Iuz Aleshkovsky’s life and career in the Soviet Union were characteristic, in their unstructured variety, of the fate of many non-conformist writers and artists of his time. Following a sporadic education interrupted by war, military service and a prison sentence, Aleshkovsky made a living in Moscow first as a builder and a driver, and then, more profitably, as a writer of children’s stories and screenplays for film and television. His greatest contribution to the unofficial culture of the 1950s and 1960s came in the form of songs about life and love in prison camps; they were sung not to a guitar, but to a rhythm beaten out on the table. His “Pesnia o Staline” (Song About Stalin, 1959) became immensely popular throughout the Soviet Union, although few knew its author.
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Citation: Ready, Oliver. "Iuz Aleshkovsky". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11933, accessed 21 November 2024.]
