Iosif Pavlovich Utkin () ( – 13 November 1944) was a Russian poet of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

generation. Utkin was born on 13 May at the Khingan station (in modern

Yakeshi Yakeshi (; zh, c=牙克石) is a county-level city of Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China. Yakeshi has a population of 391,627 and an area of . It is situated next to the Hailar River east of Hailar District, the seat of Hulunbuir, and on the nor ...

) of the

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, , or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (also known as Manchuria). The Russian Empire constructed the line from 1897 ...

, which his parents were helping to construct. After his birth the family returned to their native city

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, where the future poet lived until 1920. He was expelled from middle school for poor behavior and free-thinking. He worked as a marker at a tannery, sold newspapers, and delivered telegrams for a living. In 1919 during the anti-

Kolchak Kolchak, Kolçak or Kolčák is a surname from Turkish ''wikt:kolçak, kolçak''. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Kolchak (1874–1920), Russian naval commander, head of anti-Bolshevik White forces *Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Tu ...

uprising in

he became a member of the Workers Guard (

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

) until the re-establishment of

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

power. In 1920 he enlisted as a volunteer with the first group of Irkutsk

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

members for the

Soviet Far East Front The Far Eastern Front ( Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front w ...

. In the army he was a field informant and military

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

of repair shops. In 1922 he worked as a reporter for the newspaper ''Power to Labor'', then for the Provincial Committee of

as a secretary of the Komsomol newspaper and a political instructor for pre-induction trainees. In 1924 he was sent to study at the Institute for Journalism in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Since 1922 he had published his poems in the

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

n press, and on his arrival in Moscow he was published there. In 1925 his first book "Story about the redhead Motele..." () was published, and in 1926 his first book of poems. From 1925 he worked in ''

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

''. After graduating from the Institute in 1927, he was sent along with the poets Zharov and Bezymensky abroad, where he stayed two months. In 1928 he published the poem "Dear Childhood." At the beginning of the

German-Soviet War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, he went to the front. Near

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

, he was injured, and he was treated in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. There he wrote the book ''I saw it myself'', verses from which he read to the editorial staff of ''Komsomolskaya Pravda''. In spite of the opinions of his physicians he returned to the front, although he had lost four fingers on his right hand. He participated in combat and wrote march songs. Many of his verses became songs and were popular at the front. Returning from the front on 13 November 1944, Utkin perished in an airplane crash.

References

External links

Iosif Utkin. Poems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utkin, Iosif Russian male poets 1903 births 1944 deaths Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Soviet poets Soviet male writers 20th-century Russian male writers Soviet journalists Russian male journalists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944