Lev Aleksandrovich Danilkin ( rus, Лев Александрович Данилкин, p=ˈlʲef ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ dɐˈnʲilkʲɪn; born 1 December 1974) is a Russian writer and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He won the Big Book literary prize in 2017.

Education

Lev Danilkin was born into a family of literary teachers. He studied in middle schools in Odintsovo,

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally " under Moscow"), is a federal subject of R ...

, and in Moscow and graduated n 1998 from graduate school of philology of the

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

Career

In 1999–2000, Danilkin worked as the chief editor of the Russian edition of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine. For 15 years he led the column ''Books with Lev Danilkin'' in ''

Afisha ''Afisha'' ''( rus, link=no, Афиша — "Poster")'' was a Russian entertainment and lifestyle magazine published from April 1999 to December 2015 in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and 12 other Russia's major cities. In its peak years ''Afishas re ...

'' magazine. By the time he departed from ''Afisha'' in 2014, Danilkin had already written several biographies, including '' Man With an Egg: The Life and Views of Alexander Prokhanov'' about controversial writer Alexander Prokhanov, a book that was a finalist for the 2008 National Bestseller and Big Book awards. He also wrote a life of cosmonaut

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...

for the ''ZhZL'' (russian: link=no, ЖЗЛ — Жизнь Замечательных Людей) series. Danilkin's greatest subject is

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

, and his 2017 book '' Lenin. Pantocrator of Dust Motes'' became one of the central literary events surrounding the centenary of the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

in Russia. That year it won both the Big Book and

Book of the Year A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arra ...

awards. By peers and colleagues, Danilkin is praised as 'the leading critic in Russia'. Some consider him more talented than people he writes about. In 2021, Danilkin was honoured with award „Свети Стефан Штиљановић“ at serbian festival „Ћирилица“.

References

External links

Lev Danilkin's articles
on ''

'' magazine site {{DEFAULTSORT:Danilkin, Lev Moscow State University alumni Russian literary critics Russian biographers 21st-century Russian writers 21st-century Russian journalists 1974 births Living people