Vitaly Alexandrovich Shentalinsky (russian: links=no, Виталий Александрович Шенталинский; 7 October 1939 – 27 July 2018) was a Russian writer and journalist. He became internationally known for his books on the fates of Russian writers during the

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 ...

under the rule 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 ...

Life

Shentalinsky spent his school years in the

Chistopol Chistopol (russian: Чи́стополь; tt-Cyrl, Чистай, ''Çistay''; cv, Чистай, ''Çistay'') is a town in Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, on the Kama River. As of the 2010 Census, its p ...

district of the Autonomous Soviet Republic

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

. He graduated from the College of Arctic Maritime Studies (''Арктическое морское училище'') in

Leningrad 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 ...

and subsequently studied at the Faculty of Journalism of

Lomonosov 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 ...

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 ...

. He worked at a

polar station A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic. Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth. Historically few research sta ...

on the

Wrangel Island Wrangel Island ( rus, О́стров Вра́нгеля, r=Ostrov Vrangelya, p=ˈostrəf ˈvrangʲɪlʲə; ckt, Умӄиԓир, translit=Umqiḷir) is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the 91st largest island in the w ...

, and participated in five scientific expeditions in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

. He worked for state television and several magazines, and was the author of travel reports from

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and the Arctic. He had a column dedicated to the conservation of nature and cultural monuments in the popular magazine ''

Ogoniok ''Ogoniok'' ( rus, Огонёк, t=Spark, p=ɐɡɐˈnʲɵk, a=Ru-огонёк.ogg; pre-reform orthography: ''Огонекъ'') was one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia. History and profile ''Ogoniok'' has issued since . I ...

''. He also wrote several volumes of poetry. During

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

under

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

he was elected to head a commission of the

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...

to investigate the fate of writers persecuted by Stalin‘s secret police

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

. He then got permission to work in the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

archives. On the basis of his research he published three volumes of documentation with extensive commentary. Chapters are devoted to

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...

Pavel Florensky Pavel Alexandrovich Florensky (also P. A. Florenskiĭ, Florenskii, Florenskij; russian: Па́вел Алекса́ндрович Флоре́нский; hy, Պավել Ֆլորենսկի, Pavel Florenski; – December 8, 1937) was a Russian Or ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

Nikolai Klyuev Nikolai Alekseevich Klyuev ( rus, Николай Алексеевич Клюев, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈklʲʉjɪf; 22 October 1884 – 23/25 October 1937), was a notable Russian poet. He was influenced by the symbolist mo ...

Ossip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam ( rus, Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acm ...

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...

Boris Pilnyak Boris Andreyevich Pilnyak (''né'' Vogau russian: Бори́с Андре́евич Пильня́к; – April 21, 1938) was a Russian and Soviet writer who was executed by the Soviet Union on false claims of plotting to kill Joseph Stalin and ...

and

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...

. They contain longer extracts from

snitch Snitch may refer to: * Informant Film and television * ''Snitch'' (1998 film) or ''Monument Ave.'', an American crime drama directed by Ted Demme * ''Snitch'' (2011 film) or ''Witness Insecurity'', an American thriller starring Edward Furlong ...

reports and interrogation protocols. He also published materials on the NKVD officer

Yakov Agranov Yakov Saulovich Agranov (russian: Я́ков Сау́лович Агра́нов; born Yankel Samuilovich Sorenson; 12 October 1893–1 August 1938) was the first chief of the Soviet Main Directorate of State Security and a deputy of NKVD c ...

, who led many of the repressive measures against writers. Shentalinsky's books on the repression of writers were also published in English, French, German, Polish, Serbian and Spanish. Based on his work, several television documentaries were produced. His publications were praised by

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...

and

Yevgeny Yevtushenko Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko ( rus, links=no, 1=Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Евтуше́нко; 18 July 1933 – 1 April 2017) was a Soviet and Russian poet. He was also a novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, ...

. In the Tatar community of Yuldus (district

), where he grew up, the "Shentalinsky Readings" have been taking place since 2013.В Чистопольском районе в поселке Юлдуз прошли «Шенталинские чтения»
''tatarstan24.tv'', 11 May 2017.

Main works

*''Рабы свободы в литературных архивах КГБ'', Parus, Moscow 1995 (English edition: ''Arrested Voices. Resurrecting the Disappeared Writers of the Soviet Regime.'' With an introduction by

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 1917 – 3 August 2015) was a British historian and poet. A long-time research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Conquest was most notable for his work on the Soviet Union. His books ...

. Free Press, New York 1996 ). * ''Преступление без наказания: документальные повести'', Progress-Pleyada, Moscow 2007 . (English edition: ''The KGB's Literary Archive'', Introduction by

. The Harvill Press, London 1997 ). * ''Донос на Сократа'', Formika-S, Moscow 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shentalinsky, Vitaly Alexandrovich 1939 births 2018 deaths Russian male poets Soviet male poets Soviet poets People from Chistopol 20th-century Russian poets 21st-century Russian poets 20th-century Russian journalists 21st-century Russian journalists