Guest Author - Marianne Gibson

Ever heard of Sergei Yesenin? If you’re not from Russia, the chances are you haven’t. But this wasn’t always the case. The early 20th century poet not only held a nation transfixed with his words, but caught the attention of the whole world with his high-living, roller-coaster existence.

So who was he? Born in 1895 to a peasant family in the Ryazan region, he spent his childhood among the fields and forests of the Russian land, which he professed such love for, and from which much of his poetry springs. This didn’t stop him heading for the bright lights of the city however, and at 17 he set off for Moscow. His mother intended him to become a teacher and return to his native village of Konstantinovo, but the ambitious young poet had other ideas, taking him by 1915 to Petrograd and the literary capital of Russia where admirers and sponsors awaited. Here he was lauded as a lyrical ‘peasant poet’ by contemporaries and dressed up in traditional costume to perform his poetry.

Vibrant, prolific, unique – and that was just his love life. Yesenin got through an impressive 5 wives in his short life, including the famous American dancer, Isadora Duncan, who did not speak Russian (nor he English). 17 years older than him, doubtless she wanted to nurture his talent, but ended up funding his wild lifestyle. Yesenin undertook a tour of Europe and The US with Isadora, but was horribly homesick and returned to the Soviet Union.

Why were the ladies so smitten? Sergei was real pin-up of his time, possessing good looks and charm to spare, at least when he wasn’t too drunk. As well as the marriages, it is said that the golden-locked poet had a long list of lovers, according to some, of both genders.

These were turbulent times politically of course, and it’s interesting that Yesenin managed to find favour with both the old establishment and, for a time with the new Soviet regime. What were his views? As a real representative of the peasant class, the promise of a new egalitarian dawn clearly excited and inspired him. However quickly enough he realized the view was not so rosy as he’d supposed. He certainly never consented to become a political puppet.

So how did he meet his end? Always a chaotic personality, as the 1920s wore on Yesenin’s life seemed to spiral out of control. He became increasingly gloomy and isolated from those who cared about him, and continued to go on wild drinking sprees with hangers-on. Eventually, in 1925 he hanged himself from a pipe in a room at the hotel Angleterre, St Petersburg, leaving behind him a suicide note written in his own blood.

Or did he? The 2005 dramatization of his life for Russia’s Channel One gave an alternative possibility, a killing in the midst of political intrigue. It’s certainly true that Yesenin’s work was banned during the Stalin years, but is this grounds for suspicion? I’d certainly love to know what the maker of that series do.