Alphabetical Russian Literature: M-Z Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. As a young man, this Jewish poet flirted with styles such as acmeism and symbolism. In 1933, he came out with a "Stalin Epigram". In 1938, he was sentenced to time in labour camps, and died soon after.

Answer: Mandelshtam

Osip Emilyevich Mandelshtam was born in Warsaw to a wealthy Jewish family. The family soon moved to St. Petersburg, where he met many of the Silver Age Russian poets and writers, including Nabokov. By 1911, he tried three different universities and converted to Christianity.

The next decade was spent in symbolist and acmeist circles, working with poets including Gumilev and Akhmatova. In 1920's Mandelshtam practically abandoned poetry, making money through writing essays and translations. In 1933, though, his frustration burst out with the "Stalin Epigram" that called the leader "Kremlin Highlander", and openly accused him of cruelty. Surprisingly, though, Mandelshtam was only exiled from the large cities for the poem.

In 1938 he was arrested again, and sent to the camps from which he never returned; no cause of death was ever declared.

His widow Nadezhda later published her memoirs of their life together.

2. This emigre novelist and lepidopterist spent many years in Germany, the US, and Switzerland. He shared his first and patronimic names with Russian President Putin. One of his most recognizable works is the English language novel "Lolita".

Answer: Nabokov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was born in 1899 to an aristocratic St. Petersburg family where English and French were spoken alongside Russian. After the Revolution Nabokov emigrated to Germany, and later to the US where he taught at Wellesley and Cornell.

Many of his 1930's works, such as "Luzhin's Defence" and "Invitation to the Beheading" continue to influence novelists decades later. In 1955, he came to a sudden world fame with a controversial novel, "Lolita", which many (though certainly not all) consider his best work.

This allowed Nabokov and his wife to move back to Europe; they lived in Switzerland until his death in 1977.

3. This man was most famous as a founder of Russian "bard" movement. He wrote many songs set to his own words and music, as well as several novels including "Dilettantes' Journey".

Answer: Okudzhava

Bulat Shavlovich Okudzhava was born in 1924 in a Georgian family in Moscow. Following his parents' arrest in 1937, he returned to Tbilisi, where he stayed until volunteering for the army in 1941. Returning to Moscow after Stalin's death, Okudzhava began writing songs.

While he only used a few chords, his words touched the hearts of millions in USSR. While he never openly criticized the government, he was an undeniable part of the semi-underground movement. Most Russian bards site Okudzhava as their influence.

He was dismissive of his music, but very proud of his poetry and prose, which didn't get published until the 1980's. He died in Paris in 1997, and was buried at the Vagankova Cemetery in Moscow.

4. This Russian writer was the great-grandson of the African slave Gannibal. He authored many works, including "Eugene Onegin", before being killed in a duel at the age of 37.

Answer: Pushkin

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was born to an aristocratic family in 1799. In 1820, he burst onto the literary scene with "Ruslan and Ludmila". Over the next decade and a half, Pushkin wrote in many styles, including satire of religion ("Gavriliada"), historical fiction ("Boris Godunov"), and romance ("Bakhchisarai Fountain"); Pushkin's own favorite was "Eugene Onegin", presenting an insightful picture of the Russian society.

His support for social reform angered the government, exiling him to his mother's country estate.

In 1837, suspecting his wife of an affair, Pushkin challenged D'Antes to a duel where he was mortally wounded.

5. A Russian poet who in 1950's and 60's broke with Social Realism and, along with poets such as Voznesenski, Yevtushenko, and Akhmadulina, pioneered a newer, fresher, and freer poetry in Soviet Union.

Answer: Rozhdestvensky

Robert Rozhdestvenski was born to a military family in a village Kosikha of the Altai region on June 20, 1932. He started writing in poetry while attending Gorky Literary Institute. In this time of "thaw", he worked alongside Voznesenski, Yevtushenko, and Akhmadulina.

They broke with the Social Realism, and wrote emotional, lyrical poems. Despite this, Rozhdestvenski was always careful not to criticize the government, and thus remained in official favor through the 60's and 70's, even being awarded the Lenin Prize in 1979. Rozhdestvenski died on March 20, 1994 in Moscow.

6. This mid-19th century writer wrote biting political satire that still resonates today. He wrote about his work, "The sole object of my literary work was unfailingly to protest against greed, hypocrisy, falsehood, theft, treachery, stupidity of modern Russians". His funniest work depicts the life of a city "Glupov"; his most famous work is "The Golovlyov Family".

Answer: Saltykov-Shchedrin

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov was born in 1826 to a noble provincial family (he wrote under penname Shchedrin). Following a 1854 publication of "Complicated Affair", he was banished to Vyatka where he became a minor government official. His observations of provincial life gave rise to the most biting satire in "History of One Town". Eventually, his administrative skills were recognized, and he occupied various high governmental posts in the provinces.

It wasn't until his retirement in 1868 that he resumed his literary work, painting a depressing picture of Russian small town and country life.

7. This 19th century count was an early champion of non-violent resistance. He is most famous for his realistic fiction including "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina".

Answer: Tolstoy

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born in an aristocratic family in 1828. Having spent much of his early life gambling and having sexual relations with his serfs, he later retired to the family estate where he aspired to live a simple life, wrote his greatest novels, and fathered 13 children. Tolstoy's Christian beliefs led him to champion non-violent resistance; he opposed private property and the institution of marriage, and valued the ideals of chastity and sexual abstinence; all of this led to his excommunication from the church in 1901.

His fiction is striking in its attention to detail, and demonstrate the human condition from different perspectives. Tolstoy died of pneumonia in 1910 after leaving home in the middle of winter to pursue the non-privileged life.

8. This contemporary writer is a geneticist who lost her state accreditation after translating into Russian the banned book "Exodus" by Uris. She won the Russian Booker prize for her 2001 novel "Kukotsky's Case". Her other famous works include "Medea and Her Children", "Funeral Party", and stories such as "Orlovs-Sokolovs".

Answer: Ulitskaya

Ludmila Evgenyevna Ulitskaya was born in Bashkiria 1943, and grew up in Moscow. A biologist by education and a geneticist by trade, she got in trouble with the Soviet powers first by opposing the "official" Lysenko line on genetics. After loosing her accreditation, she turned to screenwriting. Ulitskaya gained fame in the 1990's as she started publishing her fiction.

In her books she examines the psychological effects of life in Russia on the intelligentsia both before and after the Perestroika. Ulitskaya has two sons, one of whom lives in the US; she is married to Andrei Krasulin, an accomplished sculptor.

9. This man was one of the most famous Russian bards of the 1960's and 70's. While he had no official recognition, his songs (including classics "Capricious Horses", "Wolf Hunt", etc.) were recorded on bootleg tapes throughout the country. He also had a noteworthy career as an actor.

Answer: Vysotsky

Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky was born in Moscow in 1938. Vysotsky started writing songs in 1960's. His early works imitated the songs of the criminals, yet he soon moved on to serious subject matter. At their best, his songs such as "Wolf Hunt" are a cry of a man trapped in the Soviet system.

In 1964, he started acting at an avant-garde Taganka theater under the leadership of Lubimov; there, he had some of his signature roles, including "Hamlet"; later on he also acted in the movies. Vysotsky started having alcohol abuse problems at an early age. Toward the late 70's, he moved to drugs; this led to his early death in 1980.

10. This poet became famous in 1810's. His major contribution to Russian literature consists of his translations of the Romantic poets. He authored the Russian anthem "God Save the Czar".

Answer: Zhukovsky

Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was born in 1783 as an illegitimate son of a landlord and his Turkish slave girl. Zhukovsky's first publication, a translation of Thomas Gray's, is usually taken as a starting point of the Russian Romanticism. During the Napoleonic invasion, Zhukovsky displayed much patriotism and even composed the lyrics for the national anthem. Upon Pushkin's death, Zhukovsky acted as his executor, diligently preparing for publication some of his unedited pieces.

In 1826, he was appointed tutor to the future Alexander II, greatly influencing the future czar with his liberalism. Zhukovsky died in 1852.

Source: Author Ptichka

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Here is the second part of the Alphabetical Russian Quiz. Identify those Russian authors.

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