DOMBROVSKY, YURI OSIPOVICH
(1909–1978), Soviet writer. Born on April 29 (May 12), 1909 in Moscow, in the family of a lawyer. In 1932 he graduated from the Higher Literary Courses, in the same year he was arrested and deported to Alma-Ata. He worked as an archaeologist, art historian, journalist, and pedagogical activity. In 1936 he was arrested again, but released a few months later. The story of this arrest formed the basis of the novels The Guardian of Antiquities (1964) and The Faculty of Unnecessary Things (1978). Dombrovsky kept in them the real names of his investigators, Myachin and Khripushin. In 1938, Derzhavin published a novel, a year later he was arrested again and sent to the Kolyma camps, from where in 1943, sick, he returned to Alma-Ata. In the winter of 1943, in the hospital, he began writing the novel The Monkey Comes for His Skull (published 1959). In 1946 he began working on a series of short stories about Shakespeare, The Dark Lady (published in 1969).
In 1949, Dombrowski was arrested again and spent six years in prison in the Far North and Taishet. In 1956 he was rehabilitated for lack of evidence of a crime and received permission to return to Moscow.
Dombrovsky's creativity is permeated humanistic ideals. The novel The Monkey Comes for His Skull takes place in Western European country occupied by the Nazis. The characters in the novel work in a fictional International Institute paleanthropology and prehistory. The author does not specify the location of the action when creating collective image Europeans fighting the totalitarian regime. This gave critics grounds to argue that the novel has nothing to do with the warmongers (I. Zolotussky), that it depicts not fascism in Europe, but totalitarianism in Russia. Despite all the obviousness of such parallels, the heroes of the novel are still European intellectuals brought up in the traditions of humanism. The main character, Professor Maisonnier, is faced with a choice between physical and spiritual suicide - and, dying, emerges victorious from this struggle. The antithesis of Maisonnier in the novel is his associate, Professor Lane, who compromises with the occupiers for the sake of survival.
Freedom of spirit becomes main theme dilogies Guardian of Antiquities and Faculty of Unnecessary Things. In The Guardian of Antiquities, despotism is contrasted with the historicity of the consciousness of the main character, the nameless Keeper of the Alma-Ata Museum, about whom Dombrovsky wrote: My hero is a man of my circle, my observations, information and perception. Antiquities are not dead values for the Guardian, but part of the history of mankind. In his mind, coins from the time of Emperor Aurelian and the sparkling, needle-like juice splashing from an apple, and the earthquake-surviving creations of the Alma-Ata architect Zenkov, who managed to build a building tall and flexible like a poplar, and paintings by the artist Khludov, who painted not only steppes and mountains, but also the degree of amazement and delight that everyone who comes to this extraordinary land for the first time feels. Inhuman ideology is powerless in front of the tangible, powerful diversity of the world, described in the novel with the stylistic plasticity characteristic of Dombrowski.
In the novel The Faculty of Unnecessary Things, a sequel to The Guardian of Antiquities, main character ends up in prison, experiences betrayal, but the freedom of his spirit turns out to be stronger than tyranny. The story Notes of a Petty Hooligan (published in 1990) is permeated with a heightened sense of justice. Dombrowski talks about how, having stood up for a beaten woman, he was arrested and convicted of petty hooliganism during another demonstration campaign. In court, the writer saw the triumph of meaninglessness and absurdity, the crown of which was the conviction for obscene language deaf-mute.
During Dombrovsky's lifetime, only one of his poems was published - The Stone Ax (1939). In the poem these bitches wanted to kill me... he writes about how difficult it was for him to return to normal human relations after the camp. A meeting at the Alma-Ata market with his former investigator (Utilsyrye, 1959) forces Dombrovsky to write bitterly about the lack of justice in a world where the fates of victims and executioners are closely intertwined. Dombrovsky's poetry is not rhymed journalism. He strove to real events his life was poetically transformed: I am waiting for Art to light up / My unbearable reality (While this is life..., not dated).
In three short stories about Shakespeare, united under the title The Dark Lady, Dombrowski's focus is on the artist's psychology. The writer traces how the author changed over the years, how, ardent and fast in his youth, he grew up, matured, became wiser, how enthusiasm gave way to sedateness, disappointment, caution, and how everything in the end gave way to terrible fatigue (Retlandbacons Southampton Shakespeare. On myth, anti-myth and biographical hypothesis , 1977).
Dombrovsky died in Moscow on May 28, 1978
Yuri Osipovich Dombrovsky
Dombrovsky Yuri Osipovich (1909/1978) - Soviet writer, poet, publicist. Dombrovsky's prose is dedicated to the events and moods of reality, it sounds social theme. A number of novels brought fame to the author, among them “The Monkey Comes for His Skull”, “Faculty of Unnecessary Things”, “Keeper of Antiquities”, etc.
Guryeva T.N. New literary dictionary/ T.N. Guryev. – Rostov n/d, Phoenix, 2009, p. 89.
Dombrovsky Yuri Osipovich (1909 - 1978), prose writer.
Born on May 12 in Moscow in the family of a famous lawyer. He grew up in Arbatsky lanes, graduated from school here, and here the first political dossier was opened on him. Studied at the Higher State Literary Courses.
In 1933, Yu. Dombrovsky was expelled from Moscow to Alma-Ata (3 years of exile). For several years he worked as a literature teacher at school.
Then arrests follow: in 1936 - the first, when he spent 7 months in a pre-trial detention center; in 1939 - the second, sent to a camp in Kolyma, where he remained until 1943; in 1949 - the third, sent to the Taishet lake camp, where he remained until 1955. There was only one charge: “Criticizing the activities of the party and government; spreading anti-Soviet fabrications.” Y. Dombrovsky went through all this, “without admitting anything and without signing anything.” In 1956 he was rehabilitated for lack of evidence of a crime.
The work of Yu. Dombrovsky can be conditionally divided into two periods: Kazakh (1937-55) and Moscow (1956-78).
In 1937 he actively collaborated with the newspaper "Kazakhskaya Pravda" and the magazine " Literary Kazakhstan", publishing notes, reviews, literary criticism articles. In 1938 - the first story "The Death of Lord Byron". In 1939, a big literary debut took place - the novel "Derzhavin" was published, where the writer explores a topic that interests him: Hero and Time.
In 1956 he returned to Moscow, two years later he completed the novel “The Monkey Comes for His Skull,” begun in 1943 (appeared in Novy Mir in 1963).
Publication in the magazine " New world"The novel "Keeper of Antiquities" (1964) became an event in literature and made the author famous. The next novel is "The Faculty of Unnecessary Things", continuing previous novel. The author devotes it to the problem of law and society. In the afterword he will say about the book: “There was no way I could not write it. Life gave me a unique opportunity - I became... a witness to the greatest tragedy of our Christian era....The trial is underway. I am obliged to speak at it.” The novel was completed in 1975, but the first publication was abroad: in Paris in 1978.
Materials used from the book: Russian writers and poets. Brief biographical dictionary. Moscow, 2000.
Dombrovsky Yuri Osipovich - prose writer, poet, translator.
Father is a sworn attorney, mother is a biologist Dombrovskaya-Sludskaya. After graduating from a 7-year school in 1926, Dombrovsky continued his studies at the Higher Literary and Art Institute, organized by V.Ya. Bryusov; then he studies at the theater studies department of the Central Technical School theatrical arts; from 1931 - at the educational and theater plant, later transformed into GITIS (State Institute of Theater Arts).
Oct 28 1932 Dombrowski was arrested. He was arrested 4 times: in 1932 and 1937, he served his sentence in Alma-Ata; in 1939-43 he was in exile in Kolyma; in 1949-55 - in Taishet Ozerlag (Lake camp). On May 30, 1956 Dombrowski was rehabilitated.
Dombrovsky's first major work is the novel “Derzhavin” (Alma-Ata, 1939). In the magazine version, the novel was called “The Collapse of the Empire” (Literary Kazakhstan. 1938. No. 3-4). The novel reveals Dombrovsky's extraordinary erudition. Here problems are outlined that will receive a deeper interpretation in later works, and the contours of the writer’s poetic manner emerge. An attempt to comprehend the complex phenomenon of totalitarianism was the poignant anti-fascist novel “The Monkey Comes for His Skull” (1943-58), first published in 1959 in Moscow. The writer perceives modern era in its correlation with the history of mankind, with the history of culture. Dombrowski's appeal to the thoughts of Seneca, Agrippa d'Aubigné, and ancient Germanic myths is not accidental. The choice of the main opposing characters - Maisonier and Lane - is deeply justified. Scientists, they work at the International Institute of Paleontology and Prehistory. Fascist occupation In France, they are put in a situation of choice: Maisonier sees a huge danger in a return to primitive barbarism; in the return of the monkey for his skull, he sees the essence of fascism. Lane believed that great strength has a fist, and therefore resistance to violence is in vain. The hero commits betrayal. Dombrowski's novel is intellectual: it is full of deep thoughts of Professor Maisonier and his friends, the thoughts of his son Hans, who 15 years later is trying to recreate the life story of his father and unravel the mystery of his passing away. The intellectuality of Dombrowski's narration does not exclude the writer's appeal to the artistic principles of the detective genre: investigation, acute intrigue, intense plot.
Dombrovsky’s main book is the dilogy “Faculty of Unnecessary Things.” The first book of the dilogy “Keeper of Antiquities” (another name is “Keeper of Antiquities”) was first published in the magazine “New World” (1964. No. 7-8; separate edition M., 1966). “The Guardian of Antiquity” was published in Italy, the USA, France, Japan and other countries. The only review of the novel belonged to I. Zolotussky (Siberian Lights. 1965. No. 10). Dombrovsky indicated the time of work on the second novel in the dilogy, “The Faculty of Unnecessary Things,” as follows: December 10. 1964 - March 5, 1965. The book was first published abroad in 1978 by the Ymca-Press publishing house; in 1979, Dombrowski’s novel was awarded an award as “the best foreign book, published in France"; the first publication in his homeland 10 years after the writer’s death - in the magazine “New World” (1988. No. 8-11). Dombrovsky said that he could not help but write “The Faculty” because he understood: he “became one of the now not painfully frequent witnesses to the greatest tragedy of our Christian era.” According to Dombrovsky, “a trial is now taking place” and he is “obliged to speak at it.” The dilogy is based on facts from life. Based biographical material broad artistic generalizations arise. Dombrovsky’s amazing combination of an inquisitive researcher and a gifted subtle artist, skillfully using the possibilities of various novel varieties, makes Dombrovsky’s intellectual prose reliable, vital, and captivating the reader’s attention. The plot is based on the story of a disappearance archaeological gold and arrest in connection with the disappearance of the “guardian of antiquities” Zybin. Dombrowski's novels are full of serious moral and philosophical problems. While working on “The Faculty,” Dombrovsky remarked: “I’m writing a novel about law” (Notes of a petty hooligan // Znamya. 1990. No. 4. P. 33). The main character of the novel, Zybin, says: “Law is the faculty of unnecessary things. There is only socialist expediency in the world. The investigator instilled this in me.” The heroes of the novel (Zybin, Buddo, Kalandarashvili) were convinced from personal sad experience of the danger and tragedy of the substitution that took place in the country legal relations class concepts. For Dombrovsky, the motive of the madness of time and the system is important: in life goes on fight between the living and the undead. The “Faculty” is permeated with symbolism (a dead grove, a crab, a tombstone depicting a girl in flight, etc.). Dombrovsky’s life is torn out of the arms of the undead: Zybin is released from prison, investigator Naiman is expelled from the authorities, and in connection with the removal of Yezhov, changes are taking place in the internal affairs bodies of Alma-Ata. The writer was independent in his thoughts and judgments. His hero Zybin is free and independent in behavior, reflections, assessments, and conclusions. Behind it stands a centuries-old culture and moral and legal norms. This allows him to see his investigators not only as executioners, but also as victims.
On the pages of Dombrowski's novel there are many historical and literary names (Tacitus, Seneca, Horace, Shakespeare, Don Quixote). In some cases they are only mentioned, in others their prominent portraits are created, their thoughts are quoted and discussed. The Gospel is an important source for Dombrowski. The writer was attracted to Christianity by the idea free person Christ. The betrayal of Judas, the trial of Pilate, the martyrdom of Christ play a significant role in the artistic concept of the “Faculty”. For Dombrovsky, the evangelical situation is a phenomenon that has been repeated many times in the history of mankind. The heroes of the novel reflect and try to interpret the Gospel. The defrocked priest Father Andrei writes the book “The Judgment of Christ” - the idea arises that, in addition to Judas, there was some second, secret traitor of Christ. Dombrowski puts some of his heroes in a situation of mutual betrayal. The theme of betrayal is explored by Dombrowski with passion. The final scene of the novel is symbolic, where the artist Kalmykov draws an investigator expelled from the authorities, a drunken informant and the main character of the novel Zybin, the “keeper of antiquities,” sitting on the same bench. A terrible resemblance to the gospel situation arises.
In the literary article “RetlandbeconsouthamptonShakespeare.” About myth, anti-myth and biographical hypothesis" (Questions of Literature. 1977. No. 1) Dombrovsky summarized the experience of his work on the artistic recreation of the image of Shakespeare, and made judgments about the biographical genre. Dombrowski worked on three short stories about Shakespeare in the 1960s: “The Dark Lady of the Sonnets,” “The Second Best Bed,” and “The Royal Rescript.” They were reviewed by the famous Shakespeare scholar A. Anikst (New World. 1977. No. 1). Dombrowski's short stories offer an artistic hypothesis for reading Shakespeare's biography. She is convincing because... relies on the ability of a well-educated writer to researchfully comprehend the poor factual material and, thanks to heightened creative intuition, to unravel the plots of Shakespeare's fate. The images of Shakespeare, the dark lady, Burbage, and Anne Shakespeare appear as convincing characters in the short stories. Dombrowski managed to avoid modernizing the heroes.
Throughout his life, Dombrovsky wrote poetry. The first selection of three poems, entitled “Stone Ax in the Museum of Kazakhstan,” was published in “Kazakhstan Contemporary” (1939). The most significant are “Camp Poems”. Dombrowski did not seek to publish them. Dombrovsky’s poetic heritage has not been studied; there are separate publications of his poems in the anthology “The End of the Century” (M., 1991. Issue 3. P. 322-334), in the publication of the novel “Faculty of Unnecessary Things” (M., 1990. P. 584-590). Dombrowski’s angry, passionate poems denounce evil; the poet does not forgive torturers and executioners. The lyrical hero is courageous, morally free (“No, no and no! / A hundred thousand different ones are not / In the same sleepy face”).
Dombrovsky did a lot of translations. His translations included works by Kazakh writers I. Yesenberlin, E. Ismailov, S. Mukanov and others. Dombrovsky prophetically said about his work: “I am waiting for art to light up / My unbearable pain.” Literary studies have yet to comprehend Dombrovsky’s extraordinary literary heritage.
A.I. Filatova
Materials used from the book: Russian literature of the 20th century. Prose writers, poets, playwrights. Biobibliographical dictionary. Volume 1. p. 641-643.
Read further:
Russian writers and poets(biographical reference book).
Essays:
SS: in 6 volumes / ed.-comp. K. Turumova-Dombrovskaya; preface M. Latysheva. M., 1992;
Guardian of Antiquities: A Novel. Novels. Essay. M., 1991;
From letters to a friend // Dombrovsky Yu. Guardian of Antiquities. Faculty of unnecessary things. M., 1990. P.198-200.
Literature:
Proskurin V.I. In my prime, crushed by the march of trouble. Alma-Ata, 1990;
Stories. Poetry. Novel / comp. L. Bykov. Ekaterinburg, 2000;
Ufactoria: A novel. Letters. Essay. Ekaterinburg: Ufactoria, 2000;
Turkov A. What happened to Zybin? // Banner. 1989. No. 5;
Svetov F. Clean product for a friend // New world. 1992. No. 9;
Lurie Y.S. Reflections on Yu. Dombrovsky // Zvezda. 1991. No. 3;
Tkhorzhevsky S. A restless writer. To the 80th anniversary of Yuri Dombrovsky // Zvezda. 1989. No. 7;
Correspondence between Ya.S. Lurie and Yu.O. Dombrovsky // Zvezda. 2001. No. 5;
Lurie Y.S. Newness in the system (Bulgakov, Ilf and Petrov and Dombrovsky). In memorium. Sat. in memory of Ya.S. Lurie. St. Petersburg, 1997;
To the 80th anniversary of the birth of Yu.O. Dombrovsky. Alma-Ata, 1990;
Kosenko P.P. Letters from a Friend, or Generous Guardian: Historical chronicle. Alma-Ata, 1990;
Zolotussky I.P. Confession of Zoilus. M., 1989. P.218-232;
Latynina A.I. Behind the open barrier. M., 1991. P.218-228;
Shtokman I. Arrow in flight. Lessons from the biography of Yu. Dombrovsky // Questions of literature. 1989. No. 3;
Zverev A. Deep well of freedom: Above the pages of Yuri Dombrovsky // Literary Review. 1989. No. 4;
Nepomnyashchiy V. Homo Liber (Yuri Dombrovsky) // Dombrovsky Yu. Guardian of Antiquities: A Novel. Novels. Essay. M., 1991;
Berzer A. Keeper of the Fire // Dombrovsky Yu. Keeper of Antiquities. Faculty of unnecessary things. M., 1990;
Sotnikova T. The Uncaught Guardian: About Yuri Dombrovsky // Questions of Literature. 1996. Issue 5.
Dombrovsky Yuri Osipovich (1909-1978), writer.
Born on May 12, 1909, in Moscow in the family of a lawyer. Freedom-loving morals of the Dombrowski family
led to the fact that while still at school future writer differed from his peers in his way of thinking, which showed little loyalty to communism.
In 1933, Dombrovsky, a student at the Higher Literary Courses, was expelled from Moscow to Alma-Ata for three years. For several years he worked as a literature teacher at school. Then arrests follow: in 1936 he spends seven months in a pre-trial detention center; in 1939 he was sent to a camp in Kolyma, where he remained until 1943; in 1949 he ended up in the Taishet lake lake ( Irkutsk region), where he stayed until 1955. The charge brought against the writer was standard: “criticizing the activities of the party and government; dissemination of anti-Soviet fabrications."
In 1956 he was rehabilitated for lack of evidence of a crime.
Dombrovsky’s work can be conditionally divided into two periods: Kazakhstan (1937-1955) and Moscow (1956-1978).
In 1938, the first story was published, “The Death of Lord Byron.” In 1939, the writer made his big literary debut - the novel “Derzhavin” was published. In 1956, Dombrovsky returned to Moscow, and two years later he completed the novel “The Monkey Comes for His Skull,” begun in 1943 (published in the magazine “New World” in 1963).
The publication of the novel “Keeper of Antiquities” (1964) in the New World became an event in literature; it made the author famous.
The next novel, “The Faculty of Unnecessary Things,” continues the plot of the previous one. The author dedicated it to the problem of law and society. In the afterword to the book, he writes: “I couldn’t help but write it. Life gave me a unique opportunity - I became... a witness to the greatest tragedy of our Christian era... The trial is underway. I have to perform at it.”
He grew up in a family of intellectuals: father - Joseph Vitalievich (Gdalyevich) Dombrovsky (1873-1923), a sworn attorney of the Jewish confession; mother - Lydia Alekseevna (née Kraineva, 1883-1957), Evangelical Lutheran confession, scientist in the field of anatomy and cytology of plants, later a candidate biological sciences and associate professor of the Moscow Agricultural Academy. He had a sister Natalya (1918-1943).
He studied at the former Khvostovsky gymnasium in Krivoarbatsky Lane in Moscow. In 1928, Yuri Osipovich entered the Higher Literary Courses (“Bryusov’s”), but they were closed in 1929. In 1930 he entered the Central Courses for Publishing Proofreaders OGIZ of the RSFSR, which he graduated in October 1931.
In 1933 he was arrested and deported from Moscow to Alma-Ata. He worked as an archaeologist, art critic, journalist, and was engaged in teaching activities. The second arrest was in 1936, he was released a few months later, and managed to publish the first part of the novel “Derzhavin” before the next arrest. Published in “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda” and the magazine “Literary Kazakhstan”. The third arrest was in 1939: he served time in the Kolyma camps. In 1943, he was released early due to disability (returned to Alma-Ata). Worked in the theater. Gave a course of lectures on W. Shakespeare. Wrote the books The Monkey Comes for His Skull and The Dark Lady.
The fourth arrest occurred in 1949. On the night of March 30, the writer was arrested in criminal case No. 417. A key role was played by the testimony of Irina Strelkova, at that time a correspondent for Pionerskaya Pravda. Place of detention - North and Ozerlag.
After his release (1955), he lived in Alma-Ata, then he was allowed to register in his native Moscow. I was studying literary work. In 1964, the novel “Keeper of Antiquities” was published in the magazine “New World”.
The pinnacle of the writer’s creativity is the novel “Faculty of Unnecessary Things,” which he began in 1964 and completed in 1975. This is a book about the fate of the values of Christian-humanistic civilization in an anti-Christian and anti-humanistic world - and about people who took upon themselves the mission of loyalty to these ideals and values, “unnecessary things” for the Stalinist system. The main anti-heroes in the novel are employees of the “organs”, security officers - the stainless gears of an inhuman regime. The novel could not be published in the USSR, but in 1978 it was published in Russian in France.
Dombrovsky's work is traditionally highly regarded by critics. He is often considered one of the greatest Russian prose writers of the 20th century. Critic Evgeny Ermolin, for example, writes: “Having re-read The Faculty, I would say with full responsibility: this is the last great Russian novel since its creation (1975). A third of a century has passed without Yuri Dombrovsky, and his main novel not only, as they say, retains enduring significance. He somehow even grew in his artistic value."
A year before his death (in 1977) written last story“Handle, leg, cucumber”, which became prophetic. Published in the magazine “New World” (No. 1, 1990).
Through the efforts of Dombrovsky’s widow, Klara Fayzulaevna Turumova-Dombrovskaya (who appears under her own name in the novel “Keeper of Antiquities”), the writer’s six-volume book was published in the 1990s.
Circumstances of death
In March 1978, shortly after the release of the novel “The Faculty of Unnecessary Things” in the West, 68-year-old Dombrovsky was severely beaten by a group of unknown men in the lobby of the restaurant of the Central House of Writers in Moscow. Two months after the incident, on May 29, 1978, he died in hospital from severe internal bleeding caused by varicose veins of the digestive system.
Yu. O. Dombrovsky - writer Soviet era, whose work has become fully known to a wide circle readers only in last years of the bygone 20th century.
Parents
Yuri Osipovich was born on May 12, 1909 in Moscow. He grew up in a good, intelligent family. His father was a Jew, professed Judaism, and worked as a lawyer. Mother is a Russian Lutheran, a biologist who studied anatomy and cytology of plants, received a candidate of biological sciences degree and the position of associate professor at the Moscow Agricultural Academy. My father, by the way, had an interesting pedigree: his grandfather was a merchant of the first guild, owned gold mines and several factories in Transbaikalia and Siberia. The early widowed mother of the future writer remarried five years later.
Studies
Having received a decent upbringing in the family, Yuri was enrolled in the former Khvostovskaya gymnasium, which was located in Krivoarbatsky Lane, and successfully graduated from it. Deciding to connect his life with literature, Dombrovsky entered the Higher, so-called “Bryusov” literary courses, which he graduated in 1932.
Repression
In the 1930s, a terrible period began in the country. Stalin's repressions. In 1933, Yuri Dombrovsky was arrested for the first time. He was sentenced to exile to Alma-Ata. There he studied archaeology, art history, journalism and teaching. He was arrested for the second time at his place of exile, in Kazakhstan, in 1936, but was released seven months later. During the three years spent in freedom, Dombrovsky managed to publish his historical novel “Derzhavin” (1939). And in the same year - the third arrest and Kalym camps. He was “lucky”: he received disability and was released early (1943).
Returning to Alma-Ata, he got a job in the theater, lectured students on Shakespeare, and worked on his novels: “The Monkey Comes for His Skull,” “The Dark Lady.” He managed to finish them before his next arrest. In 1949, Dombrowski was arrested for the fourth time. Next deadline he served in the North and Ozerlag until 1955.
After release
Throughout 1955, Dombrovsky lived and worked in Alma-Ata, collaborating in the newspaper “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda” and in the magazine “Literary Kazakhstan”. Then permission was received to register in hometown Moscow. There he continued his literary activity. For several years he worked hard on the novel “Keeper of Antiquities”, which was published in the pages of the magazine “New World” in 1964. These were the years “ Khrushchev's thaw“, so the novel of the unreasonably repressed Dombrovsky was published, albeit in a magazine version.
Critics noted then that the main character of the novel is an eyewitness and participant in the truly terrible events of the era, that he surprises the reader with his education, rare intelligence and culture. But “Keeper of Antiquities” is only the prehistory of, perhaps, Dombrovsky’s most important book, “The Faculty of Unnecessary Things.”
main book
“The Faculty of Unnecessary Things” is called the pinnacle of Yuri Dombrovsky’s creativity. The unexpected, succinct, aphoristic title of the book explains the investigator’s statement that the finished hero Faculty of Law during the period of approved socialist expediency it is called the faculty of unnecessary things. " Unnecessary things“Humanity and law found themselves in these conditions. The hero of the novel, Zybin, is a man of a unique breed. He cannot participate in public worship, and therefore has almost no chance of survival. But the hero is not afraid of dying, but of losing his soul and human dignity. He tells himself that the only salvation is to remain human despite any circumstances, blackmail, beatings, bullying, painful interrogations. This position gives strength to resist. Having become stronger than his tormentors, he managed to repel them and won. He was alone against all the workers of the “organs”, security officers, executioners - a stainless machine serving the inhuman regime.
This novel is largely autobiographical. Dombrovsky, having been arrested four times, went through his terrible path, maintaining his dignity, and did not stain himself with either betrayal or humiliation. The novel, of course, could not be published in the USSR. It was first published in Russian in 1978 in France. And only many years later it was released in our country. And thanks to the efforts of the writer’s widow, K.F. Turumova - Dombrovskaya, a six-volume book by Yuri Dombrovsky was published in the 1990s.
Death
In the spring of 1978, a group of unknown people brutally beat a 69-year-old writer on the territory of the Central House of Writers. Severe internal bleeding began. Dombrovsky was in the hospital for a month and a half, but the consequences of the beating were irreversible. The writer died on May 29, 1978. His grave is at the Kuzminskoye cemetery in Moscow.
