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Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (Russian: Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Евтуше́нко) (born July 18, 1933) is a Russian poet. He also directed several films. Reportedly, before the appearance of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov and the dissident movement in Russia, Yevtushenko, through his poetry, was the first voice to speak out against Stalinism.^[1] Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links 180px-Evgenij_Evtushenko. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Zima (Russian: ) is a town in and the administrative center of Ziminsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the intersection of the Trans-Siberian railway with Oka River. ... This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... This article is about work. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... For university teachers, see professor. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... For the passenger train service, see Carl Sandburg (Amtrak). ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This is a list of poets. ... Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (Russian: , IPA:  ; born December 11, 1918) is a Russian novelist, dramatist and historian. ... Andrei Sakharov, 1943 For the historian, see Andrey Nikolayevich Sakharov. ...

Biography

Early Life

Born Yevgeni Aleksandrovich Gangnus (later he took his mother's last name, Yevtushenko) in the Irkutsk region of Siberia in a small town called Zima Junction. His maternal grandfather, named Ermolai Naumovich Evtushenko, had been a Red Army officer during the Russian Revolution and the Civil War (both of Yevtusheko's grandfathers were arrested as "enemies of the people" in 1937 during Stalin's purges). The future poet's father, named Aleksandr Rudolfovich Gangnus, was a geologist, as was his mother, named Zinaida Ermolaevna Evtushenko, who later became a singer. The boy accompanied his father on geological expeditions to Kazakhstan in 1948, and to Altai, Siberia, in 1950. Young Yevtushenko wrote his first verses and humorous songs "chastushki" while living in Zima, Siberia. This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... Zima (Russian: ) is a town in and the administrative center of Ziminsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the intersection of the Trans-Siberian railway with Oka River. ...

After the Second World War, Yevtushenko moved to Moscow. From 1951-1954 he studied at the Gorky Institute of Literature in Moscow, from which he dropped out. He published his first poem in 1949 and his first book three years later. In 1952 he joined the Union of Soviet Writers after publication of his first collection of poetry. His early poem So mnoyu chto-to proiskhodit (Something is happening to me) became a very popular song, performed by actor-songwriter Aleksandr Dolsky. In 1955 Yevtushenko wrote a poem about the Soviet borders being an obstacle in his life. His first important publication was the poem Stantsiya Zima (Zima Junction 1956). In 1957, he was expelled from the Literary Institute for "individualism". He was banned from traveling, but gained wide popularity with the Russian public. His early work also drew praise from the likes of Boris Pasternak, Carl Sandburg and Robert Frost. The Maxim Gorky Literary Institute (Russian: ) is a higher education institute in Moscow. ... The USSR Union of Writers, or Union of Soviet Writers (Russian: ) was a creative union of professional writers in the USSR. It was founded in 1932 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party The aim of the Union was to achieve Party and State control in... Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Russian: ) (February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1890 – May 30, 1960) was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer, in the West best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago. ... For the passenger train service, see Carl Sandburg (Amtrak). ... Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. ...

During the Khrushchev Thaw

Yevtushenko represents "Russia's new generation" on the cover of Time magazine, April 13, 1962

Yevtushenko was one of the authors politically active during the Khrushchev Thaw (Khrushchev declared a cultural "Thaw" that allowed some freedom of expression). In 1961 he wrote what would become perhaps his most famous poem, Babi Yar, in which he denounced the Soviet distortion of historical fact regarding the Nazi massacre of the Jewish population of Kiev in September 1941 as well as the antisemitism still widespead in the Soviet Union. The usual Soviet policy in relation to the Holocaust in Russia was to describe it as atrocities against Soviet citizens, and to avoid mentioning that it was a genocide specifically of the Jews. Therefore, Yevtushenko's Babi Yar was quite controversial and politically incorrect, "for it spoke not only of the Nazi atrocities, but the Soviet government's own persecution of Jewish people."^[1] Following a centuries-old Russian tradition, Yevtushenko became a public poet. The poem achieved widespread circulation in the underground samizdat press, and later was set to music, together with four other Yevtushenko poems, by Dmitri Shostakovich in his Thirteenth Symphony, subtitled Babi Yar. Publication of the poem in the state-controlled Soviet press was delayed until 1984. Time magazine, April 13, 1962]] This image is a book cover. ... Time magazine, April 13, 1962]] This image is a book cover. ... Look up time in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... is the 103rd day of the year (104th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In Soviet history, Kruschevs Thaw or Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period between the end of 1950s and the beginning of 1960s, when repressions and censorship reached a low point. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Babi Yar (Ukrainian: Бабин яр, Babyn yar; Russian: Бабий яр, Babiy yar) is a ravine in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, located between the Frunze and Melnykov streets and between the St. ... CCCP redirects here. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Map of Ukraine with Kiev highlighted Coordinates: , Country Ukraine Oblast Kiev City Municipality Raion Municipality Government  - Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi Elevation 179 m (587 ft) Population (2006)  - City 4,450,968  - Density 3,299/km² (8,544. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... “Shoah” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Genocide (disambiguation). ... Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ... Samizdat, book published by Pathfinder Press containing a collection of forbidden Trotskyist Samizdat texts. ... Dmitri Shostakovich   (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Å ostakovič) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906–August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ... This article is about the year. ...

In 1961, Yevtushenko also published Nasledniki Stalina (The Heirs of Stalin), in which he stated that although Stalin was dead, Stalinism and its legacy still dominated the country; in the poem he also directly addressed the Soviet government, imploring them to make sure that Stalin would "never rise again". Published originally in Pravda, the poem was not republished until a quarter of a century later, in the times of the comparatively liberal party leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For architecture, see Stalinist architecture. ... For other uses, see Pravda (disambiguation). ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev[1] (Russian: , IPA: ; born 2 March 1931) is a Russian politician. ...

Yevtushenko became one of the most famous poets of the 1950's and 1960's in the Soviet Union. He was part of the 1960's generation, which included such writers as Vasili Aksyonov, Andrei Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina, Robert Rozhdestvensky; as well as actors Andrei Mironov, Aleksandr Zbruyev, Natalya Fateyeva, and many others. As a close associate of writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and as a member of the 1960's generation, Yevtushenko made an important contribution to promote progress, openness, human rights and freedoms in the former Soviet Union. In 1963, Yevtushenko, already an internationally recognised literateur, was banned from travelling outside the Soviet Union.^[2]; the ban was lifted in 1965. At that time the KGB Chairman Vladimir Semichastny and the next KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov reported to the Communist Politburo on the "Anti-Soviet activity of poet Yevtushenko", but he was not intimidated. Vasily Aksyonov is a Russian novelist who began his career in the Soviet era. ... Andrei Andreyevich Voznesensky (born 1933) was a Russian poet. ... Bella Akhmadulina Bella (Izabella) Akhatovna Akhmadulina (Russian: Белла Ахмадулина) is a Russian poet who has been cited by Joseph Brodsky as the best living poet in the Russian language. ... Robert Ivanovich Rozhdestvenski (Russian: Роберт Иванович Рождественский; * June 20, 1932 - † August 19/20, 1994) was a Russian poet who in 1950s and 60s broke with Social Realism and, along with poets such as Voznesensky, Yevtushenko and Akhmadulina, pioneered a newer, fresher, and freer poetry in Soviet Union. ... Andrei Mironov as Ostap Bender in the 1976 TV version of The Twelve Chairs. ... Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (Russian: , IPA:  ; born December 11, 1918) is a Russian novelist, dramatist and historian. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny (Russian: Владимир Ефимович Семичастный, January 15, 1924-January 12, 2001) was the head of the KGB from November 1961 to April 1967. ... Andropov, then the LKSM KFSSR First Secretary, speaks at the May 9, 1945, victory celebrations Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (Russian: , Jurij Vladimirovič Andropov) (June 15 [O.S. June 2] 1914 – February 9, 1984) was a Soviet politician and General Secretary of the CPSU from November 12, 1982 until his death just...

Films

He was filmed as himself during the 1950s as a performing poet-actor. Yevtushenko contributed lyrics to several Soviet films and contributed to the script of Soy Cuba (1964), a Soviet propaganda film. His acting career began with the leading role in Vzlyot (1979) by director Savva Kulish, where he played the leading role as Russian rocket scientist Tsiolkovsky. Yevtyshenko also made two films as a writer/director. His film 'Detsky Sad' (aka.. Kindergarten, 1983) and his last film, 'Pokhorony Stalina' (aka.. Stalin's Funeral, 1990) are dealing with life in the Soviet Union.

Yevtushenko Controversy

In 1965, Yevtushenko joined Anna Akhmatova, Kornei Chukovsky, Jean-Paul Sartre and others and co-signed the letter of protest against the unfair trial of Joseph Brodsky as a result of the court case against him initiated by the Soviet authorities. He subsequently co-signed a letter against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Nevertheless, "when Yevtushenko was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Brodsky himself led a flurry of protest, accusing Yevtushenko of duplicity and claiming that Yevtushenko's criticism of the Soviet Union was launched only in the directions approved by the Party and that he criticised what was acceptable to the Kremlin, when it was acceptable to the Kremlin, while soaking up adulation and honours as a fearless voice of dissent."^[3] Brodsky repeatedly criticised Yevtushenko for what he perceived as his "conformism".^{[4] [5]} Commenting on this controversy in A Night in the Nabokov Hotel, an anthology of Russian poetry in English translation, Anatoly Kudryavitsky wrote the following: "A few Russian poets enjoyed the virtual pop-star status, unthinkable if transposed to other parts of Europe. In reality, they were far from any sort of protest against Soviet totalitarianism and therefore could not be regarded as anything else but naughty children of the regime."^{[6] [opinion needs balancing]} Responding to the criticism, Yevtushenko reportedly said Akhmatova in 1922 (Portrait by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin) Anna Akhmatova (Russian: , real name А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко) (June 23 [O.S. June 11] 1889 — March 5, 1966) was the pen name of Anna Andreevna Gorenko, the leader and the heart and soul of the Saint Petersburg tradition of Russian poetry for half a century. ... Korney Chukovsky Stamp of the USSR devoted to Korney Chukovsky, 1982 (Michel 5164, Scott 5033) Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (Russian: , March 31 NS 1882 - October 28, 1969) is probably the most popular poet for children in the Russian language. ... Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (pronounced: ), was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. ... Bookcover of Works and Days in Russian Joseph Brodsky (May 24, 1940 – January 28, 1996), born Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (Russian: ) was a Russian-born poet and essayist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature (1987) and was chosen Poet Laureate of the United States (1991-1992). ... American Academy of Arts and Letters is an organization whose goal is to foster, assist, and sustain an interest in American literature, music, and art. ... In modern usage, the term communist party is generally used to identify any political party which has adopted communist ideology. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... POV, as opposed to NPOV, in an article means that it is affected by an editors point of view. ...

Who could sanction me to write Babi Yar, or my protests against the (1968 Soviet) invasion of Czechoslovakia? Only I criticised Khrushchev to his face, not even Solzhenitsyn did that. It is only the envy of people who couldn't stand against the propaganda machine, and they invented things about my generation, the artists of the '60s. Our generation was breaking the Iron Curtain. It was a generation crippled by history, and most of our dreams were doomed to be unfulfilled - but the fight for freedom was not in vain.^[5]

In 1989 Yevtushenko was elected as a representative in the Soviet Parliament, where he was a member of the pro-democratic group supporting Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1991, he stood alongside Boris Yeltsin to defend parliament when a hardline coup sought to oust Gorbachev and reverse "perestroika".^[5] Later, however, when Yeltsin sent tanks into restive Chechnya, Yevtushenko reportedly "denounced his old ally and refused to accept an award from him."^[5] Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev[1] (Russian: , IPA: ; born 2 March 1931) is a Russian politician. ... “Yeltsin” redirects here. ... The Chechen Republic (IPA: ; Russian: , Chechenskaya Respublika; Chechen: , Noxçiyn Respublika), or, informally, Chechnya (; Russian: ; Chechen: , Noxçiyçö), sometimes referred to as Ichkeria, Chechnia, Chechenia or Noxçiyn, is a federal subject of Russia. ...

Post-Soviet period

In the post-Soviet era Yevtushenko actively discussed environmental issues, confronted Russian Nationalist writers from the alternative Union of the Writers of Russia, and campaigned for the preservation of the memory of victims of Stalin's Gulag. In 1995 he published his huge anthology of contemporary Russian poetry entitled Verses of the Century.^[7] While also being criticised for refusing to criticise abuses by President Vladimir Putin, Yevtushenko responds that "Putin, like Russia, is struggling to find his way in a time when ideals have been shattered and expedience reigns."^[5] Gulag ( , Russian: ) was the government body responsible for administering prison camps across the former Soviet Union. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian: ) (born October 7, 1952) is the current President of the Russian Federation. ...

Yevtushenko in the West

Yevtushenko, who now (October, 2007) divides his time between Russia and the United States, teaches Russian and European poetry and the history of world cinema at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and at Queens College of the City University of New York. In the West he is best known for his criticism of the Soviet bureaucracy and appeals for getting rid of the legacy of Stalin. He is now working on a three-volume collection of Russian poetry from the 11th-20th century, and plans a novel based on his time in Havana during the Cuban Missile Crisis (he was, reportedly, good friends with Che, Salvador Allende and Pablo Neruda).^[5] The University of Tulsa is a private, comprehensive university awarding bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Largest metro area Oklahoma City metro area Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,898 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... Queens College is one of the senior colleges of the City University of New York. ... The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: ), is the public university system of New York City. ... A compass rose with west highlighted This article refers to the cardinal direction; for other uses see West (disambiguation). ... Soviet redirects here. ... Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from... For other uses, see Che (disambiguation). ... Salvador Isabelino Allende Gossens[1] (July 26, 1908 – September 11, 1973) was President of Chile from November 1970 until his death during the coup détat of September 11, 1973. ... Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the penname and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and communist politician Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. ...

Personal Life

Yevtushenko is allegedly known for his many liaisons and reportedly "still wears a small gold crucifix that he was given by an Irish-American lover in Senegal, in the 1960s."^[5] Yevtushenko has been married four times, once to Jan Butler, an Anglo-Irish translator of his poetry with whom he visited Ireland several times. He has five children, all boys, and was once told that he "was a man that could only produce other womanisers."^[5] His current wife teaches Russian at Thomas Edison Preparatory Academy in the United States, near the University of Tulsa, where Yevtushenko himself spends half the year, lecturing on poetry and European cinema.^[5]

Notes

The News & Record is the largest newspaper serving Guilford County and the surrounding region. ... The Irish Independent is Irelands best-selling daily newspaper. ... The Irish Independent is Irelands best-selling daily newspaper. ... It has been suggested that Irish Times Trust be merged into this article or section. ... // French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon. ... // February 16 — Announcement that 300 poems by S.T. Coleridge have been discovered February 17 — Sothebys announces discovery of four Walt Whitman notebooks John Ashbery, Can You Hear, Bird? Odysseus Elytis, West of Sadness (Δυτικά της λύπης) (his last book) Carl Rakosi, Poems, 1923-1941 Richard Howard edits The Best American Poetry...

References

• A Night in the Nabokov Hotel. 20 Contemporary Poets from Russia Edited by Anatoly Kudryavitsky. Dublin, Dedalus Press 2006) (Online)
• (Russian) Строфы века. Антология русской поэзии (Verses of the Century, 1995) Edited by Yevgeny Yevtushenko

// French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon. ... // February 16 — Announcement that 300 poems by S.T. Coleridge have been discovered February 17 — Sothebys announces discovery of four Walt Whitman notebooks John Ashbery, Can You Hear, Bird? Odysseus Elytis, West of Sadness (Δυτικά της λύπης) (his last book) Carl Rakosi, Poems, 1923-1941 Richard Howard edits The Best American Poetry...

External links

• Yevgeny Yevtushenko online archive
• Yevgeny Yevtushenko at the Internet Movie Database
• Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Collected Poems in English. Part 1
• Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Collected Poems in English. Part 2
• Chingiz Aitmatov on Yevgeny Yevtushenko
• Andrey Voznesensky's article on Yevgeny Yevtushenko
• Audio/Video recordings of a Poetry Reading by Yevgeny Yevtushenko at the University of Chicago