Aksenov's best works. Aksenov Vasily: biography and best books of the writer

In the family of party worker Pavel Vasilyevich Aksenov (1899-1991). In 1937, the writer's parents - first his mother, E. S. Ginzburg, and then his father - were arrested, convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Vasily was forcibly sent to Orphanage for children of prisoners. In 1938, his uncle A.V. Aksenov managed to find him in. In subsequent years, Vasily lived with relatives' families. In 1948, shortly after his mother left the camp, he moved in with her. He graduated from this city high school.

In 1956, V. P. Aksenov graduated from the 1st Leningrad medical school(now university) named after. and was distributed to the Baltic Shipping Company. In subsequent years, he worked as a quarantine doctor in the Far North, in the Leningrad seaport, in a tuberculosis hospital (according to other sources, he was a consultant at the Moscow Research Institute of Tuberculosis).

V. P. Aksenov’s first stories, “One and a half medical units” and “Torches and Roads,” were published in the magazine “Yunost” in 1958. The writer gained fame after publishing the story “Colleagues” in 1960, which was later adapted into a film of the same name. In subsequent years, such works by V. P. Aksenov were published as the novel “Star Ticket” (1961) (in 1962 the film “My Little Brother” was made based on it), the novel “It’s time, my friend, it’s time” ( 1962), the story “Oranges from Morocco” (1962), the collection of works “Catapult” (1964), the collection of stories “Halfway to the Moon” (1966) on the topic moral improvement person, the play “Always on Sale” (1965, staged at the Sovremennik Theater). 1968 was the year of publication of the satirical-fantasy story “Overstocked Barrels,” on which a film of the same name directed by Vitaly Galilyuk was made in 1994.

In 1975, V.P. Aksenov wrote the novel “Burn”, in 1979 - fantasy novel“Island of Crimea”, both works were banned from publication by censorship. In 1979, together with Bella Akhmadulina, Andrei Bitov, Fazil Iskander, Viktor Erofeev, Evgeny Popov, Aksenov became one of the authors and organizers of the uncensored literary almanac Metropol. The almanac was published in the USA by Ardis Publishing, and in Moscow it was published using the samizdat method in a circulation of 12 copies. In December 1979, as a sign of protest against the exclusion of Yevgeny Popov and Viktor Erofeev from the Writers' Union, Vasily Pavlovich announced his resignation from this organization.

On July 22, 1980, the writer left for the United States and in 1981 was deprived of USSR citizenship. In 1980-1991 V.P. Aksenov actively collaborated with radio stations “Liberty” and “Voice of America” as a journalist. Since 1981, Aksenov has been a professor of Russian literature at US universities: Kennan Institute (1981-1982), George Washington University (1982-1983), Goucher University (1983-1988), George Mason University (1988-2004 gg.).

The novels “Burn”, “Our Golden Iron”, “Island of Crimea”, written by V. Aksenov back in the USSR, were published only after the writer left for the USA in Washington. In the United States, Vasily Aksenov wrote the novels “Paper Landscape” (1982), “Say Raisins” (1985), “In Search of Sad Baby” (1986), “Moscow Saga” (trilogy: 1989, 1991, 1993), series of short stories “Negative positive hero"(1995), novel "New Sweet Style" (1996). In 1989, the novel “Egg Yolk” was written on English language, later translated by Aksenov into Russian.

In 1989, V.P. Aksenov, after a long break, visited the USSR. At the end of the 1980s. his works began to be published in. In 1990, the writer was returned to Soviet citizenship, and from that moment on he began to visit Russia frequently. Aksenov’s works were published in the magazine “Yunost” and other publications, and a collection of the writer’s works was published. In June 1999, the first Aksenov readings were held in Moscow, and Vasily Pavlovich came from the USA.

Since 2002, V. Aksenov lived in the city of Biarritz (in southwestern France). In 2005, the writer was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters.

Vasily Pavlovich Aksenov died in Moscow, at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute on July 6, 2009. Buried in the capital Vagankovskoe cemetery.

Vasily Pavlovich Aksenov (1932-2009) - Russian writer, playwright and translator, he was born in Kazan on August 20, 1932. His novels were repeatedly banned, the prose writer was called “non-Soviet and unpopular.” Because of this, the writer even had to leave his homeland for a while. But from childhood he was accustomed to moving and persecution, because Vasya was only four years old when his parents were arrested. Based on the works of this author, films have been repeatedly made and plays staged in different theaters. His most popular works were the stories “It’s Time, My Friend, It’s Time,” “Oranges from Morocco” and the novel “Star Ticket.” Critics defined the writer's genre as “youth prose.”

Family relationships

The future writer was the third child in the family of Pavel and Evgenia Aksenov. The father and mother already had a daughter and a son, but from previous marriages. Vasya became their first joint child, his parents waited for him for a long time and loved him very much. Pavel was a member of the bureau of the regional committee of the CPSU and chairman of the city council. His wife taught at one of the local universities, and later she managed to head the cultural department at the Krasnaya Tataria newspaper. Evgenia Ginzburg also wrote and published memoirs about Stalin’s concentration camps - “Steep Route”.

In 1937, Vasily’s parents were arrested. Brother Alexei and sister Maya were taken by relatives, and the four-year-old boy was sent to an orphanage with other children of political prisoners. He spent two years there until Andreyan Aksenov, Pavel’s brother, arrived. The uncle took his nephew to Kazan, and the next ten years of the boy’s life were spent there. Only in 1948 did the mother manage to leave the Kolyma camps and return her son. Together with his mother, Aksenov moved to Magadan. There he graduated from high school. The prose writer will later describe memories of that period of life in the novel “Burn.”

In 1956 the young man graduated medical university in Leningrad. According to his assignment, he had to work as a doctor on the ships of the Baltic Shipping Company. But because of his parents, Vasya was unable to get permission, so he had to look for another place of work. He was a quarantine doctor in Kaleria, in the Leningrad port, then received a position at the capital's tuberculosis research institute.

First publications

In 1958, Aksenov's first stories were published. The magazine “Yunost” published the works “Torches and Roads” and “One and a Half Medical Units.” But they did not bring fame to the aspiring writer. Only after the publication of the story “Colleagues” in 1960 did they begin to take him seriously. Soon, a film of the same name was released based on it.

After some time, the novel “Star Ticket” was published, which was also filmed. The film was called “My Little Brother”. Aksenov also tried himself as a playwright, publishing the play “Always on Sale.” Later it was staged by members of the Sovremennik Theater troupe.

In the early 60s, Vasily Pavlovich published several collections (“Catapult”, “Halfway to the Moon”) and individual stories. Among them are “Local hooligan Abramashvili”, “It’s a pity that you weren’t with us” and “Handsome Comrade Furazhkin”. Published in 1968 fantastic story with elements of satire “Overstocked Barrels”.

Aggression from the authorities

Every day Aksenov’s works became more and more popular. He was accepted onto the editorial board of the Yunost magazine and published in various publications. In the seventies, Vasily released a duology for children - “My grandfather is a monument” and “A chest in which something is knocking.” In 1972, an experimental novel called “The Search for a Genre” was published. In the same year, the parody “Gene Green - Untouchable,” co-written with Gorchakov and Pozhenyan, was published. In 1976, Aksenov translated Doctorow’s “Ragtime” from English.

The prose writer's works were constantly criticized by the government. In 1963, Nikita Khrushchev scolded the writer at a demonstrative meeting with the intelligentsia in the Kremlin. There he cursed the poet Voznesensky. The main reason This attitude became the free behavior of writers. They took part in demonstrations on Red Square (after this incident, Aksenov was detained by vigilantes). In the late 1960s, Vasily signed letters in defense of dissidents. For this he was reprimanded and entered into his personal file.

Forced emigration

When the “thaw” ended, the prose work was no longer published in the USSR. He had a presentiment of this, so he published the novels “Burn” and “Island of Crimea” much later, already in the USA. The almanac “Metropol”, created by Vasily together with Bitov, Akhmadulina, Iskander, Popov and Erofeev, was also published there. The last two were soon expelled from the Writers' Union. As a sign of protest, several writers, including Aksenov, independently left this society. He later wrote about these events in the novel “Say Raisin.”

In July 1980, the talented prose writer was invited to the USA. He agreed, and immediately after leaving he was deprived of USSR citizenship. For ten years he worked in America as a professor of literature at various universities. Aksenov was also a journalist for Radio Liberty and Voice of America. His radio essays were often published in local almanacs, and later even the collection “A Decade of Slander” was published.

After moving, Vasily wrote several new novels - “Paper Landscape”, “In Search of the Sad Baby” and “Moscow Saga”. The last of them was published in three books, and later a series was filmed based on it. The director was Dmitry Barshchevsky. At the same time, a collection of short stories, “New Sweet Style,” was published, which told about life after emigration.

In 1989, Aksenov published the novel “Egg Yolk,” written in English. Later he translated it into Russian. In the same year, the writer received an invitation to visit the USSR from the American Ambassador Jack Matlock. In 1990, his citizenship was returned to him, but the prose writer did not want to return to his homeland. His works were again published in Russia, Vasily was even awarded several times.

last years of life

In 2002, the writer and his family moved to Bearizze. Aksenov’s last years were spent in France, but he often visited Moscow. In 2004 he received the Booker Prize for his novel Voltairians and Voltaireans. IN next year The writer released a kind of diary of memories called “The Apple of his Eye.” Also in 2005 he was awarded the French Order of Letters and Arts.

In January 2008, the writer was hospitalized at Moscow Hospital No. 23 with a stroke. A day later he was transferred to the Sklifosovsky Research Institute, and the carotid artery thrombus was removed. Within six months, Aksenov’s condition was diagnosed as “stable and serious.” On March 5, 2009, he was operated on again due to complications. On July 6th of the same year, Vasily Pavlovich died in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

The prose writer's last novels were published after his death. One of them was released in October 2009, it was called “Mysterious Passion. A novel about the sixties” and was autobiographical. In the second work, Aksenov also described his life and memories, but never had time to finish it. This novel was called “Lend Lease” and was published in 2010.

During his life, Vasily Pavlovich was married twice. His first wife was Kira Mendeleeva, the daughter of the first rector of a pediatric university in Leningrad. The girl gave birth to her beloved son Alexei. Their relationship ended after the prose writer met Maya Carmen, the wife of a famous documentary filmmaker. Aksenov fell madly in love with a woman and left his family for her. Together they moved to the USA, where Maya taught Russian. She remained with her beloved until his death.

Premiere on Channel One: serial film “Mysterious Passion” based on the latest novel Vasily Aksenov, in which the author “encrypted” the names and surnames of his contemporaries. The prototypes of the heroes are the idols of the sixties: Robert Er - Robert Rozhdestvensky, Anton Andreotis - Andrei Voznesensky, Nella Akhho - Bella Akhmadulina, Yan Tushinsky - Evgeny Yevtushenko, Vasily Aksyonov himself under the nickname Vaxon and many others. AiF.ru invites you to recall the real biographies of the prototypes of the main characters of the novel.

Robert Rozhdestvensky

Creation: The first serious publications of Rozhdestvensky’s poems appeared in the Petrozavodsk magazine “At the Turnover” when the poet was only 18 years old. At that time he was just trying to enter the Literary Institute. M. Gorky, where he was accepted, but only on the second attempt. Rozhdestvensky’s first works contained a lot of civic pathos; he wrote about space exploration and the difficulties Everyday life. But the older the writer became, the more lyrical his poetry seemed, and love lyrics came to the fore.

Robert Rozhdestvensky. Photo: RIA Novosti / Boris Kaufman

Popularity of Rozhdestvensky Soviet years was huge: in the 60s he was one of those who conquered the Polytechnic and sports palaces, his creative evenings were held to full houses, and books were published in huge editions.

Popular works: Rozhdestvensky’s famous poems about love are known in almost all countries, and many are familiar with his work thanks to the songs “My Years”, “Echo of Love”, “Ticket to Childhood”, “Gravity of the Earth”. He is the author of the words of the legendary song “Moments” from the movie Tatiana Lioznova"Seventeen Moments of Spring".

Personal life: All personal life Roberta was associated with Alla Kireeva, artist and literary critic . He dedicated all his love poems to her, and she became the mother of his two daughters.

Death: Rozhdestvensky died in Moscow at the age of 62. In 1990, doctors gave the poet a terrible diagnosis: a malignant brain tumor. But after a successful operation, he managed to live another 4 years.

Interesting Facts: The poet stuttered badly, especially when he was worried, much less speaking in public, and this made him even more charming. But there was a reason for this speech disorder: they say that in childhood, in front of the poet’s eyes, his friend was hit by a car, after which Rozhdestvensky began to stutter.

Andrey Voznesensky

Creation: Voznesensky’s first collection, “Mosaic,” was published in 1958, when the poet was 26 years old. He immediately incurred the wrath of the authorities, because he did not reflect the principles that were instilled at that time. Then Voznesensky aroused sharp rejection among the Soviet literary community: his lyrics contained many daring metaphors and comparisons, an unusual rhythm of verse and a non-standard reflection of the tragedy of the Great Patriotic War. In 1963, Nikita Khrushchev himself sharply criticized the poet: “Look, what a Pasternak you found!.. Go to the damn grandmother. Get out, Mr. Voznesensky, to your masters!” Only in the 1970s did the persecution of the poet end and he finally began to be published in large numbers.

Popular works: Voznesensky was the author of eight poems and more than forty poetry collections. He is one of the creators of the rock opera “Juno and Avos” and the author of the words of the famous romance “I will never forget you.” Many popular pop songs were written based on his poems, including “Million Red roses", "Encore song", "Start over", "Give me back the music."

Personal life: Voznesensky lived for forty-six years in happy marriage With theater and film critic, writer Zoya Boguslavskaya, who in 1964 left her husband for famous author after he dedicated the poem "Uzzah" to her.

Death: In 1995, Voznesensky was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, the poet began to lose his voice, and the muscles of his throat and limbs began to weaken. He died at home in the arms of his beloved wife at the age of 77 after a second stroke.

Interesting Facts: Popular in the 90s performed Evgenia Osina The song “The Girl is Crying in the Machine” was written based on Voznesensky’s poem “First Ice”. In the late 60s, the song “First Ice” was popular in urban courtyard culture, and in different years it was performed Nina Dorda and VIA "Jolly Fellows".

Bella Akhmadulina

Creation: Bella Akhmadulina began writing poetry back in school years, and the first publication was published in the magazine “October” when the author was only 18 years old. Many Soviet critics considered Akhmadulina’s poetry “irrelevant,” “vulgar,” and “banal,” but the young poetess, on the contrary, gained enormous popularity among readers. Despite her obvious talent, Akhmadulina was expelled from the Literary Institute for refusing to support bullying Boris Pasternak. Later she was restored and even given a honors diploma, but along with Yevtushenko and Voznesensky, the Soviet government never supported her.

Popular works: One of the most famous poems Akhmadulina is “On My Street Which Year...”, which became famous thanks to the film Eldara Ryazanova"Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath!". The works of the poetess are also widely known: “And finally, I will say...”, “Oh, my shy hero...”, “From the depths of my adversity...”.

Personal life: Akhmadulina was married four times: to Evgeniy Yevtushenko, behind writer Yuri Nagibin, behind screenwriter Eldar Kuliev and for theater artist Boris Messerer.

Death: In the last years of her life, Akhmadulina was seriously ill. In 2010, at the age of 73, she died at her dacha in the village of Peredelkino near Moscow.

Interesting Facts: In 1964, Akhmadulina played a young journalist in the film Vasily Shukshina“There lives such a guy.” And six years later she starred in another film: “Sport, Sports, Sports.”

Evgeniy Yevtushenko

Creation: The poet's first poem was published when he was 17 years old, and the author's talent was so obvious that he was accepted into the Literary Institute without a school certificate. Then, in 1952, he became the youngest member of the USSR Writers' Union, bypassing the stage of candidate member of the joint venture.

The beginning of creativity coincided with the Khrushchev thaw, and Yevtushenko’s fresh poems turned out to be in tune positive sentiments youth. In the early 1960s, he was one of the first among poets to appear on stage, and his artistry and special manner of reading poetry contributed to his success.

In 1957, Yevtushenko was expelled from the institute for supporting the novel. Vladimir Dudintsev“Not by bread alone,” but he continued to participate in various protests and was in opposition to the authorities. In 1991, Yevtushenko signed a contract with an American university and left the country forever.

Personal life: Yevgeny Yevtushenko was officially married four times: to Bella Akhmadulina, Galina Sokol-Lukonina, my own fan Jen Butler and on Maria Novikova, with whom he still lives.

Popular works: In Yevtushenko’s bibliography there is a place not only for poetry, but also prose works. The most famous of them are the autobiographies “Premature Autobiography” and “Wolf Passport”. He is also the author of the lyrics to well-known songs: “Do the Russians want war,” “And it’s snowing,” “Waltz about a waltz,” “This is what’s happening to me.”

Interesting Facts: After the publication of the poem “Babi Yar,” Yevgeny Yevtushenko was “excommunicated” from Ukraine for twenty years: he was not allowed to hold creative evenings and meetings with poetry lovers.

Vasily Aksyonov

Creation: In 1956, Aksyonov graduated from the Leningrad Medical Institute. He worked as a doctor in the North, in Karelia, in Leningrad, in Moscow. His first stories were published in the magazine “Yunost” already in 1958, but it took time for Aksyonov to give up medicine and take up writing seriously. His novels and stories turned out to be very popular, but aroused disapproval from the authorities: the writer was constantly accused of hidden anti-Sovietism. After the end of the “thaw” and the scandal with the publication of the uncensored almanac “Metropol” in the USSR, it was no longer published: as a sign of protest, Aksyonov voluntarily resigned from the Writers’ Union.

Vasily Aksyonov. Photo: RIA Novosti

Popular works: Most popular works The author is considered to be “The Moscow Saga”, “Trilogy”, “Burn” and “Island of Crimea”, unpublished due to censorship in the USSR. As well as his last completed novel, Mysterious Passion.

Personal life: Vasily Aksenov was married twice, his first wife was Kira Mendeleeva, and second Maya Carmen, which the poet himself called the main passion of his life.

Death: Aksenov died in 2009 at the age of 77 after a long illness.

Interesting Facts: After Aksenov was deprived of Soviet citizenship, he taught Russian literature at several US universities. In 1990, Aksyonov and his wife were returned Russian citizenship, but he never returned to his homeland, only appearing in Moscow from time to time.

Vaxon Axon, Gravadiy Gorpozhaks - pseudonyms; Aksenov Vasily Pavlovich; Kazan, Russia; 08/20/1932 – 07/06/2009

Vasily Aksenov is quite a significant figure in world literature. His works have been translated into many languages ​​of the world. Nevertheless, most of the awards for Vasily Aksenov’s books were received in Russia. And one of the most significant of them can be called the Russian Booker Prize, which the writer was awarded in 2009. The writer’s contribution can also be assessed by the film adaptations of Aksenov’s books. On this moment there are 4 of them, but given the number of scripts written by the writer, this number may increase.

Biography of Vasily Aksenov

Vasily Pavlovich Aksenov was born in 1932 in Kazan. His father was the chairman of the Kazan City Council, and his mother was a teacher at the Kazan Institute. In addition, she headed the cultural department of a local newspaper. But in 1937, both parents were arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Four-year-old Vasily was sent to an orphanage for children of political prisoners. Only a year later, my father’s brother managed to pick him up from his grandfather and take him to a relative in Kostroma. Vasily Aksenov lived here until 1948. By this time, his parents had served their sentence and his mother managed to get her son to move to Magadan with her. She was not allowed to go to Kostroma. In 1956, Aksenov graduated from the Leningrad Medical Institute. According to distribution, he was sent to the Baltic Fleet. But he did not receive documents for work. Therefore, he worked in the Far North, then in Leningrad, and then he managed to move to Moscow.

Around this time, Aksenov declared himself as a writer. His debut was the story “One and a Half Medical Units,” which was published in 1959. It became possible to read Vasily Aksenov’s first story in 1960. The work was called “Colleagues” and was a reworking of Aksenov’s play of the same name, written a year earlier in collaboration. A film adaptation of this story was released in 1962. Then there was another story - “Star Ticket”, which was also filmed in 162 under the name “My Younger Brother”. Soon, several more works of the writer will be published, which will be published in the magazine “Youth”. But in 1966, Vasily Aksenov succumbed to criticism from Nikita Khrushchev. In the same year, he participates in a rally on Red Square against the rehabilitation of Stalin. In subsequent years, he regularly signed petitions in defense of dissidents. All this led to the fact that by 1970 Aksenov’s books ceased to be published completely.

But Vasily Pavlovich does not stop working. In 1975, he wrote the novel “Burn,” initially assuming that it would not be possible to publish it in the USSR. In 1977, the writer visited the United States several times until he emigrated there completely in 1980. Almost immediately he was deprived of Soviet citizenship. In the USA, Aksenov works as a professor of Russian at various universities. Here he publishes many of his new works. In addition, he works as a journalist for Radio Liberty and Voice of America. Aksenov visited the USSR again only in 1989, and in 1990 his Soviet citizenship was returned to him.

With the beginning of the 90s, books by Vasily Aksenov, like , began to appear in our country. At the same time, not only the writer’s old works are published, but also new books. The writer actively supports Gaidar's reforms, as well as Boris Yeltsin as head of state. In 2004, Aksenov’s novel “The Voltairians and Voltairians” was published, which in the same year was awarded the Russian Booker Prize. At the beginning of 2008, the writer suffered a stroke. After long treatment in the summer of 2009, Vasily Petrovich Aksenov died.

Books by Vasily Aksenov on the Top books website

Vasily Aksenov’s books are quite popular to read in our country. This popularity became especially active after the release of the film “Mysterious Passion,” which was released in 2015. This film adaptation aroused interest in the writer’s work and allowed his works to be included in our rating. In addition, Aksenov’s novels are presented in our rating. And given the high interest in the writer’s work, this is far from the limit.

Vasily Aksenov list of books

1. Aurora Gorelika
2. Oranges from Morocco
3. Aristophanian with frogs
4. Ah, Arthur Schopenhauer
5. Paper landscape
6. Looking for sad baby
7. Voltaireans and Voltaireans
8. Always on sale
9. Woe, woe, burn
10. Gene Green is untouchable
11. It's a pity that you weren't with us
12. Egg yolk
13. Overstocked barrels
14. Star ticket
15. Our golden piece of iron
16. Catapult
17. Caesarean glow
18. Colleagues
19. Round the clock non-stop
20. Lend-Lease
21. Catch pigeon mail
22. Lion's Lair. Forgotten Stories
23. Love for electricity
24. My grandfather is a monument
25. Moscow Kva-Kva
26. Halfway to the Moon
27. New sweet style
28. One continuous Caruso
29. Crimea Island
30. Victory
31. Searching for a genre
32. One and a half medical units
33. It's time, my friend, it's time
34. A story about a basketball team playing basketball
35. Rare earths
36. Sviyazhsk
37. Say raisin
38. steel bird

Vasily Aksenov’s books have enjoyed unprecedented popularity among thinking readers for several decades. Among them there are absolutely various works: tough and romantic, truthful and utopian. Therefore, everyone will be able to find something for themselves in the works of Vasily Pavlovich.

Biography

Vasily’s biography turned out to be difficult, but interesting and eventful. It will certainly be interesting for all his fans to get acquainted with it. literary creativity. In addition, Wikipedia will tell information about the life of Vasily Pavlovich Aksenov.

early years

Aksenov was born in 1932 in Kazan to the chairman of the city council and a teacher at a well-known pedagogical university in the city. He became the third child in the family, but the first common son at Pavel and Evgenia. The early years of the boy's life were happy and joyful. His parents loved him very much and tried to spend all their time with him. free time. In the evenings father played with Vasya Board games, took him with me fishing and to the forest to pick mushrooms. True, the happy time did not last long.

When the future writer turned 4 years old, his parents were arrested one by one and sent to Stalin's camps for 10 years. Vasily’s mother spent a total of 18 years in exile and prison. This is what she later wrote about. autobiographical book, which is still popular today.

The brother and sister of the younger Aksenov were somewhat more fortunate after the imprisonment of their parents. Alexei and Maya were taken in by family relatives. It’s interesting that the baby’s grandmothers wanted to raise Vasya too, but they were forbidden to do so. As a result, the boy ended up in an orphanage for sons and daughters of convicts, which was located in Kostroma. Didn't you even inform your relatives? to which city the child was sent. Two years later, his paternal uncle took him from there. Andreyan had to make a lot of efforts to find his nephew. From that time and throughout the war, Vasily lived with relatives.

As soon as the boy's mother left prison, she immediately began trying to get permission to living together with son. As a result, Aksenov Jr. moved to her in Kolyma. Here she was as an exile. By the way, about childhood years in these parts in future writer will tell you in one of his novels.

Education

During his childhood, Vasily had to learn in the most different schools. He was never an excellent student, but he loved to gain new knowledge. The boy had a special inclination towards the humanities. True, his parents could not even think then that the younger Aksenov would eventually become a writer. After receiving a school certificate, the young man entered the Leningrad Medical Institute. His relatives insisted on this, believing that only the profession of a doctor could feed the guy. After graduating from university, he was assigned I managed to work in different places:

1. In the capital's tuberculosis hospital;
2. On Far North(quarantine doctor);
3. In Karelia (general specialist).

By the way, by the time Vasily received his diploma, his parents were already free and completely rehabilitated.

Creation

Despite the fact that, at the insistence of his parents, the young man received a medical education, the profession of a doctor never did not arouse much interest in him. He knew his job very well and from the first months of work he was known among his colleagues as a true professional, but his soul strove for literature.

Beginning of writing activity

At first, Vasily wrote his books “on the table.” But in the 60s, he still decided to send one of his most favorite stories to the publishing house. The young man was extremely surprised and delighted that the work “Colleagues” immediately appeared in print. The reader liked it so much that it was later turned into a full-length film.

After this, Vasily Aksenov’s novels and collections of his stories began to appear one by one. Some of them are also used to make films in the future. For example, the novel “Star Ticket” turned into the film “My Little Brother.” It was especially pleasant for Vasily Pavlovich that, according to his play, soon after the start literary activity The Sovremennik Theater staged a full-fledged performance. Success inspired the man so much that he decided to finally change his profession.

The name Aksenov is becoming increasingly popular in Moscow, and then in other cities of the country. He becomes editor of the magazine "Youth", which also periodically publishes his works. The writer's parents anxiously look for each new number and add it to the family collection.

Social activity

In parallel with literature, Vasily became interested in social activities. First, he volunteered to participate in a demonstration on Red Square, where he spoke out against the rehabilitation of Stalin, then he signed letters to protect dissidents. There were quite a lot of similar actions, which could not go unnoticed by the authorities.

Aksenov's social activity The government did not like it very much. He first learned about this at a meeting between the authorities and representatives of the intelligentsia in the Kremlin. Then he heard public criticism of himself from Nikita Khrushchev. Once Vasily Pavlovich was even detained by vigilantes. Of course, there were no grounds for the writer’s arrest, but he was repeatedly made to understand that he urgently needed to change his line of behavior.

Despite the disagreements that arose with the authorities, the man continued to create and delight his fans with new works. In the early 70s, an adventure book for the youngest readers was published. It turned out to be very popular among children and their parents. Then the historical and biographical story “Love of Electricity” appeared in print. Vasily loved to experiment with literary genres. He himself noted that for a very long time he could not find exactly the direction in which he would find it most interesting and comfortable to work. He shared his doubts with readers in the work “Search for a Genre.”

Aksenov was engaged and translations from English. He managed to make several foreign novels available to domestic readers at once. Among Vasily Pavlovich’s literary experiments there was even a joint work with two other writers. It was a funny parody of a book about spies.

Aksenov himself understood that conflicts and misunderstandings with the government would sooner or later lead to the fact that he would no longer be able to publish in his homeland. And so it happened: as soon as the “thaw” ended. True, some of Vasily Aksenov’s works were nevertheless published (much to the surprise of the author himself). Among them is the above-mentioned autobiographical novel about early years life and the fantastic book “Island of Crimea”. Vasily noted that he created these works “for the table” and, in general, did not at all hope that they would ever see the world.

By the end of the 70s the authorities begin to criticize the writer more and more openly and sharply. Such an epithet as “non-Soviet” is already being addressed to him. And the last straw for the government was Vasily Pavlovich’s exit from the Writers’ Union. Thus, he and several other authors expressed their disagreement with the exception to this public organization Popov and Erofeeva.

Since 1977, Aksenov’s works have been actively published abroad. They appear especially often in print in the USA. It is here that Vasily, together with his creative comrades, organizes the Metropol almanac. Despite the enormous efforts of the entire team, it was not possible to publish it in the homeland. Among the magazine’s employees were V. Erofeev, A. Bitov, B. Akhmadulina and other “outcasts” of their country.

Life in the USA

For moving abroad (by invitation) Vasily Aksenov was deprived of USSR citizenship. This greatly upset the writer, but he understood that he would not be able to live and create in peace in his homeland for a long time. Therefore, the man simply accepted his situation and remained in the United States, where he remained until 2004. During this time, he managed to serve as a professor of Russian literature at the most famous American universities and expand his own bibliography. I tried myself as a writer and as a journalist. He worked with several foreign radio stations and magazines.

By the way, the man published his impressions of working on the radio in the work “A Decade of Slander,” which was published in Last year his life in the states. Other books were also published in America. While living in the USA, Vasily Pavlovich actively worked on new stories, novellas and novels. As a result, they The following works were written:

• “The negative of a positive hero”;
• "New sweet style";
• “Egg yolk” and others.

I wonder what last novel was created in English. But later the author himself translated it for domestic readers. True, he never received much popularity in his homeland.

9 years after his departure from the USSR, the writer returned home for the first time. He was invited to Soviet Union American Ambassador. And in 1990, Aksenov was returned to Soviet citizenship. True, this did not encourage him to move back. Vasily Pavlovich continued to live with his family abroad and only occasionally flew to Moscow on work matters.

In the early 2000s, the writer begins to publish in Russia. The first to appear in print was his novel “The Voltairians and the Voltairians.” For this work, Vasily was awarded the Booker Prize. His last novel was “Mysterious Passion,” which truthfully tells about the life of the sixties. As a result, it was filmed in its homeland. True, it became available to viewers after the death of the writer.

Personal life

Aksenov’s first wife was K. Mendeleev, who gave the man long-awaited son(the writer was 28 years old at that time). His ex-wife is alive to this day and is a production designer in one of the capital's theaters. True, with Kira Vasily was not able to build strong family even for the sake of the child. Vasily Pavlovich felt happy in love only after meeting M. Carmen. For his sake, the woman left the famous documentary filmmaker Roman Carmen. Immediately after the acquaintance between the writer and his new lover a real passion arose.

Maya was far from creative (a specialist in foreign trade), but she turned out to be ready to follow her husband even to the ends of the earth. She moved with the writer to the USA, where she also began teaching Russian. The couple had no children together. Vasily and Maya raised her daughter from her first marriage. It was for his second wife that Aksenov experienced true passion and love.

Alexei, step-brother, died during the siege of Leningrad, so Vasily practically did not know him. And here paternal sister, Maya, - became a very close and dear person for the writer. When the family was reunited after the release of her parents, the girl willingly kept in touch with the younger Aksenov and often helped him in difficult times. life situations. Their communication did not stop even after Vasily Pavlovich moved to the states. Maya became a teacher-methodologist and graduated many teaching aids in the Russian language, which are still actively used by specialists.

Awards

During his life, writer Vasily Pavlovich Aksenov received many awards and honors. Among them are the following:

• Russian Booker Prize;
• honorary Order of Arts and Letters;
• honorary member Russian Academy arts

In 2011, Aksenov’s comrades published a book of memoirs about him. They set their main task to convey to the reader real facts from his life and work without any distortion to please the authorities and all kinds of events.