Benedikt Livshits
Encyclopedia
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
)/January 6, 1887 (New Style
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
) — September 21, 1938) was a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry
Silver Age of Russian Poetry
Silver Age is a term traditionally applied by Russian philologists to the first two decades of the 20th century. It was an exceptionally creative period in the history of Russian poetry, on par with the Golden Age a century earlier...
, a French–Russian poetry translator.
Livshits was born to an assimilated Jewish family in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. He studied Law at Novorossia University
Odessa University
The I. I. Mechnikov Odessa National University , located in Odessa, Ukraine, is one of the country's major universities. It was founded in 1865, by an edict of Czar Alexander II of Russia, reorganizing the Richelieu Lyceum of Odessa into the new Imperial Novorossiya University. In the Soviet...
there, then transferred to Kiev University
Kiev University
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv , colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure...
, where he graduated in 1912. He was then conscripted to the Russian army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
and served in the 88th Infantry Regiment. In 1914 he was conscripted again and served in the infantry during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, being awarded the Cross of St. George
Cross of St. George
thumb|Original Cross of St. George.Ist and 2nd class were in gold.The Cross of St. George ', or simply the George's Cross, was, until 1913, officially known as the Sign of Distinction of the Military Order of St. George....
.
His first poetry was published in the Anthology of Modern Poetry (Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
) in 1909. In 1910 he worked for Sergei Makovsky
Sergei Makovsky
Sergey Konstantinovich Makovsky , a son of the painter Konstantin Makovsky, was a poet, arts critic, and organiser of many art expositions.From 1909 to 1917 he edited and published the Appolon arts magazine in Saint Petersburg.-Further reading:...
's symbolist
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
art magazine Apollon.
Together with Wladimir Burliuk
Wladimir Burliuk
Wladimir Burliuk was an avant-garde artist , book illustrator.-Biography:Burliuk was born on March 27, 1886 in Kharkiv, the brother of David Burliuk.In 1903 he studied at Azbe School in Munich....
, David Burliuk
David Burliuk
David Davidovich Burliuk was a Russian avant-garde artist of Ukrainian origin , book illustrator, publicist, and author associated with Russian Futurism...
, Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...
, Vasily Kamensky
Vasily Kamensky
Vasily Vasilevich Kamensky was a Russian Futurist poet, playwright, and artist as well as one of the first Russian aviators.Kamensky was born in the Perm district, where his father was an inspector of goldfields...
, and Alexandra Exter he was a member of the Futurist
Futurism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
group Hylaea (Russian Gilea).
In 1933 he published a book of memoirs, The One and half-eyed Strelets, that is considered one of the best histories of Russian Futurism. In 1934 he published a large book of translations from French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
poetry, From Romantics to Surrealism.
In 1937 during the Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
he was arrested and summarily executed on September 21, 1938 as an "enemy of the people". His dossier was falsified to state that he died of heart failure on May 15, 1939.
Literary works
- The Flute of Marsias (1911, printing was destroyed by government censorshipCensorshipthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
). - Sun of wolves (Volch'e solntse), 1914
- The One and a Half-eyed Archer (Polutoraglazyj strelets), 1933 - memoirs about the Futurist movement.
External links
- Terra-Futura.com
- Benedikt Livshic, poète hyléen at monderusse.revues.org (French)
- http://www.idcpublishers.com/pdf/359_titlelist.pdf (a list of book titles; PDF)
- http://www.polybiblio.com/quaritch/F875.5.html
- Art/Auctions: Impressionist & Modern Art Part Two, May 9, 2002, at Sotheby's at www.thecityreview.com
- Biography and works