Evgeny Yevtushenko (photo below) is a Russian poet. He also gained fame as a screenwriter, publicist, prose writer, director and actor. The surname of the poet at birth is Gangnus.
Evgeny Yevtushenko: biography
The poet was born in the winter city of Irkutsk region on July 18, 1932. His father, a Baltic German by birth, Gangnus Alexander Rudolfovich, was an amateur poet. Mother, Yevtushenko Zinaida Ermolaevna, was a geologist, actress, honored cultural figure. After returning to Moscow in 1944 from evacuation, she gave her son her maiden name.
Evgeny Yevtushenko began to be published in 1949, his very first poem was published in Soviet Sport. In 1952-1957 He studied at the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute , but was expelled for supporting Dudintsev’s novel “Not With One Bread” and “disciplinary action”.
In 1952, the first book of Yevtushenko’s poems was published under the title Scouts of the Future. Later, the author called her immature and youthful. In the same 1952, Eugene, passing the stage of the candidate, became the youngest member of the Writers' Union.
In the period of 1950-1980s, characterized by a real poetic boom, Evgeni Yevtushenko entered the arena of tremendous popularity with B. Akhmadulina, B. Okudzhava, A. Voznesensky, R. Rozhdestvensky. With their enthusiasm, they infected the whole country; in their work, independence, freshness, and informality were felt. The performances of these authors were gathered in large stadiums, and soon the poetry of the “thaw” period began to be called pop.
Essay on creativity
The poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko is the “loudest” lyrics of a galaxy of poets of that time. He published many collections of poems that have gained popularity. This is the “Highway of Enthusiasts”, and “Tenderness”, and “Third Snow”, and “Apple”, and “Promise”, and others.
His works are distinguished by a variety of genres and a wide range of moods. The first line of the introduction to the 1965 poem “The Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station” “A poet is more than a poet in Russia” has become a catch phrase that has steadily entered into everyday life and a manifesto of Yevtushenko’s creativity.
Subtle, intimate lyrics are also not alien to him (for example, a 1955 poem “It Happened, the Dog Sleeps at the Feet”). In the 1977 poem “Northern mark-up” Yevtushenko composes an ode to beer. Several cycles of poems and poems are devoted to anti-war and foreign topics: “Bullfight”, “Mother and the neutron bomb”, “Under the skin of the Statue of Liberty”, etc.
The stage performances of the poet gained fame: he successfully recites his own works. Yevgeny Yevtushenko, whose biography is very rich, has released several audiobooks and CDs (Berry Plants and others).
1980-1990s
In 1986-1991 Yevtushenko was secretary to the board of the Writers 'Union, and since December 1991 he was appointed secretary to the board of the Commonwealth of Writers' Unions. Since 1988 - member of the Memorial society, since 1989 - co-chair of the April Writers Association.
In May 1989, he was elected as a deputy from the Dzerzhinsky IO of Kharkov and worked in this position until the collapse of the Union.
In 1991, Yevgeny Yevtushenko signed a contract with a university in the American city of Tulsa (Oklahoma) and went there to teach. In the United States, the poet lives to this day.
Health status
In 2013, Yevgeny Aleksandrovich had his leg amputated. In December 2014, the poet became ill when he was on tour in Rostov-on-Don, and he was hospitalized due to a sharp deterioration in his health.
On August 24, 2015, a pacemaker was installed to the poet to eliminate heart rhythm problems.
Criticism
The manner and literary style of Yevtushenko gave a great field of activity for criticism. Often he was accused of pathos rhetoric, praise, hidden self-praise.
Joseph Brodsky in an interview in 1972 spoke very negatively about Yevtushenko as a person and a poet. He described Eugene as "a huge factory for the reproduction of himself."
Personal life
Officially, Yevtushenko was married four times. His first wife was Bella Akhmadulina (since 1954). They often cursed, but quickly put up, because they loved each other selflessly. When Bella became pregnant, Eugene asked her to have an abortion, as he was not ready for the role of her father. On this basis, the stars of Soviet literature divorced. Then, in 1961, Galina Sokol-Lukonina became Yevtushenko’s wife. The woman could not have children, and in 1968 the couple adopted a boy named Peter. Since 1978, the poet's wife was his passionate Irish fan Jen Butler. In marriage with her sons Anton and Alexander were born. Currently, the wife of Yevtushenko is Maria Novikova, born in 1962. They met in 1987, when Maria, who at that time had just graduated from a medical school, approached the poet to ask for an autograph for her mother. Five months later, they got married. The couple has two sons: Dmitry and Eugene. Thus, the poet has five sons.
Yevtushenko himself says that he was lucky with all his wives, and only he was to blame for the divorce. The 83-year-old poet has something to remember, because he broke many women's hearts!