Semyon Lipkin
Semyon Izrailevich Lipkin (Russian: Семён Израилевич Липкин) (6 September (19, New Style) 1911 – 31 March 2003) was a Russian writer, poet, and literary translator.
Semyon Lipkin | |
|---|---|
Lipkin and his wife, the poet Inna Lisnianskaya | |
| Born | 6 September 1911 Odessa, Russian Empire |
| Died | 31 March 2003 (aged 91) Peredelkino, Russia |
| Occupation | Poet, translator, memoirist, prose-writer, soldier |
| Period | 1911-2003 |
| Genre | literature |
| Subject | World War II, History, Philosophy, Literature, Folklore, Jewish heritage, The Bible |
| Notable works | Kvadriga Memoirs, The Lieutenant Quartermaster (An epic poem) |
Lipkin's importance as a poet was recognized once his work became available to the general reading public after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Throughout much of his working life, he was sustained by the support of his wife, (poet Inna Lisnianskaya) and close friends such as Anna Akhmatova, Joseph Brodsky and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Lipkin's verse includes explorations of history and philosophy and exhibits a keen sense of people's diverse destinies.
His poems include references to his Jewish heritage and the Bible. They also draw on first-hand experience of the tragedies of Stalin's Great Purge and World War II (WWII). Lipkin's long-standing opposition to the Soviet regime surfaced in 1979-80 when he contributed to the uncensored almanac "Metropol". He and Lisnianskaya then left the ranks of the official Writer's Union of the USSR.