135th anniversary of Mikhail Bulgakov’s birth: how the National Centre RUSSIA preserves the writer’s memory

15 May marks the 135th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov, one of the most widely read Russian writers of the 20th century. His novels, novellas and plays have long gone beyond Russian literature and become part of the world’s cultural code. "The Master and Margarita", "Heart of a Dog", "The White Guard", "The Days of the Turbins" — these titles are familiar even to those who have not yet discovered them. Bulgakov is quoted, adapted for the screen, staged in theatres and republished in millions of copies. Most importantly, however, people continue to read and reread him, finding new meanings each time.

The writer’s own life was no less dramatic than the plots of his books. Born in Kiev into the family of a professor at the Theological Academy, he chose medicine as his profession and worked in frontline hospitals during the First World War. Then came his practice in the village of Nikolskoye, a difficult recovery from typhus and, finally, his move to Moscow, where his true literary life began. It was here that he wrote "The White Guard", "Heart of a Dog" and, of course, "The Master and Margarita", the novel that was not published during the author’s lifetime but ultimately brought him worldwide fame.

"Manuscripts don’t burn" — this phrase from "The Master and Margarita" proved prophetic not only for the novel’s protagonist, but also for the writer himself. He experienced persecution, censorship and bans on his works, but never stopped writing. The play "The Days of the Turbins" was enthusiastically received by audiences, while critics branded the author for his "wrong ideology". In 1930, driven to despair by the bans, Bulgakov wrote a letter to the government of the USSR, pleading either to be allowed to work or to leave the country. Stalin personally answered him by telephone, and soon afterwards the writer was hired by the Moscow Art Theatre as an assistant director.

Mikhail Bulgakov worked on his main novel for a total of 12 years, rewriting it, burning early versions and starting again. He already understood that the work was unlikely to be published in the USSR, yet he stubbornly continued to bring the text to perfection. Even when he was already terminally ill, he dictated the final edits to his wife. The novel was published only a quarter of a century after the author’s death — first in the magazine "Moskva" in abridged form, and later in full abroad. Since then, "The Master and Margarita" has remained one of the most quoted books in Russia and around the world.

Today’s Moscow preserves the memory of Mikhail Bulgakov in dozens of places: from the "bad apartment" on Bolshaya Sadovaya Street to Patriarch’s Ponds, where Woland met Berlioz and Bezdomny. Preserving the writer’s creative legacy is also an important part of the mission of the National Centre RUSSIA. Mikhail Bulgakov was discussed more than once at the International RUSSIA EXPO, where a screen adaptation of his famous novel was also presented. Drawing considerable inspiration from the master’s legacy, the National Centre RUSSIA, together with the Union of Writers of Russia, established the annual Russian Science Fiction Literary Award. Bulgakov’s works have been discussed by experts and audiences as part of the "What to Read?!" Literary Club. The house where the writer lived in the 1930s also became an important point on one of the original walking routes around Moscow prepared by the National Centre’s guides.