What do you think?
Rate this book
Nijinsky and The Last Years of Nijinsky
RAtes fine or near mint on both jacket and book. Exact reproduction of 1930s book by same publisher
- GenresBiography
707 pages, Hardcover
First published September 18, 1980
2 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 15, 2025
I never rate books but it had to be done. Sincerely one of the most heart-wrenching love stories I’ve ever read an account of across fiction or nonfiction (and I love love, especially love among artists). An autobiography woven into a biography or perhaps vice versa in a way not quite like anything I’ve read before - finished nearly a week ago and still in total awe. I imagine I will be for a very long time ❤️
April 21, 2014
Mme. de Pulszky's biographies about her husband will surely disappoint those who seek shear gossip about the personal life of Vaslav Nijinsky, although we get to know some aspects of it.
This hardcover volume, titled "Nijinsky, The Definitive Biography", published in 1980, compile the two books Mme. de Pulszky wrote: Nijinsky (1934) and The Last Years of Nijinsky (1952). They are presented in facsimile form and are modestly illustrated.
As much as one can believe the events related on those books, it is mandatory to keep in mind that by being written by his wife, the adoration she had for Nijinsky is evident, and the descriptions given by her about her husband are somewhat exaggerated at times.
During the American Tour (which Nijinsky had to manage himself), he sprained his ankle while correcting a dancer and had to bedridden for 6 weeks, delaying the tour and causing havoc with financiers and theatre managers. Before this diagnose was confirmed by X-ray, however, it was thought Nijinsky had broken his foot (Anna Pavlova was supposedly unhappy after hearing that because she thought he had broken his leg altogether). Upon seeing the X-ray, Mme de Pulszky says: "Dr. Abbé showed me the X-ray picture and explained the amazing fact that Vaslav's foot anatomy was not constructed like the of other human beings, but was a mixture of man and bird." The doctor attributed it to atavism, Vaslav being the 5th generation of dancers, but it is hard to believe, even so.
Another hard to believe claim made my Mme. de Pulsky was that it was Nijinsky's idea to create the Ballet Russes. Sergei Diaghilev, at the time, was becoming widely known throughout Europe with painting exhibitions of Russian artists, and according to Romola, Nijinsky, still attached to The Mariinsky Theatre, asked Diaghilev why didn't he show Europe what they, the Russian dancers, could do.
Little is revealed about Diaghilev and Nijinsky's relationship, and frankly, I was not disappointed by that. Sergei, however, is a present figure on the first book because of his role in the Ballet Russes development. The descriptions of his character are not flattering. He is painted with harsh colours at almost all times. Romola says: "I sensed now that Sergei Pavlovitch would rather annihilate Vaslav completely if he could not own him both as an artist and as a man." And this is made crystal clear when the mischiefs of Diaghilev are revealed.
The writing is somewhat pedantic at times, with the quotations mixing English with French, Russian, and German, which was completely out of purpose since Nijinsky spoke only Russian, and then French. Despite that, most of his words are presented in English, so it was confusing to understand the criteria she used with that.
Lavishing details are given about costumes, scenery, the ballets and the tours, which was a very pleasant aspect of the book to those interested in the historic ballet background. Nijinsky's childhood is also thoroughly described.
The second book, The Last Years of Nijinsky was the hardest one for me to read. The recounts on how to survive a world war were never so vivid to me, because even though I had seen many movies about it, the book is an intimate portrait of the struggle of two individuals going from place to place avoiding chaos. It is heartbreaking.
This hardcover volume, titled "Nijinsky, The Definitive Biography", published in 1980, compile the two books Mme. de Pulszky wrote: Nijinsky (1934) and The Last Years of Nijinsky (1952). They are presented in facsimile form and are modestly illustrated.
As much as one can believe the events related on those books, it is mandatory to keep in mind that by being written by his wife, the adoration she had for Nijinsky is evident, and the descriptions given by her about her husband are somewhat exaggerated at times.
During the American Tour (which Nijinsky had to manage himself), he sprained his ankle while correcting a dancer and had to bedridden for 6 weeks, delaying the tour and causing havoc with financiers and theatre managers. Before this diagnose was confirmed by X-ray, however, it was thought Nijinsky had broken his foot (Anna Pavlova was supposedly unhappy after hearing that because she thought he had broken his leg altogether). Upon seeing the X-ray, Mme de Pulszky says: "Dr. Abbé showed me the X-ray picture and explained the amazing fact that Vaslav's foot anatomy was not constructed like the of other human beings, but was a mixture of man and bird." The doctor attributed it to atavism, Vaslav being the 5th generation of dancers, but it is hard to believe, even so.
Another hard to believe claim made my Mme. de Pulsky was that it was Nijinsky's idea to create the Ballet Russes. Sergei Diaghilev, at the time, was becoming widely known throughout Europe with painting exhibitions of Russian artists, and according to Romola, Nijinsky, still attached to The Mariinsky Theatre, asked Diaghilev why didn't he show Europe what they, the Russian dancers, could do.
Little is revealed about Diaghilev and Nijinsky's relationship, and frankly, I was not disappointed by that. Sergei, however, is a present figure on the first book because of his role in the Ballet Russes development. The descriptions of his character are not flattering. He is painted with harsh colours at almost all times. Romola says: "I sensed now that Sergei Pavlovitch would rather annihilate Vaslav completely if he could not own him both as an artist and as a man." And this is made crystal clear when the mischiefs of Diaghilev are revealed.
The writing is somewhat pedantic at times, with the quotations mixing English with French, Russian, and German, which was completely out of purpose since Nijinsky spoke only Russian, and then French. Despite that, most of his words are presented in English, so it was confusing to understand the criteria she used with that.
Lavishing details are given about costumes, scenery, the ballets and the tours, which was a very pleasant aspect of the book to those interested in the historic ballet background. Nijinsky's childhood is also thoroughly described.
The second book, The Last Years of Nijinsky was the hardest one for me to read. The recounts on how to survive a world war were never so vivid to me, because even though I had seen many movies about it, the book is an intimate portrait of the struggle of two individuals going from place to place avoiding chaos. It is heartbreaking.
October 27, 2019
I enjoyed this one more than the other biographies (hence the high rating). Mostly because of all the little anecdotes Romola provided, which ranged from adorable and endearing, to funny, to horrific and heartbreaking. Sure, the writing is pedantic and sags every now and then, but it’s certainly not boring.
The factual errors I noticed were mostly to do with dates and times, or because she had been told a different version of the same story. (For instance, Nijinsky told Romola the lacerated liver and concussion he suffered at age twelve were an accident; the bios all said it was a malicious prank played on him by school bullies. This doesn’t reflect poorly on Romola so much as it says something about Nijinsky, since he was the one who lied about it.) The information she chose to withhold is for the most part understandable—she didn’t need to air out her or her husband’s dirty laundry. She published these books to make money for Nijinsky’s care and to enshrine his legacy, and to these ends she succeeds. The rest is for sticklers and gossipmongers to chase after.
The factual errors I noticed were mostly to do with dates and times, or because she had been told a different version of the same story. (For instance, Nijinsky told Romola the lacerated liver and concussion he suffered at age twelve were an accident; the bios all said it was a malicious prank played on him by school bullies. This doesn’t reflect poorly on Romola so much as it says something about Nijinsky, since he was the one who lied about it.) The information she chose to withhold is for the most part understandable—she didn’t need to air out her or her husband’s dirty laundry. She published these books to make money for Nijinsky’s care and to enshrine his legacy, and to these ends she succeeds. The rest is for sticklers and gossipmongers to chase after.
January 2, 2022
It’s like sitting down to tea with an aunt who has led the most extraordinary life. It’s well recounted, not written. If you can get around this, it’s quite entertaining, and yet disturbing.
May 22, 2010
[These notes were made in 1984, and cover only the second item in this volume, The Last Years of Nijinsky:]. Bound in with Romola's earlier and longer account up to the point of Nijinsky's madness, this extra piece shares the same highly defensive tone. It tells of the difficulties of shepherding a mental patient - not violent, but he seems to have been noticeably withdrawn - through Eastern Europe at a time when the Nazis were in control and exterminating mental patients. From this you might expect high drama, but in fact even the most exciting or terrifying incidents are very flatly related, and Romola is as querulous about the inconveniences of her accommodation in post-liberation Berlin as she was about the Nazi threat. Throughout all of this, Nijinsky himself remains a cipher, even more than he was in the first book. And yet it was interesting, even though it is more autobiography than biography.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews