Poet, rebel and genius. His poems are still recognizable in love, and his scandals are legendary. Sergei Yesenin, the main hooligan of Russian literature and a regular in the capital’s taverns, more than once became the hero of high-profile stories. More than 10 criminal cases on his account, fights with the police and drunken antics on the streets of the city.
Despite the fact that Yesenin romantically reassures in the verse that he “for the first time gave up on scandal”, in reality everything was a little different. He earned himself the title of mischievous rebel immediately after moving to Moscow. And at the entrance to the Poets’ Cage, his trousers hung with the signature: “Clouds bark, golden-toothed heights roar … I sing and shout: God, calf.”
Today, October 3, on the occasion of the 127th anniversary of the birth of the Moscow hooligan, we are talking about his most high-profile scandals.
An interrupted performance at the Maly Theater
As a creative person, Yesenin often spent time in the theater. And it’s not just his interest in new productions. One day in 1924, the poet went backstage during a performance and started drinking beer in one of the dressing rooms with a friend. When the actress returned, she politely asked them to leave, but was refused. Then he called the police. Seeing the representatives of the law, Yesenin tried to escape and managed to fight several theater workers along the way.
3000 women
They say that Yesenin once boasted to a friend that he had 3,000 women, and that this could not be true. Then the poet said: “Well, 300, well, 30.” Of course, we will no longer know the exact number of Yesenin’s women, but it is an indisputable fact that there were many of them in the poet’s life.
Romance with Isadora Duncan
One of the poet’s most striking novels is his reunion with the American dancer Isadora Duncan. Despite the huge age difference – 18 years – and the language barrier (Isadora did not know Russian, Yesenin did not speak English), from the first day they met, they pretended to have known each other for a very long time. . Soon, Yesenin moved to the Duncan mansion, and in 1922 they got married and immediately left for Europe and America. True, a year later their romance ended: Isadora left for America, and Yesenin remained in Moscow. After the poet wrote to his ex-girlfriend: “I love someone else. Married. Happy. Yesenin.
Anti-Semitic scandal in America
America was not without scandal. Traveling with Isadora Duncan in the New World, she encountered a major anti-Semitic scandal. At an evening hosted by Mani Leib at the beginning of 1923, Yesenin read “Land of the Low” and said “Jew” instead of “Jew”. After such a “reservation”, the public revolted, but the poet still did not apologize.
Poems written in blood
The poet wrote his last poem in blood. They say that Yesenin was angry when he entered the Angleterre hotel room: “There is not even ink in this terrible hotel!” Therefore, Yesenin had to use his blood. Many contemporaries believed that the poet predicted death, and this poem was a kind of farewell.
Source: People Talk
I’m Roger Gritton, and I’ve been writing for the The Fashion Vibes for over 5 years now. My specialty is beauty news; I’m passionate about covering the latest trends, products, and innovations in the industry. In my time there, I’ve become known as an authority on all things beauty-related.
I love discovering new experts to interview, researching up-and-coming ingredients and techniques that are making their way onto our beauty shelves and highlighting people who are making a difference in the world of cosmetics. My work has appeared not only on The Fashion Vibes, but also several other publications including the New York Times Magazine, Allure Magazine and Refinery29.
