Oleg Grigoriev
Encyclopedia
- For a pilot of the same name, see 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision.
Oleg Grigoriev (born 6 December 1943) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. He is regarded as a successor of the Oberiu
Oberiu
OBERIU was a short-lived avant-garde collective of Russian Futurist writers, musicians, and artists in the 1920s and 1930s...
tradition. Many of his short poems became modern folklore.
Biography
Oleg Grigoriev was born during the evacuation of the Vologda region in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war, Grigoriev's father became an alcoholic after returning from the war, with Grigoriev and his mother moving to Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
. At an early age, he started to paint and write poetry (he wrote one of his most famous poems, "I have asked electrician Petrov...," at the age of 16). After finishing secondary school, Grigoriev enrolled in art school, but was soon expelled for painting "in an inappropriate way". Afterwards, Grigoriev worked as a guard, a stoker, a postman, a seasonal worker, and a yard-keeper.
In 1970 he published his first book, "Oddballs" («Чудаки»), a collection of children's poetry. Soon after, he was charged with parasitism
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
and sentenced to public works building an industrial plant.
In 1975 he took part in art exhibition in DK Nevsky.
In 1981, his second collection of children's poetry, "Growth Vitamin" («Витамин роста»), was published. Poems from the book were widely popular, but attracted criticism from the Soviet literary apparatchiks and parts of the literary establishment, including Sergey Mikhalkov
Sergey Mikhalkov
Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov was a Soviet and Russian author of children's books and satirical fables who had the opportunity to write the lyrics of his country's national anthem on three different occasions, spanning almost 60 years.-Life and career:...
. Reportedly, the main reason for the Mikhalkov's outrage was a verse where a bird says that a branch is similar to a cage, but the rods on the branch are not as close to each other, which Mikhalkov interpreted as a subliminal anti-Soviet statement. As a result, two editors of the book were fired and Grigoriev was denied membership in the USSR Union of Writers
USSR Union of Writers
The USSR Union of Writers, or Union of Soviet Writers 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 after disbanding a number of other writers' organizations: RAPP, Proletkult, and VOAPP.The aim of...
, which would have made it possible for him to write full-time. His drinking problem developed in the labor camp deepened.
Grigoriev's next children's book, "Talking Raven" («Говорящий ворон»), was published in 1987.
In 1989, he received a suspended sentence for a drunk fight with a policeman. The sentence could have been be harsher, but several Russian writers, including Andrey Bitov and Bella Akhmadulina, asked court to pardon the poet. In 1991, Grigoriev was finally granted membership into the Union of Writers.
Oleg Grigoriev died on April 30, 1992 from a perforated ulcer
Perforated ulcer
A perforated ulcer, is a very serious condition where an untreated ulcer can burn through the wall of the stomach , allowing digestive juices and food to leech into the abdominal cavity. Treatment generally requires immediate surgery...
. He was buried in Volkovo Cemetery
Volkovo Cemetery
The Volkovo Cemetery , is one of the largest and oldest non- Orthodox cemeteries in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Until the early 20th century it was one of the main burial grounds for Lutheran Germans in Russia...
in Saint-Petersburg.
His first book of adult's poetry was published after his death in 1993. Since then his poems, both for kids and adults, are republished several times every year and some his works have been translated into German and French.