Arkadiy Viktorovich Belinkov | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Аркадий Викторович Белинков |
| Born | (1921-09-29)September 29, 1921 Moscow |
| Died | May 14, 1970(1970-05-14) (aged 48) New Haven, Connecticut |
| Language | Russian |
| Alma mater | Maxim Gorky Literature Institute |
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Arkadiy Viktorovich Belinkov (Russian:Арка́дий Ви́кторович Белинко́в; September 29, 1921, inMoscow, USSR – May 14, 1970, inNew Haven, Connecticut) was a Russian writer and literary critic.
Belinkov was born into a Jewish family fromGomel. His father, Viktor Lazarevich Belinkov (1901—1980), was a well-known economist; his mother, Mirra Naumovna Belinkova (1900—1971), was a scholar of children's literature. As a child, he was diagnosed with a heart condition and was unable to attend public school. Instead, he studied at home. He received his higher education at theMaxim Gorky Literature Institute andMoscow State University.[1] During World War II, he was briefly employed as a correspondent for theInformation Telegraph Agency of Russia. He wrote a number of literary works, including fiction andcritiques.
In January 1944, duringJoseph Stalin's rule, Belinkov wrote a novel calledA Diary of Feelings that was tacitly circulated and read by friends and acquaintances. An anonymous informant leaked this information to the authorities, and Belinkov was arrested and initially sentenced to death.[2]Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy andViktor Shklovsky interceded for him: the execution was replaced by eight years of imprisonment inKarlag (KaragandaGulag branch). However, while serving his sentence in 1950–1951, Belinkov wrote some anticommunist articles, and his sentence was increased by 25 years.[1][3]
Upon release from prison, Belinkov returned to Moscow in the autumn of 1956, during theKhrushchev Thaw. He returned to writing, but his literary works contained anti-Soviet pathos that was incompatible with the official dogma of the time.[3] He was allowed, however, to work as a literary scholar, and his biographical/analytical workYury Tynyanov was received so enthusiastically that two editions appeared in a short space of time.[4]
In 1968 Belinkov and his wife Natalia fled the Soviet Union. After a while they arrived in theUnited States, atNew Haven, Connecticut. He found work as a lecturer at several universities, includingYale.[1]
Belinkov died on May 14, 1970, while undergoing a heart operation inNew Haven, Connecticut. He is buried at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church Cemetery inNew Britain, Connecticut.
In Russia, his literary works were banned for many years. They were finally published in the 1990s.
Belinkov dedicated his literary works to a number ofRussian writers, notablyYury Tynyanov,Alexander Blok, andYury Olesha. A constant theme in his creative works is theintelligentsia's place in Russian society.
