Professor Preobrazhensky is a respectable, successful man of advanced years. Sharik immediately notes: “It is a citizen, not a comrade, and even, most likely, a master. Closer - clearer - sir. Do you think I judge by my coat? Nonsense. Nowadays, many proletarians wear coats. True, the collars are not the same, there is nothing to say about that, but from a distance it can still be confused. But by the eyes, you can’t confuse them both up close and from a distance. Oh, eyes are a significant thing."

He lived in post-revolutionary Moscow, at the address: - Kalabukhovsky House, Prechistenka 24, in a large seven-room apartment. Has servants - Zina and Daria.

Since the professor is a European luminary, his fees and clients are appropriate - former nobles and high-ranking officials.

A young novice doctor, Dr. Bormental, helps him in his work.

The professor is confident in himself, has clear life principles, and does not like the proletariat and Soviet power in general. He believes that they are idle and empty-headed. He is an opponent of terror and declares that affection is the only way to communicate with living beings. A dangerous position for the time, but the professor has high-ranking patients who defend him. Thus, Shvonder’s attempt to launch an attack on the surgeon’s rooms was completely interrupted by Pyotr Alekseevich.

It should be noted that the professor loves to eat deliciously and exquisitely and understands a lot about alcoholic beverages. He is a supporter of the division of labor. When he works he doesn’t think about pleasure. When he is resting he does not think about work.

Experiments with rejuvenation led Professor Preobrazhensky to the idea of ​​conducting a bold experiment - transplanting the human pituitary gland and seminal glands into a dog. The experiment was a success. True, the personality of the deceased used in the experiment left much to be desired. As a result, the dog turned into a man - the drunkard and cattle Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov ().

After much torment, ordeal, loss of nerves and income, the professor decides to turn a man into a dog again through an operation.

He realizes his mistake and understands that nature is a temple, not a field for experiments, and that it was in vain that he interfered with its laws.

Quotes and phrases from Professor Preobrazhensky:

Take off your pants!

I, madam, will insert the ovaries of... a monkey.

“We’re coming to you, professor,” said one of them, who had a shock of thick curly hair a quarter of an arshin high on his head, “on this matter...
“It’s no use for you, gentlemen, to walk around without galoshes in this weather,” Philip Philipovich interrupted him admonishingly, “firstly, you’ll catch a cold, and, secondly, you left marks on my carpets, and all my carpets are Persian.”
- First of all, we are not gentlemen!
- First of all, are you a man or a woman?
- And my dear sir, I ask you to take off your headdress.
- I am not your dear sir!
- Was it you who moved into Fyodor Pavlovich Sablin’s apartment?
“Us,” Shvonder answered.
- God, the Kalabukhov house has disappeared! - Philip Philipovich exclaimed in despair and clasped his hands.
“We, the management of the building,” Shvonder spoke with hatred, “came to you after a general meeting of the residents of our building, at which the issue of densifying the apartments of the building was raised...
- Who stood on whom? - Philip Philipovich shouted, - take the trouble to express your thoughts more clearly.

It is very possible that Isadora Duncan does just that. Maybe she's having lunch in her office and cutting up rabbits in the bathroom. May be. But I'm not Isadora Duncan!..

No, I won’t take it,” Philip Philipovich answered briefly, glancing sideways at the magazines.
Complete amazement was expressed on their faces, and the woman became covered with a cranberry coating.
- Why do you refuse?
- Don't want.
-You don’t sympathize with the children of Germany?
- Sorry.
- Do you regret fifty dollars?
- No.
- So why?
- Don't want.

How old are you, madam?

Please note, Ivan Arnoldovich, only landowners who were undercut by the Bolsheviks eat cold appetizers and soup. A more or less self-respecting person handles hot snacks.

Vodka should be forty degrees.

Dr. Bormenthal, I beg you, instantly this little thing, and if you say that it is... I am your blood enemy for life.

If you care about your digestion, my good advice is not to talk about Bolshevism and
medicine. And - God save you - don’t read Soviet newspapers before lunch.
- Hm... But there are no others.
- Don’t read any of them.

Well, now it’s all gone, Kalabukhov’s house is gone. I'll have to leave, but I wonder where. Everything will be like clockwork. First, there will be singing every evening, then the pipes in the toilets will freeze, then the steam heating boiler will burst, and so on.

Why was the carpet removed from the main staircase? Does Karl Marx prohibit carpets on stairs? Does Karl Marx say somewhere that the 2nd entrance of the Kalabukhov house on Prechistenek should be boarded up and walked around through the back yard? Why can’t the proletarian leave his galoshes downstairs, but dirty the marble?
“But, Philip Philipovich, he doesn’t even have galoshes,” the man who had been bitten stuttered.
- Nothing like it! - Philip Philipovich answered in a thunderous voice and poured a glass of wine. - Hm... I don’t like liqueurs after dinner: they are heavy and have a bad effect on the liver... Nothing of the kind! He now has galoshes and these galoshes are mine! These are exactly the same galoshes that disappeared in the spring of 1917.

What is this devastation of yours? Old woman with a stick? The witch who broke all the windows and put out all the lamps? Yes, it doesn’t exist at all. What do you mean by this word? - Philip Philipovich furiously asked the unfortunate cardboard duck hanging upside down next to the sideboard, and he himself answered for her. - This is this: if I, instead of operating every evening, start singing in chorus in my apartment, I will be in ruins. If, entering the restroom, I start, excuse the expression, urinating past the toilet and Zina and Daria Petrovna do the same, devastation will begin in the restroom. Consequently, the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads. This means that when these baritones shout “beat the destruction!” - I’m laughing. (Philip Philipovich’s face distorted so that the one who was bitten opened his mouth). I swear to you, I find it funny! This means that each of them must hit themselves in the back of the head! And so, when he hatches all sorts of hallucinations from himself and starts cleaning the barns - his direct business - the devastation will disappear by itself. You cannot serve two gods! It is impossible to sweep the tram tracks and arrange the fate of some Spanish ragamuffins at the same time! No one can do this, doctor, and even more so - people who, in general, are 200 years behind the Europeans in development, are still not quite confident in buttoning their own pants!

Those who are not in a hurry succeed everywhere

Science does not yet know how to turn animals into people. So I tried, but it was unsuccessful, as you can see. I talked and began to return to a primitive state. Atavism.

The image of Professor Preobrazhensky (based on the story “Heart of a Dog” by M. Bulgakov)

The story “Heart of a Dog” is one of the pinnacle works of M. A. Bulgakov. It combines specific signs of the reality of the 20s. and fantasy. The writer shows a grotesque image of his contemporary reality.

“Bulgakov took a new turn on the theme of the responsibility of science (and, more broadly, theory) to living life in “The Heart of a Dog.” The author never saw this story, written in 1925, published. It talked about the unpredictable consequences of scientific discoveries, about the fact that an experiment that gets ahead of itself and deals with inadequate human consciousness is dangerous,” wrote literary critic V. Ya. Lakshin.

At the center of “Heart of a Dog” is the story of the transformation of the stray dog ​​Sharik into the man Poligraf Poligrafovich. The author of the experiment is Professor Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky.

“No, there is no smell of the proletarian here,” this is Sharik’s first impression of the professor. Indeed, Preobrazhensky is a real aristocrat, the son of a cathedral archpriest. He is the living embodiment of the passing Russian culture. The doctor wears a black suit of English cloth, a gold chain, and a black and brown fox fur coat. Philip Philipovich has a servant with whom he maintains respectful, good relations. He is no longer a young man. Lives in a luxurious, comfortable apartment. Despite the ongoing process of “densification of apartments,” Philip Philipovich lives in seven rooms. It has a dining room, although even Isadora Duncan does not have one.

Lunch at Preobrazhensky's is a real ritual. His table is rich in salmon and pickled eels. The author draws both a piece of cheese with a tear and caviar. Rich dishes: plates with birds of paradise, decanters, glasses with multi-colored vodkas - a marble table, a carved oak buffet, a table and more only complement the general picture of the aristocratic life of Preobrazhensky.

The appearance of the professor is surprisingly charming. His speech is full of aphorisms. He is smart, quite self-possessed in argument, sharp with words, and erudite. Philip Philipovich is well acquainted with the repertoire of Moscow theaters, constantly hums lines from his favorite opera, and is not averse to spending his leisure time culturally.

Preobrazhensky behaves confidently and boldly in clashes with the company headed by Shvonder. “This guy,” Sharik admires him, “is just like me.”

Preobrazhensky openly admits his dislike for the proletariat. The rudeness, swagger, excessive self-confidence and impudence of the proletarians are alien and hateful to him. He speaks with irony about Soviet newspapers, predicts the onset of imminent economic ruin, and notes with indignation about the changes that came after March 1917. Galoshes are now disappearing from his house, some people don’t consider it necessary to take off their shoes in front of the marble staircase, the carpet has been removed from the main staircase, flowers have disappeared from the landings, the electricity goes out once a month. The direct purpose of the proletariat, according to Preobrazhensky, is not to govern the country, but to clean the barns.

Philip Philipovich is a typical character. He lives on Prechistenka, where the hereditary Moscow intelligentsia has long settled. The writer himself knew and loved this Moscow region very well. Here he also wrote “Heart of a Dog.” On Prechistenka there lived people close to Bulgakov in spirit, culture, and upbringing.

Philip Philipovich is a luminary of medicine. He is engaged in rare and profitable operations to rejuvenate aging ladies and gentlemen who do not want to come to terms with the laws of nature. The author's irony and sarcasm towards Preobrazhensky's patients is merciless. He calls one of them “fruit.” The “fruit” has green hair that turns rusty tobacco color at the back of his head, an infantile complexion with no wrinkles, an unbending left leg and a jumping right leg. Another patient has terrible black bags hanging under her eyes, and her cheeks are doll-colored. She is fifty-one years old, but she passes herself off as forty-five. Another visitor to the professor has a relationship with a very young person and is very afraid of publicity. “An obscene apartment,” thinks Sharik, having seen enough of Preobrazhensky’s activities.

Nevertheless, doctors like the professor are rare. The doctor is incredibly respected by his assistant Bormental. “It has no equal in Europe... by God!” - he exclaims with admiration.

Preobrazhensky repeatedly speaks about the inadmissibility of violence against a living being. “You can only act by suggestion,” he claims, but he plans to improve nature itself by transplanting some human organs into a dog. The surgeon needed the dog as material for experiments to correct imperfect human nature.

Only some time after the operation, the professor realizes the immorality of scientific violence against nature and man. “I tried it, but it was unsuccessful,” he sadly remarks about his experiment. During the course of the story, the portrait of the professor changes several times. At first it is a rich gentleman beaming with prosperity, then a hunched and seemingly graying old man, and in the finale - the former imperious and energetic Philip Philipovich. Preobrazhensky ultimately makes an important conclusion for himself that “in evolutionary order,” every year dozens of outstanding geniuses stubbornly stand out “from the mass of all scum” and “decorate the globe.”

Associated with the image of a brilliant professor is the author’s idea of ​​responsibility for any experiment. Any experience, according to the writer, must be well planned and thought out to the end and not contain violent methods of remaking reality, otherwise its consequences can lead to a real disaster.

Bulgakov's attitude towards Preobrazhensky is ambiguous. He respects and loves him as a true representative of the intelligentsia, but condemns him as the author of a very dubious and dangerous experiment.

Today we will consider the criminal case against Professor Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky from Mikhail Bulgakov’s story “The Heart of a Dog”. All quotes are taken from the literary source.

Why does a famous doctor, a “world luminary,” a professor operate at home and not in a clinic? Probably for the same reason that his clients pay a lot of money so that no one knows about their operation. Essentially, it is an underground clinic for business clients, criminals and prohibited experiments. All transactions are paid in cash.

His rates were 10 rubles per visit, while the typist's salary at that time was 45 rubles per month. That is, ordinary patients with serious illnesses could not make an appointment with a leading doctor.

Covering up a crime

At the same time, Preobrazhensky himself is involved in covering up the crimes of his clients. In particular, he performs a clandestine abortion in his apartment on a seduced 14-year-old girl, fulfilling the order of a pedophile and without reporting his crime to law enforcement agencies.

- I'm too famous in Moscow, professor. What should I do?

“Gentlemen,” Philip Philipovich shouted indignantly, “you can’t do this.” You need to restrain yourself. How old is she?

- Fourteen, professor... You understand, publicity will ruin me. One of these days I should get an overseas business trip.

- But I’m not a lawyer, my dear... Well, wait two years and marry her.

- I'm married, professor.

- Oh, gentlemen, gentlemen!

Stealing a corpse

To conduct prohibited experiments with human organs, he organizes the theft of a corpse from the morgue.

Cruelty to animals. Violation of personal rights

Preobrazhensky performs an experiment on a dog in almost complete confidence that the dog will die. The matter is aggravated by the fact that by the time the experiment began, Sharik was not a laboratory animal or even a yard dog, but Preobrazhensky’s pet.

Thus, the experiment was carried out on an animal unsuitable for this purpose in unsuitable conditions (not a laboratory or a hospital); in addition, the operation was not formalized.

Prosecutor: “Preobrazhensky lives by fixing gigolos and whores”

Human history and, especially, literature knows cases when a person’s abilities and talents came into blatant contradiction with his moral qualities. One of the striking examples of this kind is Professor Preobrazhensky.

Preobrazhensky lives by repairing gigolos and whores, and inserting monkey ovaries into elderly revelers. Sorry for being direct, but you can’t erase a word from a song. He does not disdain clandestine abortions for minor victims of debauchery, but more on that below.

In his apartment, Preobrazhensky is engaged in illegal private medical practice, which, in case of harm to human health, falls under Art. 235 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Illegal private medical practice.”

These types of activities are considered illegal if they are carried out by persons who do not have a license for the specified type of activity. It is quite obvious that, in principle, a license cannot be issued to perform complex operations, including on the brain, at home.

In his illegal medical activities, the professor actively goes beyond not only morality, but also the criminal code - for example, he performs a clandestine abortion on a 14-year-old (!) girl, who is brought to him by an adult married libertine, who, according to him, occupies a certain position in society. (Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Illegal abortion”)

As already mentioned, in the difficult post-war times, Preobrazhensky maintained a high standard of living, living in an eight-room apartment. Quiet living is the result of a bribe to a high-ranking official, which Preobrazhensky does not even hide, demanding intercession and protection from his “roof” when representatives of local governments legally come to him to check the conditions of his residence.

By the way, it is no secret that truly outstanding scientists, as a rule, were very modest in everyday life.

Since, it seems, Preobrazhensky treats all God’s creatures with equal contempt, his experiments are completely inhumane - for example, he transforms a dog into a human using the corpse of a deceased alcoholic - well, so as not to ask the consent of relatives. The corpse is obtained illegally. Article 244 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Desecration of the bodies of the dead” (fine) and Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Cruelty to animals” (imprisonment for up to 2 years), in the opinion of the prosecution, are ideal here.

But as a result of experiments, a person is obtained. A person is real, alive and with all rights. Naturally, Preobrazhensky continues to treat him like a dog, and even worse, since the person begins to feel like a human and wants to arrange basic things - get documents, get a job, register in a living space, get married, etc. In general, from a legal point of view, he behaves completely adequately. At the same time, he reminds Preobrazhensky, who was playing with the Lord God, that “he did not give consent to the operation, neither did my relatives.”

All this makes Preobrazhensky furious - some kind of cattle and rights to download?! Therefore, Preobrazhensky and another member of the organized group, his assistant citizen Bormental, transform him back into a dog.

Bottom line

Under Article 123 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Illegal abortion”, I ask you to impose a penalty in the form of a fine of 40,000 rubles (half of the maximum sanction).

According to Article 244 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Desecration of the bodies of the dead” as part of an organized group - impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 1 year.

According to Article 245 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Cruelty to animals”, as part of an organized group - impose a penalty in the form of a fine in the amount of 60,000 rubles (half of the maximum sanction).

According to Article 111 Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Intentional infliction of grievous harm to health”, resulting in mental disorder based on ideological hatred or enmity, as part of an organized group - a sentence of 6 years in prison.

When assigning a punishment, take into account the advanced age of the defendant, lack of criminal record, positive characteristics, however, take into account the exceptional audacity, cynicism and demonstrative nature of the crime, and therefore assign a general punishment in the form of real imprisonment by partial addition of punishments in the form of 6 years 6 months imprisonment.

Defense: “All of Preobrazhensky’s accusations directly contradict the law”

Without exception, all the numerous charges brought against my client are completely unfounded. They are not supported by evidence and directly contradict the requirements of the law, establishing both general grounds for criminal liability and specific elements of crimes. Below are brief justifications for this statement in relation to each accusation.

Allegations of “corruption and blackmail”

Preobrazhensky is neither an official nor the head of any organization, and cannot be the subject of these crimes. He is not charged with actions that could constitute part of any of them, as well as giving a bribe (Article 291). The actions accused of Preobrazhensky as “corruption and blackmail” are a legitimate defense of one’s rights against the arbitrariness of officials.

Charge of concealing a crime

Concealment of only especially serious crimes is criminally punishable (Article 316 of the Criminal Code). Sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old (Part 1 of Article 134 of the Criminal Code) is a crime of moderate gravity, and then only if she has not reached puberty. There is no evidence that she has not reached puberty; on the contrary, the state of pregnancy indicates that she has reached puberty.

There is also no evidence that Preobrazhensky performed the abortion precisely for the purpose of concealing the fact of sexual intercourse with a minor, and not for another purpose (for example, to avoid the negative consequences of pregnancy for her life and health).

Charge of "stealing a corpse"

Pure fiction. Firstly, a corpse cannot in any way be the subject of theft, and secondly, there are no signs of theft - the secret theft of someone else's property (Article 158 of the Criminal Code).

Animal cruelty charge

Preobrazhensky picked up a homeless sick dog on the street, doomed to death, went out and fed him, the dog sincerely loved him for this. This fact is admitted by the prosecution. After this, Preobrazhensky gave the dog a chance to become a human, at the same time making him a world celebrity. What kind of cruel treatment of an animal can we talk about here, even if this animal never became a human?! All mandatory elements of this crime are missing (Article 245 of the Criminal Code): death or injury of an animal, motive (hooligan or selfish) and method (sadistic or in the presence of minors) of its commission.

Charges of "murder or excess of self-defense"

Murder is causing the death of a person (Article 105 of the Criminal Code). The prosecution has not proven that Sharikov/Sharik was (became) a person. “Speaking does not mean being human.” Parrots, for example, also talk. The mere transplantation of a human organ into an animal is also not proof of its transformation into a human. Consequently, there is no object of attack, and thus the very possibility of being charged with murder is excluded. In addition, whoever Sharikov/Sharik was, he was not deprived of his life.

The case indisputably established: “The ball still exists, and no one definitely killed him. ...The nightmare-looking dog with a purple scar on his forehead again rose to his hind legs and, smiling, sat down in a chair.”

As for Bormental’s actions, they were aimed at protecting Sharikov from an attack armed with a revolver, at repelling his aggressive criminal actions: violent harassment of Zina, causing bodily harm to Bormental.

He was undoubtedly in a state of necessary defense. His actions corresponded to the nature and danger of the attack; the limits of necessary defense were not exceeded. The fact that the defender has the opportunity to call for help or contact law enforcement agencies does not exclude the state of necessary defense and does not detract from the right to his own active actions to repel an attack.

The subsequent (after repelling the armed attack of Sharikov/Sharik) surgical actions of Preobrazhensky and Bormental were not “excess of self-defense,” as the prosecution falsely claims, and, of course, not an attempted murder, but a continuation of a scientific experiment.

There is no evidence that Preobrazhensky's claim that Sharik/Sharikov never became human is false. It has not been refuted in any way, and all doubts must be interpreted exclusively in favor of the accused (Article 14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

Bottom line

Unproven guilt means proven innocence. An accusation, and especially a conviction, cannot be based on assumptions and unclear formulations. That's what justice stands for. There is only one possible conclusion from all that has been said: my client is subject to complete acquittal of all charges brought against him and full rehabilitation.

Sentence to Professor Philip Preobrazhensky

The verdict is read out by Dmitry Nechevin, Doctor of Law, Professor of Moscow State Law University.

Having considered the criminal case against Preobrazhensky, having heard the prosecution and defense, as well as the evidence presented in the case under consideration, the court makes the following decision.

At first, I just wanted to mention the “Kalabukhov House,” but somewhere inside there grew an irrepressible desire to try to dig up more information about this house, since the image of Professor Preobrazhensky from the “story “Heart of a Dog”” called for his “revival” and a more detailed story...

Professor Preobrazhensky awakened in me an amazing feeling of understanding of integrity, harmony and his active confident life position, with simultaneous grace, tough tact and a great ability to control this world, remaining in a state of acceptance, love, subtle irony and imaginary theatrical puzzlement. Professor Preobrazhensky easily built his relationship with the new post-revolutionary government, with its callous everyday side effects manifested in the person of Shvonder and his other “comrades.” Therefore, we will focus on the history of the “Kalabukhov House”, Mikhail Bulgakov’s stay in this house and Professor Preobrazhensky as a person. In general, there will be a little of everything...

It is generally accepted that the main prototype of Professor Preobrazhensky’s home was the apartment building 24/1 on the corner of Prechistenka and Obukhov Lane, built according to the design of the architect S.F. Kulagin in 1904 on a plot owned by E.S. Pavlovskaya. The house is a five-story massive structure with rusticated cladding on the first floor. On the facade facing Obukhov (from 1922 - Chisty) lane, there are two high windows connecting the second and third floors. Several windows along the facade on Prechistenka are decorated with porticoes with half-columns.
02.

We are on Chisty Lane, which starts from Prichistenka. "Kalabukhovsky House" on the left.

At the beginning of the 20th century, two of Bulgakov’s maternal uncles lived in this house - doctors Nikolai Mikhailovich and Mikhail Mikhailovich Pokrovsky. The first of them became the main prototype of Phillip Filippovich Preobrazhensky. In the Moscow address and reference books of the pre-revolutionary and first post-revolutionary years, the same address of the brothers is listed differently: “Pokrovsky N.M. - women's diseases - Obukhov lane, 1, apartment 12" and "Pokrovsky M.M. - sexually transmitted diseases - Prechistenka, 24, apartment 12.”
03.


Nikolai Mikhailovich Pokrovsky is the prototype of Professor Philip Filippovich Preobrazhensky.
In this photo, he is, naturally, much younger than his Bulgakov character.
04.

Apartment 12, where the Pokrovskys lived, was the first Moscow refuge of Bulgakov, who in 1916 came to Moscow for a week with his wife from the village of Nikolskoye, Smolensk province. Pointing out that the description of Professor Preobrazhensky’s seven-room apartment coincides in detail with Pokrovsky’s apartment, B.V. Sokolov makes the observation that “in the address of the prototype, the street names are associated with the Christian tradition, and his surname (in honor of the Feast of the Intercession) corresponds to the character’s surname associated with the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.” Moscow local historian and Bulgakov expert B.S. Myagkov points out that Pokrovsky’s apartment originally had five rooms, but after the arrival of his nieces in 1920, one of the large rooms was partitioned off, resulting in seven rooms. Pokrovsky's nieces, Alexandra Andreevna and Oksana Mitrofanovna, lived in this apartment until the end of the 1970s.
05.


"Kalabukhovsky house". Prechistenka, 24/1.

The lobby of the “Kalabukhov house” with a marble main staircase and the mezzanine, where Preobrazhensky’s “luxury apartment” was located, were borrowed by Bulgakov from the nearby building 13/7, building 1 at the intersection of Prechistenka and Lopukhinsky Lane.
06.

Apartment house Y.A. Recca was built in 1912 according to the design of architects G.A. Gelrich and N.G. Lazarev. Before the revolution, two apartments on the last, sixth floor of the house were occupied by Faberge Alexander, the son of the founder of the famous jewelry company, the head and artist of its Moscow branch. After the revolution, the house was “densified.” Faberge ended up in exile, and Bulgakov’s acquaintances, artists from the “Jack of Diamonds” group, settled in apartments 11 and 12 that belonged to him. Bulgakov loved to visit them. Some of the interiors of Professor Preobrazhensky’s apartment were borrowed by Bulgakov from their home.
07.


Apartment house Y.A. Recca. Prechistenka, 13/7.

Along with the mezzanine, which is absent in house 24, other realities that belonged to house 13 were borrowed for the Kalabukhov house - the glass front door, at which a doorman was on duty with a “band with gold braid”, gray marble steps in the lobby, carpet on the stairs, oak hanger, “galosh rack”. House 13 also corresponds to the number of apartments on the stairs of the Kalabukhovsky building: “Notice, there are 12 apartments here...” says Professor Bormenthal. In a building of 24 apartments there were only eight...
08.


"Kalabukhovsky house". Prechistenka, 24/1.

As we remember, Professor Preobrazhensky in 1924 lives and works in Moscow in the so-called “Kalabukhov House” at st. Prechistenka, 24, in a seven-room apartment. His housekeeper Zina and cook Daria Petrovna live with him, as well as his temporary assistant, Dr. Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental. Part of the apartment is used by the professor as a personal surgical clinic...

Preobrazhensky achieved excellent results in practical rejuvenation. He is completely devoted to his work, but, unlike Bulgakov’s other hero, Professor Persikov (the story “Fatal Eggs”), he thinks and talks a lot about the Soviet reality around him, to which Preobrazhensky is very critical. An elderly, intelligent person who knows the value of work and experience is outraged by the manners of Soviet nominees without education and culture. “Yes, I don’t like the proletariat,” he responds to the reproach for his reluctance to support the initiatives of the Bolsheviks...

On behalf of the street dog, Bulgakov gives the following description of his hero:
“...- This one eats abundantly and does not steal, this one will not kick, but he himself is not afraid of anyone, and he is not afraid because he is always full...”.

09.

Professor Preobrazhensky, by the way, is very nice and close to me in spirit...
My favorite episode from the film “Heart of a Dog” directed by Vladimir Bortko, when the new house management, headed by its chairman, Shvonder, comes to his apartment to “compact the professor”:

You live alone in seven rooms...
... “I live and work alone in seven rooms,” answered Philip Philipovich, “and I would like to have an eighth.” I need it for my library..."...

I would like to invite you,” here the woman pulled out several bright and snow-wet magazines from her bosom, “to take several magazines in favor of the children of Germany. About fifty dollars a piece.

No, I won’t take it,” Philip Philipovich answered briefly, glancing sideways at the magazines.

Complete amazement was expressed on the faces of the (“comrades”), and the woman became covered with a cranberry coating.

In 2014, the house of Professor Preobrazhensky was included in the list of objects that are planned to be marked on the literary map of Moscow.
11.

To be fair, it is worth noting that in the film version of “Heart of a Dog,” filmed in Leningrad, the role of “Kalabukhovsky” was played by house 27-29 on Mokhovaya Street - the former apartment building of the Rossiya insurance company, built in the French Renaissance style according to the design of the architect L.N. . Benois at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century.

The Ostozhenka and Prechistenka area has always attracted me with its unique spirit of Old Moscow and some kind of immense peace. I can endlessly walk in these places, trying to capture its unique atmosphere. It’s great that the House of Professor Preobrazhensky actually exists in Moscow and has survived, almost without the emasculated new “restorations”. In contrast to the three unpreserved places of residence of Bulgakov in the Prechistenka area, the “Kolabukhov house” recalls the Master and is, in fact, a monument to Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov on Prechistenka.

Sources:

Myagkov B. S. Bulgakovskaya Moscow. M.: Moscow worker, 1993.

Sokolov B. “Heart of a Dog”, part 4. Bulgakov Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. M.: Lokid. Myth, 2000.

Wikipedia

Vladimir d'Ar, 2016

It is better for an animal to remain an animal. This conclusion was reached by Professor Preobrazhensky, the doctor who gives youth to his patients in the story “The Heart of a Dog.” Philip Philipovich created Sharikov as a semblance of a human being, but the experiment was unsuccessful - the dog did not become an ideal member of society.

Story

The work pretty much ruined the life of the Russian prose writer. At the beginning of 1925, Mikhail Bulgakov began creating a new story under the working title “Dog Happiness. A monstrous story,” which was expected to be published in the Nedra magazine.

Three months later, the author put an end to his next literary work and presented it to his colleagues at the Nikitsky Subbotniks meeting. The Main Political Directorate immediately received a denunciation against Mikhail Afanasyevich for a “hostile thing, breathing contempt for the Soviet Union.”

It came down to it, and he finally killed the work. Moreover, they came to the writer with a search, seizing two copies of the manuscripts of “The Heart of a Dog.” In the 60s, the typewritten creation leaked into samizdat, and from there, carelessly copied, flew to the West. Legally, the story reached the Soviet reader only in 1987 through the magazine “Znamya”, but it was the same low-quality copy. Only at the height of perestroika was the original published.

The prototypes of the main character in Professor Preobrazhensky's story are still being debated. Whether there was such a person remains a mystery, but the prototypes are definitely M.A. Bulgakov used in his work. Researchers see similarities with the hero’s life in the life of gynecologist Nikolai Pokrovsky, the prose writer’s uncle. The furnishings of the book doctor's home were copied from his apartment.

Perhaps the writer also relied on the image of an academician: an influential man of his time despised the Bolsheviks, survived a series of searches, but survived thanks to Lenin’s patronage.

Preobrazhensky’s biography was also based on elements of the activities of Sergei Voronov, an experimental surgeon who tried to transplant primate ovaries into women. And the famous gynecologist Vladimir Snegirev loved to sing when he was thinking about important matters, just like the professor from “The Heart of a Dog.”

And finally, the list of prototypes is completed by the family’s former personal physician, Dmitry Nikitin, exiled to Arkhangelsk, and physician Vasily Preobrazhensky, whose interests lay in the field of genetics and experimental physiology. In particular, he tried his hand at rejuvenation.

Whether there was actually one of these personalities in charge of creating the image of Philip Philipovich is no longer important. Bulgakov managed to mix the best minds of the era and show the reading public a symbol of humanity and high morality. True, Preobrazhensky did not make a teacher - no matter how hard he tried, Sharikov could not be molded into a full-fledged person.

Main plot

The plot of the story takes place in Moscow at the end of 1927. Professor Preobrazhensky, together with his assistant Dr. Bormenthal, in continuation of successful experiments on rejuvenation, decide to test their strength in transplanting human testes and a gland responsible for growth and development into an animal. The material was taken from the deceased alcoholic and parasite Klim Chugunkin, and the street dog Sharik acted as the experimental subject.

The dog began to turn into a human, having absorbed the worst qualities of its donor - a passion for alcohol, rudeness and rudeness. News of the successful experiment spread throughout the medical community, and the fruit of the amazing experiments became the star of medical lectures. Yesterday's dog, having fallen under the care of the chairman of the house committee, an activist of the Communist Party Shvonder, received documents in the name of Polygraph Poligrafovich Sharikov and completely escaped the hands of his creator.

Shvonder instilled in the consciousness of the half-man, half-dog the conviction that he was a representative of the proletariat, suffering from the oppression of the bourgeoisie, that is, the doctor and his assistant Bormental. Sharikov allows himself to be rude to them, gets drunk to the point of unconsciousness, pesters the servants and steals money. The last straw was the denunciation of Preobrazhensky, which miraculously did not reach the authorities. During the scandal, when the professor kicked his scientific brainchild out of the apartment, Sharikov threatened him with a revolver. The doctors' patience ran out, and the experimenters performed an operation with the opposite effect - Poligraf Poligrafovich again took the form of a dog.

Professor's image

Sharikov himself gives an exact description of the hero with a succinct phrase:

“There is no smell of the proletariat here.”

Professor Preobrazhensky is a representative of the intelligentsia, a symbol of outgoing Russian culture. This is evidenced by the appearance and lifestyle of the doctor. Philip Philipovich is dressed in a dark suit, wears a gold chain and a fox fur coat. In the spacious seven-room apartment, despite the changed times, there are still servants, whom the doctor treats with respect. The professor dines in an aristocratic manner - in the dining room, where the table is set with expensive dishes, and the assortment of dishes includes lightly salted salmon, caviar, cheese and even eel.

The author has created a charming personality. Preobrazhensky is very emotional, intelligent and has excellent logic; in disputes he behaves diplomatically and with restraint, and the aphorisms in which his speech is rich were quickly turned into catchphrases by readers. Trying to characterize the characters in “Heart of a Dog” by phrases, people who are keen on socionics classify the professor as belonging to two sociotypes – extrovert and rational.

Preobrazhensky sincerely does not like the proletariat, condemns the new authorities for rudeness and violent methods, predicting the imminent decline of the country's economy. The changes, reflected in the little things, drive the professor crazy: house guests no longer take off their shoes in front of the stairs, not a month goes by without the electricity being cut off, and carpets and flowers have disappeared from the front door. Philip Philipovich believes that the proletariat is worthy only of cleaning barns, and not of leading the state.

In his famous monologue about devastation, the professor shares his opinion that the horror happening around is a consequence of the chaos in a person’s head:

“What is this destruction of yours? (...) Yes, it doesn’t exist at all. What do you mean by this word? This is this: if, instead of operating every evening, I start singing in chorus in my apartment, I will be in ruins. (...) Consequently, the devastation is not in the closets, but in the heads.”

The luminary of science pursues the goal of making the world around him a better place, but not through violence.

“You can only act by suggestion,” he says.

Preobrazhensky hopes to transform nature by transplanting human organs into animals in order to eliminate the imperfections of human nature. A fiasco in this direction makes it clear to the professor that scientific experiments on humans are immoral, and attempts to change the order of things are fraught with unpredictable consequences. As a result, the hero comes to the conclusion that everything in nature is logical and natural - from the “mass of all scum” the geniuses who adorn the world still stand out.

Quotes

“And, God forbid, don’t read Soviet newspapers before lunch.
- Hm... But there are no others.
“Don’t read any.”

“You know, a person without documents is strictly prohibited from existing.”

“Why was the carpet removed from the main staircase? M? What, Karl Marx forbids carpets on the stairs?

“And you, in the presence of two people with a university education, allow yourself to give advice of cosmic proportions and cosmic stupidity.”

“Never commit a crime, no matter who it is directed against. Live to old age with clean hands.”

“Only landowners who were undercut by the Bolsheviks eat cold appetizers and soup. A more or less self-respecting person handles hot snacks.”

“I’m closing the apartment and leaving for Sochi! I can give the keys to Shvonder, let him operate. But only one condition - whatever, whatever, whenever, but it must be such a piece of paper that in the presence of which neither Shvonder nor anyone else could even come to the door of my apartment! The final paper! Factual! Real! Armor!"

Quotes from “Heart of a Dog” are so witty that the authors of memes did not ignore them. The Internet is full of photos of Professor Preobrazhensky from the 1988 Soviet film with altered phrases. Let's highlight the funniest ones:

“Humanity will be saved by punitive psychiatry.”

“Did you read it on the Internet, sir? Yes, my friend, you have problems with your head.”

"I'm not trolling, I'm just defending myself."

• The first film based on Bulgakov's story was directed by Alberto Lattuada. The film, a co-production between Germany and Italy, was released in 1976. In the homeland of “Heart of a Dog,” the film adaptation was delayed due to the ban on the work.

• For, who brilliantly played the role of Preobrazhensky in the Russian film, work in “Heart of a Dog” became a salvation: the Moscow Art Theater actor was sent into retirement in the late 80s, and the director gave him a chance not to fall into depression.
• For the role of Sharikov, actors who looked like dogs were selected. The casting organizers saw similar traits in and. However, the director rejected these candidates. In the last stack of photos, the attention of the master of cinema was attracted by an unknown employee of the Almaty theater. At the audition, the man won the heart of the creator of the picture when he raised a glass of vodka with the words: “I wish that’s all!”