130 years since the birth of Sergei Yesenin — how the poet's anniversary will be celebrated in Russia

In 2025, Russia celebrates the 130th anniversary of one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, Sergei Yesenin. Russian Russian art reflects the beauty and sadness of the Russian countryside, the breadth and tragedy of the Russian soul, freedom and longing for the lost, the greatness of nature and the seething revolution. Commemorative exhibitions, concerts and other events will be held throughout the country to mark the poet's anniversary. Izvestia tells how they will celebrate the significant date, and also shares Yesenin's biography.

130 years since the birth of Sergei Yesenin

The initiative to celebrate Yesenin's 130th birthday was made by actor Sergey Bezrukov during a meeting of the Council for the Support of the Russian language and other languages of the peoples of Russia in November 2024. The idea was supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In January 2025, the head of state instructed the government to prepare a celebration program.

By Yesenin's birthday, events dedicated to his life and work will be held throughout Russia. The center of the celebration will be the poet's native village of Konstantinovo in the Ryazan region. The All—Russian Yesenin Poetry Festival, a three-day festival combining Yesenin's immortal poems and modernity, will be held there from October 3 to 5. The program includes concerts, exhibitions, poetry evenings, meetings of literary critics, theatrical performances, as well as various activities for children and adults.

In Moscow, the poet's anniversary was also not spared. On October 1, the concert "Happy that I breathed and lived ..." took place in the State Kremlin Palace. Romances and songs based on Yesenin's poems, as well as his poems and memoirs of contemporaries were played from the stage. The concert was attended by such pop stars as Grigory Leps, Stas Mikhailov, Polina Gagarina, Pelageya and others. A TV version of the show will be shown on October 3.

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The Moscow State Yesenin Museum will host several exhibitions at once. On the poet's birthday, October 3, a free anniversary exhibition will open there, including personal belongings, manuscripts, rare documents and photographs. The museum's guests will also be able to visit the literary and memorial exposition and the Yesenin in the Center exhibition. They will work until the end of the year.

Theaters will also join the celebration. Performances dedicated to his life and work will be shown at the Gorky Moscow Academic Art Theater, the Moscow Provincial Drama Theater, the Ryazan Regional Musical Theater and others.

Sergey Yesenin — biography

Sergey Yesenin was born on October 3 (September 21, Old style) in the Ryazan village of Konstantinovo. His parents were simple peasants. The father of the future poet rarely appeared at home: to support his family, he went to work in Moscow. However, this was barely enough, so my mother worked as a maid in the house of Ryazan merchants, and then also got a job in Moscow at a confectionery factory.

Yesenin's maternal grandparents were mainly involved in his upbringing. The boy grew up active and inquisitive. During the day, he played pranks with his village comrades, and in the evening he listened to nanny's fairy tales and songs, as well as stories and poems by wandering blind people, who were invited to the house by a pious grandmother.

In 1904, the nine-year-old Yesenin began studying at the Konstantinovsky Zemsky National School, which taught reading, writing, counting and the law of God. He read a lot and showed good results in some subjects, but because of his terrible behavior he stayed in the third grade twice. In 1909, after graduating from college with a certificate of merit, the young man entered a teacher's school in the village of Spas Klepiki. There, for the first time, he seriously engaged in poetry.

His parents wanted Yesenin to become a teacher. However, literature teacher Evgeny Khitrov saw in him the potential of a great creator and advised him to move to a big city. In 1912, the aspiring poet moved to Moscow. He had no money, so he started working first in a butcher shop, then in the printing house of entrepreneur Ivan Sytin. In 1913, he became a volunteer at the Alfons Shanyavsky National University.

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In 1914, Yesenin's first poem "Birch" was published in the children's magazine Mirok. Subsequently, other poems appeared there.: "Vorobyshki", "Porosha", "Selo", etc. The poet was also published in the Bolshevik newspaper "The Way of Truth". At that time, Yesenin was fascinated by the ideas of the Social Democratic Party. He distributed revolutionary leaflets, participated in strikes and demonstrations for workers' rights.

In 1915, tired of living in "soulless" Moscow, Yesenin moved to St. Petersburg. There he met the already recognized master of the style Alexander Blok and other revolutionary poets. All of them highly appreciated the talent of the young colleague and gave him positive recommendations.

From that moment on, Yesenin's literary career took off sharply. His poems began to be published by leading St. Petersburg and Moscow publications, and the poet himself was often invited to literary salons. In February 1916, the first collection of his poems, Radunitsa, was published, which quickly became a hit. The fresh, light and sensual lines captivated readers and critics.

Shortly after the publication of the first book, Yesenin was drafted into the army: the First World War was approaching. At the request of Colonel Dmitry Loman, the poet was not sent to the front, but was signed up as an orderly on the Tsarskoye Selo train No. 143, which was engaged in the evacuation of the wounded. He often read his poems to soldiers and even performed in front of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

However, the war left an indelible mark on the poet's soul, he was increasingly attracted to revolutionary ideas. In 1917, for refusing to write poetry in honor of Emperor Yesenin, he was transferred to the so-called disciplinary battalion. But he did not get to the front because of the February revolution. Taking advantage of the turmoil, he voluntarily left the army and joined the Social Revolutionaries "not as a party member, but as a poet."

At first, Yesenin was delighted by the coup that shook the whole country. The revolution was glorified in his poems "Comrade", "Father", "The Singing Call", "Octoechos". The poet collaborated with the social revolutionary newspaper Delo Naroda. At the same time, he met his first wife, Zinaida Reich, a staunch supporter of the party. However, disappointment and longing for the lost peasant life gradually replaced the former joy.

In 1918, Yesenin became one of the founders and ideologists of the poetic movement imagism (from the French image — image), in which images prevail over the idea. His book "The Keys of Mary" became, in fact, the manifesto of a new literary movement.

In the 1920s, the motives of loss and despair became stronger in the poet's work. Yesenin created the poems "Sorokoust", "Moscow Kabatskaya" and "The Black Man". The latter, according to his recollections, made Maxim Gorky cry. Constant drinking binges, fights and escapes from the police after drunken carousals only aggravated the poet's condition. In 1922-1923, he went on a world tour of Europe and the United States, where he met his second wife— dancer Isadora Duncan. However, the marriage lasted only a year and a half.

In November 1925, Yesenin, at the insistence of his last wife, Sophia Tolstoy, went to a psychiatric clinic for treatment. The poet ran away twice and went on a binge again, but the orderlies returned him to the ward. At the end of December, he withdrew all his savings from the savings book and left for Leningrad. A few days later, he was found dead in his room at the Angleterre Hotel.

According to the official version, the poet committed suicide, but some researchers believe that he was eliminated by the Soviet secret services. The debate about Yesenin's death continues to this day. His farewell took place on December 29 at the Leningrad Writers' Union House on Fontanka and on December 30 at the House of Press in Moscow. The poet is buried at the Vagankovo cemetery.