Viktor Astafiyev
Encyclopedia
Viktor Petrovich Astafyev also spelled Astafiev or Astaf'ev (1 May 1924 – 29 November 2001), was a Soviet and Russia
n writer of short stories and novels.
on the bank of the Yenisei river
and spent much of his childhood in an orphanage.
He was conscripted into the Soviet Army
in 1942. He was seriously wounded fighting the Germans during the German-Soviet War and after his discharge in 1945 he lived in different regions of Russia including Urals
, Chusovoy
near Perm
and Vologda
doing various jobs such as locksmith and smelter.
In 1953 Astafiyev published his first collection of stories dedicated mostly to the experience of Russian soldiers and civilians during the German-Soviet War.
After 1962 he became a professional writer authoring realistic often critical of the Soviet regime novels about the war and the Stalin era. His criticism of the Soviet times gained him popularity.
In the mid-1980s, he became embroiled in significant controversy over his writings followed by accusations of chauvinism
and xenophobia
when the public learned, through samizdat
, about the correspondence between the literary historian Natan Eidelman
and Astafiyev that had been provoked by alleged racist overtones in Astafiyev's work Sad Detective and his The Catching of Gudgeons in Georgia (both 1986), which rudely ridiculed Georgians
. At the 8th USSR Writers Union Congress in the summer of 1986, Georgian delegates urged the author to apologize publicly for his insult to the Georgian nation; when he refused, they walked out in protest. In October 1993, he signed the Letter of Forty-Two
.
In 1999, his novel Jolly Soldier, which portrayed the horrors of the Soviet Army
was met with extremely adverse reaction, which may have brought about a heart failure.
David Gillespie summed up his career as follows:
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 of short stories and novels.
Biography
Viktor Astafiyev was born in the village of Ovsyanka near KrasnoyarskKrasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...
on the bank of the Yenisei river
Yenisei River
Yenisei , also written as Yenisey, is the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. It is the central of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean...
and spent much of his childhood in an orphanage.
He was conscripted into the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
in 1942. He was seriously wounded fighting the Germans during the German-Soviet War and after his discharge in 1945 he lived in different regions of Russia including Urals
Ural (region)
Ural is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the bend of Ural River near Orsk city. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of...
, Chusovoy
Chusovoy
Chusovoy is a town in Perm Krai, Russia, located east of Perm, at the confluence of the Usva and Vilva Rivers with the Chusovaya River. Population: -History and economy:...
near Perm
Perm
Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....
and Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...
doing various jobs such as locksmith and smelter.
In 1953 Astafiyev published his first collection of stories dedicated mostly to the experience of Russian soldiers and civilians during the German-Soviet War.
After 1962 he became a professional writer authoring realistic often critical of the Soviet regime novels about the war and the Stalin era. His criticism of the Soviet times gained him popularity.
In the mid-1980s, he became embroiled in significant controversy over his writings followed by accusations of chauvinism
Chauvinism
Chauvinism, in its original and primary meaning, is an exaggerated, bellicose patriotism and a belief in national superiority and glory. It is an eponym of a possibly fictional French soldier Nicolas Chauvin who was credited with many superhuman feats in the Napoleonic wars.By extension it has come...
and xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
when the public learned, 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...
, about the correspondence between the literary historian Natan Eidelman
Natan Eidelman
Natan Eidelman , was a Russian author and historian. He wrote several books on about the life and work of Alexander Pushkin, Decembrists Sergey Muravyov-Apostol and Mikhail Lunin, and historian Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin.-Bibliography:*Conspiracy Against the Tsar. A Portrait of the Decembrists...
and Astafiyev that had been provoked by alleged racist overtones in Astafiyev's work Sad Detective and his The Catching of Gudgeons in Georgia (both 1986), which rudely ridiculed Georgians
Georgians
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
. At the 8th USSR Writers Union Congress in the summer of 1986, Georgian delegates urged the author to apologize publicly for his insult to the Georgian nation; when he refused, they walked out in protest. In October 1993, he signed the Letter of Forty-Two
Letter of Forty-Two
The Letter of Forty-Two was an open letter signed by forty-two well-known Russian literati, aimed at Russian society, the president and government, in reaction to the events of September – October 1993...
.
In 1999, his novel Jolly Soldier, which portrayed the horrors of the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
was met with extremely adverse reaction, which may have brought about a heart failure.
David Gillespie summed up his career as follows:
Astaf'yev has always been a highly individual writer who conforms to no movements or stereotypes. ... He has always remained true to himself, and has retained a certain hard-edged integrity. His novel Prokliaty i ubity [The Damned and the Dead] is a gritty, typically uncompromising picture of war, with many naturalistic descriptions in a style the author has developed since the cathartic Pechal'nyi detektiv. Astaf'yev remains very much a writer who refuses to be easily categorized: he is neither a Village Prose Writer, nor a writer of "war prose", nor a writer who explores the mistakes of the recent Soviet past. At the same time, he is all of these. Capable of surprising and even shocking his reader, Astafev maintains a deep lyrical sense that has produced what Eidel'man called "the best descriptions of nature for decades". More than any other writer living in Russia today (with the possible exception of Solzhenitsyn), he is a writer who examines man as subjected to and moulded by the total Soviet experience.
Honours and awards
Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University is named in his honour.- USSR State PrizeUSSR State PrizeThe USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
(1978 - for the story "King Fish" (1976) and 1991 - for his novel "Sighted Staff" (1988)) - State Prize of the RSFSR, Gorky (1975) - for the story "The Pass" (1959), "Theft" (1966), "Last Bow" (1968), "Shepherd and Shepherdess" (1971)
- State Prize of the Russian FederationState Prize of the Russian FederationState Prize of the Russian Federation is a state honorary prize established in 1992 as the substitute for the USSR State Prize. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates and the status of the award was significantly changed making them closer to such awards as Nobel Prize or the Soviet Lenin...
(1995 - for his novel "Cursed and killed and 2003 - posthumously) - Pushkin PrizePushkin PrizeThe Pushkin Prize was established in 1881 by the Russian Academy of Sciences to honor one of the greatest Russian poets Alexander Pushkin . The prize was awarded to the Russian who achieved the highest standard of literary excellence. The prize was discontinued during the Soviet period. It was...
(Germany, 1997) - Award "Triumph"
- Hero of Socialist Labour (1989)
- Order of LeninOrder of LeninThe Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
(1989) - Order of the Red Banner of LabourOrder of the Red Banner of LabourThe Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union for accomplishments in labour and civil service. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order.-History:The Red...
, three times (1971, 1974, 1984) - Order of Friendship of PeoplesOrder of Friendship of PeoplesThe Order of Friendship of Peoples was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons , organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in strengthening of inter-ethnic and international friendship and cooperation, for...
(1981) - the anniversary of the Union of Soviet Writers - Order of the Patriotic WarOrder of the Patriotic WarThe Order of the Patriotic War is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisans for heroic deeds during the German-Soviet War, known by the former-Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War.- History :The Order was...
, 1st class (1985) - Order of FriendshipOrder of FriendshipThe Order of Friendship is a state decoration of Russia established by decree # 442 of March 2, 1994 of the President of the Russian Federation....
- 70th anniversary of his birth - Order of the Red StarOrder of the Red StarEstablished on 6 April 1930, the Order of the Red Star was an order of the Soviet Union, given to Red Army and Soviet Navy personnel for "exceptional service in the cause of the defense of the Soviet Union in both war and peace". It was established by Resolution of the Presidium of the CEC of the...
- Order of Merit for the FatherlandOrder of Merit for the FatherlandThe Order of Merit for the Fatherland was instituted on 2 March 1994 by Presidential Decree. The statutes describe it as a decoration for merit, not an order of knights....
, 2nd class - Medal of Valour (1943)
- Medal For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945
English Translations
- The Horse with the Pink Mane, and Other Siberian Stories, Progress Publishers, 1970.
- Queen Fish: A Story in Two Parts and Twelve Episodes, Progress Publishers, 1982.
- To Live Your Life and Other Stories, Raduga Publishers, 1989.