Sergei Dovlatov
Encyclopedia
Ufa
-Demographics:Nationally, dominated by Russian , Bashkirs and Tatars . In addition, numerous are Ukrainians , Chuvash , Mari , Belarusians , Mordovians , Armenian , Germans , Jews , Azeris .-Government and administration:Local...
, USSR – 24 August 1990, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA) was a Russian journalist and writer.
Biography
Dovlatov was born on September 3, 1941 in UfaUfa
-Demographics:Nationally, dominated by Russian , Bashkirs and Tatars . In addition, numerous are Ukrainians , Chuvash , Mari , Belarusians , Mordovians , Armenian , Germans , Jews , Azeris .-Government and administration:Local...
, Republic of Bashkiria, USSR, where his family had been evacuated during World War II
World 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...
from 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...
. His mother was an Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n and his father was half Jewish. After 1945 he lived with his mother in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(now St. Petersburg). Dovlatov studied at the Finnish Department of Leningrad State University, but flunked after two and a half years. He was drafted into the Soviet Internal Troops
Internal Troops
The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs ; alternatively translated as "Interior " is a paramilitary gendarmerie-like force in the now-defunct Soviet Union and its successor countries, particularly, in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan...
and served as a prison guard in high-security camps. Later, he earned his living as a journalist in various newspapers and magazines in Leningrad and then as a correspondent of the Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
newspaper "Sovetskaja Éstonia" (Советская Эстония/Soviet Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
). He supplemented his income by being a summer tour guide
Tour guide
A tour guide provides assistance, information and cultural, historical and contemporary heritage interpretation to people on organized tours, individual clients, educational establishments, at religious and historical sites, museums, and at venues of other significant interest...
in the Pushkin preserve, a museum near Pskov
Pskov
Pskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
. Dovlatov wrote prose fiction, but his numerous attempts to get published in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
were in vain. Unable to publish in the Soviet Union, Dovlatov circulated his writings through samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
and by having them smuggled into Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
for publication in foreign journals; an activity that caused his expulsion from the Union of Soviet Journalists in 1976. The set of his first book was destroyed under the order of the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. In 1976, some stories by Dovlatov had been published in Western Russian-language magazines, including "Continent", "Time and us", resulting in his expulsion from the Union of Journalists of the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
In 1979 Dovlatov emigrated from the Soviet Union with his mother, Nora, and came to live with his wife and daughter in New York, where he later co-edited "The New American", a liberal, Russian-language émigré newspaper. In the mid 80's, Dovlatov finally achieved recognition as a writer, being printed in the prestigious magazine "The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
". Dovlatov died on August 24, 1990 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and was buried at the Mount Hebron Cemetery.
Works
Sergei Dovlatov published twelve books in the USA and Europe during his twelve years as an immigrant. In the Soviet Union, the writer was known from SamizdatSamizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
and Radio Liberty. After his death and the fall of the Soviet Union, numerous collections of his short stories were finally published in Russia.
Published during his lifetime:
- The Invisible Book (Невидимая книга) — Аnn Arbor: Ardis, 1977
- Solo on Underwood: Notebooks (Соло на ундервуде: Записные книжки) — Paris: Третья волна, 1980.
- The Compromise (Компромисс) — New York: Серебряный век, 1981.
- The Zone: A Prison Camp Guard's Story (Зона: Записки надзирателя) — Ann Arbor: Эрмитаж, 1982.
- The Reserve (Заповедник) - Аnn Arbor: Эрмитаж, 1983.
- The March of the Single People (Марш одиноких) — Holyoke: New England Publishing Co, 1983.
- Ours (Наши) — Ann Arbor: Ардис, 1983.
- Demarche of Enthusiasts (Демарш энтузиастов) (cowritten with Vagrich BakhchanyanVagrich BakhchanyanVagrich Hakobi Bakhchanyan was an Armenian, Russian, Ukrainian and American painter, artist and writer-conceptualist in the Russian language....
and N. Sagalovskij) — Paris: Синтаксис, 1985. - Craft: A Story in Two Parts (Ремесло: Повесть в двух частях) — Ann Arbor: Ардис, 1985.
- A Foreign Woman (Иностранка) — New York: Russica Publishers, 1986.
- Suitcase (Чемодан) — Tenafly: Эрмитаж, 1986.
- The Performance (Представление) — New York: Russica Publishers, 1987.
- Not only Brodsky: Russian Culture in Portraits and Jokes (He только Бродский: Русская культура в портретах и в анекдотах) (cowritten with M. Volkova) — New York: Слово — Word, 1990.
- Notebooks (Записные книжки) — New York: Слово — Word, 1990.
- AffiliateAffiliate (novel)Affiliate is a novel by the Russian writer Sergei Dovlatov. It was written in 1990 and first published in America.-Plot introduction:...
(Филиал) — New York: Слово — Word, 1990.
Critical perception
Joseph BrodskyJoseph Brodsky
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky , was a Russian poet and essayist.In 1964, 23-year-old Brodsky was arrested and charged with the crime of "social parasitism" He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972 and settled in America with the help of W. H. Auden and other supporters...
said of Dovlatov, "He is the only Russian writer whose works will be read all the way through" and that: "The decisive thing is his tone, which every member of a democratic society can recognize: the individual who won't let himself be cast in the role of a victim, who is not obsessed with what makes him different."
Quotes
"One can revere Tolstoy's mind. Delight in Pushkin's finesse. Appreciate the spiritual quest of Dostoyevsky. Gogol's humor. And so on. Yet ChekhovAnton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
is the only one I would want to resemble."
External links
- http://www.newtimes.ru/eng/detail.asp?art_id=236
- http://dovlatov.chkebelski.de/
- Sergei Dovlatov. Borderline Writings of a Russian Emigrant