Iuz Aleshkovsky

Oliver Ready (University of Oxford)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Iuz Aleshkovsky’s life and career in the Soviet Union were characteristic, in their unstructured variety, of the fate of many non-conformist writers and artists of his time. Following a sporadic education interrupted by war, military service and a prison sentence, Aleshkovsky made a living in Moscow first as a builder and a driver, and then, more profitably, as a writer of children’s stories and screenplays for film and television. His greatest contribution to the unofficial culture of the 1950s and 1960s came in the form of songs about life and love in prison camps; they were sung not to a guitar, but to a rhythm beaten out on the table. His “Pesnia o Staline” (Song About Stalin, 1959) became immensely popular throughout the Soviet Union, although few knew its author.

Only in

1854 words

Citation: Ready, Oliver. "Iuz Aleshkovsky". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11933, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11933 Iuz Aleshkovsky 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.