The Letter of Forty-Two () was an
open letter
An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
signed by forty-two Russian
literati, aimed at Russian society, the president and government, in reaction to the
1993 Russian constitutional crisis
In September and October 1993, a constitutional crisis arose in the Russian Federation from a conflict between the then Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the country's parliament. Yeltsin performed a self-coup, dissolving parliament and insti ...
. It was published in 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 ...
'' on 5 October 1993 under the title "Writers demand decisive actions of the government."
Contents
The letter contains the following seven demands:
[
]
Criticism
Communist ''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 ...
'' reacted by publishing a letter by three Soviet dissidents – Andrey Sinyavsky
Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (; 8 October 1925 – 25 February 1997) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial of 1965.
Sinyavsky was a literary critic for ''Novy Mir'' and wrote works critical ...
, Vladimir Maximov and Pyotr Abovin-Yegides – calling for Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...
's immediate resignation.[Mikhail Pozdnyaev]
Юлий Ким. Октябрь 93-го до сих пор на дворе.
Новые Известия. It said among other things:
''Nezavisimaya Gazeta
( rus, Независимая газета, p=nʲɪzɐˈvʲisʲɪməjə ɡɐˈzʲetə, t=Independent Newspaper) is a Russian daily newspaper.
History and profile
Soviet Union
was established by the Moscow Soviet in August 1990. Its first ed ...
s 2nd editor-in-chief Victoria Shokhina, mentioning Vasily Aksyonov's statement ("It was right those bastards had been bombarded. Should I have been in Moscow, I'd have signed he lettertoo"),[В. Л. Шохина — заместитель главного редактора «НГ»: Перешагнув через могилы Уроки Октября 93-го и творческая интеллигенция](_blank)
/ref> on 3 October 2004, wondered how "all of those 'democratic' writers who were preaching humanism and denouncing capital punishment" all of a sudden "came to applaud mass execution without trial". According to Shokhina, writer Anatoly Rybakov
Anatoly Naumovich Rybakov (; – 23 December 1998) was a Soviet and Russian writer, the author of the anti- Stalinist '' Children of the Arbat ''trilogy, the novel ''Heavy Sand'', and many popular children books including ''Adventures of Kr ...
, when asked, 'would he have signed it', replied: "By no means. A writer can not endorse bloodshed". "But people like Rybakov are few and far between in our 'democratic' camp, and such people there are being disliked", Shokhina remarked.
Support
A letter entitled "An appeal of the democratic public of Moscow to the President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin" ("Обращение собрания демократической общественности Москвы к президенту России Б.Н. Ельцину") was published on 8 October 1993, echoing key demands of the Letter of Forty-Two.
Signatories
# Ales Adamovich
# Anatoly Ananyev
# Viktor Astafiyev
# Аrtyom Anfinogenov
# Bella Akhmadulina
Izabella Akhatovna Akhmadulina (, ; 10 April 1937 – 29 November 2010) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian poet, short story writer, and translator, known for her apolitical writing stance. She was part of the Russian New Wave literary movem ...
# Grigory Baklanov
# Zori Balayan
# Tatyana Bek
# Alexander Borshchagovsky
# Vasil Bykaŭ
Vasil Uladzimiravič Bykaŭ (also spelled Vasil Bykov, , ; 19 June 1924 – 22 June 2003) was a Belarusian dissident and opposition politician, junior lieutenant, and author of novels and novellas about World War II. A significant figure in ...
# Boris Vasilyev
# Alexander Gelman
# Daniil Granin
# Yuri Davydov
# Daniil Danin
# Andrei Dementyev[In an interview on Echo Moskvy radio on September 30, 2012, Andrei Dementyev said that he had not signed the lett]
/ref>
# Mikhail Dudin
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Dudin (; – 31 December 1993) was a Russian Soviet prose writer, poet, translator and journalist, war correspondent. Public figure, screenwriter, author of lyrics and over 70 books of poetry. Hero of Socialist Labor (19 ...
# Alexander Ivanov
# Edmund Iodkovsky
# Rimma Kazakova
# Sergey Kaledin
# Yury Karyakin
# Yakov Kostyukovsky
# Tatyana Kuzovlyova
# Alexander Kushner
# Yuri Levitansky
# Dmitry Likhachov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev (, also spelled ''Dmitrii Likhachev'' or ''Dmitry Likhachov''; – 30 September 1999) was a Russian medievalist, linguist, and a former inmate of Gulag. During his lifetime, Likhachev was considered the world's fore ...
# Yuri Nagibin
# Andrey Nuykin
# Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava (; ka, ბულატ ოკუჯავა; ; May 9, 1924 – June 12, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist, and singer-songwriter of Georgian-Armenian ancestry. He was one of the founders o ...
# Valentin Oskotsky
# Grigory Pozhenyan
# Anatoly Pristavkin
# Lev Razgon
# Alexander Rekemchuk
# Robert Rozhdestvensky
# Vladimir Savelyev
# Vasily Selyunin
# Yuri Chernichenko
# Andrey Chernov
# Marietta Chudakova
# Mikhail Chulaki
Footnotes
{{reflist
Open letters
1993 Russian constitutional crisis
Works originally published in Russian newspapers
1993 documents