David Samoylov (russian: Давид Самойлов), pseudonym of David Samuilovich Kaufman (russian: Давид Самуилович Кауфман; 1 June 1920 — 23 February 1990) was one of the most notable representatives of the War generation of Russian poets.

Biography

Samoylov was born in Moscow into an assimilated Jewish family. His father was the head of venereological hospital authority of the Moscow region. In 1938—1941 he was a student at MIFLI, the Moscow institute of Philosophy, Literature and History. He tried to volunteer for the army when the war with Finland broke out, but was refused for health reasons. At the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa he was refused again, this time for being overage. Instead he served in a trench digging brigade. There he contracted the typhoid fever and was evacuated to Samarkand, where he studied at a pedagogical college after his recovery. After that he entered an infantry officers' school, from which he graduated in 1942, and was sent to the Volkhov front. He remained on the active duty until the end of the war and was wounded several times. During the second half of his life, he moved to

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...

, known mostly as a resort-town. He continued writing in Pärnu and even published poetry dedicated to Pärnu. He lived in Toominga street. He has translated literature from Estonian authors such as

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Jaan Kross Jaan Kross (19 February 1920 – 27 December 2007) was an Estonian writer. He won the 1995 International Nonino Prize in Italy. Early life Born in Tallinn, Estonia, son of a skilled metal-worker, Jaan Kross studied at Jakob Westholm Gymnasium ...

, Ellen Niit,

Paul-Eerik Rummo Paul-Eerik Rummo (born January 19, 1942) is an Estonian poet, playwright, translator and politician who was the former Estonian Minister of Culture and Education, as well as the former Estonian Minister of Population Affairs. Rummo was born in T ...

and others, as well as from Polish, Czech, Hungarian and other languages.

Death

David died on February 23, 1990 in Tallinn. He was buried in

(Estonia) at the Forest Cemetery.

Selected works

* ''The Songs of a Hussar'' * '' When We Were at War'' (Rus. Когда мы были на войне) * ''Let Suffer the Poem'' * ''Wave and Stone'' * ''Voices Beyond the Hills'' * ''Let's Go to the City'' Зиновий Гердт читает стихотворение Давида Самойлова «Давай поедем в город…»
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References

External links

Официальный сайт поэта Давида СамойловаDavid Samoylov poetry
a
Stihipoeta.ru

Samoylov in English

1920 births 1990 deaths Writers from Moscow People from Moskovsky Uyezd Russian Jews Soviet poets Russian male poets Jewish poets 20th-century Russian poets 20th-century Russian male writers Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Red Star People from Pärnu {{Russia-poet-stub