Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - Yakutskiy

Exhibition from the funds of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) dedicated to the birthday of writer Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - Yakutskiy

Photos of Peter Chernykh Photos of Peter ChernykhNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - Yakutskiy, one of the first major talented writers of Yakutia, expressed the aspirations of his soul in Russian. Yakut and Russian cultures are uniquely intertwined in his work, creating an amazing world that holds the mystery of two languages, two poetic traditions.

From the archive material of Petr Chernykh (1927) by Unknown authorNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A kind of poetic attitude, philosophical reflections, ideas about "eternal values" come from the inexhaustible inner wealth and the author’s original national mentality. Poet called "a singer of Yakutia", whose love for his native land became the vocation of the heart and the destiny of all life. The moral strength of the Yakut people served the poet as a solid foundation, creative beginning and inspiration.

From the archive material of Petr Chernykh (1900/1930) by Unknown authorNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Literary critics rightfully define the creative quest of Petr Chernykh as fundamental tendencies in the development of Yakut poetry. They appreciate the poet’s serious contribution to the culture of the Yakut people

Native Yakutia (1910/1930) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Indeed, most of the author’s works (published and unpublished manuscripts) are devoted to the joys and sufferings, happiness and tragedies of his native land. In the poem «Родная Якутия» (“Native Yakutia”), the poet shows a whole panorama of historical events: the protest of “Romanovtsy”, the revolution of 1905, the Lenskiy shooting of 1912. The author draws pictures of Yakut reality of pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods with a sense of real anxiety for the further fate of the motherland. The author pathetically expresses his faith in change, in a better future.

Evening (1920/1930) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

In his memoirs, Petr Chernykh sincerely emphasized that his becoming as a poet and writer, despite the fact that he created his works in Russian, originated in the cradle of folk, epic, native culture, customs and way of life.
He expressed his heartwarming attitude towards the motherland in recognition: “Here is the cradle of my childhood, the cradle fanned by the violent winds of the north, the cradle swinging under the measuring recitative of the storyteller-olonkhosut, native Yakut bayan (singer, storyteller)”.

Newspaper "Yakut Territory" (1907) by Private editionNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

The work of Petr Chernykh was greatly influenced by Russian classical literature and the Yakut folk epic. There are many facts confirming the fact that the poet was a great connoisseur and admirer of the Yakut folklore.
While still a boy, Petr Chernykh traveled with his mother to his relatives and there with delight sank into the fascinating stories of the national narrator. Apparently, therefore, the source of his first major work, "The sounds of the weather" and was Yakut olonkho - an inexhaustible source of folk wisdom. He debuted on August 30, 1907 under the pseudonym Yury Fioletov in the “Yakutskiy krai” newspaper.

Excerpt from unpublished article (1930/1940) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Petr Chernykh always ardently called for knowledge of the masterpieces of folk art. And in his journalistic works he incessantly spoke of their great value and importance. In 1930, in an unpublished article "About the Yakut folklore," he wrote: "If some Europeans think that our Yakut poetry (poetry culturally backward people) pale, has no imagination and devoid of poetic images, they are sorely mistaken ".

Red shaman (1927/1930) by P. A. Oiunsky (author), A.F. Boyarov (translation), P. Chernykh - Yakutskiy (translation)National Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Petr Chernykh impeccably mastered the Yakut language. He owns translations from Yakut into Russian works that require the most subtle knowledge of the original language.

Red shaman (1928) by P. A. Oiunsky (author), A.F. Boyarov (translation), P. Chernykh - Yakutskiy (translation)National Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Translation of the poem “The Red Shaman” was highly appreciated by its author Platon Oyunskiy: "I am very satisfied with the translation. Such a translation was possible only because two such persons (A. Boyarov and P.Cherny) took it, for whom mythology and folk art are well known, who know the Yakut language and language of Yakut poetry as well as the author."

Letter of P. A. Oiunsky (1926) by Platon Alekseevich OiunskyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A letter from Platon Oyunskiy, addressed to Petr Chernykh - Yakutskiy.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin (1931) by Unknown authorNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

There is evidence that Petr Chernykh was familiar with many writers of the twentieth century. Perhaps with Mikhail Prishvinin, he was tied up with questions of human existence, reflections on the meaning of life, religion, the relationship between a man and a woman, and the connection between man and nature.

Copy of the letter to Maxim Gorky Copy of the letter to Maxim GorkyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

A great event in the life of Petr Chernykh was a conversation with Maxim Gorky. In August 1928, Maxim Gorky received the poet in Moscow, and between them there was a lengthy conversation on the Yakut literature. Maxim Gorky was interested in the character, content and form of Yakut literature. At the same time, he noted that there is little prose in Yakut literature: stories, narratives and novels, and considering this a disadvantage, he pointed out the need to create Yakut prose.

Copy of the letter to Maxim Gorky (1928) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Maxim Gorky agreed with Petr Chernykh on the translation of works of Yakut authors into Russian for the magazine “Soviet country” (later called “Our achievements”) and asked to involve writers and poets of Yakutia in the almanac.

Terrible medicine (1928/1930) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

In the same years, Petr Chernykh wrote a very interesting story “Terrible drug” from the life of the Yakut poor man, proving himself a gifted prose writer. At this time, the poem by Petr Chernykh "The Continuous" took the second place in the contest of the Moscow newspaper Proletary for the best poem.

In the taiga In the taigaNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Judging by handwritten materials, the story “In the Taiga” was supposed to cover a large historical period - from 1905 until the end of the Civil War, but the last part of the work remained unfinished. The author immerses readers in the complex, in a sense, exotic world of the yakutian ulus, displays the historical influence of exiles on the Yakut ideological consciousness. The style of narration is distinguished by rhythm, expressiveness, musicality of landscapes, and high pathetics.

Rustles of Sergelyahsky forest. Dreamer diary (1913) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Among the many unpublished handwritten materials of Petr Chernykh, stored in the funds of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), there is a notebook with diary entries, the name of which immediately creates a romantic aura “The rustles of the Sergelyakh forest. Diary of a Dreamer ".

Svetlana (1925) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Lyro-epic genre was especially close to Petr Chernykh. His wonderful poems testify to this. The large-scale form of the poem made it possible to fully demonstrate the contradictory nature of time, the tragic and life-affirming essence of the era. Lyrical poem "Svetlana" stands out for its stunning sonority, encouraging people to love the whole world, to sing the freshness of the spring awakening.

Snowdrop SnowdropNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

I am a white snowdrop, I am the first flower
I bloomed alone in the field ...
Someone breathed holy hope into my heart
That the flower will not die young on top
And, tearing silvery snow clothes,
He will ascend to the burning sun in azure.
And leads madly to happiness
In this haze, in this gloom
Beats with a burning wave
Blood boils in the heart ...
Light up the earth
Life, and happiness, and love.

Work table Peter Chernykh (1920/1930) by Chernykh Petr Nikodimovich - YakutskiyNational Library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

The image of the poet himself is similar to the first flower of spring, the national firstborn, who grew up in the country of cold snow and spiteful winds. The difficult fate of the people reflected in his personal fate. The path of the poet was hard and thorny. And it seems that sometimes the pure heart of the poet broke in an overwhelming struggle and in the darkness stretched towards the divine light.

Credits: Story

Maksimova Sargylana,
candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Director of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Alexey Ivanov,
author and curator of the project «Culture of Yakutia in the world space» (inclusion of regional cultural of institutions of Yakutia into the project Google Cultural Institute), initiator of support for the Yakut language and languages of indigenous peoples in machine translators, research fellow of the National Library of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Neustroeva Valentina,
librarian of Science and Research Center of Book Memorials, National library of Republic Sakha (Yakutia)

Burtseva Zhanna Valerievna,
candidate of Philology, Institute for Humanities Research of the Indigenous People of the North, Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Senior Scientific Researcher

Exhibition of 2019

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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