Published on: 2026-08-22
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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Vladimir Mayakovsky is known as a futurist poet, a loud voice of the era, an author of slogan-like lines. But what was he like in everyday life, among close ones, in silence? Two Moscow addresses — on Krasnaya Presnya and in Studenetsky Lane — preserve the memory not only of him but also of the women who shaped, inspired, and loved him. Ekaterina Marton, manager of cultural and mass leisure at the memorial apartments, spoke about his mother, sisters, muses, and daughter, about whom the poet hardly ever spoke to anyone. State Museum of V.V. Mayakovsky.
Family: roots that gave freedom
Vladimir Mayakovsky’s mother, Alexandra Alekseevna Pavlenko, completed six grades of gymnasium and lost her father early. Her emotional sensitivity and boundless trust in children became the main moral support for the family. She did not try to change her son, nor impose her views, even when he went against commonly accepted standards. This unconditional acceptance gave the poet inner freedom.
“Mom was a very delicate, calm, loving, and understanding woman,” emphasizes Ekaterina Marton. “A huge motherly heart. She would go on any adventure with Volodya.”
It was his mother who instilled in the future author of “Cloud in Pants” a taste for words: when little Volodya asked her to read, she would put aside her chores and read aloud the fables of Ivan Krylov, the poems of Alexander Pushkin, and Nikolay Nekrasov. He memorized the lines and recited them — thus the poet was born.
When in 1908 the 15-year-old Mayakovsky joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and began propaganda work, she endured it but understood: this was his path. The same principle applied to the yellow-and-black sweater: Vladimir asked for an outrageous outfit to be sewn for a performance at the Polytechnic University. Alexandra Alekseevna hesitated but sewed it. This gesture of maternal “yes” in November 1913 turned the sweater into a symbol of the Russian avant-garde.
Today in memorial apartment in Studenetsky Lane The daily life of Alexandra Alekseevna and Lyudmila Mayakovskaya has been restored: their photographs, books, and family relics. Here, the poet is revealed from an unusual perspective — as a son and brother, alive, vulnerable, loving.
Sisters: two personalities, two life paths
If the mother gave inner freedom, then the sisters decided in their own way what the memory of the poet would be.
Lyudmila Vladimirovna is the eldest, a fabric artist-designer and a graduate of the Stroganov School. After her father’s death at age 20, she effectively became the head of the family, which forged her character — tough, responsible, uncompromising.
“Even Mayakovsky’s friends said: if Lyuda entered the room, Volodya would straighten up, tense, and become such a ‘proper’ brother,” says Ekaterina Marton.
Lyudmila became the main keeper of the memory of her famous brother, but on her own terms. She did not accept Lilya Brik, considering only official relations acceptable. As long as their mother was alive, conflicts were smoothed over.
Olga Vladimirovna was the complete opposite. She spoke Georgian fluently, engaged in music and French, painted, and wrote poetry. She and Volodya shared a special closeness — in their sense of humor and their attitude towards life as a game. They loved to prank the audience: Mayakovsky stood on the stage, while Olga at the back of the hall would start reading his poems in the same tone. The listeners were puzzled.
“They were laughing, and they really enjoyed it,” notes Ekaterina Marton.
When the poet passed away, it seemed that Olga would not survive the loss of her brother — their spiritual bond was so strong, such harmony existed between them.
Two poles coexisted in the Mayakovsky family: Lyudmila’s strictness and Olga’s playfulness. And the exhibition in the apartment on Studenetsky Lane reflects this multifaceted nature.
Muses and Rivals: from First Love to the Main Heartache
In the winter of 1911, when Mayakovsky had just entered the painting school, a romance sparked between him and Evgeniya Lang. They strolled through Moscow, visited auctions. One day the poet bought a Georgian wine jug and handed it to Lang: “Take it, it will come in handy for a still life.” This gesture, generous and artistic, perfectly characterized him: he gave not just an object, but a story.
But Lang considered Mayakovsky a boy (she was three years older), and they parted ways. Evgenia got married and emigrated, taking the little jug with her. In 1917, their paths crossed again: Lang, being married, realized that her feelings had not faded, but Mayakovsky was already infatuated with Lilya Brik. Lang could not compete with this love.
At the end of the 1950s, Lyudmila Vladimirovna tracked down Evgenia Lang in Paris and offered her to return to Moscow: a pension, an apartment, membership in the Union of Artists — provided that she would talk about Mayakovsky. Lang came, lived for some time in an apartment on Studenetsky Lane (in that very family space), and then received separate housing. But she could not support Lyudmila’s idea of erasing Brik from history.
Today her still life with that very jug and the portrait of Vladimir Mayakovsky are kept in the museum. The story of Evgenia Lang shows that the memory of the poet has always been a field of disputes, where personal feelings clashed with family and ideological convictions.
Lilya Brik: the muse who knew how to reveal suffering
Lilya Brik was a central figure in Mayakovsky’s personal life and perhaps the most controversial. They met in 1915 in Petrograd when the poet was courting her sister Elsa. Mayakovsky read “A Cloud in Trousers” — and impressed everyone. But he sought Lilya’s favor for more than two and a half years.
“It is good for Volodya to suffer. He will suffer and write good poems,” Lilya Brik used to say. She was brilliant at revealing this suffering in Mayakovsky — and it was precisely this that became the fuel for his lyrics. The poet could love with 100, or even 200 percent. Many women were frightened by his intensity.
Lilya became not only a muse but also a guide in the literary world: she handled publishing affairs, organized meetings, and dealt with financial issues. Their relationship lasted almost 15 years — with breaks, quarrels, and reconciliations. Most of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s lyrics are dedicated to her.
It was Lilia Brik who, after the poet’s death, succeeded in republishing his books and reinstating his works in the school curriculum by writing a letter to Joseph Stalin. This document is preserved in the museum’s archives. Without this gesture, Mayakovsky’s name might today be known only to specialists.
American Secret: Ellie and the Daughter Who Were Kept Silent
There was another woman, about whom Mayakovsky hardly ever spoke aloud — and to her exactly is dedicated exhibit at Krasnaya Presnya.
In 1925, during a trip to the USA, the poet met Ellie Jones — a young Russian emigrant who spoke four languages. She was 20, he was 32. She was not afraid to retort. To his favorite question “Which of my poems do you know?” people usually answered “one long, another short,” but Ellie said: “I don’t know your short poems, except advertising slogans.” Mayakovsky was astonished.
Their romance lasted several months. And on June 15, 1926, Helen Patricia Jones was born in New York. Mayakovsky knew about the birth of his daughter and sent a letter addressed to Ellie and the baby: “My dear Ellie…” This is the only written acknowledgment of paternity kept in the museum on Krasnaya Presnya.
“He was very upset about the impossibility of raising his own child,” says Ekaterina Marton. “He told someone from his close circle: ‘How bad it is that my child is growing up in America, he will have completely different interests, a different language, a different country.'”
Patricia felt her father close to her since childhood. She talks about this in the manuscript “Mayakovsky — the phantom of the father,” which can be seen in the exhibition. She wanted to become a costume designer (the family talent for drawing was passed down from the Mayakovskys), but then decided: “I understood that a comparison with such a brilliant father would not be quite appropriate.” Patricia became a teacher of sociology and home economics at Lehman College in New York.
In 1991, she visited Moscow for the first time and began calling herself Elena Vladimirovna Mayakovskaya. Throughout her life, she collected information about her famous father: articles, photographs. She created the book “Mayakovsky in Manhattan. A Love Story” and the manuscript “Mayakovsky — The Phantom Father.”
It is symbolic that the exhibition “The Daughter’s Study” is located in a memorial apartment associated with the family’s life in Moscow. This connects destinies separated by time and space: Moscow and New York, father and daughter, past and memory.
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Myths debunked by the museum
Many legends have grown around Mayakovsky. For example, the myth about flowers for Tatyana Yakovleva: supposedly, after the poet’s death, couriers came to a Paris shop for 20 years to collect bouquets for her.
“Yakovleva has a daughter, Françoise, who confirms that this did not happen,” says Ekaterina Marton. “This is a beautiful PR stunt by a flower company.”
As for the myth about rudeness and profanity in the poet’s works, acquaintances unanimously assert: Vladimir Mayakovsky was very polite and well-mannered in informal settings. Profanity appears in only three of his poems; all the rest are folk creations or forgeries.
Museums help separate truth from fiction and see the living person behind the textbook image.
Lyricist, not just an agitator
Vladimir Mayakovsky was not only the voice of the revolution but also a profound lyric poet. From 1923 to 1928, he hardly created any lyrical works — “he choked his own song.” Then he returned and wrote two masterpieces: “Letter to Comrade Kostrov” and “Letter to Tatyana Yakovleva.” It is precisely these works that are worth rereading for those who want to rediscover Mayakovsky.
Two perspectives on one poet
In Studenetsky Lane, the atmosphere of a family home has been restored: genuine belongings of the mother and sisters, personal photographs. Here, Mayakovsky is a son and brother, here are his roots and everyday life. This is a space where you can see how the poet’s character was formed and how differently the family preserved his memory.
At Krasnaya Presnya — an exhibition dedicated to the American journey and the daughter. Unique letters, Patricia’s archive, authentic items that belonged to her — this is a story of love and fatherhood that the poet hardly ever told anyone.
Visiting both museums means seeing the multifaceted image of Vladimir Mayakovsky, learning that behind the loud poems stood quiet rooms, female voices, and a fate woven from many personal stories.
Tickets to the V.V. Mayakovsky State Museum can be purchased at the “Mosbilet” service.
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