Zinaida Gippius

On November 20, 2019, Google celebrated her 150th birthday with a Google Doodle.

Like mice for whom the world amounts to just themselves and cats, and nobody else, those 'revolutionaries' knew but one sort of distinction: that between the left and the right. Kerensky and his kind intrinsically saw themselves as the 'left', regarding their enemies as 'the right'. As the Revolution happened (not 'made' by them), the left triumphed, but – again, like mice in a basement where there are no more cats, they were still wary of the 'right' as the only source of fear, having in sight just one danger that in 1917 there was none of. They weren't afraid of the Bolsheviks – they belonged to the 'left' too. They never believed the Bolsheviks would be able to keep the power they had taken, and failed to notice how the latter, having stolen their slogans, started to use them with ingenuity, speaking of 'land for peasants', 'peace for everybody', 'the Assembly reinstated', republic, freedom and all that...

Zinaida Nikolayevna Gippius (Hippius) (Russian: Зинаи́да Никола́евна Ги́ппиус , IPA: [zʲɪnɐˈidə nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvnə ˈɡʲipʲɪus] ( listen ) ; 20 November [O.S. 8 November] 1869 – 9 September 1945) was a Russian poet, playwright, novelist, editor and religious thinker, one of the major figures in Russian symbolism. The story of her marriage to Dmitry Merezhkovsky, which lasted 52 years, is described in her unfinished book Dmitry Merezhkovsky (Paris, 1951; Moscow, 1991).

In 1941, Gippius and Merezhkovsky made a political mistake with their public support of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, their last hope was that the Communists will be destroyed and they could return to their home. Merezhkovsky wrote that both Stalin and Hitler were evils, that the Nazis and the Russian Communists should destroy each other, and for that goal Hitler must take Moscow. So, they lost many friends.

Gippius assisted her ailing husband until his death on December 9, 1941, in Paris.

As the outbreak of World War II in Europe rendered literature virtually irrelevant, Gippius, against all odds, compiled and published the Literature Tornado, an ambitious literary project set up to provide a safe haven for writers rejected by publishers for ideological reasons. What in other times might have been hailed as a powerful act in support of the freedom of speech, in 1939 passed unnoticed. Merezhkovsky and Gippius spent their last year together in a social vacuum. Regardless of whether or not the 1944 text of Merezhkovsky's allegedly pro-Hitler "Radio speech" was indeed a prefabricated montage (as his biographer Zobnin asserted), there was little doubt that the couple, having become too close to (and financially dependent on) the Germans in Paris, had lost respect and credibility as far as their compatriots were concerned, many of whom expressed outright hatred toward them.

In 1928 the Merezhkovskys took part in the First Congress of Russian writers in exile held in Belgrade. Encouraged by the success of Merezhkovsky's Da Vinci series of lectures and Benito Mussolini's benevolence, in 1933 the couple moved to Italy where they stayed for about three years, visiting Paris only occasionally. With the Socialist movement rising there and anti-Russian emigration feelings spurred by President Paul Doumer's murder in 1932, France felt like a hostile place to them. Living in exile was very hard for Gippius psychologically. As one biographer put it, "her metaphysically grandiose personality, with its spiritual and intellectual overload, was out of place in what she herself saw as a 'soullessly pragmatic' period in European history."

In 1920 Gippius and Merezhkovsky fled to Poland, then settled in Paris. There they formed one of important centers of anti-communist resistance among Russian émigrés.

After Last Poems (1918) Gippius published two more books of verse, Poems. 1911–1920 Diaries (1922) and The Shining Ones (1938). Her poetry, prose and essays published in emigration were utterly pessimistic; the 'rule of beastliness', the ruins of human culture, and the demise of civilization were her major themes. Most valuable for Gippius were her diaries: she saw these flash points of personal history as essential for helping future generations to restore the true course of events. Yet, as a modern Russian critic has put it, "Gippius's legacy, for all its inner drama and antinomy, its passionate, forceful longing for the unfathomable, has always borne the ray of hope, the fiery, unquenchable belief in a higher truth and the ultimate harmony crowning a person's destiny. As she herself wrote in one of her last poems, "Alas, now they are torn apart: the timelessness and all things human / But time will come and both will intertwine into one shimmering eternity'."

The Merezhkovskys greeted the 1917 February Revolution and denounced the October Revolution, blaming Alexander Kerensky and his Provisional government for the catastrophe. In her book of memoirs Dmitry Merezhkovsky. Him and Us Gippius wrote:

In 1914 Gippius joined the Red Cross in her effort to help the veterans of the First World War. She kept a detailed record of events that led to the Russian Revolution and the following Civil War. Gippius and Merezhkovsky remained in St. Petersburg, regardless of the danger to their life after the murder of the Tsar Nicholas II by the Communists. Gippius recorded many facts of massacre of innocent people in St. Petersburg (then renamed Petrograd) by the Bolsheviks who established Communist rule. They emigrated after their last hope, admiral Aleksandr Kolchak was killed by the Communists in Siberia.

Modern scholars see Gippius's romantically tinged early poems as mostly derivative, Semyon Nadson and Friedrich Nietzsche being the two most obvious influences. The publication of Dmitry Merezhkovky's symbolist manifesto proved to be a turning point: in a short time Gippius became a major figure of Russian Modernism. Her early symbolist prose carried the strong influence of Dostoyevsky, while one of her later novels, Roman Tzarevich (1912), was said to be influenced again by Nietzsche. Gippius's first two short story collections, New People (1896) and Mirrors (1898), examining "the nature of beauty in all of its manifestations and contradictions," were seen as formulaic. Her Third Book of Short Stories (1902) marked a change of direction and was described as "sickly idiosyncratic" and full of "highbrow mysticism." Parallels have been drawn between Gippius's early 20th century prose and Vladimir Solovyov's Meaning of Love, both authors examining the 'quest for love' as the means for self-fulfillment of the human soul.

Disappointed with the indifference of European cultural elites to their ideas, the trio returned home. Back in Saint Petersburg Gippius's health deteriorated, and for the next six years she (along with her husband, who had heart problems) regularly visited European health resorts and clinics. During one such voyage in 1911 Gippius bought a cheap apartment in Paris, at Rue Colonel Bonnet, 11-bis. What at the time felt like a casual, unnecessary purchase, later saved them from homelessness abroad.

The 1910 Collection of Poems. Book 2. 1903-1909 garnered good reviews; Bunin called Gippius's poetry 'electric', pointing at the peculiar use of oxymoron as an electrifying force in the author's hermetic, impassive world. Some contemporaries found Gippius's works curiously unfeminine. Vladislav Khodasevich spoke of the conflict between her "poetic soul and non-poetic mind." "Everything is strong and spatial in her verse, there is little room for details. Her lively, sharp thought, dressed in emotional complexity, sort of rushes out of her poems, looking for spiritual wholesomeness and ideal harmony," modern scholar Vitaly Orlov said.

As the political tension in Russia subsided, the Meetings were re-opened as the Religious and Philosophical Society, in 1908. But Russian Church leaders ignored it, and soon the project withered into a mere literary circle. The heated discussion over the Vekhi manifesto led to a clash between the Merezhkovskys and Filosofov on the one hand and Vasily Rozanov on the other; the latter quit and severed ties with his old friends.

The 1906 collection Scarlet Sword, described as a study in the 'human soul's metaphysics' performed from the neo-Christian standpoint, propagated the idea of God and man as one single being. The author equated 'self-denial' with the sin of betraying God, and detractors suspected blasphemy in this egocentric stance. Sex and death themes, investigated in the obliquely impressionist manner formed the leitmotif of her next book of prose, Black on White (1908). The 20th century also saw the rise of Gippius the playwright (Saintly Blood, 1900, Poppie Blossom, 1908). The most acclaimed of her plays, The Green Ring (1916), futuristic in plotline, if not in form, was successfully produced by Vsevolod Meyerhold for the Alexandrinsky Theatre. Anton Krainy, Gippius's alter ego, was a highly respected and somewhat feared literary critic whose articles regularly appeared in Novy Put, Vesy and Russkaya Mysl. Gippius's critical analysis, according to Brockhaus and Efron, was insightful, but occasionally too harsh and rarely objective.

The 1905 Revolution had a profound impact on Gippius. During the next decade the Merezhkovskys were harsh critics of Tsarism, radical revolutionaries like Boris Savinkov now entering their narrow circle of close friends. In February 1906 the couple left for France to spend more than two years in what they saw as self-imposed exile, trying to introduce Western intellectuals to their 'new religious consciousness'. In 1906 Gippius published the collection of short stories Scarlet Sword (Алый меч), and in 1908 the play Poppie Blossom (Маков цвет) came out, with Merezhkovsky and Filosofov credited as co-authors.

In October 1903 the Collection of Poems. 1889–1903, Gippius's first book of poetry, came out; Innokenty Annensky later called the book the "quintessence of fifteen years of Russian modernism." Valery Bryusov was greatly impressed too, praising the "insurmountable frankness with which she document[ed] the emotional progress of her enslaved soul." Gippius herself never thought much of the social significance of her published poetry. In a foreword to her debut collection she wrote: "It is sad to realize that one had to produce something as useless and meaningless as this book. Not that I think poetry to be useless; on the contrary, I am convinced that it is essential, natural and timeless. There were times when poetry was read everywhere and appreciated by everybody. But those times are gone. A modern reader has no use for a book of poetry any more."

In 1901 Gippius and Merezhkovsky co-founded the Religious and Philosophical Meetings. This 'gathering for free discussion', focusing on the synthesis of culture and religion, brought together an eclectic mix of intellectuals and was regarded in retrospect as an important, if short-lived attempt to pull Russia back from the major social upheavals it was headed for. Gippius was the driving force behind the Meetings, as well as the magazine Novy Put (1903–04), launched initially as a vehicle for the former. By the time Novy Put folded (due to a conflict caused by the newcomer Sergei Bulgakov's refusal to publish her essay on Alexander Blok), Gippius (as Anton Krainy) had become a prominent literary critic, contributing mostly to Vesy (Scales).

However, in 1900, such intellectuals as Nikolai Minsky, Vasili Rozanov, and others joined Gippius and Merezhkovsky and formed the St. Petersburg Society of Religions and Philosophy. Their studies embraced traditional religions as well as theosophy, mysticism and metaphysics. That collaboration ended a few years later in bitter dispute about their differences in interpretation of various religions and philosophies.

In 1899—1901, encouraged by the group of authors associated with Mir Iskusstva, the magazine she had become close to, Gippius published critical essays in it using male pseudonyms, Anton Krainy being the best known. Analyzing the roots of the crisis that Russian culture had fallen into, Gippius (somewhat paradoxically, given her 'demonic' reputation) suggested as a remedy the 'Christianization' of it, which in practice meant bringing the intelligentsia and the Church closer together. Merging faith and intellect, according to Gippius, was crucial for the survival of Russia; only religious ideas, she thought, would bring its people enlightenment and liberation, both sexual and spiritual.

In 1891, Gippius and Merezhkovsky made a trip across Europe on the Orient Express train. Their journey included ascension of Mont Blanc, there Gippius and Merezhkovsky demonstrated their persistence, determination and courage while climbing together. One of the highlights of their journey was their visit to the birthplace of Leonardo Da Vinci. At that time they worked together on a book titled 'Leonardo'. Gippius made handwritten copies of hundreds of pages from libraries in Florence and Rome while working on their book about Leonardo. Through their mutual research and studies in Rome, Florence and Paris, and later in Russia, Gippius and Merezhkovsky formed a group of writers, historians and clerics for interdisciplinary studies in pursuit of a better inter-religious communication. Their idea of starting a United Church was supported by many intellectuals. They got permission from the Russian Orthodox Sinode, and founded a study group focused on history of religions and religious influence on world cultures. At that time Gippius and Merezhkovsky were contacted by the Vatican and by some Catholic leaders in France, but they remained focused on their independent studies and lectures. Soon their lectures and social gatherings came under ostracism from the Russian Orthodox Church, that was followed by social pressures, manifested as sharp and biased critique of both Gippius and Merezhkovsky, and made-up rumors about private life of the couple.

In 1890–91 this magazine published her first short stories, "The Ill-Fated One" and "In Moscow". Then three of her novels, Without the Talisman, The Winner, and Small Waves, appeared in Mir Bozhy. Seeing the writing of mediocre, generic prose as a commercial enterprise, Gippius treated her poetry differently, as something utterly intimate, calling her verses 'personal prayers'. Dealing with the darker side of the human soul and exploring sexual ambiguity and narcissism, many of those 'prayers' were considered blasphemous at the time. Detractors called Gippius a 'demoness', the 'queen of duality', and a 'decadent Madonna'. Enjoying the notoriety, she exploited her androgynous image, used male clothes and pseudonyms, shocked her guests with insults ('to watch their reaction', as she once explained to Nadezhda Teffi), and for a decade remained the Russian symbol of 'sexual liberation', holding high what she in one of her diary entries termed as the 'cross of sensuality'. In 1901 all this transformed into the ideology of the "New Church" of which she was the instigator.

There, in 1888, she met Dmitri Merezhkovsky and they married on January 9, 1889, in Borjomi. Gippius and Merezhkovsky moved in a luxury home in St. Petersburg - a wedding gift from Merejkovsky's mother. Their home became a popular meeting place for St. Petersburg cultural milieu. After her first publications in St. Petersburg, Gippius emerged as a poet, novelist and a reputable literary critic. Her writings got attention from such critics as Ivan Bunin and Yakov Polonsky among others.

She began writing at an early age, and by the time she met Dmitry Merezhkovsky in 1888, she was already a published poet. The two were married in 1889. Gippius published her first book of poetry, Collection of Poems. 1889–1903, in 1903, and her second collection, Collection of Poems. Book 2. 1903-1909, in 1910. After the 1905 Revolution, the Merezhkovskys became critics of Tsarism; they spent several years abroad during this time, including trips for treatment of health issues. They denounced the 1917 October Revolution, seeing it as a cultural disaster, and in 1919 emigrated to Poland.

Nikolai Gippius's job entailed constant traveling, and because of this his daughters received little formal education. Taking lessons from governesses and visiting tutors, they attended schools sporadically in whatever city (Saratov, Tula and Kiev, among others) the family happened to stay for a significant period of time. At the age of 48 Nikolai Gippius died of tuberculosis, and Anastasia Vasilyevna, knowing that all of her girls had inherited a predisposition to the illness that killed him, moved the family southwards, first to Yalta (where Zinaida had medical treatment) then in 1885 to Tiflis, closer to their uncle Alexander Stepanov's home.

In 1881 young Gippius had an emotional breakdown caused by the death of her father. At that time she moved to Yalta, then to Tbilisi and then lived at the villa of her uncle in Borjomi.

By this time, Zinaida had already studied for two years at a girls' school in Kiev (1877—1878) and for a year at the Moscow Fischer Gymnasium. It was only in Borzhomi where her uncle Alexander, a man of considerable means, rented a dacha for her, that she started to get back to normal after the profound shock caused by her beloved father's death.

Zinaida Gippius was one of the most enigmatic and intelligent women of her time in Russia, she was a writer, an editor, a literary critic, and the founder of Symbolism in Russian literature, along with Valery Briusov. She was born Zinaida Nikolaevna Gippius on November 20, 1869, in the town of Belev, Tula province, Russia. She was the oldest of 4 daughters. Her father, Nikolai Romanovich Gippius, was a famous lawyer and Procurator of the Russian Senate. Her mother, Anastasia Vasilevna (nee Stepanova), was a daughter of Ekaterinburg Chief of Police. Young Zinaida Gippius was educated at home with emphasis on literature, history, arts and music, then studied at Kiev Institute for Women.