Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Author, Birthday and Life
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Personal Details
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, short-story writer and historian
| Information | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birthday | December 11, 1918 |
| Died on | August 3, 2008 |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Famous | Nobel Laureates In Literature, Writers, Novelists, Author |
| Spouses | Natalia Alekseevna Reshetovskaya (m. 1957–1972), Natalia Dmitrievna Svetlova (m.1973–2008) |
| Known as | Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn |
| Childrens | Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Stepan Solzhenitsyn, Yermolai Solzhenitsyn |
| Universities |
|
| Birth Place | Kislovodsk, Russian SFSR |
| Born Country | Russia |
| Gender | Male |
| Father | T |
| Mother | Taisiya Solzhenitsyna |
| Sun Sign | Sagittarius |
| Born in | Kislovodsk, Russian SFSR |
| Famous as | Author |
| Died at Age | 89 |
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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's photo
Who is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, short-story writer and historian. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his pursuit of the traditions of Russian literature. He was a Captain of artillery in World War II. Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned for eight years after he wrote a letter in which he criticized Joseph Stalin. He began his writing career after a period of enforced exile. His writings reflected his ideas about a benevolent totalitarian regime based on Russian’s time-honored values. His frank views against the contemporary repressive government policies infuriated the Soviet Press. Even though critics charged him with anti-Semitism, Solzhenitsyn’s works reveal an intelligent approach toward the revolutionary Jews. After he was denied publication in Russia, he started circulating his works privately in the form of ‘Samizdat’ literature. He was accused of treason and exiled from the Soviet Union after he published ‘The Gulag Archipelago’, a literary-historical record of the prisons and labor camps in Russia during Stalin’s rule. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he returned to Russia. His philosophy plays a major role in the film ‘Cloud Atlas’ and his reflections on Russian history and literature are documented in Alexander Sokurov’s ‘The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn’.
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Childhood & Early Life
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk, Russia, on December 11, 1918.
His father, Isaakiy Solzhenitsyn died before he was born. Solzhenitsyn was brought up by his widowed mother, Taisiya Solzhenitsyn in Russian Orthodox faith.
Solzhenitsyn studied mathematics at Rostov State University. Simultaneously, he took correspondence courses from the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History.
In 1945, he was involved in major action in World War II and served as a commander of a sound-ranging battery in the Red Army.
On February 1945, Solzhenitsyn was arrested for writing insulting comments in private letters to a friend about the conduct of the war by Joseph Stalin.
On 7 July 1945, he was sentenced to an eight-year term in a labor camp for participating in anti-Soviet propaganda.
After his release in March 1953, he was sent to internal exile for life at Kok-Terek in Kazakhstan. During this time, he was diagnosed with cancer.
In 1954, he was treated in a hospital in Tashkent.
Literary Career
In 1962, Solzhenitsyn’s first major novel ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ was published in the ‘Novyi Mir’ magazine.
In 1964, Nikita Krushchev fell from power and Solzhenitsyn’s works were intensely criticized. By 1965, he became a non-person and his manuscripts were seized.
However, his international reputation was unflagging and foreign publications released his ‘The First Circle’ (1968) and ‘Cancer Ward’ (1968).
His first historical novel, ‘August, 1914’ was also published outside the Soviet Union in the year 1971.
In December 1973, the first parts of ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ were published in installments in Paris.
On 12 February 1974, Solzhenitsyn’s Soviet citizenship was taken away and he was banished to Frankfurt, West Germany. The KGB had found the manuscript for the first part of ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ and declared it to be an anti-government piece.
Solzhenitsyn settled in Vermont during his second exile and in 1975, his ‘Lenin in Zurich: Chapters’, a documentary novel and ‘The Oak and the Calf’, an autobiographical account of his writing career, were published.
In 1974–75, the second and third volumes of ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ came out.
In 1983, an expanded version of ‘August 1914’ was published as the first in ‘The Red Wheel’ series. Other volumes in the series were ‘October 1914’, ‘March 1914’ and ‘April 1914’.
In 1989, ‘Novy Mir’ published excerpts from ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ in the Soviet Union after seeking approval from the new government.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia in 1994 following the restoration of his Soviet citizenship. The same year he published ‘The Grain between the Milestones’, a literary memoir of his years spent in exile.
From 1998 to 2003, installments of his autobiography, ‘The Little Grain Managed to Land between Two Millstones: Sketches of Exile’ came out.
‘Two Hundred Years Together’, a historical novel on the Russian Jews, was published from 2001 to 2002.
Major Works
‘The Gulag Archipelago’ (1973) is Solzhenitsyn’s most important work and has sold over thirty million copies in thirty-five languages. The same work led to his exile from the Soviet Union.
His ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ (1962), an account of the Stalinist repression, appeared on the ‘Independent’ newspaper's poll of the Top 100 books. The book also formed a part of school curriculum in the Soviet Union.
Awards & Achievements
Solzhenitsyn was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature but he refused to go to Stockholm to receive the prize as he feared that the government would not let him re-enter the Soviet Union, upon his return. He received it in the 1974 ceremony after his expulsion from Soviet Union.
In 1978, he was awarded an honorary Literary Degree from Harvard University.
In 1997 he arranged for the funding of an annual prize for writers who contribute to the Russian literary tradition.
On 12 June 2007, President Vladimir Putin awarded him the prestigious State Prize of the Russian Federation for his humanitarian activities.
Personal Life & Legacy
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn married Natalia Alekseevna Reshetovskaya on 7 April 1940. In 1952, they got divorced because the wives of Gulag prisoners were not given work or residence permits. They remarried in 1957 but divorced again in 1972.
In 1973, he married Natalia Dmitrievna Svetlova, a mathematician. The couple had three sons who are all US citizens.
Solzhenitsyn’s adopted son, Demitri Turin died on March 18, 1994.
On 3 August 2008, the writer died of heart failure in Troitse-Lykovo, near Moscow. He was 89 at that time.
He was buried in a place chosen by him in the cemetery of Donskoy Monastery, Moscow.
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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's awards
| Year | Name | Award |
|---|---|---|
Other | ||
| 0 | 1970 - Nobel Prize in Literature | |
| 0 | 1983 - Templeton Prize | |
| 0 | 2008 - Laureate of the International Botev Prize | |
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn biography timelines
- // 1914 To 1971His first historical novel, ‘August, 1914’ was also published outside the Soviet Union in the year 1971.
- // 11th Dec 1918Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk, Russia, on December 11, 1918.
- // 1945In 1945, he was involved in major action in World War II and served as a commander of a sound-ranging battery in the Red Army.
- // Feb 1945On February 1945, Solzhenitsyn was arrested for writing insulting comments in private letters to a friend about the conduct of the war by Joseph Stalin.
- // 7th Jul 1945On 7 July 1945, he was sentenced to an eight-year term in a labor camp for participating in anti-Soviet propaganda.
- // Mar 1953After his release in March 1953, he was sent to internal exile for life at Kok-Terek in Kazakhstan. During this time, he was diagnosed with cancer.
- // 1954In 1954, he was treated in a hospital in Tashkent.
- // 1962In 1962, Solzhenitsyn’s first major novel ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ was published in the ‘Novyi Mir’ magazine.
- // 1962His ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ (1962), an account of the Stalinist repression, appeared on the ‘Independent’ newspaper's poll of the Top 100 books. The book also formed a part of school curriculum in the Soviet Union.
- // 1964 To 1965In 1964, Nikita Krushchev fell from power and Solzhenitsyn’s works were intensely criticized. By 1965, he became a non-person and his manuscripts were seized.
- // 1968However, his international reputation was unflagging and foreign publications released his ‘The First Circle’ (1968) and ‘Cancer Ward’ (1968).
- // 1970 To 1974Solzhenitsyn was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature but he refused to go to Stockholm to receive the prize as he feared that the government would not let him re-enter the Soviet Union, upon his return. He received it in the 1974 ceremony after his expulsion from Soviet Union.
- // 1973‘The Gulag Archipelago’ (1973) is Solzhenitsyn’s most important work and has sold over thirty million copies in thirty-five languages. The same work led to his exile from the Soviet Union.
- // 1973In 1973, he married Natalia Dmitrievna Svetlova, a mathematician. The couple had three sons who are all US citizens.
- // Dec 1973In December 1973, the first parts of ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ were published in installments in Paris.
- // 1974In 1974–75, the second and third volumes of ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ came out.
- // 12th Feb 1974On 12 February 1974, Solzhenitsyn’s Soviet citizenship was taken away and he was banished to Frankfurt, West Germany. The KGB had found the manuscript for the first part of ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ and declared it to be an anti-government piece.
- // 1975Solzhenitsyn settled in Vermont during his second exile and in 1975, his ‘Lenin in Zurich: Chapters’, a documentary novel and ‘The Oak and the Calf’, an autobiographical account of his writing career, were published.
- // 1978In 1978, he was awarded an honorary Literary Degree from Harvard University.
- // 1989In 1989, ‘Novy Mir’ published excerpts from ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ in the Soviet Union after seeking approval from the new government.
- // 1994Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia in 1994 following the restoration of his Soviet citizenship. The same year he published ‘The Grain between the Milestones’, a literary memoir of his years spent in exile.
- // 18th Mar 1994Solzhenitsyn’s adopted son, Demitri Turin died on March 18, 1994.
- // 1997In 1997 he arranged for the funding of an annual prize for writers who contribute to the Russian literary tradition.
- // 1998 To 2003From 1998 to 2003, installments of his autobiography, ‘The Little Grain Managed to Land between Two Millstones: Sketches of Exile’ came out.
- // 2001 To 2002‘Two Hundred Years Together’, a historical novel on the Russian Jews, was published from 2001 to 2002.
- // 12th Jun 2007On 12 June 2007, President Vladimir Putin awarded him the prestigious State Prize of the Russian Federation for his humanitarian activities.
- // 3rd Aug 2008On 3 August 2008, the writer died of heart failure in Troitse-Lykovo, near Moscow. He was 89 at that time.
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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's FAQ
What is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn birthday?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born at 1918-12-11
When was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was died at 2008-08-03
Where was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was died in Moscow
Which age was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was died at age 89
Where is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's birth place?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk, Russian SFSR
What is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn nationalities?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's nationalities is Russian
Who is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spouses?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's spouses is Natalia Alekseevna Reshetovskaya (m. 1957–1972), Natalia Dmitrievna Svetlova (m.1973–2008)
Who is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn childrens?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's childrens is Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Stepan Solzhenitsyn, Yermolai Solzhenitsyn
What was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn universities?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn studied at Southern Federal University
Who is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's father?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's father is T
Who is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's mother?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's mother is Taisiya Solzhenitsyna
What is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's sun sign?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is Sagittarius
How famous is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is famouse as Author