Elsa Triolet: biography, creativity

Elsa Triolet is a novelist and interpreter, thanks to which the names of representatives of Soviet prose and poetry became known outside of Russia. At home, she is more known today as the younger sister of the music of Vladimir Mayakovsky. After leaving Soviet Russia in the early twenties, Triole dedicated her life to literary creation. It is thanks to her translations that the French readers have discovered works of Russian literature.

In Russia

Elsa Triolet was born in Russia. Her parents called her Ella, but she changed her name in exile. The writer inherited the name of Triolet from her first husband.

Father - Sergey Kagan - grew up in a Jewish family, was educated in the capital and became a famous lawyer. My mother was a pianist. Elsa, as well as her older sister knew several European languages and, of course, from early childhood played the piano. Like the red-haired Lily, immortalized by the great Soviet poet, Elsa was not deprived of male attention. She was courted by writer Viktor Shklovsky, poet-futurist Vasily Kamensky, linguist Roman Jakobson. The first husband was André-Pierre Triolet, who took her from Soviet Russia.

In Tahiti

On the island of Tahiti, the couple spent a little over a year. However, I did not have long to admire the exotic paradise. Early marriage did not last long either. Elsa Triolet went to Europe, where she filed a divorce. Memories of his stay on the island are devoted to the novel "Na Tahiti".

In Berlin

Before going to the German capital, Elsa Triolet spent some time in London, where she worked in an architectural studio. But the center of Russian emigration at the beginning of the 20th century was still Berlin, where the writer soon went. A considerable number of Russian-language books and newspapers were produced in this city. The first works belong to this period. In one of the Berlin publishers worked Elsa Triolet. The books written during the years in Berlin were still rather weak. Where the value of biographies is the book Shklovsky "ZOO", which is devoted to the Berlin period in the life of Triolet.

Triolet and Aragon

The Parisian years became more saturated. For several months she lived in a hotel in Montparnasse. And it was in the French capital that she met the writer Louis Aragon, Elza Triolet. Her biography is closely connected with this man. Beginning in Paris, the novel of Triolet and Aragon lasted forty-two years. About the personal life of the muse of Russian and French literature there were many rumors. According to one of them, the second husband of Triolet was an incorrigible ladies' man. On the other, he concealed his unconventional orientation, and marriage for him was a convenient cover.

In Paris

In the Paris years, Elsa revolved exclusively in creative circles. A full cultural life in the first years with Aragon were overshadowed by material difficulties. Before acquaintance with the French poet, Elsa was provided by the first husband. With a new marriage, the situation has changed. Aragon's fees were barely enough for a living.

Necklaces

In the new family, Elsa took the lead. French literature of the early XX century is characterized by the emergence of new trends, one of which is surrealism. The works created in this direction were far from the creativity of Triolet, which tended more towards realistic prose. It was not easy for Aragon to earn a living from a young family. And Elsa began to make a living by making jewelry. A difficult period of her life, not without irony, the writer described in the novel "Necklaces." This work is one of the few written in Russian. The inability to publish in the Soviet Union led to the fact that French literature was replenished with the author's books, for which the native language was always Russian.

The Goncourt Prize

In France, this award is the most prestigious in the field of literature. And the Goncourt Prize was awarded to Triolet for the novel "Avignon lovers". The work was printed for the first time during the war, in one of the clandestine printing houses. In it, Triolet reflected her experiences, which she experienced in the war years. Together with her husband, the writer was forced to hide, and for both, being in the underground was the only way to survive. He was a communist, she is a Russian emigre of Jewish origin. The book came out under a pseudonym. The prize was awarded to Triolet in 1944.

After the war

When the war ended, Triolet and Aragon began a completely different life. They became celebrities. Years of need were behind. Particularly revered this marriage in socialist countries. The communist views of both Aragon and Triolet aroused bewilderment even among those who treated with respect for their creativity. Even when the truth about the Stalinist repressions became known, they did not utter a word of remorse.

In France, in the behavior of Triolet, many saw, above all, fear for the parents and sister who remained in the Soviet Union. And there was already something resembling the frustration experienced by Elsa Triolet. Quotations from her confessions today clearly indicate the repentance that she experienced in her later years. A gun in the hands of Soviet rulers - so called herself once Triolet.

The last novel was published in 1970. He is called "The Nightingale is silent at dawn." This same year is the year of the death of a French writer of Russian origin. The funeral was attended by Sister Triolet, Lilya Brik. Organization of the funeral was entrusted to members of the French Communist Party. Later in France, a society of fans of Aragon and Triolet was organized. From the apartment where the couple spent the last years, a museum was made.

In his book dedicated to Elsa Triolet, Shklovsky often expressed the opinion that it is impossible to embrace the cultural worlds of the two countries. Apparently, he was wrong. Elsa Triolet is a writer who went down in the history of French literature, but was and remained Russian. Even in spite of the fact that for many years she did not write in her native language.