Benedict Livshits by David Burlyuk engraving 1911

Benedikt Konstantinovich Livshits (, 24 December 1886 (

Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...

)/6 January 1887 (

New Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various Europe, European countrie ...

) – 21 September 1938) was a poet and writer of the

Silver Age of Russian Poetry Silver Age (Сере́бряный век) is a term traditionally applied by Russian philologists to the last decade of the 19th century and first two or three decades of the 20th century. It was an exceptionally creative period in the history o ...

, a French–Russian poetry translator.

Life and career

Livshits was born to an assimilated

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

ish family 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 ...

. He studied law at

Novorossia University Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...

and then moved to

Kiev University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

, where he graduated in 1912. He was conscripted to the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

and served in the 88th Infantry Regiment. In 1914, he was conscripted again and served in the infantry during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, being awarded the Cross of St. George. In 1908, "The Exhibition of Modern Art" was staged in Kublin. This exhibition, which included the works of

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

, and other European postimpressionist painters, made a profound impression on the young Livshits. His first poetry was published in the ''Anthology of Modern Poetry'' (

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

) a year later. In 1910 he worked for Sergei Makovsky's

symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

art magazine ''

Apollon Apollon may refer to: * Apollo, ancient Greek god of light, healing and poetry * Apollon (Formula One), Formula One constructor * Apollon Kalamarias, Greek football club * Apollon Smyrnis F.C., a Greek football club from Athens * Apollon Pontou F ...

''. Together with

Wladimir Burliuk Vladimir Davydovych Burliuk (; ; – 1917) was a Ukrainian avant-garde artist ( Neo-Primitivist and Cubo-Futurist) and book illustrator from the Russian empire. He died at the age of 32 in 1917 in World War I. Biography Vladimir Davydovych Bur ...

David Burliuk David Davidovich Burliuk (; 21 July 1882 – 15 January 1967) was a Russian poet, artist and publicist of Ukrainian origin associated with the Futurism (art), Futurist and Neo-Primitivist movements. Burliuk has been described as "the father of ...

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, Russian Revolution, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Ru ...

, and

Vasily Kamensky Vasily Vasilyevich Kamensky (; – November 11, 1961) was a Russian Futurism, Russian Futurist poet, playwright, and artist as well as one of the first Russian Aircraft pilot, aviators. Biography Kamensky was born in Perm, Russia, Perm, whe ...

he was a member and co-founder of the major

Russian Futurist Russian Futurism is the broad term for a movement of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's "Manifesto of Futurism", which espoused the rejection of the past, and a celebration of speed, machinery, violence, ...

group Hylaea (Russian ''Gilea''). It is said to have been established after Livshits and the Burliuk brothers vacationed at the estate of Count Mordvinov in Chernianka. David Burliuk, Kamensky, and Livshits would form the nucleus of

Cubo-Futurism Cubo-Futurism () was an art movement, developed within Russian Futurism, that arose in the early 20th-century Russian Empire, defined by its amalgamation of the artistic elements found in Italian Futurism and French Analytical Cubism. Cubo-Futur ...

, which became the most influential subdivision of Futurism. In 1933 he published a book of memoirs, ''The One and a Half-Eyed Archer'', which is considered one of the best histories of Russian Futurism. This work also detailed the cultural discomfort of a fully assimilated Jewish artist in Russia. In 1934, he published a large book of translations from French poetry, ''From Romantics to Surrealism''. An analysis of his translation works noted his tendency to uphold the structure of the material being translated as a whole and to maintain close proximity to the original. In 1937, Livshits also became a victim of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. He was arrested and summarily executed on 21 September 1938 as an "enemy of the people". His dossier was falsified to state that he died of heart failure on 15 May 1939.

Literary works

* ''The Flute of Marsias'' (1911, printing was destroyed by government

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

). * ''Sun of wolves'' (''Volch'e solntse''), 1914. * ''The One and a Half-eyed Archer'' (''Polutoraglazyj strelets''), 1933(Harvard Biographies (I–L))
at www.people.fas.harvard.edu – memoirs about the Futurist movement.

Notes

External links

at monderusse.revues.org (French)
Publications list

at www.thecityreview.com * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060710024453/http://www.silverage.ru/poets/livshiz_bio.html Biography and works {{DEFAULTSORT:Livshits, Benedikt 1886 births 1938 deaths Writers from Odesa People from Odessky Uyezd Odesa Jews Soviet poets Russian male poets Soviet male writers 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian poets Jewish poets Russian avant-garde French–Russian translators 20th-century Russian translators Russian military personnel of World War I NKVD Great Purge victims from Ukraine Jews executed by the Soviet Union Soviet rehabilitations