Joseph Brodsky
| Joseph Brodsky | |
|---|---|
Brodsky in 1988
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| Born | Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky 24 May 1940 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 28 January 1996 (aged 55) New York City, New York, USA |
| Occupation | Poet, essayist |
| Language | Russian (poetry),English (prose) |
| Nationality | Russian, American |
| Citizenship |
Soviet Union (1940–1972) Stateless (1972–1977) United States (1977–1996) |
| Notable works |
Gorbunov and Gorchakov (1970) Less Than One: Selected Essays (1986) |
| Notable awards |
Nobel Prize in Literature (1987) Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award (1991) |
| Spouse | Maria Sozzani (1990–1996) |
| Partner | Marina Basmanova (1962–1967) |
| Children | Andrei Basmanov, Anna Brodsky |
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (/ˈbrɒdski/; Russian: Ио́сиф Алекса́ндрович Бро́дский, IPA: [ɪˈosʲɪf ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈbrotskʲɪj]; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist.
Born in Leningrad in 1940, Brodsky ran afoul of Soviet authorities and was expelled ("strongly advised" to emigrate) from the Soviet Union in 1972, settling in the United States with the help of W. H. Auden and other supporters. He taught thereafter at Mount Holyoke College, and at universities including Yale, Columbia, Cambridge and Michigan.
Brodsky was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity". He was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1991.
Brodsky was born into a Jewish family in Leningrad. He was a descendant of a prominent and ancient rabbinic family Schorr (Shor). His direct male-line ancestor is Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor. His father, Aleksandr Brodsky, was a professional photographer in the Soviet Navy, and his mother, Maria Volpert Brodsky, was a professional interpreter whose work often helped to support the family. They lived in communal apartments, in poverty, marginalized by their Jewish status. In early childhood Brodsky survived the Siege of Leningrad where he and his parents nearly died of starvation; one aunt did die of hunger. He later suffered from various health problems caused by the siege. Brodsky commented that many of his teachers were anti-Semitic and that he felt like a dissident from an early age. He noted "I began to despise Lenin, even when I was in the first grade, not so much because of his political philosophy or practice...but because of his omnipresent images."
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