MIKHAIL BULGAKOV

A PRESENTATION BY CHARLOTTE AND GABY

1891 – Mikhail Bolgokov was born in Kiev, today the capital of Ukraine-His father was a professor at the Theological Academy

1901 – Bulgakov joined the First Kiev Gymnasium (school) -Developed an interest in Russian and European literature-Graduated from the Gymnasium in 1909

1909 – entered the Medical Faculty of St. Vladimir Universitygraduated in 1916-married Tatyana Lappa in 1913, the first of his three wives -after university he became a physician at the Kiev Military Hospital -Bulgakov wrote about his experiences as a doctor in his early works "Notes on Cuffs" and "Notes of a Young Country Doctor."

1918 – Bulgakov returned to Kiev, which at the end of World War I and the beginning of the Civil War in Russia was fought over between several forces-his brothers (Bulgakov was the oldest of three brothers) enlisted in the White Army (group who opposed the Bolshevik government; consisted of Trotsky, Stalin, Lenin, etc.) and fled with the Army, eventually landing in Paris.

-Bulgakov enlisted as a field doctor with the White Army and ended up in the Caucasus, where he gave up medicine and began working as a journalist

-he was prevented from emigrating from Russia, and was thus was never granted a visa to visit his brothers

-during his time as a doctor on the frontlines, he was badly injured at least twice-ended up with a morphine addiction, eventually terminating his addiction in 1918-he wrote a book about his experience with a morphine addiction; entitled Morphine and

released in 1926

1924 – Bulgakov divorced from his first wife and married Liubov' Belozerskaia

1932 – Bulgakov married for the third time, to Elena Shilovskaia (who would prove to be an inspiration for his “Margarita” character)

-during the last decade of his life, Bulgakov continued to work on The Master and Margarita, wrote plays, critical works, stories, and made several translations and dramatizations of novels

For a short time, Bulgakov was the favourite playwright of Joseph Stalin. This favouritism saved his life in 1937 during Stalin’s reign of terror, during which time all writers who did not support Stalin’s dictatorship were imprisoned and killed. Bulgakov never supported the regime, and mocked it in several of his works included “Heart of a Dog” and “Flight”. In 1929 all of his works were banned and Stalin refused his request to emigrate. During this time he worked as a literary bureaucrat, which contributed to his inspiration for Master and Margarita.

BULGAKOV AND STALIN

POLITICSBulgakov was a “jingoistic monarchist", an extreme form of monarchism that incorporates chauvinism, a belief in national superiority and glory, and nationalism. During his early life he was also a staunch proponent of anarchism. Throughout his life he opposed the death penalty.

It is The Master and Margarita, Bulgakov’s fantasy satiric novel, published in 1967, almost thirty years after his death, that has given him literary immortality. It was available in the underground market as “samizdat” before a censored version was published in the Moskva journal.

THE MASTER AND MARGARITA

-The novel is a critique of Soviet society and its literary establishment. It’s appreciated for its philosophical undertones and for its high artistic level, thanks to its picturesque descriptions, lyrical fragments and style. The narrative combines a retelling of the gospels through Pontius Pilate’s “Judea” and a description of contemporary Moscow. -It is structured around the devil, disguised as a character named Professor Woland, and the “Master”, a repressed novelist who is harshly judged and institutionalized. The novel begins with Satan visiting Moscow in the 1930s, joining a conversation between a critic and a poet debating the existence of Jesus Christ and the Devil.-It develops into a full-blown indictment of the corruption, greed, narrow-mindedness, and overwhelming paranoia of Soviet Russia. Although often grotesque and ribald, The Master and Margarita contains moving moments of tragedy and pathos. It is a masterpiece!!!

Novels and short stories collectionsThe White Guard(1926, translation 2008)Great Soviet Short Stories (1962)The Master and Margarita(1967)Black Snow: A Theatrical Novel (1967)Heart of a Dog (1968)A Country Doctor's Notebook (1975)Diaboliad and Other Stories (1990)The Terrible News: Russian Stories from the Years Following the Revolution (1990)Notes on the Cuff & Other Stories(1991)The Fatal Eggs and Other Soviet Satire, 1918-1963 (1993)A Dead Man's Memoir (A Theatrical Novel) (2007)

TheatreThe Early Plays of Mikhail Bulgakov, 1990Peace plays: two, 1990Zoya's apartment: A tragic farce in three acts, 1991Six plays, 1991

BiographyLife of Mr. de Molière, 1962

March 10, 1940 – Bulgakov died from the same kidney disease that had killed his father years earlier

Check out this informative, interactive blog!http://www.manuscriptsdontburn.org/category/mikhail-bulgakov/page/2/