Pushkin Hills

by Dovlatov, Sergei

  p. 45, Mnemosyne… Delvig: Mnemosyne was a short-lived literary journal founded by Wilhelm Karlovich Küchelbecker (1797–1846) and Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoevsky (1803–69). Anton Antonovich Delvig (1798–1831), poet and close friend of Pushkin.

  p. 45, Sergei Lvovich… Sergei Alexandrovich: The narrator has confused the patronymics of Pushkin’s father and Yesenin.

  p. 46, Suprematism: A Russian art movement of the mid-1910s which focused on geometric patterns.

  p. 47, Talleyrand… Lomonosov’s wife: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838), famed diplomat and statesman. Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–65), pioneering Russian grammarian, poet, scientist and founder of Moscow State University.

  p. 52, d’Anthès: Georges-Charles d’Anthès (1812–95) killed Pushkin in a duel in 1837, in a dispute over Pushkin’s wife.

  p. 55, Kiprensky… in a looking glass: Orest Kiprensky (1782–1836) was a leading figure in Russian portraiture, and painted one of the most famous portraits of Pushkin. The verse quoted is from an 1827 poem Pushkin dedicated to Kiprensky on seeing the portrait.

  p. 55, Godunov… Gypsies… if you love my shadow: All from Pushkin’s oeuvre. Boris Godunov, a drama, was published in 1831. The Gypsies was a long narrative poem published in 1827. The quotation comes from Pushkin’s 1825 elegy to the French poet André Chénier.

  p. 56, Gukovsky and Shchegolev: Grigory Alexandrovich Gukovsky (1902–50) was a Formalist literary historian. For Shchegolev see first note to p. 7.

  p. 58, Likhonosov: See note to p. 17.

  p. 59, the Remizov school of writing: Alexei Remizov (1877–1957), a Russian symbolist writer with an unusual style and a fixation on the whimsical and grotesque.

  p. 71, Nefertiti: Nefertiti (c.1370–c.1330 BC), wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten.

  p. 75, Thou, nature, art my goddess: Spoken by Edmund in King Lear, Act 1, Sc. 2.

  p. 78, Comrade Grishin: Presumably Viktor Grishin (1914–92), First Secretary of the Moscow Central Committee from 1967 to 1985.

  p. 79, an appealing ethnic minority… Granin and Rytkheu: Presumably Dovlatov is referring here to his Armenian background. Yuri Rytkheu (1930–2008) was a Russian and Chukchi writer. Daniil Granin (1919–) is a Russian writer and public figure.

  p. 82, Bulgarin: Faddey Bulgarin (1789–1859), a reactionary journalist and writer whom Pushkin disliked.

  p. 86, Heifetz: The dissident writer Mikhail Heifetz (1934–).

  p. 86, Grani. Or Continent: Émigré dissident journals dealing with art and politics.

  p. 86, Bukovsky… Kuznetsov: Vladimir Bukovsky (1942–) and Anatoly Kuznetsov (1929–79), dissident writers.

  p. 88, Santa María: One of the ships that Christopher Columbus used on his voyage to the New World in 1492.

  p. 92, Anatoly Korolyov: Anatoly Korolyov (1942–91), a popular singer in the Soviet Union.

  p. 93, do widzenia: “Goodbye” (Polish).

  p. 105, Kobzon… Tsvetaeva: Iosif Kobzon (1937–), Russian crooner; Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941), one of the best-known lyrical poets of twentieth-century Russia.

  p. 108, Baba Yaga: A famous character in Russian fairy tales, an evil witch who lives in a hut on chicken legs.

  p. 110, Viscount de Bragelonne: The Viscount of Bragelonne (1847–50) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas père (1802–70).

  p. 111, I accede, like Shepilov: In the plot to oust Khrushchev in 1957, Dmitri Shepilov (1905–95), a secretary of the Central Committee, sided with the anti-Khrushchev faction led by Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich, Pervukhin and Saburov, who were swiftly defeated and lost all political influence and posts.

  p. 112, Kursk Magnetic Anomaly: A region in central Russia rich in iron ore.

  p. 113, Karatsupa: Nikita Karatsupa (1910–94) was a renowned border guard in the Soviet Union, who was said to have captured countless spies and smugglers, worked extreme hours and was decorated with the Order of Lenin, the highest decoration in the USSR.

  p. 116, Article 92, without an instrument: Presumably a reference to the non-violent theft of state property.

  p. 116, Finita la commedia: “The comedy is over” (Italian).

  p. 117, Ogonyok magazine: A popular illustrated political and social magazine.

  p. 117, Julius Fučík: Julius Fučík (1872–1916) was a Czech composer of predominantly military and patriotic marches.

  p. 118, the academic Sakharov: Andrei Sakharov (1921–89), nuclear physicist who contributed significantly to the development of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, who later became an outspoken dissident and human-rights activist.

  p. 119, Baratynsky: Yevgeny Baratynsky (1800–44) was a Russian poet and contemporary of Pushkin.

  p. 124, the Tales of Ivan Belkin: A collection of five short stories by Pushkin, published in 1831.

  p. 126, Dzerzhinsky: Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926), or “Iron Felix”, established the notorious Soviet secret police, the Cheka, shortly after the October Revolution of 1917.

  p. 127, Anton Makarenko: Makarenko (1888–1939) was a Soviet educator and the founder of orphanages for children displaced by the Russian Civil War.

  p. 128, samizdat… Znamya magazine: The term samizdat, derived from the Russian for “self-publishing”, refers to the clandestine publication of literature not permitted by the authorities. Znamya is a literary periodical.

  p. 132, HIAS: The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a charity established in 1881 to assist Jews who were forced to emigrate from Russia.

  p. 133, Carl Proffer: Professor of Russian at the University of Michigan, Carl Proffer (1938–84) co-founded the publishing house Ardis, which specialized in Russian literature not tolerated by the Soviet authorities, both in translation and in the original.

  p. 134, Gladilin: Anatoly Gladilin (1935–), Russian writer who defected in the 1970s from Russia to live in Paris.

  p. 135, Alberto Moravia: Alberto Moravia (1907–90), Italian writer and journalist.

  Acknowledgements

  The translator wishes to thank the following:

  Amy Flanagan, for finding the time in her Blackberry-dominated life to correct my grammar. Alex Billington, for adding polish to the text. Beth Knobel and Marti Whelan, for the encouragement. Facebook friends, for the support and humour. Kirill Belyaninov, for his encyclopedic knowledge of Soviet prison jargon. Andrey Aryev for his intellectual generosity. My father, for leaving behind an amazing gift that allows us to continue a dialogue.

  And my mother, who was right.