Yury Yurkun (originally Juozas Jurkūnas; September 17, 1895 – September 20, 1938) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

writer and painter, and lover of poet

Mikhail Kuzmin Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin (russian: Михаи́л Алексе́евич Кузми́н) ( – March 1, 1936) was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Biography Born into a noble fam ...

Early life

Yurkun was born in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

on September 17, 1895, from a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family. The original name is Juozas, written as Iosif (Иосиф) in Russian.

Personal life

Yuri Yurkun was the lover of poet Mikhail Kuzmin, who dedicated to him the cycle, "On the Journey" ("V doroge", dated February–August 1913). They met in

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 ...

in February 1913. Kuzmin wrote in his diary, on March 3, 1913: "I just cannot get my writing going; the closest possible friendship with Nagrodskaya, my love for Yurkun, my departure from the Sudeikins - that is all that has happened." Yurkun's profession in Kiev is unknown. He was possibly an actor working under the pseudonym "Mogandri." Others state he was a clerk in a bookstore. He went back to

St. 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 ...

with Kuzmin and they remained together until Kuzmin's death in 1936. While with Kuzmin, Yurkun also had a relationship with Nadezhda Zborovskaya-Auslender, an actress and wife of Kuzmin's nephew. The relationship with Kuzmin was not easy as the poet writes: "I love him very much, but his obstinacy and hooliganism will destroy him, no doubt about it" (Diary, May 27, 1913). In 1917 Yurkun was conscripted by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

, but deserted soon after. Yurkun and Kuzmin lived in St. Petersburg from 1918 to 1921. In 1918 Yurkun was arrested and detained for a brief period. In December 1920, Yurkun met his future wife, Olga Gildebrandt Arbenina, a young actress using the stage name of her father, Arbenin. The marriage legally never happened, but they considered themselves married. Yurkun, Arbenina and Kuzmin continued to live together with Yurkun's mother in the same communal apartment. In 1931 the

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...

searched their apartment and confiscated Yurkun's manuscripts, forcing him to sign an agreement to cooperate. Two years after Kuzmin's death, in 1938, Yurkun was arrested and soon after executed in a massive political purge.

Gallery

File:Ladies with umbrellas (the scene in the Park).jpg, Ladies with umbrellas (the scene in the Park) File:Ladies in crinolines.jpg, Ladies in crinolines File:Street scene, Yurkun.jpg, Street scene

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yurkun, Yury 1895 births 1938 deaths Russian male painters Russian male poets Russian bisexual people Russian LGBT painters Russian LGBT poets Bisexual male writers Bisexual male artists Bisexual poets Bisexual painters 20th-century Russian poets 20th-century Russian LGBT people