Julian Semyonov
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yulian Semyonovich Semyonov (, ), pen-name of Yulian Semyonovich Lyandres () (October 8, 1931 – September 15, 1993), was a
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 ...
and Russian writer of
spy fiction Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intellig ...
and
detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...
, also scriptwriter and poet. He is well known for creating the fictional spy
Stierlitz Max Otto von Stierlitz (, ) is the lead character in a Russian literature, Russian book series written in the 1960s by Yulian Semyonov, and the television series, television adaptation ''Seventeen Moments of Spring'' (starring Vyacheslav Tikhonov ...
.


Early life

Semyonov's father was Jewish, the editor of the newspaper "
Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...
", Semyon Alexandrovich Lyandres. His mother was Russian, Galina Nikolaevna Nozdrina, a history teacher. In 1953 Semyonov graduated from the
Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies (, abbreviated МИВ (''MIV'')) was a university-level educational institution that operated in Moscow, Russia, from 1920–1954. It was created as a result of merging Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languag ...
Middle-East department. He then taught the Afghan language (
Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
) at
Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
and simultaneously studied there in the faculty of history.


Career

After gaining an interpreter's degree at the university, Semyonov had diplomatic business in East Asian countries, continuing at the same time his scientific studies at Moscow State University (specializing in Persian history and politics). Since 1955 he started to try his hand at journalism: he was published in key Soviet newspapers and magazines of that time: "
Ogoniok ''Ogoniok'' ( rus, Огонёк, Ogonyok, t=Spark, p=ɐɡɐˈnʲɵk, a=Ru-огонёк.ogg; pre-reform orthography: Огонекъ) was one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia. History and profile ''Ogoniok'' was first issue ...
", "
Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, 'Truth') is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...
", "
Literaturnaya Gazeta ''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' (, ''Literary Gazette'') is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and the Soviet Union. It was published for two periods in the 19th century, and was revived in 1929. Overview The current newspa ...
", "
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 ...
", "Smena" etc. In the 1960s–1970s Semyonov worked abroad a lot as a reporter of the said editions (in France, Spain, Germany, Cuba, Japan, the US, Latin America). His journalistic career was full of adventures, often dangerous ones – at one time he was in the taiga with tiger hunters, then at a polar station, and then at the Baikal-Amur Mainline construction and diamond pipe opening. He was constantly at the center of important political events of those years – in Afghanistan,
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...
, Chile, Cuba, Paraguay, tracing Nazis who sought cover from punishment, and
Sicilian mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...
leaders; taking part in the combatant operations of the
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
and Laotian partisans. Semyonov was one of the pioneers of
Investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...
in Soviet periodicals. In 1974 in Madrid he managed to interview a Nazi criminal, Hitler's favorite
Otto Skorzeny Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Standartenführer'' in the ''Waffen-SS'' during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including the removal from power ...
, who had categorically refused to meet any journalist before. Then, being the "Literaturnaya Gazeta" newspaper correspondent in Germany, the writer succeeded in interviewing the reichsminister
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
and one of the SS leaders
Karl Wolff Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (13 May 1900 – 16 July 1984) was a senior German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer who served as Chief of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) and an SS liaison to Adolf Hitler during World War II. He ende ...
. His interviews, as well as his investigations regarding the searches for the
Amber Room The Amber Room (, ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg. Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and ...
and other cultural treasures moved abroad from Russia during World War II, were published by Semyonov in his documentary story "Face to Face" in 1983.


Social activity

* In 1986, Semyonov became the President of the International Association of Detective and Political Novel (Russian: МАДПР), which he himself initiated to create, and the editor-in-chief of the collected stories edition "Detective and Politics" (the edition was published by the said Association together with the Press Agency "Novosti" and played an important role in popularization of the detective genre in the USSR.) * Semyonov's participation in searching for the famous
Amber Room The Amber Room (, ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg. Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and ...
together with
Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...
,
James Aldridge Harold Edward James Aldridge (10 July 1918 – 23 February 2015) was an Australian-British writer and journalist. His World War II despatches were published worldwide and he was the author of over 30 books, both fiction and non-fiction works, ...
, baron von Falz-Fein and other famous members of the International Amber Room Searching Committee achieved wide renown. * Semyonov, together with Baron
Eduard von Falz-Fein Baron Eduard Oleg Alexandrowitsch von Falz-Fein (14 September 1912 – 17 November 2018) was a Liechtensteiner businessman, journalist, and sportsman. Biography Von Falz-Fein was born in Havrylivka, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (now Uk ...
, a Russian aristocrat and first wave émigré, was engaged in searching for and returning the lost cultural treasures to Russia. The activity of the International Committee for Returning Russian Treasures to the Motherland established by Semyonov made it possible to return to Russia the Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin's remains, the part of Lifar& Diaghilev's library, the unique tapestry from the
Livadia Palace Livadia Palace (; ) is a former summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea. The Yalta Conference was held there in 1945, when the palace housed the apartments of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and othe ...
depicting the
Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...
and many other cultural values. * With the beginning of the
perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...
Semyonov got the chance to cover the pages of the Soviet history which used to be a forbidden subject before. In 1988 there appeared the essay collection "Closed History Pages" and "Unwritten Novels", the philippic narrative about the times and morals of
Stalin's cult of personality Joseph Stalin's cult of personality became a prominent feature of Soviet popular culture. Historian Archie Brown sets the celebration of Stalin's 50th birthday on 21 December 1929 as the starting point for his cult of personality. For the res ...
based on the historical documents, eyewitnesses' accounts and the author's personal experience. * In 1989 Semyonov founded the first private (i.e. uncontrolled by the government) Soviet edition – the "Top Secret" bulletin ("Sovershenno sekretno"), then becoming its editor-in-chief with the symbolic royalty of 1 rouble per year. * In 1988 Yulian Semyonov,
Vasily Livanov Vasily Borisovich Livanov (; born 19 July 1935), MBE, is a Soviet and Russian film actor, animation and film director, screenwriter and writer most famous for portraying Sherlock Holmes in the Soviet TV series. He was named People's Artist of ...
and
Vitaly Solomin Vitaly Mefodievich Solomin (; 12 December 194127 May 2002) was a Soviet and Russian actor, director and screenwriter, best remembered for playing Dr. Watson in a series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations for Soviet television. He was the younger b ...
opened the experimental Moscow theatre "Detective". There were staged thrilling plays and children's performances. In 1992, Y.S. Semyonov being already seriously ill, the company was directed by Livanov and the unique theatre was closed due to the ownership conflict.


Personal life

His wife Ekaterina Sergeevna was a step-daughter of Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov (the wedding took place on 12 April 1955). Though their family life was quite complicated, Ekaterina Sergeevna devotedly kept looking after her husband after the stroke which happened to him in 1990. They had two daughters – Daria and Olga. The elder one, Daria, is an artist, and the younger, Olga Semyonova, is a journalist and a writer, an author of the autobiographical books about her father. After the sudden stroke in 1990, Semyonov became bedridden and could not return to work ever again. Y.S. Semyonov died on 15 September 1993 in Moscow. He was buried in the
Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...
. The writer's disease and death are controversial, due to a possibility of him being assassinated. According to investigative journalist Vladimir Solovyov, Semyonov was actually poisoned by the
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
to prevent him from publishing the materials about Moscow Patriarch Alexius's II and other
Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
officials' collaboration with the KGB. Soloviev referred to information provided by
Artyom Borovik Artyom Genrikhovich Borovik (, ; 13 September 1960 – 9 March 2000) was a Russian investigative journalist and media magnate. He was the son of a Soviet journalist, Genrikh Borovik, who worked for many years as a foreign correspondent in the ...
. The material (a video tape) was allegedly prepared by priest
Alexander Men Alexander Vladimirovich Men (; 22 January 1935 – 9 September 1990) was a Soviet Russian Orthodox Church priest, dissident, scholar of theology and the Bible, and author of works on theology, history of religion, the fundamentals of Christian ...
, who was killed by unknown assassins at the same time. The materials were published later by
Gleb Yakunin Gleb Pavlovich Yakunin (; 4 March 1936 – 25 December 2014) was a Russian priest and dissident, who fought for the principle of freedom of conscience in the Soviet Union. He was a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, and was elected member of ...
, who was given access to KGB files as a member of the
Lev Ponomaryov Lev Aleksandrovich Ponomaryov (, 2 September 1941) is a Russian political and civil activist. He is an executive director of the all-Russian movement "For Human Rights." He is a member of the Federal Political Council of Solidarnost, and was de ...
commission. Vladimir Solovyov, "Notes by Scoprion" Moscow 2006, , pages 253–255. "Everyone was killed: Men, Semeynov and Pleshakov"


Legacy


Tributes and honors

* In 2007 the writer's younger daughter Olga Yulianovna Semyonova opened her father's
memorial museum house
in the settlement Oliva (
Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
), where the writer lived and worked during his last years. * In 2011 in honor of the 80th anniversary from the day of the writer's birth, the Semyonov Cultural Foundation and Union of Journalists of Moscow established th
annual Yulian Semyonov Award in the field of critical geopolitical journalism
* In 2012 a monument to Semyonov was mounted in
Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...
(Crimea). The author of the monument is national sculptor of Russia Alexander Rukavishnikov.


Biography and criticism

*The ''Unknown Yulian Semyonov'', a 2009 two-volume edition, composed and commented by the writer's daughter O.Y. Semyonova contains a vast material regarding Semyonov's life, works and social activity — his little known texts and notes about him. **''Revelation'' — the volume contains Yulian Semyonov's works which were not published before or little known ones. The short stories "Baron", "Commentary on Skorzeny", ''Revelation'', "Three Translations of Omar Cabezas with Commentary"; plays "Two Faces of Pierre-Auguste de Beaumarchais", "Children of fathers", "Process-38"; stories, articles, reviews. There were also the author's poems, published for the first time. **''I will Die for a While'' — the volume includes the correspondence of Y. Semyonov with his father S. Lyandres and with his family; the letters of readers, friends and colleagues; articles about the writer's works, interviews, recollections of the writer (by E. Primakov, V. Livanov, N. Mikhalkov, L. Anninsky, A. Karmen, V. Kevorkov, etc.), and also the diaries of the 1960s with the travel notes. * * * *


Bibliography


Filmography

During all his life Semyonov wrote screenplays for films, mainly for the ones after his own works. The writer's full filmography numbers more than 20 filmed works (''
Major Whirlwind ''Major Whirlwind'' or () is a 1967 television film directed by Yevgeny Tashkov and based on the novel by Yulian Semyonov. The main character, Major Whirlwind, is inspired by Aleksey Nikolayevich Botyan. Plot Summer 1944. In impotent rage before ...
'' (1967), ''
Seventeen Moments of Spring ''Seventeen Moments of Spring'' () is a 1973 Soviet Union, Soviet twelve-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yulian Semyonov. The series portrays the exploits of Maxim Isaev, a Soviet ...
'' (1973), '' Petrovka, 38'' (1980), '' TASS Is Authorized to Declare...'' (1984), ''
Confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cu ...
'' (1985), ...), which continue to be hits of the Russian cinema. Semyonov also directed the film ''Night at the 14th Parallel'' (1971) and acted in such films as ''Weekdays and Holidays'' (1961) and ''
Solaris Solaris is the Latin word for sun. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Sol ...
'' (1971, directed by
Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. Works by Andrei Tarkovsky, His films e ...
).


Documentary filmography

*''How Cult Figures Passed Away. Yulian Semyonov'' (directed by Mikhail Rogovoy, 2005) *''Yulian Semyonov. Pabulum for Reflection'' (directed by Alexander Pasechny, 2006) *''Yulian Semyonov. Agent of Influence'' (directed by Mikhail Kuzovenkov, 2006) *''Yulian Semyonov. Top Secret Information'' (directed by Alexey Alenin, 2007) *''Stories about the Father. Yulian Semyonov through the Eyes of his Daughter" (directed and screenplay by Alevtina Tolkunova, 2011) *''He Knew Too Much...'' (directed by Konstantin Smilga, screenplay by Dmitry Likhanov, 2011) *''Unknown Yulian Semyonov'' (directed by Sergei Stafeev, 2011)


References


External links


Encyclopedia of Soviet Writers
* * *Greg Afinogenov.
A Portrayal of Bureaucracy in Twelve Parts: Seventeen Moments of Spring
'. idiommag.com. *
Hedrick Smith Hedrick Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former ''New York Times'' reporter and Emmy award-winning producer and correspondent. After serving 26 years with ''The New York Times'' from 1962-88 as correspondent, editor and bureau chief in both Mos ...
.
Soviet Spy Thriller 'Exposes' U.S. Plot.
'
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, 7 January 1974.
The Julian Semenov Cultural Foundation website (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semyonov, Yulian 1931 births 1993 deaths Russian male novelists Soviet novelists Soviet male writers 20th-century Russian male writers Russian people of Jewish descent People of the KGB Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies alumni