Life And Works | Pictures | Links

Solzhenitsyn is one of the most prominent writers of the 20th century Russian literature. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, Solzhenitsyn is considered an heir to Dostoevskain and Tolstoian era of Russian literature. Socio-political reality of the Soviet Union is conveyed pragmatically in Solzhenitsyn's remarkable writings. In his remarkable writings Solzhenitsyn speak compellingly in defense of human rights.

Early Years

Solzhenitsyn was born on December 11th, 1918 in the northern Caucasus Mountain, in the town of Kislovodsk, Solzhenitsyn never had a chance to know his father, who died in a hunting accident months before his birth. At age six Solzhenitsyn followed his mother who worked to support herself and her son, to the city of Rostov, which he spent most of his early years. Upon finishing secondary education, in spite of his wishes to study literature in Moscow, he enrolled in University of Rostov to study Mathematics and Physics. Having completed a mathematics degree at the University, he accepted a teaching job at a local town. However, the Soviet Union's struggle against the invading Germany persuaded him to join the National Red Army. By 1944, Solzhenitsyn had attained the rank of army Captain. Within a year Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the army for writing anti- Stalinist views in his narrative poem, "Prussian Nights." Solzhenitsyn was discharged from the army, and spent time in Lubyanka Prison in Moscow and an eight-year prison term in Butyrki prison. After several serving terms in number of other prisons, Solzhenitsyn was taken to Rybinks to continue serving his time in a scientific research institute prison, the subject of First Circle, one of his novels that developed from his personal experience.

Prominent Writing Years

In 1959 Solzhenitsyn wrote his novel Shch-854, re-titled One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich during his exile in Central Asia subsequent to his release from prison. The forthright novel was written from Solzhenitysn's own experience in labor camp. Moreover, it was the beginning of Solzhenitsyn's writing on Soviet prison life. With the assist and approval of Premier Kkrushchev who saw in the work a denunciation of Stalin, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was published in Novyi Mir, a leading Soviet literary magazine.

Following his very first novel, Solzhenitsyn continued writing on political and social issues in The Love- Girl and the Innocent (1969) and The First Circle (1968). However, with the deposition of Khrushchev, the USSR authorities claimed that Solzhenitsyn's works were anti-Soviet and confiscated his works. Yet, he continued to write, publishing his novels Cancer Ward and The First Circle in 1968. Both novels were translated into English widely distributed in the West.

"The characters confront questions of life and death, truth and falsehood-emphasized by the discussion of Lev Tolstoi's What do men Live for? in the ward. Stalinism is paralleled with the tragedy of those in the hospital suffering from cancer: an informer has cancer of the tongue".

Petri Liukkonen on Cancer Ward

Subsequently Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Union of Soviet Writers. Nevertheless, his unpublished manuscripts continued to find way to the West to be published. Through his opposition on governmental policies by means of his writings, Solzhenitsyn found international prominence as one of the leading global collaborators of human rights inside Russia. For his outstanding work, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Noble Prize in Literature in 1970. However, by the Soviet Union, Solzhenitsyn's Nobel Prize was seen as a politically unjust act and was severely criticized by the USSR.

In the elapse of period up until 1974, Solzhenitsyn continued making contributions to critical literature with his August 1914 and Gulag Archipelago. Gulag Archipelago was an open window for readers to the Soviet criminal and labor camp system in the past fifty years. This novel was the primary reason for Solzhenitsyns deportation to the West.

"There is no finer example of the exuberant creativity of metaphor than the preface to- the Russian title has even more bite- Archipelago Gulag. From frozen salamander to Gulag and its "tribe" to Archipelago- to the whole of "monstrous" Bolshevik Russia as a giant salamander… Despite the horror of the subject matter, the exuberant creativity of Solzhenitsyn's metaphoric sense has an intoxicating effect on the reader". &endash; D.M. Thomas, Alexander Solzhenitsyn A Century of His Life (p. 442)

That same year Solzhenitsyn published a letter, which he had written to the Soviet leaders a year prior. Essentially, the letter contained Solzhenitsyn's critical views on the policies implemented by Soviet government. While Soviet officials never responded this letter he wrote, Solzhenitsyn decided to open it to the public by publishing his Letter to the Soviet Leaders.

"We need to heal our wounds, cure our national body and natural spirit. Let us find the strength, sense and courage to put our won house in order before we busy ourselves with the cares of the entire planet". &endash;A. Solzhenitsyn, Letters to the Soviet Leaders (p. 31)

As Soviet criticism on Solzhenitsyn's writing escalated, he was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974. In Stockholm, Solzhenitsyn was able to collect his Nobel Prize four years after the award.

Present years

From 1976 to 1994 Solzhenitsyn resided in Vermont (with his family). With the fall of the Soviet Union, Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia. Solzhenitsyn's citizenship and charges for treason was dropped by the new Russian Federation. For the love of his native land, Solzhenitsyn now lives in Russia and continues to enlighten readers with his literature works.