Boris Borisovich Ryzhy (; 8 September 1974 – 7 May 2001) was a Russian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and geologist.Pain and Beauty. Poet Boris Ryzhy :: Literature :: Culture & Arts :: Russia-InfoCentre
/ref> Some poems by Ryzhy have been translated into

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and

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. He died by suicide on 7 May 2001, at the age of 26. He was born in

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

, but had lived in Sverdlovsk (renamed ''Yekaterinburg'' after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

) since 1980.

Family and death

At the time of his death, Ryzhy's reputation had burgeoned and he was starting to receive recognition as one of the premier poets of his generation. He was awarded the

Anti-Booker Prize The Anti-Booker prize () was a Russian literary award that existed between 1995 and 2001. Established by newspaper ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' using money of Boris Berezovsky. Its name refers to British-sponsored Russian Booker and differences are: * ...

and accepted an invitation to the Rotterdam Poetry Festival. Ryzhy took his own life by hanging on 7 May 2001, at the age of 26. His suicide, seen by some skeptics as an act to gain recognition and fame (the kind of which had occurred in Russia since

Sergei Esenin Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin (, ; 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century. One of his narratives was "lyrical evocations ...

's suicide in a St. Petersburg hotel in 1925), may have been a consequence of his

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

and

substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

. Shortly afterwards, he was posthumously awarded the Northern Palmyra, one of the most highly sought-after prizes in Russian poetry, for his collection ''Opravdaniye zhizni'' ("A Reason to Live"). He had at least one prior suicide attempt in 1999. His only son, Artem (born 19 January 1993) died of a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

in September 2020, at the age of 27.

Legacy

Since his death in 2001, his poetry has been lauded and added to the canon of Russian poets. Many of his poems and collections have been added to the volumes of essential literature in the last several years, and he has gained huge popularity for his verse, which is at times vulgar and swaggering, at times formally masterful and reminiscent of Russia's Silver Age. Through his short, poignant lyrics he crafted a persona of post-Soviet delinquency and despair. His own depression and addiction to alcohol figure prominently. He was from the intelligentsia class, and had an impressive education in geology and nuclear geophysics and published many scientific papers. Curiously, his reputation has been slow to grow outside of Russia. Following his death, a few translations have appeared in English, Italian, German, Dutch and Spanish. In 2024, several of his poems were included in Buenos Aires Poetry n°1, in Russian, English and Spanish. Aliona van der Horst made the documentary ''Boris Ryzhy'' in 2009, and has received several awards including the Best Feature Documentary at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009. Belarusian

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

Molchat Doma Molchat Doma (, ) is a Belarusian post-punk band from Minsk, formed in 2017. Its current lineup is Egor Shkutko (vocals), Roman Komogortsev (guitar, synthesizer, drum machine), and Pavel Kozlov (bass guitar, synthesizer). Its style has been call ...

adapted the lyrics for their 2018 song ''Судно'' ("Vessel"), from Ryzhy's poem ''Эмалированное судно'' ("Enameled Vessel").

Notes

References

External links

*http://www.borisryzhy.com/
Poet Boris Ryzhy
*http://jhstotts.blogspot.com/2008/05/boris-ryzhii-new-translations.html *http://viewpoint-east.org/2010/03/30/boris-ryzhy-the-unwilling-survivor/ *http://magazines.russ.ru/ural/2011/5/ry9.html *http://www.oblgazeta.ru/home.htm?st=7-2.sat&dt=28 May 2011 *http://www.oblgazeta.ru/print_v.htm?st=7-2.sat&dt=28 May 2011 *https://web.archive.org/web/20121021030239/http://www.litrossia.ru/2011/25/06283.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20121021034915/http://www.litrossia.ru/2011/41/06546.html *http://parus.ruspole.info/node/1780 *http://mars.arbicon.ru/index.php?mdl=content&id=95753 *http://magazines.russ.ru/sib/2012/1/r15.html *http://www.uralstalker.su/archive/us/2012/02/120236.html *http://parus.ruspole.info/node/2067 *http://magazines.russ.ru/studio/2011/15/r20.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryzhy, Boris Russian male poets 1974 births 2001 deaths 2001 suicides 20th-century Russian poets 20th-century Russian male writers Ural State University alumni People with bipolar disorder Suicides by hanging in Russia