The Russian writer Sinyavsky Andrey Donatovich, whose biography ended in February 1997 in Paris, is not only not forgotten today, but continues to be one of the key figures in Russian literature abroad. His name is constantly mentioned in the heated socio-political discussions that flare up between representatives of various literary groups. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to remember this extraordinary person and think about what thoughts and ideas he wanted to convey to posterity.
From the biography of a writer
The future writer Andrei Sinyavsky was born in 1925 in Moscow. He spent his childhood in an intelligent family of noble origin. The writer's ancestors occupied a prominent position in the Russian Empire, but were also marked by participation in revolutionary events. It is a well-known fact that it is the cultural and intellectual environment that has a decisive influence on the formation of a creative person.
It was in this environment that the future famous writer Sinyavsky Andrey Donatovich was formed. The family strongly supported the craving for knowledge in the young man. Andrei showed particular interest in philology and the study of foreign languages. But his educationwas interrupted by the outbreak of war. Since the autumn of 1941, his family lived in evacuation in Syzran. From where, after graduating from high school, Andrei Sinyavsky was drafted into the army. He entered the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University already in 1945, after the Victory. After graduation, he conducted scientific activities at the Institute of World Literature, and also taught at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University and at the Moscow Art Theater School.
Literary creativity
The writer Andrei Sinyavsky began his journey into great literature with critical articles, literary studies and biographies of the classics of Russian literature of the twentieth century. His work in this area has received recognition from the reading public. The young writer enjoyed well-deserved prestige both in the circles of Moscow bohemia and far beyond its borders. Ahead were wonderful prospects and the prosperous existence of the Soviet literary functionary.
Nevertheless, the writer Andrei Sinyavsky, whose biography was developing quite successfully, was preparing to make a sharp turn in his life. He hardly knew what shocks lay ahead of him.
Abram Tertz
At a certain stage of his work, the writer faced a seemingly insoluble problem - the inability to speak and write the truth about the surrounding reality and his attitude towards it. No one would ever read or hear what Andrey Sinyavsky intended to say in Russian literature. His books simply could not be published in the Soviet Union. But a way out was found. under a strangerhe could say whatever he wanted to say with his name. And publish their works outside their native country. Andrei Sinyavsky borrowed his pseudonym from the character of the Odessa thug song. It told about the adventures of a petty swindler of Jewish nationality. So he became Abram Tertz.
In the early sixties, the West published the story "Lubimov", the story "The Judgment Is Coming" and the sharply journalistic article "What is socialist realism?", famously mocking the official principles of Soviet literature. In the homeland of the writer, few people guessed that the author of these works was Andrey Donatovich Sinyavsky. His books were published with the name of Abram Tertz on the title page. Sinyavsky was one of the first who managed to deceive the Soviet censorship.
Process
Only the Soviet authorities did not forgive such attacks on their foundations. In September 1965, the writer was arrested by the KGB. They took him on Nikitsky Boulevard at a trolleybus stop. Thus, Andrei Sinyavsky, whose biography had not made such sharp turns until that moment, became a political prisoner. In the same case, the writer Julius Daniel, who also published his books in the West under a pseudonym, was also arrested. The Sinyavsky-Daniel process has become very significant in the history of the development of social thought.
In the Soviet Union, writers were judged for works of art. It was very similar to medieval hunting forwitches.
Public movement in defense of Sinyavsky and Daniel
The trial of the writers, which ended with a seven-year sentence, caused a great public outcry in the Soviet Union and beyond. On the positive side, many inside the country stood up for the convicts. And this happened despite unbridled official propaganda. For the authorities that organized the prosecution of Sinyavsky and Daniel, this turned out to be an unpleasant surprise. People collected signatures under appeals in defense of writers and even went to demonstrations in the center of Moscow. Such a position required a fair amount of courage. The writers' advocates could easily follow them. But the movement in defense of the condemned was expanding all over the world. In many European capitals and overseas, protests were held in front of Soviet diplomatic missions.
In captivity
Conclusion Andrey Sinyavsky was serving Mordovia, in Dubrovlag. According to the directive from Moscow, it was used only for the most difficult jobs. At the same time, the writer did not leave literary work. Behind the barbed wire, Andrei Sinyavsky wrote a number of books - "Voice from the Choir", "Walks with Pushkin", "In the Shadow of Gogol". The author did not even have confidence that what he created in prison would reach the will of the reader.
Under pressure from international public opinion, the writer was released from prison before the end of his term. In June 1971, he was released.
Emigration
In 1973, a new professor from Russia, Andrei Sinyavsky, appeared at the famous Parisian university at the Sorbonne. The biography of the writer continued in exile. He was invited to teach in France shortly after his release from prison. But the writer was by no means going to confine himself to the professorial chair alone. Andrei Sinyavsky, whose books managed to resonate with a wide range of readers, for the first time in his life found himself in a situation where he could publish whatever he saw fit. No regard for censorship. First of all, what was written back in the Soviet Union comes out.
Including in custody. In particular, "Walks with Pushkin". This is one of the most scandalous books authored by Andrey Donatovich Sinyavsky. The writer's wife, Maria Rozanova, is to some extent its co-author. Andrei Sinyavsky composed this book in custody and sent it to her in private correspondence from behind the barbed wire. By individual chapters.
Andrey Sinyavsky, "An Open Letter to Solzhenitsyn"
With some surprise, Sinyavsky discovered that the same passions were seething in the literary abroad as in Moscow. Russian emigration was far from unity. Relatively speaking, it was divided into two camps - liberals and patriots. And the reaction of the patriotic side to the literary and journalistic articles of the new Sorbonne professor was sharply negative. Abram Tertz's book "Walks with Pushkin" aroused particular dislike. Most of all, critics were interested in whonationality Andrey Sinyavsky. And Abram Tertz did not disappoint this audience, making a sharp rebuke to his opponents. In his famous "Open Letter to Solzhenitsyn," he accused the famous compatriot of planting a new authoritarianism and intolerance of alternative opinions. And with a fair amount of sarcasm, he brought to the attention of the addressee that he himself was to blame for the troubles of the Russian people, and not some mythical Jews and other dark forces.
After this controversy, Abram Tertz's access to emigre periodicals was forever closed. Writer Andrei Sinyavsky was forced to think about founding his own journal.
Syntax
This edition was created. For many years, one of the centers of intellectual and spiritual attraction of the Russian emigration has become the magazine "Syntax". It was published in Paris by Andrei Sinyavsky and Maria Rozanova. The magazine covered a wide range of topics from social, political and literary life. The publication was fundamentally open to people with different points of view. It also published materials from the Soviet Union. "Syntax" led a continuous polemic with another publication popular in emigre circles - "Continent" by Vladimir Maksimov.
