Igor Severyanin (; pen name, real name Igor Vasilyevich Lotaryov: И́горь Васи́льевич Лотарёв; May 16, 1887 – December 20, 1941) was a Russian poet who presided over the circle of the so-called Ego-Futurists. Igor was born in St. Petersburg in the family of an army engineer. Through his mother, he was remotely related to Nikolai Karamzin and Afanasy Fet. In 1904 he left for

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with his father but later returned to St. Petersburg to publish first poems at his own expense. It was not until 1913 that, in the words of D.S. Mirsky, "the moment came when vulgarity claimed a place on Parnassus and issued its declaration of rights in the verse of Igor Severyanin". That year, Severyanin (his pen name means "Northerner" in Russian) brought out a collection entitled ''The Cup of Thunder'' (''Громокипящий кубок''), with a preface written by

Fyodor Sologub Fyodor Sologub (, born Fyodor Kuzmich Teternikov, , also known as Theodor Sologub; – 5 December 1927) was a Russian Symbolist poet, novelist, translator, playwright and essayist. He was the first writer to introduce the morbid, pessimistic e ...

. In one of his most celebrated poems, Lotaryov introduced himself to the readers with the following words: "I am Igor Severyanin, a genius!" He soon gained a cult following, especially in the provinces of Imperial Russia. The poet "captured the popular imagination and reached stardom with his slick pomaded hair parted in the middle; his melancholy, darkly circled eyes; his impeccable tails; and an ever-present lily in his hands".Anna Lawton, Herbert Eagle. ''Words in Revolution: Russian Futurist Manifestoes 1912–1928''. New Academia Publishing, 2005. . Page 22. Severyanin's poems treated such extraordinary themes as "ice cream of lilacs" and "pineapples in champagne", intending to overwhelm the bourgeois audience with a riot of colors and glamour associated by them with high society. In his verse, Severyanin admired

dirigible An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat ( lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding ...

s and

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

s, everything that could convey to his followers the notion of modernity. He would often shock the public by professing his admiration for

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

or scandalize his emulators with cynical statements and megalomania. During one party, they declared Severyanin "the king of poets", although some respected critics professed their distaste for his work. After the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Severyanin was one of the first poets to leave Russia. Having settled in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

in 1918, he tried to return to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

afterwards, but could not for various reasons (namely, the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, his marriage to a local woman (Felissa Kruut), unreceptive literary climate in Soviet Russia, etc.). After the Soviet occupation of Estonia, 1940 Severyanin continued literary activities, and later died of a heart attack in the German occupied Tallinn in 1941. He was buried in Alexander Nevsky cemetery, Tallinn.

References

External links

English translations of 4 early poems

English translations of 3 poems by Babette Deutsch and Avrahm Yarmolinsky, 1921

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Severyanin, Igor 1887 births 1941 deaths Writers from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Russian male poets Futurist writers Russian emigrants to Estonia Russians in Estonia 20th-century Russian poets 20th-century Russian male writers