Władimir Majakowski i Charków.2 zdjęć

#### Vladimir Mayakovsky and Kharkiv ##### A Billiard Duel Exactly 85 years ago, on January 14, 1924, Vladimir Mayakovsky delivered a speech titled “About Leff (the Left Front of Art – author’s note), White Paris, Gray Berlin, Red Moscow” at the Opera Theatre (now the Philharmonia on Rymarskaya Street, 21). The next day, he engaged in a billiard duel with local artists at the Writers’ House on Kaplunovskaya Street (now Krasnoznamenная Street, 4). “In the basement of the Writers’ House, there was a billiard table,” recalls Oleg Petrenko. “Mayakovsky was considered an expert in this game. But the young poet Yoganson dared to play ‘American Billiards’ with him. The loser was supposed to crawl under the table and crow like a rooster. As expected, Mayakovsky lost! But instead of crawling beneath the table in front of everyone, he proposed to recite a promotional poem about Kharkiv beer in exchange. This incident was mentioned by a witness, the Kharkiv writer Yuri Smolich.” #### Repin Could Not Paint the Poet This was the poet’s third visit to our city. His first visit took place on December 14, 1913, when he came to Kharkiv together with the cubo-futurists David Burlyuk and Vasili Kamensky. At that time, these young poets gave performances at the public library. A memorial plaque now reminds us of this event at the entrance of the Korolenko Library. Dark, thick hair hanging down hid Mayakovsky’s determined and piercing gaze. Such was the image he presented to the people of Kharkiv for the first time. This description is given by Korney Chukovsky, who recalled that shortly after his visit to Kharkiv, Mayakovsky went to see Illya Repin. The artist was fascinated by Mayakovsky’s “inspired hair” and had already prepared a canvas and paints by the time of their next meeting. However, Repin was disappointed when he saw Mayakovsky completely shaven head. “I wanted to depict you as a people’s tribune, but you… what a pity!” he said. Kharkiv was also captivated by this young Vladimir Vladimirovich. Especially the women of the city. In 1913, his heart was “half taken” by Elena, the wife of Louis Aragon (who would later become famous as the French writer Elsa Triolé). Together with Aragon, Elsa, and her sister Lila Brik, Mayakovsky came to Kharkiv to witness the completion of the construction of the Gosprom building, a masterpiece of constructivism. But that was in 1928, as mentioned by our contemporary Nikolai Chekhunov in his book “Gosprom: Time, Fate.” #### The Poem “Good” Was Tried Out in Kharkiv Lila Brik also visited Kharkov in 1927. On her way back from the Caucasus with her new lover, she passed through Kharkov. At that time, Mayakovsky was giving a performance at the Summer Theatre on the Profsad street (between Rymarskaya Street and the University Garden, now Shevchenko Garden). “In the book ‘Mayakovsky in Kharkiv,’ Grigory Gelfandbein recounts that Mayakovsky was concerned whether the audience would come during the heat of summer, during the holiday season. Therefore, he suggested that another poet, Semen Kirsanov, also perform together with him. But there were still enough people willing to listen to the poems,” says Oleg Petrenko. During that visit, Mayakovsky’s lover convinced Lila to get off the train and stay in Kharkov for a day. In her memoirs, Lila recalled that that night Mayakovsky read her excerpts from the unfinished poem “Good!”. Among Mayakovsky’s addresses in Kharkiv, we can also mention the Heroic Theatre, located at the intersection of Meschanskaya Street (now Grazhdanskaia Street) and the riverbank. In 1921, Kharkiv directors staged there the play “The Mystery of Buff”. The theatre was originally named Maloy Theatre (it was also known as Zhatkin’s Villa); its stage had been used by both Meyerhold and Komissarzhevskaya. The building at 5 Harkovskaya Naberezhnaya Street was destroyed during the Great Patriotic War. Mayakovsky was not only invited to official events in Kharkiv but also by his friends there. It is known that one such informal gathering took place at the home of the Socialist Revolutionary Party member Karelin, located on Staromoskovskaya Street (now Moskovsky Prospect). However, the poet was reluctant to attend this visit. In a letter to Lila Brik, he only mentioned the host’s cat: “It happily stretched out its paw towards me, recognizing me as its master.” #### Even with a Sore Throat, He Performed The last time Mayakovsky was in Kharkiv was on January 14–15, 1929. The city was covered in snow, and it was extremely cold. In the “Krasnaya” hotel at 31 Tveleva Square (now 20 Constitution Square), one of the writers met with him. “After performing for two consecutive days at the Drama Theatre (now Shevchenko Theatre) and the Chekists’ Club (now the Police Cultural Center at 13 Sovnarkomovskaya Street), where he read excerpts from the poem ‘The Beetle’, Mayakakov overexerted his vocal cords,” recalls Oleg Petrenko. “Gelfandbein mentions that when one of the writers came to his hotel room, Mayakovsky was talking on the phone with a Kharkiv doctor who strongly advised him not to perform any more for the time being. Mayakov often suffered from illnesses and was worried about his voice, but he was too committed to his duties to cancel his performance before the students at the Opera Theatre.” “In November 1926, Mayakovsky attended a meeting at the Central Party Club, which was located in the same building as the Opera Theatre. He had been invited there by the club director Jan Pupa. It is possible that after the event, the club director invited Mayakov to his home, as he lived nearby – at 46 Sumskaya Street, apartment 6,” shares Oleg Petrenko. “In fact, Mayakovsky visited Kharkiv at least thirteen times.” #### Kharkiv Legends One popular legend tells that once, on his way back to the hotel from the All-Ukrainian Photographic and Film Administration (located on Gogol Street), Mayakovsky stopped by the “Lux” restaurant at the beginning of Sumskaya Street. Maria Ivanovna, the owner, who was well-known in Kharkiv circles, asked him, “How are you doing, Vladimir Vladimirovich?” “Not ‘how am I doing’, but rather fifty,” he replied. ### Source: Old Kharkov Article from the newspaper “Vecherniy Kharkov” http://vecherniy.kharkov.ua/news/27624/