Rybakov, Anatoly

▪ 1997

      In 1996 Russian novelist Anatoly Rybakov's gripping epic of life in the Soviet Union during the rule of Joseph Stalin came to a close with the publication of Prakh i pepel (Dust and Ashes). Concluding the story that began with Deti Arbata (1987; Children of the Arbat, 1988) and continued in Strakh (1990; Fear, 1992), Dust and Ashes cemented Rybakov's place among the top rank of contemporary Russian novelists. The trilogy follows a group of young Muscovites, once childhood friends from the upper-class Arbat neighbourhood, through the turmoil of the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The first novel describes the growing disillusionment among the young during the early stages of Stalin's rule. Fear offers a chilling description of the interrogation methods of the NKVD, the Soviet secret police. The third volume follows the characters through World War II. Throughout the trilogy Rybakov juxtaposes the lives of the young people against an intimate psychological portrait of Stalin, frankly depicting the ruler's cruelty and inhumanity.

      Rybakov wrote Children of the Arbat in the 1960s, but it was suppressed by Soviet authorities. Although he could have published the novel abroad, he declined, believing that the story had special meaning to his people and that to publish it first in another country would be a betrayal of his duty as a writer. As the Soviet government eased its repressive policies in the 1980s, the novel was finally released to the public. Though the trilogy's discussion of Stalin's brutality did not surprise Western audiences, it stirred controversy in Russia.

      Rybakov was born Jan. 1 (Jan. 14, New Style), 1911, in Chernigov, Ukraine, Russian Empire. Like the hero of his trilogy, Aleksandr Pankratov, he grew up in Arbat. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineering in 1934 but soon after was exiled for three years to Siberia for making "subversive" statements. He later worked as an engineer for transport companies throughout the Soviet Union. During World War II, Rybakov cleared his record by serving as a tank commander in the Soviet army.

      After the war Rybakov took up writing. His early works include Kortik (1948; The Dirk, 1954), a children's novel, and Voditeli (1950; "The Drivers"), an adult novel that earned him a Soviet state prize. He also wrote for television, film, and theatre. Rybakov gained international attention in 1979 with the publication of Tyazhely pesok (Heavy Sand, 1981). The novel follows a family of Russian Jews from the beginning of the 20th century through the horrors of World War II and the Nazi occupation. (JAMES HENNELLY)

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▪ Russian author

in full  Anatoly Naumovich Rybakov , pseudonym of  A.N. Aronov 

born Jan. 1 [Jan. 14, New Style], 1911, Chernigov, Ukraine, Russian Empire [now Chernihiv, Ukraine]

died Dec. 23, 1998, New York, N.Y., U.S.

      Russian author whose novels of life in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin's dictatorship were published—and became popular—after the institution of glasnost in the late 1980s.

      In 1933 Rybakov completed his studies in transport engineering and soon after was arrested for making “subversive” statements. Exiled to Siberia for three years, he cleared his record by serving in the Soviet army during World War II. After the war he turned to writing, producing first a popular children's novel, Kortik (1948; The Dirk), then an adult novel, Voditeli (1950; “The Drivers”), which won the Stalin Prize; these and several of Rybakov's subsequent novels were made into films or television series in the Soviet Union. The individual's responsibility to himself and to society as a whole was the ongoing theme of his fiction.

      Jewish himself, Rybakov wrote of the plight of Russian Jews confronting Nazi invaders during World War II in Tyazhyoly pesok (1979; Heavy Sand), an epic novel that brought him an international audience. With the arrival of Premier Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost, Rybakov was allowed to publish Deti Arbata (1987; Children of the Arbat), much of which had been suppressed for more than two decades. The work presents a horrifying view of Stalin's brutal rule in the early 1930s; Sasha, the hero, is a thinly disguised version of the author. Strakh (1990; Fear), which presents the techniques of interrogation and torture used by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, and Prakh i pepel (1996; Dust and Ashes) complete the Arbat trilogy.

      Rybakov's novels were extremely popular, but critics of all factions declared them artistically flawed and lacking in historical accuracy. Shortly before his death he wrote his autobiography, Roman-vospominaniye (1997; “A Novel-Memoir”).

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