Mayakovsky cause of death official version. Death of remarkable people: Vladimir Mayakovsky

On April 14, 1930, in Moscow, in Lubyansky Proezd, a shot was fired in the workroom of Vladimir Mayakovsky. The debate over whether the poet died voluntarily or was killed has not subsided to this day. One of its participants talks about the masterly investigation of experts,
Professor of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy Alexander Vasilievich Maslov.

Versions and facts

On April 14, 1930, Krasnaya Gazeta reported: “Today at 10:17 a.m. in his work room, Vladimir Mayakovsky committed suicide with a revolver shot to the heart area. Arrived " ambulance“I found him already dead. IN last days V.V. Mayakovsky did not reveal any mental discord and nothing foreshadowed a catastrophe.”

In the afternoon the body was transported to the poet’s apartment on Gendrikov Lane. The death mask was removed by sculptor K. Lutsky, and poorly - he tore off the face of the deceased. Employees of the Brain Institute extracted Mayakovsky’s brain, which weighed 1,700. On the very first day at the prezector’s clinic of the Faculty of Medicine of Moscow State University, pathologist Professor Talalay performed an autopsy on the body, and on the night of April 17, a re-autopsy took place: due to rumors that the poet allegedly had venereal disease, which were not confirmed. Then the body was cremated.

As with Yesenin, Mayakovsky's suicide caused different reactions and many versions. One of the “targets” was the 22-year-old Moscow Art Theater actress Veronica Polonskaya. It is known that Mayakovsky asked her to become his wife. She was the one last person who saw the poet alive. However, the testimony of the actress, apartment neighbors and investigative data indicate that the shot rang out immediately after Polonskaya left Mayakovsky’s room. That means she couldn't shoot.

The version that Mayakovsky, not in a figurative, but in a literal sense, “lay down with his head on the gun”, put a bullet in his head, does not stand up to criticism. The poet’s brain has been preserved to this day and, as the staff of the Brain Institute rightly reported in those days, “by external examination, the brain does not present any significant deviations from the norm.”

Several years ago, in the program “Before and After Midnight,” the famous television journalist Vladimir Molchanov suggested that post-mortem photography traces of TWO shots are clearly visible on Mayakovsky’s chest.

This dubious hypothesis was dispelled by another journalist, V. Skoryatin, who conducted a thorough investigation. There was only one shot, but he also believes that Mayakovsky was shot. Specifically, the head of the secret department of the OGPU, Agranov, with whom, by the way, the poet was friends: hiding in the back room and waiting for Polonskaya to leave, Agranov enters the office, kills the poet, leaves a suicide letter and again goes out into the street by the back door. And then he goes up to the scene as a security officer. The version is interesting and almost fits into the laws of that time. However, without knowing it, the journalist unexpectedly helped the experts. Mentioning the shirt the poet was wearing at the time of the shot, he writes: “I examined it. And even with the help of a magnifying glass I did not find any traces of a powder burn. There is nothing on her except a brown blood stain.” So the shirt was preserved!

Poet's shirt

Indeed, in the mid-50s, L.Yu. Brik, who had the poet’s shirt, donated it to the State Museum of V.V. Mayakovsky - the relic was kept in a box and was wrapped in paper impregnated with a special composition. On the left side of the front of the shirt there is a through wound, with dried blood visible around it. Surprisingly, this “material evidence” was not examined either in 1930 or later. And how much controversy there was around the photographs!
Having received permission to conduct the research, I, without revealing the essence of the matter, showed the shirt to a major specialist in forensic ballistics, E.G. Safronsky, who immediately made a “diagnosis”: “Entry bullet damage, most likely a point-blank shot.”

Having learned that the shot was fired more than 60 years ago, Safronsky noted that such examinations were not carried out in the USSR at that time. An agreement was reached: specialists from the Federal Center for Forensic Expertise, where the shirt was transferred, would not know that it belonged to the poet - for the purity of the experiment.

So, a beige-pink shirt made of cotton fabric is subject to research. There are 4 mother-of-pearl buttons on the front placket. The back of the shirt from the collar to the bottom is cut with scissors, as evidenced by the ledge-shaped edges of the cut and the straight ends of the threads. But it is not enough to assert that this particular shirt, bought by the poet in Paris, was on him at the time of the shot. In photographs of Mayakovsky’s body taken at the scene of the incident, the fabric pattern, texture, shape and location of the blood stain and gunshot wound are clearly visible. When the museum shirt was photographed from the same angle, magnification and photo alignment was carried out, all the details coincided.

Experts from the Federal Center had a difficult job to do - to find traces of a shot on the shirt that was more than 60 years old and to establish its distance. And in forensic medicine and criminology there are three of them: a point-blank shot, at close range and at long range. Linear cross-shaped damage characteristic of a point-blank shot was discovered (they arise from the action of gases reflected from the body at the moment the tissue is destroyed by the projectile), as well as traces of gunpowder, soot and scorching both in the damage itself and in adjacent areas of the tissue.

But it was necessary to identify a number of stable signs, for which the diffusion-contact method was used, which does not destroy the shirt. It is known: when a shot is fired, a hot cloud flies out along with the bullet, then the bullet gets ahead of it and flies away further. If they shot from a long distance, the cloud did not reach the object; if from a close distance, the gas-powder suspension should have settled on the shirt. It was necessary to investigate the complex of metals that make up the bullet shell of the proposed cartridge.

The resulting impressions showed an insignificant amount of lead in the damaged area, and practically no copper was detected. But thanks to the diffuse-contact method of determining antimony (one of the components of the capsule composition), it was possible to establish a large zone of this substance with a diameter of about 10 mm around the damage with a topography characteristic of a shot at the side. Moreover, the sectoral deposition of antimony indicated that the muzzle was pressed against the shirt at an angle. And intense metallization on the left side is a sign of a shot being fired from right to left, almost in a horizontal plane, with a slight downward inclination.

From the “Conclusion” of the experts:

"1. The damage on V.V. Mayakovsky’s shirt is an entrance gunshot wound, formed when fired from a “side rest” distance in the direction from front to back and slightly from right to left, almost in a horizontal plane.

2. Judging by the characteristics of the damage, a short-barreled weapon (for example, a pistol) was used and a low-power cartridge was used.

3. The small size of the blood-soaked area located around the entrance gunshot wound indicates its formation as a result of the instantaneous release of blood from the wound, and the absence of vertical blood flows indicates that immediately after receiving the wound V.V. Mayakovsky was in horizontal position, lying on your back.

4. The shape and small size of the blood stains located below the injury, and the peculiarity of their arrangement along an arc, indicate that they arose as a result of the fall of small drops of blood from a small height onto the shirt in the process of moving downwards right hand splattered with blood, or from a weapon in the same hand.”

Is it possible to fake suicide so carefully? Yes, in expert practice there are cases of staging one, two, or less often five signs. But it is impossible to falsify the entire complex of signs. It was established that the drops of blood were not traces of bleeding from a wound: they fell from a small height from a hand or weapon. Even if we assume that the security officer Agranov (and he really knew his job) was a murderer and caused drops of blood after being shot, say, from a pipette, although according to the reconstructed timing of events he simply did not have time for this, it was necessary to achieve a complete coincidence of the localization of the drops blood and the location of traces of antimony. But the reaction to antimony was discovered only in 1987. It was the comparison of the location of antimony and drops of blood that became the pinnacle of this research.

Autograph of death

The specialists of the laboratory of forensic handwriting examinations also had to work, because many, even very sensitive people, doubted the authenticity of the poet’s suicide letter, written in pencil with almost no punctuation marks:

“Everyone. Don’t blame anyone for the fact that I’m dying and please don’t gossip. The deceased did not like this terribly. Mom, sisters and comrades, I’m sorry this is not the way (I don’t recommend it to others), but I have no choice. Lilya - love me. My family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya...
The love boat\has crashed into everyday life.\I'm even with life\And there's no point in listing\Mutual troubles\And grievances. Stay happy.\ Vladimir\ Mayakovsky. 12.IV.30"

From the “Conclusion” of the experts:

“The presented letter on behalf of Mayakovsky was written by Mayakovsky himself in unusual conditions, the most probable cause which is a psychophysiological state caused by excitement.”

There was no doubt about the date - exactly April 12, two days before death - “immediately before the suicide, the signs of unusualness would have been more pronounced.” So the secret of the decision to die lies not in the 14th day of April, but in the 12th.

"Your word, Comrade Mauser"

Relatively recently, the case “On the Suicide of V.V. Mayakovsky” was transferred from the Presidential Archive to the Museum of the Poet, along with the fatal Browning, bullet and cartridge case. But the protocol for examining the scene of the incident, signed by the investigator and the medical expert, states that he shot himself with a “Mauser revolver, caliber 7.65, No. 312045.” According to his identification, the poet had two pistols - a Browning and a Bayard. And although “Krasnaya Gazeta” wrote about a shot from a revolver, eyewitness V.A. Katanyan mentions a Mauser, and N. Denisovsky, years later, a Browning, it is still difficult to imagine that a professional investigator could confuse a Browning with a Mauser.
Employees of the V.V. Mayakovsky Museum appealed to the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise with a request to conduct a study of the Browning pistol No. 268979 transferred to them from the Presidential Archives, bullets and cartridges and establish whether the poet shot himself with this weapon?

Chemical analysis of the deposits in the Browning barrel led to the conclusion that “the weapon was not fired after the last cleaning.” But the bullet once removed from Mayakovsky’s body “is indeed part of a 7.65 mm Browning cartridge of the 1900 model.” So what's the deal? The examination showed: “The caliber of the bullet, the number of marks, the width, angle of inclination and right-hand direction of the marks indicate that the bullet was fired from a Mauser pistol model 1914.”

The results of the experimental shooting finally confirmed that “the 7.65 mm Browning cartridge bullet was fired not from Browning pistol No. 268979, but from a 7.65 mm Mauser.”

Still, it’s a Mauser. Who changed the weapon? In 1944, an NKGB officer, “talking” with the disgraced writer M.M. Zoshchenko, asked whether he considered the cause of Mayakovsky’s death clear, to which the writer responded with dignity: “It continues to remain mysterious. It is curious that the revolver with which Mayakovsky shot himself was given to him by the famous security officer Agranov.”

Could it be that Agranov himself, to whom all the investigation materials flocked, switched weapons, adding Mayakovsky’s Browning to the case? For what? Many people knew about the “gift,” and besides, the Mauser was not registered with Mayakovsky, which could have come back to haunt Agranov himself (by the way, he was later shot, but for what?). However, this is a matter of guesswork. Let’s better respect the poet’s last request: “...please don’t gossip. The dead man didn’t like it terribly.”

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky is a Soviet poet who achieved success and recognition. He was born in 1893 in the Caucasus. His works can be identified by the emotional nature of the poems and by the well-recognized “ladder” of text presentation, which later became his “calling card.”

In life he was energetic, did not keep his mouth shut, for which he was imprisoned, he was a scandalous person. Vladimir Mayakovsky made a huge contribution to the treasury of Russian culture. But who would have thought that Mayakovsky V.V. such a short line is allotted. He died when he was 36 years old. But why and how did Mayakovsky die?

From the poet's personal life

The mysterious death of Mayakovsky worried experts for a very long time.

His personal life did not please him. Everyone laughed at his desire to have a normal family, especially Lilya Brik, the beloved woman of his life. She said that if she gave birth to a child, he would never give birth to a single talented poem. And he increasingly began to talk about suicide as the only salvation.

Love and death

Trying to free himself from Lily's spell, he tried to start his life from scratch.

His last passion was Veronica Polonskaya, a beautiful actress of the Moscow Art Theater. On April 14, 1930, they were supposed to have a date. He locked the doors and spoke for a long time about how she should divorce her husband and move in with him immediately. But Veronica (Nora) could not decide to leave Mikhail Yanshin, realizing that at any moment their romance could end. He walked out the door, she heard the sound of a shot, ran to her lover and saw blood on his body.

The shot was fired point-blank into the heart. A suicide note dated April 12 was also found.

Versions of Mayakovsky's death

What is the cause of Mayakovsky's death? The woman he loved, or the fact that he was afraid of old age, or his conflicts with poets, whom he no longer understood, just as they did him. He was a revolutionary, but the revolution was already over. There are several versions of the poet’s death, each with its own supporters and opponents.

Murder. Perhaps someone wanted him dead? Opponents of this version say that Vladimir Vladimirovich was preparing to die. After all, he left a suicide note. But the fact that the note was written with a simple pencil, is alarming. Since, firstly, handwriting with a pencil can be forged more easily, as graphologists assure. In addition, as V.I. Skoryatin argued, Mayakovsky was sensitive to his fountain pen and, most likely, would have written his last letter with it. And S. Eisenstein notes that Mayakovsky did not write anything like this at all, and the note was the work of his killers. The version of murder is also supported by the fact that Mayakovsky had a broken nose, although he fell on his back. According to Nora, when he was found, Vladimir Vladimirovich was lying on his back with with open eyes and tried to tell her something, but didn’t have time. Another argument in favor of the fact that Mayakovsky would not kill himself: when he heard the news of Sergei Yesenin’s suicide, he severely condemned him, calling such an act cowardice. As a rule, the Soviet secret services are accused of killing the poet.

Accident. The most unpopular version says that the poet died as a result of a sad coincidence. The fact is that Mayakovsky several times tried extreme sports with one bullet in a seven-shot pistol. And could it be that this time his luck refused him in the game “Russian roulette”?

Suicide. Today this is the official version. Most researchers adhere to it. And according to the memoirs of Liliya Brik, Mayakovsky more than once tried to commit suicide. It is also noted that the poet had sudden mood swings. He was overwhelmed with emotions of joy when he had success, and failures led him into deep depression.

The true cause of the poet's death still remains a subject of heated debate.

On April 14, 1930, a shot was fired in the apartment of Vladimir Mayakovsky, which ended the life of the 37-year-old poet. “The love boat crashed into everyday life...” these words from the suicide note would seem to quite clearly indicate the cause of the tragedy, but, nevertheless, there are disputes about what served as the motive, and whether the poet died himself or was killed, have not subsided for many years.

Vladimir Mayakovsky entered the history of Russian poetry under the banner of futurism, noisily, brightly, scandalously. Researchers liken his work to a five-act theatrical performance. The role of the prologue was played by the tragedy “Vladimir Mayakovsky”. Then, one after another, there were acts, represented by both large poems and small works and verses. And the epilogue to this whole story, full of drama, intense passions and genuine feelings, was the suicide letter written on April 12.

As in the case of Yesenin, the death of the talented poet caused a strong reaction and gave rise to many versions of what happened. Two of them are most widespread.

The “Chekist” version was widely discussed in various publications of the perestroika and post-perestroika period. They attempted to prove that we should not be talking about suicide, but about the murder of the poet by OGPU agents. This version is fueled by various inconsistencies and inaccuracies discovered during the investigation into the death of Mayakovsky. Many, for example, are confused by the fact that the suicide note was written by the poet two days before the fatal shot; in addition, Mayakovsky always made notes with his favorite pen, and the farewell words were written in a simple pencil, almost without punctuation. According to criminologists, it is much easier to forge handwriting using a pencil, but an examination of this note showed that the letter was written by Mayakovsky himself in a state of extreme excitement.

It should be noted that the results of examinations conducted in different time In this regard, they are unequivocal: the poet shot himself. What could have pushed young man to such a step?

The French version says: “Look for the woman!” Many researchers are leaning towards it; it is less mysterious, but more plausible. One of the targets was the young actress Veronica Polonskaya, who was the last to see the poet alive. It is known that at that time there was a whirlwind romance between her and Mayakovsky, the poet asked her to become his wife, Polonskaya hesitated. On the day of death, there was a quarrel between them; Veronica left the apartment in Lubyansky Proezd, took a few steps and heard a shot.

Could this disagreement have been the last straw that sank the great poet’s “love boat” and deprived him of the desire to live? Hard to tell. In the last note, he addresses not Veronica, but the fatal beauty Lilia Brik with the request: “Lilya - love me.” You can make endless guesses; it’s difficult to prove anything for sure. It is only known that Vladimir Mayakovsky had previously tried to commit suicide. The last attempt ended in a misfire, this time “Mr. Mauser” said his weighty word.

During his lifetime, Mayakovsky had many affairs, although he was never officially married. Among his lovers there were many Russian emigrants - Tatyana Yakovleva, Ellie Jones. The most serious hobby in Mayakovsky’s life was an affair with Lilya Brik. Despite the fact that she was married, the relationship between them continued for many years. Moreover, for a long period of his life the poet lived in the same house with the Brik family. This love triangle existed for several years until Mayakovsky met the young actress Veronica Polonskaya, who at that time was 21 years old. Neither the age difference of 15 years, nor the presence of an official spouse could interfere with this connection. It is known that the poet planned a life together with her and insisted in every possible way on a divorce. This story became the reason for the official version of suicide. On the day of his death, Mayakovsky received a refusal from Veronica, which provoked, as many historians say, a serious nervous shock that led to such tragic events. In any case, Mayakovsky’s family, including his mother and sisters, believed that Polonskaya was to blame for his death.

Mayakovsky left a suicide note with the following content:
"EVERYONE

Don’t blame anyone for the fact that I’m dying and please don’t gossip. The deceased did not like this terribly.
Mom, sisters and comrades, forgive me - this is not the way (I don’t recommend it to others), but I have no choice.
Lilya - love me.
Comrade government, my family is Lilya Brik, mother, sisters and Veronica Vitoldovna Polonskaya. –
If you give them a tolerable life, thank you.
Give the poems you started to the Briks, they will figure it out.
As they say - “the incident is ruined”, the love boat crashed into everyday life
I am at peace with life and there is no need for a list of mutual pains, troubles and insults.
Happy stay

VLADIMIR MAYAKOVSKY.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (1893-1930) is considered an outstanding Soviet poet. In addition to poetry, he also studied drama, writing film scripts, and tried himself as a film director and actor. He took an active part in the work of the creative association "LEF". That is, we see a bright creative personality, incredibly popular in the 20s of the last century. The whole country knew the name of the poet. Some people liked his poems, others not so much. Indeed, they were somewhat specific and found recognition among supporters of just such a unique expression of their inner world.

But our conversation will not be about the poet’s work. It still raises many questions to this day. Mayakovsky's unexpected death on April 14, 1930. Vladimir Vladimirovich died at the age of 36. This is the happy one life period when you look with equal irony at those who are older and those who are younger than you. There are still many, many years of life ahead, but for some reason the fateful path of the creator was cut short, leaving in the souls of people a feeling of confusion mixed with bewilderment.

Naturally, there was a consequence. It was carried out by the OGPU. The official conclusion was suicide. We can agree with this, since creative people are inherently very unpredictable. They see the world somewhat different from other people. There is always some kind of tossing, doubt, disappointment and a constant search for something that is always elusive. In a word, it is very difficult to understand what they want to get from this life. And then, at the peak of disappointment, the cold barrel of a pistol is brought to your temple or heart. A shot, and all problems are solved by themselves in the simplest and most proven way.

However, Vladimir Vladimirovich’s suicide left a lot of questions and ambiguities. They clearly indicate that there was no suicide, but murder. Moreover, it was carried out by official government bodies, which were initially supposed to protect citizens from rash and dangerous actions. So where is the truth? In this case, it is not in guilt, but in facts that clearly indicate not just a criminal, but a political crime. But to understand the essence of the issue, you need to know the details. Therefore, we will first take a closer look at the Brik family, with whom our hero had a long, close relationship.

Bricks

Lilya Yuryevna Brik (1891-1978) - a famous Soviet writer and her husband Osip Maksimovich Brik (1888-1945) - literary critic and literary scholar. This couple met the young talented poet in July 1915. After this, a new stage began in Mayakovsky’s life, which lasted 15 years until his death.

Vladimir and Lilya fell in love with each other. But Osip Maksimovich did not interfere with this feeling. The trio began to live together, which caused a lot of gossip in literary circles. What was there and how it happened is unimportant for this narrative. It is much more important to know that Brikov and Mayakovsky were connected not only by spiritual, but also by material relations. At Soviet power the poet was not a poor man at all. It is quite natural that he shared part of his income with the Briks.

Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik

It can be assumed that this is precisely why Lilya tried with all her might to tie Vladimir to her. Since 1926, the trio lived in a Moscow apartment, which the poet received. This is Gendrikov Lane (now Mayakovsky Lane). It is located in the very center of Moscow near Taganskaya Square. The Briks did not have the opportunity to get a separate apartment at that time. Large city lived in communal apartments, and only had their own living space prominent figures, bringing significant benefits to the existing regime.

Since 1922, Mayakovsky's works began to be published in major publications. The fees were so large that the trio began to spend a lot of time abroad, staying in expensive hotels. Therefore, it was not in the interests of the Briks to break off relations with the gifted and naive poet, who was a good cash cow.

Matters of the heart of Vladimir Mayakovsky

Being completely dependent on Lily Brik, our hero from time to time entered into intimate relationships with other women. In 1925, he traveled to America and began a love affair with Ellie Jones. She was an emigrant from Russia, so the language barrier did not bother them. From this connection, on June 15, 1926, a girl was born, named Helen (Elena). She is still alive today. He is a philosopher and writer and maintains close ties with Russia.

In 1928, Mayakovsky met Tatyana Yakovleva in Paris. Along the way, Vladimir bought Lily Brik a French car. He chose him together with Yakovleva. For Moscow at that time this was an unimaginable luxury. The poet wanted to start a family with his new Parisian passion, but she did not express a desire to go to Bolshevik Russia.

However, Vladimir did not lose hope of uniting himself with the bonds of Hymen with Tatyana and finally saying goodbye to the Briks. This, naturally, was not part of Lily's plans. In April 1929, she introduced the poet to the young and beautiful actress Veronica Polonskaya, who had been married to actor Mikhail Yanshin for 4 years.

Our hero became seriously interested in a girl who was 15 years younger than him. Very opportunely, news came from Paris that Yakovleva was supposedly marrying a well-born Frenchman. Therefore, Vladimir quickly forgot his foreign passion and focused all his attention on Veronica. It was this girl who became the main witness to the tragedy, because Mayakovsky’s death happened almost before her eyes.

Chronology of tragic events

Possible cause of death

If we assume that Vladimir Vladimirovich was killed, then why was this done, who did he interfere with? In 1918, the poet inextricably linked his fate with the Bolshevik Party. He was a tribune preaching the ideas of world revolution. That is why it enjoyed such great success among various publishers. He was paid huge fees, provided with separate housing, but in return they demanded devotion and loyalty.

However, by the end of the 20s, notes of disappointment with the existing regime began to creep into the poet’s works. There were still years of collectivization ahead, terrible famine, repression, and Vladimir Vladimirovich already felt in his soul the mortal danger looming over the country. It became increasingly difficult for him to praise the existing reality. I had to step over my understanding of the world and moral principles more and more often.

A wave of jubilation was gaining strength in the country. Everyone admired or pretended to admire the achievements of the socialist system, and Mayakovsky began to satirically denounce all “rubbish.” This sounded discordant with the enthusiastic chorus of sycophants and opportunists. The authorities very quickly felt that the poet had become different. He has changed, and in a direction dangerous for the regime. The first signs were criticism of his plays “The Bedbug” and “Bathhouse”. Then the portrait disappeared from a literary magazine, and persecution began in the press.

Along with this, the Chekists began to patronize the poet. They began to visit regularly as good friends, because Lilya Brik loved to receive guests. But it’s one thing when literary friends come, and another when an OGPU employee comes into the apartment for a friendly visit. We must also not forget that Osip Maksimovich Brik was an employee of the Cheka in 1919-1921. But there are no former security officers.

All this guardianship was carried out in order to check the poet’s trustworthiness. The results turned out to be disastrous for Vladimir Vladimirovich. The decision was made to remove it. It couldn’t have been any other way, because the reforged tribune could cause great ideological harm to the communist regime.

The last day of the poet's life

Mayakovsky's death, as already mentioned, occurred on April 14, 1930. The Briks were not in Moscow: they went abroad back in February. The poet decided to take advantage of their absence to finally break off the protracted relationship leading to nowhere. He wanted to create a normal family and for this he chose Veronica Polonskaya. In early April, he makes a cash contribution to a housing cooperative in order to purchase an apartment for himself, and leave the existing living space to the voluptuous and selfish couple.

On Monday, April 14, the poet comes to Polonskaya at 8 o’clock in the morning and takes her to his place. Here a conversation takes place between them. Vladimir demands that Veronica leave her husband and go to him right now. The woman says that she cannot leave Yanshin just like that. She does not refuse Mayakovsky, assures him that she loves him, but she needs time. After this, Polonskaya leaves the apartment, since she has a rehearsal at the theater at 10:30. She goes out into the front door and then hears the sound of a revolver shot. Veronica runs back into the room literally a moment after leaving and sees Vladimir lying on the floor with his arms outstretched.

Soon an investigative team arrived, but not from the police, but from counterintelligence. It was headed by the head of the secret department of the OGPU, Yakov Saulovich Agranov (1893-1938). His appearance can be explained by the fact that he supervised the creative intelligentsia. The scene of the incident was examined, the poet's body was photographed. A suicide letter from Vladimir Vladimirovich, dated April 12, was found. Agranov read it aloud and put it in his jacket pocket.

Towards evening, sculptor Konstantin Lutsky appeared. He made a plaster mask from the face of the deceased. At first they didn’t want to do an autopsy, since it was already clear that the poet died from a shot in the heart. But rumors spread that Mayakovsky had syphilis, which was the cause of the tragedy. Pathologists had to open the body, but no serious abnormalities were found in the organs. The newspapers wrote that the poet died of a transient illness. Friends signed the obituary, and that was the end of the matter.

Murder or suicide?

So how should the death of Mayakovsky be characterized? Was it murder or suicide? To shed light on this issue, let's start, as expected, with a suicide note. Here is its text:

“Everyone... Don’t blame anyone for the fact that I’m dying and don’t gossip. The dead man didn’t like it terribly. Mom, sister, comrades, forgive me, but I have no other choice. Lilya, love me.

Comrade government, my family is Lilya Brik, mother, sister and Veronica Polonskaya. I would be grateful if you make a bearable life for them. Give the poems you started to the Briks, they will figure it out. As they say, the incident is over, the love boat crashed into everyday life. I am at peace with life, and there is no need for a list of mutual pains, troubles and insults. Happy stay."

Here is a will, written according to the date, April 12. And the fatal shot sounded on April 14. At the same time, a love explanation with Veronica also took place, although the poet knew that he was about to die. But despite this, he insisted that his beloved leave her husband immediately. Is there any logic to this?

It is also interesting that Vladimir Vladimirovich wrote his last letter in pencil. He had the money to buy a cooperative apartment, but he couldn’t even find change for a pen. However, the deceased had his own very good pen with a luxurious gold nib. He never gave it to anyone, but wrote only to her. But at the most crucial moment of my life I picked up a pencil. By the way, it is much easier for them to fake handwriting than with a pen.

At one time, Sergei Eisenstein stated in narrow circle friends, that if you carefully read the style of the letter, you can say that it was not written by Mayakovsky. So who then brought this creation into the world? Perhaps there was an employee in the OGPU apparatus who took on such unusual responsibilities?

The archive contains criminal case number 02-29. This is precisely the case of the suicide of V.V. Mayakovsky. It was led by investigator I. Syrtsov. So, the examination report does not mention the suicide letter, as if it never existed. There is also no examination of the shirt that the poet was wearing at the time of death. But she could tell the investigation a lot.

But most importantly, it is absolutely unclear from the case where Polonskaya was when the fatal shot was fired. Either she was standing near the poet, or she had already left the room. As Veronica herself later claimed, she went out to the front door and only there did she hear the sound of a shot. However, judging by the papers, her behavior can be interpreted in different ways. The woman ran down the stairs, and a shot rang out, or she ran out of the room screaming, and it was at that moment that the poet shot himself. So maybe she saw the pistol in Vladimir’s hand, got scared and tried to hide? It seems that the investigator did not need a clear and precise answer at all.

The criminal case was closed on April 19. At the same time, it remains a mystery whether a gun was found near the body or not. How was the body lying? Head towards the door or head deep into the room. If someone else entered the room and fired, then Vladimir Vladimirovich should have fallen backwards, that is, with his head deep into the room. But nothing definite can be said here. Thus, we can conclude that the investigative actions were carried out extremely carelessly. They were a pure formality. All the work was done not for the sake of establishing the truth, but for the sake of showing off that such work had been done.

So the conclusion suggests itself. The poet was killed by OGPU officers, but they presented the case as suicide. It was safely placed in the archive and gathered dust on the shelves until the 90s of the 20th century. And who will you ask in 60 years? Moreover, Yagoda’s people, including Agranov, were shot in 1937-38. So retribution was accomplished in any case.

Who benefited after Mayakovsky's death?

The death of Mayakovsky turned out to be beneficial for Lily Brik. There is no talk about Osip Maksimovich, since he family life with his loving wife ended in divorce. But the Soviet government recognized Lilya as the legal heir of the deceased poet. She received his co-op apartment and cash savings.

But the most important thing is the archives, which, in fact, were the people's property. However, this is not all. Since 1935, the so-called “widow” of Mayakovsky began to receive interest from the poet’s works sold. And they were printed in millions of copies, since Vladimir Vladimirovich was posthumously recognized as the best and most talented poet of the Soviet era.

As for Polonskaya, the wife got nothing without two minutes. However, no. She received gossip, talking behind her back, malicious grins. The final point in this epic was the divorce from my husband. Well, what can you do? This is how this world works. Some people find them, some people lose them. But let's be optimistic. Folk wisdom says: “What doesn’t happen is always for the better.”