Arkady Yakovlevich Kots (russian: Аркадий Яковлевич Коц; alias - A.Danin, A.Bronin, A.Shatov) (1872,

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

– 1943) was a Russian

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

poet of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. Arkady (Aaron) Kots graduated from a mining school in

Horlivka Horlivka ( , ; uk, Го́рлівка ), or Gorlovka (russian: link=no, Горловка ), is a city of regional significance in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. In 2001, the city's population was 292,000, and it was estimated as Economic activit ...

and worked at the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and Donets Coal Basins. In 1897-1902, Kots resided in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he graduated from a mining institute and established contact with the revolutionary emigres. In 1902, he published two poems which would go down into the history of proletarian poetry and movement in general. The first one was a Russian translation of ''

The Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...

'', the most famous

song and one of the most widely recognized songs in the world. It was published anonymously in a Russian emigre magazine ''Listki Zhizni'', a companion publication to the ''

Zhizn ''Zhizn'' ( rus, Жизнь, p=ˈʐɨzʲnʲ, a=Ru-жизнь.ogg, ''"Life"'') was a Russian magazine published first in Saint Petersburg (1897-1901), then in London and Geneva (1902). ''Zhizn'' began its existence as a general purpose magazine in ...

'' ("Life") magazine.''Literaturnaya entsyklopediya'' (''Encyclopedia of Literature''), Moscow, 1929-1939
article ''"International"''
The other verse was called ''The Proletarian Song'' (Песнь пролетариев), which would become quite popular. In 1903, Arkady Kots joined the

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...

and carried out party assignments in

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...

and

. In 1907-1914, Kots did not belong to any political party. In 1907, a publishing house ''Nash Golos'' (Наш голос) published a collection of verses by Arkady Kots named ''Proletarian Songs'' (Песни пролетариев), which would be immediately confiscated by the

tsarist Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states ...

authorities. Kots is known to have translated a play by

Octave Mirbeau Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the ...

called ''Les Mauvais Bergers'' and published a number of political brochures. In 1914-1920, he sided with the

Mensheviks The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

. Evacuated to the east during the

Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II, the Second World War. The operation, code ...

, Kots died in 1943.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kots, Arkady 1872 births 1943 deaths Writers from Odesa People from Odessky Uyezd Odesa Jews Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Mensheviks Jewish poets Russian male poets Soviet poets