Writer Vladimir Maksimov: short biography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Writer Vladimir Maksimov, whose photo adorned the covers of books published in Paris in the second half of the twentieth century, was widely known far beyond the literature of the Russian diaspora. His works were delivered to his homeland illegally. But they were read with interest and discussed by everyone who was not indifferent to the past and future of Russia.

Biography Facts

Maximov Vladimir Emelyanovich - such a literary pseudonym was invented for himself by Lev Alekseevich Samsonov, who was born on November 27, 1930 in Moscow. The childhood of the future writer was difficult. His family belonged to the category of dysfunctional, which led to the boy's escape from home. The young man wandered around Central Asia and South Siberia, visited several orphanages and colonies for juvenile delinquents. Later he was convicted under criminal articles and served a prison term. The beginning of life was promising…

Without the slightest exaggeration, it can be argued that the writer Vladimir Maksimov, whose biography ended in a respectable suburb of Paris, began his life path from the very bottom.

The way up

Severe life tests did not break the future writer. Moreover, the experience of survival inconstant conflict with the surrounding social environment largely shaped his character. After his release from prison in 1951, Vladimir Maksimov lived in the Krasnodar Territory. Having felt a taste for literary creativity, he was interrupted by odd jobs for the sake of being able to write poetry and prose. The first publications in local periodicals took place here. A little later, he manages to print the first collection of poems in a provincial publishing house in the Kuban. But, as you know, the path to great literature in Russia traditionally runs through the capital.

Into great literature

Vladimir Maksimov was able to return to Moscow only in 1956. His return coincided with the beginning of the so-called Khrushchev "thaw". Great changes were taking place in the life of the country at that time. A new generation of young people quickly broke into Soviet literature. Many of them went through the war and the Stalinist camps. Vladimir Maksimov writes a lot and publishes in the capital's literary magazines. A notable event was his publication in the well-known literary almanac Tarusa Pages. In 1963 he was admitted to the Writers' Union of the USSR. In addition, the writer is active in social activities. In 1967 he was elected a member of the editorial board of the influential Soviet literary magazine Oktyabr. Books and publications by Vladimir Maksimov are popular among readers and are actively discussed in periodicals.

Emigration

But to be an orthodox Soviet writer Vladimir Maksimovcould not. His political views diverged in the strongest way from the official ideology. And books that negatively reflect Soviet realities could not be published in the country. This sad circumstance was more than compensated by the attention of readers to his work. Very soon, he went beyond the permissible in the Soviet Union. Maximov's novels "Quarantine" and "Seven Days of Creation" were distributed among the reading public in typewritten form, and were later published abroad. In 1973, Vladimir Maksimov was expelled from the Union of Soviet Writers and placed on compulsory treatment in a psychiatric clinic. This practice was quite common in the USSR. In 1974, the writer managed to emigrate to France.

Magazine "Continent"

In Paris, Vladimir Maksimov is actively involved in literary work and social activities. He is elected executive director of the international anti-communist organization Resistance International. In the capital of France, he publishes everything that was not possible to print in the Soviet Union. His books about Soviet realities are a great success and are being translated into many European languages. But Vladimir Emelyanovich considered the publication of the literary, artistic and socio-political magazine "Continent" to be the main business of his whole life. This publication, edited by Maksimov, publishes a significant amount of Russian literary heritage in verse and prose, regardless of where these works were created. In addition, the magazine"Continent" is becoming the largest open journalistic platform in the Russian literary abroad. For three decades, many writers and thinkers, from liberals to conservatives, have expressed their ideas and assessed events here.

At the same time, "Continent" is constantly arguing with another authoritative periodical - "Syntax" by Andrei Sinyavsky. Vladimir Maksimov remained as editor-in-chief until the day of his death in 1995. The writer was buried at the famous Russian cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris.