Don Aminado (1888–1957) was a Russian emigre writer. He was born Aminodav Shpolyansky into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Elizavetgrad Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east ...

in the

Kherson Governorate Kherson Governorate, known until 1803 as Nikolayev Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kherson. It encompassed in area and had a population of 2,733,612 inhabitants. At t ...

of the old Russian empire. He studied law in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

and Kiev, and showed literary promise during his student years. In the decade of the 1910s, he published in various outlets such as ''Rannee Utro'', ''Novy Satirikon'' and ''Krasnyi Smekh'', dropping his Jewish name in favour of the pen name Don Aminado. He was wounded in World War I and discharged out of the army. He lived through the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

and later joined the wave of emigres that escaped the country in the wake of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. In 1920, he sailed from Odessa to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, and then made his way to Paris. In Paris, he contributed to ''

Poslednie Novosti ''Posledniye Novosti'' (, 'Latest News') was a Russian White émigré daily newspaper, organ of the Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets). It was published in Paris from April 1920 to July 1940. Its editor was Pavel Milyukov Pavel Nikolayevi ...

'', the principal emigre literary journal, until its closure in 1940. A writer of satirical stories and poetry, he published very little after WW2. He died in 1957.''Russian Emigre Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky'', edited by Bryan Karetnyk Considered one of the leading emigre satirists alongside

Teffi Nadezhda Alexandrovna Teffi (; – 6 October 1952) was a Russian humorist writer. Together with Arkady Averchenko she was one of the prominent authors of the magazine '' Novyi Satirikon''. Her style is distinguished by two 'faces' of writing- the ...

and

Sasha Chorny Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg ( rus, Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Гли́кберг, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲiɡbʲɪrk, a=Alyexandr Mikhaylovich Glickbyerg.ru.vorb.oga; – 5 July 1932), better known as ...

, he won the

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

in 1934. His work has been revived in post-communist times, being anthologized in various collections of emigre literature and Russian Jewish literature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aminado, Don 20th-century Russian writers 1888 births 1957 deaths People from Kropyvnytskyi White Russian emigrants to France Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of France Male poets from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian memoirists Lawyers from the Russian Empire People from Kherson Governorate Russian satirists Russian satirical short story writers Russian satirical poets