Mikhail Mikhailovich Zoshchenko (russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Зо́щенко; – 22 July 1958) was a Soviet and Russian writer and satirist.

Biography

Zoshchenko was born in 1894, in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia, according to his 1953 autobiography. His Ukrainian father was an artist and a mosaicist responsible for the exterior decoration of the

Suvorov Museum Suvorov Memorial Museum (Russian: Музей Суворова) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a military museum dedicated to the memory of Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). It was founded in 1900 to commemorate the century of Suvorov ...

.Introduction to ''Nervous People and Other Satires'' page viii His mother was Russian. The future writer attended the Faculty of Law at the

Saint Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

, but did not graduate due to financial problems. 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 ...

, Zoshchenko served in the army as a field officer, was wounded in action several times, and was heavily decorated. In 1919, during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, he served for several months in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

before being discharged for health reasons. He was associated with the

Serapion Brothers The Serapion Brothers (or Serapion Fraternity, russian: Серапионовы Братья) was a group of writers formed in Petrograd, Russian SFSR in 1921. The group was named after a literary group, ''Die Serapionsbrüder'' (The Serapion Brethr ...

and attained particular popularity in the 1920s as a satirist, but, after his denunciation in the

Zhdanov decree The Zhdanov Doctrine (also called Zhdanovism or Zhdanovshchina; russian: доктрина Жданова, ждановизм, ждановщина) was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. I ...

of 1946, Zoshchenko lived in dire poverty. He was awarded his pension only a few months before he died. Zoshchenko developed a simplified

deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blun ...

style of writing which simultaneously made him accessible to "the people" and mocked official demands for accessibility: "I write very compactly. My sentences are short. Accessible to the poor. Maybe that's the reason why I have so many readers." Volkov compares this style to the nakedness of the Russian holy fool or ''

yurodivy Foolishness for Christ ( el, διά Χριστόν σαλότητα, cu, оуродъ, юродъ) refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining an ascetic order or religious life, or deliberately flouting socie ...

''. Zoshchenko wrote a series of short stories for children about

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

Criticism

A critical anthology'' Мих. Зощенко: pro et contra, антология'' (Micah. Zoshchenko: pro et contra, anthology) was published in 2015. It included a 1926 article by

Iakov Moiseyevich Shafir Iakov Moiseyevich Shafir (1887-1938) headed a special commission sent by the Comintern to Georgia to investigate archival materials preserved after the flight of the Georgian government following the Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1921. He publis ...

Selected bibliography (in English translation)

*''A Man Is Not A Flea'', trans. Serge Shishkoff, Ann Arbor, 1989. *''Before Sunrise''. Trans. Gary Kern, Ann Arbor, 1974. *''Nervous People and Other Satires'', ed. Hugh McLean, trans. Maria Gordon and Hugh McLean, London, 1963. *''Scenes from the Bathhouse'', trans. Sidney Monas, Ann Arbor, 1962. *''Youth Restored''. Trans. Joel Stern, Ann Arbor, 1984. *''The Galosh''. Trans. Jeremy Hicks, New York, 1996. *''Sentimental Tales''. Trans. Boris Dralyuk, New York, 2018. *''Pассказы о Ленине'' (''"Stories about Lenin"''. In Russian. Moscow, 1974.)

Notes

External links

Creative Commons English translation of Zoshchenko's ultra-short story ''Nervous People''
Alexander Melnikov,

Russia Beyond the Headlines ''Russia Beyond'' (formerly ''Russia Beyond The Headlines'') is a Russian multilingual project operated by TV-Novosti (formerly Russia Today), founded by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. History ''Russia Beyond The Headlines'' was ...

, 2 October 2009
English translation of Zoshchenko's short story ''Honest Citizen''Three short autobiographies by Zoshchenko Poverty , The Galosh
by Zoshchenko at the Short Story Project

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoshchenko, Mikhail 1894 births 1958 deaths 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian short story writers People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Writers from Saint Petersburg People of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Russian people of Ukrainian descent Russian Marxist writers Russian military personnel of World War I Russian-language writers Soviet male writers Soviet novelists Soviet short story writers

Biography

Criticism

Selected bibliography (in English translation)

Notes

Further reading

External links