Vladimir Nikolaevich Osipov (russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич О́сипов; 9 August 1938 – 20 October 2020) was a Russian writer who founded the Soviet

samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

journal ''Veche'' (Assembly)''.'' The journal is considered to be an important document of the nationalist or Slavophile strand within the

Soviet dissident Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union in the period from the mid-1960s until ...

movement.

Biography

Vladimir Osipov was born on 9 August 1938 in Slantsy, Leningrad Oblast. He entered studies at the History faculty of

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 ...

. He was expelled in 1959 for protesting the arrest of Anatoly Ivanov, a fellow student, but was able to finish his studies at the Moscow Pedagogical Institute in 1960. As a student, Osipov was involved in reviving the informal

Mayakovsky Square poetry readings During the 1950s and 1960s, Mayakovsky Square in Moscow played an important role as a gathering place for unofficial poetry readings, and subsequently for expressing cultural and political dissent in the post-Stalin era. Precursor On July 29, 195 ...

in 1960. During this time, he produced a

(self-published) literary journal ''Boomerang''. In 1961, Osipov was sentenced to seven years in strict-regime labour camps for "

Anti-Soviet propaganda Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (ASA) (russian: антисове́тская агита́ция и пропага́нда (АСА)) was a criminal offence in the Soviet Union. To begin with the term was interchangeably used with counter-revolu ...

". In the camps, he converted to Christianity. He was released in 1968 and managed to find work as a fireman. During the years 1971-1973, Osipov produced nine issues of the samizdat journal ''Veche'' (Assembly). The journal was to be a "Russian patriotic journal" that followed the tradition of

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

and the

Slavophiles Slavophilia (russian: Славянофильство) was an intellectual movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavoph ...

, taking what Osipov called a "Russophile" position. Osipov also edited the samizdat journal ''Zemlia'' (Earth) in 1974, with a more religious orientation. ''Zemlia'' carried material by

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

dissenters such as Anatoly Levitin-Krasnov. In 1974, Osipov was arrested, tried, and sentenced to a second term for engaging in "anti-Soviet propaganda". Osipov took part in the defence of the parliament during the attempted hard-line coup against Gorbachev in August 1991. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Osipov was active as one of the leaders of the Union "Christian Rebirth" (UCR), which calls for the establishment of a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

. His third wife was writer Adel Naidenovich, who also participated in the samizdat journal ''Veche''. Osipov died on 20 October 2020 in

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 millio ...

References

External links

''БУМЕРАНГ_[Boomerang
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/nowiki>''. Project for the Study of Dissidence and Samizdat, University of Toronto">oomerang">''БУМЕРАНГ [Boomerang
/nowiki>''. Project for the Study of Dissidence and Samizdat, University of Toronto {{DEFAULTSORT:Osipov, Vladimir 1938 births 2020 deaths People from Slantsy Soviet dissidents Russian writers Soviet writers Dubravlag detainees