The last days of Mayakovsky's life. Mysteries of history Death of Mayakovsky

85 years ago, on April 17, 1930, the body of the famous poet Vladimir Mayakovsky was cremated in Moscow.

On April 14, 1930, in his apartment, in house No. 3 on Lubyansky Proezd, the poet committed suicide, leaving a suicide note:

"EVERYONE
Don’t blame anyone for the fact that I’m dying and please don’t gossip. The deceased did not like this terribly.
Mom, sisters and comrades, forgive me - this is not the way (I don’t recommend it to others), but I have no choice.
Lilya - love me.
Comrade government, my family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya. –
If you give them a tolerable life, thank you.
Give the poems you started to the Briks, they will figure it out.
As they say - “the incident is ruined”, the love boat crashed into everyday life
I am at peace with life and there is no need for a list of mutual pains, troubles and insults.
Happy stay
VLADIMIR MAYAKOVSKY.

12/4-30 years.

“Comrades Vappovtsy, do not consider me cowardly, seriously - nothing can be done. Hello.
Tell YERMILOV that it’s a pity he removed the slogan, we should have a fight.
V.M.
I have 2000 rubles in my table. contribute to the tax. You will get the rest from GIZ
V.M."

On April 15, 16, 17, 150,000 people passed by Mayakovsky’s coffin through the hall of the writers’ club. The photographs taken by Ilya Ilf on April 17 during the funeral have been preserved. On one of them are Valentin Kataev, Joseph Utkin, a very gloomy Mikhail Bulgakov, and a lost Yuri Olesha.

Yuri Olesha tells V. Meyerhold in a letter dated April 30, 1930: “The funeral made a tremendous impression: the entire Povarskaya from Kudrinskaya to Arbat was packed with people, there were people standing on the fences and on the roofs. About 60 thousand, if not more, followed the coffin. They shot into the air at the crematorium to make it possible to carry the coffin through the gate. There was a crush, there were trams waiting - if he had known that they loved and knew him so much, he would not have shot himself...”

Ilf and Petrov in their sketches for the novel “The Great Combinator” (1930) have a note: “Ostap at Mayakovsky’s funeral. The chief of police, apologizing for the chaos:

I had no experience in funerals of poets. When another one like him dies, then I will know how to bury him.

And the only thing the police chief didn’t know was that such a poet comes along once in a century.”

Vladimir Mayakovsky, one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, was among the first Russian people whose bodies were cremated. The procedure took place at the Donskoy Crematorium in Moscow, and later the ashes were transferred to the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Excerpts from newspapers:

“On April 17, at 6:30 a.m., the furnace of the Moscow crematorium will incinerate the body of the poet Mayakovsky with the heat of its thousands of degrees. It will burn the one in whose brain great and hot thoughts were nurtured and born. Perhaps as hot as the flame of the cremation furnace.” . (newspaper "Trud")

"The 942nd day of operation of the crematorium.
April 17, 1930.
Last name, first name, patronymic: Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.
Age: 36 years old.
Time: 7 hours 35 minutes."
(crematorium registration book)

Description of an eyewitness to the farewell:
"...Mayakovsky's funeral took place on the third day after his death... The coffin with the body was lifted onto a truck lined with iron sheets. No flowers, at the coffin there was a single iron wreath of hammers, flywheels and screws with the laconic inscription "An iron wreath to the Iron Poet "...

The commission for organizing Mayakovsky's funeral determined that the poet's body would be cremated in the #crematorium of the Donskoy Monastery, which opened about three years ago and its use was still a novelty in Moscow, a kind of “avant-garde”, which corresponded to the image of the deceased...

An armored truck sails through a crowd of thousands of Muscovites who came to see the poet off. last way. Mounted policemen are trying to restore order to this grand funeral procession, unforeseen and unorganized by anyone. Here is the crematorium of the Donskoy Monastery, from the chimney of which black smoke is pouring..."

“Lilya Yuryevna and Osip Maksimovich walked the whole way with a young acquaintance, Varshavskaya-Krasnoshchekova, who later recalled: “...There were trams on the Arbat, pouring new people, and we found ourselves torn away from the car with the coffin. So, with difficulty keeping at the head of the procession, we reached the crematorium. The gates were closed because the crowd had broken into the yard and there could have been a stampede, but we managed to somehow get into the yard. There was mounted police at the entrance to the crematorium. We sat down on a bench. And then Lilechka said that we would sit here until it was all over. Suddenly a mounted policeman shouts: “Brick! Where is Brick? They demand Brick!” - it turns out that the poet’s mother Alexandra Alekseevna did not want to say goodbye to her son and allow cremation without Lily Yuryevna. ...Osya and Lilya went to the crematorium..."

The last minutes of farewell... The Internationale sounds... The coffin with the poet's body is lowered into the heat of an all-consuming flame. The doors close. It's all over... A few days after the cremation, the Briks, having telephoned the Mayakovskys, went with them to the crematorium of the Donskoy Monastery. There, with them, the urn with Mayakovsky’s ashes was placed on a special raised platform in the columbarium. Here she was to remain for 22 years... Despite the fact that the urn with Mayakovsky’s ashes occupied a place of honor in the columbarium, over time it became clear that such a primitive “burial” of the famous poet did not correspond to his social status and this should be corrected somehow position.

And only on May 22, 1952, the urn with the ashes of Vladimir Mayakovsky was transferred from the columbarium of the crematorium of the Donskoy Monastery to the Novodevichy cemetery.

In Ladimir, Mayakovsky did not immediately start writing poetry - at first he was going to become an artist and even studied painting. The poet's fame came to him after meeting avant-garde artists, when David Burliuk greeted the young author's first works with delight. Futurist group, “Today's Lubok”, “Left Front of the Arts”, advertising “Windows of GROWTH” - Vladimir Mayakovsky worked in many creative associations. He also wrote for newspapers, published a magazine, made films, created plays and staged performances based on them.

Vladimir Mayakovsky with his sister Lyudmila. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky with his family. Photo: vladimir-mayakovsky.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky in childhood. Photo: rewizor.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky was born in Georgia in 1893. His father served as a forester in the village of Baghdadi, and later the family moved to Kutaisi. Here the future poet studied at the gymnasium and took drawing lessons: the only Kutaisi artist, Sergei Krasnukha, taught him for free. When the wave is first Russian revolution reached Georgia, Mayakovsky, while still a child, participated in rallies for the first time. His sister Lyudmila Mayakovskaya recalled: “The revolutionary struggle of the masses also influenced Volodya and Olya. The Caucasus experienced the revolution especially acutely. There everyone was involved in the struggle, and everyone was divided into those who participated in the revolution, those who definitely sympathized with it and those who were hostile.”.

In 1906, when Vladimir Mayakovsky was 13 years old, his father died from blood poisoning: he injured his finger with a needle while stitching papers. Until the end of his life, the poet was afraid of bacteria: he always carried soap with him, took a collapsible basin with him when traveling, carried cologne with him for rubbing and carefully monitored hygiene.

After the death of the father, the family found itself in a difficult situation. Mayakovsky recalled: “After my father’s funeral, we have 3 rubles. Instinctively, feverishly, we sold out of tables and chairs. We moved to Moscow. For what? There weren’t even any acquaintances”. In a Moscow gymnasium, the young poet wrote his first “incredibly revolutionary and equally ugly” poem and published it in an illegal school magazine. In 1909–1910, Mayakovsky was arrested several times: he joined the Bolshevik Party and worked in an underground printing house. At first, the young revolutionary was given “on bail” to his mother, and for the third time he was sent to prison. Mayakovsky later called confinement in solitary confinement “11 Butyrka months.” He wrote poetry, but the notebook with lyrical experiments - “stilted and tearful,” as the author assessed them - was taken away by the guards.

In conclusion, Mayakovsky read many books. He dreamed of a new art, a new aesthetics that would be radically different from the classical one. Mayakovsky decided to study painting - he changed several teachers and a year later he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here the young artist met David Burliuk, and later Velimir Khlebnikov and Alexei Kruchenykh. Mayakovsky again wrote poetry, which his new comrades were delighted with. Avant-garde authors decided to unite against the “old aesthetics,” and soon a manifesto of a new creative group appeared - “A Slap in the Face of Public Taste.”

David has the anger of a master who has surpassed his contemporaries, I have the pathos of a socialist who knows the inevitability of the collapse of old things. Russian futurism was born.

Vladimir Mayakovsky, excerpt from autobiography “I Myself”

Futurists spoke at meetings - read poems and lectures on new poetry. Behind public performance Vladimir Mayakovsky was expelled from the school. In 1913–1914, a famous futurist tour took place: the creative group toured Russian cities with performances.

Burliuk traveled and promoted futurism. But he loved Mayakovsky, stood at the cradle of his poetry, knew his biography to the smallest detail, knew how to read his things - and therefore, through David Davidovich’s butads, Mayakovsky’s appearance appeared so material that one wanted to touch him with his hands.
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Upon arrival in the city, Burliuk first organized an exhibition of futuristic paintings and manuscripts, and in the evening gave a report.

Futurist poet Pyotr Neznamov

Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Rodchenko and Dmitry Shostakovich at the rehearsal of the play “The Bedbug”. 1929. Photo: subscribe.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik in the film “Chained by Film.” 1918. Photo: geometria.by

Vladimir Mayakovsky (third from left) and Vsevolod Meyerhold (second from left) at the rehearsal of the play “Bathhouse”. 1930. Photo: bse.sci-lib.com

Vladimir Mayakovsky was interested not only in poetry and painting. In 1913, he made his debut in the theater: he himself wrote the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky”, staged it on stage and played the main role. In the same year, the poet became interested in cinema - he began writing scripts, and a year later he starred for the first time in the film “Drama in the Futurist Cabaret No. 13” (the picture has not survived). During the First World War, Vladimir Mayakovsky was a member of the avant-garde association “Today's Lubok”. Its participants - Kazimir Malevich, David Burliuk, Ilya Mashkov and others - painted patriotic postcards for the front, inspired by traditional popular print. Simple colorful pictures were created for them and short poems were written in which they ridiculed the enemy.

In 1915, Mayakovsky met Osip and Lilya Brik. The poet later noted this event in his autobiography with the subtitle “the most joyful date.” Lilya Brik on long years became Mayakovsky's lover and muse, he dedicated poems and poems to her, and even after breaking up he continued to declare his love. In 1918, they starred together in the film Chained by Film - both in leading roles.

In November of the same year, the premiere of Mayakovsky’s play “Mystery Bouffe” took place. It was staged at the Musical Drama Theater by Vsevolod Meyerhold, and designed in the best traditions of the avant-garde by Kazimir Malevich. Meyerhold recalled working with the poet: “Mayakovsky was knowledgeable in very subtle theatrical, technological things that we, directors, know, which we usually study for a very long time in different schools, practically in the theater, etc. Mayakovsky always guessed every right and wrong stage decision, precisely as a director.”. The “revolutionary folk performance,” as translator Rita Wright called it, was staged several more times.

A year later, the intense era of “GROWTH Windows” began: artists and poets collected hot topics and produced propaganda posters - they are often called the first Soviet social advertising. The work was intense: both Mayakovsky and his colleagues more than once had to stay late or work at night in order to release the batch on time.

In 1922, Vladimir Mayakovsky headed the literary group “Left Front of the Arts” (later the “left” in the name was replaced by “revolutionary”), and soon the magazine of the creative association of the same name. Its pages published prose and poetry, photographs by avant-garde photographers, bold architectural projects and news of “leftist” art.

In 1925, the poet finally broke up with Lilya Brik. He went on tour to France, then went to Spain, Cuba and the USA. There Mayakovsky met translator Ellie Jones, and a short but stormy romance broke out between them. In the fall, the poet returned to the USSR, and in America he soon had a daughter, Helen-Patricia. After returning from the USA, Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote the cycle “Poems about America” and worked on scripts for Soviet films.

Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: goteatr.com

Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik. Photo: mayakovskij.ru

Vladimir Mayakovsky. Photo: piter.my

In 1928–1929, Mayakovsky wrote the satirical plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. Both premieres took place at the Meyerhold Theater. The poet was the second director, he oversaw the design of the performance and worked with the actors: he read fragments of the play, creating the necessary intonations and placing semantic accents.

Vladimir Vladimirovich was very interested in all kinds of work. He threw himself into his work. Before the premiere of “Bath” he was completely exhausted. He spent all his time in the theater. He wrote poems and inscriptions for the auditorium for the production of “Bath”. I supervised their hanging myself. Then he joked that he was hired at the Meyerhold Theater not only as an author and director (he worked a lot with the actors on the text), but also as a painter and carpenter, since he himself painted and nailed down something. As a very rare author, he was so passionate and passionate about the performance that he participated in the smallest details of the production, which, of course, was not at all part of his authorial functions.

Actress Veronica Polonskaya

Both plays caused a stir. Some viewers and critics saw the works as a satire on bureaucracy, while others saw them as criticism of the Soviet system. “Bathhouse” was staged only a few times, and then it was banned until 1953.

The loyal attitude of the authorities towards the “main Soviet poet” gave way to coolness. In 1930, he was not allowed to travel abroad for the first time. Official criticism began to fiercely attack the poet. He was reproached for satire in relation to phenomena that were supposedly defeated, for example, the same bureaucracy, and bureaucratic delays. Mayakovsky decided to hold an exhibition “20 years of work” and present the results of his many years of work. He himself selected newspaper articles and drawings, arranged books, and hung posters on the walls. The poet was helped by Lilya Brik, his new beloved actress Veronica Polonskaya and an employee of the State Literary Museum Artemy Bromberg.

On the opening day, the guest hall was packed. However, as Bromberg recalled, no representatives of literary organizations came to the opening. And there were no official congratulations to the poet on his twentieth anniversary of work either.

I will never forget how, in the House of Press, at Vladimir Vladimirovich’s exhibition “Twenty Years of Work,” which for some reason was almost boycotted by the “big” writers, we, several people from Smena, literally stood around the stands for days, physically suffering because of how sad and stern face walked through the empty halls of the big, A tall man, with his hands behind his back, he walked back and forth, as if expecting someone very dear and becoming more and more convinced that this dear person would not come.

Poet Olga Berggolts

The lack of recognition was aggravated by personal drama. Vladimir Mayakovsky, in love with Polonskaya, demanded that she leave her husband, leave the theater and live with him in new apartment. As the actress recalled, the poet would create scenes, then calm down, then again begin to be jealous and demand an immediate solution. One of these explanations became fatal. After Polonskaya left, Mayakovsky committed suicide. In his suicide letter, he asked “comrade government” not to leave his family: “My family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya. If you give them a tolerable life, thank you.”.

After Mayakovsky's death, the entire archive of the poet went to Brik. Lilya Brik tried to preserve the memory of his work, wanted to create a memorial room, but constantly ran into bureaucratic obstacles. The poet was almost never published. Then Brik wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin. In his resolution, Stalin called Mayakovsky “the best and most talented poet Soviet era" The resolution was published in Pravda, Mayakovsky’s works began to be published in huge editions, and streets and squares were named after him Soviet Union.

Vulgarity, without challenging it in life, challenged it in death. But living, excited Moscow, alien to petty literary disputes, stood in line at his coffin, without anyone organizing this line, spontaneously, by itself recognizing the unusualness of this life and this death. And lively, excited Moscow filled the streets on the way to the crematorium. And living, excited Moscow did not believe his death. He still doesn’t believe it.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893-1930) is considered an outstanding Soviet poet. In addition to poetry, he also studied drama, writing film scripts, and tried himself as a film director and actor. Took Active participation in the work of the creative association "LEF". That is, we see a bright creative personality, incredibly popular in the 20s of the last century. The whole country knew the name of the poet. Some people liked his poems, others not so much. Indeed, they were somewhat specific and found recognition among supporters of just such a unique expression of their inner world.

But our conversation will not be about the poet’s work. It still raises many questions to this day. Mayakovsky's unexpected death on April 14, 1930. Vladimir Vladimirovich died at the age of 36. This is that very happy period of life when you look with equal irony at those who are older and at those who are younger than you. There are still many, many years of life ahead, but for some reason the fateful path of the creator was cut short, leaving in the souls of people a feeling of confusion mixed with bewilderment.

Naturally, there was a consequence. It was carried out by the OGPU. The official conclusion was suicide. We can agree with this, since creative people are inherently very unpredictable. They see the world somewhat different from other people. There is always some kind of tossing, doubt, disappointment and a constant search for something that is always elusive. In a word, it is very difficult to understand what they want to get from this life. And then, at the peak of disappointment, the cold barrel of a pistol is brought to your temple or heart. A shot, and all problems are solved by themselves in the simplest and most proven way.

However, Vladimir Vladimirovich’s suicide left a lot of questions and ambiguities. They clearly indicate that there was no suicide, but murder. Moreover, it was carried out by official government bodies, which were initially supposed to protect citizens from rash and dangerous actions. So where is the truth? In this case, it is not in guilt, but in facts that clearly indicate not just a criminal, but a political crime. But to understand the essence of the issue, you need to know the details. Therefore, we will first take a closer look at the Brik family, with whom our hero had a long, close relationship.

Bricks

Lilya Yuryevna Brik (1891-1978) - a famous Soviet writer and her husband Osip Maksimovich Brik (1888-1945) - literary critic and literary scholar. This couple met the young talented poet in July 1915. After this, Mayakovsky's life began new stage, which lasted 15 years until his death.

Vladimir and Lilya fell in love with each other. But Osip Maksimovich did not interfere with this feeling. The trio began to live together, which caused a lot of gossip in literary circles. What was there and how it happened is unimportant for this narrative. It is much more important to know that Brikov and Mayakovsky were connected not only by spiritual, but also by material relations. Under Soviet rule, the poet was not a poor man at all. It is quite natural that he shared part of his income with the Briks.

Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik

It can be assumed that this is precisely why Lilya tried with all her might to tie Vladimir to her. Since 1926, the trio lived in a Moscow apartment, which the poet received. This is Gendrikov Lane (now Mayakovsky Lane). It is located in the very center of Moscow near Taganskaya Square. The Briks did not have the opportunity to get at that time separate apartment. The huge city lived in communal apartments, and only outstanding individuals who brought significant benefits to the existing regime had their own living space.

Since 1922, Mayakovsky's works began to be published in major publications. The fees were so large that the trio began to spend a lot of time abroad, staying in expensive hotels. Therefore, it was not in the interests of the Briks to break off relations with the gifted and naive poet, who was a good cash cow.

Matters of the heart of Vladimir Mayakovsky

Being completely dependent on Lily Brik, our hero from time to time entered into intimate relationships with other women. In 1925 he went to America and started there love story with Ellie Jones. She was an emigrant from Russia, so language barrier didn't bother them. From this connection, on June 15, 1926, a girl was born, named Helen (Elena). She is still alive today. He is a philosopher and writer and maintains close ties with Russia.

In 1928, Mayakovsky met Tatyana Yakovleva in Paris. Along the way, Vladimir bought Lily Brik a French car. He chose him together with Yakovleva. For Moscow at that time this was an unimaginable luxury. The poet wanted to start a family with his new Parisian passion, but she did not express a desire to go to Bolshevik Russia.

However, Vladimir did not lose hope of uniting himself with the bonds of Hymen with Tatyana and finally saying goodbye to the Briks. This, naturally, was not part of Lily's plans. In April 1929, she introduced the poet to the young and beautiful actress Veronica Polonskaya, who had been married to actor Mikhail Yanshin for 4 years.

Our hero became seriously interested in a girl who was 15 years younger than him. Very opportunely, news came from Paris that Yakovleva was supposedly marrying a well-born Frenchman. Therefore, Vladimir quickly forgot his foreign passion and focused all his attention on Veronica. It was this girl who became the main witness to the tragedy, because Mayakovsky’s death happened almost before her eyes.

Chronology of tragic events

Possible cause of death

If we assume that Vladimir Vladimirovich was killed, then why was this done, who did he interfere with? In 1918, the poet inextricably linked his fate with the Bolshevik Party. He was a tribune preaching the ideas of world revolution. That is why it enjoyed such great success among various publishers. He was paid huge fees, provided with separate housing, but in return they demanded devotion and loyalty.

However, by the end of the 20s, notes of disappointment with the existing regime began to creep into the poet’s works. There were still years of collectivization ahead, terrible famine, repression, and Vladimir Vladimirovich already felt in his soul the mortal danger looming over the country. It became increasingly difficult for him to praise existing reality. I had to step over my understanding of the world and moral principles more and more often.

A wave of jubilation was gaining strength in the country. Everyone admired or pretended to admire the achievements of the socialist system, and Mayakovsky began to satirically denounce all “rubbish.” This sounded discordant with the enthusiastic chorus of sycophants and opportunists. The authorities very quickly felt that the poet had become different. He has changed, and in a direction dangerous for the regime. The first signs were criticism of his plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. Then the portrait disappeared from a literary magazine, and persecution began in the press.

Along with this, the Chekists began to patronize the poet. They began to visit regularly as good friends, because Lilya Brik loved to receive guests. But it’s one thing when literary friends come, and another when an OGPU employee comes into the apartment for a friendly visit. We must also not forget that Osip Maksimovich Brik was an employee of the Cheka in 1919-1921. But there are no former security officers.

All this guardianship was carried out in order to check the poet’s trustworthiness. The results turned out to be disastrous for Vladimir Vladimirovich. The decision was made to remove it. It couldn’t have been any other way, because the reforged tribune could cause great ideological harm to the communist regime.

The last day of the poet's life

Mayakovsky's death, as already mentioned, occurred on April 14, 1930. The Briks were not in Moscow: they went abroad back in February. The poet decided to take advantage of their absence to finally break off the protracted relationship leading to nowhere. He wanted to create a normal family and for this he chose Veronica Polonskaya. In early April, he makes a cash contribution to a housing cooperative in order to purchase an apartment for himself, and leave the existing living space to the voluptuous and selfish couple.

On Monday, April 14, the poet comes to Polonskaya at 8 o’clock in the morning and takes her to his place. Here a conversation takes place between them. Vladimir demands that Veronica leave her husband and go to him right now. The woman says that she cannot leave Yanshin just like that. She does not refuse Mayakovsky, assures him that she loves him, but she needs time. After this, Polonskaya leaves the apartment, since she has a rehearsal at the theater at 10:30. She goes out into the front door and then hears the sound of a revolver shot. Veronica runs back into the room literally a moment after leaving and sees Vladimir lying on the floor with his arms outstretched.

Soon an investigative team arrived, but not from the police, but from counterintelligence. It was headed by the head of the secret department of the OGPU, Yakov Saulovich Agranov (1893-1938). His appearance can be explained by the fact that he supervised the creative intelligentsia. The scene of the incident was examined, the poet's body was photographed. A suicide letter from Vladimir Vladimirovich, dated April 12, was found. Agranov read it aloud and put it in his jacket pocket.

Towards evening, sculptor Konstantin Lutsky appeared. He made a plaster mask from the face of the deceased. At first they didn’t want to do an autopsy, since it was already clear that the poet died from a shot in the heart. But rumors spread that Mayakovsky had syphilis, which was the cause of the tragedy. Pathologists had to open the body, but no serious abnormalities were found in the organs. The newspapers wrote that the poet died of a transient illness. Friends signed the obituary, and that was the end of the matter.

Murder or suicide?

So how should the death of Mayakovsky be characterized? Was it murder or suicide? To shed light on this issue, let's start, as expected, with a suicide note. Here is its text:

“Everyone... Don’t blame anyone for the fact that I’m dying and don’t gossip. The dead man didn’t like it terribly. Mom, sister, comrades, forgive me, but I have no other choice. Lilya, love me.

Comrade government, my family is Lilya Brik, mother, sister and Veronica Polonskaya. I would be grateful if you make a bearable life for them. Give the poems you started to the Briks, they will figure it out. As they say, the incident is over, the love boat crashed into everyday life. I am at peace with life, and there is no need for a list of mutual pains, troubles and insults. Happy stay."

Here is a will, written according to the date, April 12. And the fatal shot sounded on April 14. At the same time, a love explanation with Veronica also took place, although the poet knew that he was about to die. But despite this, he insisted that his beloved leave her husband immediately. Is there any logic to this?

It is also interesting that Vladimir Vladimirovich wrote his last letter in pencil. He had the money to buy a cooperative apartment, but he couldn’t even find change for a pen. However, the deceased had his own very good pen with a luxurious gold nib. He never gave it to anyone, but wrote only to her. But at the most crucial moment of my life I picked up a pencil. By the way, it is much easier for them to fake handwriting than with a pen.

At one time, Sergei Eisenstein said in a narrow circle of friends that if you carefully read the style of the letter, you can say that it was not written by Mayakovsky. So who then brought this creation into the world? Perhaps there was an employee in the OGPU apparatus who took on such unusual responsibilities?

The archive contains criminal case number 02-29. This is precisely the case of the suicide of V.V. Mayakovsky. It was led by investigator I. Syrtsov. So, the examination report does not mention the suicide letter, as if it never existed. There is also no examination of the shirt that the poet was wearing at the time of death. But she could tell the investigation a lot.

But most importantly, it is absolutely unclear from the case where Polonskaya was when the fatal shot was fired. Either she was standing near the poet, or she had already left the room. As Veronica herself later claimed, she went out to the front door and only there did she hear the sound of a shot. However, judging by the papers, her behavior can be interpreted in different ways. The woman ran down the stairs, and a shot rang out, or she ran out of the room screaming, and it was at that moment that the poet shot himself. So maybe she saw the pistol in Vladimir’s hand, got scared and tried to hide? It seems that the investigator did not need a clear and precise answer at all.

The criminal case was closed on April 19. At the same time, it remains a mystery whether a gun was found near the body or not. How was the body lying? Head towards the door or head deep into the room. If someone else entered the room and fired, then Vladimir Vladimirovich should have fallen backwards, that is, with his head deep into the room. But nothing definite can be said here. Thus, we can conclude that the investigative actions were carried out extremely carelessly. They were a pure formality. All the work was done not for the sake of establishing the truth, but for the sake of showing off that such work had been done.

So the conclusion suggests itself. The poet was killed by OGPU officers, but they presented the case as suicide. It was safely placed in the archive and gathered dust on the shelves until the 90s of the 20th century. And who will you ask in 60 years? Moreover, Yagoda’s people, including Agranov, were shot in 1937-38. So retribution was accomplished in any case.

Who benefited after Mayakovsky's death?

The death of Mayakovsky turned out to be beneficial for Lily Brik. There is no talk about Osip Maksimovich, since he family life with his loving wife ended in divorce. But Lilya soviet government recognized as the legal heir of the deceased poet. She received his co-op apartment and cash savings.

But the most important thing is the archives, which, in fact, were the people's property. However, this is not all. Since 1935, the so-called “widow” of Mayakovsky began to receive interest from the poet’s works sold. And they were printed in millions of copies, since Vladimir Vladimirovich was posthumously recognized as the best and most talented poet of the Soviet era.

As for Polonskaya, the wife got nothing without two minutes. However, no. She received gossip, talking behind her back, malicious grins. The final point in this epic was the divorce from my husband. Well, what can you do? This is how this world works. Some people find them, some people lose them. But let's be optimistic. Folk wisdom says: “What doesn’t happen is always for the better.”

This happened on April 14, 1930 in Moscow, in Lubyansky Proezd. IN work room A shot was fired from Vladimir Mayakovsky. The debate over whether the poet died voluntarily or was killed has not subsided to this day.
One of its participants, professor of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, Alexander Vasilyevich Maslov, talks about the masterly investigation of the experts.

Versions and facts

On April 14, 1930, Krasnaya Gazeta reported: “Today at 10:17 a.m. in his work room, Vladimir Mayakovsky committed suicide with a revolver shot to the heart area. Arrived " ambulance“I found him already dead. IN last days V.V. Mayakovsky did not reveal any mental discord and nothing foreshadowed a catastrophe.”
In the afternoon the body was transported to the poet’s apartment on Gendrikov Lane. The death mask was removed by sculptor K. Lutsky, and poorly - he tore off the face of the deceased. Employees of the Brain Institute extracted Mayakovsky's brain, which weighed 1,700. On the very first day, pathologist Professor Talalay performed an autopsy at the prezector clinic of the Faculty of Medicine of Moscow State University, and on the night of April 17, a re-autopsy took place: due to rumors that the poet allegedly had a venereal disease, which were not confirmed. Then the body was cremated.

As with Yesenin, Mayakovsky’s suicide caused different reactions and many versions. One of the “targets” was the 22-year-old Moscow Art Theater actress Veronica Polonskaya. It is known that Mayakovsky asked her to become his wife. She was the last person to see the poet alive. However, the testimony of the actress, apartment neighbors and investigative data indicate that the shot rang out immediately after Polonskaya left Mayakovsky’s room. That means she couldn't shoot.

The version that Mayakovsky, not in a figurative, but in a literal sense, “lay down with his head on the gun”, put a bullet in his head, does not stand up to criticism. The poet’s brain has been preserved to this day and, as the staff of the Brain Institute rightly reported in those days, “by external examination, the brain does not present any significant deviations from the norm.”
Several years ago, in the program “Before and After Midnight,” the famous television journalist Vladimir Molchanov suggested that the post-mortem photograph on Mayakovsky’s chest clearly shows traces of TWO shots.

This dubious hypothesis was dispelled by another journalist, V. Skoryatin, who conducted a thorough investigation. There was only one shot, but he also believes he was shot. Specifically, the head of the secret department of the OGPU, Agranov, with whom, by the way, the poet was friends: hiding in the back room and waiting for Polonskaya to leave, Agranov enters the office, kills the poet, leaves a suicide letter and again goes out into the street by the back door. And then he goes up to the scene as a security officer. The version is interesting and almost fits into the laws of that time. However, without knowing it, the journalist unexpectedly helped the experts. Mentioning the shirt the poet was wearing at the time of the shot, he writes: “I examined it. And even with the help of a magnifying glass I did not find any traces of a powder burn. There is nothing on her except a brown blood stain.” So the shirt was preserved!

Poet's shirt

Indeed, in the mid-50s, L.Yu. Brik, who had the poet’s shirt, gave it to State Museum V.V. Mayakovsky - the relic was kept in a box and was wrapped in paper impregnated with a special composition. On the left side of the front of the shirt there is a through wound, with dried blood visible around it. Surprisingly, this “material evidence” was not examined either in 1930 or later. And how much controversy there was around the photographs!
Having received permission to conduct the research, I, without revealing the essence of the matter, showed the shirt to a major specialist in forensic ballistics, E.G. Safronsky, who immediately made a “diagnosis”: “Entry bullet damage, most likely a point-blank shot.”

Having learned that the shot was fired more than 60 years ago, Safronsky noted that such examinations were not carried out in the USSR at that time. An agreement was reached: specialists from the Federal Center for Forensic Expertise, where the shirt was transferred, would not know that it belonged to the poet - for the purity of the experiment.

So, a beige-pink shirt made of cotton fabric is subject to research. There are 4 mother-of-pearl buttons on the front placket. The back of the shirt from the collar to the bottom is cut with scissors, as evidenced by the ledge-shaped edges of the cut and the straight ends of the threads. But it is not enough to assert that this particular shirt, bought by the poet in Paris, was on him at the time of the shot. In photographs of Mayakovsky’s body taken at the scene of the incident, the fabric pattern, texture, shape and location of the blood stain and gunshot wound are clearly visible. When the museum shirt was photographed from the same angle, magnification and photo alignment was carried out, all the details coincided.

Experts from the Federal Center had a difficult job to do - to find traces of a shot on the shirt that was more than 60 years old and to establish its distance. And in forensic medicine and criminology there are three of them: a point-blank shot, at close range and at long range. Linear cross-shaped damage characteristic of a point-blank shot was discovered (they arise from the action of gases reflected from the body at the moment the tissue is destroyed by the projectile), as well as traces of gunpowder, soot and scorching both in the damage itself and in adjacent areas of the tissue.

But it was necessary to identify a number of stable signs, for which the diffusion-contact method was used, which does not destroy the shirt. It is known: when a shot is fired, a hot cloud flies out along with the bullet, then the bullet gets ahead of it and flies away further. If they shot from a long distance, the cloud did not reach the object; if from a close distance, the gas-powder suspension should have settled on the shirt. It was necessary to investigate the complex of metals that make up the bullet shell of the proposed cartridge.

The resulting impressions showed an insignificant amount of lead in the damaged area, and practically no copper was detected. But thanks to the diffuse-contact method of determining antimony (one of the components of the capsule composition), it was possible to establish a large zone of this substance with a diameter of about 10 mm around the damage with a topography characteristic of a shot at the side. Moreover, the sectoral deposition of antimony indicated that the muzzle was pressed against the shirt at an angle. And intense metallization on the left side is a sign of a shot being fired from right to left, almost in a horizontal plane, with a slight downward inclination.

From the “Conclusion” of the experts:

"1. The damage on V.V. Mayakovsky’s shirt is an entrance gunshot wound, formed when fired from a “side rest” distance in the direction from front to back and slightly from right to left, almost in a horizontal plane.

2. Judging by the characteristics of the damage, a short-barreled weapon (for example, a pistol) was used and a low-power cartridge was used.

3. Small sizes a blood-soaked area located around the entrance gunshot wound indicates its formation as a result of a one-time release of blood from the wound, and the absence of vertical blood streaks indicates that immediately after receiving the wound V.V. Mayakovsky was in a horizontal position, lying on his back.

4. The shape and small size of the blood stains located below the injury, and the peculiarity of their arrangement along an arc, indicate that they arose as a result of the fall of small drops of blood from a small height onto the shirt in the process of moving downwards right hand splattered with blood, or from a weapon in the same hand.”

Is it possible to fake suicide so carefully? Yes, in expert practice there are cases of staging one, two, or less often five signs. But it is impossible to falsify the entire complex of signs. It was established that the drops of blood were not traces of bleeding from a wound: they fell from a small height from a hand or weapon. Even if we assume that the security officer Agranov (and he really knew his job) was a murderer and caused drops of blood after being shot, say, from a pipette, although according to the reconstructed timing of events he simply did not have time for this, it was necessary to achieve a complete coincidence of the localization of the drops blood and the location of traces of antimony. But the reaction to antimony was discovered only in 1987. It was the comparison of the location of antimony and drops of blood that became the pinnacle of this research.

Autograph of death

The specialists of the laboratory of forensic handwriting examinations also had to work, because many, even very sensitive people, doubted the authenticity of the poet’s suicide letter, written in pencil with almost no punctuation marks:

“Everyone. Don’t blame anyone for the fact that I’m dying and please don’t gossip. The deceased did not like this terribly. Mom, sisters and comrades, I’m sorry this is not the way (I don’t recommend it to others), but I have no choice. Lilya - love me. My family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya...
The love boat\has crashed into everyday life.\I'm even with life\And there's no point in listing\Mutual troubles\And grievances. Stay happy.\ Vladimir\ Mayakovsky. 12.IV.30"

From the “Conclusion” of the experts:

“The presented letter on behalf of Mayakovsky was written by Mayakovsky himself in unusual conditions, the most likely cause of which is a psychophysiological state caused by excitement.”
There was no doubt about the date - exactly April 12, two days before death - “immediately before the suicide, the signs of unusualness would have been more pronounced.” So the secret of the decision to die lies not in the 14th day of April, but in the 12th.

"Your word, Comrade Mauser"

Relatively recently, the case “On the Suicide of V.V. Mayakovsky” was transferred from the Presidential Archive to the Museum of the Poet, along with the fatal Browning, bullet and cartridge case. But the protocol for examining the scene of the incident, signed by the investigator and the medical expert, states that he shot himself with a “Mauser revolver, caliber 7.65, No. 312045.” According to his identification, the poet had two pistols - a Browning and a Bayard. And although “Krasnaya Gazeta” wrote about a shot from a revolver, eyewitness V.A. Katanyan mentions a Mauser, and N. Denisovsky, years later, a Browning, it is still difficult to imagine that a professional investigator could confuse a Browning with a Mauser.

Employees of the V.V. Mayakovsky Museum appealed to the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise with a request to conduct a study of the Browning pistol No. 268979 transferred to them from the Presidential Archives, bullets and cartridges and establish whether the poet shot himself with this weapon?

Chemical analysis of the deposits in the Browning barrel led to the conclusion that “the weapon was not fired after the last cleaning.” But the bullet once removed from Mayakovsky’s body “is indeed part of a 7.65 mm Browning cartridge of the 1900 model.” So what's the deal? The examination showed: “The caliber of the bullet, the number of marks, the width, angle of inclination and right-hand direction of the marks indicate that the bullet was fired from a Mauser pistol model 1914.”
The results of the experimental shooting finally confirmed that “the 7.65 mm Browning cartridge bullet was fired not from Browning pistol No. 268979, but from a 7.65 mm Mauser.”

Still, it’s a Mauser. Who changed the weapon? In 1944, an NKGB officer, “talking” with the disgraced writer M.M. Zoshchenko, asked whether he considered the cause of Mayakovsky’s death clear, to which the writer responded with dignity: “It continues to remain mysterious. It is curious that the revolver with which Mayakovsky shot himself was given to him by the famous security officer Agranov.”
Could it be that Agranov himself, to whom all the investigation materials flocked, switched weapons, adding Mayakovsky’s Browning to the case? For what? Many people knew about the “gift,” and besides, the Mauser was not registered with Mayakovsky, which could have come back to haunt Agranov himself (by the way, he was later shot, but for what?). However, this is a matter of guesswork. Let’s better respect the poet’s last request: “...please don’t gossip. The dead man didn’t like it terribly.”

With the deaths of great Russian poets, not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. There is still a lot of controversy regarding the death of Yesenin, while there are theories that claim that Pushkin’s duel was ordered by those in power and Dantes only carried out their will. To Pushkin and Yesenin we can also add Vladimir Mayakovsky. There are several facts that cast doubt on the fact that the mouthpiece of the “dictatorship of the proletariat” committed suicide.

Reconstruction of events

As in the story of Sergei Yesenin’s suicide, it would seem that everything led to the voluntary departure of Vladimir Mayakovsky from life. And 1930 was an extremely unfortunate year for the poet in many ways. And a year earlier, he was denied a visa to France, where he was going to get engaged to Tatyana Yakovleva. Later he received news of her imminent marriage. His exhibition “20 Years of Work,” in which he sums up his twenty years of creativity, was a complete failure. This event was ignored by important government officials and prominent cultural figures of the time, and Mayakovsky hoped that they would honor him with the honor of visiting the exhibition. Many colleagues and acquaintances said that not only had he completely written himself off, but also that he had long ceased to represent “that same” Mayakovsky, a faithful servant of the revolution.

Mayakovsky during the exhibition “20 years of work”

In addition, along with the exhibition, the production of his play “Bathhouse” failed. And all this year the poet was haunted by quarrels and scandals, which is why newspapers labeled him a “fellow traveler of the Soviet regime,” while he himself adhered to more active positions. And soon, on the morning of April 14, 1930, in the house on Lubyanka, where Vladimir Mayakovsky was working at that time, a meeting was scheduled between the poet and Veronica Polonskaya. Then they had been in a close relationship for more than one year: Mayakovsky wanted to start a family with her. And it was then that he started a decisive conversation with her, demanding that she divorce her from the artist Mikhail Yanshin. Apparently, the conversation ended unsuccessfully for him. Then the actress left and, reaching the front door, suddenly heard a shot.

The last moments of Mayakovsky's life were witnessed by Vera Polonskaya

Witness testimony

Actually, only Polonskaya, among the people close to Mayakovsky, managed to catch the last moments of the poet’s life. This is how she remembers that fateful day: “I asked if he would accompany me. “No,” he said, but promised to call. And he also asked if I had money for a taxi. I didn’t have any money, he gave me twenty rubles... I managed to get to front door and heard a shot. I rushed about, afraid to return. Then she walked in and saw the smoke from the shot that had not yet cleared. There was a small bloody stain on Mayakovsky's chest. I rushed to him, I repeated: “What did you do?..” He tried to raise his head. Then his head fell, and he began to turn terribly pale... People appeared, someone said to me: “Run, meet the ambulance.” She ran out and met him. I returned, and on the stairs someone said to me: “It’s late. Died…".

However, regarding the testimony of witnesses, there is one interesting point, which was once pointed out by Valentin Skoryatin, a researcher into the circumstances of the death. He drew attention to important detail, which consisted in the fact that all those who came running after the shot found the poet lying in the “legs to the door” position, and those who appeared later found him in another “head to the door” position. The question arises: what was the need to move the poet’s dead body? It is quite possible that in this turmoil someone needed to imagine the following picture: at the moment of the shot, the poet was standing with his back to the door, then a bullet hit him in the chest from inside the room and knocked him over, head to the threshold. And this, in turn, already resembles an act of murder. What would it look like if he was facing the door? The same blow would again have knocked him over backwards, but with his feet towards the door. True, in this case, the shot could have been fired not only by Mayakovsky, but also by the killer, who acted extremely quickly.

The head of the OGPU Agranov wanted to bury Mayakovsky quickly

Also, the fact that investigators tried to quickly bury the poet cannot but raise doubts. Thus, Skoryatin, based on numerous documents, is confident that the head of the OGPU, Yakov Agranov, by the way, one of the leaders of this repressive body, tried to arrange a hasty funeral for the suicide, but later changed his mind, considering it very suspicious.

Death mask of Mayakovsky

Also adding fuel to the fire is the remark of the artist A. Davydov regarding Mayakovsky’s death mask, which was made by Lutsky on the evening of April 14, 1930. And this gives grounds to assert that Mayakovsky fell face down, and not on his back, as happens when he shoots himself.

There is also a theory that the poet shot himself because he was sick with syphilis. However, this argument has no basis, since the results of an autopsy performed some time later showed that Mayakovsky did not suffer from this illness. Moreover, the verdict itself was not published anywhere, which caused a wide variety of gossip regarding the poet’s health. At least, the obituary published in the newspaper Pravda and signed by other colleagues of the writer mentioned a certain “swift illness” that led him to suicide.

It is impossible not to notice the difference between the noses of the living and dead Mayakovsky

The OGPU's hand in this matter

Lilya Brik said that Mayakovsky more than once thought about suicide, and Osip Brik once convinced his comrade: “Re-read his poems, and you will see how often he talks ... about his inevitable suicide.”

It is worth noting that the investigation was carried out at the highest levels. Initially, the above-mentioned Yakov Agranov took up this task, and then I. Syrtsov. The investigation was then fully referred to as “Criminal Case No. 02−29, 1930, People's Investigator 2nd Academic. Baum. district of Moscow I. Syrtsov about the suicide of V.V. Mayakovsky.” And already on April 14, Syrtsev, after interrogating Polonskaya at Lubyanka, said: “Suicide was caused by personal reasons.” And this message was published the next day in Soviet newspapers.

Officially, Mayakovsky’s suicide was caused by personal reasons

When Mayakovsky died, the Briks were abroad at that time. And therefore Valentin Skoryatin, working with numerous materials and documents, put forward the version that the Briks deliberately left their friend in February 1930, because they knew that he would certainly be killed soon. And according to Skoryatin, the Briks could have been involved in such organizations as the Cheka and the OGPU. They even had their own Chekist ID numbers: 15073 for Lily, and 25541 for Osip.

And the need to kill the poet was based on the fact that Mayakovsky was quite tired Soviet authorities. IN last years In the poet's life, notes of discontent and undisguised disappointment increasingly appeared.

At the same time, Veronica Polonskaya could not have fired the shot, because according to the testimony of the actress and neighbors, the shot rang out immediately after she left the room. Therefore, all suspicions can be removed from her. The name of Mayakovsky's killer, if the murder did take place, is unknown.

Mayakovsky was reputed to be one of the main allies of the October Revolution of 1917

Strange note

One cannot help but pay attention to the suicide note left by Vladimir Mayakovsky. It would be appropriate to quote its text in full:

"Everyone
Don’t blame anyone for the fact that I’m dying and please don’t gossip. The deceased did not like this terribly.
Mom, sisters and comrades, sorry, this is not the way (I don’t recommend it to others), but I have no choice. Lilya - love me.

Comrade government, my family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronika Vitoldovna Polonskaya. If you give them a tolerable life, thank you. Give the poems you started to the Briks, they will figure it out. As they say, “the incident is ruined,” the love boat crashed into everyday life. I’m at peace with life, and there’s no need for a list of mutual pains, troubles and insults. Stay happily.
Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Comrades Vappovtsy, do not consider me cowardly. Seriously - nothing can be done. Hello. Tell Yermilov that it’s a pity that he removed the slogan, we should have a fight.
V.M.
I have 2000 rubles in my table. contribute to the tax.
You will get the rest from Giza."

It would seem that the suicide letter, touching at first glance, directly indicates that Mayakovsky planned suicide in advance. This thesis is supported by the fact that the note is dated April 12. But the question arises: why, preparing for a decisive conversation with Veronica Polonskaya, Mayakovsky in advance, on April 12, predetermines the outcome of a conversation that has not yet taken place with her - “the love boat crashed...”, as he writes? It is also impossible not to pay attention to what exactly these lines were written with. And they were written in pencil.

Mayakovsky at work. Photo from 1930

The fact is that it is most convenient to fake the author’s handwriting with a pencil. And Mayakovsky’s suicide letter itself for a long time was kept in the secret archives of the OGPU. Mayakovsky's comrades, Khodasevich and Eisenstein, citing an insulting tone towards his mother and sister, stated that Mayakovsky could not have written something in such a spirit. So we can assume that the note was nothing more than a fake, compiled by the OGPU and intended to convince everyone as the main evidence of Mayakovsky’s suicide.

Moreover, the note itself is not mentioned in any way in the protocol from the scene of the incident. It appears only in the final conclusion of the case, where it follows that the letter was written “in unusual conditions” in a state “caused by excitement.” The story of the note does not end there: Valentin Skoryatin believes that the dating of April 12 is explained quite simply. In his opinion, on that day the murder of Mayakovsky went wrong, and therefore this falsification was saved for the next time. And this “next time” fell on the morning of April 14, 1930.

Mayakovsky's death was like a bolt from the blue. The Briks immediately returned from their trip to Europe. The poet's death was a big blow for all his friends and relatives. And now it is generally accepted that Vladimir Mayakovsky died voluntarily, although some researchers of this case are firmly convinced that he was deliberately “removed.” Some time later, Joseph Stalin would call him the best poet of the Soviet Union. And Polonskaya became Mayakovsky’s last close person. It was with her that the poet spent the last moments of his life.