| Arseny Tarkovsky | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 24, 1907 (N.S.) Elisavetgrad, Russian Empire |
| Died | May 27, 1989 (aged 81) Moscow, Soviet Union |
Arseny Alexandrovich Tarkovsky (Russian: Арсений Александрович Тарковский, June 25 [O.S. June 12] 1907, Elisavetgrad – May 27, 1989, Moscow) was a prominent Soviet and Russian poet and translator. He is considered one of the great 20th century Russian poets. He was also the father of influential film director Andrei Tarkovsky.
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Tarkovsky was born on June 25 N.S. 1907 in Elisavetgrad, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (now Kirovohrad, Ukraine) to the family of a bank clerk, Narodnik, and amateur actor of Polish origin Aleksandr Tarkovsky (Aleksander Tarkowski) and his Ukrainian wife Maria Rachkovska. Aleksandr Tarkovsky had been a student of Ivan Karpenko-Kary (Tobilevych).
By 1924 Tarkovsky moved to Moscow, and from 1924-1925 he worked for a newspaper for railroad workers called "Gudok."
Tarkovsky managed a section that had to be filled with an editorial written in verse, as that was believed to be easier for the readers than the ordinary prosaic editorials. Each day, Tarkovsky would either write such poetical editorials himself, or hire other poets to do it. The poetry of these editorials usually was not of a very high quality.
In 1925-1929 he studied at a state university to be a professional writer of fiction. At that time he translated poetry from Turkmen, Georgian, Armenian and Arabic. During World War II he worked as a war-correspondent at the Army Newspaper Boevaya Trevoga (War Alarm). He was wounded in action in 1943. The leg wound he received caused gaseous gangrene, and Tarkovsky had to undergo six gradual amputations.
In his lifetime Arseny Tarkovsky was mainly known as a splendid translator of Abu'l-Ala-Al-Ma'arri, Nizami, Magtymguly, Kemine, Sayat-Nova, Vazha-Pshavela, Adam Mickiewicz, Mollanepes, Grigol Orbeliani and many other poets.
He was a friend of Marina Tsvetaeva, and is sometimes referred to as the "Last Love of Marina Tsvetaeva". Being younger than Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva he imbibed the poetic traditions of the Silver Age generation and interpreted them through the prism of his personality in his creativity.
He composed his own poetry throughout his life, but did not publish it until his fifties. Then he published nine books of poetry:
He lived mostly in Moscow and Peredelkino and died on May 27, 1989 in Moscow. In 1989 he was posthumously awarded the USSR State Prize.
Tarkovsky's most famous poems are, perhaps,
These two are considered by some critics to be a part of the best poetry written in Russian in the 20th century. Also very famous are