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 thro

This article in full comprises 1854 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 09 January 2008

Citation: Ready, Oliver. "Iuz Aleshkovsky". The Literary Encyclopedia. 9 January 2008.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11933, accessed 21 November 2009.]