A.M. Gorky's German period in V.F. Khodasevich's reconstruction

The German period (1921-1924) occupies a special place in the relationship between A.M. Gorky and V.F. Khodasevich. This period of Gorky’s life appears to be the least studied one. Gorky played an important part in Germany’s sociocultural and literary space, and even though his German environment was quite expansive, V.F. Khodasevich held a special palce in it. By studying his interactions with Gorky, we can recreate important parts of the writer’s German period, as Khodasevich’s “Gorky text” is important for filling gaps in our knowledge. Despite the differences in their lives, the scope of their talents, their age and their views, both literary and political, Khodasevich remained one of the closest people to Gorky during emigration. Their communication lasted for 7 years, and the German period took place from 1922 till 1924. It was Gorky who influenced Khodasevich to start taking part in emigrant publishing, and this is only one of numerous ways in which Gorky assisted in organizing the mediaspace of foreign Russia. Khodasevich was not only a participant, but also the first historian of Gorky’s important enterprise, the journal “Beseda” (1923). And in turn, the end of the story of this journal also turned out to be the end of their relationship. In spite of this, Khodasevich objectively and meticulously covered the important moments of Gorky’s life in emigration. His impressions and estimations, along with Gorky’s text, play the central part in reconstructing Gorky’s life during his Geman period.