The Englishman from Lebedian A Life of Evgeny Zamiatin [Hardcover]

After Evgeny Zamiatin emigrated from the USSR in 1931, he was systematically airbrushed out of Soviet literary history, despite the central role he had played in the cultural life of Russias northern capital for nearly twenty years. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, his writings have gradually been rediscovered in Russia, but with his archives scattered between Russia, France, and the USA, the project of reconstructing the story of his life has been a complex task. This book, the first full biography of Zamiatin in any language, draws upon his extensive correspondence and other documents in order to provide an account of his life which explores his intimate preoccupations, as well as uncovering the political and cultural background to many of his works. It reveals a man of strong will and high principles, who negotiated the political dilemmas of his dayincluding his relationship with Stalinwith great shrewdness.[T]hroughout this compelling new biography we are struck above all by Zamiatins multifaceted personality and extraordinary vitality. . . . The sheer amount of detail could have become overwhelming, but Curtis never allows it to stifle a narrative that brilliantly illuminates the life of one of the most talented figures in twentieth-century Russian life and letters.List of Illustrations VIII Introduction 1 Chapter 1: From Lebedian to St Petersburg (1884-1906) 6 Chapter 2: From Astrakhan to Arkhangelsk (1906-1916) 25 Chapter 3: From Petrograd to Newcastle upon Tyne (1916-1917) 51 Chapter 4: Petrograd (1917-1921) 86 Chapter 5: Petrograd/Leningrad (1922-1925) 117 Chapter 6: Leningrad (1926-1929) 154 Chapter 7: From Koktebel to the Warsaw Station (1929-1931) 198 Chapter 8: From Riga to Cagnes (1931-1932) 225 Chapter 9: Paris (1933-1937) 258 Conclusion 307 Bibliography 357 Acknowledgments 373 Index 375Julie Curtiss The Englishman from Lebedian: A Life of Evgeny Zamiatin is an indispensable new biography for readers who want to learn more about onel³-