The life of Russian émigrés was not easy: the lack of a mass reader and difficult financial situation forced them to seek additional sources of income. One of the most popular options was to participate in meet-and-greets.
The museum houses an invitation to Ivan Bunin’s meet-and-greet held on December 21, 1923. The letterhead has the writer’s autograph on it. The event was held at the Majestic Hotel on Kléber Avenue.
The hotel was opened in 1908, but with the outbreak of World War I, the army used the premises as a military hospital. It reopened in 1916 and became one of the major destinations for Parisians. The management rented out spacious halls for various events, and some of the meetings went down in history. Thus, in June 1921, the European Congress of the All-Russian National Union was held at Majestic.
The halls of the hotel were used for meet-and-greets with Russian writers — Alexander Kuprin, Boris Zaitsev, Konstantin Balmont, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius. Ivan Bunin also participated in public readings and read some of his works there.
On Friday, December 21, 1923, at 9 p.m., the Majestic Hotel hosted one of these events. The Great Hall was packed. Bunin read four stories with great success: “Of Yemelya the Fool”, which appeared in the “Okno” (Window) almanac, and unpublished stories “In the Night Sea”, “The Devouring Fire”, and “The Belated Spring”.
Literary experts conventionally combine the last three stories into one collection, along with two other works — “The Unknown Friend” and “Once upon a time”. Bunin wrote them in 1923 when he settled in the south of France. At the end of each of the five texts he deliberately indicated the place of creation — “Alpes-Maritimes”. Later, Bunin permanently lived in Grasse, so he did not leave any geographical markers. Scholars agree that these five stories are united by a particularly lyrical sadness for the homeland while living in a foreign land. This personal emotion of Bunin can also be traced in some of the characters in the Alpes-Maritimes cycle.
In the early years of emigration, Ivan Bunin read to the visitors of his creative evenings not only his works, but also lectures. A few months before the December meeting at the Majestic, he gave a lecture titled “Count Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy. (Old and Modern Poetry)”, and on February 16 of the following year he gave a keynote speech “The Mission of Russian Emigration”.
The museum houses an invitation to Ivan Bunin’s meet-and-greet held on December 21, 1923. The letterhead has the writer’s autograph on it. The event was held at the Majestic Hotel on Kléber Avenue.
The hotel was opened in 1908, but with the outbreak of World War I, the army used the premises as a military hospital. It reopened in 1916 and became one of the major destinations for Parisians. The management rented out spacious halls for various events, and some of the meetings went down in history. Thus, in June 1921, the European Congress of the All-Russian National Union was held at Majestic.
The halls of the hotel were used for meet-and-greets with Russian writers — Alexander Kuprin, Boris Zaitsev, Konstantin Balmont, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius. Ivan Bunin also participated in public readings and read some of his works there.
On Friday, December 21, 1923, at 9 p.m., the Majestic Hotel hosted one of these events. The Great Hall was packed. Bunin read four stories with great success: “Of Yemelya the Fool”, which appeared in the “Okno” (Window) almanac, and unpublished stories “In the Night Sea”, “The Devouring Fire”, and “The Belated Spring”.
Literary experts conventionally combine the last three stories into one collection, along with two other works — “The Unknown Friend” and “Once upon a time”. Bunin wrote them in 1923 when he settled in the south of France. At the end of each of the five texts he deliberately indicated the place of creation — “Alpes-Maritimes”. Later, Bunin permanently lived in Grasse, so he did not leave any geographical markers. Scholars agree that these five stories are united by a particularly lyrical sadness for the homeland while living in a foreign land. This personal emotion of Bunin can also be traced in some of the characters in the Alpes-Maritimes cycle.
In the early years of emigration, Ivan Bunin read to the visitors of his creative evenings not only his works, but also lectures. A few months before the December meeting at the Majestic, he gave a lecture titled “Count Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy. (Old and Modern Poetry)”, and on February 16 of the following year he gave a keynote speech “The Mission of Russian Emigration”.
