in the apartment museum on Bolshaya Sadovaya:
• "New Arrivals";
• “In the desk drawer”;
• “Eight dreams. Run".
• In the park of the Bulgakov estate in Bucha, Kyiv region, a celebration of M. Bulgakov’s birthday took place. They unveiled a monument to the writer, laid out a garden and held an international theater festival.
• May 18, 2011 at major league The Cheerful and Resourceful Club played the 3rd quarter final of the season, the theme of which was “Bulgakov and his work.”

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov is one of the outstanding writers of the 20th century, whose pen includes works that have become literary. Many of the prose writer’s artistic works were not recognized during his lifetime and gained popularity only after his death. Bulgakov's books, the list of which is presented below, allowed the writer to perpetuate his name and become one of the most readable authors in Russia.

The Adventures of Chichikov

"The Adventures of Chichikov"─ Bulgakov’s satirical story, in which all Gogol’s heroes come to life and set off to travel around Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The main character of the work, Chichikov, gets into the car and heads to the hotel where he visited a century ago. The book tells about the fraudulent tricks of the main character already in modern Russia, which are still revealed. The work ends with the message: everything stated was just a dream.

Day of our lives

"Day of Our Lives"─ a small work by Mikhail Afanasyevich. The book conveys the scandalous atmosphere of apartment number 50 in building 10, located on Sadovaya Street. The writer lived there for some time with his wife T.N. Lapa. Later, Bulgakov would describe the same housing in his novel “The Master and Margarita,” which received a reputation as a bad apartment.

Fatal eggs

"Fatal Eggs" refer to fantastic works Bulgakov. The plot of the book centers on zoologist Persikov, whose experiments led to fatal mistake. A chicken pestilence has begun in the country, and in order to stabilize the situation, a zoologist is developing a special emitter that allows the embryo to develop much faster in the egg and be born. As an experiment, he is going to conduct an experiment also on the eggs of not only birds, but also crocodiles, ostriches, and snakes. By mistake, a large batch of eggs is sent not to Persikov, but to the state farm, where they begin to put the zoologist’s emitters into practice. A whole horde of reptiles are flooding the country and moving towards Moscow. The indignant people, who consider Persikov guilty of everything, break into his apartment and kill the experimenter.

Diaboliad

"Diaboliad"─ book by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov, touching on the topic “ little man”, who becomes a victim of the bureaucratic machine. The main character Korotkov associates her with devilish power. He is fired, after which the character goes crazy and is thrown off the roof of a multi-story building. For a long time literary work refused to publish, and the writer himself admitted that the story was a failure.

dog's heart

"Dog's heart"─ one of best books Bulgakov, filmed in 1988. The events in the story take place in the 20s of the last century. One of the main characters of the work, Professor Preobrazhensky, decides to conduct an experiment and transplant the pituitary gland of a deceased tramp to the dog Sharik. The dog is reborn into a man named Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov, who is very stupid, aggressive and loves to drink. From the owner of the pituitary gland new character only inherited worst traits. He manages to adapt well to society; in addition, he is given the position of chief for cleaning Moscow streets from stray animals. Preobrazhensky realizes that the experiment was a failure and decides to return Sharikov to his original guise.

Notes on cuffs

"Notes on Cuffs" refers to autobiographical works Mikhail Afanasyevich. The book never appeared in full during the writer's lifetime. Bulgakov describes his life in the Caucasus, as well as his first months in Moscow, in almost detail. The main problem of the book is difficult relationship between Bulgakov and the authorities. The story includes two parts and begins with a dialogue between the main character, suffering from typhus, and his friend. They talk about the need to create an arts department in the newspaper, which will subsequently head main character. Further events of the book tell about the fate of Bulgakov's prototype, his wanderings and commitment to his favorite work.

Moliere

"Molière" ─ historical novel, which is also a biography of the writer himself, written in artistic form. The book first appeared after Bulgakov's death. During his lifetime, publishing houses refused to publish the novel due to the lack of a “Marxist idea” in it. The author describes the life of the main character from birth. He writes that one of the great geniuses was born. So far, this is an unremarkable newborn, but in the future he will become the best comedian of his time.

Theatrical novel

"Theatrical Romance" refers to unfinished works Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov. The second title of the novel is “Notes of a Dead Man.” The book is written in the first person, who is the writer of a certain Sergei Leontievich Maksudov. Despite the tragedy of the second title, the work turned out to be very funny. Feature artistic work is that it was created without any sketches or drafts. The preface is written on behalf of a certain publisher who decided to fulfill the will of the late Maksudov and publish his novel. At the same time, the publisher warns that everything written is the fruit of the sick imagination of the deceased author.

White Guard

"White Guard" is rightfully included in the list of the best books written by Bulgakov. The novel describes the events of 1918 that took place in Ukraine during the Civil War. At the center of the work is a family of Russian intellectuals, as well as their close friends and relatives. The military events affected them as a social cataclysm. The book contains many biographical sketches. Thus, the main characters are prototypes of the writer’s friends and relatives. This is evidenced by the documentary accuracy of the events described by Bulgakov and characters. The novel clearly traces the process of destruction of the Russian intelligentsia. Initially, the author’s plans included writing a trilogy, but only one book out of three was published.

Master and Margarita

"Master and Margarita"─ one of the main creations outstanding writer 20th century. The book was not completed during Mikhail Afanasyevich’s lifetime. The editing of the left draft manuscripts was subsequently carried out by the wife of the deceased. The novel includes two storylines, one of which is connected with the Master, writing a novel about Pontius Pilate. The further the reader goes into the book, the less noticeable the line between these two parts of the great work becomes. Complete union of the two storylines happens in last chapters, when one of the disciples of Yeshua (Jesus) comes to Woland (the Devil). The book carries deep philosophical meaning, where there are no clear lines between Evil and Good, Truth and Falsehood.

Born into the family of a teacher at the Kyiv Theological Academy, Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov, and his wife Varvara Mikhailovna. He was the eldest child in the family and had six more brothers and sisters.

In 1901-1909 he studied at the First Kyiv Gymnasium, after graduating from which he entered the medical faculty of Kyiv University. He studied there for seven years and applied to serve as a doctor in the naval department, but was refused due to health reasons.

In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, he worked as a doctor in front-line hospitals in Kamenets-Podolsk and Chernivtsi, in the Kiev military hospital. In 1915 he married Tatyana Nikolaevna Lappa. On October 31, 1916, he received a diploma “as a doctor with honors.”

In 1917, he first used morphine to relieve the symptoms of diphtheria vaccination and became addicted to it. In the same year he visited Moscow and in 1918 returned to Kyiv, where he began private practice as a venereologist, having stopped using morphine.

In 1919, during the Civil War, Mikhail Bulgakov was mobilized as a military doctor, first into the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, then into the Red Army, then into the Armed Forces of Southern Russia, then transferred to the Red Cross. At this time he began working as a correspondent. On November 26, 1919, the feuilleton “Future Prospects” was first published in the newspaper “Grozny” with the signature of M.B. He fell ill with typhus in 1920 and remained in Vladikavkaz, without retreating to Georgia with the Volunteer Army.

In 1921, Mikhail Bulgakov moved to Moscow and entered the service of the Glavpolitprosvet under the People's Commissariat for Education, headed by N.K. Krupskaya, wife of V.I. Lenin. In 1921, after the disbandment of the department, he collaborated with the newspapers “Gudok”, “Worker” and the magazines “Red Journal for Everyone”, “Medical Worker”, “Russia” under the pseudonym Mikhail Bull and M.B., wrote and published in 1922 -1923 years “Notes on Cuffs”, participates in literary circles “ Green lamp", "Nikitinsky subbotniks".

In 1924 he divorced his wife and in 1925 married Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya. This year the story “Heart of a Dog”, the plays “Zoyka’s Apartment” and “Days of the Turbins” were written and published satirical stories"Diaboliad", the story "Fatal Eggs".

In 1926, the play “Days of the Turbins” was staged with great success at the Moscow Art Theater, permitted on the personal orders of I. Stalin, who visited it 14 times. At the theater. E. Vakhtangov premiered the play “Zoyka’s Apartment” with great success, which ran from 1926 to 1929. M. Bulgakov moves to Leningrad, there he meets with Anna Akhmatova and Yevgeny Zamyatin and is summoned several times for interrogation by the OGPU about his literary creativity. The Soviet press intensively criticizes the work of Mikhail Bulgakov - over 10 years, 298 abusive reviews and positive ones appeared.

In 1927, the play “Running” was written.

In 1929, Mikhail Bulgakov met Elena Sergeevna Shilovskaya, who became his third wife in 1932.

In 1929, the works of M. Bulgakov ceased to be published, the plays were banned from production. Then on March 28, 1930, he wrote a letter to the Soviet government asking either for the right to emigrate or for the opportunity to work at the Moscow Art Theater in Moscow. On April 18, 1930, I. Stalin called Bulgakov and recommended that he apply to the Moscow Art Theater with a request for enrollment.

1930-1936 Mikhail Bulgakov worked at the Moscow Art Theater as an assistant director. The events of those years were described in “Notes of a Dead Man” - “Theatrical Novel”. In 1932, I. Stalin personally allowed the production of “The Days of the Turbins” only at the Moscow Art Theater.

In 1934 Mikhail Bulgakov was accepted into Soviet Union writers and completed the first version of the novel “The Master and Margarita”.

In 1936, Pravda published a devastating article about the “false, reactionary and worthless” play “The Cabal of the Saints,” which had been rehearsed for five years at the Moscow Art Theater. Mikhail Bulgakov went to work at the Bolshoi Theater as a translator and libbretist.

In 1939 he wrote the play “Batum” about I. Stalin. During its production, a telegram arrived about the cancellation of the performance. And it began sharp deterioration health of Mikhail Bulgakov. Hypertensive nephrosclerosis was diagnosed, his vision began to deteriorate, and the writer began using morphine again. At this time, he was dictating to his wife the latest versions of the novel “The Master and Margarita.” The wife issues a power of attorney to manage all her husband’s affairs. The novel "The Master and Margarita" was published only in 1966 and brought world fame to the writer.

On March 10, 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov died, on March 11, the sculptor S.D. Merkulov removed the death mask from his face. M.A. Bulgakov was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, where, at the request of his wife, a stone from the grave of N.V. was installed on his grave. Gogol, nicknamed "Golgotha".

"Evening" invites you to remember the most famous works masters of literature of the 20th century.

"The White Guard" (novel, 1922-1924)

In his first novel, Bulgakov describes the events of the Civil War at the end of 1918. The action of the book takes place in Kyiv, in particular, in the house in which the writer’s family lived at that time. Almost all characters have prototypes - relatives, friends and acquaintances of the Bulgakovs. Despite the fact that the manuscripts of the novel have not survived, fans of the novel have traced the fate of many prototype characters and proved the almost documentary accuracy and reality of the events described by the author.

Part of the book was first published in the magazine "Russia" in 1925. The entire novel was published two years later in France. The opinions of critics were divided - the Soviet side criticized the writer’s glorification of class enemies, the emigrant side criticized loyalty to the authorities.

In 1923 Bulgakov wrote: “I dare to assure you, this will be a novel that will make the sky feel hot...”. The book served as the source for the play "Days of the Turbins" and several film adaptations.

“Diaboliada” (story, 1923)

In the “story of how the twins killed the clerk,” Bulgakov reveals the problem of the “little man” who became a victim of the Soviet bureaucratic machine, which in the imagination of the clerk Korotkov is associated with devilish power. Unable to cope with the demons of bureaucracy, a fired employee goes crazy. The story was first published in the almanac “Nedra” in 1924.

“Fatal Eggs” (story, 1924)

1928 The brilliant zoologist Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov discovers the amazing phenomenon of the stimulating effect of light from the red part of the spectrum on embryos - organisms begin to develop much faster and reach larger sizes than the “originals”. There is only one drawback - such individuals are distinguished by aggressiveness and the ability to reproduce rapidly.

After a chicken pestilence spreads across the country, one state farm, led by a man named Rokk, decides to use Persikov’s discovery to restore the chicken population. Rokk takes the irradiation chambers from the professor, however, as a result of a mistake, instead of chicken eggs, he gets crocodiles, ostrich and snake eggs. The hatched reptiles continually multiply - sweeping away everything in their path, they move towards Moscow.

The plot of the book echoes the novel written in 1904 H.G. Wells"Food of the Gods", in which scientists invent a powder that causes significant growth in animals and plants. Experiments lead to the appearance in England of giant rats and wasps attacking people, later they are joined by giant plants, chickens and giant people.

According to philologist Boris Sokolov, the prototypes of Professor Persikov could be the famous biologist Alexander Gurvich and the leader of the world proletariat Vladimir Lenin.

In 1995, director Sergei Lomkin made a film of the same name based on the story, in which he used characters from the novel "Master and Margarita"- the cat Behemoth (Roman Madyanov) and Woland himself (Mikhail Kozakov). Performed the role of Professor Persikov brilliantly Oleg Yankovsky.

“Heart of a Dog” (story, 1925)

1924 The outstanding surgeon Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky achieves fantastic results in the field of practical rejuvenation and conceives an unprecedented experiment - an operation to transplant a human pituitary gland into a dog. The professor uses the stray dog ​​Sharik as a test animal, and the thief Klim Chugunkin, who died in a fight, becomes the organ donor.

Gradually, Sharik's limbs stretch out, his hair falls out, speech and a human appearance appear. Soon Professor Preobrazhensky will have to bitterly regret what he did.

Many Bulgakov scholars are of the opinion that the writer depicted Stalin (Sharikov), Lenin (Preobrazhensky), Trotsky (Bormenthal) and Zinoviev (assistant Zina) in the book. In addition, it is believed that in this story Bulgakov predicted the mass repressions of the 1930s.

In 1926, during a search in Bulgakov’s apartment, manuscripts "Heart of a Dog" were confiscated and returned to the author only after the petition of Maxim Gorky.

In 1976, Italian director Alberto Lattuada made a film of the same name with Max von Sydow in the role of Professor Preobrazhensky, but it was not particularly popular. A completely different fate awaited.

"The Master and Margarita" (novel, 1929-1940)

Satire, farce, fantasy, mysticism, melodrama, parable, myth... sometimes it seems that this book combines all possible and impossible genres.

Satan, who introduced himself as Woland, wanders around the world with goals known only to him, stopping from time to time in different cities and villages. During the spring full moon, his journey takes him to Moscow in the 1930s - a place and time where no one believes in Satan or God, denying the existence of Jesus Christ in history.

Everyone who comes into contact with Woland is punished for their inherent sins: bribery, drunkenness, selfishness, greed, indifference, lies, rudeness, etc.

The master who wrote the novel about Pontius Pilate is in madhouse, where harsh criticism from his literary contemporaries led him. His mistress Margarita dreams of only one thing - to find the Master and bring him back. Azazello gives hope for the fulfillment of this dream, but to make it come true, Margarita must provide Woland with one service.

The first edition of the novel contained detailed description will accept a “stranger” (Woland) 15 handwritten pages long. In early editions of the novel, the character's name was Astaroth. In the 1930s, the title of “master” in Soviet journalism and newspapers was firmly assigned to Maxim Gorky.

According to the writer’s widow, Elena Sergeevna, last words Bulgakov about the novel “The Master and Margarita” before his death were: “So that they know... So that they know.”

The Master and Margarita was not published during the author's lifetime. It was first published only in 1966, 26 years after Bulgakov’s death, with banknotes, in an abbreviated magazine version. The novel gained noticeable popularity among the Soviet intelligentsia and, until its official publication (in 1973), was distributed in hand-typed copies. Elena Sergeevna managed to preserve the manuscript of the novel during all these years.

Performances based on the novel, staged by Valery Belyakovich, were extremely popular; films by Andrzej Wajda and Alexander Petrovich and television series by Yuri Kara and were also made.

“Theatrical novel” (“Notes of a Dead Man”) (1936-1937)

An unfinished novel, written on behalf of a certain writer Sergei Leontyevich Maksudov, talks about the theater behind the scenes and the world of writers.

Work on the book began on November 26, 1936. On the first page of the manuscript, Bulgakov indicated two titles: “Notes of a Dead Man” and “Theatrical Novel”, and the first was underlined twice by the author.

Most researchers consider the novel to be the most funny work Bulgakov. It was created with extraordinary ease: in one go, without drafts, outlines or any corrections. Elena Sergeevna recalled that while she, upon Mikhail Afanasyevich’s return in the evening from Bolshoi Theater, she served dinner, he sat down at his desk and wrote a few pages, after which he came out to her unusually pleased, rubbing his hands with pleasure.

“Ivan Vasilyevich” (play, 1936)

Engineer Nikolai Timofeev makes a time machine in an apartment in Moscow. When the house manager Bunsha comes to see him, the engineer turns the key in the machine, and the wall between the apartments disappears, revealing the thief Georges Miloslavsky sitting in the apartment of Shpak’s neighbor. Timofeev opens a portal to the times of Moscow in the 16th century. Frightened, Ivan the Terrible rushes into the present, and Bunsha and Miloslavsky find themselves in the past.

This story began in 1933, when Bulgakov agreed with a music hall to write a “fun play.” Her first text was called “Bliss” - in it the time machine went into the communist future, and Ivan the Terrible appeared only in an episode.