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Benedikt Konstantinovich Livshits (russian: Бенеди́кт Константи́нович Ли́вшиц, 24 December 1886 (
Livshits was born to an assimilated
(Harvard Biographies (I-L))
at www.people.fas.harvard.edu - memoirs about the Futurist movement.
at monderusse.revues.org (French)
Publications list
at www.thecityreview.com * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060710024453/http://www.silverage.ru/poets/livshiz_bio.html Biography and works {{DEFAULTSORT:Livshits, Benedikt 1886 births 1938 deaths Writers from Odesa People from Odessky Uyezd Odesa Jews Soviet poets Russian male poets Soviet male writers 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian poets Jewish poets Russian avant-garde French–Russian translators 20th-century translators Russian military personnel of World War I NKVD Great Purge victims from Ukraine Jews executed by the Soviet Union Soviet rehabilitations
Benedikt Konstantinovich Livshits (russian: Бенеди́кт Константи́нович Ли́вшиц, 24 December 1886 (Old Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
)/6 January 1887 (New Style
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...
) – 21 September 1938) was a poet and writer of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry
Silver Age (Сере́бряный век) is a term traditionally applied by Russian philologists to the last decade of the 19th century and first two or three decades of the 20th century. It was an exceptionally creative period in the history of ...
, a French–Russian poetry translator.
Life and career
Livshits was born to an assimilated Jew
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""Th ...
ish family in 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 ...
. He studied law at Novorossia University and then moved to Kiev University
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
, where he graduated in 1912. He was conscripted to the Russian army
The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces.
The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...
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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, being awarded the Cross of St. George
The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of ...
.
In 1908, "The Exhibition of Modern Art" was staged in Kublin. This exhibition, which included the works of Georges Braque
Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...
, Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
, and other European postimpressionist painters, made a profound impression on the young Livshits. His first poetry was published in the ''Anthology of Modern Poetry'' (Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
) a year later. In 1910 he worked for Sergei Makovsky's symbolist
Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
art magazine '' Apollon''.
Together with Wladimir Burliuk
Wladimir Davydovych Burliuk (russian: Владимир Давидович Бурлюк; – 1917) was a Russian avant-garde artist (Neo-Primitivist and Cubo-Futurist) and book illustrator. He died at the age of 32 in 1917 in World War I.
Biogra ...
, David Burliuk
David Davidovich Burliuk (Давид Давидович Бурлюк; 21 July 1882 – 15 January 1967) was a Russian-language poet, artist and publicist associated with the Futurist and Neo-Primitivist movements. Burliuk has been described as ...
, Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...
, and Vasily Kamensky
Vasily Vasilyevich Kamensky (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Каме́нский; – November 11, 1961) was a Russian Futurist poet, playwright, and artist as well as one of the first Russian aviators.
Biography
Kamensky wa ...
he was a member and co-founder of the major Russian Futurist
Russian Futurism is the broad term for a movement of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's " Manifesto of Futurism," which espoused the rejection of the past, and a celebration of speed, machinery, violenc ...
group Hylaea (Russian ''Gilea''). It is said to have been established after Livshits and the Burliuk brothers vacationed at the estate of Count Mordvinov in Chernianka. David Burliuk, Kamensky, and Livshits would form the nucleus of Cubo-Futurism
Cubo-Futurism (also called Russian Futurism or Kubo-Futurizm) was an art movement that arose in early 20th century Russian Empire, defined by its amalgamation of the artistic elements found in Italian Futurism and French Analytical Cubism. Cubo- ...
, which became the most influential subdivision of Futurism.
In 1933 he published a book of memoirs, ''The One and a Half-Eyed Archer'', which is considered one of the best histories of Russian Futurism. This work also detailed the cultural discomfort of a fully assimilated Jewish artist in Russia. In 1934, he published a large book of translations from French poetry, ''From Romantics to Surrealism''. An analysis of his translation works noted his tendency to uphold the structure of the material being translated as a whole and to maintain close proximity to the original.
In 1937, Livshits also became a victim of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...
. He was arrested and summarily executed on 21 September 1938 as an "enemy of the people". His dossier was falsified to state that he died of heart failure on 15 May 1939.
Literary works
* ''The Flute of Marsias'' (1911, printing was destroyed by governmentcensorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
).
* ''Sun of wolves'' (''Volch'e solntse''), 1914
* ''The One and a Half-eyed Archer'' (''Polutoraglazyj strelets''), 1933at www.people.fas.harvard.edu - memoirs about the Futurist movement.
Notes
External links
at monderusse.revues.org (French)
Publications list
at www.thecityreview.com * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060710024453/http://www.silverage.ru/poets/livshiz_bio.html Biography and works {{DEFAULTSORT:Livshits, Benedikt 1886 births 1938 deaths Writers from Odesa People from Odessky Uyezd Odesa Jews Soviet poets Russian male poets Soviet male writers 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian poets Jewish poets Russian avant-garde French–Russian translators 20th-century translators Russian military personnel of World War I NKVD Great Purge victims from Ukraine Jews executed by the Soviet Union Soviet rehabilitations