Anri Girshevich Volokhonsky (, 19 March 1936 – 8 April 2017) was a Russian poet and translator.

Early years

Volokhonsky was born in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and graduated from university with a degree in chemistry. In 1973, he emigrated to Israel and then moved to Germany in 1985. Between 1985 and 1995, Volokhonsky lived in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, where he worked for

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

, and in 1995 he moved to

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

. His sister,

Larissa Volokhonsky Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are literary translators best known for their collaborative English translations of classic Russian literature. Individually, Pevear has also translated into English works from French, Italian, and Greek. The ...

, eventually became a translator.

Career

Volokhonsky began writing poetry in the 1950s. He published several books of poetry, some of them together with

Alexei Khvostenko Alexei Khvostenko (; 14 November 1940 – 30 November 2004) was a Russian avant-garde poet, singer-songwriter, artist and sculptor. Khvostenko is also frequently referred to by the nickname Khvost (), meaning "tail". Biography Alexei Khvostenko ...

. Most of the poetry is ironic and is considered to be descended from

Oberiu OBERIU (Russian: ОБЭРИУ - Объединение реального искусства; English: the Union of Real Art or the Association for Real Art) was a short-lived avant-garde collective of Russian Futurist writers, musicians, and ar ...

. Perhaps his most famous piece was lyrics on "Canzona by Francesco da Milano", written by Vladimir Vavilov, the song called "The City of Gold" (). The song, in turn, would become a hit in the 1980s when it was performed by

Aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

for the soundtrack for the film ''

Assa Assa may refer to: Places * Assa (Chalcidice), a town of Chalcidice in ancient Macedonia, Greece * Assa, Morocco, a town in Southern Morocco in the Jbel Ouarkziz * Asa River (Kazakhstan), river in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan * Assa (river), river ...

''. Volokhonsky also worked with , the frontman of the

Auktyon Auktyon (, . Auktsyon) is a Russian alternative rock band from Saint Petersburg. The band was founded by at the Polytechnic Institute of Leningrad. Though they originally played post-punk and new wave, the group came to be influenced by Euro ...

, and wrote texts for his albums. He also translated

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

and fragments of ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

'' by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

into Russian.

Death

He died on 8 April 2017 in Rexingen, where he had lived since 2004.

Bibliography

* ''Devyaty Renessans'' (Девятый Ренессанс, Haifa, 1977). * ''Stikhi dlya Ksenii'' (Стихи для Ксении, Tiberias, 1978). * ''Chetyre Poemy ob Odnom'' (Четыре поэмы об одном, Tiberias, 1981). * ''Roman-Pokoynichek'', (Роман - Покойничек, New York, 1982), a novel. * ''Stikhotvoreniya'' (Стихотворения, Ann Arbor, 1983). * ''Basni A. Kh. V.'' (Басни А.Х.В., Paris, 1984), with Alexei Khvostenko. * ''Bytiye i Apokalipsis'' (Бытие и Апокалипсис, Jerusalem, 1984). * ''Smert Pu-i'' (Смерть Пу-и, New York, 1984). * ''Tetrad Igreyny'' (Тетрадь Игрейны, Jerusalem, 1984). * ''Pokhvala Toporovu'' (Похвала Топорову, Hamburg, 1986). * ''Shkura Bubna'' (Шкура бубна, Jerusalem, 1986). * ''Izvest'' (Известь, Paris, 1990). * ''Stikhi o Prichinakh'' (Стихи о причинах, Moscow, 1990). * ''Gorodskiye Polya'' (Городские поля, Paris, 1991). * ''Povest o Lane i Tarbagane'' (Повеcть о Лане и Тарбагане, Paris, 1991). * ''Anyutiny Gryadki'' (Анютины грядки, Perm, 1994). * ''Tiveriadskiye Poemy'' (Тивериадские поэмы, Moscow, 2001). * ''Berloga Pchyol'' (Берлога пчёл, Tver, 2004). * ''Vospominaniya o Davno Pozabytom'' (Воспоминания о давно позабытом, Moscow, 2007).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volokhonsky, Anri 1936 births 2017 deaths Writers from Saint Petersburg Russian emigrants to Germany Russian emigrants to Israel Jewish Russian writers 20th-century Russian poets Jewish poets Russian male poets 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian translators