Venedikt Erofeev
Encyclopedia
Venedict Vasilyevich Yerofeyev or Erofeev or Erofeyev (24 October 1938 — 11 May 1990) was a Russia
n writer.
, Murmansk Oblast
. His father was imprisoned during Stalin's purges
but survived 16 years in the gulags. Most of Yerofeyev's childhood was spent in Kirovsk
, Murmansk Oblast. He managed to enter the philology department of the Moscow State University
but was expelled
from the University after a year and a half because he did not attend compulsory military training. Later he studied in several more institute
s in different towns, including Kolomna
and Vladimir
, but he never managed to graduate from any, usually being expelled due to his "amoral behaviour" (freethinking). Between 1958 and 1975, Yerofeyev lived without propiska
in various towns in Russia, Ukraine
, Belarus
, and Lithuania
, also spending some time in Uzbekistan
and Tadjikistan, doing different low-level and underpaid jobs; for a time he lived and worked in the Muromtsev Dacha
in Moscow. He started writing at the age of 17; in the 1960s he unsuccessfully submitted several articles on Ibsen and Hamsun to literary magazines.
(several English translations exist, including Moscow to the End of the Line and Moscow Stations). It is an account of a journey from Moscow
to Petushki
(Vladimir Oblast
) by train, a journey soaked in alcohol. During the trip, the hero recounts some of the fantastic escapades he participated in, including declaring war on Norway
, charting the drinking habits of his colleagues when leader of a cable-laying crew, and obsessing about the woman he loves. Referred to by David Remnick
as "the comic high-water mark of the Brezhnev era", the poem was published for the first time in 1973 in Jerusalem immediately making Yerofeyev famous throughout the world. It was not published in the Soviet Union
until 1989.
Of note is his smaller 1988 work, My Little Leniniana (Моя маленькая лениниана, Moya malenkaya Leniniana), which is a collection of quotations from Lenin's works and letters, which shows the unpleasant parts of the character of the "leader of the proletariat".
Yerofeyev also claimed to have written in 1972 a novel Shostakovich about the famous Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich
, but the manuscript was allegedly stolen in a train. The novel has never been found. Before his death of throat cancer
Yerofeyev finished a play called Walpurgisnacht, or the Steps of the Commander ("Вальпургиева ночь или Шаги командора") and was working on another play about Fanny Kaplan
.
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 writer.
Biography
Yerofeyev was born in the small settlement Niva-2, a suburb of KandalakshaKandalaksha
Kandalaksha is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandalaksha Gulf on the White Sea, beyond the Arctic Circle. Population: 40,564 ; -History:The settlement has existed since the 11th century...
, Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.-Geography:...
. His father was imprisoned during Stalin's purges
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
but survived 16 years in the gulags. Most of Yerofeyev's childhood was spent in Kirovsk
Kirovsk
Kirovsk may refer to:*Kirovsk, Leningrad Oblast, a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia*Kirovsk, Murmansk Oblast, a town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia*Kirovsk, Ukraine, a town in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine*Kirawsk, a town in Belarus...
, Murmansk Oblast. He managed to enter the philology department of the Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
but was expelled
Expulsion (academia)
Expulsion or exclusion refers to the permanent removal of a student from a school system or university for violating that institution's rules. Laws and procedures regarding expulsion vary between countries and states.-State sector:...
from the University after a year and a half because he did not attend compulsory military training. Later he studied in several more institute
Institute
An institute is a permanent organizational body created for a certain purpose. Often it is a research organization created to do research on specific topics...
s in different towns, including Kolomna
Kolomna
Kolomna is an ancient city and the administrative center of Kolomensky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka Rivers, southeast of Moscow. The area of the city is about . The city was founded in 1177...
and Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...
, but he never managed to graduate from any, usually being expelled due to his "amoral behaviour" (freethinking). Between 1958 and 1975, Yerofeyev lived without propiska
Propiska
Propiska was both a residence permit and migration recording tool in the Russian Empire before 1917 and from 1930s in the Soviet Union. It was documented in local police registers and certified with a stamp in internal passports....
in various towns in Russia, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, also spending some time in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
and Tadjikistan, doing different low-level and underpaid jobs; for a time he lived and worked in the Muromtsev Dacha
Muromtsev Dacha
The Muromtsev Dacha is a wooden dacha built at the end of the 19th century in Moscow’s southern Tsaritsyno District and largely rebuilt in the 1960s ....
in Moscow. He started writing at the age of 17; in the 1960s he unsuccessfully submitted several articles on Ibsen and Hamsun to literary magazines.
Literary legacy
Yerofeyev is best known for his 1969 poem in prose Moscow-PetushkiMoscow-Petushki
Moscow-Petushki, also published as Moscow to the End of the Line, Moscow Stations, and Moscow Circles, is a pseudo-autobiographical postmodernist prose poem by Russian writer and satirist Venedikt Erofeev....
(several English translations exist, including Moscow to the End of the Line and Moscow Stations). It is an account of a journey from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to Petushki
Petushki
Petushki is a town and the administrative center of Petushinsky District of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Klyazma River, west of Vladimir on the Moscow–Nizhny Novgorod railway and motorway. Population:...
(Vladimir Oblast
Vladimir Oblast
Vladimir Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Vladimir, which is located east of Moscow...
) by train, a journey soaked in alcohol. During the trip, the hero recounts some of the fantastic escapades he participated in, including declaring war on Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, charting the drinking habits of his colleagues when leader of a cable-laying crew, and obsessing about the woman he loves. Referred to by David Remnick
David Remnick
David Remnick is an American journalist, writer, and magazine editor. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his book Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire. Remnick has been editor of The New Yorker magazine since 1998. He was named "Editor of the Year" by Advertising Age in 2000...
as "the comic high-water mark of the Brezhnev era", the poem was published for the first time in 1973 in Jerusalem immediately making Yerofeyev famous throughout the world. It was not 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....
until 1989.
Of note is his smaller 1988 work, My Little Leniniana (Моя маленькая лениниана, Moya malenkaya Leniniana), which is a collection of quotations from Lenin's works and letters, which shows the unpleasant parts of the character of the "leader of the proletariat".
Yerofeyev also claimed to have written in 1972 a novel Shostakovich about the famous Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, but the manuscript was allegedly stolen in a train. The novel has never been found. Before his death of throat cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
Yerofeyev finished a play called Walpurgisnacht, or the Steps of the Commander ("Вальпургиева ночь или Шаги командора") and was working on another play about Fanny Kaplan
Fanny Kaplan
Fanny Yefimovna Kaplan , also known as Fanya Kaplan and as Dora Kaplan), was a Russian political revolutionary and an attempted assassin of Vladimir Lenin.-Biography:...
.