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Bezymensky, Aleksandr Ilych. born on 19 January 1898 in Zhitomir, Ukraine. in 1916 he entered the Kiev Institute of Commerce. But the Revolution of 1917 changed his path. He became active in revolutionary events. His first poems were published in 1918, followed soon by the collections "October Dawns" (1920) and "To the Sun" (1921). In the 1920s he was active in the RAPP organization, working on the staff of its journal "Na Postu". He also was an editor for the newspaper "Krasnaya Molodyozh". Many of his poems of this era are dedicated to the Komsomol, and one of them, "Molodaya Gvardiya" (Young Guard) (1922) was set to music and became the organization's anthem. He also focued on subjects of topical interest to his readers, for example; "About a Cap", "About Felt Boots", "How Life Smells", and of course "V.I. Lenin" and "Feliks". During the Great Patriotic War he served as a reporter, accompanying troops from Moscow to Prague. His experiences during these years are reflected in his collection "Front Line Notebook". Following the war, he continued to produce lyric, propagandistic, and satiric peoms, such as "Stronger Than The Atom Bomb". A.I. Bezymensky died on 26 June 1973. |