Viktor Vladimirovich Yerofeyev (, also transliterated as Erofeyev; born 19 September 1947 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 ...

) is a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. After the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

he fled to Germany.

Early life and education

As son of a high-ranking

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 ...

diplomat Vladimir Yerofeyev, he spent some of his childhood in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, which accounts for why much of his work has been translated from Russian into French, while comparatively little has been translated into English. His father, who was the interpreter for

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

in the late 1940s, wrote a book of memories; his brother is a curator at the

Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel ...

. Erofeyev graduated from

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 ...

in 1970, where he studied literature and languages. He then did post-graduate work at the Institute for World Literature in

, where he completed his post-graduate work in 1973 and received his

kandidat A Candidate of Sciences is a PhD-equivalent academic research degree in all the post-Soviet countries with the exception of Ukraine, and until the 1990s it was also awarded in Central and Eastern European countries. It is officially classified ...

degree in 1975 for his thesis on

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

and French

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

. Erofeyev's work often contains pastiches of Dostoyevsky's work and themes.

Career, 1975–2022

Erofeyev became a literary critic, publishing works on

Lev Shestov Lev Isaakovich Shestov (; 31 January .S. 13 Februaryref name="ReferenceA">Martin, Bernard, Introduction to "Athens and Jerusalem" 1866 – 19 November 1938), born Yeguda Lev Shvartsman (), was a Russian existentialist and religious philosopher ...

and the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...

. He later organised his own literary magazine, ''

Metropol' The Metropol' Almanac is a collection of uncensored texts by famous writers, self published in Samizdat in Moscow in December 1978. The collection was organized by Vasily Aksyonov, and counted with contributions from a number of Soviet writers, s ...

'', in which many of the big names of Soviet literature participated, including

Vasily Aksyonov Vasily Pavlovich Aksyonov ( rus, Васи́лий Па́влович Аксёнов, p=vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ɐˈksʲɵnəf; August 20, 1932 – July 6, 2009) was a Soviet and Russian novelist. He became known in the West as the autho ...

Andrei Bitov Andrei Georgiyevich Bitov (, 27 May 1937 – 3 December 2018) was a prominent Russian writer of Circassian ancestry. Biography Bitov was born in Leningrad. His father was an architect and his mother was a lawyer. He completed his secondary edu ...

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 ...

, and others. The magazine was put into circulation via

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

, i.e., avoiding Soviet censorship. As a result, Erofeyev was expelled from the

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers () was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1934 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (1932) a ...

and was banned from being published until 1988, when

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

came to power. He resided in

until 2022 and frequently appeared on Russian television, where he had his own program on the TV channel «Kultura» ("culture"); he was also a regular guest on Radio Liberty, Moscow.

Exile, 2022–present

Following the

in 2022 he and his family fled Russia to settle in Germany.

In the media

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer. Among the most performed and recorded composers of late 20th-century classical music, he is described by musicologist Ivan Moody (composer), Ivan Moody as a ...

's opera ''

Life with an Idiot ''Life with an Idiot'' () is an opera by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke to a Russian libretto by Viktor Erofeyev. Written as an allegory of oppression under the Soviet Union, the opera was first performed at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, o ...

'' is based on Erofeyev‘s 1980 story of the same name, which he made into a libretto for the composer. The 2012 Finnish documentary movie "" is centered on Victor Erofeyev and his view of the protests leading up to the

2012 Russian Presidential election Presidential elections were held in Russia on 4 March 2012. There were five officially registered candidates: four representatives of registered parties, and one nominal independent. The election was the first one held after constitutional amend ...

. In October 2013, Victor Erofeyev received the Chevalier of Legion of Honour title from the French Government.

Major works

* ''Life with an Idiot'' («''Жизнь с идиотом''»; a collection of short stories; 1980), translated by Andrew Reynolds, first published by Penguin in English in 2004. * '' Russian Beauty'' («''Русская красавица''»; 1990) * ''In the Labyrinth of Accursed Questions'' («''В лабиринте проклятых вопросов''»; a collection of essays; 1996) * ''The Last Judgement'' («''Страшный суд''»; 1996) * ''Five Rivers of Life'' («''Пять рек жизни''»; 1998) * ''Encyclopaedia of the Russian Soul'' («''Энциклопедия русской души''»; 1999) * ''Men'' («''Мужчины''»; 1997; in ''Russian'') and ''God X'' («''Бог X. Рассказы о любви''»; 2001) * ''The Good Stalin'' («''Хороший Сталин''»; 2004), autobiographical novel ISBN 1782671110 * ''Nacktes Russland'' (2023) * ''Der große Gopnik'' (2023)

Journalism

Erofeyev regularly contributes to ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'', and ''

The International Herald Tribune ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

''. In Germany, he is published by the

Frankfurter Allgemeine The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

and

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * *Andrew Reynolds, "East is East...? Victor Erofeyev and the Poetics/Politics of Idiocy." {{DEFAULTSORT:Yerofeyev, Viktor 1947 births Living people Russian literary critics Russian male journalists Russian male novelists Russian male short story writers Moscow State University alumni Knights of the Legion of Honour