TRANSCAUCASIAN PERIODICAL PRESS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF V. V. KAMENSKII (1916–1920)

The article deals with the 140th anniversary of the birth of Vasilii Kamenskii (1884–1961) — a Futurist poet, prose writer, actor, aviator and painter. His multifaceted activities in Tiflis, Baku, Kutaisi, Batumi in 1916–1920 are presented here, mainly drawing on the reports in the Transcauca- sian periodical press. In these cities, he gave a number of lectures mostly on Futurism, performed in the circus of Yesikovsky Brothers, widely interacted with Armenian, Georgian literary milieu. In Tiflis, he published a collection of poems Barefoot Girls and the long poem Tsuvamma as a separate book. In November 1919, the 10th anniversary of Kamenskii’s literary career was celebrated in Tiflis, and essays on his work were published in the periodical press. The interest of the broad public of Tiflis, Batumi, Kutaisi and Baku in the art of Kamenskii and especially in his work Stenka Razin has not faded throughout the years, which makes him one of the first Russian literary figures to leave a noticeable trace in the Transcaucasian literary environment.