Lyubaev Pavel Kirillovich (b. 1919) — a well-known Erzya poet, born in the village of Pikshen, Bolshoboldinsky District, Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Life story
Pavel Kirillovich Lyubaev was born on 24 December 1919 in the Erzya village of Pikshen, Bolsheboldinskaya volost, Lukoyanovsky uyezd, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, into a poor peasant family. His mother Vera Ivanovna and father Kirill Pavlovich had six children (five sons and a daughter).
In an autobiography kept at the museum of the Pikshen village library, Pavel Lyubaev wrote: "Our village lies about three kilometers from Pushkin's Boldino. From the window of our house you can see the poet's nature reserve grove, 'Luchinnik.' Since childhood I was healed of illnesses by the spring water of that grove."
In 1935 he finished incomplete secondary school. In 1936 his first publications appeared in district newspapers. "He began writing poetry early — about his native land, its people, its nature."
In 1937 he moved to Saransk, the capital of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and enrolled in a workers' preparatory faculty (rabfak), which he finished in 1938. For about two years he worked at the republican newspapers Erzyanskaya Kommuna and Po Leninskomu Puti, first as a proofreader and literary staffer, then as executive secretary. He began his literary career with translation work, translating into Erzya the poems of A.S. Pushkin, T.G. Shevchenko, M.Yu. Lermontov, N.A. Nekrasov, and others. In 1940, for his Erzya translation of Shevchenko's Kobzar, the Shevchenko Jubilee Committee of Ukraine awarded Pavel Lyubaev a jubilee medal on the occasion of the poet's 125th birthday.
The name of Alexander Pushkin holds a special place in Pavel Lyubaev's biography and work. "Pushkin's poems became known to Pavel from the age of four. Later he saw with his own eyes the village of Boldino, the house, the garden, the pond, and the springs. He remembered the many excursions his teacher led to the Pushkin sites. The Erzya children did not understand everything in Russian, but seeing the autumn forest, they grasped the essence of the great Russian poet's verse. And Pavel swore (at the age of eight!) to translate Pushkin's poems into his native language. He fulfilled that vow in 1937, when the country marked the 100th anniversary of the great poet's death.
To begin with he translated three short poems (he was then studying at the rabfak). When the local newspaper published them, overjoyed, he bought several copies at the kiosk, and by the next morning he was back in his native Pikshen. He had barely stepped over the threshold, and without looking to see who was home, cried out in delight: "They've printed my translations of Pushkin's poems!" And he began reciting the verses by heart. In reply, from the corner came only... the approving mooing of a calf. No one was home — he went to the neighbors. There he found Pavel's mother as well. Once again Pushkin's poems were recited in Erzya. From that time on he decided to become a poet" (10, p. 7).
In June 1940 Pavel Lyubaev was drafted into the Red Army for active military service. He served as a machine-gunner private in Arkhangelsk, then in Kostroma. From June 1942 he was a private of the 99th Rifle Regiment, 33rd Murom Rifle Division, then a platoon and company commander, and from October 1942 an operations officer of the special department of the 112th Guards Rifle Regiment, 39th Guards Rifle Division.
The past does not leave me, My heart is forever heavy, For across my soul, a bloody seam The years of war have passed…
So wrote the front-line poet Pavel Lyubaev in the poem "Rodnik" ("The Spring"), dedicated to the memory of Hero of the Soviet Union K.N. Rasskazov (8, p. 51).
As Pavel Kirillovich admitted to O. Korchiganov, a correspondent for the newspaper Shchit i Mech ("Shield and Sword"), he "now recalls, more and more often, the most terrible month of his life." "One might think," O. Korchiganov notes in his article, "that he has seen a great deal in his lifetime. But the heart cannot be commanded, and almost every night it makes the former front-line soldier watch, again and again, the same 'film': the year 1942, Stalingrad. Not even the city itself, but a huge blazing bonfire on the spot where a city once stood, with neither beginning nor end. The Volga ablaze with color, flares of every hue, and tracer bullets" (10, p. 7).
At times it seemed There would be no end To the sweep of the fire And the nightmare of metal, When under fire you dared not raise your face (8, p. 14).
At the end of 1942, the 23-year-old Lieutenant Lyubaev, a graduate of a six-month NKVD counterintelligence course, escorted a march company of the Murom reserve regiment to Stalingrad. On the way to Stalingrad, at Dzhanybek station, the military train was attacked by two enemy aircraft, which first dropped their bombs on the train and then fiercely strafed the soldiers scattered across the steppe.
Panic broke out, and the first dead and wounded appeared. For three days the soldiers marched from the station to Stalingrad. And again under bombs, under fire. But there was no more panic. They learned to hide from the diving attack planes in ditches and tumbleweed. As they approached the city, the roar of gunfire grew stronger and stronger. Troops were ferried across the Volga in turns. Lyubaev's company's turn came too. Having loaded machine guns, mortars, anti-tank weapons, and ammunition onto a barge, the soldiers took their places. The tug had not even hauled the barge halfway across the river when the bombing began. Pavel was pushed into the water by soldiers jumping from the barge. At that moment, aircraft — ours, this time — began dropping life rings into the river. Lyubaev swam to shore on one of them.
Lieutenant Lyubaev's task was only to deliver the unit to its destination, but fate decreed otherwise. There was a shortage of men, and the command decided to keep him with the 39th Guards Rifle Division of the 62nd Army (commanded by Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov).
Pavel Lyubaev served in Stalingrad for a little more than a month, but that was more than enough. He fought on the sector between the Volga and the Krasny Oktyabr (Red October) factory. The fighting went on around the clock. The young lieutenant had to do everything — sit in the trenches, go on the attack, and catch enemy scouts. The soldiers drank water straight from the Volga. Many of them fell ill with typhoid fever, Pavel Lyubaev among them. The last thing that stayed in his memory was the storming of the Krasny Oktyabr factory.
That night the whirl of battle roared on, The gloomy, pockmarked sky reeled overhead. My friend got the better of death by a little And carried me out of the fighting all the same (8, p. 26).
Lyubaev regained consciousness in a hospital in Saratov, where he remained until March 1943. After the hospital the lieutenant received a three-month leave at home. He then continued his service as an operations officer of the SMERSH counterintelligence department of the 326th reserve regiment, 33rd Murom reserve rifle division, escorting twelve march echelons to the front. He had occasion to visit Poland, Hungary, and Germany. He ended the war in Berlin with the rank of senior lieutenant, and was discharged into the reserve in April 1946.
For his combat service Pavel Lyubaev was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class, and the medals "For Combat Merit," "For the Victory over Germany," and "For the Defense of Stalingrad."
Of the four Lyubaev brothers, three returned home from the war. Pavel's brother Alexei was killed near Moscow.
From 1946 to 1970 Pavel Kirillovich Lyubaev worked in the internal affairs bodies — as an operations officer of a district department (the settlement of Kovylkino, Mordovia), then senior operations officer, department head, and deputy head of the personnel department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Mordovia. In 1950 he graduated from the Kuibyshev Officer School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and in 1961, by correspondence, from Mordovia State University. In 1971 he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel of the internal service.
From the 1970s his active creative work began: he wrote articles for the newspapers Erzyanskaya Pravda and Po Leninskomu Puti, along with poetry and prose in Erzya and Russian. In 1981 Pavel Kirillovich received the title of Honored Writer of the Mordovian ASSR. He had already been admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR back in 1949.
In the 1980s and 1990s Lyubaev did a great deal of work as a member of the board of the Union of Writers of Mordovia and of the editorial board of the journal Syatko, and was actively engaged in translation. In 1995, for the 100th anniversary of the birth of S. Yesenin, he was awarded a jubilee medal "For a Great Contribution to Perpetuating the Poet's Memory" for his translations of Yesenin's poems into Erzya.
The Mordovian Book Publishing House issued many collections of P.K. Lyubaev's poems and narrative poems: Slovo Tovarishcha ["A Comrade's Word"] (1958), Golos Serdtsa ["Voice of the Heart"] (1961), Sosnovy Zvon ["Pine's Ringing"] (1967), Skvoz Svintsovye Vikhri ["Through Leaden Whirlwinds"] (1969), "Svetlaya Kaplya" ["A Bright Drop"] (1972), Zyorna Radosti ["Grains of Joy"] (1984), Poklon ["A Bow"] (2000) Photo, Poyasok ["A Little Belt"] (2001), Muzhestvo ["Courage"] (2004), Solntselikaya Ptitsa ["Sun-Faced Bird"] (2006).
Pavel Lyubaev's works were published in poetry anthologies issued in Moscow — 60 Let Sovetskoi Poezii ["60 Years of Soviet Poetry"] (1977), Pesnya, Stavshaya Knigoi ["A Song That Became a Book"] (1982), Pesni s Beregov Sury i Mokshi ["Songs from the Banks of the Sura and the Moksha"] (1988); in Leningrad — Bratstvo ["Brotherhood"] (1982); in Yoshkar-Ola — Svetlyachok ["Firefly"] (1976), and others.
Over the years P.K. Lyubaev's work appeared in the journals Neva, Volga, Zvezda, Avrora, and Sovetsky Voin; in the newspapers Literaturnaya Rossiya, Literaturnaya Gazeta, and Nizhegorodskaya Pravda. Periodicals in Mordovia, Tatarstan, Chuvashia, and Mari El regularly publish Pavel Lyubaev's poems.
The theme of the Great Patriotic War and the soldier's feat of heroism occupies a central place in his work. As a front-line poet, he considers it his duty to tell the present generation about the war that has passed. Photo
The harsh years of the great war, The piercing cold and moments of risk, It will all rise again – so far away and …so near (1, p. 10). In the works Pervy Patrul ["The First Patrol"], Postovoi ["The Sentry"], and others, the author speaks with admiration and love of people in the difficult and courageous profession of policing. In the poems Zelyonaya Zima ["Green Winter"], Vesenniy Sad ["Spring Garden"], Zhivoi Venok ["Living Wreath"], Belaya Bereza ["White Birch"], Dozhdik ["Little Rain"], Zimniy Les ["Winter Forest"], Maiskaya Noch ["May Night"], Cheryomukha ["Bird Cherry"], and others, the poet celebrates his native nature.
He devoted many poems to his native land — the Boldino region (Duby ["Oaks"], Boldino, Pikshen, and others).
And it is not for nothing that my loving soul Knows my native land down to every pebble… Here even winter seems green, And my home village — like a flower! (2, p. 27).
In 1994 the novella Pervaya Zvezda ["The First Star"] was published in the poet's native language, about Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Alekseyevich Pozharsky, a native of the town of Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Pavel Lyubaev had begun studying Ivan Pozharsky's biography back in the 1970s; he traveled to the Far East, met with his fellow soldiers, and visited Zaozyornaya Hill and Lake Khasan — the site where his fellow countryman and hero was killed.
Pavel Kirillovich dedicated several poems and the narrative poem Luchinnik to Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. Pavel Lyubaev never parted with a thin little book of the great poet's verse throughout the entire war. He carried it close to his heart, in the inside pocket of his tunic. Lyubaev considers this book his talisman. He is convinced that Pushkin's poems helped him get through the whole war and stay alive.
P.K. Lyubaev's poems have been translated into Russian, Hungarian, Uzbek, Moldovan, Mari, Tatar, Udmurt, and Chuvash. In 2004, by decision of the Board of the Russian Interregional Union of Writers, Lyubaev was awarded the G.R. Derzhavin Medal and the A.S. Pushkin Medal "For the Preservation of Traditions in Russian Literature"; in 2005, by decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, he received the M.A. Sholokhov Medal.
Pavel Kirillovich Lyubaev currently lives in the city of Saransk (Republic of Mordovia). Together with his wife Nina Petrovna, he raised three daughters — Valentina, Taisiya, and Natalya. Despite his advanced age he continues his creative work. His poems and stories are published in journals and newspapers.
In 2005, by decision of the Pikshen rural administration, the Pikshen rural library — a branch of the Bolsheboldinsky district central library system — was named after the poet Pavel Kirillovich Lyubaev, a native of the village of Pikshen. Naming the library after their famous fellow villager was the community's recognition of the extensive work the library had carried out over a number of years. Librarian Lyubov Petrovna Doronina gathered unique material about Pavel Kirillovich Lyubaev quite literally piece by piece. The library holds two photo albums with pictures of the poet from his childhood years, arranged by P.K. Lyubaev himself, Photo; an autobiography; and manuscripts. For many years L.P. Doronina has carried on a correspondence with the poet. These letters, too, are carefully kept in the library's archive.
Through Lyubov Petrovna's efforts an album of newspaper and magazine articles about Pavel Lyubaev's life and work, "Pevets Zemli Pikshenskoi" ["Singer of the Pikshen Land"], was compiled, and a small library of the poet's books from various years of publication was assembled. The library's special pride is 25 copies of his books bearing his personal inscriptions. The library's collection even includes his very first poetry collection, Za Mir ["For Peace"], published in 1950, a copy the author himself no longer has. Photo In the holdings of the Pikshen rural library are 60 books from the famous fellow villager's personal library, bearing his bookplate.
The library's work in promoting Pavel Lyubaev's writing is aimed mainly at the village's young audience. Literary sessions titled "Zhil Poet v Piksheni" ["A Poet Lived in Pikshen"] and poetry hours are held for schoolchildren and young people. P.K. Lyubaev is a frequent guest in his native village, and the library regularly arranges his meetings with the villagers. During the most recent annual festival "Erzyansky Bolshoi Den" ("Great Erzya Day") in the village of Pikshen, the writer lit the ancestral candle, with which, according to custom, the guests and participants of the festival walked around the festival grounds, as if to protect everyone present from misfortune and calamity. The villagers well remember the creative evening "Rodnoi Zemli Lyubimy iz Pevtsov" ["A Beloved Singer of the Native Land"], dedicated to P.K. Lyubaev's 80th birthday.
The evening was prepared and held jointly with the village House of Culture (SDK). In the lobby of the SDK, a book exhibition on P.K. Lyubaev's life and work, "Chelovek, Daryashchii Svet Svoei Dushi" ["A Man Who Gives the Light of His Soul"], was arranged, along with an exhibition of handmade works, "Prekrasnoe Svoimi Rukami" ["Beauty Made by Hand"] — embroidery, patchwork appliqué, crochet — by E.A. Pashkova, a resident of the village of Pikshen and a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. P.K. Lyubaev dedicated the poem "Frontovichka" ["Woman at the Front"] to her, and it was performed at the evening by the author himself. P.K. Lyubaev's former classmates spoke, sharing memories of their school years. Throughout the evening, poems and songs set to the poet's words were performed by members of the amateur arts ensemble.
The library actively promotes P.K. Lyubaev's literary legacy among its readers and the village's residents. A corner devoted to the poet's life and work has been set up there, and a permanent book exhibition, "Knigi iz Lichnoi Biblioteki P.K. Lyubaeva" ["Books from P.K. Lyubaev's Personal Library"], has been arranged. Book exhibitions devoted to his life and work are arranged regularly. For the guide exhibition "Zdravstvuite, My Rady Vas Videt" ["Hello, We're Glad to See You"], the poet sends in publications of his works from periodicals in Erzya.
The library takes part in gathering material on the history of the village and its people for a book that P.K. Lyubaev is writing. For the poet's 90th birthday, marked in December 2009, the library, together with the SDK, held an evening for the villagers titled "Chelovek, Kotorym My Gordimsya" ["A Man We Are Proud Of"]. Sources:
Works by P.K. Lyubaev
1. Lyubaev P.K. Golos Serdtsa [Voice of the Heart] ⁄ translated from Erzya-Mordvin by V. Yushkin. — Saransk: Mordovian Book Publishers, 1961. — 76 pp. 2. Lyubaev P.K. Zyorna Radosti [Grains of Joy]: poems, narrative poems. — Saransk: Mordovian Book Publishers, 1984. — 72 pp. 3. Lyubaev P.K. Muzhestvo [Courage]: selected poems, ballads, narrative poems, a documentary-literary novella. — Saransk: Mordovian Book Publishers, 2005. — 176 pp. 4. Lyubaev P. Poyasok [A Little Belt]: selected works. — Saransk: Mordovian Book Publishers, 2001. — 132 pp. 5. Lyubaev P.K. Skvoz Svintsovye Vikhri [Through Leaden Whirlwinds]: Poems ⁄ translated from Erzya-Mordvin by I. Pinyaev. — Saransk: Mordovian Book Publishers, 1969. — 59 pp.
6. Lyubaev P. Solntselikaya Ptitsa [Sun-Faced Bird]. — Saransk: Mordovian Book Publishers, 2006. — 152 pp. 7. Lyubaev P. Shinel [The Greatcoat]. V Sele Aksha [In the Village of Aksha]. Belaya Bereza [White Birch] ⁄ translated from Erzya-Mordvin by V. Yushkin, A. Terentyev ⁄⁄ Pesnya, Stavshaya Knigoi: Rozhdyonnaya Oktyabrem Poeziya [A Song That Became a Book: Poetry Born of October]. — Moscow, 1982. — Pp. 412-413. 8. Pavel Lyubaev ⁄⁄ Pesni s Beregov Sury i Mokshi [Songs from the Banks of the Sura and the Moksha]: poems and narrative poems ⁄ translated from Mordvin by L. Dubaev and others; illustrated by V. Grigoryev. — Moscow, 1988. — Pp. 4-55.
About P.K. Lyubaev
9. Ishenin M. Osobyi Otdel: Neizvestnaya Voina [Special Department: An Unknown War] ⁄⁄ Gorod Moi (Saransk, Republic of Mordovia). — 2003. — 12 Feb. 10. Korchiganov O. S Pushkinym On Ne Rasstayotsya [He Never Parts with Pushkin] ⁄⁄ Shchit i Mech [Shield and Sword]. — 2004. — 29 April-12 May. — P. 7. 11. Lyubaev P.K. ⁄⁄ Kratkaya Literaturnaya Entsiklopediya [Concise Literary Encyclopedia]. In 9 volumes: vol. 9. — Moscow, 1978. — P. 496.