Boris Andreevich Mozhaev was born on 1 June 1923 into a large rural family living in a village called Pitelino, Riazan’skaya oblast’. He found both the date and place of his birth significant: 1 June was traditionally celebrated in rural communities as Dukhov den’ [Holy Spirit Day], one of the many days of the Russian Orthodox Church calendar having both religious and secular significance for the rural community: according to tradition, the day commemorated the Holy Spirit as the inspirational force behind the writers of biblical texts, and the Pitelinskii raion (situated about a hundred miles due east of the city of Riazan’) was a hotbed of peasant revolt during the rough treatment meted out by Stalin’s urban activists sent into the countryside during the campaign for the forced, rapid collectivization of agriculture at the...
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Citation: Holohan, David Michael. "Boris Mozhaev". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 February 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12905, accessed 09 June 2026.]
