Alexei Petrovich Tsvetkov (also spelled as Aleksei Cvetkov; russian: link=no, Алексе́й Петро́вич Цветко́в; 2 February 1947 – 12 May 2022) was a Russian poet and essayist.

Biography

Alexei Tsvetkov, Russian-language émigré poet, translator, and essayist, was born in Ivano-Frankivsk (formerly Stanislaviv), Ukraine, grew up in

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...

and briefly studied chemistry at the

Odessa University Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University ( uk, Одеський національний університет Iмені І. І. Мечникова, translit=Odeskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni I. I. Mechnykova), located in Odesa, Ukraine, i ...

, then history (1965–1968) and journalism (1971–1974) at the

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. Together with Sergey Gandlevsky, Bakhyt Kenjeev, and Alexander Soprovsky he founded the unofficial group of poets

Moscow Time Moscow Time (MSK, russian: моско́вское вре́мя) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia. It has b ...

. In 1975 he was arrested and deported from Moscow and in the same year emigrated to the United States. He edited the emigre newspaper ''Russkaya Zhizn'' (San Francisco, 1976–77). Then he entered the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

graduate school and in 1983 was awarded a PhD degree. Tsvetkov taught Russian language and literature at

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, then worked as an international broadcaster at the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

radio station. From 1989 until 2007 he worked in the same capacity at the

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

, first in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, later in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. For many years Tsvetkov lived and worked as a freelance writer based in New York City. In 2018 he made ''aliyah'' and lived in Bat Yam, Israel. Alexei Tsvetkov died in Wolfson Hospital in

Holon Holon ( he, חוֹלוֹן ) is a city on the central coastal strip of Israel, south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan Gush Dan area. In it had a population of . Holon has the second-largest industrial zone in Israel, after Haifa. ...

, Israel on 12 May 2022. He was interred in Yarkon cemetery on 13 May.

Creative output

In the late 80s he stopped writing poetry and turned to prose. The unfinished novel ''Just a Voice'', an autobiography of a fictitious

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

soldier (only the adolescence is covered) reflects Tsvetkov's idea of the Roman civilization as one of the summits in the history of the humanity. Alexei Tsvetkov has been considered one of the finest poets of his generation by such critics as A. Skvortsov, A. Lehrman, G. Smith, A. Zorin and poets

Andrey Voznesensky Andrei Andreyevich Voznesensky (russian: link=no, Андре́й Андре́евич Вознесе́нский, 12 May 1933 – 1 June 2010) was a Soviet and Russian poet and writer who had been referred to by Robert Lowell as "one of th ...

, Sergey Gandlevsky, and Mikhail Aizenberg.Айзенберг, М. Минус тридцать по московскому времени
//

Znamya ''Znamya'' ( rus, Знамя, p=ˈznamʲə, a=Ru-знамя.ogg, lit. "The Banner") is a Russian monthly literary magazine, which was established in Moscow in 1931. In 1931–1932, the magazine was published under the name of ''Lokaf'' ("Лок� ...

, no. 8, Moscow, 2005. In 2004, after a 17-year break, Tsvetkov turned back to poetry and within a year and a half prepared a new book of poetry. Alexei Tsvetkov also wrote and published poetry and essays in English. In 2007 he was awarded

Andrei Bely Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev ( rus, Бори́с Никола́евич Буга́ев, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ bʊˈɡajɪf, a=Boris Nikolayevich Bugayev.ru.vorb.oga), better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely ( rus, Андре ...

prize for poetry.

Published works

*''Sbornik p'es dlia zhizni solo (Collection of Pieces for Life Solo)'', Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1978. *''Sostoianie sna (Dream State)'', Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1981. *''Edem (Eden)'', Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1985. *''Stikhotvoreniia (Poems)'', St. Petersburg: Pushkinskii fond, 1996. *''Divno molvit'. Sobranie stikhotvorenii (Wonderful to Utter)'', St. Petersburg: Pushkinskii fond, 2001. *''Prosto golos (Just a Voice)'',

Nezavisimaya Gazeta ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Независимая газета, p=nʲɪzɐˈvʲisʲɪməjə ɡɐˈzʲetə, t=Independent Newspaper) is a Russian daily newspaper. History and profile ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' was first published on 21 December ...

, Moscow, 2002. *''Bestiarii (Bestiary)'', Ekaterinburg: Evdokiia, 2004. *''Shekspir otdykhaet (Shakespeare at Rest)'', St. Petersburg: Pushkinskii fond, 2006. *''Imena liubvi (Names of Love)'', Moscow: Novoe izdatel'stvo, 2007. *''Edem i drugoe (Eden, and More)'', Moscow: OGI, 2007. *''Atlanticheskii dnevnik (The Atlantic Diary)'', Moscow: Novoe izdatel'stvo, 2007. *''Rovnyi veter (The Even Wind)'', Moscow: Novoe izdatel'stvo, 2008. *''Skazka na noch (Bedtime Story)'', Moscow: Novoe izdatel'stvo, 2010. *''Detektor smysla (Sense Detector)'', Moscow: ARGO-RISK; Knizhnoe obozrenie, 2010. *''Poslednii Kontinent (The Last Continent)'', Kharkiv: Folio, 2012.

References

Other sources

*Lowe, David. Russian Writings Since 1953. A Critical History. Ungar, NY, 1987. *Панн, Л. Нескучный сад. – Hermitage Publishers, 1998. *Смит, Дж. Взгляд извне. Статьи о русской поэзии и поэтике. М.: Языки славянской культуры, 2002.

External links

In English:
Personal English poetry blog

Bibliography of poetry in English translation

English translations by Alex Cigale In Russian:

Zhurnal'nyi zal

Personal Russian poetry blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsvetkov, Alexei 1947 births 2022 deaths Russian male poets Russian male novelists Russian male essayists Soviet emigrants to the United States American writers of Russian descent Writers from Moscow Moscow State University alumni Writers from Prague 20th-century essayists 20th-century Russian male writers People from Zaporizhzhia Odesa University alumni