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 entered the army as a volunteer while continuing to write poetry. After completing his service, he returned to Zhytomyr and began publishing in newspapers with Roshe’s support: his first poems appeared on June 1, 1904, in the newspaper Volynsky Vestnik. Later, Roshe helped him move to St. Petersburg, where Sasha worked on the St. Petersburg–Warsaw Railway and changed his pseudonym from “Sam po sebe” (“By himself”) to Sasha Chorny.
In St. Petersburg, he gradually entered literary circles thanks to Roshe’s niece, Olena, who introduced him to prominent writers. His personal life also turned out happily: he married Maria Ivanovna Vasilyeva, an интеллигент woman nine years older than him, who supported his творчество and created comfortable conditions for his work.
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 категорично rejected the 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. Later, they moved to France, purchased land near Bormes-les-Mimosas, and built a house overlooking the sea.
When a fire broke out on a nearby farm, the poet, along with other neighbors, helped to extinguish it. Having inhaled carbon monoxide, he died of a heart attack on August 5, 1939, at the age of 51.
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.