Nikolai Nikolaevich Wentzel was a Russian writer, poet, and translator. His humorous and satirical works were published in liberal-Narodnik literary and political newspapers Nedeli, Russkaya Mysl, and others, but most often in Novoye Vremya, in which he wrote about fiction novelties. He was also a member of the "K.K. Sluchevsky's Evening's" poets club.
Background
Nikolai Nikolaevich Wentzel was born on December 30, 1855 (January 11, 1856) into a noble family in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation. He was the brother of the famous teacher and philosopher K.N. Wentzel. His father, an active state councilor, having graduated from the university, performed the duties of chief clerk for Saint Petersburg Governor-General's Chancellery. The family moved frequently with his father's duty assignments. They lived in Odessa, Warsaw, Vilna, and Saint Petersburg.
Education
Nikolai Nikolaevich studied at the Saint Petersburg Gymnasium No. 1 and at the Warsaw Gymnasium No. 6. In 1874 he entered the Medical-Surgical Academy, a year later he switched to the Natural Department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Saint Petersburg Imperial University, and then to the Faculty of Law.
After graduating in 1881, Nikolai Nikolaevich was enlisted as a candidate for judicial positions at the Moscow District Court. Since 1883, he served as an assistant to the sworn attorney; in 1885 he left the practice of law due to illness. He subsequently lived in Kiev and Saint Petersburg. Since 1888, Nikolai Nikolaevich served as a clerk in the Ministry of Railways, and then as a special assignment official in the office of the Ministry of Railways from 1899. With the rank of full state adviser, he retired in 1914.
Wentzel’s earliest publication was a translation of the poems of the Belarusian-Polish poet V. Syrokomlya Illiterate in the Pchela magazine (No. 7, 1877). Then his own poems were published in magazines, such as Pchela, Strekoza, and Zvezda. From 1881 to 1886, he translated opera libretto. Nikolai Nikolaevich together with S.I. Mamontov wrote the play Scarlet Rose.
Since 1888, Nikolai Nikolaevich regularly published his feuilletons under the general title Life Sketches in the Nedelya newspaper (he used the pseudonym N.V.). His first major work was the novel In the Hope of Glory and Goodness ... (Knizhki Nedeli, No. 2-4,1893), which reflected the author’s legal experience. The novel The Seeker of New Experiences, which tells about the life of the Moscow merchants, was published in 1896 (Knizhki Nedeli, No. 6-12; 1896). A large number of Wentzel’s stories and novels were included in his collection Someone Else's Life (Saint Petersburg, 1900). He has published in the Dennitsa almanac, in the magazines, such as Zhizn, Sever, Novaya Illustratsiya, Russkaya Mysl, Slovo, and in the Birzhevyie Vedomosti. Nikolai Nikolaevich was an observant chronicler; a great mocker, according to A.P. Chekhov. Many of his realistic sketches are distinguished for their anecdotal plot.
From 1899 to 1919, Nikolai Nikolaevich was a member of the "K.K. Sluchevsky's Evenings" poets club and later became its chairman. His works were also published in Sluchevsky's magazine Slovtso (1899-1900). He wrote mostly epigrams and occasional poems. In 1901, he wrote the fable Victorious Pigeons regarding the ex-communication of Leo Tolstoy, which was distributed in foreign publications without attribution. Since the early 1900s, he regularly published his satirical poems on topical issues, as well as his reviews of literary novelties and Russian literature in the Novoye Vremya newspaper (under the pseudonym N. Yuryin). The irony and skepticism of Wentzel’s poetry fit well into the format both for Novoye Vremya and for the revolutionary anthology V Borbe, which included the fable Four Suits (issue No 1, Saint Petersburg, 1906). Nikolai Nikolaevich gained a reputation as a master of punning rhyme. The merits of his poetry were noted by R.M. Rilke (letter to P.D. Oettinger dated November 10, 1900) and A.A. Blok (VI, 313).
Nikolai Nikolaevich first acted as a playwright in the 1890s, presenting to the world his comedies On Suggestion (1895) and Hamburg Beefsteak (1896). In 1904 he wrote the play Madame Europe’s Sister, which was staged at the Novoye Vremya editorial office and which is considered one of the first plays in the genre of political satire, performed on stage. After 1908, Nikolai Nikolaevich was the regular author of the Krivoye Zerkalo theater. His parody of the symbolic drama genre titled The Mockery of Mr. Ivanov (Saint Petersburg, 1912) was his greatest success and was played more than 50 times in one season. He also wrote parodies of specific works, for example, Mussy Stream (Teatralnaya Gazeta, 1905, January 22) to the sensational play by A.I. Kosorotov Spring Stream. The most characteristic of Wentzel’s satirical dramaturgy is the allegory Gishpan Castle (Saint Petersburg, 1907), written for the Maly Theater in Saint Petersburg. He also wrote some poems for children and the dramatic tale "The One Who Never Smiled" (Saint Petersburg, 1912).
After the October Revolution, Nikolai Nikolaevich worked briefly in the theater department of the People's Commissariat of Education.
Achievements
Connections
Nikolai Nikolaevich Wentzel was married to Maria Ilyinichna Wentzel (nee Puzyrevskaya). They had 4 sons (Yuri, Vladimir, Lev, and Evgeny) and 2 daughters (Galina and Tatyana). Yuri Wentzel was a famous playwright in the 1920s and wrote plays under the pseudonym Yuri Nikolaevich Yuryin. He died of tuberculosis in Italy in 1927, and his wife Ekaterina Maksimova subsequently married the famous Soviet intelligence officer Richard Sorge.