Andrei Voznesensky

Andrei Voznesensky was a Russian poet and public figure, one of the Soviet Union's boldest and most celebrated young poets of the 1950s and 60s who helped lift Russian literature out of its state of fear and virtual serfdom under Stalin. He was also known for the popular rock-opera Juno and Avos, which was made into best-selling video-movie starring Nikolay Karachentsov and Aleksandr Abdulov. Before his death he was both critically and popularly proclaimed "a living classic", and "an icon of Soviet intellectuals." He was born Andrei Andreevich Voznesensky on May 12, 1933, in Moscow, Russia. His great-grandfather was a Priest of Russian Orthodox Church. His father, Andrei Voznesensky, was a prominent Soviet engineer known for construction of Bratsk and Inguri hydro-power stations. His mother, Antonina Sergeevna (nee Pastushikhina), was fond of art and poetry. During the Second World War Voznesensky was evacuated with his mother to a Siberian city of Kurgan, while his father served during the Nazi siege of Leningrad. Young Voznesensky experienced hardship and learned about survival. After WWII he returned to Moscow and continued his school studies. He was reading voraciously and also demonstrated his gift as an artist and poet. In 1947, then 14-year-old, Voznesensky sent his poems to Boris Pasternak and was invited by the Nobel Laureate to visit him. Voznesensky became an apprentice of Pasternak. He also absorbed from futuristic poetry of Semen Kirsanov, and mentioned Vladimir Mayakovsky and Pablo Neruda as his influences. From 1952-1957 Voznesensky studied at the Moscow Institute of Architecture, graduating as architect in 1957. A dramatic event occurred before his graduation, when a fire in the Institute building burned all his architectural designs. Voznesensky believed in a symbolic meaning of that fire. He quit architecture in favor of poetry. His first publications in 1958 and 1959 became a sensation and were highly praised by Boris Pasternak. Voznesensky became one of the most popular Russian poets along with Yevgeniy Yevtushenko and Bella Akhmadulina during the "Thaw" that was initiated by Nikita Khrushchev. In 1960 and 1961 Vosnesensky was allowed to travel abroad and visited Europe and the United States. His poems caught attention of president Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. His international success caused local jealousy and prosecution back in Moscow. In 1963 Khrushchev publicly attacked and threatened Voznesensky at an official meeting in Kremlin by falsely branding the poet as pervert. Then the Soviet leader personally threatened to exile him. As a result of the Khrushchev's attack Voznesensky suffered from a severe nervous breakdown that caused him a heart condition and asthma that changed his life forever due to frequent attacks of suffocation. Only after a telephone call from president John F. Kennedy, Khrushchev stopped harassing the poet. During the neo-Stalinist era of Leonid Brezhnev Voznesensky was under tight surveillance. He received as much attention from the KGB, as from all genuine connoisseurs of fine poetry. His play "Beregite vashi litsa" (Save Your Faces) was staged by director Yuriy Lyubimov at the Taganka Theatre in 1964, and was immediately banned. His other play "Antimiry" (Anti-worlds 1964) became the first theatrical appearance of the leading Russian singer Vladimir Vysotskiy. Voznesensky became one of the leaders of the 60's generation. His publications were rare and very popular; up to half a million readers subscribed to buy his book "An Achilles Heart" (1966). In 1967 he was restricted from traveling outside the Soviet Union. In 1968, he condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. His remarkable public performances, always to sold out audiences, has been acclaimed as special cultural events in Russia and abroad. Audiences in Russia were consistently filling large sport arenas to hear and see live performances of Voznesensky. Together with his literary colleagues of the 60's generation, Voznesensky played an important role in liberation of the collective consciousness after decades of repressions under dictatorship of Iosif Stalin. As one of the so-called "children of the '60s," Voznesensky led the generation of thinkers who promoted intellectual freedom in the post-Stalin USSR. He was a staunch proponent for freedom of speech and human rights in the Soviet Union. He supported the humanitarian positions of Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner. In 1979 Voznesensky joined Vasiliy Aksyonov and Bella Akhmadulina among other authors of a literary almanac Metropol, which was instantly banned by Soviet censorship. In the 1970s and 80s, Voznesensky contributed to popular culture by creation of the first Russian rock-opera 'Yunona i Avos' (Juno and Avos 1980). It was staged at Moscow Lenkom Theatre in collaboration with composer Aleksey Rybnikov and director Mark Zakharov. 'Juno and Avos' became the most popular Russian rock-opera of all time. It had a run of over a thousand performances and was made into a best-selling video-movie starring Nikolay Karachentsov and Aleksandr Abdulov. Voznesensky wrote such international hits as "Million Roses" and other popular songs in collaboration with composer Raimonds Pauls and singer Alla Pugacheva. He also created a cycle of intimate romantic songs in collaboration with composer Mikael Tariverdiev. Andrei Voznesensky's poetry is experimental in many ways, always novel and on the cutting edge of creative endeavors. Thanks to his education as an architect, architecture's demands for structural harmony and contrast seemed to be present in his poetic design. His works are an original synthesis of deep lyricism and profound philosophical concepts, musical and sounding like a powerful warning bell at the same time. His innovative verse thrilled readers but irked authorities and was criticized by orthodox Soviet writers. Voznesensky remained faithful to himself and attracted worldwide attention as creator of powerful verse and symbols of youthful defiance. His skill, experimentation and depth as a poet won him respect around the world, and his works were widely translated. As Moscow was ever in search of approval, Voznesensky traveled the world to read his poetry, serving as a sort of unofficial Kremlin cultural envoy, even though he was a critic of rough-handed Soviet policies. He was a member of the Russian Academy, American Academy of Arts and Letters, European Academy, among other literary academies. In 1996 Voznesensky was named the "Greatest poet of our time" by Le Nouvel Observateur. He was living near his long-serving mentor and muse, Boris Pasternak, in Peredelkino, the prestigious suburb of Moscow. Pasternak, who died in 1960, paid him the ultimate tribute - "Your entrance into literature was swift and turbulent. I am glad I've lived to see it." In later years Voznesensky became reclusive. However, in 2008, he attended the presidential reception at the Moscow Kremlin and received a state award from the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Voznesensky died of complications from asthma and heart condition, and multiple strokes, in Moscow, on June 1, 2010, and was laid to rest next to his parents in Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow, Russia.