Angels and Demons: Andrey Bely, Valery Bryusov, Nina Petrovskaya

The names of Valery Bryusov and Andrei Bely, symbolist poets of the Silver Age, are well known far beyond literacy scene. But who is Nina Petrovskaya? And what role did she play in the life of the literary society of the 20th century?

The life of the literary elite of the early 20th century is unimaginable without the wife and assistant of the owner of the Grif publishing house, Nina Petrovskaya. A member of the circle of Argonauts, hostess of a literary salon, and aspiring writer, she was charming, pleasant, and "quite intelligent", according to the poet Alexander Blok. Vladislav Khodasevich said that Nina "immediately conceived a desire to act out her life" and did so "more skilfully and more decisively than others".

In the glorious whirlwind of the Moscow life of that time, Nina played a prominent role. She was welcomed with open arms by Moscow bohemia in an atmosphere of general enthusiasm for cards, spiritualism and the cult of erotica disguised as mystical service to the Beautiful Lady. Unsurprisingly, the poet Andrey Bely who was revered as a brilliant genius, an angel, and sometimes a prophet began to show interest in her. However, their relationships did not last long. Bely was criticised that his muse was too earthy and he was believed to be destined for pure, sublime love. The poet decided to come out of this relationship. Since then he did not want to hear anything about Nina.  She considered this breakup as a life or death matter and decided to take her revenge on Bely. This is how Bely described that evening:

 ‘She [...] pointed a revolver at me, she was about to shoot. I didn't move. I stood before her onstage, arms outstretched, and waited. I was waiting for death. But she didn't shoot me. She pointed the revolver at Bryusov. And he, like a leopard — and where does such dexterity skill come from in him, clumsy and frail? — jumped off the stage and snatched the revolver out of her hand. She managed to fire, but the bullet hit the ceiling. No one was killed. No one was injured.’

It is said that it was Valery Bryusov, a gloomy poet whose mystical abilities were widely rumoured, who gave Nina the very same revolver she used to shot Andrey Bely. The demonic character writer won Nina's heart. She could not understand what she loved more: him, his works or his magical abilities. Bryusov dedicated the novel “The Fiery Angel” to Petrovskaya, the main character of which was remarkably similar to her. Nina tried to imitate the imaginary Renata in everything. She even converted to Catholicism.

During the lecture, you will find out what happened next to Nina Petrovskaya and the main character of Bryusov's novel.

The meeting will be held online in Russian with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

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