Pavel Kogan

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Pavel Davidovich Kogan (Russian: Павел Давидович Коган, July 7, 1918, Kiev – September 23, 1942, near Novorossiysk) was a Soviet poet.

Though born in Kiev, in 1922 Pavel and his family moved to Moscow. He studied in Maxim Gorky Literature Institute and Moscow Institute of History, Philosophy and Literature.

Kogan twice walked the trails of central Russia. He learned about World War II while on a geological expedition to Armenia. Returning immediately to Moscow, he tried to enlist into the army but was turned down due to his poor health. Undeterred, he finished a series of courses and became a military interpreter. In 1942, leading a scouting mission, he was shot. He was only 24.

All of his poems were published posthumously. They became famous during the Khrushchev Thaw, mainly due to a popular song written to his lyrics, "Brigantina" (Brigantine, 1937).