Igor Mironovich Guberman ( rus, И́горь Миро́нович Губерма́н, p=ˈiɡərʲ mʲɪˈronəvʲɪtɕ ɡʊbʲɪrˈman, a=Igor' Mironovich Gubyerman.ru.vorb.oga, born 7 July 1936,
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Gariki . These short poems (originally Guberman called them "Jewish
Dazibao
Big-character posters () are handwritten posters with large characters, usually mounted on walls in public spaces such as universities, factories, government departments, and sometimes directly on the streets. They were used as a means of protest ...
") usually feature an a-b-a-b
rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.
An example of the ABAB rh ...
, employ various poetic meters, and cover a wide range of subjects including
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
, immigrant life, anti-religious sentiment, and the author's complicated relationship with Russia, Israel, and the respective cultures. ''Gariki'' are mostly humorous and often paradoxical, verging on philosophical.
Biography
Igor Guberman was born in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Moscow State University of Railway Engineering
The Russian University of Transport (RUT (MIIT); russian: «Российский университет транспорта», РУТ (МИИТ)), officially the Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "Russian University of tran ...
where, in contrast to the most prestigious Russian universities, there was not a maximum quota for
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 ...
s. In 1958, he graduated with a degree in
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
. He worked as an electrical engineer for several years and wrote on the side in his spare time. Toward the end of the 1950s, he was introduced to Alexander Ginzburg, who published ''Syntax'', one of the first
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 ...
periodicals, as well as to other underground philosophers, writers, and artists. For some time he worked as a secretary to the great Russian poet
David Samoylov
David Samoylov (russian: Давид Самойлов), pseudonym of David Samuilovich Kaufman (russian: Давид Самуилович Кауфман; 1 June 1920 — 23 February 1990) was one of the most notable representatives of the War gener ...
, and also as a ghostwriter for hire.
At first, Guberman wrote popular science books (such as "Third Triumvirate"), but he gradually became more and more active as a dissident poet. Guberman published his underground work under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
s ''I. Mironov'' and ''Abram Khayyam'', connecting the names of the famous
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
poet
Omar Khayyám
Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...
and the Jewish first name
Abram
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...
.
In 1979, Guberman was arrested and sentenced based on fabricated charges to five years in the
Labor Camps
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espec ...
. He based his book, ''Walks Around the Barracks'' (written in 1980, published in 1988), on the diaries he kept during his time in the Gulag.
In 1984, Guberman returned 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 ...
. For a long time, he could get neither a job nor a residence permit (
Propiska Propiska is both a residency permit and a migration recording tool, generally referred to as an Internal passport:
* Propiska in the Russian Empire
* Propiska in the Soviet Union
* Propiska in Ukraine; see :uk:Прописка#Прописка в ...
) to live in Moscow. In 1987, Guberman emigrated from the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, and since 1988 he has been living in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. He visits Russia quite frequently to attend poetry readings. Books by Guberman have sold hundreds of thousands of copies in Russia and in countries with Russian immigrant communities, with whom they are always popular.
In 2017 he was interviewed by
Echo Moskvy
Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local ra ...
, the interviewer regarding the interview as "timeless", as it would fit into even future time because
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
was never mentioned - although constantly present.About Putin without Putin Interview with Igor Guberman on
Echo Moskvy
Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local ra ...
December 16th 2017 (in Russian)
Quatrains
Examples of Guberman's quatrains:
'*A play on the double meaning of word перо: pen and feather; hence: пух, meaning down.