Sergei Yesenin and Galina Benislavskaya: two lives, two deaths

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

Among the huge number of fans of the national poet Sergei Yesenin was a woman who became for him a real guardian angel, support and support in the most difficult years of his life. Galina Benislavskaya was always in the shadows and at the same time was always there. She devoted herself entirely to Yesenin, and to him she also devoted her death.

Their acquaintance happened at a time when Yesenin was already famous - the author of nine collections, one of the representatives of the direction of the Imagists. Even then, everyone knew about Yesenin's frivolity and frivolity: he had two unsuccessful marriages behind him. It would seem that what can unite a charming and charismatic blonde and a quiet, serious, slightly phlegmatic half-Georgian woman?

Her huge green eyes alone were worth what! They carried in themselves both sadness, and severity, and perseverance - everything that contradicted Yesenin's rebellious nature. But opposites are known to attract.

Galina's first meeting and acquaintance with Sergei

The fatal meeting, which changed the lives of both, took place in the fall of 1920. On that day, Galina and her friend came to the Hall of the Great Conservatory for the "Trial of the Imagists", where there were representatives of different literary trends, including Yesenin. At first, indignant at his slovenly and cocky appearance, Galya ignored him. But then, hearing Yesenin's poems, the girl did not notice how, together with everyone, with admiration and adoration, she rushed to the stage, as close as possible to Yesenin, a boy with golden curls. Later, Galina would often meet Yesenin at poetry evenings in the cafe "Stall of Pegasus", which was headed by S. Yesenin and his friend A. Mariengof. Despite her strong feelings, outwardly she remained cold and skillfully hid them.

Only by the end of 1920 did they meet in person. And then all the friends noticed a change in Galina. Her eyes brightened, became emerald, she looked prettier and seemed to glow from within. How love transforms a woman! This time is characterized by the happiest moments in Galina's life. They spent a lot of time together, even after Yesenin met Isadora Duncan. Soon, everything changed. Yesenin's heart was captured American dancer Isadora, but he did not have the courage to part with Galya. His life was so impetuous: performances, poetry, friends, alcohol, women. She, charmed and in love, saw nothing around. What a shock it was for Galina when Yesenin left for America with Duncan without warning.

Shortly before his departure, the poet gave Galina a book "Pugachev" with an autograph: "To dear Galya, the culprit of some chapters S. Yesenin." This is gratitude for the minutes spent together, and goodbye. Galya never parted with this book. For a long time she could not recover from this betrayal, her diary entries of that time were full of despair and sorrow. Her nerves could not stand it and she leaves for treatment at a sanatorium in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo. After completing a course of treatment, Galina gets a job as an assistant secretary in the editorial office of the newspaper "Bednota". Sergei Pokrovsky, one of the editorial staff, at first sight falls in love with the green-eyed beauty. Galina reciprocates his courtship. But was it falling in love? No, she tried to forget Yesenin, but she failed.

Yesenin's return to his homeland

Yesenin returned to Russia in 1923. Anger, exhaustion, illness - all this undermined the spirit of the peasant poet. Few people recognized him then as a cheerful and mischievous guy. He had nowhere to live, Galina invited him to live with her. Feelings, which had not yet managed to weaken, flashed with renewed vigor. Yesenin found a family next to her. Even if Galina was not his official wife, Yesenin found his home only next to her. Did he appreciate it? Not at all. Drunkenness, scandals, persecution of the authorities, violent temper - everything haunted Yesenin. Nobody knew what happened in America and what changed Yesenin, and the poem "The Black Man", written in those years, has not yet been fully solved.

Despite all the hardships, Benislavskaya remained nearby. "She gave Yesenin all of herself, not demanding anything for herself and, to tell the truth, not getting it," Yesenin's friend Mariengof recalled. But at that moment, no one, not even Sergey, thought so warmly about Gal. For Sergei's friends, she became an implacable enemy, tk. many soldered Yesenin at his own expense, lived, drawing money and vitality from him. And Galya was relentless. How many night roads she traveled in search of Yesenin in taverns, how many curses were heard from him and from his friends, how many misfortunes were experienced! But she stayed true.

Last months

Yesenin's departure to the Caucasus, and after a hasty marriage to Sofya Andreevna Tolstoy became a new test for Galina. Wanting to forget Yesenin, she again responds to the courtship of a completely indifferent person to her - the son of Leon Trotsky. The relationship between Galina and Sergei was completely incomprehensible. From jealousy to complete indifference. In another fit of jealousy, Sergei writes to Galina: "Dear Galya, you are close to me as a friend, but I do not love you at all as a woman." This was the last and most cruel telegram.

Soon, Galina's nerves again fail, she is being treated in the Physio-Dietetic Sanatorium named after N. A. Semashko. A few days later, Yesenin also ends up in a psychiatric hospital. Having recovered, Galina goes on vacation to the relatives of Anya Nazarova, and Yesenin decides to start a new life in Leningrad. Before leaving, he asks Galina to meet. She refuses to come - how little did she endure? No one could predict the subsequent terrible events.

Poets death

What happened to Yesenin in Leningrad at the Angleterre Hotel is still unknown to anyone. Was it a brutal murder? Or is the great poet tired of life and decided to settle scores with it? This was the last blow for Galina Benislavskaya. After his death, she completely abandoned the world. Within a year, I put Yesenin's papers in order in the archive, wrote her memoirs about him, and on the same cold December day, when the love of her life was buried, she shot herself at his grave. The last words in her suicide note were: "In this grave, everything is dearest to me."

And further…

And in continuation of the theme rare photographs of the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.