Milenko V. D.

The Unknown Pages of B. K. Pronin’s Mansard in Moscow P. 127-137.

UDC 7.036(470-25)«19»

DOI: 10.37724/RSU.2022.74.1.012

Abstract. The article investigates the phenomenon of literary and artistic cafes of the Silver Age, which proposed new forms of communication between the author and the recipient and played an important role in the westernization of the literary process. The article focuses on B. K. Pronin (1875–1946), the founder of the Stray Dog and the Comedians’ Halt, artistic cabarets in St. Petersburg. B. K. Pronin’s literary-club activities are investigated in the works of A. E. Parnis and R. D. Timenchik, S. S. Schultz junior and V. A. Sklyarsky, L. I. Tikhvinskaya and others. The Wandering Enthusiast and the Mansard, clubs founded by B. K. Pronin in Moscow, are underinvestigated. The author focuses on the history of the Mansard club at 32 Bolshaya Molchanovka, which was B. K. Pronin’s last undertaking. The analysis of scarce documentary sources and memoirs dedicated to the artistic cabaret enables the author to argue that the artistic cabaret hosted poetry nights and were frequented by M. A. Bulgakov, S. A. Yesenin, B. M. Zubakin, V. V. Kamensky, V. G. Lidin and others, while the Stray Dog was frequented by “servants of the muses” and “pharmacists”. The aim of the article is to analyze previously uninvestigated memoirs about the Mansard written by E. L. Galperina, wife of a famous Satirikon illustrator A.A. Radakov (1877–1942). The latter’s name is associated with the Stray Dog and the Comedians’ Halt as well. The newly discovered data are interesting both for those who investigate life in the bohemian society of St. Petersburg in Russia’s Silver Age and life in the bohemian society of Moscow in the 1920s. The article commemorates the 110^th anniversary of the Stray Dog.

Keywords: Alexey Radakov, Boris Pronin, the Stray Dog, New Satyricon, the Mansard, the Comedians’ Halt, manuscript, Satуricon, the Silver Age, the Wandering Enthusiast.

References:

1. Andreevskij G. V. Povsednevnaja zhiznʼ Moskvy v Stalinskuju jepohu (1920–1940-e gody) [Everyday Life in Moscow during the Stalin Era (1920–1940)]. Moscow, Young Guards Publ., 2003, 463 p. Available at : https://detectivebook.net/book/27000410?page=63 (accessed 30.10.2020). (In Russian).

2. Ardov V. E. Jetjudy k portretam [Sketches and Portraits]. Moscow, Soviet Writer Publ., 1983, 360 p. Available at : https://litresp.ru/chitat/ru/A/ardov-viktor-efimovich/etyudi-k-portretam (accessed 30.10.2020). (In Russian).

3. Galʼperina E. L. Alexey Rudakovʼs Rebellious Life. Otdel rukopisej Rossijskoj gosudarstvennoj biblioteki [The Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library]. F. 615, Cardboard 1, 14 units, chapter V–VIII, Sheets 1–312 ; Cardboard 2, 1 unit, sheets 1–262. (In Russian).

4. Klokova L., Susina Ju. “Otsu udalos ubejat” [“Father Managed to Flee”]. Available at: https://rusmir.media/2021/03/05/pronina (accessed 30.10.2020). (In Russian).

5. Konechnyj A. M., Morderer V. Ja., Parnis A. E., Timenchik R. D. the Comediansʼ Halt Artistic Cabaret. Pamjatniki kulʼtury: Novye otkrytija. Pisʼmennostʼ. Iskusstvo. Arheologija [Cultural Monuments: New Discoveries. Writing. Art. Archaeology]. Moscow, 1989, pp. 96–154. (In Russian).

6. Molohov A. V. Problemy rekonstrukcii arhivnyh fondov pisatelej-jemigrantov: na primere fonda A. T. Averchenko [Problems Associated with the Reconstruction of Emigrant Writersʼ Archives: at the example of A. T. Averchenko]. Moscow, 1999, 413 p. (In Russian).

7. Obrazcov S. V. Akter s kukloj [An Actor and a Puppet]. Moscow, Leningrad, Art Publ., 1938, 171 p. (In Russian).

8. Pronin B. K. Boris Pasternakʼs Memoirs Told by Himself. Istorija Peterburga [History of St. Petersburg]. 2006, no. 3 (31), pp. 74–80. (In Russian).

9. Putevoditelʼ po fondu “Rukopisi i dokumenty” Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo muzeja teatralʼnogo i muzykalʼnogo iskusstva [A Guide of the Manuscripts and Documents Fund of St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatrical and Musical Art]. Available at: https://theatremuseum.ru/Putevoditel_fond_layout.compressed.pdf (accessed 30.10.2020). (In Russian).

10. A Transcript of A. A. Radakovʼs Memoirs about V. V. Mayakovsky. Gosudarstvennyj muzej V. V. Majakovskogo [State Museum of V. V. Mayakovsky]. 29 p. (In Russian).

11. The Wandering Enthusiast. Zrelishha [Circuses]. 1922, no. 18, p. 9. (In Russian).

12. Timenchik R. D., Parnis A. E. The Stray Dog. Pamjatniki kulʼtury: novye otkrytija [Monuments of Culture: New Discoveries]. Leningrad, 1985, pp. 160–257. (In Russian).

13. Timenchik R. D. Chto vdrug: statʼi o russkoj literature proshlogo veka [What Happened: Articls about Russian Literature of the Previous Century]. Jerusalem, Moscow, Bridges of Culture Publ., 2008, 684 p. Available at : https://iknigi.net/avtor-roman-timenchik/77737-chto-vdrug-roman-timenchik/read/page-12.html https://e-libra.ru/read/390005-chto-vdrug.html (accessed 30.10.2020). (In Russian).

14. Tihvinskaja L. I. Povsednevnaja zhiznʼ teatralʼnoj bogemy Serebrjanogo veka: kabare i teatry miniatjur v Rossii 1908–1917 [Everyday Life of the Bohemian Society of the Silver Age: Cabarets and Miniature Theatres in Russia in 1908–1917]. Moscow, Young Guards Publ., 2005, 527 p. (In Russian).

15. Ustinov A. B. Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and Russian Cabaret Culture: Boris Pronin’s Enterprises. Letnjaja shkola po russkoj literature [Summer Courses in Russian Literature]. 2020, vol. 16, no. 3–4, pp. 331–383. (In Russian).

16. Fomin D. V. The Ups and Downs of the Jackdaw Journal. Bibliotekovedenie [Library Science]. 2012, no. 4, pp. 59–67. (In Russian).

17. Cheremnyh N. A. Foreword. Radakov A. Karikatury. Izdanie “Krokodila” [A. Radakovʼs Caricatures. The Crocodile Magazine]. Moscow, Truth Publ., 1968, pp. 1–2. (In Russian).

18. Chudakova M. O. Zhizneopisanie Mihaila Bulgakova [Michael Bulgakovʼs Biography]. Moscow, Book Publ., 1988, 492 p. Available at : http://booksonline.com.ua/view.php?book=94606&page=89 (accessed 30.10.2020). (In Russian).

19. Shulʼc-ml. S. S., Skljarskij V. A. Brodjachaja sobaka: vek nyneshnij — vek minuvshij [The Stray Dog: the Present Century and the Past Century]. St. Petersburg, White and Black Publ., 2003, 206 p. (In Russian).