Varlam Shalamov
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Varlam Shalamov | |
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Born | Vologda, Russian Empire | 18 June 1907
Died | 17 January 1982 Tushino city district, Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | (aged 74)
Occupation | Writer, journalist, poet |
Alma mater | Moscow State University |
Notable works | Kolyma Tales |
Signature | |
Website | |
shalamov |
Varlam Tikhonovich Shalamov (Russian: Варла́м Ти́хонович Шала́мов; 18 June 1907 – 17 January 1982), baptized as Varlaam, was a Russian writer, journalist, poet and Gulag survivor. He spent much of the period from 1937 to 1951 imprisoned in forced-labor camps in the Arctic region of Kolyma, due in part to his support of Leon Trotsky and praise of writer Ivan Bunin. In 1946, near death, he became a medical assistant while still a prisoner. He remained in that role for the duration of his sentence, then for another two years after being released, until 1953.
From 1954 to 1978, he wrote a set of short stories about his experiences in the labor camps, which were collected and published in six volumes, collectively known as Kolyma Tales. These books were initially published in the West, in English translation, starting in the 1960s; they were eventually published in the original Russian, but only became officially available in the Soviet Union in 1987, in the post-glasnost era. The Kolyma Tales are considered Shalamov's masterpiece, and "the definitive chronicle" of life in the labor camps.
Early life
Varlam Shalamov was born in
Upon his graduation it became clear that the Regional Department of People's Education (RONO, Regionalnoe Otdelenie Narodnogo Obrazovania) would not support his further education because Varlam was a son of a priest. Therefore, he found a job as a
First imprisonment, 1929–1932
Shalamov joined a
Shalamov was released in 1931 and worked in the new town of Berezniki, Perm Oblast, at the local chemical plant construction site. He was given the opportunity to travel to Kolyma for colonization. Sarcastically, Shalamov said that he would go there only under enforced escort. Coincidentally, fate would hold him to his promise several years later. He returned to Moscow in 1932, where he worked as a journalist and managed to see some of his essays and articles published, including his first short story, "The three deaths of Doctor Austino" (1936).
Second imprisonment, 1937–1942
At the outset of the Great Purge, on January 12, 1937, Shalamov was arrested again for "counter-revolutionary Trotskyist activities" and sent to Kolyma, also known as "the land of white death", for five years. He was already in jail awaiting sentencing when one of his short stories was published in the literary journal Literary Contemporary.
Third imprisonment, 1943–1951
In 1943, Shalamov was sentenced to another term, this time for 10 years, under Article 58 (anti-Soviet agitation), in part, for having called Nobelist Ivan Bunin a "great Russian writer". The conditions he endured were extreme, first in gold mining operations, and then in coal mining. He was repeatedly sent to punishment zones, both for his political crimes and for his attempt to escape. There he managed to survive while sick with typhus, of which Shalamov was not aware until he became well. At that time, as he recollects in his writings, he did not care much about his survival.
In 1946, while becoming a dokhodyaga (one in an
After release
In 1951, Shalamov was released from the camp, and continued working as a medical assistant for the forced labor camps of Sevvostlag while still writing. After his release, he was faced with the dissolution of his former family, including a grown-up daughter who now refused to recognize her father. In 1952, Shalamov sent his poetry to Boris Pasternak, who praised his work. Shalamov was allowed to leave Magadan in November 1953 following Stalin's death in March of that year, and was permitted to go to the village of Turkmen in Kalinin Oblast, near Moscow, where he worked as a supply agent.
Kolyma Tales
From 1954 to 1973, Shalamov worked on his book of short stories of labour camp life,
Shalamov proceeded to publish poetry and essays in the major Soviet literary magazines while writing his magnum opus, Kolyma Tales. He was acquainted with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Boris Pasternak, and Nadezhda Mandelstam. The manuscripts of Kolyma Tales were smuggled abroad and distributed via samizdat. The translations were published in the West in 1966. The complete Russian-language edition was published in London in 1978, and reprinted thereafter both in Russian and in translation. As the Soviet scholar David Satter writes, "Shalamov's short stories are the definitive chronicle of those camps".[2] Kolyma Tales is considered to be one of the great Russian collections of short stories of the twentieth century.[3]
Late in life, Shalamov got on bad terms with Solzhenitsyn and other fellow dissidents, and opposed the publication of his own works abroad.
Gospodin Solzhenitsyn, I willingly accept Your funeral joke on the account of my death. With the feeling of honor and pride I consider myself the first Cold War victim which have fallen from Your hand … – From the undispatched letter of V. T. Shalamov to A. I. Solzhenitsyn[4]
Shalamov also wrote a series of autobiographical essays that vividly bring to life the city of Vologda and his life before prison.
Last years
As his health deteriorated, he spent the last three years of his life in a house for elderly and disabled writers operated by Litfond (Union of Soviet Writers) in Tushino. The quality of this nursing home can be judged from the memoirs of Yelena Zakharova, who was introduced to Shalamov by her father, who had translated some of his works, and was close to Shalamov in the last six months of his life:
This kind of places—this is the worst and most obvious evidence of deformation of the human mind, which happened in our country in the 20th century. Man is not only deprived of the right to a decent life, but also to
die with dignity.
Despite his impairments, he continued to compose poems, which were written down and published by A. A. Morozov . Following a cursory examination, it was determined that he should be transferred to a psychiatric facility. On the way there, he became ill and contracted pneumonia. Shalamov died on January 17, 1982, and, despite having been an atheist, was given an Orthodox funeral ceremony (at the insistence of his friend, Zakharova) and was interred at Kuntsevo Cemetery, Moscow. The historian Valery Yesipov wrote that only forty people attended Shalamov's funeral, not counting plainclothes policemen.[5]
Kolyma Tales was finally published on Russian soil in 1987, as a result of Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost policy.
Legacy
In 1991, the Shalamov family house in Vologda, next to the town's cathedral, was turned into the Shalamov Memorial Museum and local art gallery. The cathedral hill in Vologda has been named in his memory.
One of the Kolyma short stories, "The Final Battle of Major Pugachoff", was made into a film (Последний бой майора Пугачёва) in 2005. In 2007, Russian Television produced the series "Lenin's Testament"(Завещание Ленина), based on Kolyma Tales.[6] A
Shalamov's friend, Fedot Fedotovich Suchkov, erected a
A few of Shalamov's poems were set to music and performed as songs.[8]
Bibliography
- Ocherki Prestupnovo Mira: Ob Odnoi Oshibke Khudojestvennoi Literatura. 1959.
See also
- History of the Soviet Union
- Enemy of the people
- 101st km
- Karlo Štajner
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Lev Razgon
- Evgenia Ginzburg
References
- ^ "ITL" stands for Ispravitelno-Trudovoi Lager which means Correctional Labor Camp
- ^ "David Satter on life in the Soviet police state", David Satter, The Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Slavoj Žižek. "The Dreams of Others". In These Times. May 18, 2007. [1] Archived 2012-02-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Recollection works of Shalamov". Archived from the original on 2010-04-18. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
- ^ Yesipov, Valery (2002). "Cerebration or Genuflection? (Varlam Shalamov and Alexander Solzhenitsin)". shalamov.ru. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018.
Translation from Russkij Sever [The Russian North] №. 4 (23–29 of January), 2002, p. 17
- ^ Завещание Ленина на youtube
- ^ Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, p. 284
- ^ Letter, songs by Elena Frolova and there are audio records of Shalamov reading his own poetry
Publications
- ISBN 0-14-018695-6Kolyma Tales
- ISBN 0-393-01476-2Graphite
- ISBN 5-17-004492-5Vospominaniia (memoirs)
- Varlam Shalamov (1998) "Complete Works" (Варлам Шаламов. Собрание сочинений в четырех томах), printed by publishers ISBN 5-280-03162-3
External links
- (in English) Varlam Shalamov official site Archived 2009-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
- (in Russian) Russian series "Lenin's Testament", based on Kolyma Tales (online)
- (in Russian) Film My Several Lives (1991)
- (in Russian) Varlam Shalamov official site Archived 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
- (in Russian) Varlam Shalamov on Lib.ru
- (in Russian) Varlam Shalamov. Poetry
- Grave site
- (in Russian) A biography