How Samuel Marshak fell in love at first sight, burned with passion all his life and lost the most precious thing

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

According to Samuel Marshak himself, he began to write poetry even earlier than he even learned to write, and his passion for poetry was akin to an obsession. But there was another passion in his life that accompanied him ever since, when he met Sophia Milvidskaya on a steamer heading to the Holy Land. For 42 years they were together and, as the poet's friends said, Samuil Marshak took place largely thanks to Sofya Mikhailovna.

A journey towards happiness

He was only 15 years old, when the poetry of a young talent started talking in the literary circles of St. Petersburg. The famous critic Stasov took part in his fate, but he soon died, and Samuil Marshak had to make his own way in life. And he, in general, did not lose heart. Work in the "Universal Gazette" and "Blue Journal" allowed Marshak not only to provide himself with food, but also to travel.

In 1911, the 24-year-old correspondent, along with the poet Yakov Godin and a group of young people, went on a business trip to the Middle East. On the steamer, barely leaving the Odessa pier, young people gathered in the wardroom, where they recited poetry, played music, someone even sang.

When Samuil Marshak read his poem, thunderous applause was heard in the wardroom. And the young poet drew attention to the girl, who did not take her eyes off him. Met her eyes with the reciter, she decisively approached Marshak and inquired about the authorship of the verses she had just read.

When Yakov Godin tried to find out the name of the stranger, she promised to identify herself only in exchange for the name of the author of the poetry. It didn't take long to guess who it really is - Godin or Marshak - is the author of the poems. And no matter how Yakov Godin tried to win the sympathy of a beautiful girl, she did not succumb to his spell. Samuil Marshak's talent has already won her over.

The young people could not take their eyes off each other, and one of the passengers even proclaimed in Yiddish: "I see, this couple was created by God himself." Samuil Marshak and Sophia Milvidskaya stepped aside and soon communicated as if they had known each other all their lives.

During the trip, they almost never parted, and by the time they returned to St. Petersburg, they already knew for sure: their meeting is a gift of fate, which they simply have no right to lose. True, before the wedding, they had to put up with frequent separations. Sophia was then still studying at the Faculty of Chemistry at the women's courses, and Samuel very often went on business trips on the instructions of the editorial board. But letters saved the lovers, and Samuel Yakovlevich invariably said in them that his wife must certainly believe him. However, Sofya Mikhailovna never doubted him.

Through all the trials

Soon Samuel Marshak named Sophia Milvidskaya his wife, and then went with her to England for two years, where both were to study at the University of London. Marshak entered the Faculty of Arts, and his wife studied exact sciences. They were very different, the poet and his wife, and therefore very often argued loudly, proving something to each other. But their disputes concerned exclusively creativity, their family was never shaken by quarrels or everyday conflicts.

In 1915, the couple returned to Russia, but not alone, but with their daughter, who was named Nathanael. The parents were happy and couldn't get enough of their baby. True, the baby was only a year and a half when she knocked over the samovar. The burns were incompatible with life. The grief of Samuel Yakovlevich and his wife was immeasurable, but, as the poet wrote, most of all at that time they wanted not to withdraw into themselves, but to help disadvantaged children …

When a son was born in the family in 1917, both parents did not leave him with their attention for a second, but again they almost lost the child who contracted scarlet fever. Doctors averted their eyes and threw up their hands, and Samuil Yakovlevich and Sofya Mikhailovna only prayed … Fortunately, Immanuel was able to overcome the disease.

During the Civil War in Yekaterinodar, where the spouses ended up, they tried to help orphaned children: they organized a small children's center, where there was housing and a dining room, and in the theater they staged plays written by Marshak. Sofya Mikhailovna helped her husband in all his endeavors and, most importantly, always made sure that her husband had the desire and conditions to be creative in their house. She stoically endured any hardships, and after the birth of her second son, Yakov, she decided to devote herself to the family.

She did not consider her refusal to continue her favorite chemistry as a victim. It's just that the family and its well-being were in the first place for Sofia Mikhailovna. She understood the magnitude of her husband's talent and took responsibility for his fate. Samuel Yakovlevich did not need to take care of everyday life, his beloved Sofyushka protected her husband from any troubles and problems.

Only now she herself could not recover from the blow suffered after the death of her youngest son Yakov in 1946. He was only 20 years old, and the reason for such an early departure was tuberculosis. Marshak at that time was furiously engaged in translating Shakespeare's sonnets, escaping from grief in his work.

In 1953, Sofya Mikhailovna, the closest and dearest person to Samuil Yakovlevich, also passed away. He was by her side until the very end. The poet defended himself from despair and grief by hard work. Samuil Marshak survived his wife for 11 years.

When the Bolsheviks came to power, he destroyed all his previous works - poems dedicated to Jewish culture and the city of Jerusalem. He chose "a world open to immortality" - began to write children's poems and fairy tales, on which more than one generation grew up. Who does not know his Robin-Bobin-Barabek, Scattered from Basseinaya Street, a lady with luggage and a little dog, Vaksa-Klyaksa and the alphabet in verse?