Long Draft From the Cup of Life

Ask Sasha Bryansky how long he has lived on Malaya Bronnaya Ulitsa and he will say not long at all. Only 60 years. But to a man who remembers writing revolutionary poetry in 1905, receiving the St. George Cross for being wounded in World War I and storming the Winter Palace in 1917, 60 years is not such a long time."I don't think anyone has as happy and interesting a life as I do. No one's had a better life, or a better old age," said Bryanksy, who will celebrate his 112th birthday this September. "Lots of interesting people come to see me. They want to see a living museum piece."His eyesight is fading and he shuffles slowly about his apartment, but Bryansky is anything but a relic. His arms are still rock solid -- the result of over 100 years of morning exercises. And when he bursts into song or recites one of his many poems, his voice rings with the vibrato of a man 50 years his junior. His latest book, "Only About Love," came out last year, featuring poems that span over half a century. "To drink all at once from the cup of life is something I would only wish on an enemy," Bryansky wrote in 1916, predicting his own longevity.Born in Simferopol in 1882, Bryansky moved to Odessa as a young boy, where at age 12 he left school when his father fell ill and got his first job as a photographer's apprentice. "That wasn't training, it was torture," said Bryansky, whose days started at 6 A.M. carting coal to heat the master's kitchen. Afterwards he would escort the "baroness" of the house to the market. "Walk a little further away from me," she would say to Bryansky, who trailed behind her with a basket. "I don't want to be seen with you." That first job may not have made a photographer out of Bryansky, but it did turn him into a revolutionary. By 1905 he was already writing poetry calling for soldiers to throw down their arms rather than turn them on their brothers -- the workers and peasants. His enthusiasm even earned him a pseudonym -- Sasha Krasny -- among his fellow revolutionaries. "Krasny for red," Bryansky explained, "and Krasny for beautiful." Bryansky was already in Petrograd -- Petersburg -- in 1917, when he first met the man who would have the most influence on his life: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. "The richest, warmest memories of my life are of my meetings with Lenin," said Bryansky. After joining the Communist Party in March 1917, Bryansky helped storm the Winter Palace during the October Revolution that clinched power for Lenin.Soon thereafter he moved to Moscow, where he helped organize the Kremlin guard. For the next three years, every time Lenin appeared in Red Square, Bryansky was right there with him, protecting the man in charge. "Lenin was kind, cheerful, always looking to the future," said Bryansky with emotion. "When he died, I thought it was the end of the world." While Lenin's death may have marked the end of a career, it was the beginning of a whole new life for Bryansky. In 1924 he organized his own theatrical company, turning his talent and energy towards revolutionizing the theater. "Before, the dramatic theater didn't know dancing and singing," said Bryansky, whose company brought many famous artists to the stage. His role in the Sasha Krasny Theater kept him traveling around the country well into his advanced years. During World War II Bryansky, already in his 60s and serving in his fourth war, was back on the front entertaining the troops. Bryansky may not be able to get around as much as he did in his extended youth, but he is finding that if you live long enough, people start coming to you. He may, in fact, be the only pensioner in all of Moscow who has his meals delivered by a posh hotel. Every day the nearby Marco Polo restaurant sends a waiter to his door laden with a full-course meal on white china. "I used to eat there every day when there were still Bolsheviks," said Bryansky, referring to the cafeteria for Communist Party members that used to occupy the building where the Marco Polo now stands. "Now they come to me every day, rain or shine."And they are not the only ones. Bryansky's home is often full of "young" people -- anyone under 100 may fall into this category. Many are there for the stories, to talk to a man who knew Lenin, Dzerzhinsky and Stalin. To see the man who was friendly with Shalyapin, Mayakovsky and Yesenin. But just as many are there to learn the secret of his longevity. Bryansky sums up his secret in one word: kindness. "I try to live by the words my son once wrote: If a day goes by and I haven't done one good deed for anyone, then that day for me is dead." arms rather than turn them on their brothers -- the workers and peasants. His enthusiasm even earned him a pseudonym -- Sasha Krasny -- among his fellow revolutionaries. "Krasny for red," Bryansky explained, "and Krasny for beautiful." Bryansky was already in Petrograd -- Petersburg -- in 1917, when he first met the man who would have the most influence on his life: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. "The richest, warmest memories of my life are of my meetings with Lenin," said Bryansky. After joining the Communist Party in March 1917, Bryansky helped storm the Winter Palace during the October Revolution that clinched power for Lenin.Soon thereafter he moved to Moscow, where he helped organize the Kremlin guard. For the next three years, every time Lenin appeared in Red Square, Bryansky was right there with him, protecting the man in charge. "Lenin was kind, cheerful, always looking to the future," said Bryansky with emotion. "When he died, I thought it was the end of the world." While Lenin's death may have marked the end of a career, it was the beginning of a whole new life for Bryansky. In 1924 he organized his own theatrical company, turning his talent and energy towards revolutionizing the theater. "Before, the dramatic theater didn't know dancing and singing," said Bryansky, whose company brought many famous artists to the stage. His role in the Sasha Krasny Theater kept him traveling around the country well into his advanced years. During World War II Bryansky, already in his 60s and serving in his fourth war, was back on the front entertaining the troops. Bryansky may not be able to get around as much as he did in his extended youth, but he is finding that if you live long enough, people start coming to you. He may, in fact, be the only pensioner in all of Moscow who has his meals delivered by a posh hotel. Every day the nearby Marco Polo restaurant sends a waiter to his door laden with a full-course meal on white china. "I used to eat there every day when there were still Bolsheviks," said Bryansky, referring to the cafeteria for Communist Party members that used to occupy the building where the Marco Polo now stands. "Now they come to me every day, rain or shine."And they are not the only ones. Bryansky's home is often full of "young" people -- anyone under 100 may fall into this category. Many are there for the stories, to talk to a man who knew Lenin, Dzerzhinsky and Stalin. To see the man who was friendly with Shalyapin, Mayakovsky and Yesenin. But just as many are there to learn the secret of his longevity. Bryansky sums up his secret in one word: kindness. "I try to live by the words my son once wrote: If a day goes by and I haven't done one good deed for anyone, then that day for me is dead."