Bohemia is what? The meaning and history of the occurrence of the word.

What associations do you have with the word "bohemia"? Is it the image and style of life, the name of the opera, or is it possible to designate a particular group of people by this term? In order to better understand the meaning of this word, you need to plunge into history a little first ...

At first there was a "gypsy"

At first, as usual, there was a word, and the word was "gypsy". This is how the translation from the French word "boheme" sounds. And it all began with the fact that in Paris at the beginning of the XV century from the Austro-Hungarian town of Bohemia arrived unprecedented by the French, a free and happy tribe of gypsies. How have the Gypsies lived from time immemorial?

They were nomadic tribes of free people, not constrained by the usual for European residents strict framework of social principles and rules. At the then Parisians, the customs and customs of the new inhabitants made a great impression. In addition, the gypsies were endowed with the ability for various kinds of arts: they sang beautifully, danced, showed different tricks. In general, it was impossible to get bored with them.

The Parisians called the eccentrics the bohemians, by the name of the area where they came from, and since then this definition has settled firmly in the languages of different peoples, denoting people of a free, nomadic way of life. But after all, modern bohemians are not gypsies at all. What does this word mean now?

Composition by Henri Murger

And then it was like this: in 1851 in France came the literary work of Henri Murger, entitled "Scenes from the life of bohemia." And the actors in this book were by no means the gypsies, but the young and poor inhabitants of the Latin Quarter: artists, artists, poets.

This creative youth is just not organized in everyday life, like the Gypsy tribe, they occupy the opposite position of the well-fed and primitive life of the French bourgeois. On the one hand - they are part of the working people, but on the other - still can not be in constant disagreement with the society of the rich.

Subsequently, based on the work of Henri Murger Giacomo Puccini wrote the opera "La Bohème", which gained great popularity throughout the world. And later, the composer Imre Kalman, based on the plot "Scenes from the life of bohemia," published the operetta "The Violet of Montmartre". Henceforth, the meaning of the word "bohemia" has changed radically.

Modern interpretation of the word

But if we talk about the meaning of this word today, then bohemia is no longer a designation of only talented, but poor and unrecognized rebel artists. Today, this term is more often used when it comes to the most famous, rich and, at the same time, extraordinary representatives of various areas of contemporary art.

It is rather an elite elite of our society: famous fashion designers, singers, film actors, directors, playwrights, artists, writers and poets. Their bohemian way of life gives rise to a lot of gossip and serves as a constant feed for the most popular and scandalous publications of glossy magazines.

Russian bohemia

And now I would like to talk about the concept of "Russian bohemia." This expression refers to the representatives of the creative intelligentsia of the Russian Silver Age. Their desire for creative freedom became a harbinger of the advancing revolution. Here are some names of some of the most prominent representatives of Russian bohemia: Sergei Yesenin, Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Maximilian Voloshin, Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Valery Bryusov, Vera Khlebnikova, etc.

In the pre-revolutionary years, they were still very young people who were trying to create various creative unions. They looked for new forms of expression and firmly believed that the revolution would help create a new, free person. Subsequently, they all had to go through a great disappointment, as illusions were unrealizable.