Boris Marian | |
|---|---|
._(14540266767).jpg) From left to right:Anatol Ciocanu, Boris Marian andNicolae Sulac | |
| Born | (1934-09-27)27 September 1934 (age 91) |
| Occupation | Writer, journalist |
| Language | Russian,Romanian |
| Nationality | Moldovan |
Boris Tihonovici Marian (born 27 September 1934;Russian:Борис Тихонович Мариан) is aMoldovan poet, screenwriter, translator, and journalist, as well as a formerdissident in the Soviet Union. He primarily writes inRussian and is a member of theMoldovan Writers' Union,[1] theNational Writers' Union of Ukraine,[1] and theUnion of Writers of Russia.[2]
Boris Tihonovici Marian[3] was born in a family ofMoldovan peasants[2][4] on 27 September 1934 inCrasnogorca, then in theMoldavian ASSR of theSoviet Union'sUkrainian SSR (now inMoldova, underTransnistrian control). His father, Tihon Marian, was an anti-communist and was arrested several times by Soviet authorities.[2]
Marian received pre-university education exclusively inRussian, except for two years inRomanian during theRomanian administration of Transnistria.[5][non-primary source needed] After graduating high school, he enrolled in the Faculty of Journalism atKyiv University. In his fourth year, in 1956, amid therevolutionary events inHungary, he wrote a "program for the democratic renewal of the Union". The main demands included:[4]
Marian shared the document with several colleagues, one of whom reported it to the university authorities. When questioned, he placed the document on the table and declared his intention to send it to theCentral Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After reading the program,Aleksey Kirichenko,First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, instructed theKGB to investigate Marian. On 4 January 1957, he was expelled and subsequently arrested on charges of counter-revolutionary and anti-socialist activities. Despite advocating for the reform of the communist system rather than its overthrow, he was sentenced on 25 April 1957 to five years of forced labor inMordovia, in theRussian SFSR. During his imprisonment, he participated in a strike and formed friendships with Ukrainian prisoners. He was released in 1962.[2]
Following his release, Marian studied at theMaxim Gorky Literature Institute and was employed by the magazineCultura Moldovei.[4] He later claimed that he had been helped byAndrei Lupan andPetrea Cruceniuc to get employed.[6] He later worked as a screenwriter atMoldova-Film and published several poetry collections. In 1990, he was rehabilitated.[7] He became involved inMoldova's independence movement from the Soviet Union and worked as a journalist atMoldova Suverană until 2009.
Marian is a critic of thepro-Romanian intellectual elite in Moldova.[8] In 2011, he criticizedChișinău mayorDorin Chirtoacă and thepro-European government, claiming that "it is worse than under theRomanians – at least they did not pretend to be democrats".[9] Although he admiresRomanian culture and has translated works byMihai Eminescu,Vasile Alecsandri, andGeorge Coșbuc into Russian, Marian opposes theunification of Moldova and Romania. He believes Moldova should remain an independent, multinational state.[10]
He has clashed repeatedly with the leadership of theWriters' Union of Moldova, especially withNicolae Dabija, whom he labeled aRussophobe, due to their pro-Romanian position, accusing them of hypocrisy. Marian claims that while he was imprisoned in theGulag, they were praising the Soviet regime. He also argues that theTsarist annexation ofBessarabia in 1812 saved theMoldovan people from theOttoman Empire.[5][non-primary source needed]
In an article onAva.md, Marian asserted that while "Moldovan" and Romanian arethe same language, he prefers the term "Moldovan" to emphasize Moldova's independence achieved in 1991. He advocates for replacing the "History of the Romanians" curriculum with "History of Moldova"[11] and likensMoldova–Romania relations to those betweenAustria and Germany,Mexico and Spain, orCanada and the United States, though he believes constructive relations are impossible while Romania seeks "Anschluss".[12]
Marian supported[13] the2014 Gagauz referendum and argued againstMoldova's integration into the European Union, which he considers a "new Soviet Union," and against the "Romanianization" of Moldova, warning against a "MoldovanMaidan".[14][15]
Since the 2014 Euromaidan andUkrainian revolution, which he opposed, Marian has not visitedUkraine. In a 2024 interview with the Russian siteLiteraturnaya Gazeta, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, he explained that his relations with Ukrainian writers had worsened because of Maidan.[16]