Sasha Chorny (real name Oleksandr Mykhailovych Glikberg) was a poet of the Silver Age, a prose writer, and a journalist who gained wide recognition as the author of lyrical and satirical poetic feuilletons.
Early years and formation
Sasha Chorny, born Oleksandr Glikberg, was born on October 1, 1880 (October 13, New Style), in Odesa, into a Jewish family. His father, Mendel Davydovych, was a certified pharmacist, and his mother, Maryam Meyerivna, came from a merchant family. Sasha’s childhood passed in a vibrant courtyard at 74 Rishelievska Street, not far from the famous Pryvoz market, where he often played with his brothers.
When it was time to attend gymnasium, his father sent him to relatives in Bila Tserkva. At first, he was not admitted due to quotas for Jewish children, but after being baptized, he was accepted the following year. Later, he studied in Zhytomyr, living with a foster family on Velyka Berdychivska Street, where he also worked. It was in Zhytomyr that Sasha first felt himself to be a poet writing for others.
His studies were difficult: after several expulsions from gymnasiums in Bila Tserkva and Zhytomyr, he was left without means of support. The situation changed thanks to the official Konstantin Konstantinovich Roshe, who became his guardian and arranged for him to enter the Second Zhytomyr Gymnasium. However, he was expelled from there as well “without the right of re-admission,” most likely because of satirical verses about the headmaster.
Beginning of literary career and St. Petersburg
After his expulsion, Sasha joined the army, serving as a volunteer (volnoopredelyayushchiysya) while continuing to write poetry. After completing his service, he returned to Zhytomyr and began publishing in newspapers thanks to Roshe’s support. In June 1904, he made his debut as a feuilletonist in the Zhytomyr newspaper Volynskiy Vestnik. After the newspaper closed in July, he moved to Saint Petersburg, where he became an official in the Collections Service, whose head of office was Maria Ivanovna Vasilyeva, an intelligent and educated woman.

In 1905, he entered into a civil marriage with her and went on a honeymoon trip to Italy. This union proved strong despite the age difference (Maria Ivanovna was nine years older) and differences in social status; she introduced Chorny to literary circles and supported his self-education.

In Saint Petersburg, he changed his pseudonym from “Sam po sebe” (“By Himself”) to Sasha Chorny.
Satirical and children’s works
At the beginning of the 20th century, Sasha Chorny wrote sharp satirical works. After the publication of his poem “Nonsense” in 1905, the editor-in-chief of the journal nearly faced trial, and the poet and his wife temporarily left for Germany. There they became acquainted with the country’s culture and attended lectures at Heidelberg University.
After returning to St. Petersburg, he published in magazines such as Zritel, Strekoza, and Satirikon, where he was considered the “king of poets.” In 1911, he left Satirikon and began writing for children in the almanac Zhar-Ptitsa. His ability to write for children later helped him survive financially in difficult times. Sasha Chorny had no children of his own.
World War I
At the beginning of World War I, the poet volunteered for the front: first serving with his wife in a field hospital, then becoming an assistant to General Huber, and later working in a hospital in Gatchina. The war left a deep mark on his life and worldview; he considered it the greatest tragedy for humanity.
Emigration and final years
After the October Revolution, Sasha Chorny categorically rejected the new власти (new regime). In 1918, he and his wife left for Lithuania, and two years later he obtained a German visa and moved to Berlin, where he continued writing, including children’s books, and became an active participant in the literary life of the German capital.

His wife recalled: “In Berlin we lived for about three years, and both of us were overwhelmed with work that was well paid. Sasha was fascinated by publishing, and I, thanks to my Vilnius students who had wealthy relatives and acquaintances in Berlin, was overwhelmed with lessons” (Memoirs of M. I. Glikberg, p. 242).

After the beginning of the economic crisis in Germany, Chorny and his wife moved to Italy, where they lived from May 1923 to March 1924 in the house of A. I. Veligoroskaya. According to the poet’s wife’s memoirs, his understanding of Italy and Rome was greatly enriched by walks through the city accompanied by P. P. Muratov, the well-known Slavist Ettore Lo Gatto, and the Pakistani poet Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy (1890–1965). Roman impressions were reflected in the lyrical and humorous miniatures “From a Roman Notebook” and “Roman Etchings,” later published in Paris.

Despite relatively favorable living conditions in Italy, Sasha Chorny experienced creative isolation there: “There are no Russian children’s magazines, no almanacs either. <...> there are no books here, not a single familiar soul. In general, it’s like a cellar.”

In March 1924, Chorny moved to Paris, where he collaborated with periodicals, organized literary evenings, performed his poetry, and published one children’s book after another. In 1929, using earnings from these books, he purchased a small estate overlooking the sea in southern France, in the area of La Favière near Bormes-les-Mimosas, where a group of émigrés had jointly bought land. There he built a house that was visited by many writers, artists, and musicians, and he spent the final period of his life there.
Sasha Chorny was buried at the cemetery in Le Lavandou, where in the late 1970s a memorial plaque was installed in his memory — the grave itself, which had long gone unpaid, was lost.
His wife and muse, Maria Ivanovna, died in 1961; they left no heirs.